not to be at all or not neere (b) Matth. 24. v. 48. Luk. 12. v. 45 at hand then it cannot be that at his comming the faithfull shall be rejoycing and praâ—sing God for their greatest enemies overthrow which ever were and shall be men most carnally secure Secondly I say that this demand is grounded upon a false supposition viz. that our Saviour shall make no stay on earth when as indeed his 1000. yeares reigne is to begin at his next appearing and not before And lastly I say that seeing the last temporall judgement which shall befall the adversaries of Christ and his Saints is to be when the 1000. yeares reigne is fulfilled and that there is no mention of any space of time which is to intercede that destruction and the summons to the last resurrection Seeing I say that God is silent in this matter it is not for vaine man to fasten his owne fancies on Gods Word And to promise a longer abode to the Saints on this earth then God hath revealed And that too for no other end but to praise him for their greatest enemies overthrow which doubtlesse they shall not forget to doe nor without great joy performe when they are translated into that place where it shall be all their employment to magnifie and extoll Gods Name for all the blessings they have both here and there received of him Quest 3 The Third and last Question askes Whether any intimation of the prosperous and pious estate of the Jewes after the judgement of the Kings in Armageddon can be found in the Apocalypse Which is the presumption of the fift Parallel Answ MY Answer is that thus much is intimated in the 20. Chapter for as in Ezekiel and Joel after the generall judgement of God upon all the Nations that shall seeke the re-inthraldome or extirpation of the Jewes at their returne the great and impregnable (c) Dan. 2. v. 44. ch 7. v. 14. Isa 2. v. 1 2 3 4. restauration of Jerusalem is immediately revealed So in the Apocalypse the very next vision to that of the destruction of the Armies to be gathered together by the Beast and false Prophet is the binding up of Satan and the rising and reigning of the Saints with Christ a thousand yeares And that this thousand yeares reigne shall be accomplished in the Land of Judea and so concurre with the happy establishment of the Jewes foreshewne (d) Dan. 7. v. 27. Isa 51. v. 1 2 3 c. ch 61. v. 1 2. Psal 47. Psal 98. by the Prophets me thinkes these reasons doe demonstrate For First it being manifestly declared in the 4. 6. ver of this chap. That the Saints shall * And that on earth too for how else can they reigne with him but a 1000 yeares precisely seeing it is wel known that Christ hath been bodily present in heaven ever since his Ascension And why he should not begin his reigne there at his I t entrance thither rather then any time since that or give up his Kingdom again before he comes from thence to judgement as the spirituall interpretation of the first resurrection doth make him to doe are doubts I thinke which the oppugners of Christs reigning here on earth will be as unwilling to hearken to as they are unable to satisfie reigne with Christ a thousand yeares which necessarily proves his corporall presence amongst them and in the 8 9. ver That the Nations in the foure quarters of the earth Gog and Magog shall be gathered together against the Saints when the thousand yeares are expired which necessarily proves their Kingdom to be on (e) Rev. 5. v. 10. Rom. 4. v. 13. earth All this I say being unquestionable the inferences hereupon must needes be these 1. That the time of the Saints thousand yeares reigne is to succeed their bodily resurrection for how else can they reigne so long on earth or how else can Christ be amongst them here in his humane nature and 2. That the place of the Saints residence all that while is to be in no other land but Judea For how else can Christ with whom the Saints must (f) 1 Thes 4. v. 17. be sit on the Throne of his Father David and reigne over the house of Jacob which was promised him by an Angel sent from God before his conception Yea why else hath God left upon record so many predictions of the Jewes generall and unaccomplisht deliverance and of the wonderfull restauration of Jerusalem and Judea at that time comparing the future fertility and pleasantnesse of that now desolate Countrey even with the Garden of (g) Isa 51. v. 3 Ezek. 36. v. 35. Eden it selfe Secondly that which doth confirme the 1000. yeares reigne of the Saints in Judea is the expresse mention of the beloved City in the 9. ver For either these words must be taken mystically and improperly for the * This way runnes the wholstream of Expositors And admit that they were mystically to be expounded yet how such a Church as shall reigne a thousand yeers without disturbance and when the 1000. yeers are expited suffer no harme by those that shall then gather them selves against her and onely such a Church is set forth unto us by the beloved City the tents of the Saints as the precedent and subsequent verses doe clearely shew how such a Church I say can be taken for the Church that now is which is to continue an afflicted and persecuted Church untill our Saviours appearing I cannot conceive Militant Church or literally and properly for some particular City Now if they should be taken in the first sense then because the Nations Gog and Magog are to compasse the tents of the Saints about and the beloved City we must grant That all the Christian or at least all the Protestant Nations which possesse many large Dominions whereof some are severed from the rest by great and wide seas shall yet at last be all inviron'd by their enemies which is very unlikely if not impossible And because the Saints adversaries are to come from the foure quarters of the earth we must grant also that the Kingdomes where these Christians inhabite are no part of the foure quarters of the earth which were to swallow an apparent untruth Wherefore seeing the consequences of the mysticall interpretation are no better I hope wee may the more boldly embrace the literall sense of the words which for ought I perceive doth draw after it no such harsh and uncouth doctrines And in this sense we may upon good grounds affirme that by the Beloved City no other City but Jerusalem can be meant For First it is evident that the faithfull City the holy City the City of God are severall periphrases and individuall expressions of Jerusalem And why then should not the beloved City be so too seeing the Epithet beloved may well be applied to Jerusalem which hath all the former titles but cannot in reason be given to
it had beene as easie for the Apostle to have said They that are dead or All that are in the grave And if there shall be a precedency of time then no doubt but it shall be such a precedency as may bring some advantage and honour to the Saints and therefore not onely of a few houres or dayes but of a more notable continuance of many yeeres For if Christ should descend for no other purpose but to call all men to judgement then as there would be need of none so there could not well be any priority of time to distinguish their resurrection because in that Act both good and bad must be assembled before him at the same time and the wicked doubtlesse should then be raised as soone to see his comming as the just to meere and accompany him therein they that are Christs at his comming and therfore not the (w) Zech. 14. v. 5. 1 Thes 3. v. 13. ch 4. v. 14.15.16 2 Thes 1. v. 10. Martyrs onely Then commeth the end what presently after his comming no but when he hath delivered up the Kingdome to God even the Father and when shall that be when he shall have put downe all rule and all authority and power For he must reigne till He that is the Father hath put all his enemies under his feete which will be fully accomplished when the last enemy shall be destroyed which is death and when all things shall be thus subdu'd unto him then shall follow that inutterable glory that height of happinesse where the Sonne also himselfe shall be subject unto him that did before put all things under him that God may be all in all thus farre Saint Paul whose words doe clearly prove that the reigne of Christ as man of which alone we treat doth neither beginne before his comming nor extend it selfe beyond the death of death the last resurrection and therefore cannot without a palpable contradiction be taken for the time when he shall give up his Kingdome to his Father nor for the time that now is betwixt which and his Kingdome too our Saviour in my conceit hath put an irreconciliable distinction calling this the time not of a Kingdome but of temptation that is a time of persecution for righteousnesse sake a time wherein his Disciples must be delivered up to be afflicted kill'd and hated of all Nations for his name that