The Messiah; or the Redemption of Man: a poem, in thirteen books

Front matter

THE MESSIAH; OR THE REDEMPTION OF MAN: A POEM. THE MESSIAH; OR THE REDEMPTION OF MAN: A POEM. IN THIRTEEN BOOKS. BY EDWARD STRANGWAYES. By His knowledge shall My righteous servant justify many ; for He shall bear their iniquities. Isaiah liii. 11. — We are justified freely by His grace, through the redemption that is in Jesus Christ. Romans iii. 24. — He hath made Him, who knew no sin, to be sin for us ; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. Cor. v. 21. — Being justified by faith in Him, we have peace with God. Romans v. 1. — There is therefore now no condemnation to them who are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the spirit. Romans viii. 1. RICHMOND : PRINTED FOR THE AUTHOR, BY M. BELL ; AND SOLD BY BALDWIN, AND CRADOCK ; LONGMAN, BEES, OEME, BROWN, AND GREEN, LONDON ; BELL, RICHMOND AND BEDALE, YORKSHIRE ; WILSON AND SONS ; Bl RDEKIN, YORK ; MOZLEY, DERBY ; FALL, LEYBUKN ; AND ALL OTHER BOOKSELLERS. 1830.

Preface

. The Redemption of Man, by our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, is the most important subject that can en gage the attention of the human mind ; before all others it merits our regard, and requires our love. For rational beings to believe that there is no God, no Supreme Being, and no Redeemer ; that the sacred writings are merely historical, and principally fabulous, a complication of imaginary ideas arising from a misguided, or capricious understanding ; or to imagine that every thing we see around us, or above us, arose at first by chance, or had eternal existence, and will have perpetual duration, is the very worst of insanity. This mighty globe we inhabit, the sun, the moon, the starry heavens, their stupendous structure, their swift, unvaried, and perpetual motion, the vicissitude of sea sons, the innumerable, and various tribes of living crea tures we every day see skim the air, or tread the plain, the matchless beauty and variety of scenery perceivable amid the inanimate works of the creation, and lastly, the VI

PREFACE.

. wonderful variety among the human species, two having never been found exactly alike, all give convincing proofs of an Almighty Creator, if no other had been given to man of His existence. But this Almighty Being has made Himself more per fectly known to us ; He has plainly told us that He is God, the Supreme Lord of all things, and who created all tilings ; and has commanded us to worship Himself and no substitute. He has informed us that He is omni potent, omniscient, and omnipresent ; a Being perfectly good, in whom is no evil, nor can any be promoted bv Him. Yet objectors to divine revelation will say, " If there " be a God who created this world, and He be supreme " Governor of it, and perfectly good, why do evil, dis " tress, and confusion, prevail in it ?" " Man is certainly " the noblest of all terrestrial beings, why is he placed " here in a state of misery, and influenced by inordinate " passions and licentious desires so dreadfully degrading " to his pre-eminent faculties."

The answer is plain and certain. Every evil thought, word, or work, produced, by man, originated not with God, but with a wicked and malevolent spiritual being always at enmity with Him. Through the crafty influence of this evil spirit our first parents disobeyed the just command of their Maker, thereby sinned, and so introduced sin into the world ; sin wrought death, and every misery afflicting man, but contrary to the will of God. But why did not God pre- PBEFACE. vent man from sinning, as if God be omnipotent he cer tainly could have done ? is the next objection raised by infidelity. God created man a free agent, and forewarn ed him of his danger ; God said to him, " Obey Me and " thou shalt live, but if thou wilt not thou shalt surely " die :" therefore man had his choice to live by obedience, or die by disobedience.

Temptation caused him to choose the latter ; and if God had prevented him from committing the rash act it must have been by compul sion, and contrary to that free will which the Creator had given to the creature. The predestinarian will widely differ from me when I aver, that it is perfectly inconsistent with the purity and justice of the Creator to refuse to man in his fallen state free agency ; as such refusal would make a loving and merciful God the most capricious tyrant, by condemning to eternal misery, numberless individuals for works they could not avoid. Also, that if man be deprived of free will by Him who will be his judge, just judgment cannot be awarded ; as properly the actions for which man will be judged, belong to Him who obliged them to be per formed, and not to the agent acting through the impulse of compulsion.

