Observations upon the Prophecies of Daniel, and the Apocalypse of St. John Part 11

[1] Isa. vi.

[2] Apoc. v.

[3] Apoc. vii

[4] Buxtorf in Synogoga Judaica, c. 18, 21.

[5] Ezek. ix.

CHAP. III.

_Of the relation which the Prophecy of _John_ hath to those of _Daniel_; and of the Subject of the Prophecy_.

The whole scene of sacred Prophecy is composed of three princ.i.p.al parts: the regions beyond _Euphrates_, represented by the two first Beasts of _Daniel_; the Empire of the _Greeks_ on this side of _Euphrates_, represented by the Leopard and by the He-Goat; and the Empire of the _Latins_ on this side of _Greece_, represented by the Beast with ten horns.

And to these three parts, the phrases of the _third part of the earth, sea, rivers, trees, s.h.i.+ps, stars, sun, and moon_, relate. I place the body of the fourth Beast on this side of _Greece_, because the three first of the four Beasts had their lives prolonged after their dominion was taken away, and therefore belong not to the body of the fourth. He only stamped them with his feet.

By the _earth_, the _Jews_ understood the great continent of all _Asia_ and _Africa_, to which they had access by land: and by the Isles of the _sea_, they understood the places to which they sailed by sea, particularly all _Europe_: and hence in this Prophecy, the _earth_ and _sea_ are put for the nations of the _Greek_ and _Latin_ Empires.

The third and fourth Beasts of _Daniel_ are the same with the Dragon and ten-horned Beast of _John_, but with this difference: _John_ puts the Dragon for the whole _Roman_ Empire while it continued entire, because it was entire when that Prophecy was given; and the Beast he considers not till the Empire became divided: and then he puts the Dragon for the Empire of the _Greeks_, and the Beast for the Empire of the _Latins_. Hence it is that the Dragon and Beast have common heads and common horns: but the Dragon hath crowns only upon his heads, and the Beast only upon his horns; because the Beast and his horns reigned not before they were divided from the Dragon: and when the Dragon gave the Beast his throne, the ten horns received power as Kings, the same hour with the Beast. The heads are seven successive Kings. Four of them were the four hors.e.m.e.n which appeared at the opening of the first four seals. In the latter end of the sixth head, or seal, considered as present in the visions, it is said, _five_ of the seven Kings _are fallen, and one is, and another is not yet come; and the Beast that was and is not_, being wounded to death with a sword, _he is the eighth, and of the seven_: he was therefore a collateral part of the seventh. The horns are the same with those of _Daniel_'s fourth Beast, described above.

The four hors.e.m.e.n which appear at the opening of the first four seals, have been well explained by Mr. _Mede_; excepting that I had rather continue the third to the end of the reign of the three _Gordians_ and _Philip_ the _Arabian_, those being Kings from the _South_, and begin the fourth with the reign of _Decius_, and continue it till the reign of _Dioclesian_. For the fourth horseman _sat upon a pale_ horse, _and his name was Death; and h.e.l.l followed with him; and power was given them to kill unto the fourth part of the earth, with the sword, and with famine, and with the plague, and with the Beasts of the earth_, or armies of invaders and rebels: and as such were the times during all this interval. Hitherto the _Roman_ Empire continued in an undivided monarchical form, except rebellions; and such it is represented by the four hors.e.m.e.n. But _Dioclesian_ divided it between himself and _Maximia.n.u.s_, A.C. 285; and it continued in that divided state, till the victory of _Constantine_ the great over _Licinius_, A.C. 323, which put an end to the heathen persecutions set on foot by _Dioclesian_ and _Maximia.n.u.s_, and described at the opening of the fifth seal. But this division of the Empire was imperfect, the whole being still under one and the same Senate. The same victory of _Constantine_ over _Licinius_ a heathen persecutor, began the fall of the heathen Empire, described at the opening of the sixth seal: and the visions of this seal continue till after the reign of _Julian_ the Apostate, he being a heathen Emperor, and reigning over the whole _Roman_ Empire.

The affairs of the Church begin to be considered at the opening of the fifth seal, as was said above. Then she is represented by _a woman_ in the Temple of heaven, _clothed with the sun_ of righteousness, _and the moon_ of _Jewish_ ceremonies _under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars_ relating to the twelve Apostles and to the twelve tribes of _Israel_. When she fled from the Temple into the wilderness, she left in the Temple a _remnant of her seed, who kept the commandments of G.o.d, and had the testimony of Jesus Christ_; and therefore before her flight she represented the true primitive Church of G.o.d, tho afterwards she degenerated like _Aholah_ and _Aholibah_. In _Diocesian_'s persecution _she cried, travelling in birth, and pained to be delivered_. And in the end of that persecution, by the victory of _Constantine_ over _Maxentius_ A.C.

