[ 5 ]
IN obedience to the sacred command of the
Lord God, whose servant and prophet I am, I publish
this writing, that it may be translated into all languages,
for the information and benefit of all nations.
( 6 )
In the 4th year and 2d month of Solomon's reign, the foundation of the Temple was laid.
[ 7 ]
THE first knowledge of that Law,which was
committed to writing by Moses, was given to Abraham,
at the age of 99: -- of the world 2047.
The Gospel of Salvation was first preached by
Christ, at the age 30, of the world 4149.
Jerusalem was besieged and taken three different
times by Nebuchadnezzar. The first was in the reign
of Jehoiakim, when several of the Princes and Priests
were carried away to Babylon: among the former
was Daniel, and among the latter was Zekiel: -- both
Prophets. The second was in the reign of Jehoiachin,
when the Recorded captivity began; and the
third was in the reign of Zedekiah, when the Temple
and City were levelled with the ground.
O F T H E M E S S I A H.
The Prophet Daniel, Chap. ix.
Verse 25. Know, therefore, and understand, that
from the going forth of the command to restore,
(meaning the captivity) and to build Jerusalem to
Messiah the Prince, shall be seven weeks, and three-score
and two weeks; the street shall be built again,
and the wall, even in troublesome times.
Seven weeks, and three-score and two weeks is
meant for a time of four hundred and eighty-three
years; which commenced in the first year of Cyrus
over Babylon, when he issued the proclamation to
restore the captivity, and concluded at the birth of Christ.
( 8 )
Two years after the Jews returned from Babylon
to Jerusalem they laid the foundation of the second
Temple, but were so much interrupted in the building
as not to be able to complete it until the expiration
of eighty-two years.
26. And after three-score and two weeks (which
is four hundred and thirty-four years, meaning
from the time the Temple was finished to the death
of Christ) shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself;
and the people of the Prince that comes, (meaning
the Romans) will destroy the city and the sanctuary;
it will be done like the overflowing of a
flood; and to the end of war, their desolation is determined
While the war continues in the world, Jerusalem,
the capital of the King of Peace is decreed to lie
desolate: the restoration of the Jews will commence
with the destruction of war, to favour their return
and build the city, and once more receive from Jerusalem the
commands of the living God.
The Prophet Isaiah, Chap. vii.
14. Therefore the Lord himself will give you a
sign, behold a Virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
and shall call his name Immanuel.
This was the Lord Jesus Christ, who was born of
the Blessed Virgin, called Mary.
Chap. ix. 6. For unto us a child is born, unto us
a son is given; and the government shall be on his
shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful,
Counsellor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father,
the Prince of Peace.
( 9 )
This was the Lord Jesus Christ, who was the Messiah
and King of the Jews.
7. 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 justice, from henceforth, even for
ever: the zeal of the Lord of Hosts will perform this.
The Prophet Zachariah, Chap. xii.
13. And I will pour upon the house of David,
and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of
grace and of supplications: and they shall look to me
that was pierced; and shall mourn like him that
mourns for his only son: and shall be in bitterness,
like him that is in bitterness for his first born.
This verse will be fulfiled by the Jews, after their
return, it means the Lord Jesus Christ, who was crucified
at the age of thirty-three years and four months.
Told me by Revelation.
The DEPARTURE of the HEBREWS from all
Nations, their return to Jerusalem. Chap. xii.
From the Three Thousand Six Hundred and Seventeenth
Year of the World, which was the third
year of Belshazzar, king of Babylon, when the Vision
was shewen to Daniel, of Jerusalem's future desolation,
the last dispersion of the Jews, and their
being trod under foot in all nations, -- to the time of
their return to the later days; -- is two thousand
three hundred years.
To make the Vision of Daniel which was explained
to me, by Revelation from the Lord God, to be
more easily understood, -- read what follows.
( 10 )
The Prophet Daniel, after describing the succession
of Cryus and Alexander, goes on to the time of Christ,
the destruction of Jerusalem, and how long it is to lie
desolate; the dispersion of the Jews, and how long
they are to be trod under foot in all nations.
Chap. viii. v. 11. Yea he magnifieth himself,
even to the Prince of the Host; by him the daily
sacrifice was taken away, and the place of his sanctuary
was cast down.
12. And a Host was given him against the daily
sacrifices by reason of transgression: and it cast down
the truth to the ground, and it practiced and prospered.
13. Then I heard one saint speaking, and another
saint said to that certain saint which spake, 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?
One angel was asking another in the presence of
Daniel, that he might hear and be informed to write
down what was said.
The sanctuary means the second temple, though
not built when this vision was shewn to Daniel;
the Host the multitude of the people, or the whole nation.
How long shall be the vision, means how long
is it from this time or year of shewing the vision tom
Daniel until it is fulfilled by the restoration of the
Jews in the latter days of the world, when the curse
for transgression which made the city desolate will
be removed, and the ground of the sanctuary cleaned.
14. And he said to me, unto two thousand and
three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleaned.
Days are mentioned by the angel instead of years,
( 11 )
to conceal the meaning of the prophecy until the
proper time is fulfilled, and the appointed person
made known for it to be revealed to: the present is
the time that was then intended; I am the appointed
person made known for it to be revealed to and the
Prophet commanded to make it known
3617 -- The year of the world when the vision to
Daniel, of Jerusalem's future desolation, and
how long.
2300 -- From the year of shewing the vision to the restoration
of the Jews when it will be fulfilled.
5917 -- The year of the world when the Jews will
be restored to Jerusalem, which answers
to the year of Christ -- -- 1798.
The return of the JEWS to their own Land in the latter time of the world, recorded by Moses and the other Prophets.
This song of Moses in the thirty-second chapter
of Deuteronomy, is the written testimony, given
then, between God, as Christ, and his people, until
their return to Jerusalem in the latter days of the
world. It begins with describing Christ preaching
the Gospel of the kingdom of heaven, afterwards the
great destruction of the Jews, which was fulfilled by
the Romans, and their dispersion over the world:
the latter part means their restoration, which invites
all nations to rejoice with them for the abundant mercy
of God, and his goodness to their land.
Deuteronomy, Chap. xxxii.
1. Give ear, O ye Heavens, and I will speak, and
hear, O earth, the words of my mouth.
2. My doctrine shall drop as the rain: my speech
( 12 )
shall distill as the dew, as the small rain upon the tender
herb, and as the showers upon the grass.
3. Because I will publish the name of the Lord;
ascribe ye greatness to our God.
4. He is the Rock, his work is perfect; for all his
ways are judgment: a God of truth, and without iniquity,
just and right is he.
Compare this part to the preaching of Christ in the
beginning of the fifth chapter of the Gospel by St. Matthew.
and see how nearly they agree.
21. They have moved me to jealousy with that
which is not God; they have provoked me to anger
with their vanities; and I will move them to Jealousy
with those which are not a people, I will provoke
them to anger with a foolish nation.
22. For a fire is kindled in mine anger, and shall
burn unto the lowest hell, and shall consume the earth
with her increase, and set on fire the foundations of
the mountains.
23. I will heap mischiefs upon them; I will spend
mine arrows upon them.
24. They shall be burnt with hunger, and devoured
with burning heat and with bitter destruction: I
will also send the teeth of beasts upon them, with the
poison of serpents of the dust.
25. The sword without, and terror within, shall
destroy both the young man and the virgin, the suckling
also with the man of gray hairs.
26. I said, I would scatter them into corners, I
would make the remembrance of them to cease from
among men:
27. Were it not that I feared the wrath of the
( 13 )
enemy, lest their adversaries should behave themselves
strangely; and lest they should say, Our hand
is high, and the Lord has not done all this.
28. For they [are] a nation void of counsel, neither is
there any understanding in them.
Had God in his great anger destroyed the Jews entirely
by the Romans, they would have ascribed it to
their own power, and after nations would not believe
their ever had been such a people on the face of the
earth: for which he dispersed them over the world,
and to be travelling signs of warning to all nations
until the determined time of their punishment is expired,
when he will, to fulfil the scripture, recal them
with mercy and everlasting love.
29. O that they were wise, that they understood
this, that they would consider their latter end!
30. How should one chase a thousand, and two put
ten thousand to flight, except their Rock had sold
them, and the Lord had shut them up.
36. For the Lord will judge his people, and repent
himself for his servants, when he seeth that their power
is gone, and there is none shut up, or left.
37. And he shall say, where are their gods, their
rock in whom they trusted.
38. Which did eat the fat of their sacrifices, and
drank the wine of their drink offerings? Let them
rise up and help you, and be your protection.
39. See now that I, even I, am he, (meaning God
as Christ, the Messiah,) and there is no God with
me: I kill, and I make alive; I wound, and I heal;
neither is there any that can deliver out of my hand.
40. For I lift up my hand to Heaven, and say, I live
for ever.
( 14 )
41. If I whet my glittering sword, and mine hand
take hold on judgment; I will render vengeance to
mine enemies, and will reward them that hate me.
42. I will make mine arrows drunk with blood, and
my sword shall devour flesh; and that with the blood
of the slain, and of the captives from the beginning
of revenges upon the enemy.
43. 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 be merciful
unto his land, and to his people.
The Prophet Isaiah, Chap. ii
2. And it shall come to pass In the Last Days,
that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established
in the top of the mountains, and shall be
exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it.
3. 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 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 (This Prophecy, as every man of understand[ing]
in the Scriptures must acknowledge, has never
been fulfilled yet: for the time alluded to by the Prophet,
is according to his own words in the 2d. and
4th. verses, in the latter days of the world: it is a
Man that is alluded to, composed of flesh and blood,
of the tribe of Judah, of the Family of David, and
not the Lord Jesus Christ as all European nations
suppose, that is to fulfill this very exalted character;
going forth by Command and under the mighty power
of God, as his Elijah the last prophet and Messenger
to warn all nations -- to turn the Fathers to the
( 15 )
Children, and the Children to the Fathers: -- to prepare
them by universal Peace, receive a second time
Christ their God and Creator) shall judge among the
nations and shall rebuke many people; and they shall
beat their swords into plough-shares, and their spears
into reaping hooks; nation shall not lift up the sword
against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.
All the nations of Europe acknowledge Christ for
the Prince of Peace, and that his doctrine prohibits
war; yet to the shame of all nations, they refuse to
obey his commands -- For which, as he beseeched before,
and no nation would obey, he will soon command,
when all nations must obey, or be burnt with fire.
