mh_parser/vol_split/1 - Genesis/Chapter 1.xml

<div2 id="Gen.ii" n="ii" next="Gen.iii" prev="Gen.i" progress="0.78%" title="Chapter I">
<pb id="Gen.ii-Page_2" n="2"/>
<h2 id="Gen.ii-p0.1">G E N E S I S</h2>
<h3 id="Gen.ii-p0.2">CHAP. I.</h3>
<p class="intro" id="Gen.ii-p1">The foundation of all religion being laid in our
relation to God as our Creator, it was fit that the book of divine
revelations which was intended to be the guide, support, and rule,
of religion in the world, should begin, as it does, with a plain
and full account of the creation of the world—in answer to that
first enquiry of a good conscience, "Where is God my Maker?"
(<scripRef id="Gen.ii-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:Job.35.10" parsed="|Job|35|10|0|0" passage="Job 35:10">Job xxxv. 10</scripRef>). Concerning
this the pagan philosophers wretchedly blundered, and became vain
in their imaginations, some asserting the world's eternity and
self-existence, others ascribing it to a fortuitous concourse of
atoms: thus "the world by wisdom knew not God," but took a great
deal of pains to lose him. The holy scripture therefore, designing
by revealed religion to maintain and improve natural religion, to
repair the decays of it and supply the defects of it, since the
fall, for the reviving of the precepts of the law of nature, lays
down, at first, this principle of the unclouded light of nature,
That this world was, in the beginning of time, created by a Being
of infinite wisdom and power, who was himself before all time and
all worlds. The entrance into God's word gives this light,
<scripRef id="Gen.ii-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.119.130" parsed="|Ps|119|130|0|0" passage="Ps 119:130">Ps. cxix. 130.</scripRef>. The
<scripRef id="Gen.ii-p1.3" osisRef="Bible:Gen.1.1" parsed="|Gen|1|1|0|0" passage="Ge 1:1">first verse</scripRef> of the Bible
gives us a surer and better, a more satisfying and useful,
knowledge of the origin of the universe, than all the volumes of
the philosophers. The lively faith of humble Christians understands
this matter better than the elevated fancy of the greatest wits,
<scripRef id="Gen.ii-p1.4" osisRef="Bible:Heb.11.3" parsed="|Heb|11|3|0|0" passage="Heb 11:3">Heb. xi. 3</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="intro" id="Gen.ii-p2">We have three things in this chapter:—I. A
general idea given us of the work of creation <scripRef id="Gen.ii-p2.1" osisRef="Bible:Gen.1.1-Gen.1.2" parsed="|Gen|1|1|1|2" passage="Ge 1:1,2">ver. 1, 2</scripRef>. II. A particular account of the
several days' work, registered, as in a journal, distinctly and in
order. The creation of the light the first day, <scripRef id="Gen.ii-p2.2" osisRef="Bible:Gen.1.3-Gen.1.5" parsed="|Gen|1|3|1|5" passage="Ge 1:3-5">ver. 3-5</scripRef>; of the firmament the second day,
<scripRef id="Gen.ii-p2.3" osisRef="Bible:Gen.1.6-Gen.1.8" parsed="|Gen|1|6|1|8" passage="Ge 1:6-8">ver. 6-8</scripRef>; of the sea, the
earth, and its fruits, the third day, <scripRef id="Gen.ii-p2.4" osisRef="Bible:Gen.1.9-Gen.1.13" parsed="|Gen|1|9|1|13" passage="Ge 1:9-13">ver. 9-13</scripRef>; of the lights of heaven the
fourth day, <scripRef id="Gen.ii-p2.5" osisRef="Bible:Gen.1.14-Gen.1.19" parsed="|Gen|1|14|1|19" passage="Ge 1:14-19">ver. 14-19</scripRef>;
of the fish and fowl the fifth day, <scripRef id="Gen.ii-p2.6" osisRef="Bible:Gen.1.20-Gen.1.23" parsed="|Gen|1|20|1|23" passage="Ge 1:20-23">ver. 20-23</scripRef>; of the beasts, <scripRef id="Gen.ii-p2.7" osisRef="Bible:Gen.1.24-Gen.1.25" parsed="|Gen|1|24|1|25" passage="Ge 1:24,25">ver. 24, 25</scripRef>; of man, <scripRef id="Gen.ii-p2.8" osisRef="Bible:Gen.1.26-Gen.1.28" parsed="|Gen|1|26|1|28" passage="Ge 1:26-28">ver. 26-28</scripRef>; and of food for both
the sixth day, <scripRef id="Gen.ii-p2.9" osisRef="Bible:Gen.1.29-Gen.1.30" parsed="|Gen|1|29|1|30" passage="Ge 1:29,30">ver. 29,
30</scripRef>. III. The review and approbation of the whole work,
<scripRef id="Gen.ii-p2.10" osisRef="Bible:Gen.1.31" parsed="|Gen|1|31|0|0" passage="Ge 1:31">ver. 31</scripRef>.</p>
