by admin » Sun Jan 31, 2021 9:20 am
In the same manner that the Lord God 〈◊〉 to the prophet Samuel, and revealed a knowledge of his, designs, in the same manner also he speaks to me, and reveals a knowledge of his will.
First of Samuel, Chap. iii.
1. And the child Samuel ministered unto the Lord before Eli; and the word of the Lord was precious in those days; there was no open vision.
2. And it came to pass at that time, when Eli was laid down in his place, and his eyes began to wax dim, that he could not see, and ere the lamp of God went out in the temple of the Lord, where the ark of God was, and Samuel was laid down to sleep.
4. That the Lord called, Samuel; and he answered, here am I. And he ran unto Eli, and said, here am I; for thou calledst me. And he said, I called not; lie down again. And he went and lay down.
6. And the Lord called yet again, Samuel. And Samuel rose, and went to Eli, and said, here am I; for thou didst call me. And he answered, I called not, my son; lie down again.
7. Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, neither was the word of the Lord yet revealed to him.
8. And the Lord called Samuel again the third time. And he arose, and went to Eli, and said, here am I; for thou didst call me. And Eli perceived that the Lord had called the child.
9. Therefore Eli said to Samuel, Go, lie down, and it shall be, if he call thee, that thou shalt say, speak, Lord; for thy servant heareth. So Samuel went and lay down in his place.
10. And the Lord came and stood, and called, as at other times, Samuel, Samuel. Then Samuel answered, speak, Lord; for thy servant heareth. And the Lord said to Samuel, behold, I will do a thing in Israel, at which both the ears of every one that heareth it shall tingle.
12. In that day I will perform against Eli all things which I have spoken concerning his house: when I begin, I will also make an end.
1794. The 25th of the month called June, the Lord God said to me, in a vision of the night, on my bed, in seven days more the judgment will be on this nation.
After this I was in a vision, and the Lord God brought close to me, that I might hear the report of a gun that was fired, and see a man privately shoot at another to kill him: it was so near, that I saw the flash, and smelt the powder. Before the death of the king of Sweden I was shewn, in a vision, similar to this, that he would be delivered over from the protection of God, to be shot.
I know, because the Lord God has explained it to me by revelation, that this vision means, the m•n fired at to be the present king of England
He will be shot, but not killed; he will be wounded, but not mortally.
He has not believed me at any time, although I fully informed him in 1792, and since, that it would be so; neither will he, until the very evil is visited on him: and visited on him, to increase his distress, at a time when he is surrounded with danger, and loaded with trouble: it most certainly will. Then the king of England will be convinced, by woeful and feeling proofs, but it will be very late:—comparatively, when death knocks at the door, that he despised the offered mercy of God in 1792, and constantly since his best friend, among mankind, as false.
In the month called March, 1794, I was in a vision, and the Lord God shewed me a large and very tall oak tree; it stood alone; it was entirely withered, and all its branches were cut off While I was considering the tree, its lonely condition and nakedness, I heard a very loud voice call out of heaven, how down that tree. Immediately the the tree was covered with a thick cloud of darkness, and an angel descended from God, who struck the tree with so violent a blow that it fell to the ground, and in its fall it made a great noise.
1794. First of the month called July, the Lord God said to me, among other things, in a vision, early in the morning, for I had been earnestly praying to him the evening before to hasten my revelation to the Jews, and inform me how long it would be until it took place; because I was d•ly used as an impostor, for publishing his commands, by wicked men; every one of them led on under the influence of an evil spirit—You must be at Constantinople, in your way to Jerusalem, by this time next year.
The 2d of the same month, the Lord God said to me, in a vision on my bed, early in the morning, in breaking bread you must not any longer say, to any person, peace and friendship, but salvation only to the spiritual.
I know, by revelation, that Christopher Hove, clergyman, who was unjustly tried, condemned, and put to death in London, in the year of 1651, had the divine Spirit of the living God, and prophesied from it. He testified of me at that time under different names, though all of them 〈◊〉 one and the same person; that of a Bright Star, as a Sound of Thunder in the ears of the wicked, a Lantern to the Jews, and a Great Man.
The Lord God commands me to give this testimony, and also to say, that he will soon send, it anger, the visitation of his judgment on London, and call her to a strict account for shedding not only the blood of this righteous man, but likewise all his other faithful witnesses. I know likewise, by revelation from the Lord God, and am commanded to write it down, that John Maximilian Dau• was sanctified by the Divine Spirit of Truth, and prophesied, under its sacred direction, in the year of 1709. He has also testified of me under different names.
The Lord God commands me to inform you, John Wright, that you are of the Hebrews, of the tribe of Levi, descended from Aaron the high priest, by Phineas, Zadok, and Ezra; for which the covenant to your forefather, Phineas, of an everlasting priesthood, is renewed, given to you, to be manifested in you.
Numbers, Chap. xxv.
10. And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,
11. Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, hath turned my wrath away from the children of Israel, while he was zealous for my sake among them, that I consumed not the children of Israel in my jealousy.
12. Wherefore say, behold I give to him my covenant of peace.
13. And he shall have it, and his seed after him; even the covenant of an everlasting priesthood; because he was zealous for his God, and made an attonement for the children of Israel.
This is the recorded testimony which the Lord my God commands me to give; and to say to you likewise, you are sanctified by the Holy Ghost, the Divine Spirit of Truth.
The Lord God commands me to say to all you, professing Christianity, whom I have, by his sacred direction, acknowledged to be of the Hebrews, descended from Israel; for you, and your children after you, are some of his chosen people; not to take up, in obedience to any law or any human power whatever, warlike arms, to shed blood, or commit violence, in conseque•e of the approaching calamities which he will most surely bring on this Egyptian land.
Neither mind the people that blaspheme God, and revile you for believing in his testimonies: the wicked have always rose against the righteous, and this land, like Egypt of old, has many task-masters to abuse and oppress in it. Therefore comfort yourselves in the knowledge of the promises of God to his servants: For I declare, by his sacred command, that the visible Jews are but few in number, compared to the great multitude professing Christianity, but all descended from the former Jews in the land of Israel, the forefathers of the present visible ones; which were, at different times, led captives into all nations: your lives are long, their's but short; you are the holy seed, the people and saints of the Most High; to whom, and your children for ever, belongs the possession and government of his kingdom.
The Lord God, who was the Lord Jesus Christ, commands me now, and not until now, to insert the following testimonies, as a warning to all blasphemers, and as a reason to all men, that do not know, why he said to me, in the preceding part of this book, you may inform the king of England that I call you my nephew.
The Gospel of St. Matthew, Chap. xii.
46. While he (meaning Christ) yet talked to the people, behold his mother, and his brethren stood without, desiring to speak with him.
Chap. xiii. 36. Then Jesus sent the multitude away, and went into the house; and his disciples came to him, saying, declare to us the parable of the tares of the field.
37. He answered, and said to them, He that soweth the good seed is the Son of Man.
38. The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one; the enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels.
40. As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so it shall be also in the end of this world.
41. The son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity, and shall cast them into a furnace of fire; there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.
43. Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their father. Who hath ears to hear let him hear.
47. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like to a not that was cast into the sea, and gathered of every kind; which, when it was full, they drew to shore, and sat down, and gathered the good into vessels, but cast the bad away.
49. So shall it be at the end of the world: the angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the just. And shall cast them down into the furnace of fire; there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.
51. Jesus says to them, have ye understood all these things? They say to him, yea, Lord.
53. And it came to pass, that when Jesus had finished these parables, he departed thence. And when he was come into his own country, he taught them in their synagogue; insomuch that they were astonished, and said, whence has this man this wisdom, and these mighty works?
55. Is not this the carpenter's son? Is not his mother called Mary? And his brethren (meaning his brothers) James, and Joses, and Simon, and Judas?
56. And his sisters, are they not all with us? Whence then has this man all these things? And they were offended at him. But Jesus said to them, a prophet is not without honour, save in his own country, and in his own house.
After the Lord Jesus Christ was born of the blessed Virgin Mary, she was married to Joseph; by whom she had sons and daughters: they were supposed, as the unquestionable testimony of the Gospel demonstrates, to be his brothers and sisters.
St. Paul the apostle, and likewise St. Mark, has left on record similar testimonies, which corroborate the preceding one.
Being, myself, descended from that James, the eldest son of Mary, by Joseph, whom St. Paul calls the Lord's brother, is the reason that the Lord God, who was the Lord Jesus Christ, said to me, as an expression of fondness, and to manifest his regard, You may inform the king of England that I call you my nephew.
St. Paul, Galatians, Chap. i.
19. But other of the apostles saw I none, save James, the Lord's brother.
St. Mark, Chap. vi.
2. And when the sabbath day was come, He (meaning Christ) began to teach in the synagogue; and many hearing him were astonished, saying, from whence has this man these things? and what wisdom is this which is given to him, that even such mighty works are wrought by his hands?
3. Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of James and Joses, and of Juda and Simon? And are not his sisters here with us? And they were offended at him.
The Lord God commands me to say, for the information and warning of all men, That between this day the 25th of the present month called October, and the beginning of the month called June, 1795, without mentioning to any person at what particular time in that interval, my revelation to the Jews, with a sign the same as Moses in Egypt—and to the people of London, will take place: to the former, to receive the commands of God through me, and to collect all their property and depart in great haste from all nations to their own land: the ships of England, France, Spain, and all Europe, will be obedient to the commands of God to carry home their wealth, and all the people that chuse to go by sea: to the letter, to convince them the destruction of London in 1791, according to the eighteenth chapter of the Revelation, would have been fulfilled, but for my entreaty. To fulfil the iv. chapter and the 5th verse of the Prophet Malachi, which is, behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord. I myself, am the appointed prophet to fulfil that chapter and character. Therefore I warn all people in all nations —that the terrible day of the Lord, alluded to, is nigh; it is not the day of universal judgment, but the day which is to burn like an oven, and which is to consume the wicked from the face of the earth—like the stubble of the field. Then, according to the Prophet Daniel in the seventh chapter, the kingdom, and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, will be given for an everlasting possession to the people and saints of the Most High. Being to be revealed the same as Moses, but in the same spirit and power as Elijah, when he destroyed the soldiers and priests of Ahab, I am to repronounce his judgments, to execute them on all false Christs and false prophets; and afterwards to call down fire from heaven to consume the enemies of God.
The Lord God commands me to say to you, William Bryan, that you are of the Hebrews, and of the tribe of Judah; and that you, with John Wright, are appointed, and will be commmanded by him, to testify publicly to the world who I now am, and what my future designation is.
The Lord God will influence and command numbers of his people, both men and women, to give the same public testimonies. He will also give them, to fulfil the prophecy of Joel in the ii. chapter, in wonderful visions, dreams, and open signs in the heaven, a knowledge of the approaching times.
23. And it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy; your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions.
29. And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days, I will pour out my spirit.
30. And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth; blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke.
31. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of the Lord come.
32. And it shall come to pass, that whatsoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be delivered: for in Mount Zion, and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the Lord has said, And in the remnant whom the Lord shall call.
The Revelation to St. John, Chap. vi. Which relates to the present war—its progress— and consequences; and its destruction by the woeful, but judgment of an offended God.
1. And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals and I heard as it were the sound of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, come and see. And I saw, and behold a white horse; and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given to him; and he went forth conquering, and to conquer.
3. And when he had opened the second seal, I heard the second beast say, come and see. And there went out another horse that was red; and power was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one mother: and there was given to him a great sword.
5. And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, come and see. And I beheld, and lo, a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand. And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, a measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny, and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine.
7. And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, come and see. And I looked, and behold a pale horse; and his name that sat on him was death, and hell followed with him; and power was given to them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth.
9. And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held. And they cried with a loud voice, saying, how long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth. And white robes were given to every one of them; and it was said to them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellow servants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled.
The fifth seal is now opened, the secret prophecy contained under it is published for the information and benefit of all men.
The opening of the next seal, while it brings woe to the wicked, will manifest to the Jews the great power and name of their prince with God, as recorded by Daniel, for their deliverance and restoration.
The Prophet Daniel, Chap. xii.
And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which stands for the children of thy people; and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never since there was a nation, even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.
The time of the world alluded to, when the woful calamities mentioned here will take place, is just now come: Myself, who will be the revealed prince of Israel, is the Michael and the great prince alluded to here by the angel speaking to Daniel: but not the Lord Jesus Christ visibly, who is God, and the king over all: neither is it the angel that is mentioned under the name of Michael in the 10th chapter, and 13th verse.
2. And many of them that sleep in the dost of the earth shall awake; some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.
3. And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness, as the stars for ever and ever.
4. But, thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be encreased.
8. And I heard, but understood not: then said I, O my Lord, what shall be the end of these things?
9. And he said, Go thy way, Daniel; for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end.
10. Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried; but the wicked shall do wickedly; and none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand.
At this time, which is the time alluded to by the angel informing Daniel, the earth will quake and be rent in many places: the heaven will be convulsed, opening and shutting, and shewing many fearful signs: there will be storms of wind, sail, and showers of rain, with violent thundering and lightning: the very beasts of the field, birds of the air, and fishes of the sea, will be frightened: all the inhabitants of the earth will tremble for their lives, dreading that it is the hour of their dissolution and day of universal judgement; so fierce and terrible will the great anger of God be manifested against a wicked world, professing Christ with their lips, but teaching rebellion against his blessed Gospel in their public laws and forms of prayer.
Swearing oaths; the Lord's supper, or taking the sacrament to remember him and commemorate the awful moment when he gave it to his disciples, is made a qualification, even to the must unthinking, abandoned, and wicked, to serve in any public office or employment whatever.
Of the public prayers. Our Father, which art in heaven; hallowed be thy name; thy kingdom come; which is the kingdom of peace; is very good: but the next form of prayer is beseeching God to go forth with fleets and armies: this is very bad, because it is in direct opposition to the former; it encourages, strife, hatred, war, and bloodshed; it is calling on God to keep back his kingdom, and to overthrow his own gospel of peace. The worship of Christians ought to be pure, humble, and peaceable, without any mixture of politics or directional constraints from human law.
The bishops are called Lords Spiritual. To ordain a clergyman, be must kneel down before a bishop, while he says, "Receive the Holy Ghost, for the office and work of a priest in the church of God, now committed unto thee by he imposition of our hands. Whose sins thou lost forgive, they are forgiven; and whose sins thou dost retain, they are retained.
Likewise at the consecration of a bishop, it is said, "Receive the Holy Ghost, for the office and work of a bishop in the church of God, ••w committed unto the by the imposition of our b•••ds; in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen. And remember that thou stir up the grace of God, which is given thee by this imposition of our hands."
As there is in truth no Lord but God, no man ought to assume his sacred name. No man is spiritual that has not the Holy Ghost, the Divine Spirit of T•u•h; it is by Christ th•• it is given and he will not give it to any that promotes the evil of war and disobedience to his Gospel. A prince may give to a man a title, but it is God only that can make him spiritual• he cannot give that mighty Spirit which he has not the power to command, and which he never received the gift of himself. To pursue then any longer such a false form of ordination and consecration, is not only dishonourable to the king, parliament, and people of England, but also a reproach to the bishops to attempt to give, and to the clergy to kneel down to receive.
Turn from such deceitful unmanly ways, and endeavour to live long; for it is the word of God through a man that points at the crime, and warns you to forsake, what must, if you do not, lead to certain death: for, believe me, the day of destruction to punish disobedience to the Gospel is so very nigh, that it will take place before the commencement of eight months from this day.
Look at your wives, your children, and all that is dear to you on earth; then consider how great the blessing to have them, to live with, and possess them; but how terrible the evil to separate, to be burnt with fire—to die, and lose them for ever.
Remember, God created man in his own image and likeness, and created the earth for his use; that man might believe in him, and obey his commands.
He brought the children of Israel out of Egypt to conduct them to the promised land, but when they disobeyed him in the wilderness, he destroyed thousands of them. He burnt Sodom and Gomorrah, because the people were wicked; but he saved Nineveh, which was also denounced, because the people repented.
The Lord God is great, merciful, and compassionate to forgive all that do entreat and obey his commands; but be assured, he is also great, mighty, and powerful, jealous of his sacred name and honour when given to men: and he can do now what he did of old, they are recorded for our example and warning, that is, overthrow cities, and destroy multitudes in an instant.
Life, blessing, and peace, is the inheritance of the servants, the saints, and people of the Most High.
Revelation, Chap. vi. continued.
12. And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood: and the stars of heaven fell to the earth, even as a fig tree casts her untimely figs when she is shaken by a mighty wind: and the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.
15. And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondsman, and every freeman, hid themselves in the dens, and in the rocks of the mountains; and said to the mountains and rocks, fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: for the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?
Second Book of Esdras, Chap. ii.
42. I Esdras, saw upon the Mount Zion a great multitude of people, whom I could not number, and they all praised the Lord with songs.
43. And in the midst of them there was a young man of a high stature, taller than all the rest, and upon every one of their heads he set crowns, and was more exalted; which I marvelled at greatly.
44. So I asked the angel, and said, Sir, what are these? He answered and said to me, these be they that have put off the mortal cloathing, and put on the immortal: (It means the Jews, who, when I am revealed, will acknowledge that the Lord Christ is the Lord God: then they will put off the mortal cloathing unbelief and error, and put on the immortal cloathing of faith and righteousness) and have confessed the name, of God: now are they crowned, and receive palms.
46. Then said I to the angel, what young person is that which crowns them, and gives them palms in their hands. So he answered and said to me, it is the Son of God, whom they have confessed in the world. Then I began greatly to recommend them that stood so stifly for the name of the Lord.
The Son of God, alluded to here, is not the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, as has been always erroneously supposed; but a human being, of flesh and blood, like any other. It is a man, and but a man; though recorded, and honoured with being called the Son of God. It is myself, who am the man that will be made that prince, alluded to by Ezekiel, in the xliv. xlv. xlvi. and xlviii. chapters of this Prophecy; and in the second chapter of Haggai, when kingdoms are convulsed with violence and war, with the fall of thrones and the destruction of armies, as a promised, a designed signet, manifested to the world by the great power and extended goodness of God. It is that man, whom God has designed to be the visible prince of Israel. As a believer in God, by, and through Christ, the divine Spirit of Truth, and an obeyer of his commands, he is a son, an adopted son: so is every man under heaven an acknowledged son, whether rich or poor, that does the same; and so is every woman likewise, an adopted, an acknowledged daughter.
Remember the words of the Lord Jesus Christ in the Gospel, where he says, after this manner therefore pray ye, Our Father which art in heaven, &c. As God then is our father, we, that acknowledge and pray to him as such, are surely his sons and daughters.
All that believe in the testimony of God by me, which he now commands me to make known, are his people, a part (because the visible Jews are the great body) of that innumerable multitude, shewn by the angel to Esdras, crowned, and receiving palms.
The Lord God commands me to remind all people of the loud thunder that was on the 7th of August last, and to say, it was a threat from him to destroy London, sooner than suffer me to be hurt: take it for a warning, and beware of the dreadful consequences that will most certainly ensue, if a similar injury is intended against me: for if you, the English Government, is determined to molest me, the Lord God is also determined to oppose you; and will visit with death on his enemies, and with destruction on their capital. For the English Government, both what is called civil and ecclesiastical, in its present form, will, by the fierce anger and determined judgment of the Lord God, be removed, annihilated, and utterly destroyed, before the expiration of ten months from this day.
For those unhappy men, which compose it, as if the injustice of the present war was not sufficient to provoke him, have imprudently gone on, adding evil to evil, and now, more than before, publicly encourage blasphemy against him, and abuse against his prophet. Why do they do so? said the Lord God to me. Why? because you have not their mark, but my seal; you have not their authority, the laying on the hands of their bishops, to give the Holy Ghost to prophecy by, but my Spirit, yet those are the men that pretend to judge of spirits, to discern the good from the evil: they suppose every man, that speaks or writes under the power and influence of God, is a false prophet, an impostor under delusion; because the words of truth, by him, go to contradict their mark, their human ordinances, and political forms of prayer.
The Lord Jesus Christ says, in the fifteenth chapter of his Gospel by St. Matthew, "but in vain they do worship me, teaching, for doctrines, the commandments of men.
And because the annunciation of my kingdom of peace and preservation, brings with it the sentence of death against their kingdom of war and human destruction; therefore, hear what the Lord God says to me by revelation, and commands me to write, that, as they have encouraged blasphemy against me, they shall not prosper; for I will send a blast on them that will confound all their counsels: and, as they have encouraged abuse against you, whom I sent, and who entreated me for their good, I will deliver them over to the power of their enemies; to be hated by every body, despised, and trod under foot like mire in the streets.
The Lord God commands me to say, for the information of the English government, the judges, and all men, that the prisoners, now in confinement, and on trial for their lives, charged with the crime of High Treason against the life of the king of England, are innocent: as such, he requires me to make known to the king his sacred commands in writing, and to publish this for the knowledge of all.
The Lord God commands me to inform, through this book, all that honour him—his servants—the peaceable and righteous in all nations, which have had their property, whether in land or money, confiscated, for no other reason than because the nation they belonged to declared war against the nation they lived in, all such property, or its full value, with reasonable interest set the time, shall most surely be restored.
And you, Peter Woulse, one of the Avignon Society, whom the Lord my God commands me to mention here by name, as a testimony of his great regard, your property, confiscated in France, will all be restored with interest, and much kindness shewn to you by the members of its government: they will restore the property of every other peaceable individual likewise: by the same divine rule of justice, Spain, England, Prussia, Germany, Holland, and all other nations in Europe, must restore theirs. For the time of the world is just now come, and God is firmly determined to manifest his mighty power, for the prservation of his people and saints, by fulfilling by me his words in the eleventh chapter of Isaiah, a part of which are— But with righteousness he will judge the poor, and reprove, with equity, for the meek of the earth; and he shall smite the earth with the road of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall slay the wicked.
RICHARD BROTHERS.
LONDON, No. 57, Paddington Street,
26th of the month called October. 1794
The Prophet Isaiah, Chap. xli.
25. I have raised up one from the north, (meaning the revealed Prince of the Hebrews at this time) and he shall come; (meaning to Jerusalem, from that northern part of the world alluded to; England lies in the north, and it is indeed the country meant: from the rising of the sun he shall come upon princes as upon mortar, and as the potter treads clay.
Isaiah stood at Jerusalem when this prophecy was given, writing and recording it by the direction of God, he looked to the northern part of the world, where this distinguished person, which he so clearly mentions, is first to rise, and then come to Jerusalem, calling on the name of the Lord, from the rising to the setting of the sun; as zealous for an obedience to the Gospel, as David, his father, was for the law: travelling in the mighty strength of the Spirit, and armed with the divine power of fire, like Elijah*, he will subject nations, remove thrones, and burn all rebel princes.
26. Who hath declared from the beginning, that we may know; and before the time, (meaning before the prophecy is fulfilled; it being 2461 years from its declaration then to its accomplishment, now this present year 2795,) that we may say, He is righteous! yea there is none that sheweth, yea, there is none that declareth; yea, there is none that heareth yout words.
The king of England, and the members of his government, the parliament, bishops, judges, and all the ambassadors from foreign nations, in London, have received the information of their fall and destruction; but they all refuse to believe, and by so doing fulfil exactly what the prophet means, when he says, yea, there is none that heareth your words.
27. The first shall say to Zion, behold, behold them; (meaning the Jews, crouding home to Jerusalem in great multitudes) and I will give to Jerusalem one that bringeth good tidings. (It means the revealed prince, returning home with the people, to rebuild the desolate city, and make her rejoice.)
28. For I beheld, and there was no man; even among them there was no counsellor that, when I asked of them, could answer a word.
Here the Holy Ghost, the spirit of God, spoke by Isaiah, as if speaking by myself at this very hour; for I have sent books of the judgments of God to the king of England, and the members of his government, his parliament, his bishops, his judges, and all the foreign ambassadors in London, for their respective countries: but to accomplish what is so faithfully recorded by the prophet, where he speaks spiritually as myself—Even among them there was no counsellor that, when I sent to them, could answer a word.
29. Behold, they are all vanity; their works are nothing; their molten images are wind and confusion.