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TºS
2.82.5
April, 1989. . Mºt 83
W O R. K. S
I N T H E CO U R S E O F PU B L I CAT I O N
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CLAVIS APOCALYPTIC A.
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LO N DO N :
PRINTED FOR J. G. & F. RIVINGTON,
ST. PAUL’s CHURCII YARD,
AND WATERLOO PLACE, PALL MALL.
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L O N ID ON :
GILBERT & RIVINGTON, PRINTERs,
st. Joiſ N’s so UARE.
KEY TO THE APOCALYPSE,
DISCOVERED AND DEMONSTRATED
FROM THE INTERNAL AND INSERTED
CHARACTERS OF THE VISIONS.
FOR THE USE OF THOSE
WHOM GOD HAS ENDUED WITH THE LOVE AND DESIRE OF KNOWING
AND INVESTIGATING THAT WONDERF UL PROPH ECY.
FROM THE LATEST EDITION, REVISED BY THE AUTHOR, THE
REV. JOSEPH MEDE.
“Blessed is he that readeth, (or interpreteth) and they that hear, (or listen to him that
interpreteth) the words of this Prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein,
for the time is at hand.”—Apocalyps E, chap. i. ver. 3.
That is, the time is even now come, when those things have begun to be fulfilled, and
they will be fulfilled more and more from day to day.
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ERRATA
IN THE TRAN SLATION OF MEDE'S CLAVIS APOCALYPTIC A.
Page 40, line 12 from bottom, between give and thanks, insert Thee
42, — 16, for out read about
45, – 2 from bottom, between like and Eden insert that of
46, - 3, after ran read through it
- - Also same line, after side dele comma
— — 9, after scheme insert * and note at the bottom. Wide Frontispiece.
72, — 7, for fail read fall
76, - 3 from bottom, for Barchoshebar read Barchocheba's
130, − 16, for in read with
142, — 7, for inhabitance read inhabitants
163, − 1 1 in type, for Rhitia read Rhetia
--- Also, 4 from bottom, Obs. for Narsis read Narses.
244, − 5 from bottom, for Then read Thence
270, -— 11, for ſrom read of
366. — 2, between for and own insert his
438, - 14, dele as
— 15, after that dele comma
* As
ſº
.* 4. l_* . .
7% z. 1.- A . . . . . ; ; ; 2 - 7 t
/- 2 « - / ; 3.3
THE
APOCALYPTICAL KEY;
OR,
The synchronism and order of the Apocalyptical
Prophecies, according to the things transacted,
on no hypothetical interpretation, nor preconjec-
ture about the events; but firmly demonstrated
from the very characters of the visions themselves,
purposely inserted by the Holy Spirit, and offered
to eacamination according to a self-evident scheme:
so that it may prove, as it were, a Thesean clew
to those who are involved in this sacred laby-
rinth, and a Lydian stone to discover the true,
and to refute every erroneous interpretation.
PREVIOUS REMARKS.
1. I CALL a synchronism of the prophecies a
concurrence of events predicted therein within
the same time; which may be called a contem-
porary or coetaneous period; for prophecies of
contemporary things synchronize.
B
2 CLAVIS APOCALYPTIC A.
2. The order of the seals and of the trumpets
included under them, is certain and indubitable;
namely, that which the number points out from
I. to. VII. When the rest of the prophecies are
compared with one another, and then with the
Seals by synchronism, the order of the whole
Apocalypse will be manifest; and this, with
God's assistance, we now proceed to exhibit.
O thou that sittest on the throne, and thou,
O Lamb, the root and the offspring * of David,
who alone wast worthy to receive and open the
book, open the eyes of thy servant, direct his
hand and his mind, that in these thy mysteries
he may discern and disclose something to the
glory of thy name, and to the advantage of the
Church
PART I.
SYNCHRONISM I.
Of the Woman driven into the Wilderness.
Of the Seven-Headed Beast restored.
Of the Outer Court trodden down by the Gentiles.
Of the Witnesses on Earth prophesying in Sackcloth.
IT is from hence that I begin, and my first syn-
chronism shall be that of the remarkable quater-
* Stirps may imply both.
CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA. 3
nion of prophecies displayed in equal intervals
of time. First, Of the woman living in the wilder-
ness for a time, times, and a half, or (as it is there
more fully expressed) for 1260 days. Secondly,
Of the seven-headed beast restored, and endued
with power for forty-two months. Thirdly, Of
the exterior court (or of the Holy City) trodden
down by the Gentiles for the same number of
months. Fourthly, and lastly, Of the witnesses
prophesying in sackcloth for 1260 days.
The truth of this synchronism is almost evi-
dent of itself, and seems capable of being con-
firmed, as it generally is, by the very equality of
the periods; for a time, times, and half a time,
i. e. three years and a half (as appears from the
collation of the 6th verse with the 14th of
chapter xii.), make up forty-two months, and
forty-two months 1260 days.
But because it does not necessarily follow,
(though in visions presented at the same time it
is extremely probable) that equal times are also
synchronic, since equality does not prevent some
things being prior, and some subsequent to
others, the character of equality will not be
adapted to compel reluctant assent ; I will
search, therefore, for characters elsewhere, from
which I may put an end to the matter by clear
and irrefragable demonstration.
B 2
4. CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA.
Of the Beast and the Woman.
The times of the beast and of the woman
residing in the wilderness, begin from one and
the same point; namely, from the red dragon's
being conquered, and cast out on the earth. As
therefore they are equal, they must of necessity
run together through the whole period, and at
length complete their course together. That
the times of each commence from the same
point or terminus, is evident from the 12th
chapter ; since as soon as the dragon is cast
out by Michael, the woman flies from his face
into the wilderness, and the dragon being angry,
that he had in vain attempted to overwhelm her,
as she was departing thither, went to make war
on the remnant of her seed, with those whom she
was about to bring forth in the wilderness *, and
standing on the sand of the sea, he delivered to
the ten-horned beast ascending from thence, his
power, and his throne, and great authority.
Of the Beast and the Prophecy of the Witnesses.
The times of the beast and of the prophecy of
the witnesses being also equal, finish together at
the end of the sixth trumpet. It is manifest that
they began together, and were contemporary
through the whole intervening space.
* Query.
CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA. 5
Now that the times of the beast, and of the
witnesses of God prophesying in sackcloth *
finish at the end of the sixth trumpet, is clear
from v. 14. c. xi., where not only both the
ascent of the witnesses into heaven (which is the
termination of this mourning prophecy), but the
great earthquake (by which the royal city is
thrown down, and the kingdom of the beast
destroyed), is marked out by the point of time
at which the second woe (or sixth trumpet) is
past, and the third woe (or seventh trumpet) is
immediately about to commence. For in that
moment of time, the witnesses, whom the beast
risen out of the abyss had killed, as they were
just about to finish their testimony (for that is
the meaning of orav rexegoat), being divinely
revived, ascended into heaven. And in the same
hour there was a great earthquake, and the tenth
part of the city fell, and then it came to pass, at
the sound of the seventh trumpet, that the king-
doms of this world became the kingdoms of our
Lord and his Christ.
Of the Witnesses and Court (or Holy City)
occupied by the Gentiles.
It is plain that the times of the witnesses and
of the court (or Holy City) occupied by the Gen-
* Sacco et cilicio, in sackcloth and haircloth.
6 CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA.
tiles, are contemporary, from the meaning of the
text, c. xi. v. 2, 3, as from the wrath of the Gen-
tiles, who are thrust out at the beginning of the
seventh trumpet; that is, at the end of the sixth,
when the days of the witnesses likewise expire,
as has just been shown. For the nations or
Gentiles, who at v. 18. are said to be inflamed
with anger at the sound of the seventh trumpet,
are no other than those, who for the whole forty-
two months had trodden down the outer court
of the temple; that is, the Holy City, and who are
now, on that account, about to be destroyed by
the wrath of God. -
This synchromism is not wont to be called in
question by any one that I know or recollect.
Of the Witnesses, Court, Beast, and Woman.
If the treading down of the court and Holy
City be contemporary with the prophecy of the
witnesses, it will be contemporary likewise with
the beast with whom the witnesses contemporize,
and therefore with the woman in the wilderness
also, with whom the beast contemporizes. So
that the woman in the wilderness, the dominion
of the beast, the conculcation of the Holy City,
and the prophecy of the witnesses, all synchro-
nize with one another.
CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA. 7
SYNCHRONISM II.
Of the Two-Horned Beast (who is also the False
Prophet), with the Ten-Horned Beast (who is
likewise called the Image of the Beast).
The two-horned beast is the founder, or re-
establisher of the seven-headed beast, crowned
with a diadem of ten horns, which, in fact, after
his deadly wound, he restored to the image of
his former state, to the great detriment of the
Saints, and who became possessed of power for
forty-two months. Having done which, he ex-
ercises all his power before him, and shows forth,
or performs, great wonders in his sight. But at
length, this same two-horned beast (which John
otherwise calls the false prophet), together with
the other beast, in whose sight he wrought
miracles, are taken as inseparable companions,
and are both cast alive into the lake of fire burn-
ing with brimstone. Since, therefore, the ten-
horned beast (for so I may be permitted to call
the seven-headed beast when reinstated, for the
sake of perspicuity), and the two-horned false
prophet are not separated from each other either
in their origin or destruction ; but the one ad-
ministers the power of the other, evortov avrov ;
that is, in his presence ; who does not perceive
that they are necessarily contemporary through
8 CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA.
their whole period of time ! But that the whole
matter may be rightly understood, we ought to
be aware that no other state of the seven-headed
beast is described in the 13th chapter, than that
of his restoration, or last head, in which he
became ten-horned, as the whole series of the
description evinces. For whatever mischief the
beast is said to have perpetrated, whatever
worship and adoration was paid to him by the
inhabitants of the earth, is all reported as having
been done after his re-establishment, or the cure
of his wound. Moreover, it is manifest from the
interpretation of the angel, c. xvii., that the ten
horns belong to the last head or state of the
beast, which is the state of his restoration;
since at that time, after five heads had fallen,
that is, had fulfilled their parts, the sixth was
even then performing his in the age of John, and
yet “the time of the horns” is said to be “not
yet come.” Therefore they must necessarily
belong to the seventh or last head.
APPENDIX.
On the alternate Use of the Names of the Beast
and False Prophet; as also of the Beast and
Image of the Beast.
The title of the synchronism reminds us of
both. And first, Iraeneus has observed, that,
CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA. 9
from the most ancient writers on the Apocalypse,
the bicorned beast and the false prophet are the
same ; which, from the comparison of v. 13, 14,
15, 16, of c. xiii. with v. 20 of c. xix., is so clear
and manifest, that it requires no farther con-
firmation. But what the title sets forth in addi-
tion, that the ten-horned beast is otherwise
accustomed to be denoted by the name of the
image of the beast, is less apparent, and would
not perhaps be suspected by a reader who was
not very attentive: Yet, that it is so, I am per-
suaded I have not rashly remarked ; and there-
fore, wherever the beast occurs with the false
prophet, (which I find it does three times,) then
by the name of the beast, the ten-horned beast
is alone to be understood; since, by the false
prophet, it is sufficiently clear that the two-
horned beast is designated. On the other hand,
when you find the beast compared with the
image of the beast there, by the beast the false
prophet is to be understood; but by his image,
the ten-horned beast, or the seven-horned beast
restored : for, since the latter acknowledges the
false prophet as his restorer, and suffers himself
to be wholly guided by his will, as by that of a
Supreme lord, he is not improperly called his
image ; not, indeed, the image of one whose
similitude he bears, as if the genitive were used
passively, (for, in that respect, he is the image
10 CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA.
of another, perhaps of the seven-headed dragon,
or of the state in which he flourished before his
wound, in resemblance of whom he blasphemes
God anew, and wages war against the Saints,)
but an image, of whose restoration that two-
horned and dragon-speaking beast was the au-
thor, and whom he claimed as his own ; the
genitive denoting the agent and possessor, as, in
the same passage, the mark of the beast is not a
mark impressed on the beast itself, but one with
which the beast brands his worshippers.
And that what I have said is the right inter-
pretation of the image of the beast, the first proof
I would bring is, that it is said, c. xiii. v. 15,
that the very image of the beast, which the false
prophet had just animated, caused that as many
as would not worship the image of the beast
should be slain ; nay, in other places, (that you
may acknowledge the beast,) it is generally sub-
joined to a word expressive of worship, or as some-
thing to which worship is suited. Since, there-
fore, the Apocalypse describes two beasts only,
and not more, this wicked majesty, with an equal
power of commanding or compelling, cannot but
belong to one or the other of them. Moreover,
when the beast is present at the same time as
the false prophet, the image of the beast does
not occur in the same sentence, as if them, in
fact, the appellation of beast supplied its place.
CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA, 11
Lastly, it is said to be the image of the beast, of
which there is a number and a name ; but the
name and number of no other beast seem to be
mentioned than that of the two-horned. Of the
same, then, (as of a maker and lord,) he is justly
said to be the image. But this image, whether
it be or not the ten-horned beast, is of no con-
sequence to our system; for the synchronism of
the beasts does not rest on this hypothesis.
SYNCHRONISM III.
Of the great Harlot, or Mystic Babylon, with the
same Seven-headed and Ten-horned Beast.
1. The time of the beast is the time of the
wilderness. (Syn. i. s. 1.) Now, the harlot is seen
by John in the wilderness; but this description
is not of much force.
2. The ten-horned beast carries the harlot
or adulteress, and the harlot sits on the beast :
therefore, both exist at one and the same time.
3. The ten horns of the beast (which, in
truth, spring from its highest and last head,) and
under whose dominion alone the harlot manages
the beast, and the beast carries the harlot, (the
times of the other heads having been previously
completed after it revived as from a deadly
wound); these ten horns, I say, “are ten kings
12 CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA.
which receive their authority as kings for one
hour with the beast :” viz. with the reinstated
beast, which carries the adulteress, and is now
ten-horned; that is, exercising the office of the
last head. These, when the time has been
fulfilled, during which “they were to deliver up
their power to the beast ;” that is, when the
connexion with the beast is just ready to be
dissolved, “ will hate the harlot, render her
desolate and naked, and at length burn her with
fire.” So then the beast, which in its ten-horned
state (the only state in which it is prophetically
contemplated by John) first commenced with
the harlot or adulteress, will not survive her,
nor will the harlot survive the beast. The harlot
and beast, therefore, universally and exactly
synchronize, which was the object to be proved.
*-*-m-
SYNCHRONISM IV.
Of the Hundred and Forty-four Thousand Sealed,
who were Virgins, with the Babylonian Harlot
and the Beast.
1. In the first place, they are called virgins,
and are praised on that account, because they
had not defiled themselves with meretricious
embraces. They coincide, therefore, with the
meretricious times of the Babylonian harlot,
CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA. 13
“ with whom the kings and inhabitants of the
earth committed fornication.”
2. Out of this virgin choir proceed those
who denounce the ruin of Babylon, and who
deter men from all communion with the beast,
his image, and mark. Therefore, the virgin
assembly is contemporary with Babylon and the
beast. -
3. These, lastly, are those that are called the
chosen and faithful attendants on the Lamb,
accompanied by whom, he wages war with the
kings, or horns, of the Babylonian beast, and
who, under his auspices, (as King of kings and
Lord of lords,) will at length obtain the victory.
For those words, relative to the Lord of lords
and King of kings, ought, I think, to be read in
a parenthesis, where the angel says, “ These
shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb
shall overcome them, (for he is Lord of lords
and King of kings,) and they who are with him,
are called, and chosen, and faithful ;” that is, the
Lamb, and those who are with him, called, and
elect, and faithful, shall overcome the Babylonish
kings.
4. But these observations are not sufficient for
the firm establishment of a complete contemporary
agreement; for all these things may be consistent
with partial contemporation. I therefore proceed,
in the following mammer, to demonstrate that the
14. CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA.
assembly of the sealed attendants on the Lamb are
universally and exactly contemporary with the
beast. That assembly of the sealed ones is an
Avrta rouxov, or opposite state, coeval with the
beast, or the whole company of the followers of
the beast; that is, the forces of those holy sol-
diers remaining still in the faith of the Lamb,
when the other inhabitants of the world, as de-
serters and rebels, have received the mark of the
beast. This is obvious from the text: whence,
as formerly, by ancient custom, slaves and sol-
diers were wont to be distinguished by the mark,
and inscribed by the name of him to whom they
had pledged their faith, so these are said to bear
“ the name of the Lamb and his Father on
their foreheads.” Since this is the case, it fol-
lows that the duration of the one is commen-
Surate with that of the other, and agrees with it
altogether, during the same interval of time : for
the mode of this sort of opposition requires that
the assembly of the sealed followers of the
Lamb, as far as it is pointed out by the vision,
should be understood in a manner wholly oppo-
site to that of the beast; beyond which oppo-
sition, agreeably to the intention of the vision, it
has no meaning, and therefore it begins where
that begins, and ends where that ends.
5. Moreover, with respect to the close of the
contemporary period, that may be proved from
CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA. 15
the description in c. vii.; because the palm-
bearing multitude is the limit both of the tyranny
of the beast, and of the company of those who
were sealed ; – of the beast, because it is there
said, “ These are they who have come out of
great tribulation;” but out of what tribulation,
except that of the beast persecuting the saints :
Therefore, they left behind the tyranny of the
beast. Of the sealed company, because the
palm-bearing multitude immediately follows, as
is manifest from that transition, “ After these
things I saw,” &c.
V.
A Corollary of the General Synchronism of all the
circumstances previously enumerated.
It follows that the revived, or ten-horned
beast is contemporary with the woman in the
wilderness, with the conculcation of the Holy
City, and with the lamentation of the witnesses,
during the same period, Synch. I. The two-
horned beast with the ten-horned beast, Synch.
II. The harlot with both, Synch. III. The
virgin company of those who are sealed with the
harlot and the beast, Synch. IV. Therefore all
synchronize with each other.
16 CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA,
SYNCHRONISM VI.
Of the Measure of the Interior Court by the Reed
of God, with the Snares of the Seven-headed
Dragon, and his Battle with Michael concerning
the Birth of the Child.
These are the nearest antecedents of contem-
porary events; the battle of the dragon and the
birth of the child, with the habitation of the woman
in the wilderness, and the rise of the ten-horned
beast. The interior court, (for what is said of the
temple of God, of the altar of incense, and of the
priests worshipping there according to custom, is
a periphrasis of this expression,) to the exterior
court, or that of the people, where the nations
are represented to have been unjustly and un-
lawfully housed as in a stable.
To prove this: In the first place, both the
delivery of the woman, and the battle of the
dragon with Michael, impinge on the same ter-
mination, viz. the flight of the woman into the
wilderness, which is said to have followed next
to the act of both : For the woman, as soon as
she had brought forth a son, “fled into the wil-
derness,” there to be nourished for 1260 days.
In like manner, when the dragon was cast out,
the woman “fled into the wilderness, there to
be nourished from the face of the serpent, for a
CLAVIS A POCALYPTICA. 17
time, and times, and half a time.” These two
things, therefore, as you see, the title of the
synchronism combines into one, as visions of the
same time and subject, completely connected,
and which it is unnecessary to separate in this
investigation. Moreover, that battle in which
Michael conquered the dragon, immediately pre-
ceded the restoration of the seven-headed or
ten-horned beast; for the dragon, as soon as he
was cast out into the earth, “ standing on the
sand of the sea shore, delivers up for the future
his office, that is, his authority, his throne, and
great power, to the beast emerging from thence;”
and (as the Complutensian edition renders it,
together with Irenaeus) “one of his heads, as it
were, wounded to death, whose wounds being
cured, all the world followed the beast, won-
dering.” -
And thus far the matter is plain and obvious ;
but of the antecedence of the interior to the outer
court, (which alone remains to the completion of
the synchronism,) the mode of proof is a little
more difficult, because the subject has long been
otherwise understood, and is therefore impeded
by prejudices.
The inner court, in consequence of the struc-
ture of the temple, precedes the outer court in
situation and order, as being nearest to the
throne of God, or tº Nađ, the head of the whole
C
18 CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA.
structure. Therefore, if things should be signi-
ficant of different times, (for it is not a novelty
that order of situation should denote order
of time, as in the statue which Nebuchad-
mezzar dreamt he saw,) then it is agreeable to
reason that the indicated time of the interior
court should be prior to the indicated time of
the exterior.
Now that there is an indication of different
times relative to the courts, and consequently
that the indication of the interior court is more
ancient, and prior to the other, I thus farther
demonstrate. Because this vision of the mea-
surement of the court of the temple and altar, or
of the inner court, is the beginning of a repeated
prophecy, which, indeed, (as will soon be more
fully shown,) rehearses from the beginning, and
as it were above, the times of the prophecy
of the seals, whose commencement no one can
have doubted, must be sought for from that
epoch of the apocalyptical period. “You must
prophesy” (says he) “ again,” (thus he explains
the symbol of the eaten book) “before many
people, and nations, and tongues, and kings.”
“ IIáXtv,” that is, in a renewed order of the times
of which he had before prophesied. But he
begins from the measurement of the temple and
altar of incense, and of those who worshipped
there. If, then, the vision concerning the deli-
CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA. | 9
very of the woman, and the battle of the dragon,
(which is itself a part of this repeated prophecy),
ascend to the very commencement of the period
or apocalyptical time, even so far, that the Apo-
calypse has nothing more ancient, or that de-
duces its origin from a higher source, (and this
will appear, both from the mature of the circum-
stance, the birth of a child, and from synchronisms
already confirmed, and to be still farther con-
firmed,) why should not the beginning of the
same prophecy and the first of all the visions,
with still greater probability, be presumed to
ascend as far ! But the months of the outer
court cannot reach so high, as they are wholly
contemporary with the ten-horned beast : there-
fore, it is very evident to me, that the times of
the inner and measured court not only precede
the months of the outer and unmeasured one,
but ought to be derived from the origin of the
repeated prophecy, as well as the vision of the
birth of the child, and of the dragon.
Now, these three events—the habitation of
the woman in the wilderness, the ten-horned
beast, and the outer court trodden down by the
Gentiles, appear to be contemporary from the
first synchronism : therefore the times of the
inner court measured, and the delivery of the
woman, together with the wiles of the dragon,
and the battle with Michael, being the nearest
(; 2
20 CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA,
antecedents of those contemporary events, must
contemporize with one another. Q. E. D.
SYNCHRONISM VII.
Of the Seven Phials ; with the Beast and Babylon
declining to their Fall.
The effusion of the phials brings ruin and
destruction on the beast, as is manifest from
the text. For the conquerors of the beast sing
the song of Moses, triviktov, or the song of
victory. c. xv. v. 2, 3. And it appears espe-
cially, from the first phial, c. xvi. v. 2, which
sends the plague of an ulcer “ on the men who
had the mark of the beast, and on those who
adore his image ;” from the fifth, which is
poured “ on the throne of the beast,” and which
renders his kingdom dark; and also from the
last, on the pouring out of which Babylon is
wholly overthrown. Therefore, the effusion of
the phials is contemporary with the concluding
scenes of the beast and Babylon.
CLAVIS A POCALYPTIC.A. 2 I
PART II.
I have completed the First Part in Seven
Synchronisms : The other Part, that of the Seals,
follows, in which I will demonstrate the com-
mexion of all the prophecies which have been
hitherto recited; and if there are any besides,
of those likewise with the seals, in as many other
synchronisms : Whence it will plainly appear,
(and it may be adduced as a matter very worthy
of observation, and, unless I am deceived, of no
small consequence in the subsequent interpreta-
tion,) that the whole Apocalypse, from the fourth
chapter, (for I introduce nothing now about the
seven churches,) is divided into two principal
prophecies, of which each commences from the
same epoch, and, as it were, from one barrier,
and ends at the same goal. The first is that of
the seals, and in them of the trumpets, for the
seventh seal is the seal of the trumpets, which I
take every where for granted, from the gram-
matical sense of the context. For it is not to
be supposed that the order of sense is preserved
in all the other seals, but is unsuitable to the
seventh alone, as what is submitted to view on
the opening of a seal, that is, to Tpayua, the sub-
ject of the seal. Now, the vision of the seven
22 CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA.
angels with the seven trumpets follows the un-
closing of the seventh seal. The other pro-
phecy (or, if you will, the system of prophetic
visions) is that row 33Xaptètov, or of the open
book, which, commencing from the same be-
gimming of apocalyptical time, retraces the times
of the former prophecy, namely, that of the
seals, from the 8th verse of the 10th chapter to
the end of the book. And this repetition of the
prophecy is indicated by that transition in the
11th verse of the same chapter, where the angel
says to John, “Thou must prophesy again (tráXtv)
before many people, and nations, and tongues,
and kings.”
Moreover, it will not perhaps be unworthy of
the reader's attention, that at the begimming of
each of those visions, as well of the first of all the
visions, that of the seven churches, as of three
entire prophecies, the commencement is pro-
claimed by “the voice, as it were, of a trumpet
talking with St. John ;” as if the Holy Spirit meant
to distinguish them by this mark from other pro
phecies, which are parts of these principal ones,
in which you will see nothing of a similar mature.
Now, these are the beginnings of the pro-
phecies to which I allude. Of the vision of the
seven churches, in these words: “I was in the
spirit on the Lord's day, and I heard a great
voice behind me, as of a trumpet, saying,” &c.
CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA. 23
Of the prophecy of the seals, in this manner:
“And the first voice which I heard was as it
were of a trumpet talking with me,” &c. Lastly,
of the prophecy of the little book: “And the
voice which I had heard from heaven” (i. e. as
of a trumpet speaking) “ spake again unto me,
and said,” &c.
Thus far is prefatory, and, as I hope, not
foreign from the subject of which we are treat-
ing. The Synchronisms now follow.
I.
THE CARDINAL POINT OF THE SYNCHRONISMS;
OR,
THE SYNCHRONISM
Of the Seventh Seal, which relates to the first Sia:
Trumpets ; with the Ten-horned and Two-horned
Beast, and other contemporary matters.
And first, the beginning of the beast is con-
temporary with the beginning of the seventh
seal, which is that of the trumpets.
Since the assembly of those who were sealed,
as the antithesis or opposite of the reign of the
beast, synchronizes rightly and exactly with the
beast; and since the same assembly begins with
the opening of the seventh seal, or that of the
24. CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA.
trumpets, it follows clearly that the beast also
must begin with the same seventh seal, or that
of the trumpets.
Now, it has been already shown by Synch.
IV. Part I. that the assembly of the sealed must
be altogether and exactly contemporary with the
beast. That the same assembly begins with the
seventh seal, is plain from the seventh chapter,
where the act of sealing immediately follows the
sixth seal ; since, as soon as the vision of the
sixth seal is finished, and when the seventh,
which is that of the trumpets, is just about to open,
attention is paid to the elect servants of God by
the impression of a seal, that they might not be
destroyed by the storm of calamities which was
brooding over the earthly globe.
Now, the four angels who presided over the
four quarters of the world, were just ready to let
loose the winds (which they had hitherto re-
strained), at the sound of the trumpets. Atten-
tion must likewise be paid to the sound of the
fifth trumpet, c. ix. v. 4. that you may under-
stand, even from that indication, that the sealing
belongs to the times of the trumpets. It is
beyond all doubt that the conclusion and ter-
mination of the sixth seal is the beginning of the
seventh, since the series of the seals with respect
to each other, cannot and ought not to be inter-
rupted. Therefore, it is necessary that the
7
CLAVIS APOCALYPTIC A. 25
assembly of the 144,000 who are sealed, which
follows the close of the sixth seal, should begin
with the seventh, which succeeds not less imme-
diately to the sixth. And so, with wonderful
judgment (as I conceive), the Holy Spirit has
pointed out to us beforehand, by this act of
sealing, the connexion between the beginning
of the beast, and the commencement of the
Seventh seal, since no other reason can be given
why the series of the seals, which is not other-
wise to be interrupted, should be disturbed by
this vision of the sealed ones interposed in chap.
vii. Secondly, the end of the beast is con-
temporary with the close of the sixth trumpet.
For since the 1260 days of the witnesses' mourn-
ing in sackcloth finish at the end of the sixth
trumpet, or the beginning of the seventh, there
also must the forty-two months of the beast
finish, and by consequence, the tyranny of the
beast is comprised within the compass of the six
first trumpets. Q. E. D.
Now it has just been demonstrated, Part I.
Synch. I. s. 3. that the forty-two months of the
beast, in the same manner as the 1260 days of
the mourning of the witnesses, contemporary
with them, must finish at the close of the sixth
trumpet, as it is shown from the 11th chapter,
when the witnesses, after three days' death, being
again restored to life, and carried up into heaven,
26 CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA.
had completed the days of their sorrowful pro-
phecy, “a great convulsion of the earth having
taken place at the same hour or time,” the great
city suffered destruction, and the beast, the cruel
enemy of the witnesses, in consequence of the
defeat which he then underwent, breathed his
last. That we might know at what period of
the seals and trumpets this happened, the Spirit
has immediately subjoined, “The second woe
(that is, the sixth trumpet) is now past, and the
third woe (the seventh trumpet) cometh quickly.”
Which character I believe to be inserted here as
another index of this great synchronism, or prin-
cipally for this purpose, that it might be another
of the hinges on which that great and universal
frame of the prophecy of the little book and the
seals might turn. Since otherwise, both this
notice and the sound of the seventh trumpet,
which immediately follows, would have been
placed in right and natural order, at the end of
the prophecy of the seals, chap. x. But the
Holy Spirit, by the mystery of the seventh
trumpet in that place presignified, in the manner
of a proclamation briefly only, and as much as
appeared sufficient at that time, (namely, that it
would come to pass while that was Sounding,
“ that the mystery of God should be finished as
he had declared by the prophets,”) wishes to sus-
pend and postpone the uttering of that sound,
CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA. 27
and the full disclosure of the mystery for a little
while, (and without doubt for some important
purpose,) until, having made a transition to the
new prophecy of the little book, he might bring
the first vision, when it had run its apocalyptic
course, to the same conclusion of events. For I
would wish the reader very attentively to remark,
that in this one vision of the 11th chapter, as the
first of the renewed prophecy, the all-wise Spirit
runs through the whole period of the sealed
prophecy, as a warp through a woof, and con-
nects the same with the seventh trumpet as with
a sort of clasp, for the sake of directing the time
to the series of the seals. But for what purpose,
except that to the first vision thus fixed and
compared with the seals, the remaining prophe-
cies of the little book which succeed, being con-
nected also by their own characters, the whole
system of the renewed prophecy with the seals
might be dexterously accommodated ?
Moreover, lest a scruple should occur to any
one, that those things which are related in the
text, of the consternation of the beast, of the
ruin of the city, and of the slaughter of men
occasioned by the earthquake, by no means
appear as if they ought to be understood of the
total abolition of the beast ; I say that this is
not requisite for that synchronism of which we
have been treating; but that they should be
28 CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA.
taken at least of the concluding time of his
power and kingdom, which is determined in
forty-two months, and which, the synchronism
of the beast and witnesses being acknowledged,
must end at the same time with the days of the
witnesses. But whatever shall survive of the
beast for a little while, will therefore, as may here
be collected, be under an appearance dissimilar
from the former, so that it cannot be reckoned
under the same description; but is likewise not
long after to be wholly destroyed and abolished
under the seventh trumpet, when “the kingdoms
of this world shall become the kingdoms of the
Lord, and of his Christ.”
And so it will be manifest, that by this car-
dinal synchronism well established, the rest may
be easily deduced from it and connected with
the seals.
SYNCHRONISM II.
of the contemporary term of the Interior Court,
and the Battle between the Dragon and Michael
concerning the Man Child, with the first Sir
Seals.
Because they are the events next antecedent
to the contemporary ones which succeed them;
for the six first seals are the nearest antece-
CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA. 29
dents of the seventh. The inner court and the
battle of Michael with the dragon are the nearest
antecedents of the beast, and of the assembly of
the 144,000 sealed ones. Now the seventh seal
(or what is nearly the same thing), the six first
trumpets, are contemporaneous with the assembly
of the sealed and the beast, as was shown by the
former synchronism.
SYNCHRONISM III.
Of the Phials with the Sirth Trnmpet.
The seven phials of the last wrath of God,
since they are so many gradations of the ruin
and fall of the beast, must necessarily begin from
the commencement of this ruin and fall. But
the kingdom of the beast, while the sixth
trumpet was yet sounding, had so far begun to
be undermined, and had proceeded to such an
extent of ruin, that at the end of the same
trumpet the power which was given it to exer-
cise dominion, and to overcome the saints for
forty-two months, was finished. But the beast
could not have fallen to such a state of ruin and
fatal calamity before the fifth phial at least was
poured out, for then it appears at length that his
seat was shaken, and his kingdom darkened.
Therefore five, at least, of the phials are poured
30 - CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA.
out before the sound of the sixth trumpet has
ceased : I believe even the sixth, but the seventh
phial, which is the phial of consummation, will
therefore concur with the beginning of the
seventh trumpet, which is also the trumpet of
consummation.
SYNCHRONISM IV.
Of the Thousand Years in which the Dragon or
Satan is bound, with the Seventh Trumpet, or
the Interval from the Destruction of the Beast.
That this account of the binding of Satan
may be better understood, it must be premised
for a demonstration that it is said in the text,
Satan was not only cast into the abyss, but shut
up there, and that the angel set a seal upon him,
that he might no longer seduce the nations until
the 1000 years were completed. For it was the
custom of the Hebrews and neighbouring na-
tions, when they wished to have a door firmly
secured and barred up, to affix a seal to it.
Thus king Darius sealed with his signet and
the signet of his nobles, the stone which was
placed over the den of lions into which Daniel
was cast. In the story in the Apocrypha, the
servants of Daniel shut the doors of the Temple
CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA, 31
of Bel, and sealed them with the king's seal. In
like manner the Jews secured the sepulchre of
Our Saviour, “ sealing the stone and setting a
watch ;” or made it sure by sealing the stone,
where it is to be observed that the Greek words
ãopaxi.ew and a paytāav mutually explain each
other. It is one thing then, and far different to
be cast down from heaven, (which many accom-
modate to this place), and another to be bound,
shut up in an abyss, and sealed. The former
did not deprive him of his power of wandering
about and doing mischief, the latter does not
suffer him by any means to come out of his
prison. Nay, I dare to affirm that not one of
those things which are related in the 20th
chapter is to be found in the 12th, mor, on the
other hand, is there one word to be found in the
20th of what is related in the 12th. So far
from truth is the supposition that the same event
is represented on both occasions. Let us, how-
ever, examine a little. In the 20th chapter four
things are related of the dragon: first, that he
was seized by the angel who descended from
heaven ; secondly, that he was bound ; thirdly,
that he was cast into the abyss ; fourthly, that
he was shut up and sealed there.
You will find none of these things in the 12th.
On the other hand, of what alone is narrated in
the 12th chapter of the casting down the dragon
32 CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA.
from heaven to earth, not even a trace is to be
found in the 20th. Nay, from the very context
it is easy to collect that no such transaction then
took place. For there it is said, that the angel
who came to bind the dragon, came down from
heaven. Therefore the dragon was already on
earth; for otherwise why should the angel have
descended to lay hold of him 2 Hence, Michael
did not descend from heaven, but had an en-
gagement with the Devil in heaven itself. These
things being premised, let us proceed to the ex-
position of the synchronism.
Argument 1.—Under the first six seals the
dragon, or Satan, was free and at large, and also
under the first six trumpets of the seventh seal.
It follows, therefore, that the 1000 years for
which Satan is bound, are brought within the
seventh trumpet. That Satan or the dragon
was not bound while the first six seals were yet
running their course, is plain from this circum-
stance, that in all that interval, as a red dragon
with his seven heads and crowns, he was con-
tending with Michael about the offspring of the
woman, as was just now demonstrated. But
neither did this take place under the first six
trumpets of the following seal ; for this is the
period of the woman in the wilderness, and of
the domination of the ten-horned beast, as
appears from Synch. I. of this Part. In truth,
CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA. 33
while the woman was living in the wilderness,
it was very unlikely that the dragon could be
considered as bound, who, when free and preci-
pitated from heaven, in the first place attempted
to overwhelm her with a flood of waters which
he cast out of his mouth, as she was preparing
to depart ; and afterwards, when this attempt
did not succeed according to his intention, (the
earth having absorbed the flood, and the woman
having withdrawn into the wilderness,) inflamed
with wrath and fury, he went to make war with
the remnant of her seed which keep the com-
mandments of God, and have the testimony of
Jesus Christ. Are these proofs of Satan's being
bound ! But let us see likewise (what is said of
him) respecting the beast, and hear how the dragon
was bound under his reign : Namely, the dragon
gave him his power and his throne, and great
authority, and all the world womdered after the
beast, and worshipped the dragon which gave
power to the beast. But could Satan perform all
these acts while he was in prison 1 Certainly in
one shut up and sealed it was not possible. But
that there may be no room for subterfuge, and
that it may clearly appear how far the dragon was
still free, and at liberty to perform such deeds,
from those into whose custody he is said to be
committed, in order to be restrained, behold his
other pupil, the false prophet, the inseparable
D
34. CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA.
companion of the ten-horned beast, and the
minister of the bestial power, of whom you have
it written expressly, that he should perform
great wonders, and deceive the inhabitants of
the earth by the miracles which it was given him
to perform. Now, who can readily believe that
while these beasts were in possession of au-
thority, the dragon, or Satan, was cast into the
abyss, and a seal put upon him, that he might
not deceive the nations any more ? But from
the trumpets themselves, (of the intermediate
time at least,) there is not wanting an argument
of the devil's being free and unbound. For is
not that king of the locusts of the fifth trumpet,
who is called the angel of the abyss, to whom
the Hebrew name of Abaddon is applied, and
the Greek of Apollyon, and whom John points
out as him who had long since fallen to the
earth, that very dragon himself and Satan whom
Michael, before the trumpets had begun to sound,
had cast down from heaven to earth 2 For in
the whole Apocalypse, I do not remember to
have read of any other besides him who fell to
the earth, nor do I know any one else to whom
those titles of the angel of the abyss and Abaddon
could apply. However that may be, Satan was
certainly not bound at that time; the bottomless
pit (as it is there called) was not closed upon
him and sealed, but open to that degree, that
CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA. 35
*
the smoke arose out of it, like the Smoke of a
great furnace, and the sun and air were dark-
ened by the smoke : And lastly, the liberty of
the dragon, or Satan, to deceive the nations,
must have continued to the very ruin of the
beast, and was therefore entirely coeval with
the six first trumpets, which I think it impossible
for any one to doubt, who has sufficiently attended
to what is said to be done after the effusion of
the sixth phial, that when the seventh, which is
the last phial, is just about to be poured out, and
therefore the last day of the beast was just at
hand—“Out of the mouth of the dragon and his
vicars, the beast, and the false prophet, three
unclean spirits of demons working miracles go
forth unto the kings of the earth, and of the
whole world, to gather them to the battle of
that great day of God Almighty.”
So the thousand years of Satan's bondage, in
order that he might no longer deceive the nations,
cannot be placed under the first six seals, nor
under the first six trumpets. They must con-
sequently be referred to the seventh trumpet.
Argument 2.—Afterwards, when the thousand
years are finished, and Satan, having been loosed
from his prison for a short time, had excited new
commotions, the rabble of deceived nations which
he had collected having been consumed by fire
sent down from heaven, he himself being taken
D 2
36 CLAVIS APOCALYPTIC A.
as a deceiver, is said to be cast into a lake of
fire and sulphur, where the beast and false pro-
phet were. Observe here, reader, the mark of
the time by which it is intimated that this event,
whatever it is, of Satan's captivity and con-
demnation, after his renewed deliverance, suc-
ceeds as well in order of relation, as also in
time of action, to the vision of the former chapter
concerning the beast and false prophet being
vanquished, captured, and in like manner cast
into a lake of fire burning with sulphur, by him
who sat on the white horse. For it would not
otherwise be said that Satan was cast into the
place where the beast and the false prophet were,
unless the beast and the false prophet had been
previously sent there.
Nor let any shrewd person say, by way of
evasion, that there is no difference between this
war of the 20th chapter, after the one thousand
years, and that of the former chapter; since not
only the character displayed, but all the circum-
stances likewise, on both sides, are in direct con-
tradiction to it—the parties, kind of battle, and
mode of destruction. There by the sword ; here
by fire; nay, the event of each battle is also dis-
similar, as will presently appear by demonstra-
tion. In that instance, it was the binding of
Satan for a time ; but in this, it is his condemna-
tion to eternal fire.
CLAVIS APOCALYPTIC A. 37
Since the war then in which the beast and the
false prophet, when captured, are cast into a
lake of fire, is different from the last, to which
Satan, who was to be finally cast into the same
lake, had excited the nations immediately after
his liberation, it must have been waged either
within the thousand years, or before they began.
But within the thousand years it could not be
waged, because so long Satan is said to have
been shut up in the abyss, that he might not
deceive the nations any longer until the thousand
years were completed; c. XX. v. 3. But in the
war in which victory was at length obtained
over the beast, the false prophet, and their
associates, (if ever otherwise,) he was most free
and at perfect liberty to deceive, as is apparent
from what we have justly alleged from the 16th
chapter, of the preparation for this war; namely,
that after the effusion of the sixth phial, when
the seventh, by which the beast was utterly de-
stroyed, was just ready to be poured out, “from
the mouth of the dragon, and from the mouth
of the beast, and the false prophet, three impure
spirits, like frogs, being the spirits of demons
working miracles, went forth to the kings of the
earth and of the whole world, to gather them to
the battle of the great day of God Almighty.”
Since then the period of the thousand years by
no means admits of these disturbances and
38 CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA.
Satanic commotions, it follows that this war of
the beast preceded them in time. And thus at
length the thousand years of Satan's bondage
will contemporize with the interval from the
destruction of the beast. Q. E. D.
Argument 3.-Lastly, since, during the thou-
sand years in which Satan is detained in custody,
Christ may be said to have reigned with his fol-
lowers over that august and magnificent king-
dom, therefore, by the same arguments and
marks by which the synchronism of the one is
established, that of the other will be confirmed.
That this august kingdom of Christ then begins
with the seventh trumpet, or from the destruc-
tion of the beast, it is now our business to
show.
SYNCHRONISM V.
Of the Thousand Years of the august Kingdom of
Christ, and of the Seventh Trumpet, or the
Interval from the Destruction of the Beast.
That extraordinary and august kingdom of
Christ, repeatedly mentioned in the Apocalypse,
and of whose approach the chorus of animated
beings and elders rejoicing together, are wont
to sing hymns and doxologies to God, every
CLAVIS APOCALYPTIC A. 39
where succeeds to the beast and Babylon, sub-
dued and led in triumph. For, first, in the 20th
chapter, where this reign of a thousand years is
expressly treated of, in the number of those who
reign with Christ, are they who have not wor-
shipped the beast, nor his image, nor received his
mark upon their foreheads or in their hands. Do
not these words sufficiently show that this reign
of Christ succeeded the reign of the beast, his
image, and his marks For why should this
eulogium be bestowed on the children of the
kingdom, that they had not adored the beast, &c.
unless the beast had preceded it ! For the good
desert is certainly antecedent to the remumera-
tion and reward. But this kingdom, (as the
series of the marration points out) is bestowed
on the saints as a reward of their faith and con-
stancy, their cause having been first heard in
solemn judgment; the assembly of which is
described in these words, “And I saw thrones,
and they sat upon them, and judgment was given
unto them;” that is, the power of judging facts,
&c. Therefore the time in which, while the
beast was reigning, the Saints approved their
faith and their constancy to God, preceded the
judgment. The remuneration follows the decree
then established.
2. The same likewise farther appears from the
paean of the elders and living creatures, which
40 CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA.
was sung at the fall of Babylon : “'AAAmAoûia, 3rt
â€agiNevos Kūptoc ô Đeoc 6 travrokpárop,” v. 7. “Let
us rejoice, and exult, and give glory to him ; for
the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife
hath made herself ready.” For that the kingdom
in both cases is the same, I cannot entertain a
doubt. -
3. But most clearly of all does it appear, from
c. xi. v. 15, 16, &c. when, at the sound of the
seventh trumpet, the days of the witnesses, and
the months of the beast, and the Gentiles being
concluded, there was that exclamation in heaven,
“The kingdoms of this world are become the
kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ, and he
shall reign for ever and ever. And the four
and twenty elders who sat on their thrones
before God, fell on their faces and worshipped
God, saying, We give thanks, O Lord God
Almighty, who art, and who wast, and who art
to come, because Thou hast taken to Thee thy
great power, and hast reigned.”
This is that consummation of the mystery of
God, proclaimed by the prophets, which, at the
sounding of the seventh trumpet, the angel had
before predicted should come to pass; when
meither the months of the beast, nor the days of
the witnesses in mourning, nor any part of the
period of “a time, and times, and half a time,”
should remain to be completed, precisely accord-
CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA, 41
ing to the prediction of Daniel, c. vii. v. 25,26. con-
cerning the oecumenical dominion of Christ, or the
reign of the saints, which was to take place after
the same times and the same sessions of judgment.
Likewise where the same angel who here ad-
dresses John, in the same gesture, manner, and
(what is chiefly to be remarked) under the same
form of Swearing, is said to have asseverated
that the interval of a time, and times, and half
a time, being completed, the dispersion of the
holy people, and with it, the last of wonderful
events, should be consummated.
Whoever desires a farther confirmation, let
him apply the characters of the foregoing syn-
chronism to the present; for they afford, as I
have said, mutual corroboration to each other.
SYNCHRONISM VI.
Of the New Jerusalem, the Spouse of the Lamb,
with the Seventh Trumpet, or the Period from
the Destruction of the Beast.
The marriage of the Lamb, and the august
kingdom of the Lord God Omnipotent, both
begin from the fall of Babylon, from whence the
seventh trumpet begins. This appears from the
hymn of the elders and living creatures, which
are quoted in the former synchronism, c. xix.
42 CLAVIS APOCALYPTIC A.
v. 6, 7. “ Alleluia! for our Lord God Omni-
potent has begun to reign. Let us be glad, and
rejoice, and give glory to Him ; for the marriage
of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made
herself ready.” But the “new Jerusalem is the
spouse of the Lamb, adorned and prepared for
her husband,” c. xxi. v. 2. “And I saw,” says he,
“ the Holy City, New Jerusalem, coming down
out of heaven from God, as a wife adorned for
her husband;” and, v. 9, “Come, and I will show
you the bride, the Lamb's wife.” Therefore, it
will both begin and be contemporary with the
seventh trumpet.
2. New Jerusalem is the beloved city; but
that beloved city, as soon as the thousand years
are finished, is said to be compassed out by the
last forces of Satan, then set at liberty. c. xx. v. 9.
“And they compassed the camp of the saints
about, and the beloved city.” Therefore it must
have existed before, while Satan was bound. To
these two arguments, either for the sake of con-
firmation, or of illustration and ornament, two
others seem proper to be subjoined.
3. As soon as the seventh phial has been
poured out, “a great voice proceeded from the
Throne, saying, Téyove, It is done, c. xvi. 19.
In like manner, c. xxi. v. 5, 6. “He who sat on
the Throne” said to John, as he saw the New
Jerusalem descending from heaven, “Behold,
CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA. 43
I make all things new. Tºyove, It is done. I
am A and Q, the Beginning and the End.”
Therefore the new Jerusalem, the wife of the
Lamb, begins from the final termination of the
phials: “It is done,” the harlot being now extinct,
and so is contemporary with the interval from
the destruction of the beast.
4. One of the angels of the phials, c. xvii.
showed John the judgment of the harlot, while
the phials were pouring out, and which was to
be effected by one of them at least; and the
same angel of the phials, c. xxi. v. 10. shows the
same John the bride of the Lamb, the great and
holy city Jerusalem; because it was to become
conspicuous when the phials were discharged,
that is, when the beast and Babylon were
extinct.
SYNCHRONISM VII.
Of the Palm-bearing Multitude of Persons innu-
merable, rejoicing in triumph, out of all nations,
and kindreds, and peoples, and tongues ; with
the Seventh Trumpet, or Period after the De-
struction of the Beast.
I. The palm-bearing multitude immediately
succeeds the company of a hundred and forty-
four thousand sealed ; but that company which
7
44 CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA.
is to be considered as the opposite to the beast,
with which it is contemporary, both in meaning
and duration, completed its period likewise with
the beast. (Synch. IV. Part. I.) Therefore the
palm-bearing multitude follows both, and con-
sequently falls in with the seventh trumpet,
which is the interval from the downfal of the
beast.
The palm-bearing multitude are citizens of the
new Jerusalem ; for of both it is said, “ that
they shall not hunger any more, nor thirst any
more ; that the Lamb shall feed them, and lead
them to living fountains of waters; and that God
shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.”
Now, the new Jerusalem is contemporary with
the seventh trumpet, and therefore the palm-
bearing multitude is so likewise.
THE EPOCH OF THE APOCALYPSE.
The epoch of the Apocalypse, as far as it is a
prophecy of the future, whether you are inclined
to consider it as commencing from the beginning
of Christianity, or from the ruin of the Jewish
polity and church, or from the moment of time
in which the revelation was made to St. John,
or in whatever way it may be understood, (for I
will not act as an interpreter, when I recollect
CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA. 45
my design,) I think no one will be inclined to
doubt but that the beginning of the seals, which
relates to things to be transacted therein, must
be deduced from thence. But from the same
epoch must be derived also the beginning of the
second prophecy, or of the Little Book, if those
words of the context, about the repetition of the
prophecy, and what we have besides treated of
above in Synch. VI. Part I. and in the Intro-
duction to Part II. have not been sufficiently
convincing to any individual, he will be com-
pelled at length to acknowledge, from the neces-
sity of the synchronism, when he shall have
attempted to place the several prophecies in
order and method according to the explanations
which have just been made.
THE CLOSE OF THE SYNCHRONISMS AND OF
THE APOCALYPSE.
The universal resurrection of the dead, and
the last judgment with Gehenna follow the
thousand years of the kingdom and the con-
demnation of Satan, c. xx. from verse 11 to the
end.
Paradise follows the description of New Jeru-
salem, through which runs a river like Eden,
winds about here and there, having in the midst
46 CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA.
the tree of life. For so I understand the words.
“In the midst of the street or breadth thereof,
and of the river which ran on each side, was the
tree of life.” And this is the end of the world
and of the Apocalypse.
As to what remains, Reader, behold the order
and series of all the prophecies in the Apocalypse,
according to the events delineated for your in-
spection in this scheme, and to be seen at one
glance, which I have constructed according to
the rule of the synchronisms just demonstrated,
for my own use ; and if you will allow it, for
yours also.
May God open our mental eyes, that we may
discover his wonderful works. Amen :
A COROLLARY ON THE USE OF THE KEY.
1. From what has been already said, I think
it is evident that the Apocalypse was constructed
not only to be regarded according to the letter,
as if it were some naked history of events, but
also a prophecy involved in mystic allegories
and types, with signs and characters of the same
kind inserted by the Holy Spirit, throughout the
whole narration, that thence the legitimate series,
order, and synchronisms of all the visions may
CLAVIS APOCALYPTIC A. 47
be extracted, compared, and demonstrated, with
the supposition and assistance of any given
interpretation.
2. Then, besides, as it is the custom in
historical works, that many different transac-
tions which took place together and at the
same time, with many other transactions, cannot,
notwithstanding, be related together, but sepa-
rately and in succession ; so likewise it is usual,
in the case of those prophecies and visions of
things performed, (but displayed in the most
commodious and wisest order,) that they would
be altogether in the wrong who would proceed
to interpret the Apocalypse in such a manner,
as if the events succeeded each other always in
the same order and series as the visions.
3. By successfully examining the meaning of
the Apocalyptical visions, the series and con-
nexion in the chief of them among each other,
according to the events, being investigated by
remarkable characters and marks, and demon-
strated by internal arguments, is to be consti-
tuted as the basis and foundation of all solid and
legitimate interpretation. For the order itself is
to be confirmed, not according to the will of the
interpreter, (as we see unadvisedly done by
many,) on account of some congruity of the
interpretation, but every interpretation is to be
tried by the characters of the synchronisms,
48 CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA.
according to the already constructed idea of this
chronic order, as by a rule and standard. For
without a foundation of this kind, it is scarcely
possible that you should extract any thing from
the Apocalypse which can solidly give an as-
Surance of its interpretation and application, and
which may rely on Divine authority, and not on
assumed principles and mere conjectures. But,
on the contrary, if this foundation be admitted,
since even the bounds of time and order will not
permit the application to wander at licence and
at will, you will be surprised, out of so many
varying and even contending interpretations, how
many are almost entirely removed, few doubtful
places, upon the whole, being left, and those
generally of small consequence, in which the
intention yet remains doubtful, at least as to its
general application ; so that from this book
henceforth, as well as from the other books of
the New Testament, arguments may be obtained,
even on the subject of prophecy, Secure of inter-
pretation, and on which reliance may be placed
as on the oracles of the Holy Spirit, and not
merely on the inventions of the human under-
standing. -
5. Now, O Reader, such an Apocalyptical
Key, or Compass, (if you prefer calling it so,)
according to the measure of intelligence with
which a good and beneficent God has favoured
CLAVIS APOCALYPTIC A. 49
me, an unworthy sinner, in the investigation of
these mysteries, I demonstrate to the best of my
power in the above synchronisms, and propose
to your view in the accompanying scheme, as in
a brief and easy compendium ; in which, (that
you may not be ignorant of its use,) if you have
once made up your mind about the sense of some
principal prophecy, and of the times in which it
was fulfilled, you will then have a method pointed
out, from which, by the clew of the synchronisms,
and the order of the whole, you will be able to
investigate, nay, even to demonstrate, the mean-
ing of the other visions; since those other pro-
phecies which are contemporary with that known
prophecy of yours, are without doubt to be ap-
plied to the same times; but those which pre-
cede are only to be interpreted of preceding,
those which succeed in like manner, only of sub-
sequent events.
6. And lest you should be inclined to doubt
whether there is any one of all the visions in
the Apocalypse to be found on which you can
safely fix your foot, in the manner I have pointed
out, and from thence, as from Some station or
watch-tower, measure the rest of the Apocalypse,
lo! on this very point a discovery has been made
by the Holy Spirit, in that illustrious vision of
the great harlot; in truth, the only one of all
E
50 CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA.
the visions which the angel, contrary to custom,
explains to John. But for what purpose ? unless
that by it an approach may be opened to the
rest, which would be otherwise inaccessible 2
What would you wish for more ? Here then,
having invoked the Father of Lights, enter; and
having entered, apply the key to unlock the
remainder. Make a trial; and when you have
tried, you will confess that this prophecy is most
admirable, and that when the subject is tho-
roughly investigated, there is none of the Old
Testament, not even that of Daniel, (so it be-
comes the Gospel,) which can be compared with
it for certainty, either in the singular con-
trivance of its manifestation, or in the mode and
manner of discovering its interpretation.
Lastly, I will intreat of you, O Reader, who
may meet with this work, that if you shall per-
ceive any thing perchance to have been revealed
to me, while an attentive observer, which may
be of service to yourself or others, in the under-
standing of these mysteries, you would refer it
wholly to the mercy of God, bestowed upon
me; to whom I likewise shall never cease to
return my grateful thanks for the slenderest
raylet of His wisdom; but whatever may be
erroneous, that I beseech you to impute to
myself alone, a man of very little ability, and
CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA, 51
by no means fitted of myself (of which I am
fully conscious) to such an undertaking.
Blessing, and honour, and glory be unto Him
that sitteth on the Throne, and to the Lamb,
for ever and ever !
A COMMENTARY
O N THE
REVELATION OF SAINT JOHN,
A CCO RD ING TO THE RULE OF
THE APOCALYPTICAL KEY.
am===ºmmº-smºsºm-
APOC. c. vi. 2. “Exivit vincens et ut vinceret.”
APOC. c. i. 7. “Ecce venit cum nubibus et videbit eum omnis
oculus, etiam qui eum transfixerunt.”
THE FIRST PART
Of the Apocalyptical Commentaries, according to
the Rule of the Apocalyptical Key, on the First
Prophecy which is contained in the Seals and
Trumpets; with an Introduction concerning the
Scene of the Apocalypse.
As it is my design to investigate the meaning
of the Apocalyptical visions, it is requisite for
me to treat, in the first place, of that celestial
theatre to which John was called, in order to
behold them, exhibited as on a stage, and after-
CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA. 53
wards of the prophecies in succession, examined
by the Apocalyptical Key.
O Christ the Wisdom of God! to whom
“ the Revelation was given by the Father, to
show unto us his servants things which must
come to pass,” illuminate my mind with Thy
bright beams, cleanse me from impurity by Thy
blood. Grant me, with Thy assistance, and with
the Spirit for my guide, to investigate these
abstruse mysteries, and to explain them to
others'
I give the name of Apocalyptical theatre to
that august session of God and the Church,
described in the fourth chapter, and exactly
conformable to the type of the ancient encamp-
ment of Israel in the desert, which will be fully
manifest on comparing the disposition of one
with the other. Thus, in the midst of the camp
of Israel, was placed the tabernacle. The Levites
were stationed nearest the camp ; and after the
Levites, to the four quarters of the world, the
rest of the assembly of Israel, marshalled under
four standards, three tribes being disposed under
one standard, and receiving its name from the
first tribe of its cohort. Each standard exhibited
a signal, which, though Moses only mentions in
a general manner, and does not always express
what figure was inscribed on each standard, yet
the Hebrews, from the ancient traditions of their
7
54. CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA.
elders, (in this instance not rashly to be despised.)
proceed to the description of the whole in the
following manner:-
On the east was the standard of Judah, with
his associate tribes, under the sign of a Lion.
On the west the standard of Ephraim, under
the sign of an Oa.
On the south that of Reuben, under the sign
of a Man.
On the north that of Dan, under the sign of
an Eagle.
Aben Ezra observes on Numbers ii. hoºp
nºtox. Our ancestors have said, that there was
the figure of a man on the standard of Reuben, on
account of the mandrakes which he found, (but
this is a foolish observation). On the standard
of Judah the figure of a lion, because Jacob com-
pared him to one. On the standard of Ephraim
the figure of an ox, with reference to what is
said, Deut. c. xxxiii. v. 17. “The firstling of his
bullock.” And lastly, on the standard of Dan
the figure of an eagle. Bar Nachman, and Chuz-
kuni in his third chapter, have the same observa-
tions on this subject.
If any one should be very curious to inquire
on what account the figures of these animals
were selected for this purpose, besides what may
be deduced, not improperly, from the blessing of
Judah and Ephraim, the writers on the Talmud
CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA. 55
seem to intimate a reason of this nature. There
are four proud ones, (say they,) or those who
bear pre-eminence in the world; the lion among
the wild beasts, the ox among cattle, the eagle
among birds, and man, upon whom God be-
stowed super-eminent beauty, that he might rule
over all. Whatever the reason may be, this tradi-
tion of the Jews may be confirmed by the quad-
ruple face of the cherubim, in Ezekiel, (for do not
imagine there were so many heads,) by which
was signified, that he who was carried by them
was the Lord and King of the four cohorts, or
camps of Israel. For as the chariots of princes
are emblazoned with the ensigns of their lords,
so are the cherubim with the signs of Jehovah,
King of the Tetrarchs of Israel.
Nor would it be very difficult to collect, from
the position of Ezekiel, and the cherubim in that
vision, with respect to each other, to which
quarter of the world each face of the cherubim
was directed : For when Ezekiel, with his coun-
tenance turned to the north, saw the cherubim,
as it were, coming forth to meet him, undoubtedly
that which then appeared before him was the
anterior and direct face of the cherubim, namely,
that of a man, and consequently the face of the
man looked towards the south : Whence it fol-
lows, that what is said to have been on the right
hand of Ezekiel, the face of the lion, looked
56 CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA.
towards the east, that of the ox, which was on
his left hand, looked towards the west; and
lastly, that of the eagle towards the north.
And the same reason induces us to believe
that those cherubim which overshadowed the
ark of God, in the recess of the temple, were of
a similar, that is, of a quadriform face, especially,
since it may be proved, that this was the fact
with regard to those which were engraven on the
walls of the temple; because in the same pro-
phet, c. xli. v. 19, we read of half their sculpture,
when two faces, as must have been the case in
bas-relief of this kind, being buried in the plane
of the wall, the two remaining ones, those of the
man and the lion, are represented as having
stood forward, in opposite directions, towards
the palms embossed on each side. And permit
me to ask, why should the cherubim have been
sculptured in any other form than that in which
they were exhibited ? We may add, that some
understand of the four animals, as so many
ensigns of the cohorts of Israel, a passage of
Psalm lxviii. v. 10, which, indeed, Jerome, in
that version which has its reputation from its
conformity with the Hebrew verity, has thus
translated : “Thy animals have dwelt therein;”
that is to say, according to what precedes it, “ in
9
thy inheritance;” i. e. the camp of thy people,
whom thou leddest through the wilderness. In
CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA. 57
like manner, the Septuagint, and the Vulgate,
which is translated from it, have rà Zºd oov, ani-
malia tua ; and, in truth, that this passage refers
to that time, plainly appears from what is ante-
cedent to this and the preceding verse. “O God!
when thou wentest out before thy people ; when
thou wentest through the wilderness; the earth
trembled and the heavens dropped at the pre-
sence of God,” &c. And also what is subjoined
of “ the gracious rain,” the rain of manna, if I
am not mistaken, and therefore it may be ren-
dered, “A gracious or liberal rain hast thou
shed, O God l with which thou hast comforted
thy labouring inheritance.” Not to say, besides,
that the beginning of this psalm is borrowed
from that form of prayer which Moses used at
the going out of the people of Israel, “Rise,
O Jehovah' and let thy enemies be scattered '''
We have seem the Israelitish encampment of
God: Now let us see how the Apocalyptic As-
sembly conforms to it in every respect. c. iv. v. 2.
“And I was (says John) in the Spirit, and be-
hold a throne was set in heaven; and there was
One sitting on the throne. And He that sat
thereon was to look at like a jasper and a sardine
stone, like the appearance of an emerald ; and
around the throne were four-and-twenty seats,
and upon the seats I saw four-and-twenty elders
sitting, clothed in white garments, and they had
58 CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA.
on their heads golden crowns. And out of the
throne proceeded lightnings, and thunderings,
and voices; and there were seven lamps of fire
burning before the throne, which are the seven
spirits of God. And before the throne was a sea
of glass, like unto chrystal, and in the midst of
the throne, and round about the throne, were
four animals, full of eyes before and behind ;
and the first animal was like a lion, and the
second animal like a calf, and the third animal
had a face as a man, and the fourth animal was
like a flying eagle. And the four animals had
each of them six wings round about him, and
were full of eyes within, and they rest not day
and might, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God
Almighty, which was, and which is, and which
is to come ! And when those animals give glory
and honour and thanks to Him who is sitting on
the throne, and who liveth for ever and ever,
the four-and-twenty elders fall down before Him
who sitteth on the throne, and worship Him who
liveth for ever and ever, and cast their crowns
before the throne, saying, Worthy art thou, O
Lord, to receive glory, and honour, and power,
for thou hast created all things, and through thy
will they are, and were created "
Do not these particulars answer exactly to
each other ? First, as to the tabernacle : That
the throne here placed in the midst, on which
CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA. 59
God was sitting, was no other than the temple,
or tabernacle, (for it must be observed, that the
description is applicable to the history of both,)
appears both from the seven lamps burning
before it, and from the glassy sea, like chrystal,
of which the former represent the candlestick
with its seven lights, likewise burning before the
sacred place; the latter that immense laver in
the Temple of Solomon, called the sea; but with
this difference, that that of Solomon was brass,
but ours of glassy or pellucid substance.
I know not, however, whether we may not be
allowed to conjecture that an allusion is here
made to that more ancient laver of the Mosaic
tabernacle, since that also is reported to have
been constructed of looking-glass, of I know not
what substance; viz. of the looking-glasses of the
women assembling at the door of the tabernacle.
But you may see the temple remarkably described
under the title of the throne of God. Is. vi. 1.
“I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, lofty and
elevated, and its skirts filled the temple.” So
also Jerem. xvii. 12. “ A throne of glory from
the beginning is the place of our sanctuary.”
And Ezekiel, xliii. 7. “The place of my throme,
and the place of my footsteps, where I dwell in
the midst of the sons of Israel for ever.”
And that it was a throne of this kind, which
John saw placed in the midst of the elders and
60 CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA.
living creatures, the Apocalypse has every where
taken for granted. For where did he see the
altar openly, “ and under it the souls of those
who were slain for the Word of God,” except in
the temple 2 How could the golden altar of
incense be before the throne, unless that throne
were a temple or a tabernacle 7 What else will
“ the four horns of the golden altar” imply, which
is in the sight of God? What is meant by the
temple, the courts of the temple, and the altar,
as well those which were to be measured by the
reed of the angel, as those which were to be left
out 2 What the temple of God opened in hea-
ven, and therein the ark of the testimony exposed
to view 7 What the angels coming forth from
the temple, and that also in heaven 2 What is
meant by the harpers standing on the brink of
the sea, or glassy laver, and singing the song of
victory, and that likewise in heaven 2 What in
the fifth verse of the same chapter, of the temple
of the tabernacle of testimony opened in heaven 2
and of the same temple “filled with smoke from
the glory of God 7" But what places the matter
beyond all chance of contradiction is, “And
there came forth a great voice out of the temple
of heaven from the throne.”
