we have found notified in the great drawing, which was ordained and established before the world was created.

Now we must look into the drawing again. Here we have found and discovered the name of the family of Abraham. "Come now, therefore, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth my people the children of Israel out of Egypt :" Exod. iii. 10: " And thou shalt say unto Pharaoh, Thus saith the Lord, Israel is my first born son." Exod. iv. 22. Although God

made a covenant with Abraham, and with his seed for ever, it was still unknown to the world at large; no nation knew who was to be called the first born, but it was now declared to the gentiles by Moses : "And thou shalt say to Pharaoh, Thus saith the Lord, Israel is my first

born son."

Suppose a king has a numerous family; will not every one declare that out of the whole family, only one son can be declared the heir to the crown? will not also every man confess that the first born son is the lawful heir? to which will the king give most instruction? certainly to the first born. To which of his family will he communicate all his secrets? to his first born. To which of his sons will he deliver his great seal? to his first born. Thus far it must be acknowledged by every person that only the first born son has a right to the kingdom of his father; but the rest of the family must remain in subjection, and they all must acknowledge him as their lord and king. But the inhabitants of the whole empire must remain to day the same as

they were yesterday; yesterday they were servants, and to day they must be the same; and so they must remain always.

*QUESTION IS THE FIRST BORN SON BORN FOR OTHERS, OR ARE THE PUBLIC AT LARGE BORN FOR HIM?-Here you must say that his birth made him lord over all, not to obey, but to be obeyed; not to be commanded, but to command; not to be judged, but to judge; not to be equal, but to be above all. Considering all these things, the subjects of the king are by no means born for themselves, but all of them are born to be his servants and to obey his orders as their lord and king. This king is the God of heaven and earth; all the sons of Adam are his subjects; they all are bound to obey him, and to worship him, and honour his great name, and to obey his command: Now it pleased him to declare, that Israel is the prince of this world; he delivered to Israel *his great seal, that is, circumcision; he communicated to Israel all his secrets, that is the oracles of God; and saith unto Israel, "Ye are the sons of the Lord your God." Deut. xiv. 1. And that all the families of this world should know that Israel was elected and chosen, the Lord gave them his own name, specified in their name. * The noun, Israel, consists of two words: the first wr, yoshor, signifies righteous; the second word, El, signifies God; and both words to gether are pronounced Israel, and signify the righteous of God. This name is the crown and glory of Israel, and further the gentile world should or ought to consider, that to Israel was delivered the great seal of circumcision, and the

oracles, and the crown. All these things we find recorded in the great drawing of the law, which was prepared before the foundation of this world; and here all the nations may see, and learn, and be convinced, * that Israel was chosen and elected before the creation of this world, to be the Lord and king over it: and here all nations witness, that from the time that circumcision was delivered to Abraham it never ceased; and this very day it is observed just the same; and the oracles are observed just the same; and also the name Israel, declared by Moses, three thousand one hundred years back; and to-day Israel is still Israel: and thus having in possession these three great gifts is a sufficient proof this very day that Israel was elected, and shall so remain for ever. * It is a vain thing for the gentiles to grasp at the kingdom of this world; they are not called the sons; and they well know, that a servant or servants have nothing else to do but to obey the order of their lord and master. All that is said here, if considered by the gentiles, I should like to know their answer: yet I can well imagine it; For if Israel is the Lord of this world, where is then his glory? but we can prove on the contrary, that the gentiles are the lords of the world, and Israel are their servants even until this day.' To this I answer, that the wise God did ordain every thing according to his wisdom; he created the first man pure and godly, and so he was, but the man fell. From the creation of Adam until he fell, must be called the godly world. Now this godly world ended when Adam was driven out from paradise. The second world commenced, and its proper

name is the world of corruption: but in this fallen state it is not to remain for ever; the time is fixed, six thousand years is its number, and after this is the end then the world will recover its former glory and be restored by the Messiah; and then will commence the fifth empire in this world, and its power will extend from one end of this world to the other. The beginning of this fifth empire will be called the third world, or the godly world, or properly the world of the Messiah. His metropolis will be Jerusalem, and Israel his people : but, before these things will take place, the world will stand and be conducted by the gentiles; Israel is only to wander round about amongst them, and the present feasting belongs only to the gentiles. Israel has no right, because the feast goes by turn: when the gentiles shall finish their feast, then will commence the feasting of Israel, and until the appointed day Israel must not rejoice; for so it is described in one of the subdrawings," Rejoice not, O Israel, in the joy of the nations." Hosea ix. 1. "Then," that is, when the Messiah shall come," shall our mouth be filled with joy, and our tongue with singing: then the nations shall say, The Lord hath done great things for them." Psalm cxxvi. 2, 3. The Lord hath done great things for us in past times; then we were rejoicing, but now Israel is rejoicing.

Thus far it is described that this world from its beginning is to be divided into three divisions; the first, godly; the second, corrupt; and the third again to be restored to its former glory.

*THE WILDERNESS.-One question we may ask,

which is, Why was the law given in a desert? Why not in the land of Israel? The answer is, that, although the law is the inheritance of Israel, yet any nation, if they choose, may claim a right to it, and say the law is given in a free place, and every one that will have a share of it must be accepted: and on this account the law is given in a desert, which is a free place to every one, even so the law is free to every one who will come under her protection, and Israel is bound to accept any of the nations.

* THE SABBATH.-Next we find in the drawing, that the Lord himself spoke to the whole nation of Israel, and said to them, "Remember the sabbath day to keep it holy." Exod. xx. 8. Here Israel was commanded to keep this day holy, in commemoration of the creation of the world; also in commemoration of the coming out of the land of Egypt. "Remember that thou wast a servant in the land of Egypt, and that the Lord thy God brought thee out thence through a mighty hand and by a stretched out arm; therefore the Lord thy God commanded thee to keep the Sabbath day.” Deut. v. 15.

* Every person knows that. the days of the creation are seven: the first and second day are one pair; the third and fourth are again a pair ; the fifth and sixth a third pair; the Sabbath remained single. This last day received a blessing, but not the former days: although the Sabbath was the last, yet it was made lord over the other days, because the world was not complete until the Sabbath came, and then the world was completely finished. It is already mentioned