<scripCom id="Gen.ii-p2.11" osisRef="Bible:Gen.1" parsed="|Gen|1|0|0|0" passage="Ge 1" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="Gen.ii-p2.12" osisRef="Bible:Gen.1.1-Gen.1.2" parsed="|Gen|1|1|1|2" passage="Ge 1:1-2" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Gen.1.1-Gen.1.2">
<h4 id="Gen.ii-p2.13">The Creation. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Gen.ii-p2.14">b. c.</span> 4004.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Gen.ii-p3">1 In the beginning God created the heaven and
the earth.   2 And the earth was without form, and void; and
darkness <i>was</i> upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of
God moved upon the face of the waters.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Gen.ii-p4">In these verses we have the work of
creation in its epitome and in its embryo.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Gen.ii-p5">I. In its epitome, <scripRef id="Gen.ii-p5.1" osisRef="Bible:Gen.1.1" parsed="|Gen|1|1|0|0" passage="Ge 1:1"><i>v.</i> 1</scripRef>, where we find, to our comfort, the
first article of our creed, that <i>God the Father Almighty is the
Maker of heaven and earth,</i> and as such we believe in him.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Gen.ii-p6">1. Observe, in this verse, four
things:—</p>
<p class="indent" id="Gen.ii-p7">(1.) The effect produced—<i>the heaven and
the earth,</i> that is, the world, including the whole frame and
furniture of the universe, the <i>world and all things therein,</i>
<scripRef id="Gen.ii-p7.1" osisRef="Bible:Acts.17.24" parsed="|Acts|17|24|0|0" passage="Ac 17:24">Acts xvii. 24</scripRef>. The world is
a great house, consisting of upper and lower stories, the structure
stately and magnificent, uniform and convenient, and every room
well and wisely furnished. It is the visible part of the creation
that Moses here designs to account for; therefore he mentions not
the creation of angels. But as the earth has not only its surface
adorned with grass and flowers, but also its bowels enriched with
metals and precious stones (which partake more of its solid nature
and more valuable, though the creation of them is not mentioned
here), so the heavens are not only beautified to our eyes with
glorious lamps which garnish its outside, of whose creation we here
read, but they are within replenished with glorious beings, out of
our sight, more celestial, and more surpassing them in worth and
excellency than the gold or sapphires surpass the lilies of the
field. In the visible world it is easy to observe, [1.] Great
variety, several sorts of beings vastly differing in their nature
and constitution from each other. <i>Lord, how manifold are thy
works,</i> and all good! [2.] Great beauty. The azure sky and
verdant earth are charming to the eye of the curious spectator,
much more the ornaments of both. How transcendent then must the
beauty of the Creator be! [3.] Great exactness and accuracy. To
those that, with the help of microscopes, narrowly look into the
works of nature, they appear far more fine than any of the works of
art. [4.] Great power. It is not a lump of dead and inactive
matter, but there is virtue, more or less, in every creature: the
earth itself has a magnetic power. [5.] Great order, a mutual
dependence of beings, an exact harmony of motions, and an admirable
chain and connection of causes. [6.] Great mystery. There are
phenomena in nature which cannot be solved, secrets which cannot be
fathomed nor accounted for. But from what we see of heaven and
earth we may easily enough infer the eternal power and Godhead of
the great Creator, and may furnish ourselves with abundant matter
for his praises. And let our make and place, as men, remind us of
our duty as Christians, which is always to keep heaven in our eye
and the earth under our feet.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Gen.ii-p8">(2.) The author and cause of this great
work—GOD. The Hebrew word is <i>Elohim,</i> which bespeaks, [1.]
The power of God the Creator. <i>El</i> signifies <i>the strong
God;</i> and what less than almighty strength could bring all
things out of nothing? [2.] The plurality of persons in the
Godhead, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. This plural name of God, in
Hebrew, which speaks of him as many though he is one, was to the
Gentiles perhaps a savour of death unto death, hardening them in
their idolatry; but it is to us a savour of life unto life,
confirming our faith in the doctrine of the Trinity, which, though
but darkly intimated in the Old Testament, is clearly revealed in
the New. The Son of God, the eternal Word and Wisdom of the Father,
was with him when he made the world (<scripRef id="Gen.ii-p8.1" osisRef="Bible:Prov.8.30" parsed="|Prov|8|30|0|0" passage="Pr 8:30">Prov. viii. 30</scripRef>), nay, we are often told that
the world was made by him, and nothing made without him, <scripRef id="Gen.ii-p8.2" osisRef="Bible:John.1.3 Bible:John.1.10 Bible:Eph.3.9 Bible:Col.1.16 Bible:Heb.1.2" parsed="|John|1|3|0|0;|John|1|10|0|0;|Eph|3|9|0|0;|Col|1|16|0|0;|Heb|1|2|0|0" passage="Joh 1:3,10,Eph 3:9,Col 1:16,Heb 1:2">John i. 3, 10; Eph.
iii. 9; Col. i. 16; Heb. 1. 2</scripRef>. O what high thoughts
should this form in our minds of that great God whom we draw nigh
to in religious worship, and that great Mediator in whose name we
draw nigh!</p>
<p class="indent" id="Gen.ii-p9">(3.) The manner in which this work was
effected: <i>God created it,</i> that is, made it out of nothing.
There was not any pre-existent matter out of which the world was
produced. The fish and fowl were indeed produced out of the waters
and the beasts and man out of the earth; but that earth and those
waters were made out of nothing. By the ordinary power of nature,
it is impossible that any thing should be made out of nothing; no
artificer can work, unless he has something to work on. But by the
almighty power of God it is not only possible that something should
be made of nothing (the God of nature is not subject to the laws of
nature), but in the creation it is impossible it should be

<pb id="Gen.ii-Page_3" n="3"/>

otherwise, for nothing is more injurious to the honour
of the Eternal Mind than the supposition of eternal matter. Thus
the excellency of the power is of God and all the glory is to
him.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Gen.ii-p10">(4.) When this work was produced: <i>In the
beginning,</i> that is, in the beginning of time, when that clock
was first set a going: time began with the production of those
beings that are measured by time. Before the beginning of time
there was none but that Infinite Being that inhabits eternity.
Should we ask why God made the world no sooner, we should but
darken counsel by words without knowledge; for how could there be
sooner or later in eternity? And he did make it in the beginning of
time, according to his eternal counsels before all time. The Jewish
Rabbies have a saying, that there were seven things which God
created before the world, by which they only mean to express the
excellency of these things:—The law, repentance, paradise, hell,
the throne of glory, the house of the sanctuary, and the name of
the Messiah. But to us it is enough to say, <i>In the beginning was
the Word,</i> <scripRef id="Gen.ii-p10.1" osisRef="Bible:John.1.1" parsed="|John|1|1|0|0" passage="Joh 1:1">John i. 1</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Gen.ii-p11">2. Let us learn hence, (1.) That atheism is
folly, and atheists are the greatest fools in nature; for they see
there is a world that could not make itself, and yet they will not
own there is a God that made it. Doubtless, they are without
excuse, but the god of this world has blinded their minds. (2.)
That God is sovereign Lord of all by an incontestable right. If he
is the Creator, no doubt he is the owner and possessor of heaven
and earth. (3.) That with God all things are possible, and
therefore happy are the people that have him for their God, and
whose help and hope stand in his name, <scripRef id="Gen.ii-p11.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.121.2 Bible:Ps.124.8" parsed="|Ps|121|2|0|0;|Ps|124|8|0|0" passage="Ps 121:2,124:8">Ps. cxxi. 2; cxxiv. 8</scripRef>. (4.) That the
God we serve is worthy of, and yet is exalted far above, all
blessing and praise, <scripRef id="Gen.ii-p11.2" osisRef="Bible:Neh.9.5-Neh.9.6" parsed="|Neh|9|5|9|6" passage="Ne 9:5,6">Neh. ix. 5,
6</scripRef>. If he made the world, he needs not our services, nor
can be benefited by them (<scripRef id="Gen.ii-p11.3" osisRef="Bible:Acts.17.24-Acts.17.25" parsed="|Acts|17|24|17|25" passage="Ac 17:24,25">Acts
xvii. 24, 25</scripRef>), and yet he justly requires them, and
deserves our praise, <scripRef id="Gen.ii-p11.4" osisRef="Bible:Rev.4.11" parsed="|Rev|4|11|0|0" passage="Re 4:11">Rev. iv.
