three Patriarchs who could give an Account of all that time wherein they lived which was above 2000 years were able to keep their Families and all other People that were near them in the knowledg of the true Religion and where they err'd and offended to correct them Thus Religion and Divine Worship might be faithfully transmitted from the beginning of the World to above twenty Centuries by three persons only The Church was then sufficiently taught by Tradition from Father to Son vivâ— vâ—câ— because of the Longevity of the Patriarchs some of whom lived 700 years others 800 or 900. For this reason the Church was without Scripturâ— almost five and twenty hundred years But afterwards when the years of mans Life were shortned God used another Method he taught men by a Written Law 2. The Degeneracy of the World was another Reason why the Law was committed to Writing The World at first had many Pious as well as Antient Patriarchs who were as Philo notes Living and Rational Laws and so stood in need of no Written ones for these are but Commentaries on those Old Fathers Lives But the Vices of men grew proportionable to their Numbers and when Mankind was spread wide up and down the Earth Immorality and Sin were dispersed likewise and the World became notoriously wicked The Deluge did not wash away the Contagion but in a considerable time after men were as bad as ever and the very Dictates of their Reasonable nature were discarded by them When they had thus obliterated the Law written on their minds God thence ingraved it on Tables of Stone If men had not been wonderfully corrupted there had been no need of this So faith the Apostle speaking of this Law It was not made for the Righteous but for the lawless and disobedient for the ungodly and for sinners I Tim. 1. 9. The same he had intimated before in Gal. 3. 19. The Law was added because of transgression it was given to be a Check to their notorious Sins and that they might not offend uncontroul'd And this may be the meaning of the Apostle's words in Rom. 5. 20. The Law entred that the Offence might abound i. e. that men might see how their Sins abounded God gave his Law in Writing to shew them their Guilt to convince them of their gross Miscarriages and to reduce them to the way of Virtue and Obedience that when God himself had writ down their Duty with his own hand they might be inexcusable 3. The Law was committed to Writing that it might not be forgot One reputed to be a Judicious Writer is of opinion that the Patriarchs were happier without the Written Law than with it it was a mark of God's love and favour that they had no books and writings I suppose he means because they did not need them But afterwards there was occasion for them for the Impressions of the Law of Nature were almost defaced and obliterated the Instructions and Traditions of their Fathers were neglected and the knowledg of God and their Duty could not be kept pure by Oral Tradition when not only their Lives were short but corrupted and miserably depraved Therefore an exact Written Law was wanting to set before their eyes and to remind them of what they were to do to put them constantly in remembrance of what God required of them Hereupon the Moral Precepts were written by God himself and delivered to Mâ—sâ—s that the might communicate them to the People and they to the rest of the World This was out of kindness to them it was design'd to be a Remedy against their forgetfulness and negligence Lastly which comprehends all the Law was written that it might not be corrupted Tradition was unsafe when the numbers of men were increased and the World was dispersed and arrived to a great height of Impiety Therefore God thought it necessary to preserve and perpetuate the Law by Ingraving it on Tables of Stone which are Solid and Duâ—able and by lodging it in the Aâ—k as in a safe Treasury by ordering it to be Transcribed and to be Read to all the People and that they themselves should read it continually This was the best way to prevent all Error and Imposture all Fraud and Corruption about the Law This made it a thing impossible to deprave and pervert the Letter and plain Sense of it For these Reasons that Word which for near 25 Centuries of Years was delivered and promulged by Tradition was committed to Writing in Moses's time and not before For these Reasons the Common Law of Nature was turn'd into this Statutâ— Law of the Commandments I will not here speak particularly of the Ten Commandments because in the Body of the Work which I intend I am obliged to insist upon every one of them distinctly and largely and also because it is the Writing of the Moral Law of which I have given you an Account not the Law it self that is part of this Mosaick Dispensation as it is different from those which went before The Ten Commandâ—ents were given now not that they were of no force before this time but now they were Written on Tables and more Solemnly Promulg'd This was it which we were to take notice of as New and