otherwise understood in this of Christ which is to succeed them all as they have succeeded each other both in time and place as the 35. vers doth fully declare and as the falling of the stone upon the feete of the Image upon the last and divided Kingdoms of the iron Empire doth probably imply For if the Kingdome of God there spoken of were to be understood of a Kingdome which should so be set up in the dayes of these Kings that their reigne should notwithstanding continue together with it as not onely these but all former Kingdomes also have done with the Militant Church with the Kingdome of grace which therefore cannot be the Kingdome there foreshewne then doubtlesse it should have beene represented by some part of the Image it selfe as the contemporating Kingdomes of the divided Empire are by the mixture of iron and clay and not by a thing so different from it and adverse unto it by a stone I say so wonderfull for its beginning operation and increase For it was cut out without hands and when it had smote the Image became a great Mountaine Ver. 34.45 Ver. 35. and filled the whole earth which the Church as yet never did whose fall and growth too as they import a more powerfull speedy and generall conquest over these Kingdomes by this Kingdome then either the gold received from the silver the silver from the brasse or the brasse from the iron so they imply the utter extirpation and totall abolition of the manner of policy and government which these Kingdomes have used of which it is said that they became like the chaffe of the summer threshing-floores and the wind carried them away that no place was found for them vers 35. And with this sense of the interpretation of the vision very well agreeth that in the second Psal at the 8. vers Aske of me and I shall give thee the Heathen for thine inheritance and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession Thou shalt breake them with a rod (a) Rev. 2. v. 27. ch 19. v. 15. of iron thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potters vessell And that in Psal 110. at the 2. vers The Lord shall send the rod of thy strength out of Zion rule thou in the midst of thine enemies The Lord at thy right hand shall strike thorow Kings in the day of his wrath Hee shall judge among the Heathen he shall fill the places with dead bodies he shall wound the heads over many countries He shall drinke of the brooke in the way therefore shall he lift up the head Yea and that too in the 149. Psal at the second vers Let Israel rejoyce in him that made him let the children of Zion be joyfull in their (b) 1 Sam. 1 v. 9.10 Psal 47. Psal 98. King Let the high praises of God be in their mouth and a two-edged sword in their hand to execute vengeance upon the Heathen and punishments upon the people to binde their Kings with chaines and their Nobles with fetters of iron to execute upon them the judgement written This honour have all his Saints And that nought else is meant by the world to come in the second of the Heb. at the 5. vers but the Kingdome of our Saviour it is evident by the authority there alleadged out of the 8. Psal which prophecy is therefore made use of by the Apostle as a plaine proofe that Christs manhood is exalted above the chiefest of the Angels because it shewes that it is to Christ as man and not to any of the Angels that God hath put in subjection the world to come And if there be yet a world which is to be put in subjection to Christ as man then it must needs be a distinct world from (c) 1 Cor. 15 v. 24 28 Rev. 21. v. 3 that in which as man he shall give up the Kingdome to his Father for that which is to be given up is already past And it is no where said that the new Jerusalem the City of eternall glory shall be subjected to Christ as a creature but that Christ as a creature shall after the judgement of the dead be there subject to the Father 2. By expresse prophesie And thus it hath beene proved by consequence that our Saviour shall heareafter reigne on earth You shall now heare it directly and expressely affirmed Behold saith the Angell to the Virgin Mary thou shalt conceive in thy wombe and bring forth a Sonne and shalt call his name Jesus he shall be great and shall be called the Sonne of the Highest and the Lord God shall give unto him (d) Matth. 2 v. 6. Acts 2. v. 30 31. the Throne of his Father David Luke the first at the 31. v. Behold saith (e) Ch. 33. v. 15.16 Ieremiah in his 23. c. at the 5. v. the dayes come saith the Lord that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch and a King shall reigne and prosper and shall execute judgement and justice * Whatsoever losse the disobedience of the first Adam brought on himselfe and his posterity that no doubt the second Adam hath recovered with advantage for himselfe and his chosen But the first Adam lost not onely his right to Heaven but the happy estate too which an innocent life would for a long time have continued to him and his on earth And therefore that intercourse and familiarity with God that rule and command over men and all other creatures which Adam before the advancement of mankind to its highest happines should have here enjoyed if he had not fell that and farre more then that shall Christ with his chosen inherit at his next appearing And now seeing even reason it selfe doth thus strongly conclude for our Saviours future soveraignty what unreasonablenesse were it in us any longer to misdoubt the literall accomplishment of these and all other sacred revelations which so fully describe and so clearely confirme it in the (f) Is 8. v. 8. Iob 19. v. 25. Heb. 1. v. 2. earth In his dayes Judah shall be saved and Israel shall dwell safely and this is his Name whereby he shall bee called The Lord our righteousnesse Behold saith Zech. in his 6. chap. at the 12. vers the man whose name is the Branch and he shall grow up out of his place and he shall build the Temple of the Lord and hee shall beare the glory and shall sit and rule upon his Throne and he shall be a Priest upon his Throne and the counsell of peace shall be betweene them both And in the 34. chap. of Ezek. at the 22. vers I will save my flocke and they shall no more be a prey and I will judge betweene cattell and cattell and I will set up one Shepheard over them and he shall feed them even my servant David he shall feed them and he shall be their Shepheard And I the Lord will be their God and my servant David a Prince
Jacob shall rejoyce and Israel shall be glad Psal 106. v. 4 5. Remember me O Lord with the favour that thou bearest unto thy people O visit me with thy salvation That I may see the (i) Ier. 32 v. 42. ch 33. v. 9. good of thy chosen that I may rejoyce in the gladnesse of thy Nation that I may glory with thine inheritance Micah 7. v. 14. c. Feed thy people with thy rod the flock of thine heritage which dwelleth solitarily in the wood in the midst of Carmel let them feed in Bashan and Gilead as in the dayes of old According to the dayes of thy comming out of the Land of Egypt will I shew unto him marvellous things The Nations shall see and be confounded at their might they shall lay their hand upon their mouth their eares shall be deafe They shall licke the dust like a Serpent they shall move out of their (k) Isa 2. v. 19.20 Re◠◠v. 19 holes like wormes of the earth they shall be afraid of the Lord our God and shall feare because of thee Who is a God like unto thee that pardoneth iniquity and passeth by the transgression of the (l) Isa 65. v. 9.15 Zeph. 3. v. 12 13. Rom. 11. v. 5 28. Remnant of his heritage he retaineth not his anger for ever because he delighteth in mercy He will turne againe he will have compassion upon us he will subdue our iniquities and thou wilt cast all their sinnes into the depths of the Sea Thou wilt performe the truth to (m) Isa 65. v. 8. Rom. 11. v. 16.28 Jacob and the mercy to (m) Isa 65. v. 8. Rom. 11. v. 16.28 Abraham which thou hast sworne to our m Fathers from the dayes of old Isaiah 12. In that day thou shalt say O Lord I will praise thee though thou wast angry with me thine anger is turned away and thou comfortest me Behold God is my salvation I will trust and not be afraid for the Lord Jehovah is my strength and my song he also is become my salvation Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the Wels of salvation And in that day shall yee say Praise the Lord call upon his Name declare his doings among the people make mention that his Name is exalted Sing unto the Lord for he hath done excellent things this is knowne in all the earth Cry out and shout thou inhabitant of Zion for great is the HOLY (n) Isa 55. v. 5. ch 60. v. 9.14 Luke 4. v. 34. Acts 2. v. 27 ch 3. v. 14. ONE of Israel in the midst of thee Isaiah 63. v. 15. c. Looke downe from Heaven and behold from the habitation of thy holinesse and of thy glory where is thy zeale and thy strength the sounding of thy bowels and of thy mercy towards me are they restrained Doubtlesse thou art our Father though Abraham be ignorant of us and Israel acknowledgeth us not thou O Lord art our Father our Redeemer thy Name is from everlasting O Lord why hast thou made us to erre from thy wayes and hardned our heart from thy feare returne for thy servants sake the Tribes of thine inheritance The people of thy holines have possessed it but a little while our Adversaries have trodden down thy Sanctuary O that thou wouldest rent the Heavens Ch. 64. v. 1. c. that thou wouldest come down that the mountains might flow downe at thy presence As when the melting fire burneth the fire causeth the waters to boyle to make thy Name knowne to thine Adversaries that the Nations may tremble at thy presence When thou diddest terrible things which wee looked not for thou camest downe the mountaines flowed downe at thy presence For since the beginning of the world (o) 1 Cor. 2 v. 9. men have not heard nor perceived by the eare neither hath the eye seene O God besides thee what he hath prepared for him that waiteth for him Nunc fera mucro fames nunc (p) Rev. 6.8 mórsque fidelibus instat Quos manet haec merces gloria vita quies Warre wilde beasts want and death doe now besiege The sacred troopes whose future priviledge Is this to shine in glory and to raigne In peace with him who makes their death their (q) Phil. 1.21 gain The Testimonies of the Authors quoted in the margent of the 19. page ISraelitae non fuerunt liberati unquam à suâ terrenâ captivitate nec redierunt in patriam ut patet ex superioribus Hoc etiam historiae docent abducti enim ab Assur in Assyriam Mediam non leguntur ab eo fuisse dimissi Regno verò Assyriorum Babyloniis per Merodacum subjecto in captivitate itidèm permanserunt Babyloniis subjecti Cùm verò posteà Deioces qui primus apud Medos regiâ dignitate usus est ab Assyriorum Babyloniorúmque jugo Medos liberasset Israelitae multis de causis fuerunt è terris Medorum in ulteriores regiones nempè in Septentrionem quò omnis spes redeundi ad suos illis tolleretur expulsi quidem dispersi Quâ de re videatur Funcc comment lib. 1. pag. 23. Itaque videamus cùm Media Babylonia Assyria in manū pervenit Cyri regis factâ libertate omnibus Israelitis redeundi in patriam solos Jehudaeos Benjamin quae conjuncta erat cum Juda Levitas qui quonià m noluerunt vitulis sacrificare expulsi à Jeroboamo redierunt Hierosolymam cum Judaeis se conjunxerunt ut est 2. Paralip 11. v. 13 14. ch 13. v. 9. rediisse ut est Ezra cap. 1. cap. 2. Nisi fuissent reliquae Tribus in ulteriores regiones dispersae illae potuissent quoque redire Tempore etiam quo natus est Dominus Samaria cum aliis terris Israelitarum occupata erat ab illis gentibus qui eò missi fuerant a rege Assur Israelitarum loco ut est 2. Reg. 17. Itaque videmus Israelitas nunquà m à captivitate terrenâ liberatos in patriam rediisse Hier. Zanch. Quaeritur ab interpretibus Nùm ex hâc prophetiâ certò colligatur decem tribus nunquà m ex captivitate rediisse quemadmodùm aliae duae post aliquot annos ex captivitate Babylonica redierunt Ratio dubitandi est quòd in hoc ipso cap. subditur Et cōgregabuntur filii Juda filii Israel paritèr c. Ezek. cap. 37. Sub Symbolo duorum lignorum in unum coeuntium vaticinatur Judam Israel conjungendos Jer. cap. 50. v. 4. apertè dicit Venient in tempore illo filii Israel ipsi filii Juda simul Ubi videtur certa spes restitutionis etiam decem tribubus fieri Nihilominus certum est Rempublicamillam decem tribuum nunquà m posteà coivisse eorum captivitatem dispersionem in populos perpetuam fuisse quod hic comminatur Deus nec solutam unquà m fuisse eorum captivitatem quod Josephus ipse Ant. Jud. lib. 11. cap. 5. agnoscit Dum scribit
filth and off-scouring of all things And yet for all that The Act. 19 20. Word of God grew mightily and prevailed And it is not to be doubted but that God will have the victory in the end and the longer and more eagerly any truth of his hath beene opposed and supprest the more suddenly and more powerfully shall she breake forth againe to the amazement and confusion of her Adversaries and the ratification and rejoycing of her selfe and her professours It is yeelded that this Tenet was Christned in the primitive and purest times and that it had no meane Abettours for some ages after And surely a part thereof and that such a part which is a principal member of the whole hath found beleevers amongst the most learned of all times But unlesse the Sunne should depart there could be no night and unlesse this and many other Apostolicall truthes and customes had by little and little lost their credit in the Church That man of sin That sonne of perdition That blinde leader of the blinde could never with his trickes and trumpery have gained such acceptance and advancement amongst men And therefore I suppose that that which was at first a good advantage to him in his rising and which is now his best plea for the upholding of his pompous Clergy of his Princely and Magistracy-mastering Pontiffes was and is the renouncing of the foresaid truth and thereupon the mis-application of all those revelations which properly and naturally concerne the Redemption and Restauration of the Jewes posterity and Principality So unhappily so unwittingly may even good men befriend and make way for the cause they hate when they faile to divide the Word of God aright when they rob the Jew the more to enrich the Gentile Let us beware then lest our unbeleefe of the Jewes Redemption of their Rom. 11 v. 24. insition againe into their owne Olive tree bring as great a losse to numberlesse multitudes of us Gentiles as the Jewes unbeleefe of our conversion of our Rom. 11 v. 17.24 inoculation into that good Olive hath done to millions of themselves The truth is both Jew and Gentile are sick in the same disease as well the one as the other would faine ingrosse the benefits of the Messias severally to himselfe whereas they belong indeed first and chiefely to the Jew but onely to neither And never will the happinesse of either receive perfection never shall they have full possession of the gifts and graces which Christ hath purchased for them till both are folded together till the time come that Ioh. 10. v. 16. One Fold shall receive them and One Shepherd feed them Thus our Saviour hath prophecyed of both and this he will in his appointed time accomplish to both As in the following discourse it will I hope appeare unto thee if thou read it soberly consider it diligently and judge of it uprightly Farewell Thine in the faith and fellowship of our Lord Jesus Christ R. M. Jer. 23. v. 19.20 BEhold a whirlewind of the Lord is gone forth in fury even a grievous whirlewind it shall fall grievously upon the head of the wicked The anger of the Lord shall not returne untill he have executed and till he have performed the thoughts of his heart in the latter dayes ye shall consider it perfectly Hosea 5. v. 15. I will go and returne to my place till they acknowledge their offence and seeke my face in their affliction they will seek me early Come and let us returne unto the Lord for he hath torne Ch. 6. and he will heale us he hath smitten and hee will Ezek. 34. v. 16. binde us up After two 2 Per. 3. v. 8. dayes will he revive us in the third day he will raise us up and we shall live in his sight Then shall we know if we follow on to know the Lord his going forth is prepared as the morning and hee shall come unto us as the Ps 72. v. 6. raine as the latter and former raine unto the earth Rom. 11. v. 28. c. As concerning the Gospel they are enemies for your sakes But as touching the Marke 13. v. 20. Matth. 24. v. 22. Except the Lord had shortned those dayes no flesh should be saved but for the Elects sake which he hath chosen he hath shortned those dayes Election they are beloved for the Fathers sakes For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance Shortned Not that they were or could be longer or shorter then God had before all time decreed them to be but because they were not so long as either Jewes had deserved or their enemies had purposed they should be who had not God by his unsearchable providence stopt their course would by the continuance of that persecution have brought them to a finall destruction For the Elects sake The Elect which Saint Paul mentions in the 5. and 28. vers of the 11. chap. to the Rom. are undoubtedly the same that our Saviour here spake of Now these could not be the Elect that received the Gospel in the Apostles dayes in that first age of the Church for neither were they amongst those obstinate Jewes which almost wholly perisht at the sacking of Jerusalem neither if they had could any of those unbelieving Jewes be saved for the Jewes sake that then believed seeing they had no such eager and bitter persecutours as their owne Nation were whose cruelty towards Christ and his Disciples was indeed the very cause of the tribuâ—ation which at that time befell them And it being easie with God to destroy his enemies without hurt to his owne they should then no doubt have utterly perisht for it but for the Elects sake which should come of the unbeleeving Jewes that were left which should come of them I say not immediately and in the next generation for they continue in blindnesse unto this day but after many generations when once the fulnesse of the Gentiles should come in That is when once the time was expired after which All Israel should be saved should againe be converted and redeemed Isa 54. v. 1. c. Sing O barren thou that didst not beare breake forth into singing and cry aloud thou that didst not travell with child for more are the children of the desolate then the children of the married wife saith the Lord. Enlarge the place of thy tent and let them stretch forth the curtaines of thy habitations spare not lengthen thy cords and strengthen thy stakes For thou shalt breake forth on the right hand and on the left and thy seed shall Ch. 14. v. 1 2. Ch. 49. v. 22 23. Ch. 60. v. 12 inherit the Gentiles and make the desolate Cities to be inhabited Feare not for thou shalt not be ashamed neither be thou confounded for thou shalt not be put to shame for thou shalt forget the shame of thy youth and shalt not remember the reproach of thy widowhood any more For thy Maker is thine husband the Lord of hosts is his Name
the 1. vers Behold in those dayes and in that time when I shall bring againe the captivitie of Judah and Hierusalem I will also gather all Nations and will bring them downe into the valley of Jehosaphat which in the 14. vers is called the valley of decision and will plead with them there for my people and for my heritage Israel whom they have scattered among the Nations and parted my land And at 15. vers againe The Sunne and the Moone shall be darkned and the Starres shall withdraw their shining the Lord also shall roare out of Zion and utter his voyce from Hierusalem and the (u) Isa 2.19 c. Eze. 38.19 20. Hag. 2.22 Mat. 24.29 Rev. 16.18 c. 6.13.14 heavens and the earth shall shake but the Lord will be the hope of his people and the strength of the children of Israel I am not ignorant that the darkning of the Sun and Moone is sometimes taken allegorically and by way of allusion but that therefore it should be so understood here it doth not follow for where it is figuratively applyed it signifies the judgement it selfe which is to befall those people of whom it is spoken but where it is literally used it is put onely for a signe of an eminent destruction which shall suddenly follow it as the great and terrible day of the Lord shall do at the accomplishment of this Prophesie Neither have I forgotten that the first of these Prophesies was made use of by Saint Peter to stop the mouthes of such as jeered the Apostles when by the descent of the holy Ghost upon them they began to speake with other tongues Act. 2.4 but that this Prophesie was then fulfilled I deny for when some mocking said These men are full of new wine Cap. cjusd vers 13. c. Saint Peter replyed Ye men of Judea and all ye that dwell at Hierusalem be this knowne unto you and hearken unto my words for these are not drunken as ye suppose seeing it is but the third houre of the day but this is that which was spoken by the Prophet Joel And it shall come to passe in the last dayes saith God I will powre out my Spirit upon all flesh as if he had said My brethren these are not the effects of wine but of the Spirit of God which is now powred out on the first fruits of the Jewes as a pledge assurance of that bountifull effusion of it which as Joel hath said shall one day happen to the whole (u) Isay 32. vers 15. Ezek. 39. vers 29. Zech. 12 vers 10. Nation And that this is all S. Peter meant it may thus appeare first because the chief and most remarkeable effect of the Spirit in the Apostles at this time was the gift of tongues of which the Prophet makes no mention and secondly because as the Prophet revealed so hee repeats this powring out of the Spirit as a contemporary event with the wonders which shall be shewne in the heavens and in the earth before the great and terrible day of the Lord come Which day can no way be referr'd to the first comming of Christ when he came to (x) Luk. 9. vers 56. Chap. 19. vers 10. Joh. 12.47 save sinners and not to destroy them when hee would not take upon him to be (y) Luk. 12.14 Joh. 6.15 Judge and Ruler over them for then it must have beene an antecedent of his birth of the time he lived and not a subsequent of his death and departure which hath no analogie with a day Is remaines then that it is an expression of his second coming which is called a great and terrible day in regard of the generall destruction which shall be brought on all Nations that oppose themselves against the Jewes at that time For in mount Zion and in Hierusalem as you have heard shall be deliverance and in the Remnant whom the Lord shall callâ— And to put it out of doubt that Gods bringing downe of the heathen into the valley of Jehospaphat is meant onely of his gathering them together to a battell and consequently of a judgement on the living and not on the dead to put this out of doubt I say the Prophet makes it to be a concomitant of the Jewes (z) Rev. 16. v. 12 13 14. return from their captivitie and in the 9 10 11 and 12. vers provokes the Gentiles to prepare warre to assemble their mighty men and to breake their plough-shares into swords and their pruning-hookes into speares a preparation which as it would be fruitlesse so doubtlesse they shall neither have time power or will to make when they are summoned to receive the dreadfull sentence of Goe yee cursed And for my owne part I am perswaded that this great army here spoken of is the very same that shall be gathered together to the battell of that great day of God Almighty by the three uncleane spirits like frogs which Saint John saw come out of the mouth of the dragon and out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false Prophet Rev. the 16. at the 13. vers Of this (a) Psal 2.1 2 3. Ps 46.6 8. Ps 68.30 Isa 2.12 13 c. Ch. 24.21 22. ch 26.20 21. ch 34.1 2 3 4 5 c. ch 49. v. 26. chap. 66. v. 14 15 16. Micah 4.12 13. destruction also speakes Zephaniah in his 3. chap. at the 8. vers Therefore wait upon mee saith the Lord untill the day that I rise up to the prey for my determination is to gather the Nations that I may assemble the Kingdomes to powre upon them mine indignation even all my fierce anger for all the earth shall be devoured with the fire of my jealousie for then will I turne to the people meaning the Jewes a pure language that they may all call upon the name of the Lord to serve him with one consent And at the 19. vers Behold at that time I will undoe all that afflict thee and I will save her that halteth and gather her that was driven out and I will get them praise and fame in every land where they have beene put to shame At that time I will bring you againe even in the time that I gather you for I will make you a name and a prayse among all people of the earth when I turne backe your captivity before your eyes saith the Lord. And yet more fully Zechariah in his 12. chap. at the 3. vers In that day will I make Hierusalem a burdensome stone for all people all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it In that day will I smite every horse with astonishment and his rider with madnesse and I will open mine eyes upon the house of Judah and will smite every horse of the people with blindnesse In that day will I make the Governours of Judah like a hearth
among them I the Lord have spoken it and in his 37. chap. at the 24. vers David my servant shall be King over them and they shall have one Shepheard and they shall also walke in my judgements and observe my statutes and doe them and they shall dwell in the land that I have given unto Jacob my servant wherein your Fathers have dwelt and they shall dwell therein even they and their children and their childrens children for ever and my servant David shall be their Prince for ever And in the 9. chap. of Isaiah at the 6. vers Vnto us a child is borne unto us a Sonne is given and the government shall be upon his shoulder and his name shall be called Wonderfull Counseller the Mighty God the Everlasting Father the Prince of Peace Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end Vpon the Thron of David and upon his Kingdome to order it and to establish it with judgement and with justice from henceforth even for ever the zeale of the Lord of Hosts will performe this And in the 52. chap. at the 13. vers Behold my servant shall deale prudently he shall be (g) Ps 1â—8 v. 22.23 24 c. exalted and extolled and be very high As many were (h) Luke 2. v. 34.35 astonied at thee his visage to wit at the time of his suffering was so marred more then any man and his forme more then the sonnes of men so to wit at his next appearing shall he sprinkle many Nations the Kings shall shut their mouthes at him for that which had not beene told them shall they see and that which they had not heard shall they consider And in the 4. chap. of Micah at the 6. vers In that day saith the Lord will I assemble her that halteth and I will gather her that is driven out and her that I have afflicted and I will make her that halted a remnant and her that was cast (i) Rom. 11. v. 12.15.32 off a strong Nation and the Lord shall reigne over them in Mount Zion from henceforth even for ever And in the 72. Psal at the 6. vers He shall come downe like raine upon the mowen grasse as showers that water the earth In his dayes shall the righteous flourish and abundance of peace so long as the Moone endureth He shall have dominion also from sea to sea and from the river to the ends of the earth They that dwell in the Wildernesse shall bow before him and his enemies shall licke the dust The Kings of Tarshish and of the Iles shall bring presents the Kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts Yea all Kings shall fall (k) Isa 45. v. 22.23 Phil. 2. v. 10 downe before him (l) Ps 22. v. 27 28. Rev. 14. v. 6 7. ch 15. v. 4 all Nations shall praise him And in the 102. Psal at the 13. vers Thone shalt arise and have mercie upon Zion for the time to favour her yea the set time is come for thy servants take pleasure in her stones and favour the dust thereof So the Heathen shall feare the name of the Lord and all the Kings of the earth thy glory When the Lord shall build up Zion he shall appeare in his glory Now that these prophecies doe concerne the reigne of Christ alone I thinke no man doubts and that they are already fulfilled it cannot bee proved For neither did Christ at his first comming sit on Davids Throne nor any other of Davids linage or of that Tribe or of the other Tribes for the Scepter was then departed from Judah and a Law-giver from betweene his feete Neither were Judah and Israel then in the land together neither was the Temple then destroyed but afterwards and therefore the things here spoken of are all to be