they shall be no more two Nations neither shall they be divided into two Kingdomes any more at all neither shall they defile themselves any more with their Idols nor with their detestable things nor with any of their transgressions but I wil save them out of all their dwelling places wherein they have sinned and will cleanse them so shall they be my people and I will be their God And in Hosea 1.10 Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the Sea which cannot be measured nor numbred and it shall come to passe that in the place where it was said unto them (k) Jer. 24 6 7. ch 32.37 38. Zech. 13.9 Yee are not my people there it shall be said Ye are the Sons of the living God Then shall the Children of Judah and the children of Israel be gathered together and appoint themselves one head and they shall come up out of the Land for great shal be the Day of Jezreel In both which prophesies the Lord hath promised that the Jewes shall againe live under one King onely as they had done before the division of the Tribes and that in their owne land too which hath not beene yet performed and therefore the time of these Prophesies is yet to come for though this of Hosea be understood by some Expositors of the vocation of the Gentiles that is of the Christian Church in these our dayes yet doubtlesse they are much mistaken in this exposition for seeing this and the former Prophesie concerne one and the same thing to wit the uniting of all the Tribes under one King therefore they must needs receive their accomplishment at one and the same time and so this must be referred to the Jewes as well as the other and besides how can that belong to the Gentiles which was prophesied onely of the Jewes as is declared by the Prophets wife of whoredomes and children of wheredomes which he tooke of purpose to upbraid the idol-worship and spirituall whoredomes of the Israelites vers 2. and therefore when she conceived and bare him the second sonne Call his name said God Loammi For yee are not my people and I will not be your God The Israelites then it were to whom this Prophet was sent and of whom it was said Yee are not my people and the place where they were told so was their owne land and therefore in that place it shall againe be said unto them Yee are the sonnes of the living God vers 10. And this Piscator grants to be the meaning of it here in the Prophet but withall hee holds that it is applyed in the 9. of the Rom. to the conversion of the Gentiles because the Israelites being thus rejected of God were become like unto the Gentiles who untill the preaching of the Gospell were not his people but notwithstanding this reason mee thinkes it is very unlikely that the Apostle should borrow a Prophecie from the Jewes to prove Gods mercy towards the Gentiles which is in sundry places of the Scripture so properly and distinctly foreshewne as you may see by the authorities which are urged to this purpose in the (l) v. 19 20. 10. and (m) v. 9 10 11 12. 15. chap. of the same Epistle and therefore I should rather take it to be brought in by Saint Paul as a testimony establishing the freenesse of Gods election which is the doctrine he there maintaines and doth in these words as he did before in the example of Jacob and Esau give an instance of it touching the Israelites whom God had for a long time rejected and would yet again receive that because as the potter hath power over the clay to make of the same lump one vessell to honour and another to dishonour so he hath mercy on whom hee will and whom he will hee hardneth And this the 14. vers seemes to confirm where it is said Esaiah also crieth concerning Israel for what makes the copulative also here if the Apostle understood not the former prophesie of Israel as well as this and yet in what sense soever you please to take it here I hope it is already sufficiently declared that it concernes the Israelites only in the Prophet which is as much as the subject of my discourse requires There is yet in the 3. of Hosea at the 4. vers one more materiall argument for the Jewes deliverance (o) Hier. Zanch in cap. 3. Hos p. 12. 23. ed. Genevae 1619. Pareus in c idem p. 481. col 1. ed. in fol. 1628. Rivetus in c. id p. 23 24. ed. 1625. Alsted Chr. c. 32. p. 294. c. 35. p. 330. Lyra. part 4. p. 379 C. part 2. p. 198. C. p. 249. F. Part. 3. p. 212. F. p. 213. C. part 4. p. 151. B C. p. 116. A. Dr. Mayers Lect. on James cap. 1. p. 4. The children of Israel saith hee shall abide many daies without a king and without a Prince and without a sacrifice and without an image and without an Ephod and without Teraphim afterwards shall the children of Israel returne and seeke the Lord their God and (n) Isay 9. v. 6 7. David their King and shall feare the Lord and his goodnesse in the latter dayes Which prophesie cannot possibly be as yet fulfilled for if it be meant onely of the ten Tribes amongst whom Hosea prophesied it is confest that they did never yet returne and if of the other two it must be meant of their captivitie since our Saviours comming for till then the Scepter could not depart from Judah nor a Lawgiver from betweene his feet as Jacob foretold Gen. the 49. at the 10. vers and therefore till then they could not be without a Prince or Governours of that Tribe although they were long before tributary to other Nations and this also is intimated by those words the latter dayes which are no where put for the time before the incarnation of Christ And this it seemes made Cornelius a Lapide referre the event of this prophesie to the end of the world that is as the Romanists imagine to the comming of Antichrist who as their tale goes of him shall manifest himselfe about that time and shall reigne (p) Fran. Johan de Combis in compendio totius Theolog lib. 7. cap. 13. three yeares and an halfe and shall put to death (q) Id. l 7. c. 7. Enoch and Elias who shall be sent to preach repentance unto the Jewes and to withstand the impostures of Antichrist whom because hee is as they say to be borne in Babylon of the Tribe of Dan most of the Jews shall receive for their Messias but as soone as he shall be slain on the mount of (r) Id. l. 7. c. 14. Olives in his tent by the power of the Lord that is as the glosse on the Apocalyps hath it either by Christ himselfe visibly appearing unto him or by the ministry of the Arch-angel Michael presently the Jews
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
2. cap. 16. p. 410. reasons which Wendelinus in the 19. chap. and 2. Section of his naturall Contemplations at the 391. pag. brings to the contrary will give abundant satisfaction For first the Apostle doth apparently distinguish the Jewes from the Gentiles by the word Israel when he saith that blindnesse is in part happened to Israel untill the fulnesse of the Gentiles be come in And therefore I much doubt whether he would in the very next line by the same word indifferently comprehend both Jewes and Gentiles especially seeing the Israel that is to be saved must needes have relation to the Israel that was before said to be in blindnesse And then too what is become of the mystery here spoken of if the words And so all Israel shall be saved should not signifie such a conversion of the Jewes as must follow the vocation of the Gentiles for that some particular Jewes were at that time to be gathered to the Church they knew before seeing many such were then amongst them some of which did first conveigh the Gospell to them And therfore in my judgement those Divines deale most sincerely with the Text who acknowledging the literall sense thereof doe send us to that of Isaiah in his 66. chap. at the 8. ver as to a plaine proofe of this opinion who saith he hath heard such a thing who hath seene such things shall the earth be made to bring forth in one day (l) Zech. 3. v. 9. or shall a Nation be borne at once for as soone as Zion travailed she brought forth her children Where the wonderfull and unheard of conversion of a whole Nation