proper to this Iudaical Period If any man thinketh that these Ten Commandments because they were deliver'â— to the Iews were drawn up for that Body of People only and are not of universal Concernment I could silence that surmise by shewing that these Commandments were in force before the Law given by Moses to the Iews and that every one of them was a Law before the Mosaick Oeconomy and that those who lived in all the former Dispensations observed these Commandments Nay they are all of them excepting only the Determination of the Sabbath day the very Law of Nature written on the heart of man at his Creation They are Dictates of Natural Reason and therefore they ought to be done though they were not commanded For this Reason likewise it is not proper to insist upon them in this place for they are no special part of this Oeconomy But the Ceremâ—nial and Iudicial Laws are the grand things which make this a distinct and peculiar Administration Of those therefore I will hasten to speak The Ceremonial or Ecclesiastical Law is no other than the Precepts given by God to the Iews concerning External Rites belonging to Religion and the Worship of God Of these Ceremonial Usages several were in use before Moses's time viz. Priests Altars Sacrifices Oblations Tithes Distinction of Clean and Unclean Animals Not Eating Blood Circumcision But now all the former Rites and Ceremonies are digested into One Body and are become more Fixed and Certain The Ceremonial Service of the Iâ—ws was now precisely determin'd and there was no varying from it Agaiâ— whereas in some Agâ—s one Ceremony was used in another another Now they are all together and are observed at the same Time and by the same Persons
peculiar People and taken into Grace and Favour There was a Distinction made between God's Servants and others under the Abrahamick Period but now it is more Visible and Remarkable now the Iewish State properly commenceth now these People are molded into a new Commonwealth and God is their peculiar Governour The Church of God was first united into One Politick Body or Society and grew to be National in Moses's time Now the Church in the Wilderness as 't is call'd by St. Stephen Acts 7. 38. became a Distinct Body of men known by the name of Israelites This Oeconomy is famous for the Delivering of a Threefold Law Moral Ceremonial Iudicial Tho Moral Ecclesiastical Civil may be a better Division of those Laws for some that are reckon'd among the Ceremonial and Typical Laws as Tithes and First-fruits are not such and some of those call'd Iudicial deserve not that name But the Usual Partition shall serve and by the Moral Law we understand those Precepts and Commands by the observance of which men are madereally Good and Virtuous The Ceremonial Law is the Iews Canon Law and directs them in their external Behaviour in Religious Worship and tells them what Rites and Usages they must observe By the Iudicial Law we understand the Civil Law of the Iewish Nation as Ius Civile is taken for the Particular Law of every single State This contains those Constitutions and Orders which respect Publick Justice and acquaints men what is Right and Equitable in their Dealings and Commerce with one another The first of these are such Precepts and Prohibitions as are good in themselves The Second are indifferent in their own Nature but are so far good as they are commanded by a Positive Law of God The third sort are of a mixt Nature being partly in their own nature good and partly indifferent This Triple Law is thought by the Iewish Writers to be comprised in those three words Commandments Statutes Iudgments Deut. 6. 1. Mitzoth Praecepta are said to be the Ten Commandments the Moral Law Chukkim Statuta are thought to be those Rites and Ceremonies that respect God's Worship as Circumcision c. Mishaphattim Iudicia are suppos'd to be all those Politick Constitutions that concern humane Society But it is not certain that by these three words are meant those three distinct kinds of Laws for these are mention'd in Gen. 26. 5. before there was this formal Distinction of Laws And in Deut. 11. 1. you will find these words transposed which intimates that those are too nice who understand them in the former manner for 't is not likely that the Commandments i. e. the Moral Law would be set in the last place Wherefore I think it more probable that this diversity of words is used only to signifie the whole body of Precepts of what nature soever that was given to the Iews But this is unquestionable that the Decâ—logue is the chief and most eminent part of these Laws and the rest are bâ—t Appendages and Supplements to it The Ceromâ—â—ial Injunctions are annex'd to the Precepts of the first Table and those that are Iudicial to them of the Second The former are Particular Instances of the Duty which was required of the Iewish people towardâ— God the lattâ—r of their Duty towards their Neighbours The Hebrew Doctors divide all the Commandments of the Law into 248 〈◊〉 and 365 Negative and both 〈◊〉 into Twelve Houses as they call them and under each House more or less Commandments The â—â—mplete Sum is 613 which they say is according to the number of the â—etterâ— in the 〈◊〉 in which all the Law is virtually and reductively comprised These Ten Words as they are called in the Hebrew and those other Iudicial and Ceremonial Laws which you may find set down from the 20 th Chap. of Exodus to the end of the Pentateuch began to be deliver'd on Mount Sinai three months after the Israelites came out of Egypt Exod. 19. 