An Essay to the explaining of the Revelation wherein amongst other things of great moment, is proved, that by the beast is meant an universal monarch which shall hereafter arise out of the Roman empire : that there shall be a fifth kingdom upon the earth, (namely that of the saints) together with the manner thereof, and that the New Jerusalem is a city properly so called, which God hath reserved in heaven for the saints.

Vers. 19. And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies gathered toge∣ther to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army.

Vers. 20. And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.

Vers. 21. And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh.

We are now at length arrived at that battel, for which so much preparation hath been made, & which is the greatest that ever was struck since the world began, putting a pe∣riod both to the Tyranny of the Beast, (the forest enemy of all righteousness that ever was raised up) and also to the sufferings of the Saints. The place where it is fought is here indeed omitted, but was in the sixteenth Chapter, said to be called in Hebrew Armageddon, which I in the Exposition of that Chapter, have accordingly proved to belong to the Countrey of the Hebrews. The persons that shall fight it are here said to be the Beast and the Kings of the earth with their Armies, on the one side: and he that sitteth upon the horse with his Army, on the other side. Which last clause clearly sheweth that there shall be an Army in the field siding with Christ, and having him for their Captain, against which the Kings of the earth do directly bend their force, as being capable of hurt. For it is inconceiveable that all the kings of the earth should draw their Armies together into the land of Israel, to fight against the person of Christ in heaven, which should it descend from thence, (as nevertheless it shall not do un∣til the day of the universal judgement) would be altoge∣ther impassible. Neither can it be said that this Army of Christ consisteth of Angels, for (to omit the difficulty even now mentioned, and which hath place in Angels as well as in Christ) the Angels are ranged in several Ar∣mies, as the fourteenth verse of this Chapter signifieth, whereas the Army of Christ here mentioned is but one. Again, the Angels are in the place aforesaid called the Ar∣mies in heaven that followed Christ. But his implieth that there is some other Army of his upon the earth, even that whereof I now dispute, and which must needs consist of the Saints, as was also before hinted, Chap. 17.14. The Issue of the Battel is here set down in this manner, namely, that the Kings and their Armies are all slain with

the Sword of Christs mouth; but the Beast and the false Prophet are taken, and thrown alive into the Lake of Fire and Brimstone. All which is so plain, that it needeth no Inter∣pretation. Onely let it by the way be observed that from hence it undeniably followeth, that the Beast and the false Prophet, are two particular Men, otherwise how should they be present at the Battel of Armageddon, and there be taken and thrown alive into Hell fire? Certainly, this doth intimate that they are Men, who might as well have been slain as others, but were not, because (as I have be∣fore evinced) they had been once dead already, and were restored again to life to act the things in this Book related of them. Which if any one should chance to scrupleat, as a thing very uncouth, (although it be altogether unreasona∣ble so to do, for as much as I have before out of the Scrip∣ture demonstrated the same) let him on the contrary con∣fider with himself, how suitable it is that they whose acti∣ons are prodigiously wicked, and such as were never pra∣ctised in the World before, should likewise in an unusual way be raised up to perform them. As for those words in the very Close of this Chapter, where it is said, that all the Fowls were filled with the Flesh of the slain; this argueth that a true and real Battel is here to be understood, and that the Exposition which I gave upon the 17. and 18. Verses, affirming that all manner of ravenous Birds should flock to the Land of Israel to feed upon the Corpses of slaughtered men, is firm and certain, so that it would be ridiculous to fasten another sense upon the place.