Ch. 16. Theftxth Angel, &c. ReveIatioh. The feventhAngel, &c. Ch.16 natural Death: Valerian taken, captivated, and Emperors, and by his flatteringOracles, Au- made his Foottool by Saperes, and flead. To gores, Orators, etc. to perfwade all the 'fore, be an Emperor, was the next way to Murder; Paid Princes to fight againft Conjlaraine, efpe. or fome odious Difr..ce and Death, by hint cially Maxenriuu and Licinius, that they might that couldovercome and kill him. fall as ,dhab and Pharaohdid. And Papal Rome was fubdu'd by the Barba- Or,fay others; they were Popith Miflionaries; 2*ans. Other Expobtions are many. Priefts and Friars,fent out by Antichriftian Civil 12. And tile flxth angel poured Powers, ándAntichriftianEcelefaticalPowers; out his vial upon the great river Eu- ro drawMen to Popery and Idolatry, that they phrates, and the water thereof was Thed f fo fome akeas before, for Confas. dried up, that the way of the kings tine's Viltoriesagainft Idolaters; others for the of the eaft might be prepared. Day ofthe Pope's Fall, and others for the lath 12. That this fignifieth a further progrefs Day ofJudgment. towards Idolatrous perfecuting Rome's Deltru- 19. Behold, I come as a thief; (lion, and the Churches Deliverance, is clear; Bleiled is he that watcheth and keep- hut whit Euphrates fignifieth, and what itsdry. eth his garments, left he walk naked, ins up, and what the Way of the Icings of the g , Bnfl, Expofitors greatly differ in. Some take and they fee his !!tame. Euphrates literally, tome mythically, tome foe IS. My coming will be, when Men expe& the Turk, fome for the chief Champions of An- me not: bleffed is he that prepareth not for eichtflt; fome for the chiefStrength and Garri- Shame and Confufiön, when his Sin and Hÿpo- fen ofBabylon, tome for the Pope's Riches and critic than, by my Judgment, be brought to great Tributes andRevenues, and fome for the light, by complying with the higher Powers in RiverTibris in Rame,'and Co for Rome it felf. Sin, as thinking that I will be long in coming And thefe take the drying of it up to be the h to take down Sinner, and fet up Saints. cui.e of Maxentiu., by Conflantine, deftroy'd 16. And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue, Armageddon. t6. The Devil's Prophets rovok'd them to gather, and fight to their dettru&ion. Note, Here the Dragon is expounded to be Devils ; and this word, Devils, in this Book ufually fignifieth thofe Idols. (7upiter, Mars, IpoUo, &c.) which the Romans worlttip'd in- (teach of God ; (for Paul tells us, it was De- vils th-t they worfhip'd). And it being the Spirits of thefe Devils, or Heathen Idols, that are Cent out, it feemethmolt probable that it is the War with the Heathen Idolaters that is here meant. Dr. H. after Grotius noteth, that in the Fight at Rome, Maxentius had a hundred and fe- venry thoufand Foot, and eighteen thoufand Honk, ofRomans, Italians, &c. and Conflantine hd a0000 Foot, Soon Horte, ofGermans,Gaso and Britain; and that the Vi&ory was offuch confequence, that from that day the Account ofYears, by India pions, began to commemorate the Deliverance of City and Char:h, (which lince is turn'd into accounting from the Birth of Chrift.) But others fay, It is the day of the Fall of Antichriff ; and fay, of-the deftru&ionof the Turks. And fome fay, He that gatherd them together is Chrift, or God, by his permit- ting Providence,for their deftru&ion. 17. And the feventh angel poured out his vialinto the air,and there came a great voice out of the templeof hea- ven from the throne,faying,It isdone. up. The in Tiber: Others think the drying up to be the Deftru&ion of theTurks : and fo they vary in the reft. But fome think that this is but a fur- ther aflimulation of the Cafe to the Ifraelites, when the Red Sea was dried upfor their efcape, and to prepare the way for Pharaoh's ruine ; and fignifieth, that the danger and impediments ofthe Chriftians Deliverance were remov'd,by the overthrow of all the Idolaters Forces, the Ruin' of Dioclefian, Maxim. Herculins, fierier. Maxim. Macentias, Licinius, that fo the Chri- ftians, by and with Cenflantine, might triumph. AndTome think it is a weakeningofthe Roman Power toward Euphrates, to let in the Peruana and others to affli& them. t 3. And I faw three unclean fpirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beaft, and out of the mouth of the falfe prophet. 14. For they are the fpirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth, and of the whole world, to ga- ther them to the battei of that great dayof God Almighty. t;, r4. As when ..shahwas to be defiroy- cd, the Devil was a lying Spirit in the mouth of all his Prophes, and bid him, Go andprofer; and 7_idkiah made Horns, to f'gnifie his V i.Rory. So I law, as it were, threeDevilslike the Frogs ofE+ypt, or three lying Spirits, tent by Satan, and encourag'd by the idolatrous perfecuting
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