ISRAEL'S REDEMPTION OR THE PROPHETICAL HISTORY OF OUR SAVIOUR'S KINGDOM ON EARTH; That is, Of the Church CATHOLIC, and Triumphant.  
With a Discourse of GOG and MAGOG, OR THE BATTLE OF THE GREAT DAY OF GOD ALMIGHTY.  
By ROBERT MATON Minister and Mr of Arts, and sometimes Commoner of Wadham College in OXFORD.  
LONDON, Printed for Daniel Frere, and are to be sold at his shop in little Britain at the sign of the red Bull. 1642.   

GO little book, go walk the world's round;  
And in all Countries thy great tidings sound.  
Show them the wonders of Gods mighty hand,  
When Jews come bacl unto the holy Land.  
That they, (if possible) by faith may shun  
That days great Wrath, before that day's begun.  
For wit, nor wealth, nor Warlike force shall hold  
That chosen people from their promised 
Ezek. 34.14.  Fold.   
JOH. 10. V 16. 
Other Sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice: and there shall be one fold, and one Shepherd.  JOE 32. V 6. etc. 
And Elihu the Son of Barachel the Buzite answered, and said, I am young and ye are old, wherefore I was afraid and durst not show you mine opinion.  
I said Days should speak, and multitude of years should teach wisdom.  
But there is a spirit in man, and the inspiration of the Almighty giveth them understanding.  
Therefore I said, harken to me, I also will show mine opinion.  Luc. An. Senecae de beneficiis l. 4. c. 21, 22. 
Nihil aliud hic nisi conscientiam (Caelesti ut spero afflatu concitatam) secutus sum: Quae etiam obruta delectat, quae concioni ac famae reclamat, & in se omnia reponit, & cum ingentem ex altera parte turbam contra sentientium aspexit, non number at suffragia, sed una sententia vincit. Sivero bonam fidem perfidiae suppliciis affici videt, non descendite fastigio, sed supra paenam suam consistit.  
— Prodest in equuleo, prodest & in igne, qui si singulis membris admoveatur, & paulatim vivum corpus circumeat: licet ipsum corpus plenum bona conscientia stillet; placebit illi ignis per quem bona fides collucebit.  PSAL. 27. V 13. 
I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the Land of the living.   

POPULO DEI OECUMENICO, Tum converso, tum convertendo, speciatim vero Matri suae Doctissimae, pientissimaeque, ECCLESIAE ANGLICANAE; Ejusque Filiae ornatissimae, eruditionis cujuscunque nutrici uberrimae, Academiae OXONIENSI; R. M. Alumnus suus humillimus, Evangeliique Minister minimus, pacalem verae fidei, & charitatis unionem; aeternamque in Christo selicitatem, exoptat & precatur.  
OPusculumque hoc (quale, quale est) tanquam certissimum obsequii sui erga Deum, firmissimum amoris sui erga Ecclesiam, & utilissimum gratitudinis suae erga Academiam signaculum, benevole, placideque accipi & haberi, exanimo obsecrat.   
ISA 1.66. V 10. etc. 
Rejoice ye with Jerusalem, and be glad with her, all ye that love her: rejoice for joy with her, all ye that mourn for her.  
That ye may suck and be satisfied with the breasts of her consolations: that ye may milk out, and be delighted with the abundance of her glory. For thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river, and the glory of the Gentiles like a flowing stream: then shall ye suck, ye shall be borne upon her sides, and be dandled upon her knees.  
As one whom her mother comforteth, so will I comfort you, and ye shall be comforted in Jerusalem.  
And when ye see this, your heart shall rejoice, and your bones shall flourish like an herb; and the hand of the Lord shall be known towards his servants, and his indignation towards his enemies.   

TO THE CHRISTIAN READER.  
NOt for applause, not for preferment, (for though both these may safely, and should freely be conferred, where desert is, yet neither of them can, without sin, be made the Mark and White of our endeavours) but for the manifestation of God's glory, for my own comfort and pacification, and for the good of the whole Church, did I at first adventure on the contemplation, and do now acquaint thee with the contents of this Theme. The draught I confess is rude, and more like a heap then a building; but yet it is some help to the Architect, when his materials are in a readiness: and my hope is, that this lump of Meditations may by God's blessing draw on some skilful Artisan to mould them into a platform and model suitable to the worth and capacity of their subject. Sure I am, the Apostles advertisement, I would not Brethren, 
Rom. 11. v. 25.  that ye should be ignorant of this mystery (lest ye should be wise in your own conceits) moves me, not only to conceive, that it is very dangerous, not to subscribe to the Jews salvation; but withal that it is no less than our bounden duty, earnestly to inquire into the state and condition of the world, both at, and after the accomplishing thereof. And indeed, what were truth worth, if not the looking after? I confess again, that the gifts of God's Spirit are not all of the same size and measure; and that he who hath five talents, must needs go farther, and do more in the search, than he that hath but one; and therefore I wish, that the Calebs' & Joshua's of the ministry, (who notwithstanding the soothe, the insinuating & fabulous relations, of fleshly & faint-hearted temporizers, have already choked & vanquished the viperous brood (the aspiring & monstrous Anakims) of disciplinary & doctri●ll innovations; that these I say) to whom God hath given most, would strive to do most for him, in the clearing of this particular also: at least, that they would not scornfully reject this task, for no better reason, then because none of our 
joh. 7. v. 8.  Rulers have hitherto approved of it. No, nor because of the illiterateness, the contemptibleness, or whatsoever personal defect of him that proposeth it. For it is not the eminency of the Penman, nor the honour of the Patron, that can turn falsehood into truth; although they may for a while persuade the world to entertain such a humour of it: neither is it the want of the one, or the weakness of the other, that can make truth become falsehood; although by this means, it may the more easily, and successfully be censured for no better. And what if it be so censured? certainly, the name of error and heresy mis-applyed, is (like a scarecrow) terrible only in appearance, and hurtful to none but such as fly from it. For who can be worse thought of, or more vilely handled, by the most and mightiest on earth, than the best Christians were? the preaching and teaching of their faith, was to the natural eye mere 
1 Cor. 1.18.23.  foolishness and 
Act. 26. v. 24. Wisil. 5. v. 4.  madness, and they themselves no more reckoned of, than the 
1 Cor 4. v. 13.  filth and offscouring of all things. And yet for all that, The 
Act. 19 20.  Word of God grew mightily and prevailed. And it is not to be doubted, but that God will have the victory in the end: and the longer, and more eagerly any truth of his hath been opposed and suppressed, the more suddenly and more powerfully shall she break forth again, to the amazement and confusion of her Adversaries, and the ratification and rejoicing of herself and her professors. It is yielded that this Tenet was Christened in the primitive and purest times: and that it had no mean Abettors for some ages after. And surely, a part thereof (and that such a part which is a principal member of the whole) hath found believers amongst the most learned of all times. But unless the Sun should departed, there could be no night: and unless this and many other Apostolical truths and customs, had by little and little lost their credit in the Church, That man of sin, That son of perdition, That blind leader of the blind, could never with his tricks and trumpery have gained such acceptance and advancement amongst men. And therefore I suppose, that that which was at first a good advantage to him in his rising, and which is now his best plea for the upholding of his pompous Clergy, of his Princely and Magistracy-mastering Pontiffes; was, and is, the renouncing of the foresaid truth, and thereupon the mis-application of all those revelations which properly and naturally concern the Redemption and Restauration of the Jews posterity and Principality. So unhappily, so unwittingly may even good men befriend, and make way for the cause they hate, when they fail to divide the Word of God aright; when they rob the Jew, the more to enrich the Gentile. Let us beware then, lest our unbelief of the Jews Redemption (of their 
Rom. 11 v. 24.  insition again into their own Olive tree) bring as great a loss to numberless multitudes of us Gentiles; as the Jews unbelief of our conversion (of our 
Rom. 11 v. 17.24.  inoculation into that good Olive) hath done to millions of themselves. The truth is, both Jew and Gentile are sick in the same disease; as well the one, as the other would feign engross the benefits of the Messiah severally to himself; whereas they belong indeed first and chiefly to the Jew; but only, to neither. And never will the happiness of either receive perfection (never shall they have full possession of the gifts and graces which Christ hath purchased for them) till both are folded together, till the time come, that 
joh. 10. v. 16.  One Fold shall receive them, and One Shepherd feed them. Thus our Saviour hath prophesied of both, and this he will in his appointed time accomplish to both: As in the following discourse, it will, I hope, appear unto thee; if thou read it soberly, consider it diligently, and judge of it uprightly. Farewell.  
Thine in the faith and fellowship of our Lord Jesus Christ, R. M.   
Jer. 23. v. 19.20. 
BEhold, a whirlwind of the Lord is gone forth in fury, even a grievous whirlwind, it shall fall grievously upon the head of the wicked.  
The anger of the Lord shall not return, until he have executed, and till he have performed the thoughts of his heart: in the latter days ye shall consider it perfectly.  Hosea 5. v. 15. 
I will go and return to my place, till they acknowledge their offence, and seek my face: in their affliction they will seek me early.  
Come, and let us return unto the Lord: for he hath torn, 
Ch. 6.  and he will heal us: he hath smitten, and he will 
Ezek. 34. v. 16.  bind us up.  
After two 
2 Per. 3. v. 8.  days will he revive us, in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight.  
Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the Lord: his going forth is prepared as the morning: and he shall come unto us as the 
Ps. 72. v. 6.  rain: as the latter and former rain unto the earth.  
Rom. 11. v. 28. etc.  
As concerning the Gospel, they are enemies for your sakes; But as touching the 
Mark 13. v. 20. Matth. 24. v. 22. Except the Lord had shortened those days, no flesh should be saved: but for the Elects sake, which he hath chosen, he hath shortened those days.  Election, they are beloved for the Father's sakes. For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance.  
Shortened. Not that they were, or could be longer, or shorter, than God had before all time decreed them to be: but because they were not so long as either Jews had deserved, or their enemies had purposed they should be: who, had not God by his unsearchable providence stopped their course, would by the continuance of that persecution have brought them to a final destruction.  
For the Elects sake. The Elect which Saint Paul mentions in the 5. and 28. vers. of the 11. chap. to the Rom. are undoubtedly the same that our Saviour here spoke of. Now these could not be the Elect, that received the Gospel in the Apostles days, in that first age of the Church: for neither were they amongst those obstinate Jews, which almost wholly perished at the sacking of Jerusalem: neither if they had, could any of those unbelieving Jews be saved, for the Jews sake that then believed; seeing they had no such eager and bitter persecutors as their own Nation were, whose cruelty towards Christ and his Disciples, was indeed the very cause of the tribulation which at that time befell them. And (it being easy with God, to destroy his enemies without hurt to his own) they should then no doubt have utterly perished for it; but for the Elects sake, which should come of the unbelieving Jews that were left: which should come of them I say, not immediately, and in the next generation (for they continue in blindness unto this day) but after many generations, when once the fullness of the Gentiles should come in; That is, when once the time was expired, after which, All Israel should be saved, should again be converted, and redeemed.  Isa. 54. v. 1. etc. 
Sing O barren, thou that didst not bear, break forth into singing, and cry aloud, thou that didst not travel with child: for more are the children of the desolate, than the children of the married wife, saith the Lord.  
Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thy habitations, spare not, lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes.  
For thou shalt break forth on the right hand, and on the left; and thy seed shall 
Ch. 14. v. 1, 2. Ch. 49. v. 22 23. Ch. 60. v. 12  inherit the Gentiles, and make the desolate Cities to be inhabited.  
Fear not, for thou shalt not be ashamed: neither be thou confounded, for thou shalt not be put to shame: for thou shalt forget the shame of thy youth, and shalt not remember the reproach of thy widowhood any more.  
For thy Maker is thine husband (the Lord of hosts is his Name) and thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, 
7. v. 14.  the God of the whole earth shall he be called.  
For the Lord hath called thee as a woman forsaken, and grieved in spirit, and a wife of youth, when thou wast refused, saith thy God.  
For a small moment have I forsaken thee, but with great mercies will I gather thee.  
In a little wrath I hide my face from thee for a moment: but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the Lord thy redeemer.  
For this is as the waters of Noah unto me: for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth; so have I sworn that I would not be wroth with thee, nor rebuke thee.  
For the mountains shall departed, and the hills shall be removed, but my kindness shall not departed from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith the Lord that hath mercy on thee.  Jer. 31. v. 15. etc. 
Thus saith the Lord, A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation and bitter weeping: Rahel weeping for her children, refused to be comforted, because they were not.  
Thus saith the Lord, Refrain thy voice from weeping, and thine eyes from tears: for thy work shall be rewarded, saith the Lord, and they shall come again from the Land of the enemy.  
And there is hope in the end, saith the Lord, that thy children shall come again to their own border.  1 Chron. 16. v. 34.35. 
O give thanks unto the Lord, for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.  
And say ye, Save us, O God of our salvation, and gather us together, and deliver us from the Heathen, that we may give thanks to thy holy Name, and glory in thy praise.   

ISRAEL'S REDEMPTION, OR THE PROPHETICAL HISTORY OF OUR SAVIOUR'S KINGDOM ON EARTH.  ACTS 1.6. 
They asked of him, saying, Lord, Wilt thou at this time restore again the Kingdom to Israel?  
THat Christ is already 
(a) Matt. 1.20, 21. Luk. 2.11. Joh. 1.29, 30, etc.  come; that as a Prophet he hath 
(b) Matt. 4.17. Luk. 4.15, etc.  called us to repentance, and as a priest hath been a 
(c) Joh. 2.2. Heb. 2.17. Rom. 3.25.  propitiation for our sins (and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world) having by 
(d) Heb. 9.28. ch. 10.14. Mark. 8.31. Luk. 24.46. Joh. 10.15. Rev. 5.9.  once offering himself, perfected for ever them that are sanctified, is the faith of Christians, & the infidelity of the Jews; but that he shall come as a King to reign on earth, and restore again the Monarchy of Israel, is the faith of the Jews, and the infidelity of Christians. And I think it a matter equally difficult to persuade either part to the mutual embracement of each others belief; and yet (with submission to impartial judgements be it spoken) I find not in the Scriptures more voices for the one, than for the other, and therefore do verily believe, that neither Tenet apart, but both together do make up the full and 
(e) Rom. 8.23. ch. 11.12.15. Eph. 1.14. ch. 4. v. 30. Rev. 10.7.  complete mystery of our Redemption: Which by God's gracious assistance, I shall to his own glory, and our Christian comfort, clearly prove, in the examination of the words now read unto you, For they asked of him, saying, Lord, will thou at this time restore again the Kingdom of Israel?  
The words you see are a query, and such propositions imply three things:  

1 A person, or persons proposing it.  
2 A matter or subject proposed.  
3 A person or persons to whom it is proposed.   
The persons here are the Disciples ask the question, and our Saviour answering them, as the context declares; the matter enquired of, is the restauration of the captivated Sovereignty of the Jews, as the text itself doth inform us: these are the parts; yet because it would be impertinent in this business, to speak any thing of the persons, but only as their joint authority may help somewhat to justify the truth of this proposal; I shall (omitting this division) only glance at them in the ensuing confirmation of the subject: 
God shall set up a Kingdom ever all the earth.  which comprehends in it, these two assertions,  
1 That the Kingdom of the Jews shall again be restored unto them.  

1 That the restored Jews shall be the royal Nation of that renewed world.  2 That our Saviour at his coming shall restore it. And first of the first, that the Kingdom of the Jews shall again be restored unto them: For they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the Kingdom to Israel?  
So evidently do these words express an earthly kingdom (I mean only a Kingdom to be held on earth) that no expositor which I have met with doth deny it, and therefore seeing they could not but embrace the sense, me thinks they should not so rashly have rejected the consequence: and that for these reasons.  
First, because the authors of this demand were not babes, either in years or understanding, but the Apostles themselves: Men who had followed 
(f) Mat. ●●▪ 19  our Saviour from the very time that he manifested himself to the world, by preaching and miracles, and suffered not so much as a 
(g) Mat. 13.36.  parable to escape their knowledge: 
Mat. ●. 17.  men to whom 
(h) Act. 1.3.  he had showed himself ●alive after his passion, by many infallible proofs, being ●●e●● of them forty days, and speaking to them of the things pertaining unto the Kingdom of God. And yet that these men. should now at their last conference with him be mistaken in a matter of such importance as this is, which concerns the purpose of God touching the whole Nation of the Jews, is (as I believe, and as I think you will all say) a thing altogether unlikely, and so it is too that all the Apostles should be of the same mind, unless it had been a truth formerly taught them, and not (as it is imagined) an error then newly vented by them.  
A second reason which makes me distaste the censure here cast on our Apostles, is because our Saviour's answer is alleged, as a sufficient ground for it; whereas it will appear even to a weak judgement, by that his answer the Apostles opinion is as much established, as their curiosity is reprehended: for they asked, whether he would at that time restore again the Kingdom to Israel, to which he answered, It is not for you to know the times and seasons which the Father hath put in his own power: as if he should have said, it is enough for you to know that such a thing shall be done, and by whom, but as for the time when it shall be done, this the Father hath put in his own power, and therefore ought not to be enquired of by you, nor to be revealed by me: This is the whole meaning of the reply, and now give you your verdict, whether you find the Apostles hereby condemned, for holding of an untruth; or rather for an over curious affectation, to acquaint themselves with the very day, in which they should behold the glorious accomplishment of so great a blessing.  
Another reason which makes for our Apostles, is the answer our Saviour gave the sons of Zebedee, 
Mat. 20.21, 22.  when they besought him, that one might sit on his right hand, and the other on his left in his Kingdom, or as Saint Mark paraphraseth it, 
Chap. 10.37.  in his glory; Ye know not, said he, what ye ask: this reproof you will grant, goes nearer to the quick, than that before used to the Apostles; and yet if you mark what follows, you shall find that the matter of their petition is allowed of, and only the motives thereof condemned, to wit, their ambition in seeking the highest room, and their unadvisedness in supposing, that Christ could then give that to any. which none could have but they for whom it was, 
Mat. 20.23.  from all eternity, prepared of his Father. And therefore seeing this is all, that these two were rebuked for by such a sharp reply, how can we mistrust that more than this should be included in a milder answer?  
Thus fare we have argued Topically, and by way of probability, but that which seems to me clearly to quit our Apostles from error, though not from oblivion: from error, I say, in the subject, though not in the circumstance; in the thing demanded, though not in the season of its performance; is because I find my text to be a lesson read to them by our Saviour before his passion. For speaking of the destruction of the Jews, They shall fall, said he, by the edge of the sword, & shall be led away captive into all Nations, and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the time of the Gentiles be fulfilled. Luk. 21. the 24. vers. and at the 28. verse. (having before shown what signs should immediately forego his appearing) he left them this cordial: When these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads, for your redemption draweth nigh. Behold here, beloved, the casting away of God's people for a time, which we see at this day verified: and their receiving again for ever, which shall as certainly come to pass, plainly foretold, the redemption, I say, not only of their souls, from the bondage of sin, to the favour of God, by the profession of the Gospel, but consequently of their bodies too, from their general captivity to the repossessing of their country, by a miraculous deliverance: for if no more should be meant by the word [Redemption] but the mere conversion of the Jews in those places where now they live; it cannot be conceived, why this action should be accompanied with such wonderful tokens, and perplexity of all other Nations, as is here mentioned: unless we shall admit no space of time betwixt this conversion, and that instant in which our Saviour shall give sentence on the dead; which I suppose few or none will yield to, and if you seriously consider the evidence of the Prophets, I am confident you will confess, that a most righteous and flourishing estate of the Jews in their own land, must of necessity distinguish the time of their calling, and the world's dissolution at the last judgement.  
And with what testimonies can we better begin, than with such as are of nearest affinity with our Saviour's Prophecy. They shall smite (saith Micah in his 5. ch. and 1. verse) the Judges of Israel with arod upon the cheek. And at the third verse, Therefore will he give them up until the time that sh●e which traveleth hath brought forth: then the 
(i) Cap. cjusd. v 7.8. Isay 1. v. 9 cap. 10.22. Mat. 24.22. Rom. 11. v. 5.28.  remnant of his brethren shall return unto the children of Israel. What I pray is meant here, by smiting the Judge of Israel, but the 
(k) To this interpretation of the Prophecy (suiting so well with our Saviour's sufferings) the very next vers which foreshows the place where Christ the Ruler of Israel should be born, doth to my thinking directly lead us.  crucifying of Christ? (whom, when they had blindfolded him, they struck on the face, and asked him saying, Prophecy, who is it that smote thee, Luk. 22. at the 64 verse.) and what by, until the time that she which traveleth hath brought forth, but the whole time of the surrogated Gentiles vacation? (for blindness is in part happened to Israel, until the 
* Whether by [fullness] we understand the whole number of those Gentiles which were successively to be called before the Nationall conversion of the jews, or else the full, universal, and contemporating conversion of all unbelieving Gentiles whatsoever, at, and through that extraordinary restauration of the jews (whose Tribes are wholly comprehended by this word, in the 12. vers. of the same chapter;) whether I say, the first or last of these interpretations doth pass for currant with us (and one of them must needs pass) yet it comes all to one reckoning, it doth nothing prejudice the cause, for which our Apostles saying is here alleged, (which is to show that the giving up of the jews must last until the time which is appointed for the calling of the substituted Gentiles, be fully ended:) for if blindness be happened to Israel, until the coming in of the sulnes of the Gentiles, in the last sense (that is, of all of them indifferently) shall come to pass, then must it of necessity continue, until the coming in of the fullness of the Gentiles, in the first sense (that is, of the substituted part of them) be quite and clean finished, seeing the total conversion cannot take place before the partial gives way to it.  fullness of the Gentiles be come in, Rom. 11.25.) from whence it necessarily follows, that this Prophecy, and our Saviour's must be understood of one and the same time; for the dispersion foretold by Christ, was to happen after his passion, and so was this, as their smiting the Judge of Isael declares; which is alleged as the main cause of it. Again, the captivity which our Saviour spoke of, is to last, until the 
* Though by the word [time's] the dominion and power of the Gentiles over the jews, and their possession of the holy Land, be in this place especially aimed at: yet because the time of the jews subjection to, and captivity amongst the Gentiles in general, is to be of equal latitude and extent with the time of the substituted Gentiles calling; this thing also is necessarily (though not immediately and primarily) hereby employed.  times (or calling) of the Gentiles he fulfilled: and so is this, for when she which traveleth hath brought forth, then saith the text, the remnant of his brethren shall return unto the children of Israel: which is a plain interpretation of that which our Saviour doth somewhat covertly express by the word [Redemption,] and this the next verse doth confirm, which tells us, that at the time of this return, He (that is, the Judge of Israel before spoken of, that he, 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 Jews) shall abide, for now (that is, at this coming of our Saviour) he shall be (not as when he took our nature upon him, of no 
(k) Isay 53. v. 2 3.  form, nor comeliness, a man despised, and rejected of men, a man of sorrows, and acquainted with griefs, but he shall be) 
(l) Zech. 9.10. Psal. 72.8.  great unto the ends of the earth: that is, over all the world; until he and his shall at the last judgement, exchange the earthly Jerusalem (the 
(m) Jer. 3. v. 17. ca 14. v. 21.  Throne of his Kingdom) which is to be 
(n) Jer. 31.38.  built again by men, for that imperial Jerusalem, not 
(o) 2 Cor. 5.1.  made with hands, eternal in the heavens.  
Another Prophecy much like unto this, is that of Amos in his 9 chap. at the 8. verse. Behold the eyes of the Lord God are upon the sinful Kingdom, 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 lo I will command, and I will sift the house of Israel among all Nations, like as corn is sifted in a sieve, yet shall not the least grain fall upon the earth. And at the 11. verse. 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 ruins as in the days of old, that they may possess the remnant of Edom, and of all the Heathen that are called by my Name, saith the Lord that doth this. I will bring again the captivity of my people Israel, and they shall build the waste cities, and inhabit them, and they shall plant vineyards, and drink the wine thereof, they shall also make gardens, and eat 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 Prophecy took effect on the ten 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 successor: who also brought up strange Nations, and placed them in their stead, 
(q) 2 King. 17. v. 5, 6, 24. cap. 18. v. 9, etc.  which people were from Samaria, the ancient metropolis of that Province, called 
(r) Joh. 4.9.  Samaritans: yet who is able to maintain, 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 expressed, as a prime agent in the restauration, if it were not before included, as a succeeding patiented in the dispersion of Israel?) who then I say, is able to maintain, that this Prophecy was fulfilled on Judah and Benjamin, until their overthrow by the Roman Emperor Vespasian, ever since which time they also remain forsaken, scattered, and despised captives? yea, who dares affirm it, when God hath said, that at their return from this universal captivity, 
† The usual 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 he will no more pull them up out of their land: so in the 32. chap. of Jer. at the 39 & 40. verse. the 50. chap. at the 20 verse. In the 36. of Ezek. at the 27. vers. in the 37. at the 23. in the 39 at the 7. verse. and in the 3. of Zeph. at the 13. verse. (All which Prophecies do in the time of their fulfilling, concur with this) he hath likewise promised, to give them one way and one heart, that they may fear him for ever. Never to turn away from them to do them good, but to put his fear into their hearts, that they shall not departed from him. That the iniquity of Israel shall be sought for, and there shall be none; and the sins of Judah, and they shall not be found. That he will put his spirit within them, and cause them to walk in his statutes, and to keep his judgements and do 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 known 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 do iniquity, nor speak lies: neither shall a deceitful tongue be found in their mouth. And therefore God having thus equally engaged himself, as well to keep the jews from sin, as to free them from bondage, it is as impossible that the accomplishment of this Prophecy 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 fulfil his word, and consequently, the appointed time for the finishing of such Prophecies is yet to be expected.  he 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 been spoken of any deliverance before our Saviour's coming to suffer.  
The next Prophecy shall be that of Joel, who mentions the very signs which our Saviour said should be the immediate forerunners of the Jews Redemption. And it shall come to pass afterwards (saith he, in his 2. chap. at the 28. verse.) that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions: and also upon the servants, and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit, and I will show wonders in the heavens, and in the earth blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke: the 
(s) Isa. 24.23. Mat. 24.29. Rev. 6 12.  Sun shall be turned into darkness, and the Moon into blood before the 
(*) Great, not only in regard of the strangeness, and dreadfulness of events of things then to come to pass, 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 i●) frequently import.  great and terrible 
(t) Eze. 39 vers. 8. Malac. 4.5. Judas ver. 6. Rev. 16.14.  day of the Lord come. And it shall come to pass that whosoever shall call on the Name of the Lord shall be delivered: for in mount Zion, and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the Lord hath said, and in the remnant whom the Lord shall call. And at the 3. chap. at the 1. verse. Behold in those days, and in that time, when I shall bring again the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem, I will also gather all Nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehosaphat (which in the 14. vers. is called, the valley of decision) and will plead with them there, for my people, and for my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the Nations, and parted my land. And at 15. vers. again, The Sun, and the Moon shall be darkened, and the Stars shall withdraw their shining, the Lord also shall roar out of Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem, and the 
(u) Isa. 2.19, etc. Eze. 38.19, 20. Hag. 2.22. Mat. 24.29. Rev. 16.18. c. 6.13.14.  heavens, and the earth shall shake, but the Lord will be the hope of his people, and the strength of the children of Israel.  
I am not ignorant, that the darkening of the Sun and Moon, is sometimes taken allegorically, and by way of allusion but that therefore it should be so understood here, it doth not follow, for where it is figuratively applied, it signifies the judgement itself, which is to befall those people of whom it is spoken: but where it is literally used, it is put only for a sign of an eminent destruction, which shall suddenly follow it, as the great and terrible day of the Lord shall do at the accomplishment of this Prophecy.  
Neither have I forgotten, that the first of these Prophecies was made use of by Saint Peter, to stop the mouths of such as jeered the Apostles, when by the descent of the holy Ghost upon them, they began to speak with other tongues: 
Act. 2.4.  but that this Prophecy was then fulfilled, I deny: for when some mocking said, These men are full of new wine; 
Cap. cjusd. vers. 13. etc.  Saint Peter replied, Ye men of Judea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and hearken unto my words, for these are not drunken, as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day: but this is that which was spoken by the Prophet Joel: And it shall come to pass in the last days (saith God) I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh: as if he had said, My brethren, these are not the effects of wine, but of the Spirit of God, which is now poured out on the first fruits of the Jews, as a pledge & assurance of that bountiful effusion of it, which (as Joel hath said) shall one day happen to the whole 
(u) Isay 32. vers. 15. Ezek. 39 vers. 29. Zech. 12 vers. 10.  Nation. And that this is all S. Peter meant, it may thus appear: first, because the chief and most remarkable effect of the Spirit in the Apostles, at this time, was the gift of tongues, of which the Prophet makes no mention: and secondly, because as the Prophet revealed, so he repeats this pouring out of the Spirit, as a contemporary event with the wonders which shall be shown, in the heavens, and in the earth, before the great and terrible day of the Lord come. Which day can no way be referred to the first coming of Christ, when he came to 
(x) Luk. 9 vers. 56. Chap. 19 vers. 10. Joh. 12.47.  save sinners, and not to destroy them: when he would not take upon him, to be 
(y) Luk. 12.14. Joh. 6.15.  Judge, and Ruler over them: for than it must have been an antecedent of his birth, of the time he lived; and not a subsequent of his death and departure, which hath no analogy with a day. Is remains then that it is an expression of his second coming, which is called a great and terrible day, in regard of the general destruction which shall be brought on all Nations, that oppose themselves against the Jews at that time: For in mount Zion, and in Jerusalem (as you have heard) shall be deliverance, and in the Remnant whom the Lord shall call●▪ And to put it out of doubt, that Gods bringing down of the heathen into the valley of Jehospaphat, is meant only of his gathering them together to a battle, and consequently of a judgement on the living, and not on the dead: to put this out of doubt, I say, the Prophet makes it to be a concomitant of the Jews 
(z) Rev. 16. v. 12, 13, 14.  return from their captivity; and in the 9, 10, 11, and 12. vers. provokes the Gentiles to prepare war, to assemble their mighty men, and to break their ploughshares into swords, and their pruning-hookes into spears: a preparation, which as it would be fruitless, so doubtless they shall neither have time, power, or will to make, when they are summoned to receive the dreadful sentence of, Go ye cursed. And for my own part, I am persuaded, that this great army here spoken of, is the very same that shall be gathered together to the battle of that great day of God Almighty, by the three unclean spirits like frogs, which Saint John saw come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false Prophet, Rev. the 16. at the 13. verse. Of this 
(a) Psal. 2.1, 2, 3. Ps. 46.6, 8. Ps. 68.30. Isa. 2.12, 13, etc. Ch. 24.21, 22. ch. 26.20, 21. ch. 34.1, 2, 3, 4, 5, etc. ch. 49. v. 26. chap. 66. v. 14, 15, 16. Micah 4.12, 13.  destruction also speaks Zephaniah, in his 3. chap. at the 8. verse. Therefore wait upon me, saith the Lord, until the day that I rise up to the prey, for my determination is to gather the Nations, that I may assemble the Kingdoms, to pour upon them mine indignation, even all my fierce anger, for all the earth shall be devoured with the fire of my jealousy: for than will I turn to the people (meaning the Jews) a pure language, that they may all call upon the name of the Lord to serve him with one consent. And at the 19 verse. Behold at that time I will undo all that afflict thee, and I will save her that halteth, and gather her that was driven out, and I will get them praise and fame in every land, where they have been put to shame. At that time I will bring you again, even in the time that I gather you: for I will make you a name and a praise among all people of the earth, when I turn bacl your captivity before your eyes, saith the Lord. And yet more fully Zechariah in his 12. chap. at the 3. verse. In that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it. In that day will I smite every horse with astonishment, and his rider with madness, and I will open mine eyes upon the house of Judah, and will smite every horse of the people with blindness. In that day will I make the Governors of Judah like a hearth 
(b) Obad. 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21:  of fire among the wood, and like a torch of fire in a sheaf: and they shall devour all the people round about, on the right hand, and on the left: and Jerusalem shall be inhabited again in her own place, even in Jerusalem. 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 Jerusalem, do not magnify themselves against Judah. In that day shall the Lord defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem, 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. verse. 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 feet, and their eyes shall consume away in their holes, and their tongues shall consume away in their mouth: and it shall come to pass 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 Jerusalem, and the 
(d) Mich. 4.13.  wealth of all the Heathen round about shall be gathered together, gold, and silver, and apparel in great abundance, and so shall be the plague of the horse, of the mule, of the camel, and of the ass, 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 we forsake the literal interpretation of these prophecies, if we do but consider, that the Jews are here distinguished from all other Nations, of which we 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 we consider what gross absurdities would follow from the Tropical construction of these or the like prophetical revelations, wherein the event of things is so plainly and distinctly attributed to the Jews: who I am sure, did never since the Prophet's days, return from any captivity, with such an high hand, and with such a wonderful victory over their enemies, as is here prophesied. And as for the Church that now is, let the lamentable experience of all age's witness, whether she hath not been more often crowned with martyrdom, than victory: whether the bloodthirsty Mahometan hath not gotten much ground upon her: yea, whether he who claims the privilege to be her head, hath not, and doth not, most of all waste and devour her, according as it is written of him in the 13. of the Rev. at the 11. vers. and therefore these prophecies 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 judas and his brethren, who then bore the chiefest sway, were not of the Tribe of judah, 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, unless we will say (as our Commentator doth) that this was fulfilled, when the five comely men upon horses appeared unto the enemies from heaven, as 'tis in the 2. of the Maccab. the 10. chap. at the 29. and 30. vers. which apparition doth as well expound these words, as he doth that other Prophecy of Zephaniah, by which he would have us to understand Gods calling the Gentiles to repentance by the preaching of the Gospel, when as the text saith plainly, that God's determination is to gather the Nations, and to assemble the Kingdoms, that he may pour 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 evil good, and good evil: to put darkness for light, and light for darkness: bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter, I know not what is.  
But enough of the perplexity, which shall happen to other Nations when the Jews return. Now again of their return, and of the prosperity which shall then happen to themselves. And it shall come to pass in that day, (saith Isaiah, ch. 11. v. 11.) that the Lord shall set his hand again 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 E●am, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the Islands of the Sea: and he shall set up an Ensign 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, etc.  gather together the dispersed of Judah, from the four corners of the earth: the envy also of Ephraim shall departed, and the adversaries of Judah shall be cut off: Ephraim shall not envy Judah, and Judah shall not vex 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 streams, and shall make men go over dryshod, and there shall be an high way for the remnant of his people, which shall be left from Assyria, 
(g) Mica. 7. 15, etc.  like as it was to Israel, in the day that he came up out of the Land of Egypt. You see here that the Prophet speaks plainly of a miraculous recovery of God's people: of the recovery, I say, of Judah, not from Babylon, but from the four 
(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 Prophecy is that of Ezek. in his 37. chap. at the 19 verse. Thus saith the Lord God, I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the Tribes of Israel his fellows, and will put them with him, even with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they shall be one in my hand. And at the 21. verse. 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 own Land: and I will make them one Nation in the Land upon the Mountains of Israel, and one King shall be King to them all; and they shall be no more two Nations, neither shall they be divided into two Kingdoms 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 will 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 numbered, and it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them 
(k) Jer. 24, 6, 7. ch. 32.37, 38. Zech. 13.9.  Ye 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 shall be the Day of Jezreel. In both which prophesies the Lord hath promised, that the Jews shall again live under one King only (as they had done before the division of the Tribes) and that in their own land too, which hath not been yet performed, and therefore the time of these Prophecies 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 days; yet doubtless they are much mistaken in this exposition, for seeing this and the former Prophecy, concern 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 Jews, as well as the other: and besides, how can that belong to the Gentiles which was prophesied only of the Jews, as is declared by the Prophet's wife of whoredoms, and children of wheredomes, which he took of purpose to upbraid the idolworship, and spiritual whoredoms of the Israelites? vers. 2. and therefore when she conceived, and bore him the second son, Call his name, said God, Loammi: For ye are not my people, and I will not be your God. The Israelites than it were, to whom this Prophet was sent, and of whom it was said, Ye are not my people; and the place where they were told so, was their own land, and therefore in that place it shall again be said unto them: Ye are the sons of the living God, vers. 10. And this Piscator grants to be the meaning of it here in the Prophet; but withal he holds, that it is applied 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 until the preaching of the Gospel were not his people: but notwithstanding this reason, me thinks it is very unlikely, that the Apostle should borrow a Prophecy from the Jews, to prove God's 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 freeness of God's election, which is the doctrine he there maintains, 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 vessel to honour, and another to dishonour, so) he hath mercy on whom he will, and whom he will he hardeneth. And this the 14. vers. seems 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 prophecy 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 concerns 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 material argument for the Jews 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. Mayor's Lect. on James, cap. 1. p. 4.  The children of Israel, saith he, shall abide many days 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 return, and seek the Lord their God, and 
(n) Isay 9 v. 6, 7.  David their King, and shall fear the Lord and his goodness in the latter days. Which prophecy cannot possibly be as yet fulfilled, for if it be meant only of the ten Tribes, amongst whom Hosea prophesied, it is confessed, that they did never yet return: and if of the other two, it must be meant of their captivity since our Saviour's coming, for till then, the Sceptre could not departed from Judah, nor a Lawgiver from between his feet: as Jacob foretold, Gen. the 49. at the 10. vers. and therefore till then they could not be without a Prince, or Governors of that Tribe, although they were long before tributary to other Nations, and this also is intimated by those words [the latter days] which are not where put for the time before the incarnation of Christ. And this it seems made Cornelius a Lapide refer the event of this prophecy to the end of the world, that is, as the Romanists imagine, to the coming of Antichrist: who, as their tale goes of him, shall manifest himself about that time, and shall reign 
(p) Fran. Johan. de Combis in compendio totius Theolog. lib. 7. cap. 13.  three years and an half, and shall put to death 
(q) Id. l 7. c. 7.  Enoch and Elias, who shall be sent to preach repentance unto the Jews, and to withstand the impostures of Antichrist; whom (because he is, as they say, to be borne in Babylon, of the Tribe of Dan) most of the Jews shall receive for their Messiah: but as soon 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 gloss on the Apocalypse hath it, either by Christ himself visibly appearing unto him, or by the ministry of the Archangel Michael) presently the Jews that followed him, shall 
(s) Cornel. à Lap. in c. 3. Hof. p. 93. col. 2.  partly through the remembrance of the miracles, & Sermons of the two witnesses, & partly through the endeavours of other preachers, be converted, & then, All Israel shall be saved: & for this conversion they they allow 
* The reason why they propose this number, rather than any other, is because in the 12. chap. of Dan. at the 12. vers. it is said, Blessed is he that waiteth, and cometh to the 1335. days: which sum is made up by adding, 45. days (the days, as they call them, of repentance to such as have worshipped Antichrist) unto the 1290. days, mentioned in the former verse: and held by them, (and that in their prime, immediate, and natural signification) to be the full time of Antichrists most abominable worship, and tyrannical usurpation. M. Foxes Acts and Monum. printed 1596. p. 443. in the story of Walter Brute.  five and forty days, at the end of which days, the 
(t) Fran. Joh: de come. l. 7. cap. 14.  Ministers of Antichrist (who before boasted, that although their Prince was dead, yet they still enjoyed their power, peace, and security) shall suddenly (and that in the midst of their jollity even while they are eating and drinking, marrying, and giving in marriage) be destroyed: and so the Church shall be at rest unto the end of the world. This is the Papists Antichrist, and this is their opinion of the Jews conversion, a dream as full of folly as falsehood: as if it were probable, that the Jews after such a long time of blindness, and so near the time of their conversion, should fall into a greater error than ever they did since the crucifying of Christ, or that they should take one of the Tribe of 
(u) Joh. 7.42. Rev. 19 v. 20, 21.  Dan for their Messiah, and believe him too, rather than Elias whom they yet expect from heaven: or that they could be adherents to Antichrist, and yet be alive all after his destruction, when as the Scripture saith, that the beast, and false Prophet shall be taken and cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone, and that the remnant shall be slain. 
Rev. 16. v. 14. ch. 19 v. 18, 19  And besides, Antichrists assistants shall be The Kings of the earth, and of the whole world: and such, I think, the Papists do not account the Jews to be. Again, as if it were probable, that Antichrist should come in the name of Christ, saying that he is Christ, and so be a false 
* 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 vocantur, non qui se pro Christo & vero Messia falso venditant, tales enim in Scriptura proprie 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, Mat. 24. vers. 24. Mar 13. v. 22. appellantur, sed qui doctr. Christi, cujus se secta●●res pro fitentur, quoquo mede adversan. (unde Christum in carnem venisse: seu, Jesum esse Christum negare, dicuntur, ut 〈◊〉 collatione vers. 3 cap. 4. 1 Ep. ver. 7. Ep. 2. & ver. 22. cap. 2. Ep. 1. Johan. cum ver. 4. Ep. judae ver. 1. cap. 2. Ep. 2 Pet. & ver. 5. & 8. cap. 3.2. Ep. Pauli ad Tim. luculenter apparet:) unde (etiam) magnus & eximius ille Antichristus, qui toti fere doctrinae Christianae corpori adversatur, & sub nomine Christi quam maxime Christum oppugnat, ejusque proprium honorem & officium ad se transfert, in Scriptura vecatur, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, 2 Thes. 2. ver. 3. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, ver. eod. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, ver. 4. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, ver. 8. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, Rev. 16. v. 13. & consequenter ipse ille, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 est, vid. Disput. 13. Festi Hommii. p. 45.46.  Christ; & not a false 
(w) 1 Tim. 4.1, 2, 3. 2 Pet. 2. v. 1, 2, 3. 2 Thes. 2. v. 3, 4, 7, 8. Rev. 13. v. 11.12, 13, 14, etc. chap. 17. v. 1.2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, etc.  Christian, such as the Apostles foretold he should be: and so also, be one person only, who must reign but three years and an half; and not rather a continued 
* Interim tamen tenendum, numero singulati notari aliquod regnum, in quo ●ubinde unus quispiam praesideat; cui viam straverunt Antichristi illi, sen haere●ici, qui jam tum tempor ibus Apostolorum, extiterunt: id quod tum Johannes ●ignificat hoc loco, quum ait, Multos Antichristos jam tunc exortos; & Paulas 2 Thes. 2. v. 7. ubi dicit Mysterium illud iniquitatis jam tum, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, in aliquibus operari, seseque exerere, vid. Observat. 16. joh. Piscat. in cap. 2. Ep. ●. Icannis.  headship and supremacy over a settled apostasy: for (to let pass judicious Doctor 
(x) In the fourth book of his Apol. & Sect. 4. & 5.  Hackwels confutation of this fancy; it being altogether impossible, that the 
(y) 2 Thes. ●. v. 7.  mystery of iniquity which began to spring up even in Saint Paul's time (and by consequence was to ripen by degrees) should be the sudden and irresistible work of one man, or age, so many hundred years after (although indeed it be very likely, that the last inheritor of the Antichristian chair, may be the most wily 
(z) Rev. 16. v. 13, 14.  and bewitching deceiver of all) to let this pass) under whom, I pray, have the servants of God suffered persecution from the time of the Heathen Roman Emperors until now, if not under the great apocalyptical 
(a) Rev. 17 v. 6. chap. 18. v. 24.  Antichrist? by whose devilish power and policy, those which should afterwards be slain, were successively to be fulfilled. And if martyrdom hath all this while, and doth still go forward under him; then certainly this 
(b) 2 Thes. 2. v. 4. 1 Tim. 4. v. 1.2.3.  Churchchampion, this Wolf in 
(c) 2 Tim. 3. v. 5. Rev. 13. v. 11  Sheep's clothing, hath been long ago revealed: and consequently, the Prognostication of a new and upstart Monarch, of no more than a bare three years and an half continuance, will serve only for a popish Meridian.  
But we are yet to show the Jews peaceable and prosperous estate after their return, 
* I appeal here to the consciences of all men, that shall read these, or the like prophecies in the word of God; whether they can think it possible, that the time appointed by God for the dispensation of such extraordinary blessings, should be the very same, in which the world, and especially the Christian part of it, was to groan under the continued plagues written in the Revelation: which yet we must needs grant to be so, if we rest on those interpretations, by which all such prophecies, are only, or chiefly applied to the anticipated conversion of us substituted Gentiles.  Read then what Jeremiah hath written in his 23. chap. at the 3. vers. I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all Countries, whither I have driven them, and will bring them again to their folds, and they shall be fruitful and increase: and I will set up Shepherds over them, which shall feed them, and they shall 
(d) Isa. 33. v. 20.21, 22, 24. Zeph. 3. v 14, 15.  fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall they be lacking, saith the Lord: and in his 31. chap. at the 10.27. and 31. verse. Hear the word of the Lord, O ye Nations, and declare it in the Isles a fare off, and say, He that scattereth Israel, will gather him, and keep him, as a Shepherd doth his flock: for the Lord hath redeemed Jacob, and ransomed him from the hand of him that was stronger than he: therefore they shall come, and sing in the height of Zion, and shall flow together to the goodness of the Lord, for Wheat, and for wine, and for oil, and for the young of the flock, and of the herd, and their souls shall be as a watered garden, and they shall not sorrow any more at all: Then shall the Virgin rejoice in the dance, both young men and old together: for I will turn their mourning into joy, and will comfort them, and make them rejoice from their sorrow: and I will satiate the souls of the Priests with fatness, and my people shall be satisfied with goodness, saith the Lord. Behold the days come saith the Lord, that I will sow the house of Israel, and the house of Judah with the seed of man, and with the seed of beast: and it shall come to pass, that like as I have watched over them, to pluck up, and to break down, and to throw down, and to destroy, and afflict: so will I watch over them to build and to plant, saith the Lord. Behold the days come, saith the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah, not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers, in the day that I took them by the hand, to bring them out of the Land of Egypt; which my covenant they broke, although I was an husband unto them, saith the Lord: but this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel: After those days, saith the Lord, I will put my Law into their inward parts, and write it in their hearts, and will be their God, and they shall be my people: and they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, & every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest of them: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more. And in his 32. c. at the 17. v. Behold I will gather them out of all Countries, whither I have driven them in mine anger, and in my fury, and in great wrath, and I will bring them again unto this place: & I will cause them to dwell safely. And I will give them one heart, and one way, that they may fear me for ever, for the good of them, and of their children after them. And I will make an everlasting covenant with them, and I will not turn away from them to do them good, but I will put my fear into their hearts, that they shall not departed from me. Yea, I will rejoice over them to do them good, and I will plant them in this Land assuredly, with my whole heart, and with my whole soul. For thus saith the Lord, Like as I have brought all this great evil upon this people, so will I bring upon them all the good that I have promised. And in his 33. chap. at the 6. verse. Behold I will bring it health and cure, and I will cure them, and will reveal unto them the abundance of peace and truth. And I will cause the captivity of Judah, and the captivity of Israel to return, and will build them as at the first, and I will cleanse them from all their iniquity, whereby they have sinned against me, and I will pardon all their iniquity whereby they have sinned, and whereby they have transgressed against me. And it shall be to me a name of joy, a praise and an honour before all the Nations of the earth, which shall hear all the good that I do unto them: and they shall fear and tremble, for all the goodness, and for all the prosperity that I procure unto it. And in his 46. chap. at the 27. vers. and his 50. chap. at the 19 verse. But 
(e) Chap. 30. v. 10, 11  fear not thou, O my servant Jacob, and be not dismayed O Israel; for behold I will save thee from afar off, and thy seed from the Land of their captivity, and Jacob shall turn, and be in rest, and at ease, and none shall make him afraid: Fear thou not, O my servant Jacob, saith the Lord, for I am with thee, for I will make a full end of all the Nations whither I have driven thee, but I will not make a 
(f) Deut. 32 v. 26, 27, 36, 43. Psal. 89. v. 31, 32, 33.34. Psal. 94. v. 14, 15.  full end of thee, but correct thee in measure, yet will I not leave thee wholly unpunished. I will bring Israel again to his habitation, and he shall feed on Carmel, and Bashan, and his soul shall be satisfied upon Mount Ephraim, and Gilead. In those days, and in that time, saith the Lord, the iniquity of Israel shall be sought for, and there shall be none; and the sins of Judah, and they shall not be found; for I will pardon them whom I reserve. Read also what Ezek. hath written in his 28. chap. at the 25. verse. Thus saith the Lord, when I have gathered the house of Israel, from the people among whom they be scattered, and shall be sanctified in them, in the sight of the Heathen, then shall they dwell in their Land, that I have given unto my servant Jacob, and they shall dwell safely therein, and shall build houses, and plant Vineyards: yea they shall dwell with confidence, when I have executed judgements upon all those that despise them round about them, and they shall know that I am the Lord their God. And in his 34. chap. at the 12. verse. As a Shepherd seeketh out his flock, in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered: so will I seek out my sheep, and will deliver them out of all places, where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day: and I will bring them out from the people, and gather them from the Countries, and will bring them to their own Land, and feed them upon the Mountains of Israel by the rivers, and in all inhabited places of the Country: I will feed them in a good pasture, and upon the high mountains of Israel shall their fold be: there shall they lie in a good fold, and in a fat pasture shall they feed upon the Mountains of Israel: I will feed my flock, and I will cause them to lie down, saith the Lord God. I will seek that which was lost, and bring again that which was driven away, and will bind up that which was broken, and will strengthen that which was sick, but I will destroy the fat and the strong, I will feed them with judgement. And at the 25. verse. I will make with them a covenant of peace, and will cause the evil beasts to cease out of the Land: and they shall dwell safely in the Wilderness, and sleep in the woods, and I will make them, and the places round about my hill, a blessing: and I will cause the shower to come down in his season: there shall be showers of blessing, and the tree of the field shall yield her fruit, and the earth shall yield her increase, and they shall be safe in their Land, and shall know that I am the Lord, when I have broken the bands of their yoke, and delivered them out of the hands of those that served themselves of them. And they shall no more be a prey to the Heathen, neither shall the beasts of the Land devour them; but they shall dwell safely, and none shall make them afraid. And I will raise up for them a plant of renown, and they shall no more be consumed with hunger in the Land, neither bear the shame of the Heathen any more. And in his 36. chap. at the 8. verse. O Mountains of Israel, ye shall shoot forth your branches, and yield your fruit to my people of Israel, for they are at hand to come: for behold I am for you, and I will turn unto you, and ye shall be tilled and sown: and I will multiply men upon you, 
(g) Isa. 45. vers. 25. Ezek. 37. v. 11.12, etc. c. 36. v. 25. jer. 12. v. 14.15. Rom. 11. v. 32. ●  all the house of Israel, even all of it, and the Cities shall be inhabited, and the wastes shall be builded: and I will multiply upon you man and beast, and they shall increase and bring fruit, and I will settle you after your old estates: and I will do better for you, then at your beginnings, and ye shall know that I am the Lord: yea, I will cause men to walk upon you, even my people Israel, and they shall possess thee, & thou shalt be their inheritance, & thou shalt no more henceforth bereave them of men. Thus saith the Lord God, because they say unto you, Thou Land devourest up men, and hast bereft thy Nations, therefore thou shalt devour men no more, neither bereave thy Nations any more, saith the Lord God; neither will I cause men to hear in thee the shame of the Heathen any more, neither shalt thou bear the reproach of the people any more, neither shalt thou cause the Nations to fall any more, saith the Lord God. And at the 24. verse. I will take you from among the Heathen, and gather you out of all Countries, and will bring you into your own Land, then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean from all your filthiness, and from all your idols will I cleanse you: and I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgements, and do them: and ye shall dwell in the Land that I gave to your fathers, and ye shall be my people, and I will be your God. I will also save you from all your uncleannesses: and I will call for corn, and will increase it, and lay no more famine upon you: and I will multiply the fruit of the tree, and the increase of the field, that ye shall receive no more reproach of famine among the Heathen. Then shall ye remember your own evil ways, and your do that were not good, and shall loathe yourselves in your own sight, for your iniquities, and for your abominations. Thus saith the Lord God, in the day that I shall have cleansed you from all your iniquities; I will also cause you to dwell in the Cities, and the wastes shall be builded, and the desolate Land shall be tilled, whereas it lay desolate in the sight of all that passed by; and they shall say, This Land that was desolate, is become like the garden of Eden, and the waste, and desolate, and ruined Cities are become fenced and inhabited. Then the Heathen that are left round about you, shall know that I the Lord build the ruined places, and plant that that was desolate, I the Lord have spoken it, and I will do it. And in his 39 chap. at the 25. verse. Thus saith the Lord God, Now will I bring again the captivity of Jacob, and have mercy upon the whole house of Israel, and will be jealous for my holy Name: after that they shall have borne their shame, and all their trespasses, whereby they have trespassed against me, when they dwelled safely in their Land, and none made them afraid. When I have brought them again from the people, and gathered them out of their enemy's Lands, and am sanctified in them, in the sight of many Nations; then shall they know that I am the Lord their God, which caused them to be led into captivity among the Heathen: but I have gathered them unto their own Land, and have left none of them any more there: Neither will I hid my face any more from them: for I have poured out my Spirit upon the house of Israel, saith the Lord God. And in the 10. chap. of Zechariah at the 6. ver. It is said, I will strengthen the House of Judah, and I will save the house of Joseph, and I will bring them again to place them, for I have mercy upon them: And they shall be as though I had not cast them off, for I am the Lord their God, and will hear them. And they of Ephraim shall be like a mighty man, and their heart shall rejoice as through Wine; Yea, their children shall see it, and shall be glad; their heart shall rejoice in the Lord. I will hisse for them, and gather them, for I have redeemed them: And they shall increase as they have increased; and I will sow them among the people, and they shall remember me in fare Countries, and they shall live with their children, and turn again. I will bring them again also out of the Land of Egypt, and gather them out of Assyria, and I will bring them into the Land of Gilead and Lebanon, and place shall not be found for them.  
Which Prophecies, as they do contain many evident and unanswerable arguments for a future restauration of Israel, I mean a restauration yet to come; so they have such correspondence with that of Isaiah in his 59 chap. at the 20. ver. And with that of Amos in his 9 chap. at the 11. ver. (both which Prophecies are alleged by the Apostles 
(h) Act. 15. v. 16.  Saint James, and 
(i) Rom. 11. v. 27.26.  Saint Paul, for the conversion of the Jews, after the fullness of the Gentiles is come in, that is, after all those of the Gentiles, which are appointed to be called before Christ's coming again, be converted. Or rather perhaps, when the fullness of the Gentiles shall come in; that is, when the time shall come, in which (not a part, as now, but) all the Gentiles that are left, shall through the wonderful deliverance of the Jews, together with them serve the Lord) that seeing these are not yet fulfilled, neither can any of the other: betwixt which and that of 
* The words, in 15. of the Acts at the 14. ver. upon which the Prophecy of Amos is inferred, are taken by Doctor Mayer, to be meant of the Song of old Simeon, and not of the former speech of Simon Pete●. But it matters not much, which of the two is here spoken of: for seeing the Prophet doth plainly show a future restoring of the Jews, and yet the intent of the Apostle was only to prove, that God had then called the Gentiles: it cannot otherwise be, but that the words [After this] in the Prophecy, being applied to the foresaid visiting of the Gentiles by the Preaching of the Gospel, must needs conclude; that the extraordinary restauration of the Jews, foreshewne by the Prophet, was to follow the calling of the Gentiles then begun by the Apostles: And consequently, that the Jews endeavour to (1 Thess. 2 v. 14, 15.) hinder the growth of the Gospel, was a sure proof of the conversion of the Gentiles, and their own rejection. Who unto the death of Christ, were the peculiar people of God, and not wholly cast off, until by their wilful unbelief, they forced the Apostles to (Act. 13. v. 44, 45, 46.) turn from them to other Nations, to whom God had not formerly revealed himself, and therefore could not at that time be said, [to Return] unto the Gentiles, whom he had but then received: no, nor to the Jews, whom he had then (and not till then) quite forsaken. So that if we consider the [Returning] of God here mentioned in the Prophecy, to be appliable only to the Jews, to whom alone God had so long before made himself known; and yet that the Jews were shortly after the calling of the Gentiles quite forsaken, we must needs grant, that their great happiness here foretold hath not been yet enjoyed, but shall be, when the fullness of the succedaneous Gentiles is come in. And wherefore did the Apostle change the Prophets, In that day will I raise up, into, After this I will return and build? Wherefore, I say, did he, or rather the Holy Ghost in him, make choice of this Paraphrase in place of the Text? if not of purpose to make that which hath been said, the more plainly appear. To wit, that the day of the Jews deliverance, is to await the accomplishment of the surrogated Gentiles vocation. For though this consolatory Prophecy, according to the order of the things revealed to the Prophet, hath relation only to a foregoing judgement denounced against the Jews, yet it is not therefore mis-inferred here by the Apostle, as a subsequent too of the anticipated conversion of the Gentiles, and that because the very same time, which was foreappointed by God, for the execution of that punishment upon the forsaken Jews, was also foreappointed by him, to be the time for the promulgation of his mercy, towards the substituted Gentiles; as these next words, That the residue of men might seek after the Lord, and all the Gentiles upon whom my name is called, do most clearly intimate. For what is meant by the [Residue of men] but the remainder of those Nations, which are not to be converted, till the foresaid redemption of the Jews? (their Redemption, I say, as well out of all Countries into which they are scattered, and from all Nations amongst whom (as was foretold) they have been sifted (so many hundred years) as from all their sins, which moved God to use such severity towards them.) And what by the [Gentiles on whom God's name is called] but the remuant of those Nations, which are now already (or shall, if any more shall) while David's Tabernacle lays waste, become the people of God in the hardened Jew's stead? So that this Prophecy doth as well prove a profession of the Gospel, by a great part of the Gentiles, before the Jews deliverance, and in the time of their blindness, as by all that are left of them afterwards; for that by a people on whom God's name is called, or which is called by God's Name, is to be understood, a people beloved of God, and called out from other Nations to serve him, as the Jews were heretofore, and as the Christians are now, I think none will deny; or that by the Residue of men, and all the Gentiles upon whom God's name is called, all other Nations besides the Jews are meant. And was there then ever as yet such an unanimous consent in the true worship of God, betwixt the Jews and all other Nations as is here foretold? surely never betwixt them and any one Nation. No, nor long betwixt themselves; and (the more the pity) no less odds hath a long time been, and still is amongst Christians, both in their opinion and practice of Religious duties. Vide Commentationum Apocalyp. partem primam de sigillis, pag. 55, 56,  Amos, there is not any material difference; and no other betwixt them and that of Isaiah, then there is betwixt a Comment and the Text, betwixt a brief intimation and large explication of one and the same thing.  
And yet there want not some, who by the words, [Alderman Israel] in the 11. of the Romans, understand only the Church of the Gentiles, to which some of the Jews should be united: but if the obvious and simple meaning of the 28, 29.30, 31. and 32. 
* Nihil potuit apertius de futura populi Israelitici salute proferri. Josephus Acosta in locum. Who also repeating the Prophecy in the third of Hosea, at the 4. ver. saith thus of it. Hoc quoque quamvis nulla expositorum luce illustraretur, per seipsum clarissimum testimonium est. And then goes on with that in the 4. chap. of Deut. at the 30. ver. Nec minus dilucide a Mose praedictum. Postquam te invenerint omnia quae praedicta sunt (praedixerat vero peccata illius populi, & terrae promissae amissionem, & dispersionem in omnes gentes) novissimo, inquit, tempore reverteris ad Dominum Deum tuum, & audies vocem ejus, quia Deus misericors, Dominus Deus tuus, non dimittet te, neque omnino delebit, neque omnino obliviscetur pacti, in quo juravit Patribus tuis. De teinp. noviss. lib. 3. c. 11. p. 547.  verses following, will not suffice to discover the weakness (that I say not, wilfulness) of this interpretation: yet surely to any man that is not without reason, the 
(k) Vid. D. Parei explicationem dubii 18. in cap. 11. ad Rom. p. 271 Pet. Mart. loc. come. class. 2. cap. 4. pag. 206, 207. & class. 2. cap. 16. p. 410. , reasons which Wendelinus (in the 19 chap. and 2. Section of his natural Contemplations, at the 391. pag.) brings to the contrary, will give abundant satisfaction. For, first, the Apostle doth apparently distinguish the Jews from the Gentiles, by the word [Israel,] when he saith, that blindness is in part happened to Israel, until the fullness 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 Jews and Gentiles, especially seeing the Israel that is to be saved must needs have relation to the Israel, that was before said to be in blindness. And then too, what is become of the mystery here spoken of, if the words, And so all Israel shall be saved, should not signify such a conversion of the Jews, as must follow the vocation of the Gentiles? for that some particular Jews 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 convey the Gospel to them. And therefore in my judgement, those Divines deal most sincerely with the Text, who acknowledging the literal sense thereof, do send us to that of Isaiah, in his 66. chap. at the 8. ver. as to a plain proof of this opinion; who, saith he, hath heard such a thing? who hath seen 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 soon as Zion travailed, she brought forth her children. Where the wonderful and unheard of conversion of a whole Nation at once, (such as never happened to any Nation of the Gentiles) together with the express mention of Zion, and the evidence of the following verses should, me thinks, be motive enough, to make any impartial Reader understand this Prophecy of the Jews; which yet implies not so much a return of the whole Nation to their Country, as to their God; and therefore could not be fulfilled by the return of a part of them from Babylon, at which time too, the Kingdom of God (that is, the true worship of God, the means by which that Kingdom is obtained) was amongst them only: but hath since (according to our Saviour's Prophecy in the 21. chap. of Matth. at the 43. ver.) been taken from them; and shall again according to this, be suddenly and extraordinarily restored into them: as Joel also before intimated, by the plentiful distribution of God's Spirit in the last days. 
2. That the surviving and subjected Gentiles shall gladly embrace the knowledge and sea●e of God with the Jews.   
You have hitherto heard of the deliverance and happiness of the Jews 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 forequoted chap. of Isai. at the 15. and 19 verses. Behold, the Lord will come with fire, and with his Charets like a whirlwind, to render his anger with fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire, for by 
(m) Ezek. 39 v. 4, 5, 6 etc. Mal. 4. v. 1. Psal. 50 v. 3 2 Thess. 1.1.7, 8. etc.  fire, and by his sword will the Lord plead with all flesh, and the slain of the Lord shall be many. And I will set a sign among them, and I will send those that escape of them, unto the Nations, to Tarshish, Pull, and Lud, that draw the bow, to Tubal, and Javan, to the Isles afar off, that have not heard my fame, neither have seen 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 beasts to my holy mountain Jerusalem, saith the Lord, as the children of Israel bring an offering in a clean vessel 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 pass 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 remain before me, saith the Lord, so shall your seed and your name remain (to wit, after the foresaid return from their captivity) And it shall come to pass, that from one New Moon 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 go forth and look upon the carkeises of the men that have transgressed against me: for their worm shall not die, 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) I●a. 53. v. 12.  build the old wastes, they shall raise up the former desolations, and they shall repair the waste Cities, the desolations of many generations. And strangers shall stand and feed your flocks, and the sons of the alien shall be your Ploughmen, and your Vinedressers. But ye shall be named the Priests of the Lord: Men shall call you the Ministers of your God: ye shall eat the riches of the Gentiles, and in their glory shall you boast yourselves. For your shame you shall have double: and for confusion they shall rejoice in their portion: therefore in their Land they shall possess the double: everlasting joy shall be unto them, Surely the Isles shall wait for me, and the Ships of Tarshish first, to bring my Sons from fare, 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 glorified thee. And the Sons of Strangers shall build up thy walls, 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) jer. 12. v. 14, 15, 16 17.  Nation and Kingdom, that will not serve thee, shall perish, yea, those Nations shall be utterly wasted. The sons also of them that afflicted thee, shall come bending unto thee, and all they that despised thee, shall bow themselves down at the soles of thy feet, and they shall call thee the City of the Lord, the Zion of the Holy One of Israel. Whereas thou hast been forsaken and hated, so that no man went thorough thee, I will make thee an eternal excellency, a joy of many generations. Thou shalt also suck the milk of the Gentiles, and shalt suck 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 Standard to the people, and they shall bring thy Sons in their arms, and thy daughters shall be carried upon their shoulders. And Kings shall be thy nursing Fathers, and their Queens thy nursing Mothers: they shall bow down to thee, with their faces towards the earth, and lick up the dust of thy feet, and thou shalt know that I am the Lord: for they shall not be ashamed that wait for me. And in this Mountain shall the Lord of Hosts 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 mountain, the face of the covering cast over all people, and the veil that is spread over all Nations. He will swallow up death in victory, and the Lord will wipe away tears 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 choose Israel, and set them in their own Land, and the 
(s) Isa. 55. v 5. Zech. 2. v. 9.11.  strangers shall be joined with them, and they shall cleave to the house of Jacob, and the people shall take them, and bring them to their place; and the House of Israel shall possess them in the Land of the Lord, for servants and for handmaidens: and they shall take them 
(t) Ezek. 39 v. 10.  captives, whose captives they were; and they shall rule over their oppressors. And in chap. 2. ver. 2. It shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the Lords house shall be established in the top of the mountains, & shall be exalted above the hills: and all Nations shall flow unto it. And many people shall go and say, come ye, and let us go up to the mountain 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 ways, and we will walk in his paths, for out of Zion shall go forth the Law, and the Word of the Lord from Jerusalem. And he shall judge among the Nations, and shall rebuke many people▪ and they shall break their swords into plough shares, and their spears into pruning hooks: Nation shall not 
(w) Psal. 46 v. 9  lift up sword against Nation, neither shall they learn war any more. The same Prophecy also you may find it the 4. chap. of Mic●l●, 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 Hosts, it shall come to pass, th●● there shall come people, and the inhabitants of many Cities: and the inhabitants ●●done City shall go to another, saying, Let us got speedily to pray before the Lord of Hosts: I will go●●l●o. Yea, many people, and strong Nations shall come to seek the Lord of Hosts in Jerusalem; and to pray before the Lord. Thus faith the Lord of Hosts, in those days it shall come to pass, 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 go with you, for we have heard, that God is with you. And in shall come to pass, that every one that is lest, of all the Nations which came against Jerusalem, shall even go● up from year● to year, to worship the King, the Lord of Hosts; and to keep ●nd fo●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 Hosts▪ even upon them shall be no rain.  
I know the most of these Prophecies are chief interpreted of the joining together of the Jews & 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 pains to beguile ourselves and others of the Truth: It is, I say, to put out our own eyes, and bid others follow us. For Saint Paul in the 11. of the Rom. tells us plainly, that the Jews 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 hardened. That God hath concluded them all in unbelief: And that through their fall, salvation is come unto us, to provoke them to 
(x) Deu. 32 v. 21.  jealousy. And therefore it cannot possibly be maintained, that the Jews and Gentiles are as yet 
(y) joh. 10. v. 16.  one sheepfold. And as for those which were converted at the first Preaching of the Gospel, and at other times since, they are but the first fruits, and root (as I may say) of the branches, and lump, which shall follow after them by a general conversion. And therefore the calling of these, can no more be accounted a conversion of the Jews, than the calling of those Gentiles, which were gathered to the Church before Christ's Nativity, can be taken for the conversion of the Gentiles. Who were (as time hath shown us) but the [〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉] the forerunners and pledge as it were of all those Nations, which were a long time after converted, by the Ministry of the Apostles, & their successors. And besides, how the bringing of the Jews out of all Nations, Upon Horses, & in Litters, and in Charets, & upon Mules, & upon men's shoulders; can bear any other but a literal sense▪ Or how The veil that is spread over all Nation●, can now be said to be destroyed, when as so many of them run a whoring after their own inventions, I cannot conceive. Yea, Even unto this day, saith Saint Paul of the Jews in his time, when Moses is read, the veil is upon their heart. Nevertheless, when it shall turn unto the Lord, the veil 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 gross ignorance and superstition) and therefore the veil is not yet taken away, and consequently is not yet Destroyed from all Nations. Again, I know no reason, why we should give more credit to the Metaphorical 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 37. ver. hath alleged them as the only 
(z) joh. 12. v. 39  cause that our Saviour's side was pierced: of which fact doubtless there had been no necessity, if the Prophecy were not to be understood in a literal sense. And to say with others, that it was thus fulfilled in the Disciples, who beheld our Saviour's sufferings, is not only to rob the Prophecy of its right end, but also to make the Disciples guilty of their Master's death: For, the Text saith expressly, They shall look upon me whom they have 
(a) Psal. 22 v. 16. etc.  pierced. Where also it follows, And they shall 
(b) Mat. 24. v. 30.  mourn for him, as one that mourneth for his only Son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his first borne. In that day shall there be a great mourning in Jerusalem, as the mourning of Hadadrimmon, in the valley of Meggidon. But who can at the same time earnestly bewail that man's death, whose punishment they themselves do not only procure, but scoff at? As all that murdered Christ, did at his. And what comparison is there, betwixt the grief of a few fearful and scattered Disciples for a day or two, and the solemn mourning of all Judah and Jerusalem, and that to every family apart, and their wives apart? As therefore this Prophecy doth concern the Jews only, and chiefly the Tribes that crucified their Saviour, so doubtless it shall then receive its accomplishment, when God at their general conversion, 
Zech. 12. v. 10.  Shall pour upon them the Spirit of grace and supplications, that so they may at once obtain the forgiveness of their sins, and thus lament their forefathers malicious and cruel contrivance, and their own hereditary and wilful approbation of the death of Christ; who shall then descend unto them, to restore their Kingdom, and to reign over all the earth, as it is in the 14. Chap. of the same Prophet, at the 5. and 9 verses.  