312, _she brought forth a man-child_, such a child as _was to rule all nations with a rod of iron_, a _Christian_ Empire. _And her child_, by the victory of _Constantine_ over _Licinius_, A.C. 323, _was caught up unto G.o.d and to his throne. And the woman_, by the division of the _Roman_ Empire into the _Greek_ and _Latin_ Empires, _fled_ from the first Temple _into the wilderness_, or spiritually barren Empire of the _Latins_, where she is found afterwards sitting upon the Beast and upon the seven mountains; and is called _the great city which reigneth over the Kings of the earth_, that is, over the ten Kings who give their kingdom to her Beast.

But before her flight there was war in heaven between _Michael_ and the Dragon, the _Christian_ and the heathen religions; and the Dragon, _that old serpent, called the Devil and Satan, who deceiveth the whole world, was cast out to the earth, and his Angels were cast out with him_. And _John heard a voice in heaven, saying, Now is come salvation and strength, and the kingdom of our G.o.d, and the power of his _Christ_: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony. And they loved not their lives unto the death. Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe be to the inhabiters of the earth and sea_, or people of the _Greek_ and _Latin_ Empires, _for the devil is come down amongst you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time_.

_And when the Dragon saw that he was cast down_ from the _Roman_ throne, and the man-child caught up thither, he _persecuted the woman which brought forth the man-child; and to her_, by the division of the _Roman_ Empire between the cities of _Rome_ and _Constantinople_ A.C. 330, _were given two wings of a great eagle_, the symbol of the _Roman_ Empire, _that she might flee_ from the first Temple _into the wilderness_ of _Arabia, to her place_ at _Babylon_ mystically so called. _And the serpent_, by the division of the same Empire between the sons of _Constantine_ the great, A.C. 337, _cast out of his mouth water as a flood_, the _Western_ Empire, _after the woman; that he might cause her to be carried away by the flood. And the earth_, or _Greek_ Empire, _helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood_, by the victory of _Constantius_ over _Magnentius_, A.C. 353, and thus the Beast was wounded to death with a sword. _And the Dragon was wroth with the woman_, in the reign of _Julian_ the Apostate A.C. 361, _and_, by a new division of the Empire between _Valentinian_ and _Valens_, A.C. 364, _went_ from her into the _Eastern_ Empire _to make war with the remnant of her seed_, which she left behind her when she fled: and thus the Beast revived. By the next division of the Empire, which was between _Gratian_ and _Theodosius_ A.C. 379, the _Beast_ with ten horns _rose out of the sea_, and the _Beast_ with two horns _out of the earth_: and by the last division thereof, which was between the sons of _Theodosius_, A.C. 395, _the Dragon gave the Beast his power and throne, and great authority_. And the ten horns _received power as Kings, the same hour with the Beast_.

At length the woman arrived at her place of temporal as well as spiritual dominion upon the back of the Beast, where she is nourished _a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent_; not in his kingdom, but at a distance from him. She is nourished by _the merchants of the earth_, three times or years and an half, or 42 months, or 1260 days: and in these Prophecies days are put for years. During all this time the Beast acted, and _she sat upon him_, that is, reigned over him, and over the ten Kings _who gave their power and strength_, that is, their kingdom _to the Beast_; and she was _drunken with the blood of the Saints_. By all these circ.u.mstances she is the eleventh horn of _Daniel_'s fourth Beast, who reigned with _a look more stout than his fellows_, and was of a different kind from the rest, and had eyes _and a mouth_ like the woman; _and made war with the saints, and prevailed against them_, and _wore them out_, and _thought to change times and laws_, and had them _given into his hand, until a time, and times, and half a time_. These characters of the woman, and little horn of the Beast, agree perfectly: in respect of her temporal dominion, she was a horn of the Beast; in respect of her spiritual dominion, she rode upon him in the form of a woman, and was his Church, and committed fornication with the ten Kings.