Then, let us rest assured that infinite wisdom and goodness created man a free agent, and that every mortal being has remained in the same situation ever since. God certainly has elected numerous individuals to confer upon them special offices of trust un der His government of the world, to be his agents in awarding temporal punishment to the wicked, and to

PREFACE.

. VIII preach salvation to man ; and the clay has no right to say to its framer, " Why hast thou made me thus?" Nor need we doubt but the Omnicient selected the pro perest persons to perform the work entrusted to their care. He selected Cyrus to destroy Babylon, He chose Joshua to extirpate the Canaanites, He appointed Moses first to plague, and then to destroy the king of Egypt and his wicked subjects, He preferred the younger brother Ja cob to Esau the elder, He selected Abraham to be the individual from whose offspring the great Redeemer should become mortal, and on that account gave to them His law in order to prepare them to receive His gospel. From these his peculiars, he selected a number of pious individuals to preach repentance ; and inspired them with the knowledge of future events.

When the Messiah as sumed mortal nature, He selected twelve poor fishermen to be His ministers to preach His blessed gospel to the whole world, and gave them power to perform miracles to confirm the truths they declared ; but from none of these special selections can we infer that God had, before the foundation of the world, selected a certain number of mankind to inherit eternal life ; and these, being predes tinated to happiness, shall see heaven let them live here ;is they will, whilst all the rest shall be left to sink in eternal misery. It appears to me that the sacred writings warrant no such conclusion, but positively declare to the contrary : and that the Apostle Paul, who the predestinarian with so much eagerness calls to defend his erro neous sentiments, makes no such inferences in any part of his epistles. It must be allowed that the Jews were

PREFACE.

. IX God's peculiarly chosen people to receive more of His special care in this world than the rest of mankind ; but, because they were thus chosen, dares any one say that they shall all enjoy eternal felicity ? The parable of the rich man and Lazarus, and our Lord's frequently denoun cing wo to His wicked countrymen afford convincing proofs to the contrary, and tell plainly that though we know the truth, and faithfully practise it, yet we may fall from it and eternally perish. Thus much had not been said upon this subject had the author not believed that it frequently leads licentious ness to boast in security when travelling upon the brink of eternal destruction. Whatever the predestinarian may think of his faith without holiness, St. James says, it is useless, and St. Paul, " Without godliness, that no man shall see the Lord."

There are probably upon earth many human beings who never heard of the Mosaic law, nor the Christian dispensation ; yet all, of whom I have read an account, believe in the existence of a Being superior to man, and to Whom most of them pay adoration one way or another, and have some knowledge of right and wrong done to themselves ; yet, from this, their situation, can any of the more enlightened of their fellow-creatures truly de clare to the world, that a God of infinite mercy and good ness created all these poor, ignorant, benighted beings to be condemned to eternal misery ? No. Then it will better accord with the goodness of God to say, that every mortal who conscientiously serves his Creator according b

PREFACE.

. X to the light that is given to him, shall certainly in some measure partake of the benefit of redemption. By the faidt of man, and not God, sin and death enter ed the world ; and through the goodness of God alone, man is indebted to redemption from the penal consequen ces. Our ruin must have been universal and eternal, had not God, through His infinite mercy and goodness, with out our deserving the favor, devised a method of extrica ting us from our dreadful situation, of providing us with the means of successfully resisting our spiritual enemy, and of becoming again the beloved children of our hea venly Parent. We have no right to inquire why God was pleased to sacrifice His Son in order to free us from the bonds of sin, in preference to any other method, which, as we suppose, Infinite Wisdom might have sug gested ; we need not doubt but He took the best, and we know that the mighty work has been successfully per formed, which is quite enough to imprint love in our hearts, to inspire us with confidence in His promises, and to make us certain that He wishes all to believe and be saved.