3. That the whole creation shall be restored to its original perfection.  And thus much of the felicity of that remnant of the Nations, which shall outlive the rest at the Jews return. Now a word or two of the alteration of the sensitive and senseless creatures at that time. The Wolf, saith Isaiah, in his 11. Chap. at the 6. ver. shall dwell with the Lamb, and the Leopard shall lie down with the Kid: And the Calf, and the young Lion, and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them. And the Cow and the Bear shall feed, their young ones shall lie down together; and the Lion shall eat straw 
(c) Gen. 1. v. 30. cha. 6. v. 20, 21.  like the Ox. And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the Ass, and the weaned Child shall put his hand on the Cockatrice den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be 
(d) Hab. 2. v. 14.  full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the Sea. And in the 65. Chap. at the 25. ver. The Wolf and the Lamb shall feed together, and the Lion shall eat straw like the Bullock: And dust 
(e) Gen. 3. v. 1●.  shall be the Serpent's meat. They shall not hurt, nor destroy in all my holy Mountain, saith the Lord. Where we may observe, against such as understand by these expressions, the effects of Preaching, on the hearts of cruell-minded men; that they are a part of those Prophecies, which concern the Jews deliverance, and therefore can have no relation to the calling of the Gentiles. And besides, is there no hurt nor destruction in all the Christian world, that we should thus flatter ourselves with such vain fancies? or rather, when was there none? or where is the Nation, shall I say, or the City, yea, the Village, amongst us, where cruelty is not practised, where such mischiefs are not to be found, as can scarcely be paralleled, in the common wealths of the most barbarous Heathen? And as for those words; For the Earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, which seem to have been the occasion of the former interpretation, in my conceit, they imply but this, that therefore God will restore to these creatures their primitive obedience, and cause them to be no more offensive to his people; because he hath determined to make himself at that time so well known over all the earth, that his people shall no more offend him: And so the fear of God, shall at once be put again into the hearts of men, and the fear of men into the hearts of the creatures. For the enmity of the creatures, is but the issue of man's sin, and therefore when God shall pardon the House of Jacob, and cleanse them from all their iniquities (as hath been said) the sins of men, which are the cause, and the curse of the Creatures, which is the effect, shall departed together. As then there can be no sufficient reason alleged for the allegorical interpretation of these prophecies, so, if we believe Gods revelations touching the Jews return, there can be no reason urged to the contrary, that will force us to forsake the literal sense of them. By which sense I am sure, that passage of Saint Paul, in the 8. Chap. of the Rom. at the 21. ver. is so well explained, that the great strife about the signification of the word [Creature] there, may be soon decided, and by which too, the opinion of those, who from that place, would make the sensitive Creatures Copartners with us, of that glory which follows the last resurrection, falls to the ground: for is not the exchange of a ravenous disposition for a quiet and peaceable, and the freedom from the abuse of sin, A delivery of the creature from the bondage of corruption? and the 
(f) Dan. 7. v. 21, 22.  glorious liberty of the Sons of God, what is it, but the flourishing estate of the Jews (before spoken of) under Christ their Head? who accompanied with all the Saints departed, and then living, shall come and receive dominion 
(g) Dan. 7. v. 14.27. ch. 2 v. 44. Rev. 15. v. 4 ch. 20. v. 4.6 , and glory, and a Kingdom, that all People, Nations, and Languages, may serve him; as you shall hear anon. Another Prophecy touching the renewed estate of the Creatures, is to be seen in the 30. Chap. of Esay at the 23. ver. Then shall he give the rain of thy seed, that thou shalt sow the ground withal: And bread of the increase of the Earth, and it shall be fat and plenteous: in that day shall thy cattle feed in lange pastures. The Oxen likewise, and the young Asses that ear the ground, shall eat clean Provender, which hath been winnowed with the shovel, and with the Fan, and there shall be upon every high hill, rivers and streams of waters, in the day of the slaughter, when the towers fall. Moreover, the light of the Moon shall be as the light of the Sun, and the Light of the Sun shall be sevenfold, as the light of seven days, in the day that the Lord 
(h) Mal. 3. v. 17, 18.  bindeth up the breach of his people, and healeth the stroke of their wound. But the great increase of the light of the Sun and Moon here spoken of, is in the 60. Chap. at the 19 ver. plainly gainsaid, the words are these. The Sun shall be no more thy light by day, neither for brightness shall the Moon give light unto thee, but the Lord shall be unto thee an everlasting light, and thy God thy glory. Where, if it had been said, That the Sun should no more burn them by day, nor the Moon by night, as it is in the 121. Psal. Or smite them, as it is in the 49. of Esay at the 10. ver. I could have sent you for an answer to the 4. chap. of the same Prophet, at the 5. ver. The Lord will create upon every dwelling place of Mount Zion, and upon her assemblies, a cloud and smoke by day, and the shining of a flaming fire by night, for upon all the glory shall be a defence. And there shall be a Tabernacle for a shadow in the day from the beat, and for a place of refuge, and for a covert from storm and from rain. But seeing it is said, The Sun shall be no more thy light by day, These places will be better reconciled, if we acknowledge, that in the 60. Chap. there is a mixed rehearsal of those blessings, which are proper only to the Heavenly Jerusalem; (which as it is Rev. 21. ver. 23. and chap. 22. ver. 5. hath no need of the Sun, neither of the Moon to shine in it) with those which the, Jew's shall receive at the restauration of their earthly Jerusalem; for such a mixture of things, which shall in their execution be many generations apart, is very usual with the Prophets. And it is the more likely to be so here (not only because the words immediately following in both Prophecies, are in sense all one; for they show the same reason wherefore the Sun and Moon should no more give light unto them, but also) because the happiness which the Jews shall then be made Heirs of, shall never again be interrupted by any misery. For the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads, they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow, and sighing shall flee away, Esay the 35. at the 10. ver. And lest we should conceit, that the judgement of the dead (plainly described in the 20. Chap. of the Rev.) shall either suspend, 
Ver. 11, 12. etc. ver. 2.  or disturb this joy, Saint Paul in the 1. to the Cor. and the 6. Chap. hath told us, that The Saints shall judge▪ 
* These first words may not unfitly be referred also to the time of the Saints reign on earth; for it is their privilege at their entrance into their Kingdom, and throughout the whole space of their reign, To judge the World, that is, all Nations of the Gentiles with the judgement of government and reformation: with the exercise of a civil and temporal power over them; as in the prophecies of the Gentiles subjection unto them, it may plainly be seen. And it is their privilege at the ●a●● resurrection, To judge the world, and the Devil, that is, all evil, as well Angels, as men, by a joint approbation of their final and perfect condemnation, of the full accomplishment, I say, of their eternal reprobation.  the world, that is, the wicked men that have been their oppressors; 
ver. 3.  and judge the Angels, that is, the evil spirits, that have been their tempters: And therefore shall not be thrust down to the bar amongst them, but advanced to the bench against them. An addition doubtless to their happiness, and no abatement of it.  
And this is as much as I need say, though not above half that the Prophets say, concerning the Kingdom in the Text. I will therefore shut up all with that solemn Protestation of God, in the 31. of Jer. at the 35. ver. Thus saith the Lord, which giveth the Sun for a light by day, and the Ordinances of the Moon, and of the Stars, for a light by night, which divideth the sea, when the waves thereof roar, the Lord of Hosts is his Name; If those Ordinances 
(i) jer. 33. v. 20.25.  depart from before me, saith the Lord, then shall the seed of Israel also cease from being a Nation before me for ever. Thus saith the Lord, If Heaven above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, I will also cast off all the seed of Israel for all that they have done, saith the Lord. And with that humble complaint of Israel, whom God in the 7. of Micah, at the 8. ver. makes to prophesy thus of herself. Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy, when I fall, I shall rise; when I sit in darkness, the Lord will be a light unto me. I will bear the indignation of the Lord, because I have sinned against him, until be plead my cause, and execute judgement for me. He will bring me forth to the light, and I shall behold his righteousness. And so I pass from the thing to be restored, which is the Kingdom of Israel: to the Person by whom it is to be restored, which is Christ the Lord, at his next appearing. For they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the Kingdom to Israel?  
That our Mediator hath undergone the offices of a Priest and Prophet, the Gospel is our witness: 
That Christ shall reign on earth, proved. 1. By consequence. Isa. 14. v. 1, 2, 3.  but considering that the Jews are yet to receive a Kingdom; a Kingdom in which they shall bold them captives, whose captives they are; and in which peace and righteousness shall flourish on the earth: considering this I say, we may justly doubt, whether our Saviour hath as yet executed the office of a King: and so much the rather, because he took our nature on him, as well to perform his kingly office therein amongst us, as either his priestly or prophetical; the glory of this being indeed the reward of that contempt and torment which he suffered in the others: and though it cannot be denied, that he hath already 
(k) Col. 2. v. 15.  spoilt principalities and powers (that is, the evil spirits) and hath made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in his cross: nor that he is 
(l) Eph. 4. v. 8.  ascended up on high, and hath led captivity captive, and given gifts unto men: nor that he is become the 
(m) Col. 2. v. 10.  Head of all principality and power (that is, of the Saints and holy Angels) and is set 
(n) Heb. 1. v. 3. ch. 8. v. 1 ch. 10. v. 12. ch. 12. v. 2.  down at the right hand of the Throne of God: so that he is 
(o) Phil. 3. v. 21.  able even to subdue all things unto himself: Yet that he doth not now reign in that Kingdom which he shall govern as man, and consequently, in that of which the Prophets speak, his own words in the third of the Revel. at the 21. vers. do clearly prove. To him that overcommeth, saith he, will I grant to sit with me in my Throne; even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in His Throne: from whence it follows, that the Throne which here he calls his own, and which he hath not 
(p) Heb. 2. v 8. ch. 10. v. 12.13.  yet received, must needs belong unto him as man; because the place where he now sits, is the Father's Throne; a Throne in which he hath no proper interest, but as God. Again, it follows, that seeing he is now in his Father's Throne, therefore neither is this the time, nor that the place, in which his Throne is to be erected: not the place, for in one Kingdom there can be but one Throne: and not the time, for than he should sit in his own Throne, which now he doth not do: and the reason of it (as is intimated in the first words) is because the time in which all that shall overcome, are to be called, is not yet at an end, and this also the answer which was made to the souls under the Altar (who cried for vengeance against their persecutors) doth fully confirm; for it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellow servants also, and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled: Rev. the 6. and the 11. vers. and when this is done, 
(q) Rev. 11 v. 15, 17.  then shall Christ sit in his own Throne, and they that overcome shall sit with him; for he that overcommeth, and keepeth my words unto the end, to him (saith he) will I give power over Nations (and he shall rule them with a rod of iron, as the vessels of a Potter shall they be broken to shivers) even as I received of my Father, Rev. 2. at the 26. verse. The like encouragement he gave also to his Disciples before his passion. Ye are they (said he) which have continued with me in my temptations, therefore I appoint unto you a Kingdom, as my Father hath appointed unto me, that ye may 
(r) Mat. 26. v. 29. Mar. 14. v. 25. Luke 14. v. 15. ch, 22. v. 16.18. c. 24. v. 42.43. Act. 10. v. 41.  eat and drink at my table in my 
(s) Dan. 2. v. 44. ch. 7. v. 14.27.  Kingdom, and sit on 
(t) Dan. 7. v. 22. Rev. 20. v. 4.  seats judging the Twelve Tribes of Israel, Luke the 22. at the 28. verse. I know these words are taken by interpreters, for a metaphorical expression of those joys which we shall receive in 
* In Heaven where the holy jerusalem is, that (Rev. 21. v. 10) great City, distinguished from the City described to (Ezek. 40. v. 2. etc. ch. 45. v. 1.2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7.) Ezekiel, (which I take to be the model and platform of the City that is to be built at the jews Redemption) by these and many more differences. First, because the (Heb. 11. v. 10.) builder and maker of the one is God, but the other (jer. 31. v. 38. Ezek. ch. 40. etc.) men shall build. Secondly, the materials of jerusalem which is above, are all (Rev. 21. v. 18.19, 20, 21.) gold and precious stones. But the (Ezek. 41. v. 16.17, 21. etc.) materials of that other jerusalem shall not be such. Thirdly, in this City, there is (Rev. 21. v. 22.) no Temple, for the Lord God Almighty, and the Lamb are the Temple of it. But that City shall have (Ezek. 40.41. etc.) a Temple. Fourthly, the river of (Rev. 22. v. 1.) water of life proceedeth out of the Throne of God, and of the Lamb. But in that City, (Ezek. 47. v. 1. etc.) waters (not the river of life, though endued with healthful & (Ezek. 47. v. 9.12.) nourishing qualities, because of the place whence they are to proceed) shall issue from under the threshold of the Temple: for the forefront of the house shall stand towards the East, and the waters shall come down from under the right side of the house, at the South side of the Altar. Fifthly, in this City, the tree of life (Rev. 22. v. 2.) only grows on either side of the river, and bears twelve manner of fruits monthly. But by the river, that shall issue out of the Sanctuary of that City, shall grow (Ezek. 47. v. 12.) all trees for meat. Sixthty, in this City there is (Rev. 22. v. 5 ch. 21. v. 23.25.) no night, they need no candle, nor light of the Sun. for the Lord God giveth them light, and the Lamb is the light thereof. But in that City, there shall be (Esa. 30. v. 26. ch. 60. v. 11.) night, and the light of the Sun shall then be sevenfold. Seventhly, this City shall (Rev. 21. v. 1.2.) descend to the new earth, with which there shall be no sea created. But the waters which shall come from that City, shall go into the (Ezek. 47. v. 8.) sea, and being brought forth into the sea the waters shall be healed, etc. and therefore that City is to be built, before the annihilation of the first earth, with which there is a sea.  Heaven; but it is a currant axiom in our Schools (non esse à literâ, seu propriâ Scripturae significatione recedendum, nisi evidens aliqua necessitas cogat, & Scripturae veritas in ipsâ literâ periclitari videtur) that we must not forsake the literal and proper sense of the Scripture, unless an evident necessity doth require it, or the truth thereof would be endangered by it: and I am sure, here is no such cause for which we should leave the natural interpretation of the place: yea, we are by many other passages in the Scriptures rather compelled to stick to it; for besides that there is little analogy and resemblance betwixt a perpetual 
(v) Rev. 22. v. 3.  praising and worshipping of God, and the business of a politic government here spoken of; besides this I say, we are already informed, that though our Saviour be now in Heaven, yet he sits not there in his own Throne, and consequently, is not yet in the Kingdom which the Father hath appointed him. And as it is evident from his own words, that the Throne of his Kingdom is not now in Heaven, so it is plain from Saint Paul's, in the first to the Cor. the 15. chap. at the 22. vers. that it shall not be there after the judgement of the dead, his words are these. As in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive: But every man in his own order. Christ the first-fruits, afterwards 
* They that are Christ's, if there were not to be some distance of time betwixt the resurrection of these and other men, it had been as easy for the Apostle to have said, They that are dead, or, All that are in the grave. And if there shall be a precedency of time, than no doubt but it shall be such a precedency, as may bring some advantage and honour to the Saints: and therefore not only of a few hours, or days, but of a more notable continuance of many years. For if Christ should descend for no other purpose, but to call all men to judgement, then as there would be need of none, so there could not well be any priority of time to distinguish their resurrection; because in that Act, both good and bad must be assembled before him at the same time, and the wicked doubtless should then be raised as soon, to see his coming, as the just, to mere and accompany him therein.  they that are Christ's at his coming (and therefore not the 
(w) Zech. 14. v. 5. 1 Thes. 3. v. 13. ch. 4. v. 14.15.16. 2 Thes. 1. v. 10.  Martyrs only.) Then cometh the end (what presently after his coming? no, but) when he hath delivered up the Kingdom to God, even the Father (and when shall that be?) when he shall have put down all rule, and all authority, and power. For he must reign till He (that is, the Father) hath put all his enemies under his feet: which will be fully accomplished, when the last enemy shall be destroyed, which is death, and when all things shall be thus subdued unto him, than (shall follow that inutterable glory, that height of happiness, where) the Son also himself shall be subject unto him, that did before put all things under him, that God may be all in all: thus fare Saint Paul, whose words do clearly prove that the reign of Christ as man (of which alone we treat) doth neither begin before his coming, nor extend itself beyond the death of death, the last resurrection; and therefore cannot without a palpable contradiction, be taken for the time, when he shall give up his Kingdom to his Father; nor for the time that now is, betwixt which and his Kingdom too, our Saviour, in my conceit, hath put an irreconciliable distinction; calling this, the time, not of a Kingdom, but of temptation, that is, a time of persecution for righteousness sake; a time, wherein his Disciples must be delivered up to be afflicted, killed, and hated of all Nations for his name; that thus fulfilling the rest of the afflictions of Christ, for his body's sake, which is the Church, they may at last wholly, and together (for shall not their bodies as well reign with Christ as their souls? but these, we know, are, and shall be yet captives to the grave: or, are the Saints that shall be found alive at Christ's coming exempted from his coming? for if he should reign till then, and then give up his Kingdom to his Father, they are exempted; but if as our Apostle shows, his reign begin not till his coming, then as the living shall at that time 
(x) 1 Thes. 4. v. 15, 16, 17.  together with the dead in Christ, be caught up to meet him, so the Saints shall then, and till than they cannot, wholly, and altogether reign with him) I say together, and at once be made partakers of their Master's Kingdom: which as it appears, is not to be in Heaven, and therefore must needs be held on earth, where all things which our Saviour promised his Disciples, may well be accomplished in a literal sense. Of this Kingdom also speaks S. Peter in the 3. of the Acts, at the 19 v. Repent ye therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord, & he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you, 
(y) Luke 19 v. 11, 12, etc.  whom the Heavens must receive, until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy 
(z) Rev. 10 v. 7.  Prophets since the world began: where if by the times of refreshing, and the times of restitution of all things, nought else can be meant, but the Jews inhabiting again of their own land, and the bringing of all other Nations into subjection to them; than it is evident, that Christ's coming at this time, shall be to accomplish this thing to Israel; and consequently to receive his appointed Kingdom: but that those words can have no other meaning, a small acquaintance with the Prophets will inform you: who as they speak of nothing more, so they have nothing which can be applied to our Saviour's second coming, as a comfortable effect so generally foreshewne, but this. And here we may call to mind too, our Saviour's words to James and John, when they requested that one might sit on his right hand, and the other on his left, in his Kingdom: To sit on my right hand, and on my left, said he, is not mine to give, but it shall be given to them, for whom it is prepared of my Father. Which saying, as it doth show, that our Saviour had before acquainted the Apostles of his Kingdom, so it intimates, that his Kingdom is to be held on earth, where only this may be fulfilled; for in Heaven it cannot be done, unless we will grant, that other men shall be as highly exalted there, as our Saviour is, to wit, to the right hand of God: which is a prerogative peculiar to the Son alone, a pre-eminence I say, which the chiefest of the Angels never enjoyed. For, to which of the Angels said he at any time, Sat on my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool? Heb. 1. at the 13. verse. And the same Apostles words in the second to Timothy and the 4. chap. may not be forgotten. I charge thee, saith he, before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead, at his appearing and his Kingdom. For why should Christ's appearing and his Kingdom be joined together; yea, why should his Kingdom be added, as the end of his appearing, unless both were to contemporate? unless his Kingdom were to begin at his appearing, and not before it? And to my seeming, that prophetical Image in the second of Dan. at the 31. vers. which represented both the orderly succession, and divers condition of all the then following Kingdoms of this world, unto the Kingdom of Christ (shadowed there unto us, by the stone that was cut out without hands) doth give good light to this of Saint Paul. For in what manner those Kingdoms have succeeded each other; in the like manner is the Kingdom of Christ to succeed them, as appears by the same phrase of speech, which is attributed as well to the setting up of this Kingdom, as to any of them; to wit, that it shall break in pieces and consume all those Kingdoms. 
Ver. 34, 35, 44.45.  And therefore seeing these words are meant of a conquest, and succession by force of arms in all the former Kingdoms, how can they be 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 feet of the Image, upon the last and divided Kingdoms of the iron Empire doth probably imply. For if the Kingdom of God there spoken of, were to be understood of a Kingdom, which should so be set up in the days of these Kings, that their reign should notwithstanding continue together with it (as not only these, but all former Kingdoms also have done with the Militant Church, with the Kingdom of grace; which therefore cannot be the Kingdom there foreshewne) then doubtless it should have been represented by some part of the Image itself (as the contemporating Kingdoms 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 wonderful for its beginning, operation, and increase. For it was cut out without hands: and when it had smote the Image, became a great Mountain, 
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 powerful, speedy, and general conquest over these Kingdoms, by this Kingdom, then either the gold received from the silver, the silver from the brass, or the brass from the iron; so they imply the utter extirpation, and total abolition of the manner of policy, and government which these Kingdoms have used; of which it is said, that they became like the chaff 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. verse. Ask of me, and I shall give thee the Heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. Thou shalt break them with a rod 
(a) Rev. 2. v. 27. ch. 19 v. 15.  of iron, thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel. And that in Psal. 110. at the 2. verse. 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 thorough Kings in the day of his wrath. He shall judge among the Heathen, he shall fill the places with dead bodies: he shall wound the heads over many countries. He shall drink of the brook in the way, therefore shall he lift up the head. Yea, and that too, in the 149. Psal. at the second verse. Let Israel rejoice in him that made him; let the children of Zion be joyful 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 twoedged sword in their hand: to execute vengeance upon the Heathen: and punishments upon the people: to bind their Kings with chains, 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 Kingdom of our Saviour, it is evident by the authority there alleged out of the 8. Psal. which prophecy is therefore made use of by the Apostle, as a plain proof that Christ's manhood is exalted above the chiefest of the Angels; because it shows, 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, than 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 Kingdom to his Father: for that which is to be given up, is already past. And it is not where said, that the new Jerusalem, the City of eternal 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 express prophecy.  And thus it hath been proved by consequence that our Saviour shall hereafter reign on earth. You shall now hear it directly and expressly affirmed. Behold, saith the Angel to the Virgin Mary, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a Son, and shalt call his name Jesus: he shall be great, and shall be called the Son 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.  jeremiah in his 23. c. at the 5. v.) the days come saith the Lord, that I will raise unto David, a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgement and justice 
* Whatsoever loss the disobedience of the first Adam brought on himself, and his posterity, that no doubt, the second Adam hath recovered with advantage for himself and his chosen. But the first Adam lost not only 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 happiness) should have here enjoyed, if he had not fell; that, and fare more than that, shall Christ with his chosen inherit at his next appearing. And now seeing even reason itself doth thus strongly conclude for our Saviour's future sovereignty, what unreasonableness were it in us, any longer to misdoubt the literal accomplishment of these and all other sacred revelations, which so fully describe, and so clearly confirm it.  in the 
(f) Is. 8. v. 8. job 19 v. 25. Heb. 1. v. 2.  earth. In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely, and this is his Name whereby he shall be called. The Lord our righteousness. Behold (saith Zech. in his 6. chap. at the 12. verse.) 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 he shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule upon his Throne, and he shall be a Priest upon his Throne, and the counsel of peace shall be between them both. And in the 34. chap. of Ezek. at the 22. verse. I will save my flock, and they shall no more be a prey: and I will judge between cattles and cattles, and I will set up one Shepherd over them: and he shall feed them, even my servant David, he shall feed them, and he shall be their Shepherd. 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 Shepherd, and they shall also walk in my judgements, and observe my statutes, and do them: and they shall dwell in the land that I have given unto Jacob my servant, wherein your Fathers have dwelled, and they shall dwell therein, even they and their children, and their children's children for ever, and my servant David shall be their Prince for ever. And in the 9 chap. of Isaiah at the 6. verse. Unto us a child is borne, unto us a Son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end. Upon the Throne of David, and upon his Kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgement and with justice, from henceforth even for ever: the zeal of the Lord of Hosts will perform this. And in the 52. chap. at the 13. verse. Behold, my servant shall deal prudently, he shall be 
(g) Ps 1●8. v. 22.23, 24 etc.  exalted and extolled, and be very high. As many were 
(h) Luke 2. v. 34.35.  astonished at thee (his visage, to wit, at the time of his suffering, was so marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men) so, to wit, at his next appearing, shall he sprinkle many Nations, the Kings shall shut their mouths at him: for that which had not been 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. verse. 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 reign over them in Mount Zion from henceforth even for ever. And in the 72. Psal. at the 6. verse. He shall come down like rain upon the mown grass: as showers that water the earth. In his days shall the righteous flourish: and abundance of peace so long as the Moon 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 Wilderness shall bow before him: and his enemies shall lick the dust. The Kings of Tarshish, and of the Isles 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  down 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. verse. Thone shalt arise and have mercy 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 fear the name of the Lord: and all the Kings of the earth thy glory. When the Lord shall build up Zion, he shall appear in his glory.  
Now that these prophecies do concern the reign of Christ alone, I think no man doubts; and that they are already fulfilled, it cannot be proved. For neither did Christ at his first coming sit on David's Throne, nor any other of David's lineage, or of that Tribe (or of the other Tribes) for the Sceptre was then departed from Judah, and a Lawgiver from between his feet. 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 coming: 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.  David's Throne was. For his feet shall stand in that day (to wit, when he comes to receive his appointed Kingdom) on the Mount of Olives, which is before jerusalem on the East (from which Mount also he ascended) and the Mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the East, & toward the West, & there shallbe a very great valley, and half the Mountain shall remove toward the North, and half of it toward the South. And ye shall flee to the valley of the Mountains: for the valley of the Mountains shall reach unto Azal; yea, ye shall flee like as ye fled from before the earthquake, in the days of Uzziah, K. of Judah. And the Lord my God shall 
(o) jude v. 14, 15. Rev. 19 v. 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16.  come, & all the Ss. with thee: and it shall come to pass in that day, that the light shall not be clear nor dark, but it shall be one day, which shall be known to the Lord, not day nor night: but it shall come to pass, 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. etc. joel 3. v. 8.  living waters shall go out from Jerusalem: half of them toward the former sea, and half 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 plain 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 King's 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. verse.  
You see here that our Saviour comes not only 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 Kingdoms of this world unto himself: to put down (as Saint Paul hath said) all the rule, and all the authority, and power of other Nations; that there may be one Shepherd and one Sheepfold; that the 
(q) Dan. 7. v. 27.  Kingdom, and Dominion, and greatness of the Kingdom under the whole Heaven, may be possessed by the people of the Saints of the most High. That is, (as the former prophecies do expound it) by the people of 
(r) Ps. 148. v. 14.  Israel. And this, as I think, is the time of which he spoke these words, Verily, verily, I say unto you, 
(s) john 1. v. 15.  Hereafter shall ye see Heaven open, and the Angels of God ascending and descending upon the 
(t) Heb. 1. v. 6.  Son of man. For that this may be fulfilled, it is requisite, that he be on earth, whither these messengers may descend unto him, and from whence again they may ascend. Which argues too, his continuance here, for a greater space of time, than the judgement of the dead requires. And although it be said, that Christ shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and, that of his Kingdom there shall be no end: Yet it is not meant, that he shall always reign as man: or that the earthly Jerusalem, the place of his Throne as man, shall always stand. But this only is meant, that the Kingdom of the Saints, which Christ as he is man, shall govern a 
(v) Isa. 65. v. 22.  long time on earth, shall after the judgement of the dead (at which time this Heaven and earth shall pass away) be delivered up to God even the Father, in the new Jerusalem, where it shall ever remain, and where God shall be all in all: yet so, that Christ too as man shall still retain the dignity and pre-eminence of a King, a Priest and Prophet, though he shall have no need to make use of either office. And thus a late and learned 
(w) Master Down on the 17. ch. of Saint joh. p. 157. of his Treatises pub. 1633.  Divine of ours, doth reconcile the former words of Saint Luke in his first chap. at the 33. vers. with that of Saint Paul, in the first to the Cor. the 15. chap. at the 24. and 28. verse. We are to know, saith he, that the Kingdom of Christ containeth in it, two things. The Mediatory function of his Kingly office: And his Kingly Glory. That he shall lay aside, for then (to wit, after the judgement of the dead) there will be no farther necessity nor use thereof. But this he shall hold for ever, as being by the acts of his Mediation justly acquired, and according to covenant bestowed upon him by his Father. And furthermore it may be observed, that the words, For 
(x) Ps. 72. v. 17. Ps 89. v. 28 29, 36, 37. Ps. 145. v. 13. Isa. 32. v. 14, 15. Ch. 60. v. 15 Ezek. 37. v. 25.  ever, Evermore, & Everlasting, are in the Scriptures often joined with, and put for, these and the like say: Thorough all, or many generations: thorough all ages, or as long as the Sun and Moon endure. And therefore can conclude no more but this; that Christ's reign as man, shall continue, as long as there shall be men to succeed each other on the earth: or as long as this Heaven and earth shall last: that is, until the time which God hath foreordained for the judgement of the dead. When the Heavens that are now shall 
(y) Rev. 20. v. 11. ch. 21. v. 1.  pass away with a noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also, and the works that are therein shall be burnt up, the 2. of Saint Peter, the 3. chap. at the 10. verse.  
And to this purpose, when the Prophet Daniel had said, his Dominion is an everlasting Dominion, which shall not pass away; he adds presently by way of exposition, and his Kingdom that, which shall not be destroyed. And in another place more plainly; The Kingdom shall not be left to other people. 
Cham 2. v. 44  So that when the Prophets say, that Christ shall reign for ever, and that his Kingdom shall stand for ever, or be an everlasting Kingdom, it is all one, as if they had told us only, That neither Christ, nor his Kingdom shall have any successors; that no Son of Man shall succeed him in his Throne; that no humane Kingdom shall be set up in the place of his Kingdom, as his shall be in the place of the four Monarchies; but that in spite of all opposition both of men and devils, his dominion shall endure, until the upshot and period of all temporal and humane government; that is, until the last resurrection, when with a Venite benedicti, he shall give up the number of the Electfull and whole (as we say) unto God himself.  

