The Standard of the Lord REVEALED By which He hath led and guided and preserved his people since Adam to this day as is manifested through the Scriptures and is shewed forth in this following Abstract AS ALSO A clear manifestation by the Scriptures of the Recovering and Redeeming his Spiritual Seed and Body which is his Church out of thraldom and Captivity which day is begun Then he remembred the days of old Moses and his people saying where is he that brought them up out of the Sea with the Shepherds of his flock where is he that put his holy Spirit within them that led them by the right hand of Moses with his glorious arm that led them through the deep as a Horse in the Wilderness that they should not stumble Isa 63.11 12 13. Neither said they where is the Lord that brought us up out of the Land of Egypt and led us through the Wilderness c. Jer. 2.6 But fear not thou O my servant Jacob and be not dismaied O Israel for behold I will save thee from the land of their Captivity and Jacob shall return and be in rest and at ease and none shall make them afraid Jer. 46.27 Isa 41.13.14 And I will bring again the Captivity of my people Israel and they shall build the waste Cities and inhabit them and they shall plant Vinyards and they shall drink of the Wine thereof and shall make Gardens and eat of the fruit thereof Amos 9.14 The Redeemer is come to Sion Jacob doth rejoice and Israel is glad Psal 53.6 Given forth at Lancaster Castle 11. month 1665 6 By M. F. a Prisoner of the Lord. Printed in the Year MDCLXVII The Epistle to the Reader Diligent Reader IF thou seriously consider that we are fallen into the last days and ages of the World in which the Lord of Heaven and Earth will come and plead with his Enemies and to recompence them according to their works Rev. 20.12 2 Cor. 5.10 Mat. 16.27 and that the terrible day of the Lord is coming with burns as an Oven and all his Enemies are before him as stubble and he will call all men high and low rich and poor to an account for their deeds done and reward every one according to their works whether they be good or whether they be bad The serious consideration of these things should put thee to a stand to search and to see how it stands between thee and the Lord. And if thou desires the knowledge of the living God and of his eternal Truth and desires to know the dealings of the Lord with his people and his seed here upon the earth since he made man and created him and gave him a being upon the earth look into this following Extract which is taken out of the Scriptures and thou mayst thereby see how the Lord hath led his seed and people from the beginning of the World until this present day As also his tender care and love that he hath exercised unto them all along as thou thy self will judge in the reading of this Treatise through which will be for thy own advantage and the building of thee up in the knowledge of the Lord and his Truth and also in the knowledge of the Scriptures which too many are and have been ignorant of and therefore have they dyed in their sins according as Christ saith if you do not believe that I am he ye shall dye in your sins Joh. 8.24 And none do believe that Jesus is Christ but who believes in his light and in his holy Spirit for that is the unction of the holy one the anointing which is the Christ which is the truth and is no lie and which leads into all truth which Christ Jesus promised he would send when he went to his Father in John 16. It is expedient for you saith he that I go away for if I go not away the Comforter will not come unto you but if I depart I will send him unto you howbeit when the Spirit of truth is come he shall guide you into all truth for he shall not speak of himself but he shall receive of mine and shew it unto you all things that the Father hath are mine therefore I said unto you he shall take of mine and shew it unto you thou mayst read of this at large in this Chapter So this is the very life of our knowledge of the truth to mind the light of the Lord Jesus Christ which is in thy heart and his Spirit that he hath put in thy inward parts and with that eye read this following Treatise in sobriety gentleness and meekness of Spirit without partiality or prejudice and thereby thou mayst gain knowledge and understanding into the truth of God and also into the Scriptures which it may be thou didst not know before Thou mayst also read in this following Book of the Redemption and bringing back of the Captivity of the Church of Christ whose day of redemption and deliverance comes as is shewed therein by the Scriptures and so as I said before being the time is short and the Lord cometh as a thief in the night â—nd the servant knoweth not at what hour his Lord cometh Therefore Christ saith it is good for you to be ready for in such an hour as you think not of the Son of man cometh blessed is the Servant whom the Lord when he cometh findeth watching watch therefore for you know not at what hour the Lord cometh Mat. 24. so in this time and day all people had need to be found watching lest they say peace when sudden destruction cometh upon them So in love to the Souls of all people upon the whole earth is this written and that it might be of advantage to all people is the end of the writing of this following book And the Lord that hath opened and moved by the power of his holy Spirit in writing of it make it also effectual and of use and service for the salvation of the Souls of all the Readers of it M. F. Genesis IN the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God the same was in the beginning with God all things were made by him and without him was not any thing made that was made Joh. 1. This is the testimony and the record of John the beloved Disciple that leaned on Jesus breast this agreeing with the first of Genesis In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth and the earth was void and without form and darkness was upon the face of the deep and the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters and God said let there be light and there was light 1 Joh. 5.7 So here is the record which is in heaven God the Spirit and the Word that was in the beginning with God by which all things were made and created the Heavens and the Earth the Sea and the firmament and all things that are therein and every living creature
seed and her seed it shall bruise thy head mark that the womans seed shall bruise the Serpents head the Lord hath said it and thou shall bruise his heel Gen. 3.15 and this hath been and is fulfilled the heel of the precious seed hath been bruised ever since the day that Adam fell the Lamb hath been flain from the foundation of the world Rev. 13.8 The descending part of the Lamb hath been bruised and slain since the world had a foundation in the heart of man for the Devil got into Evahs heart and Adams heart by his temptation when they obeyed the voice of the Serpent and disobeyed his voice that made them he told them they should be as Gods but he became the God of that world of sin and of transgression and this world is set in the hearts of all men in the fall that they cannot find the beginning or the end of the work of God Eccl. 3.11 And the God of this world hath blinded the minds of all them which believe not 2 Cor. 4.4 through the disobedience that did enter into their hearts and so their foolish hearts were darkened and he the Prince of darkness hath ruled ever since this world had a foundation in the heart of man and to this very day doth rule in the children of disobedience Eph. 2.5 6. And so that precious part of the Lamb that descending part that God hath placed in mans heart hath been and is slain in all the children of disobedience who are not risen with Christ unto righteousness and true holiness Now he that ascended saith the Apostle is the same that descended first into the nethermost parts of the earth and he that descended is the same also that ascended far above all heavens that he might sill all things Eph. 4.8.9 So there hath he suffered and been oppressed as a Cart hath been with sheaves and born the iniquities of all above 5600 years But the Lord of his infinite mercy and love reserved a remedy and redemption at that very instant who decreed and said that the precious seed of the woman should bruise the Serpents head and break his power And so as it is already manifested and fulfilled the Word which the Lord spake that he should bruise his heel so as certainly and assuredly as the word of the Lord endureth for ever and that not one jot or tittle of it shall fail till all be fulfill'd so certainly will he fulfill this part also that the seed of the Woman shall bruise the Serpents head and break his power and to this purpose hath he redoubled his promise again and again as we shall shew more fully hereafter And so Adam and Eve stood under the sentence that the Lord pronounced upon them unto woman that he would greatly multiply her sorrow in her conception and in bringing forth Children And unto Adam he said cursed is the ground for thy sake in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all thy days so in this miserable state they continued and in this darkness transgression and disobedience Adam knew his Wife and she brought forth a Son and called his name Cain and Adam called his wife Eve because she was the mother of all living and this Cain was the fruits of the Spirit of the Devil who was a lyar and a murderer And again she bare his brother Abel and Cain was a tiller of the ground but Abel was a keeper of Sheep and in process of time it came to pass that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the Lord and Abel he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof and the Lord had respect unto Abel and his offering for the Apostle saith Heb. 11.4 by faith Abel offered unto God but unto Cain and his offering he had no respect And Cain was wroth and his countenance fell and the Lord said unto Cain why art thou wroth and why is thy countenance fallen if thou dost well shalt thou not be accepted if thou dost not well sin lyeth at thy door And unto thee shall be his desire and thou shalt rule over him Gen. 4.7 But the Apostle saith that Abel offered a more excellent offering than Cain by which he obtained a witness that he was righteous God testifying of his guifts and by faith he being dead yet his bloud speaketh Heb. 11.4 and also Cain manifested what seed he sprang from unto which God said I will put enmity between thee and the woman and between thy seed and her seed which seed was a lyar and a murderer from the beginning and Cain talked with his brother and it came to pass that when they were in the field that Cain rose up against Abel his brother and slew him and wherefore slew he him because his own works were evil and his brothers righteous 1 Joh. 3.12 And this Cains Spirit hath remained amongst men to this very day for he slew his brother about offering unto God and the worship of God and so this Cains spirit hath been slaying and killing and persecuting ever since about Offerings and Sacrifices and Worships righteous Abel and that spirit which God accepts hath been persecuted and slain and is to this day But God will fulfill the words of Christ upon them Mat. 23.35 that upon you might come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth from the blood of rightous Abel but the Lord knew when Abel was slain and he knows and sees and hath seen all the righteous blood that hath been shed since Abel and the Lord said unto Cain what hast thou done the voice of thy brothers blood hath cryed to me from the ground and now thou art cursed from the earth which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brothets blood from thy hand Gen. 4.10 11. And under this curse all Cains spirit and off spring remains a fugitive and vagabond from the Lord for Cain went out from the presence of the Lord and dwelt in the Land of Nod. ver 16. And Adam knew Eve his Wife again and she bare a Son and called his name Seth for God saith she hath appointed me another Son instead of Ahel whom Cain slew So here is another Son brought forth of Abel's seed which the Lord accepted and to which the promise of the Lord remained and to Seth to him also there was born a Son and he called his name Enos then began men to call upon the name of the Lord here was the right seed again which set up the worship of God as you may read in the fifth of Genesis the Generations of them that worshipped God in that day from Adam some of which the Apostle bore witness of in Heb. 11.5 By Faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death Enoch translated and was not found because God had translated him for before his translating he had this testimony that he pleased God By faith Nâ—ah being warned of God of things not seen as yet
and cryed and the people wept and the Children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron and the whole Congregation said would God we had died in the Land of Egypt would God that we had died in the Wilderness and wherefore hath the Lord brought us up to this Land our Wives and our Children to be a Prey were it not better for us to return into Egypt let us make us a Captain and let us return into Egypt Here you may see how they requited the Lord and how evilly they dealt with him for all his mercies and his wonders which he wrought for them and many a time did they murmur and rebel against the Lord while Moses led them through the Wilderness even forty years long was the Lord grieved with them and tempted with them till he even swore in his wrath that they should not enter into his rest and all along ever since you may see how ill they dealt with the Lord and continually provoked him to anger by their abominations and worshipping of other Gods insomuch that he complains by his Prophet Isaiah hear O Heavens and give ear O earth for the Lord hath spoken I have nourished and brought up Children and they have rebelled against me the Oxe knows his owner c. as you may read through the first Chapter of Isaiah And again in Jer. 2. Be astonish'd O ye Heavens at this and be horribly afraid be ye very desolate saith the Lord for they have forgotten me the Fountain of living 〈…〉 and hewed And again the Apostle when he was speaking of his Kinsmen the Jews according to the flesh saith I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my Brethren my Kinsâ—en according to the flesh who are Israelites to whom pertaineth the adoption and the glory and the Covenants and the giving of the Law and the service of God and the promises whose are the Fathers and of whom concerning the flesh Christ came who is over all God blessed for ever Rom. 9.3 4 5. And in the first of John when the Disciples were seeking for Christ Jesus turned and saith unto them what seek ye they said unto him Rabbi which being interpreted Master and one of them findeth his Brother and saith unto him we have found the Messiah which being interpreted is the Christ Jesus saw Nathaniel and saith of him behold an Israelite indeed in whom there is no guile ver 47. And Jesus himself saith to the woman of Samaria we know what we worship for salvation is of the Jews the woman saith I know that when the Messâ—â—h cometh which is called Christ he will tell us all things Jesus saith unto her I am he Joh. 4.22 to the 26. ver Thus the Lord performed his faithful Covenant and promise unto Abraham and to his seed of whom according to the flesh Christ came So that you see he is a God that keepeth Covenant with his people though they broke his Commandments and his Laws and his Ordinances and his Statutes yet he fulfilled his Promises and Covenant to them concerning Christ coming in the flesh So now as the Law was given forth by Moses grace and truth cometh by Jesus Christ And so as the Children of Israel and all their Laws and the Ark of the Covenant and their Priests and their Offerings and their Sacrifices and their Sabbaths and their Temple the Apostle saith was but a Figure for the time then present in which were offered both Gifts and Sacrifices that could not make him that did the service perfect as pertaining to the conscience they could not make the Priests perfect as you may read at large in the 9. and 10. Chapters of the Hebrews Therefore the Lord had a further thing in his determination and Decree in the manifesting his Son Christ Jesus in the flesh of which we shall speak more hereafter And the Apostle saith Col. 2. let no man therefore judge you in meat or in drink or in respect of an holy day or a new Moon or of the Sabbath days which are a shadow of things to come but the body is Christ And this is that seed which the Apostle saith the promise was made unto Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made he saith not to seeds as of many but as of one and to thy seed which seed is Christ Gal. 3.16 And so notwithstanding that they broke their Covenant with the Lord which stood in outward performances yet the Lord performed his promise and Covenant unto Abraham which is the seed Christ which the Lord calls a new and everlasting Covenant Heb. 8.10 Jer. 31.33 For saith the Apostle it is written that Abraham had two Sons the one by a bond-maid the other by a free-woman he who was of the bond-woman was born after the flesh and he of the free-woman was by promise which things are an Allegory for these are the two Covenants the one from Mount Sinai which gendereth to bondage which is Hagar for this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia and answereth unto Jerusalem which now is and is in â—ondage with her Children Gal. 4.22 23 24 25. These are they we have treated on all along Jerusalem according to the flesh which were the visible people that the Lord owned in their day upon the Earth which had their Laws outward written in Tables of stone their Covenant outward which was an Ark their Priests whose lips were to preserve their knowledg were outward Priests which was the Tribe of Levi their Offerings and their Sacrifices outward their Sabbath every seventh day their Temple an outward Temple buâ—lded at Jerusalem which they were all to go to worship at once a year as you may read in the Law of Moses and all these they did not perform according to the command of the Lord but broke Covenant on their parts with him So now this other seed which the Lord promised unto Abraham which all the Prophets bare witness of he changeth this first Covenant and this first Priesthood and the Law also as you may read Heb. 7. Now we saith the Apostle as Isaac was are the children of the promise for Jerusalem which now is free which is the mother of us all So then brethren we are not Children of the Bond-woman but of the free Gal. 4. So this seed Christ hath put an end to all that went before him he is the fulfilling and the substance of those that went before that were figures and types for he hath obtained a more excellent Ministry by how much also he is the Mediator of a better Covenant which is established upon better promises For if the first Covenant had been fruitless then should no place have been sought for the second but finding fault with the first he promised the second Heb. 8.6 7. as you may read in the most of the Prophesies of the Prophets who have not only relation to the first Covenant which we have treated on before but also to this second and New
29. Isa 13.10 Ezek. 32.7 but Christ saith farther verily I say unto you this Generation shall not pass away till all these things be fulfilled which were fulfilled according to Christs words for before the Disciples were removed all these things came to pass and were fulfilled in that day and the Apostles saw and knew the sum and substance of all that was spoken fulfilled but the next words makes it clear Heaven and Earth shall pass away saith Christ but my word shall not pass away my word shall endure for ever and is fullilling through all Generations yea beyond the Heaven and the Earth one Generation comes and another Generation goes and the word fulfills through them all and though that Generation did not pass till these words were fulfilled yet they continue in the substance the same fulfilling for ever to the end of the world Christ saith I will be with you who is the word but of the day and houe knoweth no man no not the Angels but my Father only for the times and seasons are in the Fathers hand And according to this the Apostle saith 1 Jâ—h 2. the world passeth away and the lusts thereof but he that doth the will of God abideth for ever Little Children it is the last time and ye have heard that Antichrist should come and I even now there are many Antichrists whereby we know that it is the last time they went out from us c. ver 17.18 and Jude 17. Beloved remember ye the words which were spoken before of the Apostles of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ how they told you there should be mockers in the last time who walk after their own hearts lusts So these with several others that might be mentioned confirmeth the truth of the night of the Apostacy that was coming on and that the true Church of Christ that was among the Apostles should go into the Wilderness after their decease and departure which John saw would come to pass as you may read in Rev. 12. There was War in Heaven then the true Worship of God was lost and that eternal Spirit which was in the Apostles where the wicked one had no part but they had overcome the wicked one 1 Joh. 2. I have written unto you young men because you are strong and the word of God abideth in you and ye have overcome the wicked one ver 14. That Spirit was lost which was among the Apostles they sat together in heavenly places in Christ Iesus as you may read Eph. 1.3 and Chap. 2.6 And Iesus exhorted his Disciples to lay up their treasure in Heaven for he said where the treasure is there the heart will be also Math. 6.20 21. But this worship of God and power was lost when the Woman sled into the Wilderness The Church of Christ gone into the Wilderness and then the Dragon got up and made War in Heaven and to this agrees that Prophesie of Christ where he saith the powers of the Heavens shall be shaken Mat. 24.29 but Michael and his Angels fought against the Dragon and the Dragon fought and his Angels as you may read in the 10. of Daniel after Daniel had mourned three full weeks and had eaten no pleasant bread neither came Wine in his mouth until three full weeks were fulfilled after this Daniel saw the Visions and heard the voice that said fear not Daniel for from the first day that thou settest thine heart to understand and to chasten thy self before thy God thy words were heard and I am come for thy words but the Prince of the Kingdom of Persia withstood me many days but loe Michael one of the chief Princes came to help me now I am come to make thee understand what shall befall thy people in the last days for yet the Vision is for many days and after this Daniel became dumb and fell upon the ground and retained no strength neither was breath left in him then the Angel came again and touched him as you may read and said knowest thou wherefore I am come unto thee and now I will return and sight with the Prince of Persia and when I am come forth loe the Prince of Grecia shall come which is the third Monarchy but I will shew thee that which is noted in the Scriptures of truth and there is none that holdeth with me in these things but Michael the Prince ver 21. So Michael stood for the Angel there in the days of Daniel against the power of the Dragon this Michael the Apostle calls the Archangel Jude 9. And so here in the Apostacy Michael and his Angels have fought against the Dragon and his Angels for they prevailed not while the woman hath been in the Wilderness for it is a place prepared of God for her that she should be fed there a thousand two hundred and threescore days but after this John saw the Dragon cast out that old Serpent called the Devil and Satan which had deceived the whole world there was no more place for him in Heaven but he was cast out into the earth and his Angels were cast out with him when the true and precious seed of the body which is Christ which is his Church appeared again in which the wicked one hath no part then there was no place sound in Heaven for the Dragon therefore saith Iohn Rejoyce ye Heavens and ye that dwell in them woe unto the Inhabitants of the Earth and of the Sea for the Devil is come down unto you having great wrath because he knoweth his time is but short this is very truly witnessed and fulfilled at this day for where the Spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ is witnessed and where his seed is raised up in any where the Spirit of Satan hath no place in their Worship but they worship in the Spirit of the Lord and in his Truth then Satan rages in the Inhabitants of the Earth and of the Sea whither he is cast for in their Heaven and in their Worship he is there making war but where he is cast out from Heaven there he persecutes the Woman that brings forth the man-child and is wroth with her and makes war with the remnant of her seed which keeps the Commandements of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ Rev. 12.17 And in the next Chapter when John stood upon the sand of the Sea which was but a brittle foundation for it was to be done away there he saw the beast arise out of the Sea with his seven heads and ten horns and his ten crowns and upon his heads the name of Blasphemy as you may read throughout that 13. Chapter to the end but afterwards John saw an Angel slying in the midst of Heaven having the everlasting Gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the Earth and he cryed with a loud voice unto every Nation and Tongue and People and Kindred saying Fear God and give glory to him and worship him that made Heaven and Earth
moved with fear prepared an Ark to the saving of his house by the which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is by Faith ver 7. So here the Lord had a Church then upon the earth that worshipped and served and feared and walked with the Lord and dyed in the faith as the Apostle bears witness of in Heb. 11. and may be read at large in Gen. 5. which was of that seed which God accepted And Lamech lived 182 years and begat a Son and he called his name Noah saying this shall conmfort us concerning the work and toil of our hands because of the ground which the Lord hath cursed Gen. 5.28 Here Lamech was a Prophet concerning his Son Noah which the Apostle witnesses to be a Preacher of Righteousness 2 Pet. 2.5 And Noah was 500 years old and begat Shem Ham and Japhet for it came to pass when men began to multiply upon the face of the earth and daughters were born unto them and the Sons of God saw the daughters of men were fair and they took them Wives of all which they chose Gen. 6.2 And so here again the earth was corrupted and here they fell again into transgression and the Lords Spirit was grieved and the Lord said my Spirit shall not alwaies strive with man for that he is but flesh yet his daies shall be 120 years and God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was evil and that continually and it repented the Lord that he had made man upon the earth and it grieved him at his heart and the Lord said I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth both man and beast and the creeping things and the fowls of the air for it repenteth me that I have made them But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord Noah was a just man and perfect in his Generation and Noah walked with God and the earth was corrupt before God and the earth was filled with violence and God looked upon the earth and behold it was corrupt for all flesh had corrupted his way and God said unto Noah the end of all flesh is come before me for the earth is filled with violence through them and behold I will destroy them with the earth make the an Ark of Gopher wood c. So Noah being a perfect and just man obeyed the Lord and set about the work for he had the Lords words and promise Gen. 6.18 with thee I will establish my Covenant and thou shalt come into the Ark thou and thy Sons and thy Wife and thy Sons Wives with thee So Noah laboured in the work and Commandment of the Lord and preached amongst them after the Lord complained of the wickedness of men a hundred years before the flood in which time the long suffering of God waited while the Ark was preparing so that there was but eight persons saved 1 Pet. 3.20 And Noah took of every living thing of all flesh two of every sort and brought into the Ark to him to keep them alive according as the Lord commanded him male and female of every sort and of the fowls after their sort and the cattel after their kind and of every creeping thing after his kind two shall come unto thee of every sort to keep them alive and take unto thee of all food that is eaten and it shall be meat for thee and them thus did Noah according to all that God commanded him The Lord God said unto Noah come thou and all thy house into the Ark for thee have I seen righteous in this Generation and of every clean beast take with thee by sevens males and females for yet seven days and I will cause it to rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights and every living substance that I have made will I destroy from the face of the earth And Noah did according to all that the Lord commanded him and Noah was 600 years old when the floods of the Waters were upon the earth and Noah went in and his Sons and his Wife and his Sons Wives with him into the Ark and here was his Father Lamech's Prophecy fulfilled Cen. 5.29 who saw the curse upon the ground which by reason of sin and wickedness the Lord cursed he saw this before it came even when he named his Son Noah saying this same shall comfort us and so he did for through his faithfulness unto the Lord in this wicked Generation the Lord had respect unto him who was a just and perfect man preserved him and his house even in that great deluge that they might be a seed unto the Lord God and so here it is proved that the Lord had a Church upon the earth that served the Lord and walked with him even before the flood as the Apostle bears witness Jude 14. Enoch also the seventh from Adam prophesied of these saying behold the Lord cometh with ten thousand of his Saints to execute judgment upon all and to convince all that are ungodly amongst them here Enoch prophesies of the eternal truth that was to be revealed And Peter saith God spared not the old world but saved Noah the eight person a Preacher of righteousness by which he went and preached to the Spirits in Prison when once the long suffering of God waited in the days of Noah while the Ark was prepared wherein few that is eight souls were saved 1 Pet. 3.19 20. So brought in the flood upon the world of ungodly 2 Pet. 2.5 So he saved a seed for himself of those that worshipped and served him but these were not of Cain's stock that slew his brother Abel but these were of that seed which Cain persecuted and whose blood cryed to the Lord for justice against the mâ—rderer which seed hath suffered ever since by that murdering persecuting spirit and that was Cain's stock that corrupted the earth and filled it full of violence by which they grieved the Lord at the very heart as Jude saith in the 10. ver But these speak evil of dignities which they know not but what they know naturally as bruit beasts in those things they corrupt themselves wo unto them for they have gone in the way of Cain So Cain's spirit is always full of wrath envy murder and bloodshed and so this fulfils the word of the Lord unto the Serpent when he said I will put enmity between thee and the woman and between thy seed and her seed and so upon this seed and world of ungodly men the Lord brought the flood and overflowed the whole world because of their wickedness so that all flesh dyed and every living substance was destroyed Noah only remained alive and they that were with him in the Ark. And the waters prevailed upon the earth 150 days and in the second Month on the 27. day of the month the earth was dryed and God spake unto Noah saying
Go forth of the Ark thou and thy Wife and thy Sons and thy Sons Wives with thee and bring forth with thee every living thing that is with thee c. and Noah went forth and every living thing that was with him after his kind went forth out of the Ark. And Noah builded an Altar unto the Lord and took of every clean beast and of every clean fowl and offered burnt-offerings on the Altar and the Lord smelled a sweet savour and the Lord said in his heart I will not again curse the earth any more for mans sake for the imaginations of his heart are evil from his youth neither will I again smite any more every thing living as I have done while the earth remaineth seed time and harvest cold and heat Summer and Winter day and night shall not cease Gen. 8.20 21 22. And God blessed Noah and his Sons and said unto them be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth and the fear of them and the dread of them shall be upon every beast of the earth and upon every fowl of the air the power of all living the living creatures the Lord delivered into the hands of Noah and his Sons and the Lord said every thing that liveth shall be meat for you even as the green Herb I have given you all things but flesh with the life thereof which is the blood thereof you shall not eat And surely your blood of your lives will I require at the hand of every beast will I require it and at the hand of man and at the hand of every mans brother will I require the life of man Gen. 9.4 5. So here the Lord warned them before hand not to kill one another as Cain had done his brother no nor the beasts to kill them who so shedeth mans blood by man shall his blood be shed for in the image of God made he man ver 10. And to Noah and to his Sons he said be fruitful and multiply and bring forth abundance in the earth and multiply therein and behold I will establish my Covenant with you and with your seed after you neither shall all flesh be cut off any more neither shall there any more be a flood to destroy the earth and God said this is a token of the Covenant that I will make between me and you I do set my Bow in the Cloud and it shall be seen in the Cloud and I will remember my Covenant and I will look upon it that I may remember the everlasting Covenant between me and every living Creature of all flesh upon the earth And the Sons of Noah that went forth of the Ark were Shem Ham and Japhet Ham is the Father of Canaan these are the three Sons of Noah and of them was the whole earth spread And Noah began to be a Husbandman and he planted a Vinyard and drank of the Wine and was drunk and he was uncovered within his Tent and Ham the Father of Canaan saw the nakedness of his Father and told his two Brethren without and Shem and Japhet took a Garment and laid it upon both their Shoulders and went backward and covered the nakedness of their Father and their Faces were backward and they saw not their Fathers nakedness ver 23. So this cursed Ham he could look upon his Fathers nakedness and lay it open to his Brethren but his Brethren covered his nakedness and could not look upon him And Noah when he awoke from his Wine he knew what his younger Son Ham had done unto him and he said cursed be Canaan a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren and he said blessed be the Lord God of Shem and Canaan shall be his servant and God shall enlarge Japhet and he shall dwell in the Tents of Shem and Canaan shall be his servant Here Noah had the inspiration of the Almighty and was a true Prophet concerning his three Sons and they which he blessed is blest and he whom he cursed is curstâ— and according to his Prophesie the Lord hath enlarged Japhet for of Japhet's stock is the Isles of the Gentiles as you may read Chap. 10. ver 5. And of Shem's stock came Abraham the Father of all the faithful to which the promise of the Lord is and Christ Jesus the seed of the promise is not only given a Covenant unto Abraham and his seed the Jews but he is also given a light to the Gentiles that he may be Gods salvation to the ends of the earth And so here is Noah's Prophesle fulfill'd upon Shem and Japhet that as they joined together in covering their Father's nakedness so Christ Jesus the everlasting Covenant hath joined them together in one and will be their salvation to the ends of the earth and so Japhet dwells in the Tents of Shem in God's Covenant of light And so Haâ—'s stock is of the cursed seed he begat Cush and Cush begat Nimrod and he was a mighty hunter and a great man in the earth and the beginning of his Kingdom was Babel in the Land of Shinar as ye may read in Gen. 10. The whole earth at that time was of one Language and this Nimrod began to build a City in the plain of Shinar and this Ham's stock and Nimrod's stock they would go make brick and they would go build a City and a Tower whose top may reach to Heaven lest we be scattered upon the face of the earth say they and the Lord God came down to see the City which the Children of men builded and the Lord said let us go down and confound their language that they may not understand one anothers speech so the Lord scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of the earth and they left off to build the City therefore is the name of it called Babel because that there the Lord did confound the Language of all the earth and the cause of this was the pride of cursed Ham's stock and Nimrod that would be so great that he would build a Tower to Heaven that he might not be scattered but his Kingdom is Babel and from thence they were all sâ—attered and this was the beginning of many Languages even a curse from God upon Ham's stock for before the earth was all of one Language for Ham's stock is of the cursed seed and for their sakes the Language was confounded and they scattered over the earth Now the Generations of Shem you may read of in Gen. 11.10 to the end And Terah lived 70 years and begat Abram Nahor and Haran ver 26. and Haran begat Lot and Haran died before his Father Terah in the Land of his Nativity Hor of the Caldees and Abram and Nahor took them Wives the name of Abram's Wife was Sarai and the name of Nahor's Wife was Milcah and Terah took Ahram his Son and Lot the Son of Haran his Son's Son and Sarai his daughter-in-law his Son Abram's Wife and they went forth with him into Vz of the
Jacob the second birth power over his Brother Esau to supplant him and to receive the blessing See what the Apostle saith Heb. 12.16 lest there be any Fornicator or prophane person as Esau who for one morsel of bread sold his birthright for ye know how that afterward when he would have inherited the blessing he was rejected for he found no place of repentance though he sought it carefully with tears So it is not tears that come from the wrong nature and birth that will prevail with God for his promise is to the right seed and but to one seed c. And Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing wherewith his Father blessed him and Esau said in his heart the days of mourning for my Father are at hand and then will I slay my Brother Jacob here Esau manifested the same nature as was in Cain but thaâ— the Lord prevented him for the Lord searched out the hidden things of Esau and frustrated his intention for thy violence against thy brother Jacob shame shall cover thee and thou shalt be cut off for ever Obad. 10. Esau's words were told to Rebekah that he intended to slay his Brother and she called her Son Jacob and said thy Brother Esau comforts himself purposing to kill thee Now therefore my Son obey my voice and arise and flye to Laban my Brother and tarry with him a few days until thy brothers fury be turned a way and I will send and fetch thee why should I be deprived of you both in one day And Rebekah said unto Isaac I am weary of my life because of the Daughters of Heâ—h if Jacob take a Wife of such as these who are the daughters of this Land what good shall my life do me And Isaac called Iacob and blessed him and charged him and said unto him thou shalt not take a Wife of the Daughters of Canaan for all the inhabitants of the Land of Canaan were of Ham's stock which were of the cursed seed so this blessed seed of Abraham was not to mingle with them Therefore Isaac said arise and go to the house of Bethuel thy mothers Father and take thee a Wife from thence of the Daughters of Laban thy Mothers brother and God Almighty bless thee and multiply thee and make thee fruitful that thou mayst be a multitude of people and give the blessing of Abraham to thee and to thy seed with thee that thou mayst inherit the Land which God gave unto Abraham and Isaac sent Jacob away And when Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Iacob and sent him away to Padan-Aram and as he blessed him he charged him that he should not take a Wife of the Daughters of Canaan and Esau seeing that the Daughters of Canaan pleased not Isaac his Father then went Esau unto Ishmael and took a Wife But Iacob obeyed his Fathers command and travelled on his way and lay down in the night and slept and laid stones for his pillows and he dreamed and behold a Ladder was set on the earth and the top reached to Heaven and the Angels of God ascended and descended on it and the Lord stood above it and said I am the Lord God of Abraham thy Father and the God of Isaac the Land whereon thou lyest to thee will I give it and to thy seed and thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth and thou shalt spread abroad to the West and to the East and to the North and to the South and in thee and in thy seed shall all the Families of the earth be blessed And behold I am with thee and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest and will not leave thee until I have done that which I have spoken And Iacob awaked out of his sleep and said surely the Lord is in this place and I knew it not and he was afraid and said O how dreadful is this place this is the house of God and the Gate of Heaven and Iacob rose up early in the morning and took the stone that he had put for his pillow and set it up for a Pillar and poured Oyl on the top of it and called the name of that place Bethel and Iacob vowed a vow saying if God will be with me and keep me in this way that I go so that I come again to my Fathers house in peace then shall the Lord be my God Then Iacob went on his journey into the Land of the East and at the Well he met with men of the place whither he was going which were come to water their Flocks and he said unto them my brethren whence be ye and they said of Haran we are And he said unto them know ye Laban the Son of Nahor and they said we know him and he said is he well and they said he is well and behold Rachel his Daughter cometh with the sheep when Jacob saw Rachel the Daughter of Laban his Mothers Brother and Laban's Sheep he went near and rouled the Stone from the Wells mouth and watered the flock of Laban and Iacob kissed Rachel and lift up his voice and wept And Iacub told Rachel that he was Rebekah's Son and she ran and told her Father when Laban heard the tidings of Iacob his Sisters Son he ran to meet him and embraced him and kissed him and brought him to his House and he told Laban all these things and Laban said surely thou art my bone and my flesh and he abode with him the space of a month and Laban said unto Iacob because thou art my brother shouldest thou therefore serve me for nought tell me what thy Wages shall be and Laban had two Daughters the name of the elder was Leah and the name of the younger was Rachel Leah was tender-ey'd but Rachel was beautiful and well-favour'd and Iacob loved Rachel and said I will serve thee seven years for Rachel thy younger Daughter and Laban said it is better that I give her unto thee than I should give her unto another man And Iacob served seven years for Rachel and they seemed unto him but a few days for the love he had to Rachel and Iacob said unto Laban give me my Wife for my days are fulfilled that I may go in unto her And Laban gathered together all the men of the place and made a Feast and it came to pass in the evening that he took Leah his Daughter and brought her to him and he went in unto her and in the morning behold it was Leah And he said to Laban what is this that thou hast done unto me did not I serve thee for Rachel wherefore hast thou beguiled me and Laban said it must not be so done in our Country to give the younger before the first-born fulfill her week and we will give thee this also for the service which thou shalt serve with me yet other seven years and Iacob did so and fulfilled her week and he gave him Rachel his daughter to Wife also And Laban gave
