tV1n ExPo s r T r oN ,r:;:;;;:;-\..d7'"1 alfo rejoicing, feaf\ing, and fending Gifts for Joy that they had them thus down, PART I!. and in their Power; (even as the Ph"rifw did at that their great Feaf\ of the ~ Paflover, when they were (as they thought) rid of the torment which Chrif\'s Miniflry had put them to; and made it the )oyfullef\ Feaf\ and Paffover that ere they kept.) After all which, that thofe Wtrneffes fhould notwtthflandmg n!e a– gain, (even as our Lord did) and rife with an Earth-quake (a> He then did) and with an "ffiigl!t to thetr Enemtes tbatfee It, (as befel thofe Souldters who faw Hts, as yon may read in the Stary ofhts Refurrechon,) and after thts, fhould "fiend up to Heaven (as He then did); all this makes the AlluGon here very full and ob– fcrvable. And becaufe the Holy Ghofl: thus alluded unto Chrifl:'s Sufferings, therefore ] ohn by way of Parcmhefis, puts in thefe Words ,(fpeaking ofthe Place where this Slau!(hter was to be) [rn theC1ty (C1ys he) where our Lord a!fo wM cm– ciftcd] ver. 8. That fame [o'(• wl] [where a~] may have a double reference; it may as a Copulative relate to the former Cmes unto whtch he bad refembled tr, (even Sodom and Egypt); in this Senfe [and [that C1ty 11/jo] where om· Lord':'"! a 11 cifted] that"' Jcmfa!em, Andtt may aswell refer unto the Word [Crucified] in this Senfe, where our Lord was before m like manner [cruciji'ed] there are th,fe now in like manner to be [kjUed.] sEcT. III. That t/,i-J killing ofthe Witnejfes u to be exewted by, andunder t!,e Power'of tT,e :Beaft of Rome: .And jo could mt be meant ofany of tbe former Perfecuti– ons in the !R,sformed [lmrches, tvhich tvere from amm~ themfe/)les. - THus much in Genetal,for the Underflanding this great Occurrence,which is yet to come m the Church. Now more particubrly, to explain fome things about it (though it be a d iilicult thing to hit right in the underfl:anding, and much more in applying the Circumfl:ances ofa Prophecy unto things to come, and which the Events do befl: interpret.) I. Take notice, that the Power and Authority by which thisSlaughter fhall be made, is to·be that ofthe 'Beafl, or the Pope ofRome : and this, as having re– gained more or lc!S Power in thefe Placos where thefe Witneiies are. This is t:vident, r.ln that not fo much their Enemies who are among them,and ofthe Reformed Religion with them, (that yet hate them) but the Beaft that afcwdJ 011t of the bot– tomhfr Pit, is faid to ~ill them. And, 2. In that he calls the Place where their dead Bodies lie, (and fo, (by confcquence) where thiS Sbughter IS tO be executed,) the City where 011r Lord was crucified. Which is not fpoken ofJemfolem, but ofRome; that being here called the great City, which Chap. 17. ver. Jail, is called the City which then mled overthe 1Cmg1 ofthe E•rth: Which can be none but Rome. And to make this good, we are to know, that the Junfdtchon of the Rov1an Emptre, was then in John's Time called tbe City: And therefore the whole World was called Orbis Romrmu<, the Roman World. (And ~n like manner now, all Kingdoms fubjeCled to the Pope, arecalled the Church of 1f.ome, as together makmg thatgrMC1t)'.) And in that World the City ofRome was as the Regal Palace, from whence iffued out Edicts and Commands over all. And in fuch a fenre it is C1id [the City where Chrifl was cmcified] ; becaufe It was the Romrm Power and Authority by which he was put to Death, though it were done at']erufalem (for thither did the JurifdiCl:ion of Rome reach); and therefore Chnfl: C1ys, they fbould deliver him 11p unto the Gen– tilei, Mat. 20. 19. that is, the Rom,mt, who then had trodden down that Holy Ci•y, and got the command of it; the Pht~rifees owning C<£for for their King. And thus now for the killing thefe Witnefies, it mu£\ be, that theBeaft ofRome {hall
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTcyMjk=