A divine looking-glass, or, The third and last testament of Our Lord Jesus Christ whose personal residence is seated on his throne of eternal glory in another world : being the commission of the spirit, agreeing with, and explaining of the two former commissions of the law and Gospel, differing only in point of worship : set forth for the tryal of all sorts of supposed spiritual lights in the world, until the ever-lasting true Jesus, the onely high and mighty God, pesonally appear in the air with his saints and angels / by John Reeve and Lodowick Muggleton ...

CHAP. XXXV.

1 The Curse was not pronounced upon any natural beast, but the fallen Angel.

WHerefore in the third chapter of Genesis you may finde it thus written, Then the Lord God said to the Serpent, because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattel, and above every beast of the field, upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust thou shalt eat all the days of thy life, I will also put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed, he shall break thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. My spiritual brethren, can any of you upon mature consideration possibly imagine that that Serpent was a natural beast that was pronounced cursed by the Lord, for some evil deed done unto innocent Eve?

2 If it were an evil spirit that spake through the Serpents mouth, can any sober man think that the most wise Creator would have pro∣nounced a curse upon the bruit beast and his seed, if the evil that was done to Eve proceeded onely from the Devil within the body of that Serpent?

3 Can you finde in any place of Scripture, that ever the Lord charged any evil spirit or devil with that deed done unto Eve, but that Serpent that spake unto her?

4 Therefore what ever men vainly dream of Apples pulled from woodden trees, or of a natural Serpent, or of an evil spirit in the body of an ignorant beast, or any such like imaginary stuff concern∣ing the deceiving of Eve, yet you that are truly enlightned from on high may know, that that Serpent by whom Eve was beguiled, was that angelical reprobate cast down from the Kingdom of Glory be∣foresaid, into this perishing world.

5 Moreover, you may understand also that the Serpent Angel de∣ceived Eve upon a spiritual account, and not upon a natural account, because you know that she was ignorant of that poor and low thing of lusting after a man, until she had obeyed that Serpents voice;

6 Therefore when the Creator denounced that curse upon the Serpent and his seed, that Angelical Serpent was within the womb of Eve, and not without her.

7 And the Lord called him a Serpent, onely because of his ex∣ceeding subtilty to deceive.

8 Concerning the Serpents going upon his belly, and eating dust

all the days of his life, if that had been a natural Serpent so threat∣ned by the Creator, was he not as well as if he had enjoyed legs to go, and the choicest of things to eat, seeing the one was become as na••ural to him as the other?

9 Of what concernment was that to the woman for a natural Ser∣pent to be cursed by the Lord; doth any man or woman heed Ser∣pents upon that account, or any other whatsoever?

10 Moreover, suppose that curse had been denounced against an evil spirit distinct from the soul and body of Eve, what hurt would that have been unto Eve or Adam, or their generation?

11 Or who regards a curse upon any devil in the least, so that he himself be not that evil spirit or devil so cursed?

12 Concerning the enmity put between the woman and the Ser∣pent, and their seed, I would fain know from any sober man, whe∣ther there might not be as much enmity between Eve and a She-bear, as a natural Serpent?

13 Is it not believed by all men that are possessed with the true light, that that Christ Jesus recorded in Holy Writ to be the Son of God according to the Spirit, and the Son of man according to the flesh, was that heavenly Seed of the woman here spoken of?

14 Moreover, was not this Jesus conceived of the Virgins seed into flesh, blood, and bone, by the eternal Spirit, and was he not pronounced blessed when he was in the Virgins womb?

15 Furthermore, are not all his spiritual seed of elect mankinde pronounced blessed with him also, as the off-spring of the most high God, and heirs of immortal Crowns of eternal glory?

16 Doth not the Scripture Records throughout make a distin∣ction between two seeds or generations of mankinde?

17 And do they not attribute names unto them, according to their several natures?

18 Moreover, doth not the Scriptures make mention of a day of Judgement both for the dead and the quick, and doth it not fre∣quently speak of an eternal personal glory, and its habitation prepa∣red for some, called by the titles of elect and precious Jewels, chosen ones, Sons of God, Saints, the blessed of the Lord, and such like?

19 Doth not the Scriptures also speak of an everlasting shame of personal fiery death in utter darkness, ordained for others, and their place of residence?

20 And doth it not ascribe titles unto them according to their

natures, as namely, Devils, Dragons, Serpents, Vipers, sons of Belial, cursed children, and such like?

21 Again, if the Lord Jesus Christ was that Angelical God which became that blessed Son of the Virgin, promised to Adam and Eve after their transgression, the which none can deny after so clear a demonstration of the Scripture seeds as this is, except they be repro∣bates, then without controversie that Serpent which was cursed for his evil deed was not without her, but within her, when he recei∣ved that sentence by the mouth of the Lord, and that seed or first-born of Eve, called Cain, was that cursed Serpent Angel himself, clothed with flesh, blood, and bone, in the form of a man;

22 Who not being able to endure the sight of righteous Abel, that blessed Seed, or Son of God, answerable unto that curse of enmity denounced against him in the womb of Eve, his spirit was restless until he had manifested himself to be that old Serpent, mur∣thering lying devil, and the father of all Cananitish murthering-minded men and women, so frequently spoken of in Scriptures, Not as Cain which was of that wicked one, and slew his brother, in the first Epistle of John, chap. 3. He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man, and the field is the world, and the good seed are the children of the kingdom, and the tares are the children of that wicked one, and the enemy that soweth them is the devil, Mat. 13.