at once such as never happened to any Nation of the Gentiles together with the expresse mention of Zion and the evidence of the following verses should me thinks be motive enough to make any impartiall Reader understand this Prophecy of the Jewes which yet implyes not so much a returne of the whole Nation to their Country as to their God and therefore could not be fulfilled by the returne of a part of them from Babylon at which time too the Kingdome of God that is the true worship of God the meanes by which that Kingdome is obtained was amongst them onely but hath since according to our Saviours Prophecy in the 21. chap. of Matth. at the 43. ver beene taken from them and shall againe according to this be suddenly and extraordinarily restored into them as Joel also before intimated by the plentifull distribution of Gods Spirit in the last dayes 2. That the surviving and subjected Gentiles shall gladly embrace the knowledge and seaâ—e of God with the Jewes You have hitherto heard of the deliverance and happinesse of the Jewes only I shall now acquaint you with their partakers which shall be such as are left of the Nations that are then to be destroyed as you may see in the fore-quoted chap. of Isai at the 15. and 19. verses Behold the Lord will come with fire and with his Charets like a whirlewind to render his anger with fury and his rebuke with flames of fire for by (m) Ezek. 39. v. 4 5 6 c. Mal. 4. v. 1. Psal 50 v. 3 2 Thess 1.1.7 8. c. fire and by his sword will the Lord plead with all flesh and the slaine of the Lord shall be many And I will set a signe among them and I will send those that escape of them unto the Nations to Tarshish Pul and Lud that draw the bow to Tuball and Javan to the Isles afarre off that have not heard my fame neither have seene my glory and they shall declare my glory among the Gentiles And they shall bring all your Brethren for an offering (n) Isa 18. v. 7. unto the Lord out of all Nations upon Horses and in Charets and in Litters and upon Mules and upon swift beastes to my holy mountaine Jerusalem saith the Lord as the children of Israel bring an offering in a cleane vessell into the House of the Lord. And I will also take of them for Priests and for Levites saith the Lord. For as the new Heavens and the new Earth which I will make to wit at the judgement of the dead when this Heaven and Earth shall passe away as it is in the 20. of the Rev. at the 11. ver and in the 21. at the 1. ver as these shall remaine before me saith the Lord so shall your seed and your name remaine to wit after the foresaid returne from their captivity And it shall come to passe that from one New Moone to another and from one Sabbath to another shall all flesh come to (o) Psal 68 u. 29.31 Psal 100. v. 1.2 4. worship before me saith the Lord and they shall goe forth and looke upon the carkeises of the men that have transgressed against me for their worme shall not dye neither shall their fire be quenched and they shall be an abhorring unto all flesh And in his 60. chap. at the 9. ver and the 61. at the 4. ver They shall (p) Iâ—a 53. v. 12. build the old wastes they shall raise up the former desolations and they shall repaire the waste Cities the desolations of many generations And strangers shall stand and feed your flocks and the sonnes of the alient shall be your Plough-men and your Vine-dressers But ye shall be named the Priests of the Lord Men shall call you the Ministers of your God ye shall eate the riches of the Gentiles and in their glory shall you boast your selves For your shame you shall have double and for confusion they shall rejoyce in their portion therefore in their Land they shall possesse the double everlasting joy shall be unto them Surely the Isles shall waite for me and the Ships of Tarshish first to bring my Sonnes from farre their silver and their gold with them unto the name of the Lord thy God and to the Holy One of Israel because he hath glorifyed thee And the Sonnes of Strangers shall build up thy wals and their Kings shall minister unto thee For in my wrath I smote thee but in my favour have I had mercy on thee Therefore thy gates shall be open continually they shall not be shut day nor night that men may bring unto thee the forces of the Gentiles and that their Kings may be brought For the (q) Ier. 12. v. 14 15 16 17. Nation and Kingdome that will not serve thee shall perish yea those Nations shall be utterly wasted The sonnes also of them that afflicted thee shall come bending unto thee and all they that despised thee shall bow themselves downe at the soles of thy feete and they shall call thee the City of the Lord the Zion of the Holy One of Israel Whereas thou hast beene forsaken and hated so that no man went thorow thee I will make thee an eternall excellency a joy of many generations Thou shalt also sucke the milke of the Gentiles and shalt sucke
otherwise understood in this of Christ which is to succeed them all as they have succeeded each other both in time and place as the 35. vers doth fully declare and as the falling of the stone upon the feete of the Image upon the last and divided Kingdoms of the iron Empire doth probably imply For if the Kingdome of God there spoken of were to be understood of a Kingdome which should so be set up in the dayes of these Kings that their reigne should notwithstanding continue together with it as not onely these but all former Kingdomes also have done with the Militant Church with the Kingdome of grace which therefore cannot be the Kingdome there foreshewne then doubtlesse it should have beene represented by some part of the Image it selfe as the contemporating Kingdomes of the divided Empire are by the mixture of iron and clay and not by a thing so different from it and adverse unto it by a stone I say so wonderfull for its beginning operation and increase For it was cut out without hands and when it had smote the Image became a great Mountaine Ver. 34.45 Ver. 35. and filled the whole earth which the Church as yet never did whose fall and growth too as they import a more powerfull speedy and generall conquest over these Kingdomes by this Kingdome then either the gold received from the silver the silver from the brasse or the brasse from the iron so they imply the utter extirpation and totall abolition of the manner of policy and government which these Kingdomes have used of which it is said that they became like the chaffe of the summer threshing-floores and the wind carried them away that no place was found for them vers 35. And with this sense of the interpretation of the vision very well agreeth that in the second Psal at the 8. vers Aske of me and I shall give thee the Heathen for thine inheritance and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession Thou shalt breake them with a rod (a) Rev. 2. v. 27. ch 19. v. 15. of iron thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potters vessell And that in Psal 110. at the 2. vers The Lord shall send the rod of thy strength out of Zion rule thou in the midst of thine enemies The Lord at thy right hand shall strike thorow Kings in the day of his wrath Hee shall judge among the Heathen he shall fill the places with dead bodies he shall wound the heads over many countries He shall drinke of the brooke in the way therefore shall he lift up the head Yea and that too in the 149. Psal at the second vers Let Israel rejoyce in him that made him let the children of Zion be joyfull in their (b) 1 Sam. 1 v. 9.10 Psal 47. Psal 98. King Let the high praises of God be in their mouth and a two-edged sword in their hand to execute vengeance upon the Heathen and punishments upon the people to binde their Kings with chaines and their Nobles with fetters of iron to execute upon them the judgement written This honour have all his Saints And that nought else is meant by the world to come in the second of the Heb. at the 5. vers but the Kingdome of our Saviour it is evident by the authority there alleadged out of the 8. Psal which prophecy is therefore made use of by the Apostle as a plaine proofe that Christs manhood is exalted above the chiefest of the Angels because it shewes that it is to Christ as man and not to any of the Angels that God hath put in subjection the world to come And if there be yet a world which is to be put in subjection to Christ as man then it must needs be a distinct world from (c) 1 Cor. 15 v. 24 28 Rev. 21. v. 3 that in which as man he shall give up the Kingdome to his Father for that which is to be given up is already past And it is no where said that the new Jerusalem the City of eternall glory shall be subjected to Christ as a creature but that Christ as a creature shall after the judgement of the dead be there subject to the Father 2. By expresse prophesie And thus it hath beene proved by consequence that our Saviour shall heareafter reigne on earth You shall now heare it directly and expressely affirmed Behold saith the Angell to the Virgin Mary thou shalt conceive in thy wombe and bring forth a Sonne and shalt call his name Jesus he shall be great and shall be called the Sonne of the Highest and the Lord God shall give unto him (d) Matth. 2 v. 6. Acts 2. v. 30 31. the Throne of his Father David Luke the first at the 31. v. Behold saith (e) Ch. 33. v. 15.16 Ieremiah in his 23. c. at the 5. v. the dayes come saith the Lord that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch and a King shall reigne and prosper and shall execute judgement and justice * Whatsoever losse the disobedience of the first Adam brought on himselfe and his posterity that no doubt the second Adam hath recovered with advantage for himselfe and his chosen But the first Adam lost not onely his right to Heaven but the happy estate too which an innocent life would for a long time have continued to him and his on earth And therefore that intercourse and familiarity with God that rule and command over men and all other creatures which Adam before the advancement of mankind to its highest happines should have here enjoyed if he had not fell that and farre more then that shall Christ with his chosen inherit at his next appearing And now seeing even reason it selfe doth thus strongly conclude for our Saviours future soveraignty what unreasonablenesse were it in us any longer to misdoubt the literall accomplishment of these and all other sacred revelations which so fully describe and so clearely confirme it in the (f) Is 8. v. 8. Iob 19. v. 25. Heb. 1. v. 2. earth In his dayes Judah shall be saved and Israel shall dwell safely and this is his Name whereby he shall bee called The Lord our righteousnesse Behold saith Zech. in his 6. chap. at the 12. vers the man whose name is the Branch and he shall grow up out of his place and he shall build the Temple of the Lord and hee shall beare the glory and shall sit and rule upon his Throne and he shall be a Priest upon his Throne and the counsell of peace shall be betweene them both And in the 34. chap. of Ezek. at the 22. vers I will save my flocke and they shall no more be a prey and I will judge betweene cattell and cattell and I will set up one Shepheard over them and he shall feed them even my servant David he shall feed them and he shall be their Shepheard And I the Lord will be their God and my servant David a Prince
among them I the Lord have spoken it and in his 37. chap. at the 24. vers David my servant shall be King over them and they shall have one Shepheard and they shall also walke in my judgements and observe my statutes and doe them and they shall dwell in the land that I have given unto Jacob my servant wherein your Fathers have dwelt and they shall dwell therein even they and their children and their childrens children for ever and my servant David shall be their Prince for ever And in the 9. chap. of Isaiah at the 6. vers Vnto us a child is borne unto us a Sonne is given and the government shall be upon his shoulder and his name shall be called Wonderfull Counseller the Mighty God the Everlasting Father the Prince of Peace Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end Vpon the Thron of David and upon his Kingdome to order it and to establish it with judgement and with justice from henceforth even for ever the zeale of the Lord of Hosts will performe this And in the 52. chap. at the 13. vers Behold my servant shall deale prudently he shall be (g) Ps 1â—8 v. 22.23 24 c. exalted and extolled and be very high As many were (h) Luke 2. v. 34.35 astonied at thee his visage to wit at the time of his suffering was so marred more then any man and his forme more then the sonnes of men so to wit at his next appearing shall he sprinkle many Nations the Kings shall shut their mouthes at him for that which had not beene told them shall they see and that which they had not heard shall they consider And in the 4. chap. of Micah at the 6. vers In that day saith the Lord will I assemble her that halteth and I will gather her that is driven out and her that I have afflicted and I will make her that halted a remnant and her that was cast (i) Rom. 11. v. 12.15.32 off a strong Nation and the Lord shall reigne over them in Mount Zion from henceforth even for ever And in the 72. Psal at the 6. vers He shall come downe like raine upon the mowen grasse as showers that water the earth In his dayes shall the righteous flourish and abundance of peace so long as the Moone endureth He shall have dominion also from sea to sea and from the river to the ends of the earth They that dwell in the Wildernesse shall bow before him and his enemies shall licke the dust The Kings of Tarshish and of the Iles shall bring presents the Kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts Yea all Kings shall fall (k) Isa 45. v. 22.23 Phil. 2. v. 10 downe before him (l) Ps 22. v. 27 28. Rev. 14. v. 6 7. ch 15. v. 4 all Nations shall praise him And in the 102. Psal at the 13. vers Thone shalt arise and have mercie upon Zion for the time to favour her yea the set time is come for thy servants take pleasure in her stones and favour the dust thereof So the Heathen shall feare the name of the Lord and all the Kings of the earth thy glory When the Lord shall build up Zion he shall appeare in his glory Now that these prophecies doe concerne the reigne of Christ alone I thinke no man doubts and that they are already fulfilled it cannot bee proved For neither did Christ at his first comming sit on Davids Throne nor any other of Davids linage or of that Tribe or of the other Tribes for the Scepter was then departed from Judah and a Law-giver from betweene his feete Neither were Judah and Israel then in the land together neither was the Temple then destroyed but afterwards and therefore the things here spoken of are all to be accomplished at his second comming and that not in Heaven but on earth On earth I say and in (m) Is 33. v. 20. ch 50. v. 1 2 3 9 10. Jerusalem (n) Ps 122. v. 5. Davids Throne was For his feete shall stand in that day to wit when he comes to receive his appointed Kingdome on the Mount of Olives which is before Ierusalem on the East from which Mount also he ascended and the Mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst therof toward the East toward the West there shal be a very great valley and halfe the Mountaine shall remove toward the North and halfe of it toward the South And ye shal flee to the valley of the Mountains for the valley of the Mountaines shall reach unto Azal yea ye shall flee like as ye fled from before the earthquake in the dayes of Uzziah K. of Judah And the Lord my God shall (o) Iude v. 14 15. Rev. 19. v. 11 12 13 14 15 16. come all the Ss. with thee and it shal come to passe in that day that the light shall not be cleare nor dark but it shall be one day which shall be knowne to the Lord not day nor night but it shall come to passe that at evening time it shall be light And it shall be in that day that (p) Ps 46. v. 4. Ezek. 47. v. 1. c. Ioel 