ways as for example when a man is onely entred upon the beginning of any year he counts the same inclusively with the other years of his age notwithstanding that the said year be not yet ended but onely begun Have not we reason then to think that a very particular hidden meaning lies wrapt up in these words of Lamech and whether they may not import thus much when he saith I have stain a man to my wounding and a young man to my hurt that by the man Cain is to be understood and by the young man his Brother Abel And will not this interpretation lay a fair ground for the opening of many other misteries in a due and right order As amongst other things we learn from hence that both the Brothers Cain and Abel did from the time of their conception until Cain was killed inseparably continue together viz. Abel in Cain for his vengeance and punishment But that after Cain was killed they no longer continued Twins but separated themselves from each other and by Revolution were afterwards born of two distinct Mothers Where again we may observe that Abel who was the first conceived in Eve now became the first-born of Ada and was now named Jabal and his Brother Jubal which denotes the year of Jubile and continnes now his former course of life being a keeper of Cattle as he was before whereas Cain who was the first-born of Eve is here the youngest Son of Zillah and his name now is Tubal Cain which signifies the world of Cain and his exercise and labour is in the earth viz. about Minerals and Metals and his Sister is Naëmah which denotes Beauty of whom no further mention is made in Scripture but according to the common tradition of the Jews she and her Daughters did intice and seduce all men by their Beauty according to what is mentioned Gen. 6. 1. That the Sons of God were inticed by the Daughters of men But what may be the reason that in Holy Writ after the mentioning of Lamech's Speech to his Wives nothing further is declared concerning his being avenged nor any account of the Actions of Cain or Lamech's posterity May not we suppose that it was because they were all of them entred upon Revolution For how could they any other way have been so often avenged except that they themselves were present and born anew into this World And did not all of them afterwards perish in the Deluge and by this means enter into Noah for to be revolved in him in order to their perfection which they in process of time after Christs Resurrection according to Gods wise and good Disposal in part attained And is not this plain and evident from many places of Scripture particularly 1 Pet. 3. 19 20. where we are told that Christ as the Greek Text doth declare compared with v. 22. after his Ascension into Heaven preached in Spirit by which he was raised again to Life to the Spirits in Prison even to the same Spirits who formerly were unbelieving in the days of Noah while the Ark was a preparing wherein few that is eight Souls were saved Doth it not therefore follow from hence that all those Spirits whose Bodies perished in the Deluge and to whom afterwards Christ after his Ascension in that Spirit by which he was raised again to life and which was poured forth upon the Apostles preached in and by them which Spirits at that time appeared again in bodies in this world from the which they could not be separated forasmuch as they had not yet attained to their full and final perfection and consequently were in a condition to hear the Sermons of the Apostles in flesh I say may we not infer from hence that all these Spirits entred into these eight Souls in order to their Revolution and so consequently were propagated by them until the time of Christ 5 Q. Noah now as who derived his descent from Adam and Seth was an upright perfect man and begat three sons Japhet Sem and Cham Gen. 9. 24. and Chap. 10. 21. And may not we suppose that in him a new World began and that the same day he entred into the Ark for to bring forth a new World he represented the Spirit of God which in the beginning of the Creation moved upon the Waters And may we not compare the six hundredth year of Noah's age in which he entred into the Ark with the sixth day of the Creation in which Man and all Beasts were created In like manner may not Cham his youngest Son be supposed to represent Adam forasmuch as Adam in his Central Spirit in the Garden of Eden by his eating of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil desired through Knowledge which is a seeing of the Spirit to behold his Source and Original by which means Adam fell out of the inner into the outward and so begat Seth in his own likeness and not in the Image of God in which he was created Now Cham did the same also though in a more gross and material manner when he gazed upon his Fathers nakedness wherefore also he was cursed by his Father and made a Servant of Servants whereas his other two Brothers Japhet and Sem went backwards with a Garment upon their shoulders to cover their Fathers nakedness whereupon they obtained the