counterfeit Smerdis, the Magician, who conceal'd himself in a Chamber of his Palace in Perfia.)

10. Then fhall Unrighteousness and Incontinence be multiplied upon Earth; one Land fhall ask another, Is Righte oufness that maketh a Man righteous, gone through thee? and it shall say, No. This reprefents the new Impofture of Zoroafter, which was then beginning, to worship God in the Fire, or Sun, and practifed in Bactria under Hyftafpes the Father of Darius; Zoroafter pretended to be a Prophet, and to have brought Fire from Heaven; the Magicians were Phi lofophers, Mathematicians and Divines: Zoroafter was a Jew, and therefore was more particularly noted by Efdras, and he made Darius a Magian. Wickedness is the Impofture of Zoroafter; Incontinence, the Inceft he allowed, of marrying = Sifters, Brothers, Mothers.

11th-Token. At the fame time fhall Men hope, but no thing obtain; they fhall labour, but their Ways fhall not profper. Zoroafter endeavour'd to convert the Scythians to Magianifm, and was flain by them in the 35th Year of Darius. There Efdras was Contemporary with Zoroafter, and he is faid to have been a Difciple of Daniel's, and to have pretended to have receiv'd the Religion of Abra

bam.

Efdras being in Babylon, could not write very plainly of its Deftruction, and the End of it, being the Seat of the Monarchy. He only defcribes the Tokens, or Marks, whereby he knew that Revolution which the Angel

told him.

Then Efdras awaked, and trembled, and fainted, but they comforted him.

Cyrus transferr'd the Empire of the Medes to the Per fians, 559 Years before Chrift.

Then he conquered Aftyages the Mede, 541.

He conquer'd Crafus, reign'd thirty Years, and dy'd,

529.

Vide Dupin's Hift. Profane.

His Account of the End of the Babylonian Empire, differs from the common Hiftory.

Efdras

Efdras in this Chapter gives us an Account of the End of the Babylonian Empire, and the Beginning of the Perfians; but does not mention any thing of the Grecian Monarchs, thofe being defcrib'd fully by Zechariah and Daniel. But he fully defcribes the Roman Eagle, her twelve Wings, contrary Feathers, and three Heads, and their End: But he chiefly respects the Revolution in the Eaftern Parts of the Roman Empire, and is the beft Key to Daniel's and Ze chary's, Prophecies.

CHAP.

Part of CHAP. V. and VI.

In which the Tokens of the Change of the Government in Judea are given, and after the Conqueft by Pompey, the Meffiah will appear.

Ch. V. ESDRAS is commanded to Pray, and Faft 7 Days, and Weep; v. 13. and then he should hear greater Things; without thefe Preparations the Prophets could not receive Revelations; and afterwards he began to talk with the moft High, why he had fcatter'd his People amongft the Heathen; the Angel told him, He could not comprehend God's Judgments; all the Generations of Men cannot be at once; a Woman cannot bring forth all her Children together, but one after another. Ye are lefs of Stature than thofe before you, the one Born in the Youth of the World, the other in its Old Age: In the firft Ages were Giants, and Men lived longer than afterwards. V. 56. Efdras defired to know by whom God did vifit his Creatures.

Ch. 6. The Angel elegantly defcribes the Creation : In the Beginning, when the Earth was made, before the Bor ders of the Earth food, or ever the Winds blew, before it Thunder'd or Lightned, or ever the Foundations of Paradife were laid; before the fair Flowers were feen, or ever the moveable Powers were Eftablished; before the innumerable Multitude of Angels were gathered together, or ever the Heights of the Air were lifted up; before the Measures of the Firmament were named, or ever the Chimneys in Sion were hot; and e'er the prefent Years were fought out, or ever the Inventions of them that now fin, were turned; before they were fealed that have gathered Faith for a Treasure; then did I confider these Things, and they were all made by me alone, and by me they alfo fhall be ended, and by none other.) In this Defcription of the Creation, 'tis obferved, that God created Paradife when he made the Heavens, and

that Servitude and Mifery which befel the Jews when they were fubdued by Pompey; and this is called by Efdras finem feculi, or the End of your VVorld, or Government, th: End of Efau's Time.

V. 26. The Men who are received fhall fee it; (that is, those who do not die young at their Birth, fhall live to fee that Salvation; it being but 63 Years. And the Hearts of the Inhabitants fhall be changed, and turned into another meaning; for Evil fhall be put out, and Deceit shall be quenched; v. 28. As for Faith it fhall flourish, Corruption fhall be overcome, and the Truth which hath been so long without Fruit, fhall be declared. The changing the Hearts of the Inhabitants in alium fenfum, to another meaning, they fhall readily fubmit to the Roman Government, Pompey ha• ving made Hyrcanus High-Prieft; Herod was afterwards made King of the Jews, by a Decree of the Senate of Rome. From whence I may Infer, that the Scepter departed in Pompey's Days, who firft brought them under the Roman Power; and therefore this was a plain Sign of Chrift's coming in Pompey's time; then the Evil and Deceit about the Succeffion of their Princes was ended, and Faith in the Meffiah began to flourish. And their corrupt Traditions fhall be overcome, and their Religion, which was a while lapped up in Symbols, was unfruitful, fhall appear Reformed and Explained by the true Meffiah; & oftendetur veritas, quæ fine fructu fuit diebus mul ts; the true Antitype to their Types fhould appear at laft.

V. 30. Veni tibi oftendere tempus no&tis futura. This refers to the Change of Government in Jerufalem, expreffed by Night.

Part

Part of CHA P. VI. VII. and VIII.

Ch. 6. v. 31. Efdras fafts feven Days for more Prophefies. Ch. 7. The Angel's Anfwers to his Questions; the Revelation of Chrift, and his Death; the Destruction of Jerufalem; the Refurrection and Judg ment, and the Millenary State is deScribed.

Ch. 6. ESDRAS acknowledged that God made the World, V.31. and that he accounted the Heathen as nothing; but if the World was made for the Godly, why should. the Jews be in Subjection to the Heathen? How long fhall this be?

Ch. 7. The Angel anfwered, If the Sea be wide, and a narrow Path to it like a River; or a large City, with a nar row Path to it, betwixt Fire and Water ; a Man cannot come to either, but through a narrow Paffage: So the Entrance of this World is narrow, full of Sorrow; fince Adam's Tranfgreffion, these Troubles arofe; when he tranfgreffed, then was decreed what now is done. Why doeft thou not confider what is to come, rather than that which is present ? If those that live, do not ftrive to avoid these things, they: can never come to those that are laid up for them; the Righ teous fhall inherit the future Things, but the Wicked perish; his Laws have they defpifed, and denied his Covenant; therefore, for the Empty are empty Things, and for the Full, full Things: Vacua vacuis, plena pleni.

Behold, the time comes, when the Signs I have told thee, fhall come to pass; and immediately after them, the Bride fhall appear, Sponfa apparebit, & apparens oftendetur, quæ nunc fubducitur terris) and the fhall be feen, who is now withdrawn from the Earth. Ch. 6. v. 8. Truth, which hath

been