3. v. 8. living waters shall goe out from Jerusalem halfe of them toward the former sea and halfe of them toward the hinder sea in Summer and in Winter shall it be and the Lord shall be King over all the earth in that day shall there be one Lord and his Name one All the Land shall be turned as a plaine from Geba to Rimmon South of Jerusalem and it shall be lifted up and inhabited in her place from Benjamins gate unto the place of the first gate unto the corner gate and from the Tower of Hananiel unto the Kings Wine-presses and men shall dwell in it and there shall be no more utter destruction but Jerusalem shall be safely inhabited Zech. the 14. at the 4. vers You see here that our Saviour comes not onely to conquer death which is the last enemy that he shall destroy and therefore not wholly to be destroyed till the last resurrection but also to take the Kingdomes of this world unto himselfe to put downe as Saint Paul hath said all the rule and all the authority and power of other Nations that there may be one Shepheard and one Sheepfold that the (q) Dan. 7. v. 27. Kingdome and Dominion and greatnesse of the Kingdome under the whole Heaven may be possest by the people of the Saints of the most High That is as the former prophesies doe expound it by the people of (r) Ps 148. v. 14. Israel And this as I thinke is the time of which he spake these words Verily verily I say unto you (s) Iohn 1. v. 15. Hereafter shall yee see Heaven open and the Angels of God ascending and descending upon the (t) Heb. 1. v. 6. Sonne of man For that this may be fulfilled it
men Who doubtlesse are not to be left that the evill Angels may fetch them for they shall be partakers with them of that judgement and therefore will be as unwilling to appeare before that barre as they Neither is it likely that they shall be left because the good Angels cannot at once assemble them to the place of Judgement and the Elect to meete the Lord in the Aire if these things were to be done at the same particular time And therefore as I suppose they shall be left either to perish in that generall destruction which shall come upon all Nations that fight against the Jewes whom our Saviour shall then redeeme Or to bee eye-witnesses of Gods wonders in all Countryes at that time For that by Christs judging the (g) Ps 2. v. 8. c. Ps 110. v. 2. c. Ps 149. v. 6. c. Isa 30. v. 25. ch 66. v. 15.16 Ver. 8.9 quick and the dead mentioned in the 2. to Tim. and the 4. chap. cannot be meant the last and compleat but rather a former and inchoate judgement of ungodly men it appeares out of the 20. of the Rev. where it is shewne that the Saints enemies shall be all slaine before the last resurrection And we cannot say that these which are to be left shall be a part of that army there spoken of because that Gog and Magog is to be destoyed at the end of our Saviours reigne that is immediately before the last resurrection whereas these shall be alive at the time of that generall distresse which shall light on the world at his entrance into that appointed Kingdome as the gathering together of the elect who are to reigne with him doth declare And this conjecture Isa in his 27. chap. at the 12. vers doth sufficiently confirme For the great sound of the Trumpet before spoken of in Saint Matth. as a warning for the gathering together of the elect is there said to be a warning also of the Jewes returne the words are these It shall come to passe in that day that the Lord shall beat off from the channell of the river unto the streame of Egypt and yee shall be gathered one by one O yee children of Israel and it shall come to passe in that day that the (h) Isa 18. v. 3. Zech. 9. v. 14. great Trumpet shall be blowne and they shall come which were ready to perish in the land of Assyria and the out-casts in the land of Egypt and shall worship the Lord in the holy Mount at Jerusalem And thus being thorowly satisfied by this cloud of witnesses the double jury of Prophets and Apostles with which I finde the doctrine of my Text to be encompast I here give over the pursuit of these meditations and commend to as many as wish well to themselves and to Zion these instructions following First to praise God for his abundant mercie who through the fall of the Jewes hath brought salvation unto us Gentiles that together with them we might partake of the roote and fatnesse of their Olive tree Secondly to beware of unbeliefe which was the cause that the Jewes were broken off from their Olive And if God spared not the naturall branches much lesse will he spare us if by faith we continue not in his goodnesse Thirdly not to contemne or revile the Jewes a fault too common in the Christian world and that partly because we are unmindfull as well of the Olive from whence we were taken as of that into which we are graffed whose root bears us not we the root And partly because we misapply the infallible promises of God by which he hath so freely and so feelingly so often and so openly declared that he will againe graffe them in For if we were cut out of the Olive tree which is wild by nature and were graffed contrary to nature into a good Olive tree how much more shall they which be the naturall branches be graffed into their owne Olive tree Rom. the 11. at the 24. vers And lastly earnestly to beseech God that hee would speedily put into execution the means which he hath appointed for their conversion that he would even in these our dayes bring this mystery to light by powring on his people the spirit of grace and supplications whereby they may beleeve and repent Zech. 12. v. 10. For their happinesse will both increase and consummate ours so also the Apostle * If the fall of them c. Observe here what Jewes are said to occasion the riches of the Gentiles Not those that beleeved when the Apostle wrote this although many of them were the first instruments of the Gentiles conversion and much lesse they that have beleeved since that time for these as they come farre sho t of the others both in number and qualifications so they may be said rather to have taken of us then given unto us to have inherited the riches of the Gospel with us but not increased them Not the first beleevers therefore nor such which hitherto have so slowly and thinly followed them but the stiffe-necked and stubborne Jewes who slew Christ who martyr'd and persecuted his Disciples They are here said to be the reconciling of the woâ—â—d and the riches of the Gentiles and that because their fall and casting away mov'd God so soone to visit us with the tydings of Salvation And â—â—â—â—fulnesse the receiving of them it must be that shall perfect us the reâ—â—â—â—â—ng of them I say which were then cast away but how not in â—â—â—ir owne persons for it is impossible that the same men should fall and not fall should be cast away and not cast away but in their posterity and that not in part and by fits but wholly and at once for the Apostle speakes not of particular men and families but of all the Tribes of the whole Nation And indeed what but a generall conversion of the Jewes can bring such felicity to the Gentiles as shall not onely parallell but exceed the blessings which we have already received by their unbeliefe If the fall of them be the riches of the world and the diminishing of them the riches of the Gentiles how much more their fulnesse And againe If the casting away of them be the reconciling of the world what shall the receiving of them be but life from the dead Rom. 11. vers the 12. and 15. Now to our Lord Jesus Christ who is both the light of the Gentiles and the glory of his people Israel who is the faithfull witnesse and the first begotten of the dead and the Prince of the Kings of the earth Unto him that loved us and washed us from our sinnes in his owne bloud and made us Kings and Priests unto God and his Father to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever Amen Amen Psal 14. v. 7. Psal 53. v. 6. O that the salvation of Israel were come out of Sion when the Lord bringeth back the captivity of his people
flaming fine taking vengeance on them that know not God and that obey not the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ when he shall come to be glorifyed in his Saints and to be admired in all them that beleeve in that Day For seeing the beast to whom these Kings were to give their strength was to (q) Rev. 13 v. 12. exercise all the power of the first beast before him and that it was given to the first beast (r) ch 13. v. 7. to make warre with the Saints and to overcome them it necessarily followes that the warre which these Kings were to make while they should agree to give their Kingdomes unto the beast was likewise to be with the Saints whom they should overcome not with the Lamb who should overcome them Neither wil it suffice against the force of this argument to say that they who fight with the Saints doe fight with the Lamb that they who overcome the Saints by the Sword are yet over come by them through faith for the first beast did as much fight against the Lamb in this sense as these Kings was as much overcome by the Saints in this sense as they who yet is neither said to warre with the Lambe nor to be overcome by the Saints And sure I am it is recorded in the 7. chap. of Dan. that he beheld the presumptuous horne of the fourth beast exhibited to him in a dreame making warre with the Saints not the Lambe and prevailing against them Vntill the ancient of Dayes did sit and the time came that the Saints possessed the Kingdome And whether that horne be all one with the beast and false Prophet in the Rev. and so is to prolong his dominion his persecuting power in wearing out the Saints who were to be (s) Dan. 7. v. 25. given into his hand even untill the time of the (t) Rom. 8. v. 19.21 manifestation and glorious Liberty of the Sonnes of God spoken of by Saint Paul as a thing earnestly expected by the (v) cha 8. v. 19. Creature even the (w) ch 8. v. 22. whole creation let the (x) Dan. 7. v. 11. Apoc. 19. v. 20 21. Analogy of their destruction and the (y) Dan. 7. v. 11.18.22 26 27. Rev. 19. v. 11 12 c. expiration of the fourth beast the Roman Empire at the accomplishment thereof Let these things I say together with the interpretation of the vision made to (z) ch 7. v. 23 24 c. Daniel and the parallell observed by Master (a) Comment Apâ—c par 2. p. 279 280. Meade betwixt the Thrones Judgement and Kingdome of the Saints revealed in both prophecies determine the matter Thirdly the state of the world at our Saviours appearing shall be as it was in the dayes of Noah both for security and profanenesse for When the Sonne of man commeth shall he finde faith on tâ—e Earth saith Christ Luke the 18. at the 8. ver which is a plaine proofe that there shall not be whole Kingdomes and armies of faithfull Christians but onely here and there (b) Luk. 17. v. 34 35 36 one Neither doth this saying contradict the * Ob. If there shall be at Christs comming such scarsenesse of faith it is not lâ—kely that there shall be such a multitude of beleeving Jewes conversion of the Jewes Sol. Pareus giveth this solution that although there shall be in the end of the world a multitude of beleeving Jewes yet their number shall be but small in respect of the unbeleeving Gentiles To this Solution this further may be added that the failing of faith which Christ prophesieth of must be specially he should have said onely understood of the Gentiles where Christ had beene preached and beleeved upon that even there where it was more likely that faith should have beene none shall be found for when the Jewes shall be called faith shall waxe very faint and cold among the Gentiles Willet in his sixfold Comment upon the Epist to the Rom. Chap. 11. Quest 27. p. 511. at that time because the word Earth is figuratively put for the people of the Earth and by The People of the Earth all the Nations besides the (c) Num. 23 v. 9. Jewes are in the Scriptures usually understood So in the 28. of Deut. at the 10. ver we read All the peopâ—e of the earth shall see that thou art called by the Name of the Lord and they shall be afraid of thee in the 1 of the Kings the 8. Chap. at the 43. ver That all the people of the earth may know thy Name to feare thee as doe thy people Israel In the 2 of Chron. the 32. chap. at the 19. ver They spake against the God of Jerusalem as against the Gods of the people of the earth And in the 1 of Kings the 10. Chap. at the 24. ver All the earth sought to Solomon to heare his wisedome which God had put in his heart And they brought every man his present Where the word Earth alone is equivalent with the people of the earth in all the former instances and therefore seeing it doth as well by it selfe as together with its adjunct signifie the Nations of the Gentiles onely why should it not be so taken in our Saviours speech yea it must needes be so taken for as he said when the Son of Man commeth shall he find faith on the earth So he said also that as well of the Jews only as to the Jews only Behold (d) Mat. 23 v. 37 38 39 your house is left unto you desolate verily I say unto you ye shall not see me untill (e) Mar. 14. v. 62. Psal 118 v. 21 22 â— ye â—oâ—â— 3â— 16 the time come when ye shall say Blessed is he that commeth in the Name of the Lord Luke the 13. at the 35. ver And shall we thinke that our Saviour would have given such a testimony of the Jewes unlesse he had knowne that they should be a penitent and converted people a people endued with the (f) Zech. 12 v. 10. Spirit of grace and supplication when they saw him next doubtlesse he would not And therefore this gratulatory acclamation doth no lesse set forth unto us the comfortable estate of the Jewes at Christs appearing then the former saying doth the desperate estate of the Gentiles at that time For Blessed is he that commeth in the Name of the Lord are the very same words which with so much (g) Luk. 19. v. 37.38 alacrity and cheerfulnesse of minde were chanted out before our Saviour by his Disciples and those that met (h) Ioh. 12. v. 12.13 him when he was riding to Jerusalem to shew the City a glimpse of his royalty and can they ever then become the language of those that shall flye from his presence to hide themselves in caves and dens of the earth nay seeing they are to be resumed againe by the same people at the
(b) Obad. 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 of fire among the wood and like a torch of fire in a sheafe and they shall devour all the people round about on the right hand and on the left and Hierusalem shall be inhabited againe in her owne place even in Hierusalem The Lord also shall save the tents of Judah first that the glory of the house of David and the glory of the inhabitants of Hierusalem do not magnifie themselves against Judah In that day shall the Lord defend the inhabitants of Hierusalem and he that is feeble among them at that day shall be as David and the house of David shall be as God as the Angel of the Lord before them And in the 14. chap. at the 12. vers This shall be the plague wherewith the Lord shall smite the people that have fought against Jerusalem their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feete and their eyes shall consume away in their holes and their tongues shall consume away in their mouth and it shall come to passe in that day that a great tumult from the Lord shall be among them and they shall lay hold every one on the hand of his (c) Eze. 38.21 Hag. 2.23 neighbour and his hand shall rise up against the hand of his neighbour and Judah also shall fight at Hierusalem and the (d) Mich. 4.13 wealth of all the Heathen round about shall be gathered together gold and silver and apparell in great abundance and so shal be the plague of the horse of the mule of the camell and of the asse and of the beasts that shall be in these tents as this plague And in the 38. and 39. chap. of Ezek. the same army is foretold under the names