of the REVELATION. upon Chap. I j. And I find Simpfon the Scotch Abbreviator of the Churches Sto- ~ ry to pitch the'beginning of the Popes Ufurpatton over Churches, in this Man's Chap. 7· Ti'me; who yet had no Eye at all unto _this Interpretation of666. And (as 1re- ~ member) Mr. Wood (now with God) m hts Manufcnpt upon the Revelations, cloth alfo encline to think the Year, I666, to be the Ttme of the Popes downfall. And fo alfo do Come others. That other firfi Period of I6so, or 5I, or 56, I find by Come to bemade the Time of the 'Jew; firfi Call. And by others, that of I656, to be the Time of the Expiring of Antichrifl's Reign, and the Fall of the City. The. firfi that I know of, that ever pitch'd upon this Term of Years, was that Holy Man Hil– teniM, (the great Fore-runner of Luther, in Germany); and w_ho foretold the very Year of Luther's Rifing after him, to teach the fame DoB:rme that he had done; which, MelanfJhon fays, he faw written under his own hand : Among other of whofe Sayings, you !hall find this as one of the lafl: recorded in his Life, (written among the Lives of the German Divines, by Melchior Adamw); that the Year after Chrifl: I651, !hall be the Time of the Change of this World, and fo, the beginning of that New World to come. Since him, many others (though haply not from him) have fallen upon this Period of I65o. So Finch ' in his Book of the Calling of the 'Jew;, makes it the Time when God will leave 'off (as fays he) to fcatter his Holy People, for then !hall the Turf<! firfl: de– ' dining come, &c. And the Jew; themfelves have their Eyes upon this very Time ; For it was a Secret communicated to old Mr. Forbe;, by a Learned Jew, (as Mr. Forbes him– fdf related it, not long before his Death ) that the learnedefl: Rabby they had had in the World, of late Years, did pitch upon I65o, or thereabouts, as the utmofl: Time wherein they lhould expeCt their .J/Ileffiah to reveal himfelf unto their Nation ; and how he had left this Secret with fame of his Learned Friends that came about him when he was on his Death-bed, to know his Judgment about the .J/Ilefliah. I find alfo Mr..JI1ede, in his Clavi!, to pitch upon I656, though tacitly, and implicitly, yet clearly enough) as the Time (he moft enclined unto) for the expiration of Antichrift's Kingdom. For in his Synchronifms, he mak<s the firfl: Trumpet, and !ne Pope's I 260 DaYs, to begin together; and in his Comment, he makes the beginning of the firft Trumpet to be in the Year 39S· So that, if the Reign of Antichrif\- begins at the Year of Chrifi395, then his I26o Days, or Years, will end 'm 1655. And thus there will be fo many Years from Chrifl: unto the beginning of the New World, as there was from the beginning of the Old World, until the Days of Noah, (unto whic~ Chrift compares his coming) even I656 Years. Now the bell: ground for this Opinion that ever I met with, (and which I fup– pofe,all,or moll of the[e have gone upon) is thatComputation of Years given to D•niel, Chap. I2. ver{. I 1. of his Prophecy, by this very Angel that gave this little Book here, and this I tth Chapter, by word of Mouth, unto 'John (as was faid before). Who there fays, That from the Time that the dai!J Sacrifice JbaU be tak!n away, and the Abomination that mak!th defolate, Jet up, thert!>foa/1 be a thOit· fmd, two hundred, and ninty Day, or Years. The beginning of which Ac– count they fix (as I faid before) in f•diat/s Time, when w:ifthe !all: Time,both of the ceafing of the daily Sacrifice by him fet up, and of fetting up Heathenifh Idolatry in the World. Which Years, if otherwife they be reckoned, from VefPajian, and Tit111 his Son, their facl<cing of 'jemfalem, were out almoft 300 Years ago. This Place and Account in Daniel, I fuppofe Hdteniw (the firft that pttch'd on it) had in his Eye for the ground of his Conjecture : For he was a great ftudier of Daniel's Prophecies, and wrote Notes upon them, ( as in hts Ltfe you may read). And Cure, I am, that Mr. Wood, Finch, and others, do make that the ground of their Opinions. And, I fuppofe, that moll: of all thefe 'Jew; alfo do the like. And (as was faid before) the reafon why Come do Co uncertainly pitch uponi651, others p, others 55, and others 56, is the va– nanon and uncertainty of the Account of Years fince 'julian's Time, when, and
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