w8 Jn ExPOSITION ~ (Chap. 17. and here Chap. 1 I.) bec~ufe that, as the fcope of hin:> there, was t~ ~ give an Interpretation and Exphcatton who the Whore was; fo hts fcope her~,1s to give a clear Interpretation of the Ttmet of this BeaJI. a11d Whore, and the Im– mediate Tokens or Signals that !hall fore· run the enamg of them). And look as in that 17th Chapter, when one of the Angels of the Vials (and as it is thought, the Fifth) gives the Interpretation. who the Bean: and W~ore is ; he doth it by a Speech, meerly as an ],terloCHtor,to mform John; fo here, 1~ hke ma~ner cloth this Angel. Yet fo, as you may alfo obferve that h1s Narration here m this 1 uhChapter, is fir(t occa!ioned by a Vilion prefented, of the Face and State of the Church, as it fhould be in that la(t Age wherein rhefe Things are to be accomplifhed; namely, of a Temple prefenred fianding with an outward [ 01 ,.t furrounding it, and an Altar in it, and two Witnejfes llanding before the Lord, and minillring in it. Which Vilion firfi to have been made unto Joh", is tacitly implied, in that the firfl: entrance of h1s Speech begins with bidding John to arife, and to do a real Act towards the Temple, even to meajitre it. And therefore fuch a Temple, &c. mufl: needs have been preftnted to his view. And thereupon obferve how that this Vilionof a Temple, and of an Outward Court adjoined, is made the gronnd or occalion of the Angel's following Speech; as from which the Angel takes the rife of his following Difcourfe. So that this Vi– fton of the Temple's meafuring, and giving its Outward Court to the Gentiles, is the firfi Occurrence that is here prefented as belonging to that Age, (wherein Time is to expire) as from whence he takes the ground of that his Difcourfe, (wherein he explains ho:n much time the Beafl: was to have, and how and when it llJOu!d end); which Difcourfe, after that explained, clofeth again with the , Rdation of another Occurrence, ( verJ 7.) that !hall fall out after this, in that Age, as the )aft ftgnal of all. And this is done jufl: in the like manner, as chap. 17. one of the Angels of the feven Vials (who therefore mufl: be fuppo– fed to fl:and in the Times of the Vials) being to make a Defcription of the Beafl, and of the Whore, (namely, Rome, the Seat;ofthe Fourth Monarchy) in all the Times allotted her ; yet takes his rife from a Vilion of that Whore, as then in her lafl: old Age, and in the Times of the Vials, !he fbould appear drunft with the Blood of the Saints, ju(t before her ruin. And yet there, in that his Speech about her, he fpeaks of her as in her whole time of reigning fbe fhou!d be. Jufl: fo here, this Angel ( Chrift) firll enters upon the Stage but as an Actor, under the Times of the ftxth Trumptt, and in the very declenfion of it, and takes hisOath as under thole Times; and then prefenrs to John a Vilion of the Fa<;e of the Church, (in that prefent Age, under the latter Times of the iixth Trumpet) as of a Temple which in thefe prefent Times he will have meafured by ]uhn, as reprdtnting the Pcrfons of the Saints of that Age) and leaving out the Omward Court of it, as to be given again unto the Gentiles : And then from that Occalion, (it being part of that !'cattering the Power of the Holy People which Da11iel aimed at) he plays the p>rt ot an Interlocutor, and makes a Narration of the whole Times of Popery, which after this their treading down this Outward Court of the Temple, were to expire. And he takes occa– lion allo to relate and difcourfe of that oppolition which the Witnelfes lhould make againfl: the Bean:, or thefe Gentiles, a!! the Time of his whole Reign; and fo defcnbes them, verJ3,4,5,6. And all this, as an Interlocutor, or a Chorus in a Comedy ufeth to do. Till at la(t he comes again to that !all Occurrence which belonged to !hat Age wherein he llood,when he began his Speech, (namely now towards tlJ@ end of the ftxth Trumpet) as that which fbould then befal thefe Wimel!cs. With which he determines his Speech about them, from ve>f 7· to the end of the Chapter. Unto the better and clearer undernanding of which, all hJS former defcnptton of them, and what elfe he related concerning them, had only made the way. Namely to !hew, both what that Time was, which in Daniel had been fo darkly delivered, and how it lhould end, and how '(to ufe the Phrafe in Daniel) the flattering of the Holy ?Jeoplt lhould be accom– plifh'd. So then, 4· 'PROl-E:
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