_Objections against the Millennium, answer’d. With some Conjectures
concerning the State of Things after the Millennium; and what will
be the final Consummation of this World._
You see how Nature and Providence have conspir’d, to make the
_Millennium_ as happy a State, as any terrestrial State can be: For,
besides Health and Plenty, Peace, Truth, and Righteousness will flourish
there, and all the Evils of this Life stand excluded. There will be no
ambitious Princes, studying Mischief one against another, or contriving
Methods to bring their own Subjects into Slavery; no mercenary Statesmen
to assist and intrigue with them, no Oppression from the Powerful, no
Snares or Traps laid for the Innocent, no treacherous Friends, no
malicious Enemies, no Knaves, Cheats, Hypocrites; the Vermin of this
Earth, that swarm every where. There will be nothing but Truth, Candor,
Sincerity and Ingenuity; as in a Society or Commonwealth of Saints and
Philosophers: In a Word, ’twill be _Paradise restor’d_, both as to
Innocency of Temper, and the Beauties of Nature.
I believe you will be apt to say, if this be not true, ’tis pity but it
should be true: For ’tis a very desirable State, where all good People
would find themselves mightily at ease. What is it that hinders it then?
It must be some ill _Genius_; for Nature tends to such a Renovation, as
we suppose; and Scripture speaks loudly of an happy State to be some
time or other on this side Heaven: And what is there, pray, in this
present World, Natural and Moral, if I may ask with Reverence, that
could make it worth the while for God to create it, if it never was
better, nor ever will be better? Is there not more Misery than
Happiness? Is there not more Vice than Virtue in this World? As if it
had been made by a _Manichean_ God. The Earth barren, the Heavens
inconstant; Men wicked and God offended: This is the Posture of our
Affairs, such hath our World been hitherto, with Wars and Bloodshed,
Sickness, and Diseases, Poverty, Servitude and perpetual Drudgery for
the Necessaries of a mortal Life. We may therefore reasonably hope, from
a God infinitely good and powerful, for better Times and a better State,
before the last Period and Consummation of all Things.
But it will be objected, it may be, that, according to Scripture, the
Vices and Wickedness of Men will continue to the End of the World; and
so there will be no room for such an happy State, as we hope for, _Luk.
xviii. 8_. Our Saviour says, _When the Son of Man cometh, shall he find
Faith upon the Earth?_ They shall _eat and drink and play_, as before
the Destruction of the _old World_, or of _Sodom_, (_Luke xvii. 26_,
_&c._) and the Wickedness of those Men, you know, continued to the last.
This Objection may pinch those that suppose the Millennium to be in the
present Earth, and a thousand Years before the coming of our Saviour;
for his Words seem to imply that the World will be in a State of
Wickedness even till his coming. Accordingly Antichrist or the _Man of
Sin_, is not said to be destroy’d till the coming of our Saviour, _2
Thess. ii. 8_. and till he be destroy’d, we cannot hope for a
Millennium. Lastly, The coming of our Saviour is always represented in
Scripture as sudden, surprizing and unexpected; as _Lightning_ breaking
suddenly out of the Clouds, (_Luke xvii. 24._ and _ch. xxi. 34, 35_.) or
as a _Thief in the Night_, _1 Thess. v. 2, 3, 4._ _2 Pet. iii. 10._
_Apoc. xvi. 15._ But if there be such a Fore-runner of it as the
millennial State, whose Bounds we know, according as that expires and
draws to an End, Men will be certainly advertis’d of the approaching of
our Saviour: But this Objection, as I told you, does not affect our
Hypothesis, for we suppose the Millennium will not be till after the
coming of our Saviour, and the Conflagration. And also that his coming
will be sudden and surprising; and that Antichrist will continue in
being, tho’ not in the same degree of Power, till that time: So that
they that place the Millennium in the present Earth, are chiefly
concern’d to answer this first Objection.
But you will object, it may be, in the second Place, that this
Millennium, wheresoever it is, would degenerate at length into
Sensuality, and a _Mahometan Paradise:_ For where there are earthly
Pleasures and earthly Appetites, they will not be kept always in order
without any Excess or Luxuriancy; especially as to the Senses to Touch
and Taste. I am apt to think this is true, if the Soul have no more
Power over the Body than she hath at present, and our Senses, Passions,
and Appetites be as strong as they are now: But according to our
Explication of the Millennium, we have great Reason to hope, that the
Soul will have a greater Dominion over the Resurrection-Body, than she
hath over this; and you know we suppose that none will truly inherit the
Millennium, but those that rise from the Dead: Nor do we admit any
Propagation there, nor the Trouble or Weakness of Infants. But that all
rise in a perfect Age, and never die; being translated, at the final
Judgment, to meet our Saviour in the Clouds, and to be with him for
ever: Thus we easily avoid the Force of this Objection. But those that
place the Millennium in this Life, and to be enjoy’d in these Bodies,
must find out some new Preservatives against Vice, otherwise they will
be continually subject to Degeneracy.
Another Objection may be taken from the personal Reign of Christ upon
Earth, which is a thing incongruous, and yet asserted by many modern
Millennaries; that Christ should leave that Right-Hand of his Father, to
come and pass a thousand Years here below, living upon Earth in an
heavenly Body: This, I confess, is a thing I never could digest, and
therefore I am not concern’d in this Objection; not thinking it
necessary that Christ should be personally present and resident upon
Earth in the Millennium. I am apt to believe that there will be then a
celestial Presence of Christ, or a _Shekinah_, as we noted before; as
the Sun is present to the Earth, yet never leaves its Place in the
Firmament; so Christ may be visibly conspicuous in his heavenly Throne,
as he was to St. _Stephen_, _Acts vii. 55, 56_. and yet never leave the
Right Hand of his Father. And this would be a more glorious and
illustrious Presence, than if he should descend, and converse amongst
Men in a personal Shape: But these things not being distinctly reveal’d
to us, we ought not to determine any thing concerning them, but with
Modesty and Submission.
We have thus far pretty well escap’d, and kept our selves out of the
reach of the ordinary Objections against the Millennium: But there
remains one, concerning a _double Resurrection_, which must fall upon
every Hypothesis, and ’tis this. The Scripture, they say, speaks but of
one Resurrection; whereas the Doctrine of the Millennium supposes two;
one at the Beginning of the Millennium, for the Martyrs, and those that
enjoy that happy State, and the other at the End of it; which is
universal and final, in the last Day of Judgment. ’Tis true, Scripture
generally speaks of the Resurrection in gross; without distinguishing
first and second; and so it speaks of the _Coming_ of our Saviour,
without Distinction of first or second yet it does not follow from that,
that there is but one coming of our Saviour, so neither that there is
but one Resurrection. And seeing there is one place of Scripture that
speaks distinctly of two Resurrections, namely, the _xxth chap._ of the
_Apocalypse_, that is to us a sufficient Warrant for asserting two; as
there are some things in one Evangelist that are not in another, yet we
think them authentick if they be but in one: There are also some things
in _Daniel_, concerning the _Messiah_, and concerning the
_Resurrection_, that are not in the rest of the Prophets; yet we look
upon his single Testimony as good Authority. St. _John_ wrote the last
of all the Apostles, and as the whole Series of his Prophecies is new,
reaching through the latter Times to the Consummation of all Things; so
we cannot wonder if he had something more particular reveal’d to him
concerning the Resurrection: That which was spoken of before in general,
being distinguish’d now into _first_ and _second_, or particular and
universal, in this last Prophet. _See Mr. Mede._ Some think St. _Paul_
means no less, when he makes an _Order_ in the Resurrection; some rising
sooner, some later, _1 Cor. xv. 23, 24_, _1 Thess.. iv. 14, 15_, _&c._
but whether that be so or no, St. _John_ might have a more distinct
Revelation concerning it, than St. _Paul_ had, or any one before him.
After these Objections, a great many Queries and Difficulties might be
propos’d relating to the Millennium: But that’s no more than what is
found in all other Matters, remote from our Knowledge. Who can answer
all the Queries that may be made concerning _Heaven_, or _Hell_, or
_Paradise_? When we know a Thing as to the Substance, we are not to let
go our Hold, tho’ there remain some Difficulties unresolv’d; otherwise
we should be eternally sceptical in most Matters of Knowledge.