1. Moses was forty days or six weeks in the Mount or rather if you conâ—ult the â—â—â—tory you will find that he was twice or thrice on the Mount so long a time or a very considerable time and then it was that he receiv'd these Divine Laws First I will speak concerning the Moral Law comprised in the Ten Commandments I call the whâ—lâ— Decalogue the Moral Law although the Observation of the Seventh Day appâ—inted in the Fourth Commandment be not strictly Moral but because the Devoting some Certain Time to God's Service is Moral and is contain'd in that Commâ—ndment therefore I reckon it part of the Moral Law You meet with several particular Laws relating to Moral Duties scatter'd up and down in the four last Books of Moses but these Ten Words as they are call'd are a Summary Account of all those Laws and Rules which are more spâ—cially and particularly set down This Law of Morality and Natural Reason was in all the former Dispensations but that which makes it Peculiar in is this that this Law which before was Written in mens Hearts is now Ingraven on Stone If I should say that there were no Lettâ—rs at all before these which God used on Mount Sinai If I should aâ—sert that they had no Books or Writings before the 〈◊〉 but that the Characters of the Law were the first that ever were in the World and consequently that now God taught men to write I do not see how why man can disprove me But this we are sure of that from Adam to Moses which is above 2000 years there was no Written Word of God to direct the World The Church was without Scriptures God's Will which was communicated to them by Revelation was continued and kept up by Tradition If it be demanded why God suffer'd the World to live so long without a written Law and what was the Reason of the writing of the Law at last I answer 1. The long Lives of the Patriarchs as hath been intimated before were one main Reason why there was no Written Law for so long a time There was a College and Society of many Seniors living many hundred years together with one another Adam lived with Seth 800 years with Enes 695 with Cainan 605 with Mahalaleel 535 with Iared 470 with Methuselah 243 with Lamech 56. Or we may instance in Pious Shem who was both before and after the Flood he lived with Methuselah 97 years with Lamâ—ch 92 with Noah 447 with Arphaxad Sala and Heber about 430 with Peleg and Regu about 239 with Serug 230 with Nabor 149 with Terah 205 with Abraham 150 with Isaac 50. These therefore could conâ—er Notes with great ease they could inform themselves truly concerning the Faith and Religion and Practice of the First Man they could instruct one another concerning theiâ— Duty and the indispensible necessity of it Or take it more briefly thuâ— Adam lived to converse with Methuselah Methuselah lived to see and know Shem Shem lived till Iacob was born so that these
them And these Envoys of Heaven were sent not only to God's own People but sometimes to others as the Ninivites Thus Revelation was made by Voice God spake himself or by others audibly and this was no uncommon way of divulging and discovering his Will Again God spake i. e. communicated himself heretofore not only by the sense of Hearing but by that of Seeing He was pleased to make known his Divine Pleasure by some visible Appearances which most vigorously struck on that Sense and gave more evident Testimony of the Will of Heaven Thus God discovered himself 1. by Angels Appearing for tho it was not the Appearing of these Messengers but their Speaking to persons which gave them the discovery of God's pleasure yet the former was no mean Confirmation of what was delivered because those Glorious Spiâ—â—ts could not appear to Mankind unless they were commission'd by God When he thought fit to send them then and not else they descended from Heaven and shew'd themselves to Men. 2. Writing was another manner of Visible Revelation Thus the Law was deliver'd to Moses and afterwards this way of Revelation grew frequent the Sacred History of Moses and other Histories and Prophecie being committed to Writing Thus the Antient Church before Christ's coming had the Written Word of the Holy Scriptures to inform them 3. God spake to the Sight by those Representations which in Holy Writ are so usually stiled Visions for these properly belong to the outward Sense of Seeing they are either Real Spectacles exposed to the eye as the Burning Bush which Moses saw Exod. 3. 