thus fulfilling the rest of the afflictions of Christ for his bodies sake which is the Church they may at last wholly and together for shall not their bodies as well reigne with Christ as their soules but these we know are and shall be yet captives to the grave or are the Saints that shall be found alive at Christs comming exempted from his comming for if hee should reigne till then and then give up his Kingdome to his Father they are exempted but if as our Apostle shewes his reigne begin not till his comming then as the living shall at that time (x) 1 Thes 4. v. 15 16 17. together with the dead in Christ be caught up to meet him so the Saints shall then and till then they cannot wholly and altogether reigne with him I say together and at once be made partakers of their Masters Kingdome which as it appeares is not to be in Heaven and therefore must needs be held on earth where all things which our Saviour promised his Disciples may well be accomplished in a literall sense Of this Kingdome also speaks S. Peter in the 3. of the Acts at the 19. v. Repent yee therefore and be converted that your sinnes may be blotted out when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord he shall send Jesus Christ which before was preacht unto you (y) Luke 19. v. 11 12 c. whom the Heavens must receive untill the times of restitution of all things which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy (z) Rev. 10 v. 7. Prophets since the world beganne where if by the times of refreshing and the times of restitution of all things nought else can be meant but the Jewes inhabiting againe of their owne land and the bringing of all other Nations into subjection to them then it is evident that Christs comming at this time shall be to accomplish this thing to Israel and consequently to receive his appointed Kingdome but that those words can have no other meaning a small acquaintance with the Prophets will informe you who as they speake of nothing more so they have nothing which can be applied to our Saviours second comming as a comfortable effect so generally foreshewne but this And here we may call to mind too our Saviours words to James and John when they requested that one might sit on his right hand and the other on his left in his Kingdome To sit on my right hand and on my left said he is not mine to give but it shal be given to them for whom it is prepared of my Father Which saying as it doth shew that our Saviour had before acquainted the Apostles of his Kingdome so it intimates that his Kingdome is to be held on earth where onely this may be fulfilled for in Heaven it cannot be done unlesse we will grant that other men shall be as highly exalted there as our Saviour is to wit to the right hand of God which is a prerogative peculiar to the Sonne alone a preheminence I say which the chiefest of the Angels never enjoyed For to which of the Angels said hee at any time Sit on my right hand untill I make thine enemies thy footstoole Heb. 1. at the 13. vers And the same Apostles words in the second to Timothy and the 4. chap. may not be forgotten I charge thee saith he before God and the Lord Jesus Christ who shall judge the quicke and the dead at his appearing and his Kingdome For why should Christs appearing and his Kingdome be joyned together yea why should his Kingdome be added as the end of his appearing unlesse both were to contemporate unlesse his Kingdome were to beginne at his appearing and not before it And to my seeming that propheticall Image in the second of Dan. at the 31. vers which represented both the orderly succession and divers condition of all the then following Kingdomes of this world unto the Kingdome of Christ shadowed there unto us by the stone that was cut out without hands doth give good light to this of Saint Paul For in what manner those Kingdomes have succeeded each other in the like manner is the Kingdome of Christ to succeed them as appeares by the same phrase of speech which is attributed as well to the setting up of this Kingdome as to any of them to wit that it shall breake in pieces and consume all those Kingdomes Ver. 34 35 44.45 And therefore seeing these words are meant of a conquest and succession by force of armes in all the former Kingdomes how can they be
are to be renewed at our Saviours entrance into his Kingdome but they are not to passe away till the giving up thereof to God the Father at the last Judgement and so it stands â—â—â—me that these words imply no lesse then a perishing Which yet may further be establisht by three other undeny able testimonies One of the same A postle in the next Chap. at the 1. ver And I saw saith he a new Heaven and a new Earth for the first Heaven and the first Earth were passed away and there was no more Sea Which last clause expressely affirming an utter abolition of the Sea doth plainely informe us that by the flying and passing away of the first Earth which with the Sea makes but one globe is meant a substantiall perishing of it Another of Moses in the 8. chap. of Gen. at the 22. ver While the earth remaineth seed time and harvest and cold and heat and Summer and Winter and day and night shall not cease And therefore when seed time and harvest and Summer and Winter and day and night shall cease as it is most certaine they shall at the last judgement the earth it selfe must of necessity then cease also A third of Iob in his 26. Chap. at the 10. ver He hath compassed the waters with bounds untill the day Deut. 11. v. 21. and night come to an end Which words being compared with the precedent testimony wherein day and night are shewne to be of equall duration with seed time and harvest and with that of the 22. of the Rev. where it is said of the new Jerusalem and the Inhabitants thereof There shall he no night there and they need no candle neither light of the Sunne must needs be taken for a plaine and positive proose That the day and night shall come to an end and consequently that the Stars and so the sublunary creatures too whose generation and continuance doe more or lesse depend upon celestiall influences being all made onely for the use of man while he is to have his residence and abode on this earth shall at mankindes removall from hence together with this earth with which they were created be brought againe to nothing shall (a) Rom. 4. v. 13. Luk 19. v. 17.19 reigne on earth And this will appeare to a diligent eye even out of the controversed place in the 20. Chap. of the Rev. for besides that the opposition betwixt the first and the last Resurrection doth impose the same sense on both besides this I say the vision represented not unto Saint John perfect men at the first that is men that should be beheaded for the witnesse of Jesus but soules onely and that as of men already beheaded which most manifestly shewes that the Resurrection after mentioned did follow their death and not goe before it And therefore may not be taken spiritually for their regeneration for the renewing of their mindes which is to precede their persecution and may more probably be referred to the sealing of the Servants of God in their foreheads spoken of in the 7. Chap. but materially and properly for the quickning of their bodies when once the number of the persecuted is fulfilled whose consummation and glorious exaltation this vision did represent It is said also that they Lived and Reigned with Christ a thousand yeares But how can it be that they should reigne immediately after their resurrection or begin their reigne all at once or continue it but a thousand yeares which things these words imply if by their Resurrection should be understood their Regeneration and by their reigne their being in Heaven or if by the Word they lived should be meant onely they were converted how can they reigne so long as a thousand yeares seeing the place of their Reigne must be on earth for if they should be any where else how can they be encompast againe with war when the thousand yeares are expired as the 9. ver declares they shall and lastly the reigne of Christ doth not begin till Antichrist is destroyed so that a metaphoricall interpretation of the first resurrection would make good this Conclusion that most of the Saints shall rise many hundred yeares before their Reigne there being no lesse distance of time betwixt the houre of their calling and Antichrists confusion The assumption is grounded on the 15. ver of the 11. Chap. of the Rev. Which shewes that till the time of the seventh trumpet with the beginning whereof the last Viall doth concurre The Kingdomes of * The Kingdomes of this world It is not said the Kingdome of Heaven to wit of the third heaven the incorruptible habitaâ—ion of Saints and Angels or of another world I say of another in substance But the Kingdomes of this world that is