is the Covenant set down that the Lord will make with the House of Israel in Ver. 31,33 After those days saith the Lord I will put my Law in their inward parts and write it in their hearts and I will be their God and they shall be my people v. 34. And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour and every man his brother saying know ye the Lord For they shall all know me from the least of them unto the greatest of them saith the Lord For I will forgive their iniquity and will remember their sins no more v. 35. Thus saith the Lord which giveth the Sun for a light by day and the Ordinances of the Moon and of the Stars for a light by night which divideth the Sea when the waves thereof roar the Lord of Hosts is his Name V. 36. If those Ordinances depart from before me saith the Lord then the Seed of Israel also shall cease from being a Nation before me for ever V. 37. Thus saith the Lord if Heaven ahove 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. V. 38. Behold the days come saith the Lord and the City shall be built to the Lord from the Tower of Hananiel unto the gate of the Corner V. 40. And the whole valley of the dead Bodies and the Ashes and all the Fields unto the Brook Kidron unto the corner of the Horse-Gate toward the East shall be holy unto the Lord it shall not be plucks up nor thrown down any more for ever Now whereas the Lord saith behold the days come that the City shall be built Now the Lord does not here say the day is come but the days come by which the Lord comprehends the days of two thousand years or thereabouts and then their City shall be built for it is said a thousand year is with the Lord as one day and therefore the Lord speaking in many places of things that are to come as tho they were present Of which Divine Duhartus speaking of God saith that his mighty Voice speaks in the midst of thunder causing the Rocks to Rock and Hills to Tear calling the things that are not as tho they were Now what is spoken of this City of certain is not ment of that which was built at the return out of the Babilonian Captivity First That the dimentions of it is far larger than ever Jerusalem was yet built Secondly That this Jerusalem shall be called Holy unto the Lord. Thirdly It shall not be pluckt up nor thrown down any more for ever And therefore it is to be rebuilt at the restitution of all things At which time all these wonderful promises shall be made good to Israel And the Lord also saith in Jerem. 32.37 Behold I will gather them out of all countries whither I have driven them in mine anger and in my fury and in great wrath and I will bring them again into this place and cause them to dwell safely 38. And they shall be my people and I will be their God 39. And I will give them one heart and one way that they may fear me for ever for the good of them and of their Children after them 40. And I will make an everlasting covenant with them that I will not turn away from them to do them good but I will put my fear into their hearts that they shall not depart from me 41. Yea I will rejoice over them to do them good and I will plant them in this Land assuredly with my whole heart and with my whole Soul Jer. 33.14 Behold the days come saith the Lord that I will perform that good thing which I have promised unto the house of Israel and to the house of Judah 15. In those days and at that time I will cause the branch of righteousness to grow up unto David and he shall execute Judgment and righteousness in the Land 16. In those days shall Judah be saved and Jerusalem shall dwell safely Here you see in those forementioned verses is contained Gods everlasting covenant with Israel after they are again re-establish'd they shall never more be cast off Whereby we see they stand with greater security then our first parents did in paradice And therefore the making good of these promises must be at the restitution of all things At which time they shall teach no more every man his neighbour and his brother but that they then shall be all taught of God from the least of them to the greatest of them And God also tells them in Isa 60.21 Thy people shall be all righteous They shall inherit the Land for ever the branch of my planting the work of my hands that I may be glorified 22. A little one shall become a thousand and a small one a strong Nation I the Lord will hasten it in its time And it is said in v. 14. of the same Chap. The Sons also of them that afflicted thee shall come bending unto thee and all they that despise thee shall bow themselves down at the Soles of thy Feet and they shall call thee the City of the Lord the Sion of the holy one of Israel Now whereas God saith in Isa 4.5 And it shall come to pass that he that is left in Sion and he that remaineth in Jerusalem shall be called holy even every one that is written among the living in Jerusalem Now by these words it does appear to have its meaning at the coming of the Lord that those that then are found written among the living shall there continue alive and remain in Jerusalem the which