The Saracen Head is placed in the Middle, because it rofe after the Conftantinopolitan, and before the Ottoman.

The Two Heads that remained after the Saracen, are the Turks in Perfia, and the Conftantinopolitan towards the Weft. And at laft, the Ottoman Head deftroyed the Conftantinopolitan by the Sword, 1453. And then, there remained ever fince, only the Ottoman Head in the Eaft; and its Four Wings, or Provinces, Egypt, Syria, Afia minor, and Greece ; and at laft, this Head will be flain by the Sword. Ch. 12. v. 23. In his laft Days, the Higheft will raise up three Kingdoms; and they fhall have Dominion on the Earth, with much Oppreffion, above all thofe that were before them. (Therefore are they called the Heads of the Eagle.)

These are they that fhall accomplish his Wickedness, and that fhall finifh his laft End, v. 28. The laft remaining Head, is now the Ottoman, who muft fall by the Sword.

V.29. (After the Ottomans are flain.) Two Feathers, who grew under the Wings, paffed over the Head on the Right Side. (It fignifieth, that thefe are they the Higheft hath kept unto their End: This is the fmall Kingdom, and full of Trouble, as thou faweft Ch. 12. v. 2.) And at laft they appeared no more. Thele Two Feathers will fucceed the Ottoman Head: The Ethiopians in Ægypt, and the Tartars in Thrace. For the Sibylline Oracles fay, (Lib. 5.) The Tartars will at last invade Thrace, and the Ethiopians Ægypt: These Feathers were under the Wings, (or Jurifdiction of the Ottomans), but fhall foon difappear. Daniel 12. v. 12. makes 45 Days, from the Death of Antichrift, 1290, till 1335. During fo many Years, these two laft Kingdoms, intimated by Efdras, will continue till the happy Millennium; if thefe Days be Years.

The Lion that rifes out of the Wood, roaring and speaking to the Eagle, Art thou it, that remaineft of the Four Beafts? Thou haft not Judged the Earth with Truth; the Proud Times are ended, tby Abominations fulfilled: Appear no more, thou Eagle, nor thy horrible Wings, nor thy wicked Feathers, nor thy malicious Heads, nor thy hurtful Claws : (that is, the two laft Feathers). And the whole Body of the Eagle was burnt, fo that the Earth was in great Fear. Then Efdras awak'd out of the Trouble and Trance, or Exrafie of his Mind.

This Lion is the Anointed, whom the Higheft hath kept for them unto the End; he fhall reprove them for their Crus elty, and fet them before him alive in Judgment.

Ch. 12.. 34. The reft of my People fhall he deliver with Mercy; thofe that have been preserved on my Borders: And he fhall make them Joyful, until the coming of the Day of Judgment. This is the Deliverance of the Two Tribes on the Borders; and the Deliverance of the Ten is in the next Chapter. The time of the Deliverance of the Two Tribes, is when Chrift fhall Begin to rebuke the Ottoman Head; that is, when the feven laft Plagues begin, Rev. 15. 1. 2 Efd. ch. 11. v. 35. After the Ottoman Head had devour'd the Conftantinopolitan, the Lion begins to rebuke the Eagle, v. 46. that all the Earth may be refreshed, and return, being deliver'd from Violence; and She may hope for the Judgment and Mercy of him who made her. And this was before the laft Head appeared no more, ch. 12. v. 2. Therefore, the two Tribes upon the Borders, will Return before the Fall of the Ottomans; and then they will be Befieged in their Mount Sion, as is faid in the next Chapter. This was Efdras's Dream, and Interpretation.

The Man rifes out of the Sea, and deftroys the Multitude that befieged him on the Mountain; that is, the two Tribes were now Returned: And then he defcends from the Mountain, and calls the ten Tribes from Arfarareth; and gives the Computation of these Times.

Ch. 12. v. 51. I remained fill in the Field, Seven Days: (This is the Place of this Vifion).

Ch. 13. Efdras dreamed this Dream by Night: There rose a Wind on the Sea, which raifed a Tempeft; and a Man appeared with the Thoufands of Heaven; (This is like the Appearance of Chrift, in the 14th of the Revelations, on Mount Sion, with 144 Thousands All things trembled that were under him; all they burnt that heard his Voice, And after this, an infinite Multitude was gathered from the Four Winds of the Earth, to fubdue the Man that came out of the Sea And he graved himfelf a great Mountain, and flew upon it

The Man that came out of the Sea, with the Thousands of Heaven, may be the Holy War, from the Weft, or Sea; And all they burnt that heard his Voice; this is the Deftruction of the Saracens, Revel. 14. v. 9,10. He that Worshippeth the Beaft, fhall be tormented with Fire and Brimftone, in the Prefence of the holy Angels, and of the Lamb. After this, the Multitude was gathered to befiege the Man on the Mountain. V. 26. This Man is the fame whom the Higheft bath kept a long Seafon, who by his own felf thall deliver his Creature ; and he fhall order them that be left behind: He fhall come to the aftonishment of them that dwell on the Earth. And at that time, one fhall undertake to fight with another, one Place againft another, one People againft another, and one Realm againft another: V.32, And the time fhall be, when thefe Things come to pafs; and the Signs fhall happen, which I fhewed thee in the former Chapter; then fhall my Son be declared, whom thou saweft as a Man afcending.

