appeared to themselves as Conquerors and as Wife: By their having Hair as the Hair of Women, is fignified, that they appeared to themselves as if they were in the Affection of Truth: By their having Teeth as Lions Teeth, is fignified, that the fenfual Things, which are the Ultimates of the natural Man, appeared to them as if they had Power over all Things: By their having Breast, Plates as Breaft-Plates of Iron, are fignified Argumentations grounded in Fallacies, by which they fight and prevail: By the Voice of their Wings being as the Voice of Chariots rufhing to Battle, are fignified Ratiocinations as if grounded in the Truths of Doctrine from the Word, for which they were to combat: By their having Tails as Scorpions are fignified Perfuafions: By their having Stings in their Tails are fignified the cunning Arts of deceiving thereby: By their having Power to hurt Men five Months, is fignified that they induce a Kind of Stupour on those who are principled in the Understanding of Truth and in the Perception of Good: By their having a King over them, an Angel of the Abyfs, whofe Name is Abaddon or Apollyon, is fignified, that their Falfes were from Hell, the Abode of those who are merely natural, and principled in Self-Intelligence. This is the fpiritual Senfe of thefe Words, whereof Nothing appears in the Sense of the Letter, and the like fpiritual Senfe is contained in every Part of the Book of the Revelation. It is to be obferved, that in the spiritual Sense the Whole has a regu lar Connection and Coherence, to effect and perfect which, each particular Expreffion in the literal or natural Sense is conducive, infomuch that if a fingle Word was taken away, the Connection would be broken, and the Coherence perish; therefore, to prevent this, it is added at the End of this prophetical Book," that not a Word fhould be "taken away," Rev. xxii. 19. The Cafe is fimilar in Regard to the Books of the Prophets of the Old Teftament, from which left any Thing fhould be taken away, it was effected by the Divine Providence of the Lord, that each Particular therein, even to the Letters, fhould be counted or numbered, which was done by the Mafforetes. * 14. The

*It may be expedient to inform the unlearned Reader, that the Mafforetes were Jewish Doctors, Authors of the

3

Maffora,

14. The Lord, in fpeaking to his Difciples concerning the Confummation of the Age, which is the laft Time of the Church, at the Clofe of the feveral Predictions refpecting it's fucceffive Changes of State, faith, "Imme

diately after the Tribulation of thofe Days, the Sun "fhall be darkened, and the Moon fhall not give her

66

Light, and the Stars fhall fall from Heaven, and "the Powers of the Heavens fhall be fhaken. And "then shall appear the S gn of the Son of Man in Heaven; and then thall all the Tribes of the Earth mourn; "and they fhall fee the Son of Man coming in the Clouds "of Heaven with Power and much Glory. And he shall "fend forth his Angels with a Trumpet and a great

Voice, and they fhall gather together his Elect from "the four Winds, from one Extreme of the Heavens to "the other," Matt. xxiv. 29, 30, 31. By thefe Words in a spiritual Senfe is not meant, that the Sun and Moon fhould be darkened, that the Stars fhould fall from Heaven, and that a Sign of the Lord fhould appear in Heaven, and that Men fhould fee him in the Clouds, and his Angels with Trumpets; but by each particular Expreffion is there meant Somewhat fpiritual refpecting the Church, concerning whofe final State thefe Things are fpoken; For in à fpiritual Senfe, by the Sun which fhall be darkened, is meant the Lord as to the Principle of Love; by the Moon which fhall not give her Light, is meant the Lord as to the Principle of Faith; by the Stars which fhall fall from Heaven, are meant the Knowledges of Goodness and Truth which fhould perifh; by the Sign of the Son of Man in Heaven, is meant the Appearing of Divine Truth; by the Tribes of the Earth which Thall mourn, is meant a Scarcity of all Truth appertaining to Faith, and of all Good appertaining to Love; by the Coming of the Son of Man in the Clouds of Heaven with Power and Glory, is meant the Prefence and Revelation of the Lord in the Word; by Clouds is fignified the

literal

Maffora, which was a Critique on the Hebrew Text of the Bible, wherein were numbered the Verfes, Words, and Letters of the Text, and all the Variations of it marked; the Defign of which work was, to fecure the Text from any Alterations which might otherwise happen, and to serve, according to the Jewish Expreffion, as a Hedge to the Law,

literal Senfe of the Word, and by Glory it's spiritual Senfe; by Angels with a Trumpet and a great Voice, is fignified Heaven, whence cometh Divine Truth; by gathering together the Elect from one Extreme of the Heavens to the other, is fignified a new [Principle or Beginning] of the Church as to Love and Faith. That the Darkening of the Sun and Moon, and the Falling of the Stars to the Earth, are not here meant, is very manifeft from the prophetical Writings, which contain a Declaration of fimilar Events concerning the State of the Church, which were to take Place when the Lord fhould come into the World, as in Ifaiah, "Behold, the Day of Jehovah "cometh, cruel with Wrath and fierce Anger; the Stars "of the Heavens, and the Constellations thereof, fhall not "fhine with their Light; the Sun fhall be darkened in "his Rifing, and the Moon fhall not cause her Light to "fhine; I will vifit Iniquity on the Earth," xiii. 9, 10, 11; and in Joel, "The Day of Jehovah cometh, a Day "of Darkness and of Gloominess; the Sun and the Moon "fhall be dark, and the Stars fhall withdraw their Shin“ing," ii. 1, 2, 10, 31. Chap. iii. 15; and in Ezechiel, "I will cover the Heavens and darken the Stars; I will

cover the Sun with a Cloud, and the Moon shall not "caufe her Light to fhine: All the Luminaries of Light "will I darken, and I will fet Darkness upon the Earth," xxxii. 7, 8; by the Day of Jehovah is meant the Coming of the Lord, which Event took Place when there was no longer any Goodness and Truth remaining in the Church, nor any Knowledge of the Lord.

15. In Order to fhew more clearly that the prophetical Parts of the Word of the Old Teftament are, in many Places, unintelligible without a spiritual Senfe, I fhall here adduce a few Paffages, as this in Ifaiah, "Then "fhall Jehovah raise up a Scourge against Ashur, accord "ing to the Smiting of Midian at the Rock of Oreb, and "his Rod fhall be on the Sea, which he fhall lift up in "the Way of Egypt. And it fhall come to pafs in that "Day, his Burden fhall be taken away from off thy "Shoulder, and his Yoke from off thy Neck; he fhall

come against Aiath, he shall pass to Migron, against "Michmafh fhall he direct his Arms, they fhall pafs to "Mebara, Gibeah fhall be a Lodging to us, Ramah shall "tremble, Gibeah of Saul fhall flee; Howl with thy

"Voice

"Voice O Daughter of Gallim, hearken O Laish, O "miferable Anathoth; Madmenah fhall be a Vagabond; "the Inhabitants of Gebim fhall gather themselves toge"ther: As yet there is not a Day to ftand in Nob; the "Mount of the Daughter of Zion, the Hill of Jerufa"lem, shall shake her Hand. Jehovah fhall cut off the "interwoven Branches of the Foreft with Iron, and Le"banon shall fall by a mighty One," x. 24 to 34; in this Paffage there occur only inere Names, from which no Meaning can be drawn but by the Help of the spiritual Senfe, in which Senfe all Names throughout the Word fignify Things appertaining to Heaven and the Church : By Virtue of this Senfe is difcovered the Signification of the Contents of the above Paffage, as denoting, that the whole Church was brought into Devaftation by Means of Scientifics perverting all Truth, and confirming all Falfity. Again in the fame Prophet, " In that Day the Rival

fhip of Ephraim fhall depart, and the Enemies of Judah "fhall be cut off; Ephraim fhall not rival Judah, and Judah fhall not straighten Ephraim, but they fhall fly "upon the Shoulders of the Philifthine towards the Sea, "they fhall spoil together the Sons of the Eaft; Edom " and Moab shall be the putting forth of their Hand: Je"hovah fhall pronounce the Curfe against the Tongue of "the Egyptian Sea, and he fhall fhake his Hand over the "River with the Vehemence of his Spirit, and he fhall "fmite it into feven Streams, to make a Way with "Shoes: Then fhall there be a Path for the Remains of "his People which fhall be left of Afhur," xi. 13 to 16. In this Paffage alfo, it is impoffible to fee any Thing Divine, unless it be known what is fignified by each particular Name, notwithstanding that the Subject here treated of is concerning the Coming of the Lord, and what shall come to pass at that Time, as plainly appears from Verse I to 10 Without the Help therefore of the spiritual Senfe, how is it poffible for any one to difcern the genuine Signification of thefe Words in their Order, as denoting, that they who through Ignorance are principled in Falfes, and do not fuffer themselves to be feduced by Evils, will come to the Lord, and that the Church will then underftand the Word, and that Falfes will not then any longer be hurtful to the Members of the Church. The Cafe is

the

the fame in thofe Paffages where no Names occur, as in Ezechiel, "Thus faith the Lord Jehovah, Son of Man,

"

fay unto the Bird of every Wing, and to every Beast of "the Field, Affemble yourselves and come, gather your "felves from every Side to my Sacrifice which I do facri"fice for you, a great Sacrifice upon the Mountains of Ifrael; that ye may eat Flefh and drink Blood; ye fhall "eat the Flesh of the Mighty, and drink the Blood of "the Princes of the Earth; ye fhall eat Fat till ye be "full, and drink Blood till ye be drunken, of my Sacri"fice which I do facrifice for you. Ye fhall be filled at 66 my Table with the Horfe and the Chariot, and with the Mighty One, and with every Man of War; thus will "I give my Glory amongst the Gentiles," xxxix. 17 to 21; in this Paffage again, if it be not known by the fpiritual Senfe what is fignified by Sacrifice, what by Flesh and Blood, what by Horse, and Chariot, and Mighty One, and Man of War, it must needs appear as if thofe Things were to be eaten and drunken; but the fpiritual Senfe teacheth, that by eating Flesh and drinking Blood of the Sacrifice which the Lord Jehovah fhall give on the Mountains of Ifrael, is fignified to appropriate Divine Good and Divine Truth from the Word; for this Paffage treats of the Calling together of all to the Lord's Kingdom, and in particular of the Establishment of the Church amongst the Gentiles by the Lord: Who cannot fee that by Flesh is not here meant Flesh, nor by Blood Blood, as where it is faid, that they fhould drink Blood till they were drunken, and that they fhould be filled with Horfes, Chariots, the Mighty, and all Men of War? The Cafe is fimilar in a Thoufand other Paffages in the Prophets.

16. Without the fpiritual Senfe it is impoffible for any one to know, why Jeremiah the Prophet was commanded "to buy himself a Girdle, and put it on his Loins, and "not to draw it through the Waters, but to go to Eu

phrates and hide it there in a Hole of the Rock," Jer. xiii. I to 7; or why Ifaiah the Prophet was commanded "to loose the Sackcloth from off his Loins, and to put "off his Shoe from off his Foot, and to go naked and bare-foot three Years," Ifaiah xx. 2, 3; or why Ezechiel the Prophet was commanded" to make a Razor "pafs upon his Head and upon his Beard, and afterwards

"te