The Redemption of Mau, is the grand subject of the sacred writings. Had not man been redeemed, he would have had no revelations of God's will, but would have been solely under the influence of the devil, and con demned to eternal misery without hope of mercy. The doctrinal part of the inspired writings tells us in the plainest manner our duty to God, and to each other ; the historical exemplifies, and sets before us the dreadful

PREFACE.

. XI punishments He inflicts upon the disobedient in this world, and the prophetical the great events that would take place on earth to the end of time, with the resurrection and the last judgment. Many of these prophecies have already been fulfilled exactly as they were foretold ; and this fact alone affords us positive proof of the truth of the whole. The appearance of the Messiah upon earth, and the perfecting the grand work of redemption ; the total destruction of three of the four great empires of the world, the Babylonian, the Persian, and the Grecian, and the partial extermination of the Roman ; also the dreadful destruction of the Jewish state and polity, the demolition of the temple of Jerusalem, and the rites and ceremonies performed therein, and the dispersion of the children of Israel among all the nations of the earth, and their preservation there, in a state of servitude, a distinct and separate people, have all been fulfilled exactly as predicted, besides others of less importance.

Those respecting the restoration of the Jews, the total extirpation of the Roman apostacy, and infidelity, our Lord's establishing an empire of universal peace and happiness upon earth, the resurrection of mankind from the dead, and the awful day of judgment, are not yet ac complished, but they most assuredly will ; and mankind may wait in awful suspense, to see all these stupendous transactions completely performed by the hand of Al mighty Power, exactly as they have been foretold by these holy men, His true prophets and faithful servants. In the following sheets my readers will find all these momentous subjects fully narrated, in which instruction

PREFACE.

. is more studied than entertainment ; and they may rest assured that nothing is inserted but truth, and the most important that can engage their attention. The subject in the manner I have used it, has to my knowledge, never before been attempted, except in a very short, but most beautiful poem by Mr. Pope, which 1 have oftner than once quoted ; therefore, as a poem, mine is almost entirely new. Probably in religious sentiment (particularly in regard to universal Redemption) many of my readers will differ from me ; let those who do, rest assured that my mind is not prejudiced in favor of any particular party among Protestants, but a true friend to liberty of conscience, and religious toleration, believing that although chris tians may differ in some points both of faith and practice, yet, all who are believers in the Redeemer, and practical ly fulfil the duties He requires, will be by Him account ed His disciples.

The strange perversion of the sense of the Holy Scriptures, by order of the Roman Pontiff", by putting the text into detached portions, called verses, has been one great cause of giving rise to so many different sentiments among pious men, and of providing matter for defending the same. The scriptures are closely connect ed from the beginning to the ending, and the Redemption of Man, by the Messiah, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, is the binding chain. God revealed this glorious truth to our first parents be fore he expelled them out of Paradise ; and all the an cient patriarchs and prophets rested their hope of salvation upon it. The patriarch Jacob declared he well

PREFACE.

. XIII knew that Shiloah should come. Job exclaimed in rapture, amid his distresses, " I know my Redeemer liveth, " and that He shall stand at the latter day upon the earth : " though the worms shall destroy my body, yet I shall '■ surely see my God." Jehovah told Abraham, " That in his seed all mankind " should be blessed ;" the holy man stedfastly believed God's gracious promise, and this promise gave him suffi cient cause to be God's faithful servant. Moses told the children of Israel, if they only would observe the com mandments of God, that they should certainly prosper ; if not that they should experience the greatest misery in this world : then plainly informed them, that for their wickedness their country would be made desolate, and their city and temple destroyed, describing the circumstances attending the siege of Jerusalem by the Romans, and the dispersion of his countrymen among the various nations of the earth, as accurately as if he had seen the transactions ; yet declared that they should at the last be again restored to their native land, and made happy un der the superintendance of a great Lawgiver resembling himself.