Chap. xii. 1. And there shall come forth a Rod out
of the Stem of Jesse, and a Branch (meaning myself)
shall grow out of his Roots:
2. And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him;
the Spirit of Wisdom and understanding, the Spirit
of Counsel and Might; the Spirit of knowledge, and
of the fear of the Lord;:
3. And shall make him of quick understanding in
the fear of the Lord. And he shall not Judge after
the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing
of his Ears:
4. But with righteousness shall he judge the Poor,
and reprove with Equity for the Meek of the Earth:
and he shall smite the Earth with the rod of his
mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall slay
the wicked.
5. And righteousness shall be the girdle of his
loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins.
6 The Wolf also shall dwell with the Lamb, and
the Leopard shall lie down with the Kid; and the
( 16 )
Calf, and the young Lion, and the Fatling together;
and a little Child shall lead them.
7. And the Cow, and the Bear shall feed; their
young ones shall lie down together: and the Lion
shall eat straw like the Ox.
8. And the Suckling Child shall play on the hole
of the Asp, and the Weaned Child shall put his hand
on the Cockatrice den.
9. They shall not destroy nor hurt in all my holy
mountain for the earth shall be full of the knowledge
of the Lord; as the waters cover the Sea.
10. And in that day there shall be a Root of Jessee
(meaning myself) which shall stand for a Sign to the
People (meaning the Jews) to it shall the Gentiles
seek; and his Rest (meaning his Government at
Jerusalem) shall be glorious.
When I was writing the first edition of this Book
for public information, I said to God, almost similar
to what the Prophet Samuel said when he was commanded
to anoint David to be king of Israel during
the life-time of Saul; for indeed I was fearful of being
used ill, I shall be called a false Prophet, and every
body will say I am arrogating to myself the place
of Christ: for the English and other European nations
professing Christianity, have always supposed
that the Rod out of the Stem of Jessee alluded to in
this Chapter meant the Lord Jesus Christ: Indeed it
does not, but a man composed of Flesh and Blood like
one of themselves, who is to be the greatest under
heaven, and more power given to him from God than
ever was -- or ever will be to any other.
Like King David he will be empowered to command,
and like the Prophet Elijah he will be empowered
to execute
( 17 )
The Lord God commands me now to mention
these things to acknowledge the error, (though permitted
to remove my unjust apprehensions for the consequences)
and with shame my own criminality, for
doubting when he told me, and when I knew from
his many revealed promises to myself -- that he was
bound by the sacred truth of his Words to fulfill his
covenant and protect me,
This writing I sign and date by command of the
Lord God, -- to remove my feeble error, and [--ostitute]
without disguise (for the false opinions of men
are to be changed) his just and powerful truth,
RICHARD BROTHERS.
LONDON, 10th of the Month
called July, 1794.
11. And it shall come to pass in that day that the
Lord will set his hand the second time to recover the remnant of his people which are left, from
Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the Islands of the sea.
12. And he will set up an ensign for the nations,
and will assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together
the dispersed of Judah from the four corners
of the earth.
The first captivity of the Jews was by Nebuchadnezzar,
and the second by the Romans; their residence
in Egypt not being the consequence of conquest,
is not accounted as a captivity, because they
willingly entered into that country, to be relieved
from the distresses of famine in their own. The
hard bondage they were oppressed with proceeded
from the Egyptians growing jealous of their quick
multiplication and great numbers: but that did not
take place until the death of Joseph, and until such
a considerable time after had elapsed as to wear away
( 18 )
all remembrance of his name and gratitude for his kindness.
13. The envy also of Ephraim shall depart, and
the adversaries of Judah shall be cut off: Ephraim
shall not envy Judah, and Judah shall not vex Ephraim.
14. But they shall fly upon the shoulders of the
Philistines toward the west; they shall spoil them
of the east together: they shall lay their hand upon
Moab and Edom; and the Children of Ammon shall
obey them.
15. And the Lord shall utterly destroy the tongue of
the Egyptian Sea; and with his mighty wind he will
shake his hand over the river, and smite it in the seven
streams that men may go over dry shod.
16. And there shall be a high way from Assyria
for the remnant of his people which are left; like as
it was to Israel in the day that he came up out of the
land of Egypt.
Chap. xii. 1. And 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
comforteth 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.
3. Therefore with joy ye shall draw water out of the
Wells of salvation.
4. And in that day ye shall say, Praise the Lord, call
upon his name, declare his doings among the People,
and make mention that his name be exalted.
Sing unto the Lord; for he hath done excellent things;
this is known in all the earth. Cry out and shout,
( 19 )
thou inhabitant of Zion: for great is the Holy
one of Israel in the midst of thee.
Chap. liv. 1. Sing, O Barren, thou that didst not
bear; brake 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.
The married wife means Jerusalem at a former
time, when rich and full of inhabitants; the desolate
wife means Jerusalem at present; although she
is a heap of rubbish and levelled with the ground,
the Jews will return in such great multitudes. that
when rebuilt, her extent and number of people will
be far greater than at any former period.
This is the true meaning of the prophecy, and not
the Gentiles deliverance, as is placed at the head of
the chapter in the Bible.
2. Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them
stretch forth the curtains of thine habitation; spare
not, lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes;
3. For thou shalt break forth on the right hand
and on the left; and thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles,
and make the desolate cities to be inhabited.
4. 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.
5. For thy maker is thine husband; the Lord of
Hosts is his name; and thy Redeemer the Holy One
of Israel, the God of the whole earth shall he be called;
( 20 )
6. For the Lord hath called thee as a woman forsaken
and grieved in spirit, and a wife of youth, when
thou wast refused.
7. For a small moment have I forsaken thee, but
with great mercies will I gather thee.
8. In a little wrath I hid my face from thee, for a
moment; but with everlasting kindness I will have
mercy on thee, says the Lord thy Redeemer.
9. For this is as the waters of Noah unto me: for
as I have sworn that the waters of Noah should not
go over the earth any more; so have I sworn that I
would not be wroth with thee, nor rebuke thee.
10. For the mountains shall depart, and the hills
be removed; but my kindness shall not depart from
thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed,
says the Lord that hath mercy on thee.
Chap. lx. 1. Arise, shine; for thy light is come
and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee.
2. For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth,
and gross darkness the people: but the Lord will rise
upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee.
3. And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and
kings to the brightness of thy rising.
8. Who are these that come as a cloud, and that
fly as the doves to their windows?
9. Surely the Isles shall wait on me, but the ships
of Tarshish first, to bring thy sons from afar, their
gold and silver with them, to the name of the Lord
thy God, and to the Holy One of Israel, because he
hath glorified thee.
10. And the sons of strangers shall build up thy
( 21 )
walls, and their kings shall minister unto thee; for in
my wrath I smote thee, but in my favour I will have
mercy on thee.
11. Therefore thy gates shall be open continually;
they shall not be shut day or night; that men may
bring to thee the forces of the Gentiles, and that
their kings may be brought.
12. For the nation and kingdom that will not
serve thee shall perish; yea, those nations shall be
utterly wasted.
13. The glory of Lebanon shall come unto thee, the
Fir-tree, the Pine-tree, and the Box together, to
beautify the place of my Sanctuary; for I will make
the place of My Feet glorious.
14. The sons also of them that afflicted thee shall
come bending to 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.
15. Whereas thou hast been forsaken and hated, so
that no man went through thee; I will make thee an
eternal excellency, a joy of many generations.
16. 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 thy Redeemer,
the mighty One of Jacob.
17. For brass I will bring gold, and for iron I will
bring silver; for wood brass, and for stones iron, I
will also make thy officers Peace, and thy exactors
Righteousness.
18. 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.
( 22 )
19. The sun shall be no more thy light by Day,
neither for brightness shall the Moon by Night; but the
Lord will be to thee an everlasting light, and thy God
thy glory.
20. Thy Sun shall no more go down; neither shall
thy moon withdraw itself: for the Lord will be thy
everlasting light, and the days of thy mourning shall
be ended.
21. Thy people also shall be all righteous, they
shall inherit the land for ever, the branch of my
planting, and the work of my hands, that I may be glorified.
22. A little one shall become a thousand, and a
small one a strong nation: I the Lord will hasten it
in due time.
Chap. lxii. For Zion's sake will I not hold my
peace, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest, until
the righteousness thereof go forth as brightness,
and the salvation thereof as a lamp that burns.
4. Thou shalt no more be termed forsaken; neither
shall thy land any more be termed desolate; but
thou shalt be called Hepzibah, and thy land Beulah:
for the Lord delights in thee, And thy land shall be married.
8. The Lord hath sworn by his Right hand, and by
the Arm of his strength; Surely I will no more give
thy corn to be meat for thy enemies; and the sons of
the stranger shall no more drink the wine for which
thou hast laboured:
9. But they that gather it shall eat it, and praise the
Lord; and they that bring it together shall drink it
in the courts of my holiness.
( 23 )
10. Go through, go through the gates; prepare
ye the way of the people; cast up, cast up the highway;
gather out the stones; lift up a standard for the people.
11. Behold, the Lord hath proclaimed unto the end of
the world, say ye to the daughter of Zion, behold
thy salvation comes; behold, his reward is with him,
and his work before him.
12. And they shall call them, The Holy People,
the redeemed of the Lord; and thou shalt be called,
Sought out, A City not forsaken.
Chap. lxv. 17. For, behold, I create new Heavens
and a new Earth: and the former shall not be remembered,
nor come into mind.
18. But be ye glad, and rejoice for ever in that
which I create; for, behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing,
and her people a joy.
19. And I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and be joyful
in my people: the voice of weeping shall be no more
heard in her, nor the voice of crying.
23. They shall not labour in vain, nor bring forth
for nothing; for they are the seed which the Lord has
blessed, and their offspring with them.
24. And it shall come to pass, that before they
call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking,
I will hear.
25. The Wolf and the Lamb shall feed together,
and the Lion shall eat straw like the Bullock; and
dust shall be the Serpent's meat. They shall not destroy,
nor hurt in all my Holy Mountain, says the Lord.
This last verse is an allusion to the peace and great
( 24 )
happiness that will be in the land of Israel when the
Jews are restored.
Chap. lxvi. 10. Rejoice ye with Jerusalem, and be
glad all ye that love her; rejoice with joy all ye that
have mourned for her,
11. 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.
12. 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.
13. As one whom his mother comforts, so will I
comfort you; and ye shall be comforted in Jerusalem.
14. 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 toward his servants,
but his indignation toward his enemies.
15. For, behold, the Lord will come with fire, and
with his chariots like a whirlwind, to render anger
with fury, and his rebuke with a flame of fire.