Blessing as Adam likewise might have done in case he had behaved himself as they did which indeed he ought to have done in his Central Spirit viz. he should have gone backwards and wrought out the whole Creation which was created before him and of which â—he was the last viz. from the sixth day to the third which is the middle of the six days and not have gone from one extreme to the other as from the End to the Beginning viz. from Man immediately to the Trees but beginning from himself should have gone through all Beasts backwards and wrought them out one after another and glorified them in himself unto the very last of them counting backwards which are the creeping things as the first bestial Life which had their Original from the putrefaction of Herbs and Trees Is not this likewise the reason why the spiritual Serpent as being the head and chief amongst all the spiritual creeping Creatures in the spiritual World of Man did first speak in Adam 6 Q. When after the Deluge the Children of Noah who were saved in the Ark and in whom all the Souls that lived before the Deluge except Henoch alone whom the Scripture exempts and perished in it were ingrafted had now propagated and multiplied themselves until the number of their Children and Grand-children was grown very great and perceived in themselves one Mindâ— Speech and Expression but withal considering that this unity of theirs could not be lasting and constant but that in process of time they would be divided May we not suppose therefore that from an apprehension of such a Division and aâ— endeavour to prevent the same when in their
fell to be the Portion â—d Propriety of their fore-Fathers and which â—as as it were the foundation-root of their â—hole stock and all the boughs and branches â—owing on the same and from whence not oneâ— they derived their nourishment and increase but â—eir very Bodies themselves I say that they might â—gain as it were be planted into the same and â—ecome united with it and that so by means of their â—oprietary enjoyment of it the said Land might â—evolve in them according to the Divine Ordiâ—nce and Appointment in order to its further â—erfection and glorification And this Inheritance â—hus divided by Lot not onely Sons but Daughters â—lso with some restrictions had a share according 〈◊〉 Gods Laws given by Moses And so it was adâ—dged and determined by God himself in the case 〈◊〉 the Daughters of Zelophehad Num. 27. 36. viz. 〈◊〉 to them should be granted the free possession 〈◊〉 their Fathers Inheritance for their Father had â—st never a Son behind him yet with this caution â—â—at they must marry into the Family of the Tribe of their Father And may not we with â—round conclude that this was thus appointed to â—he end the deceased fore-Fathers Predecessours â—nd Fathers of these Daughters might by revolâ—ing through them be restored again to their own â—heritance as also for to shew that in case of the want of Sons the Souls may revolve through Daughters May not we likewise here be informed of the reason why the Children of Israel were commanded that the surviving Brother should raise up the seed of his Brother deceased without leaving any Heirs And will it not follow that the Husbands which the Daughters of Zelophehad married being of their Tribe by their Wives raised up seed to Zelophehad deceased without leaving an Heir Male that might perform the same 17 Q. Moreover do not we meet with another proof of this Doctrine of Revolutions in Lev. 18. where certain Rules and Limitations are given by God himself about Marriages with those that are near of kin determining what is lawful and what unlawful in that matter and when we narrowly inquire into the ground of the said Rules and Restrictions must not we conclude that though it be wholly natural for men to cohabite with women yet that God himself set these bounds to the end that the order and way of Nature which is appointed for mankind might not be neglected perverted broken or removed And is not this the greatest and most universaâ— Law and Ordinance which the Creator once for all hath established in Nature viz. that in all natural propagations there might be a continuaâ— processions or going forwards Now that in Nature it is so ordered that Life goes always forwards and that Parents do live in their Children doth not daily experience teach us this Thus we see that when a Mother finds her sick Child drawing near to death she is so highly afflicted and anguished that she oft wisheth to die for her Child Of which we have examples that Fathers have offer'd themselves to be hang'd for their Sons whereby they gave sufficient evidence that their own lives were sensible of and did suffer what ever happened to their Children Now this Law of Nature could never be broken in whatsoever degree of affinity or consanguinity Man and Wife might be related together if according to the common opinion God should for every Birth create a new Soul and put it into the Body for so no such confusion or perverting