The second Beast, which _rose up out of the earth_, was the Church of the _Greek_ Empire: for it _had two horns like those of the Lamb_, and therefore was a Church; and it _spake as the Dragon_, and therefore was of his religion; and it _came up out of the earth_, and by consequence in his kingdom. It is called also _the false Prophet_ who wrought miracles before the first Beast, by which he deceived them that received his mark, and wors.h.i.+ped his image. When the Dragon went from the woman to make war with the remnant of her seed, this Beast arising out of the earth a.s.sisted in that war, and _caused the earth and them which dwell therein to wors.h.i.+p_ the authority of _the first Beast, whose mortal wound was healed_, and to _make an Image to him_, that is, to a.s.semble a body of men like him in point of religion. He had also _power to give life_ and authority _to the Image_, so that it could _both speak, and_ by dictating _cause that all_ religious bodies of men, _who would not wors.h.i.+p_ the authority of _the Image, should be_ mystically _killed. And he causeth all men to receive a mark in their right hand or in their forehead, and that no man might buy or sell save he that had the mark, or the name of the Beast, or the number of his name_; all the rest being excommunicated by the Beast with two horns.

His mark is [Cross] [Cross] [Cross], and his name [Greek: LATEINOS], and the number of his name 666.

Thus the Beast, after he was wounded to death with a sword and revived, was deified, as the heathens used to deify their Kings after death, and had an Image erected to him; and his wors.h.i.+pers were initiated in this new religion, by receiving the mark or name of this new G.o.d, or the number of his name. By killing all that will not wors.h.i.+p him and his Image, the first Temple, illuminated by the lamps of the seven Churches, is demolished, and a new Temple built for them who will not wors.h.i.+p him; and the outward court of this new Temple, or outward form of a Church, is given to the _Gentiles_, who wors.h.i.+p the Beast and his Image: while they who will not wors.h.i.+p him, are sealed with the name of G.o.d in their foreheads, and retire into the inward court of this new Temple. These are the 144000 sealed out of all the twelve tribes of _Israel_, and called the _two Witnesses_, as being derived from the two wings of the woman while she was flying into the wilderness, and represented by two of the seven candlesticks. These appear to _John_ in the inward court of the second Temple, standing on mount _Sion_ with the Lamb, and as it were on the sea of gla.s.s. These are _the Saints of the most High_, and _the host of heaven_, and _the holy people_ spoken of by _Daniel_, as worn out and trampled under foot, and destroyed in the latter times by the little horns of his fourth Beast and He-Goat.

While the _Gentiles_ tread the holy city under foot, G.o.d _gives power to his two Witnesses, and they prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days clothed in sackcloth_. They are called _the two Olive-trees_, with relation to the two Olive-trees, which in _Zechary_'s vision, chap. iv.

stand on either side of the golden candlestick to supply the lamps with oil: and Olive-trees, according to the Apostle _Paul_, represent Churches, _Rom._ xi. They supply the lamps with oil, by maintaining teachers. They are also called _the two candlesticks_; which in this Prophecy signify Churches, the seven Churches of _Asia_ being represented by seven candlesticks. Five of these Churches were found faulty, and threatned if they did not repent; the other two were without fault, and so their candlesticks were fit to be placed in the second Temple. These were the Churches in _Smyrna_ and _Philadelphia_. They were in a state of tribulation and persecution, and the only two of the seven in such a state: and so their candlesticks were fit to represent the Churches in affliction in the times of the second Temple, and the only two of the seven that were fit. The _two Witnesses_ are not new Churches: they are the posterity of the primitive Church, the posterity of the two wings of the woman, and so are fitly represented by two of the primitive candlesticks. We may conceive therefore, that when the first Temple was destroyed, and a new one built for them who wors.h.i.+p in the inward court, two of the seven candlesticks were placed in this new Temple.

The affairs of the Church are not considered during the opening of the first four seals. They begin to be consider'd at the opening of the fifth seal, as was said above; and are further considered at the opening of the sixth seal; and the seventh seal contains the times of the great Apostacy.

And therefore I refer the Epistles to the seven Churches unto the times of the fifth and sixth seals: for they relate to the Church when she began to decline, and contain admonitions against the great Apostacy then approaching.

