The Angel Michel continues from the flood to relate what shall succeed; then, in the mention of Abraham, comes by degrees to explain, who that Seed of the Woman shall be, which was promised Adam and Eve in the fall; his incarnation, death, resurrection, and ascension; the state of the church till second coming. Adam greatly satisfied and recomforted by these relations and promises, descends the hill with Michael; wakens Eve, who all this while had slept, but with gentle dreams composed to quietuess of unind and submission. Michael in either hand leads them out of Paradise, the fiery sword waying behind them, and the Cherubim taking their stations to guard the place.
If Adam ought perhaps might interpose; Then with transition sweet new speech re- [end;|| Thus thou hast seen one world begin and Aud man as from a second stock proceed. Much thou hast yet to see, but I perceive Thy mortal sight to fail; objects divine Must needs impair and weary human sense: Henceforth what is to come I will relate, Thou therefore give due audience, and attend. This second source of meu, while yet but few, And while the dread of judgment past remains Fresh in their minds, fearing the Deity, With some regard to what is just and right Shall lead their lives, and multiply apace, Lab'ring the soil, and reaping plenteous crop, Corn, wine, and oil; and from the herd or flock,
Oft sacrificing bullock, lamb, or kid, With large wine-offerings pour'd, and sacred feast, [dwell Shall spend their days in joy unblam'd, and Long time in peace by families and tribes Under paternal rule: till one shall rise Of proud ambitious heart, who not content With fair equality, fraternal state,
Will arrogate dominion undeserv'd Over his brethren, and quite dispossess Concord and law of nature from the earth, Hunting (and men not beasts shall be his game)
With war and hostile snare such as refuse Subjection to his empire tyrannous:
A mighty hunter thence he shall be styl'd Before the Lord, as in despite of Heaven, Or from Heav'n claiming second sov'reignty; And from rebellion shall derive his name, Though of rebellion others be accuse. He with a crew, whom like ambition joins With him or under him to tyrannize, Marching from Eden towards the west, shall
The plain, wherein a black bituminous gurge Boils out from under ground, the mouth of
Of brick, and of that stuff they cast to build A city and tow'r, whose top may reach to Heaven;
And get themselves a name, lest far dispers'à In foreign lands their memory be lost, Regardless whether good or evil fame. But God who oft descends to visit men Unseen, and through their habitations walks To mark their doings, them beholding soon, Comes down to see their city, ere the tower Obstruct Heav'n-tow'rs, and in derision sets Upon their tongues a various sp'rit to rase
Quite out their native language, and instead To sow a jangling noise of words nuknown: Forthwith a hideous gabble rises lond Among the builders; each to other calls Not understood, till hoarse, and all in rage, As mock'd they storm; great laughter was in
And looking down, to see the hubbub strange And hear the din; thus was the building left Ridiculous, and the work Confusion nam'd.
Whereto thus Adam fatherly displeas'd. O execrable son so to aspire Above his brethren, to himself assuming Authority usurp'd, from God not giv'n : He gave us only over beast, fish, and fowl, Dominion absolute; that right we hold By his donation; but man over men He made uot lord; such title to himself Reserving, human left from human free. But this usurper his encroachment proud Stays not on man; to God his tow'r intends Siege and defiance: wretched man! what food Will he convey up thither to sustain Himself and his rash army, where thin air Above the clouds will pine his entrails gross, And famish him of breath, if not of bread?