11</scripRef>. If all is of him, all must be to him.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Gen.ii-p12">II. Here is the work of creation in its
embryo, <scripRef id="Gen.ii-p12.1" osisRef="Bible:Gen.1.2" parsed="|Gen|1|2|0|0" passage="Ge 1:2"><i>v.</i> 2</scripRef>, where we
have an account of the first matter and the first mover.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Gen.ii-p13">1. A chaos was the first matter. It is here
called the earth (though the earth, properly taken, was not made
till the third day <scripRef id="Gen.ii-p13.1" osisRef="Bible:Gen.1.10" parsed="|Gen|1|10|0|0" passage="Ge 1:10"><i>v.</i>
10</scripRef>), because it did most resemble that which afterwards
was called <i>earth,</i> mere earth, destitute of its ornaments,
such a heavy unwieldy mass was it; it is also called <i>the
deep,</i> both for its vastness and because the waters which were
afterwards separated from the earth were now mixed with it. This
immense mass of matter was it out of which all bodies, even the
firmament and visible heavens themselves, were afterwards produced
by the power of the Eternal Word. The Creator could have made his
work perfect at first, but by this gradual proceeding he would show
what is, ordinarily, the method of his providence and grace.
Observe the description of this chaos. (1.) There was nothing in it
desirable to be seen, for it was <i>without form and void. Tohu</i>
and <i>Bohu, confusion</i> and <i>emptiness;</i> so these words are
rendered, <scripRef id="Gen.ii-p13.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.34.11" parsed="|Isa|34|11|0|0" passage="Isa 34:11">Isa. xxxiv. 11</scripRef>.
It was shapeless, it was useless, it was without inhabitants,
without ornaments, the shadow or rough draught of things to come,
<i>and not the image of the things,</i> <scripRef id="Gen.ii-p13.3" osisRef="Bible:Heb.10.1" parsed="|Heb|10|1|0|0" passage="Heb 10:1">Heb. x. 1</scripRef>. The earth is almost reduced to the
same condition again by the sin of man, under which the creation
groans. See <scripRef id="Gen.ii-p13.4" osisRef="Bible:Jer.4.23" parsed="|Jer|4|23|0|0" passage="Jer 4:23">Jer. iv. 23</scripRef>,
<i>I beheld the earth, and lo it was without form, and void.</i> To
those who have their hearts in heaven this lower world, in
comparison with that upper, still appears to be nothing but
confusion and emptiness. There is no true beauty to be seen, no
satisfying fulness to be enjoyed, in this earth, but in God only.
(2.) If there had been any thing desirable to be seen, yet there
was no light to see it by; for <i>darkness,</i> thick darkness,
<i>was upon the face of the deep.</i> God did not create this
darkness (as he is said to create the darkness of affliction,
<scripRef id="Gen.ii-p13.5" osisRef="Bible:Isa.45.7" parsed="|Isa|45|7|0|0" passage="Isa 45:7">Isa. xlv. 7</scripRef>), for it was
only the want of light, which yet could not be said to be wanted
till something was made that might be seen by it; nor needs the
want of it be much complained of, when there was nothing to be seen
but confusion and emptiness. If the work of grace in the soul is a
new creation, this chaos represents the state of an unregenerate
graceless soul: <i>there</i> is disorder, confusion, and every evil
work; it is empty of all good, for it is without God; it is dark,
it is darkness itself. This is our condition by nature, till
almighty grace effects a blessed change.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Gen.ii-p14">2. The Spirit of God was the first mover:
He <i>moved upon the face of the waters.</i> When we consider the
earth without form and void, methinks it is like the valley full of
dead and dry bones. Can these live? Can this confused mass of
matter be formed into a beautiful world? Yes, if a spirit of life
from God enter into it, <scripRef id="Gen.ii-p14.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.37.9" parsed="|Ezek|37|9|0|0" passage="Eze 37:9">Ezek. xxxvii.