will be as it is inhabited with several sorts of people And the words that are in the following verse makes it so out where 't is said v. 4. When the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughter of Sion and shall have purged the blood of Jerusalem from the midst thereof by the Spirit of Judgment and by the Spirit of burning v. 5. And the Lord will create upon every dwelling place of Mount Sion and upon all her assemblies a cloud and smoke by day and the shining of a flaming fire by night for upon all the glory shall be a defence v. 6. And there shall be a Tabernacle for a shadow in the the day time from the heat and for a place of refuge and for a covert from the storm and from the rain By these following words you see that Jerusalem was not then purged from her filthiness when the Lord said they should be called holy that were written among the living in Jerusalem And also there may then be some Achan in the Camp of Judah the which may be taken off before they come to their glorious settlement as never to be cast out of the favour of God any more over whom God hath promis'd there should be this glory that is before mention'd a Tabernacle
there committed and in that it is termed Egypt is because Egypt was the place where the Children of Israel was so cruelly oppressed and in that it is termed the place where the Lord was Crucified is not only because he was Crucified by the Roman Power but their daily Crucifying of him in that they say it is the real Body and Blood of our Lord that they continually distribute amongst themselves So this Edom is not the real Land of Esau but the figurative one for as I before shewed you that the real Land of Esau is to be inhabited by them of the South but these figurative ones made a desolation And why it is said for their violence against the Children of Judah Now it was the real Egypt an Idumea which did most afflict the Natural Seed of Jacob. Now it is evident that the true Christians that are taken in to be of the Seed of Abraham must come in through Crist who is of the Tribe of Judah And it is these of Judah also that this Egypt Idumea and Babylon have been the Afflictors and Murderers of And the Prophet Joel saith in Joel 3.10,21 But Judah shall dwell for ever and Jerusalem from Generation to Generation V. 21. For I will cleanse their blood that I have not cleansed for the Lord dwelleth in Sion Then shall Jerusalem be rebuilt and continue from Generation to Generation by which we see in this glorious time there will be Marrying and giving in Marriage by the continuance of Generations here spoken of And then the Lord at that time when he comes again will cleanse their Blood which he hath not cleansed at which time the Lord will dwell in Sion which Sion may be comprehended under at wofold meaning as the glorious Tabernacle where he will dwell from which he will descend to the real Mount Sion And at that time will the Lord make the place of the Soles of his Feet glorious as it is said Isa 60.13 And then it is that the Promise will be made good to Abraham That in thee and thy Seed all the Families of the Earth shall be called blessed Now they are not so but at that time it will be so Now whereas the Lord in the same chap. of Joel speaketh of the Enemies of the Children of Judah and the Children of Jerusalem that they sold them to the Grecians that they might remove them far from their Borders The Lord saith of the Enemies of Judah in V. 8. I will sell your Sons and your Daughters into the Hands of the Children of Judah and they shall sell them to the Sabeans to a people far off for the Lord hath spoken it Now the Sabeans are of Sheba the which People is foretold of by the Prophet from the Lord Isa 60.6 That they should find Mercy at that time when Israel is again restored Now these that have been the Oppressors of Judah although they themselves that are left unconverted till the coming of the Lord are to be destroyed yet their Children we here see are not to be cut off with their Parents but are said that then they should be sold to be Servants to a People whom the Lord will then receive into Mercy Now these are to be servants to them that are servants to Israel for God saith in Isa 6.12 The Nation and Kingdom that will not serve thee shall perish yea those Nations shall be utterly wasted And the Lord saith in Zeph. 3.7 I said surely thou wilt fear me Thou wilt receive instruction so their dwellings should be cut off howsoever I punished them but they rose early and corrupted all their doings Here we see God had not forsaken Israel if they had not first forsaken him and therefore now they must wait until it is his time to be gracious unto them as in v. 8. of the before-mentioned Chapter Therefore wait ye upon me saith the Lord until the day that I rise up to the prey for my determination is to gather the Nations that I may assemble the Kingdoms to pour upon them mine indignation even all my fierce Anger for all the Earth shall be devoured with the Fire of my jealousie 9. For then will I turn to the People