Moreover, in this throne or temple, lest any
doubt should remain, the place of God's seat,
(or, as the Greek interpreters speak of the throne
CLAVIS APOCALYPTIC A. 61
of Solomon,) 0 0póvoc tric ka0éðpac, the throne of
his resting-place, was that interior and most
holy part of the temple, where the ark of the
covenant was enclosed with the mercy-seat.
For there God was said to dwell, and sit between
the cherubim of glory: For which reason, indeed,
both the seven lamps in this place, and the golden
altar of incense afterwards, are said to have been
“ before the throne;” that is, before the inmost
recess of the temple; for that is plainly said of
both in so many words, 2 Chron. iv. and 1 Kings
vi. 20, in the former of which the Septuagint
has, “ roëc A6xvovc kará rô Tpóowtrov row 8a€elp ;”
i. e. the lamps before the face of the Dabir”, (for
so the inmost recess is called in Hebrew ;) in
the other place, “evouaori ptov kéðpivov, kara Tpóg-
wrov row 8ačeip,” “ the cedar altar of incense
before the face of the Dabir ;” nearly in the same
sense as in the Apocalypse, “ before the throme
and before God.” So the remaining parts, both
of the temple and tabernacle, will consist partly
of props, partly of steps, and partly of a footstool
to the throne properly so called, of which kind
that august throme of Solomon is said to have
had parts or appendages. Thus far respecting
the throne.
2. Four-and-twenty elders, in the next place,
* Before the Oracle. English translation.
62 CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA.
surround the throne, who represent the bishops
and prelates of the churches, and answer in
place and order to the Levites and priests in the
camp of Israel, and their number twenty-four
corresponds with the daily courses of the priests
and Levites, or, what comes to the same result,
with the chiefs of the daily courses. Whence
beside that they are next to God, they have
likewise their thrones there: Moreover, they
wear crowns, which are marks of dignity and
power bestowed by God.
3. At a proper distance behind the elders,
where lines drawn through the middle of the
throne bisect its sides on every part of the cir-
cumference, towards the four cardinal points of
heaven, four living creatures were seen ; the
first in the figure of a lion, the second of an ox,
(for uéoxoc is an ox with the Hellenists,) the
third in the likeness of a man, the fourth of a
flying eagle, representing doubtless the Christian
churches towards the four parts of the world,
and answering to the four Israelitish camps,
which bore standards of the same animals. For
what is called in the Apocalyptic text, a little
obscurely, “ in the midst of the throne, and
round about the throne,” may be explained by
the figure v 8tà èvolv; i. e. one through two;
familiar to the Hebrews, as if it had been said,
in the midst of the circuit or circumference of
CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA. 63
the throne; and in this sense, if you were to
draw round the throne, as a square, a quadran-
gular parallel figure at a proper distance from
the throne, and the elders surrounding it, in the
midst, or at the middle of every one of the sides
of the quadrangle, (for év učaq), in the midst, is to
be taken distributively,) the four animals exhi-
bited themselves, namely, one in the middle of
each side.
cº G) Lion
Marv
Moreover, those animals are described as
“full of eyes before and behind,” having six
wings around them, and those full of eyes within.
So many eyes denote a multitude of very well-
sighted persons, and full of the knowledge of the
mysteries of God, of which kind there are many in
the animals, that is, in the churches which the
animals represent. The wings denote agility
and alacrity in executing the commands of God.
Wings with eyes demote zeal combined with
knowledge and faith. Lastly, six wings around

64. CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA.
them, denote that they are ready to fly every
way, that is, fully prepared to fulfil the com-
mands of God universally and entirely. In
addition we are told, lastly, what was the nature
of their duty, as well that of the living creatures,
as of the elders around the throne, namely, of
this kind, that “ as often as those animated
beings were about to give glory, and honour,
and thanks to Him that sat on the throne ;”
i. e. as often as the churches formed their holy
congregations, so often “ the four-and-twenty
elders, in right of their office preceding the ani-
mated beings, are accustomed to “fall down
before God,” saying, “Worthy art Thou, O Lord,
to receive glory, and honour, and power ; for
Thou hast created all things, and for thy plea-
sure they are and were created.” This inter-
pretation being admitted, the diction of John,
which many pretend to be a solecism, as impro-
perly using the futures, 8%govot, Tegotivrat, trpoo-
kvvágoval, instead of the preterites, will easily be
defended ; since, according to the Hebrews,
(whose ideas the apostle every where adopts,)
the future is used to denote an act of custom or
duty, so that John is by no means to be supposed
to relate what was there done in the vision, by
the animated beings and elders, but what was
to be done as occasion, should arise, and what
he himself saw done by them afterwards, in the
r
CLAVIS APOCALYPTIC A. 65
progress of the visions when an opportunity
occurred of celebrating God.
And therefore (that I may at length come to a
conclusion) I think I have clearly shown, that
the throne in this august session answers to the
tabernacle or temple; the elders answer to the
Levites; the four animals to the four Israelitish
camps; that is, that the whole assemblage is the
image of that ancient castrametation in the wil-
derness. Which subject has indeed been more
diffusively treated of by me, because I have
observed that the reason of many types in the
Apocalypse depends chiefly on the knowledge
of this, which I doubt not but every one who
has thoroughly investigated the matter, will per-
ceive as well as myself.
The theatre being thus prepared, He who sat
on the throme stretches forth a book in his right
hand, written upon, both in the inside and the
out, and fastened with seven seals, and an angel
at the same time coming forth on the scene, pro-
claims, with a loud voice, that if to any one were
given the power of opening it, so that the things
which were written therein might be seem and
read, he should take it into his hands and apply
himself to the task; and in so doing, would per-
form an office very acceptable to all who were
ardent in the study of mysteries.
F
66 CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA.
And the book was in truth most worthy of the
effort; in the unsealing of which, any one would
exert all the powers of his understanding and
industry, inasmuch as the volume was predictive
of the counsels of God, in which was interwoven
the series and order of events, to be transacted
up to the second and glorious advent of Christ.
For, of this nature evidently appears to be the
double prophecy of the future, which the volume
contained. Which is the reason, unless I am
mistaken, why John, when he was preparing to
expound the visions, prefixed to the beginning of
his history the descriptive outline of his glorious
advent, as the boundary of the Apocalyptic
course. “Behold (says he) he cometh with
clouds, and every eye shall see him, and they
also that pierced him, and all the tribes of the
earth shall lament because of him.” As much
as to say, this is the scope, this the boundary of
the visions which I shall relate.
But when “no one of those who were in hea-
ven, or in the earth, or under the earth, was able
to unseal the book,” and the object seemed to be
given up for lost, so that John, overcome with
grief, burst into tears, lo, “a Lamb in appear-
ance, as if it had been slain,” that is, bearing the
marks and wounds of one that had undergone
death, arose in the midst of the elders and ani-
mated beings, and took the book, for the purpose
CI, AVIS APOCALYPTICA. 67
Key
of unsealing and opening it, as he alone had
worthily obtained the power of doing it.
At the sight of this a chorus of the animated
beings and elders, together with the surround-
ing angels, and all the creatures in the universe,
filled with gratitude, immediately sing a hymn to
the Lamb and to the Father. On which subject
I desire only to remark at present, that they
manifestly refer the power of unsealing the book
as obtained by the merit of the passion of the
Lamb. “Worthy art thou (they say) to open the
book and its seals, for thou wert slain, and hast
redeemed us to God by thy blood, out of every
tribe, and tongue, and people, and nation.” By
which, perhaps, light may be thrown on that
saying of our Saviour before he had suffered and
been glorified : “But of that day and hour
(alluding to his second coming, whether it would
be sooner or later) knoweth no one, neither the
angels in heaven, nor the Son, but the Father
only ;” because the Apocalypse was not yet given
to Christ by the Father, nor the order of events
relating to his advent yet made known. I assert
nothing rashly ; let the reader weigh the matter
with himself.
While the Lamb is thus unsealing the book
at each of the seals, particular images of future
things are exhibited, of which the system runs
through the whole Apocalyptical course, and
F 2
68 CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA.
thus constitutes the first universal prophecy.
The interpretation of which, by the favour of
Him who sitteth on the throne and of the Lamb,
we will now attempt.
Of the two Apocalyptical Prophecies.
The first prophecy, that of the seals, compre-
hends the fates of the empire: The other, that of
the little book, the fates of the Church, or of the
Christian Religion, until at length both shall
coalesce in the reign of the Church triumphant,
“when the kingdoms of this world have become
the kingdoms of the Lord and his Christ.” For
as Daniel in the Old Testament, according to
the succession of empires, both presignified the
coming of Christ, and explained in order the
fates of the Jewish Church; so is the Apocalypse
to be understood as measuring out the Christian
system by the proceedings of the Roman empire,
which was still remaining after Christ. Nor does
the event contradict this supposition. The in-
terpretation of the first prophecy thus proceeds
upon this general hypothesis.
Of the first Prophecy, which is that of the Seals :
and in the first place, of the events signified by
the sia: first Seals.
The scope of the seven seals in general is this,
that the periods of time, as it continues to flow,
7
CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA. 69
being distinguished by the characters of events,
it may be shown, that when the succession of
occurrences of every kind relative to the Roman
empire has been contemplated, it would come to
pass that Christ would vanquish the powers of
the world with which he was waging war. In
the sixth succession, or sixth seal, the gods of
the heathen Roman empire; and in the seventh,
when the series of the trumpets shall have ar-
rived at the last trump, whatever, even after that
time, might have arisen anew, or yet remain in
any part of the world, was to be destroyed and
abolished. “For he must reign until he hath put
all enemies under his feet :” That is, till he has
abolished all hostile principality, and power, and
authority.
We will treat of the former period, as the
order requires, in the first place.
The six first seals then, in their sixfold cha-
racter of events, (not much unlike those which
our Saviour had prescribed for pointing out the
time of the ruin of Jerusalem,) distinguish so
many periods of the Roman empire, while it was
yet subsisting and flourishing, until, at length,
in the sixth, Christ should utterly demolish the
power of idols and heathen deities in that part
of the globe. Now I call characters the very
signal events of the Roman empire, by which
occurrences, as in a symbol, the periods may be
70 CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA.
distinguished, and those in this first period, not
brought on from without by the barbarous
nations, (of which kind will be those of the
empire afterwards falling to decay under the
plagues of the seven trumpets,) but intestine
misfortunes, arising within the empire itself:
Which destruction, indeed, was introduced by
the Holy Spirit for this purpose, that the dif-
ferent times of the Roman commonwealth, the
former of its flourishing, the latter of its declin-
ing state,_may be described by different marks.
It is here likewise to be observed, that since
the characters of the occurrences, of which I
have spoken, scarce ever or rarely pervade the
whole period of the seal, and consequently may
not be sufficient of themselves to circumscribe
these periods within a certain beginning and
end; therefore, in the four first seals, the Holy
Spirit (where that may be most necessary, as
well for the cause above mentioned as on ac-
count of the inequality of the periods) has had
recourse to the four animated beings for that
purpose, each of which might indicate the epoch
of the seal according to his point of the compass.
How this is done we shall presently see. It is
sufficient at present to have given a hint of it.
C. vi. “And I saw when the Lamb opened one
of the seals, and I heard one of the four animated
beings saying, as with a voice of thunder, Come
CLAVIS APOCALYPTIC A. 71
and see. And I saw, and behold a white horse,
and he that sat thereon held a bow, and a crown
was given unto him, and he went forth conquer-
ing, and to conquer. And when he opened the
second seal, I heard the second animated being
saying, Come and see. And there went out
another horse that was red *, and it was given
to him that sat thereon to take peace from the
earth, and that they might slay one another;
and a great sword was given him. And when
he opened the third seal, I heard the third ani-
mated being say, Come and see. And I beheld,
and lo a black horse, and he that sat thereon had
a balance in his hand : And I heard a voice in
the midst of the four living creatures, saying, A
daily measurei of wheat for a penny, and three
daily measures of barley for a penny ; and hurt
not the oil and the wine. And when he had
opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the
fourth animated being saying, Come and see.
And I saw, and behold a pale ; horse, and the
name of him that sat thereon was Death, and
Hades followed in his company; and power was
given them to kill the fourth part of the earth
with sword, and with famine, and with death, and
by the wild beasts of the earth.”
* A bright bay. i. This is the meaning of xolviš.
+
# Dun.
72 CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA.
Of the First Seal.
The first occurrence of the Roman empire,
and that a most illustrious one, is the com-
mencement of the victory of Christ, by which
the Roman gods began to be vanquished, and
their worshippers to be transfixed with the
arrows of the Gospel, to fail on every side, and
to submit their necks to Christ the conqueror.
“He went out (says he) conquering, and to
conquer;” that is, he hath not yet completely
conquered, but laid the foundations of victory,
to be hereafter more and more fulfilled.
The index of the first seal is the first animal in
the likeness of a lion, in station towards the East,
and it shows that the rider, viz. the emperor,
is to go forth from that quarter of the compass,
from the mounting of whom on his horse for the
purpose of riding, that is, from the beginning of
his government, the period of the first seal was
to commence, namely, from the glorious exalt-
ation of our Lord Jesus Christ, under the guid-
ance and auspices of which emperor from the
East, this battle is waged, and this victory ob-
tained. The beginning of the following seals
is pointed out by the Roman emperors; but
where the act of Christ is described, he is ac-
counted as the sole emperor".
* Here I must hesitate in agreeing with our learned author.
After declaring, as he had just before done, that the seals
CLAVIS APOCAI, YPTICA, 73
Now indeed, when this seal had run its course,
the oracles of the gods, through the whole Ro-
man world, became mute, and John, the last of
the twelve apostles of Christ, having received the
wages of his warfare, departed from this life, to
receive an undecaying crown in the heavens,
together with his brethren and co-apostles, for
a conduct bravely and happily performed.
That riding on horseback is a symbol of power,
and of those who hold the reins of government,
may be seen even from the interpretation of the
Greek translators, Psalm xlv. v. 5, according to
whom, prosper and ride on, is rendered, karevočov
kai éagiXeve, Go forth prosperously and reign.
Nor does the Chaldee dissent from this sense,
which translates, “ as horsemen on the throne
related to the events connected with the Roman empire, he
surely departs from his interpretation when he represents the
object of the first seal as descriptive of Christ. Does not this
destroy the consistency of the explanation ? May it not refer
to Vespasian or Titus 7 the former of whom was proclaimed
emperor of Judaea, and under whose auspices, Jerusalem was
taken and destroyed, and the Jewish nation subdued. Tacitus,
in recounting the general persuasion that had gone forth that
the East should prevail, considers the prediction verified in
Vespasian and Titus. The first illustrious rider was doubtless
the conqueror of the Jews.-R. B. C.
This was the opinion of our author at a later period, (W.
p. 918.) and it has been the general exposition of subsequent
COmmentatorS.
74. CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA,
of the kingdom. So the woman riding on the
beast is explained by the angel to be a city
having dominion, and the expression of riding
is applied in the same sense in other parts of
Scripture.
Of the Second Seal.
The second memorable event of the Roman
empire, the picture of the second seal, is slaughter
and intestine butchery ; to which there was
Scarcely any similar in the whole Roman his-
tory. “And it was given,” says he, “to him
who sat on the horse to take away peace from
the earth, and that men should massacre one
another ;” which last part of the sentence con-
firms the explanation of the former : For in what
sense should the words be taken, “It was given
to him that men should kill one another,” unless
it were given, or came to pass, that while he
sat thereon, men should fiercely contend in
mutual slaughters and butcheries 2 The index
of this seal is the second animal, in the figure of
an ox, situated to the west, and which bids them
in the vision look towards himself: He thereby
informs us, that this seal begins when Trajan,
the Spaniard, had taken the reins of government,
an emperor from the west. Dion says, Trajan,
a Spaniard, was not an Italian, not belonging to
Italy: Before him, no one of any other nation
CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA. 75
had obtained the Roman empire. But from him
thenceforward the dominion continued in a de-
scent from the same family down to Commodus,
when the interval of this seal terminates.
Beginning, then, from this emperor, let us
seek for that memorable event of mutual slaugh-
ter. This took place when Trajan and his suc-
cessor, Hadrian, held the ensigns of imperial
sway, among the Gentiles and Jews who then
dwelt together throughout the Roman world.
What was done under Trajan, take not in my
words, but in the joint expressions of Dion and
Orosius. “ The Jews,” says Orosius, “were in-
flamed with an incredible agitation at one time,
as if maddened by rage, through all parts of the
earth : For they waged the most atrocious wars
throughout the whole of Lybia, against the inha-
bitants; which was then so desolated, in conse-
quence of the cultivators being killed, that it
would have remained wholly void, every inha-
bitant being cut off, if Hadrian, the emperor,
had not afterwards introduced colonies there,
collected from other places.”
“Those who dwelt about Cyrene, (it is Dion
who speaks,) under a certain leader of the name
of Andrew, slew Romans as well as Greeks, fed
upon their flesh, and ate their entrails “. They
* Query.
76 CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA.
then smeared themselves with their blood, and
put on their skins. They divided many from
head to foot with saws, they cast many to the
wild beasts, they compelled many to fight toge-
ther; so that there perished about two hundred
and twenty thousand souls.” He proceeds: “Be-
sides, a similar slaughter took place in Egypt
and in Cyprus, under the direction of Artemion,
where there perished also two hundred and forty
thousand. They utterly destroyed Salamis, a
city of Cyprus, having slain all the inhabitants.
(Oros. Eus.) In Alexandria also, having stirred
up a warfare, they were conquered and reduced.
At length they were subdued by others, and
principally by Lysias, whom Trajan sent against
them. In Mesopotamia also, when they had
rebelled, war was undertaken against them by
the command of the emperor ; and by these
means, many thousands of them were destroyed
with a very great slaughter.”
Thus far as to what passed under Trajan.
But you will ask if there was any thing under
Hadrian to be compared to these facts? Let the
reader judge if they were not of a similar kind.
I dare to affirm, not much inferior. For we
have not yet related any thing of that famous
rebellion under Barchoshebar, the pseudo Mes-
siah. Listen to that, then, likewise in the words
of Dion. “When Hadrian,” says he, “ had
CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA. 77
brought a colony into the city of Jerusalem, and
in the same place in which the temple of God
had been, had ordered another to be erected to
Jupiter Capitolinus, all the Jews, wherever they
were, began to mutiny, to inflict many injuries,
secretly and openly, on the Romans, and many
other nations were joined with them, from the
desire of plunder; and by this means, almost
the whole world was thrown into commotion.”
He goes on : “ Then at length, Hadrian, after
he had sent some of his best generals against
them, (as their great number and desperation
were well known,) not daring to attack them
except singly, at length, after a long time, he
overpowered and vanquished them, and there
were slain, in these excursions and battles, not
less than five hundred and eighty thousand per-
sons. But so great was the multitude of those
who died by famine, disease, and fire, that the
number could not be ascertained.” But was
this victory easy and bloodless to the Romans ?
By no means. For he adds: “So many of the
Romans perished in that war, that Hadrian,
when he wrote to the Senate, did not use that
exordium which the emperors were accustomed
to adopt : * Si vos liberique vestri valetis, bene
est; Ego quidem et exercitus meus valemus.’”
These are his observations concerning the
commotion among the Jews, under that son of
78 CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA.
the Star, as they called him, or if you will, the
son of Stellio, whom Eusebius also reports to
have slain the Christians with all sorts of tor-
ments, who were unwilling to render him assist-
ance against the Roman soldiers. But if any
one is desirous of hearing how the Jews them-
selves estimate the slaughter of their nation, the
author of the book Juchasin writes, that Hadrian
butchered twice as many Jews in this war as
went out of Egypt. Another, in the book which
is intituled ºn Thºto, which Drusius quotes in
his History of Past Events, has said, that neither
Nebuchadnezzar nor Titus had afflicted them so
sorely as the emperor Hadrian.
Therefore this destruction seems to have been
the most grievous paroxysm of that unheard of
tribulation, which our Saviour had predicted
should befall the Jews, and, by consequence, not
undeservedly selected by the Holy Spirit for
marking this second period, beyond all the events
of that time, since it exceeded them all, as well
in the renown of the nation, as in this illustrious
completion of prophecy.
Of the Third Seal.
The third animated being is the index of the
third seal, in a human form, his station being
towards the south, and consequently shows that
this seal begins with an emperor proceeding from
CLA VIS APOCALYPTIC A. 79
that cardinal point of the compass; probably
with Septimius Severus, the African, an emperor
from the south, of whom Eutropius writes in the
following manner: “Deriving his origin from
Africa, from the province of Tripolis, from the
town of Leptis, the only emperor from Africa
within all remembrance, before or since.”
Many will have famine or dearness of pro-
visions the subject of this seal, deducing their
proof rather from the black colour of the horse,
and from the mention of grain, a measure” of
wheat for a penny, to which likewise they think
the balance in the hands of the rider refers ; as
if the allowance of corn was not only to be mea-
sured, but weighed, in consequence of very great
penury. And, in truth, I should never have
called this interpretation in question, (which
appears so suitable at first sight,) if the event
had corresponded with it. But I find nothing
particular in this age, and in this course of the
seals concerning famine, and deserving the adop-
tion of such a character: For what is reported
from Tertullian, according to Scapula, is, I think,
by no means to be considered as of much im-
portance; for if, as he relates, the harvest failed
once in Africa, when Hilariom was prefect, it was
* Choenix, the measure by which masters measured their
servants' victuals for a day.
80 CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA.
not on that account general through the Roman
world, nor was it in the age of Severus. Hence, it
comes to pass, that while I examine the meaning
of the symbol a little more closely, I seem to my-
self to collect, and not altogether from uncertain
signs, that it is to be regarded in a different light.
For it does not appear, as that interpretation re-
quires, that the balance can be aptly compared
with the choenix, since the libra or scale is used
in weighing, but choenix is the name of a measure.
Besides, when the condition of the animal indi-
cated agrees so well with the signification of the
other seals, that of the lion with victory, that
of the ox with slaughter, that of the eagle with
the carcases of the following seal,—here there
would be no ground for the association. For
what agreement is there between man and
famine ! The colour of black, neither in its
nature nor in the use of the ancient prophets, is
coupled with famine only, but serves equally to
describe sorrow, misery, and terror.
The subject of this seal, therefore, may be not
famine, nor the dearness of provisions, but an
administration of justice throughout the Roman
world, and a severity more illustrious and more
remarkable than in any of the former or subse-
quent periods of the seals. For as relates to the
figure, the colour of the horse agrees with the
severity of justice. That the scales are the
CLAVIS APOCALYPTIC.A. SI
symbol of Justice, is a fact handed down to us,
as at this day no one is ignorant that Justice is
painted with a balance. But what is subjoined
by way of explanation, will appear, if attention is
paid to it, to imply the same. “Take not away
wheat or barley from any without a just price
being paid for it. Observe a similar rule of jus-
tice also with regard to the oil and the wine ;” as
if he wished to caution them against plunderers,
and had said, Do not steal. A denary, or penny,
was the ordinary wages for a day's work, which
is obvious from the Gospel; it was also the daily
stipend of the soldiers. The choenix signifies the
diurnal allowance, the iluspot poptèa, the food for
the day, but of a very uncertain measure, for it
varied according to the custom of nations, places,
and men. The military choenix (to omit the
minor choenices of shepherds, husbandmen, and
vintagers) was four quarts; but in an ancient
lexicographer in Greek and Latin, Xolvić is half
a bushel, i. e. double the military : And in the
Septuagint, Ezek. xlv. 10, II, Xotvić is a bath, the
largest measure of the Hebrews. From so un-
certain a measure as the chaenix, how is it pos-
sible that any thing should be extorted concern-
ing famine and the dearness of provisions 2 A
choenix, therefore, Itake here for any diurnal allow-
ance, and a denary for any price of such allow-
G
82 CLAVIS APOCALYPTIC A.
ance. In this manner the mode of interpretation
which I have adopted will be established.
Now it is wonderful how much the event
favours the interpretation, while Severus and
Alexander were in power, those very distin-
guished riders on the black horse. Of Severus,
what you may read at large in Aurelius, I will
collect together, retaining the author's words,
and I will do the same afterwards from Lam-
prideus concerning Alexander. “No one was
more illustrious in the republic,” says Aurelius,
“ than Severus, the founder of very equitable
laws. Implacable to faults, he exalted every
active person by rewards. He permitted honours
to be sold to no one within his dominions. Nor
did he suffer the smallest theft to go unpunished;
animadverting more particularly on his own de-
pendants, because, though difficult of proof, he
understood that they took place through the
fault of his generals, or even of his prefects.”
Spartianus agrees with Aurelius when he calls
him “both implacable to faults and the enemy
to thieves, whenever they were found.” But
these assertions were in no respect inferior to
those which Lampridius relates of Alexander, the
son of Mammea, on which, therefore, the chief
part of the character of the seal appears to be
founded. “He enacted,” says he, “moderate
CLAVIS APOCALYPTIC A. S3
and innumerable laws on the right of the people
and the revenue, nor did he ever sanction any
constitution without twenty lawyers. He was a
most severe judge against thieves, accusing them
as guilty of daily crimes, and condemning them
with the greatest acrimony, and calling them the
only foes and enemies of the republic, (but he
speaks, if I mistake not, of judges who were
thieves,) he commanded them never to appear
in the cities, and if they were seen, to be banished
by the governors of provinces. “Eucolpius,”
says he, “ relates, (with whom he was on the
most familiar terms,) that if ever he saw a judge
who was a thief, he had his finger ready to pluck
out his eye. Septimius adds, who was no stram-
ger to his mode of life, that Alexander had so
much animosity against those judges, who had a
bad reputation from their successors, that if he
saw them by any accident from the penetration
of his mind, he blurted out the fervour of his
indigmation, his whole countenance glowing with
wrath, so that he could not articulate. Nay, he
caused it to be proclaimed by a herald, that no
one should salute the prince who knew him.self
to be a thief, but if he should ever be detected,
he should become liable to capital punishment.
He proceeds: “If any of the soldiers turned out
of their way into the property of any one, ac-
cording to the mature of the place, he was sub-
G 2
84. CLAVIS APOCALYPTIC A.
jected in his presence, either to be beaten with
clubs or rods, or to be condemned ; or if the
dignity of the person secured him from these
punishments, he was visited with the severest
reproaches, since he addressed him thus: ‘Will
you have that done on your own land which
you do on another's 7 and he very often ex-
claimed what he had heard and remembered,
either from certain Jews or Christians, ‘What
you would not wish to have done to yourself, do
not to another : With which sentence he was
so much in love, that he ordered it to be in-
scribed on his palace and on public buildings.”
Behold, O Reader, the rider on the black
horse, magnificently holding that golden heaven-
descended balance of justice on the theatre of
9
the world ! Which was so remarkable a circum-
stance in a Pagan emperor, that it ought not to
be deemed wonderful that the Holy Spirit should
have made an allusion to it in this place.
Another mode of interpreting the symbol of
Wheat and Barley.
It is possible that these allusions to wheat and
barley may be understood of the remarkable sup-
ply of corn which took place in these times. For
it may seem that this meaning also is included in
those words : So it may have a reference to the
abundance of grain, that provisions should be
CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA. 85
sold at a just price. “A measure of wheat for a
penny:” i. e. Sell the daily allowance of wheat
according to the daily price of labour, or the
wages or rent, that they might not furnish to
any one who required assistance, more daily
food than was sufficient for his daily supply. So
likewise, “three measures of barley for a penny,”
may seem to relate to an equation of price, ac-
cording to the quality of the commodity. If an
interpretation of this sort should be satisfactory,
the event will here also correspond exactly with
it. Spartian says of Severus, “Though he found
very little grain, he took such care, that when
he departed this life, he left a seven years' re-
gular allowance to the Roman people, so that
70,000 bushels a day might be expended. He
first bestowed on the people of Rome a gratuit-
ous diurnal allowance of oil, but he left so much
of it, that there was sufficient for five years, not
only for the uses of the city, but of all Italy,
which was in want of oil.” As if indeed he had
intended to fulfil what is here added, kal rô g\atov
Kal row oivov uń ačukňoyc, “And be not unjust a.S
to the oil and wine.”
Lamprideus has similar remarks respecting
Alexander. “He so assisted,” says he, “ the
provision of the Roman people, that when Helio-
gabalus had destroyed the grain, he in his turn
replaced it out of his own revenue. The oil
86 CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA.
likewise,” said he, “which Severus had given to
the people, and which Heliogabalus had di-
minished, he fully restored, and added oil for
the lights of the baths”.”
Of the Fourth Seal.
The index of the fourth seal is the fourth ani-
mal, in the likeness of an eagle, its station to the
North ; by which is shown, that the beginning
of the seal is to be deduced from an emperor
sprung from that quarter, namely, from Maxi-
min the Thracian, a nursling of the North.
Julius Capitolinus says, “Maximin, of a village
of Thrace, near the Barbarians, born also of a
Barbarian father and mother.” The character
of this seal is an assemblage of sword, famine,
and pestilence, raging together in such a man-
ner as was never known before. Whence, to
him who sat on the horse, the name of Death is
said to be given; that is, in the acceptation of
the notion of the Hebrews, who use abstracts for
concretes, meaning deadly or death-bearing,
because he brought in so many deaths with him
into the world. For among the Hebrews, to be
called by a name, sometimes signifies the same
as to be, or exist, but in a certain particular man-
* Query, if this care were not intended by Providence for
the supply of the Christians ?–R. B. C.
CLAVIS APOCALYPTIC A. 87
ner, so that to have the name of Death in this
place, means nothing else than to be, in an es-
pecial manner, deadly, or the cause of death; to
which purpose likewise is that which follows,
namely, that Hell accompanies him, as an at-
tendant on funerals.
Now let us look to the event. And never, in
truth, from the beginning of the seals, have these
three plagues raged conjointly in so singular a
manner, I will begin with slaughter, and omit
what this age underwent from an external
enemy, though that was very severe, the Bar-
barians laying waste almost the whole of the
empire under the emperors Gallus and Volusi-
amus, with rapines and slaughters. These things
are not taken into the account. We are inquir-
ing into intestine and domestic affairs. Ten
emperors and Cesars then, or thereabouts, who
were accounted legitimate, within the interval of
this seal, i. e. within the space of thirty-three
years, or a little more, did the sword, not of
enemies, but of their own subjects, take off.
Throughout the same interval, under the govern-
ment of Gallienus alone, those thirty tyrants of
whom Pollio speaks, (though there might be
fewer by one or two,) sprung up in different
parts of the Roman world; and almost all these
were slain, either by their own people or by one
another, or were butchered by legitimate empe-
88 CLAVIS APOCALYPTIC A.
rors; so that Orosius has said not undeservedly
of this plague, that it was signalised, not by the
slaughter of the common people, but by the
wounds and deaths of princes.
Lastly, those emperors, beginning with Maxi-
min and ending with Gallienus, with what savage
cruelty were they endued Maximin, as Julius
Capitolinus testifies, was so cruel, “that some
denominated him Cyclops, others Busiris, others
Sciro, some Phalaris, and many Typho and
Gyges. The senate feared him so much, that
even their wives and children offered up prayers
in the temples, publicly and privately, that he
might never see the city of Rome. For they
heard that some were lifted up on crosses, some
enclosed in animals lately killed, some thrown to
wild beasts, some beaten with clubs, and all with-
out respect to dignity of situation.” He pro-
ceeds : “ In order to hide his ignoble birth, he
killed all who were acquainted with his family,
and also some friends who had often given him
many donations from motives of pity and piety,
for there was not a more cruel animal on the
face of the earth.” Lastly, says he, “Without
judgment, without accusation, without an in-
former, without defence, he slew all of the faction
of one Magnus, a consular man, took away all
their goods, and could not satisfy himself with
the slaughter of more than 4000 persons. Hear
CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA. 89
also what Trebellius Pollio says of Gallienus, in
his Book of the Thirty Tyrants. “ Ingenuus
being slain, who was called Emperor by the
legion in Maesia, he was bitterly enraged against
the soldiers as well as the citizens, nor did he
leave any one without some mark of his cruelty.
He was so fierce and blood-thirsty, that he left
most of the cities void of the male sex.” The
same writer, in the Life of Gallienus, says: “The
Scythians, having invaded Cappadocia, the sol-
diers had again entertained thoughts of making
a new emperor, all of whom Gallienus slew ac-
cording to his custom.” He adds, in conclusion :
“He acted with excessive cruelty towards the
soldiers ; for he slew three or four thousand
every day.” Pollio likewise relates, in the same
Life of Gallienus, the very memorable example
of the Byzantime butchery, exhibited by the
soldiers, and by Gallienus himself: “Lest any
evil,” says he, should be wanting in the time of
Gallienus, the city of the Byzantines, illustrious
for naval battles, and the key of the Pontic sea,
was so wholly laid waste by the soldiers of Gal-
lienus, that scarcely any remained alive; for
vengeance on whose slaughter, when Gallienus
was admitted into Byzantium, he killed all the
soldiers, while unarmed, and crowned with the
warrior's crown, having broken the engagement
which he had made with them.”
90 CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA.
Thus far you have an account of slaughter:
I come now to pestilence, which here, according
to the Oriental custom, is called death. So the
Chaldee paraphrast for the Hebrew Tan, pesti-
lence, is fond of using Rnſp, death; and the
Hellenists generally translate it 0ávarov, and,
with a similar meaning, it is usually called mor-
tality by ecclesiastical writers, which expression
has now passed over into many of our vernacular
tongues. With regard to the pestilence, the fact
is so motorious and manifest, that there is no
need of heaping together many proofs to esta-
blish the credit of the oracle. I shall dispatch it
in a word. Tomaras is my author, (nor are others
silent on the subject,) that under the emperors
Gallus and Volusianus, a pestilence, arising from
Ethiopia pervaded all the Roman provinces, and
for fifteen successive years incredibly exhausted
them. “ Nor was there ever a greater plague
read of by me,” (says a celebrated man in our
own days,) “within the same space of time or
territory.”
Famine still remains of that trio of calamities;
which indeed, any one may collect, could not
possibly be absent in this age, although none of
the ancient writers had informed us of it, from
this circumstance, that almost all the empire was
so despoiled and trodden down by the Scythians,
during these times, with rapines and devastations,
CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA. 91
that if we trust to Zosimus, no nation under the
Roman dominion remained free from them ; al-
most all the towns were destitute of walls; and
the greater part of those which were destitute
were taken by them. How was it possible that
the fields should not be deserted in devastations
of this kind, that tillage should not be neglected,
and that whatever was laid up for food should
not be destroyed 2 And that so indeed it really
happened, appears from the epistle of Dionysius
of Alexandria, who was then living, to his bro-
thers, in which he bears testimony to that dire
pestilence of which we are treating, as having suc-
ceeded war and famine. “After these things,” says
he, that is, after the persecution which took place
under Decius, (for he means that which preceded
the pestilence,) “both war and famine followed,
which we sustained together with the heathem.”
And after the introduction of a few words, he
adds: “But when both we and they had breathed
a little, that pestilence came on —a thing more
terrific to them than any other species of terror,
more lamentable than any kind of calamity, and
to us indeed an exercise and a trial inferior to
none of the rest.” Cyprian agrees with him in
his apology to Demetrian: “When you say,”
he observes, “ that a great many complain, it is
to be imputed to us, that wars more frequently
arise, that pestilence and famine rage, and that
92 CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA.
showers and rains interrupt the continuance of
serene weather; we ought not any longer to be
silent.”
Moreover, there is something added in the
text respecting wild beasts; if indeed it be a
calamity of a different kind from the former ones,
and does not imply that the tyrants, who like
wild beasts raged in those times through the
Roman world, were to be assigned as the causes
of those calamities; it will in this case point out
an evil common to the eastern and southern
regions; that when famine and pestilence are
raging, wild beasts would grow too powerful for
man, and would destroy them, as you may see,
Lev. c. xxvi. Ezek. c. xiv. v. 15, 21. But the
change of the syntax rather favours the former
opinion, if you render Kai Ütrö Tów 0mptov tric yńc,
“ and that by the beasts of the earth.”
The fourth part of the earth, to réraprov tic
ºnc, within which the power of exercising their
ravages is said to have been committed to hell
and death, (unless any one should think that the
common interpretation may be here defended to
which the réraprov tric ync is the reſpáðtov, that is,
the quaternion, or four parts of the earth,) I ex-
plain of the most powerful and much the greater
part of the Roman world: For since the third
part of the earth, (as will be observed in its place,)
points out the amplitude of the Roman world, it
CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA. 93
follows that the fourth part of the earth is the
same Roman dominion, less by a fourth part, and
therefore that triple or quadruple connexion of
calamities pervaded three-fourths of the Roman
world”; and certainly Orosius seems to add, that
the pestilence did not extend itself farther than
(to use his own words) the edicts of Decius ran
to destroy the churches. I have nothing more
to say. And thus far of the fourth seal.
Of the Fifth Seal.
The two seals which follow receive no ex-
planation, as to the time of their beginning, from
the animated beings, and therefore no riders on
horses are any longer here to be seen, upon
which that index of the animals depended. The
period of each, then, is to be sought from
the time when the event of the preceding seal
ceased ; which indeed is very easy, when the
events, as here, are of such a nature that their
termination cannot be concealed, in consequence
of their manifest perspicuity.
The fifth seal, therefore, will begin with the
emperor Aurelian, in the year 268, at which
time the longest of the calamities of the former
* The author means, I believe, that if a third of the earth
is the Roman world, a fourth of the earth would be less than
its full extent; i.e. supposing the earth to be 12, a third
would be 4, and a fourth 3, that is, less than 4.
94. CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA.
seal, the pestilence of fifteen years’ duration, was
extinct.
Now, the most signal event of the Roman
state, under this seal, and which surpassed all
other events of that time, is that persecution of
the Christians which begun with Diocletian, was
continued by others, and was far the most severe
of all.
Former ages saw nothing to compare with it.
“ It was longer, and more cruel,” (these are the
words of Orosius,) “ than all that went before.
For it was incessantly carried on for ten years,
with the burnings of churches, the proscription
of the innocent, the slaughter of martyrs. Im-
mediately on the beginning of the tenth, within
thirty days, about seventeen thousand men are
said to have been sacrificed; nor did the fury of
the persecutors abate with the progress of time.
In Egypt alone, (what a small particle of the
Roman empire') if faith is to be given to St.
Ignatius, patriarch of Antioch, according to
Scaliger, “a hundred and forty-four thousand
men were sacrificed, seven hundred (thousand)
were driven into exile ;” whence the Diocletian
era derived its name among the Egyptians, so
that it is called, even at this day, the era of
martyrs. What now should you suppose was
done throughout the other provinces of the
Roman empire “ Almost all the world was
CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA. 95
stained with the sacred blood of martyrs,” says
Sulpitius Severus. “The world was never more
drained of blood by any wars, nor did the Church”
(the words are those of the same author) “ever
conquer with a greater triumph, than when it
could not be overcome with the slaughters of ten
years.”
This butchery is represented by the vision of
“souls slain for the word of God, and for his
testimony which they maintained, lying under
the altar,” that is, on the ground, at the foot of
the altar, like victims recently slaughtered. For
martyrdom is a certain species of sacrifice;
whence that assertion of the apostle to Timothy,
when his own martyrdom was near approaching:
“I am now about to be offered, and the time of
my departure is at hand.” 2 Tim. c. iv. 6. To
which also applies that expression of the same
apostle to the Philippians: “If I am offered for
the sacrifice and service of your faith,” &c.
Further, as they are said to have cried with a
loud voice to God, requiring vengeance for their
blood, this is a periphrasis for a cruelty so ex-
treme, and ripe for judgment, that it might for
its barbarity solicit even the long suffering of
God to vengeance. “How long,” say they,
“O Lord Holy and true, dost Thou not judge
and avenge our blood on those who dwell on
the earth 7" In the mean time, white garments
7
96 CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA.
were given to each of them, that is, they were
adopted into the order of the blessed. The
parable is taken from the custom of the Jews, in
approving and admitting priests. Those whom
they had judged worthy, from their genealogy
and perfect form of body, they received into the
hall of priests, “ clothed in white garments,” and
so adopted them into the sacerdotal order.
Maimonides in Mishne, b. viii. c. vi. s. 11.
Which is plainly expressed in c. vii. vy. 13, 14, 15,
where it is said of those who are clothed in white
garments, “ that they are before the throne of
God, and worship him (as priests) day and night
in his temple.”
The answer to this cry of blood is, “That
they should rest for a short time, until (the
number of) their fellow servants and of their
brethren who should be killed, even as they
should be complete;” that is, that they should
endure for a little, until some of their brethren,
who, after Christianity had begun to prevail,
were, under Licinius, Julian, and the Arians,
to be butchered in like manner, should be added
to the number ; and then, on the Sounding of
the trumpets, a remarkable vengeance should
be taken on the empire for the guilt of so much
blood.
CLAVIS APOCALYPTIC A. 97
Of the Sixth Seal.
The sixth seal begins where the fifth ends;
that is, from the year of Christ 311, in which
that terrible persecution of ten years ceased.
The event of this seal is a wonderful commo-
tion of heaven and earth, by which that mar-
vellous change of the heathen Roman state, by
Constantime the Great and his successors, the
standard-bearers of the Lamb is represented ;
that is to say, all the gods of the Gentiles, shaken
from their heaven, their pontiffs and their priests
degraded from their offices, unhallowed, cast
down, and for ever deprived of their revenues;
the temples, fanes, and images of demons through-
out the whole Roman world ruined, overthrown,
burnt, and demolished. In addition to this, em-
perors, kings, and rulers, who had undertaken to
succour their gods in such extreme perils, to pro-
claim war against the ensign-bearers of Christ,
to combat with immense forces, and even when
subdued in battle, to renew the war with their
utmost strength, were slain with unusual slaugh-
ter, routed, and dispersed; until at length, in
complete despair, no one could be found who
would bring assistance to the Roman religion
falling with such a crash. So that within the
compass of a few words, I think I see com-
prised whatever the Holy Spirit meant to de-
II
98 CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA.
scribe by those sublime allegories under this
seal. And this is the first completion of that
victory of Christ, of which the foundation was
laid in the first seal; to which the seals which
have preceded it have been subservient, by
pointing out in what state of the empire it should
come to pass, by the presignified distinctions of
the time which passed away in the interval. It
now remains that we should apply the assigned
interpretation to the several parts of the pro-
phetic allegory, and should show the meaning
of it.
“And I looked when he opened the sixth
seal, and behold there was a great earthquake,
and the Sun became black as a sackcloth of hair,
and the moon became as blood, and the stars of
heaven fell upon the earth, as a fig-tree casteth
forth its unripe fruit, when it is shaken by a
strong wind, and the heaven departed as a book,
when it is rolled up ; and every mountain and
island were moved out of their places; and the
kings of the earth, and the great men, and the
rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty
men, and every slave, and every free man, hid
themselves in the caves and rocks of the moun-
tains; and they said unto the mountains and
rocks, ‘Fall on us, and hide us from the face
of Him that sitteth on the throne, and from
the wrath of the Lamb for the great day of
7
CLAVIS APOCALYPTIC A. 99
his wrath is come, and who can stand before
him 7” ”
These are accustomed images of very horrid
slaughters, and (if I may so speak) of an entire
subversion of the state of things, used by the
prophets, after the manner of the east, as their
figures and pictures likewise are by our poets. So
Jerem. c. iv. v. 23, &c. paints the fall of Judea,
as if every thing was about to return again into
ancient chaos. “I beheld the earth,” says he,
“ and behold it was without form and void, and
the heavens, and there was no light in them. I
looked at the mountains, and lo! they were
moved, and all the hills were disturbed.” In
like manner Joel, c. ii. v. 10, says of the horrid
devastation of the same land by the army of
northern locusts : “ At his face the earth trem-
bled ; the heavens also were moved, the sun and
moon were darkened, and the stars withdrew
their splendour.” But we must treat distinctly
of every part. “Behold,” says he, “ there was
a great earthquake ;” in the Greek astouéc, that
is, a commotion of heaven and earth, as is mami-
fest from what follows; for the Latin word terrae-
motus is not equal to the force of the Greek.
Now, an earthquake of that kind, according to
the testimony of the apostle, Heb. c. xii. upon
the passage in Haggai, “Yet once more will I
shake the heavens and the earth,” denotes the
e e o 'º
H 2
100 CLAVIS APOCALYPTIC A.
* * *, e.
removing of those things which are shaken;
which may be confirmed by the same prophet,
v. 21 and 22 of the same chapter, where he
himself interprets this parable exegetically: “I
will shake the heavens and the earth, and I will
overthrow the throne of kingdoms, and I will
destroy the strength of the kingdoms of the
heathen,” &c. We therefore shall consider this
commotion of earth and heaven, in this place as
elsewhere in the Apocalypse, as the ruin of states,
and as their entire subversion.
Now, the object of this revolution, as of the
former events under the seals, is the Roman
empire; but not as politically governed by the
Caesars, (for in this form it was not yet dissolved,)
but as subject to Satan and his angels the demons,
under the name of religion. This demonarchy
of the Roman empire, the tempest which lowers
in this seal, will eventually overthrow, and dis-
sipate with a mighty crash.
“And the sun and the moon became black as
sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as
blood;” that is, by the ellipsis of an adjective,
red as blood. This is a periphrasis of the eclipse
of the luminaries, in which the Sun is wont to
appear dark, but the moon ruddy. Similar to
which is that of Isaiah respecting the vengeance
on Babylon : “The sun shall be obscured in his
rising, and the moon shall not cause her light to
CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA. 101
shine.” Sept. “ shall not give her light.” Isa.
c. xiii. 10. Matt. c. xxiv. 29. Nor has that of
the same prophet, c. xxiv. any other sense, ac-
cording to the opinion of Aben Ezra, concerning
the slaughter with which the Lord, when about
to reign in Jerusalem, (exactly as in this seal,)
should visit the host of heaven on high, and the
kings of the earth on the earth. “ The moon,”
says he, “shall blush, and the sun shall be
ashamed,” (that is, each, as if it covered its face
for shame, shall be clothed with darkness,) “when
the Lord of Hosts shall reign in Mount Sion, and
in Jerusalem, and before his ancients gloriously.”
But what have these things to do, you will say,
with the Roman demonarchy Attend, and I
will tell you. In the prophets, (as you will find
also by and by in the following visions,) every
kingdom and body of empire represents the
world; that the parts, likewise, the heavens, and
the earth, and stars, may correspond with that
image. To prove which, (not to mention any
other passages,) that single place in Isaiah is
sufficient, c. li. v. 15. “I am the Lord thy God,
who divided the sea, (namely, the red sea,) and
his waves roared ; the Lord of Hosts is his name.
And I put my words in thy mouth,” (that is, I
gave thee my law,) “ and I covered thee with
the shadow of my hand, that I might plant the
heavens, and lay the foundation of the earth;”
I O2 CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA.
that is, that I might make thee a kingdom, or
political world, “ and I might say unto Sion,
* Thou art my people.’”
The subject treated of is the emancipation by
which God delivered the people of Israel out of
Egypt, that he might, of that people, found for
himself a kingdom or republic in the promised
land. From whence it will not be difficult to
collect what is meant in the same prophet, c. lxv.
and lxvi. by the new heaven and the new earth,
namely, a new world of the same kind.
According to this image, then, heaven, agree-
ably to the prophetic idea, will denote whatever
is eminent in the universality of any kingdom or
republic; the earth, on the contrary, what is
lowest ; the stars, those who obtain and fill a
place in that exalted station. By which con-
struction, the sun and moon, being the principal
lights of heaven, the former will indicate the
first and chief majesty and dignity of the king-
dom, the latter the next in order to it; which
indeed is so true, that the Chaldee paraphrast
on the prophets substitutes afterwards, for the
Sun and moon, the kingdom and glory ; as
Isaiah, c. lx. v. 20. Jerem. c. xv. v. 9.
Let the sun, them, in the Roman kingdom of
idols, in right of Supremacy, be the dragon him-
self, or Satan, especially since from him the Holy
Spirit, c. xii. denominates the whole Roman
CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA. 103
empire in the state in which he was treating of it
— the seven-headed red dragon, as we shall
there see.
The moon, the second luminary of this heaven,
you may call the supreme pontificate, annexed
to the imperatorial majesty, even from its first
origin, and, as it were, a part of it; or, if you
will, the emperor, as the pontifex of Satan, with
the whole pontifical college, who, with the em-
peror as their head, formed one body, and they
presided over the religious rites of the gods, and
over the whole of the republic, and were not
liable to render an account to the authority of
the senate, or of any one as superior to them-
selves, and therefore in this kingdom were not
undeservedly to be considered as second to the
dragon himself. It is not always necessary, I
confess, that so accurate an explanation of every
thing in allegories of this kind should be re-
quired; but when it can be dome, let us apply
every minute particular. The sum then of which
we have been speaking became dark at that time,
and suffered an eclipse, and obscuration of his
baneful majesty, when the Roman emperors,
having abjured him by baptism, with all his
angels, pomps, and worship, dedicated themselves
to Christ, the Sun of righteousness. The sum
being thus darkened and deprived of light, how
could the moon, which borrows her light from
104. CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA.
the sun, be secure ? And that very thing, or
the office of pontifex maximus, Constantine,
Constantius, Valentinian, Valens, immediately
rejected, as it was fit they should, unwilling from
thenceforward to work for the devil. The name,
however, at which you may be surprised, they
did not on that account despise, but retained for
a short time inscribed among their titles. Gratian
first refused the title, as well as the pontifical
garments, when offered to him, according to
custom, by the pontiffs, as unworthy a Christian
man; (a good act, which deserves to be recorded.)
And this indeed was a change of such import-
ance, that the Holy Spirit will thenceforth con-
sider the Roman Caesar, thus divested of the
pontificate, as a new head of the Roman beast
and king, as we shall hear in c. xvii. But still
this moon shone with some light, though melan-
choly and weak, till Theodosius the First, that
destroyer of heathenism, took away at length the
pontifical college itself, with the whole remaining
crowd of priests, all their revenues being con-
fiscated, by one edict, to the treasury. Now
then was the time when Satan must seek another
pontifex maximus for himself. But I proceed to
the remaining circumstances.
“And the stars of heaven fell on the earth, as
a fig-tree casts her unripe figs when shaken by
a great wind, and the heaven departed as a book
CLAVIS . APOCALYPTICA, 105
when it is rolled up.” Or, “the heaven vanished
away,” &c. That is, the stars of heaven disap-
peared, as letters vanish from a book rolled up
in the manner of the ancients. For there is an
ellipsis of the former substantive, on both sides
common to the Hebrew language, as Deut. c. xx.
v. 19 ; 2 Kings, c. xviii. v. 31; and elsewhere
frequently to be found; so that this passage of
the disappearance of the heaven, and that of the
fall of the stars, mutually explain each other, and
ought mot to be separated from one another, as
erroneously pointed, but ought to be included
within the same comma. Indeed, the whole
passage being from the thirty-fourth chapter of
Isaiah, v. 4, where, evidently under the same
image, though in an inverse order, the Holy Spirit
paints the slaughter and ruin of the kingdom of
Edom,-like this, a kingdom of idols.
“The heavens,” (says he,) “shall be rolled up
like a book, and the whole host of them, (that is,
the stars,) shall fall as a leaf from the vine, and
as a deciduous fruitling from the fig-tree;” which
sentence the Apocalyptical Spirit wished to ren-
der still clearer by the double addition of the
words, arexºplaſm, “it departed,” and into usyáXov
ăvéuov astouévn, “shaken by a great wind.” More-
over, Obadiah, Jeremiah, c. xlix. from v. 7 to 22 ;
Ezekiel, c. XXXV. through the whole chapter, and
c. xxv. v. 12, treat of the same Edomitish ruin, with
106 CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA.
circumstances not more mild than Isaiah, which
I notice on this account, lest any one should
think that the description of Isaiah is suited only
to the great day of universal judgment.
But now, to return to the Apocalypse. The
stars were the Roman heaven of deities, both the
gods themselves, the chiefs of that kingdom,
under Satan their prince, and the nobles, the
priests, though of inferior rank ; for even the
stars differ from other stars in order and sub-
limity. These, therefore, are those who, in this
wonderful commotion of the Roman state, sha-
ken from their seats, “fell on the earth as a fig-
tree scatters her unripe fruit, when it is shaken
by a high wind.”
Nor will this interpretation of the stars as of
gods and priests of the gods, excite so much sur-
prise in him who remembers that the gods of the
heathem are every where spoken of in sacred
Scripture as the host of heaven, and by Daniel,
that the priests and elders of the glorious land,
or of the people of Israel, whom Antiochus
Epiphanes had cast to the earth, are called by
that name. “ He magnified himself (says he,)
against the host of heaven, and cast down to the
earth some of the host and of the stars, and
trampled upon them.” What he impiously did
against the people of the true God, the very same
the Christian emperors did against the people of
CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA. 107
the dragon; with this difference, however, that
in the former case there was only one chief of the
host of heaven, the Lord Jehovah, who made
heaven and earth, against whom, though An-
tiochus might magnify himself, he could not
disturb him in heaven; but in the latter case,
there were many chiefs or demons in the Roman
heaven, whom all the emperors who bore the
standard of Christ, did utterly overthrow. Add
to this, that the above exposition may be con-
firmed by the Synchronism of the Dragon cast
down with his attendants from heaven. Chap.
xii. “The dragon fought and his angels, but they
prevailed not, neither was there place found any
longer in heaven. And the great dragon was
cast out; that old Serpent called the Devil and
Satan.”
worshipped under the name of gods,) were cast
out with him.” It follows, “And every moun-
“And his angels (that is, demons
tain and island were moved out of their places.”
Mountains and islands might perhaps be taken
for persons of higher or lower conditions of life,
who are enumerated in the very next verse,
unless the word Island should be thought less
favourable to such an interpretation. It might,
therefore, seem more probable, if, indeed, it
has a reference to this subject, that both point
out men of higher condition which are eminent
in each ; the mountains on the earth, the islands
108 CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA,
in the sea. But what if we understand by islands
here, not lands rising in the midst of waters, but
edifices, of whatever kind they are called, which,
surrounded by a public or private enclosure, are
not used in common with neighbouring build-
ings 2 May we not then take both mountains
and islands for the temples and shrines of idols,
overthrown by this whirlwind, throughout the
Roman world 2 For any one may see how con-
formable the notion of mountains is to an inter-
pretation of this sort, who is not ignorant that it
was customary for idolaters to build altars and
shrines to their gods in the more lofty places.
Whence, in every part of the Old Testament, the
mame of high-places is very frequent; nay, in
Jeremiah, c. iii. v. 23, the names of hills and
mountains for the temples of idols. “Surely,
(says he,) the hills and multitude of the moun-
tains were vain.” Now islands for temples are
not inconsistent with a similar interpretation,
since it is very appropriate to temples to resemble
islands, and they are not polluted by commu-
nion, or even a contact with the walls of other
edifices. Supposing, however, it should not be
satisfactory, that one and the same thing should
be represented under two names, consider the
mountains, if you will, as applicable to sacred
places in the country and in the fields, and
islands as temples of idols in the cities. But in
CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA. 109
such things as these, minutiae of any sort do not
seem to be required; so that, perhaps, in every
instance, the small points of allegorical prophe-
cies are not to be so anxiously suited to the event.
It is sufficient if the sum and substance of the
matter agree on both sides.
The demolition of shrines and temples was
effected under the authority of the same most
pious Theodosius, the standard-bearer of the
Lamb. For Constantine the Great only shut
up the temples of the gods; he did not destroy
them, except at Constantinople and the adjoin-
ing places. Julian opened them again. But
this emperor ordered them to be utterly demo-
lished. The history is well known to every one,
nor is there any necessity that I should add to
what has been already related by the ecclesi-
astic writers on this subject. Perhaps, however,
it will not be unacceptable to hear Zosimus, a
Pagan historian, complaiming of, or indignant at,
this severe fate of his gods. “The sacristies of
the gods, (says he,) were overthrown through all
cities and countries, and therefore danger threat-
ened the heads of those who thought them gods,
or who looked up to heaven at all, and adored
what they saw there.” In truth, as the Lord,
when he was about to conduct ancient Israel out
of Egyptian bondage, is said to have exercised
1 10 CLAVIS APOCALYPTIC A.
judgment on all the gods of the Egyptians, Exod.
c. xii. v. 12, Numb. c. xxxiii. v. 4, so here, when
he was about to deliver the Christian people from
Roman tyranny, he exercised judgment on the
gods of the Romans. But you will inquire when
there was such a disturbance, and heaven and
earth were blended, had those gods no Atlases
who applied their shoulders to support the fall-
ing heavens, and oppose the standard-bearers of
Christ thus overthrowing all things Yes, they
had ; but they experienced a similar fate with
their demons. “The kings of the earth,” says
the Scripture, “ and the great men, and the rich
men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men,
and every bond and every free man,” that is, the
emperors, Maximinian, Galerius, Maxentius,
Maximin, with Martinian Caesar, Licinius, Ju-
lian, (add also, if you please, the tyrants Euge-
nius and Arbogastes,) with all their companions
in infidelity, of whatever order and degree, who
endeavoured with force of arms to defend the
religion of their forefathers, to support the cause
of the gods, then falling into ruin, and to restore
it when already fallen and desperate, were re-
duced at length to such straits, that “they hid
themselves in caves and rocks of the mountains,
and said to the mountains and to the rocks, Fall
on us, and hide us from the face of Him who
CLAVIS A POCALYPTIC A. I 11
sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the
Lamb; for the great day of his wrath is come,
and who will be able to stand 7”
This is a degrading image of persons flying
and hiding themselves, and of those who are
weary of life, from the desperate state of their
affairs; to which you have a similar description
in Luke, c. xxiii. v. 30. of the slaughter of Jeru-
salem ; also in Hosea, c. x. v. 8. of the destruc-
tion of Samaria and her idols; but the whole is
contained in Isaiah, c. xi. v. 18.
Here, let the reader observe in the first place,
that the key to unlock the whole vision, is con-
tained in those words ; for the matter treated of
here, is of some splendid victory of the Lamb, by
which he subdued and overthrew his enemies with a
universal slaughter. Moreover, since they, whose
destruction is described, fly from the Lamb as an
enemy, and wish to hide themselves from his
wrath, it may from hence clearly appear, that the
slaughter, although it be pointed out by no syn-
chronism, can by no means be applied to Chris-
tian kings, but to those who were estranged from
Christ; and, therefore, ought not to be explained
of slaughters by the Goths, and other barbarous
nations upon the empire, after it had become
Christian. But lastly, what the kings, nobles,
and chief captains, and the rest of the Gentiles
in the same situation with themselves, say in ad-
1 12 CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA.
dition, that the great day of the wrath of the
Lamb is come, and no one would be able to
stand, are the words of men acknowledging the
power of Christ, whom up to that time they had
despised, in comparison with their gods; and
believing in truth, that every attempt to resist
the Christians would be fruitless. And this, in
fact, they all thought ; but Galerius, Maximin,
and Licinius, even by open confession, however
unwillingly, attribute the glory to God.
For Eusebius, with others, is our authority,
that Galerius (with whom Christ begun in this
judgment), being seized with a most filthy and
horrible disease, in which his body, in conse-
quence of worms spreading over it, putrified with
an intolerable stench, was struck at last with a
consciousness of the crimes which he had com-
mitted against the Church, and having confessed
his guilt to God, abstained from persecution of
the Christians, and by laws, and imperial edicts,
hastened the building of their churches, and
commanded the accustomed prayers to be offered
up for him ; and a short time after poured forth
a soul guilty of such cruelty towards the Chris-
tians as had never been equalled.*
Maximin, a most inhuman enemy of the
Christians, relying on magic, on the divinations
* Eus. de vità Constantini, Lib. 1. c. xxx.
CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA, 1 || 3
of idols, and the oracles of demons, in all which
he trusted; nevertheless, being conquered by
Licinius more than once, while he was yet de-
fending the Christian faith with Constantine, his
colleague, having cast away the ensigns of em-
pire, fled and lurked for some time in the fields
and villages in the habit of a slave; and at length,
being shut up in Tarsus of Cilicia, and inflamed
with fury, he butchered many priests and pro-
phets of the gods, by whose oracles he had been
excited to undertake the war, as fortune-tellers,
impostors, and at length, betrayers of his safety;
and then, giving glory to the God of the Chris-
tians, he is said to have promulgated a decree
for their deliverance; but suddenly stricken by
God, requiring punishment for so many crimes
against the Christians, with a dreadful and mortal
disease, and his whole flesh being by degrees
eaten away, and consumed, and at length (as a
just retribution for the punishment which he had
meditated against the Christians), his eyes having
started out, in consequence of the heat with which
he was totally burnt up, he made his confes-
sion to the Lord, and breathed out his soul, ac-
knowledging that he deserved to suffer those
things on account of his madness and temerity
against Christ”.
* Item de vità Const., Lib. 1, c. li. lii.
I
114 CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA.
Lastly, Licinius, the deserter of the Christians,
whose party he had for some time espoused, with
Constantime, and boasting proudly to his soldiers
of the multitude of his gods in opposition to that
one only God of Constantine, and him a novel
and a foreign God (for so he called him), having
been conquered in two great battles (in one of
which, out of an army of 130,000 men, scarce
30,000 escaped), and being still unwilling to
remain at rest, was at length condemned by
Constantime, with his followers, by the laws of
war, and given up to deserved punishment. But
when they who were the authors of the war
undertaken against God, were brought together
with the tyrant to the place of punishment, as on
the former occasion, they had insolently exulted
in a hope placed in vain gods, so now they were
brought to confess that they understood, in truth,
how great and wonderful the God of Constantine
was, and to acknowledge Him as the true and
only God”.
APPENDIX.
From the ancient monuments of the Egyptians,
Persians, and Indians, from the authors Tar-
phanes, interpreter of Pharaoh: Baramus of
* De vità Const., Lib. II. c. iv. v. 18.
CLAVIS APOCALYPTIC A. 115
Saganessa, king of the Persians (a contemporary
of Diocletian); Syrbachamus, interpreter of the
king of the Indians; Apomasar, or, according to
others, Achmet, F. Scirim, an Arab, collected
'Ovelpokpurikā, or interpretations of dreams, as that
people were very much devoted, from the earliest
antiquity, to pursuits of this nature, as well as of
other kinds, so were they, while their empire
flourished, eager to translate the writings of all
nations into Arabic. This little book, which was
formerly in Greek, by what author is uncertain,
John Leunclavius published in the last century,
translated into Latin by himself, out of the library
of Joseph Sambucus. The same afterwards, in
the year 1603, Nicolas Rigaltius communicated
from the library of the most Christian king, in
his Oneirocritics, having supplied what was want-
ing in the copy of Sambucus. In this book you
may see that many prophetic images, which create
so much difficulty to our countrymen, were fami-
liar to the Oriental nations, and were certainly
not unusual in their divinations. Of the authors
from whom the collection is made, the most
ancient of all appear to be Tarphan, the Egyptian,
as one who not only calls himself the interpreter
of Pharaoh, but every where in his interpreta-
tions, uses the name of Pharaoh for a king.
It would therefore appear, that he lived at a
time when Egypt had still kings of its own, and
I 2
116 CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA.
while the same were called Pharaoh. The Per-
sian, with his king Saganissa, was, as I have
said, of the same age as Diocletian. The Indian
is of a later age, as he every where proclaims
himself a Christian.
But there is a wonderful agreement of both
with the Egyptian.
Since, them, we are not unwilling to learn the
meaning of words and phrases in the sacred
writings from those nations which were formerly
the nearest to the Hebrew people, and most
connected with them in manners, and the use of
language, why should we undervalue the same
advantages here, in the signification of figures
and prophetic images 2 (for, according to the
Hebrew masters, the determination of prophecy
is that of dreams.)
Let no one, then, impute it to me as a fault, if
I annex out of this author those passages which
appear to me to make the figures of the seal just
explained, more intelligible.
The same, likewise, I shall do hereafter, with
the reader's good leave, as occasion may offer, on
the trumpets, and the other visions.
CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA. 1 17
Circumstances, which throw light on the First
Seal, and partly also on those which follow.
Chap. ccxxxiii. Of the opinions of the Indians,
Persians, and Egyptians.
A noble spirited horse, which is called Pharas,
refers to eminence and dignity, in the interpreta-
tion of dreams. Common horses are understood
of nobility, and of some inferior rank.
If any one in his dreams has seemed to be
carried on a fleet and wanton horse, he shall find
in the presence of the people, fame, and the
greatest estimation, as well as eminence and
honour.
Also, if any one seemed to be riding armed on
a noble horse, he will find power, together with
good reputation, on account of his arms.
Chap. ccxlix. According to the Interpretations
of the Persians and Egyptians.
If any one seemed to have held bows and
arrows in his hand, he shall exult with joy over
his enemies.
There are more passages relating to the same
subject, as chap. clii. from the doctrine of the
Indians, concerning the large and long tail of
a horse, signifying companions and followers of
his power; of the short cut tail, signifying the
118 CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA.
loss of liberty, as well as sovereignty, if it were a
prince who dreamt of riding on such a horse.
In the same manner, chap. ccxxxiii. the dis-
mounting from a horse, if voluntary, is explained
of a spontaneous decrease of power; if unwill-
ingly, of a successor in dignity, assuming his
place.
The following things throw light on the
Third Seal.
Chap. xv. Of the Doctrine of the Indians.
If any one in his dreams has seen a balance, or
a bell, as they call it, a species of balance, justly
weighing in a certain place, let him understand
it, of the person of a judge. But if he has a
quarrel, and the things appeared to be equally
balanced, he shall obtain his cause.
If he should seem to observe an equal and a
pure balance, let him know, that the judge of
that place is just. But if he should see the scales
broken, and turned upside down, he may con-
clude, that the judge of the place where he saw
the dream, is unjust.
Besides, weights also have the same interpre-
tation as measures, according to their quantities,
but they are applied to the persons of inferior
judges.
CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA. II 9
These relate to the Siacth Seal.
Chap. clxvii. From the Writings of the Indians,
Persians, and Egyptians.
The sun relates, in interpretation, to the per-
son of the king, and the moon to the person of
the prince, who is second to the king : Venus to
the person of the empress, or Augusta, and also
the other largest stars to the greatest persons
about the king. While I am collecting these
things, I am almost induced to think, that the
famous title of Sapor, king of the Persians, in his
letters delivered to the emperor Constantius,
(Sapor, king of kings, partner of the stars, bro-
ther of the sun and moon, to Constantius Cesar,
my brother, greeting,) which Ammianus Marcel-
linus attributes to Persian pride, was no other
than the vernacular style of the nation, arising
from images of this kind; which ought to appear
less wonderful to any one, since we see even our
own heralds, in publishing the arms of emperors
and kings, apply to them the names of the sun
and moon, and of the other planets. Hither,
likewise, may be referred Jacob's interpretation
of the dream of Joseph, his son, of the sun and
moon, and eleven stars, making obeisance to him,
which he immediately, as by no means ignorant
of the parables of the east, applies to his own
7
I 20 CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA.
family, interpreting the sum and moon of himself
and his wife, as king and queen ; the stars, of his
sons, as the nobles of the family, Gen. c. xxxvii.
V. 10. But let us return to our Achmet, for he
proceeds in the same chapter.
If any one has thought that he saw the sun in
the heaven deprived of light and rays, calamity
and disgrace appertain to the person of the king.
If the sun has appeared to be in eclipse, that
portends affliction and war to the king.
If any one has thought he saw the sun covered
with a cloud, the king will fall into distress and
diseases, by way of occultation.
If any one has seen the sun, and moon, and
stars, collected together without light; if he is
of the number of grandees, he absolutely ap-
proaches to ruin, on account of that darkness;
if he is king surrounded by all, he shall be
sought out in battle, and shall fall into great
affliction.
Chap. clxviii. Of the Observations of the Persians
and Egyptians.
If any one has imagined he saw the stars pos-
sessed of very little light, cast down, scattered
and obscured, this vision is to be referred to the
calamity of the nobles, opulent men, and to the
presidents of the king.
CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA. 121
The sixth seal being finished, we should pro-
ceed forthwith in order to the seventh, (big as it
is with its sevenfold plague,) as what coheres
with the sixth in an immediate connexion. But
the Holy Spirit, by a sure suggestion, has led to
the delay of our progress for a little while, until
it has placed before our eyes the state of an
assembly contemporizing with it, which was to
be safe under its plagues, and was also to survive
them.
Let us then hold the torch of interpretation,
in the first place, to that vision, as far as we are
able, and then we will continue the order of the
seals which we have begun.
THE VISION
Of the Company of the Servants of God, or of the
elect and faithful Church to be preserved under
the ruins of the Seventh Seal, or of the Trum-
pets, eachibited under the type of the one hundred
and forty-four thousand sealed out of all the
tribes of Israel, at the beginning of the Seventh
Seal.
The vision of those who are sealed is intro-
duced twice: First, in this place, in the beginning
of the trumpets, in the first prophecy; again, as
the contrast to the beast, when possessed of
power, in the second prophecy, c. xiv.; and
I22 CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA.
that with a double view ; – here, for the pur-
pose of preserving them under the ruins re-
sulting from the trumpets; there, for the pur-
pose of extolling them on account of their
faith maintained to God and the Lamb, when
the other inhabitants of the world, deserters and
revolters, had received the mark of the beast.
From which it clearly appears, that the pro-
phecy of the beast contemporizes with the events
of the trumpets; but to what extent, is to be de-
cided by some other means, namely, not beyond
the end of the sixth trumpet, in which the
months of the beast conclude with the days of
the mourning witnesses. c. xi. v. 14. It is our
present design to hold the torch of interpretation
to the first vision of the sealed ones, which
regards their preservation. Hereafter, when
we arrive so far, we shall treat of their com-
mendation.
“After these things,” says he, (that is, when
the vision of the sixth seal is ended, and the
seventh, which is that of the trumpets, is about
to begin,) “I saw four angels standing upon the
four corners of the earth, restraining the four
winds of the earth, that they might not blow on
the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree.”
The sense is, He saw angels who presided
over the winds, that is, over the storms of war
and calamities, which, from whatever part of the
CLAVIS APOCALYPTIC A. 123
world they were about to issue forth, were to be
restrained as long as it pleased God ; but at his
nod, whenever he gave the signal, were to be let
loose on the whole world. Not indeed the same
with the angels of the trumpets, but those who
were at their sounding, to let loose those winds,
now from one and now from another part of the
world, to ravage and destroy the Roman state.
For the parable of the winds in the prophets
implies warlike movements, and hostile attacks
and invasions ; as Jer. c. xlix. v. 36. “I will
bring upon Elam the four winds from the four
quarters of heaven, and I will scatter them
towards all those winds; and there shall not be
a nation to which the outcasts of Elam shall not
come.” Also, c. li. v. 1, 2. “ Behold I, saith the
Lord, will raise up upon Babel, &c. a destroying
wind; and I will send out upon Babel winnowers,
and they shall winnow her, and shall make empty
her land.” And likewise, c. xviii. v. 17. “As
an eastern wind will I scatter them, (that is, the
Jews,) before the enemy,” namely, the king of
Babylon. Hither likewise, it seems, may that
passage of Daniel be referred, c. vii. 2, 3. “ Be-
hold the four winds of heaven strove on the
great sea, and four great beasts ascended out of
the sea;” that is, from the conflict of nations on
every side, rushing among each other with war
124 CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA.
and the sword, and contending for dominion and
empire, four great kingdoms arose.
“And I saw,” says he, “ another angel ascend-
ing from the rising sun, having the seal of the
living God, (perhaps therefore Christ the Lord,)
and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels,
to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the
sea, (namely, by letting loose the winds which
they had restrained,) saying, “ Hurt not the
earth, nor the sea, nor the trees, till I have
sealed the servants of our God in their fore-
heads ;’” that is, do not let loose the winds, nor
give them the power of going forth, and raging
over the world. He names the earth, sea, and
trees, agreeably to the image of winds, as those
objects to which the winds are wont to do
damage; to the earth, by the ruin of buildings;
to the sea, by shipwrecks; to trees, by manifold
injury and laceration.
“Hold !” says he, “till we have sealed the
servants of our God in their foreheads;” that is,
until we have distinguished them by a mark
impressed, as the elect assembly of God, on
which those destroying winds, which were to
consign to ruin the remaining society of men,
should have no power; but over which, marked
with his seal, Divine Providence would continually
watch, lest in this ruin of the Roman state, which
CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA. 125
the trumpets would effect, this holy progeny
should be extinguished. For the event was to
be ordered, that they should not go without
punishment who injured them, as having trans-
gressed the limits of the right granted them by
God; and farther, that the injury, if any should
befall them, should be immediately recompensed
by God. There is an allusion to the passage in
Ezekiel, c. ix. where those who are sighing and
exclaiming for the abominatious of Jerusalem,
are sealed by an angel for this purpose, that
they might not sustain equal destruction with
the impious and reprobate, from those who were
to smite them. And, in truth, the event which
relates to this declaration, (if any one will con-
sider the state of the times of which we are
speaking) will appear like a miracle;—that it
could have been possible, when the Roman
empire was desolated and destroyed, by so great
a havock of cities and their inhabitants, so that
its ancient population being nearly extinct, it was
inhabited by a barbarous people, and by nations
who were aliens to Christ; yet that the Church,
in the very same place, in the midst of these
evils, and while, as it were, the world was falling
into ruin over its head, should still endure; nay,
even that the beast in the same time, (as we shall
hear in its place,) while idolatrous worship was
defiling the whole of Christianity, should never-
126 CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA.
theless mourish in its bosom an undefiled assem-
bly such as this, and that in the name of a
reverence for God. Of such importance was it
to have been protected by the seal of God.
“And I heard,” says he, “the number of those
which were sealed—a hundred and forty-and-
four thousand were sealed of all the tribes of
Israel;” that is, twelve times twelve thousand,
being twelve thousand of each of the tribes.
For as in the beginning, we saw the theatre of
the visions, or the Apocalyptical Assembly, de-
scribed according to the image and state of the
ancient synagogue, and great part of this book of
types has a reference to the same ; so that, as
false Christians in the epistles to the churches
may on that account be spoken of as false Jews,
so likewise here, the universal church of the
Gentiles, secured by the seal of God, is figured
under the type of Israel, the twelve apostles of
the former aptly corresponding with the same
number of the patriarchs in the latter.
Nor is it thus done undeservedly ; as for other
causes, so chiefly because the church, which,
from the time of the rejection of the Jews, was
collected out of the nations, succeeded in the
place of Israel, and became (if I may so speak)
the substitute of Israel, and was to be accounted
in that state by God, until his ancient people,
having at length obtained mercy, “the fulness of
CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA. 127
the Gentiles should have come in ;” that is, the
“innumerable multitude out of all nations, tribes,
peoples, and tongues,” which at last, when the
signature of this Israel was finished, John testifies
that he saw singing praises to God and to the
Lamb. This indeed is that doctrine (I speak of
substitution), which the Apostle Paul means to
teach in Romans, c. xi. when he inculcates that
the fall of the Jews should bring salvation to the
Gentiles, and their rejection should be the recon-
ciliation of the world. Not that by other means
the Gentiles were not called in their own time,
since the whole chorus of the prophets exclaims
that the Gentiles should be gathered together to
the glory of Israel, and should be converted to
the Lord, (which the Jews themselves, either in
ancient times or at the present day, did or do
distrust,) but that, not by this calling, which was
made by anticipation or surrogation, and as an
incitement to emulation, if the Jews had not re-
nounced Christ. An intelligent person will un-
derstand what I mean. “It was necessary,” says
the apostle, Acts c. xiii. “ that the Word of God
should first have been spoken to you ; but since
ye put it from you, and consider yourselves
3.
unworthy of etermal life, lo ! we turn to the
Gentiles.”
That testimony of Amos, quoted by James in
the Council of the Apostles, Acts, c. xv. (not to
128 CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA.
notice this likewise), seems to have been intended
of the anticipated conversion of the Gentiles, i. e.
of that which would precede the restoration of
the Jews; and on that account, was then, per-
haps, preferred to the other prophecies, which
might have been otherwise understood of the
adoption of the Gentiles among the people of
God. For he intimates, not only that the name
of the Lord should be called on the nations, (i. e.
that the Gentiles should become his people,)
but also, that this should take place partly at a
time when the tabernacle of David should yet lie
in ruins ; that is, that the kingdom of Israel
should not yet be restored by Christ. “After
this,” says he, “I will return, and will build again
the tabernacle of David, which is fallen down,
and I will build again the ruins thereof, and I
will set it up, that the residue of men might seek
after the Lord, and all the nations upon whom
my name is called;” that is, that the rest of
mankind, together with those nations upon
whom, even before that period, my name would
be called, should at length seek after and wor-
ship the true God. For instead of what is now
read in the Hebrew text, “ that they should in-
herit the remainder of Idumea,” it seems to have
been formerly written, that “the residue of men
should seek after the Lord.” Nay, from the
Hebrew reading which now obtains, the same
CLAVIS APOCALYPTIC A. 129
inference may be collected of the anticipated
adoption of the Gentiles into the people of God,
namely, in this sense, that the Jews being
brought back, when the tabernacle of David,
which had fallen down, should at last be restored,
the remains of Edom as well as the Gentiles,
upon whom the name of God was long pre-
viously called, should be admitted by hereditary
right. Therefore, some of the Gentiles would
become the people of God before the restoration
of the tabernacle of David. But of this enough.
With respect to the number of the sealed, the
number twelve is a mark of the apostolical
family, which denotes the apostolical progeny,
by multiplying thousands of each tribe as well as
all together; a progeny, we may suppose, though
increased to many thousands, yet by no means
degenerate, but representing their parents in
faith and sanctity. For, doubtless, as “to have
the number of the beast” (of which we shall
hereafter hear), signifies being of the people or
followers of the beast,-so, to bear the number
of the apostles, signifies being the legitimate off-
spring of the apostles. The analogy of the New
Jerusalem shows this to be the truest interpre-
tation of the multiplication by twelve, in the
structure of which, and in the dimensions of its
gates, of the area of its foundation, of the circuit,
length, breadth, and height of its walls, the same
K
130 CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA.
number twelve, or the multiplication by twelve
is adopted. And that we might have no farther
hesitation to what that twelve-fold multiplication
refers, lo! it is expressly said, of the twelve foun-
dations of the wall, that they were inscribed with
the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.
c. xxi. v. 14. “Of the tribe of Judah, of the
tribes of Reuben, Gad, Aser, Naphtali, Ma-
masses, Simeon, Levi, Issachar, Zabulon, J oseph,
and Benjamin, of each of these tribes were sealed
twelve thousand.” The tribes are in no other
part of Scripture enumerated in this order, al-
though in other places they are reckoned in
various modes. For besides that Dan does not
appear with them at all, nor is the name of
Ephraim spoken of in the rest, there is a depar-
ture here from the rule of all the enumerations
which are made elsewhere, and neither the order
of nativity, nor dignity of family is preserved;
but the last are blended with the intermediate,
and the younger sons of servants are preferred
more than once to the elder children of wives, so
that it can by no means be doubted but that
some remarkable mystery of a typical kind lies
concealed under such a novel and unusual order.
This, with God's favour on our undertaking, we
think that we have discovered, and it is in this
YY13,1]]].61 -—
First, Dan is rejected from this type, and
CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA. 131
Ephraim is passed over, in silence, as the stand-
ard bearers and leaders of the Israelitish apostasy
(Jud. c. xvii. and xviii.), and the same as were
the patrons of the public idols in Dan and Bethel,
in the time of the kingdom. They were there-
fore, altogether unfit to represent the followers of
a purer religion.
But that, nevertheless, the number of twelve
might be complete, Levi is substituted in the
room of Dan, and the name of Joseph with the
omission of that of Ephraim. The number being
thus constituted, the sons of wives and servants,
independent of the accustomed dignity of the
family, are intermingled, and the children of ser-
vants are adopted as those of their mistresses.
“For in Christ there is neither bond nor free,”
but all are of equal estimation. Since, then, the
sons of Leah, both natural and adoptive, are
double the number of Rachel, for there are eight
of the former, and only four of the latter, there-
fore such an order is observed in reckoning them,
that the four sons of Leah might be compared in
a double mode, alternately with the two of Ra-
chel: But on both sides, those tribes are pre-
ferred as more excellent than the rest, which some
transaction, either of their own, or of their off-
spring, related in the Holy Scriptures, respecting
the true worship of God, and zeal towards Him,
had rendered worthy of commendation.
K 2
132 CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA.
The family of Leah are at the head of the
first troop in virtue of the prerogative of Christ,
the Prince of the company, as sprung from that
stock. In the following manner:
1. Judah 7. Simeon
First Quaternion of)2. Reuben |Second Quaternion of) 8. Levi
the Sons of Leah. Y3. Gad the Sons of Leah. 9. Issachar
4. Aser 10. Zabulon
First Couple of the ſ 5. Naphtali Second Couple of the 11. Joseph
Sons of Rachel. {. Manassehl Sons of Rachel. 12. Benj amin
The Reason of the Order of the Sons of Leah.
Judah, Reuben, Gad, Aser, constitute, as you
see, the first quaternion of the sons of Leah, as
Superior to the rest in respect to Him of whom
the type points out the nobility.
Among those, the first place, as justly due, is
bestowed on Judah, on account of Christ, the
King of the faithful, descended from that tribe.
The second on Reuben, whom that illustrious
protestation concerning building the altar of
remembrance on the banks of Jordan, ennobled,
and which he deserved, that he might not yield
the prerogative of his nativity (for he was the
first-born) to any other than to the royal tribe of
Judah. The third place is allotted to Gad, as the
associate of Reuben in that celebrated protesta-
tion of retaining the true worship of God, and
illustrious besides for Elias the prophet, and
Jehu the king, the destroyer of Baalism.
CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA. 133
Aser, in fine, assumes the fourth and last place
in this quaternion, illustrious for the widow of
Sarepta, who reverenced Elijah, (Sarepta lying
in the lot of Aser,) and noted also for Anna the
prophetess, of the tribe of Aser, who bore testi-
mony to Christ, when she was remaining in the
temple according to the law, but by no means to
be compared with the three preceding, because
each was a female.
Simeon, Levi, Issachar, and Zabulon are de-
ferred to the last quaternion, either because
they were embellished with no names, or with
fewer than the former ; or if they had any,
by such as were obliterated afterwards by
some kind of wickedness. For Levi blotted
out the remembrance of the zeal by which he
approved himself in the wilderness, (to pass over
the sedition of Korah,) by his fellowship with
Israelitish apostates and idolaters, even from the
beginning. For Jonathan the Levite, the grand-
son of Moses, gave up his services in introducing
the worship of images to Micah the Ephraimite
and the Danish robbers. Judg. c. xvii. v. 10,
and c. xviii. v. 30. It is possible also, that the
substitution of Levi in the place of Dan might
have degraded him into the fourth quaternion.
Moreover, since the brethren of this quaternion
have no quality in which some excel others, they
preserve the order of their mativity unaltered,
134 CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA.
and every one is enumerated in that order in
which he was born.
The Reason of the Order of the Sons of Rachel.
Observe that among the posterity of Rachel,
two of them paired together, Naphtali and
Manasseh, head the family: Joseph and Ben-
jamin bring up the rear. Naphtali and Manasseh
are preferred, because he was illustrious, as well
in Barak, the conqueror of Sisera the Canaanite,
as in Hiram, a Naphtalite on his father's side,
the artificer of the instruments and furniture of
the temple of God; (1 Kings, c. vii. v. 14. 2 Chron.
c. ii. v. 14.) and in a name yet greater, of whom
hereafter ; the latter was noted for Gideon, the
subverter of Baal, and Elisha the prophet.
But the glory of Christ's inhabitation exalts
Naphtali, though the son of a maid-servant, above
Mamasseh, as when Christ was about to enter on
his office, he fixed his residence and seat of his
preaching in the noblest city of the tribe of
Naphtali, and the metropolis of all Galilee,
Capernaum, whence, as from an episcopal city,
he went forth many times over all Galilee with
his apostles, into all the synagogues and villages,
teaching the gospel of the kingdom, and shining
forth with miracles of healing. For, Reader, I
wish to remark, from the Evangelical History,
(because it escapes many,) that our Saviour
CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA. 135
dwelt in Galilee during the whole time that he
abode on earth; but that he was seen in Judea,
the principal seat both of the nation and of his
own tribe, only at the time of the festivals. And
this is what Isaiah of old had predicted, Isa. c. ix.
Matt. c. iv. v. 14. ; that “the wonderful Coun-
sellor, the mighty God, the everlasting Father,
(Sept. the Father of the age to come,) the Prince
of Peace,”—in one word, the Messiah, should be
a Galilean ; and, as if in compensation and con-
solation of the captivity, which Galilee, first of
all the regions in the Holy Land, had then re-
cently undergone from the Assyrian, (2 Kings,
c. xv. v. 29.) that the tract in question should
be peculiarly enlightened by his presence ; ap-
parently, indeed, that public way, called “ the
Way of the Sea,” which, coming out of Syria to
Jordan, passes through the middle of Capernaum,
and from thence, proceeding near the Sea of
Galilee, leads into Egypt. Let us hear what he
says, (vide Hebrew.) “As in former times he
rendered vile the land of Zabulon and the land
of Naphtali, (viz. as I have observed by Tiglath-
pileser,) so at the last he will render it glorious.”
For “the way of the sea (trodden by the Assy-
rian) to the passage of Jordan, (where Caper-
maum was situated,) Galilee of the Gentiles,
the people which walked in darkness, (namely,
of afflictions,) have seen a great light; to those
136 CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA.
who dwelt in the region of the shadow of death,
on them has the light shined,” &c. Would you
know whence and under whose influence Galilee
will be so blessed, and within that maritime way
where the passage of the Jordan was 2 he imme-
diately subjoins, “ For unto us a Child is born,
unto us a Son is given, and the government shall
be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be
called Wonderful, the Counsellor, the Mighty
God, the Father of Eternity, the Prince of
Peace.”
But those words (with which our transcribers,
almost treading in the footsteps of the Jews, who
never understood this prophecy, begin the chap-
ter with a great disturbance of the sense,) I
annex with Jerome and the Royal Bibles to the
last sentence of the preceding chapter ; and I
render them, “ For there is no obscurity in Him
who is the cause of their trouble,” that is, in the
calamitous and afflicted state of things into which
the Israelitish republic at that time is reported
to have fallen, according to the threatening of
the law, and which is as it were submitted to our
sight; men were driven to indignation and despair
because they saw the enemy by which they were
oppressed enjoy perpetual success, and that no
misfortune befel him. It is of great importance
to the Christian faith, that this oracle concerning
the Galilean Messiah should be clearly under-
CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA. 137
stood, and the fidelity of Matthew, who alleges
it, should be asserted ; on which account I was
desirous of throwing some light upon it on this
occasion, hoping that the Reader would not con-
sider it as unacceptable. I return to the Apoca-
lypse, and I will add one thing more before I
dismiss Naphtali ; that, as among the sons of
Leah, the first place was allotted to Judah, on
account of the generation of Christ, so among
those of Rachel Naphtali was noticed on account
of his dwelling, that the prerogative of Christ
might be supereminent on both sides, in whose
name, as that of Lord and Emperor, the assembly
(as we shall hear in its proper place) is enrolled.
Joseph and Benjamin remain, transferred to
be the last pair of Rachel's children, and of whom
the sirname of Ephraim degraded to this place,
since it is Ephraim, in truth, who is concealed
under the name of Joseph, having been un-
worthy, on his own account, (because he was
the leader of the Israelitish idolatry introduced
by Micah, and also because of that enormous
apostasy of which Jeroboam and Ahab were the
founders,) to have his name repeated in the
catalogue. Benjamin likewise, beside being the
youngest born, the hatred of Saul the Benjamite,
against David, and the curses of Shimei against
him who was the head of the family and the type
of Christ, deprived of a higher station.
138 CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA.
A MEMORABLE SENTENCE,
Formed from the signification of the names by
which the tribes were called, by which both the
order of the tribes sealed, the disposition of the
assembly itself, its contest and reward by God
are declared.
JUDAH . . . . . 'confiteºur Deo The blessed Assem- W . Cultus purus et
REUBEN . . . . .intuendo Filium rite Christianus.
bly confesses to God
GAD . . . . . . . . caetus by looking to the Son Pure and truly
ASER . . . . . . . benedictus y g QChristian worship
MANAssEH . . obliviscentibus those who forget their
NAPHTALIM. . luctantur cum They contend with
SIMEON . . . . . obedientiam obedience.
LEVI . . . . . . . Adhaesio (scil.
Christo) Their adherence to
Is ACHAR . . . . mercedem Christ adds to them P -
ZABULON. . . . habitaculi (scil. the reward of an eter- tºº.
aeterni) nal habitation with the 6.W3 r(1.
Jose PH . . . . . adjicit Son of his right hand.
BENJAMIN... Filio dextrae
The blessed assembly, the assembly of those who
are sealed, confess or celebrate God, by looking
to his Son, that is, to Christ the only Mediator.
They contend with those who are forgetful of
their obedience, that is, with the antichristians.
Adhesion to Christ will add to the Son of His
right hand, (that is, to him whom God highly
values) the reward of a habitation or eternal
mansion. Or otherwise, the Son of His right
hand (that is, Christ) will add to those who
adhere to God, the reward of a habitation, or
mansion of eternal life.
7
CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA. 139
To this more contracted and afflicted State of
the Church, under the type of those who are
sealed out of the people of Israel, succeeds that
most ample, and by far most prosperous state of
the same, under the image of an innumerable
multitude of palm-bearers, out of every nation,
and people, and tribe, and language. “After
these I beheld, and lo! a great multitude, which
no man could number, out of every nation, and
of all tribes, and people, and tongues, standing
before the Throme, and before the Lamb, clothed
in white robes, and with palms in their hands;
and they cried with a loud voice, saying, Salva-
tion to our God that sitteth on the throne, and
to the Lamb.”
But since this vision pertains to the seventh
trumpet, and cannot be conveniently and clearly
explained elsewhere, on account of so many
things which require to be previously known, we
will therefore postpone the exposition of it. At
present it may be sufficient that the reader should
remember what has been just now generally said,
that both the visions in conjunction pervade the
whole interval of the seventh seal, or of the
trumpets; but separately, that the assembly of
the sealed synchronizes with the first six trum-
pets, and the multitude of the palm-bearers with
the seventh.
And thus having completed the interpretation
140 CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA.
of the interposed vision, or visions, let us resume
the discontinued series of the seals.
The Meaning of the Seventh Seal, that is, of the
Seven Trumpets.
They were the six first seals, in which the
state of the empire, yet standing and flourishing,
was described, until the power of idolatry fell by
intestine misfortunes. The seventh succeeds,
the subject matter of which is seven trumpets,
under which the fates of the declining and falling
empire, proceeding to ruin by a sevenfold order
of plagues, while the trumpets are sounding the
alarm, are displayed under images suited to such
an event. God, in truth, executing punishment
by that destruction for the blood of so many
martyrs, shed under Roman auspices. For He,
whose will it is that even brute animals should
not be spared, if they have slain man, made in
His image, would He not require the blood of
His servants of the empire which had been a
martyricide for so many revolving years'
Neither could the late piety of the Chris-
tian emperors, then possessed of the power of
the state, avail to intercede with the justice of
God, any more than the piety of Josiah, for the
kingdom of Judah, guilty of the blood spilt by
Manasseh, that it might escape the ruin decreed
by God. This revenge, the souls of the martyrs,
CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA. 141
groaning under that dreadful butchery of the fifth
seal, invoked earnestly with their prayers: This
God promised, as soon as the Roman tyrant, by
the addition of those who still remained to be
slaughtered, had filled up the measure of iniquity,
c. vi. v. 11. This time had now arrived.
Wherefore an angel, the priest of heaven, at
the altar of incense, offers up those prayers (as
was the custom with the prayers of the people
made in the temple), by fumigation to the throne
of God; and recalls them to His memory.
In the mean time, “there was silence in heaven
for the space of half an hour,” according to the
rites of the temple in performing a sacrifice of
this nature. For it is evident, that in Sacrifices,
in every part of the world, silence was a part of
religion. They said, “Attend in silence.” That
was observed by the people of God, when they
offered incense. For, while the sacrifices were
offering (which was the first part of their liturgy),
the temple resounded with hymns, trumpets, and
other musical instruments, 2 Chrom. c. xxix.
v. 25–28. But at the time of incense every
thing was silent, and the people prayed in silence
to themselves, Luke, c. i. v. 10. To this, then,
there is an allusion, when it is said, that while
the angel was about to offer sacrifices at the
golden altar, “there was silence in heaven for
the space of half an hour;” that is, during the
142 CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA.
whole time of incense. Which being at length
finished, “an angel filled a censer with fire from
the altar, and cast it on the earth.” And he
acted thus to signify by this rite, to what subject
those prayers referred, which rising to God, had
been imbued with grateful odour; namely, to
implore vengeance on the inhabitance of the
earth, who had injured the Saints, and had even
shed their blood.
But the prayers immediately obtained an
answer; for “there were,” says he, (that is, from
the Throne, or inmost recess of the temple,)
“voices, and thunderings, and lightnings, and an
earthquake.” In which words is described the
oracle ºp nin—Bath Kol, that is, the daughter of
the voice, or of thunder, by which God formerly
gave responses to his ancient people, and by the
same assented here to the prayers of the Saints.
Now in the Hebrew language it is to be under-
stood, that voices and thunderings have the same
signification. For thunderings are called mºp,
that is, voices. Kai, then, is either to be taken
explanatorily, for that is ; or as I should prefer
by the figure v 8ta 8voiv, voices and thunderings
are voices of thunder, or attended with thunder.
God, indeed, for the most part, uttered His
decrees with thunder, as he also delivered the
law, Ex. c. xix. v. 16. Nay, it was the only
oracle which remained to the Jews after the
CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA. 143
Babylonian captivity; of which there is an ex-
ample in our evangelist, c. xii. 28. When the
Lord had said, “Father, glorify thy name, there
came,” says he, “a voice from heaven, ‘ I have
both glorified it and will glorify it again.’” It
follows. “And the people which stood by and
heard it, said it thundered. Others said, An
angel spake to him ;” that is, some said it was
Divine thunder, or thunder joined with the Di-
vine voice, namely, the daughter of thunder; but
others, that an angel spoke. And hence it is
that, in the Apocalypse, not only in this place,
but elsewhere generally, thunder is connected
with Oracles and Divine voices, as c. iv. v. 5,
c. vi. v. 1, c. x. v. 3. Wide the sacred Aristar-
chus of the most illustrious Daniel Heinsius,
p. 277 and 455.
The sacrifice being thus ended, and God having
assented to the prayers of his saints with the voice
of thunder, “the seven angels who had the seven
trumpets, prepared themselves to sound.” That
the works of Divine providence and government
are carried on by the administration of angels, is
confessed by all theologians. The angels, there-
fore, preserve their place in those visions, in the
transactions to which they are pre-appointed by
God, and what is performed by the common
agency of angels and men, is said to be performed
by the authority of angels, as principals and
144 CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA.
leaders. So that they appear to me to wander
wholly from the mark, who, under the name of
angels, imagine that some mystery lies concealed.
The angel trumpeters then, who are here men-
tioned, are those who were appointed to direct
the plagues of the trumpets, while men were em-
ployed in the performance, by whom it pleased
God to execute his decrees. The four first of
these trumpets are the cause of the less exten-
sive and minor plagues, inasmuch as they were
those during which, while they hung over the
greatest part of the Western, or Latin world, the
Roman bishop was to be healed, and from that
time to become at least the head of that world.
For rightly applying the images of which, here
likewise let the reader observe, that the Roman
community is secretly assimilated by the Holy
Spirit with the other empires of the world, to a
mundane system, whose parts are the earth, sea,
rivers, heaven, and stars; in such a way that the
system of every empire may have its earth like-
wise, which is like the ground itself, a low sub-
stance, and the basis on which the mass of the
whole political structure rests. Also a sea, which
by flowing round its earth, may wear altogether
the similitude of a sea ; (and this is the ampli-
tude or extent of dominion.) Political rivers
likewise, which, in the manner of other rivers,
derive their origin from the sea, and return to it
CLAVIS APOCALYPTIC A. 145
again; of which kind are provincial magistrates,
and other administrators of government, toge-
ther with the provinces themselves, the channels
of those rivers. The sun lastly, and other stars
in the heaven, of supreme power, referring to the
Sun, moon, and stars, in the mundane system.
This analogy being observed, the interpretation,
as it is completely fortified by similar figures of
the ancient prophets, so it will be easy to be un-
derstood, and very apposite in every part to the
event recorded.
But what is so often repeated of the third part,
as the third part of the trees of the earth, the
third part of the sea, of the rivers, of the heaven,
I understand of the bounds of the Roman em-
pire, embracing in its circuit the third part of the
world, as it was known in the time of John.
Which appears capable of being proved from this
circumstance, that afterwards, in chap. xii. “the
seven-headed ten-horned dragon,” (that is, the
heathen Roman empire), is said to have drawn
“ a third part of the stars of heaven with his tail,
and cast them to the earth ;” that is, to have sub-
jected a third part of the princes and dynasties
of the world to his dominion. These things
being premised, let us come to the interpretation
of particulars.
C. viii. v. 7. “And the first angel sounded,
and there came hail and fire mingled with blood,
L
146 CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA.
and it was cast upon the earth, and a third part
of the trees was burnt up, and every green herb
was burnt up.”—“And the second angel sound-
ed, and as it were, a great mountain burning
with fire, was cast into the sea, and a third part
of the sea became blood. And a third part of the
creatures in the sea, which had life, died, and a
third part of the ships was destroyed.” “And
the third angel sounded, and there fell from hea-
ven a great star burning like a torch, and it fell
upon the third part of the rivers, and upon the
fountains of waters. And the name of the star
was Wormwood, and a third part of the waters
became as wormwood, and many men died of
the waters because they were embittered.”—
“And the fourth angel sounded, and the third
part of the sum was stricken, and the third part
of the moon, and the third part of the stars; so
that the third part of them was darkened, and
the day shone not as to a third part of it, and the
night likewise.”
The First Trumpet.
The first trumpet of the seventh seal begins
from the final disturbance and overthrow of the
Roman idolarchy at the close of the sixth seal;
and as it was to bring the first plague on the
empire, now beginning to fall, it lays waste the
third part of the earth, with a horrible storm of
CLAVIS APOCALYPTIC A. 14.7
hail mingled with fire and blood; that is, it de-
populates the territory and people of the Roman
world, (viz. the basis and ground of its universal
polity) with a terrible and bloody irruption of
the northern nations, and overthrows and de-
stroys the nobles and plebeians. You may see
the image of hail, referring in the same manner
to a hostile invasion in Isaiah, c. xxviii. v. 2.
“ Behold a strong and mighty one from the
Lord, (he alludes to Salmanasser,) as a tempest
of hail, and a whirlwind of destruction, as a flood
of many waters, overflowing, he shall cast down
mightily on the earth. The crown of pride, the
drunken of Ephraim, shall be trodden under his
feet.” Also Isaiah, c. xxx. v. 30, of the slaughter
to come on the Assyrians: “And the Lord shall
cause his glorious voice to be heard, and shall
show the descent of his arm in the indignation
of his anger, and in the flame of a consuming fire,
in dispersion and tempest, and hailstones; for at
the voice of the Lord shall the Assyrian be beaten
down,” &c. Here it is to be observed, that hail
is usually accompanied with thunder, especially
in the warmer regions. Therefore fire is joined
with the mention of hail, both here, in St. John,
and in Isaiah, and in the eighteenth Psalm, ver,
13, 14. Nay, in the Scripture history likewise,
Exod. c. ix. v. 23. But John mixes blood with
it likewise, that he may point out by this index,
L 2
14.S CLAVIS APOCALYPTIC A.
that the whole image relates to slaughter.—
Let the reader likewise consult Isaiah, c. xxxii.
v. 19, with regard to the image of hail, and the
Chaldee paraphrast upon it. Moreover, the same
paraphrast teaches us that trees, in prophetic
parables, signify the great and rich, who for
oaks of Basan (Isaiah xi. 13.) Substitutes the
princes of provinces; for cedars, (Isaiah xiv. 8.)
rich men; for fir-trees, sometimes princes, (Isaiah
xxxvii. 24.) sometimes kings, (Isaiah xiv. 8.)
Who likewise paraphrases that passage of Zecha-
riah xi. 2. “ Howl, fir-tree ; for the cedar is
fallen because the mighty are spoiled. Howl,
ye oaks of Basam, for the fenced forest is fallen
Howl, ye kings, for your princes are debased;
ye who were rich in wealth are spoiled. Howl,
satraps of provinces, for the region of your
strength is laid waste.” Whence, by analogy,
it is easily collected, that herbs are to be taken
for the common people, when, as in this place,
they are connected with trees.
Now, in order to collect something respecting
the event from history, I would deduce the
beginning of this trumpet (until something more
certain shall be established) from the death of
Theodosius the First ; that is, from the year of
Christ 395; because then the Christian religion
seems to have plainly triumphed over the gods
of the Gentiles; and at the same time, as com-
CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA. 149
bined in a certain common term with the end of
the former, and with the beginning of the pre-
sent seal, the irruptions of the Barbarians having
in a small degree been attempted before, but
been repressed in the ensuing years, when the
empire was again at peace, began at length to
take place in a horrible manner, and to hang
over the whole Roman world, continually and
cruelly wasting and depopulating it with fire and
sword.
For in this very year, Alaric first, with an
immense army of Goths and other barbarians,
broke into Macedonia, from Thrace, sparing
neither towns nor inhabitants. From thence,
proceeding through Thessaly, and having occu-
pied the straits of Thermopylae, he descended
into Greece, that is, into Attica, and overthrew
every city except Thebes and Athens. He made
an irruption into Peloponnesus, and laid waste
Corinth, Argos, and Sparta. From thence he
invaded Epirus, where he proceeded to commit
the same depopulations and devastations. In the
following year, quitting Epirus, he made an in-
cursion into Achaia, and hasted to despoil it
shamefully, together with Epirus and the neigh-
bouring provinces, by burnings and depopula-
tions. When he had thus, for five years, ha-
rassed the east with his cruel ravages, he turned
his attention to the invasion of the west, passed
I 50 CLAVIS APOCALYPTIC A.
into Dalmatia and Pannonia, and laid waste
those regions far and wide.
Hear Jerome, who was then alive, deploring
the very distressed state of this period, while the
tempest was still assailing it. Epist. III. “Be-
tween Constantinople and the Julian Alps, Roman
blood is every day shed. Scythia, Thrace, Mace-
donia, Dardania, Dacia, Thessaly, Achaia, Epirus,
Dalmatia, and all Pannonia, the Goths, the Sar-
matians, the Quadi, the Alans, Huns, Vandals,
and Marcomani, invade and seize. How many
matrons, how many virgins of God, and free-born
and noble persons, are become the sport of these
brute beasts Bishops are taken captive, priests
slain, and the functions of divers clergymen sus-
pended ! Churches are subverted, horses are
stabled at the altars of Christ, the relics of mar-
tyrs are dug up. The whole Roman world falls to
pieces. What courage do you suppose at this
moment is possessed by the Corinthians, Athen-
ians, Lacedemonians, Arcadians, and all Greece,
over whom the barbarians rule 7”
In the following year, A.D. 401, the same
Alaric, with Goths, Alans, and Hums following
his footsteps, when he was preparing to carry
the war into Italy, broke through Noricum, and
entered Venetia through the forest of Trent,
reduced those cities in a short time under his
power, and besieged the emperor Honorius at
CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA. 151
Hasta; so that almost all men in Italy were
beginning to think of changing their habitations.
But here at length, Stilico, the general of Ho-
norius, having prepared a great army, checked
his fury, and forced him to trace back his steps
into Pannonia, from whence he had come, after
he had been more than once conquered and
worn out by disadvantageous battles. From
whence, a short time after, having entered into a
league, and being honoured by Honorius with a
military prefecture, he withdrew into Illyrium,
a province of the east.
While Alaric was quiet for a short time, that
the west might not from thenceforth enjoy an
hour of rest, immediately after, in the year 404,
another memorable irruption of the barbarians
was prepared against Italy, Radagaisus, a Scy-
thian, being their leader, who with an army of
Goths, Sarmatians, and Germans, to the amount
of two hundred thousand, having overthrown
the garrisons in the Alps, passed into the terri-
tory of Venetia, Emilia, and Etruria, and laid
siege to Florence, where being conquered by
Stilico with an immense slaughter, he was taken
and beheaded. This enemy, however terrible,
having been removed in a short space of time,
and with little loss, soon after, in the year 406,
the third, that most grievous and very destructive
irruption of the Vandals and Alans into the west,
took place, accompanied by the Marcomanni,
152 CI, AVIS APOCALYPTICA.
Heruli, Suevi, Alemanni, Burgundiones, and a
rabble of other barbarians, by which Gallia first,
and from thence Hispania, and lastly Africa,
were taken possession of, and afflicted with cala-
mities of every kind, which destructions Jerome
partly expressed and partly implied in his second
epistle. “Innumerable and very fierce nations,”
says he, “ have occupied all the Gallias: What-
ever is between the Alps and the Pyrenees, what
is included by the ocean and the Rhone, the
Quadian, the Vandal, the Sarmatian, the Alans,
the Gipedes, the Heruli, Saxon, Burgundian,
Alleman, and Pannonian enemies have laid
waste. Magunciacum” has been taken and over-
thrown, and in the church many thousand of men
have been butchered. The Vangiones + have
been exterminated in a long siege. The city of
the Rhenii, though very strong, the Ambiani, the
Atrebates §, Morinil, Tornace", the Nemeta^*,
and Argentoratift, have been translated into Ger-
many. Aquitania, the country of the Nine People,
the provinces of Lyons and Narbonne, except a
few cities, have been wholly depopulated. I cannot
make mention of Tolosajj without tears, which
the merits of the holy bishop Exuperius, up to
* Mentz, or Mayence.
+ People about Worms, in the Palatinate.
j Rheims. § Artois. | Bretons.
T Inhabitants of Tournay. * Near Spire.
†† Argentina Strasburgh, †† Tholouse.
CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA. I 53
this period, contributed to preserve from ruin.
The provinces of Spain are even now trembling,
as just ready to perish. Rome redeems its life
by gold. And this was that terrible cloud of hail
mingled with fire and blood ; an image, indeed,
of so obvious an application, that I cannot help
referring to Nicephorus of Gregora, in book ii.
c. vii. never thinking of the Apocalypse, but
treating of the Scythians; and yet what fell
from him is so suitable to this subject. ‘As,’
says he, terrors from heaven are often excited
in men by God, as lightnings, fires, and fre-
quent rains, &c. So these northern and hyper-
borean terrors are reserved by God, that they
may be let forth for punishment, when and by
whom it may seem right to Providence.’”
But let me add likewise the corollary from
Achmet, for the farther confirmation of the
Reader.
Corollary taken out of Achmet, of the signification
of Hail, Fire, and Trees, in the interpretation
of Dreams.
Chap. cxci. Of the Eaplanations of the Indians,
Persians, and Egyptians.
“Snow, hail, and cold portend troubles,
anxieties, and torments.”
“If any one thought he saw hail fallen on
any spot, let him expect a sudden hostile attack.”
154. CLAVIS APOCALYPTIC A.
“If he thought he saw hail that injured the
stalks of wheat or barley, in that place, as far as
the stalks are broken, will warlike slaughters
ensue.”
To the same purpose is Chap. clxix. Of the
Divination of the Indians; Chap. clx. Of the Ea:-
plication of the Persians and the Egyptians.
“Fire signifies death, war, battles, punish-
ment, and affliction, if any thing or person had
been seen to burn.”
Also in Chap. cli. The Persians, Indians, and
Egyptians interpret Trees by Men, principally
Magistrates, Noblemen, and very illustrious men.
“If any one has seen trees watered and flour-
ishing, a very eminent man and the people will
be fostered.”
“If a king has seemed to himself to have
planted trees, he will appoint new magistrates.”
Also,
“If trees by length of time become injured and
rotten, the nobles of the king will die a matural
death.”
“If he has thought he saw shrubs which grew
up into trees, this refers to the promotion of his
great men.”
“If he has thought he saw the leaves of trees
collected into his house, wealth shall be gained
from the great in the manner of leaves,” &c.
CLAVIS APOCALYPTIC A. 155
The Second Trumpet.
The second trumpet which ushers in ruin on
the Roman world by a heavier plague, it being
already laid waste as to its land, assails the Sea;
the third part of which, and what belongs to it,
it renders entirely bloody, by the fall of a great
mountain threatening it of old, but now set on
fire, together with a great slaughter of animals
or fishes living in it, and of the vessels navi-
gating therein.
That is, the destruction of Rome, the great
city, captured again and again, spoiled and burn-
ing with hostile flames, broke forth with the
ruin of the amplitude of the Roman dominion or
jurisdiction ; the barbarians, on account of the
weakness of the capital, thus affected, now seizing
on its provinces, and dividing them into new
kingdoms, with an irreparable slaughter of the
legions at that time remaining for its defence,
with a loss of all aids of retaining and support-
ing its power, even by negociation.
The sea of the political world is, as I have
observed, that amplitude of dominion which em-
braces all the inhabitants in the communion of
the same political laws. By this image the domi-
nion of Babylon is expressed, Jer. c. li. v. 36.
where the Lord threatens that “He will dry up
her sea, and make her springs dry;” which ver, 44
156 CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA.
explains by the retention of the same metaphor,
“The nations shall no longer flow together to
her.” The amplitude of the Assyrian kingdom
likewise, is thus described, Ezek. c. xxxi. v. 4.
“The waters have made her to increase;” (that
is, the Assyrian cedar,) “ the abyss or the sea
has exalted her.” Perhaps the dominion of
Pharaoh is the sea. Isa. c. xix. v. 5. It is said
of the destruction of his kingdom, “ The waters
of his sea should fail;” that is, his empire should
be taken away. Therefore those great empires
are seen by Daniel “ascending out of the sea;”
that is, arising out of the circumference of
dominion.
But as “ the third part of the sea,” that is, of
the Roman sea, is said to have become bloody,
it is to be understood that blood is used in the
first place for slaughter, and then for death, even
without blood. Death is to be taken generally
for destruction, even of a substance without life.
Wide Ezek. c. xiv. v. 19. and c. iii. v. 18. 20. and
c. xviii. v. 13. Amos, c. ii. v. 2. Rom. c. vii. v. 9.
Whence blood, or to become bloody, is the image
which has suffered destruction, as if it were like
an animal slain or butchered, dropping with
gore. When, therefore, it is said here that the
sea is made bloody by the overthrow of a great
mountain, it denotes nothing else than that it
should suffer some kind of death, or violent
CLAV IS APOCALYPTICA. 157
extinction by that event. What is said in the
vials, where there is the same image, is a little
more clear, “it became as the blood of a dead
man.” The meaning is, that the Roman domi-
nion, or extent of power, suffered ruin, was
mangled, dismembered, and destroyed.
The like symbol of a mountain, signifying a
city, is to be found of ancient Babylon, in Jer.
c. li. v. 25, “Behold I am against thee, O de-
stroying (or corrupting) mountain, Saith the
Lord, which destroyeth (or corrupteth) all the
earth, and I will stretch out my hand,-and will
make thee a burnt mountain, (or a mountain of
combustion,)” where the Septuagint has poc
ëutupiðuevov a burning mountain, in the same sense
in which John uses it here, &poc Tupi katóuevov, a
mountain burning with fire. Of the same Isaiah
says, c. xiii. v. 2, “Lift ye up a banner on the
high mountain.” The Targum has it, “On the
city which dwelleth confidently.” Again, c. cxxxvii.
v. 24, to Sennacherib, king of Assyria, “ Thou
hast reproached the Lord, and hast said, With
the multitude of my chariots have I ascended to
the height of the mountains :” The Targum,
“Have I ascended into their fortified cities.”
But whether rightly, I doubt.
Moreover, that a mountain should here be
said to be cast into the sea, is a proper figure,
because, by no other means could a mountain
158 CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA.
hurt the sea, than by being cast into it. And
this you will remember, likewise, takes place in
the following trumpet of the falling star.
With relation to history, Rome was first cap-
tured in the year 410 by the same Alaric, king
of the Goths, who in the former trumpet had
exhibited, as it were, a prelude of its fate. But
now, after the death of Stilico, exciting new dis-
turbances, and setting on foot a new and fatal
expedition against Italy, by which he reduced
Honorius to such straits, that the barbarian him-
self gave to Rome a new emperor of the name of
Attalus, with whom he besieged Honorius Augus-
tus at Ravenna, who was already meditating
from the desperate state of his affairs, to fly into
the east, and to abandon the west. But the
enemy, induced by his submission, and Attalus
having abdicated the empire, restored Honorius
to his power.
The dismemberment of the Roman empire
followed immediately the destruction of Rome.
I call Sigonius as a witness, who says, “ The
miserable devastation of Italy, continual wars
with Gaul and Spain, and at length, new regal
governments of barbarians in both provinces, fol-
lowed the destruction of Rome.”
For, in the first place, Honorius, in order to
recover the possession of Rome with the empire,
having made a league with Alaric, was compelled
CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA. I 59
to grant settlements to the Goths, and a kingdom
in the Gallias. Two years after, in the year 412,
the Huns pouring into Pannonia, which the Goths
had left, he being destitute of sufficient force to
make resistance, under such difficulties, entered
into a treaty with them, giving and accepting
hostages.
Then in the year 413, Constantius, the general
of the same Honorius, that he might not acci-
dentally fall into any warlike difficulty, willingly
received the Burgundians into amity, and assigned
them seats on the Rhone, who in the preceding
years had thrown themselves into Gaul with the
Vandals.
Lastly, in the year 415, the same Honorius,
(as Procopius relates,) when the Goths, a little
while after, had passed into the neighbouring part
of Spain, granted to the Vandals likewise, with
their king Gunderic, who had lately been expelled
from Gaul by the Franks, the habitation they had
occupied, under the engagement of waging war
with the Goths.
He who desires to know more may consult the
beforenamed Sigonius on the western empire,
books X. and xi. from whence we have quoted
these particulars.
And thus, from henceforth, the extent of the
Roman dominion was daily more and more
mangled and dismembered, until Rome being
160 CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA.
again taken and sacked in the year 455 by Gen-
seric, the Vandal, in the year immediately fol-
lowing, or in rather less time, the whole body of
the empire appeared to be divided into ten king-
doms in all; which, together with the names of
the people, and kings, and the provinces over
which they reigned, the following little table will
exhibit, together with some illustrations from
history, to throw greater light upon the subject.
And in this manner, at length, those ten king-
doms, into which the Holy Spirit had prede-
clared, both by Daniel and St. John, that the
Roman empire should be divided in the latter
days, seem to be made out, and are not altogether
to be estimated by the bare mames of so many
regions, or tracts of the earth, as is commonly
done, but by kingdoms, into which the extent
and dominion of the empire was to be forcibly
torm asunder.
In the mean time, however, we do not think
that the circumscription of this demary is to be
so rigidly interpreted, as to exclude more king-
doms at any one time, or dynasties of some kind
or other; but that the empire was to be rent into
ten kingdoms, at least, or into ten principal
kingdoms. Which, from the original declaration
which we have now represented, down even to
the present age, under so many fates and changes
7
CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA. 161
of republics and kingdoms, I believe to have been
always true; though it might be sufficient to
confirm the truth of the oracle, if it had only
been divided in the beginning into so many
kingdoms, though afterwards, perhaps, the num-
ber had diminished.
Now that this circumscription of the decad of
kingdoms is to be understood in the manner
which I have stated, and not otherwise, the
similar prophecy respecting the division of
the Alexandrian monarchy may teach us. In
which, though over and above those four princi-
pal kingdoms of Macedonia, Asia, Syria, and
Egypt, a fifth was added, namely, that of Thrace,
by its founder Lysimachus, yet the Holy Spirit
defined that multiplicity by a quatermion, Sug-
gesting there would be so many at least, or so
many principal kingdoms. For the Thracian
kingdom, though it began at the same time with
the rest, and lasted forty years, yet had no suc-
cessor, but expired with the first king, Lysima-
chus, and therefore is not to be referred to the
number.
In like manmer we are to judge of this tenfold
Roman division. Therefore, let no one be sur-
prised, if, beside the kingdom enumerated in the
Gallias, he should possibly find that of the Aure-
liam Alani, and also the dynasty of the Armoric
States, remaining even from the reign of Hono-
M
162 CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA.
rius to these times. The latter, indeed, he will
find to have been of very moderate extent, and
the former to have lasted for a very short space
of time, (or not more than ten years.) Neither,
then, is to be reckoned in the same place and
order as the rest, though otherwise something of
the same mature may be discovered.
-:
grº
l
New
A Type of the Dismemberment of the Empire or Dominion of Rome, about the year of
Christ 456, and subsequent to that period.
+ º e = Names of Kings -
Kingdoms of Provinces under their Dominion. regnant about Observations.
the year 456.
1. BRITONs . . . . . . . . In Britain Vortimer.
2. SAXONs . . . . . . . . . ] { *** ***** ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' e - e º e e º © O - e. Hengist. g º
In Belgic Gaul first fterwards gls The kingdom of the Burgundians was sub-
3. FRANKS . . . . . . . . } in ğ. aul Tirst, a } Childeric. jugated and extinguished about 526; but to
4. BURGUNDIAN.S.. . . . In Gaul, about the Seine and Lyons. Gunderic. º º:
5. VISIGOTHS . . . . . . In Aquitaine and part of Spain. . . . . Theodosius II. strogoths ... º
In that part of Spain comprised in * - two kingdoms; Pannonia having been subject
6. SUEVI & ALANI. . Galli p d L º i p Ricianus. to them, being occupied by the Longobards,
In Af º * º ". i. fore ini and Italy alone left to the King of the Ostro-
7. VANDALS . . . . . . . rica; but a little belo Genseric. goths.
Spain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . )
e EMANNI . . . . . - w tº *
8 º "n. tract of Germany, called ' | Sumanus. The kingdom of the Allemanni coalesced
& 6 tº º ſº º e In Fº i. 'i. • . . . defeated the with that of the Heruli, as long as they had
H I) d b .* º iration º possessions in Italy, about sixteen years.
9. OSTROGOTHS . . . . º 31I] . Ore the . G Theodemirus.
tº: j * º i. ii. The Longobards, or Lombards, succeeded
In the * º º º . lominion ; the Ostrogoths likewise in Italy, from the time
the .." ; O tl € . CIn- of Narsis. After he had destroyed the king-
ire *. º: i º lved, that º dom of the Ostrogoths, being called forth in
10. GREEKS . . . . . . . . f i. d. . Marianus. 567, they gave up their seats in Pannonia to
- * {. - - - & vari.
among the kingdoms into which it the Huns and Ava
was broken to pieces . . . . . .
º

164 CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA.
The Third Trumpet.
The third trumpet wholly overthrew and ex-
tinguished that burning star, the Roman Hesper,
or Caesar of the West, which fell headlong from
the time when Genseric, king of the Vandals,
pillaged the captured city of Rome; though, for
a little time, to contend with death under those
merely nominal Caesars, -Avitus, Majorianus,
Severus, Anthemius, Olybrius, Glycerius, and
Nepos, who perished by mutual treacheries and
murders, at length, in the year 476, drawing its
last breath under the fatal name of Augustulus,
was entirely hurled from the heaven of his power
by Odoacer, king of the Heruli, who had fallen
upon him, with a very bitter calamity to the
fountains and rivers, that is, to the cities and
provincial magistrates.
By the Hesperian Caesar I understand him,
who, from the confirmed division of the empire
into eastern and western, even from the death of
Theodosius the First, yet remained emperor of
ancient Rome, and of the West, but for a very
short period, as, after the year 91, he began
secretly to fall from his heaven at the sound of
this trumpet. For though the Roman bishop,
more than 320 years after the Hesperian Caesar
had fallen in Augustulus, substituted the king of
the Franks, (and afterwards of the Germans) in
CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA. I65
the same name and title, he did nothing else but
contrive, that by this drawn-curtain of a revived
Caesar, or the sixth head of the beast, he himself
might not be so clearly perceived by the less
perspicacious, to be the last head, that is, Anti-
Christ.
The Papal Caesar, however, does not apper-
tain to the heads of the Roman beast, but to the
horns or kingdoms, into which the empire of the
sixth head, just ready to give place to the last
head, were to be divided. For, after so long a
space as 325 years”, there could not be a succes-
sion, as in continuation of the western Caesars.
But it is time now to throw light on the text
of John, that the reasonableness of the interpre-
tation may appear. “And there fell from hea-
ven, (says he,) a great star, burning as a lamp.”
He seems to describe a hairy star, or comet,
among whose species is enumerated by Pliny the
Lampadias, or blazing star, especially so called.
And indeed, the Caesar of the West might not
unaptly be designated by a star of this kind, on
account of his brief duration. Of whom it is
said, c. xviii. “And when he cometh, he must
continue a short space.” But the star was great,
in order more aptly to figure the Supreme ma-
jesty, whose splendour the Sun, in other places,
* From Augustulus to Charlemagne,
166 CLAVIS APOCALYPTIC A.
represents in prophetic parables. And it is very
well known that there have been comets, which
seemed to equal even the sun in magnitude, of
which kind, perhaps, he will not be in an error,
who affirms this star to have been one. But
that you may not entertain a doubt of the appli-
cation, Isaiah applies a similar image of a falling
star, c. xiv. v. 12, to the fall of the king of Babylon.
“How (says he) hast thou fallen from heaven,
O Lucifer, son of the morning ! How art thou
cut down to the ground which didst weaken the
nations * !” In other places likewise, as in that
passage of Isaiah, c. xxxiv. v. 4, just now quoted,
stars falling from heaven are understood of the
ruin of princes and nobles. A star, therefore, of
a singular and unusual magnitude, designates a
prince above the common lot of princes, that is,
great and illustrious. It follows: “And the
name of the star is called Wormwood.” It is
the prophetic plan, that the quality or fate of the
thing or person of which it treats should be point-
ed out by the imposition of a certain proper name,
since there are other instances in the Hebrew lan-
guage where pnua, nint, is the same as rô Toayua,
that is, the word signifies the thing, as Luke c. i.
v. 37, “ There is not any word impossible with
* The king of Babylon is likened to the morning star, as
ruler in the East. This may be considered as the evening
star, the emblem of the Emperor of the West.—R. B. C.
CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA. 167
God *,” and to be called signifies the same as to
be or exist, as Isaiah c. lvi. v. 7, “My house
shall be called the house of prayer,” for which
Luke has, c. xix. v. 4, “ My house is, (that is,
shall be accounted,) the house of prayer.” And
Gen. c. xxi. v. 12, “ In Isaac shall thy seed be
called,” that is, “shall be.” See likewise the Sep-
tuagint Isa. c. xiv. v. 20. Ruth, c. iv. v. 11.
But examples of the figure which I have no-
ticed are every where to be met with. For thus
says Isaiah, c. vii. v. 14, “ His name shall be
called Emmanuel i ;” that is, He shall be 0éâv-
0pwtroc, God-man; and c. ix. v. 6, “His name
shall be called Wonderful, the Counsellor, the
Mighty God, the Father of the world to come,
the Prince of Peace ;” that is, he shall be all
these. Also Jerem. c. xxiii. v. 6, “And this is
the name by which he shall be called, The Lord
our Righteousness;” and Zech. c. vi. v. 12,
“ Behold a man whose name is the Branch.” It
follows, “ For he shall grow up out of his place,”
&c. add Rev. c. xix. v. 13, “ His name is called
the Word of God.” Akin to these examples are
what we find in Jer. c. xx. v. 3, 4, “ The Lord
doth not call thy name Pashur, but Magor Mis-
* That is, there is no mord spoken by God in prophecy, but
what shall surely come to pass.
f The Sept. has KaNéo etc., you shall call.
168 CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA.
sabib, (i. e. fear on every side). “For thus saith
the Lord, Behold, I will make thee a terror to
thyself and all thy friends;” and Ezek. c. xxiii.
v. 4, “ Their names (i. e. the names of Samaria
and Jerusalem) are Aholah and Aholibah.” Add
Isa. c. viii. Hosea, c. i. 6, 7. By a similar figure
in every respect, is this fallen star called Worm-
wood; that is, according to the Hebrew notion,
(by which abstracts are used for concretes,) Ab-
sinthites, or the prince of bitterness and troubles.
Of this kind in truth, if ever there was one, was
that Hesperian Caesar, exercised with perpetual
troubles from his first rise to his end ; during
whose possession of power the Roman empire
was ready to fall; nay, in whose appointment
was given an occasion of falling, because in the
division of empire thus introduced, a way was
opened for the barbarians, and the Roman com-
monwealth was exposed to the most dreadful
calamities. Might not he be properly called
Wormwood, on account of a fate so bitter to
himself and others ? According to that saying
of Naomi, “ Call me not Naomi, call me Marah ;
for the Almighty has afflicted me with bitter-
mess,” Ruth c. i. v. 20.
But before I quit this subject, something must
be said of the state of the city and the Roman
commonwealth, that the way may be prepared
for the interpretation of the following trumpet.
CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA. 169
The Caesar of the West, then, being thus over-
thrown and extinct, in the mean time Odoacer,
king of the Heruli, held Rome for sixteen years
under the name of king, who, after two years
restored, and from that time preserved, the con-
sulate to Rome and the West, which in his anger
he had at first taken away. Theodoric, king of
the Ostrogoths, succeeded him, and that, as Paul
the Deacon relates, by Zeno, the emperor of the
East, delivering Italy to him in a formal manner,
and confirming it by the imposition of the second
veil on his head. He, after Odoacer was con-
quered and slain, besides Dalmatia and Rhetia,
which were provinces of Odoacer, added Sicily
also to his kingdom, rebuilt the walls, and some
of the edifices of the city of Rome, having col-
lected a large sum of money for that purpose ;
so that nothing seemed to be wanted to its at-
tainment of its former state, except the infamy
of a city plundered and burned. He regulated
the kingdom most wisely; he changed no Roman
institution, but retained the senate and consuls,
the patricians, prefects of the praetorium, prefect
of the city, questor, commissary of the sacred
largesses, offices of the privates, and of the mili-
tary, masters of the foot and horse, and the other
magistrates, who were then in the empire, and
entrusted the offices only to Romans. Which
regulations were for some time continued by his
170 CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA.
successors also, Athalaric, Theodostratus, and
Vitiges, Ostrogoth kings of Italy.—Wide Sigo-
nius on the Western Empire, Lib. xv. Anno, 479,
Lib. xvi. Annis, 493, 494, 500.
The Fourth Trumpet.
The fourth trumpet having advanced a little
farther, proceeded to take away entirely the light
of Roman majesty in the city of Rome, with
which it had hitherto shone under the Ostrogoth
kings, after the consulate of Rome had failed ;
namely, from the year 452, in that Ostrogothic
war, waged first by Belisarius, and then by
Narses, general of Justinian, for the purpose of
recovering Italy: And then the city itself, having
been repeatedly taken by Totila, burnt, and a
third of it demolished, deprived, moreover, of all
its inhabitants, (a memorable sport of fortune !)
being recovered at length by Narses, after so
many deaths and so much slaughter, was thrown
down a short time after by a whirlwind and
thunderbolts. Once the queen of cities, but now
at length deprived of the consular power, of the
authority of the senate, and of the other magis-
trates, with which, as stars, she had hitherto
irradiated the globe, she fell from such splendour
of glory into I know not what ignoble Duchy of
Ravenna, over which she had formerly ruled,
and was afterwards compelled (what obscurity 1)
CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA. I 71
to be subject to the Exarchy, and to pay
tribute.
And this was that percussion of “the third
part of the sun, and of the moon, and of the
stars,” by which it came to pass that “a third
part of the day did not shine, and likewise a
third part of the might.” Where the diurnal light,
which is that of the sun, is called by the name of
day, and the nocturnal light of the moon and
stars, by that of night. Like that in Jerem.
c. xxxi. v. 35, “Who giveth the sun for the light
of the day, and the ordinances of the moon and
the stars for a light by night.”
The sun shone at Rome as long as the consular
dignity and the kingdom was possessed of autho-
rity over other cities and provinces. The moon
and the stars shone there, as long as the ancient
power of the Senate, and of the other magistrates,
remained. But these being all taken away, (which
was done by this trumpet,) what was there but
darkness, and a universal failure of light, both
diurnal and nocturnal 2 namely, what belonged
to that city, to which a third part of the light of
heaven was attributed.
The image of the sun, moon, and stars, in this
sense, is very frequent with the prophets. As
Isaiah, c. xiii. v. 10, also c. lx. v. 20, where, in-
stead of “Thy sun shall no more set, and thy
moon shall not be diminished,” the Targum has,
7
172 CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA.
“Thy kingdom (it is addressed to Jerusalem)
shall no more cease, and thy glory shall not be
withdrawn.” Also, Jerem. c. xv. v. 9, where of
Jerusalem he says, “Her sun is set, while it is
yet day,” the Targum translates it, “ Their glory
has departed during their lives.” And Ezek.
c. xxxii. v. 7, the same paraphrast turns that
passage concerning Pharaoh—“And when I shall
extinguish thee, I will cover the heaven, and
make the stars thereof dark”—“Tribulation shall
cover thee, when I shall extinguish the splendour
of the glory of thy kingdom.” The reader may
transfer hither also the observations I have
made above from Achmet, in order to throw
light on the sixth seal. It is wonderful how they
agree.
Of the Three Woe Trumpets.
There still remain three trumpets, the greatest
and most grievous of all, and therefore discrimi-
nated from the former by the appellation of Woes.
For after the conclusion of the fourth trumpet,
“I saw and heard,” says he, “an angel flying in
the midst of heaven, and saying with a loud voice,
Woe, woe, woe, to the inhabitants of the earth,
by reason of the other voices of the trumpets of
the three angels, which are yet to sound.” Also,
c. ix. v. 12, and c. xi. v. 14.
Doubtless, since the Christian inhabitants of
CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA. 173
the Roman world, whilst the other trumpets were
sounding, had contaminated themselves with the
worship of new idols, the trumpets which re-
mained were made more important for the pur-
pose of punishing the double sin. For, it is
apparent, that this sin, likewise, of the Roman
world, together with the former one, of the
slaughter of the martyrs, was reckoned in the
account of the crime to be avenged, because this
enunciation is subjoined to the second woe:
namely, “The rest of the men which were not
killed by these plagues, repented not of the works
of their hands, that they should not worship de-
mons, and idols of gold and silver, and brass and
stone, and wood, which neither can see, nor hear,
nor walk,” c. ix. v. 20.
The First Woe Trumpet, or Trumpet
the Fifth.
The first woe trumpet is long since passed. It
sent forth those horrid troops of locusts, issuing
from the smoke of the Tartarean abyss, now
opened by the work of Satan, to devastate the
globe; that is, the Saracens, or Arabs, (a mation
as populous and numerous as locusts,) were ex-
cited to the destruction of so many nations, by
the astonishing false prophecy of Mohammed.
