cvfn ExPOSITION ~--; 1JIIjf/;c [krllcd] bytheSword; asfbewing theCaufe :md M.1nneroftheBeaft"";s P ·' "T I!. bloody Fall and Kuin in the end, and what it is that fhould provoke God and ~ Man umo it; ct•en their butchering of the Saints. And although Antichriit's Power is in ~cneral there Cet our, as it 010uld be in his Height and Ruff, and during the ~vhole Time of his Reign, as getting Power over all 'ations, Tongues, and Kindreds, and here only his lair parricubr War againit the Wit– ndks is dclcribed (which 010uld immediately forego his Ruin); yet it fol– lows not, that this Expreflion here 010uld not be of the fim1c f\arure and Kind, and import the C1me Cruelty and manner of prevailmg that Js.therc intended. For notwithftancling that the Iflue of the !aft pantcular War, ts the f.1tal and utter [( uin of the Beaft; yet that hmders not, but that ,he m.1y firft recover again the like Power, and exercife the like Cruelty over thefc Witndks for this !mall fpace, whtch he had done m former Ages, "hen he obt.nned Power fo long to continue over them. Yea, tt may be feared, by that Dtrge of her own Funeral Song, whtch her felf at \aft makes, m the IJtb Ch.rptcr, ~·erfJ, a. that ilie 01all recover her ancient Powu again, or at ka(t t=ntt..rrain ctrtain Hopes and Expectations of it, through her prevailing over tome (and thole of the chief of h<r loft Kingdoms. for there you may read that (when the next da) (as it were) O'e is to be lmrnt for a Witch, ane! a Whore) jbc fiitb in her Hrt~rt, and Gngs, I jit as a .f<!!.cen, tmd am nv TV1dd{trv, tu.d fo.dt fee 110 Sorrow. Which is fpoken of her preG.nt Condition juft befiJte her Fall ; for it follows, [ ti.•crcforc f!J,,I/lcr Plagii<J come in one d,'J., tmd jhe flu// be r:lferly burnt with Fire; f•r flroug iJ ti.e I ord tvho judgeth f.er] · All which implies, that as her dcHru– dton fhould be fuddain, and in the midi! of ber rejoicing; fo that fhe fhJI\ have got fiJCh Power and Footing again, as that God's Omnipotent Power mull: be put forth in that her fo fuddam and unexpected Ruin after all this. There is the like intimated in that mcmion of the Beaft's recovery of his Po\\cr, in D.miel, Chap. I r. veof ult. v.l1ere it is added, [ 1'et J /,e flu/! come to hi! cncl]; as imroning the greatnefs of that Work, and the utter unlikelyhood of it, now when he 01all have gained his Power fo fetlcdly again. That [J<I J comes in there, as that [Jet J in the 2cl Pftlm does; [ Yct J I have jet my King 011 my Holy Hill of Sion, maugre all the Oppofition and Rage of the Ger.tdc·s and l'l·arljW; though they have fo £1r prevailed as to crncifv him; 1'et I have fet my Son ae King or. S;on, and raiftd up him and his Caufe again to prevail. And I therefore encline to think, tlrat that Song of the Whore, mentioned ~·<>I 1· of the I 7th Chapter, is littered by her as during this her merry Time at \aft; when fbe and her friends rejoice fo, and make merry during thefe three Years and an half, (N>j. 1o. of this 1 Ith Chapter) ; when fiJddainly after it !be is to be ruined. Yea, I believe, that the Cruelties, which upon this reco– very of her Power, fl1e may now at !aft exercife (according to her manner in former Ages) may be the means to revive the Memory of all her former Slaugh– ters, and Co to provoke God and Men, as for t!Hs her Jail Blood·fhed to bring t!pon her the Blood of all the Prophets and Martyrs before f11ed, even as the Blood of Chrill: at bft brought upon the ]ews the Blood of all from Af,el, to provoke God to ruin ']emfda;t. That as the Ten Tribes were enraged againft the BmjamitCJ, "tth eagernefs to root them out, becanfe of their great Victory at firll: got ovu· themftlves: So may the Protefbnt Parry be whetted on by theft frdb killings of the Saints (which may revive the memory of all the for– mer, otherwife apt to be forgotten) to do execution upon thefe their Enemies without all Mercy. And fo fhall be fulfilled what is laid, chap. 13. He tbat kjl– leth 1rith tle Sword, mr'fl be kjUecl by the Swore!: They !ball rewr.rd her, as fhe had rctvardd them juft before, as chap. I7. verf. 6. And whereas it is alledged; That this being b·lt one particular War againll: the WitnefTes, why fl10uld it be alone mentioned, tlaft as fome way peculiar, if it were fuch as Antichrifl had commonly made upon the Saints all his former Days, which are mentioned ch<~p. I o? The Angel would not have recorded it thus alone by it felf, if it bad not been a different War from thole former ones which the Beall: made againft thefe Witndfes. The
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTcyMjk=