Section 4
Prophets,
and the saints, &c. (Rev. xi. 18) as it is written, " be thou ruler over all
I have thou authority over ten cities thou over five be thou ruler over all my
goods thou over all my household be thou judge of such a tribe of Israel thou
king of such a kingdom thou priest of such a parish, &c. &c. (Luke xii,
42. Xix, 7. 8. Matt. Xxiv, 47,48) the number of these saints is said to be
10000 (Jude 14); a definite for an indefinite number surely! For we read of 144,000 that " follow the
Lamb whether forever he goeth." (Rev xiv, 4): these are his suit or retinue,
who attend his person in his tours thro' his vast dominions; and consequently
in his coming to the earth! Millions and millions of saints will have been on
earth from the days of the first Adam, to the coming of the second Adam. All these will Christ bring with him.
The place where they will alight is the " mount of Olives, which is before
Jerusalem on the east." Zech. Xiv, 4.
The mountain will cleave and form a valley, and the water, which Ezekiel
speaks of, will spring from the sanctuary and fill the chasm. (Ex. Xlvii). Then
Christ will enter the city by the east-gate, which will ever after be kept
shut, as a memorial, that thro it the Lord came into the temple, and filled the
house with glory, (Ez. Xliv). " And
now behold the son of David, Sitting on the throne of his father! Behold the prophecy concerning
Jerusalem fulfilled. " The Lord is there1" Behold the happy millennium
begun! O my God, let me be there,
if it were only to be servant of servants to my lord the king!
VIII.
Coincident with the
Millennium will be the following events.
1.Reducing
to the obedience of Christ all the kingdoms and states that will be refuse
submission to him, or to the viceroys that he shall appoint over them. Resistance will be made, not with
standing the wonders in the heavens above, and in the earth beneath, which
happened but three years and a half before; and not with standing the recent
and awful destruction of antichrist, and the descent of Christ and his saints,
from heaven to earth, which will be fresh in all memories. Paul intimates that resistance will be
made; where else would be the occasion of Christ' s " putting down under his feet
all rule, power and authority? (I Cor. Xv. 24). Why else should he command the enemies that would not that
he should reign over them, to be brought to his presence, and slain before him?
(Luke xix, 27) Why else this
caution, " Kiss the son left he be angry and ye perish; for then God shall have
set his king on the holy hill of Zion, to rule the heathen kings that rage: and
to dash them to pieces as a potters vessel?" (Psalm. Ii. 1-9). Why else should
his vice Roy " have power over the resisting nations, to rule them with a rod of
iron? (Rev. ii. 26. 27). After this
quelling of the refractory, the most eminent of Christ saints shall reign in
peace, as observed before. After
this will Christ' s priests reform religion where it is, and plant it in
countries
Where it is not, so as
to cause pure religion to cover the earth as the waters do the sea. (Hab. Ii.
14). Now begins the spiritual reign, or the latter day- glory, which divines
talk too much of, tho none of them (to my knowledge) has assigned it to its
proper time and place. By the same
means another branch of popery will be overset; for the popes have already put
kingdoms and churches in subjection to the saints; but popish saints and
Christ' s saints may not be all alike: I suspect that St. Thomas a Becket must
resign his church; and that St. George St. David, St. Andrew and St. Patrick
must give up their kingdoms to their betters. In this reformation of religion
the Lord' s supper will be discontinued; for that is to be used no longer than
till the Lord comes (I Cor. Xi. 26). Not so baptism. But instead of he Lord' s
Supper another feast will be instituted, as we shall see by and by.
2. Another notable event that will
commence with the millennium is, taking away the enmity and hatred between man
and man; " for men will not more learn the art of war, but beat their swords
into plough shares, and spears into pruning hooks. * Ephraim shall not envy
Judah, or Judah"
- By the above account it is certain that
vine- dressing and agriculture will be used in the millennium state of the
world: and if agriculture, then the beasts will be employed, but not
abused; and if lions and serpents, &c. will be there, but not all
other animals, it harmless? Sure it is that fishing will be continued, tho
the fishes will not devour one another, as now. (Ez. Xlviii.10). I can see no reason why trade,
navigation, and all other used and innocent employments should not be
carried on, as at present.
Marrying and propagation will remain among all, except the raised
and changed saints; and, by reason of a meliorated state of earth and air,
and the good government of Christ' s kings and priests and regularity and
sobriety in living it seems that there shall be no infant of days among
them, nor an old man that hath not filled his days: the child shall die on
hand. ÉÉAnd the days of the people shall be as the days of Noah (É)
Vex Ephraim, nor the
English, the French, nor the French the English, nor any other nation envy and
vex one another." (Isaiah. 4. ch xi. 13).
The variance and violence between animal creations shall cease. The wolf
shall dwell with the Lamb, the leopard with the kid, the calf with the lion,
and a child shall lead them; a child shall play on the hole of the asp, and put
his hand on the cockatrice' s den, and not be hurt." (Isaiah. Xi). Now the dumb beast shall no longer
groan for the cruelty of man, or their own cruelty to one another; nor the
fouls under the altar cry, how long? The earth will be restored to a condition
long?" The earth will be restored
to a condition far better than the present. " God will make the wilderness as
Eden, and the desert as the garden of God." (Isaiah. Li. 3). Besides plenty and peace, something
sanative will be a part of the millennium earth' s furniture: Ezekiel gives a
specimen of it in chapter xlvii; for the water of his river (which sprang from
the sanctuary when Christ lighted on the mount of olives) healed wherever it
ran, and the fruit of the trees by its side were for meat and medicine; so he
expresses their virtue.
3. Another affair that
will be set up in the beginning of the millennium, and will continue with it
is, an annual feast to be celebrated in an about Jerusalem. Of this feast
Zechariah speaks largely under the name of the feast of tabernacles: but that
he means not the Jewish feast of tabernacles is evident; for that was to be
observed only by Israelites born. (Lev. Xxxiii. 42;) this is commemoration of
tabernacles used in the wilderness; this, to worship the king: the penalty of
neglecting that is not mentioned; the penalty of neglecting this is very extraordinary,
" countries used to rain shall have none, if they come not up to the feast year
by year, and countries that have no rain shall have the plague (ch.xiv.17,
18). Besides; the prophet
throughout the chapter is speaking of things that have not yet had
existence. Nothing plainer
therefore than that he does not mean any Mosaic feast, but a millennium feast;
he calls this last a feast of tabernacles for an obvious reason. Viz. Because
it must be celebrated in tabernacles, or tents, or booths; for it will be
impossible to find houses for all that will then resort to Jerusalem to feast;
and worship the king. This annual resort accounts for the long and particular
descriptions which the prophets give of the fine and safe roads to Zion, thro'
deserts, and across rivers and mountains. (Isaiah xi. Xxxv. Zech. Viii. Rev.
xiv.)
IX. Subsequent to the millennium are the
following events.
1.
The Loosing of the Devil from the bottomless pit; and his going about the world
to seduce all the hypocrites from their allegiance to Christ, and his
vice-roys, tho' they, and their allegiance to Christ, and his vice-roys, tho'
they, and their progenitors, had experienced the happiness of his reign for a
thousand years. The effects will
soon show themselves. St. John' s *
Gog and Magog (whoever they be) will raise an army numerous as the sand on the
sea shore, and will march along the breadth of the earth with their rebel clans
towards Jerusalem: and when they are come, and have encompassed the camp of the
saints (who had retired to their Lord to give notice of the insurrection) and
are sure of victory, then fire will come down from heaven, and devour them all.
(Rev. ss. 7-9)
2. Sometime after will come on the second
resurrection, hinted at in my text; a resurrection both of the just and unjust:
for during a ministry of a thousand years we must suppose that. Christ' s
priests had made many converts; who died; and that many will be made alive at
that time: and if so, those must be raised, and these changed, as in the first
resurrection. After this the
judgment will sit; and when trial is over and sentence pronounced, the devil
and the wicked will be cast into the lake; and the righteous, with their Lord,
will ascend to heaven to be presented to God; with a behold I, and the children
thou hast given me! And there they
will abide till the Old earth is burnt, and the new earth created, and the New
Jerusalem built in heaven: then they and he will descend in all the happiness
human nature is capable of.
I
have done, Sir, except a wonder or two.
*His
Gog and Magog cannot be the same with those of Ezekiel; because there is so
much difference between the countries whence they are to come, their exploits,
and the places and manner of their overthrow. I rather think the places and manner of their overthrow. I
rather think the latter will make their appearance between the establishment of
the Jews, and the millennium.
1.I
wonder that Christ' s thousand years reign is not more thought of by modern
Christians; for in the earliest ages of Christianity it was a sure article of
faith, and a favorite topic of conversation: the writings of the three first
centuries are full of it, with but one exception of any notes; and he discarded
the book of Revelation from the canon of scripture, which was a tacit
confession that the doctrine was there.
And I wonder the more for the following reasons; Christ has retained
expectations of it ever since he sat down at the right hand of God (Heb. X.13);
the four living creatures in the midst of his throne, and the four and twenty
elders who surround it make this the burden of their long. We shall reign upon earth (Rev.v.10);
the apostles, even after the day of Pentecost, were expecting it, and wishing
for it; nay the whole animal creation, by a kind of instinctive prescience,
groaned for its delay, as well instinctive prescience, groaned for its delay,
as well as all they who had the first fruits of the spirit (Rom. Viii. 19-23);
Paul recommends at as a comfortable theme
Of meditation (Thess. Iv. 18). But what little effect has these things
on the present generation! Should Christ now appear in the clouds he would
hardly find upon earth any faith in the millennium! Surely the signs of Christ' s coming do now appear; for when
he had spoken of that coming in Mathew (ch. Xxiv.), he adds in the same
discourse, while the bridegroom tarried they all slumbered and slept. In the fourth and following centuries
the Christian had a reason for being shy of the doctrine, which we have not: then
the kings of the earth became Christian, and consequently were jealous of the
fifth monarchy.
