prieſts 7 : and we ſhall reign on the earth #.
7 The four living Creatures, and four and twenty El lers (by which are repreſented the Miniſters and Membcrs of the Churci ot Chriſt) go on 1n ſhewing why they had reaſon to proclaim Chr f(t worthy to be the Prophet to his Church, to open the Countc's ot God to them, viz. becauſe of the great love he had ſhewed to them, not only in redeeming them with his Blood from the Guilt and Power of Sin, but in making them Kings and Prieſts, giving them the ſame Priviledges that the Jewiſh Church had, who were
called a Royal Prieſthood, Exod. 19. 6. grving them a Power (as
Prieſts) to offer up (not ſuch blo94y fleſhly Sacrifices as they offered, but) ſpiritual Sacrifices, acceptable to God through the Beloved, 1 Pet. 2.5, 9. and alſo Kings to rule over their Lufts, and ſenſ1- tive Appetite ; k and to reign hereafter on the Earth, judeing the World, 1 Cor. 6. 3. at the great Day, with the grext Fudge of the quick and the dead,
11 And [I beheld 7, and I heard the voice of ma-
ny angels round about the throne, and the beaſts,
and the elders 7, and the number of them vas **ren * Heb. 12.
thouſand times ten thouſand, and thouſands of thou 22 ſands 7 ;
/ I ſill attended diligently, m and I heard many Anzels, with the /:ving Creatures, and the Elders, (from whence we gather, that we mult not, by the living Creatures, or Elders, underſtand Ange's, for tney are mentioned apart by themſelves, neither could they ſay as v. 9, 10. that Chriſt had redeemed them with his Blood) theſe An- gels joyned in this Harmony with the Church to give glory to Chriſt. n Their number was infinite, not to be numbred. See the like, Dan. 7. 10.
12 Saying with a loud voice, * Worthy is the Lamb that was {lain o, to receive power, and riches p, and wiſdom q, and ſtrength, and honour, and glory, and blefting 7. |
o The Lamb mentioned ver. 6. with ſeven Horns, and ſeven Fres, viz. Jeſus Chriſt, p He is worthy of thoſe Horns he weareth, Em- blems of Power, and Strength given unto him ; for all Power was given him in Heaven and Earth. And q of thoſe ſeven Eyes he hath, 7. e. .of the Spiritiof Wiſdom, T/z. 11. 2. the Riches of Grace and Wiſdom, and r of all the Homage, Glory, Praiſe, Bleiſins, and Obedience, which People can give him. I know not whether * there be any thing in the Obſervation made by ſome, that the nuwm- ber of things here mentioned, of which the Lamb is worthy, «n- ſwereth the number of the ſeven Spirits of God, before-men- tioned.
13 And * every creature which is in heaven, and + yer ;,
on the earth, and under the earth, and ſuch as are in
the ſea, and all that are in them heard I ſaying, T Bl-l- + 1 C:ron, ſing, and honour, and glory, and power be unto him 25+ 1+:
that ſitreth on the throne, and unto the Lamb tor ever
and ever. | 14 And the four beaſts ſaid, Amen. And the four
and twenty elders fell down and worſhipped him thar liverth for ever and ever /.
{ The meaning of. the ſeveral Phraſes here uſed, 1s not fo te ſtrialy and particularly examined ; the ſenſe of th-m all in general. is to ſhew the conſent of -all the Angels and glorified Saints, and of the whole Church, in giving Praiſe unto God, and particul-r1y to the Lord Jeſus C!:riſt (the Lamb) for the work of Man's Redemptt
on 5
Chap. Y.
| _ Ty Ch.q.1 i, thereof g : for thon waſt ſlain þ, and halt || redeemed LFLISS us to God by the blood 7, out of . every kindred, and Eph. 1. 5. tongue, and people, and nation # , Col. 1. 14- f By a new Song, 1s either to be underſtood an cxcellent S;ng, 1 Pct. 1. (tor new Songs are uſually moſt valued) cr (which picateth me 18, 1%. beſt) new, as to the matter of it ; for the Servants of God vnder 1 Jol.t.”.
* Ch.4.1T.
v|
i
—— ——— —— 4 —
Chap. VI.
on ; and their particular conſent, that Chriſt is to be worſhipped as
| the Father; and the conſent and acquieſcence of the whole Crea-
tion in the Counſel and Purpoſe of God, and in the Work of his Providence, conſtituting Chriſt as the King, Prieſt, and Prophet of his Church. And though inanimate Creatures, or ſenſitive Crea- tures cannot ſpeak, yet they are alſo faid to join in theſe Praiſes, as the glory of God ſhineth in them, and they, by him, ſhall be freed from that Vanity under which they groan, Rom. 8, 19, 20, 21. and enjoy ſomething of the Liberty of the Sons of God, and ſhall all be ſubje& and obedient unto Chriſt in their reſpe@ive Stations and Orders, Phil. 2. 9, 10. and fulfil his Will in the Execution of his Counſels, and Purpoſes in the Government of the World, in order to the Preſervation of his Church,
CHA P.j VL
The firſt Seal opened, and a White Horſe with a Conqueror on it, 1, 2. The ſecond opened, and one on a Red Horſe, taking away Peace from the Earth, 3, 4. On the opening of the Third, one appeareth on a Black Horſe with a Balance in his Hand, 5, 6. Death cometh forth on a pale Horſe to deſtroy, at the opening the fourth Seal, 7, 8. The fifth Seal opened, the Souls under the Altar cry and are comforted, 5 ——11. On the opening the ſixth a great Earth- guake, and other terrifying Signs are obſerved, and all ſorts of Men cry to the Rocks, &c. to hide them jrom the Wrath of the Lamb, I 2—I7,
We are now come to the Prophetical, and therefore the moſt difficult Part of this myſterious Book ; as to which I judge it reaſonable, before we come to open the myſterious Text (after Mr. Pool's me- thod in his Latin Sympſis) to premiſe ſome things, which may both inſtru& the Reader of theſe Notes, of the things wherein the Difficulties lyze, and of the faireſt way to find out the Senſe of them. Hitherto we have met with no great Difficulties; what hath been, hath been chiefly, 1. concerning the ſeven Spirits of God. 2. Concerning the ſeven Churches, and the Epiſtles to them ; whether the Churches be to be conſidered typically, and what was wrote in them, be to be underſtood in a Prophetich, as well as a Diada#ich, or a Corre#ive Senſe?* But 1n what follows we ſhall find great (if not ſome inextricable) Difficulties, To pre- pare a way for the Explication of which,
I. I ſhall firſt take it for granted, that from this Chapter to the end of the Book, is revealed to the moſt remarkable things which have happened, or ſhall happen to the Church of God over all the Earth, from the time of this Revelation firſt made to Fohn, to the end of the World. |