and withall of a beautiful countenance and goodly to look to and the Lord said arise annoint him for this is he then Samuel took the horn of Oyl and annointed him in the midst of his Brethren and the Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward Here the Lord annointed David to be King over Israel by his Prophet and by his eternal Spirit but this was hid from Saul many years as you may read from Chap. 16 to 23. And how the Lord was with David in all his undertakings and how he was preserved from the wrath and fury of Saul and how David preserved Sauls life when he came into the Cave where he and his men were upon the Rocks and he would not hurt Saul as you may read in the 24. Chapter but still Saul pursued Davids life as you may read throughout the Book of Samuel And the Armies of the Amalekites gathered together against Israel and David enquired of the Lord saying shall I pursue after this Troop shall I overtake them and he answered pursue them and without fail recover all So David went and six hundred men that were with him four hundred pursued and two hundred stayed behind and David recovered all that the Amalekites carryed away and David recovered his two Wives and there was nothing lacking neither small nor great neither Sons nor Daughters neither flocks nor herds but David recovered them all and came to the two hundred men that stayed behind that were so faint they could not follow him Now after this the Philistines fought against Israel that was under Saul and the men of Israel fled before the Philistines and the Battel went sore against Saul and the Archers hit him and he was sore wounded and Saul said unto his Armour-Bearer draw thy Sword and thrust me through but his Armour-Bearer would not therefore Saul took a sword and fell upon it and when his Armour-Bearer saw that Saul was dead he fell likewise upon his sword and died with him so Saul died and his three Sons and his Armour-Bearer and all his men fell that day together 1 Sam. 31. II. Samuel AND when David had word that Saul and Jonathan were dead then David took hold on his Cloaths and rent them and all the men that were with him and they mourned and wept and fasted until evening for Saul and for Jonathan his Son for the People of the Lord and for the House of Israel because they were fallen by the sword and David lamented with this lamentation over Saul and over Jonathan his Son which Lamentation you may read 2 Sam. 1. And it came to pass after this that David enquired of the Lord saying shall I go up into the Cities of Iudah and the Lord said unto him go up and David said unto him whither shall I go and he said unto Hebron so David went up thither and his two Wives and his men that were with him every man with his Houshold and they dwelt in the Cities of Hebron and the men of Iudah came and there they annointed David King over the House of Iudah and they told David that the men of Iabesh-Gilead were they that buried Saul and David sent Messengers unto the men of Gilead and said unto them Blessed be ye of the Lord that ye have shewed this kindness unto the Lord even unto Saul and buried him and now the Lord shew kindness and truth unto you and I will requite you this kindness for your Master Saul is dead and the House of Iudah hath annointed me King over them So now David reigned over the House of Iudah but yet there continued long War between the House of Saul and the House of David but David waxed stronger and stronger and the House of Saul waxed weaker and weaker Then came all the Tribes of Israel to David unto Hebron and spoke saying we are thy bones and thy flesh and in time past when Saul was King over us thou leddest out and brought in Israel and the Lord said unto thee thou shalt feed my people Israel So all the Elders of Israel came to the King to Hebron and King David made a league with them before the Lord and they annointed David King over Israel Chap. 5. David was thirty years old when he began to reign in Israel in Hebron he reigned over Iudah seven years and he reigned over Israel and Iudah forty years So David governed Israel in the fear and wisdom of the Lord God for David gathered together all the chosen men of Israel thirty thousand and David arose and went with all them that were with him from Baal of Iudah to bring up from thence the Ark of God whose name is called the Lord of Hosts that dwelleth between the Cherubims the whole passage whereof you may read Chap. 6. And when King David sat in his house the King said unto Nathan the Prophet see I dwell in an house of Cedar but the Ark of God dwells within Curtains and that night the word of the Lord came unto Nathan saying go tell my servant David thus saith the Lord shalt thou build a house for me to dwell in whereas I have not dwelt in an house since the time that I brought up the Children of Israel out of Egypt even to this day but have walked in a Tent and in a Tabernacle but when thy days shall be fulfilled that thou sleeps with thy Fathers I will set up thy seed after thee which shall proceed out of thy Bowels and I will establish his Kingdom he shall build an house for my name and I will establish the Throne of his Kingdom for ever I will be his Father and he shall be my Son if he commit iniquity I will chasten him with the rod of men and with the stripes of the children of men but my mercy shall not depart away from him as I took from Saul Chap. 7. Thus David governed the Kingdom of Israel nobly all his days and the mighty works that he did and the great Victories that the Lord gave him you may read of to the end of this Book 1 Kings 2 Chron. AND when the days of David grew nigh that he should die he charged Solomon his Son saying I go the way of all the earth be thou strong therefore and shew thy self a man and keep the charge of the Lord thy God to walk in his ways and to keep his Statutes and his Commandments and his Judgments and his Testimonies as it is written in the Law of Moses that thou mayst prosper in all that thou doest that the Lord may continue his word which he spake concerning me saying if thy Children take heed to their way to walk before me in Truth with all their heart and with all their Soul there shall not fail thee a man said he to sit on the Throne of Israel 1 Kings 2. And so David slept with his Fathers and was buried in the City of David Then sat Solomon upon the Throne of
Covenant that the Lord made with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah as you may read in Isa 42. I the Lord have called thee in Righteousness and will hold thine hand and will keep thee and will give thee for a Covenant of the people for a light to the Gentiles ver 6. And in Isa 49. he said it is a light thing that thou shouldst be my servant to raise up the Tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserved of Israel I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles that thou mayst be my salvation to the end of the earth ver 6. And in Jer. 31. Behold the days come saith the Lord that I will make a New Covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah not according to the Covenant that I made with their Fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the Land of Egypt which my Covenant they broke although I was an Husband unto them saith the Lord but this shall be the Covenant that I will make with the house of Israel After those days saith the Lord I will put my Law in their inward parts and write it in their hearts and will be their God and they shall be my people and also Chap. 24. And Ezckiel 36. Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you and ye shall be clean from all your silthiness and from all your Idoâ—â— I will cleanse you a new heart will I give you and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh and will give you a heart of flesh ver 25 26. also Chap. 11. 19. This is the Covenant which God is establishing and Christ Jesus is the seed which was promised unto Abrsham Christ Jesus is the Elected seed which God hath chosen which he prophesied of by his Prophet Esaiah Behold my Servant whom I uphold mine Elect in whom my soul delighteth I will put my Spirit upon him and he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles this is he that is the true and right seed and with this agrees the Apostle when he was speaking of Jacob and Esau for the children being yet unhorn neither having done good nor evil but that the purpose of God according to Election might stand and again the Apostle saith Israel hath not obtained that which he secketh for but the Election hath obtained it and the rest are blinded Rom. 11. Neither because they are the seed of Abraham are they all Children but in Isâ—â—c shall thy seed be called that is they which are the children of the flesh are not the children of God but the children of the promise are counted for the seed and therefore the Apostle told them that blindness in part hath happened unto Israel until the fulness of the Gentiles come in and so all Israel shall be saved both of the Jews and also of the Gentiles but the Apostle tells you in another place that all are not Israel that are of Israel but there shall come out of Sion the Deliverer and shall turn away â—ugodliness from Iacob this is my Covenant with them when I take away their sins Rom. 11.26 27. And the Redeemer shall come to Sion 〈◊〉 unto them that turn from transgression in Iacob saith the 〈◊〉 as for me this is my Covenant with them saith the Lord My Spirit that is upon thee and my words which I have put in thy mouth shall not depart out of thy mouth nor out of the 〈◊〉 of thy seed nor out of the mouth of thy seeds seed saith the Lord from henceâ— forth and for ever Isa 59.20 21. This is the seed which the Lord is gathering in this day both in Jews and Gentiles even to the ends of the Earth even such as turn away from iniquity and sin for Christ Jesus is manifest to take away sin and in him is no sin and the gathering is unto him for he is the head of his body which is his Church and the Apostle saith that the body is Christ and the seed is Christ so the head and the body is united together and of this body and Church all the holy Prophets of the Lord have prophesied of all along as you may read in the Scriptures David of whom the Lord said I have found David my Servant with my holy Oyl have I anointed him with whom my hand shall be established for ever he prophesied of the Mystery of Christ and his Church as you may read in Psal 45. and Solomon in his Song you read how largely he treated there of the Mystery of Christ and his Church and the Prophet Isaiah in the 54. Chap. saith Sing O barren thou that didst not bear break forth into singing c. for thy Maker is thy Husband the Lord of Hosts is his Name and the Redeemer the holy One of Israel the God of the whole Earth shall he be called as you may read in the 54. of Isaiah and Chap. 62.11 at large with many more places of Scripture Also Zachariah he prophesies of Christs coming to his Church Zach. 9.9 Rejoyce greatly O Daughter of Zion shout O Daughter of Ierusalem behold thy King cometh unto thee he is just having Salvation lowly riding upon an Ass and upon a Colt the Foal of an Ass and this was fulfilled Math. 21. as you may read there when Jesus came nigh unto Ierusalem for there was the place that this might be fulfilled in he sent his Disciples to a Village and told them they should find an Ass tyed and a Colt with her and he bad them loose them and bring them unto him and the Disciples went and did as Jesus commanded them as you may read in that Chapter Mark saith that he was tyed at the door without where two ways met Mark 11. And they brought the Colt to Jesus and cast their garments upon him and set Jesus upon him Luke saith that they were to find a Colt tyed that yet never man sat thereon and they brought him to Jesus and cast their garments upon him and set Jesus thereon Luke 19.36 And John saith and Jesus when he found a young Ass sat thereon as it is written Fear not Daughter of Sion behold thy King cometh sitting on an Asses Colt Iohn 12.14 15. And this perfectly fulfills old Iacoby Prophesie of his Son Iudah where he saith Indah is a Lions Whelp from the prey â—oy Son thou art gone up Iudah was thâ— Whelp of this â—ion which was before Abraham Ioh. 8. â—8 and this is hâ— which Iohn saw in the Rev. 6. open the Bock that was sealed this â—â—on stooped down and crouched down as an old Dion when he stooped to Iudah who shall rouze him up saith old Iacobâ— the Scepter shall not depart from Iudah nor the Lâ—â—â— giver from between his feet until Sâ—ilch come and unto him 〈◊〉 the gethering of the people be bâ—inding his Foall unto the Vine and his Astes Colt unâ—o the choice Vined
the Sea and the Fountains of waters The Book which Iohn saw sealed with seven Seals which he mentions in the 5. Chap. he saw the Lamb open it in the 6. Chap. as you may read and so here there followeth another Angel saying Babylon is fallen is fallen that great City because she hath made all Nations drunk with the wine of her fornication as you may read Chap. 14. And in the 15. Chapter Iohn saw the seven Angels having the seven last plagues for in them is filled up the wrath of God and one of the four beasts gave unto the seven Angels seven golden Vials full of the wrath of God who liveth for ever and ever and in the 16. Chap. he saw the seven Angels go forth and they poured out their Vials as you may read and in the 17 Chap. there came one of the seven Angels which had the seven Vials and he said come up hither and I will shew thee the judgment of the great Whore So he carried me away saith Iohn in the Spirit into the wilderness here was the place where the true Church was persecuted here was the place where the Dragon cast out his flood after the true Church to destroy her And saith Iohn I saw a Woman sitting upon a Scarlet-coloured beast full of names of Blasphemy having seven heads and ten horns and the Angel shewed him the Mystery of the Beast and of his horns as you may read throughout that 17. Chap. and in the 18. Chap. he saw Babylon destroyed So here is comfort for all the true seed of Gods Elect for Iohn heard the voices of much people in Heaven saying Halelujah Salvation Glory and Honour and a voice came out of the Throne saying praise our God all ye that fear him small and great let us be glad and rejoyce and give honour to him for the marriage of the Lamb is come and his wife hath made her self ready and to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linnen white and clean for the fine linnen is the righteousness of the Saints and he said unto me write Blessed are they which are called to the Marriage-supper of the Lamb and he saith unto me these are the true sayings of God ver 9. as you may read throughout Chap. 19. And in the 20. Chap. Iohn saw the Angel come down from Heaven having the key of the Bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand and he laid hold on the Dragon and bound him a thousand years as you may read And Iohn saw the dead small and great stand before God and the Books were opened and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in these Books and another Book was opened which is the Book of life and whosoever was not found written in the Book of life was cast into the Lake of fire ver 15. And in the 21. Chap. Iohn saw a new Heaven and a new Earth The Church coming forth of the wilderness here was no Dragon in this Heaven for the first Heaven and the first Earth were passed away and there was no more Sea where the Dragon lodgeth and hath his way Isa 27.1 And I Iohn saw the holy City new Ierusalem coming down from God out of Heaven prepared as a Bride adorned for her Husband here the Holy Spirit of the Lord God cloaths her seed that hath so long laid desolate as a nourishing mother which is free and gives liberty and sets at liberty all her free-born which are not Children of the Bond-woman but of the free and of this glorious City doth the Prophet Isaiah prophesie when he said Rejoyce O Barren that didst not bear and this is the City which the Apostle saith Ierusalem which is above is free which is the mother of us all of all the free-born seed of the promise they are the Heirs but the Bond-woman and her Son are to be cast out of this holy City for he is not the Heir Gal. 4.30 And Iohn heard a great voice out of Heaven saying Behold the Tabernacle of God is with men and he will dwell with them and they shall be his people and God himself shall be with them and be their God and he that sat upon the Throne said behold I make all things new that is according as the Apostle saith if any man be in Christ he is a new Creature old things are past away behold I make all things new 2 Cor. 5.17 and he said unto me write for these words are true and faithful and he said unto me it is done I am Alpha and Omega the beginning and the end I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely Here is the rich bounty of God And there came one of the seven Angels unto Iohn which had the seven vials of the seven last plagues and he said come hither and I will shew thee the Bride the Lambs wife and he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain he shewed me that great City the holy Ierusalem descending out of Heaven from God having the Glory of God and her light was like unto a stone most precious even like a Jasper stone clear as Chrystal This is the Stone the Builders have disallowed which now is become the Head of the Corner of this precious and holy building which is made up of living stones elect and precious and of a Royal Priesthood and of an holy Nation and the Walls of this City had twelve gates and at the gates twelve Angels and names written thereon which are the names of the twelve Tribes of Israel and the Walls of this City had twelve foundations and in them the names of the twelve Apostles of the Lamb and the foundation of the City was garnished with twelve precious stones and the twelve gates were twelve Pearls every gate was of one Pearl he that understands reads and sees all these things And I Iohn saw no Temple in this City for the Lord God and the Lamb is the Temple of it And this City hath no need of the Sun or the Moon to shine in it for the Glory of the Lord doth enlighten it and the Lamb is the light thereof and the Nations of all them that are saved shall walk in the light of it and the Kings of the Earth that are saved shall bring their glory and honour to it and the gates of it are not at all shut by day yet there entereth not any thing that desileth Chap. 21.27 And in the 22. Chap. you may read how Iohn saw the pure River of water of life proceeding out of the Throne of God and of the Lamb and the tree of life which bears twelve manner of fruits and yields her fruits every month and the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the Nations and he said these things are faithful and true and the Lord God of the holy Prophets sent his Angel to shew unto his