16. For by fire, and by his sword, will the
Lord plead with all flesh: and the slain of the Lord
will be many.
20. And they shall bring all your Brethren for an
offering unto the Lord out of all nations, upon horses,
and in chariots; upon mules, and upon swift beasts,
to my holy mountain Jerusalem, says the Lord, as
the children of Israel bring an offering in a clean vessel
into the House of the Lord.
21. And I will also take of them for Priests and
for Levites, says the Lord.
( 25 )
22. For as the new Heavens and the new Earth
which I will make, shall remain before me, says the
Lord, so shall your seed and your name remain.
23. And it shall come to pass, that from one new
moon to another, and from one Sabbath to another,
all people shall come to worship before me, says the Lord.
24. And they shall go forth, and look upon the carcasses
of the men that have transgressed against me; for
their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be
quenched; that they shall be an abhorrence to all flesh.
The new Heavens and the new Earth, mean an
entire regeneration of man through the power and
knowledge from the Spirit of God. At present, all
nations oppose the Gospel of the Kingdom of Heaven
in the two most essential commands for them to obey,
which are, War -- and Swearing. Remember that
form of praying called the Lord's Prayer; which
says, Thy will be done on Earth, as it is in Heaven.
There is no war in heaven, neither is there any swearing:
how is it then that the people of Europe, the
most numerous professing Christianity, and certainly
the most enlightened with knowledge of any in the
world, can seriously say to God, Th[y] will be done
on Earth, when they are instructed by their public
laws and forms of worship to oppose it?
Although national laws are undesignedly made to
oppose Christ, it is a duty incumbent on the people
to take care that none of their prayers are: but that
every supplication, and all their forms of Worship
are, as they should be -- in strict obedience to his
blessed Gospel of Peace.
The Prophet Jeremiah, Chap. xxiii.
3. And I will gather the remnant of my flock
( 26 )
out of all countries whither I have driven them, and
will bring them again to their folds; and they shall
be fruitful and increase.
4. And I will set up shepherds over them which shall
feed them; and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed,
neither shall they be lacking, says the Lord.
5. Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord,
that I will raise to David a righteous branch, and a
king shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment
and justice in the earth.
6. In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall
dwell safely; and this is the name wherewith he shall
be called, The Lord's Righteousness. (But not the
Lord our Righteousness.)
7. Therefore, behold, the days are coming, says
the Lord, when they shall no more say, the Lord
lives that brought up the Children of Israel out of
the Land of Egypt;
8. But, The Lord lives who brought up and who
led the seed of the House of Israel out of the North
Country, and from all countries whither I have driven
them; and they shall dwell in their own land.
Chap. xxxi. 1. At the same time, says the Lord,
I will be the God of all the families of Israel, and
they shall be my people.
2. Thus says the Lord, The people which were
left of the sword, found grace in the wilderness,
even Israel when I went to cause him to rest.
3. The Lord hath appeared to me of old, saying,
Yes, I have loved thee with an everlasting love;
therefore with loving-kindness have I drawn thee.
4. Again I will build thee, and thou shalt be
( 27 )
built, O Virgin of Israel; thou shalt again be adorned
with thy tabrets, and shalt go forth in the dances
like them that make merry.
5. Thou shalt yet plant vines upon the mountains of
Samaria, the planters shall plant, and shalt eat
them as common things.
6. For there shall be a day, that the watchmen on
Mount Ephraim shall cry, Arise ye, let us go up to
Zion to the Lord our God.
7. For thus saith the Lord; Sing with gladness
for Jacob, and shout among the chief of the nations:
publish ye, praise ye, and say, O Lord, save thy people
the remnant of Israel.
8. Behold, I will bring them from the North
Country, and gather them from the Coasts of the
East; the blind and the lame, the woman with child,
and her that travails with child together: a great
company shall return thither.
9. They shall come with weeping, and with supplications;
I will lead them: I will cause them to
walk by the rivers of waters, in a straight way where
they shall not stumble: for I am a father to Israel,
and Ephraim is my first-born.
10. Hear the word of the Lord, O ye nations, and
declare it to the islands afar off; and say, he that
scattered Israel will gather him, and keep him as a
shepherd doth his flock.
11. For the Lord has redeemed Jacob, and ransomed
him from the hand of him that was stronger than he.
12. 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:
( 28 )
and their souls shall be as a watered garden, and they
shalt not sorrow any more at all.
13. Then shall the Virgin rejoice in the dance,
with young men and old together; for I will turn
their mourning into joy, and will comfort them and
make them rejoice from their sorrow.
14. And I will satiate the soul of the priests with
fatness, and my people shall be satisfied with my
goodness, says the Lord.
15. Thus says the Lord: A voice was heard in
Ramah, lamentation and bitter weeping; Rachael
weeping for her children, refused to be comforted because
they were not.
16. Thus says the Lord; Refrain thy voice from
weeping, and thy eyes from tears: for thy work
shall be rewarded, says the Lord; and they shall
come again from the land of the enemy.
17. And there is hope in thy end, says the Lord,
that thy children shall come again to their own border.
18. I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself thus; Thou hast chastised me, and I was chastised, as a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke: turn thou me, and I shall be turned; for thou art the Lord my God.
21. Set the[e] up waymarks, make thee high heaps:
set thy heart toward the highway, even the way
which thou went: turn again, O Virgin of Israel,
turn again to these thy cities.
22. How long wilt thou go about, O thou backsliding
daughter? For the Lord has created a new
thing in the Earth, a woman shall compass a man.
(It means Christ being born of the blessed Virgin.)
23. Thus says the Lord of Hosts, the God of
Israel; as yet they shall use this speech in the land
of Judah, and in the cities thereof, when I bring again
their captivity: The Lord bless thee, O habitation
of justice, and mountain of Holiness.
( 29 )
24. And there shall dwell in Judah itself, and in
all the cities thereof together, husbandmen, and they
that go forth with flocks.
25. For I will refresh the weary soul, and I will
comfort every sorrowful soul.
31. Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord,
that I will make a New Covenant with the House of
Israel and with the House of Judah:
32. Not according to the covenant 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 covenant
they broke although I was a husband to them,
says the Lord:
33. But this shall be the covenant that I will make
with the House of Israel; after those days, says the
Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts, and
write it in their hearts; and will be their God,
and they shall be my people.
34. And they shall teach no more every man his
neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, know
the Lord: for they all shall know me, from the
least of them to the greatest, says the Lord: for I will
forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember
no more.
35. Thus says the Lord, who gives the Sun for a
light by day, and the ordinances of the Moon and of
the stars for a light by night, who divides the sea
when the waves of it roar: the Lord of Hosts is his name:
36. If those ordinances depart from before me,
says the Lord, then the Seed of Israel shall also cease
from being a nation before me for ever.
( 30 )
37. 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, says the Lord.
38. Behold, the days come, says the Lord,
when the city shall be built to the Lord, from the
Tower of Hananeel to the gate of the corner.
39. And the measuring line shall yet go forth over
against it upon the hill Gareb, and shalt compass about
to Goath.
40. And the whole valley of the dead bodies, and
of the ashes, and all the fields to the brook of Kidron,
to the corner of the horse gate toward the east,
shall be Holy to the Lord; It shall not be plucked up,
nor thrown down any more for ever.
The Prophet Ezekiel, Chap. xvi.
59. For thus says the Lord God: I will even
deal with thee as thou hast done, which has despised
the oath by breaking the Covenant.
60. Nevertheless I shall remember my Covenant
with thee in the days of thy youth, but I will establish
unto thee an everlasting Covenant.
61. Then thou shalt remember thy ways, and be
ashamed, when thou receive thy sisters, thy elder and
thy younger: and I will give them to thee for
daughters; but not by thy former Covenant.
62 And I will establish my Covenant with thee;
and thou shalt know that I am the Lord:
63. That thou may remember, and be confounded,
and never open thy mouth any more because of thy
shame, when I am pacified toward thee for all that
thou hast done, says the Lord God.
( 31 )
Chap. xxxiv. 11. For thus says the Lord God;
Behold, I, even I, will both search for my sheep, and
seek them out.
12. As a shepherd gathers his flock in the day that
his sheep 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.
13. And I will bring them out from the people,
and gather them from the countries, and will bring
them to their own land, and I will feed them on the
mountains of Israel by the rivers, and make them inhabit
the waste places of the country.
22. Therefore will I save my flock, and they shall
no more be a prey; and I will judge between cattle
and cattle.
23. 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.
24. And I the Lord (meaning Christ) will be
their God, and my servant David (meaning his descendant)
a Prince among them: I the Lord have
spoken it.
Chap. xxxvi. 6. Prophecy therefore concerning
the land of Israel, and say unto the mountains, to the
hills, to the rivers, and to the valleys, Thus says the
Lord God; behold, I have spoken in my jealousy and
fury, because ye have borne the shame of the heathen:
7. Therefore thus says the Lord God: I have
lifted up my hand, surely the heathen that are about
you shall bear their own shame.
8. But ye, O mountains of Israel, shall shoot forth
your branches, and yield your fruit to my people of
Israel; for they are at hand to come.
( 32 )
12. Yes, I will cause men to walk on you, even
my people Israel; and they shall possess thee, thou
shalt be their inheritance, and thou shalt no more
henceforth bereave them of men.
33. Thus says the Lord God; in the day that I
clean you from all iniquities I will also cause you to
dwell in the cities, and the waste places shall be built.
34. And the desolate land shall be tilled, which
lay desolate in the sight of all that passed by.
35. 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 fenced, and
are full of inhabitants.
36. 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.
37. Thus says the Lord God; I will yet for this
be enquired of by the house of Israel, to do it for
them; I will increase them with men like a flock.
38. As the holy flock, as the flock of Jerusalem
in her solemn feasts; so shall the waste cities be filled
with flocks of men: and they shall know that I am
the Lord.
Chap. xxxvii. 20. And the sticks which thou write
on shall be in thy hand before their eyes.
21. And say to them, Thus says the Lord God;
behold, I will take the children of Israel from among
the heathen whither they are gone, and will gather
them on every side, and bring them into their own land:
22 And I will make them one nation in, the
( 33 )
land, upon the mountains of Israel; and there shall
be one king to them all: they shall be no more two
nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms
any more at all:
23. 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 clean them; so shall they be my people,
and I will be their God.
24. And David my servant shall be king over them;
and they all shall have one shepherd: they shall also
walk in my judgments, and observe my statutes, to do them.