When _Eusebius_ had brought down his _Ecclesiatical History_ to the reign of _Dioclesian_, he thus describes the state of the Church: _Qualem quantamque gloriam simul ac libertatem doctrina verae erga supremum Deum pietatis a Christo primum hominibus annunciata, apud omnes Graecos pariter & barbaros ante persecutionem nostra memoria excitatam, consecuta sit, nos certe pro merito explicare non possumus. Argumento esse possit Imperatorum benignitas erga nostros: quibus regendas etiam provincias committebant, omni sacrificandi metu eos liberantes ob singularem, qua in religionem nostram affecti erant, benevolentiam._ And a little after: _Jam vero quis innumerabilem hominum quotidie ad fidem Christi confugientium turbam, quis numerum ecclesiarum in singulis urbibus, quis ill.u.s.tres populorum concursus in aedibus sacris, c.u.mulate possit describere? Quo factum est, ut priscis aedificiis jam non contenti, in singulis urbibus spatiosas ab ipsis fundamentis exstruerent ecclesias. Atque haec progressii temporis increscentia, & quotidie in majus & melius proficiscentia, nec livor ullus atterere, nec malignitas daemonis fascinare, nec hominum insidiae prohibere unquam potuerunt, quamdiu omnipotentis Dei dextra populum suum, utpote tali dignum praesidio, texit atque custodiit. Sed c.u.m ex nimia libertate in negligentiam ac desidiam prolapsi essemus; c.u.m alter alteri invidere atque obtrectare caep.i.s.set; c.u.m inter nos quasi bella intestina gereremus, verbis, tanquam armis quibusdam hastisque, nos mutu vulnerantes; c.u.m Antist.i.tes adversus Antist.i.tes, populi in populos collisi, jurgia ac tumultus agitarent; denique c.u.m fraus & simulatio ad summum malitiae culmen adolevisset: tum divina ultio, levi brachio ut solet, integro adhuc ecclesiae statu, & fidelium turbis libere convenientibus, sensim ac moderate in nos caepit animadvertere; orsa primum persecutione ab iis qui militabant.

c.u.m ver sensu omni dest.i.tuti de placando Dei numine ne cogitaremus quidem; quin potius instar impiorum quorundam res humanas nulla providentia gubernari rati, alia quotidie crimina aliis adjiceremus: c.u.m Pastores nostri spreta religionis regula, mutuis inter se contentionibus decertarent, nihil aliud quam jurgia, minas, aemulationem, odia, ac mutuas inimicitias amplificare studentes; princ.i.p.atum quasi tyrannidem quandam contentissime sibi vindicantes: tunc demum juxta dictum Hieremiae, _obscuravit Dominus in ira sua filiam Sion, & dejecit de caelo gloriam Israel_,--per Ecclesiarum scilicet subversionem_, &c. This was the state of the Church just before the subversion of the Churches in the beginning of _Dioclesian_'s persecution: and to this state of the Church agrees the first of the seven Epistles to the Angel of the seven Churches, [1] that to the Church in _Ephesus_. _I have something against thee_, saith _Christ_ to the Angel of that Church, _because thou hast left thy first love. Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of its place, except thou repent. But this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the _Nicolaitans_, which I also hate_. The _Nicolaitans_ are the _Continentes_ above described, who placed religion in abstinence from marriage, abandoning their wives if they had any. They are here called _Nicolaitans_, from _Nicolas_ one of the seven deacons of the primitive Church of _Jerusalem_; who having a beautiful wife, and being taxed with uxoriousness, abandoned her, and permitted her to marry whom she pleased, saying that we must disuse the flesh; and thenceforward lived a single life in continency, as his children also. The _Continentes_ afterwards embraced the doctrine of _aeons_ and Ghosts male and female, and were avoided by the Churches till the fourth century; and the Church of _Ephesus_ is here commended for hating their deeds.

The persecution of _Dioclesian_ began in the year of _Christ_ 302, and lasted ten years in the _Eastern_ Empire and two years in the _Western_. To this state of the Church the second Epistle, to the Church of _Smyrna_, agrees. _I know_, saith [2] _Christ_, _thy works, and tribulation, and poverty, but thou art rich; and I know the blasphemy of them, which say they are _Jews_ and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan. Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: Behold, the Devil shall call some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days. Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life._ The tribulation of ten days can agree to no other persecution than that of _Dioclesian_, it being the only persecution which lasted ten years. By _the blasphemy of them which say they are _Jews_ and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan_, I understand the Idolatry of the _Nicolaitans_, who falsly said they were _Christians_.

The _Nicolaitans_ are complained of also in [3] the third Epistle, as men that _held the doctrine of _Balaam_, who taught _Balac_ to cast a stumbling-block before the children of _Israel_, to eat things sacrificed to Idols, and [4] to commit_ spiritual _fornication_. For _Balaam_ taught the _Moabites_ and _Midianites_ to tempt and invite _Israel_ by their women to commit fornication, and to feast with them at the sacrifices of their G.o.ds. The Dragon therefore began now to come down among the inhabitants of the earth and sea.