Servant the things which must shortly be done For the Lord God had prophesied of these things before by the Prophets and by Christ Jesus and his Apostles and saith unto Iohn seal not the Prophesie of the sayings of this Book for the time is at hand and behold I come quickly for my reward is with me to give unto every one according to his works And I am Alpha and Omega the beginning and the end the first and the last blessed are they that do his Commandements that they may have right to the tree of life and may enter in through the gates into the City I Jesus have sent mine Angel to testifie unto you these things to the Churches I am the Root and Off-spring of David and the bright morning Star and the Spirit and the Bride saith come and let him that heareth say come and let him that is athirst come and whosoever will let him take of the water of life freely He that testifieth these things saith surely I come quickly even Amen come Lord Jesus the Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all Amen ver 20.21 Thus you may see in part the constancy and faithfulness of the Lord God how unchangeable and how unâ—lterable he is and what love and faithful care he hath had over his seed ever since he made man and gave him a being upon the Earth but indeed his love is everlasting for he had elected and decreed and determined Salvation and Redemption to his seed before the foundation of the world was and because he could not alter nor change therefore his seed was preserved as you may read in several places of the Scriptures because I change not therefore ye Sons of Jacob are not consumed and if the Lord had not left us this seed we had been as Sodom and like unto Gomorah But by this little tract that we have gone through the Scriptures since the Lord made man you may read the long-suffering and the patience of the Lord God and his kind dealing and his fatherly care over his seed even when they rebelled against him and that because of his faithfulness in keeping of his promises and Covenants which he so often promised and covenanted as hath been shewed not only unto Abraham unto Isaac and unto Iacob but also unto David as you may read at large in the Prophesie of Isaiah and in Ieremiah and the Book of Psalms often hath he redoubled his promises unto David and unto his seed for ever that as his Covenant was with the day and with the night so is his Covenant with David and his seed for ever and as he had sworn that the Waters should not go over the Earth so he had sworn that his Blessing and Covenant should be with David and his seed for ever which he hath faithfully performed of the seed of David he hath sent his Son And so the Lord hath led them along as you may read thorow this Treatise until Christ and according to his promise Christ came and took not upon him as Apostle saith the Nature of Angels but he took on him the seed of Abraham for he was made a little lower then the Angels for the suffering of death crowned with Glory and Honour that he by the Grace of God should tast of death for every man as you may read in Heb. 2. And he that thought it no robbery to be equal with the great God yet he took upon him the form of a servant and was made in the likeness of man and being found in the fashion of a man he humbled himself and became obedient unto the death even the death of the Cross wherefore God hath highly exalted him and given him a name better then every name that at the Name of Jesus every knee should bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the Glory of the Father Phil. 2. So he hath gone thorow this great Work and finished it for as the Apostle saith so it became him for whom are all things and by whom are all things to make the Captain of our Salvation perfect through sufferings for in the days of his flesh he offered up prayers and supplications Christs Sufferings with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death and was heard and though he was a Son yet learned he obedience by the things that he suffered and being made perfect through sufferings he became the Author of Eternal Salvation unto all them that obey him Heb. 5. So the price he hath paid and mans Salvation and Redemption he hath purchased by his own blood as Iohn saith Jesus Christ who is the faithful and true Witness the first begotten of the dead and the Prince of the Kings of the Earth unto him that loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood Rev. 1. And he according to his promise unto his Disciples that he would pour down his Spirit upon them and send them another Comforter and bad them stay at Ierusalem till the Spirit was poured on them from on high which was plentifully and richly fulfilled as the Scripture testifies for they were made partakers of it in a plentiful manner and the Apostles were made able Ministers of the Spirit by which they begat multitudes unto God and to the true Faith which is in Christ Jesus so that the light of the glorious Gospel shone gloriously among them and Christ had a glorious Church at that day as those Epistles which the Apostles wrote to the Churches being left upon Record bears a true testimony of the holy Spirit that was in them and all that live in the Spirit of the living God and is endowed and enriched with it bears witness to the Scriptures that they were given forth by the holy Spirit of God and by the inspiration of the Almighty But we may see that Christ and his holy Apostles had a foresight and a knowledge of the beauty and glory of this Church being vailed and that the night of Apostacy and darkness would come over as hath been already shewed and as you may read in the Scriptures which hath been fulfilled as experience of many ages can testifie for by most of the Records that we can find it is above twelve hundred years since the glorious beauty of the Church of Christ was stained but all this hath not come to pass without the fore-knowledge of the holy Prophets Christ and the Apostles And so now blessed and honoured be the glorious God our lot is fallen in a good Land and our time is a time of love and as we are fallen into the last age of the world so also we are risen with Christ Jesus the Sun of Righteousness who ariseth with healing in his wings and now the light of the glorious Gospel hath shined in our hearts and hath given us the knowledge of the glory of the invisible God in the face of Jesus Christ and this Gospel of the
Kingdom of God we are willing and ready to preach throughout the whole world for we wait and expect and groan within our selves for the redemption of our body the elected precious seed which is the Church of Christ which the Lord of Heaven and Earth hath had an eye unto continually yet since the foundation of the world this seed hath suffered and been bruised and slain but certainly we are assured that as the Lord hath performed that part of his Word that it should suffer he will also perform that part of his Word that hath said the seed of the Woman shall bruise the Serpents head For according to this Word in the fulness of time he sent his Son made of a Woman and as certainly as the Church and body of Christ hath gone into the wilderness so certainly her Child that she brought forth which hath been caught up to God and to his Throne shall come down and rule all Nations with his rod of iron and dash to pieces as a Potters vessel all his enemies this we wait for and are assured shall come to pass that the elected seed which is chosen of God and precious which is the body that he hath prepared to do his will Christ Jesus which is come is the resurrection and life of all his seed and the hope of the resurrection 〈◊〉 all the seed of Israel which all the twelve Tribes look for the desire of all Nations is come the light of the Gentiles and the glory of the people Israel And surely he will gather his Elect from the four winds from one end of the Heaven to the other and it is for the Elects sake that these days are shortned for except these days had been shortned no flesh could have been saved and Christ saith shall not God avenge his own Elect that hath cryed unto him night and day I tell you he will avenge them speedily Luke 18.7 And the Apostle Paul when he exhorteth his Son Timothy consider what I say saith he and the Lord give thee understanding in all things remember that Jesus Christ the seed of David was raised from the dead according to my Gospel wherein I suffer trouble as an evil doer even unto bonds but the Word of God is not bound therefore I endure all things for the Elects sake that they also may obtain the Salvation which is in Christ Jesus in eternal glory who now rejoyce in my sufferings for you and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his bodies sake which is the Chruch Col. 1.24 It is a faithful saying if we be dead with him we shall also live with him if we suffer with him we shall also reign with him if we deny him he will also deny us if we believe nor yet he abideth faithful he cannot deny himself So this was that which the Apostles looked for and waited for the Redemption of the body as in Rom. 8. and they suffered all things for the bodies sake so the Resurrection of this body is that Christ Jesus accomplisheth who saith I am the resurrection and the life he that believes in me though he were dead yet shall he live and he that lives and believes shall never die I am the Fountain if any man thirst let him come unto me and out of his belly shall flow Rivers of living water and this he spoke of the Spirit that was to be poured forth and by this Spirit doth he redeem and recover his elected seed and so the Apostles reckoned the sufferings of this present life not worthy to be compared to the glory that was to be revealed because of the expectation of the manifestation of the Sons of God And this the great Husbandman is now looking for and gathering up who hath long waited for his Crop as he did when he saw the multitudes come unto him he was moved with compassion towards them because they fainted and were scattered abroad as Sheep having no Shepherd then saith he unto his Disciples the Harvest truly is plenteous but the Labourers are few pray ye therefore the Lord of the Harvest that he send forth painful Labourers into his Harvest here the Lord desired the gathering of his seed And when Christ spoke the Parable of the Sower he said so is the Kingdom of God if a man cast seed into the ground and should sleep and rise night and day the seed springeth and groweth he knoweth not how for the earth bringeth forth fruit of her self but when the fruit is brought forth immediately he puteth in the Sickle because the Harvest is come Mar. 4.29 Here Christ brings a comparison by a Parable of his great Harvest and when Jesus had shewed the Parable of the Tares his Disciples came unto him and desired him to declare that Parable he answered and said unto them he that soweth the good seed is the Son of man the Field is the world the good Seed are the Children of the Kingdom but the Tares are the Children of the wicked one the Enemy that soweth them is the Devil the Harvest is the end of the World and the Reapers are the Angels the Son of man will send forth his Angels and they shall gather out of his Kingdom all things that offend and shall cast them into the Furnace of Fire then shall the righteous shine forth as the Sun in the Kingdom of their Father who hath ears to hear let him hear Mat. 13.24 Dan. 12.3 And when the Lord sent forth the seventy Disciples he said unto them the Harvest truly is great but the Labourers are few pray ye therefore the Lord of the Harvest Luke 10. This is the great Lord of the great Harvest this is the great Husbandman I am the true Vine saith Christ my Father is the Husbandman every branch in me that bears not fruit he takes away every branch that beareth fruit he purgeth that it may bring forth more fruit herein is my Father glorified that you bring forth much fruit So herein is the glory of the Husbandman that fruits be brought forth And this great and mighty Husbandman hath been patient and waited patiently for the precious fruit and had long patience for it according to James 5.7 for he did sow his seed in Adam above five thousand six hundred years since so as he made the world and created all things in six days so he hath husbanded and tilled and pruned and dressed and watered it well towards six thousand years and to this agrees the Apostles words 2 Pet. 3.3 to 8. when he saith one day with the Lord is as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day for God is not slack concerning his coming as some men count slackness In Adam he sowed his seed a natural body and this the Apostle very well opens in 1 Cor. 15. where he speaks at large of the Resurrection of the body after he had been speaking how the Apostles had seen Christ after he
was risen from the dead Now if Christ be preached saith the Apostle that he rose from the dead how say some among you that there is no Resurrection from the dead ver 12. but if there be no Resurrection of the dead then is not Christ risen this is very true for by the Resurrection of Christ the dead arises by preaching of his resurrection and if Christ be not risen then is our preaching vain and ye are yet in your sins then also they which are fallen asleep in Christ are perish'd but now is Christ risen from the dead and become the first fruits of them that sleep for since by man came death by man also came the resurrection of the dead for as in Adam all died so in Christ all shall be made alive there is a natural body and there is a spiritual body saith the Apostle And some men will say how are the dead raised and with what body do they come thou fool that which thou sowest is not quickened except it die and that which thou sowest is not the body which shall be for that thou sowest must die that it may encrease God giveth it a body as it pleaseth him but to every seed it s own body so whatsoever seed thou sowest whether it be Wheat or any other grain though that which thou sowest die in the ground that it may encrease yet it bringeth forth its own body it s own nature it s own image And to this agrees Christs own words in John 12. where he saith verily I say unto you except a corn of Wheat fall into the ground and die it abideth alone but if it die it bringeth forth much fruit this he spake when he saw his hour was coming and he said Father save me from this hour but for this cause came I unto this hour Job 12 24. to the 27. And now this great Husbandman the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ he did sow his seed in Adam and it died that it might encrease in Christ Jesus who is the resurrection and the life of this seed and the Lord hath watched and waited and had an eye over his Vineyard Isa 5.1 as we have shewed throughout this Treatise but the Apostle goes on farther and speaks of the glory of the Sun and of the Moon and of the Stars and saith so also is it in the Resurrection it is sown in dishonour it is raised in glory it is sown in weakness it is raised in power it is sown a natural body it is raised a spiritual body for so it is written the first man was made a living soul the second Adam a quickening spirit howbeit that Adam was not first which is sâ—iritual but that Adam which is natural and afterwards that which is spiritual the first man of the earth earthy the second man the Lord from Heaven as is the earthy such are they also that are earthy as is the heavenly such are they that are heavenly and as we have born the image of the earthy so shall we bear the image of the heavenly Now I say unto you Brethren that flesh and bloud cannot inherit the Kingdom of God and so on to the end of the Chapter And this is the earthy that which is of the first man flesh and blood which must not inherit incorruption and this is the resurrection that we witness and wait for the spiritual body the spiritual image the spiritual life the quickening spirit the Lord from Heaven the gathering of the immortal seed to the great Lord of the Harvest the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ that he desires his Disciples to pray for to send forth painful Labourers into his harvest So the great God is now coming to gather his great Harvest and his Crop that he hath sown so long since and the Angels are his Reapers and waited for and watched over as you may read through this Book And to this agrees that which Christ saith in Math. 25. when the Son of man shall come in his glory and all the holy Angels with him then shall he sit upon the Throne of his glory and before him shall be gathered all Nations and he shall separate them one from another as the Shepherd divideth the Sheep from the Goats and he shall set the Sheep on his right hand but the Goats on his left ver 31 32 33. and so shall the resurrection of the just be to life and the resurrection of the unjust unto condemnation this is the Resurrection that all shall find and may expect for Christ hath been as he saith in this Chapter as one in a far Country and hath called his servants and hath delivered unto them his Talents and as every one hath gained and profited so shall they receive So it is required of every one to know the precious seed which God hath elected and chosen for himself of all seeds he hath chosen but one the precious seed though it be likened unto a grain of Mustard-seed which is the least of all seeds but is the most precious and pure and holy seed because it came from the life and breath of the immortal pure God whose life and immortality dwells in eternal light and eternal brightness So the Lord by his glorious word and power is gathering in again his precious and holy seed and renewing and restoring a far more and exceeding weight of glory than what was the glory of the first man the glory of the second man far exceeded it for as the Apostle saith the first man was made a living Soul so likewise David saith he was made a little lower than the Angels Psal 8. what is man that thou art so mindful of him and the son of man that thou visitest him for thou hast made him a little lower than the Angels and hast crowned him with glory and honour thou hast made him to have Dominion over the works of thy hands thou hast put all things under his feet which words the Apostle rehearseth again in the 2. of Heb. and saith that he left nothing that was not put under him then in that state that he then stood in which was before the Fall but now saith the Apostle we see not all things put under him why because he was come under in his transgression and fallen from that where God had set him but saith the Apostle we see Jesus who is made a little lower than the Angels for the suffering of death he is crowned with glory and honour that is everlasting that he by the grace of God should taste of death for every man which glory and honour changeth not as the glory and honour of the first man did So the glory of the first man Adam he was made a living Soul a little lower than the Angels and all the glory of the first body he was crowned with and had Dominion over all the visible Creation and had power over all the Creatures that God had made God set him King over
all the works of his hands and gave him dominion and power over them and here is the glory of the first man and the glory of the first body the visible glory of the Creation all things that God had made in the Heaven and in the Earth and when he looked upon them behold they were very good Adam was crowned with the glory of them all and had the Dominion over them but this Dominion he lost and this glory he stained through his disobedience and transgression and so fell and became servant and in a state of servitude and not only so but painful and miserable with a sentence upon him that in the sweat of his face he should eat his bread So after this as hath been shewed the Lord of his infinite mercy confirmed his eternal love and Election of Grace in his promise unto his seed and Covenant unto Abraham that of him he would bring forth a seed in whom all the Nations of the earth should be blessed which he hath faithfully and perfectly performed as hath been shewed And so he chose a people from amongst all the families of the earth that he did owne for himself as you may read Deut. 7.6 which he knew and had regard and love unto above all the families of the earth as hath been shewed and manifested Yet according as Adam did there rebell and transgress against him though he had a continual care and an eye over them and a continual regard unto them and watched over them by his holy Angels as you may read in the Scriptures for man was at that time lower than the Angels The Lord spake unto Abraham and Sarah by Angels and unto Jacob and the Lord spake unto Moses by his Angel Exod. 3.2 and Acts 7.3 where Stephen saith And God sent Moses to be a Ruler and a Deliverer by the hand of the Angel which appeared to him in the Bush God also sent his Ange unto David after he had numbred the people as you may read 1 Chron. 21. God sent an Angel unto Jerusalem to destroy it and when David â—ift up his eyes and saw the Angel of the Lord stand between the Earth and the Heaven having a drawn sword in his hand stretched over Jerusalem then David and the Elders of Israel humbled themselves as you may read after then the Lord commanded the Angel and he put up his sword into its sheath The Angel also was sent unto Zacharias and Elisabeth before the Birth of John and unto Mary before the Birth of Christ as you know and the Angel came unto the Shepherds after the Birth of Christ Luke 2.9 And the Angels came and ministred unto him Math. 4.11 So the revelation of Jesus Christ was signified by his Angel Rev. 1. with many more that might be brought Cornelius was warned of God by an Angel Acts 10. and Stephen when he was bearing his testimony before the High-Priest when he said Ye stiff-necked and uncircumcised in hearts and ears which of the Prophets have not your Fathers persecuted and slain them which shewed before of the coming of the just one of whom ye have been betrayers and murtherers who have received the Law by the disposition of Angels and have not kept it Acts 7.53 and Gal. 3.19 The Law was ordained by Angels in the hand of a Mediator So the Prophets and such as the Lord made Overseers and Leaders of his people the Lord spoke to them by his Angels and the Law they received by the Angels but as the Apostle saith in the fulness of time God sent forth his Son made of a woman made under the Law to redeem them that were under the Law Gal. 4.3 for what the Law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh God sent his Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin condemned sin in the flesh that the righteousness of the Law might be fulfilled in us read on in Rom. 8. So they that walk after the Spirit they are those that fulfill the righteousness of the Law for the Spirit of life which is in Christ Jesus makes free from the Law of sin and death and this renews into the right and into the perfect Image which is not lower than the Angels but into the Image of the Son unto which all the Angels are subject according to the Apostles words Heb. 1. God who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in times past unto the Fathers by the Prophets hath in these last days spoken to us by his Son whom he hath appointed Heir of all things by whom also he made the worlds who being the brightness of his Fathers Glory and the express Image of his person and upholding all things by the word of his power when he had by himself purged our sins for that was the work he was to do when as the Apostle saith he became lower than the Angels for the suffering of death and so took not upon him the nature of Angels but the seed of Abraham and there he hath tasted death for every man that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death that is the Devil and deliver them who through fear of death were all their life time subject to Bondage and when he had finished this work he is set down on the right hand of the Majesty on high being made so much better than the Angels as he hath by an inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they for to which of the Angels said he at any time Thou art my Son this day have I begotten thee And again when he bringeth in his first begotten into the world he said Let all the Angels worship him and to his Angels he saith Who hath made his Angels Spirits and his Ministers a flame of fire but unto the Son he saith Thy Throne O God is for ever a Scepter of Righteousness is the Scepter of thy Kingdom And so on So here you may see as the first man was made a little lower than the Angels so the second man the Lord from Heaven the quickening spirit is made higher than the Angels the brightness of the Fathers glory and his express image And so this is the seed and body and image which the Lord God is raising and restoring and preparing to do his will which far exceeds the glory of the first body for the glory of the first body was a visible glory but the glory of the second man the second body is an invisible glory and known and seen by the invisible eye and manifested by the invisible power and spirit of our Lord Jesus in whom we have redemption through his blood even the forgiveness of sins who is the image of the invisible God and the first born of every creature by him were all things created that are in Heaven and that are in Earth visible and invisible whether they be Thrones or Dominions or Principalities or Powers all things were created by him and for