To whom thus Michael. Justly thou ab- horr'st
That son, who on the quiet state of man Such trouble brought, affecting to subdue Rational liberty; yet know withal, Since thy original lapse, true liberty
Is lost, which always with right reason dwells Twiun'd, and from her hath no dividual being: Reason in man obscur'd, or not obey'd, Immediately inordinate desires And upstart passions catch te government From reason, and to servitude reduce Man till then free. Therefore since he permits Within himself unworthy powers to reign Over free reason, God in judgment just Subjects him from without to violent lords; Who oft as undeservedly inthral
His outward freedom; tyranny must be, Though to the tyrant thereby no excuse. Yet sometimes nations will decline so low From virtue which is reason, that no wrong, But justice, and some fatal curse annex'd Deprives them of their outward liberty, Their inward lost: witness thirreverent son Of him who built the ark, who for the shame Done to his father, heard this heavy curse, Servant of servants, on his vicious race. Thus will this latter, as the former world, Still tend from bad to worse, till God at last Wearied with their iniquities, withdraw His presence from among them, and avert His holy eyes; resolving from thenceforth To leave them to their own polluted ways;
A mighty nation, and upon him shower His benediction so, that in his seed All nations shall be blest; he strait obeys Not knowing to what land, yet firm believes: I see him, but thou canst not, with what faith He leaves his gods, his friends, and native soil Ur of Chaldea, passing now the ford To Harau, after him a cumbrous train Of herds and flocks, and numerous servitude; Not wand'ring poor, but trusting all his wealth
With God, who call'd him, in a land unknown. Canaan he now attains; I see his tents Pitch'd about Sechem, and the neighb'ring Of Moreh; there by promise he receives Gift to his progeny of all that land, From Hamath northward to the desert south, (Though by their names I call, though yet unnam'd)
From Hermon east to the great western sea; Mount Hermon, yonder sea, each place behold In prospect, as I point them; on the shore Mount Carmel; here the double founted stream
Jordan, true limit eastward; but his sons Shall dwell to Senir, that long ridge of hills. This ponder, that all nations of the earth
Shall in his seed be blessed; by that seed Is meant thy great deliv'rer, who shall bruise The serpent's head; whereof to thee anon Plainlier shall be reveal'd. This patriarch
Whom faithful Abraham due time shall call, A son, and of his son a grand-child leaves, Like him in faith, in wisdom, and renown; The grand-child with twelve sous increas'd departs
From Canaan, to a land hereafter call'd Egypt, divided by the river Nile; See where it flows, disgorging at seven mouths Into the sea to sojourn in that land He comes invited by a younger son In time of dearth, a son whose worthy deeds
Raise him to be second in that realm Of Pharaoh: there he dies, and leaves his race Growing into a nation, and now grown Suspected to a sequent king, who seeks To stop their overgrowth, as inmate guests Too-numerous; whence of guests he makes them slaves
Inhospitably, and kills their infant males: Till by two brethren (those two brethren call Moses and Aarou) sent from God to claim His people from iuthralment, they return With glory and spoil back to their promis'd
But first the lawless tyrant, who denics
To know their God, or message to regard, Must be compell'd by signs and judgments
To blood unshed the rivers must be turn'd; Frogs, lice, and flies, must all his palace fill With loath'd intrusion, and fill the land; His cattle must of rot and murren die ; Botches and blains must all his flesh imboss, And all his people; thunder mix'd with hail, Hail mix'd with fire, must rend th' Egyptian sky,
Over the sea; the sea his rod obeys; On their imbattled ranks the waves return, And overwhelm their war: the race elect Safe towards Canaan from the shore advance Through the wild desert, not the readiest way, Lest ent'ring on the Canaanite alarm'd War terify them inexpert, and fear Return them back to Egypt, choosing rather Inglorious life with servitude; for life To noble and ignoble is more sweet Untrain'd in arms, where rashness leads not on. This also shall they gain by their delay In the wide wilderness, there they shall found Their government, and their great senate choose
Through the twelve tribes, to rule by laws or dain'd:
God from the mount of Sinai, whose gray top Shall tremble, he descending, will himself In thunder, lightning, and loud trumpets sound,
Ordain them laws; part such as appertain To civil justice, part religious rites Of sacrifice, informing them, by types And shadows, of that destin'd Seed to bruise
And wheel on th' earth, devouring where it The Serpent, by what means he shall achieve
What it devours not, herb, or fruit, or grain, A darksome clond of locusts swarming down Must eat, and on the ground leave nothing green;
Darkness must overshadow all his bounds, Palpable darkness, and blot out three days; Last with oue midnight stroke all the first- born
Of Egypt must lie dead. Thus with ten wounds The river-dragon tam'd at length submits To let his sojourners depart, and oft Humbles his stubborn heart, but still as ice More harden'd after thaw, till in his rage Pursuing whom he late dismiss'd, the sea Swallows him with his host, but lets pass As on dry land between two crystal walls, Aw'd by the rod of Moses so to stand Divided, till his rescued gain their shore: Such wondrous power God to his saiut will lend,
Though present in his angel, who shall go Before them in a cloud, and pillar of fire, By day a cloud, by night a pillar of fire, To guide them in their journey, and remove Behind them, while th' obdurate king pursues: All right he will pursue, but his approach Darkness defends between till morning watch; Then from the fiery pillar and the cloud God looking forth will trouble all his host, And craze their chariot wheels: when by com- mand
Moses once more his potent rod extends No. VH-N S.
