went to prevent the building, by falsehood and lies, and discovers clearly what the Devil is in substance, by the shadow that appeareth in men. But I was deeply affected in reading how much the children of Israel were delighted, and how much they were affected, in building again the house to the Lord; in the 10th chapter they had consented to put away their wives, that they had taken from among the heathen; in Nehemiah, 9th chapter, how the children of Israel confessed their sins and repented; in the 13th chapter, that they completed the whole; and observed how Solomon's strange wives, or outlandish women, caused him to sin; so they determined not to follow after them. Then followeth Esther, by whose the Lord delivered the Jews, when Haman had designed for them all to be murdered. These wondrous workings of Providence deeply affected my heart, to see how the Lord delivered, when they turned unto him with all their hearts. But one thing strikes deeply upon me; the Lord only knoweth whether my thoughts are right or wrong: The first house that was built to the Lord by Solomon, appeareth to me in the pride of men; for though the Lord had commanded him to do it, yet certainly Solomon was swelled with pride by all the grandeur that he kept up; and that pride, and the love of women, made him fall, and the house fell also; but when the second house was built, it was through opposition, through persecution, through humbleness of spirit, through a love to God, through a fear to God, (for see how they lamented of their sins, and confessed it was their sins that brought all the judgments upon them, and they repented with fasting and prayer,) and then the house stood; and by Esther's petition the Jews had liberty to destroy all their enemies, that were in the land where they dwelt, that had decreed to destroy them. Esther, ix. and x. Here my thoughts went deeply two ways; the one to see the mercies of God, when OF THE SECOND TEMPLE. 537 men turned humbly to him; and the other to see how humbly they did return, which makes me judge the LORD will do according to his promises, and pity the fallen state of men,, when they humbly turn to him. But see the different spirits of men; one being hardened in the midst of judgments, and the other being humble and confessing their sins, and acknowledging the justice of God in their punishment, appears to me but a Type of Men and Devils: How Satan will be hardened and Man will be penitent. These have been my observations and reflections, and the ponderings of my heart, in reading; and that there is the same difference of men upon earth, as there was in the angels in HEAVEN; and this will continue while Satan reigns, as long as he has power to make a division on Earth, as he did in Heaven. These have been the ponderings of my heart, and the Lord pardon me if my thoughts have been wrong in any thing, as I am ordered to pen the feelings of my heart and greatly, did I feel in my heart for the Jews, at their sincere repentance at the SECOND building of the HOUSE unto the LORD, which made me think he would have mercy upon them in the END, as he hath promised in my writings. "Now, Joanna, I shall begin to answer thee, There is not a word in thy mouth, nor a thought in thy heart, but I know it altogether; and as thou hast faithfully spoken, there is not a thought in thy heart, nor a word in thy mouth, that I blame; for now I shall come to SOLOMON. As thou sayest the house was built in pride, as well as obedience; it is TRUE; and the pride of man fell; but as thou sayest the other house was built in humiliation and in repentance, which stood till the pride of man began to swell again :-But here I tell thee the Type goes deep. When Esther delivered her people, know they were scattered throughout the earth, and their Kings were destroyed, and they were delivered by the hand of a WOMAN. Here is a Type stands deep for all men. When I had destroyed their Kings, I delivered them by the hand of a WOMAN, and made their enemies become their friends, by DARIUS, and by AHASUERUS, as neither of these were Kings of the Jews, but had declared themselves their great enemies; and the latter was stirred up by Haman; but see what became of Haman. Now thou knowest I have told thee all things stand for Types and Shadows of the End; and here is a deep Type of the End: when a man's ways please the Lord, he will make his enemies at peace with him. And now I will tell thee how men's ways may please ME: when men begin to act like the Jews, who went the second time to build a house in my Name, they wept to see the ruins of the fall of what had been built and destroyed before So now to all I thus shall call The Type goes deep for Man I say, to lay the house of clay, Like Solomon become; Soon tainted there he did appear, As Satan's arts were so, The Woman did his heart ensnare So thus at first the Man was cast But now see plain, ye sons of men, For now I tell thee, from his reign, I made at first; but Man was cast, You see the Woman so was plac'd, THE BIBLE MADE A MIS-MAŽE.. Then sure the Fall, I tell you all, So all went on, I tell you plain, All paths are straight before thy sight, Though puzzling see the thing may be, Yet to the purpose I shall come, Men try to bring all straight; This is explained further on. 39 And crooked paths they all bring in, That I thy hand work'd straight. You must bring round in every sound, And then the straight path shall be found, The ways are two before thy view, If men go through, as thou didst do, And prove it from the Fall, That crooked round have all been found I tell thee, to this day; And as my handmaids here were found, To bring all in as they began, There was not one that by his hand To say 'twas straight before their sight, They work the same, as these began, To have the straight path to appear, |