Holy David has made the Redeemer the almost continual theme of his exalted song : this delightful singer nobly chants the circumstances attending his Saviour's appearance, His ministry, His crucifixion, His resurrection, His ascension into heaven, the establishment of His universal dominion, its eternal duration, and His again descending, in great power and glory, to judge mankind. Isaiah constitutes Him the Hero of his magnificent poetic

PREFACE.

. XIV effusions, names Him Wonderful, Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace ; declares, that there shall be no end of His government and peace ; foretels the transactions attend ing His birth, ministry, and crucifixion, the same as the evangelists record them to have taken place upwards of 600 years afterwards ; then beautifully describes the calling of the Gentiles by preaching the gospel among them ; and in the most appropriate, and beautiful language gives us the blessings mankind shall enjoy upon the full estab lishment of the Messiah's glorious and happy reign over the kingdoms of this world, exultingly bidding Sion and Jerusalem rejoice at the great event, and at their own de livery from degradation, and the restoration of their pri meval possessors to a happy and durable enjoyment of their paternal home under His fostering care, and al mighty protection.

Jeremiah names Him the Lord our Righteousness ; predicts the miseries that should be in flicted upon the Jews, by the destruction of their beloved city, their temple, and polity, for rejecting Him when He assumed mortal nature, and appeared among them ; yet, with exultation, declares, that through His mercy and goodness, they shall finally be restored to happiness in their native country, and in future partake of His special care. Daniel most plainly tells the fate of all the great empires of the earth, and that they shall all be finally ab sorbed in the universal empire of the Messiah. This prophet also foretels the precise time of our Lord's first appearance, the era of His crucifixion, and the total abo lition of the ceremonial law by the destruction of the city and temple of Jerusalem, and the dispersion of the Jews by the Romans ; and after the expiration of the PEE FACE.

XV years prefixed for their long captivity, as a punishment for rejecting Him, that they shall repent and become members of His community, dwell again in peace in their own land, and experience no more trouble. Ezekiel names Him the Righteous Prince, Who should spring up among his countrymen ; Who should rule righteously, and take special care of His subjects, and Who should re store peace and happiness to Israel ; displaying in the most sublime, beautiful, and impressive language the particular blessings they should receive from His happy government ; then gives the terrible destruction of Gog, and his immense army, who would come in the last days to invade His dominions. Zechariah names Him the Branch that should bless all nations ; tells that His presence should grace the temple of Jerusalem, that His countrymen would cruelly put Him to death, but God would elect Him an eternal high Priest in heaven and that all the world should finally see and experience His almighty power and glory.

Micah says that He, who is eternal, shall be born a mortal in Bethlehem. Malachi declares He shall send His messenger before Himself, to lead the way-, and make proclamation that it is God who shall suddenly, and shortly appear among men. The historical records of all the evangelists, who were eye-witnesses to our Lord Jesus Christ's ministry, sufferings, death, resurrection, and ascension, positively con firm the testimony of these ancient inspired writers in every particular. Then, we may safely conclude that no

PREFACE.

. XVI history is so well authenticated as that of the Messiah ; and may rest convinced that those who disbelieve are hardened by wickedness, and prejudiced through fear of punishment ; wishing that gospel to be false which con demns their evil actions, though they cannot bring proof to contradict it, nor in one solitary circumstance prove it false. Homer and Virgil sang of the exploits of their deities and heroes ; and though their songs are fiction, yet they have gained the praise of future generations ; may not then the christian with more propriety humbly sing the praises of his Creator and Redeemer, by record ing the great and stupendous acts of Creation and Re demption, as given in the sacred writings, in English metre, and attempt to illustrate sacred truths by the efforts of poetic genius ?