accomplished at his second comming and that not in Heaven but on earth On earth I say and in (m) Is 33. v. 20. ch 50. v. 1 2 3 9 10. Jerusalem (n) Ps 122. v. 5. Davids Throne was For his feete shall stand in that day to wit when he comes to receive his appointed Kingdome on the Mount of Olives which is before Ierusalem on the East from which Mount also he ascended and the Mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst therof toward the East toward the West there shal be a very great valley and halfe the Mountaine shall remove toward the North and halfe of it toward the South And ye shal flee to the valley of the Mountains for the valley of the Mountaines shall reach unto Azal yea ye shall flee like as ye fled from before the earthquake in the dayes of Uzziah K. of Judah And the Lord my God shall (o) Iude v. 14 15. Rev. 19. v. 11 12 13 14 15 16. come all the Ss. with thee and it shal come to passe in that day that the light shall not be cleare nor dark but it shall be one day which shall be knowne to the Lord not day nor night but it shall come to passe that at evening time it shall be light And it shall be in that day that (p) Ps 46. v. 4. Ezek. 47. v. 1. c. Ioel 3. v. 8. living waters shall goe out from Jerusalem halfe of them toward the former sea and halfe of them toward the hinder sea in Summer and in Winter shall it be and the Lord shall be King over all the earth in that day shall there be one Lord and his Name one All the Land shall be turned as a plaine from Geba to Rimmon South of Jerusalem and it shall be lifted up and inhabited in her place from Benjamins gate unto the place of the first gate unto the corner gate and from the Tower of Hananiel unto the Kings Wine-presses and men shall dwell in it and there shall be no more utter destruction but Jerusalem shall be safely inhabited Zech. the 14. at the 4. vers You see here that our Saviour comes not onely to conquer death which is the last enemy that he shall destroy and therefore not wholly to be destroyed till the last resurrection but also to take the Kingdomes of this world unto himselfe to put downe as Saint Paul hath said all the rule and all the authority and power of other Nations that there may be one Shepheard and one Sheepfold that the (q) Dan. 7. v. 27. Kingdome and Dominion and greatnesse of the Kingdome under the whole Heaven may be possest by the people of the Saints of the most High That is as the former prophesies doe expound it by the people of (r) Ps 148. v. 14. Israel And this as I thinke is the time of which he spake these words Verily verily I say unto you (s) Iohn 1. v. 15. Hereafter shall yee see Heaven open and the Angels of God ascending and descending upon the (t) Heb. 1. v. 6. Sonne of man For that this may be fulfilled it
flaming fine taking vengeance on them that know not God and that obey not the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ when he shall come to be glorifyed in his Saints and to be admired in all them that beleeve in that Day For seeing the beast to whom these Kings were to give their strength was to (q) Rev. 13 v. 12. exercise all the power of the first beast before him and that it was given to the first beast (r) ch 13. v. 7. to make warre with the Saints and to overcome them it necessarily followes that the warre which these Kings were to make while they should agree to give their Kingdomes unto the beast was likewise to be with the Saints whom they should overcome not with the Lamb who should overcome them Neither wil it suffice against the force of this argument to say that they who fight with the Saints doe fight with the Lamb that they who overcome the Saints by the Sword are yet over come by them through faith for the first beast did as much fight against the Lamb in this sense as these Kings was as much overcome by the Saints in this sense as they who yet is neither said to warre with the Lambe nor to be overcome by the Saints And sure I am it is recorded in the 7. chap. of Dan. that he beheld the presumptuous horne of the fourth beast exhibited to him in a dreame making warre with the Saints not the Lambe and prevailing against them Vntill the ancient of Dayes did sit and the time came that the Saints possessed the Kingdome And whether that horne be all one with the beast and false Prophet in the Rev. and so is to prolong his dominion his persecuting power in wearing out the Saints who were to be (s) Dan. 7. v. 25. given into his hand even untill the time of the (t) Rom. 8. v. 19.21 manifestation and glorious Liberty of the Sonnes of God spoken of by Saint Paul as a thing earnestly expected by the (v) cha 8. v. 19. Creature even the (w) ch 8. v. 22. whole creation let the (x) Dan. 7. v. 11. Apoc. 19. v. 20 21. Analogy of their destruction and the (y) Dan. 7. v. 11.18.22 26 27. Rev. 19. v. 11 12 c. expiration of the fourth beast the Roman Empire at the accomplishment thereof Let these things I say together with the interpretation of the vision made to (z) ch 7. v. 23 24 c. Daniel and the parallell observed by Master (a) Comment Apâ—c par 2. p. 279 280. Meade betwixt the Thrones Judgement and Kingdome of the Saints revealed in both prophecies determine the matter Thirdly the state of the world at our Saviours appearing shall be as it was in the dayes of Noah both for security and profanenesse for When the Sonne of man commeth shall he finde faith on tâ—e Earth saith Christ Luke the 18. at the 8. ver which is a plaine proofe that there shall not be whole Kingdomes and armies of faithfull Christians but onely here and there (b) Luk. 17. v. 34 35 36 one Neither doth this saying contradict the * Ob. If there shall be at Christs comming such scarsenesse of faith it is not lâ—kely that there shall be such a multitude of beleeving Jewes conversion of the Jewes Sol. Pareus giveth this solution that although there shall be in the end of the world a multitude of beleeving Jewes yet their number shall be but small in respect of the unbeleeving Gentiles To this Solution this further may be added that the failing of faith which Christ prophesieth of must be specially he should have said onely understood of the Gentiles where Christ had beene preached and beleeved upon that even there where it was more likely that faith should have beene none shall be found for when the Jewes shall be called faith shall waxe very faint and cold among the Gentiles Willet in his sixfold Comment upon the Epist to the Rom. Chap. 11. Quest 27. p. 511. at that time because the word Earth is figuratively put for the people of the Earth and by The People of the Earth all the Nations besides the (c) Num. 23 v. 9. Jewes are in the Scriptures usually understood So in the 28. of Deut. at the 10. ver we read All the peopâ—e of the earth shall see that thou art called by the Name of the Lord and they shall be afraid of thee in the 1 of the Kings the 8. Chap. at the 43. ver That all the people of the earth may know thy Name to feare thee as doe thy people Israel In the 2 of Chron. the 32. chap. at the 19. ver They spake against the God of Jerusalem as against the Gods of the people of the earth And in the 1 of Kings the 10. Chap. at the 24. ver All the earth sought to Solomon to heare his wisedome which God had put in his heart And they brought every man his present Where the word Earth alone is equivalent with the people of the earth in all the former instances and therefore seeing it doth as well by it selfe as together with its adjunct signifie the Nations of the Gentiles onely why should it not be so taken in our Saviours speech yea it must needes be so taken for as he said when the Son of Man commeth shall he find faith on the earth So he said also that as well of the Jews only as to the Jews only Behold (d) Mat. 23 v. 37 38 39 your house is left unto you desolate verily I say unto you ye shall not see me untill (e) Mar. 14. v. 62. Psal 118 v. 21 22 â— ye â—oâ—â— 3â— 16 the time come when ye shall say Blessed is he that commeth in the Name of the Lord Luke the 13. at the 35. ver And shall we thinke that our Saviour would have given such a testimony of the Jewes unlesse he had knowne that they should be a penitent and converted people a people endued with the (f) Zech. 12 v. 10. Spirit of grace and supplication when they saw him next doubtlesse he would not And therefore this gratulatory acclamation doth no lesse set forth unto us the comfortable estate of the Jewes at Christs appearing then the former saying doth the desperate estate of the Gentiles at that time For Blessed is he that commeth in the Name of the Lord are the very same words which with so much (g) Luk. 19. v. 37.38 alacrity and cheerfulnesse of minde were chanted out before our Saviour by his Disciples and those that met (h) Ioh. 12. v. 12.13 him when he was riding to Jerusalem to shew the City a glimpse of his royalty and can they ever then become the language of those that shall flye from his presence to hide themselves in caves and dens of the earth nay seeing they are to be resumed againe by the same people at the
the Cities of the (h) Num. 23. v. 9. Deut. 32. v. 43. Ps 95. v. 5. Luke 12. v. 30. Rev. 2. v. 29 ch 11. v. 18. ch 16. v. 19. Nations which are no where called by such names Secondly we finde in the 11. chap. of the Apocalypse that Jerusalem is intitled the holy City in a prophecy which concernes the very time of its desolation this present time wherein it is (i) Luke 21 v. 24. trodden under foote of the Gentiles And much rather then may it be call'd the beloved City in a prophecy which concernes the time of its exaltation the time wherein it shall become the royall City of Christ and the Saints in his Kingdome Thirdly Jerusalem is by ancient Geographers termed the Navell or Center of the habitable earth Yea it is said in the fifth of Ezek. at the 5. vers This is Jerusalem I have set it in the midst of the Nations and Countries round about her And where but neere the midst of the earth can that City be which the Nations of the foure quarters of the earth shall beset Fourthly and lastly In a prophecy which contemporates with this and such prophecies doe best expound each other it is thus written Out of Zion shall go forth the Law and the Word of the Lord from Jerusalem and therefore by the Beloved City here Jerusalem must needs be understood Now the foresaid prophecy is delivered by Isaiah in the beginning of the second chap. and by Micah at the entrance of the 4. chap. And as the title and superscription in Isaiah doth infallibly prove the literall interpretation of the prophecy So doth the subject thereof the impossibility of its accomplishment untill the things foreshewne here by Saint John shall come to passe to wit untill the shutting up of Satan a thousand yeeres and the living and reigning of the Saints with Christ all that time For seeing Satan is to bee bound up for no other end but this That he may not deceive the Nations and seeing that when he must be loosed againe he shall presently deceive the Nations it necessarily followes that no other time but the time of Satans imprisonment can concurre with that pious and peaceable condition of the world which Isaiah speakes of heare his words It shall come to passe in the last dayes saith he that the mountaine of the Lords house shall be established in the top of the mountaines and shall be exalted above the hils and all Nations shall flow unto it And many people shall goe and say Come yee and let us goe up to the (ii) Ezek. 43. v. 12. mountaine of the Lord to the house of the God of Jacob and he will teach us of his wayes and we will walke in his paths for out of Sion shall goe forth the Law and the Word of the Lord from Ierusalem And be shall judge among the Nations and shall rebuke many people and they shall beate their swords into ploughshares and their speares into pruning bookes Nation shall not lift up sword against Nation neither shall they learne warre any more And is not this the time then of which it is said in the 10. of the Revel at the 7. ver That in it the mystery of God shall be finished as hee hath declared by his servants the Prophets And is not this the Rest also which Saint Paul in the 4. of the Heb. at the 9. vers concludes to be yet remaining to the people of God Surely in my conceit if the Rest promised to that people the people of Israel were not to be enjoyed in the (k) Isa 8. v. 8. Land whither Joshua led them then the Apostle went a wrong way to worke The first resurrection the thousand yeeres reigne of the Saints on earth more fully examined◠confirmed when he endeavoured to prove a Rest yet remaining to them because Ioshua gave them none For no man can once imagine that by bringing them into Canaan he either did or could bring them to that Rest which was never to be had there And thus much may suffice in answer to the Querie it selfe But to make good what hath been said against all contradiction we must take into our consideration the thousand yeares reigne of the Saints as it is founded upon the spirituall interpretation of the first resurrection And because some Scriptures urged against the opposite Tenet are the onely props of this exposition I shall by the way propose a saying upon which the maine confidence of the Antimillinarians doth rely it being taken by them to be altogether inconsistent with a double resurrection of the dead and consequently with the literall sense of the first resurrection The words are in the 5. chap. of Saint John at the 28. vers and runne thus The houre is comming in which all that are in the graves shall beare his voyce and shall come forth They that have done good unto the resurrection of life and they that have done evill unto the resurrection of damnation I must confesse if touching the matter in question we had no light but from this present text or that the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 were of a simple signification onely the place alleadged might passe for an undoubted proofe of a single resurrection a resurrection of all mens bodies at one time But as we know that there are many passages in the Apostolicall writings which make more for us then this doth against us and which ought therefore rather to be the measure of this then this of them so we know also that the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is of large use even in the Scripture it selfe For though it properly signifies that artificiall part of time which is called an houre as Matth. the 20. at the 6. vers Yet sometimes it is metonymically taken for a dangerous time as John the 12. at the 27. vers and sometimes synecdochically contracted to a moment as Luke the 12. at the 12. vers or lengthened to a day as Marke the 6. at the 35. vers or stretcht out to moneths yeares and ages and then it is usually interpreted by the word Time And there be nothing in this place of Saint Johns Gospel repugnant to such a translation nor in such a translation to the Millenarian assertion why should not we as well read The time is comming as others doe The houre For if the same word doth in the first (l) Phil. 4. v 5. James 5. v. 8. Ep. of Saint John the 2. chap. at the 18. vers comprehend all the time from our Saviours death unto his comming againe which amounts already to above one thousand and sixe hundred yeares much rather may it here include all the time from the beginning of our Saviours reigne unto the last judgement which is to be but a thousand and odde yeares and consequently this text may very well agree with a double resurrection and be thus ex ounded The time is comming in which that is
