inquire about anything in preference to this, just as though it had been written : Blessed is he who does not read , and they who do not hear , etc. Let them see that they do not, in devising every pretext for refusing the heavenly gift, show weariness towards God (Isa. vii. 12, 13), and that they be not found ungrateful towards Christ. But rather, Blessed is he who reads , and they who hear and keep ; especially in our times, which are not far distant from a great change of affairs, as we shall see. It is better, in inquiring into the times, if only faith, hope, and love have the chief place in our heart, to at- tempt as much as possible, and to incur ridicule (Gen. xxxvii. 19), than, with the brave spirits of the wrorld, to despise admonitions which appear paradoxical, and to be crushed with the accomplish- ment of the events, Dan. ii. 34, 45, compared with Matt. xxii. 44, at the end ; or, after the manner of the J ews, to be repeatedly expect- ing events already long accomplished. The Jews curse those who reckon the times of the Messiah : the Apocalypse blesses the good hearers of prophecy, which comprises the near approach of the time and the calculation of the intermediate times. The mournful variety of interpretations, it is true, increases daily : whence it happens that a kind of cloud is spread over the eyes of many, so that, although the truth is clearly placed before them, they admit it either less, or cer- tainly not more, than they do specious inventions. And yet there are not wanting aids to understanding, in the case of all who rightly employ them, without throwing away the hope of understanding them.
I. The foundation of all is a pure text, restored from the best
copies.
II. This book is most closely jointed : it arranges a multiplicity of subjects by means of seven epistles, seals, trumpets, and vials ; it divides each of these sets of seven into a set of four, and of three ; it interprets many things of itself, and declares what are the seven stars ; the seven candlesticks ; the Lamb , and His seven horns and seven eyes ; the incense ; the dragon ; the three spirits , like frogs ; the heads and horns of the beast ; the ivaters , where the whore sits ; the fine linen; the testimony of Jesus ; the second death ; the Lamb’s wife. It sup- plies us with most convenient formulae : the first woe is past , etc. ; the number of a man , the measure of a man, which is that of an angel , etc.
III. The comparing of the ancient prophets is of service ; and the