This is attempted in the following work ; and the Au thor has strictly, to the best of his judgment, been direct ed by the true sense and meaning of the sacred text, in the composition of it. Yet he may have erred, there fore the reader is requested to compare his paraphrase with the original, before he places implicit reliance upon all that is written. In illustrating so important a sub ject truth must be told without favor or partiality for any party ; this the Author believes he has done, and the reader may peruse his work with that impression upon his mind. EDWARD STRANGWAYES. Leases, near Bedale, Yorkshire, October 10th, 1S3U. CONTENTS. the careful perusal of the following pages will greatly assist the reader in understanding the work. PAGE.

Book I

Moses describes the Creation, and informs the world that the stupendous work was performed, by the Omnipotent power of God, in six successive days 6 The garden of Eden described 13 The first Marriage solemnized 15 The first commandment given by God to man to prove his obedience. Man was created a free agent 16 The rebellion against God, of Satan and the apostate angels, and their 17 condemnation to eternal misery for it 18 Malice and revenge prompt them to attempt the destruction of the human race, by tempting our first Parents to disobey the commandment of their Maker 19 The devil's hypocrisy ; to which man listens, by it is deceived, and disobeys his God 21 The dreadful consequences. Through this disobedience the infernal hosts possess the earth ; and sin, death, and all the miseries which have ever afflicted man in this world enter it 22 God passes sentence upon man for his disobedience, and promises, at the same time, that He will redeem him from the bonds of Satan. 25 Hymns on the Creation 27 C CONTENTS. XVIII

Book II. Page

God brought a flood of waters to destroy the world for wickedness, and accomplished the work by supernatural agency 42 The dreadful consternation of infidelity when it sees the waters increasing, and death inevitable 43 The terrible devastation caused by this flood, of which convincing proofs are conspicuous at this day .... 46 Nothing but wickedness caused God thus to destroy mankind 48 At God's command the waters recede and nature revives 50 Noah and his family give thanks for their preservation 51

BOOK 111.

God confuses the language of men and they disperse over the earth and found various nations 56 Nineveh and Babylon are built by the children of Shem, who repeople the middle and eastern parts of Asia. The northern countries of Asia, all Europe, and probably America are colonized by the children of Japhet. Arabia, Egypt, and Africa, by the offspring of Ham .... 57 The origin of Priests, and the cause of Apostacy, and its progress under the influence of the devil 58 False teachers may be known by their actions 61 Man's salvation solely depends upon the mercy and goodness of God displayed in redemption 63 Faithful christian Ministers described, and regarded as the most valuable of mankind 65 Faith in the law cannot save man, — as all violate it, therefore must by it be found guilty before God : but God through the eternal and unspotted sacrifice of His Son will pardon all penitent believers in Him 69 Redemption is therefore the christian's hope, who nevertheless must not wilfully violate the precepts of the moral law which God has given to him for a rule of life 73 Hymn CONTENTS. XIX

Book IV. Page

The destruction of Sodom and Gomorra, the plagues of Egypt, and the drowning of Pharaoh and his army in the Red Sea, were brought by the Almighty to punish man for wickedness . 80 Jacob declares to his son Judah that Shiloah (the Messiah) should be born a mortal from his seed. Job declares that his Redeemer lives and will afterwards appear upon earth, and that through His mercy he shall arise from the grave 81 The giving of the moral law for a rule of life 83 The Almighty declares to Moses that if the children of Israel will be obedient that they shall prosper, if not that their state and polity shall be totally destroyed by the Romans. Moses repeats the same, but adds that they shall finally believe in the Messiah, become His penitent servants, and then be restored to their native land 84

Book V

David introduces his magnificent prophecies respecting the Messiah with a sublime song of praise. He hails the appearance of his Re- 93 deemer upon earth, by declaring that He brings with Him from heaven, love, mercy, and peace, to sinful man ; and that, before the end of the world, His gospel shall spread over the universe ; and 94 introduces God the Father declaring that His Son shall descend from heaven to redeem penitent sinners and finally destroy all His enemies 95 He then produces the Messiah offering Himself to His Father to become the sacrifice for sin to redeem mankind from its penalty, and the Father signifying His pleasure at His Son's merciful proposal : then exultingly declares that the momentous act which grants peace and salvation to man, is sealed and ratified in the courts of heaven 97 He gives praise for it ; but declares that the children of Israel will mock, reject, and crucify their Saviour when He descends from heaven to dwell among and reclaim them, accurately describing His crucifixion 1000 years before it took place .... 99 He then foretels his Redeemer's resurrection from the grave, and His ascension into heaven, and again introduces God the Father dccla- XX CONTENTS.

