The Elijah-Woman

Three hundred years ago it pleased God to deposit invaluable secrets concerning the coming Kingdom of Christ into the heart of a humble Englishwoman. After the flesh she was born a woman; but she came in the Spirit and power of Elijah. Her message: The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand; make His paths straight. Commissioned to pen a treasury of writings that would lead souls to unlock mystery after mystery concerning the Lord’s return, she especially addressed them to Holy Seekers and Loving Inquirers—the Lord’s faithful servants whose faces are set as a flint toward the New Jerusalem. During her life the Christian Church was not willing to receive this remarkable Elijah-Woman, Yet her message remains and is even now awakening the hearts and minds of those who are to become the Firstfruits of a New and Everlasting Kingdom. And while we can certainly expect that this Kingdom will have an outward, physical appearance (as most of Christendom is setting their eyes upon), yet Jane’s writings are primarily concerned with a Kingdom that is inward.

Her Life, Education, Religion
Jane Ward Lead (1624-1704) was a devoted Christian who married, bore children, suffered heartbreak, devastation and loss. She lived during the time of the execution of King Charles I (1649), the Great Plague of London (1665-66) and the Great Fire of London (1666). In other words, the first 46 of her 80 years were considered normal by 17th century standards.

She was born into a prominent and devout family. Schooled by personal tutors, her education went beyond what was granted to most young women of her time. She was baptized and raised in the Church of England where she learned the principles of the Christian faith, about the One True God, and of the Holy Bible. Thus her spiritual upbringing was pious and Scripture-sound.

At age 16 she experienced an event that would forever determine the course of her life, especially in her later years. For she heard the voice of God telling her to cease from all frivolity and vanity; and that another path was set for her. Deeply overtaken by this profound event, she immediately withdrew from many external activities, and began to earnestly focus on her own salvation, and to cultivate an intimacy with the Lord Jesus Christ. Three years after her conversion she “received the sealing of the Holy Spirit for the Promise of the Father.”

At age 20 she married William Lead, a merchant and distant relative. Mr. Lead was a pious man, for Jane determined years before that she would never consider marriage to any other sort. Their marriage was harmonious and produced four daughters: two died in infancy; only one survived her.

In February 1670, after a loving marriage of 27 years, William Lead passed away. Jane was 46 years old. Two months later (April 1670) she began receiving communications and visions from the Divine God-Head; initially writing them down for personal remembrance. For Jane was a modest woman, and never imagined that her journals would ever be made public. But later in life, through the intervention and assistance of her future son-in-law, the Lord opened the way for their publication.

Her Writings
As a visionary, Jane presents colorful images and vivid descriptions of the coming Kingdom of God’s Christ. But as a mystic they are clothed with deep symbolism. And although through the centuries only a scattered few have truly entered into these Divine Mysteries, and come into full possession of the life that Jesus promised, Jane realized that her writings were primarily for a time yet future, when the Lord would raise up a generation of saints who would search out and understand what she was commissioned to write about. And because we are nearer than farther to the consummation of all things, Holy Seekers and Loving Inquirers are exhorted to study them most seriously, and with  all faith, obedience, and devotion. For the intent of all her writings “is no less than to lead us to a full redemption, even the recovery of our lost and faded state, and the opening and enjoyment of Paradise upon earth again.”

Jane’s “Love” of God
Jane's legacy is a message of Love: Not the human emotion we call love; nor is it the Love that God demonstrated to the world when He sent His Son to die for the sins of mankind. To Jane, God Himself is this LOVE; and God's LOVE is Christ. It is Christ Himself entering into His people and filling them throughout, in the same way that He entered and filled the Tabernacle in the Wilderness. She describes this LOVE as tangible and experiential: a Life that is breathed into the soul, fills the soul; and immediately begins the work of destroying the sin-principle within. For the LOVE of God always seeks to deliver us from our enemies.

