The answer of the Lord to the powers of darkness

That like the trees will come to move your faith,
You will tell them plainly you don't approve of their ways.
But now I shall come to the bramble;
And will you now bow down to worship him?
Then know, your stately cedars must fall,
For Satan has now come to call himself the King:
And like the bramble, he now appears;
Will you bow down, vain man, and worship here?
As he would now set himself up as a King,
Then you know you must all drop to the earth.
As it is applied from this parable,
The fire was hidden in the bramble;
Which appeared so in Abimelech:
He cut down the boughs, as you may see clearly;
And so he surely burned their towers,
And the bramble became full of fire.
For as they first chose such a wretched king,
Then I let him bring their destruction:
And here stands a perfect sign of Satan,
And his mind is now like Abimelech's;
But mark how Abimelech went on,
Until he came to the stronger tower;
And when he attempted it in fury,
I placed the Woman to show you clearly;
As Abimelech fell by the woman,
And I tell you all, by the woman now Joanna Southcott identifies herself as the woman through whom God will defeat Satan.
The stone is thrown upon the Serpent’s head.
Though like Abimelech, his plea may now be:
That if he falls, it shall surely be by man;
It shall never be said that a woman's hand
Was ever the cause of making his pride fall.
So I tell you all, both together:
That he will surely die like Abimelech—
That is, his power will be cut off from you, I say.
But yet, I tell you, some will choose him as king,
As they will prolong his reign by their silence;
And so, I say, they will bring on their ruin!
Because they will cut down the boughs and branches;
They will kindle a fire and confound his friends:
And they will take away many thousand lives,
And their ruin lies fast before them!
But now I will go further with Satan,
And in the end My thundering voice shall come,
And now I will answer the fortieth page here Referring to the 40th page of the "Dispute with the Powers of Darkness.",
Should all his gold and silver appear!
I ask the fool, can men live by gold,
When every truth is told before them?

Note: The reader is again requested to refer to the chapters alluded to, and also to the pages in the Dispute with the Powers of Darkness.

That I should take away every blessing,
And soon destroy your fields of corn and hay:
The cattle on a thousand hills are Mine;
Does Satan think that I shall resign them,
Ever to give these blessings into his hand?
I ask what power he can command now
To send one grain of wheat to make it grow?
No, the fool shall know all the earth is Mine;
And so they may all live then as they please,
If Satan should possess this kingdom now;
Because there would be no churches at all
To ask for blessings, for none shall fall;
So no one would be moping in their churches,
But soon you would see butchers, because of hunger!
Then men would surely kill one another,
And they would spill men's blood as they pleased.
And so the fool spoke the truth there,
For men would soon appear as they pleased;
And so I know he would not confine their hearts,
Because a hell is all that is in his mind;

42

But I shall come to the forty-second [page] Referring to the 42nd page of the "Dispute with the Powers of Darkness.",
And I let his provoking words go on.
I endured his words from age to age,
But now I tell him his destruction is sure:
He who advanced himself so high in heaven!
And made the rebel angels comply,
In everything to provoke their God,
And make me lay a heavier rod on them.
With indignation I banished them to hell,
With their provoking words that swell now:
But yet, with patience, I bore it longer,
And I heard his provoking speeches.
And so, I say, I let him go on:
I did not hastily cast him from My throne,
Until I saw his pride would not submit,
Or confess that his errors had been great:
For just as he contended with you,
And spoke in blasphemy against your God,
I say, he surely did the same in heaven,
And he claimed a superior power there!
Until he compelled Me to cast him out;
But even then I did not chain him down to hell
Until his provoking ways were fully finished;
And now I will tell the fool that he shall fall.
For I have pounded him here in the mortar Refers to Proverbs 27:22, "Though thou shouldest bray a fool in a mortar... yet will not his foolishness depart from him.",
And still his pride and folly appear:
He sees what ruin he has brought on man;
He has laid his plan by every art.
He sees the prisons and the jails appear,
He sees the gallows and the sinners' fears;