this world which is now and shall till then be divided into many Kingdomes shall wholly become Christs and be made by him one Heavenly Kingdome a Kingdome in which men shall live after an Heavenly estate and condition a Kingdome in which Gods will shall be done on earth as it is in heaven for seeing that cannot possibly become any mans possession which doth utterly cease to be what other construction can be given of these words but this that the government of all the Kingdomes of the world is hereafter to be taken into Christs owne hands as he is man and indeed how else should they become his after such a manner as they are not now his if not by a subjection to his manhood for as he is God they were alwayes his and all will grant that this Scripture doth plainely foreshew a deposing of all the Kings of the earth at the accomplishment thereof A deposing of them I say in such a way that their Kingdomes may become the Kingdomes of our Lord and of his Christ Which cannot be by abolishing and dissolving the earth on which they must reigne but may and shall be by subduing and conquering them and the Kingdomes over which they must reigne this world doe not become the Kingdomes of our Lord and of his Christ And this also is intimated by the binding up of (b) Rev. 20 v. 1 2 3. Satan a thousand yeares with which the reigne of the Saints contemporates which vision as it is the next to that of the battle wherein the beast and false Prophet are taken so doubtlesse it shall not till then receive its accomplishment for seeing Antichrist is but the devils instrument we cannot imagine that his power shall outlast the devils liberty especially if we consider that while Satan is in hold there shall be a generall peace over all the World as the (c) Isa 2. v. 4. Mich. 4. v. 3 Prophets say expressely and as is here implyed in that as soone as he is loosed againe (d) Rev. 20. v. 7.8 presently he shall gather all the rest of the world to fight against the Saints but their malicious attempt shall finde no better successe then that of the beast
and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel 7. v. 14. the God of the whole earth shall he be called For the Lord hath called thee as a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit and a wife of youth when thou wast refused saith thy God For a small moment have I forsaken thee but with great mercies will I gather thee In a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment but with everlasting kindnesse will I have mercy on thee saith the Lord thy redeemer For this is as the waters of Noah unto mee for as I have sworne that the waters of Noah should no more goe over the earth so have I sworne that I would not bee wroth with thee nor rebuke thee For the mountaines shall depart and the hils shall be removed but my kindnesse shall not depart from thee neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed saith the Lord that hath mercy on thee Jer. 31. v. 15. c. Thus saith the Lord A voyce was heard in Ramah lamentation and bitter weeping Rahel weeping for her children refused to be comforted because they were not Thus saith the Lord Refraine thy voyce from weeping and thine eyes from teares for thy worke shall be rewarded saith the Lord and they shall come againe from the Land of the enemy And there is hope in the end saith the Lord that thy children shall come againe to their owne border 1 Chron. 16. v. 34.35 O give thankes unto the Lord for he is good for his mercy endureth for ever And say ye Save us O God of our salvation and gather us together and deliver us from the Heathen that we may give thankes to thy holy Name and glory in thy praise ISRAEL'S REDEMPTION OR THE PROPHETICALL HISTORY OF OVR SAVIOURS KINGDOME ON EARTH ACTS 1.6 They asked of him saying Lord Wilt thou at this time restore againe the Kingdome to Israel THat Christ is already (a) Matt. 1.20 21. Luk. 2.11 Joh. 1.29 30 c. come that as a Prophet hee hath (b) Matt. 4.17 Luk. 4.15 c. cald us to repentance and as a priest hath been a (c) Joh. 2.2 Heb. 2.17 Rom. 3.25 propitiation for our sinnes and not for ours onely but also for the sinnes of the whole world having by (d) Heb. 9.28 ch 10.14 Mark 8.31 Luk. 24.46 Joh. 10.15 Rev. 5.9 once offering himselfe perfected for ever them that are sanctified is the faith of Christians the infidelity of the Jews but that he shall come as a King to reigne on earth and restore againe the Monarchie of Israel is the faith of the Jewes and the infidelity of Christians And I thinke it a matter equally difficult to perswade either part to the mutuall imbracement of each others beleefe and yet with submission to impartiall judgements be it spoken I find not in the Scriptures more voyces for the one than for the other and therefore do verily beleeve that neither Tenet apart but both together do make up the full and (e) Rom. 8.23 ch 11.12.15 Eph. 1.14 ch 4. v. 30. Rev. 10.7 compleat mystery of our Redemption Which by Gods gracious assistance I shall to his owne glory and our Christian comfort clearely prove in the examination of the words now read unto you For they asked of him saying Lord wil thou at this time restore againe the Kingdome of Israel The words you see are a querie and such propositions imply three things 1 A person or persons proposing it 2 A matter or subject proposed 3 A person or persons to whom it is proposed The persons here are the Disciples asking the question and our Saviour answering them as the context declares the matter enquired of is the restauration of the captivated Soveraignty of the Jewes as the text it selfe doth informe us these are the parts yet because it would be impertinent in this businesse to speake any thing of the persons but onely as their joynt authority may helpe somewhat to justifie the truth of this proposall I shall omitting this division onely glance at them in the ensuing confirmation of the subject God shall set up a Kingdome ever all the earth which comprehends in it these two assertions 1 That the Kingdome of the Jewes shall againe be restored unto them 1 That the restored Jewes shall be the royall Nation of that renued world 2 That our Saviour at his comming shall restore it And first of the first that the Kingdome of the Jewes shall againe be restored unto them For they asked of him saying Lord wilt thou at this time restore againe the Kingdome to Israel So evidently do these words expresse an earthly kingdome I meane onely a Kingdome to be held on earth that no expositor which I have met with doth deny it and therefore seeing they could not but imbrace the sense mee thinkes they should not so rashly have rejected the consequence and that for these reasons First because the authors of this demand were not babes either in yeares or understanding but the Apostles themselves Men who had followed (f) Mat. â—â— 19. our Saviour from the very time that he manifested himselfe to the world by preaching and miracles and suffered not so much as a (g) Mat. 13.36 parable to escape their knowledge Mat. â— 17 men to whom (h) Act. 1.3 hee had shewed himself â—alive after his passion by many infalâ—ible pâ—oofes being â—â—eâ—â— of them forty dayes and speaking to them of the things pertaining unto the Kingdome of God And yet that these men should now at their last conference with him be mistaken in a matter of such importance as this is which concernes the purpose of God touching the whole Nation of the Jewes is as I beleeve and as I thinke you will all say a thing altogether unlikely and so it is too that all the Apostles should be of the same mind unlesse it had beene a truth formerly taught them and not as it is imagined an errour then newly vented by them A second reason which makes mee distast the censure here cast on our Apostles is because our Saviours answer is alleadged as a sufficient ground for it whereas it will appeare even to a weake judgement by that his answer the Apostles opinion is as much established as their curiositie is reprehended for they askt whether hee would at that time restore againe the Kingdome to Israel to which hee answered It is not for you to know the times and seasons which the Father hath put in his owne power as if hee should have said it is enough for you to know that such a thing shall be done and by whom but as for the time when it shall be done this the Father hath put in his owne power and therefore ought not to be enquired of by you nor to be revealed by me This is the whole meaning of the reply and now give you your verdict whether you find the Apostles hereby condemned for holding of an untruth
that is the Judge of Israel before spoken of that hee I say shall stand and feed or rule in the strength of the Lord in the Majesty of the Name of the Lord his God and they that is the Jewes shall abide for now that is at this comming of our Saviour hee shall bee not as when hee tooke our nature upon him of no (k) Isay 53. v. 2 3. forme nor comelinesse a man despised and rejected of men a man of sorrowes and acquainted with griefes but he shall be (l) Zech. 9.10 Psal 72.8 great unto the ends of the earth that is over all the world untill hee and his shall at the last judgement exchange the earthly Hierusalem the (m) Jer. 3. v. 17. ca. 14. v. 21. Throne of his Kingdome which is to be (n) Jer. 31.38 built againe by men for that imperiall Hierusalem not (o) 2 Cor. 5.1 made with hands eternall in the heavens Another Prophesie much like unto this is that of Amos in his 9. chap. at the 8. vers Behold the eyes of the Lord God are upon the sinfull Kingdome and I will destroy it from off the face of the earth saving that I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob saith the Lord for loe I will command and I will sift the house of Israel among all Nations like as corne is sifted in a sieve yet shall not the least graine fall upon the earth And at the 11. vers In that day will I raise up the Tabernacle of David that is fallen and close up the breaches thereof and I will raise up his ruines as in the dayes of old that they may possesse the remnant of Edom and of all the Heathen that are called by my Name saith the Lord that doth this I will bring againe the captivitie of my people Israel and they shall build the wast cities and inhabit them and they shall plant vineyards and drinke the wine thereof they shall also make gardens and eate the fruit of them and I will plant them upon their land and they shall no more be pulled up out of their land which I have given them saith the Lord God Now although this Prophesie tooke effect on the tenne Tribes at their transplantation began by (p) 1 Chro. 5. v. 6. 2 King 15. v. 29. Cap. 16.9 Tiglath-Pileser King of Assyria and ended by Shalmaneser his successour who also brought up strange Nations and placed them in their stead (q) 2 King 17. v. 5 6 24. cap. 18. v. 9 c. which people were from Samaria the ancient metropolis of that Province called (r) Joh. 4.9 Samaritanes yet who is able to maintaine that it was fulfilled on the other two for not the house of Joseph nor the house of Judah only but the house of Jacob wholly is here spoken of and why else is the Tabernacle of David afterwards exprest as a prime agent in the restauration if it were not before included as a succeding patient in the dispersion of Israel who then I say is able to maintaine that this Prophecie was fulfilled on Judah and Benjamin untill their overthrow by the Roman Emperour Vespasian ever since which time they also remaine forsaken scattered and despised captives yea who dares affirme it when God hath said that at their returne from this universall captivity †The usuall answer of a condititionall promise will take no hold on this or the like places of the Scripture for as God hath here past his word that hee will no more pull them up out of their land so in the 32. chap. of Jer. at the 39. 40. vers the 50. chap. at the 20 vers In the 36. of Ezek. at the 27. vers in the 37. at the 23. in the 39. at the 7. vers and in the 3. of Zeph. at the 13. vers All which Prophesies do in the time of their fulfilling concurre with this he hath likewise promised to give them one way and one heart that they may feare him for ever Never to turne away from them to do them good but to put his feare into their hearts that they shall not depart from him That the iniquity of Israel shall be sought for and there shall be none and the sinnes of Judah and they shall not be found That hee will put his spirit within them and cause them to walke in his statutes and to keepe his judgements and doe them That they shall defile themselves no more with their Idols nor with their detestable things not with any of their transgressions That he will make his holy name knowne in the midst of his people Israel and will not let them pollute his holy Name any more And that the remnant of Israel shall not doe iniquity nor speake lies neither shall a deceitfull tongue be found in their mouth And therefore God having thus equally engaged himselfe as well to keepe the Iewes from sinne as to free them from bondage it is as impossible that the accomplishment of this Prophesie should be frustrated and the fruition of these blessings forfeited for want of obedience as that God should either forget or not regard or be unable to fulfill his word and consequently the appointed time for the finishing of such Prophesies is yet to be expected hee will so plant them in their Land that they shall no * more be pulled up out of it which yet should not be true if it it had beene spoken of any deliverance before our Saviours comming to suffer The next Prophesie shall be that of Joel who mentions the very signes which our Saviour said should be the immediate fore-runners of the Jewes Redemption And it shall come to passe afterwards saith hee in his 2. chap. at the 28. vers that I will powre out my spirit upon all flesh and your sonnes and your daughters shall prophecie your old men shall dreame dreames and your young men shall see visions and also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those dayes will I powre out my spirit and I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth blood and fire and pillars of smoake the (Å¿) Isa 24.23 Mat. 24.29 Rev. 6 12. Sun shall be turned into darknesse and the Moone into blood before the (*) Great not onely in regard of the strangenesse and dreadfulnesse of events of things then to come to passe but great also in regard of the long continuance and tract of time which God in his revelations hereafter to be fulfilled doth by the word Day as well without this epithet as with iâ— frequenâ—ly import great and terrible (t) Eze. 39. vers 8. Malac. 4.5 Jude ver 6. Rev. 16.14 day of the Lord come And it shall come to passe that whosoever shall call on the Name of the Lord shall be delivered for in mount Zion and in Hierusalem shall be deliverance as the Lord hath said and in the remnant whom the Lord shall call And at the 3. chap. at
37. ver hath alledged them as the onely (z) Ioh. 12. v. 39. cause that our Saviours side was pierced of which fact doubtlesse there had beene no necessity if the Prophecy were not to be understood in a literall sense And to say with others that it was thus fulfilled in the Disciples who beheld our Saviours sufferings is not onely to rob the Prophecy of its right end but also to make the Disciples guilty of their Masters death For the Text saith expressely They shall looke upon me whom they have (a) Psal 22 v. 16. c. pierced Where also it followes And they shall (b) Mat. 24. v. 30. mourne for him as one that mourneth for his onely Son and shall be in bitternesse for him as one that is in bitternesse for his first borne In that day shall there be a great mourning in Jerusalem as the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Meggidon But who can at the same time earnestly bewaile that mans death whose punishment they themselves doe not onely procure but scoffe at As all that murdered Christ did at his And what comparison is there betwixt the griefe of a few fearefull and scattered Disciples for a day or two and the solemne mourning of all Judah and Jerusalem and that to every family apart and their wives apart As therefore this Prophecy doth concerne the Jewes onely and chiefely the Tribes that crucified their Saviour so doubtlesse it shall then receive its accomplishment when God at their generall conversion Zech. 12. v. 10. Shall powre upon them the Spirit of grace and supplications that so they may at once obtaine the forgivenesse of their sinnes and thus lament their forefathers malicious and cruell contrivance and their owne hereditary and wilfull approbation of the death of Christ who shall then descend unto them to restore their Kingdome and to raigne over all the earth as it is in the 14. Chap. of the same Prophet at the 5. and 9. verses 3. That the whole creation shall be restored to its originall perfection And thus much of the felicity of that remnant of the Nations which shall out-live the rest at the Jewes returne Now a word or two of the alteration of the sensitive and senselesse creatures at that time The Wolfe saith Isaiah in his 11. Chap. at the 6. ver shall dwell with the Lambe and the Leopard shall lie downe with the Kid And the Calfe and the yong Lion and the fatling together and a little child shall lead them And the Cow and the Beare shall feed their yong ones shall lye downe together and the Lyon shall eate straw (c) Gen. 1. v. 30. cha 6. v. 20 21. like the Oxe And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the Asse and the weaned Childe shall put his hand on the Cockatrice den They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountaine for the earth shall be (d) Hab. 2. v. 14. full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the Sea And in the 65. Chap. at the 25. ver The Wolfe and the Lambe shall feed together and the Lion shall eate straw like the Bullocke And dust (e) Gen. 3. v. 1â— shall be the Serpents meate They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy Mountaine saith the Lord. Where we may observe against such as understand by these expressions the effects of Preaching on the hearts of cruell-minded men that they are a part of those Prophecies which concerne the Jewes deliverance and therefore can have no relation to the calling of the Gentiles And besides is there no hurt nor destruction in all the Christian world that we should thus flatter our selves with such vaine fancies or rather when was there none or where is the Nation shall I say or the City yea the Village amongst us where cruelty is not practised where such mischiefes are not to be found as can scarcely be paralleled in the common wealths of the most barbarous Heathen And as for those words For the Earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord which seeme to have beene the occasion of the former interpretation in my conceit they imply but this that therefore God will restore to these creatures their primitive obedience and cause them to be no more offensive to his people because he hath determined to make himselfe at that time so well knowne over all the earth that his people shall no more offend him And so the feare of God shall at once be put againe into the hearts of men and the feare of men into the hearts of the creatures For the enmity of the creatures is but the issue of mans sinne and therefore when God shall pardon the House of Jacob and cleanse them from all their iniquities as hath beene said the sinnes of men which are the cause and the curse of the Creatures which is the effect shall depart together As then there can be no sufficient reason alledged for the allegoricall interpretation of these prophecies so if we beleeve Gods revelations touching the Jewes returne there can be no reason urged to the contrary that will force us to forsake the literall sense of them By which sense I am sure that passage of Saint Paul in the 8. Chap. of the Rom. at the 21. ver is so well explained that the great strife about the signification of the word Creature there may be soone decided and by which too the opinion of those who from that place would make the sensitive Creatures Co-partners with us of that glory which followes the last resurrection fals to the ground for is not the exchange of a ravenous disposition for a quiet and peaceable and the freedome from the abuse of sinne A delivery of the creature from the bondage of corruption and the (f) Dan. 7. v. 21 22. glorious liberty of the Sonnes of God what is it but the flourishing estate of the Jewes before spoken of under Christ their Head who accompanyed with all the Saints departed and then living shall come and receive dominion (g) Dan. 7. v. 14.27 ch 2 v. 44. Rev. 15. v. 4 ch 20. v. 4.6 and glory and a Kingdome that all People Nations and Languages may serve him as you shall heare anon Another Prophecy touching the renewed estate of the Creatures is to be seene in the 30. Chap. of Esay at the 23. ver Then shall he give the raine of thy seed that thou shalt sow the ground withall And bread of the increase of the Earth and it shall be fat and plenteous in that day shall thy cattle feed in lange pastures The Oxen likewise and the young Asses that eare the ground shall eate cleane Provender which hath beene winnowed with the shovell and with the Fanne and there shall be upon every high hill rivers and streames of waters in the day of the slaughter when the towers fall Moreover the light of the Moone shall be as the light
of the Sunne and the Light of the Sunne shall be sevenfold as the light of seven dayes in the day that the Lord (h) Mal. 3. v. 17 18. bindeth up the breach of his people and healeth the stroke of their wound But the great increase of the light of the Sunne and Moone here spoken of is in the 60. Chap. at the 19. ver plainely gainesaid the words are these The Sunne shall be no more thy light by day neither for brightnesse shall the Moone give light unto thee but the Lord shall be unto thee an everlasting light and thy God thy glory Where if it had been said That the Sunne should no more burne them by day nor the Moone by night as it is in the 121. Psal Or smite them as it is in the 49. of Esay at the 10. ver I could have sent you for an answer to the 4. chap. of the same Prophet at the 5. ver The Lord will create upon every dwelling place of Mount Zion and upon her assemblies a cloud and smoake by day and the shining of a flaming fire by night for upon all the glory shall be a defence And there shall be a Tabernacle for a shadow in the day from the beat and for a place of refuge and for a covert from storme and from raine But seeing it is said The Sunne shal be no more thy light by day These places will be better reconciled if we acknowledge that in the 60. Chap. there is a mixt rehearsall of those blessings which are proper onely to the Heavenly Jerusalem which as it is Rev. 21. ver 23. and chap. 22. ver 5. hath no need of the Sun neither of the Moone to shine in it with those which the Jewes shall receive at the restauration of their earthly Jerusalem for such a mixture of things which shall in their execution be many generations apart is very usuall with the Prophets And it is the more likely to be so here not onely because the words immediately following in both Prophecies are in sense all one for they shew the same reason wherefore the Sun and Moone should no more give light unto them but also because the happinesse which the Jewes shall then be made Heires of shall never againe be interrupted by any misery For the ransomed of the Lord shall returne and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads they shall obtaine joy and gladnesse and sorrow and sighing shall flee away Esay the 35. at the 10. ver And lest we should conceit that the judgement of the dead plainely described in the 20. Chap. of the Rev. shall either suspend Ver. 11 12. c. ver 2. or disturbe this joy Saint Paul in the 1. to the Cor. and the 6. Chap. hath told us that The Saints shall judge * These first words may not unfitly be referred also to the time of the Saints reign on earth for it is their priviledge at their entrance into their Kingdome and throughout the whole space of their reign To judge the World that is all Nations of the Gentiles with the judgement of government and reformation with the exercise of a civill and temporall power over them as in the prophecies of the Gentiles subjection unto them it may plainely be seene And it is their priviledge at the â—aâ—â— resurrection To judge the world and the Devill that is all evill as well Angels as men by a joynt approbation of their finall and perfect condemnation of the full accomplishment I say of their eternall reprobation the world that is the wicked men that have beene their oppressors ver 3. and judge the Angels that is the evil spirits that have been their tempters And therefore shall not be thrust downe to the bar amongst them but advanced to the bench against them An addition doubtlesse to their happinesse and no abatement of it And this is as much as I need say though not above halfe that the Prophets say concerning the Kingdome in the Text. I will therefore shut up all with that solemne Protestation of God in the 31. of Jer. at the 35. ver Thus saith the Lord which giveth the Sun for a light by day and the Ordinances of the Moone and of the Starres for a light by night which divideth the sea when the waves thereof roare the Lord of Hoasts is his Name If those Ordinances (i) Ier. 33. v. 20.25 depart from before me saith the Lord then shall the seed of Israel also cease from being a Nation before mee for ever Thus saith the Lord If Heaven above can be measured and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath I will also cast off all the seed of Israel for all that they have done saith the Lord. And with that humble complaint of Israel whom God in the 7. of Micah at the 8. ver makes to prophecy thus of her selfe Rejoyce not against me O mine enemy when I fall I shall rise when I sit in darknesse the Lord will be a light unto me I will beare the indignation of the Lord because I have sinned against him untill be plead my cause and execute judgement for me He will bring me forth to the light and I shall behold his righteousnesse And so I passe from the thing to be restored which is the Kingdome of Israel to the Person by whom it is to be restored which is Christ the Lord at his