CAP .4. AReerelation ofthe Apocalypfe. 17¢ did underprop the throne, as the Buts ofSolomon didbeare,tp the braren Sea, under which theywere in that manner Wet, that their hinder parts lay hidden within their formoft parts which Ruck outward, i Kings 7.25. For when as the foure bea(ls fell downe, how fhould not the Throne fall together with them ? For wereade afterwards , That the foure Beafts caft themfelvesdofne before the Lambe. Chap. 5.8. But the words in the middeft, are as muchas to converfe among, or inTome parts : as Abraham is Paid, to be a Prince ofgod in the middeft ofthefonnes of Heth, Gen.23,6. That is, among. And fo elfe- where commonly. Wherefore Theodore Reza hath tranflated it in a cleare fenfe : Betfeen theThrone and the risings that compaffed theThrone,where- by is fignified , that the Beaflscome morenear to the Majeftie of God then the Elders, by reafon oftheir fun&ion; and that they do in Tome part touch that feat which glifiereth withdivineglory, which is a cleare argument indeed of the Minifery allotted unto them. Thefe Beafts are foure in number, accordingas the numberofthe ChriftianMiniftery is increafed. For as the Chriflian Congregati- on is twice fomuch greater then that under theLaw, that confuting of foure and twenty Elders, this oftwelve `Patriarks; fo thepro- portion ofMiniflers is double, of foure Beafts, for foure and twen- ty Elders : to the one Tribe of Levi alone, in refpe&of the twelve Princes of Ifraci. In refpe& of the Elders that fit in a circuit about the higheft Throne, they are as it were foure beamesoftwo diamiter lines di- vidinga circle at the right angles, wherewith the circumference is on every fide, and equally joyned with the middeft ofthe Throne. They are fo difpofed towards all coafts by the foure chiefe poles, that they may very fitly ferve to inflrul the whole Church , as that river that wasdivided into foure heads could water Paradife. Thefe qualities yet be more remote , thofc that be nearer joyned arebe- longing to their bodies, and to their longs. To thofe firfl doe the eyes belong wherewith the Beafls are filled beforeand beh nde. Thisfulneffe, noteth out that ungular fharpneffc and riches of underftanding in divine things, wherewith they are indued by the gift of the Spirit. Which kinde of Minifters Chrifl requireth ; That they might be the tight ofthe World, Mat- thew j. e4nd that they might got before the blink in the right B b war,
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