1. A beast rising vp out of the sea, hauing seuen heads and ten hornes & ten diademes, 6.
blasphemeth God, 7. and warre: against the Saints and destroieth them. 11. And another beast
rising out of the earth with two hornes, was altogether for the foresaid beast, constraining men
to make and adore the image thereof, and to haue the character of his name.
1. AND I saw a beast comming vo from the sea, hauing seuen heads, and ten hornes, &
vpon his hornes ten diademes, and vpon his heads names of blasphemie.
2. And the beat which I saw, was like to a Libard, and his feet as of a Beare, and his
mouth, as the mouth of a Lion. And the dragon gaue him his owne force and great power.
3. And I saw one of his heads as it were slaine to death: and the wound of his death
was cured. And al the earth was
✟
They that now follow the simplest & grossest heretikes that euer were without seeing
miracles, would then much more follow this great seducer working miracles.
in admiration after the beast.
4. And they adored the dragon which gaue power to the beast: and they adored the beast
saying: Who is like to the beast? and who shal be able to fight with it?
5. And there was giuen to it a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies: and power
was giuen to it to worke two and fourtie months.
6. And he opened his mouth vnto blasphemies toward God,
✟
No heretikes euer liker Antichrist, then these in our daies, specially in blasphemies
against Gods Church, Sacraments, Saints, Ministers, and al sacred things.
to blaspheme his name, & his
tabernacle, & those that dwel in heauen.
7. And it was giuen vnto him to make battail with the Saints, & to ouercome them. And
power was giuen him vpon euery Tribe and people, and tongue, and Nation,
8. and al that inhabit the earth, adored it,
*
Apoc. 3,5.
whose names be not written in the booke
of life of the Lamb, which was slaine from the beginning of the world.
9. If any man haue an eare, let him heare.
10. He that shal lead into captiuitie, goeth into captiuitie:
*
Gen. 9,6.
Mt. 26,52.
he that shal kil in the
sword, he must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of Saints.
11. And I saw
✟
Another false Prophet inferiour to Antichrist shal worke wonders also, but al referred to
the honour of his Maister Antichrist. So doth Caluin, & other Arch-heretikes peruert the
world to the honour of Antichrist, and so doe their scholers also for the honour for
them.
another beast comming vp from the earth: and he had two hornes, like to
a lamb, & he spake as a dragon.
12. And al the power of the former beast he did in his sight: and he made the earth and
the inhabitants therein, to adore the first beast, whose wound of death was cured.
13. And he did great signes, so that he made also fire to come downe from heauen vnto
the earth in the sight of men.
14. And he seduceth the inhabitants on the earth through the signes which were giuen
him to doe in the sight of the beast, saying to them that dwel on the earth, that they should make
the image of the beast which hath the stroke of the sword, and liued.
15. And it was giuen him to giue spirit to the image of the beast, and that the image
of the beast should speake: and should make, that whosoeuer shal not adore the image of the beast,
be slaine.
16. And he shal make al, litle & great, and rich and poore, and free-men and bond-men,
to haue a character in their right hand, or in their foreheads.
17. And that no man may buie or sel, but he that hath the character, or the name of the
beast, or the number of his name.
18. Here is wisedom. He that hath vnderstanding, let him count the number of the beast.
For it is the number of a man; and the number of him is sixe hundred sixtie sixe.
ANNOTATIONS.
Cʜᴀᴘ. XIII.
8. A beast comming vp.)
This beast is the vniuersal companie of the wicked, whose head is Antichrist: & the same is
called (Apoc. 17) the whoore of Babylon. The 7 heades be expounded (Apoc. 17) seuen kings:
fiue before Christ, one present, and one to come. The 10 hornes be also there expounded to be
to kings that shal reigne a short while after Antichrist. This dragon is the Diuel, by whose
power the whoore or beast or Antichrist worketh for in the wordes folowing (v. 3 & 4)
Antichrist is called the beast, to whom the dragon, that is, the Deuil giueth that power of
feined miracles and as we adore God for giuing power to Christ and his folowers, so they
shal adore the Deuil for assisting Antichrist and giuing him power.
7. To make battel with the saincts.)
He shal kil the saincts then liuing, Elias and Enoch, and infinite moe that professe Christ, whereby
we must learne, not to maruel when we see the wicked persecute and preuaile against the iust, in
this life. Then shal his great persecution and crueltie trie the saincts patience, as his wonderful
meanes to seduce shal trie the stedfastnes of their faith, which is signified by these wordes
folowing, Here is the patience and the faith of saincts. And when it is said, They adored the
beast, whose names are not written in the booke of life of the Lambe, it giueth great solace and
hope to al them that shal not yeld to such persecutions, that they are of Gods elect, and their
names written in the booke of life.