25. And they shall dwell in the land that I have
given unto Jacob my servant, in which your fathers have
dwelt; and they shall dwell therein, even they and
their children, and their children's children for ever;
and my servant David (meaning his visible descendant)
shall be their prince forever.
The vision of Ezekiel, relative to Jerusalem, alludes
to the grandeur and extent of it when rebuilt by
the Jews, after their return, in the year of one thousand
and seven hundred and ninety-eight: it will be the
capital of the world, and from it will go once more,
to all nations, the commands of the living God.
The Prophet Hosea, Chap. ii.
18. And in that day will I make a covenant for
them with the beasts of the field, and with the fowls of
heaven, and with the creeping things of the ground:
and I will break the bow, the sword, and the battle
out of the earth; and they shall lie down with safety.
19. And I will betroth thee unto me for ever; yea,
( 34 )
I will betroth thee unto me in righteousness, and in truth;
in loving kindness, and in mercies.
20. I will even betroth thee unto me in faithfulness;
and thou shalt know the Lord.
23. And I will sow her unto me in the earth, and I
will have mercy on her that had not obtained mercy;
(meaning Jerusalem;) and I will say to them which
were not my people, (meaning the Jews during their
dispersion,) Ye are my people; and they shall say,
Thou art our God.
Chap. iii. 4. For the children of Israel shall be
many days without a king, and without a prince, and
without a sacrifice, and without an image, and without an
ephod, and without teraphim:
5. Afterwards the children of Israel shall return
and seek the Lord their God, and David their king;
and they shall fear the Lord, and shall know his goodness
in the latter days.
The Prophet Joel, Chap. iii.
1. For, behold, in those days, and in that time, when
I bring again the captivity of Judah to Jerusalem,
2. I will also gather all nations, and will bring
them down to the valley of Jehoshaphat, to plead
with them there for my people, for Israel my heritage,
whom they have scattered among the nations,
and for dividing my land.
9. Proclaim ye this among the Gentiles; prepare
war, wake up the mighty men, let all the men of war
draw near; let them come up:
10. Beat your ploughshares into swords, and your reaping
hooks into spears: let the weak say, I am strong.
( 35 )
11. Assemble yourselves and come, all ye heathen;
and gather yourselves together round about; thither cause
thy mighty ones to come down, O Lord.
12. Let the heathen be waked, and come up to the
valley of Jehoshaphat: for it is there will I sit to
judge all the heaven round about.
14. Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision;
for the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision.
After the restoration of the Jews, the barbarous
nations will send great armies to invade their lands;
God will permit them to advance, that he may destroy
them with his fire from heaven.
15. The sun and the moon shall be darkened, and the
stars shall withdraw their shining.
16. The Lord will roar out of Zion, and utter
his voice from Jerusalem; the heavens and earth shall
shake, but the Lord will be the hope of his people,
and the strength of the children of Israel.
17. So shall ye know that I am the Lord your God
(directed to all nations) dwelling in Zion, my holy
mountain: then shall Jerusalem be holy, and there
shall no strangers pass through her any more.
18. And it shall come to pass in that day, that the
mountains shall drop down new wine, and the hills
shall flow with milk, and all the rivers of Judah shall
flow with waters, and a fountain shall come forth
from the House of the Lord, and water the valley of Shittim.
19. Egypt shall be a desolation, and Edom a desolate
wilderness, for the violence against the children
of Judah, and shedding their innocent blood
in the land.
( 36 )
20. But Judah shall dwell for ever, and Jerusalem
from generation to generation.
21. For I will cleanse their blood that I have not
cleansed: for the Lord dwells in Zion.
The Prophet Amos, Chap. ix.
8. Behold, the eyes of the Lord God are upon the
sinful kingdom: and I will destroy it from off the face
of the earth; but I will not utterly destroy the house
of Jacob, says the Lord.
9. For, lo, I will command, and I will sift the house
of Israel among all nations, like as corn is sifted in a
si[e]ve, yet lest the grain shall not fall upon the earth.
10. All the sinners of my people shall die by the
sword, which say the evil shall not overtake nor
prevent us.
11. In that day, will I raise up the tabernacle
of David that is fallen, (meaning the restoration of
his descendant to the government of the children of
Israel) and close up the breaches thereof; and I will
raise up his ruins, and build it as in the days of old:
12. That they may possess the remnant of Edom,
and of all the heathen which are called by my
name, says the Lord, who does this.
13. Behold, the days will come, says the Lord, that
the ploughman shall overtake the reaper, and the treader
of grapes him that sows the seed; the mountain
shall drop sweet wine, and all the hills shall flow with milk.
14. And I will bring again the captivity of my
people of Israel, and they shall build the waste cities, and
inhabit them; they shall plant vineyards, and drink
the wine them; they shall also make gardens, and
eat the fruit of them.
( 37 )
15. And I will plant them upon their own land,
they shall no more be pulled up out of their own land
which I have given them, says the Lord thy God.
The Prophet Obediah, Chap. i.
8. Shall I not in that day, says the Lord, even destroy
the wise men out of Edom, and understanding
out of the mount of Esau.
9. And thy mighty men, O Teman, shall be dismayed;
to the end that every one of the mount of
Esau may be cut off by slaughter.
10. For thy violence against thy brother Jacob,
shame shall cover thee, and thou shalt be cut off for ever.
15. For the day of the Lord is near upon all the
heathen: as thou hast done, it shall be done to thee;
thy reward shall return on thine own head.
16. For as ye have drunk on my holy mountain,
(meaning the Turks) so shall all the heathen drink
continually; yea, they shall drink and they swallow down,
and they shall be as though they had not been.
17. But upon mount Zion shall be deliverance, and
on it shall be holiness; for the house of Jacob shall
possess all their possessions.
18. And the house of Jacob shall be a fire, and the
house of Joseph a flame: and the house of Esau for
stubble: they shall kindle in them, and devour them;
there shall not be any remaining of the house of Esau;
for the Lord hath spoken it.
19. And they of the south shall possess the mount
of Esau; and they of the plains, the Philistines: they
shall possess their field, and Ephraim the fields of Samaria,
and Benjamin shall possess Gilead.
( 38 )
20. And the captivity of the Host of the children
of Israel shall possess that of the Canaanites, even to
Zarapath, and the captivity of Jerusalem, which is in
Sepharad, shall possess the cities of the south.
21. And saviours shall come on mount Zion,
to judge the mount of Esau; and the kingdom
shall be the Lord's.
The Turks are descended from Esau, the brother
of Jacob; but their Emperor, and his family, are descended
from Jonathan, the son of Saul, king of Israel.
Told me by Revelation.
The Prophet Micha, Chap. iv.
1. But in the last days it shall come to pass, that the
mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established
upon the top of the mountains, it shall be exalted
above the hills; and people shall flow to it.
6. In that day, says the Lord, I will assemble her
that has halted, and I will gather her that was driven
out, and her that I have afflicted;
7. And I will make the remnant that halted, and
her that was cast far off, a strong nation; and the
Lord will reign over them in mount Zion, from
henceforth, even for ever.
The Prophet Nahum, Chap. i.
15. Behold upon the mountains, the feet of him
that bringeth good tidings, that publishes peace! O
Judah, keep thy solemn feasts, perform thy vows;
for the wicked shall no more pass through thee;
he is utterly cut off.
The beginning of this verse means Christ, preaching
the Gospel of peace; the latter part, when the
Jews are established at Jerusalem, after their next restoration.
( 39 )
The Prophet Zephaniah, Chap. iii.
13. The remnant of Israel shall not commit iniquity,
nor speak lies; neither shall a deceitful tongue
be found in their mouth: for they shall feed and
shall lie down, and none shall make them afraid.
14. Sing, O daughter of Zion; shout, O Israel;
be glad and rejoice with all the heart, O daughter of Jerusalem.
15. The Lord has taken away thy judgments, he
has cast out thy enemy; the king of Israel, even the
Lord, is in the midst of thee: thou shalt not see evil
any more.
16. In that day it shall be said to Jerusalem, Fear
thou not; and to Zion, Let not thine hands be slack.
17. The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is
mighty; he will save, he will rejoice over thee with
joy; he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee
with singing.
18. I will gather them that are sorrowful for the
solemn assemblies who are of thee, to whom the reproach
of thee was a burthen.
19. Behold, at that time I will undo all that afflicts
thee; and I will save her that is stopped, and
gather her that was driven out; and I will get them
praise and renown in every land, where they have
been put to shame.
20. At the time that I bring you again, even the
time that I gather you: for I will get you a name,
and make you to be praised among all people of
the earth, when I turn away your captivity from before
your eyes, says the Lord.
( 40 )
The Prophet Haggai, Chap. ii.
20. And again the word of the Lord came unto Haggai,
in the four and twentieth day of the month, saying,
21. Speak to Zerubbable, governor of Judah, and
say, I will shake the heavens and the earth;
22. And I will overthrow the throne of kingdoms,
and I will destroy the strength of the kingdoms
of the heathen; I will overthrow the chariots, and
those that ride in them: their horses and riders shall
come down, every one by the sword of the other.
The time alluded to by the prophet, is that which
is immediately before the restoration of the Jews, in
the latter days of the world; -- the present is it.
23. In that day, says the Lord of Hosts, I will
take thee, O Zerubbabel, my servant, the son
of Shealtiel, and will make thee a signet; for I have
chosen thee says the Lord of Hosts.
The meaning of this verse is, that when the former
part of this prophecy is fulfilling, Zarubbable
will be revived in his descendant, who will be like
himself, the visible prince and governor of the Jews;
the time is nearly come for this man to be openly
revealed, and to have, in all other respects, this very
gracious and very wonderful promise from God fulfilled.
The Prophet Zechariah, Chap. viii.
7. Thus says the Lord of Hosts; Behold, I will
save my people from the east country, and from the
west country;
8. And I will bring them, and they shall dwell in
the midst of Jerusalem: and they shall be my people, and
I will be their God, in truth and in righteousness.
( 41 )
Chap. x. 6. And I will strengthen the house of
Judah, and I will save the house of Joseph, and I will
bring them again to replace them; for I will have
mercy on them, and they shall be as if I had not cast
them off; for I am the Lord their God, and I will
hear them.
7. And they of Ephraim shall be like a mighty
man, and their hearts shall rejoice as through wine;
yea, their children shall see it and be glad; their heart
shall rejoice in the Lord.
8. I will hiss for them, and gather them; for
I have redeemed them, and they shall increase as they
have increased.