and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel 7. v. 14. the God of the whole earth shall he be called For the Lord hath called thee as a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit and a wife of youth when thou wast refused saith thy God For a small moment have I forsaken thee but with great mercies will I gather thee In a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment but with everlasting kindnesse will I have mercy on thee saith the Lord thy redeemer For this is as the waters of Noah unto mee for as I have sworne that the waters of Noah should no more goe over the earth so have I sworne that I would not bee wroth with thee nor rebuke thee For the mountaines shall depart and the hils shall be removed but my kindnesse shall not depart from thee neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed saith the Lord that hath mercy on thee Jer. 31. v. 15. c. Thus saith the Lord A voyce was heard in Ramah lamentation and bitter weeping Rahel weeping for her children refused to be comforted because they were not Thus saith the Lord Refraine thy voyce from weeping and thine eyes from teares for thy worke shall be rewarded saith the Lord and they shall come againe from the Land of the enemy And there is hope in the end saith the Lord that thy children shall come againe to their owne border 1 Chron. 16. v. 34.35 O give thankes unto the Lord for he is good for his mercy endureth for ever And say ye Save us O God of our salvation and gather us together and deliver us from the Heathen that we may give thankes to thy holy Name and glory in thy praise ISRAEL'S REDEMPTION OR THE PROPHETICALL HISTORY OF OVR SAVIOURS KINGDOME ON EARTH ACTS 1.6 They asked of him saying Lord Wilt thou at this time restore againe the Kingdome to Israel THat Christ is already (a) Matt. 1.20 21. Luk. 2.11 Joh. 1.29 30 c. come that as a Prophet hee hath (b) Matt. 4.17 Luk. 4.15 c. cald us to repentance and as a priest hath been a (c) Joh. 2.2 Heb. 2.17 Rom. 3.25 propitiation for our sinnes and not for ours onely but also for the sinnes of the whole world having by (d) Heb. 9.28 ch 10.14 Mark 8.31 Luk. 24.46 Joh. 10.15 Rev. 5.9 once offering himselfe perfected for ever them that are sanctified is the faith of Christians the infidelity of the Jews but that he shall come as a King to reigne on earth and restore againe the Monarchie of Israel is the faith of the Jewes and the infidelity of Christians And I thinke it a matter equally difficult to perswade either part to the mutuall imbracement of each others beleefe and yet with submission to impartiall judgements be it spoken I find not in the Scriptures more voyces for the one than for the other and therefore do verily beleeve that neither Tenet apart but both together do make up the full and (e) Rom. 8.23 ch 11.12.15 Eph. 1.14 ch 4. v. 30. Rev. 10.7 compleat mystery of our Redemption Which by Gods gracious assistance I shall to his owne glory and our Christian comfort clearely prove in the examination of the words now read unto you For they asked of him saying Lord wil thou at this time restore againe the Kingdome of Israel The words you see are a querie and such propositions imply three things 1 A person or persons proposing it 2 A matter or subject proposed 3 A person or persons to whom it is proposed The persons here are the Disciples asking the question and our Saviour answering them as the context declares the matter enquired of is the restauration of the captivated Soveraignty of the Jewes as the text it selfe doth informe us these are the parts yet because it would be impertinent in this businesse to speake any thing of the persons but onely as their joynt authority may helpe somewhat to justifie the truth of this proposall I shall omitting this division onely glance at them in the ensuing confirmation of the subject God shall set up a Kingdome ever all the earth which comprehends in it these two assertions 1 That the Kingdome of the Jewes shall againe be restored unto them 1 That the restored Jewes shall be the royall Nation of that renued world 2 That our Saviour at his comming shall restore it And first of the first that the Kingdome of the Jewes shall againe be restored unto them For they asked of him saying Lord wilt thou at this time restore againe the Kingdome to Israel So evidently do these words expresse an earthly kingdome I meane onely a Kingdome to be held on earth that no expositor which I have met with doth deny it and therefore seeing they could not but imbrace the sense mee thinkes they should not so rashly have rejected the consequence and that for these reasons First because the authors of this demand were not babes either in yeares or understanding but the Apostles themselves Men who had followed (f) Mat. â—â— 19. our Saviour from the very time that he manifested himselfe to the world by preaching and miracles and suffered not so much as a (g) Mat. 13.36 parable to escape their knowledge Mat. â— 17 men to whom (h) Act. 1.3 hee had shewed himself â—alive after his passion by many infalâ—ible pâ—oofes being â—â—eâ—â— of them forty dayes and speaking to them of the things pertaining unto the Kingdome of God And yet that these men should now at their last conference with him be mistaken in a matter of such importance as this is which concernes the purpose of God touching the whole Nation of the Jewes is as I beleeve and as I thinke you will all say a thing altogether unlikely and so it is too that all the Apostles should be of the same mind unlesse it had beene a truth formerly taught them and not as it is imagined an errour then newly vented by them A second reason which makes mee distast the censure here cast on our Apostles is because our Saviours answer is alleadged as a sufficient ground for it whereas it will appeare even to a weake judgement by that his answer the Apostles opinion is as much established as their curiositie is reprehended for they askt whether hee would at that time restore againe the Kingdome to Israel to which hee answered It is not for you to know the times and seasons which the Father hath put in his owne power as if hee should have said it is enough for you to know that such a thing shall be done and by whom but as for the time when it shall be done this the Father hath put in his owne power and therefore ought not to be enquired of by you nor to be revealed by me This is the whole meaning of the reply and now give you your verdict whether you find the Apostles hereby condemned for holding of an untruth
that is the Judge of Israel before spoken of that hee I say shall stand and feed or rule in the strength of the Lord in the Majesty of the Name of the Lord his God and they that is the Jewes shall abide for now that is at this comming of our Saviour hee shall bee not as when hee tooke our nature upon him of no (k) Isay 53. v. 2 3. forme nor comelinesse a man despised and rejected of men a man of sorrowes and acquainted with griefes but he shall be (l) Zech. 9.10 Psal 72.8 great unto the ends of the earth that is over all the world untill hee and his shall at the last judgement exchange the earthly Hierusalem the (m) Jer. 3. v. 17. ca. 14. v. 21. Throne of his Kingdome which is to be (n) Jer. 31.38 built againe by men for that imperiall Hierusalem not (o) 2 Cor. 5.1 made with hands eternall in the heavens Another Prophesie much like unto this is that of Amos in his 9. chap. at the 8. vers Behold the eyes of the Lord God are upon the sinfull Kingdome and I will destroy it from off the face of the earth saving that I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob saith the Lord for loe I will command and I will sift the house of Israel among all Nations like as corne is sifted in a sieve yet shall not the least graine fall upon the earth And at the 11. vers In that day will I raise up the Tabernacle of David that is fallen and close up the breaches thereof and I will raise up his ruines as in the dayes of old that they may possesse the remnant of Edom and of all the Heathen that are called by my Name saith the Lord that doth this I will bring againe the captivitie of my people Israel and they shall build the wast cities and inhabit them and they shall plant vineyards and drinke the wine thereof they shall also make gardens and eate the fruit of them and I will plant them upon their land and they shall no more be pulled up out of their land which I have given them saith the Lord God Now although this Prophesie tooke effect on the tenne Tribes at their transplantation began by (p) 1 Chro. 5. v. 6. 2 King 15. v. 29. Cap. 16.9 Tiglath-Pileser King of Assyria and ended by Shalmaneser his successour who also brought up strange Nations and placed them in their stead (q) 2 King 17. v. 5 6 24. cap. 18. v. 9 c. which people were from Samaria the ancient metropolis of that Province called (r) Joh. 4.9 Samaritanes yet who is able to maintaine that it was fulfilled on the other two for not the house of Joseph nor the house of Judah only but the house of Jacob wholly is here spoken of and why else is the Tabernacle of David afterwards exprest as a prime agent in the restauration if it were not before included as a succeding patient in the dispersion of Israel who then I say is able to maintaine that this Prophecie was fulfilled on Judah and Benjamin untill their overthrow by the Roman Emperour Vespasian ever since which time they also remaine forsaken scattered and despised captives yea who dares affirme it when God hath said that at their returne from this universall captivity †The usuall answer of a condititionall promise will take no hold on this or the like places of the Scripture for as God hath here past his word that hee will no more pull them up out of their land so in the 32. chap. of Jer. at the 39. 40. vers the 50. chap. at the 20 vers In the 36. of Ezek. at the 27. vers in the 37. at the 23. in the 39. at the 7. vers and in the 3. of Zeph. at the 13. vers All which Prophesies do in the time of their fulfilling concurre with this he hath likewise promised to give them one way and one heart that they may feare him for ever Never to turne away from them to do them good but to put his feare into their hearts that they shall not depart from him That the iniquity of Israel shall be sought for and there shall be none and the sinnes of Judah and they shall not be found That hee will put his spirit within them and cause them to walke in his statutes and to keepe his judgements and doe them That they shall defile themselves no more with their Idols nor with their detestable things not with any of their transgressions That he will make his holy name knowne in the midst of his people Israel and will not let them pollute his holy Name any more And that the remnant of Israel shall not doe iniquity nor speake lies neither shall a deceitfull tongue be found in their mouth And therefore God having thus equally engaged himselfe as well to keepe the Iewes from sinne as to free them from bondage it is as impossible that the accomplishment of this Prophesie should be frustrated and the fruition of these blessings forfeited for want of obedience as that God should either forget or not regard or be unable to fulfill his word and consequently the appointed time for the finishing of such Prophesies is yet to be expected hee will so plant them in their Land that they shall no * more be pulled up out of it which yet should not be true if it it had beene spoken of any deliverance before our Saviours comming to suffer The next Prophesie shall be that of Joel who mentions the very signes which our Saviour said should be the immediate fore-runners of the Jewes Redemption And it shall come to passe afterwards saith hee in his 2. chap. at the 28. vers that I will powre out my spirit upon all flesh and your sonnes and your daughters shall prophecie your old men shall dreame dreames and your young men shall see visions and also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those dayes will I powre out my spirit and I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth blood and fire and pillars of smoake the (Å¿) Isa 24.23 Mat. 24.29 Rev. 6 12. Sun shall be turned into darknesse and the Moone into blood before the (*) Great not onely in regard of the strangenesse and dreadfulnesse of events of things then to come to passe but great also in regard of the long continuance and tract of time which God in his revelations hereafter to be fulfilled doth by the word Day as well without this epithet as with iâ— frequenâ—ly import great and terrible (t) Eze. 39. vers 8. Malac. 4.5 Jude ver 6. Rev. 16.14 day of the Lord come And it shall come to passe that whosoever shall call on the Name of the Lord shall be delivered for in mount Zion and in Hierusalem shall be deliverance as the Lord hath said and in the remnant whom the Lord shall call And at the 3. chap. at