Caldees to go into the Land of Canaan Gen. 11.31 And the Lord said unto Abram get thee out of thy Country and from thy kindred and from thy Fathers house into a Land that I will shew thee and I will make of thee a great Nation and I will bless thee and make thy name great and thou shalt be a blessing and I will bless them that bless thee and curse him that curseth thee and in thee shall all the Families of the earth be blessed So Abram departed as the Lord had spoken to him and Abram took Sarai his Wife and Lot his Brother's Son and all their substance that they had gathered and the Souls that they had got in Haran and they went forth to go into the Land of Canaan and into the Land of Canaan they came and Abram passed through the Land to Scchem unto the plain of Morch and the Canaanite was then in the Land this Canaanite was of Ham's stock and seed which afterward the Lord drove out to bring in his own seed of his Promise And the Lord appeared unto Abram and said unto thy feed will I give this Land and there Abram built an Altar unto the Lord who appeared unto him there in the Land though the Canaâ—nite was there and Abram removed from thence unto a mountain on the east of Bethel and pitched his Tent and there he builded an Altar unto the Lord and called upon the name of the Lord. And so journied towards the South and there was a grievous Famine in the Land and Abram and his Wife and Lot went down into Egypt to sojourn there because the Famine was great and there they stayed in Egypt till they were grown very rich in Cattel in Silver and in Gold And Abram came back again out of Egypt and his Wife and Lot and all that they had and he went on his journey from the South even to Bethel unto the place where his Tent had been in the beginning and unto the place of the Altar which he had made there at first there Abram called on the name of the Lord even in the Land which the Lord had given unto him he came back unto it from Egypt he and his Wife and Lot and all their substance and Cattel but their Servants and Herdsmen could not agree and Abram desired that there might be peace betwixt Lâ—â— and him because they were brethren and Abram said the whole Land is before thee separate thy self from me and take the one hand and I will take the other and Lot chose the plain of Jordan because it was well watâ—red and as the Garden of the Lord and Abram dwelt in the Land of Canaan and Lot dwelt in the Cities of the plain and pitched his Tents towards Sodom but the men of Sodom were wicked and sinned before the Lord exceedingly for they were of Ham's stock and of that cursed seed for he was the Father of Canaan and the Lord said unto Abram after that Lot was separated from him list up now thine eâ—es and look from the place where thou art Northward and Southward and Eastward and Westward for all the Land which thou seest to the will I give and to thy seed for ever and I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth so that if thou canst number the dust of the earth then shall thy seed be numbred Abram removed his Tent and came and dwelt in the plain of Mamre which is in Hebron and builded there an Altar unto the Lord and called upon the name of the Lord Then there was a great battel fought about Sodom and Comorrah four Kings against five made War and they took Lot Abraham's brothers Son a Prisoner and all his goods And when Abram heard they had taken his Brother's Son captive he armed his servants that were born in his house and pursued them unto Dan and pursued them unto Hobah and he brought back all the Goods and he also brought again his brother Lot And when Abram returned back from the slauther of the Kings Melchisedec King of Salem brought forth bread and Wine and he was the Priest of the most high God and he blessed him and said blessed be Abram of the most high God possessor of Heaven and earth and blessed be the most high God which hath delivered thine enemies into thine hand and Abram gave him Tyths of all Now the Scripture saith that Christ the everlasting high Priest is after the Order of Melchisedec Psal 110.4 David saith the Lord hath sworn and will not repent thou art a Priest for ever after the Order of Melchisedec and the Apostle saith Heb. 6.20 whither the forerunner is entred even Jesus made an high Priest for ever after the Order of Melchisedec this cannot be of mortal man nor according to mans Order that Christ Jesus is made a Priest after the Apostle saith this Melchisedec King of Salem Priest of the most high God who met Abram returning from the slaughter of the Kings and blessed him to whom Abraham also gave a tenth part of all The Apostle gives the signification of his name first being by interpretation King of Righteousness after that King of Salem which is King of peace without Father without Mother without descent having neither beginning of days nor end of life but made like unto the Son of God abideth a Priest continually This is the interpretation the Apostle gives of him now consider saith the Apostle how great he is unto whom the Patriarch Abraham gave the tenth Now they that are of the Sons of Levi who receive the Office of Priesthood have a commandment to take Tythes according to the Law but he whose descent is not counted from them received Tythes of Abraham and blessed him that had the promise and without all contradiction the less is blessed of the better for if he had not been above Abraham he could not have blessed him for here men that die saith the Apostle receive Tythes but there he received them of whom it is witnessed that he liveth Heb. 7.8 What will it advantage the Priests of this age when they cannot prove by the Levetical Law Tythes to be lawful in these days because they profess themselves to be Ministers of the Gospel and their Order should be Gospel-Order and they bring Melchisedec that he took Tythes and they bring Abraham who is the seed that God hath blessed that had the promises of God unto him that paid them and they themselves are mortal sinful men that takes the Tythes and people that are loaden with sin and iniquity pays the Tythes what example have these from Melchisedec's Order after whose Order Christ Jesus the everlasting high Priest is made for Levi that took Tythes paid Tythes in Abraham unto Melchisedec for he was in the loins of his Father when Abraham met him if there were perfection in the Levitical Priesthood which is after the Order of Aaron what needed there another Priest after the Order of Melchisedec
for it is evident that our Lord sprang out of Judab it is also evident that after the Order of Melchisedec there ariseth another Priest who is made not after the Law of a carnal commandment but after the power of an endless life for being that the Priesthood is changed there must of necessity be a change of the Law Heb. 7. for he testifieth thou art a Priest for ever after the Order of Melchisedec which Order is not of a carnal commandment neither is this Priest a mortal man subject to fall and infirmities More might be said concerning this Melchisedec which met Abraham and blessed him but the Apostle is very laâ—ge in the demonstration of him for he saith Heb. 5.11 that he had many things to say of him hard to be uttered because they were dull of hearing After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a Vision saying Fear not Abram I am thy shield and thy exceeding great reward and Abram said Lord God what wilt thou give me seeing I go childless and one that is born in mine house must be mine heir the Lord said this shall not be thine heir but one that comes out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir and the Lord said look up towards Heaven and tell the Stars if thou beest able to number them and he said so shall thy seed be and Abram believed and it was accounted to him for righteousness And when Abram was 99 years old the Lord appeared unto him and said walk before me and be thou perfect and my Covenant shall be with thee and thou shalt be the Father of many Nations and thy name shall be called no more Abram but Abraham shall be thy name a Father of many Nations have I made thee and as for Sarai thy Wife thou shalt not call her name Sarai but Sarah shall her name be and I will bless her and she shall be the Mother of Nations then Abraham fell upon his face and laughed and said in his heart shall a child be born unto him that is 100 years old and shall Sarah that is ninety years old bear and Abraham said unto God Oh that Ishmael might live before the Lord and God said Sarah thy Wife shall bear thee a Son indeed and thou shalt call his name Isaac and I will establish my Covenant with him for an everlasting Covenant and with his seed after him and as for Ishmael I have heard thee behold I have blest him but my Covenant will I establish with Isaac which Sarah shall bear unto thee at this set time in the next year And according to this the Lod sent his Angels unto Abraham and Sarah to confirm unto them that at the time appointed she should bring forth a child and the Lord said unto Abraham wherefore did Sarah laugh saying shall I have a child is any thing too hard for the Lord at the time appointed will I return unto thee according to the time of life and Sarah shall have a Son so at the same time the Lord discovered unto Abraham what he intended against Sodom And the men turned their faces towards Sodom and Abraham set them on their way and the Lord said shall I hide from Abraham the thing that I do seeing that Abraham shall be surely great and a mighty Nation and all the Nations of the earth shall be blessed in him for I know that he will command his Children and his Houshold after him and they shall keep the way of the Lord and do justice and judgment that the Lord may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him And the Lord said because of the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great and because their sins are very grievous I will go down now and see whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it which is come unto me and if not I will know and the men turned their faces from thence and went towards Sodom but Abraham stood before the Lord and drew near and prayed unto the Lord for the righteous in Sodom and the Lord heard him as you may read Gen. 18. And so the two Angels came into Lot's house and Lot received them kindly and so he and all his house were preserved the men said unto Lot hast thou any here besides thy Son-in-law and thy Sons and thy Daughters and whatever thou hast in the City bring it out for we will destroy this place because that the cry of it is waxen great before the Lord and the Lord hath sent us to destroy it So the Lord rained upon Sodom and Gomorrah brimstone and fire out of Heaven from the Lord but just Lot was preserved in the little City called Zoar and was permitted to escape thither that his Soul might live he his Sons and his Daughters and all the Cities round about were destroyed all the Cities of the plain And God remembred Abraham and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow where Lot dwelt in the plain And Abraham got up early in the morning and he looked towards Sodom and Gomorrah and the smoke of the Country rose up as the smoke of a Furnace Gen. 19.28 And the Lord visited Sarah as he had said for Sarah conceived and bare Abraham a Son in his old age and Abraham called the name of his Son that was born unto him Isaac and he circumcised him the eight day as God had commanded him and Abraham was a hundred years old when his Son Isaac was born And it came to pass after these things that God called Abrabam and said unto him take now â—hy Son thine only Son whom thou lovest and get thee into the Land of Moriah and offer him there for a burnt-offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of And Abraham rose up early in the morning and saddled his Ass and took two of the young men with him and Isaac his Son and clave the wood for a burnt-offeâ—â—g then on the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place afar off and Abraham said unto the young men abide you here with the Asses and I and the Lad will go yonder and worship and come again unto you And Abraham took the wood of the burnt-offering and laid it upon Isaac his Son and he took fire in his hand and a knife and they went both of them together And Isaac spake unto Abraham his Father and said my Father and he said here am I my Son and he said here is the fire and the wood but where is the Lamb for a burnt-offering and he answered my Son the Lord will provide one So they went both of them together and they came to the place which God had told him of and Abraham built an Altar and laid the wood in order and bound Isaac his Son and laid him upon the wood and Abraham stretched forth his hand and took the knife to slay his Son and the Angel of the Lord called
made supplication unto him and prevailed he sound him in Bethel even the Lord the God of Hosts the Lord his memorial ver 5 Esau was a cunning hunter and Iacob was a plain man dwelling in Tents and Isaac loved Esau but Rebekah loved Iacob And Iacob sod pottage and Esau came from the field and he was faint and Esau said to Iacob feed me I pray thee with that same red pottage for I am faint therefore was his name called Edom and Iacob said sell me this day thy birthright and Esau said I am at the point to die and what shall this birthright do to me And he sware to him and he sold his birthright unto Iacob then Iacob gave Esau bread and pottage of Lentals and he did eat and drink and rose up and went his way thus Esau despised his Birth-right Gen. 25 26. to the end according to that of the Apostle Heb. 12.16 17. who for one morsel of meat sold his birth-right And there was a Famine in the Land and Isaac went unto Abimelech King of the Philistines and the Lord appeared unto him and said go not down into Egypt dwell in the Land which I shall tell thee of so journ in this Land and I will be with thee and I will bless thee for unto thee and unto thy seed I will give all these Countries and I will perform the Oath which I sware unto thy Father Abraham and I will make thy seed to multiply as the Stars of Heaven and will give unto thee all these Countries and in thy seed shall all the Nations be blessed because that Abraham obeyed my voice and kept my charge my Commandments my Statutes and my Laws so Isaac dwelt in Gerar and sowed in that Land and received in that year one hundred fold for the Lord blessed him And it came to pass when Isaac was old and his eyes were dim he called Esau his eldest Son and he said behold I am old and know not the day of my death therefore take thy Bow and thy weapons and go to the field to take me some Venison and make me savoury meat such as I love that my soul may bless thee before I die and Rebekah heard what Isaac spake unto Esau and when Esau was gone into the field to hunt Rebekah spake unto Jacob her Son saying I heard thy Father speak unto Esau thy Brother saying bring me Venison and make me savoury meat that I may eat and bless thee before the Lord before my death now therefore my Son obey my voice do that I command thee go to the flock fetch me two good Kids of the Goats and I will make thee savoury meat for thy Father such as he loveth and thou shalt bring it to thy Father that he may eat and that he may bless thee before his death and Jacob said to Rebekah his Mother my brother is an hairy man and I am a smooth man and my Father peradventure will feel me and I shall seem to him to be a deceiver and I shall bring a curse upon me and not a blessing And his Mother said unto him upon me be thy curse my Son only obey my voice and go fetch them and he went and fetched them and brought them to his Mother and she made savoury meat such as his Father loved and Rebekah took raiment of her eldest Son Esau's and put them upon Jacob and she put the skins of the Kids upon his hands and upon the smooth of his neck and she gave the savoury meat and the bread that she had prepared into the hand of her Son Jacob and he came unto his Father and said my Father and he said here am I who arâ— thou my Son and Iacob said unto his Father I am Esau thy first-born I have done according as thou badest me arise and eat of my Venison that thy soul may bless me and Isaac saidunto him how is it that thou hast found it so quickly my Son and he said because the Lord thy God brought it to me and Isaac said unto Iacob come near that I may feel thee whether thou be my very Son Esau or not and Iacob went near unto Isaac and he felt him and said the voice is Iacob's but the hands are the hands of Esau and he discerned him not because his hands were hairy as Esau's were so he blessed him and he said unto him art thou my very Son Esau and he said I am and he said bring it neer unto me that I may eat of my Sons Venison that my Soul may bless thee and Isaac said come near my Son and kiss me and he came near and kissed him and he smelled of his Raiment and blessed him and he said I give thee of the dew of Heaven and the fatness of the earth and plenty of Corn and Wine let all people serve thee and Nations bow down to thee be Lord over thy Brethren let thy Mothers Sons bow down unto thee cursed be every one that curseth thee and blessed be he that blesseth thee And as soon as Isaac had made an end of blessing Iacob Esau came from his hunting and brought his Venison and made savoury meat for his Father and said let my Father arise and eat of his Sons Venison that thy Soul may bless me and Isaac said unto him who art thou he said I am thy first-born Esau and Isaac trembled very exceedingly and he said where is he that hath brought me Venison and I have eaten before thou camest and I have blessed him yea and he shall be blessed and when Esau heard the words of his Father he cryed with an exceeding bitter cry and said bless me even me also my Father 〈◊〉 he said thy brother came with subtlety and hath taken away â—â—y blessing and he said is he not rightly named Iacob for he hath supplanted me this two times he took away my birth-right and now behold he hath taken away my blessing Here is a Parable and a mystery concerning these passages for if Isaac had blessed Esau he had blessed the wrong birth for God calls himself by the name of the God of Abraham the God of Isaac and the God of Iacob this is my name and my memorial for ever saith the Lord Exod. 3.15 And Christ Jesus saith that he is the God of Abraham the God of Isaac and the God of Iacob Mat. 22.32 Certainly Iacob was the right seed which the blessing of the Lord was to for Cain was the first birth but he was the wrong seed And so Esau was the first birth but not the seed of the Promise which the blessing was to though Isaac loved Esau if he had given him the blessing it had not been so well but the Lord ordered it otherwise the Apostle saith by faith Isaac blessed Iacob and the very name of Iacob signifieth a Supplanter and so he was to supplant his Brother and root him out for Cain the elder Brother slew his Brother Abel but the Lord hath given