of Gog and Magog Now how can wee forsake the literall interpretation of these prophecies if wee do but consider that the Jewes are here distinguished from all other Nations of which wee Gentiles who are now converted were then a part and are by this name in the writings of the Evangelists and Apostles still distinguished from them if wee consider what grosse absurdities would follow from the Tropicall construction of these or the like propheticall revelations wherein the event of things is so plainly and distinctly attributed to the Jewes who I am sure did never since the Prophets dayes returne from any captivitie with such an high hand and with such a wonderfull victory over their enemies as is here prophecied And as for the Church that now is let the lamentable experience of all ages witnesse whether she hath not beene more often crowned with martyrdome than victory whether the blood-thirstie Mahometan hath not gotten much ground upon her yea whether he who claimes the priviledge to be her head hath not and doth not most of all waste and devoure her according as it is written of him in the 13. of the Rev. at the 11. vers and therefore these prophesies can have no relation to the times of the Gentiles nor so much to the time of the Maccabees as Cornelius à Lapide endeavours to make these of Zachariah to have for neither were their enemies smitten with such plagues nor brought into such subjection as is here foretold neither was the house of David then so highly exalted as is here promised and Iudas and his brethren who then bare the chiefest sway were not of the Tribe of Iudah but of Levi neither was the wealth of all the heathen round about then gathered together neither did the Lord (e) Zech. 14.5 descend and all the Saints with him unlesse wee will say as our Commentator doth that this was fulfilled when the five comely men upon horses appeared unto the enemies from heaven as 't is in the 2. of the Maccab. the 10. chap. at the 29. and 30. vers which apparition doth as well expound these words as hee doth that other Prophesie of Zephaniah by which he would have us to understand Gods calling the Gentiles to repentance by the preaching of the Gospell when as the text saith plainly that Gods determination is to gather the Nations and to assemble the Kingdomes that he may powre upon them his indignation even all his fierce anger and if this be not to cry peace peace when there is no peace if this be not to call evill good and good evill to put darknesse for light and light for darkenesse bitter for sweete and sweete for bitter I know not what is But enough of the perplexity which shall happen to other Nations when the Jewes return Now againe of their returne and of the prosperity which shall then happen to themselves And it shall come to passe in that day saith Isaiah ch 11. v. 11. that the Lord shall set his hand againe the second time to recover the remnant of his people which shall be left from Assyria and from Egypt and from Paphros and from Cush and from Eâ—am and from Shinar and from Hamath and from the Islands of the Sea and hee shall set up an Ensigne for the Nations and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel and (f) Isa 49.12.25 ch 30.18 19. ch 62.10 11 12. Eze. 20.32 33 34 c. gather together the dispersed of Judah from the foure corners of the earth the envie also of Ephraim shall depart and the adversaries of Judah shall be cut off Ephraim shall not envie Judah and Judah shall not vexe Ephraim and the Lord shall utterly destroy the tongue of the Egyptian Sea and with his mighty wind shall he shake his hand over the river and shall smite it in the seven streames and shall make men goe over dry-shod and there shall be an high way for the remnant of his people which shall be left from Assyria (g) Mica 7. 15 c. like as it was to Israel in the day that he came up out of the Land of Egipt You see here that the Prophet speakes plainely of a miraculous recovery of Gods people of the recovery I say of Judah not from Babylon but from the foure (h) Jer. 16. v. 14 15. ch 23.7 8. corners of the earth and that together with Ephraim with the ten Tribes from Assyria which as (i) Joh. 7.35 yet never came back and therefore this is not yet fulfilled Such another Prophesie is that of Ezek. in his 37. chap. at the 19. vers Thus saith the Lord God I will take the sticke of Joseph which is in the hand of Ephraim and the Tribes of Israel his fellowes and will put them with him even with the sticke of Judah and make them one sticke and they shall be one in my hand And at the 21. vers Behold I will take the children of Israel from among the Heathen whither they be gone and will gather them on every side and will bring them into their owne Land and I will make them one Nation in the Land upon the Mountaines of Israel and one King shall be King to them all and
the breasts of Kings and thou shalt know that I the Lord am thy Saviour and Redeemer the Mighty one of Jacob. And in the 49. chap. at the 22. ver and the 25. at the 6. ver Thus saith the Lord God Behold I will lift up my hand to the Gentiles and set up my Standerd to the people and they shall bring thy Sonnes in their armes and thy daughters shall be carryed upon their shoulders And Kings shall be thy nursing Fathers and their Queenes thy noursing Mothers they shall bow downe to thee with their faces towards the earth and licke up the dust of thy feet and thou shalt know that I am the Lord for they shall not be ashamed that waite for me And in this Mountaine shall the Lord of Hostes make unto all people a feast of fat things a feast of Wines on the Lees of fat things full of marrow of Wines on the Lees well refined And he will destroy in this mountaine the face of the covering cast over all people and the vaile that is spread over all Nations He will swallow up death in victory and the Lord will wipe away teares from off all faces and the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth for the Lord hath spoken it And in his 14. chap. at the 1. ver The Lord will have mercy upon Jacob and will (r) Dan 7. v. 18.22.27 yet chuse Israel and set them in their owne Land and the (s) Isa 55. v 5. Zech. 2. v. 9.11 strangers shall be joyned with them and they shall cleave to the house of Jacob and the people shal take them and bring them to their place and the House of Israel shall possesse them in the Land of the Lord for servants and for hand-maides and they shall take them (t) Ezek. 39 v. 10. captives whose captives they were and they shall rule over their oppressours And in chap. 2. ver 2. It shal come to passe in the last dayes that the mountaine of the Lords house shall be established in the top of the mountaines shal be exalted above the hils and al Nations shal flow unto it And many people shal go and say come ye and let us go up to the mountaine of the Lord to the house of the God of Jacob and he will (u) Isa 49. v. 6. cha 60. v. 3. 