of the order of Nature could happen Whereas on the contrary according to our Hypothesis which supposeth many Souls concentred and united together every one of which in a due order and procession must manifest and display it self in many different births and propagations would it not sollow that from such a promiscuous and disorderly commixture a great confusion would arise to the subversion of the order of Nature For was it not therefore thus ordained by God because he is a God of Order And must not his will incontestably take place 18 Q We will here omit many passages and examples relating to this matter which might be alledged out of the five Books of Moses and onely make reflection on some passages in the Ten Commandments When we read Exod. 20. 5 6. That God will visit the sins of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate him but shew mercy to thousands of them that love him and keep his commandments May it not bear this Sense That forasmuch as formerly hath been hinted concerning the Conception and Birth of Man every Child is generated and formed of the Seed of his Parents and that each of these Seeds is twofold viz. Male and Female so as the Child is as it were made up of four Is it not therefore worth our enquiry whether or no all out-working must not happen in four Generations For do not we observe that when a Father begins to grow covetous the said vitious disposition increaseth in his Child and in his Grand-child arrives to extreme covetousness And then when this Vice hath attained to its full growth and maturity the great Grand-child proves a Prodigal and Spend-thrift because he hath had nothing of the said covetous inclination transmitted to him but rather is possessed with an hatred against it forasmuch as by means thereof he hath been oft pressed and forced against his will and thus being made sensible of the evil of it he takes up an hatred against it and consequently falls into the opposite extreme so that he lavishly spends all what his Forefathers in their Covetousness had scraped together and leaves nothing but Poverty to his Child which Poverty then occasions that his Child 's great Grand-child becomes disposed to grow up from this humble reduction to a new propagation And the same may be said of any other Vices whatsoever For ought we not always to keep in mind this great and fundamental Maxim That God never punisheth for sin but with this aim that his creature thereby may be amended and his Salvation promoted forasmuch as Sin which is finite cannot come in any competition with the infinite Emanation of the Grace of the Creatour in his Creature He being in the highest degree Righteous and Good and gives to man the fruits of his own doing For man himself works his own suffering and punishment but God in and by the same works out and manifests His own Glory Would it not therefore prove a very false imagination for any one to think that God for every Birth doth create a new Soul and afterwards eternally punish the same for sin which according to the meaning of some it could not avoid nor was once guilty of For this can never comport with the infinite Righteousness and Mercy of God Nor according to this Supposition can it be true which is said in Scripture that we all sinned in Adam for how could we sin in him except we had lived and been in him
the Egyptians might be joyned and cleave to the Israelites to the end that they thereby might be able to draw the Egyptians unto them as by a magnetical power And was not this amongst other things a mean in order hereto that the Children of Israel were commanded to borrow of the Egyptians Jewels of Gold and of Silver and Raiment to the end that for the recovering of these they might be put upon pursuing after the Israelites their hearts and minds sticking fast and cleaving to the beloved Goods and Jewels the Israelites had taken from them Yea may not yet possible a greater mystery lie hid under the veil of this outward Narrative For seeing that here was designed a total and perfect ingrafting of the whole man with his three chief parts viz. Body Soul and Spirit may not we suppose that according to a mystical understanding by Gold the Spirit by Silver the Soul and by Raiment the Body of the Egyptians is signified to us viz. that all these three were to be ingrafted into the Israelites Is not this likewise hinted to us Exod. 3. 