Page images
PDF
EPUB

went to prevent the building, by falsehood and lies, and discovers clearly what the Devil is in substance, by the shadow that appeareth in men. But I was deeply affected in reading how much the children of Israel were delighted, and how much they were affected, in building again the house to the Lord; in the 10th chapter they had consented to put away their wives, that they had taken from among the heathen; in Nehemiah, 9th chapter, how the children of Israel confessed their sins and repented; in the 13th chapter, that they completed the whole; and observed how Solomon's strange wives, or outlandish women, caused him to sin; so they determined not to follow after them. Then followeth Esther, by whose the Lord delivered the Jews, when Haman had designed for them all to be murdered. These wondrous workings of Providence deeply affected my heart, to see how the Lord delivered, when they turned unto him with all their hearts. But one thing strikes deeply upon me; the Lord only knoweth whether my thoughts are right or wrong: The first house that was built to the Lord by Solomon, appeareth to me in the pride of men; for though the Lord had commanded him to do it, yet certainly Solomon was swelled with pride by all the grandeur that he kept up; and that pride, and the love of women, made him fall, and the house fell also; but when the second house was built, it was through opposition, through persecution, through humbleness of spirit, through a love to God, through a fear to God, (for see how they lamented of their sins, and confessed it was their sins that brought all the judgments upon them, and they repented with fasting and prayer,) and then the house stood; and by Esther's petition the Jews had liberty to destroy all their enemies, that were in the land where they dwelt, that had decreed to destroy them. Esther, ix. and x. Here my thoughts went deeply two ways; the one to see the mercies of God, when

OF THE SECOND TEMPLE.

537

men turned humbly to him; and the other to see how humbly they did return, which makes me judge the LORD will do according to his promises, and pity the fallen state of men,, when they humbly turn to him. But see the different spirits of men; one being hardened in the midst of judgments, and the other being humble and confessing their sins, and acknowledging the justice of God in their punishment, appears to me but a Type of Men and Devils: How Satan will be hardened and Man will be penitent. These have been my observations and reflections, and the ponderings of my heart, in reading; and that there is the same difference of men upon earth, as there was in the angels in HEAVEN; and this will continue while Satan reigns, as long as he has power to make a division on Earth, as he did in Heaven. These have been the ponderings of my heart, and the Lord pardon me if my thoughts have been wrong in any thing, as I am ordered to pen the feelings of my heart and greatly, did I feel in my heart for the Jews, at their sincere repentance at the SECOND building of the HOUSE unto the LORD, which made me think he would have mercy upon them in the END, as he hath promised in my writings.

"Now, Joanna, I shall begin to answer thee, There is not a word in thy mouth, nor a thought in thy heart, but I know it altogether; and as thou hast faithfully spoken, there is not a thought in thy heart, nor a word in thy mouth, that I blame; for now I shall come to SOLOMON. As thou sayest the house was built in pride, as well as obedience; it is TRUE; and the pride of man fell; but as thou sayest the other house was built in humiliation and in repentance, which stood till the pride of man began to swell again :-But here I tell thee the Type goes deep. When Esther delivered her people, know they were scattered throughout the earth, and their Kings were destroyed, and they were delivered by the hand of a WOMAN. Here is a Type stands

deep for all men. When I had destroyed their Kings, I delivered them by the hand of a WOMAN, and made their enemies become their friends, by DARIUS, and by AHASUERUS, as neither of these were Kings of the Jews, but had declared themselves their great enemies; and the latter was stirred up by Haman; but see what became of Haman. Now thou knowest I have told thee all things stand for Types and Shadows of the End; and here is a deep Type of the End: when a man's ways please the Lord, he will make his enemies at peace with him. And now I will tell thee how men's ways may please ME: when men begin to act like the Jews, who went the second time to build a house in my Name, they wept to see the ruins of the fall of what had been built and destroyed before

So now to all I thus shall call

The Type goes deep for Man
Here is a shadow of the Fall,
When I at first began,

I say, to lay the house of clay,
That I did lay in Man;
But he from ME did fall away,

Like Solomon become;

Soon tainted there he did appear,

As Satan's arts were so,

The Woman did his heart ensnare
And that you well do know;
By Satan's art she felt the dart,
And did the Man betray:
Like Solomon he soon did come,
His glory fell away.

So thus at first the Man was cast
Then by the Woman there:
Like Solomon his fall did come-
There's no man this can clear,
To say 'twas not: I'll tell your lot-
This was the Fall at first;
By Satan's arts the Woman fell,
And so the Man was cast.

But now see plain, ye sons of men,
The mystery of the Fall;

For now I tell thee, from his reign,
A PARADISE for all

I made at first; but Man was cast,
By Satan's artful hand:

You see the Woman so was plac'd,
The Serpent her trepan'd,

THE BIBLE MADE A MIS-MAŽE..

Then sure the Fall, I tell you all,
Did much like his appear:
And by the Woman Men did fall,
As Solomon did there.

So all went on, I tell you plain,
Till things grew worse and worse;
As in the Temple you did see
How every thing was plac'd;
In grandeur there did all appear,
But see how all fell down!
This way the Fall I mean to clear,
If men can judge the sound;
For I'll go on from man to man,
Till ESTHER ali must see:
She freed her People in the Land,
That was condemn'd to die.
Then now see clear the shadow here→→
If Woman caus'd the Fall;
By Solomon the first did come,
And ESTHER freed them all.
The thing is plain, I say to men,
Though it may to them appear
Just like the mis-maze* thou hast made,
The paths no man can clear;
The way to go thou well dost know,
To tread thy paths all round:
And yet I see the eye of thee-
A straight path may be found
In every way, as it doth lay,
Unto the middle come:

All paths are straight before thy sight,
As thou dost here discern;

Though puzzling see the thing may be,
Which way will all go through,
To bring it straight before your sight,
And now the whole you view.
Now I'll go on from what thou'st done,
A trifling shadow here,

Yet to the purpose I shall come,
And prove my Bible here.
As many ways, 1 now do say,
As they work'd this to night,
So many ways, I now do say,

Men try to bring all straight;
But there's not one, to thee 'tis known,
That they did bring straight here;
The crooked paths to them were shewn,
Which they thought they must clear;
So they went round in every sound,
But all brought crooked through,
Just so the learned men are found,
And bring all to thy view:
Just so to men I now shall come-
My Bible I've plac'd there;

This is explained further on.

39

And crooked paths they all bring in,
No straight path man can clear.
For all have done, as those began→→→
Came crooked every way.
It was to shew the Type of Man,
That I work'd so in thee,
To place it here to make it clear,
That crooked men do go;
Therefore their hands I did prepare,
That they should work it so:
But as to thee it was by ME,

That I thy hand work'd straight.
The mystery round must so be found,
To bring all things to light:

You must bring round in every sound,
I say, my Bible here;

And then the straight path shall be found,
That I the whole shall clear.

The ways are two before thy view,
Which way to make it come;
The crooked paths before thy view
Were first work'd by thy hand;
Then all was straight before thy sight,
And so 'tis straight for all,

If men go through, as thou didst do,

And prove it from the Fall,

That crooked round have all been found

I tell thee, to this day;

And as my handmaids here were found,
Men's wisdom works this way,

To bring all in as they began,
The paths were crooked there;
I said a straight path sure was seen,
And thou didst prove it clear:
But they did not behold the spot,
The way it straight must come ;
Just so, I say to thee, this day
My Bible's work'd by man;
For crooked here they all appear,
And yet they judge 'tis straight
The way they work my Bible here ;
But now before thy sight,

There was not one that by his hand
Did bring a straight path there;
Unless 'twas thee, they both did see,
Then how can they appear

To say 'twas straight before their sight,
The way they work'd it round?
And perfect so, they all shall know,
My shepherds all are found:

They work the same, as these began,
Till I did work in thee.

To have the straight path to appear,
The winding paths first see

« PreviousContinue »