The _Nicolaitans_ are also complained of in the fourth Epistle, under the name of the _woman _Jezabel_, who calleth herself a Prophetess, to teach and to seduce the servants of _Christ_ to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed to Idols_. The woman therefore began now to fly into the wilderness.

The reign of _Constantine_ the great from the time of his conquering _Licinius_, was monarchical over the whole _Roman_ Empire. Then the Empire became divided between the sons of _Constantine_: and afterwards it was again united under _Constantius_, by his victory over _Magnentius_. To the affairs of the Church in these three successive periods of time, the third, fourth, and fifth Epistles, that is, those to the Angels of the Churches in _Pergamus_, _Thyatira_, and _Sardis_, seem to relate. The next Emperor was _Julian_ the Apostate.

In the sixth Epistle, [5] to the Angel of the Church in _Philadelphia_, _Christ_ saith: _Because_ in the reign of the heathen Emperor _Julian_, _thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which_ by the woman's flying into the wilderness, and the Dragon's making war with the remnant of her seed, and the killing of all who will not wors.h.i.+p the Image of the Beast, _shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth_, and to distinguish them by sealing the one with the name of G.o.d in their foreheads, and marking the other with the mark of the Beast. _Him that overcometh, I will make a pillar in the Temple of my G.o.d; and he shall go no more out_ of it. _And I will write upon him the name of my G.o.d_ in his forehead. So the _Christians_ of the Church of _Philadelphia_, as many of them as overcome, are sealed with the seal of G.o.d, and placed in the second Temple, and go no more out. The same is to be understood of the Church in _Smyrna_, which also kept the word of G.o.d's patience, and was without fault. These two Churches, with their posterity, are therefore the _two Pillars_, and the _two Candlesticks_, and the _two Witnesses_ in the second Temple.

After the reign of the Emperor _Julian,_ and his successor _Jovian_ who reigned but five months, the Empire became again divided between _Valentinian_ and _Valens_. Then the Church Catholick, in the Epistle to the Angel of the Church of _Laodicea_, is reprehended as _lukewarm_, and [6] threatned to be _spewed out of _Christ's_ mouth_. She said, that she was _rich and increased with goods, and had need of nothing_, being in outward prosperity; _and knew not that she was_ inwardly _wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked_. She is therefore _spewed out of _Christ's_ mouth_ at the opening of the seventh seal: and this puts an end to the times of the first Temple.

About one half of the _Roman_ Empire turned _Christians_ in the time of _Constantine_ the great and his sons. After _Julian_ had opened the Temples, and restored the wors.h.i.+p of the heathens, the Emperors _Valentinian_ and _Valens_ tolerated it all their reign; and therefore the Prophecy of the sixth seal was not fully accomplished before the reign of their successor _Gratian_. It was the custom of the heathen Priests, in the beginning of the reign of every sovereign Emperor, to offer him the dignity and habit of the _Pontifex Maximus_. This dignity all Emperors had hitherto accepted: but _Gratian_ rejected it, threw down the idols, interdicted the sacrifices, and took away their revenues with the salaries and authority of the Priests. _Theodosius_ the great followed his example; and heathenism afterwards recovered itself no more, but decreased so fast, that _Prudentius_, about ten years after the death of _Theodosius_, called the heathens, _vix pauca ingenia & pars hominum rarissima_. Whence the affairs of the sixth seal ended with the reign of _Valens_, or rather with the beginning of the reign of _Theodosius_, when he, like his predecessor _Gratian_, rejected the dignity of _Pontifex Maximus_. For the _Romans_ were very much infested by the invasions of foreign nations in the reign of _Valentinian_ and _Valens_: _Hoc tempore_, saith _Ammia.n.u.s_, _velut per universum orbem Romanum bellic.u.m canentibus buccinis, excitae gentes saevissimae limites sibi proximos persultabant: Gallias Rhaetiasque simul Alemanni populabantur: Sarmatae Pannonias & Quadi: Picti, Saxones, & Scoti & Attacotti Britannos aerumnis vexavere continuis: Austoriani, Mauricaeque aliae gentes Africam solito acrius incursabant: Thracias diripiebant praedatorii globi Gotthorum: Persarum Rex ma.n.u.s Armeniis injectabat_. And whilst the Emperors were busy in repelling these enemies, the _Hunns_ and _Alans_ and _Goths_ came over the _Danube_ in two bodies, overcame and slew _Valens_, and made so great a slaughter of the _Roman_ army, that _Ammia.n.u.s_ saith: _Nec ulla Annalibus praeter Cannensem ita ad internecionem res legitur gesta_. These wars were not fully stopt on all sides till the beginning of the reign of _Theodosius_, A.C. 379 & 380: but thenceforward the Empire remained quiet from foreign armies, till his death, A.C. 395. So long the four winds were held: and so long there was silence in heaven. And the seventh seal was opened when this silence began.