Therefore, tho’ we cannot, for Example, give a full Account of the
Distinction of Habitations and Inhabitants in the _future Earth_; or, of
the Order of the _first Resurrection_, whether it be perform’d by
degrees and successively, or all the Inhabitants of the _new Jerusalem_
rise at once, and continue throughout the whole Millennium: I say, tho’
we cannot give a distinct Account of these, or such like Particulars, we
ought not therefore to deny or doubt whether there will be a _new
Earth_, or a _first Resurrection_. For the Revelation goes clearly so
far, and the Obscurity is only in the Consequences and Dependences of
it; which Providence thought fit, without farther Light, to leave to our
Search and Disquisition.
Scripture mentions one Thing, at the End of the Millennium, which is a
common Difficulty to all; and every one must contribute their best
Thoughts and Conjectures towards the Solution of it: ’Tis the strange
Doctrine of _Gog_ and _Magog_, _Apoc. xx. 8, 9_. which are to rise up in
Rebellion against the Saints, and besiege the holy City, and the holy
Camp: And this is to be upon the Expiration of the thousand Years, when
Satan is loosen’d; for no sooner will his Chains be knock’d off, but he
will put himself in the Head of this Army of Giants, or Sons of the
Earth, and attack Heaven, and the Saints of the most High: But with ill
Success, for there will come down Fire and Lightning from Heaven, and
consume them. This, methinks, hath a great Affinity with the History of
the Giants, rebelling and assaulting Heaven, and struck down by
Thunder-Bolts: But that of setting Mountains upon Mountains, or tossing
them into the Sky, that’s the poetical Part, and we must not expect to
find it in the Prophecy. The Poets told their Fable, as of a thing past,
and so it was a Fable; but the Prophets speak of it, as of a Thing to
come, and so it will be a Reality: But how and in what Sense it is to be
understood and explain’d, every one has the Liberty to make the best
Judgment he can.
_Ezekiel_ mentions _Gog_ and _Magog_, _ch._ xxxviii. and xxxix. which I
take to be only Types and Shadows of these which we are now speaking of,
and not yet exemplify’d, no more than his Temple. And seeing this People
is to be at the End of the _Millennium_, and in the same Earth with it,
we must, according to our Hypothesis, plant them in the future Earth,
and therefore all former Conjectures about the _Turks_, or _Scythians_,
or other _Barbarians_, are out of Doors with us, seeing the Scene of
this Action does not lie in the present Earth: They are also represented
by the Prophet, as a People distinct and separate from the Saints, not
in their Manners only, but also in their Seats and Habitations; for
(_Apoc. xx. 8, 9._) they are said to come up from the four Corners of
the Earth, upon the Breadth of the Earth, and there to besiege the _Camp
of the Saints and the beloved City_: This makes it seem probable to me,
that there will be a double Race of Mankind in that _future Earth_; very
different one from another, both as to their Temper and Disposition, and
as to their Origin: The one born from Heaven, Sons of God, and of the
Resurrection, who are the true Saints and Heirs of the _Millennium_. The
other born of the Earth, Sons of the Earth, generated from the Slime of
the Ground, and the Heat of the Sun, as brute Creatures were at first:
This second Progeny or Generation of Men in the future Earth, I
understand to be signified by the Prophet under these borrowed or
feigned Names of _Gog_ and _Magog_: And this Earth-born Race, increasing
and multiplying after the Manner of Men, by carnal Propagation, after a
thousand Years, grew numerous, as the Sand by the Sea; and thereupon
made an Irruption or Inundation upon the Face of the Earth, and upon the
Habitations of the Saints; as the barbarous Nations did formerly upon
Christendom; or as the Giants are said to have made War against the
Gods: But they were soon confounded in their impious and sacrilegious
Design, being struck and consum’d by Fire from Heaven.
Some will think, it may be, that there was such a double Race of Mankind
in the first World also: _The Sons of Adam, and the Sons of God_;
because it is said, _Gen. vi._ _When Men began to multiply upon the Face
of the Earth_, that _the SONS OF GOD SAW THE DAUGHTERS OF MEN, that they
were fair, and they took them Wives of all that they lik’d._ And it is
added, presently, _ver. 4._ _There were Giants in the Earth in those
Days; and also after that, when the Sons of God came in unto the
Daughters of Men, and they bare Children to them; the same became mighty
Men, which were of old, Men of Renown._ Here seem to be two or three
Orders or Races in this Ante-diluvian World. _The Sons of God; the Sons
and Daughters of Adam_; and a third Sort arising from the Mixture and
Copulation of these, which are call’d _Mighty Men of old_, or Heroes.