9. And I will sow them among the people; and
they shall remember me in far countries, and they
shall live with their children, and turn again.
10. 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.
Chap. xii. 1. The burthen of the word of the Lord
for Israel: says the Lord, who stretches out the heavens,
and lays the foundations of the earth, that forms
the spirit of man within him.
2. Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling
to all the people round about, and when they
shall be in the siege, both against Judah and against Jerusalem.
3. And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burthensome
stone for all people; all that burthen themselves
with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people
of the earth be gathered together against it.
4. In that day, says the Lord, I will smite every
( 42 )
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.
5. And the governors of Judah shall say in their
heart, the inhabitants of Jerusalem shall be our strength
in the Lord of Hosts, our God.
6. In that day will I make the governors of Judah
like a hearth of fire among wood, like a torch of fire
in a sheaf; they shall devour all the people round about,
on the right hand and on the left; and Jerusalem
shall be inhabited again, even Jerusalem, in her own place.
7. The Lord also will save the tents of Judah first,
to preserve the distinction of the house of David, that
the inhabitants of Jerusalem may not exalt themselves
against Judah.
8. In that day the Lord will defend the inhabitants
of Jerusalem; and he that is feeble among them, in
that day, shall be as David; and the house of David
shall be as God; as the angel of the Lord before them.
This prophecy means the same time, and the same
invasion of Judah by the Geathen, as that mentioned
by the Prophet Joel, in the third chapter; which is
explained already.
9. And it shall come to pass in that day, that I
will destroy the people of all the nations, which are
come against Jerusalem.
10. And I will pour upon the house of David, and
upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace
and of supplications; and they shall look to me that
was pierced, and shall mourn like him that mourns
( 43 )
for his only son; and they shall be in bitterness, like
him that is in bitterness for his first-born.
11. In that day, there shall be great mourning in
Jerusalem, like the mourning of Hadadrimon, in the
valley of Megiddon.
12. And this land shall mourn, every family apart;
The family of the house of David apart, and their
wives apart, the family of Nathan apart, and their
wives apart.
13. The family of the house of Levi apart, and
their wives apart; the family of Shemei apart, and
their wives apart.
14. All the families that remain, every family
apart, and their wives apart.
When the Heathen armies invade the land of Israel,
it will be with a resolution to seize on every
moveable thing, and destroy the people; the Jews,
then acknowledge the Messiah as God, will believe,
under an excess of grief, that he was crucified. Sensible
of their perilous condition, and knowing that it
is he only can save them, they will, every man and
family, implore him for compassion and deliverance.
The Hebrews will be delivered and the Heathen
entirely destroyed.
The Prophet Malachi, Chap. iv.
5. Behold, I send you Elijah the Prophet, before
the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord:
6. And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the
children, and the heart of the children to their fathers;
lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.
The great Prophet alluded to in this chapter, is
the same that will be revealed to the Jews, to order
( 44 )
their return to Jerusalem before the expiration of one
thousand seven hundred and ninety-eight; he will
possess the spirit of God, and the power of fire, equal
to Elijah, that all nations may be benefitted, and may endeavour
to survive then, when they are commanded
to be fulfilled.
The alterations I have made in copying some of
the prophecies, is by the direction and command of
the Lord God.
THE JUDGMENTS OF GOD.
THE very loud and unusual kind of thunder that
was heard in the beginning of January, 1791, was the
voice of the angel mentioned in the eighteenth chapter
of the Revelation, proclaiming the judgment of God,
and the fall of Babylon the Great: it was the loudest
that ever was heard since man was created, and shook
the whole earth every time the angel spoke; it roared
through the streets, and made a noise over London
like the falling of mountains of stones.
Many buildings were damaged at the time of this
thunder, and many persons were frightened by it; the
great flashes of lightening proceeded also from the
angel, and was according to the first verse, reflected
from the brightness of his glory.
Revelation to St. John, Chap. xviii.
1. And after these things I saw another angel
come down from heaven, having great power: and
the earth was lightened with his glory.
2. And he cried mightily with a strong voice,
(meaning the thunder) saying, Babylon the Great is
fallen, is fallen, &c.
( 45 )
3. For all nations have drunk of the wine of the
wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth
have committed fornication with her, and the merchants
of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance
of her delicacies.
4. And I heard another voice from heaven, saying,
Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers
of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.
5. For her sins have reached up to heaven, and God
hath remembered her iniquities.
6. Reward her, even as she rewarded you, and
double unto her double according to her works; in the
cup which she hath filled, fill to her double.
7. How much she hath glorified herself and lived
deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her;
for she says in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no
widow, and shall see no sorrow.
8. Therefore shall her plagues come in one day,
death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be
utterly burnt with fire; for strong is the Lord God
who judges her.
The Lord God was so exceeding angry at the time
of the loud thunder I have mentioned in the preceding
part, that he determined to leave his other judgments
unfulfilled relative to London, and burn her immediately
with fire from heaven: soon afterwards I
was informed by revelation of what the thunder meant,
and was commanded to go from London beyond the
distance of eighteen miles, I had, similar to the prophet
Daniel at Babylon, an attending angel to explain
all the visions, and support me under the grief I was
loaded with for its approaching fall.
( 46 )
The Lord God knowing that I loved him with all
my heart, and had often resisted the calls of hunger
and distress, rather than comply with customs that
would offend him, pitied me; for I had beseeched him
to let me inform the people of London of their danger,
and try by all possible means to save them; but was
refused permission, because they would imprison and
use me very ill for it.
In addition to all that God had promised and repeated
by his angel to make me happy, he was now
pleased to give me another proof of his unalterable
regard, and convince me by it, that, although he could
not in justice to his recorded judgments spare London,
yet, for my sake, he would shew mercy to some: and
take care, that by sickness and other causes, to remove
the persons, I desired should be saved, to a sufficient
distance beyond the limits to be destroyed and sunk.
After thanking the Lord God, I mentioned several,
both men and women, and called the remembrance of
his mercy to others whose names I did not know, but
pointed them out in my mind.
Among those I mentioned, was William Pultney,
William Pitt, Gilbert Elliot, Charles Gray, the Earl
of Buckinghamshire, the Marquis of Lansdown, the
Earl of Chatham, Maitland, now called Earl of Lauderdale;
Henry Phipp, for I remembered his brother
to have done me an act of friendship; John Dalrymple,
John Griffin Griffin, Abraham Pickett, because that
during his mayorality he opposed by a public advertisement
the frequency of taking oaths; in doing so he
honoured that all-remembering God, who will in due
time as publicly honour him for it. Wilberforce,
Bastard, Sheridan. Philip Stephens, Charles Fox;
John Luke, a poor Quaker; Samuel Hood; the King
and his family, for they were to be gathered into
London: Ponsonby, for whom I conceived an esteem,
from observing in his countenance openness & honesty;
( 47 )
and possessing, as I thought, a heart similar to my
own, I was to lead to entreat for him: until last year I
could assign no other reason for mentioning that name
than what I have given; but the true one is, that as
God had determined not only to keep in London the
people then in it, but likewise to allow great multitudes
to be drawn to it from all parts of the country,
he would be found among the number to be destroyed;
for which, to prevent his death in such a place,
the Lord God influenced me to regard him, that I
might afterwards remember such a person, and be mindful of his safety.
I am not in the least acquainted with the man I
have mentioned, whom God was pleased to distinguish
by so great a testimony of his regard, but although I
am not, and our names are different, he is, as well as
myself, descended from David, king of Israel. The
Countess of Buckinghamshire, whom I am no more
acquainted with than the strangers I mentioned before,
is likewise descended from David, king of Israel; the
family she is married into are also of the Hebrews,
and are descended from Joseph the once president of
Egypt.
There are many families of the same origin as those
three I have named, made known to me by revelation,
but I am forbid to mention any of them at present
for public knowledge.
After entreating for the persons I have set down,
and pointing from my mind to numbers besides, whose
names I did not know, I was, to prepare for the designation
of God, carried up to heaven in a vision, and
saw on my right side, at a small distance, a beautiful
silver-white bird in the shape of a Dove, but a little larger;
it was the Holy Ghost, and it was the very same
that descended on the head of my blessed Saviour, when
he came up from being baptized in the river Jordan;
( 48 )
he kept between me and Satan, who was then revealed
that I might witness it, and great power given
him to visit the earth. The Lord God then spoke to
me from the middle of a white shining cloud.
After this I was in a vision, having the angel of
God near me, and saw Satan walking leisurely into
London; his face had a smile, but under it his looks
were sly, crafty, and deceitful. On the right side of
his forehead were seven dark sports; he was dressed
in white and scarlet robes.
Again I was in a vision, and saw London a scene of
confusion: it was effected on a sudden; all the people
were armed and appeared quite furious: I was carried
through the city in the Spirit of God to see all
things that were designed should come to pass, and be
informed how quick they could be accomplished.
After this I was in vision, and saw a large river
run through London coloured with human blood.
Exceedingly unhappy for all that I saw, and which
I knew would soon be fulfilled; I prayed and entreated
the Lord God to give me one more instance of his
mighty regard, by sparing London, and the great multitude
in it. I said I acknowledge, O Lord my God,
that the people do very wrong, but it is through compulsion,
and for want of knowing better.
The Lord God was so highly displeased, that I
should, after all his former kindnesses, strain his affection
and to entreat him to annul his recorded judgment,
as to stop me, and in a voice of great sharpness and
anger, say, They have my blessed Gospel, and will not
obey. The angel that was appointed to give me instruction
forsook me in an instant on hearing this
answer. I trembled for my life, and seemed to be
another man; for I was afraid of being destroyed with
the city. It was three days after this before the Lord
( 49 )
God would be reconciled to hear my prayers, and speak
to me with his former kindness.
In ten days after the three I was in a vision, and
being carried up to heaven, the Lord God spoke to me
from the middle of a large white cloud, and said in
a strong clear voice -- All, All. I pardon London
and all the people in it, for your sake: there is no other
man on earth that could stand before me to ask
for so great a thing
For ever, O Lord my God, I will praise and thank
you for this great instance of your blessed regard; all
Nations will hear it, and may all Nations honour you
by their obedience; your great mercy is over them all,
and by its goodness the world is now safe.
Had London been destroyed in the year 1791, the
place where it stands would have formed a great bay,
or inlet of the channel: all the land between Windsor
and the Downs would have been sunk, including
a distance of eighteen miles each side, but considerably
more towards the sea coast: It would be sunk to the
depth of seventy fathoms, or four hundred and twenty
feet, that no traces of the city might be ever found,
or even so much as looked for.
21. And a mighty angel took up a flame, like a
great mill-stone, and cast it into the sea, saying, Thus
with violence shall that great city, Babylon, be thrown
down, and shall be found no more at all.
That all men of wisdom and discernment may understand,
on reading the revelation, that there are two
cities mentioned in it spiritually, under the names of
Babylon the Great, I will assist them by clearly marking
out the distinction.
Rome, the spiritual Babylon, mentioned in the seventeenth
chapter, is described, in the third verse, to
( 50 )
be a way into the wilderness; meaning by the words
into the wilderness, that the city is situated inland.
But London, the spiritual Babylon, also mentioned
in the eighteenth chapter, is described, by St.
John, as the greatest sea-port for ships, wealth, and
commerce, in the world.
11. And the merchants of the earth shall weep and
mourn over her; for no man buyeth their merchandize
any more:
12. The merchandize of gold, and silver, and precious
stones, and of pearls, and fine linen, and purple,
and silk, and scarlet, and all thyine wood, and all manner
of vessels of ivory, and all manner of vessels of
most precious wood, and of brass, and iron, and marble,
13. And cinnamon, and odours, and ointments, and
frankincense, and wine, and oil, and fine flour, and
wheat, and beasts, and sheep, and horses, and chariots,
and slaves, and souls of men.
14. And the fruits that thy soul lusted after are departed
from thee, and all things which were dainty
and goodly are departed from thee, and thou shalt find
them no more at all.
15. The merchants of these things, who were made
rich by her, shall stand afar off, for the fear of her
torment, weeping, and wailing,
16. And saying, Alas! alas! that great city, that
was clothed in fine linen, and purple, and scarlet, and
decked with gold, and precious stones, and pearls! for
in one hour, such great riches is come to nought.
17. And every ship-master, and all the company
in ships, and sailors, and as many as trade by sea, stood
afar off,
( 51 )
18. And cried when they saw the smoke of her
burning, What city is like unto this great city.
19. And they cast dust on their heads; and cried,
weeping and wailing, says Alas! alas! that great
city, wherein were made rich all that had ships in the
sea, by reason of her costliness: for in one hour she
is made desolate.
20. Rejoice over her, thou heaven, and ye holy
apostles and prophets; for God hath avenged you on her.
Read attentively the eighteenth chapter; and you
will perceive described in it, the prodigious wealth,
grandeur, and commerce of London: then remember,
that the very great thunder and lightning I have mentioned,
was in the depth of winter, an unusual time
of year for the like; but they were as St. John exactly
describes them, in the first and second verses. Meditate
on these things, weigh them attentively in
your mind, and all I have wrote besides; and the
Spirit of God, if you love wisdom, will enlighten
your understanding to see, and will also strike you
with a conviction of their truth.
The following would have been the condition of England,
which the Lord God shewed me in the month
of July 1791, had his judgment of desolation on the
world been suddenly fulfilled at the appointed time
in 1793.
I was in a vision, and was carried away by the Spirit
of God to a field of young wheat, which was grown
about four inches high from the ground: an elderly
English woman stood by me; she had no covering on
her head, but over her arms was an old black silk
clo[a]k; it was worn threadbare, and rent in many
places. While I was observing the dress and poverty
of the woman, the wheat sprung up in an instant,
( 52 )
and shot out the size of full ears, the largest I ever
saw in my life: astonished at such a sight, and wondering
what it should mean, I stooped to feel some
with my hand; when I had, the woman looked down
to me with a countenance expressive of great distress to
implore my pity and assistance, then turned her face
away to the east, and afterwards looked up to heaven
as if she wanted rain and a cool wind.
After this I cast my eyes over the surface of land;
it was scorched to a dark brown, and awful to look
at; I could see no grass in the meadows, and the
bushes in the hedges were all burnt brown: so great
and mighty was the heat: I could see no beasts in the
fields, and the fowls of heaven were all flown away.
The judgment of desolation being suspended, is the
reason that this vision of famine and disress is also;
when it takes place, England, like the woman and
her cloak, (for she was an illusion to this country)
will be very poor, worn out, and rent in many places.
After this I was in a vision, and saw aÊlarge sword
unsheathed in heaven; soon after I saw a large cup,
full of red wine, and much froth on the top, lifted
up, and held out to all nations.
The JUDGMENT of DESOLATION on all Nations.
The thunder that was heard in the evening of the
third of August 1793, was the voice of the angel,
mentioned in the nineteenth chapter of the Revelation,
standing in the sun.
Verse 17. And I saw an angel standing in the sun;
and he cried with a loud voice, (meaning the thunder)
saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven,
Come, and gather yourselves together unto the supper
of the great God:
( 53 )
18. That ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh
of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh
of horses and of them that sit on them, and the flesh
of all men, both free and bond, both small and great.
The dead will increase so fast, and be in such prodigious
numbers, when this judgment takes place,
that the living will not be sufficient to bury them,
but will leave the bodies exposed to the fowls of
heaven for meat.
The second thunder, that gave notice of God's
approaching judgment, was on Wednesday evening the
7th of August 1793, as is mentioned in the seventh of
the Revelation, and was the voice of the angel ascending
from the east, having the seal of the living God.
Verse 2. And I saw another angel ascending from
the east, having the seal of the living God; and he
cried with a loud voice (the thunder) to the four
angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea;
3. Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor
the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God
in their foreheads.
The flashes of lightning, which issued during the
time of this thunder, proceeded likewise from the
glory of the angel, and resembling in colour fine amber.
The next and last thunder, (if the judgment had not
been suspended for my sake) would be on the 11th of
August following, and would have been according to
( 54 )
the sixteenth chapter of Revelation, the fourth angel
pouring out his vial on the sun.
VERSE 1. And the fourth angel poured out his
vial on the sun, and power was given to him to scorch
men with fire.
9. And men were scorched with great heat, and
blasphemed the name of God, who has power over
these plagues; and they repented not to give him glory.
The flashes of lightning, during this thunder, which
would continue many hours, would likewise proceed
from the glory of the angel, and would be, in strength
and colour, like the burning flame.
This thunder would be accomplished by a violent
storm of large hail stones, which, with the lightning,
would kill multitudes of people, and destroy the harvest
in many countries.
Soon after this thunder, (the short time of four
days only) the judgment of God on the world would
begin to be fulfilled. The winds would be suspended
in the firmament, according to the seventh chapter,
that breathing might almost cease; the great body of
heat, that would immediately after be poured down
from heaven on the earth would be as fierce and powerful
as to move the world, and every living thing, both
man and beast, exposed under it in open air. The
trees, bushes in the hedges, grass in the meadows,
and what corn was left from the hail, would be cut
off and destroyed by this great and mighty heat.
Most of the ships would be destroyed at sea, and all
the fish near the surface killed. Millions of the human
race would die in all nations from this burning
heat, and many plagues it would produce.
The 19th, 7th, 18th, 6th, 8th, and 14th chapters,
mean the same time, the same things; and are as one
chapter, to fulfil the judgments of God.
( 55 )
The 15th of August 1793, was the time appointed
by the Lord God to fulfill the parts of the Revelation
I have mentioned, and punish the world with
desolation; but from his great mercy and regard for
me, that I may be esteemed in this country, and by all
others, when I am revealed, suspended his judgment
for a time -- it hangs however over all nations.
Look at the age of the world; read attentively the
chapters I have mentioned, with what I have wrote
besides; and you will discover in your own breast a
light to see and believe by.
That light, I mean, which is often called a certain
something, an internal monitor, that applauds man for
courting wisdom, for being just, and doing good; but
that never fails to reproach him for embracing folly,
and doing evil; it is indeed no other than the spirit of
the living God.
All the prophecies, given in visions from God, are
concealed from the knowledge of man by mysterious
allusions, until the proper time, and the appointed person
for them to be revealed to. For it is not in the
cunning of any one man, even assisted by the wisdom
of all the rest on earth, to search out the deep secrets
of God, or with truth to unfold the meaning of his
visions; they are wonderful; they cannot be discovered
until God himself pleases to remove the covering
of secrecy; and through an appointed person, blesses
the world with a knowledge of their true meaning.
The fulfilling of the judgments of God, however
destructively they may prove to the governments and
nations which they are directed against, are not allowed
to affect my personal safety, nor operate in the
least to my prejudice: for the certainty of my elevation,
to the greatest principles that ever will be in
the world, cannot be prevented by the rise or fall of
( 56 )
any human power on earth; because it is the repeated
covenant of God to my forefathers, and his sacred
promise now by revelation to myself.
The obscurity of David was no objection, with a
discerning God, to make him the monarch of Israel,
and afterwards promise the succession to his family for
ever; neither is mine now to his fulfilling that promise,
and holding me up to the world, as the visible governor
of the Jews. For all the works of God are wonderful,
and very far exceed the capacity of man to
know where they begin, how they are directed, on
whom, or which way they will end: I that have
more knowledge of them, and of futurity, revealed
to me, than any other under the whole heaven, observe
the operation of every new one with more amazement
than the former.
Therefore my present poverty is no obstacle to my
future elevation, neither is it of much concern to myself,
for the time of my being revealed, with power
from heaven, is nigh; when God, to manifest his regard,
will give me favour with many, and influence
all the people of London to help me.
I am the prophet that will be revealed to the Jews,
to order their departure from all nations, to go to the
land of Israel, their own country, in a similar manner
to Moses in Egypt, but with additional power.
I was an officer in the British navy, and necessarily
so, although I did not know it, that the judgment
of God on David, king of Israel, might be fulfilled,
which was, that the sword should never depart from
his house.
It is fifteen hundred years since my family was separated
from the Jews, and lost all knowledge of its
origin; the last on record, in the Scripture, is James:
chap. xiii. 55 ver. of St. Matthew. Told me by revelation.
( 57 )
The government of the Jewish nation will, under
the Lord God, be committed to me, that the everlasting
covenant from him to David may be manifested
in the visible Prince and Governor of the Jews.
Second of Samuel, Chap. vii.
16. And thy house and thy kingdom shall be established
for ever before thee; thy throne shall be established for ever.
17. According to all these words, and according to
all this vision, so did Nathan speak to David.
Jeremiah, Chap. xxxiii.
17. For thus saith the Lord: David shall never
want a man to sit on the throne of the House of Israel;
19. And the word of the Lord came unto Jeremiah, saying,
20. Thus says the Lord; If ye can break my
covenant of the day, and my covenant of the night,
and that there should not be day and night in their season;
21. Then may also my covenant be broke with
David my servant, that he should not have a son to
reign upon his throne; and with the Levites, the
Priests, my ministers.