For the smoke ascending from the infernal
pit is Mohammedism, which the Mohammedan
174 CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA.
knaves call Islamism. This covered the whole
earth with a new obscurity, long since illuminated
by the empire and discipline of Christ, the Sun
of Righteousness, after the darkness of the Gen-
tiles had been dispersed. And the type of locusts
is the more exact, because the Egyptian locusts
likewise came from the same Arabia, bordering
on Egypt to the east. For thus says Exodus,
c. x. vv. 13, 14, “The Lord brought an east wind
on the land, and it brought the locusts; and the
locusts went up upon all the land of Egypt, and
settled in all the coasts of Egypt.” The Arabs,
besides, on account of the remarkable multitude
of the nation, are compared to locusts. Judges,
c. vii. v. 12, “ The Midianites and Amalekites,
and all the sons of Kedem, or of the east, lay in
the valley as locusts” in multitude. Their camels
were without number, as the sand by the sea
shore for multitude.” Where it is to be observed,
that the Arabs are peculiarly denominated the
sons of the east, as Arabia itself is DTS Kedem,
or the east; namely, with respect to Egypt,
where the Israelites had learned to speak thus.
You may see, Gen. c. x. v. 30, and c. xxv. v. 6.
1 Kings, c. iv. v. 30. Isa. c. xi. v. 14. Jer. c. xlix.
v. 28, and perhaps Matt. c. ii. v. 1. Plainly for
the same reason as Asia Minor is at this day
* In our version grasshoppers.
CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA. 175
called Natolia,” and Arabia Felix is called by the
rest of the Arabians, Ayaman, or south, whence
the queen of the south, Matt. c. xii. v. 42. But
this by the way.
A similar image of locusts is to be seen in Joel,
in the two first chapters, speaking of the Assy-
rians and Babylonians, who were about to lay
waste Judea, from whence he who hath compared
the description of both, will not deny that the
type was borrowed.
Achmet shows from the use of the east, that
the interpretation is to be referred to hostile
forces; whose words I have thought proper to
insert in this place. It is thus he writes in
chap. ccc. from the sciences of the Indians, Per-
sians, and Egyptians : “ The locust, no doubt, is
generally to be referred to a multitude of enemies:
For so it is recorded in the sacred writings, that
locusts by Divine command go forth like an army
to the devastation of countries.” This allusion
to Sacred writings, applies to those of the Indians
alone, as well as every thing in this book, which
seems to imply a knowledge of the Christian re-
ligion, as will be apparent to the reader. He
proceeds,-‘‘ If any king or person endued with
power has dreamed that he saw locusts going
forth towards a particular region, he may expectin
* Anatolia from 'Ayatoxij,
176 CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA.
that place, a multitude of enemies with great
power; and as much injury as the locusts have
done, so much damage will they occasion.”
Having now then established the image, we
will look to the remainder of the description.
“And to them was given power,” says ver. 3,
“even as the scorpions of the earth have power;”
“for they had tails like scorpions, and in them
stings with which they hurt ; and their torment
was as the torment of a scorpion when it striketh
a man.” That is, they had not only the power
proper to locusts of eating up and depopulating
the countries through which they passed, but,
what was a kind of prodigy, they had tails like
scorpions, with the stroke of which, likewise, they
diffused poison. Wonderful A locust scorpion.
But the nature of the evil which it implies, the
symbol of a serpentine species seems to point
out; for the scorpion is of the serpent kind. In
that resemblance, in which the devil first de-
ceived mankind, and turned him away from God,
the Holy Spirit loves still to introduce him when
he is about to deceive men. Whence that ex-
pression—“The old serpent, which deceiveth
the world,” c. xii. v. 9, and c. XX. v. 2. The
tail, therefore, of a scorpion, with the sting, de-
notes the propagation of that diabolical false
prophecy of Mohammed, with its whole appara-
tus, on which the Arabian locusts relying, not
CLAVIS A POCALYPTICA. 177
Jºy
less than on warlike force, inflicted hurt, alas !
wherever they went. Nay, this train of foulest
errors, the Saracens first, from the creation of man,
drew after them ; and, I believe, no nation before
them, relying on a similar imposture, in religion,
and under the pretext of destroying the worship of
idols, ever contended for the empire of the world.
But it was said to them, “that they should
not hurt the grass of the earth, nor any green
thing, nor any tree, but only those men who had
not the seal of God upon their foreheads.”
As to the signification of the particle et ui, but
only, the sense is either exceptive, “ that they
should not hurt any herb, (for this is the mean-
ing of x6proc with the Hellenists,) nor any thing
green, nor any tree, unless those herbs, trees,
and green things only, which were not inscribed
by the seal of God;” so that men and herbs, and
green things, mutually explaim one another. Or
it may be explained not exceptively, but in op-
position, according to the use of the particle et an
in sacred Hellenism, for ax\d, Matt. c. xii. v. 4,
Rom. xiv. v. 14, and elsewhere; namely, that it
might be said to them, that they were not to feed
altogether after the manner of common locusts,
on herbs or trees, nor on any thing green, but
above those things to which they were accus-
tomed, they were to harass men alone ; of the
number of those whom the seal of the angel, at
N
178 CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA.
the beginning of the trumpet, had not exempted
from those plagues. In whichever mode it be
taken, we might trouble ourselves in vain about
the signification and difference of green grass
and trees, since those things belong only to the
propriety of the figure in which a mystery is not
to be sought for. For thus it is said of the
Egyptian locusts, Exod. c. x. v. 15, “ They
covered the face of the whole earth, so that the
land was darkened ; and they consumed every
herb of the land, and all the fruit of the trees,
and there remained not any green thing in any
tree or herb of the field through all the land of
Egypt.” But our locusts afflicted the very men,
and from hence it is apparent that they were not
of the genus of insects, that is, not natural, but
symbolical locusts. On which occasion, it will
be worth while, once for all, to lay down this
rule:–Whenever any thing is attributed to the
prophetic type, which is not agreeable to the
nature of the same, that will lead us to the un-
derstanding of the thing signified by the type,
and teach us that the interpretation is to be
made according to the condition of the thing
so signified; and this, you will observe, is to be
done four times, at least, in this vision; as when
there is given to locusts not only the power of
attacking men, but also a human face, feminine
hair, golden crowns, and iron breast-plates; by
CLAVIS APOCALYPTIC A. 179
all which it is intimated that men and not insects
are designated; and they, indeed, by no means
hooded as some suppose”, but in all respects such
as go forth in arms, for the destruction of others.
Of which locusts it is said, “And to them it was
given, that they should not kill men, but that
they should torment them for five months;” that
is, in this respect the Arabian locusts differ from
the Euphratean horsemen, of whom mention is
made in the following trumpet. It was given to
the Saracens to torment for a long time, and in
a cruel manner, the nations of the Roman name;
but it was by no means given to them to despoil
of life that Roman triental, if I may so call it,
on any side. For since, while the former trum-
pets were sounding, out of the ruins of its poli-
tical state, a new pontifical kingdom of ancient
Rome had grown up, with a progress equal, as it
were, to the ruin of the other, the Saracens could
not destroy this, nor the kingdom of Constan-
tinople, the new Rome. On the other hand,
the Turks, after the capture of the royal city,
entirely took away the Constantinopolitan domi-
nion, as we shall hear in the following trumpet.
Of the five months to which the torment of the
locusts is limited, we shall speak with more pro-
priety when we come to the repetition of the same.
* Mede means to say, they were not monks.-R. B. C.
N 2
*
180 CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA.
“In those days men shall seek death, and
shall not find it. And they shall desire to die,
and death shall flee from them.” That is, such
shall be the calamity of those times, that men
shall be weary of their lives. For you are not
to imagine that this was done by mere persua-
sion, or tricks of delusion. The business was
effected by arms, and that by the institution of
Mohammed himself; the apparatus of which,
indeed, and it is sufficiently terrible, together
with the amplitude of the dominion to be acquired,
and the dress of the nation waging war, is de-
picted in a lively image. The warlike apparatus
is thus described: “And the figures of the locusts
were like horses (i. e. cavalry) prepared for
battle ;” “ their teeth were like those of lions,”
i. e. strong to devour. Joel, c. i. v. 6. Dan. c. vii.
v. 7. 23. “And they had breast-plates like
breast-plates of iron, and the sound of their wings
was as the sound of chariots with many horses
rushing to battle.” The whole description is
taken from Joel, from whence, as I observed, is
borrowed the very image of locusts. Wide c. ii.
v. 4. c. i. v. 6. c. ii. v. 5.
The crowns, like crowns of gold, placed on
their heads, indicate the success and extent of
dominion to be acquired ; nor indeed unde-
servedly. No nation ever reigned so extensively,
nor in so short a space of time were so many
Cſ, AVIS APOCALYPTICA. 181
kingdoms, so many regions, brought under the
yoke of domination. Incredible is it to be told,
yet it is most true, that in the short space of
eighty, or not many more years, they subjugated
and acquired to the diabolical kingdom of Mo-
hammed, Palestine, Syria, both the Armenias,
almost the whole of Asia Minor, Persia, India,
Egypt, Numidia, all Barbary, as far as the river
Niger, Lusitania, and Hispania. Nor did their
good fortune or ambition stop here, till they had
added great part of Italy, even to the gates of
Rome, besides Sicily, Candia, Cyprus, and the
other islands of the Mediterranean Sea.
Good God! what a vast tract of land How
many crowns are here ! Whence it is worthy of
observation, that no mention is here made, as
under the other trumpets, of the trient, or third
part; since the plague fell not less beyond the
bounds of the Roman empire, than within it;
stretching even to the extremest parts of India.
The dress of this warlike nation remains to
be considered. “And their faces,” says he,
“were as the faces of men.” They were locusts
with a human countenance ; that is, truly men,
(lest any one should suppose that insects were
spoken of) “ having hair as the hair of women;”
that is, they were Arabs by nation, who, accord-
ing to Pliny, wear their hair uncut, and in the
manner of women, having turbans on their heads.
182 CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA.
Pliny, lib. vi. c. 28. Whose custom it is at the
present day, as travellers affirm, when they are
going into battle, to braid their hair into horns
and curls. Camerar. operum subciss. Tom. i.
c. 93. Whence it appears manifest that a passage
quoted from Herodotus in Thalia, as implying
the tonsure of the Arabs, is not to be understood
as of the shaving of the head, but either of that
of the beard, in some mode used by the Arabs,
in imitation of Bacchus, (of which Pliny also
mentions something, when he says, “ the beard
was wont to be shaved by them, except upon
the upper lip,”) or of the roundness of the ends
of their hair, beyond the entire tonsure of the
head; both of which modes perhaps, because it
was the mark of the worshippers of Bacchus, a
Heathen deity near them, God forbad to his
people. Levit. c. xix. v. 27. c. xxi. v. 5. How-
ever it might be, I doubt not but Pliny had seen
Arabians at Rome.
It follows, with regard to the duration of the
plague, that it is to be actually terminated in five
months, according to the type of locusts, who
last for so many months; namely, from the rising
of the pleiades, (called by the ancients the end
of spring, being about one month from the vernal
equinox,) when, from the eggs left in the earth,
during winter, they come forth to the light,
until the beginning of autumn, when, having
CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA. 183
deposited other eggs in the earth for the stock of
the next year, they immediately die. See Pliny,
lib. xi. c. 29.
God, however, intended to suit this notation
of time, not only to the type, but also to the
antitype, since he delivered up Italy, the chief
state of the earth, and of the sin which drew
down the foremost plague, to be infested by the
Saracenic locusts, from the year 830 to the year
980, that is, 150 years, or five months of years.
In other parts of the world indeed, but in a
certain order, and for different periods of time,
the plague remained longer ; chiefly in the
oriental regions of Syria, Egypt, and of Asia Minor,
which being conterminous to the head of that
empire, which was first at Damascus, and after-
wards at Bagdad, fell, as it were, into the anterior
parts of the Saracenic body for many ages.
Here I would observe, that though, in what-
ever lands they occupied, they wounded the
inhabitants with the envenomed stroke of that
scorpion-tail of which I have spoken, yet the
Italians seem to have felt the stroke in some
different, unknown, and singular manner. The
whole swarm being assimilated to a body, and
the anterior parts assigned, as they ought to be,
to the east, what will those African troops be,
stretched out at so loose a distance from the
head towards the west, but the tail And from
184, CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA.
thence arose all the calamity of Italy, which they
repeatedly struck by an oblique stroke (see the
nature of Scorpions) through the Mediterranean
sea, as well as its islands of Sardinia and Sicily.
As if the Holy Spirit expressly pointed hither
when it said, with the reiterated mention of
months, “And they had tails like scorpions, and
stings, and they had power in their tails to hurt
men five months.” For so reads the Com-
plutensian Codex, according to the testimony of
Syrus, Primasius, Andreas, and Aretas. Though
an interpretation of this kind be not unsuitable
to the designation of the time, yet I do not
change my opinion that there is another signi-
fication of that serpentine train, and much more
widely diffusing itself, as I have said above. If
any one will suffer himself to be persuaded of a
secondary sense, (which I am not accustomed
easily to admit,) he is at liberty to adopt it with
my consent.
Now, this is one way by which the five months
of the type of locusts may be adapted to the
event. There is also another, provided those
months are doubled in consequence of those five
months being twice mentioned, as if indeed the
Holy Spirit meant to apply the number Five
according to the analogy and propriety of the
type; but to double it that it might answer by
another period, to a more illustrious antitype.
CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA. 185
For why otherwise should he repeat the notation
of those months nearly in the same words 2 Is
there not a mystery under this repetition ? I do
not remember a similar circumstance elsewhere,
in the continued description of the same type.
If this, then, should be satisfactory, three hun-
dred years, as many as twice five months
of years amount to, will comprehend that noted
period of the Saracenic kingdom, which, from
the beginning of the Caliphate of the Abasides,
(who first fixed the seat of empire at Bagdad,)
extends to the capture of the same city by
Togrulbec, king of the Turks, (who is called by
us Tangrophilix); that is, from the year of Christ
750 to the year 1055. This, indeed, is a longer
space by about five years; but when the cal-
culation is made by months, no more notice is
to be taken of some days, than, when the com-
putation is by days, it is customary to take of
hours. It may be added, that this interval will
begin commodiously from the removal of the
yoke of the exarchate from the city of Rome,
with which the calamity of the preceding trumpet
ended. It happened at the same time, perhaps
even in the same year. If you should still in-
quire why the Holy Spirit did not comprehend
the whole duration of the Saracenic plague
within these numbers, since, before this prin-
cipality of the Abasides, namely, from the year
186 CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA.
630, the Saracens had extended their empire by
continued successes; so that it had thus then
arisen to its acme It may be answered, that
the number of five months has more to do with
the type of locusts than with the antitype of
Saracens, and therefore it was sufficient, if what
properly suits the former was exhibited in some
more remarkable kind of period, though it should
not measure the whole. I assert nothing, however,
on this point, but leave it to others to whom
more has been given by God, to search into it
farther. (N.B.) This difficulty, notwithstanding,
is by no means prejudicial to the interpretation
respecting the Saracens; for whichever inter-
pretation you follow, the same difficulty will
pursue you.
There yet remains to treat of the king, and
his name. “And they had,” says he, “a king
over them, the angel of the abyss.” His name in
Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek he has the
name of Apollyon, that is, the Destroyer.
The Holy Spirit seems to insinuate, as he calls
their king the angel of the abyss, that these
locusts were not a Christian, but an infidel na-
tion, which had not given their name to Christ.
For the children of infidelity, or Pagans, are said
by St. Paul to be subject to the prince who had
the power “ of the air,” who is no other than
the angel of the abyss; on the contrary, those
CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA. 187
who become Christians are said “ to be delivered
from the power of Satan, and to be converted
to God.”
Whatever the reason may be, the matter is
worthy discussion, why he should call this prince
of the abyss by a name evidently new and un-
heard of, and not as he commonly is, the Devil,
Satan, the Serpent, or Dragon : or if he had
given him one from the notion of destroying,
why not rather Asmodeus, from the name
'Igoëvvauouvrt, by which the Jews used to call
him, but Abaddon never ? Is it not because,
when the Mohammedans boasted that they wor-
shipped and adored no other God than the one
and only God, the Creator of all things, or the
Maker of the Universe, who is denominated
Abuda by the Chaldeans and Syrians, and is
distinguished also by the Arabians themselves by
the epithet Tax Abdi, that is, Eternal; the Holy
Spirit designed to oppose them with a word of a
contrary sense, but of similar sound ! By which,
in truth, he intimated, that they were so far from
venerating (whatever they might assert) Abuda,
or Abdi, the Eternal Maker of the World, that
in the estimation of God himself, whom they will
have to be of one Person, and not to be approached
through Christ, they had, in the place of king or
deity, not Him, but the evil angel Abaddon, that
is, not the Maker, but the Destroyer of the world.
188 CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA.
Thus, when the followers of Jeroboam thought
that they worshipped the God of Israel in their
calves, the Scripture says that they sacrificed to
demons. 2 Chron. c. xi. v. 15. Or shall we say
that there is here an allusion to the common
name of the kings of that portion of Arabia
whence Mohammed, in the first place, had issued
forth with the locusts; who from an ancient
king, Oboda, referred by them into the number
of their gods, and from whose sepulchre the
name of Oboda remained in a region of the
Nabatheans, they were thence called Obodae, by
a name of power, as the kings of Egypt, Pha-
raohs and Ptolemies, those of the Romans Caesars,
of the Parthians Arsacae, and the neighbouring
kings of the Arabs of Petraea, Aretae 2 For Ste-
phen of Byzantium, out of the fourth book of
Uranius, a writer on Arabian affairs, says, “Obodas
is a country of the Nabatheans, where Obodes
the king, whom they made a god, was buried.
Now, from this circumstance, Strabo and Jose-
phus induce me to believe that the kings of that
country were from thenceforward called by the
common name Obodas, the latter of whom com-
memorates two of this name, the one warlike,
and too well known to the Jews by the slaughter
of their king Alexander Jamnenus ; whom, in
fact, Obodas the Arab compelled to fly from
Jerusalem, his whole army being slain in the
CLAVIS APOCALYPTIC A. 189
region of Galaad, about ninety years before
Christ, whom the Jews, not undeservedly, by a
slight alteration, might have called Abaddon, that
is, the Destroyer.
The other king was dull and heavy, the con-
temporary of Herod the Great, whose procurator
Syllaeus (who administered his affairs according
to his pleasure) demanded Salome, the sister of
Herod, in marriage; but being deprived of his
wish, and rendered the enemy of Herod, brought
him into no small dispute with Augustus by his
calumnies. Of this Obodas, Strabo makes men-
tion more than once in the expedition of
AElius Gallus into Arabia, and that with the
same mark of dulness, and says he was connected
by affinity with the neighbouring king Aretas,
(and this, as I said, was the common name of
the kings bordering on Petraea.) From the same
author it is to be collected, that the more southern
kingdom of Obodas reached to the Red Sea,
which tract of land, I believe, the Ismaelites and
Saracens inhabited ; for certainly it appears that
the Nabatheans, whose country, by the testi-
mony of Uranius, embraced the region of Obodas,
were Ismaelites, having obtained that name from
Nabaioth, the first-born son of Ismael. Josephus
adds, that Obodas having departed this life,
Aretas, by the favour of Augustus, annexed his
kingdom to his own. If any one being much
190 CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA.
struck with such a coincidence and congruity,
shall think that the Holy Spirit applied this
name Abaddon designedly, that by a certain
paranomasia of the royal name he might point
out that nation whose custom it was to designate
their kings, and even their gods, by a similar
appellation, I should think him deserving pardon,
especially since both words seem to come from
the same root, common to the Hebrews and
Arabians, although, as is also the case in other
instances, with a contrary signification, and since
in the ancient prophets, examples of allusions,
not altogether dissimilar, sometimes occur. Thus
as Isaiah had called Christ ºnx, Nezr, that is, a
branch, St. Matthew transfers to Jesus the name
of Nazarene, c. ii. ver, ult. You may see likewise
Jerem. c. i. v. 11, 12. Schaked, an almond ;
Schoked, I watch ; Amos, c. viii. v. 2. Kajits, a
basket of summer fruits, because it comes from
Ketz, which means the end, &c. And that the
Jews of the latter age were not averse to agno-
mina of such a kind, may be proved from this,
that just before our Saviour's Advent, because
Acheron, the river of the infermal regions, did
not differ in sound from Accaron, a city of Pales-
time, (for so was Ekron anciently pronounced,)
from Beelzebub, its god, they made a name of
Satan, prince of that place, that is, of the in-
fernal regions. For hence, as I conjecture,
CLAVIS APOCALYPTIC A. 191
Beelzebub is called in the Gospel the Prince of
the Demons.
The Second Woe Trumpet, or Trumpet the Sixth.
Another woe productive of plagues (which,
lamentable to be reflected on, still broods over
us), calls forth the tetrarchs of the Turks with a
most numerous body of cavalry, from Euphrates,
(where they had long rested) to invade the Ro-
man world.
“Loose,'
5
says the voice from the four horns
of the altar of incense, “the four angels who are
bound upon the great river Euphrates.” The
angels are used for the nations over which
they were thought to preside, by a metonymy
not unusual in this book. It appears to be so
from the circumstance that those who are loosed,
immediately, according to the direction of the
Oracle, are Equestrian armies, sent forth to slay
men. It commands the angels who had been
bound, to be loosed, as those who, during the con-
tinuance of the former plague, when they burst
forth on the Roman regions, had been restrained
to the Euphrates for so many ages, that they
might not proceed at will. In the beginning,
indeed, they advanced a little farther, even to
Nice, in Bithynia; but Solyman being conquered
in the expedition from Jerusalem by the Argo-
nautic Christians, they were at length confined
7
192 CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA.
to the Euphrates. Moreover, the four angels
signify so many Sultanies, or kingdoms, into
which the Turks were divided, when, after cross-
ing the Euphrates, they poured themselves on
the neighbouring tracts of Asia and Syria.
These, Christopher Richer, from Scilex, a Greek
author, thus enumerates:—The Asian, the Alep-
pian, the Damascene, and the Antiochian. The
first of which, the Asian, or that of Asia Minor,
owed its original to Cutlumusus, (called, if I am
not mistaken, by Elmachinus, by another name,
that of Sedijduddaula,) a neighbour of that
Tangrophilix who first took Bagdad. He, on
the same authority, when Cesarea in Cappa-
docia was taken and destroyed by the Romans,
about the year of Christ, 1080, gave birth to the
kingdom in the parts of Asia conterminous to the
Euphrates; the bounds of which, his successor,
Solyman, enlarged to Nice in Bithynia; but being
conquered by our forces in that well-known ex-
pedition from Jerusalem, he was compelled to
give up the whole region which he had acquired,
and to retreat to the Euphrates. And the seat
of this tetrarchy, though elsewhere in the begin-
ning, was still, as to its principal part, in the
same Cappadocia of Iconium.
The second tetrarchy was the Aleppian, from
its metropolis Aleppo, which is washed by a branch
of the Euphrates, and therefore derived from one
CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA. 193
of the sultans. Its first king (on the authority
of Elmachinus) Sjarfuddamlas, who was pos-
sessed of Aleppo in the year 1079; to whom suc-
ceeded Roduwan Salghucides, in 1095.
The third tetrarchy, with its metropolis Da-
mascus, had for its founder, on the same autho-
rity, Tagjuddaulas Nisus, the grandson of Togrul-
bec, or Tangrophilix, who subjugated Damascus
in the same year 1079. His successor was
Ducathes, or Decacus, the brother of Rochewan,
the sultan of Aleppo, in the year 1095. To
whom, says Scilix, the whole region of Decapolis
was subject. This bordered on the Euphrates.
With these Scilix numbers the fourth, the
Antiochian, contained within marrow bounds.
For, says he, the caliph of Egypt, of the Sarace-
nic race, possessed Laodicea, even to the regions
of Syria. But as that kingdom of Antioch was
not only a little too remote from the Euphrates,
but lasted only fourteen years, Antioch being
taken by our people under their leader, Bohe-
mond, it will be better, perhaps, having expunged
that, to add the Bagdadian, or Persian empire,
from the other bank of the Euphrates, (for Scilix
only took account of the Turks who had passed
the Euphrates,) in order to complete the qua-
termion, that so the whole Turkish empire, both
beyond and on this side of that river, should be
understood as divided into those four sultanies,
O
194 CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA.
which with the series for some time of kings and
Sultans, may be contemplated by the reader more
distinctly in the following
DIAGRAM
Of the Turkish Empire, near the Euphrates,
divided into Four Parts, from the year 1080,
and thenceforward, taken out of Elmachinus,
an Arab, and Sciliac, a Greek Author.

Beyond On this side the Euphrates.
Bagdad Cesarea in Aleppo Damascus
Togrulbec Cappadocia,
Olbarsalanus and Iconium in
Asia Minor.
Ghelaluddaulas, Scdijduddaulas | Sjarfuddulus Tagjuddaulas
Ann. 1071. Cognomine | Roduwanus Decacus
Barkyaruccus Cutlumusus Tagjuddaulas, Abalacus, who
Muhamedus Solimannus Fil. was alive in
Mahmudus Tanismanius | Bulgarus 1 115
began his Masutus began his % $ $3 × 3%
reign 1117, Calisastlanus, reign 1117 | * * * * *
&c. &c. Sanguinus
• Noradinus,
&c.
And that was the state of the Turkish affairs
when they had first passed the Euphrates; and
having given a specimen of their irruption into
the Roman dominions, were restrained by the
appointed chains to the Euphrates. However,
that quaternion of Sultanies did not remain en-
tire to the time of relaxation, but underwent
CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA. 195
several vicissitudes. Notwithstanding, the Holy
Spirit estimates the nation from the state of its
first irruption, in which, when they had passed
the Euphrates, they were bound for an appointed
time.
“And the four angels were loosed which were
prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month,
and a year, that they might kill a third part of
men.”
This loosing of the Turks happened a little
before the year 1300, the caliphate of Bagdad
(with which the first woe wholly expired) being
now extinguished by the Tartars in the year
1258, and the remnant of the Turks, who had
been possessed of the realms from the other bank
of the river, even to Persis, being ejected by the
same people, as from a sling, in the year 1289, on
the Roman countries on this side the Euphrates.
For, things being thus prepared, it happened
likewise, at the same time, that the Latins, who
had now, for almost two hundred years, imposed
curbs and fetters on the first irruption of the
Turks, were expelled from Syria and Palestine,
about the year 1291. In the mean time the
Turks, though as yet divided into various sa-
trapies, began to make incursions into almost the
whole of Asia Minor, to divide it among them-
selves, to be possessed by hereditary right, and
at length, uniting under the empire of Othman
O 2
196 CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA.
alone, to advance astonishingly, and wholly with-
out restraint, to pass over into Europe; nor
could they longer be resisted by any force, until
they had destroyed the whole Constantinopolitan
empire with miserable devastations. But the
Oracle (unless I am deceived) points out the
time of this Constantinopolitan destruction,
namely, that it should be after a day, a month,
and a year; that is, 396 years after the Turks,
by the gift of the Saracenic empire to them, had
began to be prepared by God ; that is, from the
time of Bagdad being captured by them.
This was the beginning of the Turkish irrup-
tion, by which the Saracenic empire began to be
demolished, and the dominion of the Romans to
be afflicted ; in such a manner, however, that
the force of the mischief was to be restrained to
the time prescribed for the relaxation. The
interval of time certainly agrees exactly; for
Elmachinus, the Arabian historian whom I have
so often quoted,—than whom, no one marks the
successive periods of time more accurately,–
relates that Togrulbec Saglucides, the prince of
the Turks, (who is called by our writers Tangro-
lipix, of the Zelzucian family,) having taken the
rout of Bagdad, was invested by the caliph
Cajim Biamrilla with the imperial garment, and
was inaugurated into the kingdom in the year
of the Hegira 449, that is, of Christ 1057.
CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA. 197
“Then,” says he, “ was the empire confirmed to
him.”
From this time, then, the stronghold of the
Saracenic empire being given to them with the
whole Trans-Euphratean dominion, the Turks
were prepared, that after a prophetic day, and a
month, and a year, they should kill a third part
of men; that is, in the year of Christ 1453, they
should utterly destroy the remnant of the Ro-
man empire in the East, by the capture of the
royal city of Constantinople. For the interval
from 1057 to the year 1453, when Constantinople
was taken, is precisely 396 years, of which a day
forms one, a month thirty, and a year three hun-
dred and sixty-five. Such is here the accuracy
of the calculation, that any one may easily be led
to suspect the hour likewise, (which, according to
the mode of reckoning the other parts of time,
would produce fifteen days, would equally cor-
respond with the event, if the month of the in-
auguration of Togrulbey was handed down to
us as well as the year. In the mean time, till
that be established, the hour may here be taken
for a seasonable time, and the conjunction ka?
may be explained exegetically, as if they were
prepared against a seasonable time, namely, for
a day, a month, and a year, that they might kill
a third part of men.
How many years should thence run on to the
198 CLAVIS APOCALYPTIC A.
destruction of the Turkish dominion, is no where
explained ; only it is said that it should be about
the end of the times of the beast; that is, that the
second woe should then be on the point of con-
cluding, when the third woe should threaten the
abolition of the kingdom of the beast, c. xi. v. 14,
15.
But, before I quit this subject, I will, not
unwillingly, confess, that if the exact correspond-
ence of the prophecy with the event did not, as
it were, force conviction upon me, another in-
terpretation of the following kind would have
been by no means unpleasing, that those angels
were prepared and appointed for every occasion,
whether it were for an hour, or a day, or a
month, or even for a year, for performing the
work of which there was need. But whether it
is likely that so accurate an answer as to time,
as the event here exhibits, could have happened
by chance, let others judge. It will be for him
to form an opinion with whom there is a doubt.
The next point is of the quality and number
of the forces. “And the number, (says he,) of
the army of horsemen was two myriads of
myriads,” i. e. two hundred thousand, or two
hundred million. He mames the horsemen, and
not any other kind of force, in the whole de-
scription of the plague, as if this enemy from the
Euphrates was wholly composed of cavalry. Is
CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA. 199
it because, in the Turkish army, the cavalry so
far exceeds the infantry, that the latter, in com-
parison with the former, is of no consequence 2
Yes, (and that, I believe, was principally re-
garded by the Holy Spirit,) because this is the
character of the nation Magog, long ago, conse-
crated by Ezekiel, from which the Turks were
descended. For thus, in that most celebrated
prophecy of Gog, which was a common name of
the kings of Magog “, as Pharaoh of the Egyp-
tians, he describes that nation from its equestrian
army, c. xxxviii. v. 4. “And I will bring thee
forth and all thy army, horse and horsemen, all
clothed with breast-plates.” Again, v. 15. “And
thou shalt come from thy place, from the sides
of the North, thou, and many people with thee,
all riding on horses,” &c. Moreover, Gog him-
self is called the chief Prince of Mesech, and
Tubal; that is, he, who, coming forth from his
bounds, ruled in both the Armenias, on this, and
on the farther side of the Euphrates. Here, in
the name of the hither Armenia, I comprehend
the Cappadocians, anciently denominated Mes-
chini, or Moschi, where both the chief town
Mazacha, afterwards called Cesarea, and the
Moschic mountains in the same tract, are no
* Gog, among the Turks, is at this day called Gioc or Kioc,
whence Kioccan ; Gogelp, which is Gugelp.
200 CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA.
obscure marks of the inhabitants being sprung
from Mesech.
The farther, or greater Armenia, is what is
called at this day Turcomania, from the inhabita-
tion of the Turks; in which was formerly the
city Thelbalana, the Tibaunian and Balbitenian
people, the river Teleboas, and other vestiges of
the name of Tubal. The war, however, which
Ezekiel relates, is not to be understood of that
undertaken in this irruption of the Turks, which
John describes, (this he seems only to allude to,)
but of another, the last after the return of the
Jews; and, if it be lawful to conjecture, when
the power which now occupies the country shall
have first in some degree receded from it.
But on the type of cavalry, there is something
else I would add with the leave of the reader,
provided no one will think me too much given
to the play of names and etymologies. Even
solid and well-cooked food is apt to be more pa-
latable with sauce. Let not the reader, then, be
disgusted, if I subjoin something of this kind.
The Turks, in truth, before they were set loose,
had become, by long inhabitation, Persians, and
were every where called by that name in the
Byzantine historians. Nicetas, certainly, who
embraces in his history the greatest part of the
time when they were restrained to the Euphrates,
almost always calls them Persians,—very rarely,
7
CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA. 201
Turks. But the Persians, you will observe, are
horsemen, even from the very sound, since DnB
Paras, by which name Persia is called in the
sacred books, (and Parthia is the same, only with
another pronunciation,) signifies in the three
Oriental languages, the Hebrew, the Chaldee,
and the Arabian, a horse or horseman. For
this reason, then, the Turco Persians are called
the Euphratean horsemen, that is, the inhabi-
tants on the Euphrates, are called by the na-
tional name of horsemen. Nor does there appear
to be wanting (if any one should object to the ir-
relevancy of this) an example in Daniel, c. viii.,
where the Macedonians, who at that time were
called Egeades, (that is, goats,) are designated
under the type of goats, and their king under
the figure of a he-goat. “Behold,” says he, “a
male of the goats, came from the west,” &c. He
means Alexander the Great, the king of the
Egeades. They are the Macedonians. For so
that nation was called, when the first seat of the
kingdom was established, from Caranus the
founder, two hundred years, more or less, before
the time of Daniel. Justin the epitomizer, of Tho-
gus, relates the cause of the name, whose words
I shall not think it troublesome to subjoin. “Ca-
ranus,” says he, “with a great multitude of the
Greeks, being commanded by the answer of the
Oracle to seek for habitations in Macedonia, when
202 CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA.
he came into AEmathia, occupied the city Edessa,
having followed a herd of goats, flying from the
rain, the inhabitants not being aware of it, in
consequence of the heavy cloud and rain, and re-
calling the oracle to mind, by which he had been
ordered to seek for empire under the guidance of
goats, he made it the seat of his kingdom, and
afterwards made it a religious observance, wher-
ever his troops moved, to have the same goats
before his standards, esteeming them who had
been the authors and founders of his kingdom,
as the leaders of his undertakings. He called
the city Edessa, in memory of the benefit re-
ceived, Ægeas, and the people AEgeades.” Vide
Cetera.
There is such an agreement here, that one
might be tempted to suspect the type of a ram in
the same vision, applied to the king of the Per-
sians, alludes to the signification of the name
Elam, one of the two by which that nation is
called. For 98 in the Hebrew, (whence the
name 5's Aries, ram,) and D58 and Bºy in the
Chaldee, signify the same ; namely, strong or
robust. Perhaps, therefore, by Elam had the
same sound as 5's ram to these, and thence the
king of Elam is described under this type by
Daniel. However it be, when the thing itself is
otherwise confirmed, this agreement of names
with the type cannot help being matter of pious
CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA. 203
delight to those who are studious of these mat-
ters, whether it be believed to have happened
from accident or otherwise. And this by the
way.
Now I return again to the Euphratean horse,
“whose number,” says he, “was two myriads of
myriads.” Others read myriads of myriads, ex-
punging the two, as c. v. v. 11. It signifies an
immense multitude, as Psalm lxviii. “ The cha-
riots of God are “two myriads,’”—twenty thou-
sand. For a myriad sºn-, or TP2) is one of
those words of number, which in Hebrew are
words to be indefinitely taken, as among the
Latins six hundred, and does not denote the
number ten thousand, but some great number,
especially when thus doubled, as may be seen in
Daniel, c. vii. v. 10. But how great and how
immense the forces of the Turks were in their
expeditions, and usually are at this day, must be
unknown to no one.
“And I heard,” he adds, “ their number.”
Since it might be asked whence John was ac-
quainted with the number, as what was not pos-
sible to be represented to him in a vision, he
says, “I heard.” The like is to be understood
likewise in other visions, as often as any thing is
related which could not be exhibited to sight;
namely, that the apostle was informed by a voice.
The next subject is the armour. “And thus
204 CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA.
I saw the horses in appearance, and those who
sat on them, having breast-plates of fire, and
hyacinth, and sulphur, and the heads of the
horses were as the heads of lions, and out of
their mouths proceeded fire, and smoke, and
sulphur. By these three were killed the third
part of men.”
No where in any part of the prophets, or else-
where in the sacred writings, occurs an image of
this kind, “ of fire and hyacinthine smoke and
sulphur.” Where I understand it literally of
that new (and previous to this trumpet) un-
heard of arms, which those Euphratean enemies
made use of, immediately after they had been set
loose. I understand it of cannon, vomiting fire,
smoke, and sulphur. For gunpowder is ignivo-
mous, with hyacinthine smoke, and sulphure-
ous matter, which those who use in war, obtrude
themselves on the senses of their enemies, as
covered with breast-plates of fire, hyacinth, and
sulphur, from a medium involved in fire, smoke,
and the smell of sulphur; on which account the
horses’ heads are seen to be of a fierce and terrible
appearance, like those of lions. Hence John says,
that he saw the horses and horsemen, not really,
but in appearance, such as he describes. In ap-
pearance, I say, Év opáge, not in reality, having
breast-plates of fire, hyacinth, and sulphur; in
appearance, having heads like lions; lastly, in
CLAVIS APOCALYPTIC A. 205
appearance, not in reality, out of the mouths of
the horses proceed fire, and smoke, and sulphur;
since it is wont to appear so to those who behold
it on the opposite side. This is the force of the
expression v opáast, in semblance, which is used
twice in this sense in the fourth chapter, v. 3,
“He was in appearance like a jasper stone"—
and “a rainbow in appearance, like an emerald.”
No where else, except once only, does that word
appear in the New Testament. By this triple
plague of fire-arms, namely, “ of fire, smoke, and
sulphur,” he adds, “were the third part of men
killed;” that is, those who were of that trient, or
third part, which we called the Roman world.
For it is not necessary here, or elsewhere, where
a third is mentioned, to understand the whole of
that third, but to take it partitively. Examples
of which kind of ellipse of the partitive words
occur elsewhere in the Scriptures, as well as in
this book; as Jud. c. xii. v. 7, “Jephthah was
buried in the cities of Gilead ;” that is, in one
of the cities. And Apo. c. xviii. v. 16, “ The
ten horns hate the harlot;” that is, some of
them. So, to rptrov, “the third part of men
were killed,” implies those of that third part.
Who does not know that this was abundantly
fulfilled in the destruction of Constantinople 2
Was not that most illustrious city, the chief of
the third part of men, besieged with those fire-
206 CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA.
breathing machines, and given up to slaughter
Listen to Chalcocondylas! “Mechmet,” says he,
“ in the expedition against Byzantium, ordered
the largest cannon to be made, of a size which at
that time we had never known to have existed.
He dispersed them every where through the
camp, that they might throw their balls against
the Greeks. One of which was of such magni-
tude, that it was drawn by seventy yoke of oxen
and two thousand men. To this, two others of
the largest size were attached, on either side,
each of which sent forth a stone, whose weight
was equal to half a talent. After these, came
that wonderful mortar which threw a ball whose
weight amounted to three talents, and threw
down great part of the wall. Whose thundering
explosion is reported to have been so great that
the neighbouring region was shaken to the dis-
tance of forty stadia; that is, five miles. This
piece of artillery sometimes sent forth seven
balls; one by night, which was a signal for the
coming day, and indicated to what point in that
day the balls would be directed.” He who
desires to know more, and how, even in the
maritime siege, cannon were made use of, and
how the walls, after being for forty days stoutly
battered by cannon, fell at length; and how
Longus, duke of Genoa, with his people, assailed
by cannon balls, deserted the place, and opened
CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA. 2O7
a way into the city for the Turks, let him resort
to Chalcocondylas himself. From the same
author, moreover, he will learn that the Pelo-
ponnesian Isthmus, having been attacked by
Amurath, the father of Mechmet, with the same
arms, and the inhabitants compelled to obey his
commands, were entirely subjugated by Mechmet
himself, Corinth having been attacked likewise
with a force of fire-arms, immediately after the
capture of Constantinople.
To this account of their arms, is added some-
thing about the nature of the horses and their
riders. That “their power was not in their
mouths” only, (of which we have hitherto
treated,) but “in their tails; for they have tails
like serpents, having heads with which they
hurt.” That is, the same as was said above, con-
cerning the Saracens, holds true likewise of the
Turks; that they effected mischief, not only by
hostile force, but likewise by the train of the Mo-
hammedan imposture, wherever they proceeded.
These, therefore, not less than the Saracenic
locusts, (whose religion they adopted,) are ser-
pents in their tail. That one kind of serpentine
tail may be attributed to the latter, and another
to the former, arises from the natural shape of
each, and the difference between locusts and
horses, by which the pointed tail of scorpions is
most suitable to the former, and tails with ser-
208 CLAVIS APOCALYPTIC A.
pents' heads best adapted to the latter. But
“ the rest of the men who were not killed by
these plagues, yet repented not of the works of
their hands, that they should not worship de-
mons, and idols of gold, and silver, and brass,
and stone, and wood, which can neither see, nor
hear, nor walk,” &c.
Now who these are, it will not be difficult to
collect ; since in the whole Roman world, or on
this side the Euphrates, there are none which
worship images, with shame and sorrow be it
spoken besides Christians. Does it not neces-
sarily follow, then, that it is they who worship
demons also since the worship of both is
ascribed to the same persons in this place. But
what in fine you will say, are demons ! Not, in
truth, what they themselves hold to be impure
spirits, and often call them so, (for what Chris-
tian would knowingly and willingly worship
them 2) but what were understood under this
name by the theologists of the Gentiles—deities,
consecrated under the names either of angels or
dead men. “Every demon,” says Plato, “is a
being between God and mortals.” Again, “God
holds not communication with man, but through
a demon in every conference :” In Symposis, in-
tercourse carried on between the gods and men.
The other Platonic philosophers, and most of the
various sects, except the Epicureans, held the
CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA. 209
same. I will quote the words of Apulcius only,
in which the opinion of Plato, and the rest, is
fully and perspicuously contained: “Demons,”
says he, “are middle powers, through whom
both our desires and merits pass to the gods.
They are carriers between mortals and the hea-
venly inhabitants, from hence of prayers, from
thence of gifts; who bear to and fro from hence
petitions, and from thence supplies; or, indeed,
they are interpreters and ushers on either side.
For it would not,” says he, “be suitable to the
majesty of the celestial gods, to attend to these
things.”
They had, in truth, two sorts of gods; the ce-
lestial, who, perpetually residing in heaven, and
the stars, did not humble themselves to these
earthly things, and were not to be defiled with
their contagion. (These were properly and espe-
cially called gods.) The others were demons,
who, as mediating powers, and ministers of the
celestial or highest gods, had the management
of human affairs. The former, (if I rightly con-
ceive,) the Holy Scripture calls the host of
heaven ; the latter, (especially those who were
made of dead men,) it calls Baalim, from Baal, a
king of the Babylonians or Assyrians; or in the
Chaldaic pronunciation, Bel, who was the first
who was consecrated a demon after death by his
people ; from whence it came to pass afterwards,
P
210 CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA.
that powers of this kind were called Baalim or
Baals, as Baal Peor, Baalberith, Baalzebub, Baal
Moloch, Jer, c. xix., as from the first emperor Ju-
lius Caesar, the rest of the Roman emperors were
called Caesars. Now how this theology of de-
mons agrees with the worship of saints and
angels among false Christians, the fact itself
declares ; only with this difference, that they
had many supreme or celestial gods: we have
only one, the Father of all. But we ought like-
wise to have only one Mediator, our Lord Jesus
Christ, if false prophets had not introduced more
in the nature of demons. Plainly, according to
what St. Paul prophesied, 1 Tim. c. iv. vv. 1, 2, 3,
“ that it should come to pass, in the latter times
through the hypocrisy of liars,” inventing lying
miracles, and through the feigned sanctity of
monks abstaining by a vow from marriage and
meats, that “the doctrine of demons,” that is,
the theology of heathen deities, should be brought
back again into the world. The interpretation
will agree with the words, if we take the genitive
demons passively, that is, a doctrine concerning
demons, as Heb. c. vi. v. 22, Alèaxm [3atriouſov,
8v8axm £Tiffagéwc XE196v, &c. The doctrine of
baptisms, of laying on of hands, &c. For, in
truth, the expression, “through the hypocrisy of
liars,” and the words that follow, in order that
the construction of the syntax may be preserved,
CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA. 211
is to be explained by the government of the two
substantives, the preposition sv through, denoting
the instrument and cause (which is familiar in the
Hebrew.) But I have treated more diffusively
of this passage in a particular tract, and I have
mo intention to repeat it here.
THE PROCLAMATION
Of the Third Woe Trumpet, or Trumpet the
Seventh.
The vision of the sixth trumpet being finished,
(for there is only one vision under one trumpet,
as under the seals and phials,) the next place in
order was due to the sounding of the seventh.
This, however, is deferred, and the Holy Spirit,
in the prophecy of the little book, to which he is
now about to pass, in order that nothing might
be wanting to the completion of the prophecy of
the seals, now just finishing, supplies the place of
that trumpet’s sound which is deferred, by an
oath, under which the effect of that trumpet is
generally indicated. That it should surely come
to pass, when that angel shall have sounded,
that the Roman beast, in the latest times of the
last head, having been accused, “the mystery of
God should be finished, as he hath declared to
his servants the prophets.” For so it was pre-
P 2
212 CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA.
dicted long ago to Daniel, that the fourth beast
being slain, the King of the Saints should come
to rule over the whole world, (c. vii.) and at the
same time, the glorious promise of the restitution
of Israel should be completed, (c. xii.) For that
this is the kingdom which he calls the fulfilment
of the mystery of God, the acclamation subjoined
to the sound of that trumpet will not suffer us to
doubt. “The kingdoms of this world are become
the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ, and
he shall reign for ever and ever.” So that it is
wonderful that any persons should be found who
understand it in a different sense. The time, of
which the angel here swears, that nothing should
extend beyond it, can be no other than either
the time of the fourth monarchy universally, (or
to come more closely to the point, though it is
the same thing,) of the last kingdom, that is, the
Roman ; the last period “ of time, and times, and
half a time.” Since the same which is said by
John to come to pass “when time shall be no
more,” is pointed out by Daniel to come to pass
when the period of the last times shall be
finished.
And this consummation of the mystery of God,
is the subject matter of the seventh trumpet; to
which seven thunders are added as accompani-
ments, for they are not the very subject which
the trumpet exhibits as contemporary with it.
CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA. 213
While the angel is making his proclamation
about the mystery of the trumpet, seven thun-
ders utter their voices. “He cried,” says he,
“ with a loud voice, as when a lion roareth, and
when he cried, seven thunders uttered their
voices.” That is, when he had begun his procla-
mation, seven thunders began to speak. And
they cannot but contemporize with the seventh
trumpet, since what follows the sixth trumpet
necessarily falls within the seventh”. But what
is the voice of thunder 2 Is it not Bath Kol 2 If
so, the seven thunders will be as many oracles by
which the period of the seventh trumpet will be
distinguished as by certain dates, but on a subject
wholly unknown, and not to be understood until
its own times. And this the prohibition given
from heaven to St. John, when he was about to
write down the words of the seven thunders,
seems to intimate : “Seal up those things which
the seven thunders have spoken, and write them
not.” In vain, therefore, will it be for us to in-
quire, what God wished to have concealed and
reserved to its own times. And in this manner
sufficient use is made of the seventh trumpet in
its place and order, though the explanation of its
sound, by which the whole mystery would be
fully disclosed, is referred to another time; on the
* May there not be an interval 2–R. B. C.
214 CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA.
design of which reference, and the whole art of
the contrivance, it will not be superfluous or un-
profitable to dwell afresh and a little more dif-
fusively, though notice was taken of it in the
Apocalyptical Key, since the reason of it escapes
most of the interpreters. The diligent contem-
plation of the system of the Apocalyptical visions,
constructed on the characters of the synchro-
nisms, first enlightened me on this subject, and
will also, O Reader, if I am not deceived, en-
lighten you.
The fact then is, (for I would unfold it with
as much perspicuity and brevity of expression as
possible,) both prophecies, as well that of the
seals, as of the Biblaridion, are concluded by the
same issue of events, by that in truth, which the
seventh trumpet exhibits. To indicate which,
the Holy Spirit having slightly, but as much as
was necessary, there presignified the mystery of
the seventh trumpet in its own place, in the
series of trumpets, deferred the fuller explana-
tion of its sound, until he had made a transition
to the new prophecy of the little book, (ch. x.
from v. 8 to the end.) and carried forward the
first vision of it, having completed in like man-
ner its Apocalyptical course to the same issue of
things, (c. xi. v. 14.) and then that mystery of
the seventh trumpet, the common catastrophe of
both prophecies, and the former (that of the
CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA. 215
seals) only promulgated in a general manner, is
here at length, on the uttering of the sound, fully
unfolded; and that, indeed, in a most commo-
dious manner, since otherwise, and without the
previous knowledge of both prophecies, what
depended upon each could not have been under-
stood. And hence it is, that the business of this
transition was not brought about by any angel of
the trumpets, but by that great and illustrious
angel who held in his hand the Biblaridion, the
symbol of the second prophecy, which was soon
to be devoured by St. John.
It belonged to him who revealed the second
prophecy, that the manifestation of the trum-
pets' sound, which contained the catastrophe of
both prophecies, should be so far defined. Nay,
if that angel, as may seem capable of being col-
lected from his more august clothing and whole
apparatus, was Christ the Lord *; to no one
more properly belonged this right of suspending
the last sound for the sake of another prophecy,
than to Him who was the author of both.-
Hitherto, indeed, he had appeared in the form
of a lamb, but now he seems to have taken to
him the person of an angel f, since he was about
to reveal to John the same mystery of consum-
* I doubt it, for reasons to be afterwards assigned.—
R. B. C.
+ Query :
216 CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA.
mation, which he had formerly revealed to
Daniel under the same appearance of an angel”,
and with the same formality and words of an
oath. You may compare Dam. c. xii. v. 6, 7, with
ver. 5 of the xth chapter.
THE INTERPRETATION
Of the Little Book, or, of the other System of
Apocalyptical Visions, according to the Rule of
the Apocalyptical Key.
The course of the seals being finished, in
which the affairs of the empire were described,
we come now to the other prophecy, much more
noble in its kind, as containing the FATES OF THE
CHURCH, or of Religion. John is introduced to
it by the delivery and eating up of the open book,
being endued as it were with a degree of the
prophetic faculty. “And the voice (says he)
which I had heard from heaven, spake again
unto me saying,” (viz. that voice, as of a trum-
pet, talking with him, ch. iv.) “and said, Go,
take the little book which is open in the hand of
the angel, standing upon the sea, and upon the
earth; and I went to the angel, saying unto him,
* Query :
CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA. 217
Give me the little book. And he said unto me,
Take and eat it up,” &c. Moreover, as the pro-
phecy now to be revealed, as the knowledge of
Divine things and secrets, especially those to
come, usually is, was to be sweet and pleasant
in its foretaste; but, on account of the calami-
tous state of the Church, or perhaps, of the
obscurity of those allegories and types with
which it was covered, it would, like aloes taken
into the stomach, greatly wound the mind of
him who should unfold and penetrate into its
sense. Therefore it is said, that the book to be
eaten by the apostle would indeed be sweet in
the mouth, that is, in first appearance and first
flavour, delightful to the mind,--but when re-
ceived into the stomach and digested, would
bring on bitterness. “And it shall,” says he,
“render thy belly bitter, but in thy mouth it
shall be sweet as honey.” The whole image is
taken from Ezekiel, except that, though there is
mention of sweetness in the mouth, yet there is
no reference, or but an obscure one, to bitterness
in the belly.
The book, being thus taken and swallowed,
the meaning of the symbol is explaimed in the
clearest and most express words; namely, that
on St. John was imposed the gift of another and
still more noble prophecy, which should retrace
the path of the former, to be received from
218 CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA.
Christ, and to be brought to the knowledge of
the Church. “And I took,” says he, “the little
book from the hands of the angel, and ate it up,
and it was in my mouth sweet as honey, but
when I had eaten it, my stomach was embitter-
ed.”—“And he said unto me,” (this is the mean-
ing of the symbol.) “Thou must prophesy again
before many peoples, and nations, and tongues,
and kings “.”
Such was the inauguration of St. John. Then
follows the prophecy, which begins with an act
of his, relative to the temple of God. And
therefore, by the image of a double court, one
measured, and the other rejected on account of
the profanation of the Gentiles, demonstrates
that there would be in order a double state of
the Church.
* By those words, “Thou must prophesy again,” (by
which the type of the eaten book is explained,) it is intimated
that the following system of visions goes over again the Apo-
calyptical time from the very beginning. But if any vision of
that prophetic system is to be sought for from the commence-
ment of the period or Apocalyptical time, it is certainly agree-
able to reason, that the first vision of the system should chal-
lenge the foremost place, both because it is first, and because
it is the sum and compendium of all that follow.
CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA. 219
THE MEANING
Of the Interior Court measured by the Reed of
God.
The inner court of the temple, with those who
worship therein, to be measured by the Divine
reed, denotes the primeval state of the Church,
examined, and accurately proved to be holy,
according to the rule of the Divine word.—Not
yet in truth, as it was afterwards, (when we arrive
at the times of the outer court,) varying from
measure, without symmetry, from the contagion
of idolatrous worship, but serving God for some
ages, regularly, through one only Mediator, Jesus
Christ.
For it appears to me that a measure of this
kind was intended, even under the type of the
angelical dimension in Ezekiel; because it is
said to him, c. xliii. from v. 7 to 10, and in the
following verses, “But thou, O son of man, show
the temple to the house of Israel, that they may
be ashamed for their iniquities, and let them
measure the pattern.” See the passage. But if
any one should think differently, and had rather
refer the type of dimension to the signification of
building, as what is displayed in architectural
engravings, or graphically, may be the measure-
ment by God, according to the prophets, that
220 CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA.
will still correspond to the same sense. For
what then will this court denote, measured by
the Divine reed, but the state of the Church so
represented to be the workmanship of God, built
on the foundation of the apostles and prophets,
Christ himself being the chief corner-stone 7 op-
posed to the following court, which God did not
acknowledge for his building, and therefore John
is prohibited from measuring. Whether you
interpret it in the latter or the former manner,
the substance, as you see, will be the same.
But he that shall interpret it in a different sense,
unless I am mistaken, can bring no example of
his interpretation from Scripture.
How appositely indeed the situation of the
altar in this court may adumbrate the frequent
sacrifices of martyrs, under that state of the
Church, will appear, both from the circumstance
itself, and from the contemporary vision of the
red dragon fighting with Michael for the offspring
of the woman, when we come to the interpreta-
tion thereof.
CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA, 221
THE MEANING
Of the Outer Court with the Holy City trodden
wnder foot by the Gentiles, and on that account
to be omitted and rejected from measurement.
The outer court trodden under foot by the
nations, and rejected from the divine measure-
ment, designates the holy city of God, or the
Christian Church, soon after the end of the times
of the regular court, (to which it immediately
succeeds) to be given up to new idolatries, and
its affairs having been confirmed by the entire de-
molition of the Gentile worship under the first
court, it was now to be profaned by the conta-
gion of renewed idolatry, as of revived ethnicism;
in one word, the anti-christian apostasy which
was to flourish in the Church for forty-two
months of years”. Concerning which, in the
history of the Beast, in a vision of a like mature
contemporizing with this court, we shall fully and
particularly treat.
But let us consider the words of the text in the
interpretation of which we are now engaged.
“And there was given me, says he, a reed like a
rod ; and the angel stood, saying, Arise, and
measure the temple of God, and the altar, and
* There is an allusion to the profanation of Antiochus,
which is described Ps. lxxix. Wide 1 Macc. c. vii. v. 17, and
Ps. lxxix. 1, 2, 3. “O God! the heathen are come into thine
inheritance, and made Jerusalem a heap of stones,” &c.
222 CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA.
those that worship therein. But the court, which
is without the temple, leave out, and do not
measure it, for it is given up to the Gentiles, and
the holy city shall they tread under foot forty-
two months.”
In order that we may rightly understand the
meaning of these words, it is to be understood
that TO 'IEPON (by which name I embrace the
whole edifice of the temple,) was distinguished by
a double court, the one interior, in which the
Naoc, or temple itself, together with the altar
of burnt-offering before its doors was situated,
and was open to the Priests and Levites only ;
the other exterior, which is called (2 Chron. c. iv.
v. 9.) the great court, and by Ezekiel, more than
twelve times, the court without, or the outer
court. This was the court of the Israelites, or
of the Israelitish people, and therefore not im-
properly called the court of Israel, though that
part belonging to the men, was more especially
called so by the Jews. The first court was known
by the names of the temple and the altar of sa-
crifice. “Rise, said he, and measure the temple
of God (Naov) and the altar of sacrifice.” Where
the thusiasterion does not mean the altar of
burnt-offerings only which was there situated, but
the space which surrounded it, that is, the whole
space of the altar and sacrifice ; as is to be col-
lected from the words immediately connected with
7
CLAVIS APOCALYPTIC A. 223
it, “ and those who worship therein ;” that is, in
the place of sacrifice. How, likewise, evatagráptov
is taken c. xiv. v. 18, and c. xvi. v. 7, vide Beza.
Whence the old lexicon in Greek and Latin in-
terprets evatagrãptov altarium, Sacrarium, altar,
sacred place, and vice versä, the glossary of
Philoxenus, sacrarium 'Hpājov evatagrãptov. Tem-
ple of a hero, place of the altar. But this
evatagriptov, together with the area of the temple
(i. e. row Naow) I learn to be rightly compre-
hended within the name of the interior court,
from the description of the tabernacle, where, in
like manner, the whole enclosure which sur-
rounded the dwelling-place, and altar of burnt-
offering is reckoned under the denomination of
one court, as appears Ex. c. xl. v. 33. So much
of the first court which John is ordered to mea-
sure; but the latter court is designated clearly
enough by its name—“The court which is with-
out the temple, that is, by an ellipsis of the
former substantive, the court which is exterior
to the enclosure of the temple and altar, and
since the Gentiles admitted without right and
justice were stabled in this, it is ordered by no
means to be measured, but to be cast forth, and
considered as profane. But you will say, it is
not the outer court, but the holy city which is
to be trodden down by the Gentiles. I answer,
that the outer court and the holy city mutually
224, CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA.
explain each other, since the outer court was the
place for the holy city or people of Israel to meet
in for divine purposes: Nay, in the wilderness, the
tabernacle having only one court, (which it was
not lawful to enter or dinarily, unless for the
Priests and Levites), there was no outer court,
beside the camp of Israel, or the holy city.
Therefore the sense is the same as if it were said,
“The court which is without the temple cast out,
and do not measure it, for it is given up to the
Gentiles, and they shall tread it under forty-two
months. For the relative it, a substantive is
substituted, and that of the same kind, so as to
point out the subject intended by the antecedent.
“The holy city, says he, shall they tread under
forty-two months.” The change of the substan-
tive for the relative often occurs both in this
book and elsewhere, namely, when either the
substantive which precedes, is repeated in the
place of the relative, or its synonyme is substi-
tuted instead of the relative. An example of the
latter kind you have here, and Acts c. XXV. V. 21.
And indeed what else shall we say could be given
to the Gentiles to have the power of occupying,
so as to trample under foot ? And what could
the Gentiles trample on, but that which was given
them 2 so that these words, not less than the
court and holy city, seem mutually to explain
one another.
CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA.
2
5
THE ICHNOGRAPHY
Of the Holy Place, that is, of the Temple, and
its Courts.
x
s \ , ss
N. ss J &
N
§§§
Qº X \º
3.N X.
- Sºğ
§§§§§§
§ §§
AAAA. The Inner Court.
BBBB
a 3
Q.
ſº
The Outer Court.
The Temple.
The Holy of Holies.
The Holy Place.
'y & The Altar of Burnt-
Offering.
A y A & The Place of Offer-
Q
ing Sacrifice.
Thusiasterion.
The

226 CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA.
To these two courts, (of which only, and not
of more, the Scripture makes mention,) a third
was added in after ages, namely, in the temple of
Herod; with another wall built in the circum-
ference of the temple, which was called that of
the Gentiles and unclean persons; but this was
not accounted sacred, may more, on the columns
erected, there was inscribed in Greek and Latin
letters, “Let no stranger of another tribe pass
through into the holy place.” Josephus de Bello
Judaico, 1–6. cvi. Greek 18. :
THE MYSTERY
Of the Two Witnesses prophesying in Sackcloth.
Two witnesses or prophets sent by God,
clothed in sackcloth, are to preach, while the
Gentiles are treading under foot the court of the
people of God, or the holy city. These are the
interpreters and assertors of Divine truth, who
should deplore that foul and lamentable conta-
mination of the Church of Christ, by continual
complaints, and whom God would raise up as
unceasing monitors to the Christian world, com-
mitting whoredom with the Gentiles, and as
guides to his saints preserving the faith. After
the example of those illustrious pairs, under the
Old Testament, Moses and Aaron in the Wilder-
mess, Elijah and Elisha under the Baalitical apo-
CLAVIS APOCALYPTIC A. 227
stasy, Zorobabel and Jeshua under the Babylo-
nian captivity. From their number, condition,
power and actions, these Apocalyptical witnesses
seem to be manifestly described, as likewise the
state of the church in which they prophesied,
agreeably with that of Israel, under the images
of Babylon, the Wilderness and Gentilism, or
Baalism. Let the reader examine with his own
eyes what I have said of the description of the
witnesses in the following table :
Moses and Aaron. Elias and Elisha. Zorobabel & Jeshua.
“Having power “Having power “ These are the
over the waters, to shut heaven, that two Olive-trees, and
to turn them into it should not rain.” two candlesticks,
blood, and to smite which stand before
the earth with every the Lord of the
plague.” earth.”
“Whoever would hurt them, fire pro-
ceedeth out of their mouth, and devour-
eth their adversaries.”
Numbers xvi. 2 Kings i. Zech. iv.
Now let us come to the text. “And I will
give power, (says he,) to my two witnesses, and
they shall prophesy 1260 days, clothed in sack-
cloth.” Where it is first to be remarked, that
the whole prophecy which follows, from this
comma to the sounding of the seventh trumpet,
as the nature of the subject demands, was not
exhibited to sight in a vision, but dictated to John
Q 2
228 CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA.
by the angel sustaining the person of Christ, the
observation of which renders the genius of the
allegory or type much more easy to be perceived.
“To my two witnesses.” He calls them two
with reference to the type, which is, as I have
observed, of pairs; as if he had said I will give
to my Zorobabel, and Jeshua, to my Elijah and
Elisha, to my Moses and Aaron :-To which is
to be added, that he calls them witnesses: Now
witnesses by the law ought to be two, to establish
every word. Add that they may be called two
on account of the number of the tables of God,
which the witnesses of the Old and New Testa-
ment, as of two Testaments, might apply in their
prophecy *.
“That they should prophesy clothed in sack-
cloth,” that is, by woefully lamenting the tram-
pling down of the Holy City, in consequence of
the introduction of Gentile worship, by afford-
ing testimony to the truth of God, and by ex-
horting to repentance, “ For 1260 days”—
which indeed are contained in forty-two months,
and these it is plain are not days of hours; both
from those three days and a half, part of those
* Why should not the two witnesses be considered as the
Old and New Testament, which during the apostasy of 1260
years were to be neglected and vilified as we see they are in
Popish countries; but in the hands of sincere believers, pro-
perly applied, would produce the effects described 7–R. B. C.
CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA, 229
days a little after, assigned to the death of the
witnesses, and which the things predicted to be
done in them, prove, cannot be taken for days
of hours; and because the beast (whose dura-
tion is the same), is contemporary with the com-
pany of 144,000 sealed: the company of the
sealed is contemporary with the six first trum-
pets, and the affairs of the trumpets cannot pos-
sibly be run through in so very short a time as
1260 horary days, or three years and a half. But
why, you will say, should the profanation of the
Gentiles be measured by months, and the pro-
phecy of the witnesses asserting the pure worship
of God in days 2 Namely, because the worship
of idols and every sin and error is under the
power of darkness and might, over which the
moon presides; on the other hand, true religion
may be compared to the light and the day, the
presidency over which belongs to the sun. There-
fore (Acts c. xxvi. v. 18.) the mission of Paul to con-
vert the Gentiles from idols, is said to be, “to turn
them from darkness to light, and from the power
of Satan unto God.” With the same meaning also
it is said “what fellowship has light with dark-
ness 2" Now months are directed by the motion
of the moon the queen of darkness, but days and
years by that of the sum who presides over light.
For the same cause, as we shall see hereafter, the
blasphemy of the beast will be reckoned in like
230 CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA.
manner according to the motion of the moon, by
months, but the residence of the woman in the
wilderness by days and years with reference to
the motion of the sun. “ These are the two
olive-trees and the two candlesticks, standing
before the Lord of the earth.” That is, they are
like Zorobabel and Jeshua * whom the Lord
anciently anointed over the Jewish church,
ruined under the Babylonian captivity, at length
to be restored and superintended by these wit-
nesses in a similar manner, under the bondage of
the Gentiles. For the allusion is to “ those two
olive-trees,” which Zacharias saw growing on
each side of the golden candlestick, and supplying
oil to its lamps, (Zach. c. iv.) of which the angel
being asked what they meant, “these, said he,
are the two sons of oil, or the anointed ones,
which stand before the Lord of the whole earth,
pointing out the two heads of the church, then
in subjection to the Gentiles.—Zorobabel, the
general, and Jeshua, the high priest, of whom he
had prophesied a little before. For the candle
then with its seven lights, designated the temple,
* As these witnesses prophecy for 1260 years, (the whole
time of the apostasy) to whom can the allusion be made, but
to two testimonies, which might be constantly produced by the
faithful against the corruption of the times; and I know not
where we are to look for them, but in the books of the Old and
New Testament, combined in the Bible 7–R. B. C.
CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA. 231
and by its type the church of that time, whose
instauration and conservation, the two holy ones
were to take charge of, not by force, not by
strength, not by any human aid, but by the
power of God alone, operating in a certain
invisible and wonderful manner, as those Olive-
trees, standing on each side of the candlestick,
supplied oil to its lights in a very extraor-
dinary and imperceptible way. But why, you
will say, is mention here made by John, not of
one as in Zacharias, but of two candlesticks, to
which likewise and not to the anointed ones, the
two prophets seem to be compared ? I confess
that I am here at a stand, nor have I yet found
a sufficiently prompt and clear reason for this
difference. In the mean time I think there lurks
a Hebraism in the words, and it is as if he had
said :—These are the two olive-trees, at or near
the two candlesticks, standing before the Lord of
the earth ; so that the comparison of the wit-
messes may be only with the olive-trees, but the
addition of the candlesticks may be judged only
to pertain to the description of those olive-trees.
For the copulative in the Hebrew has sometimes
the force of the preposition Dy, that is, with,
near by ; as (1 Sam. c. xiv. v. 18.) “Because
the ark of God was at that time, and the chil-
dren of Israel;” i. e. with the children of Israel.
Wide Lex. Schindleri. But there will still re-
jºy
/
232 CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA.
main a difficulty about the two candlesticks.
May it be said, that the one only in Zacharias
may here be reckoned for a double candlestick
on account of the double rank of lights on each
side of the stem; and the two olive-trees pouring
in oil secretly on each side 2 There is, likewise,
in Zacharias the mention of seven and seven and
twice seven infusers, but what the meaning is
does not sufficiently appear. But may we not
suppose that this duplicate alludes to the private
designation of the Christian church 2 as being
compounded of two people, of Jews and Gen-
tiles; or what, perhaps, is nearer the truth,
because, at the time, in which the witnesses
clothed in sack-cloth, were uttering their la-
mentation, it was to be divided together with the
Roman empire into that of the east and west.
However it may be, it is certain that the can-
dlesticks signify not the prophets or presidents of
the churches, but the churches themselves, be-
cause in chapter i. the angel interprets the seven
candlesticks, as so many Churches. “The Seven
candlesticks, (says he,) which thou Sawest, are
the seven Churches.**
* If this was a difficulty to Mede, it is almost presumptuous
in any other to attempt an explanation. But there have been
(no revelations of light from God, under two dispensations,
and preserved by two Churches or holy societies—the Jewish
and the Christian. In the time of Zachariah, there was only
CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA. 233
“If any one wish to hurt them, fire proceedeth
out of their mouth, and devoureth their enemies,
and if any one wish to hurt them, so must he
be killed.” The witnesses do not revenge them-
selves by the sword or daggers, if they are ever
injured by their enemies, but out of their mouth
proceedeth the vengeance; that is, they transfix
their enemies with the shafts of the Word ;
whilst they are denouncing the wrath of God
impending over the violators of his ministers, or
imploring vengeance with their prayers and
groans. For the fire which is here reported
as proceeding out of the mouth of the witnesses
is the word of vengeance; agreeably to that say-
ing of the Lord to Jeremiah (v. 15.). “Behold
I will make my words in thy mouth fire, and this
people wood, and it shall devour them.” Moses,
one revelation, one church, one candlestick, and if we may be
allowed to apply the two olive-trees to two figurative infusers,
rather than to two persons, we may suppose them in the first.
instance to have designated the law and the prophets.
But in the time of St. John there were two revelations, two
churches, two candlesticks, the one illuminated by means of
the Old Testament, now combining the law and the prophets,
the other by the New Testament comprising the doctrines of
Christ and his apostles. Reference is made to Zachariah,
because he described the one and prefigured the other. May
not then the two witnesses be summarily intended for the law
and the gospel, or rather for the Old and New Testament?—
R. B. C.
234 CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA.
indeed, and Aaron, and afterwards Elijah, the
former against the conspirators in the sedition of
Korah, the latter against the ministers of Aha-
ziah the King, the worshipper of Baal, literally
called down fire from heaven, but the fire of our
witnesses is to be interpreted mystically, since by
the instruction of the holy spirit, our Egypt,
and consequently the wilderness, is to be under-
stood spiritually. Moreover, what the prophets
denounce in the name of God, they are said to
execute, as what the Lord says to the same
Jeremiah, (c. i. v. 10.) “I have set thee over the
nations and kingdoms, to root out and to pull
down, and to destroy, to build, and to plant.”
Let not any one now be surprised that fire or
the divine vengeance is said to be poured out of
the mouth of the witnesses, with whom however
the only power is that of denouncing or implor-
ing it from God. It is thus the witnesses re-
venge their own injuries. That which follows
shows by what means also they revenge the
reproach brought upon the temple of God.
“These have power to shut heaven that it
rain not ;” (viz. that mystical rain fall not) “ in
the days of their prophecy. That is, they are
endued with the power of the keys, by which
they can shut heaven on those new Gentiles,
contaminators of the Christian worship, that the
grace of Christ's blood, sealed to them by bap-
CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA, 235
tism may not distil upon them for the remission
of sins, so long as they shall persevere in being
the cause of the mournful prophecy of the wit-
nesses by their idolatries and superstitions. I will
speak more plainly. They expel by the word of
God those new idolaters from the hope of eternal
life promised to the pure worshippers of God
alone; until, mindful of the stipulation in their
baptism, and having rejected the services of
Satan, they shall have returned to the worship
of the one God, through the only Mediator Jesus
Christ, and thus put an end to the mournful
prophecy of the witnesses. In the same manner
also, Elijah did not bring rain again upon the
Israelites, when they were already almost half
dead with drought, until the worship of Baal
and his prophets were exterminated.
Of this power of the witnesses we have an ex-
ample hereafter, (c. xiv. 9.) “If any one say they
shall worship the beast and his image, and shall
receive the mark on his forehead, or his hand, he
shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God; of
unmixed wine poured out into the cup of his
indignation, and shall be tormented with fire and
brimstone in the presence of the Lamb. And
the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever
and ever.”
Lastly, “they have power over the waters, to
convert them into blood, and to smite the earth
236 CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA.
with every plague as often as they will.” Moses
and Aaron exercised a power of this kind when
they were about to conduct Israel out of Egyp-
tian slavery. Whence I collect, that the power
of the witnesses, represented by this type, does
not refer to all the days of the prophecy in sack-
cloth, but to the end of them, or the time of the
phials; when indeed, under the auspices of the
witnesses or prophets, as of Moses and Aaron,
the Christian people, by plagues described under
the image of those of Egypt, are in like manner
to be led forth out of the tyranny and slavery of
the beast. For the first plague of the phials
smites the earth with a sore ; by the second and
third, the waters are turned into blood ; the rest
afflict with other and heavier plagues the adhe-
rents of the beast, or the Gentiles abiding in the
court of the temple. The interpretation of all
which we reserve for the proper place. Here it
may be sufficient to have referred this last power
to the effusion of the phials.
“But when they are about to finish their testi-
mony, the beast which ascendeth out of the abyss,
shall make war upon them, and shall overcome
them, ‘ and shall slay them.’”
We have hitherto treated of the office and
power of the witnesses; the fate now follows
which they shall experience at the end of their
prophecy, the description of which is wholly
CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA. 237
taken from the history of our Lord's passion.
For the Lord Jesus, in like manner, when he was
finishing his preaching, which lasted about as
many days as the prophecy of the witnesses, was
killed by the Roman president, a legate of that
beast, which warred with the witnesses, (but in
the shape of its sixth head.) The third day after,
when there was a great earthquake also, he rose
again; and a little after, namely, on the fortieth
day, being received up in a cloud, he ascended
into heaven. All which things God wished to
represent in this slaughter of the witnesses or
prophets; that as in the nature of their office
they had borne a resemblance, as was stated
before, to those illustrious pairs; so in suffering
and death they should become conformable to
Christ their Lord, that faithful Witness; which
ought to be their consolation and their glory in
the midst of their troubles.
But let us throw light on the text. “When,”
says he, “ they shall be finishing their testi-
mony,” (for so brav TeXégoat should be translated,
not by the preterite, when they have finished,)
“ the beast who ascends out of the abyss, shall
make war upon them and shall kill them.” That
is, when at length, a part of the Holy City, or of
the Christian world, having acknowledged the
impurity of Gentilism, repenting, and cleansing
the temple of God among them, and the wit-
238 CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA.
messes rejoicing, shall begin to put off their sack-
cloth, and to be discharged from their daily
lamentation, though they shall not be yet fully
discharged from it, the seven-headed Roman
beast in his last state, (of whom see ch. xiii.)
indignant that the preaching of those hitherto-
mourning persons should have prevailed, will
make war upon them, conquer, and kill them :
Of which, the first symptom of the lamentation of
the witnesses beginning to come to an end, took
place at the commencement of the Reformed
Church, and has been continually repeated up to
this present time. The other, respecting the
war and slaughter, I suspect to be yet future.
Our Brightman, indeed, supposed that it had
been long ago fulfilled in the war of Smalcalde,
under Charles the Fifth. Others accommodate
it to the recent destruction of the German
Churches. And who would not much rather
wish that so sad a misfortune for the Church
had already passed, than that it should remain
to be apprehended ? But the interpretation is
not to be governed according to our wish ; nay,
the error will be greater on this side than the
other; since the expectation of future calamity
is more conducive to piety, than too credulous a
security respecting it, as if already past. Two
things persuade me that this last slaughter is
yet to be dreaded. The first is, that those sor-
CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA. 239
rowful times, of the Gentiles treading under foot
the Holy City, or the Christian Religion,-that
is, the forty-two months, as long as the beast
shall be reigning, cannot be said to have com-
pleted their period; nor, therefore, the days of
the witnesses lamenting in sack or hair cloth,
contemporary and coeval with those months.
The other is, that this destruction of the wit-
nesses (as we shall in a short time see), is im-
mediately antecedent to the overthrow and ruin
of the great city, that is, of Rome, which the
series of the phials will not permit to be at so
short a distance, as we are not yet carried be-
yond the fourth of them, (though, in the present
agitation of affairs, it is to be hoped, that is now
passing,) as we shall then be instructed. But
we will show, by-and-by, that the ruin of the
city relates to the fifth, of which it is very pro-
bable that this slaughter of which we treat, will
be the forerunner; especially since it is usual for
our general Christ to contend with his enemies,
and to bestow a victory upon his followers, only
by the method of the cross. It does not follow,
however, that because this should be the last
slaughter, and even yet future, that any thing
can certainly be determined of its severity, above
all which preceded it. For perhaps it deserved
a singular mention and description, not so much
on account of its severity, (certainly, not of its
24.0 CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA.
duration,) as because it was a sign that the sor-
rows of the witnesses were then about to be
immediately concluded, and of the impending
ruin of the Roman city, and therefore alone was
selected out of all the slaughters by which the
beast would wear out the saints. In like man-
ner, for instance, as the surrounding of Jerusa-
lem by the army of Cestius Gallus, a little before
the fatal siege of Titus, was predicted as a sign
of its ruin then impending before the doors. For
as our Saviour said to his apostles, inquiring
about the signs of the time of its destruction,
“When ye shall see Jerusalem encompassed
with armies, then know that its desolation
draweth near.” So here it should seem to be
intimated by the overthrow of Babylon; when
you shall see that slaughter of the witnesses for
three years and a half, then know that the deso-
lation of the great city approacheth.
But the destruction by which the witnesses are
predicted to be overthrown, must I think be
understood in a very general sense, in which it
may comprehend death, metaphorically or ana-
logically so called. In this notion, that is said to
die, which in whatever state it was constituted,
either political or ecclesiastical, or in any other,
ceases to be what it was. Whence likewise he
kills, who inflicts on any one such a death. For
as in the sacred style, to live is oftentimes to be,
CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA. 24, 1
to die, is not to be. In which sense, we are said
to die to Satan and sin, when we cease to be any
longer their servants; and to live to Christ, when
we begin to be his.
And the mode of opposition seems to require
that as the resurrection of the witnesses to life,
after the slaughter was perpetrated, should be of
this kind, so the slaughter itself should be. But
that is clearly analogical, because no resurrection
properly so called, will take place before the advent
of Christ, under the seventh trumpet; but this
takes place while the sixth is still running on.*
The death of the witnesses then in war, if we
explain it according to this rule of interpretation,
will appear to be their overthrow and dejection
* If these observations be just, (and there is every reason
to believe that they are,) what are we to think of the wit-
nesses 2 They cannot be living persons in succession through-
out the period of 1260 years, because they die and revive me-
taphorically. Are they not, then, as I before observed, the
twin parts of the true religion; that is, the law and the
Gospel, contained in the Old and New Testament 2 Their
death, therefore, will be the temporary dissolution of their ac-
knowledged authority in some part of the world, by the success
of infidelity for a short time; and their resurrection will be the
reinstatement of their influence over the nations, in consequence
of some signal revolution, which will carry conviction to the
minds of men, and bow their necks to the yoke of Christ.
Thus explained, the whole parable becomes consistent and in-
telligible.—R. B. C.
R
24.2 CLAvis Apocalyptica.
from that office and station in the Church, re-
formed by the force of their preaching, which
they had obtained for a while, whether that may
be joined with corporeal death or otherwise ; so
that the prophetic life which they had lived till
that time, should from thence continue no longer,
and that they should no more exercise their
offices. By which, at the same time, it neces-
sarily follows, that the columns being withdrawn,
and the false prophets of the beast substituted in
the place of the prophets of Christ, the whole
polity of the reformed Church, as widely as this
may happen, should fall to the ground. Which,
whether it will come to pass sooner or later, He
only knows, in whose hands are the times and
SeaSOI)S.
In the mean time, lest any one should possibly
be deceived, there is one thing to be accurately
attended to, that this last war of the beast is not
of the same kind with that which he had hitherto
waged against the assembly of the saints,(of which
indeed we shall speak in the history of the beast,
c. xiii.) “that it was given him to make war upon
the saints, and to overcome them;” but altogether
of a different character. For why should that be
related as peculiar to the last times of the beast,
which if not from his first rise, at least from his
acme, had been common to him " The war
which the beast waged against the saints univer-
CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA. 243
sally, is one ; that which he wages in his last
state, is another; namely, with the prophets who
had begun to lay aside their prophetic lamenta-
tions with their sackcloth; that is, with the heads
of the Church, reformed from his party. This is
still more manifest from the different event of one
war from the other ; the former, indeed, pros-
perous, the latter very unfortunate. By the
former, the beast obtained power over every tribe
and tongue, and nation, &c.; by the latter he
draws down upon himself a sudden and fatal de-
struction, as we shall see in the text. “And
their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the
great city, which is spiritually called Sodom and
Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified.” That
city surnamed great, is Rome, so called, not so
much with a view to its size, as because it was
the queen of other cities, according to that say-
ing of the angel, c. xvii., “The woman which
thou sawest is that great city which hath domi-
nion over the kings of the earth.” In like manner,
by the name of the great king, (by which God is
called, Ps. xlviii. v. 3, and Matt. c. v. v. 25, and
which title was of old peculiarly suited to the
kings of the Assyrians and Persians,) is intimated
the King of kings, who has power over other
kings. For which reason, throughout the whole
Apocalypse, by whatever name Rome is other-
wise called, whether of Babylon, or of the harlot,
R 2
244 CLAVIS APOCALYPTIC A.
she is always distinguished by this title, great; as
that great Babylon, that great harlot. Add that
in the whole Apocalypse, this title is bestowed
on no city besides, unless at last, after its fall, to
the new Jerusalem, descending from heaven, in
whose light from thenceforth the Gentiles should
Walk. Which whoever could suppose was in-
tended here must have need of hellebore. But
neither Jerusalem in the time of St. John, nor
any other Jerusalem, except that, is ever to be-
come “the great city,” or the head or queen of
the other cities of the world. It is added, “which
is spiritually called Sodom and Egypt :” Egypt,
on account of its tyranny ; Sodom, on account
of its fornication ; that is, spiritual fornication.
But here (as the reader should diligently observe)
is a key to the allegory, (of which kind many
occur in this book,) by which, in truth, the Holy
Spirit means to intimate once for all, that what-
ever is any where exhibited in these visions of
Egyptian plagues, or of the destruction of the
Sodomites, is wholly to be interpreted Tveuparukóc,
that is, mystically; since Rome, or the state of
the Roman commonweal, the subject of all those
plagues, was a mystical Sodom and Egypt. Then
all references, too, to Egyptian plagues in the de-
scription of the trumpets and phials, as well as
in this history of the witnesses; and of the de-
struction of the Sodomites in the judgment of
CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA. 24.5
the beast, c. xix. v. 20, and c. xx. V. 10; of all
which the sense is to be opened by this key.
Hence it may even be demonstrated, that the
subject of the trumpets is the Roman empire;
because of those plagues some are Egyptian.
Now to what can Egyptian plagues be applied,
but to Egypt 2 and this by the authority of the
Holy Spirit is Rome.
Respecting the great city, then, the meaning
is plain, but what the TAareia of the city may be,
of which mention is here made, is not so easily to
be known. For it seems, it cannot be taken for
a street, or for what we call in Latin platea, or
forum, or for any other place within a city, for
the following reasons: In the first place, Christ
our Lord, who is said to have been crucified in
this TAareia, was not crucified either in any street
or forum of the city of Rome, or Jerusalem, but
without the gate of the latter, (Heb. c. xiii. v. 12,)
in a province thereof only, by Pilate the governor.
Therefore the TXareia of the great city is not any
street or broadway within the walls of either of
the cities, but a place without the city. TIAareia,
secondly, being put in the singular number, it is
very probable that it designates a thing of that
kind, of which a city has one only, and not many.
But there are many streets in every city; at least
in every one of consequence. Thirdly, it is sup-
posed, that the bodies of the witnesses lie where
246 CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA.
they were conquered in battle; but it is not usual
for troops to be gathered together within the
walls of a city; but if not in the enemy's land,
at least in the region and provinces subject to the
city. Fourthly, “the people, tribes, tongues, and
nations,” might see “the dead bodies of those
who were slain for three days and a half,” and
not suffer them to be buried. It seems, there-
fore, that they did not lie in any way or street of
the great city, but were either dispersed or spread
abroad throughout the provinces, to which, con-
sequently, the signification of ring TAaretac ought to
be accommodated.* And if any one should say,
that the army of the beast, by which the witnesses
were routed and slain, might be composed of
various people and tongues, and therefore might
easily see the carcases of those whom they had
slain, we must recur to the former ; it is not cus-
tomary for such armies to be gathered together
within the walls of a city. For, undoubtedly, the
subject is so to be explained, especially where no
* From hence, again, it appears obvious that the witnesses
could not be two persons existing together at any one time, or
in succession, because after death, such a description could not
be applicable to their dead bodies ; but rather two combined
systems or modes of religious instruction, which might meta-
phorically be said to die and revive; that is, to be discarded
for a while, and afterwards restored to just influence and
authority.—R. B. C.
CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA, 24,7
appearance of allegory can be pretended, that
there should not be any absurdity in the literal
sense. What else, then, can we say of this pas-
sage, but that by the expression of TAarsia, the
whole region and territory, subject to the domi-
nion of the city, was pointed out, and that such
a signification may be drawn either from the
Hebrew Yºri, to which it often corresponds in the
version of the Septuagint 2 namely, according to
the custom and use of the Hellenistic language,
which is wont to apply a Greek word answering
in one signification according to its original use,
to a Hebrew word signifying many things, in
some other signification ; as might be proved by
many examples, if there were a question of this
custom. Yºn signifies with the Hebrews whatever
is altogether external, either without the house,
as streets and ways in cities; or without the city,
as the circumjacent country or land. Job c. v.
v. 10, where in the Hebrew it is nºn Jºy, the
Chaldee renders it, “Who giveth rain on the face
of the earth, and sendeth waters on the surface of
the province, or on the region of the people.” Or
from a notion of width, that it may be the same
as TXároc ring Ync. Is. c. viii. v. 8, “And the
stretching out of his wings (that is, of the Assy-
rian) shall fill the breadth of thy land, O Im-
manuel !” and Apoc. c. xxix. v. 9, of Gog and
Magog: “ They came up upon the breadth of
24.8 CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA.
the earth, (ºr TAároc tic yńc.) and encompassed
the beloved city.” Now it makes for this inter-
pretation, that DT another word which the Sep-
tuagint translate TAarstav, and Dm7 which signifies
breadth, or TAdroc, has exactly the same letters,
and each is called by the same word in the
Chaldee, Tsnº. Or lastly, by the motion of
breadth, which is the original meaning of the
word TAareia, the Holy Spirit meant to intimate
the amplitude of the dominion of that great city,
by which it surpassed all cities, and even at this
day surpasses them, as if it ring TAarstaç was used
for £irl Xópac tric TAaretaç, on the extensive coun-
try, &c. The word TAarsta is an adjective, used
substantively, and therefore something ought to
be understood, and it may be either one thing or
another, to explain the interpretation, nor do I
know whether that signification of street is often
found among the ancient Greek writers.
But now it can no longer be obscure to one
by whom this interpretation is approved, either
in what manner Christ may be said to have been
crucified in the TAarea of the Roman city, or
when the carcases of the slain witnesses were to
be cast out; namely, not in the city of Rome,
but in the Roman domain. I know, indeed, that
many of our writers, in order to arrive at the
same conclusion, understand here, under the
name of the city, the whole dominion of the
CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA. 249
city. But what then, I pray, will be the meaning
of TXareta ? For of those two, of which it seems
almost necessary it should be one, it can be
neither; not dominion, as that is designated
under the name of the city; not any province,
though a great city has many; for TAareta means
something unique and singular, as it is put in the
singular number. And this may suffice for our
remarks on the TAareta tric tróAstoc tric psyáXmc.
Let us now proceed to the remainder.
“And (some) of the peoples, and tribes, and
tongues, and nations, shall see their dead bodies
for three days and a half, and shall not suffer
their dead bodies to be put into monuments.”—
Whether this is to be taken in the sense of in-
humanity or of kindness, is doubtful, and not to
be decided except by the fulfilment of the pro-
phecy. For it may be taken either as done by
enemies, adding this for the sake of ignominy, to
the slaughter which they had perpetrated, that
they would deny sepulture to the bodies of the
dead: Or by friends and favourers of the wit-
nesses by this means consulting the interests of
those who were soon to revive. For, however
it may be held on other considerations, an act of
the greatest cruelty, not to bury the dead, and
to cast them out unburied, and especially among .
the Jews, as the greatest ignominy; yet to pro-
hibit those who were so dead, as not to create a
250 Cl, AVIS APOCALYPTICA.
despair but they might again be restored to life,
from being immured for a short time in the clois-
ters of the sepulchre, ought to be placed to the
account of kindness. If the first is to be under-
stood, some marks of infamy or ignominy seem
to be intimated by this type by which the follow-
ers of the beast, not content with having made
away with the witnesses, would inflict on them
in addition. But if the latter, it may be some
assistance from the reformed nations, out of fear
of whom, as of a multitude, much the largest ;
and therefore, while the wound was yet recent,
and their affairs not yet confirmed, not to be
provoked with impunity to desperation, or at
least, by exertion and secret favour, it should
come to pass, that they should not deal with the
witnesses as if there were no hope of their re-
vival.—Achmet, from the doctrine of the Indians,
(Apotelesma, 130,) “If any one in dreams should
seem to be buried, the sepulchre refers to the
full certainty of his death. If he should seem to
observe some deficiency of those things which
pertain to sepultures, that deficiency must be
placed to the account of hope. If now you
should be disposed to inquire what appears in
the text which would lead rather to one inter-
pretation than the other, I would introduce this
observation into the argument on the subject,
that since he announces what is here suggested
CLAVIS APOCALYPTIC A. 251
in a different mode, and in different words, and
since he treats of enemies in the following verse,
he wishes them to be understood, in this and the
latter instance, not as the same, but as different
persons. In the one case, indeed, as the ene-
mies, in the other as the friends of the witnesses.
For of the enemies, in the following verse, exult-
ing and sending presents to one another, he says,
“They that dwell on the earth,” but of those
who would not suffer the dead bodies of the
witnesses to be put into graves, “ they of the
tribes, and people, and tongues,” partitively, as
if it would note certain persons different from the
others in disposition. Let the reader judge.
“For three days and a half.” That is, as it
appears for three years and a half, for the things
which are there foretold, as to be performed,
prove that it cannot be understood of horary
days. For who can believe that the short space
of three days and a half are sufficient either for
disseminating the report of the slaughter of the
witnesses through the world, or for sending mes-
sengers with gifts backwards and forwards among
the nations. It is obvious that it would not be
sufficient even for preparing them. To this
must be added, that half a day, or twelve hours,
is wholly inadequate for measuring acts of this
kind. For these sort of things are accustomed
to be marked, not by hours, but rather by
252 CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA.
months, or at least, by entire days. In the
meanwhile it is to be observed, that the time
is here to be computed, not from the date of the
witnesses being killed, but from that in which
they shall lie dead and inanimate, after they have
been slain. But how long that war shall last,
and how much time will be given to killing the
prophets, the fulfilment of the prophecy only
will explain. “And they that dwell on the
earth shall rejoice over them, and be merry, and
shall send gifts to one another, because these
two prophets tormented them who dwelt on the
earth.” Of the custom of sending gifts in cases
of public joy or of great rejoicings, vide Esther,
c. ix. v. 22. “And after three days and a half,
the Spirit of life from God entered into them,
and they stood upon their feet, and fear fell on
those who beheld them.”
Such as the death of the witnesses was, such
will be their awakening or resurrection from the
dead; namely, their restitution to their former
state ; and that, not so much by any exertion or
human assistance, as by the finger of God, who
is wonderful in his works. For this is implied
in the words, “ The Spirit of life from God en-
tered into them.” Achmet says, (Apotelesm.
vi. and vii. of the Doctrine of the Egyptians and
Persians,) “If any one in dreams thinks he sees
the resuscitation of the dead, it signifies the
CLAVIS APOCALYPTIC A. 253
liberation of the conquered and the termination
of wars.” Apot. vi. Deliverance from Calamities.
Wide Ezek. ch. xxxvii.
“And they heard a great voice from heaven,
saying to them, Come up hither. And they
went up to heaven in a cloud, and their enemies
beheld them.” Not only will the witnesses be
restored to their former place and station, but
they will be even elevated to a higher degree of
honour and power. For that is the signification
of being carried up in a cloud, and ascending to
heaven. Wide Dam. c. vii. v. 13, and c. xix. v. 1.
Whence in the interpretation of dreams which
the Arabian I have so often quoted, Apomasar
or Achmet, has collected from the ancient re-
cords of the Egyptians and Persians, we read,
“If a king seem to himself to be seated in the
clouds, and to be carried wherever he will, his
barbarian enemies shall be reduced into subjec.
tion to him, over whom he shall preside with
supreme command.” Also, “If a king should
seem to himself to have flown, as it were, to
heaven, where the stars are, he shall possess
eminence and distinction above other kings.”
Also, “If a king should seem to be carried up-
ward to be seated in heaven, he shall reduce
under his authority a larger region than that
which he possesses.” Apot. 162. 164.
These I bring forward for the purpose of
254 CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA.
showing, that the parable I speak of is applied
in that signification by the prophets, in which it
is understood according to the use of the East.
The ministry of the witnesses, then, will not be
despised as before, nor they themselves treated
as men of an abject and contemptible kind. So
that what our Saviour said of himself, Luke, ch.
xxiv. v. 26, “Ought not Christ to have suffered
these things, and then to enter into his glory !”
may acquire its force and truth in the example
of the prophets likewise. And who knows whe-
ther the reformed Church may not undergo the
reproach brought upon Christ on this behalf by
the subduction of the witnesses for a time, be-
cause they had not treated them according to
the dignity of their embassy, while they enjoyed
it. It is too well known what is the sin of the
reformed Churches in this case; and as, while
the prophets of Christ were strenuously engaged
in purifying the temple of God, some in the mean
time contaminated that most holy work by pil-
laging its treasures, and embezzling its oblations,
not having left a maintenance in some places, to
the great disgrace of true religion, by which its
ministers might be sustained honourably, and
according to the dignity of their order, much
less, a superabundance, that they might lay aside
for the improvement of the reformed affairs, the
necessities of a sacred war, the aid of afflicted
CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA. 255
brethren, and for other pious uses : Was not
this the kind of prevarication for which anciently
the Jewish temple was profaned by Antiochus
Epiphanes, and the religion of the true God
given up to be trodden under foot, in like man-
ner, for three years? “A host,” says Daniel,
“shall be given to him against the daily sacrifice,
on account of prevarication, and it shall cast
down the truth to the ground, and it shall prac-
tise and prosper,” ch. viii. v. 12. See the his-
tory, second Book of Maccabees, from the begin-
ming of the third chapter to the fifth, and judge.
But I will not press the matter any farther. This
only will I add, perhaps this increase of honour
and power to the witnesses by their resurrection,
will be brought about by the command of the
Supreme magistrate, (which, perhaps, may be
that voice from heaven,) as a compensation for
the infamy and ignominy with which the follow-
ers of the beast had disgraced them when dead,
supposing that to be signified by the prohibition
of sepulture.
“And in that hour there was a great earth-
quake, and a tenth part of the city fell, and there
were slain in the earthquake (the names of)
seven thousand men.” At the time at which the
witnesses or prophets returned to life, and as-
cended into heaven, there was a great earth-
quake, that is, a great commotion of the nations,
**
{
256 CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA.
and revolution of political affairs, by which, in
fact, a way was opened to the witnesses, and a
facility given them of returning to life, with such
an increase of dignity and power. By that com-
motion of the nations, “a tenth of the city fell,
and there were slain seven thousand names of
men.” That we may attain as nearly as possible
in a future event to the meaning of these words,
two things are to be pre-established and proved.
First, since there is no misfortune attending the
fall of the beast, but what is contained in some
one of the phials, the same overthrow of the
beast is here described as at the effusion of the
fifth phial. The proof is, that the subject is the
same in both plagues; in the former, the seat or
throme of the beast; in the latter, the great city.
That the great city is Rome, the seat of the
beast, is so plain that it need not be proved. It
is still farther confirmed, because the slaughter
which is here described, so nearly precedes the
full abolition of the beast at the seventh trumpet,
that mothing is related to have intervened but the
conclusion of the second woe ; but now, at all
events, the total destruction of the beast is the
work of the last phial, the conclusion of the second
woe, or of the plague from the Euphrates, of the
sixth phial. Therefore the destruction of the great
city, which immediately precedes that conclu-
sion, agrees with the fifth phial. Another thing
CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA. 257
to be previously established by us is, that the
ruin of the great city is that very destruction of
Babylon, which is celebrated in the eighteenth
chapter. This is proved, because it is certain
from that same chapter, that the destruction of
Babylon, or the Roman city, goes before the
complete demolition of the beast and the august
reign of Christ, beginning with the seventh trum-
pet. Now the destruction of the same city, which
is here related, so nearly precedes that kingdom,
that the Spirit, with the mention of no destruc-
tion beside, as intervening, passes at once to that
kingdom, and the description of the seventh
trumpet. It necessarily follows, that the same
destruction of the city is described in both places.
For who can bring his mind to believe that the
Holy Spirit would have altogether passed over
that very great desolation, and have introduced
the mention of some smaller overthrow, by no
means to be compared with it !
This being the state of the case, it follows,
that the interpretation of the passage is to be
guided by the above rule, and is to be proved, as
it were, by a touchstone; and therefore a mean-
ing of these words is to be sought for, of such a
nature as may agree with the description of that
Babylonian destruction. Let us now see by what
means this may be done. Philip Nicolai, a theo-
S
258 CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA.
logian of the Augustan confession,” a learned
and acute man, thinks that by the Aékarov tic
TóAewc is to be understood the decarchy of the
city, or the ten kingdoms, subdued to its domi-
mion, which indeed, in this concussion of the na-
tions, revolted from Rome, to whose government
they had been subject for so many years; and
from thenceforward its commands were not to be
obeyed. This, in truth, is what is said in am-
other place. That “the ten kings who had de-
livered up their power to the beast, when the
words of God were fulfilled, should hate the
whore, and make her desolate, and naked, should
eat her flesh, and burn her with fire.” But this
notion of the word Aékarov, however it had in the
first place presented itself to me, while reflecting
on the meaning of this passage, and though it
pleased me very much from the appositeness of
the event, yet afterwards, when I examined the
matter more closely, appeared a little strained,
and unusual; so that I fear it will not easily be
approved by those who would desire a simple
and unforced interpretation. I seek, therefore,
for another. And first it suggested itself to my
mind, that the tenth, perhaps, was the name of a
tribute, either that which the high priest re-
ceives from the whole kingdom of the beast, or
*Confession of Augsburg.
CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA. 259
that which the city itself receives from its estates,
by the right of dominion. This tenth of the
city, in that commotion of affairs, was to fall,
that is, to fail, and therefore I inferred, that the
principality of the city would be wholly extin-
guished ; namely, despoiled of the territory be-
stowed on it for a patrimony, and its high priest
driven from thence by force; that it would lose
the prerogative and dominion which it was ac-
customed to exercise, to so great an extent over
cities and people; since it would no longer be
that which had procured for it prerogative and
dominion, the metropolis of the kingdom of the
beast, nor the seat of the false prophet. For it
is well known, that tribute is the symbol of
dominion, and that in this name, most of the
provinces under the empire of ancient Rome
paid the tenth part of their products every year.
Which likewise may be proved to have been cus-
tomary in the kingdoms of the east, both from
the first of Maccabees, c. x. v. 31, and c. xi. v. 35,
and from that summary of royal right, I Sam.
c. viii. (for observe, what is said of tenths is not
to be taken of sacred tenths or tithes: They were
royal, accustomed to be paid to kings as viceroys
of the gods,) which Aristotle also confirms in the
second book of his OEconomics. It ought not,
them, to appear strange, if any one should here
affirm that under the name of a tenth, a repre-
S 2
260 CLAVIS A POCALYPTICA.
sentation so common, might be signified some
kind of tribute belonging to the city. But there
is no need to go back so far, since in Italy that
mode of tribute has not yet been abolished, and
besides, the Roman pontiff has long since re-
newed the image of it in his ecclesiastical em-
pire, by annually requiring a tenth part of eccle-
siastical benefices. But to this interpretation it
is an objection, that it seems it ought then
rather to be called Aekárm than Aékarov. Besides
the word Éireas, it fell, by which some effect con-
sistent with an earthquake must be designed, is
not sufficiently suited to an interpretation of
this sort. Nay, if it could be established, yet it
would seem to express the fall of Babylon, with
which we presuppose it to be identified too
obscurely and faintly, and not in a suitable
Iſla, Il IT eI’.
At last, them, until any one shall suggest
something more certain, and consonant to the
text, I am brought to this conclusion, that I
conceive by the tenth of the city, a part of the
city is indeed to be understood, but not a part
of the present city, but the whole of it, which is
the tenth part of the ancient one. That this is
the fact, and that not more than the tenth part
of the ancient city of Rome, as it existed in the
age of St. John, remains at this day, may ap-
pear from the following reasoning. For Lypsius
CLAVIS APOCALYPTIC A. 261
affirms, that ancient Rome, such as it was in the
age of John, with respect to form, was nearly
round, but not however exactly so. Its semi-
diameter, from the golden milestone placed at
the top of the Roman forum, to the extremity of
the building, was about 7000 paces, that is,
7 miles, its circuit at length was 42 miles.
Since then it was not exactly round, let us
diminish its semi-diameter, in order to measure
its area by one mile (as much as in a hexangular
figure, according to a perpendicular to the side,
it ought to be diminished). It will then be 6,
which multiplied by 21, the half of the peri-
phery, will give 126 for the area of the city.
But modern, or pontifical Rome has only 13
or 15 miles for its circuit, as they know, says
Lypsius, who have measured it. Its form, as
may be seen from its ichnography, is an oblong,
nearly quadrangular, in a proportion almost
double. To measure which, let a rectangular
parallelogram be constituted, whose perimeter
may be 15, its length double the breadth ; of
which form, in fact, the sides will be 24 and 5,
which multiplied into each other, will give an
area of 124. Now the number 126 contains 10
times the number 124. The latter area, them,
is the tenth part of the former, and conse-
quently, modern Rome the tenth part of ancient.
Q. E. D. Any one who is not much accustomed
262 CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA.
to reasonings of this sort, may apply the judg-
ment of his eyes to the following diagram.
ANCIENT ROME, MoDERN Rom E,
42 Miles in 15 Miles in
Circumference. Circumference.
.*
tº
/2 | #-
4
Aékarov Tijg TóAewc.
We cannot, indeed, examine every thing here
according to line and rule, but it is wonderful
how near we can approach to it. I define the
circumference of the present city by the walls
by which it is surrounded, for beyond them,
contrary to what was formerly the case, it is not
at this day inhabited ; but the whole contents,
whatever they may be, are included within the
walls; those walls which Hadrian the First, and
Leo the Fourth, pontiff, erected, as it were, by a
fatal instinct, as the boundary to that which had
just been made the seat of the pontifical king-

CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA, 263
dom. For so Blondus relates, that the walls
which now exist were built by Hadrian I. for
100,000 pieces of gold, collected from Tuscany.
Those, as is remarked by others, Leo IV. after-
wards, about the year of our Lord 850, either
repaired or finished ; and having added the
Transtiberian or Leontine city to it, completed
the city in the form and circuit in which it is
now seen. And though it has much of the
space included within the walls void and desert,
yet since the walls are reckoned among the
principal works of the city, the city itself cannot
be considered as less extensive than its walls.
Ampler, indeed, it might be, if, as the old one
formerly was, it were extended every way
beyond the walls by contiguous buildings.
That I may at length draw to a conclusion,
the sum of what I have said reverts to this ;
that the Holy Spirit means to say, or to inti-
mate, that so much of the Great City as re-
mained at this earthquake, should become a
ruin at the time, viz. a tenth of the city; for
there was to be no more remaining up to that
period. Nine parts were to fall many ages be-
fore; and we in truth have seen them fall,
partly by the destructions and devastations
which the barbarians brought upon it at so
many different times, partly by decay from great
age, and partly overthrown by lightning, as we
Key
{
264. CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA.
have pointed out under the fourth trumpet.
The tenth part was reserved for the pontifical
Roman fate, being constituted the head of a
new empire, and the mother of Christian harlots.
This part the earthquake, which is connected
with the resurrection of the witnesses, will en-
tirely demolish.
Nor was it perhaps necessary that we should
interpret the Holy Spirit as having spoken so
rigidly as we have dome, of the tenth part of the
city, according to geometrical miles. It would
have been sufficient, if, as formerly, he had
spoken by his influence on Isaiah, c. vi. v. 13.
of the destruction of the Jewish people, “A
tenth of it shall be preserved, and be brought
back into the land.” So here we may under-
stand, not so strictly a tenth, as some very small
part, about a tenth of the ancient amplitude of
the Roman city, which should remain as the
seat of the beast for the last destruction.
It is added, “And there were slain in the
earthquake seven thousand names of men.”
Here, if by names of men we understand heads
of men, or individual men, the number seems
too trifling, and not consistent with the magni-
tude of the slaughter, which the Holy Spirit
elsewhere intimates. For in the destruction of
Babylon, will there not be a far greater number
slain than seven thousand men 2 And is it
CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA. 265
likely that the effusion of the fifth phial on the
throne of the beast should terminate by so very
small a massacre of men In order to satisfy
this doubt by some other means: First, it is to
be observed, that by the name of the city is
here to be understood, not the citizens and in-
habitants, but the buildings and walls, that is,
the royal seat of the beast ; and so a double
destruction of Babylon is described in these
prophecies ; first, of Babylon as the royal city of
the beast, that is to say, of the Roman city at
the fifth phial; afterwards of Babylon, as to the
citizens or Roman state, which consists of the
Pope, with the senate of empurpled Cardinals,
and the other crowd of citizens, especially of
ecclesiastics, who, after Rome has been de-
stroyed and burnt, betook themselves to a habi-
tation in some other place, and who are to be
reserved for the last phial : at whose effusion it
is said, over and above other destructions of
nations and states in every part of the world, in
that earthquake which was far the greatest of
all that had ever taken place, even “that great
Babylon came in memory before God, to give
unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of
his wrath,” c. xvi. v. 19 ; which, notwithstand-
ing the burning and destruction of Babylon,
described in the xviiith and xixth chapters,
certainly precede the full extermination of the
266 CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA.
beast, and false prophet, as is there manifest
from the text. I know some unravel this knot
in a different manner, by saying, that Babylon,
of which mention is made in the last phial, is
Constantinople, the metropolis of the Turks;
but they will never persuade me, that the Holy
Spirit, in the first and principal image of all, has
used so remarkable a synonyme, and that we are
to understand two Babylons, and not one only,
and the same, though with a double reference.
To come, then, to the point. It may perhaps
come to pass, that the first destruction of Baby-
lon, that is, the devastation and ruin of the city
of Rome, may be effected without any immense
or total slaughter of the citizens. And though
“ her smoke was to ascend for ever and ever,”
that is, she should be wholly converted into
ashes, and levelled with the ground, never again
to be inhabited, yet a great part of the citizens
might escape from the overthrow of the city,
either because they would in time consult their
safety by flight, or from some other cause, which
the event will make manifest.
And this is one mode by which the doubt may
be satisfied about the too trifling number of those
who were slain. Another is, if we should say
that by “names of men” are possibly intended
men of name, or renown. For a hypallage of
this kind is not unfrequent in the Scriptures,
CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA. 267
that in the order of the nouns, that which pre-
cedes is used in the place of an epithet. As for
example, “The silver of the shekels,” Lev. c. v.
for shekels of silver ; the uncleanness of man, for
a man of uncleanness, that is, an unclean man,
(ib. c. vii.) the law of justice, for the justice of
the law ; Rom. c. ix. the riches of grace, for rich
and abundant grace, and the like. A name,
besides, is familiar for celebrity in almost all lan-
guages, especially the sacred, in which men of
name are illustrious men ; sons without a name,
(Job c. xxx.) ignoble ; in Chaldee, vulgar per-
sons. Whence Beza, in his Annotations on the
Ephesians, c. i. v. 21, and Philipp. c. ii. v. 9,
speaking of the exaltation of Christ above every
name ; as also Heb. c. i. v. 4, understands name
in the signification of dignity and worth.
If we follow an interpretation of this kind, (nor
do I see what can be opposed to it,) the names
of men will be dignities of men, Övouao rol, men of
name, illustrious men and excelling in dignity,
of whom about 7000 (and what if they should be
of the order of the false prophet, which they
call ecclesiastics 2) should fall in this concus-
sion of things and nations. The number, how-
ever, of 7000, I conceive to be so intended that a
few more or less may be understood, according
to the manner of Scripture. How great a number
of the Plebeians are to fall in this war it does not
268 CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA.
belong to the subject to declare, since that may
be conjectured from the slaughter of the nobles,
nor did the Holy Spirit wish to descend so far
as to reduce the dregs of the slain to a calcu-
lation.
But still another interpretation may be given,
which would not render it necessary to come to
an enumeration of particular men ; for instance,
if we may interpret names of men as companies
and societies of men, men accustomed to be called
by their proper names no less than individuals,
as are states, municipalities, parishes, villages,
abbeys, and similar titles of human communities.
For what are these things else, if we are desirous
of forming the hypothesis, than names of men
for so is the political state of the Thebans called
by Eschines engatov Švoua, and the Roman name
is used for the Roman people *.
What, then, if out of these titles of human
communities, whatever they may be, and whether
at Rome, or in what they call the state of the
Church, about 7000 are to be slain in this con-
cussion of the nations; that is, they are to sink
under adverse power, which Scripture, according
to its usual style, has called death.
* This is much the most probable supposition as applicable
to the numerous titles of ecclesiastics under the Roman
Catholic hierachy.-R. B. C.
CLAV IS A POCALYPTICA. 269
But nothing is to be rashly pronounced con-
cerning a future event, since the issue of things
predicted is a commentary on the prophecy.
These observations I have adduced that it may
appear more clearly, as far as relates to words,
that the interpretation may be more liberal than
is commonly supposed, since the use of Scripture
does not bind down the word name to any uni-
form and certain signification. For names of
men are not to be found conjunctively any where
else, than in the place now under consideration ;
nor are names to be found, singly of indivi.
duals, unless twice only, c. i. V. 15, Apo. c. iii.
v. 4. The word is otherwise applied in a dif-
ferent signification. There remains, “And the
rest were affrighted, and gave glory to the God
of heaven.” That is, by their consternation; by
which, even unwillingly and ungratefully, they
acknowledged the finger of God. For to acknow-
ledge, by whatever mark, the wisdom, goodness,
or power of God, is to give him glory. As they
who detected by God confess their sins, are said
to give glory to God, as Achan. Then follows,
“The second woe is past, the third woe cometh
quickly.” The meaning is, that the great earth-
quake should be continued till the end of the
second woe, or sixth trumpet; and the mournful
prophecy of the witnesses was at length to finish
with it; since after such a victory over the fol-
270 CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA.
lowers of the beast, and their ascent into the
heaven of power and honour, they would no
longer be clothed in sackcloth. If the second
woe, or the plague of the sixth trumpet, be the
overflow of the Turks from the Euphrates in
ancient time on the Roman world, as we then
interpreted it, it can scarely be denied, but that
the passing away of this plague, must be the dry-
ing up of the waters of the Euphrates at the
effusion of the sixth phial, by which “the way
of the kings from the east might be prepared,”
c. xvi. v. 12. From which coming of the kings
of the east, (lest any interval should otherwise be
left between the two trumpets,) the seventh
trumpet seems to begin, and therefore that won-
derful preparation of the dragon, the beast, and
the false prophet, for the war to be waged at
Armageddon, c. xvi. vv. 13, 14, together with its
event at the last phial, v. 17, must be referred to
the beginning of the same seventh trumpet. And
indeed, it appears very probable, that the pre-
paration for war belongs to the same trumpet as
the war itself. But here a doubt arises, which
requires solution, and therefore must not be
passed over in silence. For since there is the
same termination to the forty-two months of the
beast as there is to the 1260 days of the mourning
of the witnesses, and those days finish at the
conclusion of the plague of the sixth trumpet, or
CLAVIS APOCALYPTIC A. 271
of the second woe, it may not improperly be
asked, why the months of the beast should not
be extended farther, since, after this time, no
small portion of the beast remains which is not
to be put an end to, until the beginning of the
seventh trumpet.
It may be answered, that this takes place
because at that time the conversion of Israel,
and the new kingdom begin, (for they are called
kings from the East,) or because, in the duration
of the beast, the empire of the Roman city is
chiefly attended to. But that great city, the
royal residence of the beast, is taken and over-
thrown in that earthquake ; so far that the
beast from thenceforth will have in some degree
changed his form, since his metropolis being
thus demolished, it can no longer be considered
as the kingdom of the seven mountains, (which
is the other signification of the seven heads.)
There still remains in the text the sounding of
the seventh trumpet, and the august kingdom
of Christ in the great day of judgment. The
interpretation of which we will defer to the end
of the book, that we may exhibit all the prophe-
cies relating to it in that place, at the same time
and in one point of view.
272 CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA.
THE MEANING
Of the Red Dragon with Seven Heads fighting
with Michael about the new-born Child.
The first vision of the little book, of which we
treated in the eleventh chapter, ran through the
whole Apocalyptical course, from the beginning
to the end, and that, as we elsewhere observed,
to point out its connexion with the seals and
trumpets. Now to that vision the remaining
prophecies of the same interval, and of the affairs
of the Church are to be accommodated, in order
to complete the system of the little book. Of
which, “ the war of the red seven-headed
dragon with Michael,” comprises the same pe-
riod as the measured court of the ecclesiastical
state, in which the dragon, inhabiting the Ro-
man empire, raged with dire persecutions against
the Church with child, and travailing to bring
forth Christ + as king over the Roman world,
and for nearly three hundred years waged war
against the Spirit of Christ, powerfully operating
in his servants. But the woman at length, after
throes in delivery, spoliations, and butcheries,
gave birth to such a Christ +, brought forth a
King “who was to rule all nations with a rod of
* Query if this be the right interpretation ?–R. B. C.
# Is not Constantine intended ?–R. B. C.
CI, A VIS A POCALYPTIC A. 273
iron,” and the dragon, being dispossessed of the
Roman throne, “there was” in that world “ sal-
vation and power, and the kingdom of our God,
and the power of his Christ.”
This summary of the whole matter being pre-
mised, for the sake of clearness, let us come to
the particular explanation of the text.
“And a great sign (he says) was seen in hea-
ven,” whither John was called in the beginning
to behold, and where he had seen all the fore-
going visions. I do not think any other sense
of this circumstance is to be sought for. For it
is manifest even from the end of the preceding
chapter, that John had hitherto beheld what
passed in heaven. “A woman clothed with the
sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her
head a crown of twelve stars.” A sign, and a
very beautiful image of the primitive Church in
a state of pregnancy, resplendent on all sides
with the faith of Christ, the Sun of Righteous-
ness, and treading under her feet the elements
of the world, (whether the shadows of the Law,
or the darkness of Gentile superstition;) glit-
tering, lastly, with the insignia of apostolical
origin. Many are inclined to consider the moon
as a symbol of terrestrial and mutable things,
which the Church of Christ looks down upon as
beneath her. Though this may be true, yet
never, I believe, in the whole Scripture, is the
T
274, CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA.
moon celebrated under this allusion. But the
interpretation of prophetic symbols is not readily
to be sought for elsewhere, but in those proper-
ties, by which, in some place or other, Scripture
bears testimony to it. Now it is certain that
most of the feasts on which they performed their
holy rites, in typical worship, were described
according to the changes of the moon ; as the
new moons, the passover, pentecost, the feast of
tabernacles ; may, that the calculation of the
whole ecclesiastical year, depended on its revo-
lution. To which, perhaps, that passage in the
104th Psalm, v. 19, may refer : “He appointed
the moon for seasons,” Enyº, that is, for feasts.
Why, then, may not the symbol of the moon
be referred to the Mosaic worship ! which the
Church, in truth, by the revelation of Christ,
beholds as prostrate, and placed under her feet;
according to that observation of the apostle to
the Colossians, ch. ii. v. 14, in which he asserts
that “Christ had blotted out the hand-writing
of ordinances which was against us, and had
taken it away, having nailed it to his cross.”
Moreover, as God may be said to have created
the sun as the greater luminary, for the dominion
of the day, and the moon, the lesser luminary,
for the dominion of the night, why should not
the symbol of the moon, appointed to the presi-
dency over the might, signify what is the dis-
CLAVIS APOCALYPTIC A. 275
play of the power of darkness, or blindness,
that is, the worship of Satan and his demons in
idols 2 So that indeed the whole matter may be
transferred to baptism, in which the Church,
illuminated, and from thenceforth to be clothed
with Christ, tramples under foot the worship of
idols, with a renunciation of Satan and his angels,
his service, and his pomps. For all these things
the ancient formula of renunciation expressly
contained; and besides, the abjurors turned to
the West, as to that part of heaven from whence
the night arises, as, on the contrary, the pro-
fessors of faith in Christ, and in the true Triune
God, turned to the East, as the quarter from
whence the sun, after the night has passed away,
brings back the day. (Dionys. Arcop. de Hie-
rarch Eccles. ch. ii. Cyril Hierosol. Catech. i.
Mystagog.—Greg. Nazian. Orat. xl.-Hieron. to
ch. vi.-Amos. Ambrosius. Of those who are in-
itiated into Mysteries, ch. ii.) Moreover, with
a regard to the same figure (as was also observed
above), the duration of the apostasy, or of Christ-
ianity defiled by idols, is described by months,
according to the motion of the moon, but that
of the woman and the witnesses persevering
in the faith of Christ, by years and days, with
reference to the motion of the sun. To which
interpretation I should in preference accede, I
am somewhat in doubt, and whether to one
T 2
276 CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA.
only, or to both. In truth, the apostle to the
Galatians, ch. iv. seems to call both, as well the
Mosaic tutorship as the worship of Gentile idols,
promiscuously the elements of the world, and the
Church of Christ rejoices that both are subdued
under her feet. Let the reader use his own
judgment.
“And being with child, she cried out in pain,
and labouring to be delivered.” The Church,
whenever she is regarded universally and ab-
stractedly as an imaginary person, is a mother,
but when with respect to individuals, who are
produced in her continually, she has offspring
which she is said to bring forth to God. This is
so obvious in the prophets, that it is unnecessary
to add a word more respecting it. Wide Ezekiel,
ch. xvi. to v. 21, also ch. xxiii. v. 4, Isa. ch. liv.
Hosea, ch. ii. v. 4, 5. The allegory, then, is not
to be disturbed by the unreasonableness of any
one, because he would distinguish the mother
from her offspring, which, however, in another
sense, coalesce in one and the same Church.
Kimschi on Hosea, ch. ii. v. 2, 3, “ The syna-
gogue or congregation is compared to a mother
by way of universality, but the several individuals
to children.”
Those pains and torments on account of which
the woman in childbirth cried out, were those
severe persecutions which the primitive Church
CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA. 277
endured at the time of her delivery. For it is
well known that tribulations and distresses are
compared to the pangs of childbirth. Whence
those words of Isaiah, ch. lxvi. v. 7, “Before she
travailed she brought forth; before her pain
came she was delivered of a male child.” The
Chaldee has this paraphrase: “ Before tribula-
tion come upon her, she shall be redeemed ;
before trembling come upon her as the pains of
a woman in labour, her King shall be revealed,
that is, the Messiah.” But Jeremiah himself
interprets this image, ch. xxx. v. 6, 7, “Ask
now and see, if a man do travail with child'
Wherefore do I see every man with his hand on
his loins, as a woman in travail, and all faces are
turned into paleness' Alas! because that day
is great, and there is none like it. It is even the
time of Jacob's trouble, but he shall be saved out
of it.” See also what our Saviour calls ºvac,
Matt. ch. xxiv. v. 8, 9, Mark, ch. xiii. v. 9, “These
are the beginning of Sorrows,” dºivov, &c.
“And there appeared another sign in heaven,
and, behold, a great red dragon, having seven
heads and ten horns; and upon his heads seven
crowns. And his tail drew the third part of the
stars of heaven, and cast them upon the earth.”
This is the sign or image of the heathen Ro-
man empire worshipping the dragon; inasmuch
as his emblems universally are seven heads and
278 CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA.
ten horns; seven heads both on account of the
seven hills on which the city was built, and on
account of the seven orders of kings or dynasties
which would successively rule the empire of that
city; but the ten horns are so called on account of
the ten kingdoms, which were to rise in the time
of its last head (upon which they grew,) which in-
terpretation is not mine, but that of the angel,
ch. xvii. where there will be a more convenient
opportunity of treating on these matters, if any
thing requires to be added. In the mean time,
another character of the Roman empire is here
subjoined, for it is said to have drawn “a third
part of the stars of heaven with its tail, and cast
them on the earth;” that is, to have subjected a
third part of the princes and dynasties of the
world to its empire. For so much, mamely a third
part of the globe known in the age of John, the Ro-
man dominion circumscribed within its boundaries.
Now the tail, according to the doctrine of the
Indians in Achmet, generally signifies attendants
and followers of power, Apot. 152; but what
more the tail of the serpent may imply, will be
seen by-and-by. And these, indeed, were the
characters of the Roman empire universally; but
the representation of a dragon determines the
worshipper of the dragon and the enemies of the
woman's seed specifically, that is, as heathem,
and the adversary of the Christian name; and
7
CLAVIS APOCALYPTIC A. 279
since he is red likewise, it points him out as cruel,
and crimson with the blood of the saints. Add
that, under the type of a dragon, reference seems
to be had to Pharaoh, the dire and malignant
enemy of the ancient synagogue, travelling in
Egypt, as the Roman of the Christian Church
in childbirth. For he also, in a similar manner,
and on the same account, is clothed with the
image of a dragon, Psalm lxxiv. v. 13, 14, “Thou
hast divided the sea by thy strength. Thou hast
broken the heads of the dragons, (that is, of the
Egyptians) in the waters. Thou hast broken
the heads of Leviathan (Chaldee, of Pharaoh).
Thou hast given him to be meat to the people
inhabiting the wilderness.” Isaiah, ch. li. v. 9,
“Awake, awake put on strength, O arm of the
Lord ' Awake, as in the ancient days, in the
generations of old. Art thou not he that hath
cut Rahab, and wounded the dragon 7" Ezek.
c. xxix. v. 3, “I am against thee, Pharaoh,
king of Egypt, the great dragon.” In all these
passages the Hebrew word is ºn which the
Septuagint, Symmachus, and Jerome, interpret
the dragon; and, indeed, the Syrian interpreter
always calls the dragon in the Apocalypse by the
same word. For the confirmation of which,
Drusius says, that it is the Arabic language in
which the dragon is called Thennin. And Exod.
ch. vii. “Aaron threw down his rod before Pha-
280 CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA.
raoh, and it became Tºnº a serpent, or dragon.”
It signifies, indeed, elsewhere, a whale or gram-
pus, but then as a marine dragon, whose form
in some respects it resembles. But why, you
will say, is so much stress laid upon this word 7
Why, in order to show that in the resemblance
which Satan first abused, in subverting Adam, it is
the custom of the Holy Spirit, under the type of
that disgraced and accursed animal, to designate
the kingdoms infested by the devil, and hostile to
his church, the seed of the woman.
“And the dragon stood before the woman,
who was about to be delivered, that when she
should bring forth, he might devour her child.”
That is, as Pharaoh did to the ancient Israel
springing up in Egypt, and as afterwards Herod
did to Christ, the Son of Mary, our Lord, so the
Roman dragon laid wait for the mystic Christ,
whom the Church was about to bring forth, that
he might oppress him immediately after his birth.
“And she brought forth a male child, who
was to rule all nations with a rod of iron” (or an
iron sceptre). That is, she brought forth a mys-
tic Christ, or Christ formed in his members, not
the Son of Mary, but of the Church, according to
that of the Apostle to the Galatians, c. iv. v. 19.
“My little children, of whom I travail in pain
again, till Christ be formed in you.” For since
the words are a periphrasis of Christ, it is neces-
CLAVIS APOCALYPTIC A. 2S 1
sary that some Christ should be intended by
them, as in the prophetic types is frequently the
case, not truly, but analogically spoken ; “ who,”
says he, “ was to rule all nations with an iron
sceptre,” that is, with power produced by the
force of iron, or war, as he was about to have
dominion over those who were not originally his
citizens, but either enemies, or foreigners, whom
it would be necessary to subjugate before he go-
verned. The words are taken from Ps. ii. v. 9.
not according to the present Masoretic reading,
but the ancient one of the Septuagint, and of
the apostles. Of which authors, I think I can
collect, that this is the meaning, from c. xix. v. 15.
where in like manner as in the Psalm, they are
applied to Christ our Lord, to whom they pri-
marily belong. “Out of his mouth,” says he,
“ went a sharp sword, that with it he might
smite the nations; and he shall rule them with
a rod of iron.” Here the words are applied to
the mystic Christ, or the Christian man, the
offspring of the church among the Gentiles, who
is represented under the type of Christ his Head,
and to whom the Lord promises that he would
sometime give a power of a similar mature with
his own, under the name of the Church of Thya-
tira. “He that overcometh,” says he, “ and
keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I
give power over the nations, and he shall rule
282 CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA.
them with a rod of iron ; as the vessels of a
potter shall they be broken to pieces; as I also
have received of my Father.” It will be some
assistance here, to attend to the words of An-
drew, in which, according to the opinion of
Methodius, he comments upon this place. “The
Church,” says he, “without intermission, by those
who are initiated in baptism, generates Christ,
as to be formed in them, to the complete fulness
of spiritual growth. The male child is the peo-
ple of the church, by whom Christ, as God, by
the hands of the Romans, strong as iron, rules
the nations.” He alludes to the type of the
fourth kingdom in Daniel, in which I do not
agree with him, (for how could David have al-
luded to that ?) otherwise he is not wide of the
mark, as will soon appear.
“And her child was caught up unto God,
and to his throne.” A hendiadys” for the throne
of God. The son of the woman was caught up
to the throne of God, that is, was elevated to
the Roman throne, where, with that power with
which it was declared that he was about to rule,
he did rule the nations. Christ, the Son of
Mary, was indeed truly raised to the throne of
God; but the mystical, or supposed Christ, whom
* £v čva 6voiv, i. e. one thing divided into two by a con-
junction.—R. B. C.
CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA. 283
the apostolical Church brought forth analogically,
since the throne of the higher powers is, as the
apostle calls them, Rom. c. xiii. the throne of
God, the terrestrial heaven. “ For there is no
power,” says he, “but of God.” Whence, in
the divination of dreams, “If any one should
appear in a dream to be carried up into heaven,”
they interpret it of a royal exaltation. It is well
known, likewise, in the sacred language, that
magistrates are called Dºn'98, that is, gods.
“God standeth in the congregation of the
mighty, he is a Judge among gods.” Ps. lxxxii. 1.
“I have said ye are gods, and ye are all the
children of the Most High.” v. 6. As those
then are said to sit in the seat of Moses, who
teach the doctrine delivered by Moses; so those
may be said to sit on the throne of God, who
exercise his functions in the earth. When,
therefore, the offspring of the apostolical Church
is said to be caught up, or taken to the throne
of God, it is the same thing as to be elevated to
such a height, as to sit as it were next to God,
which, I say, is true of royal eminence. Now
this was fulfilled, when the Christians under
Constantine the Great, and his successors, be-
came possessed of power, after the Dragon was
CaSt Out.
But you will say, since the mystic Christ is
said to be appointed to rule the mations over
284. CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA.
which he presided, in the same manner as Christ
the Lord, with an iron sceptre, in what warfare,
or by what battles (if this be the signification of
the iron sceptre), did the offspring of the apos-
tolic Church subjugate to himself the Roman
world ! I answer, by a double warfare. The
first, spiritual, wonderful, and divine, against de-
mons, the princes and gods of this world, which,
indeed, with an army of celestial angels fighting
with him against his enemies, he manfully waged,
of which we shall treat in the sequel; the se-
cond, strictly corporal, when he had just attained
the throne, which so many illustrious victories
prove partly of Constantine over Maxentius,
Maximinian, and Licinius; partly of Theodosius
the Great against others, as well as Eugenius
and Arbogastes, the standard-bearers of demons,
before the contumacy and pride of the Gentile
worshippers of the Dragon, rebelling against
Christian government, was fully broken, sub-
dued, and laid to rest.
But before we leave this subject, one thing
still remains to be observed, namely, that not
immediately as the offspring of the woman
was brought forth, was he raised to the throne
of God, but as soon as he came to maturity
in the kingdom. Therefore she is said to have
brought forth a son, who was to rule, that
is, not immediately, but when he came of age.
CLAVIS APOCALYPTIC A. 285
As Christ, the Son of Mary, our Lord, (to whose
image this mystic Christ, the offspring of the
Church, is in all things conformed), was in like
manner, not as soon as he was born, but when
he had arrived to a proper age, raised to the
throne of God, and took possession of the king-
dom, there to sit till he had reduced his enemies
under his footstool.
“And the woman fled into the wilderness,
where she hath a place prepared for her by God,
that they should nourish her there, one thou-
sand two hundred and sixty days;” of which, as
it is afterwards repeated, and somewhat more
fully described, we will defer the explanation to
that place.
“And there was war in heaven. Michael and
his angels fought against the dragon, and the
dragon fought, and his angels: And they pre-
vailed mot, neither was their place found any
more in heaven.” It was said, that the mother
having brought forth, as soon as her child was
safe, escaped the snares of the dragon. But
how it came to pass, that he who had so dili-
gently watched her, should yet have failed in his
attempt, now at length begins to be related.
We learn that this happened by the aid, and
under the auspices of Michael, who went stre-
nuously to oppose the dragon, as he lay in wait;
and when at length he became his superior,
286 CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA.
threw him down from heaven to earth. Thence
the son of the woman not only escaped unhurt,
but was raised to the throne of God, and she
withdrew into a secure place from the fury of
the dragon. “And there was war in heaven.”
Namely, while the woman was bringing forth,
not after she had brought forth, as many sup-
pose. For it is certain from v. 14. that this war
was carried on before the flight of the woman
into the wilderness. But the woman did not
flee into the wilderness before she had brought
forth, and before her son was caught up to the
throme of majesty, v. 5 and 6. “Michael and
his angels fought with the dragon,” not alone,
but with the assistance of the martyrs and con-
fessors of Christ their King, by whose grace they
fought; of whom, therefore, it will soon be sung
in the hymn of victory, that “they overcame him
by the blood of the Lamb, and for the word of
his testimony, and they loved not their lives unto
the end ;” which cannot be said of angels only.
“And the Dragon fought, and his angels,” that
is, demons, with the assistance likewise of their
worshippers, the Roman tyrants and their mi-
nisters.
But who, you will ask, is Michael ? Not, I
think, Christ himself, but, as it appears from
Daniel, unless I am mistaken, one of the chief
princes, or seven archangels, nay, the first, c. x.
CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA. 287
namely, that great angel, who is said by the same
author, to stand up on the part of the people of
God, c. xii.; and whom, therefore, Christ, the
great General in chief, and the King alike of
angels and men, employed in opposition to the
fury of Satan and his followers against his peo-
ple. For the angels are sent forth “for the sal-
vation of those who are the heirs of God,”
Heb. c. 1.* and who protect and defend them
according to a mode of acting secret and unseen,
against evil spirits, who operate on such men as
are enemies of God, and his Christ, although
they do not appear in a visible shape. So in
this war, in which we are treating of the pri-
mitive Church of Christ against the Roman wor-
shippers of the dragon, the angels took part
under Michael their leader, either by confirming
the holy martyrs and confessors of Christ against
the threats and power of tortures, and in dimin-
ishing their pains in their last agonies, and some-
times taking away entirely even the sense of
pain; or by breaking and debilitating the attacks
of their spiritual adversaries, and by throwing in
the way of their persecutors, who acted under
their influence, sometimes obstacles, and impedi-
ments, arising on a sudden, and so stifling their
* Rather “to minister to those who shall be heirs of sal-
vation.”—R. B. C.
288 CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA.
attempts; sometimes by infusing terrors and
other alienations of mind, so that suddenly de-
sisting from their undertakings, they even unwil-
lingly granted to the Church a truce, and breath-
ing time ; until at length, after a war of three
hundred years, when Christ saw that his people
were sufficiently tried, and he determined to give
a full victory to his angels, when the offspring of
the woman was placed on the imperial throne,
and the Christians were possessed of power, the
kingdom of the devil being vanquished, fell with
a wonderful ruin. For this is what he says,
“The devil prevailed not, neither was a place
found for him any longer in heaven;” that is,
routed and chased with all his forces, he was
cast out of heaven, (“Prevailed mot,” is a
Hebraism, of which hereafter.) “And the
great dragon was cast out, that old serpent
which is called the devil, and Satan, who de-
ceiveth the whole habitable world ; ” (that is,
impels it to idolatry, and had hitherto been seated
in the Roman empire ;) “he was cast out to the
earth, and his angels were cast out with him.”
That is, he, with all his demons, hitherto wor-
shipped as gods, were hurled down from the
summit of divinity in which they gloried, to the
depth of execration and contempt. As what we
read to have been done formerly in the liberation
of Israel from the tyranny of the Egyptian Pha-
CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA. 289
raoh, to whom the dragon bears a resemblance,
that “ God executed judgment on all the gods of
the Egyptians,” (Ex. c. xii. v. 12; Num. c. xxxiii.
v. 4,) the same found a place here likewise, at
least, according to the words. The Jews have a
tradition, that it took place there likewise. Vide
both Targums, R. Salomon, R. Aben Ezra, with
R. Moses, Ben Nachman, &c. Nor is there
ground for any one to pervert the clear words of
Scripture to any other sense, especially since
Isaiah appears to allude to it, c. xix. v. 1.
“Prevailed not,” for was conquered, is a He-
brew figure, as I observed ; by which adverbs of
denying signify the contrary of that to which they
are applied. As in this very vision it is said a
little farther, “They loved not their lives unto
the end ;” that is, they reckoned their lives of no
account, or they gave them up for Christ. For
this mode of speaking among the Hebrews is not
diminution, but augmentation. So Prov. c. xii.
v. 3, “A man shall not be established by wick-
edness;” that is, he shall be utterly removed and
eradicated. Id. c. x. v. 2, “ The treasures of
wickedness profit not;” that is, they are hurtful,
they are destructive. Id. c. xvii. v. 21, “ The
father of a fool shall not rejoice;” that is, he shall
be affected with sorrow. And I Cor. c. xvi.
v. 22, “If any one love not the Lord Jesus
Christ, let him be anathema;” that is, whoever
U
290 CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA.
hates and curses him. Wide Burtorf Thesaur.
Gramm. lib. 2, c. xix. So here, the dragon
and his angels prevailed not, is the same as they
were completely overcome.
But I have already given a fuller history of
this victory in the interpretation of the sixth seal,
with which this fall of the dragon contemporises;
may, it is the subject of that seal, as far as it
regards the remarkable change of the Roman
empire. But what I have said of the offspring
of the woman placed on the imperial throne, and
of the Christians then possessed of power, is clear
and manifest from the song of triumph which is
subjoined—“And I heard a loud voice in heaven
saying, Now is come salvation, and strength, and
the kingdom of our God, and the power of his
Christ, for the accuser of our brethren is cast
down, who accused them before our God day
and night.”—“And they overcame him by the
blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their tes-
timony, and they loved not their life unto the
death.” Which words, as they are very clear,
and delivered without any veil of allegory, so they
are a key to the interpretation of the whole
vision. For, from hence it may be clearly per-
ceived, in the first place, what the elevation of
the offspring of the woman to the throne of
God would be, namely, the introduction of “sal-
vation and might, and the kingdom of God, and
7
CLAVIS APOCALYPTIC A. 29 |
the power of his Christ,” to the Roman throne;
and likewise by the conquest of what enemy, he
should come to the kingdom; namely, by the
overthrow of that accuser, who calumniates and
traduces the brethren day and night before God;
and lastly, what kind of forces Michael and his
angels should employ in this battle against the
dragon and his satellites, namely, the holy martyrs
and confessors, “ who overcame him by the blood
of the Lamb, and by the word of his testimony,
because they loved not” (that is, they gave up)
“ their lives unto the death.” And, indeed, it is
utterly impossible that the elevation of the off-
spring of the woman, the overthrow of the
dragon, and the introduction of the kingdom of
God, and of his Christ, should not correspond
with one and the same event, since the flight of
the woman into the wilderness begins from all as
from one termination of affairs. But why is
Satan here called by the name of Karáyopoc, or
Accuser ? It is to be understood that this arose
from the usage of the Hebrews, by whom he was
anciently called by the same name, which they
made their own. For they call him nºtop, Kate-
gor. R. Juda, in the book Musar, as cited by
Drusius, says, Kategor is Satan, the wicked ad-
versary or calumniator, who is an adversary to
man, and calumniates him before the blessed
Creator. Maimonides in Pirke Avoth, (where in
U 2
292 CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA.
a sentence of R. Eliazar, both this, and the word
Paraclit of a contrary signification, likewise de-
rived from the Greek, occur,) says, He is called
Paraclit, IIapák\mroc, or the Intercessor, who in-
tercedes with the King, for a good blessing for
man ; the opposite to whom is Kategor; for he
it is who traduces man to the king, and endea-
vours to destroy him. And, indeed, if ever Satan
deserved the name of accuser or calumniator on
any other occasion, he strictly deserved it during
the time of this childbirth, and the war attending
it. Witness the many calumnies and reproaches
with which the dragon-worshippers overwhelmed
the Christians, during this whole time, objecting
to them Thyestoean feasts, Edipodian incests,
adultery, promiscuous concubinage, homicides,
conspiracies against princes, pestilence, famine,
fires, and whatever public calamity took place.
But there rather appears here to be a reference
to the book of Job, where Satan, by calumniating
and accusing him, was the cause of Job's being
permitted by God to be proved by him with
temptations and tribulations. Which here, like-
wise, the Holy Spirit intimates, was done by him
after his accustomed manner. The intelligent
reader will understand what I mean. Then
follows in a song of triumph—“Wherefore re-
joice, ye heavens ! and those who dwell therein,”
(that is, holy angels, and blessed spirits, by whose
CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA. 293
exertions this victory has been obtained.) “Woe
to the inhabitants of the earth and of the sea,”
(that is, to the terrene world,) “ for the devil is
come down to you, having great wrath, (and
therefore prepared to contrive some new mis-
chief) knowing that he hath but a short time.”
For though from the time when he was cast
down by Constantine the Great, from the Roman
throne, the worship of the dragon continued for
a short space among the people; yet when he
foresaw that not long after he should be expelled
likewise, and that the whole Roman world would
be sprinkled with the baptism of Christ, in the
progress of events; being wholly inflamed with
anger and fury, he took counsel how he might
bring the victory of the Church into hazard, by
whatever means he could employ; and if he
should fail in the attempt, even when cast out,
he might subvert it by some new contrivance. In
both of which designs we shall see that the most
wicked spirit was not wanting to himself.
THE MYSTERY
Of the Woman dwelling in the Wilderness.
The woman delivered of a child, when the
dragon was overcome, from thenceforth dwelt in
the wilderness, by which is figured the state of
294, CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA.
the Church, liberated from Pagan tyranny, to
the time of the seventh trumpet, and the second
Advent of Christ, by the type, not of a latent, in-
visible, but, as it were, an intermediate condition,
like that of the Israelitish Church journeying in
the wilderness, from its departure from Egypt, to
its entrance into the land of Canaan ; a state,
therefore, safe from the fury of that red dragon,
who resembled Pharaoh, but not yet arrived at
that pitch of glory, to which it should finally
arrive, when the rest of her enemies should be
subdued, as by the possession of Canaan. A
state, indeed, which was externally better than
the servitude of that heathen tyranny, (out of
which, as from Egyptian slavery, the Christian
people emerged by the power of Christ,) as
from thenceforth endued with a power, under
the auspices of Christian emperors and kings, of
worshipping Christ freely, as the Israelites in the
wilderness of worshipping Jehovah ; with tem-
ples, likewise, as the tabernacles of Christian
worship, magnificently built, with an ecclesias-
tical polity, constituted by kings, with sacred re-
venues, tithes, and oblations, but unhappy by its
apostasy of various kinds, mot less than Israel in
the wilderness, with the calf, Baal-peor, Balaam,
Korah, &c. Nor, perhaps, should that circum-
stance be passed over, that the forty-two months
of the Christian woman's residence in the wilder-
CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA. 295
mess answers to the number of resting-places
of Israel in the wilderness. Wide Numbers,
c. xxxiii.
The reason and tendency of the type being
thus explained, let us illustrate the text particu-
larly, and apply it to the event.
“And when the dragon saw that he was cast
down to the earth, he persecuted the woman
who brought forth the male child. And there
was given to the woman two wings of a great
eagle, that she might flee into the wilderness,
into her place, where she is nourished for a time,
and times, and a half, from the face of the ser-
pent. And the serpent cast forth water out of
his mouth after the woman, like a river, that he
might cause her to be carried away by the flood.”
This was the first attempt of Satan, when he
was cast down, but not yet entirely cast out, re-
maining, on the contrary, a short time below.
That he might, if it were possible by any
means to do so, overwhelm the woman, who,
when her offspring was possessed of power, was
departing to a station in the wilderness, before
she should retreat thither wholly secure from his
fury. For she did not immediately, as she
began to escape, arrive in the wilderness, but
after some space of time and delay had inter-
vemed ; as Israel consumed some time in the
journey which he had undertaken from Egypt.
296 CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA.
But the words here used are so to be understood,
that they may appear in some way to be referred
to what was said above of the same flight of the
woman into the wilderness, either in this, or in
a similar sense. “When the dragon saw that
he was cast down to the earth, he persecuted the
woman who had brought forth the male child.”
For since (as was observed above) “ there was
given to the woman,” after the birth and exalta-
tion of her offspring to the throne, (by two wings
of a great eagle furnished to her, as if for flight)
“ to depart into the wilderness, where she was
to be nourished for a time, and times, and half a
time; he cast out of his mouth after her a flood
of water, that he might cause her to be carried
away with the flood.” So, likewise, Pharaoh
persecuted the people of Israel, departing into
the wilderness out of his dominion, by a flood of
another kind.
The great eagle is the Roman empire. Its
two wings, the two Caesars of the now divided
empire of the West and East, under whose pro-
tection and authority the church departed into
its eremitical state. For it is well known, that
the Roman empire, as soon as it had received
the Christian faith, became bipartite, and was
borne up as it were on the two wings of the
Caesars. The eagle being the ensign of the
Roman empire, renders this interpretation ob-
CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA. 297
vious to any one. But what forbids us from
confirming the interpretation of the prophetical
type by an apocryphal writer ? This is Esdras
the prophet, for under this denomination does
Clemens of Alexandria quote him, (Strom, book
3d, a little before the conclusion) according to
whom, the type of an eagle signifies the fourth
kingdom, the twelve feathered wings as many
first Caesars. Wide c. xi. and xii. But tell me,
Reader, would you not also say, that here is a
reference also to that saying of the Lord con-
cerning the departure of Israel out of Egypt.
Exod. c. xix. v. 4. “Ye have seen,” says he,
“what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bare
you on eagles' wings, and brought you unto my-
self,” that is, into the wilderness. But there is
something else in this verse which requires to be
expounded. Why is the time of the woman's
inhabitation in the wilderness, which was reck-
oned a little before by days, here changed into
years, or a time, and times, and half a time ! I
seek no other cause of this alternation, than that
it might be the key to a similar notation of time
in Daniel, and might inform us that the Church
was now arrived at those very times, which he de-
cribed by the period of a time, times, and half a
time. And, indeed, without this index, that de-
signation of time would have been very uncer-
tain, and inexplicable. For from what source,
298 CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA.
or by what indication, could it have been known,
that time denoted a year ! or if so, that times
did not mean more than two years ? But now,
from this communication it is clear, that the
period may be resolved into 1260 days, and
therefore, signifies a year, two years, and a half.
These difficulties having been explained in
this manner, let us now examine what that water
was which the dragon vomited out of his mouth
like a flood, that he might overwhelm the woman
while she was preparing to take her journey into
the wilderness. The gushing out of water is
language and doctrine according to Prov. c. xviii.
v. 23. “The words of a man's mouth are deep
waters, the well-spring of wisdom is a flowing
brook.” Whence the word 922, which signifies
to burst forth, and gush out as a fountain, is
applied to doctrine, as Ps. lxxviii. v. 2. “I will
open my mouth in parables, I will utter, or pour
forth, things hidden from the foundation of the
world;” which is alleged of the doctrine of our
Saviour, Matt. c. xiii. v. 35. So Prov. c. i.
v. 23. Wisdom is said to preach in the streets;
“I will pour out my Spirit upon you ; I will
make known my words unto you.” What, them,
is the effusion from the mouth of the serpent, a
venomous beast, but pestiferous doctrine, that is
heresy 2 according to that verse of Prov. c. xv.
v. 28. “ The mouth of the wicked poureth forth
CLAVIS APOCALYPTIC A. 299
evil things.” Now the history of this time ex-
hibits it as proceeding like a flood from the
mouth of the dragon, I speak of Arianism and
its offspring. By this his flood the dragon had
nearly caused the woman to be carried away.
He intended it no doubt. And, in truth, it was
wonderful that the Roman emperors, who had so
recently given their names to Christ, and had
not fully settled the Christian establishment, of
fended and alienated as they were at the horrid
dissension in so primary a point of doctrine
among Christians (only just respiring from per-
secution), at such deadly party feuds, tumults,
and credulity, among the brethren, even equally
to that of the Pagans, should not have cast off
the faith.
“But the earth succoured the woman, and
the earth opened its mouth, and swallowed up
the flood which the dragon cast out of his
mouth.” That is, the multitude of Christians in
the councils persisting in the Orthodox faith,
exhausted the diabolical inundation, as the earth
does water, when it has long continued in a state
of drought. For if water, (but of a poisonous
and pestiferous nature) such as proceeds out of
the serpent, represents heresy ; the mode of
analogy undoubtedly required that the substance
which should have the effect of absorbing and
removing the same, should be figured by the
300 CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA.
earth, as that whose property it is to exhaust an
inundation of waters by its aridity.
Which, indeed, happens in this matter so
much the more agreeably to the explanation of
the subject, because elsewhere likewise in histo-
rical and simple expression, the earth is com-
monly used for the inhabitants of the earth.
Wide Gen. c. xli. v. 37. 1 Sam. c. xiv. v. 25.
Deut. c. ix. v. 28. and elsewhere at large.
Of the Ten-horned Beast blaspheming God, and
of the Two-horned Beast, or False Prophet, his
Founder and Hierarch.
A new scene of evils invaded the woman, as
soon as she had entered the bounds of the wil-
derness ; for she immediately encountered a
double sort of beast, less formidable indeed in
appearance than that of the dragon, or serpent ;
whose figure only she dreads, professing to be
nothing but a panther, or a lamb, but being truly
an agent of the dragon, who has been cast down,
and in his stead prepared to bring troubles on
the offspring to which she should give birth in
the wilderness.
“And the dragon was wroth with the woman,
and departed to make war with the rest of her
seed, (viz. with those which she should pro-
duce in the wilderness,) who keep the command-
CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA, 301
ments of God, and hold the testimony of Jesus
Christ.”
“And he stood on the sand of the sea.” That
is, when the dragon saw that he who was now
expelled from the Roman empire, that he had
not succeeded in overwhelming the woman, as
she was hastening into the wilderness, by the
inundation of Arianism, but that she nevertheless
had arrived there in safety; and besides, that he
should no longer be suffered to possess the sove-
reignty of the Roman world, as he had formerly
done, in his own name, he now attempts it in
another way, by tacitly substituting a kingdom
dependent on himself, and for that purpose he
stood on the sea shore, that he might form a new
appearance of the Roman kingdom, thence to
arise, subservient to him. The history of the
double beast, prepared to transact the affairs of
Rome, now follows ; one ten-horned, and the
other two-horned, connected by the strictest me-
cessity with each other, and both reigning at the
same time, and in the same part of the world.
The first of which, that is, the ten-horned beast,
you may call if you will secular; the other, or
two-horned, ecclesiastical.
Of the Ten-horned Beast.
The ten-horned, or secular beast, is that uni-
versity of ten kingdoms, more or less, (into which
302 CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA.
the empire of the Caesars, after the expulsion of
the dragon, had settled after the Barbaric plague,)
coalescing at length into one Roman republic,
through the renewed impiety of the dragon.
“I saw,” said he, “a beast ascending out of
the sea, having seven heads, and ten horns, and
upon his horns ten diadems, and upon his heads
the name of blasphemy.” The same beast is
here described as that which afterwards, c. xvii.
carries the harlot ; the seven-headed Roman
beast, under the state of its last head. “I saw,”
says St. John, “the type of that last state of the
Roman kingdom, in which, acting under its se-
venth head, it was divided into ten kingdoms;
and yet in the same manner, as it had dome
under its former heads, he blasphemed the great
God Almighty by the worship of idols.” For the
number of seven heads is a particular mark of
the Roman kingdoms, as well as the furniture of
ten horns. The name of blasphemy is the mark
of idolatry. The diadems, or crowns, placed on
the horns, (which are on the last head only,)
point out that the kingdom is exhibited under
the government of its last head, which will be
amply confirmed by the remaining description of
the beast.
“And the beast which I saw was like a leo-
pard, and his feet as those of a bear, and his
mouth as the mouth of a lion.” That is, this
Cſ, AVIS APOCALYPTICA. 303
kingdom, partly in respect of its regimen, and its
state, partly in respect of its disposition, was so
composed, that it represented the three monar-
chies, anciently pourtrayed by these beasts in
Daniel, in a certain blended association. Since
it was Greek in the remaining appearance of the
body, it stood on feet in their march and action,
like the Persian kingdom ; with its mouth, like
that of Babylon, it issued its edicts to be per-
formed. For the leopard is the type of the king-
dom of the Greeks, the bear of the Persians, the
lion of the Babylonians. First, them, that king-
dom was plainly like the Grecian in its body, for
instance, a kingdom like that divided into many
parts, Dam. c. vii. v. 6. and c. viii. v. 8, 22. For
the Greek was divided into four parts; this last
Roman kingdom was separated into ten king-
doms, to which type is referred the bearing ten
horns on the last head of the beast, which the
angel afterwards interprets, c. xvii. are ten kings,
or kingdoms, into which the Roman empire of
the sixth head, having been dilacerated, coa-
lesced into a new kingdom, under the seventh,
for the purpose of carrying the harlot. That the
ten horns were upon the last head only, that is,
the seventh, and not, as commonly supposed,
promiscuously on all, I thus demonstrate. While
the head flourishes, the horns flourish, and when
it falls, the horns also arising from it must neces-
304 CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA.
sarily fall. On the first five heads, then, there
could not be horns, because those five heads, as
the angel says in c. xvii. were already fallen ;
neither could there be on the sixth, because
while that was reigning in the age of John, (as
the angel expressly affirms,) the time of horns
was not yet come, for says he, “ The ten horns
are ten kings, which have not yet received their
kingdom.” They are reserved, therefore, for the
last head. Away, then, with such painters as
distribute the ten horns according to their fancy,
on seven heads, giving single ones to some, and
two to others, out of their liberality, which, how
inconsistent it is, and remote from the ground-
work of the text, yea, and plainly repugnant to
the interpretation of the angel, there is no one,
who, having been already informed on the sub-
ject, shall seriously weigh it in his mind, that
will not be induced to confess. Therefore, it is
to be taken as true and certain, that the seventh
head alone in the scale of heads, raising them-
selves one after another, towered over the rest,
the highest in situation, the last in place.
Now then I proceed to explain the remaining
appearance of this last beast. By the feet on
which the body rests, and on which it is moved,
and walks, and of which those before answer the
purpose of hands and arms to beasts, in holding,
seizing, and fighting ; by the feet, I say, it
CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA, 305
alludes closely to the Persian empire ; since, as
they relied on the councils of their Magi in the
management of their affairs, so the Roman king-
dom in its last state is governed by the authority
of idolatrous monks and clergy, like those Magi.
To which that future saying refers of the other
falsely prophetic beast, “ that it exercises all the
power of the ten-horned beast before him.” For
the feet are to be considered here, not as the
lowest and most dishonourable parts of the body,
but of the same kind as they are in beasts; not
merely the instruments of walking, but also of
fighting, and seizing their prey, in which, and in
bears especially (I speak of the fore feet), the
chief strength of the body consists. Nor are the
feet to be here understood as that part only
which makes an impression on the ground, but
that which comprehends the thighs also, and
arms, as well as the smaller part commonly
called the foot.
Lastly, the ten-horned beast issues edicts to
be observed with a Babylonian mouth, by com-
manding the worship of deities and idols, with
pain of death, and burning alive, denounced
against those who refuse it, in the same manner
as Nebuchadnezzar did to those Jews, who would
mot adore the golden image which he had set up,
sixty cubits high, to his god Bel. Dan. c. iii. At
the same time, I do not wish, by this interpreta-
X
306 CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA.
tion of mine, to excite a prejudice against that
of others; namely, of those who may think that
regard should be had rather to the natural dis-
position of those beasts, whose qualities or fierce-
ness the ten-horned beast might express. Let
every one judge for himself. “And the dragon
(who had been cast down, and stood on the
sea-shore,) gave him his power, (that is, his
strength or forces,) and his throne, and great
authority.”
Power, Atwautc, signifies, with the Hellenists,
forces or army, according to the use, as it appears
to me, of the Hebrew ºn, by which is denoted
both strength and bravery, and an army likewise.
The Seventy say, in Exod. c. xiv. v. 28. of the
army of Pharaoh overwhelmed in the sea, “ The
waters covered, tragav rav 80 watuw, all the host of
Pharaoh,” and c. xv. v. 4, “ he hath cast, rºv
80 wapuv abrov, his host into the sea.” And so in
various passages, not only in these, but in pro-
fane writers. From this notion spring those ex-
pressions, Köpwoc 8vváusov, the Lord of hosts, and
Matt. c. xxiv. v. 29. 8vváutic rôv otpavājy, the
powers of the heavens, or the celestial hosts,
shall be shaken. So, in the next verse, the Son
of man is said to be about to come in the clouds
of heaven, uetá čvváuewc kal 86&ng troXXnc, with
power and great glory, which is explained in the
following chapter, as “coming in his glory, and
CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA. 307
all the holy angels with him.” So in this place,
the dragon or Satan delivered to the ten-horned
beast, riv 80yapuv aurow, that is, his forces, or his
army. But the forces of Satan are his angels or
demons, and idols, the receptacles of demons.
These forces he delivered over to this last beast,
to be worshipped and reverenced, together with
his throme, and great authority ; that is, in one
word, all that power from which he had lately
fallen, when conquered and overthrown by Mi-
chael, and the holy martyrs and confessors of
Christ. So that, indeed, the dragon, or Satan,
in this beast of the last state of the empire,
recovered in some measure the ancient do-
minion which he had exercised in the red one ;
but in a form so dissimilar from the former one,
that the seed of the woman in the wilderness did
not immediately perceive it. For the dragon did
not now make his advances as before, in the
form of a dragon, that is, did not profess himself
to be what he was, the sworn enemy of the
Christian name. For if he had done this, the
seed of the woman would have known him im-
mediately, and been upon his guard against him,
as his deadliest foe, from that innate antipathy
which God had denounced from the beginning of
the world should subsist between them. “I will
put enmity between thy seed and her seed.”
But, in truth, when he had assumed the form of
X 2
308 CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA.
another beast, having no affinity with the ser-
pent, it was not so difficult for him to impose
upon the seed of the woman, that is, the Christian
Church, rejoicing in its late victory, and now se-
cure from the dragon, and to allure it to adopt
his customs. Which, indeed, the arch impostor
so covertly and deceitfully did, under the mask
of a beast not friendly to him, that the Church
did not acknowledge till late, that she had been
deceived by her ancient enemy, and led to vene-
rate the dragon under this mask. For who
would have suspected that the dragon lay hid
under the figure of a leopard, or (what is the
same) of a panther *, that is, under the appear-
ance of an animal, which, while other beasts,
attracted either by the beauty of his skin, or the
sweetness of his smell, love to approach and be-
hold, the dragon alone is said to abhor and
avoid 2 Or, to explain the matter a little more
clearly, who would have supposed, that under
the empire of the Christian religion, the de-
stroyer of idols assuming worship for herself, hei-
mous idolatry, and long since exploded heathen-
ism, would be restored with the utmost labour,
and promoted by laws and edicts'
“And I saw one of its heads, (namely, the
* Isidore says he is called IIav0ip, omnis fera, because he
is friendly to all animals except the dragon.
CI, A VIS APOCALYPTICA. 309
sixth,) as it were, wounded to death, (which was
done in the battle with Michael and the holy
martyrs",) and his deadly wound was healed,”
by the medicine of this vicarious power. That
this seven-headed dragon, (or the Roman em-
pire, possessed by the ancient serpent, that is,
the heathen empire,) was the beast with the
sixth head, may be shown by what is afterwards
said of these heads. Five in the age of John
had fallen, one (which is the sixth) then ruled
the Roman states, and chiefly because this beast
of the last dynasty immediately succeeded the
fifth, on the same throne. The dragon, I assert,
is here said to have given up his throne to the
beast of the last dynasty, or the seventh head.
Therefore he was the immediate successor, or
the beast of the last head. Nor let any one be
disturbed, that during the continuance of the
sixth head, it appears seven-headed in the vision.
For though the heads performed their parts, not
at the same time, but in order, and successively,
yet the beast is exhibited with all its apparatus
of heads and horns, under every state, that it
may every where designate the same Roman
kingdom, though under different successions of
dynasties.
But to return to the text, in which, in the
* Query 2—R. B. C.
310 CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA.
Complutensian edition, according to the tes-
timony of Irenaeus, Aretas, the Syrian paraphrast
lately published, and among the Latin authors,
Primasius does not acknowledge the words “I
saw,” but joins the words, “one of the heads,”
with the word “gave,” as in this sentence, “The
dragon delivered unto him his power and throne
and great authority, and one of its heads mor-
tally wounded, that it might be cured.” I
'suspect also that the Latin Vulgate read it so
formerly, on account of the words “de capitibus
suis,” instead of “ ejus.” But whether this read-
ing is to be preferred to the other, I will not
hastily affirm, but only that it appears to be
very ancient, so that I wonder it was not noticed
by R. Stephen. But whichever it may be, the
received reading, if rightly interpreted, and as
the subject actually requires we should in-
terpret it, evidently gives the same sense. “I
saw (says he) one of the heads, as it had been
wounded to death;” namely, not at the time the
apostle saw it, but before it emerged in this
form from the Sea, intepovvrextróc, or in the
preter-pluperfect tense, as in ch. v. ver, 6, he
had said, he “ saw in the midst of the elders and
of the animals a Lamb standing, as if it had been
slain,” not slain at the time he saw it. What is
added, however, about the healing of the wound,
that he saw done, either while the beast was
CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA. 311
just emerging from the sea, or as soon as it had
arisen from thence 2 For that healing was not,
(as is still believed by many,) Some subsequent
fate, but the very nativity of the last beast.
From each of the remaining heads, it had passed
to the turn of the successor without a wound ;
but in the transition from the sixth to the last,
the beast sunk under a deadly wound ; from
the cure of which I say, and not before or
sooner, the ten-horned beast, or that of the last
state, took its beginning, and did not deduce its
origin any higher. That this is the case, the
whole series of the following narration evinces.
For whatever evil the beast is related to have
perpetrated, whatever worship and adoration
was paid to him by the inhabitants of the earth,
all is said to have been done after the cure of
his wound. . “I saw (says he) one of his heads
as if it had been wounded to death, and the
wound of death, or the deadly wound, was
healed, and all the world followed, wondering
after the beast,”—mamely, that just healed,—
“ and they worshipped the dragon,” &c. Then
likewise “was given to him a mouth speaking
great things, and blasphemies,” &c. And “he
opened his mouth against God,” &c. All those
things were done after his cure; but before that,
no evil deeds are predicated of the beast, no
mention of subjection or honour paid to him by
312 CLAVIS APOCALYPTIC A.
the nations. Whatever is commemorated before,
partly relates to the form of the beast, partly to
the occasion and manner of his rise. And why,
I beseech you, should we represent to ourselves
an antichristian beast, of whom for some time,
no facts are related, no persecution recorded ?
Nay, if we follow the reading of Irenaeus and
the Complutensian version, by expunging “I
saw,” there will be no longer a place for such an
interpretation. “And all the earth wondered
after the beast ;” that is, with the utmost appro-
bation and consent, they went over to the party
of the beast. “And they worshipped the dragon,
which gave power to the beast, and they wor-
shipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the
beast 2 who is able to make war with him '''
That is, they did not simply worship the beast
as a beast, but also as a vicegerent of the dragon.
Therefore they did not venerate the beast alone,
but the dragon himself likewise, under the mask
of the beast. For to worship the beast, unless
so far as idolatry discharged the functions of the
dragon, in the sense in which it is here used,
would not have been more impious than to obey
any kind of mundane power.
The beast, in truth, denotes a kingdom. To
adore the beast, then, according to the usage of
the Hebrew and Oriental languages, is the same
thing as to be subject to him, which the explai
CLAVIS APOCALYPTIC A. 313
nation subjoined to the word worship, not ob-
scurely points out. “They adored (says he)
the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast !
who is capable of contending with him '" As if
he had said, They devoted themselves willingly
to the obedience of the beast, as to one who so
far excelled others in power, that there was no
one that would resist or make war with him. In
which also, ver. 12, the earth itself, not merely
its inhabitants, is said to have worshipped the
beast; that is, to have yielded to his dominion.
“And he caused (says he) the earth, and those
that dwell therein, to worship,” &c. So in the
benediction of Jacob, Gen. c. xxvii. v. 29, “Let
the people serve thee, and nations worship (or
bow down to) thee. Be lord over thy brethren,
and let thy mother's sons bow down to thee.”
For this meaning of the words row Tpookvvetv,
vide Gen. c. xxxvii. v. 7, and c. xlix. v. 8, in the
benediction of Judah ; so also Isa. c. xlv. v. 14.
But to be subject to the beast according to his
religious constitution, as it refers to the seven-
headed dragon, is blasphemous, and impious
towards God. Whence, they who so adore the
beast, are said to adore the dragon in adoring the
beast.
“And there was given to him a mouth speak-
ing great things and blasphemies, and there was
given him power to continue forty-two months.”
3.14. CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA.
Hitherto of the constitution and state of the
beast. It is afterwards explained in what things
he exercised the power committed to him by the
dragon; viz. in two, -in blasphemy towards God,
and the persecution of the saints. The whole
description is taken from the prophecy of Daniel,
ch. vii. where he treats of the same subject, as
here, that is, the Roman beast in the last state.
But the circumstances which are there related to
Daniel by the angel, rather succinctly, are here
more diffusively laid open, as in an interjected
explanation.
“There was given to him (says he) a mouth
speaking great things.” The mouth speaking
great things is Daniel's; but here the great
words are explaimed by “blasphemies;” under
which name, it will presently be asserted, ido-
latrous worship was designated, as a matter of
the highest affront to God.
Moreover, he says, that the beast should so
blaspheme for forty-two months; that is, of
years, throughout the same space of time, as the
Gentiles should trample down the outer court
of the temple, or the holy city. And not unde-
servedly, since that profanation of the Gen-
tiles runs in a parallel line with the same impiety
as this blasphemy of the beast, and both point
out a subject of the power of darkness and of
night, and therefore to be measured, not by
CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA. 315
years or days, but months, according to that of
the moon, which presides over the night. And,
indeed, unless the Holy Spirit had intended the
designation of time to be referred to the blas-
phemy, why has he inserted it in this place,
immediately after the mention of blasphemy
The months are not to be reckoned from the
beginning of his cruelty, or warfare with the
saints, but of his blasphemy. As if the word
Totmaat signified some certain act, or state of the
power of the beast, (of which kind some suppose
that to be, which is here called the power of
acting or doing,) it must then altogether be re-
ferred to the act of blasphemy. But rô rounda
seems rather to be applied in the senses of last-
ing or remaining, as it is elsewhere used with
words of time. For thus, Acts, ch. xv. v. 33,
Totmaavréc & X9óvov ruvâ, “ when he had spent
some time;” and ch. XX. v. 3, Toufiqac re unvac
rpsic, “ and there abode three months.” 2 Cor.
ch. xi. v. 25, vvy.0%uspov év rº (390.9 Tetroimka, “ a
night and a day I have been in the deep.” Add
James, ch. iv. 13, “to-day or to-morrow we
will go into such a city,” Kai Totſaouev čksi èvtavrov
Éva, “ and continue there a year.” Drusius re-
marks that Twy is thus used, Eccles. ch. vi.
v. 13, and “facere” in Latin, Seneca, Epist. lxvii.
“ Quamvis paucissimos una fecerimus dies.”—
“Though we have passed very few days together.”
7
316 CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA.
In the marble tablet, “ cum qua fecit annosiz.”
“Where, when he had continued nine days.” In
Alfenus, i. e. “Is Servus fugerat et annum in
fugå fecerat.” “That slave had fled, and passed a
year in flight ;” that is, spent, continued, finished,
transacted.
According to these examples, why should not
“Totnoat unvac 42,” signify lived so long, re-
mained, continued blaspheming 2 The force of
which expression, those who did not understand,
seem to have inserted in the text the word
“Tó\suov war,” which is extant in some of the
copies. Now, as I said before, that by the name
of blasphemy in this place, was designated, as by
way of eminence, idolatry, or spiritual formica-
tion, may be evinced by a twofold, or even a
threefold argument. First, because Babylon, the
metropolis of this beast, means the mother of
harlots, and with her the kings and inhabitants
of the earth are said to commit whoredom. But
the beast of which we treat, is nothing else than
the community of those kings and inhabitants.
Secondly, it must be a blasphemy of the same
kind, which should suit with the state of the
head, immediately preceding; nay, of all the
other heads; for on all “ were written the name
of blasphemy,” ver. I. Add that this beast of
the last state, was born and composed from
the renewal of the impiety of his predecessor of
CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA. 317
the sixth head. But what blasphemy could be
ascribed as common to them all, except idolatry
alone Assuredly none”.
The use of Scripture adds force to these ob-
servations, by expressing the idolatry of God's
ancient people by this name. To understand
which it must be known that there are three
words in Hebrew, translated by the Greek inter-
preters and the Latin Vulgate in the acceptation
of blasphemy, YS3, and FDI, in none of which
you may not discover the sign of idolatry. In
the word FTA, Ezek. c. xx. v. 27, “Yet in this
your fathers have blasphemed me. When I had
brought them into the land, for which I lifted up
my hand to give it them, then they saw every
high hill, and all the thick trees, and they offered
their sacrifices,” &c. In the word FTII, Isa. c. lxv.
v. 7, “Which have burned incense on the moun-
tains, and blasphemed me on the hills.” And cer-
tainly FIT answers precisely to the Greek 3Xagºn-
pelv, for both signify to treat with contumely, or
to reproach. Whence, 2 Kings, c. xix. v. 22,
“Whom hast thou reproached and blasphemed !”
it is joined with Fºº, as synonymous; as also
Ps. xliv. v.16. The Seventy are in the habit of ren-
dering both by ovsišić0, Tapošövo, and the Chaldee
* This argument seems convincing, and how strong a proof
it is, that we can look only in a certain quarter for the power
here described.—R. B. C.
3.18 CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA.
also by its own Enn. Moreover, let me add this
likewise, that it was usual with the Jews, not
only of the age of Isaiah, but also of a lower age,
to understand the worship of idols by the momen-
clature of reproach or blasphemy. This may even
be collected from the paraphrases of the Hagio-
graphists, where, Ps. lxix. v. 10, instead of the
words, “The reproaches of them that reproached
thee are fallen upon me,” the Chaldee has, “The
rebukes of the impious who rebuke thee, while
they make their idols partakers of thy glory, are
fallen upon me.”
With respect to the word Ys), which is another
of the two, to which 3Xao pmusiv answers, accord-
ing to the Seventy ; in Forster it is, to attack
with contumacy, reproaches, and reviling words.
Jerome always translates it in the Psalms, as
often as it occurs, (and it occurs five times,) ac-
cording to the true interpretation of the Hebrew,
blasphemare. With others it is, to despise, or to
irritate by contempt, so that the most accurate
signification of it seems to be, to provoke to
anger by reproaches and contumelies. By this
expression, I say it may be shown from Deut.
c. xxxi. v. 20, that idolatry is designated, as well
as by the former. “When they shall have eaten
and filled themselves, they will turn to other
gods, and will serve them ºssº), and will pro-
voke me.” So, indeed, the Vulgate uses the
CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA. 3.19
sense of blaspheming, though not the word. For
what else is Deo detrahere, to detract from God,
than to blaspheme him But in other places it
does express the word, as Jer, c. xxiii. v. 15–17,
“From the prophets of Jerusalem is profane-
ness gone forth into all the land.”—“They say
‘ss); unto those that blaspheme me, (the dis-
course is about idolaters,) the Lord hath spoken,
There shall be peace to you, and to every
one who walketh after the imagination of his
heart,” &c.
To these quotations may be added, if you
please, by way of illustration, that the profana-
tions of Antiochus, by which he polluted the
temple of God, and his sacrifices, are called blas-
phemies, 1 Macc. c. ii. v. 6, and 2 Macc. c. viii.
v. 4. Also, that Kimchias interprets that of
Gen. c. iv. v. 26, “ Then was the name of the
Lord profaned by invocation*.” Then men turned
away after idols, and the invocation of the divine
name was polluted and profaned. Whether he
has translated rightly or not I do not inquire,
but so he has rendered and understood it. Hence
according to the scholastic doctors there are three
species of blasphemy; one, when something is
attributed to God which does not belong to him;
another, where something is taken from him
* Surely this is a perversion of the text.—R. B. C.
320 CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA.
which does belong to him; a third, when what
is appropriated to God, is attributed to a crea-
ture, as in idolatry. For as an adulterous wife
brings a reproach upon her husband, so the
Church, prostituting herself to idols, does upon
God; since idolatry is spiritual adultery.
“And he opened his mouth in blasphemy
against God, to blaspheme his name, and his
tabernacle, and those that dwell in heaven.”
What he had before said generally about blas-
phemy, he here pursues in detail, and distin-
guishes a triple idolatry of the beast: For first,
he blasphemes the name of God; that is, in the
worship of images. “By giving the incommuni-
cable name to stocks and stones.” Wisdom, c. xiv.
v. 21. Or the name of God means the person of
God, (may we be permitted thus to speak,) which
is then blasphemed, when any thing besides God
is worshipped with divine honour. Secondly, his
“ tabernacle ;” that is, the human nature of
Christ, in which the Deity hypostatically dwells.
2
‘O yā9 Aóyoc odoš £yévero, kai takāvoo'ev čv iluſv,
John, c. i. v. 14. And according to the same
Evangelist, c. ii. v. 19, “Destroy this temple, and
in three days I will raise it up. But he spake of
the temple of his body.” Has not that passage
in the Hebrews, c. ix. v. 11, a reference to this 2
“In a greater or more perfect tabernacle.” This
tabernacle, I say, the beast blasphemes, when he
CLAVIS APOCALYPTIC A. 321
believes the body of Christ to be made every day
out of bread, by the transubstantiation of the
mass, and therefore worships the bread instead
of Christ, the tabernacle of God; nay, looks up
to the propitiatory sacrifice offered for the living,
and the dead, as crucifying Christ anew. He
blasphemes the celestial inhabitants likewise, that
is, the angels and Saints, who dwell in heaven,
whilst in their names he invokes the demons and
idols which he worships *.
What a reproach is this to the blessed spirits!
may, an affront to Christ their Lord : In deroga-
tion of whose prerogative and glory they are con-
stituted, even against their will, mediators and
intercessors with God, patrons and presidents of
mortals in the manner of the heathem. See what
we have already said, at the end of the sixth
trumpet, out of the theology of the Gentiles on
demons and their offices. And the beast, not
content with this alone, degrades the blessed
spirits besides, with his disgraceful and wicked
fables and miracles; so that you may doubt
whether he offends more by the worship which
he wishes to display, as addressed to them, or by
the injurious mature of his fables.
Thus far of blasphemy, then follows the other
part of the impiety of the beast, by which he
* Or when he offers worship to them.–R. B. C.
Y
322 CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA.
exhibited himself as the vicegerent of the red
dragon, the persecution of the saints. For in
addition, “it was given to him to make war upon
the saints, and to overcome them.” So Daniel,
“He made war with the saints, and prevailed
against them.” With the saints, that is, with
the seed which proceeded from the woman in the
wilderness. Now, though the whole domination
of the beast may be a kind of warfare against the
saints, (according to what was said at the begin-
ning, “ that the dragon went away enraged,”
under the mask of this beast, “to make war with
the rest of the woman's seed, who keep the com-
mandments of God, and retain the testimony of
Jesus Christ,”) yet a war of another kind is here
to be understood, as appears from v. 10, where
something is said of retaliation to be at some fu-
ture time rendered to the beast. “If any one
lead into captivity,” &c., and “If any one kill
with the sword, he must be killed with the
sword.” The war, therefore, is one which is
waged with slaughter and blood. Add that we
are at present engaged in the description, not of
the ecclesiastical, but of the secular beast, with
which war of any kind can scarcely agree.
But the beast did not carry on this war imme-
diately from his commencement; but after he
had arrived at his acme, during the twelfth age
from the birth of Christ. His first expedition
CLAVIS APOCALYPTIC.A., 323
© 4 )
threatened the Albigenses and Waldenses, and
by whatever other name the true worshippers of
Christ were called; of whom so great a destruc-
tion was made, that throughout France alone, if
P. Perronius, in his history of the war, has made
a right calculation, there were slain about a mil-
lion of men. For not only was this war carried
on by burnings alive, by the loss of goods, by
exile, and other kinds of punishment, but that
nothing might be wanting to the true appellation
of war, in such an inhuman persecution, whole
armies were raised against them, and those cru-
sading expeditions, first undertaken against the
Saracens, being now turned against the Christ-
ians, of that chaste and pure religion which re-
fused to adore the beast, it raged cruelly for
about seventy years, with incredible fury and in-
humanity.
The histories of this butchery are to be met
with, to which I refer the reader. I choose to
subjoin the words of Thuanus, a most illustrious
historian, but of the opposite party. He says, in
the Preface to the History of his own Time,
“Since exquisite punishments were of little avail
against the Waldenses, and what was unseason-
ably applied as a remedy aggravated the evil, and
their number every day increased, a regular army
was at length raised, and a war of no less mag-
nitude than that which our people had formerly
Y 2
324. CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA.
waged against the Saracens, was resolved upon
against them ; of which the issue was, that they
were brought to their senses, rather by being
slain, routed, every where despoiled of their
goods and dignities, and dispersed on every side,
than by being convinced of their error. There-
fore, they who had defended themselves in the
beginning by arms, being at last conquered by
arms, fled into Provence, and the Alps bordering
on the French domain, and there found retreats
for their life and doctrine. Some departed into
Calabria, and remained there for a long time, and
even to the pontificate of Pius the Fourth ; part
passed over into Germany, and fixed their habi-
tations among the Bohemians, in Poland and
Livonia; others turning to the West, found re-
fuge in Britain.”
Now in this war the memorable fact happened,
that those Albigenses who were conquered at
Morell with a great slaughter by Simon Mont-
fort, the leader of those who were signed with
the cross, seem to have seized on this prophecy
of the saints conquered by the beast, as an argu-
ment for consolation and constancy.” For when
the Bishop of Toulouse, interposing to prevent
* From a Letter of the French Prelates who followed the
tamp of those who were signed with the cross, at the end of
the continuation of the sacred war.—Ed. Basil, ann. 1560,
p. 240.
CLA VIS APOCALYPTIC A. 325
the slaughter, admonished the remnant, who re-
mained in tents, by sending to them a religious
person, that, convicted by such a scourge, of
God's being angry with, and pronouncing a judg-
ment upon them, they might at length, (having
laid by their hard-heartedness) be converted to
the faith which they call Catholic ; but they,
on the contrary, retorting that the conquered
were the people of Christ, by this kind of shield
frustrated the attack of temptation, and all to a
man fell bravely, being slain by a band of soldiers
rushing in upon them.
After this war against the Waldenses and the
Albigenses, there was a cruel conflict carried on
in various ways against different portions of their
remains in different places, as well as against
other associates of the same pure religion in
every part of the world, until at length, motwith-
standing all this, after the year 1500, whole king-
doms, principalities, and republics, with their
reformed churches, seceded from the dominion
of the beast to the party of the saints; against
whom war was afterwards carried on, and conti-
mues to this day, nor will it finish until the beast
shall come to an end.
Now if any one would diligently measure in
his mind the whole series of this butchery, com-
prehended in little more than 450 years, and
would refer the number of the slaim to calcula-
326 Cſ, AVIS APOCALYPTICA.
tion, I am either deceived, or it will appear mar-
vellous, that the persecution of the beast not
only equalled, but surpassed the ten heathen
persecutions.
We just now observed, that the number of the
Albigenses and Waldenses who were slain, was
estimated at a million of men. From that time
to the Reformation of the Church, no one has
undertaken the calculation of those who were
taken off, partly by the flames, partly by the
sword, partly by other tortures, though the num-
ber is known not to have been small. From the
origin of the Jesuits to the year 1480, that is, in
little more than thirty years, Baldwin on Anti-
christ remarks, that nearly nine hundred thou-
sand were destroyed. In Belgium alone, and that
only by the hand of the executioner, the Duke
of Alva, that cruel champion of the Roman see,
boasted, that under his authority about thirty-six
thousand souls, by his orders, had been taken off
in a few years. Vergerius testifies, who well knew
the fact, that the Inquisition, as they call it, of
heretical depravity, in the space of hardly thirty
years, made away with a hundred and fifty thou-
sand Christians, by divers kinds of afflictions.
Sanders confesses, that an infinite number of
Lollards, and Sacramentarians, were delivered to
the flames through the whole of Europe ; who,
however, he says, were not given up to slaughter
CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA. 327
by the pope and bishops, but by political magis-
trates. So, indeed, in consistency with the pro-
phecy, the fact ought to be ; for of the secular
beast it is said, “ that he made war with the
saints, and overcame them ;” and of the ten
kings, c. xvii. that “they should carry on war
with the Lamb, and the elect, and faithful;” but
of the ecclesiastical beast, not indeed that he
himself killed with the sword, “ but caused that
whoever would not worship the image of the
beast, should (by that image) be killed with the
sword,” as we shall see a little below. Then
follows, “And power was given him over every
tribe, and tongue, and nation.”
Now what was this power, but that of waging
war with the saints 2 as if it would extend itself
as widely as the Roman domain, for the subject
of discourse is not perhaps of dominion, but of
the amplitude of persecution. If any one prefer
the other interpretation, the sense will be, that
such was the authority of the beast, that no tribe,
tongue, nor nation, resisted his impiety. But we
must not understand this of individuals, (many
of whom were found in every age who preserved
their faith to the Lamb) but of whole tribes,
tongues, and mations, that is, of the political go-
vernments of mankind. Of which it is very
true, that none is to be found which the beast
had not detained for many ages in servile obe-
328 CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA.
dience to his impiety; so that those who dwelt
dispersed here and there, through the provinces
of the beast, and were in reality Christians, con-
stituted alone at that time the undefiled and
virgin Church, as that which had, alas ! no state,
republic, principality, nor kingdom, of its confes-
sion of faith. But here it is to be kept in mind,
that the form of the beast was that impiety which
supplied the place of the dragon, in whose com-
munion those many kingdoms of the Roman do-
minion, as we have observed, coalesced to form
one beast. Those, therefore, who embraced this
are said to yield to the power of the beast, as all
tribes, languages, and nations, did.
“And all they that dwell on the earth shall
worship him, whose names are not written in the
book of life of the Lamb, slain from the founda-
tion of the world.”
Now, lest any one, fascinated by so universal
and catholic an assent to the laws of the beast,
should presume that it was done piously and
rightly, and that the example of so many nations
and people might be followed by them without
danger, or even when broken down and debili-
tated by the cruelty of persecution, he might
violate his faith given to the Lamb, and yield
to the worship of the beast ; the Holy Spi-
rit denounces, in a declaration plainly to be
feared, in what situation and number they are to
CLAVIS APOCALYPTIC A. 329
be esteemed by God, who exhibit themselves as
complying with this monster of impiety ; that
they are not to be considered as in the roll of the
Lamb who was slain, but to perish eternally as
exiles from the kingdom of God. To this formi-
dable admonition is subjoined an apostrophe, in
order to excite attention. “ If any one,” says
he, “ has ears to hear, let him hear.” As if he
said, O pious worshippers of Christ, incline your
ears, and retain in your inmost souls what is now
proclaimed beforehand of the very unhappy lot
of those who follow the beast; and it is not a
thing of small moment, but the hinge upon which
your salvation turns. Those words, therefore,
ought to be referred to what precedes, and not
to what follows, in the same manner as it is clear,
the same address is more than once to be refer-
red in the epistles to the churches. Wide c. ii.
v. ult. c. iii. v. 6. 13. 22.
“If any one leadeth into captivity, he shall go
into captivity; if any one killeth with the sword,
he shall be killed with the sword.”
A consolatory reflection for the pious, against
whom the beast, when they refused to obey him,
proceeded with war, imprisonment, and the most
inhuman punishments. The time will come,
when God, the just avenger of his people, may
demand retribution for so many butcheries, such
, 330 CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA.
enormous cruelties, and may execute vengeance
on the raging beast.
And “here,” says he, “is the patience and
faith of the saints.” That is, let not the saints,
relying on this equity of the Divine Power, and
on his justice in ordering human events, be dis-
turbed at what they are about to suffer, or faint
in their minds, but courageously contending
against the beast, firmly and patiently wait for
the vengeance which will certainly, and in an
accumulated degree, proceed from God.
Hitherto we have treated of the secular beast.
Now the apostle proceeds to the description of
the other beast seen by him, namely, the eccle-
siastical beast, or rather the false prophet, who
exercises the lieutenancy of the former beast,
and of his blasphemies. -
Of the other Two-horned Beast, or False
Prophet.
The two-horned beast, or pseudo-prophet, is
the Roman pontiff, with his clergy, having in-
deed two horns like the Lamb, of whose power
of binding and loosing on the earth he boasts
himself the vicar, but uttering idolatries and
butcheries of the saints like a dragon. For this
beast was the author and founder of that ten-
horned beast, which supplied the place of the
CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA. 331
dragon in tyranny and blasphemies, under the
mark of the Christian profession. Of whom,
therefore, as he exercises the power in the office
of hierarch, so likewise is he the pontiff of the
same, no less than of his clergy, (with whom he
privately constitutes the pseudo-prophetic beast,)
he conducts himself as head and monarch, ex-
hibiting that seventh and last head of the Roman
commonwealth, in the city on seven hills; who,
indeed, by signs and miracles, which it was given
to him and his clergy to do, or pretend to do, by
the thunder of excommunication, as of celestial
vengeance, brought in by degrees the kings,
lately risen in the Roman world, out of the dissi-
pated empire of the Caesars, to submit their
mecks unanimously to him and to the government
of Rome, now otherwise subdued, so as to intro-
duce an image of the ancient, and now demo-
lished heathen empire. Which went on so fa-
vourably for him, that not only the Roman beast,
wounded in his Caesarean head, evidently revived
in that image, but the image itself likewise, at
the nod of the false prophet, fell upon those
who exclaimed against his appearance, and
chastised them with the secular sword, as the
false prophet did with the spiritual.
“And I Saw (Says he) another beast ascend-
ing out of the earth, and it had two horns like a
lamb, and it spake as a dragon.”
332 CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA,
He saw another beast, namely, the pseudo-
prophetical or pseudo-ecclesiastical beast, which
consisted, as we have said, of the Roman pontiff
with his clergy. For the pontiff alone, and by
himself, though he may be called the false pro-
phet, does not, however, constitute the beast,
unless with the addition of his clergy, since the
beast denotes an assembly of men, delighting,
like an animal, in a certain order of its members,
and not a single person. But he saw him as-
cending from the earth ; that is, not like the
former, risen from the sea, or the dominions of
the world ; that is, from a more noble kind of
origin, but sprung from the lowest condition of
human affairs; or rather, not born as the secular
one, during a tumultuous conflict of armies and
people contending with each other, but growing
up quietly, and without noise, like herbs and
plants springing from the earth. For the sea,
though it signifies a conflux of people into one
dominion, signifies also an army in war. “And
it had two horns like a lamb,” that is, the bipar-
tite power of binding and loosing, delegated by
Christ to Peter, and so far, indeed, similar to that
of the Lamb, inasmuch as he said, “As my
Father sent me, so send I you.” This power, in
fact, the beast assumes, and says that he acts
therein as the vicar of Christ, but he speaks as a
dragon ; even as the red dragon, whom Michael
CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA. 333
had a little before overthrown, and expelled from
the Roman empire; whilst in truth, like him,
he patronizes the worship of deities and idols, by
his authority, and, in a similar manner, causes
the true and pure worshippers of the Lamb that
was slain to be exterminated by persecution and
butcheries. For “he exercises all the power of
the first beast before him.” The two-horned
beast executes that delegated power of the
dragon committed to the first beast, and consist-
ing in idolatrous worship ; as a hierarch, whose
office it is to preside in offering sacrifices. “Be-
fore the beast, or in his sight,” is the same as
with him, or for his sake; as if one should say,
this two-horned beast belongs to the ten-horned
beast, for the purpose of sacrifice, so that it
ought not to appear wonderful if he speaks as a
dragon. For thus the º of the Hebrews; to
which évôtriov, in the sight of or before answers,
is sometimes equivalent to the dative of the
person to whom something is given, or in whose
favour it is done, as, instead of that which is
said I Sam. ii. 18, “Samuel was worshipping
before the Lord,” it is in ch. iii. “worshipping
the Lord.” But the Roman pontiff, in an es-
pecial manner the head of the latter beast,
exercises the supreme administration likewise of
the former beast : “And causeth the earth, and
those that dwell therein, to worship the first
334 CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA.
beast, whose deadly wound was healed.” That
is, in general, whatever the first beast is, what-
ever obedience is offered by the nations to his
impiety, is wholly to be referred to this hierarch
as its parent, by whose exertion, in fact, it should
come to pass, that the earth and its inhabitants
should worship the first beast, which arose out
of the sea, and whose deadly wound was healed.
In what manner, and by what means and con-
trivances he effected this, he particularly ex-
plains in the sequel. “ For (says he) he doth
great wonders, so that he maketh fire to de-
scend from heaven on the earth, in the sight of
men.”—“ And he deceiveth those that dwell on
the earth, by the miracles which it was given
him to do, in the presence of the beast, saying
to those that dwell on the earth, that they
should make an image to the beast which had
the wound by the sword, and yet lived.” For
he doth, kal Troteſ, the Wau of the Hebrews ; and,
therefore, kal in Scripture is not only a conjunc-
tion copulative, but also disjunctive, rational,
causal, or dinal, or explanatory, as the sense
requires; and this it may be sufficient to observe
once for all. The pseudo-prophetic, or pon-
tifical beast, is the occasion of constituting for
the nations that ten-horned beast, by which the
power of the dragon revived. For he persuaded
him, by the same signs and miracles, to agree
CLAVIS APOCALYPTIC A. 335
with him in fabricating an image of the beast
slain in its sixth head ; which at length, being
formed at his suggestion, that wound, received
in its dragon state, appeared by the introduction
of a new idolatry and tyranny, according to the
similitude of the former, to be cured ; and the
beast who worshipped the dragon, to be re-
newed; for the Roman beast is the image of the
last head of the beast slain in its sixth head. He
said to the inhabitants of the earth, that they
should make an image of the beast which had
received the wound from a sword ; that is, the
image of him in the condition in which he was
when he received the wound ; “ and he lived ;”
that is, thus at length the beast revived, or was
restored. For those words do not refer to the
description of the beast whose image was to be
fabricated, as the words of the false prophet who
was speaking; but they are those of the angel
relating or exhibiting the consequence of that
advice ; namely, that in this manner the slain
beast revived. As if he had spoken more fully
as follows: “Saying to the inhabitants of the
earth, that they should make an image to the
beast which had the wound from a sword. They
did so, and he revived.” As 2 Kings ch. xx. v. 7,
Isaiah said, “Take a lump of figs;” and they
took them and laid them on the ulcer, and he
recovered, viz. Hezekiah, or the ulcer. Now
7
336 CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA.
this is what was said in the description of the
secular beast, that the dragon delivered to him
his forces, and great authority, and therefore
his deadly wound was healed. That is, the
dragon impressed the form of his worship and
power on the beast of a different religion;
whilst he substituted his angels or demons, not,
indeed, as formerly, to be worshipped under
those titles in which they proclaimed themselves
enemies to Christ our Lord, but under the shelter
of the Christian religion, in the names of saints
and good angels, and, shame on the blasphemy
—even of Christ himself. For he who worships
idols, under whatever name he may invoke them,
worships demons.
Nay, that nothing might be wanting to the
complete image of the beast that was slain, that
is, of the dragon, what some of the emperors who
worshipped the dragon had done before, the
pontiff himself took care should be offered to
him ; even divine honours, and an authority pe-
culiar to God; so that “he sits in the temple of
God,” as St. Paul says, “exhibiting himself as
God.” Which though John, or the angel un-
folding the history to him, does not here specially
treat of, yet he means to have comprehended
under the general name of an image, as a part of
that similitude under which he is compared to the
slain beast.
CLAVIS A POCALYPTIC A. 337
And thus far of the fabrication of the image:
now we proceed to the wonders applied in favour
of his party. “He doth great wonders, so that
he even causes fire to descend from heaven on
the earth.” Not unwillingly here should I accede
to the opinion of Graser, if it could by any means
be confirmed from the writings of the Hebrews,
that this assertion of drawing down fire from
heaven is used as a proverbial hyperbole, to the
exaggeration of that which preceded it, as if one
had said, he does great wonders, may, of such a
kind and so great, that they appear to be not far
removed from the miracles of Elias himself, by
which he maintained the worship of the true
God. For the Jews, says Graser, commonly
attribute so much to that miracle of Elijah, that
they use it proverbially for all stupendous facts,
by which the dignity of God is elucidated. But
whoever is not pleased with this exposition, let
him follow the Complutensian reading confirmed
likewise by other copies. “He does great won-
ders Kai Tºp tva karapahº, and that fire should
and so, as
3.
descend from heaven on the earth ;’
the summary of those things which are after-
wards more diffusively explained, may be pro-
posed in these words; the sentence may be
interpreted of a two-fold species of means, which
the false prophet should employ, to induce the
inhabitants of the Christian world to form anew
Z
338 CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA.
the image of the beast, which was slain in his
sixth head; that is, by the display of miracles,
and by the thunder of excommunication, by one
of which he seduced the minds of the nations
into error, by the other he subdued the contu-
macy and pride of the disobedient. Now each
of these, whichever way they are regarded, is
treated of in the following words in order. Of
the wonders in these words,-‘‘And he seduces
the inhabitants of the earth by the wonders which
it was given him to perform, saying to the inha-
bitants of the earth, that they should make an
image of the beast, which was wounded by the
sword,” and those which follow to ver. 16. Of
excommunication in these words,-" He causeth
all to receive a mark in their right hands, or in
their foreheads, that no one might buy or sell,
but he who had the mark, or name of the beast,
or the number of his name.”
A mode of speaking by synecdoche, by which,
from the interdiction of commerce with others,
the censure of ecclesiastical amathema is inti-
mated. Nor is that assimilated improperly to
celestial fire or lightning ; for what, I beseech
you, is to devote any one to the etermal fire in
the mame of God, but to call down fire from
heaven 2 especially since the punishment to pro-
ceed from God in the lake of fire and sulphur, or
Asphaltites, in which Sodom and Gomorrha were
CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA. 339
burned by fire rained down, is more than once
represented in this book. Nay, the apostle Peter
speaks of that conflagration, 2 Pet. c. ii. v. 6, that
“God had set it forth as an ensample to those
who should hereafter live ungodly; that is, by
an ellipsis of the former substantive, common in
the Hebrew, an ensample of the punishment of
those who should be ungodly hereafter. And
Jude, here expressing more clearly the intention
of Peter, says, “ Tupoc atovtov číknv itéxtiv;” that
is, “to bear the similitude or type of eternal
fire.” For so, in a sense similar to this, the col-
lation of the words of the two apostles with each
other, and the nature of the thing itself, will per-
suade an attentive reader, that the words of Jude
ought to be interpreted. And on this occasion
likewise, permit me to add, that it was a memor-
able and melancholy omen to the Jews, then
rejected by God, which Josephus relates to have
befallen them in the very beginning of that fatal
war, the defeat sustained by them at the passage
of Jordan from the country of Jericho ; namely,
while some were thrown into the river by the
enemy, others not being able to bear up against
their force, voluntarily leaped into it; so that
the lake Asphaltites was filled with carcases
rolled down by the descending flood; in which
case, says he, the plague, though very great in
Z 2
4 fººd
340 CLAVIS APOCALYPTIC A.
itself, yet appeared still greater in its nature to
the Jews.
But to proceed to the event of the prophecy.
As to the wonders, it is a motorious circumstance,
that a universal idolatry has prevailed in the king-
dom of the beast for about twelve ages, to the
present time, as well as the primary species, con-
sisting in the worship of dead saints, of relics,
and angels, as the next in order, the worship of
images, and afterwards that latest blasphemy of
a god in bread, by a great assemblage of wonders,
by supposed cures, and miraculous visions, by the
coercion of demons in appearance only, and by
other surprising effects of different kinds, was
first recommended, as it were, to unhappy
Christians, and afterwards enforced and con-
firmed. All which things, indeed, the two-
horned beast, or Roman pontiff, with his
pseudo-prophetic attendant, is said to have
done; inasmuch as they either contrived them
or approved them by their authority when con-
trived by others; or they obtruded what were
really the operations and tricks of evil demons,
for true and divine miracles, in order to seduce
the Christian world. For this is the very thing
which the apostle Paul predicted to the Thessa-
lonians, “that the appearance of the man of sin
should be according to the working of Satan,
CLAVIS APOCALYPTIC A. 34. I
with all power, and signs, and lying wonders, and
with all deceivableness of unrighteousness.”
The examples of thunder, or the pontifical
anathema, by which he maintained his authority
g, are in truth SO
obvious to every one, that I may be wholly
in decreeing and commandin
spared the labour of introducing them here from
the annals of the Church. One I wish to notice
as very remarkable, and which so nearly relates
to the image of the fabrication of which we are
treating, that it may alone be sufficient to esta-
blish the truth of this prophecy. In that contro-
versy or war about images, which arose among
the Greeks about the year 720, and which was
agitated for 120 years with great fervour, and
persecution of idolatry, it can hardly be described
into what peril that image of the slain dragon,
then rude and imperfect, and not having received
the finishing hand of the artificer, was brought.
Nor in that controversy, as is commonly sup-
posed, was the worship of images alone, but also
that of dead Saints and relics strenuously opposed.
Leo Isaurius (says Theophanes, Hist. Miscell.
Lib. XXi. ch. 23) not only erred with the impious
concerning the affectionate adoration of venerable
images, but also concerning intercessions of the
most chaste mother of God, and of all the saints,
whose relics, likewise, that most wicked man
abominated, like his teachers the Arabians, (that
342 CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA.
is, the Mahometans.) The same writer says of
Constantine, whom, as a term of reproach,
the patrons of idols called Copronymus, (same
chapter,) “This most mischievous, unmannerly,
savage man, &c. first departed from God, and his
undefiled mother, and all the saints.” So this
paltry Greek idolater blasphemes the pious em-
peror. Again, Lib. xxii. c. 42, “He every where
opposed the intercession of the holy virgin, and
mother of God, and of all the saints, as useless,
both in his writings, and unwritten declarations,
through whom every favour flows down upon us,
rejecting their holy relics, and rendering them
hateful. If at any time he was told of any ex-
traordinary thing to be applied to the health of
souls and bodies, or according to custom to be
honoured by those who live piously, he imme-
diately threatened death against those who did
thus, as acting impiously ; or, at all events, pro-
scription, exile, torments. And that scrap most
acceptable to God, as it was accounted a kind of
treasure to the possessors, was taken away to be
rendered hateful from thenceforth.” Let the
reader see likewise, c. 54. So also in c. 48, “As
often as any one who fell down, or was sick,
uttered the usual outcry of Christians,—Help,
mother of God! or was apprehended keeping
vigils, &c. he was condemned as an enemy to the
emperor, and was denominated immemorable.’
CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA. 343
Nay, still under Theophilus, the last of five em-
perors who contended against images, it appears
that the worship of Saints was opposed by that
hymn of Theodorus, in which the Constantino-
politan Church was accustomed every year, (O
sin and sorrow,) to cherish again the memory of
idolatry, at length victorious. For there the
eighth ode says, “The sacred relics of the saints,
and their images, that savage Lezius, together
with John, (who was patriarch of Constantinople
under Theophilus,) those deserters of piety im-
piously asserted were on no account to be vene-
rated.” What, then, did the Roman pontiff do
in this case ? He succours the image of the
beast, in the greatest danger of being broken,
and when he cannot succeed by letters and
threats, he has recourse to fulminating arts. He
strikes Leo the Isaurian, the leader of the Icono-
clastes, with an amathema ; he absolves his sub-
jects in Italy from the oath of obedience, and
deprives him of the Exarchate of Ravenna, and
the rest of his dominion, as far as he is able. By
which act, as he gave courage to the idolatrous
faction in the east, so he opportunely terrified
the kings of the west, from attempting any thing
of a similar kind. By the same thunder, the
Lateran Synod of 280 bishops, under Alexander
the Third, ordained that the Albigenses, and their
defenders, and supporters, should be blasted, and
6
344 CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA.
actually did blast them. The same thunder
likewise, the great Lateran Council decreed,
should be called down on the temporal lords,
who, when required and admonished by the
Church to purge their territories of them, neg-
lected to do it; that is, that they should be bound
by their metropolitans, and other provincial
bishops, under the bond of excommunication,
and if they contemptuously neglected to dis-
charge this duty, their vassals should be de-
nounced by the Roman pontiff, absolved from
their allegiance, and their lands given up to be
occupied by Catholics.”
“And it was permitted him to give life to the
image of the beast, that the image of the beast
might both speak, and cause as many as would
not worship the image of the beast to be killed.”
If the image had not been endued with a vital
power, the slain beast would not have revived by
its fabrication. For the dragon-worshipping
beast, which it was to resemble, was not an in-
active beast, but was accustomed to exert him-
self very strenuously, and to attack those who
opposed his inclination. Of the same kind,
therefore, must that image be, in which he after-
wards revived. Hence it is said to be given to
the false prophet, not only that he should entice
the Christian people to make an image of the
beast, but that he should bestow life on it, by
CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA. 345
which, and by edicts of a similar nature, he
might order what was necessary for the main-
tenance of his dignity, and might punish those
who were disobedient, and who refused to sub-
mit to his religious constitution, by the sword,
or by a secular death. And indeed the whole
power which the image has, as a secular idola-
trous beast, of warring with the saints, he exer-
cises only as delivered to him by the pseudo-pro-
phetic beast. For the matter is so managed,
that those whom the pseudo-prophetic beast has
condemned for heresy, (as they call it) or for
dishonouring the image, he gives at last to the
secular beast the power of killing; of which he
possesses none himself, but that dependent upon
ecclesiastical judgment. And this is what they
call delivering over to the secular power, every
where to be met with in the histories of the
bestial executions. The pseudo-prophetic beast,
indeed, as he would wish it to appear, does not
himself kill, but yet he delivers those condemned
by his sentence to the secular power, as to an
executioner, to be killed.
“And he causeth all, both small and great, rich
and poor, and free and bond (that is, of whatever
rank, state, and condition) to receive from him”
* Or, “that he should give them,” or, “that they should
give.” Greek.
C
346 CLAVIS APOCALYPTIC A.
a mark upon their right hand, or upon their
foreheads. And that no one might buy or
sell, but he that had the mark or the name
of the beast, or the number of his mame.”
What is meant by the interdiction of buying and
selling, (to begin with the last in order,) I have
just now shown, namely, to denote the papal ex-
communication, under which those who fall are
excluded from the custom and commerce of citi-
zens. So the canon of the Lateran Council
under Alexander, of which mention was made a
little above, issued against the Waldenses and
Albigenses, prohibits expressly under an ama-
thema, “ That any one should presume to re-
ceive, or maintain them in their houses, or to
carry on any business with them.” And the
Synod of Tours, in France, prohibits under a
similar denunciation, “Where the followers of
that heresy, (as they call it) were known, that
any one should presume to grant them a place
of refuge in their territory, or to afford them
protection; but prescribes that no communica-
tion should be held with them in buying and
selling.”
And what Does not the false prophet here
likewise speak like a dragon 2 For the dragon
Diocletian published a similar edict. That no
one should sell or supply any thing to the Christ-
ians, unless they had first offered incense to the
CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA. 34.7
gods, of which Beda thus sings in the Hymn of
Justin Martyr :
Non illis emendi quidquam
Aut vendendi copia;
Nec ipsam haurire aquam
Dabatur licentia,
Antequam thurificarent
Detestandis idolis.
No power to buy or sell,
Not even water from the well,
Could wretched Christians have ;
Unless to idols dire,
With frankincense and fire,
They hateful glory gave.
This synechdochical mode of speaking perhaps
the Holy Spirit used, to intimate that the papal
anathema, though it boast of an abscission from
the internal and invisible communion of Christ,
has not really any power beyond that of exclud-
ing the person from the internal and visible com-
merce with other citizens.
Now, as to what is said of the mark or cha-
racter. The mark of the beast is not properly
any thing but the name; therefore it is called
the mark or name of the beast, and in the follow-
ing chapter, the mark of his name. Now there
is an allusion here to the ancient custom, by
which slaves were wont to be marked with the
mames of their masters, and soldiers with that of
348 CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA,
their general; (the former chiefly on the fore-
head, the latter on the hand;) therefore, in a
like manner, the followers of the Lamb, in a
subsequent chapter, who form a contrast to the
attendants on the beast, are inscribed on the
forehead with the names of the Lamb and the
Father. In the same sense, in both examples,
to indicate to what lord each assembly belonged,
and for whom it fought; that the former pro-
fessed themselves the servants of the beast and
his image, the latter of Christ and his Father.
What relates to number, is to be understood
rather as an appendix of the name or mark of
the beast, than the mark itself; and, indeed, it
is the number, not so strictly of the name of the
beast, as of the beast itself, as it is also imme-
diately after called. But it is only called the
number of the name on this account, because it
would be contained in the letters of the name of
the beast, referring to numbers, God so dis-
posing it. And yet it does not follow, because
the number agrees so intimately with the name,
that therefore the number of the beast is to be
confounded with the name. For the method of
opposition (or contrast) requires, that, as in the
assembly of the Lamb, the character of the name
is distinguished from the number of the as-
sembly, so likewise it should be in the bestial
assembly. Add, that the character of the name
CLAVIS APOCALYPTIC A. 34.9
and the number are altogether of a different
kind, I say, as to signification, if we direct our
interpretation according to the analogy of other
places. For the character of the name is one
thing as to the Lord, to whom those who bear
it devote themselves, and the number is another,
which points out from what ancestry or origin
those who are celebrated by it derive their race.
As the number twelve, and that formed from the
multiplication of twelve, exhibited as well in the
virgin assembly as in the structure and dimen-
sions of the New Jerusalem, is a symbol of its
apostolical origin and character.
But not to dwell longer on these generalities,
let us see at length what is that name of the
beast in which his number, also marked by the
Holy Spirit, is contained. It is, in truth, what
some suspected, while the Apocalypse had been
recently written, that word so often repeated,
Aarºnoc. For it was by this name *, after the
division of the empire, and the ten kings had
arisen in its provinces, and not before, that the
Roman false prophet, with the rest of the in-
habitants of the West, was called by way of
* Romiith in Hebrew signifying the same, is composed of
letters forming the same number.—But see Potter's Inter-
pretation of the Number 666, republished at Worcester by the
Rev. J. M. Butt, 1808, of which Treatise Mede speaks in the
highest terms.--R. B. C.
350 CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA.
distinction, and that by those to whom the
Apocalypse was addressed,—the seven Churches
of Asia. For the Greeks, and the rest of the
Orientals, with whom, in the dilaceration of the
empire, the name had remained, wished them-
selves only to be called Romans; but us, with
our pontiff, and under him, his bishops, kings,
and dynasties, by a kind of fatal instinct they
called Latins. And this very name, with its
letters cast up in the manner of the Greeks and
Hebrews, completes the number moted by the
Holy Spirit; but it is a mystical number;-by
which is indicated of what lineage the beast is,
and how falsely he boasts himself the successor
of the apostolic choir, when he is really that of
the dragon.
“The number of the name of the beast is
666;” which, if you endeavour to deduce from
the compounds of 12, the symbol of the apostolic
race, you will labour in vain, for you will never
from thence be enabled to make 666, by what-
ever mode you may multiply : But on the con-
trary, from the power of 6, which is the number
of the red dragon, that is, the beast of the sixth
head, you will do it very easily, since the whole
may be made up from sixes, how great Soever it
may be of units, tens, and hundreds ; as if the
seed of the dragon had pervaded the whole body
of this last beast, and all its limbs. “Here is
CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA. 351
wisdom,” says the Spirit. “He who hath un-
derstanding, let him compute the number of the
beast, for it is the number of a man, and his
number is 666.”
That this ought to be computed according to
the mode which I have described, I seem to my-
self to collect from the analogy of the virgin
company, whose number 144, in contradiction to
that of the beast, is wholly apostolical, arising
from 12 multiplied into itself. The rule of con-
traries is contrary. And there, indeed, the Holy
Spirit has expressed both, as well as the name
inscribed, as the number of the company in-
scribed, but here he has left the name to be con-
jectured from the number. To settle the matter
in few words. To receive the mark of the name
of the beast them, is to devote oneself to his
power, and to confess his dominion; but to be
of his number, is to embrace his impiety, derived
from the dragon, namely, the Latin idolatry.
Whence it will not perhaps be unworthy consi-
deration, that though no one can receive the
mark of the beast's name, or be subject to his
power, but he must of necessity receive his num-
ber also, at the same time, that is, partake of his
impiety ; it is possible that a person may admit
the number or impiety of the beast, but may re-
ject his mark or name.
This is what has taken place among the Greeks
352 CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA.
for a long time past, who, although they embrace
the same form of impiety, engrafted from the
dragon, or the Latin idolatry, and that originally
confirmed among themselves, under the auspices
of the Latin pontiff, in the second Council of
Nice, who was labouring there likewise to erect
the image of the slain dragon, yet they have re-
fused now for 700 years to be subject to the
Latin pontiff, or to bear his name, as before they
seceded in consequence of a schism, they had
been accustomed to do.
Of the Pirgin Assembly, or one hundred and forty-
four thousand of the Sealed of the Lamb.
The virgin assembly of the followers of the
Lamb of Sion, and the same selected company of
Israel, adopted from the Gentiles, of which men-
tion was made at the beginning of the seventh
seal, (for it is described by a double vision, as we
there observed, in order to connect the prophecy
of the seals with that of the little book) signifies
the Church faithful to the Lamb, a virgin under
Babylon, in the midst of a world of nominal
Christians, who followed the beast; the kindred
and undegenerate progeny of the twelve apostles,
apostolically multiplied ; as alone according to
the example of the heavenly choir, instructed
to celebrate the Lamb and the Father with an
evangelical song, in a chaste and holy manner ;
CLAVIS APOCALYPTIC.A. 353
which by a sad fatality, not one of the beast's
party was able to learn. Yet a people not ad-
dicted to any one seat, as the people of the beast,
but accompanying the Lamb wherever he went,
warning finally the worshippers of the beast fre-
quently and sharply of the duty of evangelical
worship, and of the manifest severity of God
against idolaters; and at length denouncing to
all, if they would not perish eternally, to with-
draw themselves as quickly as possible from all
connexion with it. This is a summary of the
vision. Let us now elucidate the text according
to this rule.
“And I looked, and lo, a Lamb stood upon
mount Sion, and with him a hundred and forty-
four thousand.” From the number 144, or twelve
times twelve thousand, it appears that the same
assembly is here described as was sealed at the
introduction of the seventh seal; viz. that legiti-
mate and undegenerate offspring of the apostles,
bearing this number twelve as a mark of its ori-
gin. Let the reader reconsider what we there
remarked.
Now, mount Sion was the throne of the king-
dom of David, and the same as what is called
the city of David, because he built it, when taken
from the Jebusites, externally with new walls,
and internally with a royal citadel, streets, and
squares. Therefore here it is parabolically applied,
A d
354 CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA.
and it will designate that place on the earth which
Christ, having conquered the dragon, made the
dwelling-place of his kingdom, or his Church,
that is, the world denominated Christian. In
this world the virgin Church has its mansion,
and therein still preserves its faith and chastity
undefiled, when the beast appeared to have con-
taminated, and trodden down all things, with his
adulteries and slaughters, and to have left no-
thing sound and uninjured.
“Having (the name of the Lamb and) his
Father's name written on their foreheads.”
The name of the Lamb is improperly omitted
from some copies, as the Vulgate, Primasius,
Andrew, Aretas, the Complutensian edition, and
the Syriac translator allow. That it was the true
reading is not to be doubted, but that the subject
itself requires it to be so read, will clearly appear
in the progress of the interpretation. For here
is an allusion (as we also noticed in the history
of the beast) to the ancient custom, by which
both the slaves of masters, and the soldiers of
the emperor, were distinguished, being anciently
inscribed with their name or mark; and the
slaves, indeed, principally on their foreheads,
(witness Rhodigian's Book, v. 33.) but the sol-
diers on their hands. Vegetius, lib. ii. 5, says,
“ The soldiers, inscribed with permanent marks
on the skin, and inserted in the rolls, were ac-
CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA. 355
customed to take an oath.” But AEtius says,
lib. viii. 12, “ They call them brands, which are
inscribed on the face, or some part of the body,
as those of soldiers are on the hands. But of the
inscription of soldiers, Lypsius will give us more
ample information, lib. i. de Mil. Rom. dial. 9.
“Under the princes,” says he, “ they punctured
with a sharp instrument youths just taken, and
branded them on the skin.” These were real
stigmas, and impressed on the hands of soldiers.
They were inscribed with the name of the em-
peror. Hence Augustin calls it the royal mark,
and Chrysostom appayièa, the seal. This is to
be derived from the circumstance, that anciently
the name of the emperor used to be inscribed on
the shields, spears, and standards, and in imita-
tion of that on the skim ; or else from sacred
rites, for those whom they consecrated to God,
or initiated, they branded with marks or
stigmas.”
Now then to the point. They bear the name
of the Lamb, and his Father, on their foreheads,
who do not break the faith by which they gave
themselves up to the Lamb, as their emperor
and Lord, and to his Father in baptism, and who
do not relapse to the worship and pomps of
Satan, and his angels, which they had once ab-
jured. For thus in ancient times, (in order to
throw a greater light on what has been here
A a 2
356 CLAVIS APOCALYPTIC A.
said) was the form of renunciation in baptism
couched in most Churches. “I renounce Satan
and all his works, and his pomps, and all his
worship.” In many, and those the most ancient
liturgies, was added, “ and his angels.” In
others, “ and all his inventions, and all who are
under him.” In others, in the same sense, “ and
his world.” All which things may be expressed
readily in the apocalyptical sense, “I renounce
the dragon, and all his forces;” that is, as Cyril
of Alexandria explains the form of baptism, “I
bid farewell to the multitude of demons, and I
reject all their pomp and worship.”
The Roman Church was here a little more
terse than others : for in it there is mention
made only of Satan, his pomps, and his works;
where, under the name of Satan as chief, it un-
derstands his angels also ; of pomps and works,
the idolatrous worship, and all its apparatus.
That the sacrament of baptism, by which we
solemnly profess faith to the Lamb, and the Fa-
ther, and by which we receive their name, and
are called Christians, is the Lord’s seal, the fathers
every where declare, and that from the highest
antiquity of the Church. Hence that of Origen,
“We bear the immortal laver on our foreheads;
when the demons see it they tremble.” Augus-
tine also calls it, “ the royal mark, the mark of
the Emperor, the mark of the Redeemer.” They
CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA. 357
also maintain that this seal may be cancelled, and
as it were, obliterated by idolatry and supersti-
tion. Tertullian on Spectacles, c. 4, treating of
baptism under the name of a seal, says, “When,
upon our entering into the water, we profess the
Christian faith in the words of his law, we call
God to witness by our declaration, that we have
renounced the devil, and his pomps, and his
angels. What will be the chief and principal
instance in which the devil, and his pomps, and
his angels, are to be understood, but idolatry "
and c. 24, “Do we not abjure and break the seal
in breaking his testimony ?” Of the same kind
also is that in the Book of Idolatry, c. 19,
“There is no agreement between the sign of
Christ, and the sign of the Devil.” In like man-
ner Augustine Tract. 7 on John, “He has lost
the sign of Christ, he assumes the sign of the
devil.” Christ will not have such a communion.
He will possess solely what he has purchased.
With these Isidore agrees, Origin b. 18. c. 59.
On the execration of spectacles, “ He denies
God, who undertakes such things, and has be-
come a prevaricator to the Christian faith, who
desires that afterwards, which he renounced long
ago, at his baptism, that is, the devil, his pomps,
and his works. All therefore who have received
the mark of the beast, have denied, abjured, ren-
dered of no avail, and accounted, as if they had
358 CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA.
never received, the mark of Christ, and of the
Father. Only those, a hundred and forty-four
thousand, who had not gone over to the camp of
the beast, but adhered firmly to the Lamb, show
the Lord's mark on their foreheads.
One thing still remains to be noticed; viz.
that though the sealed in both instances, namely,
here as well as in c. vii. are the same, yet the
reason for the sealing is not the same in both ;
and that in consequence of the different intent
of the sealing. For there the subject of protec-
tion is treated of; here, of service and fidelity.
But there is no necessity on that account to seek
any other sign absolutely different from that of
baptism ; for baptism answers to both, since,
over and above that which is the sign of our
profession, God superadds another, namely, that
of his grace, by which he acknowledges those
who are washed, as his own, and receives them
into his protection.
The latter, then, is treated of in the first vision
of the sealed ones, the former in the present, if I
am not deceived. And it favours this construc-
tion, that Clemens Alexandrinus, according to
Eusebius, lib. iii. c. 17, calls baptism réAetov
qvXakriptov, perfect guardianship. Also that
Nazianzen, Orat. on Holy Baptism, affirms, that
it is called a seal, as ovvräpnow, because it is con-
servation. Lastly, that of Basil, Exhort. to
CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA. 359
Baptism, “Unless the face of the Lord be sealed
upon thee, unless the angel acknowledges the
mark upon thee, how shall he fight for thee, or
defend thee from thine enemies 7” Now let us
proceed to what follows.
“And I heard a voice from heaven, as the
voice of many waters, and as the voice of great
thunder, and I heard the voice of harpers harp-
ing on their harps. And they were singing as
it were a new song before the throne, and before
the four living creatures, and the elders,” &c.
This indicates the voice and song of the hea-
venly angels, glorifying the Father, and the Lamb,
as they are reported to have done, when first the
Lamb took the book of fates to be unclosed.
With regard to these angels, therefore, he says
by and by in the 5th verse, “And I saw another
angel flying in the midst of heaven ;” that is, a
different one from those precentors. For there
is no mention made of an angel before this, un-
less we call those who sung together a chorus of
angels. Now the voice like the sound of many
waters, and of thunder, signifies nothing but the
voice of a numerous and crowded multitude, of
which kind was that frequently heard in the
temple, while it was still flourishing, of the Levite
choristers, sounding forth the praises of God
with the voice, and with musical instruments, on
account of the multitude of whom, and of the
360 CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA.
people joining with them, a sound was produced
resembling the waves of the sea, and the noise
of thunder. This is not conjecture, but a plain
matter of fact, as is directly expressed in the
Song of Victory, c. xix. where the metaphor
is the same. “I heard, as it were, the voice
of a vast multitude, and as the voice of many
waters, and as the voice of mighty thunders,
saying, Hallelujah !” Hence, in Ezek. c. xliii. v. 2,
where it is simply in the Hebrew, “His voice,
(that is, the voice of the glory of the God of
Israel) was like the voice of many waters;” the
Septuagint render it by a paraphrase, Povm tric
trapeuéo)\nc, &c povn 8tt)\áatov rôv troXXóv, “ The
voice of his camp, as the voice of many redou-
bling the sound.” The Chaldee has it in like
manner, “ The voice of those who bless his
name, as the voice of many waters.” And that
passage from the same prophet, respecting the
cherubim, c. i. v. 24, “I heard,” says he, “ the
noise of their wings, like the noise of many
waters, as the voice of the Almighty, the voice
of speech as the voice of a host.” Lastly, in this
acceptation is what is said in the description of
the person of the Son of God in the beginning
of the Apocalypse, taken from Daniel; for what,
according to Daniel, is “the voice of a multitude,”
is substituted by St. John “the voice of many
waters;” what Daniel has, “ His feet were like in
CLAVIS APOCALYPTIC A. 361
colour to polished brass, and the voice of his
words as the voice of a multitude,” John ex-
presses, “ His feet were like fine brass, as if
glowing in a furnace, and his voice as the sound
of many waters.”
Moreover, the song is new which is sung to
God, after the appearance of Christ in the world,
in which, to Him that sitteth on the throne, and
to the Lamb together, and to them alone, re-
demption, and power, and riches, and wisdom,
and strength, and honour, and glory, and bless-
ing, are religiously and evangelically offered.
The formula of this song is to be found, c. v.
v. 12, 13, and that under the title of a new song.
So that it is scarcely to be doubted but that re-
ference is made to it here, since mention is no
where else made of a new song in this book.
“Worthy,” say they, “is the Lamb that was
slain;” that is, as it is before a little more ex-
plicitly said by the elders and living creatures,
because he was slain, “to receive power, and
riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour,
and glory, and blessing.” “To Him, therefore,
that sitteth on the throne, and to the Lamb, be
blessing, and honour, and glory, and strength,
for ever and ever.—Amen.” This is the formula
of the new song, which, if God should ever enable
me more thoroughly to understand, I shall, per-
362 CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA.
haps, more diffusively detail by an explanation;
for it is deeply imprinted on my mind, that the
whole mystery of the evangelical worship is
therein contained.
As to the reason of the term applied to it, it
seems to be called new, either as different and
distinguished from that which was sung before the
mission of Christ, (for under this, according to
the saying of the apostle, “Old things are passed
away, behold all things are become new,”) or, for
the new benefit resulting from his advent, granted
to none of the former ages of the world, but only
to the last times; for which benefit, God was
from thenceforth to be glorified, as well by angels
as by men. And this reason for the expression
will be confirmed both by that passage of Isaiah,
c. xlii. v.v. 9, 10, “New things do I declare—
Sing unto the Lord a new song,” and that ap-
pellation which occurs so often in the Psalms, of
a new song, not to be understood, as it appears,
in any other sense than either such a one by
which the Divine power is celebrated for some
new blessing, especially that of deliverance; (as
in Psalm xl. “He brought me out of the miry
clay; and He hath put a new song into my
mouth;”) or, at least, one which is sung accord-
ing to the manner of such songs, with no common
joy and delight. That either of which would
CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA. 363
agree with the evangelical hymn is so plain, that
there is no reason why I should endeavour to
prove it.
“And no one could learn that song but the
hundred and forty and four thousand, who were
redeemed from the earth.” In the whole Christ-
ian world, as long as the beast was possessed of
power, no one knew how to sing the song of
angels, except those who were of the number of
that 144,000 attendants of the Lamb. Since
these alone, without any spot of idolatry, glorify
the Father and the Lamb on earth, as the blessed
angels in heaven, and they do that very thing
which the Church in the Lord's Prayer inces-
santly asks of the Father that it may be done by
all: “May thy will be done, as in heaven, so
also on earth.” The idea, therefore, or perfect
example, of worshipping the Divine Power law-
fully and duly, cannot be sought from any other
source than from the celestial inhabitants.-
“These are they who have not been defiled
with women, for they are virgins.” That is,
who have not associated with immodest women,
or harlots. But who are these women 2 Cer-
tainly not those who are commonly so called,
but in the language of the prophets, states, and
those indeed nominally Christian, but devoted
to idols, of which the queen is Babylon the
Great, called the Mother of Harlots, with whom
364 CLAVIS APOCALYPTIC A.
the kings and inhabitants of the earth commit
fornication. With such, those who are of the
company of the Lamb have not consorted; that
is, they have not contaminated themselves with
idolatrous incest. “ For they are virgins;” that
is, free from all stain of idolatry. For the mode
of analogy fully requires that these should be
called virgins in the same sense in which the
others, whether kings or people, are said to
commit fornication with Babylon. Besides,
since Babylon herself is spoken of as the mo-
ther of harlots, it follows that her daughters, the
other states, must likewise be young harlots,
with whom the inhabitants subject to them are
polluted by spiritual fornication.
“These are they that follow the Lamb where-
soever he goeth.” That is, most faithfully adhere
to him, and do not desert him on any occasion;
the metaphor being taken from those who never
recede from a person's side, but accompany him
in every place. Or thus: In whatever city,
region, or territory, the Lamb has pitched his
tent, there they attend upon Him ; not like the
rest of those who are called Christians, but will
not seek for and follow the Lamb any where,
unless he dwell at Rome, in the seat of St. Peter.
“These were redeemed from among men, being
the first-fruits unto God and the Lamb.” That
is, they were redeemed from the remaining pro-
CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA. 265
fane crowd, that they might become a sacred
property to God and the Lamb, like the first-
fruits. For the 'Aragxi), or Primitiae, do not, as
is commonly believed, denote merely the first-
fruits, but also, whatever in general is conse-
crated to God, as exempt from profane uses; for
that expression in the Hebrew is Tºny, under
which name the Scripture comprehends, as well
tithes, as whatever were the object of oblations,
except burnt offerings. Whence Chrysostom
calls the tithes which Abraham paid to Mel-
chisedeck, first-fruits. And Irenaeus also con-
tends that the first-fruits, which he asserts that
God even still requires of his creatures for him-
self in his Church, ought not to be less than a
tenth, since Christ says he did not abolish the
matural precepts of the Law, but extended them ;
and, in truth, Christians have not an inferior, but
a greater hope than the Jews. (Iren. adv. Heres.
lib. iv. c. 27 and 34, juxta Feverardent. ed.)
Why, even Callimachus, in his Hymn on Delos,
calls the tenths, accustomed to be sent to Apollo,
ătrapyac Čskarmſhöpovc, first-fruits producing tithes.
From all which circumstances it appears, that
the word ātrapy”, not only denotes an oblation of
first productions, which in Hebrew is nºw8.) or
b'Tai, but also any other; and the reason of
the name arises from this, that his own portion
366 CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA.
was to be given to God, before any thing was
consumed for own purposes. Moreover, since
the word does not include the definition of what
part of the first-fruits was to be given, it came to
pass that the ancient Christians chose to call
their productions of the earth, or oblations of
fruits, (though they thought they ought not to
be less than the tenth part,) atrapyac, or first-
fruits, rather than tenths, as a voluntary, not a
forced donation.
These observations, though not much con-
ducing to my object, I nevertheless wished to
introduce, that I might make it palateable, if
possible, to those among us, who sometimes
employ themselves in searching out the antiquity
and right of tithes in the Christian Church, from
the Fathers and the Councils. In the mean
time, (to return to the subject from which I
have made a little digression,) it must be con-
fessed, that the more strict signification of first-
fruits is not ill-suited to the place before us,
namely, that the virgin company may be called
the first-fruits in respect to the multitude of
palm-bearers who are afterwards to receive him
in a much larger number. Let the reader's
judgment be free.
“And in their mouth was found no guile,”
(pejêoc, mendacium, lie : So the Vulgate, Syriac,
6
CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA. 367
Complutensian, Aretas, and Andrew in the
Palatine copy; in others 86Xoc;) “for they are
blameless.”
“ There is found no lie.” Of the kind of
which there is found in the mouth of the beast's
company, and of all idolaters, who profess that
they worship the Lamb and the Father, yet
really bestow the honour due to the Divine power
on created things. For in truth, all idolatry is
lying, since it worships for God what is not
God. To which refers that passage of the
apostle to the Romans, ch. i. 25, “ They have
changed the truth of God into a lie, and served
the creature instead of the Creator,” trapa row
Krio avra. Whence idols are called lies, as Amos
ch. ii. v. 4, “ Their lies (idols in the Vulgate)
have caused them to err, after which their fathers
walked.” In the same manner, Isaiah ch. xxviii.
v. 15, “We have made lies our refuge.” So
also Jerem. ch. xvi. v. 19, 20, “ The Gentiles
shall come unto thee from the ends of the earth,
and shall say, Surely our fathers have inherited
lies, (Chaldee, nº have worshipped vanity);
and things wherein there is no profit. “Shall
a man make gods unto himself, and they are
no gods '" Hence, too, the Apocalypse, ch. xxi.
v. 8, “ Idolaters and liars;” and also ver. 27,
“ that worketh abomination and maketh a lie,”
seem to be placed on a level, or as synonymes.
368 CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA.
Moreover, since the idolatry of men of any de-
scription is a lie, then truly that of those, who
at the same time pretend that they are the
worshippers of the true Deity, is most properly
deceit, or a fraudulent lie; so that if we attend
to the hypocrisy of those followers of the beast,
in opposition to whom the company of the sealed
attendants of the Lamb is described, the reading
which has “guile,” will appear preferable to the
other, which has “a lie,” though it makes no
great difference in the matter itself. In the
mean time, for a fuller explanation of this pas-
sage, let the reader compare that of Zephaniah
iii. 13, which is indeed very similar to it. “The
remnant of Israel shall not do iniquity, nor speak
lies; neither shall a deceitful tongue be found in
their mouth.”
“And I saw another angel flying in the midst
of heaven (āv uscoupavāuart), having the everlast-
ing Gospel to preach to those who dwell on the
earth, and to every nation, and tribe, and tongue,
and people.”
The description of the assembly being finished,
the history of events in that state of the Church
follows, which were to be transacted, as well by
the assembly under the auspices of the Lamb,
their leader, as by the Lamb himself, against
revolters and rebels. Of those events the order
is double. First, of a three-fold admonition to
CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA, 369
the followers of the beast, exhibited as the shout
of so many angels; secondly, of judgments in
the Parable of the Harvest and Vintage. The
first of the admonitory angels is he who is called
another ; but another, as I observed with refer-
ence to the chorus of angels, a little before de-
scribed, in the number of whom that evangelist
was not included. And here it must be re-
membered, (what I have already noticed above,)
that the angels, in visions of this kind, represent
the rule of those over whose government they
preside; and what is transacted by the joint
operations of both, is said to be done by the
authority of angels, as the leaders or directors
of the action. Hence, therefore, there is room
to suppose, that the flying so sublimely, (provided
that also ought to be considered as within the
purview of the parable) is the president, mot of
every rank of men, but of those of a higher con-
dition, and of such men he is about to make use
in publishing the Gospel. Besides, that Gospel
is called atóvov, or eternal, and that, I think, not
so much with respect to the future as the past,
as that which was promised, air' atóvoc, that is,
from the foundation of the age, or the beginning
of the world, namely, “that the seed of the
woman should hereafter bruise the serpent's
head;” that is, by the coming of Christ, the
kingdom of the devil should be destroyed, and
B b
370 CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA.
the kingdom of God established. In which sense
also, the apostle says, that it was “promised by
God, troo X9óvov atovtov, before the world began,”
Titus, ch. i. v. 2. So then atóvtov will be here
the same as air' atóvoc, and the everlasting Gos-
pel mean the same as in the Hebrew, Dºy Thwin
the ancient Gospel, as Épmuot atóviot, Isa. ch. lviii.
Tpuéow atóviou, Jer, ch. vi. v. 16, and Bouvoi dévvaou,
Deut. ch. xxxiii. v. 15, are rendered, the “old
waste places, the old paths, and the ancient
mountains.”
“Saying with a loud voice, Fear God and
give glory to him, for the hour of his judgment
is come, and worship him who made heaven and
earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.”
The first angel, announcing that the time of
the kingdom of God was now at hand, in which
his judgment would be exercised on idols and
idolaters, and therefore it began to be exercised
as soon as the demons were thrown down, and
cast out from the Roman throne ; on which
account he exhorts the nations, and tribes, and
tongues, and people, who had from that time
submitted to the power of Christ, that mindful
of what they had dome, they should worship the
one only true God, the Creator, as it is an-
nounced in the Gospel,-and keep themselves
from idols. “Fear God,” says he ; that is, re-
verence him, and give him the glory,+the glory
CLAVIS APOCALYPTIC.A. 37 jº
|
of adoration and religious worship, as is explained
in the following words: “ For the time of his
judgment is come;” that is, the time when Christ
by his cross spoiled principalities and powers,
and announced, by his apostles and evangelists,
to the nations whom he had suffered so long to
walk in their own ways, that they must be con-
verted from idols, or otherwise they would be
punished with eternal death, at his return from
heaven. Why, then, did Christians, who profess
their faith in Jesus Christ, this judge and con-
queror of demons, return again to the worship
of idols and demons !
It is perhaps possible, that the time of judg-
ment might be understood more strictly of the
judgment of God, some time before displayed
against the dragon and his followers, by which
Paganism fell; but I would rather extend it
more widely, and take it universally of the king-
dom of Christ begun and promulgated in the
last times, in which idols are no longer to be
endured; namely, according to that saying of
our Saviour, in the Gospel by St. John, ch. xii.
v. 31,–" Now is the judgment of this world,
now shall the prince of this world be cast out.”
See also ch. xvi. v. 11. From which judgment,
indeed, the apostle Paul also (in the same man-
ner as the angel here) drew an argument for
dissuading the Athenian pagans from the wor-
B b 2
372 CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA.
ship of idols, Acts, ch. xvii. v. 30, 31, “ The
times of this ignorance God overlooked, but
now commandeth all men every where to re-
pent, because he hath appointed a day in which
he will judge the world in righteousness, by that
man whom he hath ordained; having given
assurance thereof to all men, in that he hath
raised him from the dead.” Similar to which
is his admonition to the Lycaonians, ch. xiv. 15,
“We preach unto you, that ye should turn
from these vanities to the living God, who made
heaven and earth, and the sea, and all things
therein; who, in the generations that are passed,
suffered all nations to walk in their own ways;”
that is, before his judgment was manifested to
them. We must supply: But now he pro-
mulgates his judgment to all ; which the angel
here expresses by saying, “ The time of his
judgment is come.” But when 7 you will ask;
and where, and with what ministers, did this
angel perform his preaching 2 Certain preludes
were issued as soon as superstition began to
attach itself to the memories, and to hang round
the relics of the martyrs in the Church, as
appears by the history of Vigilantius, with whom,
when opposing a superstition of this kind, many
others, even some of the bishops of that time,
agreed, as his adversary Jerome witnesses, who
improperly attacks him on that account.
CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA. 373
But this preaching most manifestly appears to
have been fulfilled from the year of our Lord 720,
in the Greek and Oriental Churches, where the
evangelical angel indeed was flying, Év učgov-
pavijuart, in the midst of heaven, that is, in a
lofty and sublime place ; for he employed one
who was of the administrators of the Gospel,
not a man of low and vulgar rank, but of the
highest powers in the Christian world ; for in-
stance, the Constantinopolitan emperors, Leo
Isauricus, Constantine Iconomachus, Leo the
Arminian, Michael Balbus, and Theophilus; who
all, but especially the first, protested most stre-
nuously by their edicts and decrees in favour of
a religious worship addressed to God alone, the
Creator, in contradiction to the worship of the
creature, not only that which was exercised in
the veneration of images, but in reference to the
saints, and their relics. Let the reader look
back to the testimonies which I quoted upon this
subject from Theopanes, when I was treating of
the two-horned beast. But besides this, under
the auspices of the second emperor, a council of
bishops was convoked at Constantinople, in 338,
and the adoration of images was charged with
impiety, and condemned. You will acknow-
ledge, Reader, if you are not tired of referring to
it, that the very declaration of the Synod is the
address of the angel, and grounded on the same
374, CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA,
foundation as his, according to our interpretation.
But since it happened there, by the fraud of
some who had indeed assented with the rest to
the condemnation of images, yet favoured the
invocation of saints, (for the votes were not
equal against the latter and former supersti-
tions,) that two canons, one relative to the wor-
ship of the blessed Mary, the mother of God,
the other to the addressing the rest of the hea-
venly saints with religious invocation, were inter-
mixed in the beginning with the decrees of the
Council. As soon as the Emperor Constantine,
with the Fathers of the sounder opinion, had re-
marked them, they immediately adjudged them
to be erroneous, and took care, in testimony of
their judgment, that they should be cancelled,
and blotted out of the book. Of this fact I have
a witness, if any one should doubt it ; in the first
place, the author of the refutation of that Con-
stantinopolitan declaration, inserted in the Acts
of the second Council of Nice; which, while it
assumed that the first publication of it refuted
itself, thus refers to those canons : “After this
their publication,” says he, “they rejected even
the offer of intercessions acceptable to God, blot-
ting it out from this their rescript.” Then the
acts of Stephen the monk and pseudo-martyr,
according to whom, when the bishops, who were
sent by the emperor to convince him, began to
CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA. 375
recite the decree of the Council, he immediately
proceeded to object to the title of the Council as
Holy, that it ought not to be called holy which
proscribed holy things. “Have you not,” says
he, “torn in pieces the sacred shrine adorned
with images Have you not discarded this ad-
jective "Ayoc, Saint, from all the just, from all
apostles, from prophets, from martyrs, and pious
men 2 For it is established by you, O generous
men' that when any one should approach one
of these persons, and he should be asked by him
whither he was going, he should answer, To the
apostles, to the forty martyrs; or, whence he
came, From the temple of the martyr Theo-
dorus, from the temple of the martyr George.
Are not these your doctrines 2 With what con-
sistency then have you, who have proscribed
holy things, convened a holy council 7” These
are the words of Stephen himself. Let us hear
besides the describer of his acts (who lived at the
same time), tragically exclaiming against the
same persons, for undervaluing the worship of
the mother of God. “ To what a degree, O
Christ, do I admire thy lenity, which cannot be
expressed in words ! In what manner may I ex-
plain the depth of your benignity, which sur-
passes all the power of words ! Still do those
audacious tongues continue to burst forth in such
a manner, that they do not hesitate to utter that
7
376 CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA.
great and wicked saying, namely, that the virgin
mother of God herself is a being of no utility
after death, and destitute of all advantage, and
cannot be an aid, or a patroness to any one.”
I add to these the testimony of Cedrenus. He
relates, that Constantine issued an universal law,
(without doubt, from the opinion of a council,
whose Acts are not extant at this day, except the
declaration only) “ That no one whatever of the
servants of the Lord should be called Saint, but
that their relics when found should be despised,
(that they might not be superstitiously vene-
rated, O Cedrenus, even though they were real;
and if false, be cast out of the temple ;) nor their
intercession invoked, for it was of no value.”
“The wretch added,” says he, “that no one
should implore the intercession of Mary.”
Now the reader may agree with me, whether
he does not think it clear from these testimonies,
that there was something transacted in that
council against the worship of Saints and relics.
I have dwelt so much the longer on the proof of
this, because it is not so well known to every one
as that against images. But we have not yet
discharged our duty ; that calumny about the
epithet of Saint being denied to the just, as if in
degradation and contumely, must first be wiped
away. For it is evident from the declaration of
the Synod, (which is extant at this day in the
CLAVIS APOCALYPTIC A. 377
pay
Acts of the second Nicene Council) that the
apostles and the just are every where honoured
by those fathers with the title of sanctity. They
are not therefore to be supposed to have abso-
lutely prohibited that which they themselves
have often done. But we may be allowed to
conjecture, that, in the opinion of that age, the
word áytoc (for of this word only are we disput-
ing,) appeared to infer the honour of interces-
sion ; and therefore, that superstition might by
all means be opposed, the use of it in common
discourse about the temples, especially when they
went there to pray, was interdicted. For &ytoc
seems to be derived from äyoc, by which word is
signified veneration, or a being worthy of vene-
ration. Whence are àytot, asſ}éopuot, and both
from Šáo), to venerate, to worship. Nay, that it
manifestly refers to the worship of the dead, it is
of common origin with évayićev, to offer sacri-
fices to the dead, to perform funeral rites to de-
ceased relatives; and with évayuguóc, the per-
formance of such rites, sacrifices to the dead.
Besides, (with the reader's good leave, and with-
out a charge of trifling annotation,) it might be
the case, that the word áytoc among the Greeks,
(as the examples of similar blunders on the part
of the vulgar may sometimes be observed among
us,) might seem to imply, though falsely, by
whom our prayers are offered to God; that is,
378 CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA.
T900aywyéa, an usher and mediator with God;
in the same manner as Gregory Nazianzen gives
the title to our Lord Christ, according to the
apostle to the Ephesians, c. ii. v. 18. At abroſ,
#xonev Toogaywyńv rpoc tov Tlatépa. & 4 Through
him we have access to the Father.” However
it may be, it appears by the testimonies adduced,
it was at the time supposed, that by the use of
this word the superstitious feeling towards the
saints who had departed this life, was supported
and cherished. To resist which, by every
means and effort, its use was interdicted, not,
indeed, absolutely and universally, as their ad-
versaries calumniously represent, but in giving
that title to the temples only, which were named
in memory of the apostles and martyrs.
This was done, as it appears, to do away the
error of supposing, that either the places them-
selves, where God was approached through the
intercession of martyrs, or of those whose names
they bore, were entitled to veneration. There-
fore, instead of the name of Saints, they thought
fit to substitute that of apostles and martyrs,
certainly not less honourable. It was indeed the
province of him to judge on this subject consi-
derately and advisedly, who had all the circum-
stances of the time, and the facts of the case,
before him, openly and fully displayed. In the
mean time, it does not detract at all from the
CLAVIS APOCALYPTIC A. 379
virginity and purity of the Church, if she has
sometimes judged with less wisdom in such cases
as refer to the reason and mode of performing
any act. It does not necessarily follow, that she
who is chaste should always act or speak pru-
dently. From mearly a similar cause, the word
sacerdos, priest, as applied to evangelical presby-
ters; and sacrificium, a sacrifice, as applied to
the sacrament of the eucharist; (not to name
other words of this kind,) were ordered to be dis-
used among many of the reformed churches. And
that indeed not altogether rashly, if they had not
substituted (in the opinion of some,) the word
ministri, ministers, not a very appropriate term ;
by which all who discharge the sacred office are
properly called according to the use of Scripture,
but by which, however, priests are not distin-
guished from deacons. Should we not rather
have called them by the apostolical name of
presbyteri, presbyters, if we dislike sacerdoti,
priests 2 But these are matters which belong
to another place.
Moreover, not only in the East, but in the
West also, though the Roman pontiff was en-
raged, the proclamation of this angel resounded,
not indeed, as there, with the full blast of the
trumpet, but still with a public and solemn de-
nunciation. First in the year 790, in the Synod
of Frankfort, under Charlemagne, composed of
380 CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA.
nearly 300 bishops, besides abbots, and others;
where the worship and adoration of images were
condemned, together with the second Nicene
Council, which had established them, and which
Pope Hadrian had by his legates managed and
approved. And again in the Synod of Paris, in the
year 825, assembled by the command of Louis,
in which it is shown at length, both from Divine
authority and from the opinions of the Fathers,
that the adoration of images was a wicked and
impious practice, and the Nicene Synod was re-
probated, as guilty of this kind of superstition.
Add to this, the commentary sent by Charle-
magne to the pontiff Hadrian, the champion of
idols, after the Frankfort Council ; and here
likewise you may acknowledge the angel flying
in the midst of heaven. Hitherto we have at-
tended to the exhortation of the first angel: now
let us listen to the preaching of the second.
The second angel denounces Rome for its fil-
thiness, and the multitude of its idolatries; by
which, in despite of the exhortations of the first
angel, she had not only contaminated herself, but
also had exhibited herself as the leader and chief
of all the nations of the world, that they with her
might do the same, and by which she was now
converted from the city of God into Babylon ;
on this account become at length wholly ob-
moxious through her impenitence to the Divine
CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA. 381
sentence delivered against all idolaters, as no
longer to be endured, but to be destroyed, and
cut off by an irrevocable decree; and the pre-
paration for that ruin was ordained to be conti-
nually and assiduously prosecuted from this pro-
clamation.
And the assembly of the Waldenses and Albi-
genses were the attendants of this proclamation,
partly in word, and partly in deed, as those who
first of all mortal beings openly denounced the
Roman Church for its idolatry, or mystic whore-
dom, to be the apocalyptical Babylon ; and they
likewise took the first step towards its ruin ;
since thus detected, immediately a great multi-
tude of men began to abominate her, and pri-
vately to make a defection throughout all the
provinces of her dominion ; and, in addition, her
authority from thenceforth, day by day, began to
fall more and more into decay, and her ruin then
to commence, which was not to stand still, till it
should at length come down to the burning of
the city. I will say in a word, from the preaching
of this angel, a select force of holy soldiers began
to be formed for the uninterrupted destruction
of Babylon.
“Babylon has fallen. It has fallen.” As if
he had said, Now are the foundations laid for the
ruin of Babylon ; from this time shall the prepa-
rations for waging war against her be undertaken.
382 CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA.
It is an imitation of Isaiah, c. xxi. who expressly,
in the same words, and on an occasion not differ-
ent in kind, related the ruin of the ancient Ba-
bylon, not yet accomplished, but pre-announced,
as here by the foundations being laid, it should
most surely come to pass. For as chronology
teaches, Isaiah uttered his prophecy at the very
time when the Medes, who were hereafter to lay
waste Babylon, having shaken off the yoke of
the Assyrians, asserted their own liberty; and
having built Ecbatana, under their new king,
Dejoces, laid the foundations of that kingdom,
which was to be fatal both to Nineveh and Ba-
bylon.
“ Because she made all nations drink of the
wine of the excess of her fornication.”
That is to say, she has deceived them with
philtres, with medicated wine ; 0unoc here does
not mean wrath or violent anger, but according
to the Hellenistic use of the word, poison *; for
they conceive it to be synonymous with the
Hebrew Tº", which signifies sometimes wrath,
sometimes poison. Hence, Deut. c. xxxii. v. 33.
Sept. 4 & evuòc 8pakóvrov 6 oivoc airów, kal Švpoc
ãoríðoy avtaroc.” “Their wine is the poison of
dragons, and the incurable venom of asps.” Also
Job, c. xx. v. 16. “ evuov epakóvrov (hºao stev,
* Rather inflammation, excitation.
CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA. 383
âveXot & airov yAögga ôpewc ;” that is, “ he shall
suck the poison of asps, the viper's tongue shall
slay him.” Add Psalm lviii. v. 4. “evuòc airoic
kard rºy ouotwow row & peoc,” “Their poison is like
the poison of a serpent.” Wide also, if you will,
Deut. c. xxxii. v. 24; Job, c. vi. v. 4. Nay,
wherever the signification of poison occurs in the
Old Testament, you will not see it expressed
more than once in any other way than this, or
by the word xoxic”. Now mention is twice made
in the Apocalypse of oivoc row 09/low, or poisoned
wine of this kind ; of oivoc Tow 0wpow Tng Topvciac,
the poisoned wine of fornication, in which, as I
said, an amatory virus or philtre is meant, (ac-
cording to which the same c. xviii. v. 23. papuá-
keta, Sorcery, a word suited to that meaning) and
oivoc row $vuoi Tſic opync, the poisoned wine of in-
dignation, which is the potion of those who
undergo punishment; since by the former the
Holy Spirit expressed the enticement to spiritual
fornication from the custom of harlots conciliat-
ing love by philtres; by the latter, he alluded to
the manner of the Jews, who were accustomed
to offer to those who were to suffer death, a cup
of wine, in which myrrh or some kind of aromatic
bitter was mixed, for the purpose of bringing on
* Because it is the rage of the serpent which causes him to
discharge poison.
384 CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA,
a torpor. A potion of which kind, for this rea-
son, is related to have been offered to our Saviour
just after he had been affixed on the cross, but
he refused to drink it. Matt. c. xxviii. v. 34.
“ They gave him wine mingled with gall,” usrå
XoAnc usuyuévov, that is, wine of wrath, for XoAn
and 09/10c mean the same. Now, by the word
XoAm, the evangelist meant something bitter in
general, according to the use of the Greeks, (by
whom wormwood is also called XoAñ). This
St. Mark shows to have been myrrh, “And they
gave him wine mingled with myrrh.” But myrrh
in Hebrew ºp, Syriac ship, took its name from
its excessive bitterness. And hence it seems to
follow, that the prophets in depicting destruc-
tions, so often make use of the parable of the
cup ; as that which according to national custom
it was usual to present to those who were about
to die.
Such was the proclamation of the second
angel, whom the third soon succeeded. What-
ever new admonition he superadds, let us listen
to with submissive attention.
The third angel, going beyond the two former,
admonishes the worshippers of the beast how
horrible a danger impended over them, if they
still persisted in being his followers; and there-
fore persuades them, renouncing all delay, im-
mediately to withdraw themselves from his
CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA. 385
society; that by this means they might consult
their own safety, for those who adhered to him
afterwards could not possibly be safe. Which
preaching, indeed, being the most remarkable of
all, was fulfilled in the labour of Luther, and his
associates and successors; the consequence of
which was the illustrious Reformation of the
Churches, which we now behold, not by indivi-
dual men, as was done at the voice of the pre-
ceding angel, but by provinces and tribes, to the
assertion and purification of religion, every where
shaking off the yoke of the beast. “And a third
angel followed them (that is, the two former),
saying with a loud voice, If any one worship the
beast and his image, and receive the mark on his
forehead, or on his hand, he also shall drink of
the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured
out without mixture into the cup of his indig-
nation, and he shall be tormented with fire and
brimstone before the holy angels, and before
the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment
ascendeth for ever and ever, and they have no
rest day mor night, who worship the beast and
his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of
his name.”
A terrible description of a terrible judgment,
to which scarcely any thing similar occurs within
the compass of the whole canon of Scripture.
C C
386 CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA.
“The wine of the wrath of his indignation,” is
the potion of punishment accustomed to be given
to those who are about to die, as we observed on
ver. 8. Pure wine, that is, wine not diluted with
water, strongly inebriates, and still more, if diffe-
rent kinds of wine are mingled together; of
which kind, therefore, some would understand
to be meant here, by those words kekspaguávov
akpárov, that is, mixed wine ; since he would
otherwise speak of things that oppose each other.
But I am inclined to think, that ùkparov kekspac-
névov may be the same with pure wine mixed
with myrrh, gall, frankincense, or a similar drug
of bitter flavour, which was used to be put into a
cup, called by the Jews the cup of malediction,
after the manner of the nation ; and that there
is an allusion to it in the lxxvth Psalm, v. 9. ac-
cording to the Septuagint. “TIoriptov v Xelpi
Kuptov, oivov ākpárov TXmpsc kepáguaroc,” & 4 A cup
in the hand of the Lord of pure wine full of mix-
ture.” When the Chaldee has, “ There is a cup
of malediction in the hand of the Lord, of strong
wine full of a mixture of bitterness, so as to take
away the use of reason from the wicked.” For
we said, that the potion was given to take away
the use of reason from the dying person. But
instead of what the Sept. has, pure wine, in the
Hebrew it is Tony", red wine, which had not lost
CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA, 387
its colour by admixture with water. For there
were red wines in the Holy Land. The remain-
ing part of the description is obvious.
It will be useful here, to observe the progress
of this triple proclamation, and how the latter
exceeds the former in importance. The first
angel admonished only of one duty, that of wor-
shipping God duly, according to the directions
of the Gospel, and did not reprove the fault
committed on this head. The second proceeding
farther points at the crime of spiritual fornica-
tion, and that to be inevitably punished by death
and destruction, but which it threatens at the
time to Babylon alone, the chief leader and con-
triver of the crime, and not yet to the partici-
pators in it. But the third, the full measure of
heinousness being fulfilled, denounces to the
whole army of the beast, and to all who should
continue in obedience to him, the most horrible
and unspeakable torments, and that they would
have neither end nor remission. Then follows,
“Here is the patience of the saints, here are they
who keep the commandments of God, and the
faith of Jesus.” As if he should say, This
preaching will be the touchstone, to prove both
the patience and obedience of the saints. Their
patience indeed, if, acquiescing in the expecta-
tion of so terrible a punishment, of such as will
compensate for all delay, they should by no means
C C 2
388 CLAV1S APOCALYPTICA.
be disturbed at the daily successes of the beast;
nor fall away in their minds in any degree to him
by the rage of persecutions, with which he will
assail the refractory, and those who are disobe-
dient to his command; their obedience, truly
“ to the commandments of God, and the faith of
Jesus,” if, after having heard this threat, they
without delay forthwith withdraw themselves
from communion with the beast, and renounce
his image, and mark. These are they “who
keep the commandments of God, and the faith
of Jesus;” that is, who rightly and evangelically
worship God in the faith of Jesus Christ, and on
that account are called, not undeservedly, by the
name of evangelical.
The virgin church having thus discharged her
triple admonition, the sanction of it succeeds
against her enemies, under the type of the
harvest and the vintage ; which, when once
finished, the blessed remumeration of the just is
no longer delayed, as is proved by that denun-
ciation from Heaven delivered before the descrip-
tion of both. “I heard a voice from heaven
saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead
which die in the Lord from henceforth. Yea,
saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their
labours, and their works do follow them.”
I know that most refer this celestial declara-
tion to former events, as for the purpose of con-
CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA. 389
soling the saints, who are now about to suffer
very grievous injuries from the beast, irritated by
the preceding shout of exhortation. In which
opinion I also concurred some time ago. But
now, having weighed the matter more accurately,
I incline to think, that it is to be referred rather to
Subsequent events, as an admonition of the near
approaching resurrection and judgment under the
seventh trumpet; the preparation for which would
begin to take place in the following visions; so
that the word ārapri, from this time, may be used
not in respect of the subject exhibited in the pre-
ceding vision, but of that to be exhibited in the
following one, which, without doubt, immediately
precedes the resurrection of the dead and judg-
ment. As if he had said, Now we are come to
that state of things, that only one thing remains to
be fulfilled, before the time in which the dead in
the Lord shall rise to a blessed life. For so in
the Gospel of St. Matthew, c. xxiii. ver, the last,
our Lord says to the Jews, “Ye shall not see me
ătrapri, from thenceforth, until ye shall say, Blessed
is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.” That
is, not from the moment of time in which he was
speaking these words, but from the time of the
Passover, which he was then about to celebrate;
after which he no longer presented himself openly
in the sight of the Jews. Now my reason for
thinking this to be the case is threefold : First,
390 CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA.
that I do not remember any where in the sacred
Scripture, that the day of death is pointed out
as the day of recompense, but only the day of
resurrection and judgment. Secondly, the de-
nunciation from heaven, with a command to
write, does not seem applicable, except to point
Out Some remarkable turn of events. Undoubt-
edly a command of this kind is nowhere else to
be found, except in the beginning of this entire
prophecy. Lastly, there is an agreement in
sense, if well-attended to, between this proclama-
tion, and that at the sound of the seventh
trumpet, ch. xi., where the time is said to be
come, when “the cause of the dead,” (namely,
those who died for the sake of Christ) “should
be judged, and God should give reward to his
servants the prophets, and to the saints, and to
those who fear his name, both small and great,
and should destroy those who destroy the earth.”
So here, “Blessed are the dead from henceforth,
who die in the Lord, that they may rest from
their labours;” that is, they may henceforth lead
a life secure from their ancient evils and calami-
ties; (by which is intimated the extermination of
enemies and tyrants;) “ and their works do fol-
low them ;” that is, they shall obtain a most
blessed reward for all their sufferings and all
their good works.
Meanwhile, if this interpretation is admitted, I
CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA. 391
alter not the sense of the words, “those that die
in the Lord,” by understanding those with the
last words of the foregoing sentence, “not of any
who sleep in the faith of Christ, but especially of
the martyrs, who poured out their lives for Christ,”
(for to such belongs the first resurrection,) so that
I think with Beza, it may be rendered, who die
on account of the Lord, or for the Lord's sake.
As in the Epistle to the Ephesians, c. iv. v. 1,
“A prisoner in the Lord,” is a prisoner for the
sake of the Lord, the same indeed as “the pri-
soner of Christ,” c. iii. v. 1.
In which sense the ancients (as we may con-
jecture from Tertullian) understood 1 Thess.
c. iv. v. 16, “ The dead in Christ shall rise first;”
that is, the martyrs, who were delivered up to
death for confessing Christ. See Tert. de Animä,
c. lv. Moreover, it is to be noted, that the
ablative in the Latin, and so likewise the dative
in the Greek, which signifies in some places the
instrument, and mode of acting, denotes also the
cause for which, or on account of which, a thing
is done. “He strikes in anger; he is impelled
by envy,” or the like. But since the Hebrews
express this ablative or dative by the preposition
in, and in imitation of them the Greek Scriptures
express it by v, it follows from thence, that ºv
also signifies in the same place, the cause, on
account of which a thing is done. Such a signi-
Key
{
392 CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA.
fication, indeed, with this particle, is not very
frequent, but I have no doubt but diligent ob-
servation would supply more examples than occur
to me at present. So much with reference to the
heavenly proclamation. Now let us investigate
the sense of this pair of visions, to which we ob-
served it was a forerunner; and let us do this,
as far as is allowable, in a future event, with the
sobriety and modesty which become us. And
first of the harvest, by which the primary step is
taken towards consummation.
“And I looked, and behold a white cloud, and
upon the cloud one sitting like the Son of man,
having on his head a golden crown, and in his
hand a sharp sickle. And another angel went
out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to
him that sat on the cloud, Put forth thy sickle
and reap ; for the time is come for thee to reap ;
for the harvest of the earth is ripe. And he who
sat on the cloud thrust in his sickle on the earth,
and the earth was reaped.”
The word harvest embraces three things, –
the mowing down, the gathering in, and the
threshing of the corn. Whence it follows, that
it constitutes a two-fold parable in the sacred
writings, and of a contrary meaning. Some-
times in that of slaughter and destruction, as of
reaping and threshing; sometimes in that of
restitution and salvation, in the Sense of gather-
CLAVIS APOCALYPTIC A. 393
ing in. An example of the former is to be met
with in Jeremiah, ch. li. 33, where he thus speaks
of the destruction of Babylon. “ The daughter
of Babylon is as a threshing-floor, the time of her
threshing is come ; yet a little while, and the
time of her harvest will come.” Also Isaiah,
ch. xvii. 5, &c. of the fall of Damascus, and the
slaughter of Israel by Tiglathpileser. “And it
shall be, as when the harvestman gathereth the
corn, and his arm reapeth the ears.” But an
example of the latter is scarcely any where else
to be found than in the New Testament. “ The
harvest,” says our Saviour, “is great, but the
labourers are few.” There are not wanting some,
however, who interpret in this sense that com-
plaint of Israel in Jeremiah, ch. viii. 20, “The
harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are
not saved.” The time is past in which we
thought ourselves safe, and we are not saved.
Let us search out, if possible, which of the figures
the harvest sustains in the present passage from
the order of those transactions, which the Holy
Spirit has elsewhere represented to us concern-
ing the same times of the Church. That the
treading of the winepress, by which the vintage
succeeding the harvest is accomplished, is the
same with that bloody slaughter executed by
him who sits on the white horse, ch. xix. 15,
is manifest from what is inserted in the descrip-
394. CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA.
tion of the rider. “ He it is who treadeth the
winepress of the fierceness of the wrath of God
Almighty.” Now this being an acknowledged
datum, it follows of course, that the prophetical
parables, which equally and immediately pre-
cede each, and without any other vision inter-
vening, must either denote the same thing, or if
they are different events, yet by some means
connected and interwoven with each other.
Since, therefore, here, the harvest immediately
precedes the vintage, and there the preparation
of the nuptials of the Lamb, together with the
fall of Babylon precede that fierce slaughter, it
follows indisputably, that either that preparation
or destruction is the harvest of which we are in
search, and that they relate to the same circum-
stance as the harvest does, or the harvest to the
same as they do. If we were to say that the
devastation of Babylon was the harvest, it would
sufficiently agree both with the character of the
type, which implies reaping and threshing, and
particularly it would favour a little the example
of Jeremiah, predicting the fall of the ancient
Babylon, under the same figure. The passage
is the same which I just now quoted. To this
likewise must be added, that since both the
harvest and the vintage, as they finish the year,
denote the end and consummation of all things;
but the harvest would precede the vintage in time;
CI, AVIS APOCALYPTICA. 335
therefore, if it were certainly known that either
were applied to signify the consummation of the
Roman tyranny, the harvest would very appo-
sitely designate the destruction of the city, as
the first-fruits of this full destruction ; the vint-
age succeeding that harvest would point out the
extinction of the whole kingdom of the beast, to
follow the former at no long interval of time.
Nor is there any thing to oppose this accommo-
dation but that one circumstance, that the laying
waste of Babylon, as we have hitherto pre-
supposed, is not found to take place immediately
before that dreadful slaughter, expressed like-
wise by the image of the vintage, ch. xix., but
another event, subsequent, as it appears, to the
laying waste of Babylon, namely, the preparation
for the nuptials of the Lamb, or the embellish-
ment of his bride. Will not then the harvest be
a signification of that preparation ? or (if that be
unsuitable) of Some other event to be transacted
at the same time !
But what, you will ask, is that preparation of
the bride 2 What is it which is to be transacted
at the same time with this '' In truth, I do not
see how that preparation of the bride can be any
thing else than the conversion and collection of
Israel, expected for so many ages; of her, who
formerly, (according to our Saviour's parable,)
when invited to the nuptials of the king's son,
396 CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA.
refused to come, but now hastens to meet him,
promptly and prepared. For the Gentiles, as it
appears, cannot possibly be called that bride,
because they have been long ago, and for many
ages, espoused to Christ. The Jews, therefore,
are those who are yet expected to become the
spouse of the Lamb.
But with this conversion and restoration of
Israel, (by which she will be adopted into the
virgin company of the Lamb, and will become a
part of it,) will be joined the reaping or destruc-
tion of the Turkish empire, according to what
we read at the sixth phial, but under another
figure, that “the water of the great river Eu-
phrates should be dried up, that the way of the
kings of the east might be prepared.” For the
time of this phial manifestly agrees with the time
of the preparation of the bride, since, as that
was introduced between the destruction of Baby-
lon and the last slaughter of the enemies of the
Church, so this phial intervenes between that
which is poured out on the throne of the beast,
and the last phial. That is, the Church of Christ,
as it was about to become double by the conver-
sion of Israel; so each part appears to have, at
that time, its own peculiar enemy; the former
the Roman beast, with its uncircumcised origin ;
the latter, the Mohammedan empire, over a cir-
cumcised people, and of an Ismaelitish origin,
CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA. 397
ominous to the descendants of Isaac. Of the
extermination of both of which, to be accom-
plished at the coming of Christ, why should not
the harvest represent the one, and the vintage
the other 7
Moreover, to this interpretation of the har-
vest, the prophecy of Joel will afford, if not abso-
lutely confirmation, yet at least some appearance
of probability; from which both the image of the
harvest and the vintage was taken. For it is
manifest, that he is there treating of the time of
the conversion of Israel, even from the first words
of the Oracle, (Joel, ch. iii. v. 2.) “ In those days,
and in that time, when I shall bring back again
the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem; I will
gather all mations in the valley of Jehosaphat,
and will plead with them there for my people,
and for my heritage Israel, whom they have
scattered among the nations, and divided my
land.” Then follows, in the suggested type of a
warlike array, “Put ye in the sickles, for the
harvest is ripe. Come, get ye down, for the
winepress is full, the fats overflow, for their
wickedness is great.”
Since, them, we may observe in this accommo-
dation of the figure of the harvest, that the event
transacted may be so compared, that either
motion of the harvest, that of reaping and thresh-
ing as well as that of gathering in, may be
398 CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA.
adapted to it, the latter with reference to Israel
gathered together into the garmer of the Church;
the former to the slaughter of enemies in con-
junction with that event; yet as the matter here
treated of is the last effort of the Church against
its foes, I think that the motion of reaping and
threshing is altogether to be preferred.
But whatever the harvest may be, the descrip-
tion proves that Christ himself as king will
assuredly be the Lord of it, and the director of
the work of reaping the corn. For to what other
king than him is that title of the Son of man
coming in the chariot of a cloud, attributed
through the whole course of Scripture ? So that,
in my opinion, it is by no means safe to wrest it
to any other meaning. It is rather to be col-
lected, that the power of the Divinity in dis-
charging the duties of that harvest, as well as in
the vintage next to come, will be more conspi-
cuous and illustrious than in any of those works,
which were performed only in the names of
angels.
Hitherto we have formed conjectures respect-
ing the harvest. Let us now proceed to the vin-
tage; which, as it usually does in the order of
events, it is agreeable to reason that it should
succeed the harvest.
“And another angel came out of the temple
which is in heaven, he also having a sharp sickle.
CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA. 399
And another angel came out from the altar, hav-
ing power over fire, and he cried with a great
cry to him that had the sharp sickle, saying,
Thrust in thy sharp sickle, and gather the clus-
ters of the vine of the earth, for her grapes are
fully ripe. And the angel put in his sickle upon
the earth, and gathered the produce of the vine
of the earth, and cast it into the great winepress
of the wrath of God. And the winepress was
trodden without the city, and blood came out of
the winepress up to the bridles of the horses, for
the space of a thousand six hundred furlongs.”
