A Letter by Hans van Overdam

Understand well:

Whoever has ears to hear, let him hear, and whoever reads, let him pay attention, and judge with the understanding of the holy Scriptures; but woe to him who judges without understanding. Listen, I speak to you, O carnal generation, you Ishmaelites, who boast of being Christians because you are born of water without the Spirit, and persecute the children of the promise, who through faith in the Word of God are born of the water and of the Spirit; indeed, you persecute them as Ishmael persecuted Isaac, as Esau did Jacob, and as the Jews persecuted Christ. Even so the antichristians, who are born of the flesh, now persecute the Christians, who are born of the Spirit, who will receive the promise of the everlasting kingdom through Christ, who is the heir of all things, and causes His kingdom to be proclaimed through the Gospel, to repentance and true sorrow for dead works, through faith in Him; they despise His witnesses, and so on. This is the wind, O eagle, take note! which blows where it wills, and you cannot tell where it comes from, or where it goes. Hear now His voice, which the Most High has reserved for the latter times, to reveal to you your transgressions and punishment, who now begins to deliver His people through much misery and tribulation.

Therefore take note! O eagle, the end of your time is very near; are you not the fourth beast? Oh, yes, you are the beast Daniel saw (Daniel 7, verse 7), which devoured everything with his iron teeth, and trampled the rest with his feet, and brought forth the most wicked little horn. Daniel 7, verses 7 and 8. You have dwelt a long time upon the earth with deceit, and have not judged the earth with truth. For you have afflicted the meek, you have hurt the peaceable, you have loved liars, and destroyed the dwellings of those who brought forth fruit, and have cast down the walls of those who did you no harm. Therefore your wrongful dealings have come up to the Highest, and your pride to the

Mighty. And therefore appear no more, O eagle, so that the earth may be refreshed, and may return, delivered from your violence, and that she may hope for the judgment and mercy of Him who made her, whose judgment will be better and more just than yours, O eagle! Therefore your wicked heads, which remain to the last, will be the end of the eagle, to accomplish his most wicked wickedness, together with his wicked feathers, which also are kept to the last. Therefore hear, vain body of the eagle, who vainly boast of what you are not, namely, Christians. Hear also, you most wicked claws, which are willing and ready to destroy and tear whatever your most wicked heads command you, through the counsel of liars, whom they love. Why do you rejoice in the misery and fall of the poor lambs and nursing infants, who still feed on milk, whom you keep imprisoned by violence, and whose souls you murder with false, deceitful tricks; who have heard the truth only a year or two at the most; you have none yet who can instruct you in all the articles of faith? Be ashamed of your boasting, that through your carnal, blind, learned men you have overcome the innocent with subtle, deceitful tricks and broken Scriptures. Oh, woe, woe! for the great misery and the terrible times, that wickedness has so gained the upper hand that the truth is not even permitted to defend itself openly. Let the misery, violence, and great distress of the pregnant women and the nursing infants of these times rise to the ears of the Most High, because no help, comfort, or assistance can be given them by those whom the Lord has endowed with more grace and gifts to stop the mouths of adversaries.

But perhaps you say: "Let those come forward, then, who are better endowed and have received more grace." To this we reply that the wolf might call for a long while before the sheep would come, since they know well that he would tear them with great cruelty, and without right or reason. Alas, alas! what awful judgment and terrible punishment from the fierce and devouring wrath of God will fall upon those who without mercy distress, persecute and murder the innocent and God-fearing, and themselves live so ungodly in all the unrighteous works of the flesh, so that they will not inherit the kingdom of heaven. O spiritual Babylon, how the Lord will visit and avenge upon you the innocent souls and the blood of His witnesses; for all this is found in you. You have made the kings of the earth, and all nations, so drunk with the wine of spiritual whoredom that they can neither see nor hear the truth. Oh, that we might once freely defend ourselves in public with the Word of God, in the presence of a large, flaming fire, against all you learned doctors, licentiates, priests and monks, who help to strengthen, protect, preserve and maintain the kingdom of antichrist, and that the defeated party should be cast into the fire; then it would not be necessary to torment and distress the poor, innocent lambs, and your faith could be tested, as to how it agrees with the truth; then there would be no need of washing the hands with Pilate, or of the imperial mandate, and the authorities would remain free from the blood of the innocent, if they would not let the Word of God be judge over the faith. But no, the false prophets and deceivers know well that their trickery and deceit would be made far too plain by this. Therefore they cry just as diligently as the scribes and Pharisees did: "Crucify him, crucify him." The mandate of the emperor must prevail. So it was at the beginning of the fourth beast, and so it is now at the end of it. Let whoever can grasp it observe with understanding that the end is the worst of all.

Princes, repent and amend your ways; for the end of all things is at hand. Woe to you, false prophets, who resist the truth, even as the Egyptian magicians resisted Moses; but your wickedness will yet be made plain to all men, even as it already begins. [n692-1] Woe to you, champions of antichrist, who put on the time-honored customs of the Roman church as an armor with which to defend yourselves against the truth, and use the mandate of the emperor as a shield, and wield the sword of the magistracy in every country to shed the innocent blood of those who will not defend themselves with temporal or carnal weapons, but only with the Word of God, which is our sword, and which is sharp and two-edged. But we are greatly slandered every day by those who say that we defend our faith with the sword, as those of Munster did. May Almighty God preserve us from such abominations.

Be it known to you, noble lords, councilors, burgomasters and judges, that we recognize your officers as right and good; indeed, as ordained and instituted by God, that is, the secular sword for the punishment of evildoers, and the protection of the good, and we desire to obey you in all taxes, tributes and ordinances, as far as it is not contrary to God. And if you find us disobedient in these things, we will willingly receive our punishment as criminals. God, who knows every heart, knows that this is our intention. But understand, noble lords, that we do not recognize the abuse of your stations or offices to be from God, but from the devil, and that antichrist, through the subtlety of the devil, has bewitched and blinded your eyes, so that you do not know yourselves, who you are, and how grievously you have incurred the wrath of God. Be sober, therefore, and awake, and open the eyes of your understanding, and see against whom you fight, that it is not against man, but against God. Therefore we will not obey you; for it is the will of God that we be tried by this. Hence we would rather, through the grace of God, let our temporal bodies be burned, drowned, beheaded, racked or tortured, as it may seem good to you, or be scourged, banished, or driven away, and robbed of our goods, than show you any obedience contrary to the Word of God, and we will be patient in this, leaving vengeance to God; for we know Him who has said, "Vengeance belongs to me, I will recompense, says the Lord." And again, "The Lord will judge his people. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God." Hebrews 10, verses 30 and 31. And the spirit testifies that this is at hand, and has already begun.

Listen, you whose time for bearing is half fulfilled: Prepare your bed; for you will bring forth. What shall I bring forth? The fruit of your labor, with pain and anguish, and afterward death. Listen, you on the right hand: Prepare the measure. What shall I prepare it for? To measure your neighbor, and then you also will be measured. Get ready, O fire, and do not delay. Listen, I speak to you who are of one mind with the horns (Revelation 17, verse 13), the day of your feast has come, your meat is ready; eat quickly the fat flesh of the drunken, so that the power may be given to the beast. It has been put into your hearts to do so. After the beast you will have power for a little while. You fight against the Lamb, but the Lamb will overcome you; He is King of kings, and Lord of lords, and His kingdom will endure forever. Amen.

We testify of Him that it is He who is to come; indeed, He comes quickly, the Lord Jesus, who will reward every man according to his works.