22. As the Host of heaven cannot be numbered,
neither the sand of the sea measured; so will I multiply
the seed of David my servant, and the Levites
that minister to me.
23. Moreover, the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, saying:
( 58 )
24. Considerest thou not what this people have
spoken, saying, The two families which the Lord has
chosen, he has even cast them off. Thus they have
despised my people, that they should be no more a
nation before them.
25. Thus says the Lord, If my covenant be not
with day and night, and if I have not appointed the
ordinances of heaven and earth;
26. Then will I cast away the seed of Jacob, and
David my servant; so that I will not take any of his
seed to be rulers over the seed of Abraham, Isaac, &
Jacob; for I will cause their captivity to return, and
have mercy on them.
A knowledge of the Scriptures, the prophecies I
have mentioned, and all that I have wrote besides,
have been communicated to me through visions and
revelations from the Lord God: the Prophet Daniel,
and St. John the Apostle, were instructed, in the
same manner, to write what they have.
It is by the saving of multitudes: by revealing
not only a true interpretation of the prophecies, but
also a knowledge of the times, and those secret parts
of the Scripture which are not made known to any
other man under heaven, that the Lord God begins
with announcing to the world a knowledge of his
mighty judgments, the return of his former mercy to
the Hebrews, their speedy restoration to Jerusalem,
and the rise of a favourite family.
RICHARD BROTHERS.
LONDON, No. 57, Paddington Street,
3d of the month called January, 1794.
Revelation to St. John, Chap. xvii.
OF ROME.
1. And there came one of the seven angels, which
had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying to me,
( 59 )
come hither; I will shew thee the judgment of
the great whore (meaning Rome) that sits upon many
waters, (meaning her government over many nations.)
2: With whom the kings of the earth have committed
fornication, (meaning, they have been seduced
to imitate her evil practices) and the inhabitants
of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of
her fornication (meaning, they are likewise deluded
to drink deep to a state of insensibility from her
vain doctrines.).
A remarkable instance of this way very largely
practiced, and really fulfilled at Naples; which, although
governed by a king, is notwithstanding in the
see of Rome, and about sixty miles distant. In consequence
of a violent irruption of fire out of Mount
Vesuvius, which is but a few miles from Naples, the
similitude of a human head, called St. Janarius's, was
carried in procession, lifted up, and held out, fully believing,
that by honouring the saint, through even
this small part of his image, he himself in heaven,
would be influenced to intercede with God, to stop
the great rivers of fire which issued from the burning mountain.
For a people, calling themselves Christians, which
have had the Revelation so long to warn, and the
blessed Gospel so long to instruct them, to embrace,
at this late hour of the world, such an act of superstition
and delusion, is indeed astonishing. But it is
a part of that great chain of errors, still continued,
which the Roman government, at a former period,
most wickedly bound its people in all nations, but
clergy in particular with; and which is plainly foretold
by St. Paul, in the fourth chapter of his First
Epistle to Timothy, verse 1. Now the Spirit (which
is the Holy Ghost) speaks expressly, that in the latter
( 60 )
times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to
seducing spirits and doctrines of devils:
2. Speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their consciences
seared with a hot iron.
3. Forbidden to marry, &c.
The papal authority does not allow its clergy to
marry, from a belief that a man, by living in a state
of separation from a woman, is better qualified to
fulfill the duties of a priest, more acceptible to God,
than a man that is a husband and father. Such doctrine
is an evident proof to every discerning person,
that there is a great departure or falling away, from
the true faith; to continue then in the practice, after
it is explained and made public by Divine command,
is preferring darkness to light, the doctrines of
devils to the good works of God: it is giving a willing
heed to the seducing spirits that St. Paul alludes
to. Christ, the saviour of our world, who left his
gospel of the kingdom of peace for the direction of
all men, never made any such distinction; for some
of his apostles were married, and some were not: and
he, as God the Father, in the beginning of the creation,
blessed Adam and Eve, saying to them, Be fruitful
and multiply, and replenish the earth, &c. repeating
the same after the flood, to Noah and his sons;
he never ordered, nor never intended, the cruel imposition
of celibacy on his immediate servant, nor any
other description of men.
It is also an abomination to him, because inconsistent
with the design of his creation, that any description
of women, under the vain pretence of what is
falsely called religion and piety, of leading a more holy
life, of serving God better, should be shut up for
ever in monasteries, inhumanely deprived of becoming
wives and mothers.
( 61 )
I am commanded to say, it is grievous and sorrowful
to the Lord God to see nations, which acknowledge
him , and which have the whole Scripture
to inform them of his will, paying a blind, an idolatrous
obedience to human ordinances, supported by
bad oaths, and sinful vows, in direct opposition to
what he designs, and what in the beginning, the covenant
of his blessing prescribes.
Chapt. xvii. continued. 3: So he carried me away
in the spirit into the wilderness, (meaning into the
country, as if far inland from the sea) where I saw a
woman (meaning Rome) sit upon a scarlet coloured
beast, (meaning the Pope) full of names of blasphemy,
(his titles) having seven heads (alluding to the
seven hills on which the city stands) and ten horns
(meaning the Cardinals.)
4. And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet
colour, and decked with gold and precious stones,
and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of
abominations, and filthiness of her fornication:
5. And upon her forehead was a name written,
Mystery -- Babylon the Great, the mother of harlots
(meaning that she as a mother stood exposed for corrupting
with her evil doctrines many cities to the
condition of harlots)T and abominations of the earth.
6. And I saw the woman drunk with the blood
of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of
Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered, greatly astonishing.
This Babylon the Great, this mother of harlots,
means Rome; but is spiritually called by those
names as an allusion to her excess of guilt as a Babylon,
and corruption of doctrine as a mother.
St. John mentions in the third verse, that he was
( 62 )
carried away into the wilderness to see Rime; meaning
by the words into the wilderness, that Rome, the
city he goes to look at, is situated inland: this description
is given to make a distinction between it and
London, the maritime Babylon, full of ships, seamen,
and commerce, mentioned in the eighteenth chapter.
The scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy,
with seven heads and ten horns, means the
Pope -- in this chapter only, and not in any other
part of the Revelation, is the Pope alluded to under
any name -- or under any signification whatever: neither
is Rome but in one part, which is the sixteenth
chapter and middle of the nineteenth verse. The
Pope in addition to his many names of blasphemy,
likewise assumes the powers and prerogatives of God,
calling himself, instead of his blessed Saviour, The
Supreme Head of the Church: as such, he pretends,
for it is only pretension to deceive the ignorant, to
be infallible, and to pardon the commission of sin in
others: again, as if sanctified by the Holy Ghost, and
commanded immediately from God to impart freely
his mighty blessing and his mighty spirit to whom he
pleases, he ordains as it is called Bishops, laying hands
on them, and saying at the same time receive the
Holy Ghost; he likewise claims the pre-eminence of
holiness in his person, and obedience to Christ in his
actions, above all the rest of mankind.
There is no man spiritual that is not sanctified by
the Holy Ghost, and no man is sanctified that teaches
by his doctrines -- or recommends by his prayers opposition
to Christ the Saviour, and disobedience to his
Gospel of Peace; for it is through and by Christ the
blessed spirit is given, that sanctifies, which every
man that believes in him, and obeys his commands,
may have -- may partake of its blessing and sweets;
some more, some less, in all things, and for all occasions,
as the Lord himself judges proper; but it will
( 63 )
be given in such sufficiency as to make him abundant
in knowledge and teaching him clearly the ways of salvation.
Man may give to man a title, but it is God only
that can make man spiritual; it is he and none else
that can give the Holy Ghost, the Divine Spirit of
Truth; all other givers among mankind, who say,
"by the imposition of our hands receive the Holy
Ghost, whose sins thou dost forgive, they are retained;"
are but as so many false Christs -- vain pretenders --
blasphemously endeavoring to imitate the true One.
For a man to attempt to do what the true Christ
only can, is attempting an imposition, and justly constitutes
a false Christ. For a man to kneel down to
a man to receive the Holy Ghost, and then going
forth by the authority of this false Christ; teaching
and preaching under the name of the true Christ, but
in opposition to his commands; deluded by an opinion
that he is spiritual because his maker imposed on him
to believe so, when in reality he is not, constitutes a
false Prophet.
Those are the kind of people that the Lord Jesus
Christ alludes to in the twenty-fourth Chapter of St.
Matthew, and warns the world to beware of.
There are many that preach and write under the
name of Christ, without being influenced by his spirit,
or commanded by his word: for which, observe all
you that love him, that read this book, that he will
not give his blessed spirit, which is indeed the Holy
Ghost, to any man exalted in pride and living under
names of blasphemy; praying for the success and aggrandizement
of particular men in war, at the expense
of ruin, and destruction to others. And yet
the Pope, to impress the multitude round him with
( 64 )
reverence and awe, is entitled Holiness, the Vicar of
Christ, successor to St. Peter, and is accounted infallible;
all such names are an evident demonstration
of pride and falsehood; and as such, he has neither
holiness from Christ in his person, nor obedience to
the Gospel of Truth in his actions.
It is for blasphemy, idolatry, deceit, teaching rebellion
against Christ, and for being a shedder of blood
by war, that the Pope is called in the Revelation from
God, a scarlet coloured beast; under that dreadful
height of Heaven by titles, he sinks down into perdition;
he is a fallen man, and is adjudged by that already
testimony of St. John, to suffer the punishment
of everlasting fire.
7: And the Angel said unto me, wherefore didst thou
marvel? I will tell thee the mystery of the woman,
and of the beast that carries her, (meaning that governs
her) which has the seven heads, and ten horns.
8: The beast that thou saw, was, and is not, and
shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition:
and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder,
whose names were not written in the book of life,
from the foundation of the world, when they behold
the beast that was, and is not, and yet is.
War, oaths, violence, and bloodshed, in opposition
to the commands of Christ in his gospel of the kingdom
of peace, they belong to Satan and his government
of darkness,
St. Matthew, Chap. iv.
8. Again the devil takes him up to an exceeding
high mountain, and shews him all the kingdoms of
the world, and the glory of them;
( 65 )
9. And says to him, all these things I will give
thee; if thou wilt fall down and worship me.
10. Then says Jesus to him, get thee hence, Satan;
for it is written, thou shalt worship the Lord thy God,
and him only shall thou serve.