22. where God commanded the Israelitish women to borrow these things from the Egyptians without making any mention of men at all And may not we suppose this to have been the reason for that this transplantation in order to a new Birth and Life could not be accomplished but by women And is not this transplantation further intimated to us in that God expresly commanded the Israelites that they should take the Jewels and Raiment by which in a mystery was signified the Spirit Soul and Body of the Egyptians as might be easily made out which they had borrowed of the Egyptians and put them upon their Sons and Daughters because the Egyptians were 〈◊〉 enter into them and by their means be ingrafâ—ed into the Lineage of the Children of Israel And is it not clear from hence that the Sons â—nd Daughters which were afterwards be got and â—orn of the Children of Israel were even those very Egyptians which perished and were drowned 〈◊〉 the Red-Sea And that consequently the Children of Israel by bestowing them upon their Children did restore to the Egyptians what formerly 〈◊〉 had onely borrowed of them And was not Pharaoh himself the King of Egypt â—he chief means of accomplishing this great work 〈◊〉 his being hardened for which end God had raised him as himself saith to Moses Exod. 4. 21. Chap. 7. 3. Chap. 9. 16. To which also the Apostle hath an eye Rom. 9. 17. What think we also was the reason why God in order to the delivering of the Children of Israel slew all the First-Born of the Egyptians both of Men and Beasts and thereupon commanded the Children of Israel to sanctifie to him all the First-Born of Man and Beast with this express injunction that when their Children should ask of them why they did so they should give them this answer That therefore they Sanctified to the Lord every First-born both of Man and Beast because the Lord for to deliver them had slain all the First-born of the Egyptians Exod. 13. 14 15 16. What else can be the kernel of Wisdom and Mystery that lies concealed under the shell of the History but this that God would thereby signifie seeing that what he kills he makes alive again according to the Testimony of Holy Writ Deut. 32. 39. Wisd. 16. 13. Tob. 13. 2. that the First-born that were killed in Egypt were in the first place made alive again in the First-born of the Children of Israel Doth it not likewise seem probable that the transplantation of those First-born of the Egyptians was chiefly into the Tribe of Levi because God Sanctified them to himself instead of all the First-born of Israel and set them apart for the Priesthood and Temple service What may we likewise think to be the reason comporting with that Divine Wisdom which every where shines forth in Holy Writ why the Women even all the Israelitish women and particularly Miriam the Prophetess as the chief and leader of the Chorus went out with Timbrels and made the Air resound with their Voices and Instruments when they saw the dead Bodies of the drowned Egyptians lying upon the Shore of the Red-Sea and without doubt by this Spectacle were put in mind of the Gold and Silver Jewels and Raiment of theirs which they were now possessed of as likewise that according to the Divine Disposal they were the causes of their Death And may it not here be worth our enquiry whether these very thoughts of theirs might not be a mean by which the drowned Egyptians entred into the Women of Israel and so in process of time were born of them in order to their Renovation 15 Q. Forasmuch as we read Deut. 7. 22. that God commanded the Israelites not by destroy the Heathen People all at once but by degrees and time after time that the Beasts of the Field might not increase upon them c. Doth not this seem to bear this understanding viz. that because the Children of Israel did onely seed on the tame and clean Beasts whereas the Heathen did promiscuously make use of the wild Beasts of the Field for food and that in case the Heathens had been destroyed all at once the said wild Beasts would have grown too numerous wherefore the command was given to destroy them by degrees that some of them might remain to consume the Beasts of the Field May we not therefore conclude from all this that forasmuch as the said Beasts of the Field served for food and nourishment to the Heathen they by this means became ennobled into Mankind and when those Heathens that were afterwards destroyed by the Israelites they entred by Revolution into them by which means an advance and melioration was brought about First of the Beasts by their being ennobled and then of the Heathens by their being ingrafted into the Line of the Sons and Children of God and from thence still to advance further and further from one degree of exaltation and melioration to another until all at last return to unity again Thus we se that all the Israelites that came out of Egypt Caleb and Joshuah onely excepted did even in like manner perish in the Wilderness and did not enter into the Promised Land but were fain to revolve several times before they could arrive to a certain step or degree of perfection 16 Q. We read further Levit. 25. That the Land of Canaan was to be divided amongst the Children of Israel by lot according to the names of the Tribes of their Fathers and that the Law was made by God himself that the Inheritance of every Tribe was to abide with it and could not be alienated or devolve to another Upon which account also the year of Jubile was appointed 〈◊〉 which whatsoever had been alienated was to â—turn to its first owners to the end that every â—e being repossessed of the self-same Land which 〈◊〉 the first casting of Lots