/ Suppoſing the Saracens and Turks here meant by the Locuſts, here ariſe two Difficulties : x7. How it can be ſaid of them, That they had no Power to kill, but only torment Men. 2. How their time is ſet for five Months, whereas they have already tormented the World more than a thouſand years; and how long they ſhall yet continue to do fo, God only knows : they are both great Dith- culties. Alſted tells us, That Mahomet began 622, and the Saracens centred Spain 714, where they were called Moors, and kept Poſlet- fion of that Kingdom 800 years, and that 719 they beſieged Con- Stantinople with a Navy of 3000 Ships, and 300000 Land Soldiers ; that before this time they had made themſelves Maſters of Arabia, Paleſtina, Syrla, Perſia, Egypt, Africa, and Spain; and in 726, car- ried into France an Army confiſting of 375000, where they were beaten by Charles Martell, Father to King Pepin. Mr. Mede teJleth us, That the Saracens grievouſly vexed the Countries ſubjef to the Roman Empire, but could not take either Rome or Conſtantinople. The latter was taken by the Turks, 1454. commanded by Sultan Mahomet, This 1s but a hard Interpretation of thoſe words, that they ſhould not kill themp which, it may be, hath made ſome other Interpreters chuſe;to interpret theſe Locyfts to fignitie the Roman Clergy, who indeed did not kill Men for Religion, of many years. But both the one and the other tormented the World enough, and that like a Scorpion, which pierceth a Man with a venomo:#s ſting, and puts him to a great Pain : For the five Months, we ſhall again meet
with them, verſe 10,
6s And in thoſe days * ſhall men ſeek death, and ſhall not find it, and ſhall defire to die, and death ſhall flee from them 7. |
# The calamities of thoſe days ſhall be ſo great, that Men ſhall be weary of their Lives,
7 And the ſhape of the locuſts were like unto Hor- ſes prepared unto the barrel z ; and upon their heads were as 1t were crowns like gold #, and their faces
were as the faces of men -x.
# This whole Deſcription of theſe Locuſts ſpeaks them no Inſet, but to be miſchievous Men ; they were very terrible to look uvons like Horſes harneſſed ready to fight; fo eel 2. 44 w This fignified _y ſhould be great and rich, Conquerours. x Yet theſe were
en.
s And they had hair as the hair of women y, and
their teeth were as zhe teeth of lions 3.
y Diſhevelled, or hanging looſe; the Arabians were wont to 0 ſo; or this may ſignifie, that they were beautiful as well as terrible to look upon. x Sharp and ſtrong, ſee 7oel 1.6. |
9 And they had breaft-plates, as it were breaſt- plates of iron a, and the ſound of their wings was as the found of chariots, of many horſes running to
battel b.
a Armed with the beſt Armour of Defence. b Like Locuſts,they moved very ſwiftly. This agreeth to the Saracens, who made ſuch haſte in their ery rh that ( faith Mr. Xfede ) in little more than 80 years they had ſubdued Paleſtine, Syria, both the Armenia's, al- moſt all the lefſer Aſia, Perſia, India, Egypt, Numidia, all Barbary, Portugal, Spain, and within a few more, Sicily, Candia, Cyprus, and were come to the very Gates of Rome, ſo as they had many Crowns on their Heads, and moved 2s with Wings.
10 And they had tails like unto ſcorpions c, and there were ſtings in their tails 4, and their power was to hurt men five months 2.
c A kind of venomous Serpents 4 that have their Stings in their Tails, with which they preſently kill both Men and Beaſts. e What theſe five months mean, is very hard to ſay; certainly it is a certain number for an uncertain, and mentioned rather than any other times, becauſe it is ( as they ſay ) the uſual time of the, Life of Licuſts, though ſome obſerve, that five months have in them ( counting as the Hebrews, 3o days to the month ) x50 davs, and a day ſtanding fora year, as in Prophetical Writings, it denoteth the juft time the Saracens raged in Italy, from the year 83o, to the year 980; as to which I refer my Reader to ſearch Hiſto- ries.
11 And they had a king over them which 7s * the angel of the bottomleſs pit f, whoſe name in the He-
brew tongue zs Abaddon g, but in the Greek tongue j 7hat isro ſay, a des ſtoyer.
hath h:zs name || Apollyon h.
f Solomon
Chap. IX.
12. 25.
*Tob 3.21. Iide 2. 19. Chap.5.16.
* Yer. I.
| Chap. IX.
*Ch.8.13.
| Or, as.
*Pſ. 68.17 Dan. 7.10
f Solomon, Prov. 30. 27. ſaith, The Locuſts hove no King over them, yet they go forth by Bands ;, according to which theſe Locuſts cannot be underſtood of InſeRts fo called, or, if they have a King, yet it is certain the Devil 15 not their King, who is here called the Angel of the bettomleſs Pit. g From TAR he hath deſtroyed. h That is, a Deſtroyer ; intimating that the whole buſineſs of this barbarous Ene- my, ſhould be to ruine and deſtroy Nations.
12 * One wo is: paſt, and behold there come two
more woes hereafter 7.
7 One period of time is over, in which God hath plagued the World with a very great Judgment ; but there are two more to come, which will be equally, if not more calamitous.
13 And the fixth angel ſounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before
God 7
? That is, from God ; I heard him give a Command, which
Voice is aid to have proceeded from the Golden Altar ( in allufion
to Exod. 30.3. ) becauſe there God received the Prayers of his Peo- ple ; and this Voice proceeding from that place, might ſignifie the following Judgment to come in anſwer to the Prayers of his Ser- vants Souls from thence crying to him for Vengeance. See chap. 6. 9, IO, ;
14 Saying to the fixth angel which had the trum- pet, Looſe the four angels which are bound in the
great river Euphrates &.