N01310:78
Thoughts for the day of rain. In two essay's
Thoughts for the day of rain. In two essay's: I. The Gospel of the rainbow. In the meditations of piety, on the appearance of the bright clouds, with the bow of God upon them. II. The Saviour with his rainbow. And the covenant which God will remember to his people in the cloudy times that are passing over them. / By Cotton Mather., D.D. ; [Seven lines of quotations]
printed by B. Green, 1712
Title page typeset from the transcription.
The GOSPEL of the Rainbow. › Meditation 4: The Fourth MEDITATION.
Modern spelling is a reading aid: the words are the author’s, only the spelling is modernized. Original shows the page as printed, with the transcription marks.
The Fourth MEDITATION.
Tho' a Watery Flood that may drown the World, is no more to be feared, yet there is a Fiery Flood, for the depredations whereof a miserable World is growing horribly combustible. There is a Desolation to come on this Lower World, which the Writings ⟨p. 26⟩of the Ancients mention under the Name of, Diluvium Ignis; a Fiery Flood. Some think, the Heathen themselves had some Notion of this, Lying under the Embers of their Fable, that made Pyrrha, (a Name that carries, Fire in it,) the Wife of their Deucalion. Tis well-known, that their Philosophers tell of, an, [Greek or Hebrew], or, Conflagration, which the World is one day to undergo. The Oracles of the Sacred Scripture have positively declared it; 2 Pet. III. 7. The Heavens and Earth which are now, be reserved unto Fire, against the Day of Judgment, and Perdition of Ungodly Men. And some read it, in the very Colours of the Rainbow; as plainly Legible there as ever it could be upon Seth's Pillars of old: The Watery Colour Leads them, to think on the Water which once destroyed the World. The Grassy Colour Leads them, to think on the Day of Patience which God now allows unto the World, to bring forth Fruit unto Him: The Fiery Colour Leads them to think, on that Fire which is ere long to consume the World. Be that as it will; It is most certain from our Prophecies of a Divine Inspiration, (and there can be no Colour for the Infidelity that questions it,) That the World which was once Drowned, is ere long to be Burned. By Fire will the Lord plead with all Flesh, and the Slain of the Lord shall be many. 'Tis true, In the Circumstances of the Conflagration to be Expected, there are Some things hard to be understood. It seems that the Descent of our Saviour, at, and for the Destruction ⟨p. 27⟩