Ver. 2.-"And fhe, being with child, cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be de

"livered."

Ifaiah, when he foretels the rife of the church, and the first coming of Chrift, reprefents her by the figure of a woman with child: "before the travail"ed," fays he, "the brought forth;" before her pain came, fhe was delivered of "a man child *:” meaning, that before the fhould travail and labour in the propagation of the Gofpel, and before the fhould fuffer pain or perfecution on that account, fhe fhould bring forth, or propagate, the WORD OF God. He adds, in the next verfe, "For as foon as Zion (the "church) travailed, she brought forth her children,” that is, made many converts. This was literally the fact, as we learn from St. Luke; for on the day of Pentecoft, foon after the afcenfion of Chrift, when the apofiles began to teach the word of God, three thoufand fouls were converted†;" and the Lord added "to the church daily fuch as fhould be faved This came to pafs before the church had fuffered any perfecution whatever, even before the death of Stephen, the firft martyr. So here the prophet reprefents the church by the fame figure of " a woman "with child," but of a woman under very different circumftances. In the first inftance, fhe is reprefented as bringing forth as foon as the travailed; but here he is reprefented as " a woman with child, "crying, travailing in birth, and pained to be deli"vered," and yet not delivered; referring to her ftate in the fourth century, as " a woman with child;" to denote, that she had embraced, conceived, and brought, with great labour and tribulation, the word of God to a confiderable degree of maturity, and influence in the world. And as "a woman

Ibid. 47.

crying, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered," to fignify, that as a pregnant woman often mistakes her reckoning, and cries to be delivered before her full time; fo the church, now, as it were, upon the throne of power, and her enemies under her feet, and the word of God generally fpread over a great part of the world, fhould conclude that her tafk was finished; that is, that the had arrived at fuch a degree of holiness and perfection, as entitled her to the promised redemption and delivery from the temptations and perfecution of the pagan world; or, like the mistaken Theffalonian church, fhould be perfuaded that "the day of Chrift was at

hand;" and therefore, travailing in birth and pained, anxious for the coming of that bleffed event, the fhould cry, or carnefily pray to God that "his "kingdom might come, and his will be done on

carth, as it is in heaven." Farther, it was to fignify, that, in thefe refpects, the should, like a woman mistaken in the true time of her reckoning, be mistaken in the time of the end of her labour, in the propagation of the Gofpel of Chrift. This was really the cafe in the fourth century; for fhe had not then either temporally or fpiritually carried it to its deftined maturity; an event which, I apprehend, from the tenour of the Gospel, is not to take place, until "the Son of Man fhall come in the glory of his Father "with the holy angels." For the had neither extended it to all parts of the earth, nor had fhe arrived at that piety and fanctity of manners, as to be prepared to enjoy the beatitude of the, kingdom of Chrift. As to the firft, hiftorians of that time inform us, that Conftantine, after his converfion to the Chriftian church, finding his admonitory edict had not its intended effect in converting his peopleto Chriftianity, fuppreffed the heathen oracles and

*

2 Theff. ii. 1, 2, 3. Rev. xix. per totum. § Ibid. xx.

priests,

priefts, feized upon their temples, and confifcated their revenues; and that, through the artifices and intrigues of that apoftate Julian, and other impediments, the church did not fucceed in filencing the oppofition of heathen idolatry, and chriftianizing the Roman empire, until the reign of Theodofius, about the beginning of the fifth century. Even then her temporal labour was not finished; for there were many regions remote from the Roman dominions profeffing paganifm, which remained to be converted: and therefore the continued "travailing in "birth," or propagating the Gospel, until the beginning of the feventh century, when, and not before, she had extended the word of God to China, and the remoteft parts of Afia in the East, and, in the West, to the most western fhores. And as to her spiritual labour, hiftory.further informs us, that between the fifth and the feventh century, inftead of following the plain and intelligible truths of the Gospel of Chrift, fhe fell into fchifms, ftrange, falfe, and myftical doctrines and abominable herefies, and at length into Mohamedan and Papal fuperftition; fo that she was no longer worthy, nor fit, to be farther trufted with the propagation of the word of God and therefore it was now high time that she fhould be delivered of it; that is, as we fhall prefently find, that the fhould deliver up her truft to God, from whom he had received it.

Ver 3 And there appeared another won"der in heaven; and, behold, a great red dragon, having feven heads and ten horns, and 39,“ seven crowns upon his head.”

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Ver. 4. And his tail drew the third part "of the stars of heaven, and did caft them to "the earth: and the dragon flood before "the woman which was ready to be deliver

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ed,

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"ed, for to deftroy her child as foon as it was born."

"And there appeared another wonder in hea"ven;" that is, in the church; for the prophetic scene is ftill in the church. And it was a wonder not to be accounted for by human reason, that mankind, now knowing the will of God, and having, in the fourth century, experienced the ineffable benefits and bleffings derived from the practical obfervance of his holy word, defcribed by the hiftorians of that age, fuch as a general ceffation of all difcord and war, attended by good faith, peace, brotherly love, and tranquillity, over a great part of the earth, fhould forfake its inftructions, and return again to heathen idolatry, or, in the words of the apostle, like "the "dog turned to his own vomit again, or the fow that "was wafhed, to wallowing in the mire ;" and that Satan, that enemy of God and man, after he had been caft out, and deprived of his minifters and agents in the heathen world, fhould artfully introduce himself into the Chriftian church, and feduce it into the ignorance, darkness, and captivity of the church of Rome. This alfo was a great wonder. And yet that thefe wonderful events should come to pafs, is foretold in the fucceeding words of this verfe. And, behold, a great red dragon," fays the prophet, having feven heads and ten horns, and feven crowns upon his heads. his heads. And his tail drew a third part of the flars of heaven, and did caft them "to the earth. And the dragon food before the "woman which was ready to be delivered, for to "devour her child as foon as it was born," Let us here paufe a moment to confider, what minister of Satan, what evil power, did the prophet intend to Commentators

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defignate by "a great red dragon

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in general have agreed, that it is a type of pagan and imperial Rome: but it appears to me, that this power by no means anfwers to the defcription, and if not, all their remarks on this verfe must be erroneous. The dragon," when the prophet faw it ftand before the woman, had feven heads, that is, feven different forms of government; but imperial Rome, whether pagan or Chriftian, never had more than fix, namely, kings, confuls, dictators, decemvirs, military tribunes, and emperors; and therefore could not be properly defcribed, by a dragon having feven heads. Nor had the ten kingdoms converted and fubjugated to her power through their faith in her idolatrous fuperftition; and therefore could not be faid to have ten horns. Nor had the " a tail," or idolatrous fuperftition, by which he had drawn "a "third part of the stars of heaven," or of the Chriftian bishops *, into that fuperftition. But when we apply thefe feveral marks to Rome in her Papal ftate, the ftands the exact prototype of the dragon thus typified for fhe had now obtained from Phocas, that murdering and tyrannical emperor, a commiffion of univerfal bifhop over the churches of Christ (A. D. 606), and thus became an independent ecclefiaftical power, in a fhort time affuming a right to direct or ratify the elections of the weftern emperors. Now, and not before, fhe had" seven "heads," or feven forms of government, the Popedom making the feventh. She had now, and not before, "ten horns," or ten independent kingdoms devoted to her will. For the had no fooner obtained her commiffion as univerfal bishop, than fhe established her idolatrous fuperftition in the Pantheon at Rome (A. D. 607). From that time, every art, falfehood, and fraud, were made ufe of, to convert the independent kings and princes, who had