1 Tim. 2. v. 4. teach us of his wayes and we will walk in his paths for out of Zion shall goe forth the Law and the Word of the Lord from Jerusalem And hee shall judge among the Nations and shall rebuke many people and they shall breake their swords into plow shares and their speares into pruning hookes Nation shall not (w) Psal 46 v. 9. lift up sword against Nation neither shall they learne warre any more The same Prophecy also you may finde it the 4. chap. of Micâ—lâ— at the 1. ver And not much unlike this is that in the 8. chap. of Zech. at the 20. ver And that in the 14. chap. at the 16. ver Thus saith the Lord of Hostes it shall come to passe thâ—â— there shall come people and the inhabitants of many Cities and the inhabitants â—â—done City shall goe to another saying Let us got speedily to pray before the Lord of Hostes I will goâ—â—lâ—o Yea many people and strong Nations shall come to seeke the Lord of Hostes in Jerusalem and to pray before the Lord. Thus faith the Lord of Hostes in those dayes it shall come to passe that ten men shall taketh old out of all languages of the Nations even shall take hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew saying We will goe with you for we have heard that God is with you And in shall come to passe that every one that is lest of all the Nations which came against Jerusalem shall even goâ— up from yearâ— to yeare to worship the King the Lord of Hostes and to keepe â—nd foâ—st of Tabernacles And it shall be that who so will not come up of all the Families of the earth unto Jerusalem to worship the King the Lord of Hostes even upon them shall be no raine I know the most of these Prophecies are chiefly interpreted of the joyning together of the Jewes Gentiles in one Church and rightly but to say that this is now fulfilled in the time of the substituted Gentiles Vocation is to overthrow what was before affirmed and to take great paines to beguile our selves and others of the Truth It is I say to put out our owne eyes and bid others follow us For Saint Paul in the 11. of the Rom. tells us plainely that the Jewes are broken off from their Olive Ver. 19 20. v. 17. v. 15. v. 7. v. 32. ver 11. And that we are graffed in for them That they are cast away that they are hardned That God hath concluded them all in unbeleefe And that through their fall salvation is come unto us to provoke them to (x) Deu. 32 v. 21. jealousie And therefore it cannot possibly be maintained that the Jewes and Gentiles are as yet (y) Ioh. 10. v. 16. one sheepefold And as for those which were converted at the first Preaching of the Gospell and at other times since they are but the first fruites and roote as I may say of the branches and lumpe which shall follow after them by a generall conversion And therefore the calling of these can no more be accounted a conversion of the Jewes then the calling of those Gentiles which were gathered to the Church before Christs Nativity can be taken for the conversion of the Gentiles Who were as time hath shewne us but the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the fore-runners and pledge as it were of al those Nations which were a long time after converted by the Ministery of the Apostles their successors And besides how the bringing of the Jews out of all Nations Vpon Horses in Litters and in Charets upon Mules upon mens shoulders can beare any other but a literal sense Or how The vaile that is spread over all Nationâ— can now be said to be destroyed when as so many of them run a whoring after their owne inventions I cannot conceive Yea Even unto this day saith Saint Paul of the Jews in his time when Moses is read the vaile is upon their heart Neverthelesse when it shall turne unto the Lord the vaile shall be taken away 2 Cor. 3.15 and 16. ver But we see not yet Israel returned yea we see it fallen into more grosse ignorance and superstition and therefore the vaile is not yet taken away and consequently is not yet Destroyed from all Nations Againe I know no reason why we should give more credit to the Metaphoricall interpretation of these Prophecies then to the Figurative exposition which some presume to put upon those words in the 12. of Zechariah at the 10. ver Although Saint John in his 19. Chap. at the
Records as they challenge no lesse then beleefe to what I have written from them that equall these Scriptures with the Canonicall and are indeed altogether incompatible with a Jewish Antichrist so they manifest also to the whole world that I have uttered no yesterdayes doctrine no deformed issue of a private and distempered Spirit hatcht in a corner and nurst in a conventicle studyed in a closet or cloister and preacht onely in a chamber or covent but such things as accompany (r) Heb. 6. v. 9. Salvation Such words as every free Christian every uncaptived conscience will plainely perceive and publikely confesse to be the (s) Act. 26. v. 25. words of sobernesse and Truth Even her words (e) Prov. 1. v. 20. c. whose wont it is to utter t her voyce in the streetes in the chiefe place of concourse in the opening of the gates and in the City saying How long ye simple ones will ye love simplicity and the scorners delight in their scorning and fooles hate knowledge Let old Tobit speake for the rest I beleeve that our Brethren shall lye scattered in the earth from that good land and Jerusalem shall be desolate and the house of God in it shall be burned and shall be desolate for a time And that againe God will have mercy on them and bring them againe into the land where they shall build a Temple but not like to the first untill the time of that age be fulfilled and afterwards they shall turne from all places of their captivity and build up Jerusalem gloriously and the House of God shall be built in it for ever with a glorious building (v) Act. 3. v 19 20 21. as the u Prophets have spoken thereof And all Nations shall turne and feare the Lord God truely and shall bury their (w) Is 2. v. 20. Idols So shall all Nations praise the Lord and his people shall confesse God and the Lord shall exalt his people and all those that love the Lord God in truth and justice shall rejoyce shewing mercy to our brethren Gloria Deo Vita Regi Pax Regno Glory to God on high on earth increase To the Kings age and to the Kingdome peace FINIS GOG AND MAGOG OR THE BATTLE OF THE GREAT DAY OF GOD ALMIGHTIE By ROBERT MATON Minister and Mr of Arts and sometimes Commoner of Wadham Colledge in OXFORD Hab. 2. v. 3. The vision is yet for an appointed time but at the end it shall speake and not lie though it tarry wait for it because it will surely come it will not tarry LONDON Printed by R. Cotes for Daniel Frere and are to be sold at his shop in little Britaine at the signe of the red Bull. 1642. DEUT. 32. v. 2.36.43 The Lord shall judge his people and repent himselfe for his servants when he seeth that their power is gone and there is none shut up or left Rejoyce O yee Nations with his people for he will avenge the blood of his servants and will render vengeance to his adversaries and will he mercifull to his land and to his people Jerem. 10. v. 11.10 The (b) Isa 2.20 Zeph. 3.11 gods that have not made the heavens and the earth even they shall perish from the earth and from under these heavens But the Lord is the true God he is the living God and an everlasting King at his wrath the (c) Isa 2.19 21. Rev. 6.15 16 17. earth shall tremble and the Nations shall not be able to abide his indignation Isaiah 14. v. 24. c. The Lord of Hosts hath sworne saying surely as I thought so shall it come to passe and as I purposed it shall stand That I will breake the Assyrian in my land and upon my mountaines tread him under foot then (d) Isa 10.24 25 26 27. shall his yoke depart from off them and his burden from off their shoulders This is the purpose that is purposed upon the (e) Eze. 38 39. Ioel. ch 3. Micah 4.12 13. Zeph. 3.5 Zek. 12.14 whole earth and this is the hand that is stretched out upon all the Nations For the Lord of Hosts hath purposed and who shall disannull it and his hand is stretched out and who shall turne it backe Isaiah 30. v. 27 c. Behold the Name of the Lord commeth from farre burning with his anger and the burden therereof is heavie his lips are full of indignation and his tongue as a devouring fire And his breath as an over-flowing streame shall reach to the middest of the necke to sift the Nations with the sieve of vanitie and there shall be a bridle in the jawes of the people causing them to erre Ye shall have a song as in the night when an holy solemnity is kept and gladnesse of heart as when one goeth with a pipe to come into the mountaine of the Lord to the mighty one of Israel And the Lord shall cause his glorious voyce to be heard and shall shew the lighting downe of his arme with the indignation of his anger and with the flame of a devouring fire with scattering and tempest and hailestones For through the voyce of the Lord shall the Assyrian be beaten downe which smote with a rod. And in every