of the greatest punishment, are taken, and caft alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone: and their followers are flain with the word of Chrift, the fword which proceeded out of his mouth; and all the fowls are filled with their flesh; their substance is feised for other perfons, and for other uses. In a word, the defign of this fublime and figurative defcription is to fhow the downfall of popery, and the triumph of Christianity: the true word of God will prevail over fuperstition and idolatry; all the powers of Antichrift fhall be completely fubdued; and the religion of Rome, as well as Rome herself, be totally destroyed.

I

СНАР. XX.

ANDI faw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomlefs pit, and a great chain in his hand. 2 And he laid hold on the dragon, that old ferpent, which is the devil and Satan, and bound him a thousand years,

3 And caft him into the bottomless pit, and fhut him up, and fet a feal upon him, that he should deceive the nations nor more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled and after that, he must be loofed a

little season.

4 And I faw thrones, and they fat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I faw the fouls of them that were beheaded for the witnefs of Jefus, and for the word of God, and which had notworshipped the beaft, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their... foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Chrift a thousand years.

5 But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the firft refurrection.

6 Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the firft refurrection: on fuch the fecond death hath no power, but they shall be priefts of God and of Chrift, and shall, reign with him a thousand years.

4

1

After the deftruction of the beaft and of the false prophet, there ftill remains the dragon, who had delegated his power to them, that old ferpent, which is the devil and Satan: but he is bound by an angel, an efpecial minister of providence; and the famous millennium commences, or the reign of the faints upon earth for a thousand years. (ver. years. (ver. 1-6.) Binding him with a great chain, cafting him into the bottom

lefs

tyrs

lefs pit, fkutting him up, and fetting a feal upon him, are ftrong figures to fhow the ftrict and fevere restraint which he should be laid under, that he might deceive the nations no more during this whole period. Wickedness being restrained, the reign of righteoufnefs fucceeds, and the adminiftration of juftice and judgment is given to the faints of the most High: and the marand confeffors of Jefus, not only those who were beheaded or fuffered any kind of death under the heathen emperors, but also those who refused to comply with the idolatrous worship of the beast and of his image, are raised from the dead, and have the principal share in the felicities of Chrift's kingdom upon earth. But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished; fo that this was a peculiar prerogative of the martyrs and confeffors above the rest of mankind. This is the firft refurrection, a particular refurrection preceding the general one at least a thousand years. Bleffed and holy too is he who hath part in the first refurrection; he is holy in all the fenfes of the word, holy as feparated from the common lot of mankind, holy as indowed with all virtuous qualifications, and none but fuch are admitted to

(7) Non moriatur morte fecunda. Onk. Nec moriatur mor

partake

te qua moriuntur improbi in futuro feculo. Jonath. Neque

partake of this bleffed ftate. On fuch the fecond death hath no power. The fecond death is a Jewish phrafe for the punishment of the wicked after death. So the (7) Chaldee paraphrase of that text in Deuteronomy

Onkelos upon (XXXIII. 6.) Let Reuben live, and not die, hath Let him not die the fecond death; and the other paraphrafes of Jonathan Ben Uziel and of Jerufalem have Let him not die the fecond death by which the wicked die in the world to come. It is a familiar phrase in the Chaldee paraphrases and Jewish writings, and in this very book (XX. 14. XXI. 8.) it is declared to be the fame as the lake burning with fire and brimstone. The fons of the refurrection therefore fhall not die again, but fhall live in eternal blifs, as well as enjoy all the glories of the millennium, be priests of God and of Chrift, and reign with him a thousand years. Nothing is more evident than that this prophe

cy of the millennium, and of the first resurrection, hath not yet been fulfilled, even tho' the refurrection be taken in a figurative fenfe. For reckon the thousand years with Usher from the time of Chrift, or reckon them with Grotius from the time of Conftantine, yet neither of these periods, nor indeed any other, will answer the

moriatur morte fecunda qua feculo. Hieros. moriuntur improbi in futuro

defcrip

(8) Burnet's

defcription and character of the millennium, the purity and peace, the holiness and happiness of that bleffed state. Before Conftantine indeed the church was in greater purity, but was groaning under the perfecutions of the heathen emperors. After Conftantine the church was in greater profperity, but was foon shaken and disturbed by herefies and fchifms, by the incurfions and devaftations of the northern nations, by the conquering arms and prevailing impofture of the Saracens and afterwards of the Turks, by the corruption, idolatry, and wickednefs, the ufurpation, tyranny, and cruelty of the church of Rome. If Satan was then bound, when can he be faid to be loofed? Or how could the faints and the beast, Christ and Antichrift, reign at the fame period? This prophecy therefore remains yet to be fulfilled, even tho' the refurrection be taken only for an allegory, which yet, the text cannot admit without the greatest torture and violence. For with what propriety can it be faid, that some of the dead who were beheaded lived and reigned with Chrift a thousand years, but the reft of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished, unless the dying and living again be the fame in both places, a proper death and refurrection? Indeed the death and refurrection

of