next appearing For they asked of him saying Lord wilt thou at this time restore againe the Kingdome to Israel That our Mediatour hath undergone the offices of a Priest and Prophet the Gospel is our witnesse That Christ shall reigne on earth proved 1. By consequence Isa 14. v. 1 2 3. but considering that the Jewes are yet to receive a Kingdome a Kingdome in which they shall bold them captives whose captives they are and in which peace and righteousnesse shall flourish on the earth considering this I say we may justly doubt whether our Saviour hath as yet executed the office of a King and so much the rather because he tooke our nature on him as well to performe his kingly office therein amongst us as either his priestly or propheticall the glory of this being indeed the reward of that contempt and torment which he suffered in the others and though it cannot be denied that he hath already (k) Col. 2. v. 15. spoyled principalities and powers that is the evill spirits and hath made a shew of them openly triumphing over them in his crosse nor that he is (l) Eph. 4. v. 8. ascended up on high and hath led captivity captive and given gifts unto men nor that he is become the (m) Col. 2. v. 10. Head of all principality and power that is of the Saints and holy Angels and is set (n) Heb. 1. v. 3. ch 8. v. 1 ch 10. v. 12. ch 12. v. 2. downe at the right hand of the Throne of God so that he
is (o) Phil. 3. v. 21. able even to subdue all things unto himselfe Yet that he doth not now reigne in that Kingdome which he shall governe as man and consequently in that of which the Prophets speake his owne words in the third of the Revel at the 21. vers doe clearely prove To him that overcommeth saith he will I grant to sit with me in my Throne even as I also overcame and am set downe with my Father in His Throne from whence it followes that the Throne which here he cals his owne and which he hath not (p) Heb. 2. v 8. ch 10. v. 12.13 yet receiv'd must needs belong unto him as man because the place where he now sits is the Fathers Throne a Throne in which he hath no proper interest but as God Againe it followes that seeing he is now in his Fathers Throne therefore neither is this the time nor that the place in which his Throne is to be erected not the place for in one Kingdome there can be but one Throne and not the time for then he should sit in his own Throne which now he doth not doe and the reason of it as is intimated in the first words is because the time in which all that shall overcome are to be call'd is not yet at an end and this also the answer which was made to the soules under the Altar who cried for vengeance against their persecutors doth fully confirme for it was said unto them that they should rest yet for a little season untill their fellow servants also and their brethren that should be killed as they were should be fulfilled Rev. the 6. and the 11. vers and when this is done (q) Rev. 11 v. 15 17. then shall Christ sit in his owne Throne and they that overcome shall sit with him for he that overcommeth and keepeth my words unto the end to him saith he will I give power over Nations and he shall rule them with a rod of iron as the vessels of a Potter shall they be broken to shivers even as I received of my Father Rev. 2. at the 26. vers The like encouragement he gave also to his Disciples before his passion Yee are they said he which have continued with me in my temptations therefore I appoint unto you a Kingdome as my Father hath appointed unto me that ye may (r) Mat. 26. v. 29. Mar. 14. v. 25. Luke 14. v. 15. ch 22. v. 16.18 c. 24. v. 42.43 Act. 10. v. 41. eate and drinke at my table in my (s) Dan. 2. v. 44. ch 7. v. 14.27 Kingdome and sit on (t) Dan. 7. v. 22. Rev. 20. v. 4. seates judging the Twelve Tribes of Israel Luke the 22. at the 28. vers I know these words are taken by interpreters for a metaphoricall expression of those joyes which we shall receive in * In Heaven where the holy Ierusalem is that Rev. 21. v. 10 great City distinguished from the City described to Ezek. 40. v. 2. c. ch 45. v. 1.2 3 4 5 6 7. Ezekiel which I take to be the modell and platforme of the City that is to be built at the Iewes Redemption by these and many more differences First because the Heb. 11. v. 10. builder and maker of the one is God but the other Ier. 31. v. 38. Ezek. ch 40. c. men shall build Secondly the materials of Ierusalem which is above are all Rev. 21. v. 18.19 20 21. gold and precious stones But the Ezek. 41. v. 16.17 21. c. materials of that other Ierusalem shall not be such Thirdly in this City there is Rev. 21. v. 22. no Temple for the Lord God Almighty and the Lambe are the Temple of it But that City shall have Ezek. 40.41 c. a Temple Fourthly the river of Rev. 22. v. 1. water of life proceedeth out of the Throne of God and of the Lambe But in that City Ezek. 47. v. 1. c. waters not the river of life though endued with healthfull Ezek. 47. v. 9.12 nourishing qualities because of the place whence they are to proceed shall issue from under the threshold of the Temple for the forefront of the house shall stand towards the East and the waters shall come downe from under the right side of the house at the South side of the Altar Fifthly in this City the tree of life Rev. 22. v. 2. onely growes on either side of the river and beares twelve manner of fruits monthly But by the river that shall issue out of the Sanctuary of that City shall grow Ezek. 47. v. 12. all trees for meat Sixthty in this City there is Rev. 22. v. 5 ch 21. v. 23.25 no night they need no candle nor light of the Sunne for the Lord God giveth them light and the Lambe is the light thereof But in that City there shall be Esa 30. v. 26. ch 60. v. 11. night and the light of the Sunne shall then be sevenfold Seventhly this City shall Rev. 21. v. 1.2 descend to the new earth with which there shall be no sea created But the waters which shall come from that City shall goe into the Ezek. 47. v. 8. sea and being brought forth into the sea the waters shall be healed c. and therefore that City is to be built before the annihilation of the first earth with which there is a sea Heaven but it is a currant axiom in our Schooles non esse à literâ seu propriâ Scripturae significatione recedendum nisi evidens aliqua necessitas cogat Scripturae veritas in ipsâ literâ periclitari videtur that wee must not forsake the literall and proper sense of the Scripture unlesse an evident necessity doth require it or the truth thereof would be endangered by it and I am sure here is no such cause for which we should leave the naturall interpretation of the place yea we are by many other passages in the Scriptures rather compel'd to sticke to it for besides that there is little analogy and resemblance betwixt a perpetuall (v) Rev. 22. v. 3. praising and worshipping of God and the businesse of a politicke government here spoken of besides this I say we are already inform'd that though our Saviour be now in Heaven yet he sits not there in his owne Throne and consequently is not yet in the Kingdome which the Father hath appointed him And as it is evident from his owne words that the Throne of his Kingdome is not now in Heaven so it is plaine from Saint Pauls in the first to the Cor. the 15. chap. at the 22. vers that it shall not bee there after the judgement of the dead his words are these As in Adam all die even so in Christ shall all be made alive But every man in his owne order Christ the first-fruits afterwards * They that are Christs if there were not to be some distance of time betwixt the resurrection of these and other men