2. and the Pillar of a Cloud which went before the Israelites in the day and the Pillar of Fire which conducted them in the night Exod. 13. 21. and the Cloud in the Temple 2 Chron. 5. 13 14. call'd the Glory of the Lord 2 Chron. 7. 1 2. And this Expression is used in other places of the Old Testament to signifie that Visible Glory and Majesty whereby he manifested himself to Mankind in those times Or else Visions in Holy Scripture are certain Images of things represented by God to the Eye as those Strange Appearances and Signs mention'd in the Books of Ieremiah Ezekiel and Daniel Whether these things may be said to be real Objects or whether they be mere Apparitions we need not as some solicitously inquire If they be Resemblances caused by God and there be such an Impression made on the Sense of Seeing that the Organ be affected as if there were such an Object before it it is sufficient to denominate it Vision But this is not to be doubted of that these external Representations and Figures pointed out Real things either present or to come From this sort of Manifestation call'd Vision the Prophets who were most conversant in this way of Revelation were stiled Seâ—rs 1 Sam. 9. 9 18. 2 Chron. 35. 15. Thus I have distinctly spoken of Voices and Visions but it must be observed also that these two are joyned together sometimes This you may see in some of the foregoing Instances and in others not named the Revelation by Voice was mixed with that by Vision so in the New Testament Saul saw a Light and heard a Voice But I am confined at present to the Old Testament for I speak now only of the variety of Revelations which were before the Gospel-Dicd\sspensation It is to be observed moreover that sometimes Vision and Voice were accompanied with an Extasy tho the persons were awake yet they were cast into a Trance Lastly under this head it is remarkable that all the outward and sensible ways of God's revealing himself especially those that are visible are call'd by the Jewish Masters the Shekinah i. e. the Divine Presence and Majesty whereby the doth as it were dwell and is constantly present with his Church for the word Shakan signifies to inhaâ—â—â—â— or dwell whereby he doth gloriously discover himself to his Servants With reference to this the Apostle saith to the Israelites pertaineth the Glory Rom. 9. 4. i. e. the Glorious Presence and Habitation of God with them not only by Angels but all those other ways before spoken of in which he appear'd and manifested himself in the times of the Law This St. Paul stiles the Glory because this Visible Appearing of God is so stiled as you have heard in the Old Testament and because the Seventy Interpreters whose way of speaking this Apostle is wont to imitate used the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to express the Glorious Presence of the Divine Majesty in any kind of Sensible and External manner 2. There are Inward as well as Outward Revelations These are made more immediately to the Soul as the other were to the Body First God spake or reveal'd himself to the Fancies of Men by Dreams He thought good to communicate his Will to persons by a powerful Influence on their Imaginations whilst they were asleep as well as by presenting things to their Senses when they were awake Thus God reveal'd himself to Abraham Abimelech Iacob Ioseph Pharaoh Solomon Nebuchadnezzar In their Dreams their Fancies were impress'd with such and such Representations they verily thought they beheld this or that Object as Iacob thought he saw a Ladder that reached from Heaven to Earth And because these Representations seem to be offer'd to the eye therefore they are sometimes call'd Visions in Scripture I saw a Dream saith Nebuchadnezzar Dan. 4. 5. And so we read of a Dream of the night Vision Isai. 29. 7. But if you speak of Visions in the proper sense then it is certain Visions and Dreams are two distinct Species of Revelation and so I have made them having before spoken of Visions strictly so call'd But this is a thing not consider'd sometimes by Writers on this Subject and so they confound Visions and Dreams Secondly God speaks to the Soul not only by working on the Imagination in Sleep but by immediate Inspiring the minds of the Prophets when they are awake This way of revealing his Will to Men is call'd Inspiration and sometimes Illumination but there is a gradual difference between these the former being of a higher degree than the later and the later being as it were a Preparative to the former This Inspiration which is made by an inward Afflatus and Excitation of the Spirit is signally call'd the Holy Spirit by the Jewish Writers A man say they is said to have the Holy Spirit when being awake and having the full use of his Senses he speaks by the Incitement of the Spirit Thus the Prophets of old spake as they were stirr'd up by this Inward Afflation and Instinct The Jewish Doctors think that this degree of Divine Revelation is especially in the Psalms of David and the Proverbs of Solomon and the Book of Iob c. the Writers of which are termed by way of Excellency Chetubim Scriptores by the Hebrews and their Writings are distinguish'd from other Books of