surely bring thee up again and Ioseph shall put his hand upon thine eyes So Iacob rose up and went into Egypt with his Sons and their Wives and their little ones were carried in the Waggons that Pharaoh sent for them and Pharaoh received them kindly and entreated them courteously as you may read in the 46. and 47. Chapter of Genesis and Israel dwelt in the Land of Egypt in the Country of Goshen and they had Possessions there and multiplyed exceedingly and Iacob lived in the Land of Egypt 17 years so the whole age of Iacob was 147 years and the time drew nigh that Israel must die and he called his Son Ioseph and said unto him if I have found grace in thy sight put I pray thee thine hand under my thigh and deal kindly and truly with me bury me not I pray thee in Egypt but I will lie with my Fathers and thou shalt carry me out of Egypt and bury me in their burying place And he said I will do as thou hast said and he said swear unto me and he sware unto him and Israel bowed himself upon his beds head And it came to pass after these things one told Ioseph thy Father is sick and he took with him his two Sons Manasseh and Ephraim and Iacob told Ioseph how God appeared to him at Luz in the Land of Canaan and blessed him and he said God said unto me I will make thee fruitful and multiply thee and make of thee a multitude of people and will give this Land to thy seed after thee for an everlasting possession and now thy two Sons Ephraim and Manasseh which were born in Egypt before I came they are mine as much as Reuben and Simeon And the Issue which thou hast after them shall be thine And Israel beheld Ioseph's Sons and said whose are these and Ioseph said unto his Father they are my Sons whom God hath given me in this place and he said bring them unto me and I will bless them Now the eyes of Israel were dim that he could not see and he brought them neer unto him and he kissed them and embraced them and Israel said unto Ioseph I had not thought to have seen thy face and loe God hath shewed me thy seed And Ioseph took them both Ephraim in his right hand towards Israels left and Manasseh in his left hand towards Israels right hand and brought them neer unto him And Israel stretched out his right hand and laid it upon Ephraims head who was the younger and his left hand upon Manassehs head guiding his hands wittingly for Manasseh was the first-born And he blessed Ioseph and said God before whom my Fathers Abraham and Isaac did walk the God which fed me all my life long unto this day the Angel which redeemed me from all evil bless the Lads and let my name be named on them and the name of my Fathers Abraham and Isaac and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth And when Ioseph saw that his Father laid his right hand upon the head of Ephraim it displeased him and he held up his Fathers hand to remove it from Ephraims head to Manassehs head and said not so my Father for this is the first born and his Father refused and said I know it my Son I know it he shall be great but truly his younger brother shall be greater than he and he blessed them that day saying in thee shall Israel bless saying God make thee as Ephraim and Manasseh And Israel said unto Ioseph behold I die but God shall be with you and bring you again into the Land of your Fathers And Iacob called unto him his Sons and said gather your selves together that I may tell you what shall befall you in the last days and hear ye Sons of Iacob and hearken unto Israel your Father here Iacob prophesied unto all his twelve Sons what they should be and gave every one their sentence and portion but more especially and largely he prophesieth of Iudah of whom our Lord sprang and this it the seed that we are to treat of Iudah thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise thine hand shall be in the neck of thine Enemies thy Fathers Children shall how down to thee Iudah is a Lions Whelp from the Prey my Son thou art gone up he stooped down he couched as a Lion and as an old Lion who shall rouse him up The Scepter shall not depart from Iudah nor the Law-Giver from between his feet until Shiloh come unto him shall the gathering of the people be binding his foal unto the Vine and his Asses Colt unto the choice Vine he washed his Garments in Wine and his Cloaths in the bloud of Grapes His Eyes shall be red with Wine and his teeth white with Milk Here is a holy and a glorious Prophesie of Iudah of which we shall shew more hereafter as also of all the rest of his Sons he prophesied unto them and told them what should come to pass to all the 12 Tribes of Israel as you may read Gen. 49. So after that he had charged them that they should bury him and carry him up into Canaan and bury him in that field which Abraham had bought where Abraham and Sarah was buryed and Isaac and Rebekah and Leah his Wife When Iacob had made an end of commanding his Sons he gathered up his feet into the bed and yielded up the Ghost and was gathered unto his people And Ioseph and his Brethren carried him up to Canaan to bury and the Elders of Pharaohs House went along with them and when they had buryed him and mourned for him Ioseph and his Brethren returned into Egypt So Ioseph and his Brethren continued in Egypt and Ioseph was tender and loving to his Brethren And when Joseph was 110 years old he dyed and Joseph took an Oath of the Children of Israel saying God will visit you and ye shall carry my bones from hence Gen. 50. Exodus SO Jacob and his Sons their Wives and their Children that went down into Egypt with him were seventy in number and Joseph died and all his Brethren and all that Generation Exod. 1.6 But their Children encreased abundantly and multiplied and waxed exceeding mighty and the Land was filled with them and Pharaoh that was kind and loving to Joseph and his brethren died and there arose a new King in Egypt which knew not Joseph and he stormed at the encrease of the Children of Israel and said they might deal wisely with them and so he began to afflict them and set Task-Masters over them and the Egyptians made them serve with rigour so that they made their lives bitter with hard bondage in Mortar and in Brick and in all manner of service and Pharaoh charged their Midwives to kill all their Male-children And Pharaoh charged all his people saying every Son that is born ye shall cast into the River but the Midwives feared God and did not as Pharaoh had
shall be there and I will put a Division between my people and thy people and the Lord did so and on the morrow there came grievous swarms of Flies into the House of Pharaoh and into all the Houses of the Egyptians nevertheless Pharaohs heart was hardened again as the Lord said 6. The Lord said unto Moses go unto Pharaoh and say thus saith the Lord God of the Hebrews let my people go that they may serve me if thou wilt not behold the hand of the Lord is upon thy Cattel upon thy Horses upon thy Asses upon thy Camels upon thy Oxen and upon thy Sheep there shall be a very grievous murrain And the Lord did sever between the Cattel of Israel and the Cattel of the Egyptians so that nothing did die of all the Childrens of Israel Chap. 9. 7. And the Lord said unto Moses and Aaron take a handful of Ashes of the Furnace and let Moses sprinkle it towards Heaven in the sight of Pharaoh and it shall become a Boil breaking forth with Blains upon man and upon beast and Moses and Aaron did so And Boils came throughout all the Land of Egypt so that the Magitians could not stand before Moses because of the Boils but the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh that he would not hearken 8. And the Lord said unto Moses rise up early his the morning and stand before Pharaoh and say unto him thus saith the Lord God of the Hebrews Let my people go that they may serve me for I will at this time send all my Plagues upon thy heart and upon thy servants and upon thy people that thou mayest know there is none like me in all the earth for now I will stretch out mine hand that I may smite thee and thy people with Pestilence and thou shalt be cut off from the earth in very deed for this very cause have I raised thee up for to shew on thee my power that my name may be declared throughout all the earth behold to morrow about this time I will cause it to rain a very grievous hail such as hath not been in Egypt since the foundation thereof send therefore and gather thy Cattel and those that feared the word of the Lord among Pharaohs servants sent and gathered their Cattel but those that did not regard let them abide in the fields And the Lord said unto Moses stretch forth thine hand and Moses stretched forth his hand towards Heaven and the Lord sent Thunder and Hail and the fire ran along upon the ground and the Lord rained hail upon the Land of Egypt and fire mingled with hail very grievous such as there was none like it in all the Land of Egypt since it became a Nation and the hail smote man and beast all that was in the field and every herb in the field and brake down all the trees in the field only in the Land of Goshen where the Children of Israel were there was no hail 9. And the Lord said unto Moses go unto Pharaoh for I have hardned his heart and Moses and Aaron came unto Pharaoh and said thus saith the Lord God of the Hebrews how long wilt thou refuse to humble thy self before me let my people go that they may serve me else behold to morrow I will bring the Locusts in thy Coasts and they shall cover the face of the earth that one cannot be able to see the earth and they shall eat the residue of that which remaineth from the hail and they shall fill all the houses of thee and thy servants and all the Egyptians and they did so So that Pharaohs servants said how long shall this man be a snare unto us Let the men go that they may serve the Lord their God knowest thou not yet that Egypt is destroyed So Moses stretched forth his Rod over the Land of Egypt and the Lord brought an East-wind which brought in the Locusts so that they covered the face of the whole earth and the Land was darkned and they eat every herb of the Land and all the fruit of the trees which the hail had left and there remained not any green thing on the trees throughout all the Land of Egypt Then Pharaoh called for Aaron and Moses in haste and he said I have sinned against the Lord your God and against you and now therefore forgive I pray you my sin this once and entreat the Lord your God that he may take from me this death only and Moses went and entreated the Lord and the Lord sent a strong West-wind and took away the Locusts yet the heart of Pharaoh was hardened that he would not let Israel go 10. And the Lord said unto Moses stretch forth thy hands towards Heaven that there may be darkness over the Land of Egypt even darkness that may be felt and Moses stretched forth his hands towards Heaven and there was a thick darkness in all the Land of Egypt for three days they saw not one another neither any rose from his place for three days but all the Children of Israel had light in their dwellings but the Lord yet hardened Pharaohs heart that he would not let them go and Pharaoh said unto Moses get thee from me take heed to thy self see my face no more for in that day thou seest my face thou shalt die and Moses said unto him thou hast said well I will see thy face no more 11. And the Lord said unto Moses I will yet bring one Plague more upon Pharaoh afterwards he will let you go hence about midnight will I go into the midst of Egypt and all the first-born in the Land of Egypt shall die from the first-born of Pharaoh that sitteth upon the Throne even to the first of the Maid-servant that is behind the Miâ—l and all the first-born of the beasts and there shall be a great cry through the Land of Egypt such as there hath been none like it neither shall be like it any more but against any of the Children of Israel shall not a Dog move his tongue that ye may know the Lord hath put a difference between the Egyptians and Israel Chap. 11. Then the Lord commanded the Children of Israel to keep the Passover and to offer a Lamb without blemish a male of the first year and to take the blood of it and strike the Posts of the Houses of the Children of Israel as you may read Chap. 12. And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the Houses where you are saith the Lord and when I see the bloud I will pass over you and the Plague shall not be upon you to destroy you when I smite the Land of Egypt ver 13 And at midnight the Lord smote all the first-born of the Land of Egypt from the first-born of Pharaoh that sat on the Throne to the first-born of the Captive that sat in the Dungeon and all the first-born of the Cattel And Pharaoh rose up in the night he and all his
and the Lord commanded Moses and Aaron that they should put an Homer of this Manna which they did eat into a Pot and lay it up before the Lord to be kept for the Generations ver 33 And the Children of Israel did eat Manna forty years until they came to the borders of the Land of Canaan and all the Congregation of the Children of Israel journied from the Wilderness of Sin after their journey according to the command of the Lord and pitched in Rephidim there was no water for the people to drink and the people did chide with Moses and the people thirsted there for water and Moses cryed unto the Lord saying what shall I do unto this people they be almost ready to stone me and the Lord said unto Moses go on before the people and take with thee the Elders of Israel and thy Rod wherewith thou smotest the River take in thy hand and go and behold I stand before thee there upon the Rock in Horeb and thou shalt 〈◊〉 the Rock and Water shall come out of it that the people may drink and Moses did so in the sight of all the Children of Israel and the Lord gave them his Laws and his Statutes and sent Moses unto them and said thus shalt thou say unto the House of Jacob and tell the Children of Israel ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians and how I bare you on Eagle wings and brought you unto my self now therefore if yoâ— will obey my voice indeed and keep my Covenant then shall ye be a 〈◊〉 treasure unto me above all the people of the earth And the Lord said unto Moses loâ— come unto thee in a thick cloud that the people may hear when I speak â—nto thee and believe thee for over tâ— be readlly therefore on one third day for thâ— Lord will come down unto Mount Sina in the sight of all the people and it came to pass in the morning of the third day that there were thunders and lightnings and a thick cloud upon the Mount and the voice of the Trumpet exceeding loud so that all the people that was in the Camp trembled and Moseâ— brought forth the people out of the Camp to meet with the Lord and they stood at the nether part of the Mount and Mount 〈◊〉 was altogether of a smoke because the Lord descended upon it in fire and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a Furnace and the whole Mount quaked greatly and when the voice of the Trumpet sounded long and waxed douder and 〈◊〉 Mosâ—s spake and God answered him by a vâ—iue and the 〈◊〉 Mosâ—s up to the top of the Mount and Moses went up as you may read at large Exod. 19. And the Lord gave his Law unto Moses from his own mouth and God spake all these words and said I am the Lord thy God thou shalt have none other Gods but me c. Exod. 20. And after the Lord had given his Law and his ten Commandments to them when the people saw the thundrings and the lightnings and the noise of the Trumpet and the Mountain smoking they removed and stood afar off and said unto Moses speak thou unto us and we will hear but let not God speak with us lest we die And Moses said unto the people fear not for God is come to prove you that his fear may be before your faces that ye sin not and Moses drew near unto the thick darkness where God was and the Lord said unto Moses say unto the Children of Israel you have seen that I have talked with you from Heavenâ— ye shall not make with me Gods of Silver neither shall ye make ye Gods of Gold ver 23. And God commanded Moses to make an Ark the Ark of his Covenant with a Candlestick and all the holy Vessels of the Sanctuary as you may read at large Exod. 25. Moreover he commanded Moses to make the Tabernacle with all its Curtains Coverings and Vails Chap. 26. Also he commanded him to make an Altar on which the Offerings were to be offered as you may read from Chap. 27. to Chap. 30. and so to the end of the Book of Exodus And after this the Lord made Moses write his Law in Tables of Stone and Moses hewed two Tables of Stone and went up early in the morning as the Lord commanded him unto Mount Sinai and took in his hands the two Tables of Stone and the Lord descended in the Cloud and stood with him there and proclaimed the name of the Lord The Lord merciful and gracious long-suffering abundant in goodness and truth and keeping mercy for thousands pardoning iniquity transgression and Sin Exod. 34. So all the precious works of Moses and Aaron and all their faithfulness and their care and their diligence and how the Lord honoured them with his presence and how they taught and governed and prophesied unto the Children of Israel why they led them through the Wilderness 40 years together ye may read in the four Books of Moses viz. Exodus Leviticus Numbers Deuteronomy Deuteronomy THE Lord promised the Children of Israel and said unto Moses I will raise them up from among their brethren a Prophet like unto thee and I will put my words in his mouth and he shall speak unto them all that I command him Deut. 18.18 here Moses was a Prophet for Christ witnesses that Moses writ of him and Philip said we have found him of whom Moses in the Law and the Prophets did write Jâ—â— 1.45 and Chap. 5.45 do not think that I will accuse your to the Father there is one that accuseth you even Moses for 〈◊〉 you believed Moses ye would have believed me for he wrote of me but if ye believe not his writings how shall ye believe my words And the Apostle saith and Moses verily was faithful in all his house as a servant forth testimony of those things which were to be spoken after Heb. 3.5 And this was the Commandment which Moses laid before the Children of Israel a little before his departure from them saith he for this Commandment which I command you this day it is not hidden from thee neither is it afar off it is not in Heaven that thou shouldest say who shall go up for 〈◊〉 to Heaven and bring it unto us that we may hear it and do it neither is it beyond the Sea that thou shouldest say who shall go over the Sea for us and bring it unto us that we may hear it and do it but the word is very nigh thee in thy mouth and in thy heart that thou mayest do it I have sâ—t before thee this day life and death and good and evil Deuteronemy 30.11 to the 15. and Rom. 10.5 6 7 8 9 10. So after his Exhortations he blessed them with large blessings as you may read in the 31 3â— and 33 Chapters at large And he said I am 120 years old I can no more go out and come in and the Lord