a pure language that they may all call upon the Name of the Lord to serve him with one consent 10. From the Rivers of Ethiopia my Supplicants even the Daughters of my dispersed shall bring mine Offering 11. In that day shalt thou not be ashamed for all thy doings wherein thou hast transgressed against me for then will I take away out of the midst of thee them that rejoyce in thy pride and thou shalt be no more haughty And I will also leave in the midst of thee an afflicted and poor People and they shall trust in the Name of the Lord. The remnant of Israel shall not do iniquity nor speak lies neither shall a deceitful tongue be found in their Mouth for they shall feed and lie down and none shall make them afraid Here the Lord telleth Israel that he will take out from the midst of them them that rejoyce in their Pride that is he would take their enemies out of their Land and their City which was the Glory of all Lands and therefore termed Israel's Pride And the Lord saith I will leave in the midst of them an Afflicted poor People which shall trust in the name of the Lord and be partakers of the immediate Blessedness and Glory as the following words make appear Zeph. 3.14,15 c. Sing O Daughter of Sion shout O Israel be glad and rejoice with all the Heart O Daughter of Jerusalem The Lord hath taken away thy Judgments he hath cast out thine Enemies the King of Israel even the Lord is in the midst of thee thou shalt not see evil any more In that day it shall be said to Jerusalem fear thou not and to Sion let not thy hands be slack The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty he will save he will rejoyce over thee with Joy he will rest in his Love he will joy over thee with singing I will gather them that are sorrowful for the solemn assemblies who are of thee to whom the reproach of it was a burden Behold at that time I will undo all that Afflict thee and I will save her that halteth and gather her that was driven out and I will get them praise and fame in every Land where they have been put to shame At that time will I bring you again even in the time that I gather you for I will make you a name and a Praise among all the People of the Earth when I turn back your captivity before your Eyes saith the Lord. Here we see that at the Time that the Lord will deliver Israel his Determination is to gather the Nations and assemble the Kingdoms that he may pour upon them his fierce Anger Now as to what the Lord saith to the Prophet Ezekiel concerning the building of
are put out of a Capacity of being such any longer And had this City been in Heaven as some would have it when the Wine-press is trod it must have taken up the whole confine of the Heavens or otherwise the Wine-press of God's wrath would appear to be trod in the Heavens without the City But this being too great an absurdity St. John to end all Controversy saith in Rev. 2. He saw the New Jerusalem coming down from God out of Heaven And in the first verse he saith I saw a New Heaven and a New Earth for the first Heaven and the first Earth were passed away and there was no more Sea The New Heavens and the New Earth is as I before shewed you The New Powers and New People in whom dwelleth Righteousness As Christ and his raised Saints the New Heaven and his Elect the New Earth Now whereas he saith there was no more Sea And St. Jude terms the wicked The Raging Waves of the Sea foaming out their own shame And where the Destruction of Babilon is spoken of the Multitude that came against her is said to be the Sea Jer. 51.42 The Sea is come up upon Babilon she is covered with the multitude of the Waves thereof Now the Sea has a prevailing Power therefore the Sea spoken of in Revelations which shall be no more is that the wicked shall then have no more prevailing Power For altho the Devil does gather together after the thousand Years his Gog and Magog yet it will be to their utter Destruction And the Lord spenking in Isa 57.20,21 of Israel's Peace and Healing and of the Wicked Worlds Destruction as in the 20. v. But the wicked are like the troubled Sea when it cannot rest whose waters cast up mire and dirt There is no Peace saith my God to the Wicked Here the wicked are said in the day of their Destruction to be like the troubled Sea And at the time when Israel shall be delivered from under the Power of all his Enemies it is said Psal 68.22 The Lord saith I will bring again from Basham I will bring my People again from the depths of the Sea Here we see that the wicked are the depths of the Sea from which God will bring his People from under their Power And the wicked as a Sea shall never more prevail And it is said Jer. 33.23,24 Thy tacklings are losed they could not well strengthen their Mast they could not spread the Sail. Then is the Prey of a great spoil divided the lame take the prey The Inhabitants shall not say I am sick the people that dwell therein shall be forgiven their Iniquity When the Lord comes then the wicked can neither spread their Sail nor strengthen their Mast Then will the prey of a