place where the grounded staffe shall passe which the Lord shall lay upon him it shall be with tabrets and harpes and in battels of shaking will hee fight with it For Tophet is ordained of old yea for the King it is prepared he hath made it deepe and large the pile thereof is fire and much wood the breath of the Lord like a streame of brimstone doth kindle it GOG AND MAGOG OR THE BATTLE OF THE GREAT DAY OF GOD ALMIGHTIE EZEK 38.2 Sonne of man set thy face against Gog the land of Magog the chiefe Prince of Meshech and Tuball and prophesie against him c. THat we may the better know what enemies are meant by Gog and Magog in the 20. chap. of the Rev. it will not be amisse first Vers 8. to examine who are meant by Gog and Magog in the 38 and 39. chap. of Ezekiel And this can no way be so well found out as by comparing Ezekiels prophesie with other Prophesies For albeit this of Ezekiel be in forme and manner of expression somewhat different from others and in matter much more copious than others that being delivered here plainly fully and together which is in some but obscurely glanc't at and in others revealed but in part or at most by parcels as we say that is some part in one place and some in another yet that Ezekiel goes not alone in the subject of this Revelation it is evident by the Querie made by God himselfe in the very same Prophesie Thus saith the Lord God Art thou hee of whom I have spoken in (a) Hab. 2.3 old time by my servants the Prophets of Israel which prophesied in those dayes many yeares that I would bring thee against them chapter the
Kingdomes round about being for the most part taken away by meanes whereof the Kings of the East that is the Christian Kings and professors of the truth whom God shall stirre up against her in these parts shall have a notable advantage to bring her to ruine And the ground of all this is that in the 17. chap. of the Rev. at the 16. vers where 't is said that the ten hornes which are ten Kings who were for a time to give their Kingdome unto the Beast with whom in one houre they received power as Kings shall hate the whore and make her desolate and naked and eate her flesh and burne her with fire But unlesse the abettors of this interpretation will deny that the seven vials do containe seven distinct plagues which are successively to begin at the powring out of their particular vials and not before and this were to contradict the Holy Ghost who hath left upon record seven severall descriptions of seven different plagues unlesse they will do this I say they can never prove the decay of the Popes revenues to be the meaning of the drying up of Euphrates For seeing that the abatement of the Antichristian profits must needs be an act of equall standing with the reformation of the Church under the Protestant Princes and that the beginning and continuance of that work is ascribed by the foresaid Expositors to all the former vials and surely if this be the time of the vials experience tels us that the reformation of religion pertaines to most of them I say seeing these things are so it necessarily followes that the drying up of Euphrates in this sense cannot possibly be the proper event of the sixt vial where onely it is mentioned but must be a thing common to al or most of the first six vials the consummation and perfection whereof is to be referred to the sixth vial and the beginning and augmentation to the rest Neither is it more likely that by the Kings of the East are meant the ten Kings which shall hate the whore and make her desolate for First at the destruction of that mighty army which is to be gathered against the Kings of the East the Kings that shall take part with the Beast and false Prophet shall be slaine as it is foretold in the 19. chap. of the Rev. at the 18. vers but when the ten Kings who are to hate the whore shall burne her with fire the Kings that shall then take part with her shall not perish in battell for 't is said that they shall bewaiâ—e her and lament for her when they see the smâ—ake of her burning Rev. 17. at the 9. and 10. verses which words also do further shew that this destruction of Rome cannot be that which is to concurre with the over throw of the great army at the effusion of the seventh viall because this is to be by fire but that by an earthquake exprest in the 16. chap. at the 19. vers and represented here in the 18. chap. at the 21. vers by an Angel casting a great milstone into the sea and saying Thus with violence shall that great City Babylon be throwne down and shall be found no more at all Againe at Romes destruction by fire the Kings of the earth shall bewaile Her because her glory is departed But at Romes downefall by an earthquake they shall bewaile themselves because the (l) Rev. 6.14 15 16 17. c. 16. v. 18 19 20 21. Luk. 23.30 Isa 2.19 20 21. great day of the Lambs wrath is come They shall then I say have no regard of the losse of worldly honour or possessions but shall even wish that they might enjoy the finall judgement of that great City that with it they might be found no more at all for what else is to be understood by their calling to the Mountaines to fall on them and to the Rockes to hide them Secondly seeing the ten Kings shall hate the whore and make her desolate and naked and eate her flesh and burne her with fire It followes First that this expedition is to be made by these kings against the false Prophet and not by him against them Secondly that this desolation shall be wrought by the ordinary power of men And Thirdly that it shall rather be a destruction of Rome and the Popes temporalties than of the Pope or Papacie it selfe But the expedition spoken of under the sixth vial is to be made by the Beast false Prophet against the Kings of the East not by these against them their perdition shal be personal final proceeding immediately from Christ himself For they shall be taken and cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone and the remmant shall be slaine Rev. 19. at the 20. and 21. ver And what is an utter perdition what an everlasting destruction if to be cast into hell be not and to whom is this (m) Joh. 5.27 power committed but to Christ onely Thirdly if the successe of the ten Kings against the false Prophet belongs to any vial it must be to the fift and not to the sixt to the fift I say which is to be powred out on the very seat of the Beast for what is the seat of the beast but the great City which in Saint Johns dayes (n) Rev. 17.3.18 raigned over the Kings of the earth and what is that great City but (o) Vers 5. Babylon the great the Mother of harlots and abominations of the earth and consequently the whore whom the ten Kings shall burne with fire Fourthly and lastly it is much to be doubted that the ten Kings shall help make up that great army which is to be gathered against the Kings of the East For First it being apparent that they cannot be Kings of the East how can they be excluded from being a part of the Kings of the earth and of the whole world for though there be not expresse mention of the ten Kings at the gathering together of the great Army yet there is expresse mention of perswading the assisting kings to battell by such a cursed and detestable course as would be altogether needlesse if they were to be such Kings with whom the authority and friendship of the Beast and false Prophet should be able to prevaile Secondly it is said that these ten Kings shall make warre with the Lambe and the Lambe shall overcome them for he is the Lord of Lords and King of Kings Rev. the 17. at the 14. ver and how can these words be referred to any other warre but that which is spoken of in the 19. chap. of the Rev. where it is foretold ver 14.16.19 that the Army of the Beast and false Prophet is to be overcome by our Saviour himselfe when he shall be revealed from heaven when he shall mightily and visibly manifest himselfe to be Lord of Lords and King of Kings in (p) Isa 66. v. 15 16. 2 Thes 1. v. 8.10