Now! Then! The first, nocturnal vision of Prophet Wroe in one of his fields at Tong Street, Bradford following his near-fatal fever

12 November 1819: The first, nocturnal vision of Prophet Wroe in one of his fields at Tong Street, Bradford following his near-fatal fever

John Wroe. 1851. An abridgement of John Wroe’s life and travels; also, revelations on the scriptures, and various communications, given to him by divine inspiration, from the conclusion of 1822, to the conclusion of 1834, likewise, several prophecies, with their fulfilment, previous to and during the above period, 4th Ed., Vol. 1. Gravesend: B.A. Wroe. Visions transcribed by friends. Get it:

Excerpt

When in one of my fields, and wrestling with God in prayer, I saw a vision, having my eyes open. A woman came to me, and tossed me up and down in the field; I endeavoured to lay hold of her, but could not; I therefore knew it was a spirit; after which, being laid in my bed, I was struck blind, and also dumb. This was at about two o’clock on the morning of the 12th of November, 1819. The sun and moon then appeared to me, after which there was visible a very large piece of glass; on looking through it I beheld a very beautiful place, which I entered. I saw a multitude of people, which no man could number. There came an angel, who became my guide, and said to me, “Thy prayers have been heard, but not accepted; for thou wert not like Abraham when he offered his son Isaac for a sacrifice, for thou hast withheld thine heart from the Lord thy God, but now thou art cleansed, spirit return unto thy rest.” And as quick as lightning the following words struck forcibly upon me: “Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, as long as the rod of thy word, and the staff of thy defence is with me.” During the time I was in this situation, (being about twelve hours,) I knew what was passing in the room, and what every person said, and shook hands with them, expecting that I was immediately to leave the body.

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To facilitate reading, the spelling and punctuation of elderly excerpts have generally been modernised, and distracting excision scars concealed. My selections, translations, and editions are copyright.

Abbreviations

Comment

The introduction to the above describes his illness and its consequences:

In the year 1819 John was afflicted with a fever, and his life considered to be in imminent danger. He was attended by Dr. Blake, of Bradford, and Dr. Field, of Tong Street. The former told John’s wife that there was no probability of his recovery, and advised her to prevail on him to settle his affairs. Concluding that his recovery was very improbable, he became much concerned about his spiritual interest, for all his deeds were introduced to his view. He accordingly requested the Methodist preachers to visit him and pray with him, but they refused, although his wife sent to four of them. She then inquired of him whether she might send for the minister of the Established Church at Bradford. He replied, “It is now late; read one or two chapters for me, and I will see what I can do for myself;” but he found no comfort.

Dr. Blake atttended him every day for three weeks; he was reduced almost to a skeleton. However, in the course of a few weeks he recovered from his bodily illness, but his distress of mind continued. He wrestled with God both day and night for several months, and sometimes walked up and down his own fields, with his bible, and sat under the hedges, and read easy passages, but continued destitute of comfort.

Soon after this he was visited with what are called trances or visions; (see Num. xxiv. 4; Acts x. 10; xi. 5; xxii. 17;) at the commencement of most of which he was struck blind and dumb; his eyelids became as firmly united as if they had naturally grown together; and his tongue fastened in his mouth, in which state he remained during the whole period of their continuance, which was sometimes seven, twelve, twenty-four, or thirty-six hours. After one of the trances he continued blind for six days, but not dumb.

Many remarkable events were revealed to him during their continuance, as well as afterwards, and which were accomplished according to his predictions. He then began to travel and act as a public speaker. While thus engaged, he made known such parts of the subjects communicated to him during his trances, as he considered himself directed to publish.

From the time of his being visited by the trances, (which he afterwards denominated visions, he attended the meetings of the societies, believing in modern divine revelation and prophecy, as preparatory to the introduction of that great event known by the term Millennium, societies which had espoused the writings of Joanna Southcott and George Turner, the latter being then alive, and looked upon by them as the Lord’s servant and messenger, by whom he would from time to time make known his will to them; however, John Wroe did not become a member of any of the said societies at that time, nor of any other, and which was occasioned by the instructions given him in one of his visions, in which he was informed that after he had travelled for three years in England he should be joined to the Lord’s people, and which people he then concluded were Jews, appearing to him with long beards.

The scriptural justifications/inspirations/parallels are Numbers 24:4: “He hath said, which heard the words of God, which saw the vision of the Almighty, falling into a trance, but having his eyes open”; Acts 10:10: “And he became very hungry, and would have eaten: but while they made ready, he fell into a trance”; Acts 11:5: “I was in the city of Joppa praying: and in a trance I saw a vision, A certain vessel descend, as it had been a great sheet, let down from heaven by four corners; and it came even to me”; Acts 22:17: “And it came to pass, that, when I was come again to Jerusalem, even while I prayed in the temple, I was in a trance.”

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Original

When in one of my fields, and wrestling with God in prayer, I saw a vision, having my eyes open. A woman came to me, and tossed me up and down in the field; I endeavoured to lay hold of her, but could not; I therefore knew it was a spirit; after which, being laid in my bed, I was struck blind, and also dumb. This was at about two o’clock on the morning of the 12th of November, 1819. The sun and moon then appeared to me, after which there was visible a very large piece of glass; on looking through it I beheld a very beautiful place, which I entered. I saw a multitude of people, which no man could number. There came an angel, who became my guide, and said to me, “Thy prayers have been heard, but not accepted; for thou wert not like Abraham when he offered his son Isaac for a sacrifice, for thou hast withheld thine heart from the Lord thy God, but now thou art cleansed, spirit return unto thy rest.” And as quick as lightning the following words struck forcibly upon me: “Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, as long as the rod of thy word, and the staff of thy defence is with me.” [Psalm 23:4] During the time I was in this situation, (being about twelve hours,) I knew what was passing in the room, and what every person said, and shook hands with them, expecting that I was immediately to leave the body.

282 words.