is requisite that he be on earth whither these messengers may descend unto him and from whence againe they may ascend Which argues too his continuance here for a greater space of time then the judgement of the dead requires And although it be said that Christ shall reigne over the house of Jacob for ever and that of his Kingdome there shall be no end Yet it is not meant that he shall alwayes reigne as man or that the earthly Jerusalem the place of his Throne as man shall alwayes stand But this only is meant that the Kingdome of the Saints which Christ as he is man shall governe a (v) Isa 65. v. 22. long time on earth shall after the judgement of the dead at which time this Heaven and earth shall passe away be delivered up to God even the Father in the new Jerusalem where it shall ever remaine and where God shall be all in all yet so that Christ too as man shall still retaine the dignity and preheminence of a King a Priest and Prophet though he shall have no need to make use of either office And thus a late and learned (w) Master Downe on the 17. ch of Saint Ioh. p. 157. of his Treatises pub 1633. Divine of ours doth reconcile the former words of Saint Luke in his first chap. at the 33. vers with that of Saint Paul in the first to the Cor. the 15. chap. at the 24. and 28. vers We are to know saith he that the Kingdome of Christ containeth in it two things The Mediatory function of his Kingly office And his Kingly Glory That hee shall lay aside for then to wit after the judgement of the dead there will be no farther necessity nor use thereof But this he shall hold for ever as being by the acts of his Mediation justly acquired and according to covenant bestowed upon him by his Father And furthermore it may be observed that the words For (x) Ps 72. v. 17. Ps 89. v. 28 29 36 37. Ps 145. v. 13. Isa 32. v. 14 15. Ch. 60. v. 15 Ezek. 37. v. 25. ever Evermore Everlasting are in the Scriptures often joyned with and put for these and the like sayings Thorow all or many generations thorow al ages or as long as the Sun and Moone endure And therefore can conclud no more but this that Christs reign as man shall continue as long as there shall be men to succeed each other on the earth or as long as this Heaven and earth shall last that is untill the time which God hath foreordained for the judgement of the dead When the Heavens that are now shall (y) Rev. 20. v. 11. ch 21. v. 1. passe away with a noyse and the elements shall melt with fervent heat the earth also and the workes that are therein shall be burnt up the 2. of Saint Peter the 3. chap. at the 10. vers And to this purpose when the Prophet Daniel had said his Dominion is an everlasting Dominion which shall not passe away he addes presently by way of exposition and his Kingdome that which shall not be destroyed And in another place more plainely The Kingdome shall not be left to other people Cha. 2. v. 44 So that when the Prophets say that Christ shall reigne for ever and that his Kingdome shall stand for ever or be an everlasting Kingdome it is all one as if they had told us onely That neither Christ nor his Kingdome shall have any successours that no Son of Man shall succeed him in his Throne that no humane Kingdome shall be set up in the place of his Kingdome as his shall be in the place of the foure Monarchies but that in spight of all opposition both of men and devils his dominion shall endure untill the upshot and period of all temporall and humane government that is untill the last resurrection when with a Venite benedicti he shall give up the number of the Electfull and whole as we say unto God himselfe That the restauration of Ierusalem and the first resurrection shall concurre You see againe that when our Saviour comes to reigne over all the earth he comes not alone but brings all the Saints with him Which words as they doe establish the literall sense of the (z) Luk. 14. v. 14. ch 20. v. 35 36. Ioh. 6. v. 39 40.44 45. Philip. 3. v. 11. 1 Thes 3. v. 13. ch 4. v. 14. c. Ezek. 37. v. 12 13. first Resurrection mentioned in the 20. Chap. of the Rev. So they make the Kingdome of Israel and the thousand yeares reigne of the Saints there spoken of to sunchronize and meete together for why shall the Saints come with him but because they have a share in this Kingdome and are to be his assistants in it as he told his Disciples and as the Elders in the 5. Chap. of the Rev. at the 10. ver said in the hearing of Saint John Thou hast made us unto our God Kings and Priests and we * Sanctorum super terram regia dignitas auctoritas in hoc mundi statu unlla est Sed exilium perpetuae calamitates ac persecutiones quas a tyrannis mundi â—ujus regilus patiuntur De alâ—ero igitur mundi statu hoc accipiendum Qued si vero super terram regnalunt Sancti utique ea non abo lebitur vel annihi labitur in id enim quod non est creaturae dominium non est Eodem videtur Christus respexisse Mat. 5. v. 5. Est hoc observandum quod Sancti aiunt regnabimus non regnamus Quo digitum intendunt ad alterum seculum Nam ne Sancti quidem in coelo constituit jam regnant super terram quia cum patientia adhuc expectant liberanonem fratrum quam accelerare non possunt Apoc. 6. v. 10 11. They are the words of Mar. Frid. Wendelinus page 429.430 of the 21 ch of the 2. Sect. of his naturall contemplations urged in desence of an accidentall change of the world against the essentiall abolition of it Both which Tenets are as I thinke very true if referred to their proper seasons If shunning both the improvident consounding and pernicious wresting of Scripture we asâ—â—me a marveilous renovation of this heaven and earth at the beginning of our Saviours Kingdome and a creation of nâ—w at the end thereof that is at the last Judgement when as it is in the 20. of the Rev. and the 11. ver This Heaven and Earth shall flye away and no place be found for them And if they shall have place no more then surely they can have being no longer for place is an inseparable affection of their being And consequently this Scripture proves an absolute annibilation of the first world Which I suppose no man will deny if he doth observe when this passing away of the first Heaven and Earth is to be accomplisht to wit above a thousand yeares after the renewing of them For they
the false Prophet and the Kings of the earth their predecessours had done at the beginning of the thousand yeares (e) Ver. 9. For fire shall come downe from God our of heaven and devoure them Now against this which hath beene said touching our Saviours Kingdome The chiefe doubts resolved his owne words in the 18. of Saint John at the 35. ver may be objected For there he saith plainely My Kingdome is not of this World And in the 25. of Matth. at the 31. ver he saith When the Sonne 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 a Shepherd divideth the sheepe from the Goates With which agreeth that of Saint Peter in his 2. Ep. 3. Chap. and 7. ver But the Heavens and earth which are now by the same word are kept in store reserved unto fire against the day of Judgement and perdition of ungodly men And many other places there are of the like nature But to the first I answer that those words of our Saviour do onely distinguish the time and condition of his Kingdome from the time and condition of the Kingdomes of this world at the setting up of whose Kingdome there shall be such an * Neo enim dubium quin maxima rerum naturalium humanarum mutatio regni hujus auspicia sit antecessura Antichristus enim cum to ta sua Synagoga abolebitur extingue tur hominum pars maxima gentilibus non nisi paucis relictis qui in posteris suis non extra sed intra regnum hoc mille annis supererunt ut prophetiae supra memoratae cum aliis in Scriptura passim occurrentibus abunde testantur sub decursum vero mille annorum mirum in modum aucti a Satana e carcere suo soluto iterum seducti Sanctorum castra oppugnabunt sed incassum Nec dubium est quin rerum quoque naturalium quae regni hujus incolis ministrabunt longe alia sit futura facies quam impraesentiarum est siquidem beatissimum tranquillissimum erit regni istius seculum omnis 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 quae in natura modo decurrit expers Mar. Frid. Wend. Contemp. phys Sect. 2. cap. 17. p. 375 376. alteration over the whole frame of (f) Psa 46 Isa 2. v. 12.19.21 chap. 11. v. 6. c. chap. 30. v. 25 26. chap. 41. v. 18 19. chap. 55. v. 13. Ezek. 38. v. 19 20. Matth. 24. v. 29 30. Mark 13. v. 24 25. Luk 21. v. 25 26. Rev. 6. v. 12 13 c. chap. 16. v. 18 19. c. nature and such a change of government on the Earth that this time shall then as well be accounted the time of an other world as the time before the Flood is now taken for the old world by us and was long agoe so stiled by Saint Peter in his 2. Ep. 2. Chap. at the 5. ver and 3. Chap. at the 6. ver And therefore notwithstanding this proofe the place of his Kingdome shall be the earth that now is though this be not the time nor any humane policy the patterne of his reigne And to all such places that mention onely the dissolution of the elements and the last judgement I answer that these are but a part of those things which shall be done by Christ at his next appearing and that as other Scriptures shew onely that he must reigne on earth and what shall be done at the beginning of his reigne so these shew onely what shall be left undone till the close of his Kingdome when he shall deliver it up to God even the Father And in my conceit Saint Peter in the very next verse doth intimate as much for having before used the word Day he warnes them not to be ignorant of this one thing that One day is with the Lord as a thousand yeares and a thousand yeares as one Day As if he had told them that the Day he spake of was indeed a thousand yeares The Holy Ghost alwayes using it in this sense when it is emphatically applyed to our Saviours comming or the Jewes Redemption which as is already proved shall happen at the same time And though God as he is eternall cannot be measured by