hath said thou shalt not go over Jordan And Moses went up from the plain of Moab unto the Mountain of Nebo the top of Pisgah over against Jericâ—o and the Lord shewed him all the Land of Gilead unto Dan and all Napthali and all the Land of Ephraim and Manasseh and all the Land of Judah unto the utmost Sea and the South and the plain of the Valley of Jericho the City of the Palm-Trees unto Zoar and the Lord said unto him this is the Land which I sware unto Abraham unto Isaâ—â— and unto Jacob saying I will give it unto thy seed I have caâ—sed thee to see it with thine eyes but thou shalt not go over thither So Moses the Servant of the Lord died there in the Land of Moab according to the word of the Lord and he buryed him in a Valley in the Land of Moab over against Bâ—th-peor but no man knoweth of his Sepulchre unto this day Chapter 34. unto the 9. Vâ—â—se And Joshua the Son of Nun was full of the spirit of Wisdom for Moses had laid his hands on him and the children of Israel hearkned unto him and did as the Lord commanded Moses there arose 〈◊〉 a Prophet since in Israel like unto Moses whom the Lord knew face to face ver 10. Joshua NOw after the death of Moses the servant of the Lord it came to pass that the Lord spake unto Joshua the Son of Nun Moses minister saying Moses my servant is dead now therefore arise go over this Jordan thou and all the people unto the Land which I do give unto them every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon that I give unto you as I said unto Moses from the Wilderness even to the great River Euphrates there shall not be a man able to stand before thee all the days of thy life as I was with Moses so will I be with thee I will not fail thee nor forsake thee be strong and of a good courage for unto this people shalt thou divide the Land which I sware unto their Fathers to give them Here take notice of the faithful and constant true care of the Almighty over the seed of his Covenant and promise when Moses his faithful servant was dead how he did deliver them unto Joshua and promised him his presence and performed the same as you may read at large in the Book of Joshua And the Lord said unto Joshua this day I will begin to magnifie thee in the sight of all Israel that they may know as I was with Moses so I will be with thee Joshua commanded the Priests to carry the Ark of the Covenant before them saying when ye are come to the River of Jordan ye shall stand still in Jordan and Joshua said unto the Children of Israel the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord of all the earth passeth over before you into Jordan and it shall come to pass as soon as the soles of the feet of the Priests that bears the Ark of the Lord of all the earth shall rest in the waters of Jordan that the waters of Jordan shall be cut off from the waters that come down from above and they shall stand upon an heap and they did so as you may read in Ioshua 3.14 15 16 17. thus Ioshua led them over with twelve men with twelve stones upon their shoulders that they took out of the midst of Iordan who passed before the Ark of the Lord in the midst of Iordan according to the number of the Tribes of Israel and Ioshua set up twelve stones in the midst of Iordan in the place where the feet of the Priests stood which bare the Ark and they are there unto this day and when the people were passed clean over that the Ark of the Lord passed over in the midst of the people but the Priests which bare the Ark stood in the midst of Iordan until every thing was finished that the Lord commanded Ioshua Thus the Lord miraculously wrought with Ioshua as he did with Moses for the Lord God dryed up the waters of Iordan as he did the Red Sea before their Fathers you may read also how the Lord God wrought with Ioshua miraculously at the taking of Iericho when the Ark of the Lord compassed about the City seven times that the Walls of Iericho fell down flat at the shout of the people and at the sound of the Trumpets of Rams Horns Iosh 6.20 Again how the Lord was with Ioshua in a special manner in the taking of the City of Ai as you may read Chap. 8. And when the five Kings came against Israel and fled before them that the Lord cast great stones from Heaven before and they that died were more that died by hailstones than they that Israel slew with the Sword Then spake Ioshua to the Lord in the day when the Lord delivered up the Amorites before the Children of Israel and he said in the sight of the Children of Israel Sun stand thou still upon Gibeon and thou Moon in the Valley of Ajalon and the Sun stood still and the Moon stayed until the people had avenged themselves of their Enemies so the Sun stood still in the midst of Heaven and hastned not to go down for about a whole day and there was no day like that before it nor after it that the Lord harkened unto the voice of man for the Lord fought for Israel Chap. 10.12 13 14. These with many more miracles and wonders and the many Victories that he gave Ioshua over his Enemies you may read throughout this whole book of Iâ—shua And in the latter end of his days he called for the Heads and for the Rulers of Israel and for their Judges and for their Officers and Ioshua said unto all the people Thus saith the Lord God of Israel your Fathers dwelt on the other side of the flood in old time even Terah the Father of Abraham and the Father of Nachor and they served other Gods and I took your Father Abraham from the other side of the flood and led him throughout all the Land of Canaan and multiplied his seed and I gave him Isaac and I gave Isaac Iacob and Esau and I gave unto Esau mount Sâ—ir to possess it but Iacob and his Children went down into Egypt and I sent Moses also and Aaron and I plagued Egypt according to that which I did amongst them and afterwards I brought you out and I brought your Fathers out of Egypt and ye came unto the Sea and the Egyptians pursued after your Fathers with Chariots and Horsemen unto the Red Sea and when they cryed unto the Lord he put darkness between you and the Egyptians and brought the Sea upon them and covered them and your eyes have seen what I have done in Egypt and ye dwelt in the Wilderness a long Season Then Balak the Son of Zippor King of Moab arose and warred against Israel and called Baalam the Son of Peor to curse you
David his Father and his Kingdom was established greatly ver 12. the Lord appeared unto Solomon in a Dream by night and God said ask what I shall give thee Solomon said thou hast shewed to David my Father great mercies according as he walked before thee in truth and in righteousness and uprightness of heart with thee and thou hast kept for him this great kindness that thou hast given him a Son to sit on his Throne as it is this day and now O Lord my God thou hast made thy servant King instead of David my Father and I am but a little Child I know not how to go out and come in thy servant is in the midst of thy people which thou hast chosen a great people it cannot be numbred nor counted for multitude give therefore thy servant an understanding heart to judge thy people that I may discern between good and bad for who is able to judge this so great a people And the speech pleased the Lord that Solomon asked this thing and God said because thou hast asked this thing and hast not asked long life neither hast asked riches to thy self nor hast asked the life of thine Enemies but hast asked for thy self understanding to discern Judgment behold I have done according to thy words I have given thee a wise and understanding heart so that there was none like thee before thee neither shall any arise after thee like unto thee Chap. 3. So King Solomon reigned over all Israel as you may read in the fourth and fifth Chapters And it came to pass in four hundred and fourscore years after the Children of Israel were come out of the Land of Egypt in the fourth year of Solomons reign over Israel in the month Zif which is the second month that he began to build the House of the Lord of which building and the magnificency of it you may read from the sixth Chapter to the ninth Chapter of 2 Chron. 5.2 Then Solomon assembled the Elders of Israel and all the heads of the Tribes of Israel unto Ierusalem that they might bring up the Ark of the Covenant of God out of the City of David which is Sion and the Priests brought in the Ark of the Lord into the Oracle of the House of the Lord even to under the wings of the Cherubims He built also his own House which he was 13 years in building Chap. 7. And it came to pass when Solomon had furnished the building of the House of the Lord and the Kings House that the Lord appeared unto Solomon the second time and the Lord said unto him I have heard thy prayer and thy supplication that thou hast made before me I have hallowed this house which thou hast built to put my name there for ever and if thou walk before me as David thy Father walked in integrity of heart and in uprightness to do according to all that I command thee and keep my Statutes and Judgments then will I establish the Throne of thy Kingdom upon Israel So King Solomon excelled all the Kings of the earth for riches and for wisdom and the Queen of Sheba heard of the same of Solomon concerning the name of the Lord she came to prove him with hard questions Chap. 10. After this King Solomon loved many strange women together with the Daughters of Pharaoh the Moabites and Ammonites and Edomites and Zidonians and Hittites all which the Lord had commanded the Children of Israel that they should not go into them So Solomon was drawn away with his Wives and worshipped their Gods and made Idols and the Lord was angry with Solomon because his heart was turned from the Lord God of Israel which had appeared to him twice wherefore the Lord said unto Solomon for as much as this is done of thee and thou hast not kept my Covenant and my Statutes which I commanded thee I will surely rent the Kingdom from thee and give it to thy servant notwithstanding in thy days I will not do it for David my servants sake but I will rend it out of the hand of thy Son howbeit I will not rend away all the Kingdom but will give one Tribe to thy Son for David my servants sake and for Ierusalems sake which I have chosen And it came to pass when Ieroboam went out of Ierusalem that Ahijah the Shilonite found him in the way and he clad himself with a new garment and Ahijah caught the new Garment and rent it in twelve pieces and he said to Ierobeam take thee ten for thus saith the Lord God of Israel behold I will rend the Kingdom out of the hand of Solomon and I will give ten Tribes to thee but he shall have one for my servant Davids sake and for Jerusalems sake the City which I have chosen out of all the Tribes of Israel Solomon sought therefore to kill Jeroboam and Jeroboam arose and fled into Egypt until the death of Solomon and the rest of the Acts of Solomon and all that he did are written in the Book of the Acts of Solomon and the time that Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel was 40 years and Solomon slept with his Fathers and Rehoboam his Son reigned in his stead Chap. 11. And when Rehoboam was come to Jerusalem he gathered of the House of Judah and Benjamin an hundred and fourscore thousand chosen men which were Warriours to fight against Israel that so he might bring the ten Tribes to him again which Jeroboam the Son of Nebat went about to take from him for they were given to him but the word of the Lord came to Shemaiah the man of God saying speak unto Rehoboam the Son of Solomon King of Judah and to all Israel in Judah and Benjamin saying thus saith the Lord ye shall not go up to sight against your Brethren return every man to his house for this thing is done of me and they obeyed the word of the Lord and returned from going against Jeroboam And it came to pass in the fifth year of Rehoboam that Shishak the King of Egypt came up against Jerusalem and took the senced Cities thereabouts and the Lord sent his Prophet Shemaiah to Rehoboam and the Princes of Judah and they humbled themselves before the Lord and the Lord was entreated of them and heard them and said that he would not destroy them 2 Chron. 12. 1 Kings 14.31 and Rehoboam slept with his Fathers and Ahijah his Son reigned in his stead In the 18 year of Jeroboams reign began Ahijah to reign over Judah and there was War between Ahijah and Jeroboam and Abijah set the Battel in array with an Army of valiant men of War even four hundred thousand chosen men and Jeroboam set the Battel in array against them with eight hundred thousand chosen men being mighty men of valour Abijah stood upon Mount Semaraim which is in Mount Ephraim and said hear thou me Jeroboam and all Israel ought ye not to know the Lord God of
Israel gave the Kingdom of Israel to David for ever by a Covenant of Salt and yet Jeroboam is risen up and rebelled against his Lord and now do ye think to withstand the Kingdom of the Lord in the hands of the Sons of David and ye be a great multitude and there be with you goldeâ— Calves which Jeroboam hath made for Gods and behold God himself is with us for our Captain and his Priests with sounding Trumpets to cry aloud against you O Children of Israel sight not against the Lord God of your Fathers ye shall not prosper but Jeroboam caused an ambushment to be set before the Children of Judah and behind them and they cryed unto the Lord and the Priests sounded with Trumpets then the men of Iudah gave a shout and as they shouted God smote Ieroboam and all Israel and the Children of Israel fled before Iudah and God delivered them into their hands 2 Chron. 13. 1 Kings 12.28 After this Abijah waxed mighty and married 14 Wives and had twenty two Sons and sixteen Daughters and the rest of the acts that he did are written in the Story of the Prophet Iddo and the Prophets that prophesied in his days were Shemaiah and Iddo and Abijah slept with his Fathers and Asa his Son reigned in his stead So now you may read iâ— the remaining Chapters of this Book how Israel was divided and rent asunder and how they served other Gods and wrought abomination before the Lord and the Lord spake unto them by his Prophets but they would not hear but hardened their hearts and wrought wickedness and killed the Lords Prophets but Baals Prophets were 450. and the Lord plagued them and sent them Famine and Drought as you may read Chap. 18.22 And in the twentieth year of Ieroboam Asa reigned over Iudah and Asa did that which was right in the sight of the Lord and he gathered all Judah and Benjamin together and they entred into a Covenant with the Lord God of their Fathers that they would seek him with all their hearts he took away the Altars of the strange Gods and the Images and took away the Sodomites out of the Land and he removed away the Idols which his Father had made and the Lord cut off the Ethiopians before Asa Judah and Benjamin and he removed his Mother from being Queen because she had made an Idol in a Grove and he destroyed her Idol and burnt it 2 Chr. 15. 1 Kings 15.13 In the 36 year of the reign of Asa Baasha King of Israel came up against Judah and built Ramah to the intent he might let none go out nor come in to Asa King of Judah then Asa brought out Silver and Gold out of the Treasury of the House of the Lord and sent it to Benhadad King of Syria that dwelt in Damascus that he might join with him against the King of Israel and the King of Syria harkened unto him and they smote Jion and Dan and Abel-Beth-Maâ—chab and all the Cities of Naphtali And at that time Hanani came unto Asa King of Iudah and said because thou hast relied on the King of Syria and hast not relied in the Lord thy God therefore is the Host of the King of Syria escaped out of thy hands for the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole Earth to shew himself strong in the behalf of those whose heart is perfect towards him herein thou hast done foolishly and Asa was wroth with the Seer and put him in Prison And Asa in the thirty ninth year was diseased in his feet and he sought not unto the Lord but unto Physicians and he slept with his Fathers and the Prophets Hanani and Azaziah the Son of Oded prophesied in his days and his Son Iehosaphat reigned in his stead and he walked according to Asa his Father and turned not aside from doing that which was right in the eyes of the Lord nevertheless the high places were not taken away for the people had not prepared their hearts unto the God of their Fathers And the Lord was with Jehosaphat because he walked in the waies of David his Father and sought the Lord and his heart was lifted up in the waies of the Lord and called his Princes and with them he sent Levites and Priests and they taught in Judah and had the book of the Law of the Lord with them and went about through all the Cities of Judah and taught the people and the fear of the Lord fell upon all the Kingdoms of the Land round about Judah so that they made no War with Jehosaphat And Jehosaphat joined affinity with Ahab and went down to Samaria to Ahab King of Israel and they went down to Ramath-Gilâ—ad as you may read the 2 Chron. 18.1 1 Kings 22.2 and Jehosaphat caused Ahab to enquire of the Prophets of Israel and afterwards they enquired of Michaiah the Prophet of the Lord which Ahab said he hated for he never prophesied good of him but evil 2 Kings SO the King of Israel and Jehosaphat King of Iudah went up against Ramath-Gilead and a certain man drew a bow at a venture and smote the King of Israel between the joints of his Harness so that he died 2 Chron. 18.33 1 Kings 22. Now Ioram the Son of Ahab reigned over Israel in Samaria in the 18. year of Iâ—hosaphat King of Iudah it came to pass when Ahab was dead that the King of Moab rebelled against the King of Israel and Ioram King of Israel sent to Iehosaphat King of Iudah to join with him against Moab and the King of Israel and the King of Iudah went and the King of Edom went with them against Moab and the King of Israel said alas hath the Lord gathered these three Kings together to deliver them into the hand of Moab and Ichosaphat said is there not here a Prophet of the Lord that we may enquire of him 2 Kings and one of the Kings servants said here is Elisha that poured water on the hands of Elijah and the three Kings went to enquire of him and Elisha said unto the King of Israel what have I to do with thee get thee to the Prophets of thy Father and the Prophets of thy Mother and Elisha said as the Lord of Hosts liveth before whom I stand were it not that I regard the presence of Iehesaphat King of Iudah I would not look towards thee nor see thee but now bring me here a Minstrel c. and they prevailed against the Moabites as you may read 2 Kings 3. And it came to pass after this that the Children of Moab and the Children of Ammon and with them from beyond the Sea from this side of Syria went a great multitude that came up against Iehosaphat King of Iudah as you may read 2 Chron. 20. and Iehosaphat feared before the Lord and proclaimed a Fast and set himself and all his people to seek the Lord and the Lord gave Iehosaphat Victory over his Enemies then returned
Captivity but even when they were in the Captivity the Lord sent his Prophets unto them as you may see hereafter The word of the Lord came expresly to Ezekiel the Priest the Son of Buzi in the Land of the Caldeans by the River Chebar and the hand of the Lord was there upon him as he was amongst the Captives Ezek. 1.3 and the Spirit entred into me and when he spake unto me and set me on my feet he said unto me Son of man I sent thee to the Children of Israel a rebellious Nation that have rebelled against me they and their Fathers have transgressed against me even to this very day for they are impudent Children and stiff necked I do send thee unto them and thou shalt say thus saith the Lord God Chap. 2. and so on as you may read throughout the Prophesie of Ezekiel And Jeremiah in his Lamentations saith how doth the City sit solitary that was full of people how is she become as a Widdow Judah is gone into Captivity because of affliction and because of her great servitude she dwelleth amongst the Heathen she findeth no rest all her Persecutors overtook her as you may read on through the Lamentation of Jeremiah Daniel the first Chap. in the third year of Jehojakim King of Judah came Nebuchadnezzar King of Babylon unto Jerusalem and besieged it Judah and Jerusalem in Captivity and the Lord gave Iehojakim King of Iudah into his hands with pâ—rt of the Vessels of the House of God which he carried into the Land of Shinar and he brought the Vessels into the Treasury of the House of his God ver 1.2 Now this King Nebuchadnezzar spake to the Master of the Eunuchs that he should bring certain of the Children of Israel and of the Kings seed and of the Princes now amongst these were the Children of Iudah amongst which Daniel was one as you may read Dan. 1. and so on to Chap. 9. In the first year of Darius in the first year of his reign I Daniel understood by Books the number of years whereof the word of the Lord came to Ieremiah the Prophet that he would accomplish seventy years in the Desolations of Ierusalem Dan. 9.1.2 And so Daniel set his heart unto the Lord and prayed and he was answered in the 24. ver seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy City to finish the transgression and to make an end of sins and to make reconciliation for iniquity and to bring in everlasting Righteousness and to seal up the Vision and the Prophesie and to annoint the most holy as you may read to the end of the Chapter and it shall come to pass when seventy years are accomplished that I will punish the King of Babylon that Nation saith the Lord for their iniquities And the Prophet Malachy he saith that Iudah hath dealt treacherously and an abomination is committed in Israel and in Ierusalem for Iudah hath prophaned the holiness of the Lord which he loved and hath marryed the Daughter of a strange God the Lord will cut off the man that doth this for the God of Israel saith that he hateth putting away for one covereth violence with his Garment therefore take heed that ye deal not treacherously saith the Lord Mal. 2. And as these holy Prophets prophesied of their going into Captivity so likewise they prophesied of their returning back again as you may read in Isaiah 45. and Ieremiah 24. and 25. Chapters Thus saith the Lord to his annointed to Cyrus whose right hand I have holden to subdue Nations before him Isa 45.1 The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah in the fourth year of Jghojakim Son of Iosiah King of Iudah that was the first year of Nebuchadnezzar King of Babylon the which Ieremiah the Prophet spake unto all the People of Iudah and all the Inhabitants of Ierusalem saying this whole Land shall be a desolation and an astonishment and these Nations shall serve the King of Babylon seventy years and it shall come to pass when seventy years are accomplished that I will punish the King of Babylon and that Nation saith the Lord for their iniquity and I will make the Caldeans a perpetual desolation Jer. 25.11 12. In the first year of Cyrus King of Persia that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Ieremiah and Isaiah might be fulfilled the Lord stirred up the Spirit of Cyrus King of Persia that he made a Proclamation throughout the Kingdom and put it in writing saying thus saith Cyrus King over Persia the Lord God of Heaven hath given me all the Kingdoms of the Earth and hath charged me to build him an House at Ierusalem which is in Iudah who is there amongst you of all his people his God be with him and let him go up to Ierusalem which is in Iudah and build the House of the Lord God of Israel for the House of God is in Ierusalem Then rose up the chief of the Fathers of Judah and Benjamin and the Priests and the Levites with all them whose spirit God had raised to go up to build the House of the Lord which is in Ierusalem also Cyrus the King brought forth the Vessels of the House of the Lord which Nebuchadnezzar had brought forth out of Ierusalem and had put them in the House of his Gods and this confirmeth the Prophesie of Isaiah who prophesied long before they went into Captivity and said to Ierusalem thou shalt be inhabited and saith to the Cities of Iudah ye shall be built that saith of Cyrus he is my Shepherd and shall perform all my pleasure even saying to Ierusalem thou shalt be built and to the Temple thy Foundations shall be laid Isaiah 44.28 And in Ieremiah Chap. 29. thus saith the Lord that after seventy years are accomplished in Babylon I will visit you and perform my good word towards you in causing you to return to this place for I know the thoughts that I think towards you saith the Lord are thoughts of peace and not of evil ver 11 12. hear ye therefore the word of the Lord all ye of the Captivity whom I have sent from Ierusalem to Babylon turn ye again every one from his evil way and dwell in the Land that the Lord hath given you ver 28. and Ier. Chap. 31. Thus saith the Lord a voice was heard in Ramah lamentation and bitter weeping Rachel weeping for her Children and refused to be comforted for her Children because they were not Thus saith the Lord refrain thy voice from weeping and thine eyes from tears for thy work shall be rewarded saith the Lord and they shall come again from the Land of the Enemy and there is hope in thine end saith the Lord that thy Children shall come again to their own border ver 15 16 17. And Amos the 4. I have overthrown some of you as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah and ye were as a Firebrand plucked out of the burning yet have ye not returned unto