Innocent Christians This is sufficient to confute that Opinion Therefore Others hold the Thousand Years began under Constantine the Great when coming to the Empire he caused the Persecutions to cease and set up Christianity as the Religion of the Empire which was about the Year of our Lord 310. and they ended at the rise of the Ottoman Empire and with â—the Papacy of Boniface the Eight who made the Sanguinary Laws against the Waldenses and Albigenses which was about the Year 1300. Thus thought those Great Men Willet Forbes Napier Grotius Hammond And Brightman likewise seems to hold that the Reigning of the Saints and the Binding of Satan were from Constantine the Great to the beginning of the Fourteenth Century of thereabouts But this could not be the time of the Saints Reign for we read in Rev. 12. That the Woman viz. the Church as soon as she should be delivered was to be in the Wilderness a State of Distress how then could she Reign which denotes her Prosperity And she was to be in this State for the space of 1260. Days i. e. Years This began according to Mr. Brightman from the time that Constantine the Great was taken up to Heaven for he is the Manchild caught up to God v. 5. and to him the Context referreth Now reckon from the Death of that Emperour which was A. D. 337. till the time that the 1260. Years are expired and you will find that the Thousand Years ended later than he had set them for instead of ending in 1300. they could not according to this Computation have their Period till the Year of Christ 1597. Here you see one Prophecy of the Book of the Revelation is so interpreted as to thwart another which is an Argument that his Calculation is not right And indeed what Considerate Person can believe that the Thousand Years of Christ's Reign and of Satan's Imprisonment are part There hath been nothing yet that hath look'd like it When was Satan so bound that he seduced not the Nations Or when was he loosed again so that we may discern the palpable difference between either Do we not know that when the Ten noted Persecutions were expired yet others were raised against the Servants of God in this Period And all this time either Old Heresies were revived or New ones invented Therefore I infer that the time of the Thousand Years is not yet come when the Angel is to cast Satan into the Bottomless Pit and to shut him up and set a Seal upon him that he should deceive the Nations no more And as for Gog and Magog who were to appear soon after Satans being loosed where are they at this time If by those are meant thâ— Pope and Turk then they make the date of Popery and Turcism to be before Satans loosing and the expiring of the Thousand Years of the Saints Reign which is an Absurdity which they would willingly avoid Mr. Brightman hath an odd fancy of his own that though the Reigning of the Saints a Thousand Years be their Reigning all the Thousand Years in which the Devil was bound i. e. from Constantine the Great to the Year 1300. yet there is another Reigning a Thousand Years viz. from the Year 1300. till a Thousand Years after that be expired But if there be any good ground for this it is in this 20th Chapter of the Revelation where the Thousand Years of Christ's Reign are spoken of expresly and no where else But here it is manifest that the Reigning and the Binding are in the same Thousand Years for it is said v. 7. When the Thousand Years viz. of Christ's Reign expresly mention's in the verse immediately before are expired Satan shall be loose out of his Prison Therefore the Reigning of Christ and the Binding of Satan shall both expire together which proves also that they both began together the same Thousand Years including both The Opinion then of Mr. Brightman and others that the Thousand Years of Christ's Reign are past hath no Foundation at all but is a mere imaginary and precarious Assertion And yet this Assertion was taken up and believed by very Learned and Pious Men the cause of which I apprehend to be this they were prejudic'd against the Doctrine of the Old Millennaries and look'd upon it and that justly as a Groundless and Scandalous Opinion and thereupon were willing to resolve the Thousand Years into some past Time rather than into any that is to come and thereby quash'd that fond conceit of a Personal Reign This was an ill method they took but their great dislike of the other Opinion occasion'd it and therefore they are on that account excusable But if they had rejected what is amiss in the Doctrine of the Chiliasts and had retain'd what is true in the General viz. that there shall be a Future State of the Christian Church which shall be every ways better than its former one they had taken the right Course and had asserted a Truth which is founded on the Sacred Scriptures Thence any Unprejudiced Person may inform himself that the Thousand Years are so far from being past