time And as he is immutable feeles no alteration in time a thousand yea ten thousand times ten thousand yeares and one day houre or minute of a day being in this respect all one to him yet this shift cannot voyd the exposition already given seeing the apparent dependance of these words on the former doth clearely prove that Saint Peter intended not to shew what a thousand yeares and one day were to God in regard of his nature which it is like they knew before but onely what is usually meant by one day in the Word of God And indeed to what purpose had this sudden and serious advertisement beene inferred if the Apostle did not hereby discover unto them besides the largest definite and limited acception of the word such a speciall relation of a thousand yeares to one day as could not belong to any other number when as touching Gods immensity and immutability one day might as well have beene compared with ten thousand times ten thousand and thousands of thousands as I said as with one thousand yeares Thâ—â—◠〈◊〉 being so I see not but that Gods fore-appointment of a thousand yeares continuance to the world for * Sicuâ—e septenis annis septimus quisque Anâ—us â—emissâ—â—is esâ—â—itaâ—e sepâ—eâ— milli bus aâ—â—oâ—um mundâ— septimus miâ—â—enari◠〈◊〉 enari◠〈◊〉 â—issionâ—â— eâ—it R. Ketiâ—â— viâ— Com. Aâ—oâ—a part 2 p. 28â— each severall day of its first weeke the weeke of its creation might in all likelihood be the ground of this propheticall sense of the word wherein it was afterwards delivered by the infallible penmen of holy Writ To this also may be added that in the 24. of Saint Mat. at the 31. ver which shewes that when the Sonne of man descends He shall send his Angels with a great sound of a trumpet and they shall gather together his Elect from the foure winds from one end of the Heaven to the other At which time Two shall he in the field the one shall be taken and the other left Two Women shall be grinding at the Mill the one shall be taken and the other left And as Saint Luke records Two men shall be in one hed ch 17. v. 34 the one shall be taken and the other left But if our Saviour at his comming shall presently give sentence on all that are not written in the booke of life if he shall make no stay on earth before he undertake this businesse then why shall the elect onely be gathered together and the rest left behinde seeing that great Assise is to be held chiefely for the condemnation of ungodly
revealing of the same person let us rather say that as at Christs first comming they were proclaimed before him by most Jewes that were present to shew that he was their promised King so at his next appearing they shall be proclaimed before him by all that are present to shew that he is come into his promised (i) Mark 11 v. 10. Luk. 19. v. 11 15. ch 23. v. 42. 2 Tim. 4. v. 1 Kingdome Quest 2 A second Querie bids us looke How it can be proved that by Armageddon in the third Parallel some place in Judea is implyed Answ In Answer whereunto I alledge FIrst that for ought I perceive the copious resolution of the former doubt doth immoveably fasten the interpretation of the Kings of the East upon the Jewes onely And if this may passe for a currant truth I see not what argument can be brought which may induce us to mistrust that the place in which the Armies of the Kings of the earth and of the whole world shall meet and sit downe against them should be in any other Country but that whither the Jewes are to returne And whither both Ezekiel and Joel doe plainely shew that all the opposite Kings shall at once come up to battell Secondly I say that seeing the Holy Ghost hath here made choyce to name the place of these Kings randevouz by an Hebrew word rather then by a word of any other tongue therefore it is very probable that hereby is understood a part of that Countrey which whatsoever we account of it is the proper (k) Gen 48. v. 21. Levit. 26. v. 32 33 34 35. Ezek. 20. v. 42. ch 28. v. 25. ch 34. v. 13. ch 36. v. 12. ch 37. v. 12. Ioel. 3. v. 2. inheritance of that people whose language the Hebrew is Of whom some few doe yet all have and shall (l) Zeph. 3. v. 9. againe make use of it Thirdly and lastly I answer that in the latter part of the 19. Chap. of the Rev. it is manifestly foretold that the great Army which is to be gathered into Armageddon shall be destroyed by our Saviour himselfe at his comming now as it is altogether unlikely that our Saviour shall descend to any other Country or people but to that in which and of which he was borne and in which and amongst which he lived and dyed So in the 4. and 5. ver of the 14. Chap. of Zechariah it is not obscurely revealed that he shall descend to that very Mount from which he did (m) Act. 1. v. 12. ascend and from which he (n) Luk 19. v. 35 37. rode to Jerusalem when they proclaimed him King And consequently Armageddon is to be a place not onely in Jury but also neere unto Jerusalem Object And yet although the foresaid prophecies of Saint John and Zechar. doe expressely shew the comming of our Saviour to be at the time of a baâ—tell and though the treading of the winepresse in the 14. Chap. of the Rev. doth plainely intimate as much (o) Rev 19. v. 15. Isa 63 v. 1 2 3 c And that no lesse perhaps is aymed at in the 1 to the Thess and the fourth Chapter where it is said That the Lord himselfe shall descend from Heaven with a (p) Exod. 32. v. 17. â— Sam. 17. v. 20.52 2 Chro. 13. v 15. Iob 39. v. 25. Shout c. the usuall token of armies entring into battell Notwithstanding all this evidence I say we are told (q) Doctor Maior on the cath ep p. 515. That when the great Day of the Lords descend shall come there is to be a generall security (r) Mat. 24. v. 38. c. Luk. 17. v. 26 c. Answ Eating and drinking marrying and giving in marriage And not warring and fighting For if an end of these warres should be made by the Lords comming how should the faithfull have time here to rejoyce and to give thankes unto God for their greatest enemies overthrow But unto the Scripture proofe I answer That if the naturall and in some sort necessary actions of marrying and giving in marriage and of eating and drinking or of festivall eating and drinking which also is in it selfe commendable if the accustomed continuance and observation of such actions shall be a sufficient witnesse to convince the world of its unmindfulnesse and unbeliefe of our Saviours approach when as there shall be very considerable tokens and perhaps too Sicut in diebus Noah a downe right (s) 1 Pet. 3. v. 19 20. 2 Pet. 2. v. 5 warning thereof then much more shall the inhumane enterprises and mercilesse events of warring and fighting declare such a security Secondly I say that though our Saviour did instance onely in eating and drinking in marrying and giving in marriage yet it followes not from hence that there shall be no warring and fighting then For wofull experience teacheth us that all these foresaid actions are not onely at this day in the world together but in many particular Kingdomes thereof Neither hath such a generall peace been often heard of in which no Nations of the world have beene at oddes And thirdly I say that we are to consider what warre is to be at our Saviours appearing not a warre in which the enemies of the Lord shall fight one against another not a warre in which particular States and Kingdomes shall upon divers occasions bid defiance to each other but a warre in which the (t) Rev. 16. v. 13.14 Psal 118. v. 10 11 12. Isa 59. v. 16 17 c. ch 63 v 4.5.6 Mic. 4. v. 12 13. Dragon Beast and false Prophet the Kings of the earth and of the whole world shall be all confederate against the Jewes onely And as such a confederacy shall be a meanes of multiplying marriages and consequently of the more liberall and immoderate eating and drinking So such an unequall warre shall breed the stronger hopes in these Princes of obtaining their designes and consequently the greater security But when they shall say (u) 2 Thess 5. v. 3 Peace and safety when they shall say (w) Psa 83 v. 4. Come and let us cut them off from being a Nation that the Name of Israel may be no more had in remembrance then (x) Luk. 21. v. 35. sudden destruction shall come upon them as upon a woman in travaile and they shall not escape Then shall our (y) 2 Thes 1 v. 7.8 Lord Jesus be revealed from Heaven with his mighty Angels and in flaming fire take vengeance on them And their (z) Rev. 11 v. 15. Kingdomes shall become the Kingdomes of our Lord and of his Christ Next therefore to this Authours Querie I answer first that it is altogether contradictory to the foresaid Text of Scripture For if at our Saviours appearing men shall be found eating and drinking marrying and giving in marriage out of a carnall security out of an opinion that That Day is either (a) 2 Pet. 3. v. 3.4