Mr. _Mede_ hath explained the Prophecy of the first six trumpets not much amiss: but if he had observed, that the Prophecy of pouring out the vials of wrath is synchronal to that of sounding the trumpets, his explanation would have been yet more complete.

The name of _Woes_ is given to the wars to which the three last trumpets sound, to distinguish them from the wars of the four first. The sacrifices on the first four days of the feast of Tabernacles, at which the first four trumpets sound, and the first four vials of wrath are poured out, are slaughters in four great wars; and these wars are represented by four winds from the four corners of the earth. The first was an east wind, the second a west wind, the third a south wind, and the fourth a north wind, with respect to the city of _Rome_, the metropolis of the old _Roman_ Empire.

These four plagues fell upon _the third part of the Earth, Sea, Rivers, Sun, Moon and Stars_; that is, upon the Earth, Sea, Rivers, Sun, Moon and Stars of the third part of the whole scene of these Prophecies of _Daniel_ and _John_.

The plague of the eastern wind [7] at the sounding of the first trumpet, was to fall upon the _Earth_, that is, upon the nations of the _Greek_ Empire. Accordingly, after the death of _Theodosius_ the great, the _Goths_, _Sarmatians_, _Hunns_, _Isaurians_, and _Austorian_ Moors invaded and miserably wasted _Greece_, _Thrace_, _Asia minor_, _Armenia_, _Syria_, _Egypt_, _Lybia_, and _Illyric.u.m_, for ten or twelve years together.

The plague of the western wind at the sounding of the second trumpet, was to fall upon the _Sea_, or _Western_ Empire, by means of _a great mountain burning with fire_ cast into it, and _turning it to blood_. Accordingly in the year 407, that Empire began to be invaded by the _Visigoths_, _Vandals_, _Alans_, _Sueves_, _Burgundians_, _Ostrogoths_, _Heruli_, _Quadi_, _Gepides_; and by these wars it was broken into ten kingdoms, and miserably wasted: and _Rome_ itself, the burning mountain, was besieged and taken by the _Ostrogoths_, in the beginning of these miseries.

The plague of the southern wind at the sounding of the third trumpet, was to cause _a great star, burning as it were a lamp, to fall from heaven upon the rivers and fountains of waters_, the _Western_ Empire now divided into many kingdoms, and to turn them to _wormwood_ and _blood_, and make them _bitter_. Accordingly _Genseric_, the King of the _Vandals_ and _Alans_ in _Spain_, A.C. 427, enter'd _Africa_ with an army of eighty thousand men; where he invaded the _Moors_, and made war upon the _Romans_, both there and on the sea-coasts of _Europe_, for fifty years together, almost without intermission, taking _Hippo_ A.C. 431, and _Carthage_ the capital of _Africa_ A.C. 439. In A.C. 455, with a numerous fleet and an army of three hundred thousand _Vandals_ and _Moors_, he invaded _Italy_, took and plundered _Rome_, _Naples_, _Capua_, and many other cities; carrying thence their wealth with the flower of the people into _Africa_: and the next year, A.C. 456, he rent all _Africa_ from the Empire, totally expelling the _Romans_. Then the _Vandals_ invaded and took the Islands of the _Mediterranean_, _Sicily_, _Sardinia_, _Corsica_, _Ebusus_, _Majorca_, _Minorca_, &c. and _Ricimer_ besieged the Emperer _Anthemius_ in _Rome_, took the city, and gave his soldiers the plunder, A.C. 472. The _Visigoths_ about the same time drove the _Romans_ out of _Spain_: and now the _Western_ Emperor, the _great star which fell from heaven, burning as it were a lamp_, having by all these wars gradually lost almost all his dominions, was invaded, and conquered in one year by _Odoacer_ King of the _Heruli_, A.C. 476. After this the _Moors_ revolted A.C. 477, and weakned the _Vandals_ by several wars, and took _Mauritania_ from them. These wars continued till the _Vandals_ were conquered by _Belisarius_, A.C. 534. and by all these wars _Africa_ was almost depopulated, according to _Procopius_, who reckons that above five millions of men perished in them.