(b) Obad. 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 of fire among the wood and like a torch of fire in a sheafe and they shall devour all the people round about on the right hand and on the left and Hierusalem shall be inhabited againe in her owne place even in Hierusalem The Lord also shall save the tents of Judah first that the glory of the house of David and the glory of the inhabitants of Hierusalem do not magnifie themselves against Judah In that day shall the Lord defend the inhabitants of Hierusalem and he that is feeble among them at that day shall be as David and the house of David shall be as God as the Angel of the Lord before them And in the 14. chap. at the 12. vers This shall be the plague wherewith the Lord shall smite the people that have fought against Jerusalem their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feete and their eyes shall consume away in their holes and their tongues shall consume away in their mouth and it shall come to passe in that day that a great tumult from the Lord shall be among them and they shall lay hold every one on the hand of his (c) Eze. 38.21 Hag. 2.23 neighbour and his hand shall rise up against the hand of his neighbour and Judah also shall fight at Hierusalem and the (d) Mich. 4.13 wealth of all the Heathen round about shall be gathered together gold and silver and apparell in great abundance and so shal be the plague of the horse of the mule of the camell and of the asse and of the beasts that shall be in these tents as this plague And in the 38. and 39. chap. of Ezek. the same army is foretold under the names of Gog and Magog Now how can wee forsake the literall interpretation of these prophecies if wee do but consider that the Jewes are here distinguished from all other Nations of which wee Gentiles who are now converted were then a part and are by this name in the writings of the Evangelists and Apostles still distinguished from them if wee consider what grosse absurdities would follow from the Tropicall construction of these or the like propheticall revelations wherein the event of things is so plainly and distinctly attributed to the Jewes who I am sure did never since the Prophets dayes returne from any captivitie with such an high hand and with such a wonderfull victory over their enemies as is here prophecied And as for the Church that now is let the lamentable experience of all ages witnesse whether she hath not beene more often crowned with martyrdome than victory whether the blood-thirstie Mahometan hath not gotten much ground upon her yea whether he who claimes the priviledge to be her head hath not and doth not most of all waste and devoure her according as it is written of him in the 13. of the Rev. at the 11. vers and therefore these prophesies can have no relation to the times of the Gentiles nor so much to the time of the Maccabees as Cornelius à Lapide endeavours to make these of Zachariah to have for neither were their enemies smitten with such plagues nor brought into such subjection as is here foretold neither was the house of David then so highly exalted as is here promised and Iudas and his brethren who then bare the chiefest sway were not of the Tribe of Iudah but of Levi neither was the wealth of all the heathen round about then gathered together neither did the Lord (e) Zech. 14.5 descend and all the Saints with him unlesse wee will say as our Commentator doth that this was fulfilled when the five comely men upon horses appeared unto the enemies from heaven as 't is in the 2. of the Maccab. the 10. chap. at the 29. and 30. vers which apparition doth as well expound these words as hee doth that other Prophesie of Zephaniah by which he would have us to understand Gods calling the Gentiles to repentance by the preaching of the Gospell when as the text saith plainly that Gods determination is to gather the Nations and to assemble the Kingdomes that he may powre upon them his indignation even all his fierce anger and if this be not to cry peace peace when there is no peace if this be not to call evill good and good evill to put darknesse for light and light for darkenesse bitter for sweete and sweete for bitter I know not what is But enough of the perplexity which shall happen to other Nations when the Jewes return Now againe of their returne and of the prosperity which shall then happen to themselves And it shall come to passe in that day saith Isaiah ch 11. v. 11. that the Lord shall set his hand againe the second time to recover the remnant of his people which shall be left from Assyria and from Egypt and from Paphros and from Cush and from Eâ—am and from Shinar and from Hamath and from the Islands of the Sea and hee shall set up an Ensigne for the Nations and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel and (f) Isa 49.12.25 ch 30.18 19. ch 62.10 11 12. Eze. 20.32 33 34 c. gather together the dispersed of Judah from the foure corners of the earth the envie also of Ephraim shall depart and the adversaries of Judah shall be cut off Ephraim shall not envie Judah and Judah shall not vexe Ephraim and the Lord shall utterly destroy the tongue of the Egyptian Sea and with his mighty wind shall he shake his hand over the river and shall smite it in the seven streames and shall make men goe over dry-shod and there shall be an high way for the remnant of his people which shall be left from Assyria (g) Mica 7. 15 c. like as it was to Israel in the day that he came up out of the Land of Egipt You see here that the Prophet speakes plainely of a miraculous recovery of Gods people of the recovery I say of Judah not from Babylon but from the foure (h) Jer. 16. v. 14 15. ch 23.7 8. corners of the earth and that together with Ephraim with the ten Tribes from Assyria which as (i) Joh. 7.35 yet never came back and therefore this is not yet fulfilled Such another Prophesie is that of Ezek. in his 37. chap. at the 19. vers Thus saith the Lord God I will take the sticke of Joseph which is in the hand of Ephraim and the Tribes of Israel his fellowes and will put them with him even with the sticke of Judah and make them one sticke and they shall be one in my hand And at the 21. vers Behold I will take the children of Israel from among the Heathen whither they be gone and will gather them on every side and will bring them into their owne Land and I will make them one Nation in the Land upon the Mountaines of Israel and one King shall be King to them all and
and I will cause them to lie downe saith the Lord God I will seeke that which was lost and bring againe that which was driven away and will binde up that which was broken and will strengthen that which was sicke but I will destroy the fat and the strong I will feede them with judgement And at the 25. vers I will make with them a covenant of peace and will cause the evill beasts to cease out of the Land and they shall dwell safely in the Wildernesse and sleepe in the woods and I will make them and the places round about my hill a blessing and I will cause the showre to come downe in his season there shall be showres of blessing and the tree of the field shall yeeld her fruit and the earth shall yeeld her encrease and they shall be safe in their Land and shall know that I am the Lord when I have broken the bands of their yoke and delivered them out of the hands of those that served themselves of them And they shall no more be a prey to the Heathen neither shall the beasts of the Land devoure them but they shall dwell safely and none shall make them afraid And I will raise up for them a plant of renowne and they shall no more be consumed with hunger in the Land neither beare the shame of the Heathen any more And in his 36. chap. at the 8. vers O Mountaines of Israel yee shall shoot forth your branches and yeeld your fruit to my people of Israel for they are at hand to come for behold I am for you and I will turne unto you and yee shall be tilled and sowen and I will multiply men upon you (g) Isa 45. vers 25. Ezek. 37. v. 11.12 c. c. 36. v. 25. Ier. 12. v. 14.15 Rom. 11. v. 32. â— all the house of Israel even all of it and the Cities shall be inhabited and the wasts shall be builded and I will multiply upon you man and beast and they shall increase and bring fruit and I will settle you after your old estates and I will doe better for you then at your beginnings and ye shall know that I am the Lord yea I will cause men to walke upon you even my people Israel and they shall possesse thee thou shalt be their inheritance thou shalt no more henceforth bereave them of men Thus saith the Lord God because they say unto you Thou Land devourest up men and hast bereaved thy Nations therefore thou shalt devoure men no more neither bereave thy Nations any more saith the Lord God neither will I cause men to heare in thee the shame of the Heathen any more neither shalt thou beare the reproach of the people any more neither shalt thou cause the Nations to fall any more saith the Lord God And at the 24. vers I will take you from among the Heathen and gather you out of all Countries and will bring you into your owne Land then will I sprinkle cleane water upon you and yee shall be cleane from all your filthinesse and from all your idols will I clense you and I will put my spirit within you and cause you to walke in my statutes and yee shall keepe my judgements and doe them and yee shall dwell in the Land that I gave to your fathers and yee shall be my people and I will bee your God I will also save you from all your uncleannesses and I will call for corne and will increase it and lay no more famine upon you and I will multiply the fruit of the tree and the increase of the field that yee shall receive no more reproach of famine among the Heathen Then shall yee remember your owne evill wayes and your doings that were not good and shall loath your selves in your owne sight for your iniquities and for your abominations Thus saith the Lord God in the day that I shall have cleansed you from all your iniquities I will also cause you to dwell in the Cities and the wasts shall be builded and the desolate Land shall bee tilled whereas it lay desolate in the sight of all that passed by and they shall say This Land that was desolate is become like the garden of Eden and the waste and desolate and ruined Cities are become fenced and inhabited Then the Heathen that are left round about you shall know that I the Lord build the ruined places and plant that that was desolate I the Lord have spoken it and I will doe it And in his 39. chap. at the 25. vers Thus saith the Lord God Now will I bring again the captivity of Jacob and have mercie upon the whole house of Israel and will be jealous for my holy Name after that they shall have borne their shame and all their trespasses whereby they have trespassed against me when they dwelt safely in their Land and none made them afraid When I have brought them againe from the people and gathered them out of their enemies Lands and am sanctified in them in the sight of many Nations then shall they know that I am the Lord their God which caused them to be led into captivity among the Heathen but I have gathered them unto their owne Land and have left none of them any more there Neither will I hide my face any more from them for I have powred out my Spirit upon the house of Israel saith the Lord God And in the 10. chap. of Zechariah at the 6. ver It is said I will strengthen the House of Judah and I will save the house of Joseph and I will bring them againe to place them for I have mercy upon them And they shall be as though I had not cast them off for I am the Lord their God and will heare them And they of Ephraim shall be like a mighty man and their heart shall rejoyce as through Wine Yea their children shall see it and shall be glad their heart shall rejoyce in the Lord. I will hisse for them and gather them for I have redeemed them And they shall increase as they have increased and I will sow them among the people and they shall remember me in farre Countryes and they shall live with their children and turne againe I will bring them againe also out of the Land of Aegypt and gather them out of Assyria and I will bring them into the Land of Gilead and Lebanon and place shall not be found for them Which Prophecies as they doe containe many evident and unanswerable arguments for a future restauration of Israel I meane a restauration yet to come so they have such correspondence with that of Isaiah in his 59. chap. at the 20. ver And with that of Amos in his 9. chap. at the 11. ver both which Prophecies are alledged by the Apostles (h) Act. 15. v. 16. Saint James and (i) Rom. 11. v. 27.26 Saint Paul for the conversion of the Jewes after the fulnesse of the
