the

prayers of all saints, upon the golden altar which was before the throne.

This angel I declare was Moses, who was to officiate the office of offering up the prayers of all the saints, with the incense upon the golden altar, which was before the throne in the vision, as he did in his commission of the law, when he was here upon earth; so that he is called by John's Revelation, Another angel that came and stood at the altar, &c.

And in verse 4. The smoke of the incense which came with the prayers of the saints ascended up before God out of the angel's hand. And in verse 5. And the angel took the censer, and filled it with fire of the altar, and cast it into the earth, and there were voices, and thunderings and lightnings, and an earthquake.

This is spoken with relation to those offerings, which Moses the angel of the covenant of works, did practice in the time of the law. And as he was the angel that gave forth the law, and so appointed and ordained censers, altars, and offerings to be offered up unto the Lord in that tabernacle, which was but a pattern of the true; so Moses is that angel that is said by John in his vision, to offer up the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar, which was before the throne.

It is called a golden altar, because it is spiritual and heavenly, and the sacrifice, which is the prayers of saints, is spiritual also, in opposition to that altar and sacrifices Moses had in the time of the law. So that when the angel had offered up the prayers of all the saints and the smoak of the incense, and the

saints prayers together, they ascended up before God out of the angel's hand. And when this was accomplished, the angel took the censer, and filled it with fire, and cast it into the earth.

Only to signify some extraordinary plagues and judgments that should follow upon the sounding of every one of the seven angels trumpets.

Now I would have you the seed of faith to consider, that as there was a real, visible, and temporal altar, sacrifice, incence, censer, used in the visible worship in the time of the law, the very same things are expressed by John in a spiritual sense, both by way of vision and revelation. So that what Moses did as he was the angel of the covenant of works, and visible worship, John doth express it in a spiritual and an heavenly sense. So that there is a true reality in the spiritual sense though invisible, which cannot be seen but by the eye of faith, as the temporal was seen and known by the eye of reason. So that those judgments and plagues that were acted in Moses's commission, they are rehearsed by John over again in a spiritual sense. So that the things that three of these seven angels did, the plagues that doth appear upon the earth at the sounding of their trumpets, they were fulfilled in the commission of Moses, which was of the law. Therefore it is worth the minding, to know what plagues did follow upon the sounding of every one of these seven angels who had seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound.

For observe, that when the angel aforesaid had took the censer, and filled it with fire of the altar,

and cast it into the earth, it produced immediately, there were voices, and thunderings, and lightnings, and an earthquake: So likewise upon the sounding of the seven trumpets which the seven angels had which prepared themselves to sound. The first angel sounded, and there followed hail, and fire mingled with blood; and they were cast upon the earth, and the third part of trees were burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up.

The plague that followed upon the first angel's sounding, was upon Pharoah and his people, when Moses was sent of God to him to let the children of Israel go into the wilderness to worship. I need not to relate the particular plagues, because they may be read in the scriptures. But at the first angel's sounding, Pharoah and his people had that hail, and fire mingled with blood amongst them; so that other great plagues were upon man and beast in Egypt; as you may read concerning those seven plagues which Moses brought upon it, because Pharoah would not let the people of Israel go: and these were the fruits of the first angel sounding his trumpet.

And in verse 8. And the second angel sounded, and as it were a great mountain burning with fire was cast: into the sea, and the third part of the sea became blood. And in verse 9. The third part of creatures which were in the sea, and had life, died, and the third part of ships were destroyed.

This great mountain burning with fire which was cast into the sca, when the second angel did sound, was Pharoah and all his host; for Pharoah was a great mountain, that is a king of great power. And

he

he burned with the fire of envy and madness, that the people of Israel should be carried out of his kingdom, and enrich themselves with the Egyptians jewels, and other things which they had borrowed. It was enough to make this great mountain to burn with the fire of madness and revenge; so that he and all his host would follow to the sea side, that his wrath might burn as a fire of revenge upon the people of Israel, and bring them back again.

But in the conclusion, this great mountain that burned with the fire of revenge, was cast into the sca. That is, king Pharoah, the great mountain, and all his host, who burned with revenge like fire, were cast into the sea. So that the third part of the sea may be said to become blood, because the destruction was exceeding great, so that the third part of the creatures which were in the sea, and had life, died, and the third part of the ships were destroyed; that is, the third part of Pharoahs kingdom was cast into the sea, so that though the poor creatures had life when they were in the midst of the sea following of Moses, the sea swallowed them up, so that the third part of the kingdom of Egypt died in the sea. And the third part of ships were destroyed: that is, the third part of Pharoah's chariots and waggons which the kingdom would afford, were destroyed in the sea.

John calls them ships, because they carried him into the sea, and after they were destroyed, the chariots swum upon the waters; and in this regard they are called by the Revelation of John, ships. For when Pharoah was drowned, we do not read

that

that he, nor any nation else, had any ships, but what hath been built since. So that John might call his chariots that swum upon the waters after they were destroyed, ships. And the lives of his horses, and his mules, and his men, were the third part of creatures which died in the sea. And this was that mountain burning with fire that was cast into the sea, at the second angel's sounding the trumpet, &c.

CHAP. XXIII.

VERSE 10. And the third angel sounded, and there fell a great star from heaven, burning as it were a lamp, and it fell upon the third part of the rivers,and upon the fountains of waters. And in verse 11. The name of the star is called wormwood, and the third part of the waters became wormwood, and many men died of the waters, because they were made bitter.

This third angel sounded when Elijah and Elisha did those wonderful miracles in Israel, in their reproving of Ahab and his sons for their idolatry, and when Isaiah the prophet prophesied against the king of Assyria. For when the angel doth sound, there is always some great trouble upon the earth attends to one or more particular nations; as there was in the days of Elijah, and more especially in the days of Elisha the prophet, when as the king of Syria warred with Israel, but was prevented by the prophet Elisha's counsel.

As you may read 2 Kings vi. 8, how many times. he prevented the king of Syria: But in process of