great spoil be divided then will the lame take the prey That is the Afflicted People of Israel And at that time the Inhabitants shall not say I am sick And whereas St. John saith Rev. 21.2,3,4 And I John saw the Holy City New Jerusalem coming down from God out of Heaven prepared as a Bride adorned for her Husband And I 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 God shall wipe away all Tears from their Eyes and there shall be no more death neither sorrow nor crying neither shall there be any more pain for the former things are past away And the Lord saith Rev. 3.12 Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the Temple of my God and he shall go no more out and I will write upon him the Name of my God and the Name of the City of my God which is the New Jerusalem which cometh down out of Heaven from my God and I will write upon him my New Name Here the Lord as well as St. John saith the New Jerusalem comes down out of Heaven from God Now as to what this City is that comes down out of Heaven from God it does plainly appear to be the whole Church triumphant for St. John saith it is this City the New Jerdsalem which he saw prepared as a Bride adorned for her Husband Then it cannot be any outward glorious Fabrick which the Lord is said to espouse or is fit to be the Lamb's Wife But the Lord has promised to espouse his Church to himself at the great Wedding-Supper For as yet the Souls are said to be under the Altar and therefore not yet made Partakers of the Glory that shall be revealed But at the Last Trumpet when the Dead shall be raised incorruptible and the Bodies of the Saints again to them re-united and those that have been the Lord's Witnesses mentioned in the Revelations with them caught up in the Clouds to meet the Lord in Air. And then as it is said God shall wipe away all tears from their Eyes and then there shall be with them no more Death neither sorrow nor crying And by the promised new Covenant Israel will then fall little short of this when the Lord hath taken away their sins and so secured them in himself as they shall never more sin against him For altho afterward thay shall know a temporal Death Yet the Lord in John 11.26 John 6.50 Terms that not a dying And Revelations 19.11 It is there declared how the Lord shall come For St. John saith Râ—v 19.11,14 That he saw Heaven opened and behold a white horse and he that sate upon him was called faithful and true and in righteousness he doth Judge and make war 14. And the Armies which were in Heaven followed him upon white horses cloathed in fine Linen white and clean By which we see these Armies here spoken of come out of Heaven And St. John in the 14 Chap. 14. v. Doth open to us what these white horses are For he there saith Rev. 14.14 He beheld a white Cloud and upon the Cloud one sat like unto the Son of Man having on his head a Golden Crown and in his hand a sharp sickle You see here that the white horses are white Clouds and that the Lord will come in the Clouds of Heaven as was declared by the Angels in Acts 1.11 And the Lord also told his Disciples John 14.2 In my fathers house are many mansions if it were not so I would have told you I go to prepare a place for you 3. And if I go and prepare a place for you I will come again and receive you unto my self Now without doubt in the Clouds there will be Receptacles of Glorious mansions for the Lord and his chief raised Saints and Angels And St. John saith Rev. 21.9 There came unto him an Angel and talked with him Saying come up hither and I will shew the bride the lambs wife 10. And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high Mountain and shewed me that great City
should wholly fall off And by what Dan saith of his Children in his last Testament is to the same effect For he saith I am sure in the latter days ye shall depart from the Lord and walk in naughtiness working the abominations of the Gentiles and haunting wicked Women in all lewdness by the Working of deceitful Spirits in you For I have read in Enoch that Satan is your Prince and that all the Spirits of Fornication and Pride shall ply themselves in laying Snares for the Children of Dan to make them sin before the Lord. Here we may see what was the reason that none of Dan was of that Number which was to be Sealed for the Glorious Tabernacle when the Lord again comes which is the Sion that shall be revealed and then shall Jerusalem again be built having twelve Gates as in Ezek. 48. from the 31. v. to the 35. called after the Names of the Tribes of Israel according to that of the New Jerusalem which comes down from Heaven of which it is said There is no Temple in it Rev. 21.22 And I saw no Temple therein for the Lord God almighty and the Lamb are the Temple of it But as to the New Earthly Jerusalem there is said will be a Temple for from under the threshold of which shall issue forth the Waters spoken of Ezek 47.1 Now that these Waters here spoken of are real Waters is certain in that there is nothing in the whole Book of God to prove it a figurative speech