Besides, here are Giants mention’d, and to which they are to be reduc’d,
it does not certainly appear.
This Mixture of these two Races, whatsoever they were, gave, it seems,
so great Offence to God, that he destroy’d that World upon it, in a
Deluge of Water. It hath been matter of great Difficulty to determine,
who these _Sons of God_ were, that fell in Love with and married the
Daughters of Men. There are two Conjectures that prevail most; one, that
they were Angels; and another, that they were of the Posterity of
_Seth_, and distinguished from the rest, by their Piety, and the Worship
of the true God; so that it was a great Crime for them to mingle with
the rest of Mankind, who are suppos’d to have been Idolaters: Neither of
these Opinions is to me satisfactory. For as to Angels, good Angels
neither _marry, nor are given in Marriage_, _Mat. xxii. 30._ and bad
Angels are not called the _Sons of God_. Besides, if Angels were capable
of those mean Pleasures, we ought in Reason to suppose, that there are
Female Angels, as well as Male; for surely those Capacities are not in
vain through a whole _Species_ of Beings. And if there be Female Angels,
we cannot imagine, but that they must be of a far more charming Beauty
than the dowdy Daughters of Men. Then as to the Line of _Seth_, it does
not appear that there was any such Distinction of Idolaters and true
Worshipers before the Flood, or that there was any such thing as
Idolatry at that time, nor for some Ages after. Besides, it is not said,
that the Sons of God fell in Love with the Daughters of _Cain_, or of
any degenerate Race, but with the Daughters of _Adam_; which may be the
Daughters of _Seth_, as well as of any other: These Conjectures
therefore seem to be shallow and ill-grounded. But what the Distinction
was of those two Orders, remains yet very uncertain.
St. _Paul_ to the _Galatians_, (_chap. iv. 21, 22_, _&c._) makes a
Distinction also of a double Progeny; that of _Sarah_, and that of
_Hagar_: One was born according to the Flesh, after a natural Manner;
and the other by the divine Power, or in virtue of the divine Promise.
This Distinction of a natural and supernatural Origin, and of a double
Progeny; the one born to Servitude, the other to Liberty, represents
very well either the Manner of our present Birth, and of our future, at
the Resurrection; or that double Progeny and double manner of Birth,
which we suppose in the _future Earth_. ’Tis true, St. _Paul_ applies
this to the Law and the Gospel; but typical Things, you know, have
different Aspects and Complexions, which are not exclusive of one
another; and so it may be here. But however, this double Race of Mankind
in the future Earth, to explain the Doctrine of _Gog_ and _Magog_, is
but a Conjecture; and does not pretend to be otherwise considered.
The last Thing that remains to be considered and accounted for, is the
Upshot and Conclusion of all; namely, what will become of the Earth
after the thousand Years expir’d? Or after the Day of Judgment past, and
the Saints translated into Heaven, what will be the Face of Things here
below? There being nothing expresly reveal’d concerning this, we must
not expect a positive Resolution of it: And the Difficulty is not
peculiar to our Hypothesis; for though the _Millennium_, and the final
Judgment, were concluded in the present Earth, the Quære would still
remain, _What_ would become of this Earth after the last Day? So that
all Parties are equally concern’d, and equally free, to give their
Opinion, _What_ will be the _last State and Consummation_ of this Earth:
Scripture, I told you, hath not defin’d this Point; and the Philosophers
say very little concerning it. The Stoicks indeed speak of the final
Resolution of all things into _Fire_, or into _Ether_: which is the
purest and subtlest sort of Fire: So that the whole Globe or Mass of the
Earth, and all particular Bodies, will, according to them, be at last
dissolv’d into a liquid Flame. Neither was this Doctrine first invented
by the Stoicks; _Heraclitus_ taught it long before them, and I take it
to be as ancient as _Orpheus_ himself; who was the first Philosopher
amongst the _Greeks_: And he deriving his Notions from the _Barbarick_
Philosophers, or the Sages of the _East_, that School of Wisdom may be
look’d upon as the true Seminary of this Doctrine, as it was of most
other natural Knowledge.