as some have thought that they are not yet come Only to assure us before hand that there shall be such a thing the Christian World hath had some foretasts of it already I cannot positively say with some that the Thousand Years began at the Reformation and that Luther was the Angel that had the Key of the Bottomless Pit and bound the Devil I cannot fix the beginning just here because Wickliff Ierom of Prague and Iohn Huss and several others before Luther did something of this Nature they in some measure restrain'd Satans Power and Jurisdiction by Converting many Persons from the Papal Impieties So that if we say Babylon began to Fall in those Times and mean no other than this that those forenamed Worthies made way for it I grant the Assertion to be true but it is to be remember'd that I am not now treating of the Preparatives and Forerunners of the Blessed Millennum but of that Determinate State and Time it self I grant that at the Reformation the Souls of those that were Beheaded for the Witness of Iesus and for the Word of God might truly be said to Live they were as it were raised from the Dead When Luther and the rest of God's Faithful Servants appeared and were active in Restoring and Reforming Religion the Holy Apostles and Martyrs and all the Primitive Professors of the True Faith were then as it were revived and came upon the Earth again This is a Forerunner and Pledge of that which is call'd the First Resurrection this is a Previous assurance of the Millennary Reign or Christ here on Earth in that Sence which I have before explain'd Mr. Mede's Conceit that the Thousand Years of Christ's Reign shall not begin till the Day of Iudgment is not worthy of so Learned a Person and is confuted from what you Read in this Chapter so
very reasonable to think that this Recovering of the Jews the Second Time is First Particularly meant of the Returning of the Posterity of the Ten Tribes who upon Salmanasser's invading Iudaea were either taken by him or fled into strange Countries There shall not only be a Return from Babylon and Assyria but from Egypt and AEthiopia and even from the most distant Regions Secondly more Generally and Comprehensively it is meant of those Times of the Gospel when the Jews dispersed through all Countries shall be restored to their own Land again and shall be Converted to the Christian Faith This is here called the Second and it is the Last and most Eminent Time of their Conversion when they shall be so Happy likewise as to have all the Gentiles for their Fellow-Converts as it follows in the next Verse of his Chapter He shall set up an Ensign for the Nations as well as assemble the Outcasts of Israel and gather together the dispersed of Iudah from the four Corners of the Earth The Sixtieth Chapter of Isaiah treats of this very Subject the Glorious Condition of the Church under the Messias's Reign when there shall be a General Conversion of the Iews as well as Gentiles which is most elegantly describ'd by this Lofty and Poetick Prophet And the 20th Verse plainly shews that whatever is said in this Chapter is to be understood not of the First Call of the Iews which is past but of the Second which is to come For the Words are these Thy Sun shall no more go down neither shall thy Moon withdraw it self Where is promised the perpetual Grace and Favour of God to this People without any Interruption but who sees not that this is not yet fulfillâ—d and therefore is not yet past The Sun and Moon have gone down upon the Iewish Nation though the Light shone upon them with great vigour after our Saviour's Coming and many were converted to Christianity yet since that time there hath been a miserable Defection and they have for many hundreds of Years been rejected and have remained in Darkness and have been deprived of the Divine Favour But though the sun and Moon have withdrawn themselves since the first Conversion yet there is a Time coming when they shall no more go down for as it follows the Lord shall be their everlasting Light and the Days of their Mourning shall be ended Therefore this Place of Scripture is meant of the future State and Restauration of this People In my Apprehension this is a a very remarkable Text to prove it And those Words of the Prophet Hosea Ch. 3. v. 4 5. may well be thought to refer to this Last Calling of the Iews The Children of Israel shall abide many days without a King and without a â—rince and without a Sacrifice and without an Image and without an â—phod and without Teraphim Afterward shall the Children of Israâ—l return and seek the Lord their God and David their King and shall fear the Lord and his Goodness in the latter days We see the former part of the Words verified Nothing is more evident than that this People have been many days and are are at this very time without a King c. they are destitute of a Head and Governor they are debarr'd the Use of Sacrifices which were the main part of their Religion But yet they do not erect Images and fall into Idolatry as they