Mankind's deliverance. But the voice of God To mortal ear is dreadful; they beseech That Moses might report to them his will, And terror cease; he grants what they be sought
Instructed that to God is no access Without mediator, whose high office now Moses in figure bears, to introduce
One greater, of whose day he shall fortel, And all the prophets in their age the times Of great Messiah shall sing. Thus laws and
Establish'd, such delight hath God in men Obedient to his will, that he,yonchsafes Among them to set up his tabernacle, The holy One with mortal men to dwell: By his prescript a sanctuary is fram'd Of cedar, overlaid with gold, therein An ark, and in the ark his testimony, The records of his covenant, over these A mercy-seat of gold between the wings Of two bright Cherubim; before him burn Seven lamps as in a zodiac representing The heavenly fires; over the tent a cloud Shall rest by day, a fiery gleam by night, Save when they journey, and at length they
A day eutire, and night's due course adjourn, Man's voice commanding, Sun in Gibeon stand,
And thou Moon in the vale of Aijalon, Till Israel overcome; so call the third From Abraham, son of Isaac, and from him His whole descent, who thus shall Canaan win.
Here Adam interpos'd. O sent from Heav'n, Enlightner of my darkness, gracious things Thou hast reveal'd, those chiefly which con
Just Abraham and his seed: now first I find Mine eyes true opening, and my heart much eas'd,
Erewhile perplex'd with thoughts what would become
Of me and all mankind; but now I see His day in whom all nations shall be blest, Favour unmerited by me, who sought Forbidden knowledge by forbidden means. This yet I apprehend not, why to those Among whom God will deigu to dwell on earth. So many and so various laws are given; So many laws argue so many sins Among them; how can God with such reside? To whom thus Michael. Doubt not but that Sin
Will reign among them, as of thee begot; And therefore was law given them to evince Their natural pravity, by stirring up Sin against law to fight: that when they see Law can discover sin, but not remove, Save by those shadowy expiations weak, The blood of bulls and goats, they may con- clude
Some blood more precious must be paid for man,
Just for unjust, that in such righteousness To them by faith imputed, they may find Justification towards God, and peace Of conscience, which the law by ceremonies Cannot appease, nor man the moral part Perform, and not performing cannot live. So law appears imperfect, and but given With purpose to resign them in full time Up to a better covenant, disciplin'd
From shadowy types to truth, from flesh to spirit,
From imposition of strict laws to free Acceptance of large grace, from servile fear To filial, works of law to works of faith.
Through the world's wilderness long wander'd
Safe to eternal paradise of rest.