14. The image of the beast.)
They that now refuse to worship Christs image, would then worship Antichrists. And we may note
here, that as the making or honouring of this image was not against the honour of Antichrist, but
wholy for it, as also the image erected of Nabuchodo nosor, and the worship thereof was altogether
for the honour of him, so is the worship of Christs image, the honour of Christ him self, and not
against him, as Protestants madly imagin.
17. The character or the name.)
As belike for the peruerse imitation of Christ, whose image (specially as on the Roode or
crucifixe) he seeth honoured and exalted in euery Church, he wil haue his image adored (for that
is Antichrist, in emulation of like honour, aduersarie to Christ) so for that he seeth al true
Christian men to beare the badge of his Crosse in their foreheads, he likewise wil force al his
to haue an other marke, to abolish the signe of Christ. By the like emulation also and wicked
opposition he wil haue his name and the letters thereof to be sacred, and to be worne in mens
cappes, or written in solemne places, and to be worshipped, as the name of IESVS is and ought to
be among Christian men. And as the ineffable name of God was among the Iewes expressed by a
certaine number of 4 characters (therfore called Tetragrāmmaton) so it seemeth the Apostle alludeth
here to the number of Antichrists name.
And here it is much to be noted, that the Protestants plucking downe the image of Christ out of al
Churches, & his signe of the crosse from mens foreheads, and taking away the honour and reuerence
of the name IESVS, doe make roome for Antichrists image, & marke, and name. And when Christs images
and ensignes or armes shal be abolished, and the Idol of Antichrist set vp in steede thereof, as it
is already begonne: then is the abomination of desolation which was foretold by Daniel and our
Sauiour.
18. Let him count.)
Though God would not haue it manifest before hand to the world, who in particular this Antichrist
should be: yet it pleased him to giue such tokens of him, that when he commeth, the faithful may
easily take notice of him, according as it is written of the euent of other prophecies concerning
our Sauiour. That when it is come to passe, you may beleeue. In the meane time we must take heede
that we iudge not ouer rashly of Gods secretes, the holy write, here signifying, that it is a point of
high vnderstanding illuminated extraordinarily by Gods spirit, to recken right and discipher truely
before hand, Antichrists name and person.
18. It is the number of a man.)
A man he must be, and not a Diuel or spirit, as here it is cleere, and by S. Paul 2 Thessal. 2. where
he is called, the man of sinne. Againe, he must be one particular person, & not a nūber, a
succession, or whole order of any degree of men: because his proper name and the particular number,
and the characters thereof be (though obscurely) insinuated. which reproueth the wicked vanitie of
Heretikes, that would haue Christs owne Vicars, the successors of his cheese Apostle, yea the whole
order of them for many ages together, to be this Antichrist. Who by his description here and in the
said Epistle to the Thessalonians, must be one special man, and of a particular proper name, as our
Lord IESVS is. And whosoeuer he be, these Protestants vndoubtedly are his precursors for as they make
his way by ridding away Christs images, crosse, and name, so they excedingly promote the matter by
taking away Christs cheefe minister, that al may be plaine for Antichrist.
If the Pope had been Antichrist, and had been reuealed now a good many yeres sithence, as these
fellowes say he is to them, then the number of this name would agree to him, and the prophecie being
now fulfilled, it would euidently appeare that he bare the name and number here noted for (no
doubt) when lie commeth, this count of the letters or number of his name which before is so hard to
know, wil be easie for he will set vp his name in euery place, euē as we faithful men do now
aduance IESVS. And what name proper or appellatiue of al or any of the Popes do they finde to agree
with this number, notwithstanding they boast that they haue found the whole order and euery of
them these thousand yeres to be Antichrist, and the rest before euen from S. Peter, foreworkers
toward his kingdom?
18. The number 666.)
Forasmuch as the auncient expositors and other do thinke (for certaine knowledge thereof no mortal
mā can haue without an expresse reuelatiō) that his name cōsisteth of so many, & such letters in
Greeke, as according to their maner of numbering by the Alphabete make 666, and forasmuch as the
letters making that number, may be found in diuers names both proper & common: (as S. Irenaeus
findeth them in Latinos and Teitan, Hippolytus in αρνοῦμαι, Aretas in Lampetis,
& some of this age in Ludérus, which was Luthers name in the Alman tōgue:) therfore we see there
can be no certaintie, and euery one frameth and applieth the letters to his owne purpose and
most absurd folly it is of the Heretikes, to applie the word, Latinos, to the Pope: neither the
whole order in common, nor euer any particular Pope being so called and S. Irenaeus the first that
obserued it in that word, applied it to the Empire and state of the Romane Emperour, which then
was Heathen, and not to the Pope of his daies or after him: and yet preferred the word, Teitan,
as more agreable, with this admonition, that it were a very perilous and presumptuous thing to
define any certaintie before hand, of that number and name. And truely whatsoeuer the Protestants
presume herein of the Pope, we may boldly discharge Luther of that dignitie. He is vndoubtedly
one of Antichrists precursors, but not Antichrist him self.