her hand, full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication.

This woman is the same afore-mentioned, and as for her being arrayed in purple, and scarlet colour; the purple signifies the civil outside appearance, and rich array. That is, she was arrayed with such outside language and gestures, and ornaments concerning the worshiping of Idols, that it was a garment of purple unto her, which made the kings and ple all to bow down to her, and glad they were that they might drink of that golden cup in her hand, which cup was full, of abomination.

peo

And as for the scarlet colour she was decked with, that is within her; that is, her soul was made as red as scarlet, with the blood of the saints, as the beast aforesaid.

And as for the precious stones and pearls she was decked with, that signifies that good esteem the beast and the people had of her superstitious worship, thinking in themselves that she was precious in the eyes of the Lord, or as a pearl, or jewel in the sight of God, and that she did God good service to kill his saints, that would not bow down and worship so holy a service as was required by her.

And as for the golden cup in her hand, the cup signifies the form and manner of worship, which she doth prescribe to the beast, and the people, to false gods; and that which this golden cup in her hand is full with, it is the superstitious idolatrous worship, that the beast and people must drink of; that is, they must do as she hath prescribed in matter of worship,

and

and so they come to drink out of the golden cup in her hand, and so they take a full draught of her spiritual abominations and filthiness of her fornications with idols, and in the blood of the saints,

Verse 5. And upon her head was a name written, mystery Babylon the great, the mother of harlots, and abominations of the earth. There need not to be any interpretation upon this verse, for I have shewed what is meant by Babylon before, and what is meant by the mother of harlots; so that I shall pass by this verse 5. and proceed to verse 6.

Verse 6. And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus, and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration. Here John saw in his vision the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and martyrs of Jesus. That is, mystery Babylon, or city Babylon, which is compared to a woman, that is, all persecuting spirits in point of worship are compared to a woman; for they have all drank the blood of saints and martyrs, so that John did see in his vision, that they were all drunken with the blood of saints, even as men are drunken with wine. So that John did wonder with great admiration, to see that God should have so much patience, as to stay so long before he did pour out his judgments upon this woman, who had made herself drunken with the blood of the saints, and martyrs of Jesus.

But in verse 7. The angel said unto John, wherefore didst thou marvel? I will tell thee the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carrieth her, which hath the seven heads, and ten horns. As if he should

say,

say, when thou seest the judgment of the woman, and of the beast that I will bring upon them, thou wilt then marvel no more at their being drunken with the blood of the saints, and martyrs of Jesus.

IN

CHAP. LXI.

N verse 8, the angel doth explain unto John's understanding, what the beast is that doth carry the woman, as he did the woman in the seventh verse; but the explanation of the angel, it is as dark to the reason of man, as the vision itself; for who can understand what is meant by these words, verse 8. The beast that thou sawest, was, and is not, and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition, and they that dwell upon the earth shall wonder, whose names are not written in the book of life, from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast, that was, and is not, and yet is.

Yet by the revelation of the spirit of faith, I shall open the meaning of John's words. The reader may remember that I gave a touch of it in the interpretation of the thirteenth chapter, where I have shewed the difference between the dragon's seven heads, and ten horns, and the beast's seven heads, and ten horns. The meaning is this, the dragon's seven heads did signify seven kings besides himself. And the beast that the dragon did give his seat, power, and authority unto, who had seven heads, and ten horns, I declare his own head was one of the seven, and the first head of the seven, that did exercise the power of the dragon. So that this

dragon

dragon Herod that persecuted the woman, he is that beast that was, and is not. That is, he was alive in his own person, when he would have slain Christ with the young children, but seeing he was prevented in that, and could not devour the young child Jesus, he persecuted the woman, and the remnant of her seed. That is, all true believers in that child Jesus, they were the remnant of her seed; but the earth. helped the woman, and swallowed up the flood. That is, the young children that were slain by the dragon's command, are called by the spirit, the earth, and their deaths did swallow up the flood of persecution, that came out of the dragon's mouth.

And this is the beast that was, and is not; that is, he is dead, and the other beast that had seven heads, and ten horns, he is that scarlet coloured beast that the woman doth sit upon. That is, all the seven heads that this beast had, his own being one, they did exercise the power of the dragon in persecuting the saints, which was the remnant of the seed of the woman, whom the dragon did persecute. Now this is to be minded by the reader, that the spirit of the dragon, it did remain in the seed of reason, that was in those seven heads, or seven beasts, though the dragon which is the eighth, was dead, as to his outward appearance. Neither did that visible body of the dragon appear any more, but that spirit of his seed, it was in his son's seed; so that the same spirit of the dragon it did run through the seed of reason, through the line of those seven beasts, and did cause them to persecute, and shed the blood of the saints as he did, and would have done. This was

chiefly with relation to those ten persecutions in the time of the apostles commission.

And as for the beast that was, and is not, and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition. The meaning is this, that the same spirit of reason, that was in the dragon, who was that beast that was, and is not.

I say the same spirit of persecution shall ascend out of the bottomless pit of the imagination of reason; that is, in the other beast that succeeded the dragon; for all wicked beasts were, and are guided by one spirit, even the spirit of the devil, which devil is no other but the spirit of reason in man; and the imagination that floweth from this spirit of reason, it is that bottomless pit; so that this beast that did ascend out of the bottomless pit, it was no other but the spirit of reason that did ascend out of the hearts of those seven beasts aforesaid; which caused them to exercise the power of the dragon, in persecuting and shedding the blood of the saints, and so at the end of the world they go into perdition. For this is to be minded, that when a wicked man doth go into perdition, he doth never return again, because it is an eternal perdition.

This is to be minded also, that the bottomless pit is one thing, and perdition is another; for almost all men are in the bottomless pit of their own imaginations, only those that know truth; yet men's spirits of reason may ascend out of the bottomless pit of their vain imaginations, and come to know truth, but after the spirit of a man goeth into perdition, there is no possibility ever to ascend out of that, because it is eternal. Again