2. I wonder that none9 to my knowledge)
have written of the millennium in a temple and literal manner: especially as
that involves in it no absurdity or improbability, or any thing contrary to
sound faith and good manners: and I wonder the more, as so many parts of the
Bible point to the subject in that light, and can have no meaning suitable to
the words and dignity of prophets and apostles, but upon a supposition, that
such as thing will be in reality, and not is some mystical or allegorical
whimsies. Let any one try his skill (for instance) with Ezekiel' s temple, and
with many other texts quoted in this piece, and see if all men of sense
(manners permitting) will not laugh at him except mystics? I will recite only that petition in the
Lord' s prayer thy kingdom come; the kingdom of grace was come at that time; the
kingdom of glory is never to come to men: the millennium kingdom therefore is
the object of that petition:
And when it is come, the
petition will be improper.
3. I wonder that so many great men have
taken upon them to fix the time when the millennium and its preceding events
are to take place, by an arbitrary use of Daniel and john numbers: I say
arbitrary; denominate years, and then rummage the histories of Rome pagan and
Rome papal for points to begin at; and yet their gross mistakes, discovered by
time, give no warning! I have
taken the arithmetic of those two divine chronometers under the denominations
which they themselves give their figures (but with what success time will
show); and am content with the old, and hitherto, unconsumed hypothesis, viz.
" that this world is to last seven thousand years, and that at the end of the
sixth thousand the millennium will begin." This hypothesis is grounded partly, on a prophecy of Elias,
which the Jews have among them; where they got it we cannot tell, any more than
we can tell where Jude found the prophecy of Enoch: and partly on Moses
septenaries, such as the seventh day, and the seventh year, &c. which day
was a day of rest to man and beast, and which year was a year of rest to the
land; and if one day be a thousand years with the Lord, (2 Pet. Iii, 8), it
follows, that the six days of the week are six thousand years, and that the
seventh is a thousand years of rest: Paul confirms this signification of the
seventh day by making it typical of the sabbatism which remains for the people
of God. (Heb.iv. 4-9). To the
above we may add the septenaries of Saint John, such as
The seven seals, the
seven trumpet, the seven vials, &c. for under the opening of the sixth
seal, the founding of the sixth trumpet, the pouring of the sixth vial (all
which I take to be synchronic) we may find passages that exactly correspond
with the near approach of Christ coming to reign; and under the seventh seal,
seventh trumpet, and seventh vial we have him and his saints on earth. Let me add, that I have not met with
any of the fathers of the three first centuries who as much as questioned the
validity of the above hypothesis. I ask their venerable leave to join issue
with them; and then assert, that from the present year (1788) to the
commencement of the millennium are but two hundred and eight years. I make it
out thus; from the creation (according to the Hebrew chronology) to the birth
of Christ 4004; from the birth of Christ to the present year, 1788: these
years, added together, make 5792; and 208 added to these make 6000: it is true,
a late chronologic places the birth of Christ in A.M. 4007; and makes it out
that dionisius exiguous fixed the Christian area 3 years too late: if so, there
are but 205 between us and the millennium. Time little enough to bring forth
the events we have already mentioned, viz. The destruction of the Ottoman
empire; the restoration of the Jews, and their rebuilding Jerusalem and the
temple; the exploits of antichrist towards the mastery of the world, &c.
Therefore we may expect soon the see the fig tree budding and putting forth its
leaves.
4. I wonder, Sir, if your patience were
not exhausted with the length, and perhaps, nonsense of my sermons?
The reply of the tutor
was to this effect. " You finished
your discourse with a supposition that the length and nonsense of it had tiered
my patience. If you used lightness you are to blame. But as I hope you are always in earnest when you study the
things of God, I have to assure you that the novelty and ingenuity of your
attempt have entertained me not a little.
And when you are more master of time than at present, I advise you to
study your subject closely, and you will see cause to alter some parts of your
plan, and correct the errors of others. You also dropped a hint or two touching
the New Heavens and the new earth, which founded a little strange. Let us hear
what you have to say on those subjects, when it comes to your turn to appear in
that desk again."
Let
me tell thee, gentle reader, that the composer of the millennium took the
tutor' s advice: and that it has undergone several alterations and corrections
since the photograph was exhibited in the said desk. Let me tell thee further,
that the other advice, or rather command of the tutor was attended to; and a
discourse delivered in the same desk, on the New Heavens and New Earth. A copy of which follows under the
title, last novelties. And if thou like it half as well as I do; thou wilt not
begrudge the eleven penny bit it cost thee.
Errata
The Following errors escaped notice in some of
the preceding sheets if is left out before threesome in p; 10, 1, 25. Is for
are, p. 14.1.5, of the note.