That the restauration of jerusalem and the first resurrection shall concur.  You see again, that when our Saviour comes to reign over all the earth, he comes not alone, but brings all the Saints with him. Which words as they do establish the literal sense of the 
(z) Luk. 14. v. 14. ch. 20. v. 35, 36. joh. 6. v. 39 40.44, 45. Philip. 3. v. 11. 1 Thes 3. v. 13. ch. 4. v. 14. etc. Ezek. 37. v. 12, 13.  first Resurrection, mentioned in the 20. Chap. of the Rev. So they make the Kingdom of Israel, and the thousand year's reign of the Saints there spoken of, to sunchronize and meet together, for why shall the Saints come with him, but because they have a share in this Kingdom, and are to be his assistants in it, as he told his Disciples; and as the Elders in the 5. Chap. of the Rev. at the 10. ver. said in the hearing of Saint John. Thou hast made us unto our God Kings, and Priests, and we 
* Sanctorum super terram regia dignitas & auctoritas in hoc mundi statu unlla est; Sed exilium & perpetuae calamitates ac persecutiones, quas a tyrannis mundi ●ujus regilus patiuntur. De al●ero igitur mundi statu hoc accipiendum. Qued si vero super terram regnalunt Sancti, utique ea non abo lebitur, vel annihi labitur: in id enim quod non est, creaturae dominium non est. Eodem videtur Christus respexisse. Mat. 5. v. 5. Est & hoc observandum, quod Sancti aiunt, regnabimus, non, regnamus. Quo digitum intendunt ad alterum seculum. Nam ne Sancti quidem in coelo constituit, jam regnant super terram: quia cum patientia adhuc expectant liberanonem fratrum, quam accelerare non possunt. Apoc. 6. v. 10, 11. They are the words of Mar. Frid. Wendelinus (page 429.430. of the 21 ch. of the 2. Sect. of his natural contemplations) urged in defence of an accidental change of the world, against the essential abolition of it. Both which Tenets are, as I think, very true, if referred to their proper seasons. If (shunning both the improvident consounding, and pernicious wresting of Scripture) we as●●me a marvellous renovation of this heaven and earth, at the beginning of our Saviour's Kingdom, and a creation of n●w, at the end thereof, that is, at the last Judgement: when as it is in the 20. of the Rev. and the 11. ver. This Heaven and Earth shall fly away, and no place be found for them. And if they shall have place no more, then surely they can have being no longer, for place is an inseparable affection of their being. And consequently this Scripture proves an absolute annibilation of the first world. Which I suppose no man will deny, if he doth observe when this passing away of the first Heaven and Earth is to be accomplished, to wit, above a thousand years after the renewing of them. For they are to be renewed at our Saviour's entrance into his Kingdom, but they are not to pass away, till the giving up thereof to God the Father at the last Judgement, and so it stands ●●●me, that these words imply no less than a perishing. Which yet may further be established by three other undeny able testimonies. One of the same Apostle, in the next Chap. at the 1. ver. And I saw, saith he, a new Heaven, and a new Earth; for the first Heaven and the first Earth were passed away, and there was no more Sea. Which last clause expressly affirming an utter abolition of the Sea, doth plainly inform us, that by the flying and passing away of the first Earth (which with the Sea makes but one globe) is meant a substantial perishing of it. Another of Moses, in the 8. chap. of Gen. at the 22. ver. While the earth remaineth, seed time and harvest, and cold and heat, and Summer and Winter, and day and night shall not cease. And therefore, when seed time and harvest, and Summer and Winter, and day and night shall cease, as it is most certain they shall at the last judgement; the earth itself must of necessity then cease also. A third of job in his 26. Chap. at the 10. ver. He hath compassed the waters with bounds, until the day (Deut. 11. v. 21.) and night come to an end. Which words being compared with the precedent testimony, wherein day and night are shown to be of equal duration with seed time and harvest; and with that of the 22. of the Rev. where it is said (of the new Jerusalem and the Inhabitants thereof) There shall he no night there, and they need no candle, neither light of the Sun; must needs be taken for a plain and positive prose. That the day and night shall come to an end, and consequently, that the Stars, and so the sublunary creatures too, whose generation and continuance do more or less depend upon celestial influences (being all made only for the use of man, while he is to have his residence and abode on this earth) shall (at mankind's removal from hence) together with this earth, with which they were created, be brought again to nothing.  shall 
(a) Rom. 4. v. 13. Luk 19 v. 17.19.  reign on earth. And this will appear to a diligent eye, even out of the controversed place in the 20. Chap. of the Rev. for besides, that the opposition betwixt the first and the last Resurrection, doth impose the same sense on both; besides this, I say, the vision represented not unto Saint John, perfect men (at the first) that is, men that should be beheaded for the witness of Jesus; but souls only, and that as of men already beheaded: which most manifestly shows, that the Resurrection after mentioned, did follow their death, and not go before it. And therefore, may not be taken spiritually, for their regeneration, for the renewing of their minds, which is to precede their persecution (and may more probably be referred to the sealing of the Servants of God in their foreheads, spoken of in the 7. Chap.) but materially and properly, for the quickening of their bodies, when once the number of the persecuted is fulfilled: whose consummation and glorious exaltation, this vision did represent. It is said also, that they Lived and Reigned with Christ a thousand years. But how can it be, that they should reign immediately after their resurrection; or begin their reign all at once; or continue it but a thousand years, (which things these words imply) if by their Resurrection, should be understood their Regeneration: and by their reign, their being in Heaven, or if by the Word [they lived] should be meant only, they were converted; how can they reign so long as a thousand years, seeing the place of their Reign must be on earth? for if they should be any where else, how can they be encompassed again with war, when the thousand years are expired, as the 9 ver. declares they shall? and lastly, the reign of Christ doth not begin, till Antichrist is destroyed, so that a metaphorical interpretation of the first resurrection, would make good this Conclusion, that most of the Saints shall rise many hundred years before their Reign; there being no less distance of time betwixt the hour of their calling, and Antichrists confusion. The assumption is grounded on the 15. ver. of the 11. Chap. of the Rev. Which shows, that till the time of the seventh trumpet (with the beginning whereof the last Vial doth concur) The Kingdoms of 
* The Kingdoms of this world? It is not said, the Kingdom of Heaven, to wit, of the third heaven (the incorruptible habitation of Saints and Angels) or of another world, I say of another in substance. But the Kingdoms of this world, that is, this world which is now, and shall till then be divided into many Kingdoms, shall wholly become Christ's; and be made by him, one Heavenly Kingdom: a Kingdom in which men shall live after an Heavenly estate and condition: a Kingdom in which Gods will shall be done on earth, as it is in heaven, for seeing that cannot possibly become any man's possession, which doth utterly cease to be, what other construction can be given of these words, but this: that the government of all the Kingdoms of the world, is hereafter to be taken into Christ's own hands as he is man? and indeed, how else should they become his, after such a manner as they are not now his, if not by a subjection to his manhood? for as he is God, they were always his; and all will grant that this Scripture doth plainly foreshow a deposing of all the Kings of the earth at the accomplishment thereof. A deposing of them I say, in such a way, that their Kingdoms may become the Kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ. Which cannot be by abolishing and dissolving the earth, on which they must reign: but may and shall be by subduing and conquering them, and the Kingdoms over which they must reign.  this world do not become the Kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ. And this also is intimated by the binding up of 
(b) Rev. 20 v. 1, 2, 3.  Satan a thousand years (with which the reign of the Saints contemporates) which vision as it is the next to that of the battle, wherein the beast and false Prophet are taken; so doubtless it shall not till then receive its accomplishment: for seeing Antichrist is but the devil's instrument, we cannot imagine, that his power shall outlast the devil's liberty, especially if we consider, that while Satan is in hold, there shall be a general peace over all the World, as the 
(c) Isa. 2. v. 4. Mich. 4. v. 3  Prophets say expressly, and as is here employed, in that as soon as he is loosed again, 
(d) Rev. 20. v. 7.8.  presently he shall gather all the rest of the world to fight against the Saints, but their malicious attempt shall find no better success, then that of the beast, the false Prophet, and the Kings of the earth (their predecessors) had done at the beginning of the thousand years. 
(e) Ver. 9  For fire shall come down from God our of heaven and devour them.  
Now against this which hath been said touching our Saviour's Kingdom, 
The chief doubts resolved.  his own words in the 18. of Saint John, at the 35. ver. may be objected. For there he saith plainly; My Kingdom is not of this World. And in the 25. of Matth. at the 31. ver. he saith, When the Son of Man shall come in his glory, and all the holy Angels with him, then shall he sit upon the Throne of his glory: And before him shall be gathered all Nations, and he shall separate them one from another, as a Shepherd divideth the sheep from the Goats. With which agreeth that of Saint Peter, in his 2. Ep. 3. Chap. and 7. ver. But the Heavens and earth which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire, against the day of Judgement, and perdition of ungodly men. And many other places there are of the like nature. But to the first, I answer, that those words of our Saviour do only distinguish the time and condition of his Kingdom, from the time and condition of the Kingdoms of this world, at the setting up of whose Kingdom there shall be such an 
* Neo enim dubium quin maxima rerum naturalium & humanarum mutatio regni hujus auspicia sit antecessura: Antichristus enim cum to ta sua Synagoga abolebitur, extingue tur hominum pars maxima, gentilibus non nisi paucis relictis; [qui in posteris suis, non extra, sed intra regnum hoc mille annis supererunt, ut prophetiae supra memoratae, cum aliis in Scriptura passim occurrentibus, abunde testantur; sub decursum vero mille annorum mirum in modum aucti, & a Satana e carcere suo soluto iterum seducti, Sanctorum castra oppugnabunt, sed incassum.] 
Nec dubium est, quin rerum quoque naturalium, quae regni hujus incolis ministrabunt, long alia sit futura facies, quam impraesentiarum est: siquidem beatissimum & tranquillissimum erit regni istius seculum, omnis 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, quae in natura modo decurrit, expers. Mar. Frid. Wend. Contemp. phys. Sect. 2. cap. 17. p. 375, 376.   alteration over the whole frame of 
(f) Psa. 46 Isa. 2. v. 12.19.21. chap. 11. v. 6. etc. chap. 30. v. 25, 26. chap. 41. v. 18, 19 chap. 55. v. 13. Ezek. 38. v. 19, 20. Matth. 24. v. 29, 30. Mark. 13. v. 24, 25. Luk, 21. v. 25, 26. Rev. 6. v. 12, 13, etc. chap. 16. v. 18, 19 etc.  nature, and such a change of government on the Earth, that this time shall then as well be accounted the time of an other world, as the time before the Flood, is now taken for the old world by us; and was long ago so styled by Saint Peter, in his 2. Ep. 2. Chap. at the 5. ver. and 3. Chap. at the 6. ver. And therefore notwithstanding this proof, the place of his Kingdom shall be the earth that now is, though this be not the time, nor any humane policy the pattern of his reign. And to all such places, that mention only the dissolution of the elements and the last judgement; I answer, that these are but a part of those things, which shall be done by Christ at his next appearing; and that as other Scriptures show only, that he must reign on earth, and what shall be done at the beginning of his reign, so these show only what shall be left undone, till the close of his Kingdom, when he shall deliver it up to God, even the Father. And in my conceit, Saint Peter in the very next verse doth intimate as much; for having before used the word [Day,] he warns them not to be ignorant of this one thing, that One day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one Day. As if he had told them, that the Day he spoke of, was indeed a thousand years: The Holy Ghost always using it in this sense, when it is emphatically applied to our Saviour's coming, or the Jews Redemption; (which as is already proved, shall happen at the same time.) And though God, as he is eternal, cannot be measured by time: And, as he is immutable, feels no alteration in time: a thousand (yea ten thousand times ten thousand) years, and one day (hour, or minute of a day) being in this respect all one to him: yet this shift cannot void the exposition already given, seeing the apparent dependence of these words on the former, doth clearly prove, that Saint Peter intended not to show what a thousand years, and one day were to God in regard of his nature, (which it is like they knew before) but only what is usually meant by one day in the Word of God. And indeed, to what purpose had this sudden and serious advertisement been inferred, if the Apostle did not hereby discover unto them (besides the largest definite and limited acception of the word) such a special relation of a thousand years to one day, as could not belong to any other number? when as touching God's immensity and immutability, one day might as well have been compared with ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands, (as I said) as with one thousand years. Th●●● 〈◊〉 being so, I see not, but that God's fore-appointment of a thousand year's continuance to the world, for 
* Sicu●e septenis annis, septimus quisque, An●us; ●emiss●●is es●●ita●e sep●e● milli bus a●●o●um mund●, septimus mi●●enari● 〈◊〉 enari● 〈◊〉 missioner e●it R. Keti●●. vi●. Com. A●o●a. part 2 p. 28.  each several day of its first week (the week of its creation) might in all likelihood, be the ground of this prophetical sense of the word, wherein it was afterwards delivered, by the infallible penmen of holy Writ. To this also may be added that in the 24. of Saint Mat. at the 31. ver. which shows that when the Son of man descends, He shall send his Angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his Elect from the four winds, from one end of the Heaven to the other: At which time, Two shall he in the field, the one shall be taken and the other left: Two Women shall be grinding at the Mill, the one shall be taken and the other left. And as Saint Luke records, Two men shall be in one head, 
ch. 17. v. 34  the one shall be taken and the other left. But if our Saviour at his coming shall presently give sentence on all that are not written in the book of life: if he shall make no stay on earth, before he undertake this business; then why shall the elect only be gathered together, and the rest left behind, seeing that great Assize is to be held chiefly for the condemnation of ungodly men? Who doubtless are not to be left, that the evil Angels may fetch them, for they shall be partakers with them of that judgement, and therefore will be as unwilling to appear before that bar, 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 meet the Lord in the Air, 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 general destruction, which shall come upon all Nations that fight against the Jews, whom our Saviour shall then redeem: Or to be eye-witnesses of God's wonders in all Countries at that time. (For that by Christ's judging the 
(g) Ps. 2. v. 8. etc. Ps. 110. v. 2. etc. Ps. 149. v. 6. etc. 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 complete, but rather a former and inchoate judgement of ungodly men, it appears out of the 20. of the Rev. where it is shown, that the Saints enemies shall be all slain 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 destroyed at the end of our Saviour's reign, that is, immediately before the last resurrection: whereas these shall be alive, at the time of that general distress, which shall light on the world, at his entrance into that appointed Kingdom, as the gathering together of the elect, who are to reign with him, doth declare.) And this conjecture, Isa. in his 27. chap. at the 12. vers. doth sufficiently confirm. 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 Jews return: the words are these. It shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall beat off from the channel of the river unto the stream of Egypt, and ye shall be gathered one by one, O ye children of Israel; and it shall come to pass in that day, that the 
(h) Isa. 18. v. 3. Zech. 9 v. 14.  great Trumpet shall be blown, and they shall come which were ready to perish in the land of Assyria, and the outcasts in the land of Egypt, and shall worship the Lord in the holy Mount at Jerusalem.  
And thus being thoroughly satisfied by this cloud of witnesses, the double jury of Prophets and Apostles, with which I find the doctrine of my Text to be encompassed; 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 mercy; who through the fall of the Jews, hath brought salvation unto us Gentiles: that together with them, we might partake of the root and fatness of their Olive tree.  
Secondly, to beware of unbelief: which was the cause that the Jews were broken off from their Olive. And if God spared not the natural branches, much less will he spare us, if by faith we continue not in his goodness.  
Thirdly, not to contemn or revile the Jews, a fault too common in the Christian world; and that partly because we are unmindful 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 again graft 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 natural branches, be graffed into their own Olive tree? Rom. the 11. at the 24. verse.  
And lastly, earnestly to beseech God, that he would speedily put into execution, the means which he hath appointed for their conversion: that he would even in these our days bring this mystery to light, by pouring on his people, the spirit of grace and supplications, whereby they may believe and repent. 
Zech. 12. v. 10.  For their happiness will both increase and consummate ours; so also the Apostle, 
* If the fall of them, etc. Observe here, what Jews are said to occasion the riches of the Gentiles. Not those that believed when the Apostle wrote this, although many of them were the first instruments of the Gentiles conversion: and much less they that have believed since that time: for these, as they come fare 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 believers therefore, nor such which hitherto have so slowly, and thinly followed them; but the stiffnecked and stubborn Jews, who slew Christ, who martyred and persecuted his Disciples, They are here said to be the reconciling of the wo●●d and the riches of the Gentiles: and that because their fall and casting away moved God so soon to visit us with the tidings of Salvation. And ●●●●fulnesse, the receiving of them it must be, that shall perfect us, the re●●●●●ng of them I say, which were then cast away: but how? not in ●●●ir own 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 speaks not of particular men, and families, but of all the Tribes, of the whole Nation. And indeed what but a general conversion of the Jews, can bring such felicity to the Gentiles, as shall not only parallel, but exceed the blessings which we have already received by their unbelief?  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 fullness? And again, 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 faithful witness, 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 sins in his own blood; 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 Zion! when the Lord bringeth back the captivity of his people, Jacob shall rejoice, and Israel shall be glad.  
Psal. 106. v. 4, 5.  
Remember me O Lord, with the favour that thou bearest unto thy people: O visit me with thy salvation.  
That I may see the 
(i) jer. 32 v. 42. ch. 33. v. 9  good of thy chosen, that I may rejoice in the gladness of thy Nation: that I may glory with thine inheritance.  
Micah 7. v. 14. etc.  
Feed thy people with thy rod, the flock of thine heritage, which dwelleth solitarily in the wood, in the midst of Carmel: let them feed in Bashan and Gilead, as in the days of old.  
According to the days of thy coming out of the Land of Egypt, will I show unto him marvellous things.  
The Nations shall see and be confounded at their might: they shall lay their hand upon their mouth: their ears shall be deaf.  
They shall lick the dust like a Serpent, they shall move out of their 
(k) Isa. 2. v. 19.20. Re●. ●. v. 19  holes like worms of the earth, they shall be afraid of the Lord our God, and shall fear because of thee.  
Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the 
(l) Isa. 65. v. 9.15. Zeph. 3. v. 12 13. Rom. 11. v. 5 28.  Remnant of his heritage? he retaineth not his anger for ever, because he delighteth in mercy.  
He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us: he will subdue our iniquities, and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the Sea.  
Thou wilt perform the truth to 
(m) Isa. 65. v. 8. Rom. 11. v. 16.28.  Jacob, and the mercy to 
(m) Isa. 65. v. 8. Rom. 11. v. 16.28.  Abraham, which thou hast sworn to our (m) Fathers from the days of old.  
Isaiah 12.  
In that day thou shalt say, O Lord, I will praise thee, though thou wast angry with me, thine anger is turned away, and thou comfortest me.  
Behold, God is my salvation, I will trust and not be afraid; for the Lord Jehovah is my strength, and my song, he also is become my salvation.  
Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the Wells of salvation.  
And in that day shall ye say, Praise the Lord, call upon his Name, declare his do among the people, make mention that his Name is exalted.  
Sing unto the Lord, for he hath done excellent things: this is known in all the earth.  
Cry out and shout, thou inhabitant of Zion: for great is the HOLY 
(n) Isa. 55. v. 5. ch. 60. v. 9.14. Luke 4. v. 34. Acts 2. v. 27 ch. 3. v. 14.  ONE of Israel in the midst of thee.  
Isaiah 63. v. 15. etc.  
Look down from Heaven, and behold from the habitation of thy holiness, and of thy glory, where is thy zeal and thy strength, the sounding of thy bowels, and of thy mercy towards me? are they restrained?  
Doubtless thou art our Father, though Abraham be ignorant of us, and Israel acknowledgeth us not: thou O Lord, art our Father, our Redeemer, thy Name is from everlasting.  
O Lord, why hast thou made us to err from thy ways? and hardened our heart from thy fear? return for thy servants sake, the Tribes of thine inheritance.  
The people of thy holiness have possessed it but a little while, our Adversaries have trodden down thy Sanctuary.  
O that thou wouldst rend the Heavens, 
Ch. 64. v. 1. etc.  that thou wouldst come down, that the mountains might flow down at thy presence. (As when the melting fire burneth, the fire causeth the waters to boil) to make thy Name known to thine Adversaries, that the Nations may tremble at thy presence.  
When thou didst terrible things which we looked not for, thou camest down, the mountains flowed down at thy presence. For since the beginning of the world, 
(o) 1 Cor. 2 v. 9  men have not heard, nor perceived by the ear, neither hath the eye seen O God, besides thee; what he hath prepared for him that waiteth for him.  
Nunc fera, mucro, fames; nunc 
(p) Rev. 6.8  mórsque fidelibus instat:  Quos manet haec merces; gloria, vita, quies. 
War, wild beasts, want, and death do now besiege  
The sacred troops: whose future privilege,  
Is this: to shine in glory, and to reign  
In peace, with him who makes their death their 
(q) Phil. 1.21.  gain.  

The Testimonies of the Authors quoted in the margin of the 19 page.  
ISraelitae non fuerunt liberati unquam à suâ terrenâ captivitate, nec redierunt in patriam, ut patet ex superioribus. Hoc etiam historiae docent, abducti enim ab Assur in Assyriam & Mediam non leguntur ab eo fuisse dimissi. Regno verò Assyriorum Babyloniis per Merodacum subjecto, in captivitate itidèm permanserunt Babyloniis subjecti. Cùm verò posteà Deioces, qui primus apud Medos regiâ dignitate usus est, ab Assyriorum Babyloniorúmque jugo Medos liberasset, Israelitae multis de causis fuerunt è terris Medorum in ulteriores regiones, nempè in Septentrionem, quò omnis spes redeundi ad suos illis tolleretur, expulsi, & quidem dispersi. Quâ de re videatur Funcc. comment. lib. 1. pag. 23. Itaque videamus, cùm Media, Babylonia, & Assyria in manum pervenit Cyri regis, factâ libertate omnibus Israelitis redeundi in patriam, solos Jehudaeos, & Benjamin, quae conjuncta erat cum Juda, & Levitas (qui quoniàm noluerunt vitulis sacrificare, expulsi à Jeroboamo, redierunt Hierosolymam, & cum Judaeis se conjunxerunt, ut est 2. Paralip. 11. v. 13, 14. ch. 13. v. 9) rediisse, ut est Ezra. cap. 1. & cap. 2. Nisi fuissent reliquae Tribus in ulteriores regiones dispersae, illae potuissent quoque redire. Tempore etiam quo natus est Dominus, Samaria cum aliis terris Israelitarum, occupata erat ab illis gentibus, qui eò missi fuerant a rege Assur, Israelitarum loco, ut est 2. Reg. 17. Itaque videmus, Israelitas nunquàm à captivitate terrenâ liberatos in patriam rediisse. Hier. Zanch.  
Quaeritur ab interpretibus, Nùm ex hâc prophetiâ certò colligatur decem tribus nunquàm ex captivitate rediisse, quemadmodùm aliae duae, post aliquot annos ex captivitate Babylonica redierunt? Ratio dubitandi est, quòd in hoc ipso cap. subditur. Et congregabuntur filii Juda & filii Israel paritèr etc. & Ezek. cap. 37. Sub Symbolo duorum lignorum, in unum coeuntium, vaticinatur Judam & Israel conjungendos, & Jer. cap. 50. v. 4. apertè dicit. Venient in tempore illo, filii Israel ipsi & filii Juda simul. Ubi videtur certa spes restitutionis, etiam decem tribubus fieri. Nihilominus certum est, Rempublicamillam decem tribuum, nunquàm posteà coivisse, & eorum captivitatem & dispersionem in populos, perpetuam fuisse: quod hic comminatur Deus, nec solutam unquàm fuisse eorum captivitatem, quod Josephus ipse, Ant. Jud. lib. 11. cap. 5. agnoscit; Dum scribit duas tantùm tribus per Asiam & Europam sub Romano degere imperio; decem autem tribus fuisse ultra Euphratem, infinita hominum millia, quae vix numero erat comprehendere. Nusquàm etiam legimus in Scripturâ decem illas tribus rediisse, quod de duabus legimus & saepe praedictum, & posteà impletum. Samaritani enim, quorum fit saepè mentio in Evangelio, nullo modo pertinebant ad filios Jacob, quos aliundè missos fuisse tanquàm novam aliquam coloniam constat, ex 2. Reg. 17. v. 24.— Et ideò Christus Mat. 10. Viam Gentium, cum Civitatibus Samaritanorum pro eâdem re habet. In viam, inquit, Gentium nè abieritis, & in Civitates Samaritanorum nè intraveritis, sed ite potius ad oves perditas domus Israel. Non tamen negandum est, multos fuisse ex aliis tribubus etiam tempore Domini nostri, in Judâ; sed qui sub Judaeorum Repub. degebant: quod factum fuisse ab eo tempore, quo regnum Israelis divisum sub Jeroboamo, autor est Joseph. Ant. lib. 8. cap. 3. Tunc ad Roboamum Hierosolymis degentem ètotâ Israelitarum ditione confluxisse Sacerdotes & Levitas, & quotquot è reliquâ plebe erant boni ac justi patriam suam reliquisse, ut Jerosolymis Deum colere liceret, offensi Jeroboami tyrannide, qui eos ad vitularum suarum adorationem vi adigere volebat. Quae confirmantur ex historiâ, 2. Paralip. 11. v. 13, 14, 16. Ex his & similibus potest solvi objectio pro restitutione Israelitarum, ducta ex eo quod multorum ex decem tribubus fit mentio, qui cum Judae is habitabant post captivitatem Babylonicam. Rivetus.  
De captivitate Babylonicâ redierunt tantum duae tribus, & pauci ex decem tribubus, qui evaserant manus regis Assyriorum: & posteà habitaverunt in regno Judae, & cum duabus tribubus captivati fuerunt, & redierunt; non tamen omnes, sed plures de istis & de illis remanserunt in Babyloniâ, detenti amore uxorum quas ibi acceperant, & prolis quam genuerant, & bonorum temporalium quae acquisierant. Nich. de Lyra, part. 4. p. 379. C. Part. 2. p. 198. G. & p. 249. F. Part. 3. p. 212. F. & p. 213. C. Illud non potest intelligi de reditione captivitatis Babylonicae, nec de aliquâ aliâ sequenti salvatione temporali: quià secundum doctores Hebraeorum, & secundum veritatem: populus Israel prout dividitur contra populum Juda, sicut est hîc, non est reversus de captivitate, nec à Judaeis expectatur reversurus, usque ad tempus Messiae, quem Judaei expectant venturum. — Sed quià Judaei, qui crediderunt ad praedicationem Christi & Apostolorum, fuerunt pauci respectiuè: idcirco meliùs intelligitur quod dicitur hîc, Et convertam conversionem populi mei Israel & Juda, de generali conversione Judaeorum ad Christum. Idem part. 4. p. 151. B. C.  
In diebus illis. Hoc proprièin Christi adventu completur: cùm duodecem tribus scilicèt Evangelio credunt, & terram Aquilonis relinquunt & Diaboli imperlum. Id. part. 4. p. 116. A.  
Israelitae abducti in Assyriacam captivitatem, dispersi sunt at que permixti gentibus toto terrarum orbe: nec unquam sunt recollecti in populum Dei: sed mansit dispersio etiam temporibus Christi & Apostolorum huc usque, ut ex Epist. Jacob & Pet. constat. Pareus.  
In the beginning of this chapter there is nothing difficult, but only that he calleth those, to whom he writeth, The twelve Tribes scattered abroad, or in dispersion, as the word signifieth. Now, if this Epistle was intended to the Jews, lately expelled from Jerusalem by Claudius Caesar, as was touched in the Preface, A Question ariseth, how he could call them the twelve Tribes, seeing they were all but of two Tribes and an half: for somuch as from the carrying away of the ten Tribes by Shalmaneser, they never returned more to this day, that we can read of? For answer to this, it may be said, that James in this his writing, had respect to them also, if happily by any means this Epistle should come to any of their hands. Doctor Mayer.   

The Testimonies of the Authors quoted in the Margin of the 30, 31. pages.  
DE Judaeis cur tolerentur inter Christianos, ab August. inter caeteros aliquae rationes afferuntur. Is de Civit. Dei. lib. 4. & 18. Necnon super Psa. 58. & alibi, scribit idcircò fieri, quòd prae caeteris hominum generibus promissionem salutis habuerint, neque sunt deploratae spei, cùm subindè nonnulli eorum, licèt pauci, ad Christum redeant. Caecitas, inquit Paulus ad Rom. cecidit ex parte in Israel: ac si diceret, minimè in universum. And haec subjicit idem Apostolus, Cum ingressa fuerit plenitudo Gentium, tunc omnis Israel servabitur. Et nè fortassis arbitreris haec 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 intelligenda, Paulus ea tanquam mysterium tradit, & ad suam confirmandam sententiam, vaticinium Isaiae prophetae adducit: Iniquitatem videlicèt, à Jacobo tum auferendam esse. Praetereà nunc inimici Deo, scilicèt propter nos dicuntur: verùm amici propter Patres. Id. Aug. in quaestionibus super Evangelia, lib. 2. quaest. 33. (si tamen August. sunt two libri) dum filii prodigi parabolam interpretatur, filium illum Gentes refer ait; Nam in regionem longinquam discessisse scribitur quoniam Ethnici tam procul à Deo recesserunt, ut idola publicè atque apertâ professione coluerint; Filius autem major natu, quo populus Hebraeorum adumbratur, non ità longè abiit. Et licèt in paternâ domo non esset, quae est Ecclesia, in agro tamen agebat. Hebraei enim circa divinas literas versantur, quas non rectè intelligunt, nec eo spirituali sensu quo eas Ecclesia Christi cognoscit, sed terreno atque carnali. Unde non ineptè dicuntur, in agro agere. Non ingreditur hic senior Filius ab initio domum Patris: sed postremis diebus ipse quoque vocabitur & accedet. Affert quoque idem Pater pro hâc sententiâ, quod in Psalmo 59 prout ipse legit, habetur: Ne occidas eos, nè obliviscantur legis tuae, sed in virtute tuâ disperge illos. Orat, inquit, Filius Dei Patrem, nè illa gens aboleatur, sed per orbem passim vagetur. Aliae provinciae victae à Romanis in leges & ritus eorum cesserunt, ita ut Romani tandem efficerentur: at Hebraei quamvis à Romanis superati fuerunt, nunquam tamen in jura, leges, & ritus eorum discesserunt; sua retinent adhuc ut possunt, vagantur dispersi, nec legis Dei prorsus obliviscuntur: non sanè, quòd in illam servandam pie incumbant; sed tantummodò legunt, & signa quaedam ac instituta retinent, quibus à caeteris nationibus discernantur. Videtur porrò Deus signum eis quemadmodum Caino, quòd interfecisset Abelem fratrem suum, imposuisse; nè videlicet, ab omnibus interficiantur. Neque Christianis haec eorum dispersio per orbem inutilis est, quia ut rami fracti, quemadmodùm ad Rom. habetur, nobis ostenduntur. Cumque loco eorum jam fuerimus insiti, dum eos tam infoeliciter excisos videmus, Dei gratiam in nos agnoscimus, & eorum aspectu cavere docemur, ut nè ob infidelitatem, cujus causâ illi fracti sunt, nos quoque similiter excindamur, etc. D. Pet. Mart. loc. Com. Class. 2. cap. 4. p. 206, 207.  
Praetereà cùm ad Rom. 11. vaticinetur de illis Paulus, quod convertendi sint ingressâ plenitudine gentium, illosque dicat inimicos propter nos, at dilectos propter Patres, & de illis loquatur cùm jam excidissent de Christo: id quoque mihi videtur illis tribuendum, quod non sit adhuc exhausta Dei promissio erga illud genus, ex vi enim promissionis Deus aliquot assiduè ex illis vocat; & in posterum creditur plenius vocaturus. Rursus agnoscimus cum Paulo illam bonam Olivam cui exci si inserantur, esse illis propriam magis quam nobis, quia non modò inseruntur ex Dei praedestinatione, ut nos: sed Christo secundum carnem sunt magis proximi; atque illud genus quam nostrum est magis adscitum; unde Paulus ait, Judaeo primum & Graeco. Quibus rationibus de illis loquens Apostolus, etiam cùm praevaricati essent, dicebat se admodum dolere de illorum interitu, cùm illorum essent Patres, adoptio, gloria & testamentum, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 quae omnia interpretanda sunt non ita, ut nunc actu ad foedus pertineant; sed quoad illos, qui ex illorum genere sunt in illud cooptandi. Et dicta haec de eorum genere, id est, de gente prout veteres habuit patres, Apostolos, & credituros, non privatim pro unoquoque Judaeo, ità ut de incredulis & obstinatis verificentur.  
Opera autem Dei sunt ità comparata, ut facilè sese juvent, nullo modo unum alteri est impedimento. Ideoque Judaeorum excaecatio licèt sit eis peccatum, attamen quà Dei opus est, habuit bonum exitum, nempe Gentium conversionem; & conversio Gentium adjuvabit salutem, quae danda est Judaeis; nam illos ad aemulationem provocabit. Dum verò hoc non fit, expendamus apud nosmetipsos admirandum opus Dei: adhuc in tam adversis casibus, adeoque variâ & gravi captivitate seu dispersione perstant & servantur: sua quantum possunt retinent: In divinis libris exercent seize, licèt prauè omnia intelligant. Profectò nulli antiqui Trojani, Longobardi, Hunni aut Vandali sic sua retinuerunt, ut à cunctis populis civili victu & religione sejungerentur, & suam originem atque historiam certis consignatam literis ostenderent, atque sic ubique dispersi à suis institutis non discederent. Quod cùm in Judaeis accidat, est porrò Dei opus singular, atque nobis non vulgariter commodat: sunt enim testes nostrorum librorum: Eosque ut suos & authenticos circumferent, quod & Augustinus annotavit. Nisi enim adhuc is populus extaret, conficta esse à nobis Ethnici Philosophi possent suspicari, quae de orbe condito, de Adamo, de Nohâ, de Abrahamo, Patriarchis, R●gibus & Prophetis credim●s & praedicamus. Servantur itaque perpetuo hoc tempore à Deo ind●bitatò, ad aliquam futuram salutem. Idem. loc. Com. class. 2. cap. 16. p. 410.  
Dub. 18. Utrum locus ille Apostoli probet sub finem mundi, max mâ copiâ Judaeos ad Christum convertendos?  
Respondeo. Tamersi in utramque partem sint eruditorum probabiles rationes: affirmans tamen sententia potius retinenda videtur.  
1. Quia disertè sic sonat Apostoli oraculum, postquam plenitudo Gentium introi erit, totum Israelem servatum iri. Totus vero Israel est tota gens Israelitica, Totaigitur convertetur ad Christum, extra quem non est salus. Nec totus Israel hîc significare potest allegoricè totam Ecclesiam ex solis Gentibus collectam, cui aliqui fortè Judaei seize adjungent: sic enim Apostolus nullum revelasset mysterium, siquidem quotidie manifestum erat, gentes maximo numero, & aliquos etiam Judaeos ad fidem converti. Nec loqui Apostolum de spirituali, sed de carnali Israel, ex ver. 12.14. evincitur.  
2. Manifestum est Apostolum voluisse Judaeos peculiari encomio ornare, & consolation erigere. At nisi credatur praedicere Israelitarum plenam conversionem, nihil ad scopum dixisset.  
3. Vaticinia prophetica ver. 26, 27. allegata, non de singularibus quibusdam Judaeis, sed de ipsa populi multitudine loquuntur. Origenes addit ex Hos. cap. 2. Israel quaeret salutem instigatus, dicens apud seipsum, illud propheticum. Revertar ad virum meum priorem, quoniam melius erat mihi ante, quàm modò.  
4. Etiam Joannis Apoc. cap. 7. videtur revelata fuisse sub extremis temporibus futura Israelis plena conversio, quando quatuor Angeli prohibentur nocere terrae & mari, donec obsignentur 144000. Servorum Dei in frontibus suis ex omnibus tribubus filiorum Israelis: Quod oraculum ad literam de conversione Judaeorum plane intelligendum videtur: quoniam Israelitae signati in frontibus ibi disertè discernuntur à signatis gentibus, populis & linguis reliquis, ver. 9  
5. Add quod ex populis antiquissimis soli Judaei in tam variis casibus, captivitate & dispersione perstant, etc. sicut Pet. Martyr supra.  
6. Denique Patres complures in hanc sententiam inclinant, quod ingressa gentium plenitudine etiam Judaei sint reversuri ad Christum. Origenes, Si pro eo ut introieret gentium plenitudo, caecitas facta est in Israel pro omnibus quae fecerunt: sine dubio cum ingressa fuerit gentium plenitudo, caecitas cessabit. Chrysostomus etiam homil. 12. de verbo Dom. in Marc. Tom. 2. Hilarius lib. 11. de Trin. Et super Psa. 58. & 60. Augustinus Quaest. 148. super Genesin, Ambrose & Hieronymus in hunc locum. Dionysius Carth. Totus Israel, id est, totus populus Judaeorum salvus fiet credendo in Christum.— Orandus est itaque Dominus, ut gentis suae misereatur, atque cavendum, ne per nos ponatur obex implendo mysterio. D. Parei Explic. Dub. in cap. 11. ad Rom. p. 271.  
To these Testimonies I may add that in the 13. chap. of the 2 of Esdras, from the 29. v. to the 51. ver. And that in the 4, 5, 6, and 7. ver. of the 14. Chap. of Tobit. And that in the 7. last verses of the 2. chap. of Baruch, with the 5. Chap. wholly. Which Records, as they challenge no less than belief to what I have written, from them that equal these Scriptures with the Canonical; and are indeed altogether incompatible with a Jewish Antichrist: so they manifest also to the whole world, that I have uttered no yesterday doctrine, no deformed issue of a private and distempered Spirit (hatched in a corner, and nursed in a conventicle: studied in a closet or cloister, and preached only 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 plainly perceive, and publicly confess, to be the 
(s) Act. 26. v. 25.  words of soberness and Truth. Even her words, 
(e) Prov. 1. v. 20. etc.  whose wont it is, to utter (t) her voice in the streets, in the chief 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 fools hate knowledge?  
Let old Tobit speak for the rest.  
I believe that our Brethren shall lie 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 again, God will have mercy on them, and bring them again into the land, where they shall build a Temple, but not like to the first, until the time of that age be fulfilled, and afterwards they shall turn 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 turn and fear the Lord God truly, and shall bury their 
(w) Is. 2. v. 20.  Idols.  
So shall all Nations praise the Lord, and his people shall confess God, and the Lord shall exalt his people: and all those that love the Lord God in truth and justice, shall rejoice, showing mercy to our brethren.  

Gloria Deo, Vita Regi, Pax Regno.  
Glory to God on high, on earth increase  
To the King's age, and to the Kingdom peace.   
FINIS.    

GOG AND MAGOG, OR THE BATTLE OF THE GREAT DAY OF GOD ALMIGHTY.  
By ROBERT MATON Minister and Mr of Arts, and sometimes Commoner of Wadham College in OXFORD.  Hab. 2. v. 3. 
The vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak 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 Britain at the sign of the red Bull. 1642.   
DEUT. 32. v. 2.36.43. 
The Lord shall judge his people, and repent himself for his servants, when he seethe that their power is gone, and there is none shut up or left.  
Rejoice O ye Nations with his people, for he will avenge the blood of his servants, and will render vengeance to his adversaries, and will he merciful 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. etc. 
The Lord of Hosts hath sworn, saying, surely as I thought so shall it come to pass, and as I purposed it shall stand.  
That I will break the Assyrian in my land, and upon my mountains tread him under foot: then 
(d) Isa. 10.24, 25, 26, 27.  shall his yoke departed from off them, and his burden from off their shoulders,  
This is the purpose that is purposed upon the 
(e) Eze. 38, 39 joel. 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 disannul it? and his hand is stretched out, and who shall turn it bacl?  Isaiah 30. v. 27, etc. 
Behold the Name of the Lord cometh from fare, burning with his anger, and the burden therereof is heavy: his lips are full of indignation, and his tongue as a devouring fire.  
And his breath as an overflowing stream, shall reach to the midst of the neck, to sift the Nations with the sieve of vanity; and there shall be a bridle in the jaws of the people causing them to err.  
(Ye shall have a song as in the night, when an holy solemnity is kept; and gladness of heart, as when one goeth with a pipe to come into the mountain of the Lord, to the mighty one of Israel.)  
And the Lord shall cause his glorious voice to be heard, and shall show the lighting down of his arm, with the indignation of his anger, and with the flame of a devouring fire, with scattering and tempest and hailstones.  
For through the voice of the Lord shall the Assyrian be beaten down, which smote with a rod.  
And in every place where the grounded staff shall pass, which the Lord shall lay upon him, it shall be with tabrets and harps, and in battles of shaking will he fight with it.  
For Tophet is ordained of old: yea, for the King it is prepared; he hath made it deep and large; the pile thereof is fire and much wood; the breath of the Lord, like a stream of brimstone doth kindle it.   

GOG AND MAGOG, OR THE BATTLE OF THE GREAT DAY OF GOD ALMIGHTY.  EZEK. 38.2. 
Son of man, set thy face against Gog, the land of Magog, the chief Prince of Meshech, and Tubal, and prophesy against him, etc.  
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 amiss, 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 prophesy with other Prophecies. For (albeit this of Ezekiel be in form 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 glanced 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 himself in the very same Prophecy. Thus saith the Lord God, Art thou he of whom I have spoken in 
(a) Hab. 2.3  old time by my servants the Prophets of Israel, which prophesied in those days many years, that I would bring thee against them? chapter the 38. at the 17. verse. Not only one Ezekiel then, but other Prophets also besides him, have foretold the same thing which Ezekiel here speaks of. Yet passing by all the rest, I will only join the Prophecy of Joel in his 3. chap. with this of Ezekiel, and so compare them both with that which is written in the 16. and 19 chap. of the Rev. And if it shall appear that 
(b) Eccles. 4.12.  Ezekiel, Joel, and John, do all foreshow one and the same battle, then surely it will be no hard matter to say to what time, and so to what army ezekiel's Gog and Magog hath reference. Now the reasons which move me to believe the concurrence of the foresaid Prophecies in their argument and contents, and so in the time of their accomplishment, are these:  
First, because they all speak of a more general confederacy and combination of the Kings of the world, then hath hitherto been known in any age: by means whereof there shall be such a mighty army, as was never yet gathered together in any place, since there began to be war on the earth, Ezek. Chap. 38. Vers. 4, 5, 6.9.15. Joel Ch. 3. Vers. 2.9.11.14. Revel. Chap. 16. Vers. 14. Chap. 19 Vers. 19  
Secondly, because they all say, that the returning of the Jews into their own Land, shall be the occasion of this warlike assembly. Ezekiel Chap. 38. Vers. 8.16. Joel Chap. 3. Vers. 1.2. Rev. 16.12.  
Thirdly, because they all declare that the destruction of this great army, shall be in the land of Judea. Ezek. Chap. 39 Vers. 4, 5, 11, 12, 15, 17. Joel chap. 3. v. 2, 12. Rev. chap. 16. vers. 16.  
Fourthly, because they all discover the same extraordinary effects, which are to happen at the very instant of the army's overthrow, Ezek. 38.19, 20, 22. Joel 3.15, 16. Rev. 16.18, 19, 20, 21.  
Fifthly, because they all foreshow, that as soon as this judgement is passed over, there shall ●nsue a most peaceable, prosperous, and pious estate to the Jews in their own land, Ezek. chap. 39 vers. 21, 22, 29. chap. 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48. Joel chap. 3. vers. 17, 18, 20, 21. Rev. 20.2, 3, 4, 6.  
And sixthly, seeing these Prophets go thus fare hand in hand, it will not be altogether impertinent to mind you in the last place of two things more;  
One is, that the metaphor of the sickle and the winepress, is used in the description of no other overthrow but of this, Isa. chap. 63. v. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. Joel ch. 3. ver. 13. Rev. 14. ver. 10, 19, 20. ch. 19 v. 15.  
The other is, that (though the bodies both of the Jews and Gentiles; yea of the good and bad, have been often left as meat for the fowls of heaven, yet) the fowls are no way summoned to eat the flesh of men, by way of proclamation (which is a general one too, and so argues the visitation to be the greater) but only at the execution of this judgement, Ezek. chap. 39 vers. 17, 18, 19, 20. Rev. chap. 19 vers. 17, 18.  
Now all that will be stuck at in this parallel, is the obscurity on S. John's part, the explication whereof (that the foresaid reasons might be all briefly and roundly delivered without any interruption) I have reserved for this place. And here the first Querie will have us show  

Quest. 1 By what warrant the Kings of the East can be taken for the Jews; as the second parallel imports they must be.  
Answ. TO which I answer, that they may be so taken, even by the warrant of God himself: for in the 15. v. of the 11. c. of Isa. the selfsame miracle which Saint john speaks of at the effusion of this sixth vial, (to wit, the drying up of Euphrates) is plainly foretold: and that as a thing to be effected merely for the Jews sakes at their general redemption (which is there promised 
(c) vers. 11, 12, 13.  the words are these: And the Lord shall utterly destroy the tongue of the Egyptian Sea, and with his mighty wind shall he shake his hand over the 
(d) 2 Sam. 10.16. Ezra 4.17, 20. ch. 7. v. 21, 25. Gen. 15.18. Deut. 1.7. ch. 11. v. 24. Isa. 7.20.  River, and smite it in the seven streams, and make men go over dry shod. And there shall be an high way for the Remnant of his people which shall be left from Assyria, etc. Therefore saith 
(e) Comment. Apoc. part. 2. p. 272.  Mr Mead, Euphrates is here understood, who also refers his Reader to the like Prophecy in the 10. of Zech. at the 10. and 11. vers. and to the Caldee Paraphrase upon it. Having then so good a testimony as this unaccomplisht prophecy of Isaia is, to justify both the literal sense of Euphrates, and the former opinion of the Kings of the East: Object. I marvel the more that so many learned Interpreters should so easily reject it, unless (which could not well be) they had supported their own allegorical exposition by a clearer and stronger evidence.  
It were strange (saith 
(f) Dr Major, pa. 475. of his exposit. of the doubtful texts of the catholic  one) that such a poor runagate people as the Jews, should have the title of Kings of the East, where they are the basest, and of the least account.  
Answ. But surely not so strange as to hear such words from a grave Divine. For from whence doth promotion come? By whom do Kings reign? whose manner is it, to call those things which be not, as though they were? What is he, that pulleth down one, & setteth up another? And who hath chosen the foolish things of this world to confound the wise? and the 
(g) Deut. 7.6, 7, 8, 17.18.19. Ps. 105.11, 12, 13. Ps. 113.7. Deut. 32.36. Isai. 41.2.  weak things of this world to confound the strong? and base things, and things which are despised, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are? If God doth all this, than well may the Jews (how mean soever now) be called Kings in reference to that Day, in which they shall be such (in which they shall reign as Kings over other nations) and of the East too, in reference to the place from which they shall first, and in greatest number and strength return. For such Kings of the East, as shall at that time be governor's over those countries, are necessarily comprehended amongst the Kings of the earth, 
Rev. 16.  and of the whole world mentioned in the 14. vers. as associates and partakers with the Dragon, Beast, and false Prophet. And therefore I conclude again, that this title may with fare more reason be attributed to the Jews (whose general conversion even the foresaid 
(h) p. 510. of his Exp. on the cath. epist.  Author doth confess) than to any of the Eastern Kings themselves, and yet much rather to these, than to the Christian Kings of the West, whom most favourers of the mystical exposition of Euphrates, would have here to be understood. For although in this sense no doubt can be made touching the name of Kings, because it applies the text to them that are properly and actually such: yet why they should be called Kings of the East, when as they are inhabitants of the West, I think no tolerable reason can be given.  
Object. The next stumbling block that I meet with, is in Pareus, who tells us too, that it was the main cause of his dissenting from the literal interpretation of this place. For, saith he, either the sixth plague is intimated by these words, which show the drying up of Euphrates, or else here is no plague at all spoken of, seeing the following verses speak not of the plague comprehended under this vial, but only of the course the Beast shall take for his defence against this plague. Whereby he seems to me to take it for granted, that if the drying up to Euphrates should be understood literally, (as it ought to be in relation to the former exposition of the Kings of the East) than it can nothing at all concern the ruin and downfall of the Beast and false Prophet.  
Answ. 1 But what? Is there any thing too hard for the Lord? was his hand heavy upon all the Egyptians at the deliverance of the Jews from the bondage of that Nation, and can he not as well make the whole world to feel the weight of it, at their Redemption from all countries? did he then harden Pharaohs heart to follow after his people, that he might be honoured upon him, and upon all his Host, and that the Egyptians might know that he was the Lord: and can he not in the like manner, and for the like end, gather all Nations against them at their next return? Surely, to deny this (and either this or the foresaid argument must be denied) were to limit the power of God, and to shorten the arm of the Almighty, like those who spoke against God, and said, Can God furnish a table in the wilderness? behold, he smote the rock, that the waters gushed out, and the streams overflowed: can he give bread also? can he provide flesh for his people? Psal. 78. at the 19 and 20. vers. Again, Hath God said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good? hath he foretold the Jews general return: the general opposing of them by all Nations at their return: the great and wondrous destruction, and general distress of those Nations: and the general subjection of all the surviving Gentiles to the Jews; hath he, I say, by many Prophets, and for many years together, repeated all these things to his people (and that as plainly too, as their general conversion is revealed, to which yet most Divines of note subscribe) and shall they all come to nothing? Shall his prophecies he even as a dream when an hungry man dreameth, and behold he eateth, but he awaketh and his soul is empty; or as when a thirsty man dreameth, and behold he drinketh, but he awaketh and behold he is faint, and his soul hath appetite? Surely to affirm this (and whosoever allows the foresaid argument doth affirm it) were to make God a liar, while we believe not his record. And therefore seeing God both can and will de i●er his people: and can and will 
(i) Micah. 4 12, 13. Ps. 47. ●3.  subdue all Nations to them at their deliverance; when should we expect the accomplishment of it, but under those vials where we find an apparent allusion to the Jews Redemption, in the drying up of Euphrates: and an express revelation both of an extraordinary gathering of the Kings of the Earth, and of the whole world to the battle of the great day of God Almighty, and also of an extraordinary destruction of them?  
Answ. 7 To come then to a direct reply, I say, that Pareus supposeth much, but proves nothing. For first he takes it to be unquestionable, that the plague of the sixth vial, is intimated by the drying up of Euphrates: when as the abominable means, the devilish miracles, which shall be used for the gathering together of the Kings of the whole world, being a most apparent taken of God's fierce anger against them that shall be thus deluded, and a sure forerunner of an imminent temporal death on their bodies, and of an eternal on their souls; may, I think, well pass for the plague contained under this vial: especially if we consider, that at the effusion of the vials, there is first mention of the mutation of the thing on which it is to be poured, and then of the hurt and damage which men are to receive thereupon: to none of which the giving up of people to a reprobate mind (to their hearts lusts, to vile affections) the sending of them strong delusions, that they shall believe lies (that they shall even be deceived by the signs and lying wonders of Satan's instruments) is any whit inferior. Secondly, he supposeth, as I said, that the drying up of Euphrates in a literal sense, can no way set forward the destruction of the Beast and false Prophet: and this supposition doth spring from another, which many interpreters deliver as an undeniable truth too, to wit, that the Beast and false Prophet are the adequate object of all the vials; when as it is most manifest, that the last vial doth as immediately concern the rest of the world, as that part under the Beast: as well the Kings of the whole world, and their subjects, as the Beast and his. And very probable it is, that the second, third, and fourth vials do belong to others also, besides the worshippers of the Beast; and therefore though the first and fifth vials be appropriated to the Beast & his dominions, yet I see not why the extent of these should be made the measure of any of the other vials, whose effects are indefinitely revealed, rather than of the last vial, of which it's well known, that it shall light heavy on all the earth. Yea I am persuaded, that if the drying up of Euphrates doth set forth the plague of the sixth vial, this plague shall more nearly concern some other country, than that where the Beast inhabits. For as I nothing doubt the literal accomplishment of the drying up of Euphrates, so, if these words do set forth the plague of the sixth vial, I believe also, that no other allegorical and figurative sense of the words is so likely to be here employed with the literal, as that which Mr 
(k) Comment. Apoc. part. 2. p. 272.273.  Mead observes, to wit, the removing of the inhabitants of that Province through which Euphrates passeth.  
Now these frivolous, raw, and rash exceptions being thus removed, I come to that interpretation so commonly received, and so much preferred before the foresaid sense of Euphrates, and the Kings of the East, and it is this.  
By the drying up of Euphrates (say they) is set forth the decay of the riches, glory, and dominion of the Roman See, the profits which were wont to come from the Countries, and Kingdoms round about, being (for the most part) taken away: by means whereof the Kings of the East, that is, the Christian Kings and professors of the truth, whom God shall stir up against her in these parts, shall have a notable advantage to bring her to ruin. And the ground of all this is that in the 17. chap. of the Rev. at the 16. vers. where 'tis said, that the ten horns (which are ten Kings, who were for a time to give their Kingdom unto the Beast, with whom in one hour they received power as Kings) shall hate the whore and make her desolate, and naked, and eat her flesh, and burn her with fire.  
But unless the abettors of this interpretation will deny, that the seven vials do contain seven distinct plagues; which are successively to begin at the pouring out of their particular vials, and not before (and this were to contradict the Holy Ghost, who hath left upon record, seven several descriptions of seven different plagues) unless they will do this, I say, they can never prove the decay of the Pope's 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 equal 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 tells us, that the reformation of religion pertains to most of them) I say, seeing these things are so, it necessarily follows, that the drying up of Euphrates in this sense, cannot possibly be the proper event of the sixth vial, where only it is mentioned; but must be a thing common to all, 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 slain, 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 burn her with fire, the Kings that shall then take part with her, shall not perish in battle, for 'tis said, that they shall bewail her, and lament for her, when they see the smoke of her burning, Rev. 17. at the 9 and 10. verses, which words also do further show, that this destruction of Rome, cannot be that which is to concur with the over throw of the great army at the effusion of the seventh vial, because this is to be by fire: but that by an earthquake (expressed 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 millstone into the sea, and saying, Thus with violence shall that great City Babylon be thrown down, and shall be found no more at all.) Again at Rome's destruction by fire, the Kings of the earth shall bewail Her, because her glory is departed. But at Rome's downfall by an earthquake, they shall bewail 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 Lamb's wrath is come, They shall then, I say, have no regard of the loss of worldly honour or possessions, but shall even wish that they might enjoy the final 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 Mountains to fall on them, and to the Rocks to hid them?  
Secondly, seeing the ten Kings shall hate the whore, and make her desolate, and naked, and eat, her flesh, and burn her with fire: It follows,  
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 Pope's temporalties, than of the Pope or Papacy itself.  
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 shall 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 slain, 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 only?  
Thirdly, if the success of the ten Kings against the false Prophet belongs to any vial, it must be to the fift, and not to the sixth: to the fift, I say, which is to be poured out on the very seat of the Beast: for what is the seat of the beast, but the great City, which in Saint John's days 
(n) Rev. 17.3.18.  reigned 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 burn 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 express mention of the ten Kings, at the gathering together of the great Army, yet there is express mention of persuading the assisting kings to battle by such a cursed and detestable course, as would be altogether needless, if they were to be such Kings with whom the authority and friendship of the Beast and false Prophet should be able to prevail.  
Secondly, it is said, that these ten Kings shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb 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 war, 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 himself, when he shall be revealed from heaven; when he shall mightily and visibly manifest himself to be Lord of Lords, and King of Kings? (in 
(p) Isa. 66. v. 15, 16. 2 Thes. 1. v. 8.10.  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 glorified in his Saints, and to be admired in all them that believe 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 war with the Saints, and to overcome them: it necessarily follows, that the war which these Kings were to make while they should agree to give their Kingdoms unto the beast, was likewise to be with the Saints, whom they should overcome; & not with the Lamb, who should overcome them. Neither will it suffice against the force of this argument, to say, that they who fight with the Saints, do 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 war with the Lamb, 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 horn (of the fourth beast exhibited to him in a dream) making war with the Saints (not the Lamb) and prevailing against them. Until the ancient of Days did sit, and the time came, that the Saints possessed the Kingdom. And whether that horn 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 until the time of the 
(t) Rom. 8. v. 19.21.  manifestation and glorious Liberty of the Sons 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, etc.  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, etc.  Daniel, and the parallel observed by Master 
(a) Comment. Ap●c. par. 2. p. 279 280.  Meade betwixt the Thrones, Judgement, and Kingdom of the Saints revealed in both prophecies, determine the matter.  
Thirdly, the state of the world at our Saviour's appearing, shall be as it was in the days of Noah, both for security and profaneness, for, When the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on t●e Earth? saith Christ, Luke the 18. at the 8. ver. which is a plain proof, that there shall not be whole Kingdoms and armies of faithful Christians, but only here and there 
(b) Luk. 17. v. 34, 35, 36  one. Neither doth this saying contradict the [
* Ob. If there shall be at Christ's coming such scarceness of faith, it is not likely that there shall be such a multitude of believing Jews.  conversion] of the Jews 
Sol. Pareus giveth this solution; that although there shall be in the end of the world a multitude of believing Jews, yet their number shall be but small, in respect of the unbelieving 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, only) understood of the Gentiles, where Christ had been preached, and believed upon: that even there, where it was more likely, that faith should have been, none shall be found: for when the Jews shall be called, faith shall wax 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  Jews are in the Scriptures usually understood. So in the 28. of Deut. at the 10. ver. we read, All the people 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 fear thee as do thy people Israel. In the 2 of Chron. the 32. chap. at the 19 ver. They spoke 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 hear his wisdom, 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 itself, as together with its adjunct, signify the Nations of the Gentiles only, why should it not be so taken in our Saviour's speech? yea it must needs be so taken: for as he said, when the Son of Man cometh 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, until 
(e) Mar. 14. v. 62. Psal. 118 v. 21, 22, & ● ye ●o●● 3●. 16.  the time come, when ye shall say; Blessed is he that cometh in the Name of the Lord, Luke the 13. at the 35. ver. And shall we think, that our Saviour would have given such a testimony of the Jews, unless he had known, 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? doubtless he would not. And therefore this gratulatory acclamation doth no less set forth unto us the comfortable estate of the Jews at Christ's appearing; then the former saying doth the desperate estate of the Gentiles at that time. For, Blessed is he that cometh in the Name of the Lord, are the very same words, which with so much 
(g) Luk. 19 v. 37.38.  alacrity and cheerfulness of mind were chanted out before our Saviour, by his Disciples, and those that met 
(h) joh. 12. v. 12.13.  him, when he was riding to Jerusalem, to show the City a glimpse of his royalty: and can they ever then become the language of those that shall fly from his presence, to hid themselves in caves and dens of the earth? nay, seeing they are to be resumed again by the same people at the revealing of the same person, let us rather say, that as at Christ's first coming they were proclaimed before him by most Jews that were present, to show that he was their promised King: so, at his next appearing, they shall be proclaimed before him, by all that are present, to show that he is come into his promised 
(i) Mark. 11 v. 10. Luk. 19 v. 11 15. ch. 23. v. 42. 2 Tim. 4. v. 1  Kingdom.   

Quest. 2 A second Querie bids us look, How it can be proved, that by Armageddon in the third Parallel, some place in Judea is employed.  
Answ. In Answer whereunto I allege,  
FIrst, that for aught I perceive, the copious resolution of the former doubt doth immovably fasten the interpretation of the Kings of the East, upon the Jews only. And if this may pass for a currant truth, I see not what argument can be brought, which may induce us to mistrust, that the place in which the Armies of the Kings of the earth, and of the whole world shall meet, and sit down against them, should be in any other Country, but that whither the Jews are to return. And whither both Ezekiel and Joel do plainly show, that all the opposite Kings shall at once come up to battle.  
Secondly, I say, that seeing the Holy Ghost hath here made choice to name the place of these King's rendezvous by an Hebrew word, rather than by a word of any other tongue; therefore it is very probable that hereby is understood a part of that Country, which (whatsoever we account of it) is the proper 
(k) Gen 48. v. 21. Levit. 26. v. 32, 33, 34, 35. Ezek. 20. v. 42. ch. 28. v. 25. ch. 34. v. 13. ch. 36. v. 12. ch. 37. v. 12. joel. 3. v. 2.  inheritance of that people whose language the Hebrew is. Of whom some few do yet, all have, and shall 
(l) Zeph. 3. v. 9  again make use of it.  
Thirdly, and lastly, I answer, that in the latter part of the 19 Chap. of the Rev. it is manifestly foretold, that the great Army which is to be gathered into Armageddon, shall be destroyed by our Saviour himself at his coming; now as it is altogether unlikely, that our Saviour shall descend to any other Country, or people; but to that in which, and of which he was borne: and in which, and amongst which he lived and died: So in the 4. and 5. ver. of the 14. Chap. of Zechariah, it is not obscurely revealed; that he shall descend to that very Mount from which he did 
(m) Act. 1. v. 12.  ascend, and from which he 
(n) Luk 19 v. 35, 37.  road to Jerusalem when they proclaimed him King. And consequently Armageddon is to be a place not only in Jury, but also near unto Jerusalem.  
Object. And yet although the foresaid prophecies of Saint John and Zechar. do expressly show, the coming of our Saviour to be at the time of a bartell; and though the treading of the winepress in the 14. Chap. of the Rev. doth plainly intimate as much. 
(o) Rev 19 v. 15. Isa. 63 v. 1, 2, 3, &c  And that no less perhaps is aimed at in the 1 to the Thess. and the fourth Chapter, where it is said, That the Lord himself shall descend from Heaven with a 
(p) Exod. 32. v. 17. ● Sam. 17. v. 20.52. 2 Chro. 13. v, 15. job 39 v. 25.  Shout, etc. the usual token of armies entering into battle. Notwithstanding all this evidence, I say, we are told, 
(q) Doctor Mayor on the cath. ep. p. 515.  That when the great Day of the Lords descend shall come, there is to be a general security: 
(r) Mat. 24. v. 38. etc. Luk. 17. v. 26, etc. Answ.  Eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage. And not warring and fight. For if an end of these wars should be made by the Lords coming, how should the faithful have time here to rejoice, and to give thanks unto God for their greatest enemies overthrow?  
But unto the Scripture proof, I answer, That if the natural (and in some sort necessary) actions of marrying and giving in marriage, and of eating and drinking: or of festival eating and drinking (which also is in itself commendable) if the accustomed continuance and observation of such actions shall be a sufficient witness, to convince the world of its unmindfulness and unbelief of our Saviour's approach (when as there shall be very considerable tokens, and perhaps too, Sicut in diebus Noah, a down right 
(s) 1 Pet. 3. v. 19, 20. 2 Pet. 2. v. 5  warning thereof) then much more shall the inhuman enterprises, and merciless events of warring and fight, declare such a security.  
Secondly, I say, that though our Saviour did instance only in eating and drinking, in marrying and giving in marriage: yet it follows not from hence, that there shall be no warring and fight then. For woeful experience teacheth us, that all these foresaid actions are not only at this day in the world together: but in many particular Kingdoms thereof. Neither hath such a general peace been often heard of, in which no Nations of the world have been at odds.  
And thirdly, I say, that we are to consider what war is to be at our Saviour's appearing; not a war, in which the enemies of the Lord shall fight one against another; not a war in which particular States and Kingdoms, shall upon divers occasions bid defiance to each other; but a war in which the 
(t) Rev. 16. v. 13.14. Psal. 118. v. 10, 11, 12. Isa. 59 v. 16 17, etc. ch. 63 v 4.5.6. Mic. 4. v. 12, 13.  Dragon, Beast, and false Prophet, the Kings of the earth, and of the whole world, shall be all confederate against the Jews only. And as such a confederacy shall be a means of multiplying marriages, and consequently of the more liberal and immoderate eating and drinking: So such an unequal war shall breed the stronger hopes in these Princes of obtaining their designs, and consequently the greater security. But when they shall say, 
(u) 2 Thess. 5. v. 3,  Peace and safety (when they shall say, 
(w) Psa. 83 v. 4.  Come, and let us cut them off from being a Nation, that the Name of Israel may be no more had in remembrance) then 
(x) Luk. 21. v. 35.  sudden destruction shall come upon them, as upon a woman in travail, and they shall not escape. Then shall our 
(y) 2 Thes. 1 v. 7.8.  Lord Jesus be revealed from Heaven with his mighty Angels, and in flaming fire take vengeance on them. And their 
(z) Rev. 11 v. 15.  Kingdoms shall become the Kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ.  
Next therefore to this Authors Querie, I answer, first, that it is altogether contradictory to the foresaid Text of Scripture: For if at our Saviour's appearing, men shall be found eating and drinking, marrying, and giving in marriage, out of a carnal security (out of an opinion, that That Day, is either 
(a) 2 Pet. 3. v. 3.4.  not to be at all, or not near 
(b) Matth. 24. v. 48. Luk. 12. v. 45  at hand) than it cannot be, that at his coming, the faithful shall be rejoicing and praising God for their greatest enemies overthrow, (which ever were, and shall be, men most carnally secure.)  
Secondly, I say, that this demand is grounded upon a false supposition, viz. that our Saviour shall make no stay on earth; when as indeed his 1000 year's reign is to begin at his next appearing, and not before.  
And lastly, I say, that seeing the last temporal judgement which shall befall the adversaries of Christ and his Saints, is to be when the 1000 year's reign is fulfilled; and that there is no mention of any space of time, which is to intercede that destruction, and the summons to the last resurrection: Seeing, I say, that God is silent in this matter, it is not for vain man, to fasten his own fancies on God's Word: And to promise a longer abode to the Saints on this earth, than God hath revealed: And that too for no other end, but to praise him for their greatest enemies overthrow; which doubtless they shall not forget to do, nor without great joy perform, when they are translated into that place, where it shall be all their employment to magnify and extol God's Name, for all the blessings they have both here and there received of him.   

Quest. 3 The Third, and last Question, asks, Whether any intimation of the prosperous and pious estate of the Jews after the judgement of the Kings in Armageddon, can be found in the Apocalypse. Which is the presumption of the fift Parallel.  
Answ. MY Answer is, that thus much is intimated in the 20. Chapter, for as in Ezekiel and Joel, after the general judgement of God upon all the Nations, that shall seek the re-inthraldome or extirpation of the Jews at their return, the great and impregnable 
(c) Dan. 2. v. 44. ch. 7. v. 14. Isa. 2. v. 1, 2, 3, 4.  restauration of Jerusalem is immediately revealed: So in the Apocalypse, the very next vision to that of the destruction of the Armies to be gathered together by the Beast and false Prophet, is the binding up of Satan, and the rising and reigning of the Saints with Christ a thousand years. And that this thousand year's reign shall be accomplished in the Land of Judea, and so concur with the happy establishment of the Jews, foreshewne 
(d) Dan. 7. v. 27. Isa. 51. v. 1, 2, 3, etc. ch. 61. v. 1, 2. Psal. 47. Psal. 98.  by the Prophets, me thinks these reasons do demonstrate. For,  
First, it being manifestly declared in the 4. & 6. ver. of this chap. That the Saints shall 
* And that on earth too; for how else can they reign with him but a 1000 years precisely, seeing it is well known that Christ hath been bodily present in heaven, ever since his Ascension. And why he should not begin his reign there. at his I ᵗ entrance thither, rather than any time since that; or give up his Kingdom again, before he comes from thence to judgement; as the spiritual interpretation of the first resurrection doth make him to do: are doubts, I think, which the oppugners of Christ's reigning here on earth, will be as unwilling to hearken to, as they are unable to satisfy.  reign with Christ a thousand years, (which necessarily proves his corporal presence amongst them) and in the 8, & 9 ver. That the Nations in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog shall be gathered together against the Saints, when the thousand years are expired (which necessarily proves their Kingdom to be on 
(e) Rev. 5. v. 10. Rom. 4. v. 13.  earth:) All this, I say, being unquestionable, the inferences hereupon must needs be these.  
1. That the time of the Saints thousand year's reign is to succeed their bodily resurrection: for how else can they reign so long on earth? or how else can Christ be amongst them here in his humane nature? and  
2. That the place of the Saints residence all that while, is to be in no other land but Judea. For how else can Christ (with whom the Saints must 
(f) 1 Thes. 4. v. 17.  be) sit on the Throne of his Father David, and reign over the house of Jacob? which was promised him by an Angel sent from God, before his conception. Yea why else hath God left upon record so many predictions of the Jews general and unaccomplisht deliverance, and of the wonderful restauration of Jerusalem and Judea at that time? comparing the future fertility and pleasantness of that now desolate Country, even with the Garden of 
(g) Isa. 51. v. 3, Ezek. 36. v. 35.  Eden itself.  
Secondly, that which doth confirm the 1000 year's reign of the Saints in Judea, is the express mention of the beloved City, in the 9 ver. For either these words must be taken mystically and improperly, for the 
* This way runs the wholstream of Expositors. And admit that they were mystically to be expounded; yet how such a Church as shall reign a thousand years without disturbance, and when the 1000 years are expited suffer no harm by those that shall then gather themselves against her (and only such a Church is set forth unto us, by the beloved City, & the tents of the Saints as the precedent and subsequent verses do, clearly show) how such a Church I say, can be taken for the Church, that now is, which is to continue an afflicted and persecuted Church, until our Saviour's appearing, I cannot conceive.  Militant Church: or literally and properly for some particular City. Now if they should be taken in the first sense; then because the Nations, Gog and Magog are to compass the tents of the Saints about, and the beloved City, we must grant, That all the Christian, or at least all the Protestant Nations (which possess many large Dominions, whereof some are severed from the rest, by great and wide seas) shall yet at last be all environed by their enemies; which is very unlikely, if not impossible. And because the Saints adversaries are to come from the four quarters of the earth, we must grant also, that the Kingdoms where these Christians inhabit, are no part of the four quarters of the earth; which were to swallow an apparent untruth. Wherefore seeing the consequences of the mystical interpretation are no better; I hope we may the more boldly embrace the literal sense of the words, which, for aught I perceive, doth draw after it no such harsh and uncouth doctrines. And in this sense, we may upon good grounds affirm, that by the Beloved City, no other City but Jerusalem, can be meant. For,  
First, it is evident, that the faithful City, the holy City, the City of God; are several periphrases and individual expressions of Jerusalem. And why then should not the beloved City be so too? seeing the Epithet [beloved] may well be applied to Jerusalem, which hath all the former titles: but cannot in reason be given to the Cities of the 
(h) Num. 23. v. 9 Deut. 32. v. 43. Ps. 95. v. 5. Luke 12. v. 30. Rev. 2. v. 29 ch. 11. v. 18. ch. 16. v. 19  Nations, which are not where called by such names.  
Secondly, we find in the 11. chap. of the Apocalypse, that Jerusalem is entitled, the holy City, in a prophecy, which concerns the very time of its desolation; this present time, wherein it is 
(i) Luke 21 v. 24.  trodden under foot of the Gentiles. And much rather than may it be called, the beloved City, in a prophecy which concerns the time of its exaltation: the time wherein it shall become the royal City of Christ, and the Saints in his Kingdom.  
Thirdly, Jerusalem is by ancient Geographers termed the Navel or Centre of the habitable earth: Yea, it is said in the fifth of Ezek. at the 5. vers. This is Jerusalem, I have set it in the midst of the Nations and Countries round about her. And where but near the midst of the earth can that City be, which the Nations of the four quarters of the earth shall beset?  
Fourthly, and lastly, In a prophecy which contemporates with this (and such prophecies do best expound each other) it is thus written. Out of Zion shall go forth the Law, and the Word of the Lord from Jerusalem, and therefore by the [Beloved City] here, Jerusalem must needs be understood. Now the foresaid prophecy is delivered by Isaiah in the beginning of the second chap. and by Micah at the entrance of the 4. chap. And as the title and superscription in Isaiah, doth infallibly prove the literal interpretation of the prophecy: So doth the subject thereof, the impossibility of its accomplishment, until the things foreshewne here by Saint John, shall come to pass: to wit, until the shutting up of Satan a thousand years, and the living and reigning of the Saints with Christ all that time. For seeing Satan is to be bound up for no other end but this, That he may not deceive the Nations; and seeing, that when he must be loosed again, he shall presently deceive the Nations: it necessarily follows, that no other time, but the time of Satan's imprisonment, can concur with that pious and peaceable condition of the world which Isaiah speaks of: hear his words. It shall come to pass in the last days, saith he, that the mountain of the Lords house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills, and all Nations shall flow unto it. And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the 
(ii) Ezek. 43. v. 12.  mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob, and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the Law, and the Word of the Lord from jerusalem. And be shall judge among the Nations, and shall rebuke many people, and they shall beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning books: Nation shall not lift up sword against Nation, neither shall they learn war any more. And is not this the time then, of which it is said in the 10. of the Revel. at the 7. ver. That in it the mystery of God shall be finished, as he hath declared by his servants the Prophets? And is not this the Rest also, which Saint Paul in the 4. of the Heb. at the 9 vers. concludes to be yet remaining to the people of God? Surely in my conceit, if the Rest promised to that people, the people of Israel, were not to be enjoyed in the 
(k) Isa. 8. v. 8.  Land whither Joshua led them; then the Apostle went a wrong way to work, 
The first resurrection, & the thousand year's reign of the Saints on earth, more fully examined● confirmed  when he endeavoured to prove a Rest yet remaining to them, because joshua gave them none. For no man can once imagine, that by bringing them into Canaan, he either did, or could bring them to that Rest, which was never to be had there.  
And thus much may suffice in answer to the Querie itself. But to make good what hath been said, against all contradiction; we must take into our consideration the thousand year's reign of the Saints, as it is founded upon the spiritual interpretation of the first resurrection. And because some Scriptures urged against the opposite Tenet, are the only props of this exposition, I shall by the way, propose a saying, upon which the main confidence of the Antimillinarians doth rely; it being taken by them, to be altogether inconsistent with a double resurrection of the dead; and consequently with the literal sense of the first resurrection. The words are in the 5. chap. of Saint John, at the 28. vers. and run thus. The hour is coming, in which all that are in the graves shall bear his voice, and shall come forth, They that have done good, unto the resurrection of life, and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation. I must confess, if touching the matter in question, we had no light but from this present text; or that the word [〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉] were of a simple signification only, the place alleged might pass for an undoubted proof of a single resurrection, a resurrection of all men's bodies at one time. But as we know, that there are many passages in the Apostolical writings, which make more for us, than this doth against us, (and which ought therefore rather to be the measure of this, than this of them) so we know also, that the word [〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉] is of large use even in the Scripture itself. For though it properly signifies that artificial part of time, which is called an hour, as Matth. the 20. at the 6. verse. Yet sometimes it is metonymically taken for a dangerous time, as John the 12. at the 27. vers. and sometimes synecdochically contracted to a moment, as Luke the 12. at the 12. vers. or lengthened to a day, as Mark the 6. at the 35. vers. or stretched out to months, years, and ages, and then it is usually interpreted by the word (Time.) And there be nothing in this place of Saint John's Gospel, repugnant to such a translation; nor in such a translation, to the Millenarian assertion; why should not we as well read, The time is coming, as others do, The hour? For, if the same word doth in the first 
(l) Phil. 4. v 5. James 5. v. 8.  Ep. of Saint John the 2. chap. at the 18. vers. comprehend all the time from our Saviour's death, unto his coming again, which amounts already to above one thousand and six hundred years; much rather may it here include all the time, from the beginning of our Saviour's reign, unto the last judgement, which is to be but a thousand and odd years: and consequently, this text may very well agree with a double resurrection, and be thus ex ounded, The time is coming, in which (that is, within the compass whereof) all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, and come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life (when this time gins) and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation (when this time shall end.) And surely, seeing the same Apostle hath in the 20. chap. of the Revel. plainly recorded this first and second resurrection; I am persuaded, that the repetition of the word here, would have been enough to have suggested unto our Adversaries this construction of the text, had they as seriously sought the manifestation of the truth, as they have done the advancement of their own erroneous fancy. But whilst they have wrested this place in the Gospel, to make it seem irreconciliable with the literal interpretation of that in the Rev. they have at once quite lost the true meaning of both places: 
Ch. 20. v. 4.5.6.  and chained up their understandings, lest they should launch out, to descry the true latitude of a principal Article of Christian belief. For had they been willing to know so much, 
1 Cor. 15. v. 22. etc.  they might have found Saint Paul also thus voting for us. As in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in his own order. Christ the first fruits, afterwards they that are Christ's, at his coming. Now as it is evident, that the word [Order] doth imply a distance of time betwixt the rising of Christ, and of those that are Christ's: so doubtless, there being no intimation of the rising of any others at his coming, besides those that are his; it doth imply a distance of time too, betwixt the resurrection of these, and of those that are not his. For the next words, Then cometh the end, have no relation to Christ's coming, but to his delivering up the Kingdom to God even the Father, when once the last enemy shall be destroyed, which is death: whereby, and not by Christ's coming, the last resurrection of the dead is intimated. And betwixt the accomplishment of this judgement, and the resurrection of those that are Christ's at his coming: and not before the one, or after the other, there is express mention of Christ's putting down all rule, authority, and power, over the whole world, and of his reigning. Which last employment doth necessarily presuppose a time befitting the Majesty of so 
(m) Ps. 48. v. 2. Ps. 47. v. 2.3 Matth. 5. v 35. Luke 1. v. 32.  great a King; and consequently the Order holds as well, betwixt the resurrection of those that are Christ's, and those that are not Christ's; as betwixt the resurrection of Christ himself, and those that are Christ's. And this Apostle elsewhere speaking of the resurrection which is to concur with our Saviour's descension from heaven, hath not a word of the rising of any but of them that are dead in Christ. 
1 Thes. 4. v. 16.  Whereby he closely shows, that the resurrection of those that are Christ's at his coming, is that first resurrection, in which whosoever have part, the second death hath no power on them: 
Rev. 20. v. 6.  but they shall be Priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years. Which last words of Saint John do no way thwart Saint Paul's in the verse following (where he tells us, that the Saints shall meet the Lord in the air, 
1 Thes. 4. v. 17.  and so shall ever be with the Lord) for the thousand year's reign is to be measured by the time of the Nations subjection to Christ and the Saints, before their seduction again by Satan; and not by the time of the Saints abode with Christ, which shall never have an end; nor by the whole time of Christ's and the Saints tarrying on this earth, which besides the thousand years, contains also that little season which is allotted for the falling away, and destruction of the Nations before the last resurrection.  
And so having shown, that the Antimillinarians can find no firm footing in the Scriptures, to withstand the literal interpretation of the first resurrection: I proceed to what they say concerning the thousand year's reign of the Saints.  
And hear I find them at odds about the meaning of the words: some taking them indefinitely, for a long time, to wit, for all the time from the first going forth of the Gospel, till Antichrists reign. Others definitely, for a thousand years and no more (for which acknowledgement we are beholding to the emphatical affix, the special article [〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉] which in the compass of five verses, is four times added to this number, being never prefixed where the number (or word otherwise implying a certain time) is to be taken in an unlimited sense.) Again I find these that agree upon a thousand years precisely, very much disagreeing about the placing of them, for one will have them begin at the Incarnation, another at the Passion, or Resurrection of our Saviour, a third at the Preaching of Saint Paul, a fourth at the destruction of Jerusalem, and a fifth confuting all these, will not have them begin till the days of Constantine the great, about the 300. year after Christ, and some also not till Luther's time: and yet all of them will have a part of Antichrists reign included within the compass of the thousand year's reign, because some of them that are to reign with Christ, are particularly described by their not worshipping of the Beast. And thus as the former sort of Antimillinarians do grossly err in placing Christ's reign before Antichrists, whereas a great part of them which should reign with Christ, were to suffer under Antichrist: so do these other Antimillinarians err as much, in confounding the time of Christ's reign, with the time of Antichrists reign. From whence it doth necessarily follow,  