PAGE ring that He has appointed His Son to be the eternal King and High-Priest over mankind, and that all His faithful subjects shall enjoy everlasting happiness. Gives a grand song of praise to God 101 for His mercy displayed to man in redemption 103 He next laments the uncertainty and short duration of man's residence upon earth ; but declares that the Saviour is omnipotent and 104 eternal, and was the Creator of all things ; that He shall again de- 105 scend from heaven to judge the world by righteousness, and des- 106 cribes the last judgment 107 He again proclaims the Messiah's omnipotence that He reigns King of kings and Lord of lords, that His supreme power is boundless, He rules righteously, and His testimony is true ; His religion shall 110 increase until it becomes universal, the Gentiles espouse His cause, and the Jews believe His gospel Ill He now describes His majestic coming to destroy apostacy and infidelity, and completely establish His reign of peace and happiness 114 upon earth, concluding his most sublime predictions by bidding every thing upon earth rejoice at the stupendous event, and join in a grand chorus of praise to the Messiah for His mercy and goodness 115 Hymn .... 116

Book VI

Daniel describes the four great Empires, namely, the Assyrian, the Medo- Persian, the Grecian, and the Roman, successively governing earth, until overturned by the supreme power of the Messiah, by the Symbol of a great Image composed of different materials ; and 121 represents the Messiah's dominion by a stone, small at first, cut from the side of a mountain, which daily waxes greater, till it is cast by irresistible force at the legs and feet of the Image, or the Roman empire in its last divided state, and breaks the whole 122 to pieces, when it become the universal ruler of the world. An an gelic Messenger sent to Daniel explains to him the above prophecy ; and Daniel gives a description of the rise and progress of the Messiah's kingdom 125 The above subject is repeated under different symbols shewn to this CONTENTS.

XXI PAGE Prophet 10 years after the above revelation. Four ravenous wild beasts now appeared to him successively arising out of a troubled sea, or wars and commotions among the nations of the earth, and devoured each other until the last wore ten crowned horns all subject to the spiritual jurisdiction of an apostate christian em pire, represented in the prophecy by a horn springing slyly among the ten worn by the last Beast, but soon growing so great as to seize for itself the temporal dominions of three of them, and to spiritually tyrannize over the whole .... 126 He then more particularly describes this apostate spiritual dominion, 127 and declares that it shall be overturned by the power of the Messiah 128 He now proceeds to inform mankind of the precise time when the Messiah would appear upon earth to found His government of peace and happiness ; and when the Jewish temple, state, and polity, would be subverted by the Romans, and the ceremonial law abrogated.

Then he informs his readers that the Roman domin- 130 ion both temporal and spiritual, named the Desolator, shall be finally overturned by the Messiah, and by Him the Jews restored to liberty and their native land, after they have become converts to His gospel * but the angel refuses to inform Him of the precise time when these last momentous transactions take place ; yet assures him that they will come when the fulness of the Gentiles have obeyed the gospel .... 132 Jeremiah declares that he is commissioned by the Almighty to declare future events. Then gives his countrymen, the Jews, a most 133 dreadful description of their depravity, and informs them that, for their rebellion against the just laws of their God, their temple shall be destroyed, and Jerusalem made a heap of ruins, their country 134 laid desolate, and themselves driven into captivity for 70 years, by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon ; but at the end of that term 136 they shall find mercy, and shall return to their native land : but re- 138 turning to their former wicked state, they shall be finally subdued by the Romans, and their temple and polity for ever destroyed ; . and those who escape the slaughter shall be sold for slaves among the nations of the earth, until the Messiah releases them.