2. cap. 16. p. 410. reasons which Wendelinus in the 19. chap. and 2. Section of his naturall Contemplations at the 391. pag. brings to the contrary will give abundant satisfaction For first the Apostle doth apparently distinguish the Jewes from the Gentiles by the word Israel when he saith that blindnesse is in part happened to Israel untill the fulnesse of the Gentiles be come in And therefore I much doubt whether he would in the very next line by the same word indifferently comprehend both Jewes and Gentiles especially seeing the Israel that is to be saved must needes have relation to the Israel that was before said to be in blindnesse And then too what is become of the mystery here spoken of if the words And so all Israel shall be saved should not signifie such a conversion of the Jewes as must follow the vocation of the Gentiles for that some particular Jewes were at that time to be gathered to the Church they knew before seeing many such were then amongst them some of which did first conveigh the Gospell to them And therfore in my judgement those Divines deale most sincerely with the Text who acknowledging the literall sense thereof doe send us to that of Isaiah in his 66. chap. at the 8. ver as to a plaine proofe of this opinion who saith he hath heard such a thing who hath seene such things shall the earth be made to bring forth in one day (l) Zech. 3. v. 9. or shall a Nation be borne at once for as soone as Zion travailed she brought forth her children Where the wonderfull and unheard of conversion of a whole Nation at once such as never happened to any Nation of the Gentiles together with the expresse mention of Zion and the evidence of the following verses should me thinks be motive enough to make any impartiall Reader understand this Prophecy of the Jewes which yet implyes not so much a returne of the whole Nation to their Country as to their God and therefore could not be fulfilled by the returne of a part of them from Babylon at which time too the Kingdome of God that is the true worship of God the meanes by which that Kingdome is obtained was amongst them onely but hath since according to our Saviours Prophecy in the 21. chap. of Matth. at the 43. ver beene taken from them and shall againe according to this be suddenly and extraordinarily restored into them as Joel also before intimated by the plentifull distribution of Gods Spirit in the last dayes 2. That the surviving and subjected Gentiles shall gladly embrace the knowledge and seaâ—e of God with the Jewes You have hitherto heard of the deliverance and happinesse of the Jewes only I shall now acquaint you with their partakers which shall be such as are left of the Nations that are then to be destroyed as you may see in the fore-quoted chap. of Isai at the 15. and 19. verses Behold the Lord will come with fire and with his Charets like a whirlewind to render his anger with fury and his rebuke with flames of fire for by (m) Ezek. 39. v. 4 5 6 c. Mal. 4. v. 1. Psal 50 v. 3 2 Thess 1.1.7 8. c. fire and by his sword will the Lord plead with all flesh and the slaine of the Lord shall be many And I will set a signe among them and I will send those that escape of them unto the Nations to Tarshish Pul and Lud that draw the bow to Tuball and Javan to the Isles afarre off that have not heard my fame neither have seene my glory and they shall declare my glory among the Gentiles And they shall bring all your Brethren for an offering (n) Isa 18. v. 7. unto the Lord out of all Nations upon Horses and in Charets and in Litters and upon Mules and upon swift beastes to my holy mountaine Jerusalem saith the Lord as the children of Israel bring an offering in a cleane vessell into the House of the Lord. And I will also take of them for Priests and for Levites saith the Lord. For as the new Heavens and the new Earth which I will make to wit at the judgement of the dead when this Heaven and Earth shall passe away as it is in the 20. of the Rev. at the 11. ver and in the 21. at the 1. ver as these shall remaine before me saith the Lord so shall your seed and your name remaine to wit after the foresaid returne from their captivity And it shall come to passe that from one New Moone to another and from one Sabbath to another shall all flesh come to (o) Psal 68 u. 29.31 Psal 100. v. 1.2 4. worship before me saith the Lord and they shall goe forth and looke upon the carkeises of the men that have transgressed against me for their worme shall not dye neither shall their fire be quenched and they shall be an abhorring unto all flesh And in his 60. chap. at the 9. ver and the 61. at the 4. ver They shall (p) Iâ—a 53. v. 12. build the old wastes they shall raise up the former desolations and they shall repaire the waste Cities the desolations of many generations And strangers shall stand and feed your flocks and the sonnes of the alient shall be your Plough-men and your Vine-dressers But ye shall be named the Priests of the Lord Men shall call you the Ministers of your God ye shall eate the riches of the Gentiles and in their glory shall you boast your selves For your shame you shall have double and for confusion they shall rejoyce in their portion therefore in their Land they shall possesse the double everlasting joy shall be unto them Surely the Isles shall waite for me and the Ships of Tarshish first to bring my Sonnes from farre their silver and their gold with them unto the name of the Lord thy God and to the Holy One of Israel because he hath glorifyed thee And the Sonnes of Strangers shall build up thy wals and their Kings shall minister unto thee For in my wrath I smote thee but in my favour have I had mercy on thee Therefore thy gates shall be open continually they shall not be shut day nor night that men may bring unto thee the forces of the Gentiles and that their Kings may be brought For the (q) Ier. 12. v. 14 15 16 17. Nation and Kingdome that will not serve thee shall perish yea those Nations shall be utterly wasted The sonnes also of them that afflicted thee shall come bending unto thee and all they that despised thee shall bow themselves downe at the soles of thy feete and they shall call thee the City of the Lord the Zion of the Holy One of Israel Whereas thou hast beene forsaken and hated so that no man went thorow thee I will make thee an eternall excellency a joy of many generations Thou shalt also sucke the milke of the Gentiles and shalt sucke
the breasts of Kings and thou shalt know that I the Lord am thy Saviour and Redeemer the Mighty one of Jacob. And in the 49. chap. at the 22. ver and the 25. at the 6. ver Thus saith the Lord God Behold I will lift up my hand to the Gentiles and set up my Standerd to the people and they shall bring thy Sonnes in their armes and thy daughters shall be carryed upon their shoulders And Kings shall be thy nursing Fathers and their Queenes thy noursing Mothers they shall bow downe to thee with their faces towards the earth and licke up the dust of thy feet and thou shalt know that I am the Lord for they shall not be ashamed that waite for me And in this Mountaine shall the Lord of Hostes make unto all people a feast of fat things a feast of Wines on the Lees of fat things full of marrow of Wines on the Lees well refined And he will destroy in this mountaine the face of the covering cast over all people and the vaile that is spread over all Nations He will swallow up death in victory and the Lord will wipe away teares from off all faces and the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth for the Lord hath spoken it And in his 14. chap. at the 1. ver The Lord will have mercy upon Jacob and will (r) Dan 7. v. 18.22.27 yet chuse Israel and set them in their owne Land and the (s) Isa 55. v 5. Zech. 2. v. 9.11 strangers shall be joyned with them and they shall cleave to the house of Jacob and the people shal take them and bring them to their place and the House of Israel shall possesse them in the Land of the Lord for servants and for hand-maides and they shall take them (t) Ezek. 39 v. 10. captives whose captives they were and they shall rule over their oppressours And in chap. 2. ver 2. It shal come to passe in the last dayes that the mountaine of the Lords house shall be established in the top of the mountaines shal be exalted above the hils and al Nations shal flow unto it And many people shal go and say come ye and let us go up to the mountaine of the Lord to the house of the God of Jacob and he will (u) Isa 49. v. 6. cha 60. v. 3. 1 Tim. 2. v. 4. teach us of his wayes and we will walk in his paths for out of Zion shall goe forth the Law and the Word of the Lord from Jerusalem And hee shall judge among the Nations and shall rebuke many people and they shall breake their swords into plow shares and their speares into pruning hookes Nation shall not (w) Psal 46 v. 9. lift up sword against Nation neither shall they learne warre any more The same Prophecy also you may finde it the 4. chap. of Micâ—lâ— at the 1. ver And not much unlike this is that in the 8. chap. of Zech. at the 20. ver And that in the 14. chap. at the 16. ver Thus saith the Lord of Hostes it shall come to passe thâ—â— there shall come people and the inhabitants of many Cities and the inhabitants â—â—done City shall goe to another saying Let us got speedily to pray before the Lord of Hostes I will goâ—â—lâ—o Yea many people and strong Nations shall come to seeke the Lord of Hostes in Jerusalem and to pray before the Lord. Thus faith the Lord of Hostes in those dayes it shall come to passe that ten men shall taketh old out of all languages of the Nations even shall take hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew saying We will goe with you for we have heard that God is with you And in shall come to passe that every one that is lest of all the Nations which came against Jerusalem shall even goâ— up from yearâ— to yeare to worship the King the Lord of Hostes and to keepe â—nd foâ—st of Tabernacles And it shall be that who so will not come up of all the Families of the earth unto Jerusalem to worship the King the Lord of Hostes even upon them shall be no raine I know the most of these Prophecies are chiefly interpreted of the joyning together of the Jewes Gentiles in one Church and rightly but to say that this is now fulfilled in the time of the substituted Gentiles Vocation is to overthrow what was before affirmed and to take great paines to beguile our selves and others of the Truth It is I say to put out our owne eyes and bid others follow us For Saint Paul in the 11. of the Rom. tells us plainely that the Jewes are broken off from their Olive Ver. 19 20. v. 17. v. 15. v. 7. v. 32. ver 11. And that we are graffed in for them That they are cast away that they are hardned That God hath concluded them all in unbeleefe And that through their fall salvation is come unto us to provoke them to (x) Deu. 32 v. 21. jealousie And therefore it cannot possibly be maintained that the Jewes and Gentiles are as yet (y) Ioh. 10. v. 16. one sheepefold And as for those which were converted at the first Preaching of the Gospell and at other times since they are but the first fruites and roote as I may say of the branches and lumpe which shall follow after them by a generall conversion And therefore the calling of these can no more be accounted a conversion of the Jewes then the calling of those Gentiles which were gathered to the Church before Christs Nativity can be taken for the conversion of the Gentiles Who were as time hath shewne us but the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the fore-runners and pledge as it were of al those Nations which were a long time after converted by the Ministery of the Apostles their successors And besides how the bringing of the Jews out of all Nations Vpon Horses in Litters and in Charets upon Mules upon mens shoulders can beare any other but a literal sense Or how The vaile that is spread over all Nationâ— can now be said to be destroyed when as so many of them run a whoring after their owne inventions I cannot conceive Yea Even unto this day saith Saint Paul of the Jews in his time when Moses is read the vaile is upon their heart Neverthelesse when it shall turne unto the Lord the vaile shall be taken away 2 Cor. 3.15 and 16. ver But we see not yet Israel returned yea we see it fallen into more grosse ignorance and superstition and therefore the vaile is not yet taken away and consequently is not yet Destroyed from all Nations Againe I know no reason why we should give more credit to the Metaphoricall interpretation of these Prophecies then to the Figurative exposition which some presume to put upon those words in the 12. of Zechariah at the 10. ver Although Saint John in his 19. Chap. at the
37. ver hath alledged them as the onely (z) Ioh. 12. v. 39. cause that our Saviours side was pierced of which fact doubtlesse there had beene no necessity if the Prophecy were not to be understood in a literall sense And to say with others that it was thus fulfilled in the Disciples who beheld our Saviours sufferings is not onely to rob the Prophecy of its right end but also to make the Disciples guilty of their Masters death For the Text saith expressely They shall looke upon me whom they have (a) Psal 22 v. 16. c. pierced Where also it followes And they shall (b) Mat. 24. v. 30. mourne for him as one that mourneth for his onely Son and shall be in bitternesse for him as one that is in bitternesse for his first borne In that day shall there be a great mourning in Jerusalem as the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Meggidon But who can at the same time earnestly bewaile that mans death whose punishment they themselves doe not onely procure but scoffe at As all that murdered Christ did at his And what comparison is there betwixt the griefe of a few fearefull and scattered Disciples for a day or two and the solemne mourning of all Judah and Jerusalem and that to every family apart and their wives apart As therefore this Prophecy doth concerne the Jewes onely and chiefely the Tribes that crucified their Saviour so doubtlesse it shall then receive its accomplishment when God at their generall conversion Zech. 12. v. 10. Shall powre upon them the Spirit of grace and supplications that so they may at once obtaine the forgivenesse of their sinnes and thus lament their forefathers malicious and cruell contrivance and their owne hereditary and wilfull approbation of the death of Christ who shall then descend unto them to restore their Kingdome and to raigne over all the earth as it is in the 14. Chap. of the same Prophet at the 5. and 9. verses 3. That the whole creation shall be restored to its originall perfection And thus much of the felicity of that remnant of the Nations which shall out-live the rest at the Jewes returne Now a word or two of the alteration of the sensitive and senselesse creatures at that time The Wolfe saith Isaiah in his 11. Chap. at the 6. ver shall dwell with the Lambe and the Leopard shall lie downe with the Kid And the Calfe and the yong Lion and the fatling together and a little child shall lead them And the Cow and the Beare shall feed their yong ones shall lye downe together and the Lyon shall eate straw (c) Gen. 1. v. 30. cha 6. v. 20 21. like the Oxe And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the Asse and the weaned Childe shall put his hand on the Cockatrice den They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountaine for the earth shall be (d) Hab. 2. v. 14. full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the Sea And in the 65. Chap. at the 25. ver The Wolfe and the Lambe shall feed together and the Lion shall eate straw like the Bullocke And dust (e) Gen. 3. v. 1â— shall be the Serpents meate They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy Mountaine saith the Lord. Where we may observe against such as understand by these expressions the effects of Preaching on the hearts of cruell-minded men that they are a part of those Prophecies which concerne the Jewes deliverance and therefore can have no relation to the calling of the Gentiles And besides is there no hurt nor destruction in all the Christian world that we should thus flatter our selves with such vaine fancies or rather when was there none or where is the Nation shall I say or the City yea the Village amongst us where cruelty is not practised where such mischiefes are not to be found as can scarcely be paralleled in the common wealths of the most barbarous Heathen And as for those words For the Earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord which seeme to have beene the occasion of the former interpretation in my conceit they imply but this that therefore God will restore to these creatures their primitive obedience and cause them to be no more offensive to his people because he hath determined to make himselfe at that time so well knowne over all the earth that his people shall no more offend him And so the feare of God shall at once be put againe into the hearts of men and the feare of men into the hearts of the creatures For the enmity of the creatures is but the issue of mans sinne and therefore when God shall pardon the House of Jacob and cleanse them from all their iniquities as hath beene said the sinnes of men which are the cause and the curse of the Creatures which is the effect shall depart together As then there can be no sufficient reason alledged for the allegoricall interpretation of these prophecies so if we beleeve Gods revelations touching the Jewes returne there can be no reason urged to the contrary that will force us to forsake the literall sense of them By which sense I am sure that passage of Saint Paul in the 8. Chap. of the Rom. at the 21. ver is so well explained that the great strife about the signification of the word Creature there may be soone decided and by which too the opinion of those who from that place would make the sensitive Creatures Co-partners with us of that glory which followes the last resurrection fals to the ground for is not the exchange of a ravenous disposition for a quiet and peaceable and the freedome from the abuse of sinne A delivery of the creature from the bondage of corruption and the (f) Dan. 7. v. 21 22. glorious liberty of the Sonnes of God what is it but the flourishing estate of the Jewes before spoken of under Christ their Head who accompanyed with all the Saints departed and then living shall come and receive dominion (g) Dan. 7. v. 14.27 ch 2 v. 44. Rev. 15. v. 4 ch 20. v. 4.6 and glory and a Kingdome that all People Nations and Languages may serve him as you shall heare anon Another Prophecy touching the renewed estate of the Creatures is to be seene in the 30. Chap. of Esay at the 23. ver Then shall he give the raine of thy seed that thou shalt sow the ground withall And bread of the increase of the Earth and it shall be fat and plenteous in that day shall thy cattle feed in lange pastures The Oxen likewise and the young Asses that eare the ground shall eate cleane Provender which hath beene winnowed with the shovell and with the Fanne and there shall be upon every high hill rivers and streames of waters in the day of the slaughter when the towers fall Moreover the light of the Moone shall be as the light
of the Sunne and the Light of the Sunne shall be sevenfold as the light of seven dayes in the day that the Lord (h) Mal. 3. v. 17 18. bindeth up the breach of his people and healeth the stroke of their wound But the great increase of the light of the Sunne and Moone here spoken of is in the 60. Chap. at the 19. ver plainely gainesaid the words are these The Sunne shall be no more thy light by day neither for brightnesse shall the Moone give light unto thee but the Lord shall be unto thee an everlasting light and thy God thy glory Where if it had been said That the Sunne should no more burne them by day nor the Moone by night as it is in the 121. Psal Or smite them as it is in the 49. of Esay at the 10. ver I could have sent you for an answer to the 4. chap. of the same Prophet at the 5. ver The Lord will create upon every dwelling place of Mount Zion and upon her assemblies a cloud and smoake by day and the shining of a flaming fire by night for upon all the glory shall be a defence And there shall be a Tabernacle for a shadow in the day from the beat and for a place of refuge and for a covert from storme and from raine But seeing it is said The Sunne shal be no more thy light by day These places will be better reconciled if we acknowledge that in the 60. Chap. there is a mixt rehearsall of those blessings which are proper onely to the Heavenly Jerusalem which as it is Rev. 21. ver 23. and chap. 22. ver 5. hath no need of the Sun neither of the Moone to shine in it with those which the Jewes shall receive at the restauration of their earthly Jerusalem for such a mixture of things which shall in their execution be many generations apart is very usuall with the Prophets And it is the more likely to be so here not onely because the words immediately following in both Prophecies are in sense all one for they shew the same reason wherefore the Sun and Moone should no more give light unto them but also because the happinesse which the Jewes shall then be made Heires of shall never againe be interrupted by any misery For the ransomed of the Lord shall returne and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads they shall obtaine joy and gladnesse and sorrow and sighing shall flee away Esay the 35. at the 10. ver And lest we should conceit that the judgement of the dead plainely described in the 20. Chap. of the Rev. shall either suspend Ver. 11 12. c. ver 2. or disturbe this joy Saint Paul in the 1. to the Cor. and the 6. Chap. hath told us that The Saints shall judge * These first words may not unfitly be referred also to the time of the Saints reign on earth for it is their priviledge at their entrance into their Kingdome and throughout the whole space of their reign To judge the World that is all Nations of the Gentiles with the judgement of government and reformation with the exercise of a civill and temporall power over them as in the prophecies of the Gentiles subjection unto them it may plainely be seene And it is their priviledge at the â—aâ—â— resurrection To judge the world and the Devill that is all evill as well Angels as men by a joynt approbation of their finall and perfect condemnation of the full accomplishment I say of their eternall reprobation the world that is the wicked men that have beene their oppressors ver 3. and judge the Angels that is the evil spirits that have been their tempters And therefore shall not be thrust downe to the bar amongst them but advanced to the bench against them An addition doubtlesse to their happinesse and no abatement of it And this is as much as I need say though not above halfe that the Prophets say concerning the Kingdome in the Text. I will therefore shut up all with that solemne Protestation of God in the 31. of Jer. at the 35. ver Thus saith the Lord which giveth the Sun for a light by day and the Ordinances of the Moone and of the Starres for a light by night which divideth the sea when the waves thereof roare the Lord of Hoasts is his Name If those Ordinances (i) Ier. 33. v. 20.25 depart from before me saith the Lord then shall the seed of Israel also cease from being a Nation before mee for ever Thus saith the Lord If Heaven above can be measured and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath I will also cast off all the seed of Israel for all that they have done saith the Lord. And with that humble complaint of Israel whom God in the 7. of Micah at the 8. ver makes to prophecy thus of her selfe Rejoyce not against me O mine enemy when I fall I shall rise when I sit in darknesse the Lord will be a light unto me I will beare the indignation of the Lord because I have sinned against him untill be plead my cause and execute judgement for me He will bring me forth to the light and I shall behold his righteousnesse And so I passe from the thing to be restored which is the Kingdome of Israel to the Person by whom it is to be restored which is Christ the Lord at his next appearing For they asked of him saying Lord wilt thou at this time restore againe the Kingdome to Israel That our Mediatour hath undergone the offices of a Priest and Prophet the Gospel is our witnesse That Christ shall reigne on earth proved 1. By consequence Isa 14. v. 1 2 3. but considering that the Jewes are yet to receive a Kingdome a Kingdome in which they shall bold them captives whose captives they are and in which peace and righteousnesse shall flourish on the earth considering this I say we may justly doubt whether our Saviour hath as yet executed the office of a King and so much the rather because he tooke our nature on him as well to performe his kingly office therein amongst us as either his priestly or propheticall the glory of this being indeed the reward of that contempt and torment which he suffered in the others and though it cannot be denied that he hath already (k) Col. 2. v. 15. spoyled principalities and powers that is the evill spirits and hath made a shew of them openly triumphing over them in his crosse nor that he is (l) Eph. 4. v. 8. ascended up on high and hath led captivity captive and given gifts unto men nor that he is become the (m) Col. 2. v. 10. Head of all principality and power that is of the Saints and holy Angels and is set (n) Heb. 1. v. 3. ch 8. v. 1 ch 10. v. 12. ch 12. v. 2. downe at the right hand of the Throne of God so that he
are to be renewed at our Saviours entrance into his Kingdome but they are not to passe away till the giving up thereof to God the Father at the last Judgement and so it stands â—â—â—me that these words imply no lesse then a perishing Which yet may further be establisht by three other undeny able testimonies One of the same A postle in the next Chap. at the 1. ver And I saw saith he a new Heaven and a new Earth for the first Heaven and the first Earth were passed away and there was no more Sea Which last clause expressely affirming an utter abolition of the Sea doth plainely informe us that by the flying and passing away of the first Earth which with the Sea makes but one globe is meant a substantiall perishing of it Another of Moses in the 8. chap. of Gen. at the 22. ver While the earth remaineth seed time and harvest and cold and heat and Summer and Winter and day and night shall not cease And therefore when seed time and harvest and Summer and Winter and day and night shall cease as it is most certaine they shall at the last judgement the earth it selfe must of necessity then cease also A third of Iob in his 26. Chap. at the 10. ver He hath compassed the waters with bounds untill the day Deut. 11. v. 21. and night come to an end Which words being compared with the precedent testimony wherein day and night are shewne to be of equall duration with seed time and harvest and with that of the 22. of the Rev. where it is said of the new Jerusalem and the Inhabitants thereof There shall he no night there and they need no candle neither light of the Sunne must needs be taken for a plaine and positive proose That the day and night shall come to an end and consequently that the Stars and so the sublunary creatures too whose generation and continuance doe more or lesse depend upon celestiall influences being all made onely for the use of man while he is to have his residence and abode on this earth shall at mankindes removall from hence together with this earth with which they were created be brought againe to nothing shall (a) Rom. 4. v. 13. Luk 19. v. 17.19 reigne on earth And this will appeare to a diligent eye even out of the controversed place in the 20. Chap. of the Rev. for besides that the opposition betwixt the first and the last Resurrection doth impose the same sense on both besides this I say the vision represented not unto Saint John perfect men at the first that is men that should be beheaded for the witnesse of Jesus but soules onely and that as of men already beheaded which most manifestly shewes that the Resurrection after mentioned did follow their death and not goe before it And therefore may not be taken spiritually for their regeneration for the renewing of their mindes which is to precede their persecution and may more probably be referred to the sealing of the Servants of God in their foreheads spoken of in the 7. Chap. but materially and properly for the quickning of their bodies when once the number of the persecuted is fulfilled whose consummation and glorious exaltation this vision did represent It is said also that they Lived and Reigned with Christ a thousand yeares But how can it be that they should reigne immediately after their resurrection or begin their reigne all at once or continue it but a thousand yeares which things these words imply if by their Resurrection should be understood their Regeneration and by their reigne their being in Heaven or if by the Word they lived should be meant onely they were converted how can they reigne so long as a thousand yeares seeing the place of their Reigne must be on earth for if they should be any where else how can they be encompast againe with war when the thousand yeares are expired as the 9. ver declares they shall and lastly the reigne of Christ doth not begin till Antichrist is destroyed so that a metaphoricall interpretation of the first resurrection would make good this Conclusion that most of the Saints shall rise many hundred yeares before their Reigne there being no lesse distance of time betwixt the houre of their calling and Antichrists confusion The assumption is grounded on the 15. ver of the 11. Chap. of the Rev. Which shewes that till the time of the seventh trumpet with the beginning whereof the last Viall doth concurre The Kingdomes of * The Kingdomes of this world It is not said the Kingdome of Heaven to wit of the third heaven the incorruptible habitaâ—ion of Saints and Angels or of another world I say of another in substance But the Kingdomes of this world that is this world which is now and shall till then be divided into many Kingdomes shall wholly become Christs and be made by him one Heavenly Kingdome a Kingdome in which men shall live after an Heavenly estate and condition a Kingdome in which Gods will shall be done on earth as it is in heaven for seeing that cannot possibly become any mans possession which doth utterly cease to be what other construction can be given of these words but this that the government of all the Kingdomes of the world is hereafter to be taken into Christs owne hands as he is man and indeed how else should they become his after such a manner as they are not now his if not by a subjection to his manhood for as he is God they were alwayes his and all will grant that this Scripture doth plainely foreshew a deposing of all the Kings of the earth at the accomplishment thereof A deposing of them I say in such a way that their Kingdomes may become the Kingdomes of our Lord and of his Christ Which cannot be by abolishing and dissolving the earth on which they must reigne but may and shall be by subduing and conquering them and the Kingdomes over which they must reigne this world doe not become the Kingdomes of our Lord and of his Christ And this also is intimated by the binding up of (b) Rev. 20 v. 1 2 3. Satan a thousand yeares with which the reigne of the Saints contemporates which vision as it is the next to that of the battle wherein the beast and false Prophet are taken so doubtlesse it shall not till then receive its accomplishment for seeing Antichrist is but the devils instrument we cannot imagine that his power shall outlast the devils liberty especially if we consider that while Satan is in hold there shall be a generall peace over all the World as the (c) Isa 2. v. 4. Mich. 4. v. 3 Prophets say expressely and as is here implyed in that as soone as he is loosed againe (d) Rev. 20. v. 7.8 presently he shall gather all the rest of the world to fight against the Saints but their malicious attempt shall finde no better successe then that of the beast