and we are not to makefigures and that there shall be by these Waters real Fruit Trees as is said and also abundance of Fish in the River For the Lord hath declared that then the Earth shall abound with all good things And then of Jerusalem it shall be said from that day the Lord is there as in Ezek. 48.35 It was round about eighteen thousand measures and the name of the City from that day shall be The Lord is there And then it is the saying of the Apostle will be fullfilled in the Manifestation of the kindness of the Lord to them in the Ages to come as in Eph. 2.6,7 And hath raised us up together and made us sit together in Heavenly places in Christ Jesus That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding Riches of his Grace in his kindness towards us through Christ Jesus Now in Heaven we neither read of Ages nor Generations and were the Ages here spoken of meant of them that are in Heaven he would have said That the Ages that are past might see the exceeding Riches of his Grace in his kindness towards them because that they being in Heaven would sooner behold the exceeding Kindness of the Lord toward them than those that are afterward to go to Heaven of the following Generations or Ages Therefore the kindness here spoken of must be manifested here when the New Jerusalem shall descend out of Heaven when that Glorious Tabernacle shall be Revealed which the Lord shall pitch and not Man over the Land of Canaan And the Land that is given by the Lord in Ezek. 47.14 appears to be far larger than what Israel has had in Possession Now as to what Obadiah saith in the first part of the Chapter where he treats of the Real Seed of Esau and from the 15. v. downward of the Day of the Lord being near upon all the Heathen by which he comprehends the Wicked of the World that their reward should then be given them At which time there should be deliverance on Mount Sion as it is said in the 17. v. But upon Mount Sion shall be deliverance and there shall be Holiness and the House of Jacob shall possess their possessions 20. And the Captivity of the Host of the Children of Israel shall possess that of the Canaanites even to Zarephath and the Captivity of Jerusalem which is in Sepharad shall possess the Cities of the South 21. And Saviours shall come upon Mount Sion to Judg the Mount of Esau and the Kingdoms shall be the Lords Here you see this Prophet with Esdras comprehends all the Wicked World under the Name of Esau And this Prophet also gives us to understand when the Kingdom shall be the Lords That is when Saviours come upon Mount Sion and the World is Judged By which words we see that now the Kingdom is not termed the Lords not till such time that he comes to Judg the World and to restore Israel's Inheritance to them And then at that time the Kingdom will be the Lords St. Paul Terms this World as it is now to be ruled by the Devil Whereas he saith 2 Cor. 4.4 The God of this World hath blinded the minds of them which believe not And in Eph. 6.12 he saith We wrestle not against Flesh and Blood but against Principalities against Powers and against the Rulers of the darkness of this World and against Spiritual Wickedness in high places And the Devil boasting to our Saviour of his Power Luke 4.6 When he shewed him all the Kingdoms of this World in a moment of time and the Devil said unto him all this Power will I give thee and the Glory of them for that is delivered unto me That is after mankind again became wilfully wicked God left them to Satan's Delusion And although the Devil is the Father of Lies yet he would scarce have told them to the God of Truth who knew how far his Power did extend And the Lord himself saith John 14.30 Hereafter I will not talk much with you for the Prince of this World cometh and hath no part in me But you may say I thought God had ruled all things in Heaven and Earth God doth invisibly over-rule the Devil or else he would destroy all the Righteous from off the Earth were not his Power limited by the most high but the visible rule as is declared by the Apostle is in the Devil who carries on the Darkness of this World Eph. 6.12 by himself and all his adherents for it is said That he ruleth in the Hearts of the Children of the Disobedient but you may say the Lord did say to his Disciples Mark 9.1 Verily verily I say unto you that there be some of them that stand here which shall not tast of Death till they have seen the Kingdom of God come with Power Which was made out in his Transfiguration in 2. v. Six days after Jesus taketh Peter James and John and leadeth them up into an high Mountain apart by themselves and he was transfigured before them 3. v. And his Raiment became shining exceeding white as Snow so as no Fuller on Earth can white them 4. v. And there appeared unto them Elias with Moses and they were talking with Jesus 7. v. And there was a Cloud overshadowed them and a voice came out of the Cloud saying this is my beloved Son hear him Now the other Evangelists say a bright Cloud Which makes it out to us where the Heavenly Powers