But this Dissolution of the Earth into Fire, may be understood two Ways;
either that it will be dissolv’d into a loose Flame, and so dissipated
and lost as Lightning in the Air, and vanish into nothing; or that it
will be dissolv’d into a fix’d Flame, such as the Sun is, or a fix’d
Star. And I am of Opinion, that the Earth after the last Day of
Judgment, will be chang’d into the Nature of a Sun, or of a fix’d Star,
and shine like them in the Firmament: Being all melted down into a Mass
of æthereal Matter, and enlightning a Sphere or Orb round about it. I
have no direct and demonstrative Proof of this I confess, but if Planets
were once fixed Stars, as I believe they were, their Revolution to the
same State again, in a great Circle of Time, seems to be according to
the Methods of Providence, which loves to recover what was lost or
decay’d, after certain Periods, and what was originally good and happy,
to make it so again, all Nature, at last, being transform’d into a like
Glory with the Sons of God, (_Rom._ viii. 21.)
I will not tell you what Foundation there is in Nature, for this Change
or Transformation from the interiour Constitution of the Earth, and the
Instances we have seen of new Stars appearing in the Heavens. I should
lead the _English_ Reader too far out of his Way, to discourse of these
things: But if there be any Passages or Expressions in Scripture, that
countenance such a State of things after the Day of Judgment, it will
not be improper to take Notice of them. That radiant and illustrious
_Jerusalem_, describ’d by St. _John Apoc._ xxi. _ver._ 10, 11, 12, &c.
compos’d all of Gemms and bright Materials, clear and sparkling, as a
Star in the Firmament: Who can give an Account what that is? Its
Foundations, Walls, Gates, Streets, all the Body of it, resplendent as
Light or Fire? What is there in Nature, or in this Universe, that bears
any Resemblance with such a Phænomenon as this, unless it be a Sun or a
fix’d Star? Especially if we add and consider what follows, _ver._ 23.
That _the City had no need of the Sun, nor of the Moon to shine in it_,
_ver. 25_. And that _there was no Night there_. This can be no
terrestrial Body; it must be a Substance luminous in it self, and a
Fountain of Light, as a fix’d Star: And upon such a Change of the Earth,
or Transformation, as this, would _be brought to pass the Saying that is
written_, DEATH IS SWALLOWED UP IN VICTORY. Which indeed St. _Paul_
seems to apply to our Bodies in particular, _1 Cor. xv. 54_. But in the
eighth Chap. to the _Romans_ he extends it to all Nature, _ver. 21_.
_The Creation it self also shall be deliver’d from the Bondage of
Corruption, into the glorious Liberty of the Sons of God._ And
accordingly St. _John_, speaking of the same Time with St. _Paul_ in
that Place to the _Corinthians_, namely, of the general Resurrection and
Day of Judgement, says, _Death_ and _Hades_, which we render Hell, _were
cast into the Lake of Fire, Apoc. xx. 14._ This is their being
_swallowed up in Victory_, which St. _Paul_ speaks of; when _Death_ and
_Hades_, that is, all the Region of Mortality, the Earth and all its
Dependences, are absorpt into a Mass of Fire; and converted, by a
glorious Victory over the Powers of Darkness, into a luminous Body and a
Region of Light.
This great Issue and Period of the Earth, and of all human Affairs, tho’
it seem to be founded in Nature, and supported by several Expressions of
Scripture; yet we cannot, for want of full Instruction, propose it
otherwise than as a fair Conjecture: The Heavens and the Earth shall
flie away at the Day of Judgment, says the Text, _Apoc. xx. 11_. _And
their Place shall not be found._ This must be understood of our Heavens
and our Earth; and their _flying away_ must be their removing to some
other Part of the Universe, so as their Place or Residence shall not be
found any more here below. This is the easy and natural Sense of the
Words; and this Translation of the Earth will not be without some Change
preceeding, that makes it leave its Place, and, with a lofty Flight,
takes its Seat amongst the Stars.——There we leave it; having conducted
it for the Space of seven thousand Years thro’ various Changes, from a
_dark Chaos to a bright Star_.
_FINIS._
A REVIEW Of the SACRED Theory of the Earth,