When the _Vandals_ first invaded _Africa_, that country was very populous, consisting of about 700 bishop.r.i.c.ks, more than were in all _France_, _Spain_ and _Italy_ together: but by the wars between the _Vandals_, _Romans_ and _Moors_, it was depopulated to that degree, that _Procopius_ tells us, it was next to a miracle for a traveller to see a man.

In pouring out the third vial it is [8] said: _Thou art righteous, O Lord,--because thou hast judged thus: for they have shed the blood of thy Saints and Prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink, for they are worthy_. How they shed the blood of Saints, may be understood by the following Edict of the Emperor _Honorius_, procured by four Bishops sent to him by a Council of _African_ Bishops, who met at _Carthage_ 14 _June_, A.C. 410.

_Impp. Honor. &. Theod. AA. Heracliano Com. Afric._

_Oraculo penitus remoto, quo ad ritus suos haereticae superst.i.tionis abrepserant, sciant omnes sanctae legis inimici, plectendos se poena & proscriptionis & sanguinis, si ultra convenire per public.u.m, execranda sceleris sui temeritate temptaverint. Dat. _viii._ Kal. Sept. Varano V.C.

Cons._ A.C. 410.

Which Edict was five years after fortified by the following.

_Impp. Honor. & Theod. AA. Heracliano Com. Afric._

_Sciant cuncti qui ad ritus suos haeresis superst.i.tionibus obrepserant sacrosanctae legis inimici, plectendos se poena & proscriptionis & sanguinis, si ultra convenire per public.u.m exercendi sceleris sui temeritate temptaverint: ne qua vera divinaque reverentia contagione temeretur. Dat. _viii._ Kal. Sept. Honorio _x._ & Theod. _vi._ AA. Coss._ A.C. 415.

These Edicts being directed to the governor of _Africa_, extended only to the _Africans_. Before these there were many severe ones against the _Donatists_, but they did not extend to blood. These two were the first which made their meetings, and the meetings of all dissenters, capital: for by _hereticks_ in these Edicts are meant all dissenters, as is manifest by the following against _Euresius_ a _Luciferan_ Bishop.

_Impp. Arcad. & Honor. AA. Aureliano Proc. Africae._

_Haereticorum vocabulo continentur, & latis adversus eos sanctionibus debent succ.u.mbere, qui vel levi argumento a judicio Catholicae religionis & tramite detecti fuerint deviare: ideoque experientia tua Euresium haeretic.u.m esse cognoscat. Dat. _iii._ Non. Sept. Constantinop. Olybrio & Probino Coss._ A.C. 395.

The _Greek_ Emperor _Zeno_ adopted _Theoderic_ King of the _Ostrogoths_ to be his son, made him master of the horse and _Patricius_, and Consul of _Constantinople_; and recommending to him the _Roman_ people and Senate, gave him the _Western_ Empire, and sent him into _Italy_ against _Odoacer_ King of the _Heruli_. _Theoderic_ thereupon led his nation into _Italy_, conquered _Odoacer_, and reigned over _Italy_, _Sicily_, _Rhaetia_, _Noric.u.m_, _Dalmatia_, _Liburnia_, _Istria_, and part of _Suevia_, _Pannonia_ and _Gallia_. Whence _Ennodius_ said, in a Panegyric to _Theoderic_: _Ad limitem suum Romana regna remea.s.se._ _Theoderic_ reigned with great prudence, moderation and felicity; treated the _Romans_ with singular benevolence, governed them by their own laws, and restored their government under their Senate and Consuls, he himself supplying the place of Emperor, without a.s.suming the t.i.tle. _Ita sibi parentibus praefuit_, saith _Procopius_, _ut vere Imperatori conveniens decus nullum ipsi abesset: Just.i.tiae magnus ei cultus, legumque diligens custodia: terras a vicinis barbaris servavit intactas_, &c. Whence I do not reckon the reign of this King, amongst the plagues of the four winds.

