XIV. till the thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of CHAP. days did sit,-I saw in the night visions, and behold, one like unto the son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed." 18." And Judgment was given to the saints of the pan. Fi Most High; and the time came that the saints pos- 22, 27. sessed the kingdom.—And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him." 19. Hence the breaking and demolishing of that which was corrupt, and the setting up of that which should stand forever, was not only promised as an event most certainly to take place; but also the time when it should take place, was revealed and promised by the same prophet. 20." Then I heard one saint speaking, and ano- Dan. vii, ther saint said unto that certain saint which spake, 13,14 How long shall be the vision concerning the daily sacrifice, and the transgression of desolation, to give both the sanctuary and the host to be trodden under foot? And he said unto me, Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed." iv. 5, 6. 21. This vision of Daniel is dated 553 years before the Christian æra, which taken from 2300, leaves See Ezek 1747, as the year for the promise to be fulfilled, counting a day for a year in the first given number, as is usual with the prophets. 22. Man is the temple or habitation of God, in both parts of his manhood, male and female, and the female is the medium through which all enter into manhood; but as the female or second part of the man was defiled by sin, so that none could enter into manhood without partaking of a sinful nature; therefore, XIV. CHAP. in cleansing and purifying the female, the sanctuary was cleansed, and the way in.o the holiest of all fully made manifest, where God promised to dweil forever. 26. 13. 23. Hence the promises so universally allude to the purging away of sin and uncleanness, rooting out and destroying that which is evil in human nature, and implanting, promoting, and building up that which is virtuous, holy, and good. As the whole law is fulfilled in one word, namely, in obedience; so all the promises of God are contained in one word, namely, in righteousness. 24. And hence such plain promises as the followai.i.25, ing "I will turn my hand upon thee, and purely purge away thy dross-afterwards thou shalt be called The city of righteousness, The faithful city. As ebap. vi. a teil-tree, and as an oak, whose substance is in them, when they cast their leaves; so the Holy seed shall be the substance thereof.-Then shall Jerusalem be Holy, and there shall no strangers pass through her any Zech.viii more.—And Jerusalem shall be called a city of truth; and the Mountain of the Lord of hosts, The Holy mountain." Joel iii, 17. 3. 3, 4. and 1, 3, 4. 25. "And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain [or foundation] of the Lord's house Isai. ii. 2, shall be established in the top of the mountains, [that Mich. iv. is, above the strength of every other building, and it shall be exalted above the hills; and people 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 teach us of his ways, and w will walk in his Transla paths for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem." 26. "And he shall judge among the nations, and •Lowth's shall work conviction in many peoples ;* and they tion. shall beat their swords into plow-shares, and their spears into pruning-hooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. But they shall sit every man under his vine, and under his fig-tree: and none shall make them afraid." Evek. 27. And "This is the law of the house; 12. Upon the top of the mountain, the whole limit thereof XIV. round about shall be most holy. And the name of the CHAP. city from that day shall be, THE LORD IS THERE. The glory of Lebanon shall come unto thee-to beau- Ezekiel tify the place of my sanctuary-and all they that des- xlvii. 35. pised thee shall bow themselves down at the soles of thy feet; and they shall call thee, The city of the Isai.lx.13 Lord, The Zion of the Holy One of Isreal." 14, 18, 21. 28. "Violence shall no more be heard in thy land, wasting nor destruction within thy borders; but thou shalt call thy walls Salvation, and thy gates Praise. Thy people also shall be all righteous: they shall inherit the land forever, the branch of my planting, the work of my hands, that I may be glorified.That they might be called Trees of Righteousness, Isai. lxi, The planting of the Lord, that he might be glori- . fied." 29. All these and such like promises, are expressly to the Church and people of God, in this latter day. If true believers are called A City, it is because they are joined and compacted together, by the spirit of union and order: if they are called Jerusalem, it is because the name is expressive of peace: if they are called Mount-Zion, which signifies high and clean, it is because they are raised above the low and base corruptions of human nature; and if they are called Trees of Righteousness, it is because they are fruitful in every good work. 1., 3. so. In a word, all the prophecies were descriptive of that state of purity and holiness, justice and righteousness, in which God would meet and dwell with his people forever; according to what was revealed last of all to saint John. "And I saw a new heaven Rev. xxi. and a new earth-wherein (according to saint Peter) 2 Pet. iii. dwelleth righteousness. And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven, saying, Behold the tabernacle of God is with men.” 13. 31. "For ye are the temple of the living God; as 2 Cor. God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in 14. them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And I saw no temple therein for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it. Z z Rev.xxi. 22, 27. XIV. CHAP. And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie; but they which are written in the book of the life of the Lamb." Rev.xxi. 1. 32. "And he shewed me a pure river of the water of life, clear as chrystal, proceeding out of the throne of God, and of the Lamb :" That is, purity of life, or true righteousness, proceeding from the Prov. xi. Saints, who are the throne and city of God.-For, The fruit of the righteous is a Tree of life.—And out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. 30. John vä. 38. Rev.xxi. Rev.xxii. 3. 33. "And on either side of the river, (he shewed me) the Tree of life, which bare twelve fruits, and yielded her fruit every month." Thus the river was represented as flowing between two trees, which were of one nature, and typified the same Two as the Two Olive Trees, in the vision of Zechariah. 34. But here the matter is more full and plain ; and that which was represented by the golden oil, is here a river of the water of life, having two sides, relating to man and woman, and their respective tree of life on each side: and that covenant by which both man and woman live the life of the Lamb, is here represented as established between them both; so that eternal life is no where to be found but in that covenant and correspondent union which flows between the two; which is like a river for multitude, made up of many drops; for power, which cannot be stopped in its course; and for perpetual motion, which flows day and night. 35. And there shall be no more curse. By the disobedience of Woman, the curse entered; and so by her obedience it is finally taken away; and she becomes a tree of life, on her corresponding side of the river of life, answerable to the life of Jesus. The same was also signified to the prophet Ezekiel, in his vision of the holy waters, with an increase of ve xlvii. 7. ry many Trees on the one side and on the other ;which is according to the promise of God, A little one shall become a thousand, and a small one a strong nation: I the Lord, will hasten it in his time. 36. Therefore it is written; 66 Sing, O barren, 1,5,13,14. thou didst not bear; break forth into singing, and Ezekiel Isai. Ix. 22. chap. liv. 1 VII VII. : cry aloud, thou didst not travail with child for more are the children of the desolate, than the children of the married wife, saith the Lord.-For thy Maker is thine Husband; the Lord of hosts is his name ; and thy redeemer is the Holy One of Israel; The God of the whole earth shall he be called.-And all thy children shall be taught of the Lord; and great shall be the peace of thy children. In righteousness shalt thou be established; thou shalt be far from oppression." CHAP. Jer. xxxi. xxiii. 29. 37. But, "Wo unto them that are with child, and Mat.xr to them that give suck in those days!-They shall 19. come with weeping, and with supplications will I 8,9. lead them :-They shall say, Blessed are the barren, Luke and the wombs that never bare, and the paps which never gave suck.-Therefore they shall come and sing Jer. xxxj; in the height of Zion, and shall flow together to the 12, 13. 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 soul shall be as a watered garden; and they shall not sorrow any more at all." 38. "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 to rejoice from their sorrow. There shall be no more thence an infant of days, neither shall they generate a short lived race. * 39. But I say, Did not Israel know? Did they not understand when such prophecies had gone forth into all the earth, and the words of the prophet unto the ends of the world? Nay, verily the sound they heard, but the sense they wholly mistook for they were united to the first Adam, and multiplied after the covenant of the flesh. : Lowth's Tra tion of Isai. 1ST 20. 40. Therefore "Moses saith, I will provoke you Rom. x. to jealousy by them that are no people, and by a fool- 19, 19. ish nation I will anger you." And such is the Church of Christ in the present day, who claim no relation to the works of the flesh; they are therefore counted as no people, among the peoples and kindreds of the earth. A foolish nation; that is, a nation not founded on, or supported by human science or learning for God hath made foolish the wisdom of this |