were wont to do This is the present State of this People which this Text speaks of viz. that they have neither the Mosaick nor Heathenish Worship however the hearts of some of them may be inclined to this latter But I do not judge them And as for the latter part of the Words they shall be verified in due time the Children of Israel shall return i. e. shall be converted unto the Lord as the Chaldee Paraphrast of Ionathan renders it and seek the Lord by Repentance and Faith and David their King i. e. the Messias as is acknowledg'd by that Chaldee Paraphrast and several of the Iewish Doctors on this Place because the Messias was of the Stock of David and because Christ was typified by him whence he is often called David in the Holy Scriptures This fiducial and penitential seeking the Lord and owning the Messias shall be accomplished under his Thousand years Reign which is here call'd the latter days and in other Places signally the last Days before the End of the World And it is impossible it should be meant otherwise because it is to follow this time of the Jews Exile in which they are at this day as we heard confess'd before by one of their Chiefest Rabbies But I found what I say not only on the Concession of this Great Man among them but upon the Words themselves of the Prophecy which tells us that the Israelites shall be without a King or Prince many days which in the Stile of Scripture especially in the Prophetick Writings usually signifies a very great number of Years as in Isai. 24. 22. 32. 10. Ier. 3. 7. Ezek. 12. 27. 38. 8. Dan. 8. 26. 10. 14. so that the time of their Captivity in Babylon whence they return'd as soon as 70 years were expired is not here intended but some much longer space of time And indeed it could not be the time of their being Captive there because that did not immediately precede the latter Days by which in Scripture are frequently denoted the Times of the Messias the last Age of the World and the Hebrew Writers and Commentators themselves freely grant this Here it is said they shall abide many Days without a King c. and afterwards i. e. in the latter Days as it is explain'd they shall return and seek the Lord their God and the Messias Which clearly argues that the time of acknowledging the Messias shall presently succeed after those many days wherein they have abode without a King c. This could not be any part of the time between their Return from the Babylonian Captivity and Christ's Coming in the Flesh for then they were not without a King Prince or Ruler c. therefore it must be since and the Time commenced when Shiloâ— the Saviour came for then the Sceptre departed from ludah then the Iews were left without King or Prince After this particular Period of Time is ended the Messias's Kingdom shall be erected in a more illustrious manner than ever and then the Children of Israel shall return and seek the Lord and shall have a King again they shall embrace that Messias whom their Ancestors crucified and they shall fear the Lord and his Goodness they shall with Reverence and Admiration acknowledge the exceeding Favour and Grace of God to them This I apprehend to be the genuine Import of this Prophecy and I leave it to the Reader to judge whether it be not a Proof of the Grand Point now in hand I might mention Amos 9. 14 15. with some of the preceding Verses which
now wearing off and that we shall have an end of it without any such thing But then when I consider'd that those Places of Holy Scripture which foretell the Calamities and Distresses of the Church of Christ may have respect only to the Times which preceed those Thousand Years I was again induced to believe that there shall be such a State as I have represented that Christ will set up his Kingdom in a more Illustrious and Effectual manner than ever and that this Kingdom shall be accompanied with lasting Peace and Righteousness with the General Conversion of Jews and Gentiles and the Ruin of Anti-christ As to some Particular Circumstances which I have mention'd relating to this Prosperous State of the Christian Church I am not Positive It hath pleased God to deliver things of this Nature Darkly and Mystically and there are no express places of Scripture on which a certain and unquestionable expectation of them can be grounded because we have no sure Word to ascertain our Determination Therefore as to the Particular Way and Manner of the things I have been Discoursing of I deliver nothing with Confidence It is the main of the Dispensation that I assert and which I verily believe though I censure no Man for thinking or saying otherwise I am sensible of this that when we see how the World is at this Day we may be enclined to think there is no probability of this Great Change There seems to be little likelihood at present of this Happy Reign in other parts of the World as well as among our selves for we seem to be every Day degenerating more and more and we run further from that excellent Temper and Genius which are required in that