The Popes rose to what they are, and established
their power by the sword, is the reason that
God mentions in this part of the Revelation to St.
John, the beast; or papal authority, to ascend from
the bottomless pit: in the beginning they were great
military princes, and governed with large armies;
but latterly their power became weak, and their consequence
small; yet notwithstanding, the vain titles,
pageantry, and military parade, is still preserved and
closely embraced by the present.
Chap. xvii, continued. 9. And here is the mind
which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains,
on which the woman sitteth.
The woman means Rome, and the seven mountains
or hills on which the city is built, are meant by St.
John as the seven heads of the Pope.
10. And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and
one is and the other is not yet come; and when he
comes he must continue a short space.
These seven kings, mean seven powerful military
Popes: they are denominated kings, because they were
warlike men, and in other respects governed with the
sword like them.
11. And the beast that was, and is not, even he is
the eight, and is of the same as the seven, and goes into perdition.
This means the last military Pope of Rome: for as
( 66 )
popedom has rose by the sword, by the sword also it
will fall; and the last pope alluded to in this verse,
as well as the first military one alluded to in the eighth
verse; goes into perdition
12. And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten
kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but
receive power as kings one hour with the beast.
13. These have one mind, and shall give their
power and strength to the beast.
These two verses mean the cardinals, who are compared
to kings in name; but not in power: they are
great, but not independent; they have a great name,
but no independent sovereignty: they are called, like
the German electors to the Emperor, as is mentioned
in the seventh chapter of Daniel, the horns of the
beast; because they assist the Pope with their counsel
and authority.
14. These shall make war with the Lamb, but the
Lamb shall overcome them; for he is Lord of lords,
and King of kings; and they that are with him, are
called, and chosen, and faithful.
The pope and cardinals, by their teaching, practice,
and government, are in a state of opposition to Christ;
that is, they practice and encourage, to support their
form of government, swearing and war; the two
principal things which Christ, above all others, prohibits
in the most positive terms. It is for this opposition
to his commands in the Gospel, that they are
represented as making war against him; they are permitted,
through the patient suffering of God, to do
so, until he can bear no longer with their rebellion;
when, to fulfil this prophecy and his decreed judgment,
they will be entirely cut off. Christ, as supreme head
of the church, acknowledges no religion but what he
( 67 )
has taught by his Gospel, which is Christianity; for
there is no kind of church but one, and that is visible
man: it consists of one person, as well as a whole congregation;
of one just man in a room, as well as a million
any where else; he came into the world to save
sinners, and redeem them from the chains of eternal
death: the blessed Gospel is the great bond of his
promises, now put into the hands of all men that will
receive it for their instruction; for which, all that
read or hear it, ought to remember their solemn covenant
in baptism, and take care that on their part,
the terms of his salvation are complied with. To do
which, man must, to fulfill the design of his creation,
endeavour to live long, and live happy; to do that,
he must abolish war, and live in constant peace; he
must likewise abolish swearing of every kind, because
it leads to falsehood and perjury: and make the
innocent words of Yes and No, the solemn bond of
this public truth.
The men that are called preachers of Christianity,
instead of assuming vain titles and lofty political
names; instead of assisting in any way at councils of
state, the ought to stand between princes and war,
between men and strife, between nations and bloodshed;
they should be true teachers of the Gospel; and
like the immediate disciples of their blessed Saviour,
always the ministers of peace.
The Gospel of St. Matthew, Chap. v.
9. Blessed are the peace-makers, for they shall be
called the children of God.
Chap. vi. 7. But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions,
as the heathen do: for they think that they
shall be heard for their much speaking;
8. Be not ye therefore like to them; for your Father
knows what things ye have need of before ye ask him.
( 68 )
9. After this manner therefore pray ye: "Our
Father, who art in heaven: hallowed be thy name;
10. Thy kingdom come; thy will be done on earth
as it is in heaven, &c.
The kingdom of God, which is asked for every
time this form of prayer is said, is to live in peace
and righteousness: the government of God in heaven,
is peace: and his will is, that man on earth
should have the same. It is prayed for every Sunday
throughout Europe; and yet, to the blushing shame
of man, in a minute after he forgets it, forsakes the
kingdom of peace, and fervently prays to the same
compassionate God to go forth with fleets and armies.
St. Paul to the Galations, Chap. i.
2. Grace be to you, and peace from God the Father,
and from our Lord Jesus Christ.
8. But though we, or an angel from heaven,
preach any other gospel to you than that which we
have preached to you, let him be accursed.
To prevent the destruction of man, by war and
falsehood, Christ, who shed his blood for the redemption
of man, prohibits, in the most plain, clear, and
positive words, all kind of strife, that it should not
increase to war; and all kind of swearing, that it
should not multiply into falsehood. These two evils,
enforced by law, and encouraged by religion, under
the time of Christianity, and in contradiction to the
blessed Gospel of truth, are the two principal fountains
that deluge the world with sin, and deprive heaven
of many.
St. Matthew, Chap. v.
19. Whosoever shall break one of these
least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall
be called the least in the kingdom of heaven; but
whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be
called great in the kingdom of heaven.
( 69 )
33. Again, ye have heard that it hath been said by
them of old time, (meaning the teachers formerly
under the law) Thou shalt not forswear thyself, but
shalt perform to the Lord by oaths:
34. But I say to you, swear not at all; neither by
heaven, for it is God's throne.
35. Nor by the earth, for it is his footstool; neither
by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King.
36. Neither must thou swear by thy head, because
thou cannot not make one hair white or black.
37. But let your communication be, Yea, yea;
and Nay, nay; for whatsoever is more than these,
cometh of evil.
38. Ye have heard that it has been said, (meaning
under the law of Moses) an eye for an eye, and a
tooth for a tooth;
39:. But I say to you, that ye resist not evil; but
whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn
to him the other also.
43. Ye have heard that it has been said, Thou
shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thy enemy.
44. But I say to you, love your enemies, bless
them that curse you, do good to them that hate you,
and pray for them which despitefully use you, and
persecute you;
45. That ye may be the children of your father,
which is in heaven.
St. James the Apostle, Chap. v.
2. But above all things, my brethren, swear not;
neither by heaven. neither by the earth, neither by
any other oath; but let your yea, be yea; and your
nay, nay; least ye fall into condemnation
The Gospel of St. John, Chap. xii.
48. He that rejects me, and receives not my words,
as one that judges him: the word that I have spoken
( 70 )
(which is the Gospel) the same shall judge him in
the last day.
St. Pau, Second Epistle to the Thessalonians, Chap. v.
7. And to you, who are troubled, rest with us;
when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven
with his mighty angels.
8. In flaming fire, taking revenge on them that
know not God, and obey not the Gospel of our Lord
Jesus Christ.
As circumcision to the Jews was the seal of their
covenant with God, and promise of obedience to his
law, so is baptism with Christians the seal of their
covenant with Christ, and promise of obedience to
his commands.
When teachers professing Christianity, have their
maintenance and elevation in the world, dependent
on great political warlike government, and want to
do, from interested motives, what the blessed Gospel
prohibits to, and plausibility to their delusive reason,
as in the legal and religious case of swearing oaths;
they go back to the law of Moses for a precedent, to
justify their apostasy and conduct. The law was for
the Jews alone, under the appointed administration
of the Levites and elders, in their own country; nevertheless,
when strangers acknowledge God, and submitted
to its rites, they were also allowed the freedom
of its benefit; but when Christ came into the
world, for the redemption of man, he abolished the
law, which was temporary, and in its place gave the
Gospel; which is everlasting. That is, he removed
the form of worshipping God by sacrifice; the form
of coming at the truth by swearing; and that of obtaining
justice for injury, by reprisal and violence.
We all admire the Lord Jesus Christ for his humility
and affection, the goodness and wisdom that
breathes throughout his Gospel, and the sacrifice of
himself for our salvation; yet the generality of the
( 71 )
world, as if unmindful of this wonderful influence of
Divine love, not only refuse what they promised in
baptism to obey, but likewise seek, by opposition and
war, to destroy his salvation and happy government
of peace. What does a man require from his wife in
marriage, but to love and be faithful to him only?
Would he not be jealous, and very angry, if she obeyed
any commands in opposition to his, and honoured
another with the endearing name of husband?
By the same rule, all that are baptized are, by covenant,
comparatively married to Christ; for the name
of Christian implies a belief in him, and obedience
to his words. Is it wise or just then, to obey a doctrine
contrary to the commands of thy blessed Lord
and acknowledged Saviour? And is it not unkind in
thee, O man, to honour thy equal with his sacred name?
As a man cannot, in justice, be considered as a servant,
any longer than while he obeys the commands
of his master, so neither can a man, in truth, be regarded
as a Christian, any longer than while he obeys
the commands of Christ.
Hear therefore, all nations, what the Lord God
commands me to write, and be warned by it; that,
as a master is compelled to withdraw his allowance
of food, and discharge from his house a servant that
will not obey him, so will he withdraw his loving
kindness of peace, and in anger remove from the face
of the earth, that man or family, city or nation, that
will only acknowledge Christ in word, but in practice
refuse to obey his commands.
Revelation, xvii. Continued.
15. And he says to me, the water which thou
saw, where the Whore sits, are people, and multitudes,
and nations, and tongues.
16. And the ten horns (meaning the cardinals)
which thou saw upon the beast, (meaning the Pope)
( 72 )
these shall have the whore, (meaning Rome) and shall
make desolate and naked; and shall eat her flesh and
burn her with file.
The cardinals will disagree and quarrel; then
Rome will be convulsed by parties: and plundered
alternately by each; (which means eating her flesh)
destroy it. In due time after this, the latter part of
the nineteenth verse in the sixteenth chapter, will be
fulfilled on Rome, spiritually Babylon, the capital of
Italy; when by a mighty earthquake, the city, with
the ground it stands on, will be lifted up, shook violently
to pieces, and utterly overthrown.
17. For God has put in their hearts to fulfill his
will, and to agree, and give their kingdom to the
beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled.
The Cardinals will continue in subjection to the
Pope, and agree, in their measures of government, assisting
him also with their advice and power until the
time already determined is expired, which is nearly
so now; that done, the minds of the people will be
changed, and another spirit will be given to them, to
fulfill the judgment of God, according to this prophecy.
I was not permitted to join this addition to this
Book, when first printed, which is the reason that it
was passed over; but now I am commanded by the
Lord my God, to print and join it to the former part,
therefore I do.
RICHARD BROTHERS.
LONDON, 20th of the month
called September, 1794.
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