The plague of the northern wind, at the sounding of the fourth trumpet, was to cause _the Sun, Moon and Stars_, that is, the King, kingdom and Princes of the _Western_ Empire, _to be darkned_, and to continue some time in darkness. Accordingly _Belisarius_, having conquered the _Vandals_, invaded _Italy_ A.C. 535, and made war upon the _Ostrogoths_ in _Dalmatia_, _Liburnia_, _Venetia_, _Lombardy_, _Tuscany_, and other regions northward from _Rome_, twenty years together. In this war many cities were taken and retaken. In retaking _Millain_ from the _Romans_, the _Ostrogoths_ slew all the males young and old, amounting, as _Procopius_ reckons, to three hundred thousand, and sent the women captives to their allies the _Burgundians_. _Rome_ itself was taken and retaken several times, and thereby the people were thinned; the old government by a Senate ceased, the n.o.bles were ruined, and all the glory of the city was extinguish'd: and A.C. 552, after a war of seventeen years, the kingdom of the _Ostrogoths_ fell; yet the remainder of the _Ostrogoths_, and an army of _Germans_ called in to their a.s.sistance, continued the war three or four years longer. Then ensued the war of the _Heruli_, who, as _Anastasius_ tells us, _perimebant cunctam Italiam_, slew all _Italy_. This was followed by the war of the _Lombards_, the fiercest of all the _Barbarians_, which began A.C. 568, and lasted for thirty eight years together; _facta tali clade_, saith _Anastasius_, _qualem a saeculo nullus meminit_; ending at last in the Papacy of _Sabinian_, A.C. 605, by a peace then made with the _Lombards_.

Three years before this war ended, _Gregory_ the great, then Bishop of _Rome_, thus speaks of it: _Qualiter enim & quotidianis gladiis & quantis Longobardorum incursionibus, ecce jam per triginta quinque annorum longitudinem premimur, nullis explere vocibus suggestionis valemus_: and in one of his Sermons to the people, he thus expresses the great consumption of the _Romans_ by these wars: _Ex illa plebe innumerabili quanti remanseritis aspicitis, & tamen adhuc quotidie flagella urgent, repentini casus opprimunt, novae res & improvisae clades affligunt_. In another Sermon he thus describes the desolations: _Destructae urbes, eversa sunt castra, depopulati agri, in solitudinem terra redacta est. Nullus in agris incola, pene nullus in urbibus habitator remansit. Et tamen ipsae parvae generis humani reliquiae adhuc quotidie & sine cessatione feriuntur, & finem non habent flagella coelestis just.i.tiae. Ipsa autem quae aliquando mundi Domina esse videbatur, qualis remansit Roma conspicimus innumeris doloribus multipliciter attrita, defolatione civium, impressione hostium, frequentia ruinarum.--Ecce jam de illa omnes hujus faeculi potentes ablati sunt.--Ecce populi defecerunt.--Ubi enim Senatus? Ubi jam populus? Contabuerunt ossa, consumptae sunt carnes. Omnis enim saecularium dignitatum ordo extinctus est, & tamen ipsos vos paucos qui remansimus, adhuc quotidie gladii, adhuc quotidie innumerae tribulationes premunt.--Vacua jam ardet Roma. Quid autem ista de hominibus dicimus? c.u.m ruinis crebrescentibus ipsa quoque destrui aedificia videmus. Postquam defecerunt homines etiam parietes cadunt. Jam ecce desolata, ecce contrita, ecce gemitibus oppressa est,_ &c. All this was spoken by _Gregory_ to the people of _Rome_, who were witnesses of the truth of it. Thus by _the plagues of the four winds_, the Empire of the _Greeks_ was shaken, and the Empire of the _Latins_ fell; and _Rome_ remained nothing more than the capital of a poor dukedom, subordinate to _Ravenna_, the seat of the Exarchs.

The fifth trumpet sounded to the wars, which the _King of the_ South, as he is called by _Daniel_, made _in the time of the end_, in _pus.h.i.+ng at the King who did according to his will_. This plague began with the _opening of the bottomless pit_, which denotes the letting out of a false religion: the _smoke which came out of the pit_, signifying the mult.i.tude which embraced that religion; and the _locusts which came out of the smoke_, the armies which came out of that mult.i.tude. This pit was opened, to let out smoke and locusts into the regions of the four monarchies, or some of them. _The King of these locusts_ was the _Angel of the bottomless pit_, being chief governor as well in religious as civil affairs, such as was the Caliph of the _Saracens_. Swarms of locusts often arise in _Arabia faelix_, and from thence infest the neighbouring nations: and so are a very fit type of the numerous armies of _Arabians_ invading the _Romans_. They began to invade them A.C. 634, and to reign at _Damascus_ A.C. 637. They built _Bagdad_ A.C. 766, and reigned over _Persia_, _Syria_, _Arabia_, _Egypt_, _Africa_ and _Spain_. They afterwards lost _Africa_ to _Mahades_, A.C. 910; _Media_, _Hircania_, _Chorasan_, and all _Persia_, to the _Dailamites_, between the years 927 and 935; _Mesopotamia_ and _Miafarekin_ to _Nasiruddaulas_, A.C.