Future Paradise But then I consider that this is to be accomplish'd by a Divine Arm and Conduct and shall be the work of Heaven in a singular and particular Degree The Supreme Arbitrator and Manager of the World can of a sudden dispel all Difficulties and alter the Course of the Universe and frame Men's Minds as he pleaseth When we remember how mean and despicable Christianity was at first but how strangely it spread it self afterwards and made its Progress through the whole World against the greatest Opposition imaginable we may then believe the same may happen again and that what hath been foretold concerning that Glorious State may be fulfill'd Thus I will not despair of that happy Time Both Popery and Mahometism or either of them may for a time decay and grow less and then recover strength Or perhaps one or both of them may remain without any Diminution entire There may be a Superfoetation in the Mother of Harlots she may conceive and bring forth a New and replenish the Earth with her Children It may be the Reformation which hath been begun and set forward in some Parts of the Christian World may be put back Papal Superstition and Tyranny may return again and Rome may sit a Queen and know no Sorrow but what she creates to the true Professors of Religion One would be apt to think as much upon reading what is said concerning the Two Witnesses Rev. 11. 7. When they shall have finish'd the Testimony viz. at the end of 42. Months or 1260 Years the time of the Anti-christian Reign the Beast that ascendeth out of the Bottomless Pit shall make War against them and overcome them and kill them whereupon there is great rejoycing over them and making merry v. 10. It may come to pass that the Seven Hills may be exalted higher than ever and the Reformed Religion depress'd and trampled on Christianity may as Mr. Herbert presaged hoise Sail for America the Gospel may leave us to go to them and we may be half Pagans before it comes to us again Or if we hold fast-the Faith we may be forced to part with every thing else that is dear to us It may be our lot to undergo all Dangers Calamities Outrages and Persecutions before that Blessed Sabbatism arrives There may be a very Dark Night before that Lightsome Day is seen But at last it shall appear yea shine forth and the World shall be every ways the better for it Yea it may and I hope will shew it self in God's good time without any such Sad and Tragical Prologue to it as this I have ventured to offer my Conjectures about it and the freedom I have taken will not be disliked I conceive by Persons of sober Minds In my Judgment that is a very Curious and Notable Saying of Mr. Mede in his Epistle to the Reader before his Comment on the Apocalypse speaking of the interpreting of the Prophetical Writings and other Obscure Matters in Scripture Unless saith he there be liberty given to us to be somewhat free in our Thoughts and Opinions yea even in our Errors and Mistakes sometimes about these things we shall never clear our Passage to those Profound and Hidden Secrets of Truth Accordingly I have freely suggested my Thoughts and if therein I have represented some things amiss let it be remember'd that it was in the pursuit of Truth and of that Truth which it was difficult to attain to or rather let it be examined whether Truth be not here found out by that which some interpret a Mistake I declare I am not Dogmatical in what I have said nor will I perswade others to sit down with Peremptory Confidence that this is the certain meaning of all the Prophecies in Scripture before alledged But then this must be said there are several things highly Probable of which we have no Absolute Certainty and This that I have been Discoursing of is of that Nature Many Passages in Holy Writ do exceedingly favour it and there are no Contemptible Reasons to inâ—line us to a belief of it And when we have both Scripture and Rational Arguments on our side it is more than half of the Opinions which make a very plausible shew in the World can really lay claim to If after all you enquire concerning the Particular and Determinate Time when this Sabbatick State shall begin my Answer in brief is That I cannot neither will I attempt to assign any such thing When I say I cannot my meaning is that I apprehend no possible way of doing it in a Certain and Satisfactory way for otherwise I could as some have done pretend to present the Reader with a Punctual Calculation of the Time when these things shall happen Perhaps I might say without Ostentation that I have made enquiry into the Chronology of the Scriptures as well as others and have considered all that any Writers of Note have said on this Matter and have made search into these Mysteries my self but after all I declare that I find no Foundation for a Precise and Individual Assignation of Time In general we know Christ's Kingdom on Earth shall commence when the Seventh Angel soundeth his Trumpet for then the Kingdoms of the World become the Kingdoms of the Lord and of