First, that the Saints which are to reign with Christ, shall suffer in the time of Christ's reign.  
Secondly, that but a part of those which shall suffer under Antichrist, are to reign with Christ. And,  
Thirdly, that some (if not the most) of them which shall be slain by Antichrist, are to suffer after Christ's thousand year's reign.   
All which is either beside, or flat against the text. For,  
First, it is flat against the text to affirm, that any of the Saints which are to reign with Christ, shall suffer in the time of his reign. For we read, That Satan is to be shut up, that he may deceive the Nations no more, till the thousand 
* Hujusinodi mille vel quinquaginta vel etiam centum annos a Christo nato nobis obtigisse, quibus a seductione Satanae Gentes immunes, ab ejusdem persecutione libera fuerit Ecclesia in terris bisce militans, equidem at credam vix adduci possum. Et de persecutione q●●dem res ita manifesta est, ut non putem è sanis fore, qui contradicat: siquidem hanc ecclesiae militantis perpetuam fore sortem ipse Christus praedixit, & eventus a nato Christo ad haec usque tempora abunde testanis est. Ante ortum Antichristi quid non adversus ecclesiam per haereticos tentavit Satan? Quae non bella & persecutiones adversus eam excitavit? Sedulam ipsi operain navantibus Romanis tyrannis & Caesaribus. Post ortu●●t ejus perpetuos & crudelissimos hostes habuit Pontifices Romanos, a quibus in desertum per aliquot annorum centurias ita fuit compulsa, ut nusquam fere apparuerit. Locupletissimos testes habemus afflictissimae hujus sortis, catalogos martyrum, seu martyrologia; necdum finis est. De s●ductione Gentilium res quoque manifesta est: etsi enim post Christi in coeles ascensionem, per Apostolos, in maxima orbis habitabilis parte inter Gentes Evangelium juit praedicatum, mansit mihilominus ecclesiae grex pusillus, respectu multitudinis Gentilium qui evangelium repudiarunt, & a Satana seducti Christianos afflixerunt. Itaque difficultatem non videtur expedire, illa quorundam responsio: alligationem Satanae non absolute intelligendam esse, quasi tum nihil ecclesiam laeserit Satan; sed secundum quid, in quantum gentes seducere amplius, quo minus fidem Christi reciperent, & ad ecclesiam accederent, prohibitus fuit: ad Satanae igitur ligationem satis fuisse, quod propagationem evangeliis add Gentiles, tum per tyrannos Judaeos & philosophet a plius impedire non potuerit, gentibus magno ubique locorum numero ad Christum conversis, & Satanae regno inter Gentiles corruente: quod post ascensum Christi in coelum, & destructam Hierosolymam contigit. Haec, inquam, responsio difficultati non videtur satisfacere: non enim tantum ligandus, sed & in abyssum conjiciendus dicitur Satan; quibus cerie verbis non aliqualis, sed absoluta & omnimoda ligatio denotatur, per quam non tantum Gentes non seducere, sed nec persequi ecclesiam poterit, ut supra ostendimus. Hujusmodi vero alligati● hactenus nondum observata fuit. Quod si vero aliqualis saltem ligatio sit intelligenda, utique ad vetus quoque testamentum ca erit extendenda. Nam ne in veteri quidem testamento habenae ita laxatae sunt Satanae, ut omues Gentiles aditu ad ecclesiam prohibere potuerit: subinde enim aliqui, etsi pauci, ad ecelesiam se aggregarunt. Deinde cum in nov● Testamen to, post vocationem Gentilium solennem, plures nihilominus in gentilismo retinuerit, quam ad Christianismum accesserint, quis 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ipsum ligatum, & in abyssum eum conjectum fuisse dixerit? aliquo enim respectu semper fuit ligatus, quatenus eos, qui inter Gentiles electi fuerunt, finaliter ab ecclesia arcere nunquam potuit: horum enim respectu contritum est ipsi caput; Itaque absoluta ligatio omnino videtur intelligenda, quam adhuc expectamus, quam Patres quoque Theologi expectarunt. Mar. Frider. Wendol. contempt. phys. sect. 2. cap. 16. p. 354.355.  years be expired. And can there be a greater and worse deceiving of men (especially of such as profess themselves Christians, as Antichrist and his followers are known to do) then to make them the persecutors of the true worshippers of God? and that such willing persecutors of them too, that they shall think they do God good service in shedding of their blood? 
Ioh● 16. v. 2  Can there, I say, be a more dangerous deceiving then this? if not, than such do cannot happen within the space of the thousand year's reign; and consequently, none of the Saints can suffer all that while. Yea, doubtless no other wickedness shall then reign amongst men; for seeing Satan is to be cast into a bottomless pit, and a seal to be set upon him, that he may not deceive the Nations: not only his power to tempt men, is to be restrained; but even his liberty also is to be taken from him, that he may not go to and fro in the earth, and walk up and down in it, as hitherto he hath done. I say as hitherto, for when had the best of men, even the Saints themselves, any rest on earth, not only from wrestling against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickednesses in high places? or at what time hath Satan been so straitened, that he could not walk about like a roaring Lion, seeking whom he might devour? and of whom he might get an advantage? or what age either before or since Christ's coming, hath not stood in great need of our Saviour's counsel and practice; of watching and praying lest they should enter into temptation, into temptation from without? and of watching and praying, to be delivered from evil, even from the Father of all evil, that evil one the Devil, called the old Serpent, and the Prince of this world and of the power of the air? if no time, no age hath ever been thus happy, then Satan hath not been yet bound up, neither hath Christ yet reigned, and consequently, none of those that are fallen a sleep in Christ, have suffered in the time of his reign.  
Secondly, it is quite beside, if not against the text, to say that but a part of those, which shall suffer under Antichrist, are to be with Christ in the time of his thousand year's reign. For we read, that S. John saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God; and which had not worshipped the Beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their forehead, or in their hands: and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. Now whether these words do not rather comprehend all the Martyrs, than a part of them: or (which comes all to one reckoning) whether they show not also, that all of them were to suffer, before any of them 
(n) Rev. 6. v. 10.11.  were to reign: that the whole time, I say, of the Martyr's temptation and persecution was to precede the whole time of the thousand year's reign; and not in part to precede it, in part to succeed it, and in part to accompany it, as our Adversaries doctrine doth make it to do, let any indiffernt man judge. And surely, if by the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the Word of God: all that were slain before the time of the beast, (to wit, the second beast) are to be understood, as 
(o) Comment. in novum Test. pag. 1569. col. 2.  Piscator takes it, and the 9 vers. of the 6. chap. of the Rev. doth seem to expound it: than it follows, that by the souls of them that had not worshipped the beast, nor his image, neither had received his mark upon their forehead, or in their hands, all that were to suffer under this beast, must needs be meant, as the 11. vers. of the foresaid chap. doth express. And besides, none of the Saints were to suffer, either in the time, or after the time of the thousand year's reign, but before it: and consequently, not a part, but all of them are to be with Christ, when he doth reign.  
Thirdly, and lastly, it is point blank against the text, to hold, that any of them which shall be slain by Antichrist, are to suffer after Christ's thousand year's reign. For although it is said, that the Saints shall be compassed about by the Nations, which Satan shall deceive, when the thousand years are fulfilled; yet there is no mention of the death of any of the Saints, but only of an extraordinary and sudden destruction of their enemies.  
And so it is plain, that these Antimillinarian consequences do all cross the text. And of the same colour and suitable unto their fancy of the thousand year's reign; is the application of Gog and Magog in the 20. of the Rev. to the Pope and the Turk both, as some; or to the Turk only, as others of them interpret it. For we read not, that Gog and Magog are to make war asunder, in several parts of the world, as the Pope and Turk do. Nor that their war is to be a long continued war, in which many battles are to be fought, and new supplies raised one after another to maintain it, as it is in the Popes and Turks wars. Neither do we read, that only one particular Empire, or a few, or many Nations are comprehended by these words; but all the Nations, even the Nations of the four quarters of the earth: who as they are speedily, and at once, to be drawn together against the Saints, by the procurement of the Devil, so they are even in a moment to be overthrown by the power of God, by sire sent down from God out of Heaven.  
And whereas the Antimillinarians would have this Gog and Magog to contemporate with the battle in Armageddon, it cannot be. For seeing the Beast and false Prophet are mentioned as partners with Satan, in the gathering together of the army which is to be destroyed in Armageddon, it is altogether unlikely, that they should have been here left out, and none but Satan spoken of, if this Gog and Magog were to be understood of the same army. And that which doth confirm this, and which I would have all Antimillinarians to lay to heart, is because the destruction of this Gog and Magog doth follow after that battle, which is to be in Armageddon, as well in the order of its execution, as in the order of its Revelation. For in the 10. vers. of the 20. chap. of the Rev. it is said, That the Devil which deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the Beast and false Prophet are, that is, are to be, when Satan shall be cast in thither to them, and consequently, they are to be there before him. Which should not be true, if the destruction of this Gog and Magog, and of the army in Armageddon were all one; for than they should be cast in all together, (seeing the casting in of Satan at the destruction of this Gog and Magog, is as expressly delivered, as the casting in of the Beast and false Prophet is, at the destruction of the army in Armageddon:) or if none should be cast in thither, till the last judgement, who were so likely to lead the way to the place of eternal torment, as he for whom that burning lake was chiefly 
(p) Matth. 25. v. 41.  prepared, as he and his Angels I say, who first fell irrecoverably themselves, and shortly after drew man into sin also?  
This then being undeniable, that the Beast and false Prophet are to be in the lake of fire and brimstone, before Satan shall be cast in thither: who dares define, that the time betwixt the casting in of the beast and false Prophet, and the casting in of Satan, shall be either more or less, then that which the holy Ghost hath left upon record? to wit, the whole space of the Saints reign, and of the little season in which the Nations are again to be seduced. And consequently, the first resurrection is to be literally understood. The thousand years' reign is to be on earth. And this Gog and Magog in the 20. of the Rev. is to be the multiplied posterity of those that shall be left of the Nations at the beginning of the thousand years, when the army of the beast and false Prophet, and of the Kings of the earth, and of the whole world (who as the parallel declares, are the Gog and Magog foretold by Ezekiel) shall be destroyed in Armageddon. And as this doth necessarily follow upon the foresaid text, upon the casting of the beast and false Prophet into the lake of fire and brimstone, so long before the casting in of Satan: so it is intimated too, in that at the time of the gathering together of this Gog and Magog, there is no mention of any Kings (nor allusion to any eminent person or persons) that shall then bear any sway amongst the Nations; to whom Satan may first and chiefly apply himself, and of whom he may make such use in the gathering of them together, as he shall do of the Kings, beast, and false Prophet, at the gathering of the first Gog and Magog. And again, it is employed, in that it is said, that Satan shall go out to deceive the Nations; by which it appears, that all the time of his imprisonment they are not to be deceived; and consequently, they are neither to be ignorant, nor negligent of their duty towards 
(q) Is. 2. v. 1, 2, 3, 4. Ch. 60. v. 12 14. Ch. 61. v. 4, 5, 6. Ch. 66. v. 19 20, 23, 24. Ch. 14. v. 1, 2. Zech. 8. v. 20, 21, 22, 23.  God or man; but to live peaceably and piously under the Saints. Whereas the beast and false Prophet are always to be deceived, and to deceive: and from the first hour of their rising, to the time of their destruction, to persecute and make spoil of the Saints.  
And thus, I hope, I have made it manifest, that the three paralleled prophecies do all foreshow the same Great Day of God Almighty; and consequently, that the Nations which shall oppose the Jews at their expected return, are to be the Gog and Magog prophesied of by Ezekiel. And also that those which shall be left alive of the Nations, when this first Gog and Magog is destroyed, and which shall in their generations for a thousand year's space together enjoy the happiness of the Saints reign; that the last, I say, of their posterity shall be the Gog and Magog foretold in the 20. chap. of the Revelation.  
And now, seeing that in launching into the depth of so great a mystery, I have done but as my Saviour commands me; Search the Scriptures, 
john 5. v. 39  for in them ye think ye have 
(r) Rev. 1. v. 3.  eternal life, and they are they which testify of me. And seeing that my conscience (informed and confirmed by such an harmonious consent of Scriptures, such a Diapason of prophetical voices) doth bear me witness, that (besides the irreconciliable jarring of divine dictates) this mystery cannot without the loss and denial also of some most comfortable, remarkable and (if not now, yet for future times) 
(s) Rom. 11 v. 25.26.  necessary truths, be otherwise understood: I shall as well for the 
(t) 1 john 4. v. 1. Isa. 8. v. 20. Acts 17. v. 11  liberty of mine own belief, as for the restraint of others unjust censures, conclude with the words of our Church in the 20. Article, where she determines. That though the Church hath authority (to judge) in controversies of faith; Yet it is not lawful for the Church, so to expound one place of Scripture, that it may be repugnant to another. And that although the Church be a witness and keeper of holy Writ, yet beside (or contrary to) the same, it ought not to enforce any thing to be believed for necessity of salvation.  
Malachi 3. v. 6.  
I am the Lord, I change not, therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.  
Nahum 1. v. 2. etc.  
God is jealous, and the Lord revengeth: the Lord revengeth and is furious, the Lord will take vengeance on his adversaries, and he reserveth wrath for his enemies.  
The Lord is slow to anger, and great in power, and will not at all acquit the wicked: the Lord hath his way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet.  
He rebuketh the Sea, and maketh it dry, and drieth up all rivers; Bashan languisheth, and Carmel, and the flower of Lebanon languisheth.  
The mountains quake at him, and the hills melt, and the earth is burnt at his presence, yea the world and all that dwell therein.  
Who can stand before his indignation? and who can abide in the fierceness of his anger? his fury is poured out like fire, and the rooks are thrown down by him.  
The Lord is good, a strong hold in the day of trouble, and he knoweth them that trust in him.  
But with an overrunning flood he will make an utter end of the place thereof, and darkness shall pursue his enemies.  
What do ye imagine against the Lord? he will make an utter end: affliction shall not rise up the second time. For while they be solden together as thorns, and while they are drunken as drunkards, they shall be devoured as stubble fully dry.  
Obadiah v. 15. etc.  
The day of the Lord is near upon all the Heathen: as thou hast done, it shall be done unto thee, thy reward shall return upon thine own head.  
For as ye have drunk upon my holy mountain, so shall all the Heathen drink continually: yea, they shall drink, and they shall swallow down, and they shall be as though they had not been.  
But upon Mount Zion shall be deliverance, and there shall be holiness; and the house of Jacob shall possess their possessions. And the house of Jacob shall be fire, and the house of Joseph a flame, and the house of Esau for stubble, and they shall kindle in them, and devour them, and there shall not be any remaining of the house of Esau, for the Lord hath spoken it.  
And they of the South shall possess the Mount of Esau, and they of the plain, the Philistines: and they shall possess the fields of Ephraim, and the fields of Samaria, and Benjamin shall possess Gilead.  
And the captivity of this host of the children of Israel shall possess that of the Canaanites, even unto Zarephath, and the captivity of Jerusalem, which is in Sepharad, shall possess the Cities of the South.  
And Saviour's shall come up on Mount Zion to judge the Mount of Esau, and the Kingdom shall be the Lords.  
Habakkuk 3. v. 3. etc.  
God came from Teman, and the Holy One from Mount Paran, his glo●y covered the heavens, and the earth was full of his praise.  
And his brightness was as the light: he had horns coming out of his hand, and there was the hiding of his power. Before him went the Pestilence, and burning coals went forth at his feet.  
He stood and measured the earth: he beheld and drove asunder the Nations, and the everlasting mountains were scattered, the perpetual hills did bow▪ his ways are everlasting. I saw the tents of Cushan in affliction: and the curtains of the Land of Midian did tremble.  
Was the Lord displeased against the rivers? was thine anger against the rivers? was thy wrath against the sea, that thou didst ride upon thine horses, and thy charets of salvation?  
Thy bow was made quite naked according to the oaths of the Tribes, even thy Word. Thou didst cleave the earth with rivers.  
The mountains saw thee & they trembled: the overflowing of the water passed by: the deep uttered his voice, and lift up his hands on high.  
The Sun and Moon stood still in their habitation: at the light of thine arrows they went, and at the shining of thy glittering spear.  
Thou didst march thorough the Land in indignation: thou didst thresh the heathen in anger.  
Thou goest forth for the salvation of thy people, even for salvation with thine anointed, thou woundedst the head out of the house of the wicked, by discovering the foundation unto the neck. Selah.  
— Si quid novisti rectius istis,  
Candidus imperti: si non, his utere mecum.  
If aught thou knowest that's more true than this,  
Show't, Gentle Sir: if not, take mine as ' 'tis.  
Judas ver. 24.25.  
Now unto him that is able to keep us from falling, and and to present us faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy;  
To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, now and ever, Amen.  
FINIS.    

Erratas.  
PAge 2. line 16. for of r. to p. 4. l. 1. by that r. that by p. 5. l. 12. for time r. times p. 6. l. 10. for Judges r. Judge l. 21. for vacation r. vocation p. 7. l. 31. for imperial r. empyrial p. 10. l. 7. for And at r. And in (p. 11. l. 25. the phrase is changed. to wit, [No way] put for [by no means referred] which seeing it is the same in sense, may pass without noting) p. 11. l. 25 for Is r. It remains etc. p. 14. l. 6 for of the beasts r. of all etc. p. 17. the letter (k) is misplaced, for it is put in the 7. line before these words [ye are not my] and it should have been put in the 8 line, before these [ye are the sons, etc.] p. 24. l. 5. for vers. 17. r. vers. 37. p. 37. l. 16. for to pray before the Lord of Hosts r. to pray before the Lord, and to seek the Lord of Hosts p. 37. l. 33. for I know the r. I know that p. 38. l. last. for turn r. return p. 44. l. 12. for their happiness r. their former happiness p. 48. l. 2. pericitari r. periclitari.   

Faults escaped in the Margin.  
PAge 1. (c) for john 2.2. r. 1 john 2.2. p. 19 the letter (o) in the margin, which should have been put before these words in the text, [It is confessed] is left out p. 19 (q) Id. l. 7. c. 7. r. cap. 12. and in this margin quot. Id. l. 9 c. 9 which should have been referred to the word [Dan.] in the last line, is wholly left out p. 21. for quoquo modo adversan. r. adversant●● and in the second note, for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 r. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 47. for fourthly the river r. fourthly in this City the river p. 20. (s) Cor. a tap. in c. 3. for Hof. r. Hos.