This is the description of the vintage; to the
interpretation of which we shall with more cer-
tainty direct our aim, because the signification
of the parable is less ambiguous, and the meaning
of treading the clusters is more express, since the
treading of the vintage in parabolical Scripture
constantly denotes a fierce, deadly, and cruel
slaughter. This is our first observation. And
then those words about treading the winepress
of the wrath of God, inserted in that description,
show that this is the same with that great
slaughter in ch. xix. as I have just now observed.
Therefore also, it will be the same with “ the
battle of the great day of the Lord God Al-
mighty,” at the last phial; for that the deadly
slaughter in ch. xix. is the same as that, we can-
not doubt, since both are the last destruction of the
400 CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA,
same enemy; for both ultimately impend over
the beast, the false prophet, and their confede-
rates. But it is impossible there should be more
than one last slaughter of the same persons. Now,
if our vintage signifies the same destruction with
those, it must also impend over the same enemies,
and therefore over the beast, and the false prophet.
The vine, therefore, or vineyard of the earth,
of which mention is here made, is the dominion of
the beast. The grapes ripe for gathering are the
followers of the beast, swelling with the guilt of
blood, ripe for judgment. The lake, in the last
place, or winepress, is the place of slaughter, the
same in truth as in the seventh phial, interpreted
according to the Hebrew, is called Armageddon ;
perhaps because there the troops or forces of the
beast will be extirpated by a deadly destruction.
For arma means NYT, destruction; gedon, or
geddon, YT), troop, army, or their army. “ He
gathered them together,” says he, “in a place
called in the Hebrew language Armageddon.
(the books published by Plautimus have only the
single A, Armagedon.) And the seventh angel
poured out his phial in the air, and a great voice
came out of the temple of heaven, from the
throne, saying, It is done.” But where the wine-
press, or place for treading the grapes will be, is
yet hid among the secret things of God; nor is
it on that account to be too curiously investigated
CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA. 401
by us, nor to be pointed out, until either the
event shall disclose it, or a state of things more
nearly advanced to it, shall perhaps afford some
indication of it. It will be allowable however to
observe, without any charge of temerity, that
from so accurate a measurement of the space,
for which the slaughter should extend, it may
seem that the Holy Spirit directs our attention
to some region, which stretches one thousand
six hundred furlongs in length, for he shows us
that the carnage shall take place without the
city, for so many furlongs; that is, if I am not
mistaken, in the region or dominion of the city.
Hence it follows, that some have thought the
Holy Land was marked out by that circuit, as
what accurately contains so many furlongs in its
length, that is, 200 Italian miles, though not more
than 160 Greek, which Jerome reports in his
epistle to Dardanus was the length of the Holy
Land. For the Greeks, they say, measured their
mile by ten furlongs, each of which were a hun-
dred paces; but the pace (which they call orgya)
was six Roman feet; so that in the whole a
Greek mile contained 6000 Roman feet. The
Romans, on the contrary, define the pace by five
feet, the furlong by 125 paces, the mile by eight
furlongs, that is, only 5000 feet. Whence it
comes to pass, that the Greek mile, though it
agrees with the Roman in the number of 1000
D d
402 - CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA.
paces, is yet greater than the Roman by a fifth
part. So that 200 Roman miles make no more
than 160 Greek.
This is the sum of the argument. Besides, it
is not altogether unimportant, in addition to this
conjecture, that the name of the place is called
in the Hebrew language Armageddon, as if it
were to be in the land of the Hebrews. But
after all, by what means could this possibly take
place 2 Indeed, to those who imagine Antichrist
is to come from the East, this opinion is very
natural and easy ; but not so to us, unless some
one perhaps should think it probable, that the
false prophet, after the overthrow of Rome,
should migrate into the East, and there fix his
seat; which there are not wanting some among
the followers of the beast who maintain, that is,
that before the last day of judgment, the Roman
pontiff shall have his habitation at Jerusalem.
For certainly, that the beast with his affairs at
home, placed in such a state, and in such jeo-
pardy in the West, as is supposed, should again
(as formerly in the expedition to Jerusalem) lead
an army into Palestine, leaving many enemies
behind him, and there at length be entirely put
an end to, cannot be affirmed with any show of
probability. But farther, that we who assert a
Western Antichrist may not be inferior on this
side to those who suppose an Eastern one, there
CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA. 403
is also a place in the neighbourhood, with which
the assigned number of furlongs agrees; for in-
stance, the Stato della Chiesa, or the possessions
of the Roman Church, which, from the city of
Rome to the mouth of the Po, and the marshes
of Verona, extend to the space of 200 Italian
miles, that is, 1600 furlongs.
But whither am I digressing 2 Let us at length
impose a restraint on curiosity, in which perhaps
we have hitherto too much indulged. Let us
come to other matters which will be more worth
our consideration. And therefore, in the first
place, that the gatherer of the grapes, and the
treader of the winepress, are not the same per-
son ; but, as the offices of the vintager and the
winepresser are different, so likewise they have
different agents; the vintage or gathering in, an
angel furnished with a vine-hook; the treading,
Christ himself, as King, accompanied with hea-
venly horsemen, which may clearly appear from
the vision of the xixth chapter (for I have often
quoted it). For there St. John saw “ heaven
opened, and behold, a white horse, and he that
sat upon it was called faithful, and true, and in
righteousness does he judge, and make war,”—
“ and he was clothed with a garment dipped in
blood, and he was called by name, The Word of
God.”—“And the armies that were in heaven
followed him on white horses, clothed in fine
D d 2
404 CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA.
linen, white and clean.”—“And out of his mouth
proceeded a sharp sword, that with it he should
Smite the nations, and he shall rule them with a
rod of iron, and he treadeth the winepress of the
indignation and wrath of God Almighty.” Can
any thing be said more clearly 2 And therefore,
in the context on which we are throwing light to
the utmost of our ability, it is by no means said
that the angel who gathered or cut off the clus-
ters, was the same as trod the winepress, but
only, that he cast the gathered clusters into the
winepress, which being done, “the winepress
was trodden without the city;” by whom, un-
less by Christ the King, proceeding from heaven,
with his celestial troop 2 That doubtless is what
the Holy Spirit would signify by the mention of
horses immediately subjoined ; “And the blood
came out of the winepress, even to the horses'
bridles.” For why is that allusion to horses in-
serted, unless to admonish us by this token, that
the winepress was trodden by him to whom that
equestrian force belonged 2 To circumscribe the
matter then in few words, this is the sum of the
vision respecting the vintage. An angel vin-
tager, with the assistance of the saints, the presi-
dency over whom was committed to him for this
purpose, will prune and cut off the clusters of the
beast, and, during his pruning, will cause them
to be gathered together at Armageddon, and
CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA, 405
those who are gathered, the Lord Jesus Christ
will at length tread under at his coming; accord-
ing to what St. Paul says of the “man of sin,”
(who is this very beast,) that he shall be destroyed
by the Lord “with the brightness of his coming.”
Now the harvest, as well as the vintage, is
supplicated by prayers; the former, as it appears,
by those of the Church universal; whence the
angel who there sustains the person of the Sup-
pliants, is said generally to come out of the tem-
ple. But the latter is rather enforced by mar-
tyrs and confessors, against whom the wicked
had raged with butcheries and torments, and
had made them victims to Christ. On which
account, the angel who proclaims to this effect,
goes out of the thysiasterium, or enclosure of
the altar, and is said to have power over fire,
even the fire of martyrdom. It is very commonly
observed, that the blood of the martyrs cries to
God for vengeance. For, indeed, the Scripture
every where testifies, that the Divine Power will
bestow on the Church neither a state of prospe-
rity, nor vengeance on their enemies, without the
prayers of its members. So the Babylonian
captivity was put an end to at the prayers of
Daniel; and in the parable of the widow fa-
tiguing the unjust judge by her clamorous en-
treaties, the application is, that God would be
aroused in like mammer by the prayers of his
406 CLAVIS APOCALYPTIC A.
elect, to come at length at some fit time to
avenge them. You may add, that when the
trumpets were sounded for the demolition of the
Roman empire, the prayers of the martyrs by
incense offered up, are first recalled to the me-
mory of God.
Hear then, O Christ our King ! and recall to
the memory of thy Father, so many suppliant
prayers of thy people, for thy kingdom, so many
groans of the afflicted, and of those who were
slain for thy name; and when the time shall
come which will appear seasonable to thee, arise,
reap, and gather in the vintage 1
NOTE.
Thus far, O Reader, I have been able to pro-
ceed in a detailed species of interpretation. But
I can carry it no farther. In the prophecies
which remain I only give instances; a part of
those, in truth, which three or four years ago, I
had privately communicated to my friends, on
most of the apocalyptical visions. Those, what-
ever they are, I commend, O Reader, to thy
candour, and beseech thee to interpret favour-
ably; until Almighty God bestow upon me
strength and leisure, and the power (unless the
judgment of learned and pious men should deter
me) of unfolding these prophecies, by a clew
CLAVIS APOCALYPTIC A. 407
similar to that by which I expounded the former.
Besides, you may see, that in these I cannot pre-
serve the order of the chapter so exactly, since
I placed the mystery of Babylon before the vision
of the phials, which, however, St. John postponed;
whether it was because one of the angels of the
phials showed it to him, or whether he wished to
subjoin a key, as it were, for unlocking all the
preceding visions. Both seem to have been in
view. But the same order is not always con-
venient to the interpreter and the historian.
Of the Metropolis of Christian Apostasy, the mystic
Babylon.
The metropolis of the apostasy, Babylon the
mystery, or the mystic Babylon, is the city Rome,
or, as we now say, the Roman see; from the
spouse of Christ in former times, become not
only the harlot, but also the mother of harlots.
The metropolis of prostitutes, that is, the head
of cities, nominally Christian, committing forni-
cation with her.—Where, Reader, I would wish
you, even in the commencement, to observe,
(because we are now in the very citadel of the
Apocalypse), that the great and catholic apostasy
of the visible Christian Church, is defined and
marked by the Holy Spirit, not for any other
heresies or errors than that spiritual adultery, so
earnestly reprobated also in ancient Israel. This
4.08 CLAVIS APOCALYPTIC A.
then alone ought to be regarded as a Cynosure
by him who would wish to investigate the be-
ginning, progress, state, and decline of the apos-
tasy of Christianity, from the records of ecclesi-
astical affairs. If he attend to it in this view,
he may even feel what is sought for; but if
otherwise, he will be disappointed or uncertain.
For though Babylon herself be guilty of other
errors, nay, of heresies, (for it is not a novel case
for harlots and adulteresses to be infamous for
other vices and crimes), yet, since the Holy
Spirit has pointed out that great apostasy of the
visible Church by none of those, therefore, they
are to be accounted either as symptoms only of
that apostasy, or as adventitious errors, equally
common to other times and sects; or if the
heresy were possibly of great importance, yet it
was of such a kind (as that of justification and
salvation being to be hoped for from the merit of
works), as was late, and when the harlot was far
advanced in age, admitted into the Church by
the just judgment of God; lest they, who had
so long and so obstinately despised the long-
suffering of God, and the preaching of the wit-
messes, should afterwards (as we read to have
been prohibited to our first parents) “stretch out
their hands, and take the fruit of the tree of life,
and eat, and live for ever.”
Moreover, Reader, it is singular in this place,
CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA. 4.09
and not to be passed over with a slight remark,
(of which, therefore, I have reminded thee in the
Apocalyptical Key,) that this vision of the great
harlot, and of the beast which carried her, is
disclosed in an unusual manner to St. John, and
to us, by the clearest interpretation ; and un-
doubtedly for this end, that by the help of this
interpretation, as of the chief of all the visions,
the other Apocalyptical mysteries likewise,_
hitherto closed, but depending upon that, by an
admirable contrivance,—might be laid open.
Let this reflection, them, be present to your
minds, and that the angel, as far as relates to
you, may not have undertaken his labours in
vain, duly and rightly remember, that the in-
terpretation of an allegory or parable (of which
kind is this of the angel) is not a new parable or
allegory. For what an inconsistency would this
be, or more truly, insanity, on the part of an
interpreter Do not therefore listen here to I
know not what ages of the world, or similar
suppositions, but understand the intention of the
prophesying angel as no longer allegorizing, but
interpreting according to the expression, know-
ing that to you remains the duty, not of unfold-
ing the meaning of an allegory, but of applying
the interpretation of it now given, to the events
themselves.
410 CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA.
To which application, as far as God has re-
vealed it to me, I will thus lead the way.
First. The woman whom John saw sitting on
the beast, “is that great city which reigneth over
the kings of the earth.”
Application.—What city is this but Rome * *
Second. The beast which bore her who was
now become a harlot, is the same beast which,
even before the vision exhibited to John, existed
in another form of its own, but not yet in that in
which it carried the harlot. But it was after-
wards to rise again from the abyss, in such a
form, and in that, at length, utterly to perish.
That is, the form in which it carried the harlot
would be the last form of the beast, beyond
which it would not prolong its existence. It
follows in the same verse, (in order that you
might recognise this to be the very same beast
which was shown in ch. xiii.) “And the inha-
bitants of the earth wondered, whose names were
not written in the book of life from the founda-
tion of the world, when they beheld the beast
which was, and is not, and yet is to be t,”—for so
I read with the Complutensian edition, accord-
ing to the interpretation of Primasius and Syrus,
that it may agree in sense with the preceding
* It can be no other.—R. B. C.
+ Loco katirep to riv. MS. Alexand, legit Kai Tàpearat,
CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA. 411
description. “ The beast which was, and is not,
and shall ascend out of the abyss.” In what
form he was first a beast, in what he was here-
after to ascend from the abyss, we may discover
from those words which the angel afterwards
subjoins.
Application.—But if the woman be Rome,
what can this many-formed beast be on which
she rides, (that is, over which she rules,) but the
Roman kingdom or empire * *
Third. The seven heads of the beast are a
double type. First, there are seven mountains
or hills on which the city, which was the me-
tropolis of the beast, was situated ; and besides
also, seven orders of kings, or successive dynas-
ties, and that on the same hills, (which the unity
of the type denotes.)
“ Hoc teneas vultus mutantem Protea nodo.”
By this knot you may detain Proteus when he
changes his appearance. Five of them, indeed,
kings, consuls, tribunes, decemvirs, dictators,
were even then passed away in the age of John.
One (that of the Caesars) yet remained; but that
likewise was so to be changed under the Christ-
ian Caesars, that it would appear as another
dynasty, but for a very short time, yet, in truth,
not be another. The last, indeed, and the eighth,
* Nothing.—C.
412 CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA.
as I have just said, with respect to the changed
Caesareate, but in reality only the seventh, for
there are only seven heads on the beast,--is that
under which the beast was tropwópopoc, the carrier
of a harlot; that is, the bearer of the mystical
harlot; and in that state and appearance it was
seen by John in the present vision; in whose
time, indeed, it might be said it was formerly, and
still was not yet come. For formerly it was a
beast under the rule of the five former heads,
and partly of the sixth, but it was not come in
that of the last head, to wit, that of the pontifi-
cate, in which, in fine, it carried the harlot.
Application.—Now, then, Reader, attend If
the sixth head of the Roman beast, which was
reigning in the age of John over the seven-hilled
city, has now ceased to reign on the same for
almost twelve centuries, it necessarily follows
that he who now possesses the authority (since
it can by no means be called a kind of seventh,
and a head of a very short date) must be that
last, long-lived, and real seventh dynasty of the
seven hills; and, therefore, that state or republic
of the nations, over which Rome now watches,
and has long watched,—that dynasty which John
foresaw, as to carry the harlot.
Fourth. The ten horns of the beast, the in-
signia of the last head, are ten kingdoms, which
were not yet arisen in the age of John, but into
CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA. 413
which the body of the Roman beast was to be
dilacerated in its last form, by the wound of its
Caesarean head; and which would unanimously
confer all their power on the beast, renewed and
re-established under the government of its last
head.
Application.—Now, unless from the time in
which the Caesars ceased to reign in Rome, the
Roman empire was divided and dilacerated into
ten or more kingdoms, (even of nations which
were foreigners and barbarians to the empire in
the age of John,) when, I beseech you, or in
what manner, shall we ever expect it to be
divided ?
Fifth. But these ten kingdoms which so co-
alesced under the auspices of their head, the
false prophet, shall fight with the Lamb. The
victory, however, will finally belong to the Lamb
our Lord.
Application.—The former has been long since
done, and even takes place, at the present day.
The latter is now dome, in some respects, but we
hope will be completed at some future time, by a
much more glorious victory; since, out of those
ten horns, or kings, there will be some, who at
length will hate the harlot, whom they have so
long servilely assisted in supporting, (which, we
perceive, partly fulfilled,) “will render her deso-
late and naked, will eat her flesh, and burn her
414 CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA.
with fire.” For God, by whose providence it
came to pass, that they agreed with so marvel-
lous a consent in supporting this beast of the
last head, even to the time appointed, will, at
some future time, put it into their hearts to
execute his will on their metropolis, the harlot.
Thus far the angel.
As to what remains in the description of the
allegory, that this harlot “had a golden cup in
her hand, full of abominations, and filthiness of
her fornication ;” and also, that “ she bore in her
forehead her name written;” did not require the
interpretation of the angel, since there is an allu-
sion in both to the ancient custom of harlots and
of the stews, where they used to drink philtres
out of a golden cup to their lovers. In those
places the cells were inscribed with the name of
the harlots, as Tertullian shows in his book on
Modesty, &c. &c. Besides, if the harlot were
famous, it appears that, not only on the cell, but
on her forehead, she bore her name and eulogy
written, &c. &c.
CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA. 415
THE FALL OF ANTICHRIST,
Or the meaning of the Seven Phials, as far as we
are yet permitted to understand it.
And first, Of the Phials generally.
The Holy Spirit propounds the history of the
phials, and of the angels who pour them out, in
a two-fold manner. First, generally, from the
beginning of chapter xv. to the end of the fifth
verse, where the vision of the seven angels hold-
ing the seven phials being related to the con-
clusion, before he comes to the particular de-
scription either of the angels or the phials, the
narration of another vision exhibited together
with them, is introduced, by which the state of
the Church is described while the effusion is
going on, cleansed from defilements, and the
filthiness of idolatry, in that sacred laver of the
temple or sea, not made as Solomon's, of brazen
materials, but of crystal, and singing, during the
whole time of the effusion, the 'Etrutkuov, or song
of victory over the vanquished beast “, and that
while she was but just coming forth from the
* It is called the Song of Moses and of the Lamb, because
the Lord alone is to be worshipped and glorified as God.
Which signification of this song, as equally proceeding from
Moses and the Lamb, was now promulgated to men.
7
4 16 CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA.
bath in which she was purified, and while she
yet remained on the margin of the laver. He
then goes on to the clothing and apparatus of
the angels, and to the phials specially, from those
Words of the 5th verse.
“And the seven angels, having the seven last
plagues, came out of the temple, clothed in linen,
pure and splendid, and girt round the breast
with golden girdles;” that is, adorned with the
sacerdotal habit and girdle. Ezekiel c. xliv.
v. 17, 18.
Take care not to join the words which we have
quoted with those of the preceding verse; for
what is there said of the temple of the taber-
macle of testimony in heaven being opened, re-
lates not to the beginning, but to the end of the
phials; for the temple, which, while the phials
were pouring out, “ was filled with smoke from
the glory of God, and from his power, so that no
man could enter therein,” (and here there is an
allusion both to the dedication of the tabernacle,
Exod. c. xl. v. 34, 35, and also to the twice
seven days’ dedication of the temple, 1 Kings,
c. viii. v. 10. 2 Chron. c. v. 13,) will be rem-
dered so clear when the phials are completely
exhausted, that the Ark of the testimony (Christ)
will become conspicuous, as is the case at
the sound of the seventh trumpet, ch. xi. with
which it has been shown in the third Syn-
CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA. 4, 17
chronism, Part 2d, the last of the phials is con-
temporary.
HYPOTHESIS
Concerning the Phials, one by one.
First, The effusion of the phials signifies the
ruin of the antichristian beast.
This is apparent from the text, concerning
which see Synchronism vii. part Ist. For as
the former, and more ancient polity of the Roman
empire was subverted by the plagues of the trum-
pets, so the last is to be subverted by the plagues
of the phials. This is the cause of so great a
similarity between them, since the last bears the
image of the former Roman polity.
Secondly, The seven phials are so many gra-
dations of its ruin ; for as the beast rose by de-
grees, so likewise will he be abolished by degrees.
Thirdly, Whatever that may be on which each
of the phials is poured out, it suffers loss and
injury by the phials; since the effusion of the
phials is the effusion of the wrath of God. No
interpretation, therefore, can possibly stand, by
which the effusion of a phial would contribute to
the good of that on which it is poured out.
Fourthly, The earth, the sea, the rivers, the
sun, are something relative to the antichristian
E. G.
4.18 CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA.
beast, which resemble the earth, the sea, the
rivers, and the sun. For all the phials are poured
upon the beast, and therefore each relates to
something commected with the beast, or at least
affecting his interest.
Fifthly, The whole body of the beast, or the
antichristian universe, is tacitly compared by the
Holy Spirit, in the same manner as in the trum-
pets, to the mundane system, of which the diffe-
rent parts are the earth, the sea, the rivers, hea-
ven, and the luminaries, so that the earth in the
pontificate universe would be so called from its
resemblance to the earth, the sea from the same
likeness to the sea, the rivers to the rivers, and
the sum to the Sun in the natural world.
Sixthly, Lastly (as we have observed more
than once), because God employs angels as mi-
misters of his providence, in exciting and direct-
ing the movements and revolutions of human
affairs; therefore, those things which are per-
formed by the hands of many, are yet attributed
to an angel, as the president and director of the
event to be transacted, according to a common
mode of speaking.
CLAVIS APOCALYPTIC A. 4, 19
AN EXPOSITION
Of the Phials, according to the Rule of these
Hypotheses.
Phial the First. On the Earth, the Universe con-
nected with the Beast.
The earth, in the antichristian universe, signi-
fies the people at large, or the Christian vulgar;
the footstool (to its shame be it spoken,) of Am-
tichrist, constructed on which, as on a base, the
hierarchal papal edifice, like the tower of Baby-
lon, lifts its head to the ethereal regions,—
“Vertice ad auras aetherias tendit.” On this
earth of the beast, the first phial being poured
out, it contracted an ailment from the effusion,
so as to fill the followers of the beast with fury
and violence as with ulcers, and those so fierce
and malignant, that they could not be cured,
nay, even a tendency to healing could not be
brought on without being broken again, and
thereby renewed.
This was fulfilled, when the lower orders of
Christians, whether known by the names of the
Waldensians, Albigensians, Wicliffites, Hussites,
or by any other names, began every where to
renounce the authority of the beast, crying out,
that Rome was the apocalyptical Babylon, and
E e 2
420 Ci, AVIS APOCALYPTICA.
that the pope was Antichrist. By which vapour
on the earth, now glowing with the wrath of
God, the followers of the beast being affected,
grew all very hot with the sores of grief and in-
dignation, by which, excited to rage, they dealt
most cruelly with fire and flame against their
opponents, in a wonderful mammer for many
years; but in vain, for they were disquieted by a
bad and incurable ulcer, which the more they
agitated themselves, became so much the worse
from day to day. So formerly the land of Egypt,
sprinkled by the Divine command with ashes of
the furnace, rendered all the servants of Pharaoh,
and their cattle, full of ulcers.
Now the world of the beast is in ch. xi. spiri-
tually called Egypt, and therefore this plague of
the ulcers is to be spiritually interpreted, that is,
mystically, and by analogy, and this likewise in
the figurative representation of the two following
plagues, is to be diligently observed.
Phial the Second,
On the Sea of the Bestial World.
The sea, in the antichristian world, is the com-
pass of the pontifical communion ; by which not
only individual Christians, but whole nations,
peoples, kingdoms, provinces, dioceses, otherwise
disjoined and separated from each other, are col-
lected into one. Or, the antichristian sea is the
CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA. 421
circumference of the pontifical jurisdiction or do-
minion, enclosing and enfolding Christian na-
tions, as the sea does the earth.
The second phial being poured out on this
sea, it becomes thereupon “as the blood of a
corpse,” or cold and coagulated blood, as that of
dead and slain persons, or of a member cut off,
when the connexion with the fountain of life
being dissolved, it is deprived of the influx of
spirit and warmth. The sense is, the pontifical
sea was made a sacrifice of by death, dismember-
ment, and butchery.
Now this was fulfilled, when by the labour of
Luther, and other illustrious reformers of that
age, while God in a wonderful manner favoured
their undertakings, no longer some individuals
only of the Christian community, but whole pro-
vinces, dioceses, kingdoms, nations, and cities,
renounced communion with the beast ; and hav-
ing made a great mutilation of his ancient most
extensive empire, forcibly wrested from the body
of the beast, withdrew from it. By which event,
the sea of the pontifical dominion became in
great measure dead, and like the blood of a dead
man, in which the pontifical animals could no
longer breathe and live.
422 CLAVIS APOCALYPTIC A.
Phial the Third,
On the Rivers and Fountains of Waters of the
Bestial World.
The rivers and fountains of waters in the world
of the beast, are the ministers and defenders of
the antichristian jurisdiction; whether ecclesias-
tical, as the jesuits, and other emissary priests,
or even seculars and laymen, as the Spanish
champions; to each of whom an office is com-
mitted by that jurisdiction, of managing and pro-
moting the cause, which they call Catholic.
Since, as rivers derive their origin from the sea,
so likewise they apply their service and assist-
ance to increase and maintain the same, in like
manner as the rivers return into the sea.
Now these rivers, while they rashly pursue
their courses, where it was no longer safe for
them to go on, become tinged with blood by the
effusion of the third phial, as they likewise had
formerly imbrued with blood the saints of God,
and his prophets. In fact, from this phial, the
affairs of the beast were to fall into such a state,
that his ministers and defenders, having changed
places with those whom they persecuted, were
compelled to undergo the same death, by which
they had been accustomed to sacrifice the saints
and prophets of God, while their dominion flou-
rished; as is clearly explained in v. 5 and 6, being
7
CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA. 423
the key for unlocking the parable. And this I am
inclined to think was then completed with regard
to ecclesiastical emissaries, and their attendants,
when in our kingdom of England, during the
reign of Elizabeth, of glorious memory, and even
afterwards, those sanguimary managers of the
authority of the beast, even by laws published
for that purpose, expiated their administration
by their blood, (a circumstance which had never
befallen them before.) And not they only, but
those who were much more formidable than
them, the Spanish champions of the cause of the
beast, in the endeavour to recover his dominion
for the Roman Church by arms, while they
thirsted for blood, drank blood in large draughts,
especially in that memorable slaughter of the
year 1588, and the following years, the English
and Belgians, by Sea and land, pouring out co-
piously the cup from the powerful hand of God.
So that there was a wonderful cry of applause to
the just and true judgments of God, not only
from those islanders who were now revenging
the blood of their own people formerly shed, but
also from the neighbouring French, who were
still groaning under the cross, and the altar;
may, in the recent butchery of the year 1572.
And thus far the phials seem to have pro-
ceeded ; the rest yet remain to be poured out.
424 CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA,
Phial the Fourth,
On the Sun of the Bestial Heaven.
That we may discover what the sun is in the
world of the beast, we must first see what the
heaven is in that world, lest otherwise, destitute
of the clew of analogy, we wander too much
from the mark. For the sun is not to be placed,
or conceived to exist, but in a heaven suitable to
it. The heaven, then, of the antichristian world
is the supreme and universal pontifical power
itself, or, in short, whatever exists of more sublime
and regal authority in any part of the bestial
world ; that is, in the whole community of
provinces acknowledging the Roman pontiff as
their head. For so, in the matural world, all
that is on high, and above the earth and waters,
is called heaven, in the acceptation of the He-
brews, and of the Holy Spirit.
Now in this antichristian heaven (according to
the type of the natural heaven) there are many
stars, and of different magnitudes, princes, go-
vernors, presidents, rulers, kings. There are
likewise great luminaries like the sun and moon,
which all appear to move round with the motion
of heaven itself, and undergo their vicissitudes,
from the law which governs it. Of this, indeed,
the most splendid, and by far the greatest lumi-
nary which shines in the Papal firmament, is the
CLAVIS APOCALYPTIC A. 4.25
German empire, which has been the possession
of the house of Austria for about two hundred
years. Is not this the sum of that heaven " ?
Now on this sun is the fourth phial forthwith to
* With all due deference to the foresight of the venerable
author, but with greater facilities of judging from the lapse of
time since this conjecture was formed, may we not suppose
France to be the country more peculiarly designated 7 Of
this kingdom, which assumed the emblem of the sun as the
mark of its dignity, Clovis or Louis was the first Christian
king. In the reign of the XVIth Louis did this kingdom
undergo the most stupendous revolution which has taken
place for many centuries; overturning the throne and the
altar, setting on fire, as we may say, the Papal world, destroy-
ing vast armies by the valour of its troops and the force of its
artillery, devastating other countries, and at length exciting
the most violent opposition to its progress in surrounding
nations. It was this kingdom which in Charlemagne gave the
first emperor to the Papal Roman empire, though the seat of
his dominion was afterwards transferred to Germany. It was
in a soi-disant emperor, who copied his example, that the Pope
was enthralled, and compelled to adopt the suggestions of this
temporary ruler.
The author of this note cannot help adding, as a remarkable
circumstance, that on the 19th of January, 1793, the day on
which the king of France was condemned, he saw, without the
help of a glass, through a thin fog, large spots on the sun’s
surface, one of which appeared as a fissure of
many digits in extent; such as he understood from
<-EEE--->
==== Mr. Vince, Plumian Professor of Astronomy at
Cambridge, were never recorded to have been seen before by
the maked eye.—Wide Ann. Reg. 1793. –R. B. C.

426 CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA.
be poured out ; so that he, driven out of his
usual course in the heaven of the beast, and
shining in a different manner, may scorch and
torment with heat and fervour, even to blas-
phemy, the inhabitants of the antichristian world,
whom he was formerly accustomed greatly to
cheer with his warmth and radiance. And lo!
while I am publishing these remarks, on which
I had long ago written a Commentary, a report
has filled the whole Christian world, while the
pious are offering up their gratulations, that an
avenger from God has come from the North, to
succour afflicted and depressed Germany—a king
pious and fortunate, and a conqueror wherever
he has come, whose successes surpass the flight
of the eagle. Is not this he whom the Lord of
Hosts has destined to execute the work of this
phial So I hope and pray from my soul,-
“Gird thee them with thy sword, O great King !
proceed prosperously and reign, for the sake of
truth, of meekness, and of righteousness; for thy
right hand shall teach thee terrible things “.”
* This relates, I suppose, to the king of Sweden, and is
surely a proof how careful we should be in the interpretation
of prophetical scripture, when we see so enlightened and
cautious a commentator as Mede led to apply an important
part of the great scheme of prophecy to passing events.-
R. B. C.
CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA. 4.27
Phial the Fifth,
On the Throne of the Beast.
The fifth phial is to be poured out on the
throne or seat of the beast ; that is, on Rome
itself. And now the Holy Spirit no longer con-
ceals the subject under the veil of figures or alle-
gories, perhaps on account of the great light then
to arise on those prophecies; when this sort of
Mercurial sign being seen, it will no longer be
ambiguous how much progress the phials have
made, and how much yet remains to be com-
pleted by them.
By this destruction of the Roman city, (which
I think to be the very same as is said ch. xi. 13,
to follow the resurrection and ascension of the
witnesses,) the name of the pontificate will not
utterly perish, but will then be despoiled of its
glory and splendour, so that “they shall gnaw
their tongues for pain.” In the meanwhile, how-
ever, still persevering in their impenitence, with
obstimate minds, they will abuse their sufferings
by additional blasphemy.
Phial the Siarth,
On Euphrates.
The sixth phial will be poured out on the great
river Euphrates; so that, being dried up, a pas-
Sage may be prepared for the new enemies of the
428 CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA,
beast to come from the East, that is, for the
Israelites, wonderfully converted to the pure
faith and worship of Christ, and now become
candidates for the kingdom promised for so
many ages. Whom the followers of the beast,
perhaps, may be inclined to consider as the army
of their fictitious antichrist, to arise from the
Jews, of whom they do not hesitate to assert,
that even we of this day are the forerunners.
God thus avenging their obstimacy in error.
Now two things induce me to understand “the
kings, to come (as it is said) from the rising of
the sun,” as spoken of the Jews. First, that it
is the last phial but one, during which, therefore,
if the Jews are not converted, it must necessarily
come to pass, that they would be destroyed with
the other enemies of Christ, in the number of
whom they would still be included, in that great
day of universal vengeance and judgment, which
the next and last phial introduces. Besides the
passage in Isaiah referring to the same event,
brings me to this conclusion, from which, in all
probability, this part of the Apocalypse is bor-
rowed. “And the Lord,” says he, ch. xi. 15, 16,
“shall destroy (I should preſer, As the Lord has
destroyed) the tongue of the Egyptian sea, and
(I should prefer So) he shall lift up his hand
upon the river, (Targum, the river Euphrates)
with his mighty wind, (or Spirit) and shall Smite
CL A V1S APOCALYPTIC A. 4.29
it in the seven streams, so that men shall go over
it dryshod.” “And there shall be a highway for
the remnant of my people which shall be from
Assyria, (therefore the Euphrates is meant) as
it was in the day when he came up from the
land of Egypt.” Let the reader see Zach. X.
10, 11, and the Chaldee paraphrast thereon.
But what then, shall we say, is this Euphrates,
whose waters shall be dried up 2 Whether it is
to be taken according to the letter, especially in
that passage of Isaiah, I somewhat doubt. In
the mean time, I rather think that something of
parable and allegory is sprinkled through this
part of the Apocalypse, but not much ; so that
the analogy of the other phials may remain here
likewise, well adapted to the object of the effu-
sion. For it seems we are to understand in the
same manner as the old Euphrates had, the
mystical one has its Babylon also. I think the
Ottoman empire will be the only obstacle to
those new enemies from the East, and a defence
on the part of the beast. Nor will there be
Wanting an example from Isaiah himself, of
Euphrates thus to be understood, who, ch. viii.
v. 7, has described the Assyrian army, then a
borderer on that river, under the similar allegory
of the Euphrates. “ The Lord will cause to
come up against them (that is,the Syrians and the
Israelites) the waters of the river, (so the Eu-
430 CLAVIS APOCALYPTIC A.
phrates is accustomed to be called, kar’ tºox#v,)
strong and many, the king of Assyria, and all his
glory,” (Targum, his army.) Why should not
the Euphrates of the phials be taken, by a parity
of reason, for the Turks, not less than the As-
Syrians, borderers on the Euphrates, before its
desication, nay, inhabitants of the same tract 2
It contributes not a little to the establishment
of this interpretation, that we explained the
letting loose of that vast equestrian army, long
bound on the great river Euphrates, at the sound-
ing of the sixth trumpet, ch. ix. 15, as intended
for the Turks, thence to be poured forth on the
Roman world, while we were following the series
of the trumpets, and the probable truth of the
subject-matter. By the sixth phial, then, will
this Euphratean flood be dried up. Evidently,
according to what is said ch. xi, next after that
destruction of the city to take place in the great
earthquake, (which we have applied to the former
phial,) the second woe, that is, the plague of the
sixth phial, is to pass away. But we shall labour
in vain in our conjectures concerning a thing
which is wholly future, as to the means by which,
or the authors by whom, it is to be effected;
whether by the Jews themselves, (as Ezekiel,
perhaps, intimates, ch. xxxviii. and xxxix.)
taking possession of the Holy Land by restora-
tion to their former state, or by Some intestine
CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA. 431
dissension, opportunely preceding their return ;
or by both, perhaps, in successive order, or by
some other cause.
Whatever it may be, their obstruction being
removed, the way of approach is by some means
said to be prepared for these new Christians from
the East, and that, as it appears, for the purpose
of undertaking an expedition against the beast,
to whose destruction all the phials are sub-
servient. For whence otherwise, and for what
reason, should such a trepidation and panic seize
upon the followers of the beast, and even the
demons themselves, from the time of the drying
up of the river, as to occasion such a horrible
and unheard-of preparation for war as is here
described ; unless they, with the whole diabolical
cohort, feared every extremity from the accession
of the new kings of the East !
Phial the Seventh,
in the Air.
The seventh and last phial is poured out in
the air; that is, on the power of the air, or
Satan, comprehending and animating in its
bosom, not only the dominions of the beast, but
of all the enemies of Christ our Lord, in every
part of the world.
Now, as the beast drew from him spirit and
life, even from his beginning, so the last fortunes
4.32 CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA.
of the bestial party will rely chiefly on their
power and auspices, which may consist both in
the array of so many confederates and auxiliaries,
in the war of this last phial, collected together,
as is related, by diabolical arts; and also from
this circumstance, that the dragon, now Satan,
not only intermeddles in their affairs by his vicars,
the beast and false prophet, in levying this army
of the habitable world, but that he by himself, in
the last struggle of his reign, may appear to exer-
cise his own proper and peculiar part ; especially
in calling forth those to a share in this war, upon
whom otherwise the beast and false prophet
could by no means have prevailed, either by
authority or influence, or even perhaps by a re-
presentation of common danger.
Against so many enemies, thus gathered to-
gether under the auspices of the power of the
air, and enclosed as in a cage at Armageddon,
the seventh phial will be discharged, no longer
by a human hand, but with a celestial and fulmi-
nating vengeance ; (for “it is the battle of the
great day, and of God Almighty.") By this the
ruin of the beast will be fully consummated ; not
of the seat only, or the city of Babylon, as before,
under the fifth trumpet, but of the state itself;
that is, of the Babylonian Senate and people,
wherever they shall be surviving after the de-
struction of the city, until the extermination of
CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA. 433
all the kings and states, who had hitherto com-
mitted fornication with idols and false deities,
and of the rest of the tyrants, who opposed toge-
ther the holy Church of Christ, shall be com-
pletely effected.
OF THE THOUSAND YEARS
Of the Seventh Trumpet, and of the other Pro-
phecies of wonderful Events contemporary with it.
Here, Reader, I shall in a few words explain
what my opinions are, nor will I much extend
my observations on a subject, which was for a
long time deemed incredible, on account of inve-
terate prejudices, and because it is one of the
most abstruse and most remarkable of all the
parts of prophetic Scripture. In so great a
mystery, it will be sufficient to maintain the
thing in a general manner, and not to inquire
too curiously into the reasons of each particular
part ; lest while expatiating more freely than
perhaps we ought, the saying of Solomon should
ring in our ears, “ In the multitude of words
there wanteth not sin.”
But with relation to this subject, it relies on
the irrefragable chain of apocalyptical order,
F f
434 CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA.
which I have demonstrated above; and the
agreement of the other Scriptures, especially of
the prophetical ones, wonderfully confirms the
same. It was so looked forward to by Christians
of the age next after the apostles, that Justin
Martyr attests, not only that he himself believed
it, but that it was believed with the fullest assent
by those, who were at that time Christians of the
orthodox persuasion, in all things. Which opi-
nion of the first Christians, whether deformed
by certain additions afterwards, or improperly or
erroneously understood, (as I am inclined to be-
lieve,) their posterity after one or two ages re-
jected. To such a degree, however, was this
carried by a progressive ardour of contention,
(which you will justly be surprised at, and la-
ment,) before the matter could be proved, that
those who could not otherwise get rid of the
force of the opposite opinion, built on the foun-
dation of the Apocalypse, chose rather to call in
question that most divine prophecy, signed and
sealed by all the disciples of the apostles, and
their immediate successors, may, openly and
audaciously to undervalue its authority on that
subject by their invented presumptions, than to
submit and yield themselves up to the force of
conviction. Until at length, having contrived a
commodious interpretation of that Millennium,
(as they then imagined,) leaving the authority of
CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA. 435
the Apocalypse untouched, they desisted from
an undertaking, not easily to be exempted from
the crime of impiety, and to be dreaded by their
posterity.
But I, Reader, (no longer to detain you in the
vestibule,) so explain the whole matter, as to
show that I depart as little as possible from the
received opinion of the day of Christ's advent,
immediately to follow the ruin of Antichrist:
Do thou, then, laying aside all prejudice, weigh
the matter in the fear of God, and pardon me, if
I fall into any error, with a charitable judgment.
Thus, then, understand it.
The seventh trumpet, with the whole thou-
sand days, and the other oracles referring to the
same, designate that great day of judgment,
Nºn-, Rhy" DY, of the ancient Jewish Church, cele-
brated by Christ, and his apostles; not some
short space of a few hours, (as is commonly be-
lieved,) but according to the custom of the He-
brews, using a day for time indefinitely, a
continued space of many years, and circum-
scribed by two resurrections, as termini. A day,
I say, beginning from that first partial, and as it
may be termed, morning judgment of Antichrist,
and of the other living enemies of the Church,
by the glorious appearance of our Lord in a flame
of fire, and finishing at length after the reign of
a thousand years, granted to the new Jerusalem,
F f 2
436 CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA.
his most holy spouse on this earth, and the
total destruction of new enemies hereafter to
arise, when the great day is declining, and
Satan again loosed, by the universal resurrec-
tion and judgment of all the dead. Which
things being finished, the impious will be
transferred to Gehenna, to be for ever tor-
mented, but the saints to live eternally with
Christ in heaven.
This, in truth, is that time of the wrath of
God against the nations, and of judging the
cause of those who died for Christ's sake ; at
which, on the sound of the seventh trumpet,
the elders rejoice with triumph, because by
that God would surely “give reward unto
his servants the prophets, and to the Saints,
and to them that fear his name, both small
and great, and would destroy them that destroy
the earth.” &
This is “ that day of judgment, and perdition
of ungodly men,” of which St. Peter having spoken
in his 2d Epistle, c. iii. v. 7. immediately sub-
joins, “But beloved, be not ignorant of this one
thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thou-
sand years, and a thousand years as one day.”
In which same day, indeed, the apostle with his
brethren and fellow-countrymen, looks for that
new appearance of things to come, of which he
afterwards says, “But we, according to his pro-
CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA. 437
mise, look for new heavens, and a new earth,
wherein dwelleth righteousness.” Mark “ac-
cording to his promise.” But when and where
was this promise to be found of new heavens and
a new earth, (before John had yet seen the Apo-
calypse) unless in Isaiah, ch. lxv. 17, and lxvi. 227
Which promise, I should certainly be surprised,
if he who had read, could imagine was to be ful-
filled any where else than in the present world.
This is that kingdom also, conjoined with the
appearance of Christ to judge the world, to
which St. Paul alludes in his second Epistle to
Timothy, ch. iv. v. 1, “I adjure thee before
God, and our Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge
the quick and the dead at his appearing and
kingdom.” For after the last, and universal
resurrection, from the same authority, I Corin-
thians, c. xv. Christ, after death, the last enemy,
has been destroyed, will deliver up the kingdom
to the Father, that he may be subject to him who
put all things under him. But it is not said that
any new kingdom is to commence at that time.
The kingdom, then, which is to come, which is
neither before the appearance of our Lord nor
after the last resurrection, must necessarily be
included between both. This is that kingdom
which Daniel saw, of the Son of man, when the
times of the antichristian horn being completed,
or “the times of the Gentiles being fulfilled,”
4.38 CLAVIS APOCALYPTIC A.
(Luke, ch. xxi. 24,) he should appear in the
clouds of heaven, when there shall be given to
him power, and glory, and a kingdom, that all
people, nations, and tongues, should serve him,
or when (as the angel soon after explains it,)
“The kingdom, power, and greatness of the
kingdom, under the whole heaven, shall be given
to the people of the saints of the Most High.”
Dan. ch. vii. 13, 14, also 18, 22, 26, 27. For, as
I have just now observed, this kingdom is not to
be after the last resurrection, since at that time
the kingdom is not to be entered upon by the
Son of Man, but, as St. Paul testifies, to be laid
down, and delivered up to the Father. Now as
that, the same kingdom, is treated of in both
places, as well by John as by Daniel, may be
proved from these two arguments. That both
begin from the same terminus, namely, from the
extermination of the fourth, or Roman beast. That
of Daniel, when the beast who acts under the
last government of “the horn with eyes,” was
given to be slain, and “his body delivered to the
burning flame,” Dan. ch. vii. v. 11, 12. 26. That
of the Apocalypse, when the beast and false pro-
phet, (that wicked horn of Daniel, having a
mouth and eyes like a man) “were taken, and
both cast alive into a lake of fire burning with
brimstone.” Secondly, it may be proved from
the same session of judgment preceding both.
CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA. 439
For that the one is borrowed from the other,
and that both, altogether, refer to the same
event, will appear from the collation of the words
in the description of each.
DANIEL, CH. VII. APOCALYPSE, CH. XX. 4.
Ver. 9. I beheld till And I saw thrones,
thrones were set”,
Ver. 10. And the judg- || And they sat on them,
ment was sett, -
Ver. 22. And judgment And judgment was gi-
was given to the ven to them.
saints of the Most
High . ;
And the saints | And the saints lived
possessed the king- and reigned with
dom $. Christ a thousand
years.
Moreover, I wish to give the reader this ad-
monition: Whatever sound doctrine, generally
* So it is rendered by the Septuagint in common with the
Vulgate.
t That is, judges, as in the great Sanhedrim of the Jews,
to the pattern of which the whole description is conformed.
i That is, the power of judging. Hence that saying of St.
Paul, “the saints shall judge the world.”
§ That is, with the Son of man, who came in the clouds of
heaven.
440 CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA.
speaking, is delivered by the Jews, whatever by
our Lord in the Gospel, or in any part of the
New Testament by the apostles, relative to the
day of the great judgment, is drawn from this
vision of Daniel, namely, the judgment to be
perfected by fire—Christ's coming in the clouds
of heaven,_coming in the glory of the Father,
with a multitude of angels, the saints, who are
to judge the world, with him, Antichrist to be
destroyed at the brightness of his appearance,
&c. So that they who endeavour to throw down
the column of evangelical faith, concerning the
glorious advent of Christ, neglecting the ancient
tradition of the Church, must labour to transfer
that prophecy to some other event.
Lastly, that I may come to a conclusion :-
This is that most ample kingdom, which, ac-
cording to Daniel's interpretation, was foreshown
to Nebuchadnezzar in the statue, predictive of
four kingdoms. Not that of the stone cut out
of the mountain, while the series of the mo-
narchies was still subsisting ; (for that is the
present state of Christ's kingdom;) but of the
stone when the same monarchies were utterly
broken in pieces and destroyed, which became a
great mountain, and filled the whole world.
On these subjects, Reader, I have treated,
CLAVIS APOCALYPTICA. 441
but not asserted any thing rashly. I humbly
refer the whole matter to be judged of by the
Church, from the word of God, to whose judg-
ment, as it is fit, I willingly submit my opinion
concerning this mystery.
Tô Đeg öööm.
442 DIALOGUE BETWEEN JUSTIN MARTYR
A REMARKABLE PASSAGE
From a Dialogue between Justin Martyr, and
Trypho, a Jew, respecting the Millennium, or
the Thousand Years of the kingdom of Christ,
corrected and illustrated by Notes.
TRYPHO.
Now tell me the truth. Do you expect and
confess, that this place, Jerusalem, is at length
to be re-established, and your people to be col-
lected together, and brought out with joy, toge-
ther with Christ, and the patriarchs, and the
prophets, and with these who are of our race, or
even some of those who were proselytes before
the coming of Christ Or do you go to such a
length, as to confess these things, that you may
appear to exceed us in doubtful questions !
JUSTIN.
I am not reduced to such straits, O Trypho,
as to speak differently from what I think. I
have already confessed to you, and before also,
that I, and indeed many others with me, believe
that it will come to pass, as you fully know.
But on the contrary, I have signified to thee,
7
AND TRYPHO, ON THE MILLENNIUM. 443
that many who are [not*] of the pure and pious
sentiment of Christians do not acknowledge this;
for I pointed out to thee those who are called
Christians, but are atheists, and impious here-
tics, because they teach all manner of blasphe-
mous, impious, and foolish doctrines. But that
you may know that I say this not only among
you, I shall compose a work, as soon as I can,
of these our disputations; wherein I shall insert,
that I profess this very doctrine, which I ac-
knowledge in your presence. For I am deter-
mined to follow, not men and human doctrines,
but God, and the instruction delivered by him.
For although you have had a verbal communica-
tion with some who are called Christians, and do
not confess this, but dare to speak evil of the
God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the
God of Jacob, and who say that there is no re-
surrection of the dead, but that as soon as they
die, their souls are received into heaven, do not
suppose that these are Christians; since, if any
one think rightly, he would not say that the
Sadducees were Jews, nor similar heretics of the
Genistae, and Meristae, and Galileans, and Hel-
lenists, and baptised Pharisees (not to tire you
with hearing all I think); but those who were
* Mede has a note to show that the negative ought here to
be introduced.
444 DIALOGUE BETWEEN JUSTIN MARTYR
indeed called Jews, and sons of Abraham, and
who confessed God with their lips, but their
hearts (as God himself exclaims,) were far from
him.
\ \
“’Eyð 38 kai et ruvéc elow 6p$oyńpovec kard travra Xpwortavot.”
“But I and all Christians, who are of the ortho-
dox opinion,” both acknowledge that there will
be a resurrection of the flesh, and a thousand
years' (reign) in Jerusalem, renewed, and adorned,
and enlarged, as the prophets Ezekiel and Isaiah
and others declare *.
For thus Esaias speaks of the time of those
thousand years, (Isa. c. lxv. v. 17, &c.) “ For
there shall be a new heaven, and a new earth,
and the former shall not be remembered, nor
come into mind. They shall find joy and exul-
tation in that which I create. For, behold, I
make [for] Jerusalem an exultation, and [for]
my people a joy,” &c. to the end of the chapter.
But, as to that expression, “ For according to
* Note by Mede.] If you except the principal articles of
faith, I know not whether a similar testimony can be found
to any Christian dogma. It is a great previous argument in
its favour, that all the orthodox thought the same in the
age next to the apostles. Justin became a Christian about
thirty years after the death of St. John, in which time it is
very probable many were alive who had heard the apostles
teach.
AND TRYPHo, on THE MILLENNIUM. .445
the days of the tree of life”, are the days of my
people,” he subjoins, “ In these words we under-
stand the thousand years to be mysteriously
signified.” For as it was said to Adam, in the
day in which he should eat of the tree, he should
die, we know that he did not complete a thou-
sand years. We know likewise (he proceeds,)
that saying, that “the day of the Lord is as a
thousand years,” relates to this subject.
And a certain man among us, whose name
is John, one of the twelve apostles of Christ, in
that Revelation which was exhibited to him,
prophesied that those of us who were faithful
followers of Christ, should pass a thousand years
in Jerusalem, and afterwards should be the uni-
versal, and (to say it at once) the eternal resur-
rection of all together, and the judgment, in
which our Lord also said, that “they should
neither marry nor be given in marriage, but be
equal to the angels, being the children of God,
as of the resurrection.” For we have prophetic
* In the Hebrew it is simply syn, but the Septuagint has
Tov šūNov Tâc Świc, to which the Chaldee paraphrast assents.
Justin seems to have thought that the life resulting from the
tree of life, or of man in the state of Paradise, would have been
a thousand years, then to have been translated into a happier
state and condition. But in consequence of Adam's sin, neither
he nor any of his posterity attained that number of years, but
died within that great day.—MEDE.
446 DIALOGUE BETWEEN JUSTIN MARTYR, &c.
gifts still existing among us up to the present
time, &c.
Another Passage referring to the same subject.
After a Discourse on the great Day of Judg-
ment, (which he calls rāv usyáXnv huépav rmg kptae-
oc,) when the Jews should have mourned for
Christ, whom they pierced, and when Christ
himself, inaugurated after the order of Melchise-
dech, should have become the judge of quick and
dead, he immediately subjoins, “At whose second
coming, do not imagine that Esaias, or the other
prophets inform us, that sacrifices of blood or
of libations were to be offered upon the altar, but
true and spiritual praises and thanksgivings.
447
THE OPINIONS
Of the Hebrew Doctors on the great Day of Judg-
ment, and of the Reign of the Messiah then to
CO/726.
Carpentarius, in his Commentary on the
Alcimous of Plato, p. 322, asserts, that “the
seventh millenary was called, by the whole
school of the Cabalists, the great day of judg-
ment, because then they think that God will
judge the souls of all.”
He means, by the name of Cabalists, (if I am
not mistaken,) the Talmudic doctors, according
to whom, in more than one author, that tradition
is found to be recorded. For thus it is read in
the Gemara Sanhedrim, Perek Chelek—R. Ke-
tina has said, “ The world subsists for six thou-
sand years, and will be destroyed in one, of which
it is said, “And the Lord alone will be exalted in
that day.’” But he understands the destruction
which is to come, will be by fire, by which the
world being refined, will be purified like gold, and
will be delivered from subjection to the curse
under which it now groans on account of man,
into the glorious liberty of the sons of God,
Rom. ch. viii. It follows a little after, in con-
formity with the tradition of R. Ketina, “As out
of seven years, every seventh year is the year of
448 OPINIONS OF THE HEBREW DOCTORS
remission, so out of the seven thousand years of
the world, the seventh millenary will be the mil-
lenary of remission, as it is said, “And the Lord
alone shall be exalted in that day.' It is said
also in the 92d Psalm, a Psalm or Song for the
Sabbath-day, that is, of the day of perfect rest.
It is also said, Psalm xc. ‘For a thousand years
in thy sight are but as yesterday.’”
Here the Reader may remark two things:—
First, that the ancient Jews understood that
prophecy of Isaiah, ch. ii. where these words,
“And the Lord alone shall be exalted in that
day,” occur twice,—of the day of the great judg-
ment, and of the reign of Christ, from whose
footsteps the succeeding Rabbins do not depart.
“‘In that day,' that is, the day of judgment,”
says R. Schelomo. Also, “When he shall have
risen to consume the earth, that is,” says he, “ in
the day of judgment, in which the Lord shall
consume the wicked of the earth.” R. David
Kimschi says, “ In that day, that is, in the days
of the Messiah, when God shall execute judg-
ment on the wicked.” And again, “And the
Lord alone shall be exalted in that day, is the
same as if he had said, The Lord shall be King
over all the earth.” Another thing to be re-
marked is, that the title of the 92d Psalm was
thought by those Hebrew masters to have re-
spect to the subject of the Psalm, and that it
ON THE MILLENNIUM. 449
ought to be understood of the Sabbatism of a
thousand years.
Now, from these premises I am decidedly of
opinion, that the ancient Jews explained the day
which they denominated the day of judgment as
the MILLENNIUM ; which is more fully confirmed
from Misdrachtchillim, upon that passage of the
90th Psalm, “Comfort us now, for the days for
which thou hast afflicted us,” viz. says he, “ in
Babylon, in Greece, and under the Romans, and
that in the days of the Messiah.” And how many
are the days of the Messiah 2 R. Jehosuah said
that they are two thousand years, as it is written
according to the days; that is, according to, or
during, two days ; for one day of the holy and
blessed God is a thousand years, according to
that saying, ‘For a thousand years are in thy
sight but as yesterday.’” The masters also say,
that the age to come (ºv otkovuévy tº usAAoûon,
Heb. ch. ii. 5.) will be one day of the Messiah.
For the holy and blessed God, in the age to
come, will make for himself one day, of which it
is said in Zechariah, ch. xiv. “And there shall
be one day which shall be known to the Lord,
not day nor night”. And it shall come to pass
that at even time it shall be light.” This day is
* Query Not a common day, composed of day and
night.
450 OPINIONS OF THE HEBREW DOCTORS
the age to come, and the revival of the dead.
But in what millenary that was to come, they did
not agree among themselves, and neither did that
opinion of the seventh satisfy all. There were
some, and not of inferior authority, who under-
stood it of the sixth, as the house of Elias, whose
tradition respecting the millennium of the great
judgment is extant in these words: “The just,
whom God will raise again, (namely, at the first
resurrection *,) will not again be reduced to
dust. But if you inquire of those thousand years
in which the blessed God will renew the world,
of which it is said, “And the Lord alone will be
exalted in that day,’ what will become of the
just 2 Be it known, that the holy and blessed
God will give them wings like eagles, that they
may fly upon the face of the waters; whence it
is said, Psalm xlvi. 3, “ Therefore will we not fear
when the earth shall be changed.” Perhaps you
will say, it must be an affliction to them. But
then occurs that passage in Isaiah, ch. xl. 31,
* They that wait on the Lord shall renew their
strength. They shall mount up with wings as
eagles.’” The same tradition, however, asserts,
that the world shall not last more than six thou-
sand years. For thus runs the tradition : “The
* Which all the Rabbis generally acknowledge, and also
the author of the Book of Wisdom, ch. iii. 7, 8.
ON THE MILLENNIUM. 451
world endures six thousand years; two thousand
emptiness, two thousand years the Law ; and
lastly, two thousand years the day of Christ.”
One of which millenaries, therefore, according
to this opinion, would be that great day of which
it is said, “And the Lord alone shall be exalted
in that day.” The same was the opinion of
Rabbi Asche, the son of R. Abbas, as it is there
expressly said, namely, from the opinion of
R. Chanan, son of Thahaliphas, that the holy
and blessed God would not renew his world till
the seventh millenary. But R. Asche had said,
that it would be after the fifth millenary.
What, moreover, in addition, the Jewish mas-
ters thought concerning the reign of the Messiah
in that great day to come, may be known in some
measure from what I now subjoin. In the sum-
maries of the great Rabbi Eleazar, (who lived a
little after the second temple,) it is said, “ As I
live, saith the Lord, I will raise you up in time
to come, in the resurrection of the dead, and I
will gather you together with all Israel in the
land of Israel.” Petrus Galat. lib. xii. c. 1.
So likewise the paraphrast Jonathan, (who
lived before Christ,) on the xivth of Hosea,
4 to 9, “ They shall be gathered out of the midst
of their captivity; they shall dwell under the
shadow of their Christ ; and the dead shall live,
and good things shall grow up out of the earth,
G g 2
452 OPINIONS OF THE HEBREW DOCTORS
and there shall be a memorial of their goodness
bearing fruit, and never failing, just as the re-
membrance of the sound of trumpets over the old
wine, which used to be poured out in libation on
the sanctuary.”
Targum on Ps. l. v. 3. The just shall say in
the day of the great judgment, “Our God shall
come and shall not keep silence, to execute ven-
geance for his people.”
R. Saadas (one of those doctors whom they
call eminent,) on that passage of Daniel, c. vii.
v. 10, “And the judgment was set, and the
books were opened,” says, “That is the day of
judgment, as it is written, Mal. c. iv. 1, Be-
hold, the day cometh burning as a furnace.”—
“And the Lord of hosts shall be exalted in judg-
ment, Isa. c. v. ver. 16.--and also, “Wherefore
wait ye for me, saith the Lord.' That is the
great day when the Lord shall arise to judgment.”
And a little after he says, “ Know that with re-
lation to what I quoted, “ The judgment sat, and
the books were opened,' I expounded it above of
the day of judgment, and the day of visitation ;
(Wisdom c. vii. v. 7 and 13.) that is, the day to
come, when inquiry shall be made into every
work of the sons of men, as well the living as the
dead.” The same observes on v. 18, “And the
saints of the most high God shall take the king-
dom.” Because the Israelites rebelled against
ON THE MILLENNIUMI. 453
the Lord, their kingdom shall be taken from
them, and shall be given to those four monar-
chies, which shall possess the kingdom in that
age, and shall lead them captive, and shall sub-
due Israel to themselves, until the age to come,
when the Messiah shall reign.
Compare Luke c. xxi. v. 24, &c. The Jews
shall be led captive into all nations, and Jeru-
salem shall be trodden down by the Gentiles,
until the time of the Gentiles be fulfilled. “ Then
shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud,”
&c. And that of Tertullian against Marcion,
lib. v. c. 10. “ Christ, the High Priest of the cir-
cumcised priesthood, when at length it shall
come to pass, that the circumcision and the peo-
ple of Abraham acknowledge him, shall be
deemed worthy of acceptance and benediction.”
To this agrees what is contained in the book of
Berachoth, lib. xi. c. 1. on the faith of Peter the
Galatian, and is thus read : “ Ben Zuma said, It
will come to pass, that Israel will not mention of
the coming up out of the land of Egypt in the
age to come, and in the days of the Messiah.
And what is the proof of this 2 Because it is
written, Jer, c. xxiii. “Behold, the days come,
when they shall no longer say, The Lord liveth,
who caused the children of Israel to come up out
of the land of Egypt,” &c. The wise men have
said, not that the name of Egypt should be extir-
jºr
{
454 OPINIONS OF THE HEBREW DOCTORS
pated from its place, but that the wonderful
things which shall come to pass in the days of
those kingdoms, that is, when the Messiah shall
destroy the kingdoms of the world, will be the
chief in their estimation, and Egypt will be but
secondary. From these and similar sayings, the
reader may learn why Jerome so often reproaches
Judaism for its millenaries ; which indeed he
does so studiously, that this may appear to have
been the triumphant argument by which he
would prove the error of that dogma. But how-
ever it may be with the dogma, and whether
these fathers judged advisedly or not, to think
with the Jews is not always to be imputed as a
fault. Otherwise, why do we not likewise ex-
plode the age to come, Gehenna, Paradise For
do not we Christians hold these in common with
the Jews 2 Why should we not then receive
those expressions of the kingdom of the heavens,
and the day of judgment, delivered down from
the Jewish masters ? For where can they find
those in the canon of the Old Testament, which
however are very common among the doctors of
the Jews 2 Besides, who now, after having heard
the opinion of the ancient Hebrews concerning
the thousand years of the day of judgment, would
not immediately find himself induced to believe
that the apostle Peter in his dissertation about
the day of judgment, with the same people, (for
ON THE MILLENNIUM. 455
p-
both his Epistles were addressed to the Jews,)
and immediately subjoining to it, “Be not igno-
rant of this, that one day is with the Lord as a
thousand years,” meant to confirm the tradition
of the rabbis upon this very point 2 Especially
since those words seem not to be borrowed from
the Psalms, (as is generally supposed,) but from
the common formula of the Jews, when speaking
of that day. Nay, he will moreover reflect, that
unless Christ our Lord and his apostles had made
such frequent use of the expression of the day of
judgment, derived from the Jewish masters, in
the same sense as themselves, why do they never
point it out by a single word 2 For is it not a
very dangerous thing, nay, a mode liable to de-
ceive, to apply the words and phrases of those
who are in error in the course of doctrine, with-
out any caution or remark that they are used in
a different sense 2
Such being the case, I leave to those who are
able to judge of mysteries of this kind in theo-
logy, to consider whether this would be the best
and easiest method of acting with the Jews; not
that those very clear prophecies of events in the
second and glorious advent of Christ, should be
wrested by application to the first, but that they
should be persuaded that no other Messiah is to
be expected by them, who will fulfil all those
things ; mutatis mutandis however, (for the
456 OPINIONS OF THE HEBREW DOCTORS
Christian is not here to be precisely of the same
opinion with the Jews, but to be guided by the
measure of Christian faith,) no other than Jesus
of Nazareth, whom their ancestors crucified, as
the Apocalypse every where so earnestly incul-
cates. “Behold,” says its author, just after its
commencement, “ Jesus Christ, the first born
from the dead, who loved us, and washed us
from our sins in his own blood, behold, he cometh
with clouds, and every eye shall see him, even
they who pierced him, and all the kindreds of the
earth shall wail because of him. I am A and Q,
the First and the Last, saith the Lord, which is,
and which was, and which is to come.” Also he
attributes that august kingdom every where to
the Lamb, that is, to Jesus Christ who was slain;
as ch. vii. of the multitude bearing palms, “ The
Lamb shall feed them,” &c.; c. xvii. v. 14, “The
Lamb shall subdue them, because he is King of
kings, and Lord of lords;” c. xix. v. 7. “The
marriage of the Lamb is come ;”
the New Jerusalem, “I will show you the spouse
of the Lamb ;” and v. 23. “ The Lamb is the
light thereof.” &c. For while we wrest those
very clear prophecies of events relative to the
second coming of Christ, and apply them to the
first, the Jews hold us in derision, and are more
confirmed in their infidelity. This method of
converting the Jews, unless I am much deceived,
c. xxi. v. 9. of
ON THE MILLENNIUM. 457
the apostle Peter pursued, Acts c. iii. v. 19.
“Repent ye,” says he, “ and be converted, that
your sins may be blotted out, and that” the times
of refreshing may come from the presence of the
Lord; and that he may send Jesus Christ, who
was before preached unto you, whom the hea-
vens must receive till the time of the restitution
of all things, which God has spoken by the
mouths of all his holy prophets, since the world
began.”
“Prove all things. Hold fast that which is
good.” I Thess. c. v. ver. 21.
“ To our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, be
glory both now and to the day of the age.
Amen f.” 2 Peter c. iii. last verse.
Tº esq, 86&a 8ta "Ingow Xptorov sic touc atovac.
"A uñv.
X: ef “A */ * z sº
ôTwc à v šASwort. i sic jipuépay aid voc.
THE END.
L O N D O N :
GILBERT & RIVINGTON, PRINTERs,
ST. JoHN’s SQUARE.
J U S T P U B L I S H E D,
BY THE TRANSLATOR OF THE FOREGOING WORK,
A
COMMENTARY
ON THE
REVELATION OF ST. JOHN,
OR THE
A P O C A L Y P S E.
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