of the REVELATiON. ligion fiill, are let out ; .whereas there,_ only Satan's,C?nfufion in being thrown ~ down, is defcnbed; whtch was very futtable,that bemg the Story ofthe Churcb, ~ this of the Emptre more cmmently. . So then two things are dillinctiy fet out unto us under thefe Phrafes and Me~ taphors. Firft; By the darh,_ning the Sun, Moon, dnd Stm, a~cordin~ to !he Analogy of the Prophets, is expre!Ied the dcpofing of thole Heathemfh Emperors and Governors in that State, confidered as they, did llrive to keep up Hcathcnilm, (with whom Satan and his Worfhip allo fell) : .So as though the State flood fiill yet thole Governors, and the Heathenilm of the State, were removed and defrroyed, and thrown down from their Heaven, the Superior Government of that State; which ·wasdone by Chri(t's fending Madnefs and Dileales upon Dio– deflan and Maximinianll!, Heathenifh Emperors; inlomuch, as they, out of a fenlc of the Lamb's Wrath, gave over their Government ( whil£1 they were in the Meridian of their Glory) to the wonderment of ~he World. And after– wards MaxenlitiJ and Maximin!IJ (Heathen Emperors alfo) were overcome by Licinillf, whilfl he favoured the Chrifiians, and was Colleague with Conftantine; by which Conjia11tine it was afterwards more complcatly furthered and carried on ; for when the forelaid Liciniu; made a Revolt unto Heathenilm,_Conftantine fubdued him and his Chieftaim, (for Heathemfm went not down without blows) and turned that whole State Chrifl:ian, when he had depofed Heathcnifh Perle– ·cutors. Now fitch a Depofing of Governors in a State, and \)verthrowing their Armies, is in the Prophets exprelTed, by darlzning the Sun, Moon, and Star;, as well as the overthrowing the State it le!£ So !fa. 13. 10. the depofing the Ba– bylonian Monarch and his Nobles by the Medes, is fet forth, verJ 2, 3, and 4, by the dar/zning the Sm1, their King; the iHoon, their Q)!een ; the .Stars, their Nobles. And in another place it is faid, HolV art thou fdlen, 0 Dtcifer, tholt Son of the Morning! (peaking of the bright Star the King of 'Babe!; who, !fa. 14. laid, He wouldafcend to He.vm, and exalt his Throne above the Stars. In the Dialetl: and Phrafe of Speech ufed in the Eallern Countries, (as among the Arabiam and Je!Vs, &c.) To throw down any ones excellency, is exprefied by cafiing down his Heaven to the Earth. And lo it may be faid; (that which alia fame Interpreters would have) that rbat which after follows, expreifeth but the fame thing which was at firO: metaphorically uttered under the Prophets Allufi– ons, of Sun, Moon, and Stars; all which John afterwards literally expoundeth, verJr S· when he fays, [ andtheKings of the Earth]; that is, thofe Roman Em– perors, the SHns of this Firmament were fiep'd off from their Glory and their Stars;' the Heatheni!h Nobles, that adhered to them, were depofed; their Mo 1111 • tain; removed, that is, their Chieftains and jlrong Mw, as fuch are called, !fa. 2. 14. lo that the one is but an expofition of the other. And thus, only the mite" rable overthrow of the Heathenifh Worfhippers is here defcribed, as became the Seal-Prophecy, even as the putting down of Satan and his Worfhip, is exprelTed in the Book-Prophecy. And that \~hich may llrengthen this Interpretation, is, That the rell of the Prophecy bemg to proceed wtth the like Metaphors, of Plagues upon the Sun, Moon, Stars, Earth, Trees, efN. (for in fuch Language and Metaphors, are the Contents of the Trumpets and Vials exprelTed): He therefore here gives one literal Explanation of them in this, which is his firfl: mention of fuch, which one may ferve for all; that fo by the Analogy of the Holy Gholl's own Expofition here, the refi might be interpreted; who makes Kingsto be as the Sun, and Nobles as the Stars, &c. To this purpofe you mufl: know, that in Scripture Defcriptions and Expreffions, (the Prophets ufing to point things out by Similitude) every Kingdom, State, or Body ofMen, is com– pared and acrtmilated to a World; in which, what is luperiour and highefl:, is called the Heavem; and therein, the highefl: the S11n, the next the :JJ1oon, and next to them the Stars, &c. And what is of lower Rank, is called the Eartb, Sea, 'l(jvers, andTrees, &c. And therefore Punirhments on Srates and King– doms, in this Book, arc expre!Ied by calling them down fi·om their Heavens, and by Mileries falling upon the Rivers, the Sea, &c. whereby fuch things are G 2 under-
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTcyMjk=