To the extent possible under law, the Text Creation Partnership has waived all copyright and related or neighboring rights to this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above, according to the terms of the CC0 1.0 Public Domain Dedication (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/). This waiver does not extend to any page images or other supplementary files associated with this work, which may be protected by copyright or other license restrictions. Please go to http://www.textcreationpartnership.org/ for more information.
1 The Lambe openeth the first seale of the booke, 3 the second, 5 the third, 7 the fourth, 9 the fift, 12 and the sixt, and then arise murders, famin, pestilence, outcries of Saints, earthquakes, and diuers strange sights in heauen.
1 1 1.1 * 1.2 AFter I saw, when the Lambe had opened the first of the seales; and I heard one of
the foure beasts say, as it were the noyse of thun∣der, Come and see.
2 Therefore 2 1.3 I beheld, and lo, there was pre∣sent a white horse, and he that sate on him, had a bow, and a crowne was giuen vnto him, and he went forth conquering, and that he might conquer.
3 And 3 1.4 when he had opened the second seale, I heard the second beast say, Come and see.
4 And there came out another horse, that was red, and power was giuen to him that sate there∣on, to take peace from of the earth, & that they should kill one another; and there was giuen vn∣to him a great sword.
5 4 1.5 And when he had opened the third seale, I heard the third beast say, Come and see: Then I beheld, and lo, a blacke horse; and he that sate on him, had balances in his hand.
6 And I heard a voice in the middes of the foure beasts say, A a 1.6 measure of wheat for a peny, and three measures of barly for a penie; 5 1.7 and the oyle, and wine hurt thou not.
7 6 1.8 And whē he had opened the fourth seale, I heard ye voice of the fourth beast say, Come & see
8 And I looked, and behold, a pale horse; and his name that sate on him was Death, and Hell folowed after him; and power was giuen vnto them ouer the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and by the beasts of the earth.
9 7 1.9 And when he had opened the fift seale, I saw vnder the altar, the soules of them that had bene killed for the word of God, & for the testi∣monie which they maintained.
10 And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, Lord, which art holy and true, doest thou not iudge, and auenge our blood, requiring the same of them that dwell on the earth?
11 Then long 8 1.10 white robes were giuen vnto euerie one, and it was said vnto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, vntill their fel∣low seruants, and their brethren that must be kil∣led euen as they were, were b 1.11 fulfilled.
12 9 1.12 And I beheld when he had opened the sixt seale, and lo, there was a great earthquake, and the sunne was as blacke as c 1.13 sackecloth of
haire, and the moone was all made like blood:
13 And the starres of heauen fell vnto the earth, as a figge tree casteth her greene figs whē it is shaken of a mightie winde.
14 And the heauē departed away, as a scrole, when it is rolled vp, and al the mountaines & yles were moued out of their places:
15 10 1.14 And the Kings of the earth, & the great men, and the rich men, and the chiefe captaines, and the mightie men, and euery bondman, and euery free man, hid themselues in dennes, and in the rockes of the mountaines;
16 And they said to the mountaines & rocks, 11 1.15 ‖ 1.16 Fall on vs, and hide vs from the presence of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lambe.
17 For the great day of his wrath is come, and who is able to stand?
This is the se∣cond part of this first history (which I said was common, & of the whole world) of the works of God in the gouernmēt of al things. Of this part there are generally three mēbers, the foresignifying, the caution, & the execution of all the euils which God powreth out vpon this world, which hath most hardly deserued of him. The foresignifying is set downe in this chapter: the caution for preseruing the church, is in the next chapter: and the execution is described chap. 8. & 9. In euery part of the foresignifying there are three branches: the seuerall & expresse calling of S. Iohn, to prepare himselfe to take knowledge of the things that were to be shewed vnto him in the ope∣ning of the seales: the signe; & the word expounding the signe. And albeit, the expres calling of S. Iohn, be vsed onely in foure of the signes, yet the same is also to be vnderstood in the rest that follow. The author of these foresig∣nifying is the Lambe, as that word of the Father, made the mediator, ope∣ning the seales of the booke. The instruments are the Angels in most of the visions, who expound the signe, & the words therof. Now this first verse con∣taineth an expres calling of S. Iohn to marke the opening of the first seale.
F. IVNIVS.
The first signe ioyned with de∣claration; is that God, for the sinnes and horrible rebel∣lion of the world, will in∣uade the same: and first of all will as a farre off with his dartes of pestilence most sodainelie, mightely and gloriouslie, beate downe the same as iudge, and triumph ouer it, as conquerour.
The second signe ioyned with words of declaration, (af∣ter the expresse calling of Iohn as before) is, that God being prouoked vn∣to wrath by the obstinacie and hard heartednes of the world not repenting for the former plaugue, as setting vpon the same at hand, will kindle the fire of debate amongst men, and will destroy the inhabitants of this world, one by the sword of another.
The third signe with declaration, is, that God will destroy the world with famine, withdrawing all prouision: which is by the figure synecdoche comprehended in wheat, barly, wine and oyle.
Hereby is sig∣nified what great scarcitie of corne there was, for the word here vsed is a kind of mea∣sure of drie things, which it in quantitic but the eighth part of a bushell, which was an ordinarie porcion vsed to be giuen to ser∣uants for their stint of meat for one day.
I had rather distinguish and read the words thus, and the wine and the oyle: thou shalt not deale vniustly. In this sense; likewise the wine and the oyle shalbe sould a verie little for a pennie. Thou shalt not deale vniust∣ly; namely when thou shalt measure out a verie little for a great prise: so is the place euident: otherwise that is most true, which the wise man saith, that who so withholdeth the corne shalbe cursed of the people. Prouerbs 11. 26.
The fourth signe ioyned with words of declaration, is that God will addict the fourth part of the world in∣differētly, vnto death and hell, or the graue, by al those meanes at once, by which before seuerally and in order he had recalled their mindes vnto a∣mendmēt. Vnto these are also added the wild & cruell beasts of the earth, out of Leuit. 26. 22. Thus doth God according to his wisdome dispence the treasures of his pow∣er, iustly towards all, mercifully towards the good, and with patience or long sufferance towards his enimies.
The fift signe, is that the holy martyrs which are vnder the altar whereby they are sanctified, that is, receiued into the trust and tuition of Christ (into whose hands they are committed) shall crie out for the iustice of God, in an holy zeale to aduance his kingdome, & not of any priuate perturbation of the minde, in this and the next verse, and that God wil, in deed, signe, & word comfort them, ver. 11.
As before 3. 4.
Vntill their number be ful∣filled.
The sixt signe, the narration whereof hath two parts, the signe and the euent. The signe is, that the earth, heauen, and the things that are in them, for horror of the sins of the world vpō those most heauy foretellings of God, & complaints of the saints, shalbe shaken most vehemently, trēbling in hor∣rible manner, and losing their light, in this verse: falling from on high, verse 13. withdrawing themselues and flying away for the greatnes of the trou∣ble, verse 14. So holyly do all creatures depend vpon the will of God, and content themselues in his glorie.
So they called in old time those wouē works that were of haire.
The euent of the signe a∣fore going: that there is no man that shal not be astonished at that generall commotion, flie away for feare, and hide himselfe, in this verse, and wish vnto himselfe most bitter death, for exceeding horror of the wrath of God, and of the Lambe, at which before he was astonished. Now this perplexitie is not of the godly, but of the wicked, whose portion is in this life, as the-psalmist speaketh, Psalm. 17. 14. Not that sorrow which is accor∣ding vnto God, which worketh repentance vnto saluation, whereof a man shall neuer repent him; but that worldly sorrow that bringeth death, 2 Cor. 7. 9. as their vvishings doe declare: for this historie is of the vvhole world, seuered from the historie of the church, as I haue shewed before Chapt 4. 1.
These are words of such as despaire of their escape: of which despaire there are two arguments; the presence of God and of the Lambe, prouoked to wrath against the world, in this verse; and the conscience of their owne weakenes, whereby men feele that they are no way able to stand in the day of the wrath of God, verse 17. as it is said. Esay. 14. 27.
Esay. 2. 19. Hose 10. 8. Luke 23. 30.