Note, There muft be Wars in every Place, before the Return of the two Tribes. And when they hear his Voice, every Man in his own Land, fhall leave the Battel they, have against one another; and an innumerable Multitude fhall be gathered together to overcome him by Fighting. V.35. And he fhall ftand on the Top of Mount Sion. This is a Defcription of the coming of Gog to behege Ferufalem, in Ezekiel and Zacch. 12. After which, Chrift will appear. Lactantius, l. 7. c. 19. diftinguishes betwixt the Multitude, (which is the Saracens) and the following Reign and Wars of Antichrift; Vidus effugiet, & bellum fape renovabit, & fæpe vincetur, donec quarto prælio confe&is omnibus impiis debellat us captus; tandem fcelerum fuorum luat pœnas. This Antichrift, is Gog, or the Turk, who now contends with the Chriftians. And the Turks are the Multitude, who will befiege the Man on the Mountain, that is, Ferufalem.

V. 36. And Sion fhall come, and fhall be fhewed unto all Men; being prepared and built, like as thou feeft the Hill, graven without Hands. (This fheweth, that Ferufalem will then be built, and befieged by Gog: and then Ezekiel's Gog will Invade the Mountains of Ifrael: Then God's Son will deftroy that Multitude by a Blaft of Fire, flaming Breath, and Tempeft, and will burn them to Duft).

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These things muft happen to the Jews of the two Tribes left behind, they are to come into great Perils and Neceffities, in the latter Days; he fhall preferve himself, who endures the Peril, (periculum) or Trial in those Days: For those Jews that are fall'n into thefe Dangers, have good Works, and Faith in the Almighty. They that are left behind on the Borders, are more bleffed than they that are Dead. (This intimates, that all the Ifraelites alive, are meant by them that are left behind; and those Tribes are mentioned Zach. 12. who mourn): And then, all the Jews then alive, will return together; but none of the dead, till the Refurrection.

The Man that came from the Sea, fhall deliver and order them that are left behind; he fhall come to the aftonishment of all Men at this time: And by the Deftruction of the Multitude, God's Son will be declared to be the Meffiab. (This is the Battel at Armagiddon, Rev. 16).

Efdr. ch. 13. v. 12. The fame Man came down from the Mountain afterwards, and call'd unto him another peaceable. Multitude: These were the ten Tribes, which were carri ed away Prifoners by Salmanaffer King of Affyria; who carried them over the Waters, Euphrates, and they went into a far Country, while Euphrates miraculously food ftill. The Region they went to, was Arfareth, to which they went in in a Year and a Half; that is, they might remove up and down and not be fettled before that time: The Arabian Copy calls it Arfarari, Kararawin. Ptolemy places the City Ar Saratha near the River Araxis, running into the Caspian Sea in Media; where many might remain, and others travel into Tartary, India and China: And fince Efdras was in Media, he knew beft whither they went. And Jofephus fays, the Jews were in his time in Media, where they were much increased. This Prophecy feems to be defigned for the Ufe of the ten Tribes, to fupport them under their Captivity, till the Multitude is deftroyed, and give them hopes of their Return then. The Return of the two Tribes, is Chap. 15. of the Revelations, and their Afflictions reprefented by a Sea of Glafs, mingled with Fire. The Return of the ten Tribes is intimated Rev. ch. 12. by the Army in Heaven, and Chrift's Defcent from the Mountain, is there described by his coming from Heaven. In the Revelation, the Lamb ftands on Mount Sion, with 144 Thousands; and here Efdras lays, v. 35. he food on Mount Sion with the Thousands of Heaven, to de

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ftroy the Multitude. The Man rofe out of the Sea; that is, the Chriftians came from the Weft, and poffeffed Jerusalem, and there they deftroyed the Mahometan Multitude; v 18. These things are to happen in the latter Days; and they that are fall'n into Danger, are fuch as have Faith and good Works; that is, Chriftians deftroyed by the Mahometans, in the holy War. This is a confufed Relation of the Deftru ction of the Saracens and Turks, which St. John diftinguishes Rev. ch. 14, 16. 19. The Jews will dwell at Arfarareth, til the latter Times; and when they return, the Stream of Eu phrates will ftop, that they may go over: These muft return in Peace, and Chrift will defend the two Tribes left on the Borders, when he deftroys the Multitude: This Fight with the Multitude, is a larger Account of what Daniel ch. 12. intimates; the Troubles which fhall happen, when the Jews return from their Captivity and the fame is described Zach. 12. and 14.

Ch. 14. A Voice our of the Bush commands Efdras that he fhould lay up in his Heart the Signs and Dreams that he had feen, and their Interpretation which he had heard; but he fhould be taken away, and be with God's Son, and such as be like him, till the Times are ended. God fo talked to Mofes, and fhew'd him the Secrets of the Times and Ends, and told him what to declare, and what to hide: The World hath loft its Youth, and the Times begin to wax old; for the World is divided into 12 Parts, and Ten of it are gone already, and balf of a Tenth Part.

By an old Tradition the World muft laft 6000 Years; and if these be divided into 12 Parts, 500 is one Part, and 250 Years half a Part; then the ten Parts and an half are 5250, and 750 will remain. By this Computation we know when the Man rifes out of the Sea to deftroy the firft Race of the Mahometan Antichrift; and then the fecond Race, the Ottomans, will begin to reign; in whole time the Jews muft return and be befieg'd in Sion. Then Chrift will appear, and bring back the Ten Tribes. This Computation fhews, at what time these things will begin, which are mention'd in Ch. 13.

From this Computation of Efdras we may learn, that the old Jews had the Tradition of the World's continuing 6000 Years, and the fame was the Opinion of the firft Ghriftians, as we learn from St. Barnabas: This was firft revealed to Efdras,

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