Records as they challenge no lesse then beleefe to what I have written from them that equall these Scriptures with the Canonicall and are indeed altogether incompatible with a Jewish Antichrist so they manifest also to the whole world that I have uttered no yesterdayes doctrine no deformed issue of a private and distempered Spirit hatcht in a corner and nurst in a conventicle studyed in a closet or cloister and preacht onely in a chamber or covent but such things as accompany (r) Heb. 6. v. 9. Salvation Such words as every free Christian every uncaptived conscience will plainely perceive and publikely confesse to be the (s) Act. 26. v. 25. words of sobernesse and Truth Even her words (e) Prov. 1. v. 20. c. whose wont it is to utter t her voyce in the streetes in the chiefe place of concourse in the opening of the gates and in the City saying How long ye simple ones will ye love simplicity and the scorners delight in their scorning and fooles hate knowledge Let old Tobit speake for the rest I beleeve that our Brethren shall lye scattered in the earth from that good land and Jerusalem shall be desolate and the house of God in it shall be burned and shall be desolate for a time And that againe God will have mercy on them and bring them againe into the land where they shall build a Temple but not like to the first untill the time of that age be fulfilled and afterwards they shall turne from all places of their captivity and build up Jerusalem gloriously and the House of God shall be built in it for ever with a glorious building (v) Act. 3. v 19 20 21. as the u Prophets have spoken thereof And all Nations shall turne and feare the Lord God truely and shall bury their (w) Is 2. v. 20. Idols So shall all Nations praise the Lord and his people shall confesse God and the Lord shall exalt his people and all those that love the Lord God in truth and justice shall rejoyce shewing mercy to our brethren Gloria Deo Vita Regi Pax Regno Glory to God on high on earth increase To the Kings age and to the Kingdome peace FINIS GOG AND MAGOG OR THE BATTLE OF THE GREAT DAY OF GOD ALMIGHTIE By ROBERT MATON Minister and Mr of Arts and sometimes Commoner of Wadham Colledge in OXFORD Hab. 2. v. 3. The vision is yet for an appointed time but at the end it shall speake and not lie though it tarry wait for it because it will surely come it will not tarry LONDON Printed by R. Cotes for Daniel Frere and are to be sold at his shop in little Britaine at the signe of the red Bull. 1642. DEUT. 32. v. 2.36.43 The Lord shall judge his people and repent himselfe for his servants when he seeth that their power is gone and there is none shut up or left Rejoyce O yee Nations with his people for he will avenge the blood of his servants and will render vengeance to his adversaries and will he mercifull to his land and to his people Jerem. 10. v. 11.10 The (b) Isa 2.20 Zeph. 3.11 gods that have not made the heavens and the earth even they shall perish from the earth and from under these heavens But the Lord is the true God he is the living God and an everlasting King at his wrath the (c) Isa 2.19 21. Rev. 6.15 16 17. earth shall tremble and the Nations shall not be able to abide his indignation Isaiah 14. v. 24. c. The Lord of Hosts hath sworne saying surely as I thought so shall it come to passe and as I purposed it shall stand That I will breake the Assyrian in my land and upon my mountaines tread him under foot then (d) Isa 10.24 25 26 27. shall his yoke depart from off them and his burden from off their shoulders This is the purpose that is purposed upon the (e) Eze. 38 39. Ioel. ch 3. Micah 4.12 13. Zeph. 3.5 Zek. 12.14 whole earth and this is the hand that is stretched out upon all the Nations For the Lord of Hosts hath purposed and who shall disannull it and his hand is stretched out and who shall turne it backe Isaiah 30. v. 27 c. Behold the Name of the Lord commeth from farre burning with his anger and the burden therereof is heavie his lips are full of indignation and his tongue as a devouring fire And his breath as an over-flowing streame shall reach to the middest of the necke to sift the Nations with the sieve of vanitie and there shall be a bridle in the jawes of the people causing them to erre Ye shall have a song as in the night when an holy solemnity is kept and gladnesse of heart as when one goeth with a pipe to come into the mountaine of the Lord to the mighty one of Israel And the Lord shall cause his glorious voyce to be heard and shall shew the lighting downe of his arme with the indignation of his anger and with the flame of a devouring fire with scattering and tempest and hailestones For through the voyce of the Lord shall the Assyrian be beaten downe which smote with a rod. And in every place where the grounded staffe shall passe which the Lord shall lay upon him it shall be with tabrets and harpes and in battels of shaking will hee fight with it For Tophet is ordained of old yea for the King it is prepared he hath made it deepe and large the pile thereof is fire and much wood the breath of the Lord like a streame of brimstone doth kindle it GOG AND MAGOG OR THE BATTLE OF THE GREAT DAY OF GOD ALMIGHTIE EZEK 38.2 Sonne of man set thy face against Gog the land of Magog the chiefe Prince of Meshech and Tuball and prophesie against him c. THat we may the better know what enemies are meant by Gog and Magog in the 20. chap. of the Rev. it will not be amisse first Vers 8. to examine who are meant by Gog and Magog in the 38 and 39. chap. of Ezekiel And this can no way be so well found out as by comparing Ezekiels prophesie with other Prophesies For albeit this of Ezekiel be in forme and manner of expression somewhat different from others and in matter much more copious than others that being delivered here plainly fully and together which is in some but obscurely glanc't at and in others revealed but in part or at most by parcels as we say that is some part in one place and some in another yet that Ezekiel goes not alone in the subject of this Revelation it is evident by the Querie made by God himselfe in the very same Prophesie Thus saith the Lord God Art thou hee of whom I have spoken in (a) Hab. 2.3 old time by my servants the Prophets of Israel which prophesied in those dayes many yeares that I would bring thee against them chapter the
a Diapason of propheticall voyces doth beare me witnesse that besides the irreconciliable jarring of divine dictates this mystery cannot without the losse and denyall also of some most comfortable remarkable and if not now yet for future times (s) Rom. 11 v. 25.26 necessary truths be otherwise understood I shall as well for the (t) 1 Iohn 4. v. 1. Isa 8. v. 20. Acts 17. v. 11 liberty of mine owne beliefe as for the restraint of others unjust censures conclude with the words of our Church in the 20. Article where she determines That though the Church hath authority to judge in controversies of faith Yet it is not lawfull for the Church so to expound one place of Scripture that it may be repugnant to another And that although the Church be a witnesse and keeper of holy Writ yet beside or contrary to the same it ought not to enforce any thing to be beleeved for necessity of salvation Malachi 3. v. 6. I am the Lord I change not therefore ye sonnes of Jacob are not consumed Nahum 1. v. 2. c. God is jealous and the Lord revengeth the Lord revengeth and is furious the Lord will take vengeance on his adversaries and he reserveth wrath for his enemies The Lord is slow to anger and great in power and will not at all acquit the wicked the Lord hath his way in the whirlwind and in the storme and the clouds are the dust of his feete He rebuketh the Sea and maketh it dry and dryeth up all rivers Bashan languisheth and Carmel and the flower of Lebanon languisheth The mountaines quake at him and the hils melt and the earth is burnt at his presence yea the world and all that dwell therein Who can stand before his indignation and who can abide in the fiercenesse of his anger his fury is powred out like fire and the rooks are throwne downe by him The Lord is good a strong hold in the day of trouble and he knoweth them that trust in him But with an over-running flood he will make an utter end of the place thereof and darknesse shall pursue his enemies What doe yee imagine against the Lord hee will make an utter end affliction shall not rise up the second time For while they bee solden together as thornes and while they are drunken as drunkards they shall be devoured as stubble fully dry Obadiah v. 15. c. The day of the Lord is neare upon all the Heathen as thou hast done it shall be done unto thee thy reward shall returne upon thine own head For as ye have drunke upon my holy mountaine so shall all the Heathen drinke continually yea they shall drinke and they shall swallow downe and they shall be as though they had not beene But upon Mount Zion shall be deliverance and there shall be holinesse and the house of Jacob shall possesse their possessions And the house of Jacob shall be fire and the house of Joseph a flame and the house of Esau for stubble and they shall kindle in them and devoure them and there shall not be any remaining of the house of Esau for the Lord hath spoken it And they of the South shall possesse the Mount of Esau and they of the plaine the Philistines and they shall possesse the fields of Ephraim and the fields of Samaria and Benjamin shall possesse Gilead And the captivity of this host of the children of Israel shall possesse that of the Canaanites even unto Zarephath and the captivity of Jerusalem which is in Sepharad shall possesse the Cities of the South And Saviours shall come up on Mount Zion to judge the Mount of Esau and the Kingdom shall be the Lords Habakkuk 3. v. 3. c. God came from Teman and the Holy One from Mount Paran his gloâ—y covered the heavens and the earth was full of his praise And his brightnes was as the light he had horns comming out of his hand and there was the hiding of his power Before him went the Pestilence and burning coales went forth at his feete He stood and measured the earth he beheld and drove asunder the Nations and the everlasting mountaines were scattered the perpetuall hils did bow his wayes are everlasting I saw the tents of Cushan in affliction and the curtaines of the Land of Midian did tremble Was the Lord displeased against the rivers was thine anger against the rivers was thy wrath against the sea that thou didst ride upon thine horses and thy charets of salvation Thy bow was made quite naked according to the oathes of the Tribes even thy Word Thou didst cleave the earth with rivers The mountains saw thee they trembled the overflowing of the water passed by the deep uttered his voyce and lift up his hands on high The Sunne and Moone stood still in their habitation at the light of thine arrowes they went and at the shining of thy glittering speare Thou didst march thorow the Land in indignation thou didst thresh the heathen in anger Thou wentest forth for the salvation of thy people even for salvation with thine anointed thou woundedst the head out of the house of the wicked by discovering the foundation unto the necke Selah Si quid novisti rectius istis Candidus imperti si non his utere mecum If ought thou knowest that 's more true then this Shew 't Gentle Sir if not take mine as ' t is Jude ver 24.25 Now unto him that is able to keepe us from falling and and to present us faultlesse before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy To the onely wise God our Saviour be glory and majesty dominion and power now and ever Amen FINIS Errataes PAge 2. line 16. for of r. to p. 4. l. 1. by that r. that by p. 5. l. 12. for time r. times p. 6. l. 10. for Judges r. Judge l. 21. for vacation r. vocation p. 7. l. 31. for imperiall r. empyriall p. 10. l. 7. for And at r. And in p. 11. l. 25. the phrase is changed to wit No way put for by no meanes referred which seeing it is the same in sense may passe without noting p. 11. l. 25 for Is r. It remaines c. p. 14. l. 6 for of the beasts r. of all c. p. 17. the letter k is misplaced for it is put in the 7. line before these words yee are not my and it should have beene put in the 8 line before these yee are the sonnes c. p. 24. l. 5. for vers 17. r. vers 37. p. 37. l. 16. for to pray before the Lord of Hosts r. to pray before the Lord and to seeke the Lord of Hoasts p. 37. l. 33. for I know the r. I know that p. 38. l. last for turne r. returne p. 44. l. 12. for their happinesse r. their former happinesse p. 48. l. 2. pericitari r. periclitari Faults escaped in the Margent PAge 1. c for Iohn 2.2 r. 1 Iohn 2.2 p. 19. the letter o in the margent which should have beene put before these words in the text It is confest is left out p. 19. q Id. l. 7. c. 7. r. cap. 12. and in this margent quot Id. l. 9. c. 9. which should have beene referred to the word Dan. in the last line is wholly left out p. 21. for quoquo modo adversan r. adversantâ—â— and in the second note for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 r. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 47. for fourthly the river r. fourthly in this City the river p. 20. s Cor. a tap in c. 3. for Hof r. Hos