spirit of the remnant of the people and they came and did work in the House of the Lord of Hosts their God in the seventh month and the twenty first day of the month came the word of the Lord by the Prophet Haggai saying speak unto Zerubbabel the Governour of Iudah and to Ieshua the High Priest and to the residue of the people saying who is left among you that saw the House in her first glory and how do ye see it now is it not in your eyes in comparison as nothing yet be strong O Zerubbabel saith the Lord and be strong O Ieshua the High Priest and be strong all ye people of the Land saith the Lord and work for I am with you saith the Lord of Hosts according to the word that I covenanted with you when ye came out of Egypt so my spirit remained among you fear ye not as you may read throughout the Prophesie of Haggai In the eighth month in the second year of Darius came the word of the Lord unto Zachariah unto the Iews that were to build the Temple in Ierusalem saying the Lord hath been sore displeased with your Fathers thus saith the Lord of Hosts turn unto me and I will turn unto you saith the Lord of Hosts be not as your Fathers unto whom the former Prophets cryed saying turn ye from your evil ways and from your evil doings but they did not hear nor harken unto me faith the Lord but your Fathers where are they now do they live for ever but my words and my Commandments which I commanded my Prophets took hold on them as you may read from the first Chapter of Zashariah to the 4. Ch. So after that these Prophets had prophesied unto them The building of the Temple goes on again in the second year of Darius as you may read in Ezra 5. Then rose up Zerubbabel and Ieshua and began to build the House of God which is at Ierusalem and with them were these Prophets of God helping them and then came to them Tatnâ—s Governour on this side the River and Shethar-boznai and their Companions and said unto them who hath commanded you to build this House and make up this Wall but the eye of their God was upon the Elders of the Jews that they could not cause them to cease till the matter was come to Darius and then they returned an answer by Letter concerning the matter the Copy of which Letter you may read to the end of the 5. Chapter Then Darius the King made a Decree according to the Contents of the Letter and search was made in the House of the Rolls where the Treasuries were laid up in Babylon as you may read throughout the 6. Chapter And the King made Decrees that none should hinder them but the House should be built with speed and the Elders of the Jews builded and they prospereed through the prophefying of Haggai and Zachariah and Zachariah prophesied to them again in the fourth year of Cyrus as you may read Zach. 7. And they builded and finished it according to the command of the God of Israel and according to the Commandment of Cyrus and Darius and Artaxerxes Nehem. 5.6 and 7. Chapters and this House was finished on the third day of the month Adar The Temple finished which was in the sixth year of the reign of Darius the King So you may read their course of life and their worship that they performed unto the Lord and how they sought the Lord you may read through the Book of Ezra and Nehemiah and how Neâ—emiah prayed unto the Lord and humbled himself before the Lord and how he went in the night to view the Wall that was broken down and laid ruinous and how he joined himself with the Builders and opposed the Adversaries and looked up and encouraged the Nobles and the Rulers and the rest of the people and said be not afraid of them as you may read in this Book of Nehemiah In the ninth Chapter of Nehemiah you may read how the Children of Israel assembled themselves together with fasting and with Sackcloth and earth upon them and the Seed of Israel separated themselves from all Strangers and stood and confessed their sins and worshipped God after they were returned back from their captivity and were come to Jerusalem and had built the Temple as you may read at large in this Chapter and so on throughout the Book of Nehemiah Esther AND so likewise in the Book of Esther you may see how the Lord in his mercy was pleased to promote the Jews interest under Ahasuerus by means of Mordecai and Queen Esther as you may read throughout the History of this Book of Esther therefore the Jews of the Villages that dwolt in the unwalled Towns made the 14. day of the month Adar a day of gladness and feasting and a good day of sending portions one to another and Mordecai wrote these things and sent Letters unto all the Jews that were in all the Provinces of King Ahasuerus both far and neer even to one hundred and thirty seven Provinces to establish this amongst them that they should keep the fourteenth day of the month Adar and the seventeenth day of the same month and this was established among the Jews to be kept yearly as you may read to the end of the 9. Chapter of Esther and the King Ahasuerus did so promote Mordecai the Jew that he was next unto King Ahasuerus and great among the Jews and accepted of the multitude of his Brâ—thren seeking the wealth of his people and speaking peace to all his seed and this is writ in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Medea and Persia Est 10. And thus far you may see how the Lord hath dealt with his people Israel and how faithful he hath been in his promises to their forefathers and the tender eye and care he had over them all along and how gladly he would have had them to have obeyed his Commandments and his Statutes that they might have lived to him you may read through these afore mentioned Prophesies and notwithstanding that they did rebel against him and did grievously provoke him through their manifold abominations yet you see how careful he was of them and faithful to them and according to the Prophesies of the Prophets brought them back again to their own City But this was not all there is much behind yet for the Decree and Determination of the Lord was a further thing and these peculiar people which the Lord did chuse above all the Families of the earth they were a figure of the right and ture and precious seed of God and though they were a people as you see that had often rebelled against the Lord and fallen away from him and murmured against him as you may see they did often in the Wilderness when the Lord had set Moses and Aaron over them as you may see Numb 13. and all the Congregation lift up their voices
Volumn of thy Book it is written of me to do thy will O God he taketh away the first saith the Apostle that he might establish the second he took away the first Offerings and the first Sacrisices which he delighteth not in neither had he pleasure therein and he established the second and everlasting Offering Christ Jesus who hath a body prepared to do thy will O God by the which will saith the Apostle we are sanctified through offering up the body of Iesus Christ once for all Heb. 10. to the 10. ver And this is the Offering and Sacrifice in which God is well pleased this is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased saith the Lord hear ye him for he hath given himself for his Church that he might sanctifie and cleanse it with the washing of water by the Word that he might present it to himself a glorious Church not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing but that it should be holy and without blâ—mish Eph. 5.25 26 27. And so this pure Church and Body of Christ is he coming now to redeem and to bring out of Captivity as he brought his former Israel out of Captivity of which you have heard which was but a Figure of this true and pure and holy Church which hath been a long time in the Wildernesâ— as you may read in Revel 12. And for this end is Christ Jesus come a light into the world not only to the Jews but to the whole world for he came unto his own even unto his Tribe of Judah which was at Jerusalem but his own received him not but as many of them as received him to them he gave power to become the Sons of God not only of them but the whole world for to that end is he come that whosoever believes on him they should not perish but have everlasting life For he is come a light and hath enlightned the whole world and every man that comes into the world Joh. 1. So every one that comes into the world that turns his mind unto the light of our Lord Jesus Christ turns his mind to the elected seed which the Lord hath chosen which he hath laid in Sion for a foundation And therefore thus saith the Lord behold I lay in Sion for a foundation a stone a tryed stone a precious corner-stone a sure foundation that lays judgment to the Line and righteousness to the Plummet Isaiah 28.16 And the Apostle Peter saith wherefore it is contained in the Scripture behold I lay in Sion a chief corner stone elect and precious he that believeth on him shall not be confounded unto you therefore who believe he is precious but unto them who are disobedient he is a stone of stumbling and a rock of Câ—fence to them that stumble at the word 1 Pet. 2.6 7 8. So this is the foundation that the Lord hath laid in Sion Christ Jesus the light he hath sown in every mans heart and this new Covenant of which we have mentioned which cannot he broken he hath written in every mans heart and who keeps in this Covenant and obeys this light and the Spirit of the Lord that is in his heart which shews him his thoughts and reproveth him for his sin who believes in this light of the Lord Jesus believes in the Elect of God chosen of God and precious to all that believes he is precious but to the disobedient a stone of stumbling So here is the difference and distinction between the holy Nation the royal Priesthood the peculiar people and the whole world those that believe and obey and follow him that is precious they become precious they that obey Christ Jesus and follow him in whom there is no sin but takes away the sins of the whole world of those that obey him all that continue and abide in him are cleansed and purged from sin and washed and made nigh by his blood but to the disobedient that hates the light to them he is a stone of stumbling to them he is a rock of Offence whereunto the Apostle saith they were appointed So this is the main substance of all that can be said Christ Jesus that is Gods everlasting Covenant not only to the Jews but also Gentiles and all people even to the ends of the earth his light hath reached and shined into every man and every womans heart and conscience that is come into the whole world so that every one that will turn to that measure of the light of our Lord Jesus Christ which they have received they turn to the Elect of God they turn to that which God hath chosen in which his Soul delighteth whether they are Barbarian or Scythian whether they are Jew or Gentile whether they are bond or free whether they are male or female if they come to the light of Christ in their heart they are all one in Christ Jesus and so by this pure and glorious shining light which shines in the hearts and consâ—â—ences of people doth the Lord redeem his Church and purge it and purifie it and gives liberty to that precious seed that hath long laid in Captivity The Lamb hath been slain from the foundation of the world which world entred into mans heart at the fall of Adam and into mans heart is Christ Jesus come a light the new Covenant and everlasting Covenant of God which he hath written in every mans heart and his spirit he hath put in the inward parts by which the Prince of the power of the air cometh to be removed by the spirit of his mouth and the brightness of his coming will he slay that wicked one that man of sin and Son of perdition that hath sitten in the Temple of God exalted above all that is called God Now is the Judgment of this world how shall the Prince of this world be cast out and if I be lifted up from the Earth I will draw all men unto me saith Christ John 12.31 32. chap. 8.28.35 So Jesus having tasted death for every man Heb. 2. the vertue of his death hath reached unto every man so that every man hath partaken of that infinite mercy and bounty for it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell whose fulness of grace and mercy hath reached unto all men and women for saith the Apostle he is the propitiation for our sins and not for ours only but for the sins of the whole world 1 Joh. 2.2 Jesus cryed and said he that believeth on me believeth not on me only but on him that sent me and he that seeth me seeth him that sent me I am come a light into the world that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness and if any hear my word and believe not I judge him not for I am come not to judge the world but to save the world Joh. 12. this was the end for which the Father sent his Son into the world God so loved the world that he gave his only
begotten Sor into the world that whosoever believeth on him should not perish but have everlasting life for God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world 〈◊〉 that was not his end in sending of him but that the world through him might be saved God is in Christ reconciling the world to himself Jeh 3.16 17. 2 Cor. 5.19 So that here is free love and fâ—â—e geace and free mercy that every one that thirsteth may come freely and buy Wine and milk without money and without price without any respect of persons all may come every one that thirsteâ—â— may come he said unto the Jews ye sold your selves for â—ought but ye shall be redeemed without money tuâ—â— again turn again thou backâ—â—iding Israel but here is the sum of all he that believeth on hun is not condemned whoshaver he be but he that believeth not is condemned already because he hath not believed in the Name of the only begotten Son of God and this also is without respect of any person and oh in thing Chapter of Iohn and with the light of Christ Jesus in thee thou mayst search thy heart and see how thou stands unto the Lord God And so this is the main and only truth that we have to hold forth to the whole world as also all the Scriptures bear witness to the same wherefore as by one man sin entred into the world and death by sin and death hath passed over all men for all have sinned for until the Law sin was in the world but sin is not imputed where there is no Law while there was no Law to transgress against sin could not be so easily known among them before Moses had the Law given unto him who had directions from the Lord in Mount Sinai what they should do and how they should walk before the Lord Nevertheless death reigned over them from Adam until Moses and over them that had not sinned according to Adams transgression that is to say had not broken any express command of the Lord but was the right seed in the Figure of him that was to come Rom. 5. Wherefore the Apostle saith the Law is our Schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ for there is neither Jew nor Greek neither bond nor free there is neither male nor female for ye are all one in Christ Jesus and if ye be Christs then are ye Abrahams seed and heirs according to the promise now the heir so long as he is a child is under Tutors and Governours and differs nothing from a servant though he be Lord of all so even we who are of the precious seed while we are Children are in bondage under the Elements of the world but when the fulness of time was come God sent forth his Son made of a woman made under the Law to redeem the seed that was under the Law that we might receive the adoption of Sons and because ye are Sons God hath sent forth the spirit of his Son into your hearts crying Abba Father wherefore thou art no more a servant but a Son then an heir of God through Christ So by this Spirit of his Son which he hath sent into the Hearts of his people by this doth he gather this is the ensign that is set up for the gathering of all Nations this is the Shiloh that is come and the gathering is unto him Isa 11. to the â—nd of the Chapter and by this doth he gather his elect from the â—ourâ— winds of the Heavens and from the four corners of the earth and by this doth he redeem Sion through Judgment our of every Kindred Nation Tongue and People and by this will the Lord sift the Nations as with a sive and purge the chaff from the wheat and gather the wheat into his Garner And all they that do not obey the light and spirit which he hath sent into their hearts by this will he judge the whole world in righteousness because the whole world had received a measure of this light and spirit for as the Apostle saith What shall we say is God unrighteous who taketh vengeance I speak as a man God forbid for then how should he judge the world in righteousness but that his truth hath abounded so far and his mercy and his love hath reached to the whole world for at the times of Ignorance God winked but now he commandeth all men every where to repentâ— for this is the day wherein he judges the secrets of all men by Jesus Christ by the light of his glorious Gospel and this is the day which he hath appointed in which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained whereof he hath given assurance unto all men that he hath raised him from the dead Acts 17.31 For the love of Christ saith the Apostle constraineth us because we thus judge that if one dyed for all then were all dead and that he dyed for all that they which live should not henceforth live to themselves but unto him that dyed for them and rose again So by his Resurrection he judgeth all those that live to themselves and not unto him that dyed for them and rose again So also by his Resurrection he judgeth all those that live unto themselves This is the condemnation that light is come into the world and men love darkness rather than light because their deeds are evil If I had not come and spoken unto them they had not had sin but now they have no cloak for their sin he that hateth me hateth my Father also Joh. 5.21 for as the Father raiseth up the dead even so the Son quickeneth whomsoever he will for the Father judgeth no man but hath committed all judgment to the Son that all men should honour the Son even as they honour the Father he that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father that sent him Verily I say unto you he that heareth my word and believeth in him that sent me hath everlasting life and shall not come into condemnation but is passed from death unto life Verily I say unto you that the hour is coming and now is that the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God and they that hear shall live for as the Father hath life in himself so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself and hath given him Authority to execute Judgment also because he is the Son of Man John 15. from the 15. to the 28. Here Christ Jesus hath spoken himself the very sum and substance of truth and there is not another Now this is the same Christ as was promised of the Father to Abraham and this is the same Christ whereof all the Prophets bore witness and he is the same way the truth and the life and there is none comes to the Father but by him as he himself saith Joh. 14. And there is no other way nor name under Heaven by which any man can be saved the Apostle