Imágenes de páginas
PDF
EPUB

vii. Apoc. xi. xiii. xv. xvii. xix. 2 Tim. iv. 17.

61. Another Signal of thefe Times is this, that There should be Signs in the Women, as the Arabick has it; or, as the Vulgar Latin, more diftinctly, that Menftruous Women fhould bring forth Monsters, v. 8.

62. Another Signal of thefe Times is this, that Salt Waters fhall be found in the fwest, as in the Vulgar Latin Copy; or, as in the Arabick Copy, Sweet Waters shall be changed into Salt, v. 9.

63. Another Signal of these Times is this, that All Friends fhall deftroy one another. Ibid. See vi. 24. 64. Another Signal of these Times is much the fame with the 28th already fet down, that Wit or Wisdom fhall be concealed, or shall withdraw itfelf into fecret Chambers; thofe perhaps which good Men are advised to retire into in fuch evil Times by the Prophet Ifaiah, xxvi. 20, 21. and so shall not be found Abroad in the wicked World.

[ocr errors]

65. The next Signal is this, that Incontinency, Vilenefs, and Wickedness, fhall be increased upon the Earth. This is much the fame with the 46th Obfervation foregoing.

66. The laft Sign in the vth of Efdras is this, That Men fhall labour and hope, but nothing obtain that they labour and hope for: So it is in the Vulgar Latin. As to the Arabick Reading here, that this Hope is for to find one righteous Man, which was not to be done, it contradicts all the other Prophecies belonging to this Matter; which always fuppofe a felect Body of good Men to be then in Being, tho' but few in Number; and promife them

[blocks in formation]

the divine Protection from the common Calamities, and fo that must be a falfe Reading, the Coherence also no Way requiring it. v. 12.

67.4 Efd. vi. 20. The next Signal of thefe Times is this, That the Books fhall be opened before the Firmament; perhaps those which are fuppofed in Daniel, xii. 1. when he speaks of the Delivery of the good Jews, in the amazing Time of the Trouble of that Nation there foretold, or of every one that shall be found written in the Book [of Life] or perhaps, in that Book in Malachi, iii. 16. when they that feared the Lord fpake often one to another, and the Lord bearkened and beard, and a Book of Remembrance was written before him, for them that feared the Lord, and that thought upon his Name. See v. 17, 18. and 4. which feems all to belong to these very Times.

6.

68. The next Signal is fomewhat a-kin to the 61ft Obfervation foregoing, and informs us, that then little Infants in the Arabick, or in the vulgar Latin more diftinctly, Children of a Year old fhall Speak, and that Women fhall conceive and bring forth in Hafte; and that fuch Children of three or four Months old fhall be raised up, shall live, and shall run about, v. 21.

The next Clause is fo very different in the two Copies, that I cannot pretend to give it a distinct Number, but shall leave it till fome Events shall determine the genuine Reading, v. 22.

69. As for the next Signal, the Sounding of the Trumpet in the hearing of all, I fuppofe it the fame Sounding of the great Trumpet, in Ifaiah xxvii. 13: in Matthew xxiv. 31. and in the 10th of the xviii

Prayers

Prayers of the Jews, which is for their Restoration, See my Sacred Hiftory of the Old Testament, Page 479. and the fame with the Grand 7th Trumpet in the Apocalypfe, for the Exit of Angels with the vii Vials, after the laft Temple is finished: The very Preparation for which is faid to be the fulfilling the grand Purport of the Mystery of God, which had been fhewn to his Servants the Prophets, [particularly to Ifaiah, Efdras, and St. John] which is therfore to be esteemed the moft folemn and important of all the Signals. As to which hear the Jewish Prayers themselves, as very material upon this Occafion. Apoc. x. 7. xi.

[ocr errors]

15. xv. 5, 6.

10. Convocate us together by the Sound of the great Trumpet, to the Enjoyment of our Liberty; and lift up thy Enfign to call together all of the Captivity, and from the four Quarters of the • Earth, into our own Land. Bleffed art thou, Q Lord, our King, who gathereft together the • Exiles of the People of Ifrael.

⚫ and our Counsellors,

II. Reftore unto us our Judges, as at the firft, as at the Beginning; ' and remove from us Affliction and Trouble: And do thou only 'reign over us in Benignity,

[ocr errors]
[ocr errors]
[ocr errors]

and in Mercy, and in Righteoufnefs, and in

Justice. Bleffed art thou, O Lord, our King, who loveft Righteoufnefs and Justice.

14. Dwell thou in the Midft of Jerufalem, thy City, as thou haft promised: Build it with a • Building to last for ever. And do this fpeedily, D 2

• in

1

[ocr errors]

in our Days. Bleffed art thou, O Lord, who buildeft Jerufalem.'

70. vi. 24. The next Signal is this, that Friends fhall fight one against another like Enemies.

[ocr errors]

71. Ibid. The next Signal, as before, tho' in the Arabick only, is this, that The Earth fhall be aftonifbed, with all thofe that dwell therein; which seems to mean, that the Ground shall tremble, as if it were itself astonished, as well as its Inhabitants, by Earthquakes; which Prediction is ftill in the Vulgar Latin elsewhere under the very Term Earthquakes, as we have had it at large in Efdr. ix. 3. Page 27, priùs.

72. The next Signal is this, that The Springs of the Fountains fhall ftand fill for three Hours, vi, 24. 73. The next Signal is, Uproars of People with Changes, and Tumults, and Sedition of the Nations,

ix. 3.

74. The next Signal is this, but only in the Arabick, The Tyranny of the Heads and Governors of the People. Ibid.

75. The next Signal, but only in the Arabick alfo, is, the Want of a Director for the Princes. Ibid.

76. The laft Signal in Efdras, ix. 7, 8. if I may fo call it, or rather comfortable Promife, is this, that every one of the truly good People fhall not, as in former common Calamities, be involved in the Judgments now approaching; but fhall escape them by their good Works, and by their Faith; and fball fee God's Salvation in Judea; because God hath Sanctified them for himself, and bath fan&tified bis Holy Mountain, [Mount Sign,] for his own People,

the

the good Jews, from the Beginning of, the World. The like to which we have had in Ifaiah at large; with Hymns of Praife for God's wonderful Works, at this Conclufion of his providential Difpenfations in the World. See Pag. 14. priùs.

I proceed to the Signals given us by our Saviour himself, in the New Testament.

Matt. xvii. 10. The Difciples afked Jefus, faying, Why then say the Scribes, that Elias must first come?

11. And Jefus antwered, and faid unto them, Elias truly fhall come first, and restore all Things, [as Malachi had foretold, iv. ult. Behold I will fend you Elijah the Prophet, [the Tifhbite in the Septua gint] before the Coming of the great and dreadful Day of the Lord.] See Authentick Records, Page 447, 448.

Matt. xxiv. 29. Immediately after the Tribulation of those Days; [the long Miseries of the Jews and Antichrift. Luke xxi. 24.] fhall the Sun be darkened, and the Moon fhall not give her Light, and the Stars fhall fall from Heaven, and the Powers of the Heavens shall be shaken. Matt. xxiv. 29.

30. And then shall appear the Sign of the Son of Man in Heaven; and then shall all the Tribes of the Land mourn. [Dan. xii. 1.] and they fhall fee the Son of Man coming in the Clouds of Heaven, with Power and great Glory.

31. And he shall fend his Angels with a great Sound of a Trumpet, [perhaps fuch a Sound as was at the Delivery of the Law on Mount Sinai, Exod. xix. 16. 18.] and they fhall gather together his Elect [People, the Jews] from the four Winds, from one End of Heaven to the other.

[blocks in formation]
« AnteriorContinuar »