Mean while they in their earthly Canaap
Long time shall dwell and prosper, but when
National interrupt their public peace, Provoking God to raise them enemies; From whom as oft he saves them penitent By judges first, then under kings; of whom The second, both for piety renown'd And puissant deeds, a promise shall receive Irrevocable, that his regal throne For ever shall endure; the like shall sing All prophecy, that of the royal stock Of David (so I name this king) shall rise A son, the woman's seed to thee foretold, Foretold to Abraham, as in whom shall trust All nations, and to kings foretold, of kings The last, for of his reign shall be no end. But first a long succession must ensue, And his next son, for wealth and wisdom fam'd,
The clouded ark of God, till then in tents Wand'ring, shall in a glorious temple inshrine Such follow him as shall be register'd
Part good, part bad, of bad the longer scroll, Whose foul idolatries, and other faults Heap'd to the popular sum, will so incense God, as to leave them, and expose their land, Their city, his temple, and his holy ark With all its sacred things, a scorn and a prey To that proud city, whose high walls thou saw'st
Left in confusion, Babylon thence call'd. There in captivity he lets them dwell The space of seventy years, then brings them
Remembring mercy, and his covenant sworn To David, stablish'd as the days of Heaven. Return'd from Babylon by leave of kings Their lords, whom God dispos'd, the house of God
They first re-edify, and for a while In mean estate live moderate, till grown In wealth and multitude, factious they grow; But first among the priests dissention springs, Men who attend the altar, and should most Endeavour peace; their strife pollution brings Upon the temple itself: at last they seise The scepter, and regard not David's sons,
And therefore shall not Moses, though of Then lost it to a stranger, that the true
Highly belor'd, being but the minister
Of law, his people into Capaan lead;
But Joshua, whom the Gentiles Jesus call, His name and office bearing, who shall quell The adversary serpent, and bring back
Anointed king Messiah might be born Barr'd of his right; yet at his birth a star Unseen before in Heaven proclaims him come And guides the eastern Sages, who inquire His place, to offer incense, myrrh, and gold; His place of birth a solemn angel tells
To simple shepherds, keeping watch by night; || Seiz'd on by force, judg'd, and to death con They gladly thither haste, and by a quire Of squadron'd angels hear his carol sung, A virgin is his mother, but his sire
The power of the most High; he shall ascend The throne hereditary, and bound his reign With earth's wide bounds, his glory with the Heav'ns.
He ceas'd, discerning Adam with such joy Surcharg'd, as had like grief been dew'd in tears,
A shameful and accurs'd, nail'd to the cross` By his own nation, slain for bringing life;' But to the cross he nails thy enemies, The law that is against thee, and the sins' Of all mankind, with him there crucify'd, Never to hurt them more who rightly trust In this his satifaction; so he dies
But soon revives; Death over him no power' Shall long usurp; ere the third dawning light
Without the vent of words, which these he Return, the stars of morn shall see him rise
Of God most High; so God with Man unites. Needs must the serpent now his capital bruise Expect with mortal pain: say where and when Their fight, what stroke shall bruise the victor's heel.
Out of his grave, fresh as the dawning light Thy ransom paid, which man from death re-
His death for man, as many as offer'd life Neglect not, and the benefit embrace
By faith not void of works: this God-like act Annuls thy doom, the death thou should'st have dy'd,
In sin for ever lost from life; this act Shall bruise the head of Satan, crush his strength,
Defeating sin and death, his two main arms, And fix far deeper in his head their stings Than temp'ral death shall bruise the victor's heel,
To whom thus Michael Dream pot of their Or theirs whom he redeems, a death like sleep,
Thy enemy; nor so is overcome
A gentle wafting to immortal life. Nor after resurrection shall be stay Longer on earth than certain times to appear To his disciples, men whe in this life
Still follow'd him; to them shall leave in charge
Satan, whose fall from Heaven, a deadlier To teach all nations what of him they learn'd
Disabled not to give thee thy death's wound: Which he, who comes thy Saviour, shall re
Not by destroying Satan, but his works In thee and in thy seed: nor can this be But by fulfilling that which thou didst want, Obedience to the law of God, impos'd On penalty of death, and suffering death, The penalty to thy transgression due, And due to theirs which out of thine will grow:
Se only can high justice rest appaid. The law of God exact he shall fulfil Both by obedience and by love, though love Alone fulfil the law; thy punishment He shall endure by coming in the flesh To a reproachful life and cursed death, Proclaiming life to all who shall believe In his redemption, and that his obedience Imputed becomes theirs by faith, his merits To save them, not their own, though legal
For this he shall live hated, be blasphem'd,
And his salvation, them who shall believe Baptizing in the purfluent stream, the sign Of washing them from guilt of sin to life Pure, and in mind prepar'd, if so befal, For death, like that which the Redeemer dy'd. All nations they shall teach: for from that day
Not only to the sons of Abraham's loins Salvation shall be preach'd, but to the song Of Abraham's faith wherever through the world;
So in his seed all natious shall be blest. Then to the Heaven of Heavens he shall as scend
With victory, triumphing through the air Over his foes and thine; there shall surprise The Serpent, prince of air, and drag in chains Through all his realm, and there confounded
« PreviousContinue » |