To Jane, receiving this LOVE is an event that takes place when certain conditions are met. For this Love is not salvation-love (grace) that is freely given to all who demonstrate repentance toward God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. This peculiar LOVE is to the Christian who has walked faithfully and obediently, and has taken the straight and narrow path of self-destruction. Jesus indeed meets the sinner at the cross; But Christ comes suddenly to a prepared temple.

What She Believed and Taught
Without question Jane Lead was a true Christian: a faithful follower of the life and teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ. She believed Him to be the God-Man; who after the way and manner of human nature was conceived in the womb of the Virgin Mary; who lived a sinless life; who died for the sins of the world; and resurrected from the dead.

She believed that Jesus Christ is the Eternal Word, who was incarnated in flesh for a universal redemption and restoration out of this lapsed state; That as the Second Adam, the efficacy of Christ, by the merit of His bloodshed, and His Spirit given therein, will make all good again which the First Adam had made evil; and that by His Spirit, He comes to incarnate Himself in our flesh. She believed that as God and Savior, He alone is to be exalted and glorified in and by His Saints.

She believed in Jehovah-God: that He alone is the ONE true God. She believed in the Tri-Unity of the Godhead; as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; and that we are to seek to be sealed with and in the Name of this Holy Trinity. She believed that the Old Testament Scriptures were appropriated to the ministration of the Father, the New Testament to the Son, and that now the Third Day is come, in which the Holy Ghost will have His Day. And as there have been births from the Father’s and Son’s property, but there has been a stop by many—not knowing the last and celestial baptism of the Holy Ghost.

Jane possessed a high command of the Bible, and sought and received from the Lord many Scripture confirmations for the messages she was given.  She believed that the Holy Scriptures are the infallible Word of God; that they are written by the Holy Ghost; that they are the revelation of God’s will, and the very dictates of Truth itself. She believed that the Scriptures are sacred, divine, and holy; and that the Holy Spirit is their best Interpreter.

She believed in the Universal Restitution of the entire lapsed creation; that ALL that has been impaired, desolated, and made miserable by transgression… shall be repaired and redeemed by God in Christ, reconciling all that had departed and fallen away from Him. She believed that this Universal Reconciliation and Restitution can only be accomplished through the Resurrection-Life of the Lord Jesus Christ; and the Lord revealed to her its validity with several Scriptures passages.

She believed in the Continuance of Divine Revelation: That revelation is renewed in every age of time; that the written Word of God was not limited to what is comprised in what we call the Holy Bible, but that God has always spoken, and continues to speak to those whose hearts and minds are willing and able to hear Him. She believed that the succession of the Spirit of Revelation is never to cease, but is more than ever to increase yet upon the Earth.

The 60 Propositions
Jane Lead's 60 Propositions is a list of extracts taken from her other writings, particularly her First Message to the Philadelphian Society; and a blueprint toward understanding the rest of her writings as uniquely descriptive of the approaching Kingdom, and of the progression of soul toward this great end. The Propositions are an outline of what will happen: A total and full redemption. Her other writings tell us how it will happen: Through the Great Atonement and Indwelling of the Lord Jesus Christ. Everything that was lost in the Adam the First is available through Adam the Second—now offered to the poor in spirit, who are viewed as the offscouring of the Church: For they dare to go out to the Wilderness to hear the message of this Elijah-Woman. And as John the Baptist bypassed the religious system to bring the message of salvation to Israel, so Mrs. Lead is bringing the message of Universal Reconciliation and Restoration to those with eyes that see and ears that hear.

Conclusion
As the Lord continues to draw His faithful ones into these profound mysteries, His Promised Spirit will lead us into all Truth. For no one can teach us what God’s Spirit alone is privy to. He is that Spirit of Truth, whom we are to earnestly look for and diligently wait upon.

Diane Guerrero
Editor of the Spirit's Day Version
7/5/2026

The Elijah-Woman is the Introduction to the 60 Propositions Studies.

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