9</scripRef>. Now there is hope concerning this thing; for the
Spirit of God begins to work, and, if he work, who or what shall
hinder? God is said to make the world by his Spirit, <scripRef id="Gen.ii-p14.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.33.6 Bible:Job.26.13" parsed="|Ps|33|6|0|0;|Job|26|13|0|0" passage="Ps 33:6,Job 26:13">Ps. xxxiii. 6; Job xxvi. 13</scripRef>;
and by the same mighty worker the new creation is effected. He
moved upon the face of the deep, as Elijah stretched himself upon
the dead child,—as the <i>hen gathers her chickens under her
wings,</i> and hovers over them, to warm and cherish them,
<scripRef id="Gen.ii-p14.3" osisRef="Bible:Matt.23.37" parsed="|Matt|23|37|0|0" passage="Mt 23:37">Matt. xxiii. 37</scripRef>,—as the
eagle stirs up her nest, and <i>flutters</i> over her young (it is
the same word that is here used), <scripRef id="Gen.ii-p14.4" osisRef="Bible:Deut.32.11" parsed="|Deut|32|11|0|0" passage="De 32:11">Deut. xxxii. 11</scripRef>. Learn hence, That God is not
only the author of all being, but the fountain of life and spring
of motion. Dead matter would be for ever dead if he did not quicken
it. And this makes it credible to us that God should raise the
dead. That power which brought such a world as this out of
confusion, emptiness, and darkness,

<pb id="Gen.ii-Page_4" n="4"/>

at the
beginning of time, can, at the end of time, bring our vile bodies
out of the grave, though it is <i>a land of darkness as darkness
itself, and without any order</i> (<scripRef id="Gen.ii-p14.5" osisRef="Bible:Job.10.22" parsed="|Job|10|22|0|0" passage="Job 10:22">Job x. 22</scripRef>), and can make them glorious
bodies.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Gen.ii-p14.6" osisRef="Bible:Gen.1.3-Gen.1.5" parsed="|Gen|1|3|1|5" passage="Ge 1:3-5" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Gen.1.3-Gen.1.5">
<h4 id="Gen.ii-p14.7">The Creation. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Gen.ii-p14.8">b. c.</span> 4004.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Gen.ii-p15">3 And God said, Let there be light: and there
was light.   4 And God saw the light, that <i>it was</i> good:
and God divided the light from the darkness.   5 And God
called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the
evening and the morning were the first day.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Gen.ii-p16">We have here a further account of the first
day's work, in which observe, 1. That the first of all visible
beings which God created was light; not that by it he himself might
see to work (for the darkness and light are both alike to him), but
that by it we might see his works and his glory in them, and might
work our works while it is day. The works of Satan and his servants
are works of darkness; but he that doeth truth, and doeth good,
cometh to the light, and coveteth it, <i>that his deeds may be made
manifest,</i> <scripRef id="Gen.ii-p16.1" osisRef="Bible:John.3.21" parsed="|John|3|21|0|0" passage="Joh 3:21">John iii. 21</scripRef>.
Light is the great beauty and blessing of the universe. Like the
first-born, it does, of all visible beings, most resemble its great
Parent in purity and power, brightness and beneficence; it is of
great affinity with a spirit, and is next to it; though by it we
see other things, and are sure that it is, yet we know not its
nature, nor can describe what it is, or <i>by what way the light is
parted,</i> <scripRef id="Gen.ii-p16.2" osisRef="Bible:Job.38.19 Bible:Job.38.24" parsed="|Job|38|19|0|0;|Job|38|24|0|0" passage="Job 38:19,24">Job xxxviii. 19,
24</scripRef>. By the sight of it let us be led to, and assisted
in, the believing contemplation of him who is light, infinite and
eternal light (<scripRef id="Gen.ii-p16.3" osisRef="Bible:1John.1.5" parsed="|1John|1|5|0|0" passage="1Jo 1:5">1 John i. 5</scripRef>),
and the <i>Father of lights</i> (<scripRef id="Gen.ii-p16.4" osisRef="Bible:Jas.1.17" parsed="|Jas|1|17|0|0" passage="Jam 1:17">Jam.
i. 17</scripRef>), and who dwells in inaccessible light, <scripRef id="Gen.ii-p16.5" osisRef="Bible:1Tim.6.16" parsed="|1Tim|6|16|0|0" passage="1Ti 6:16">1 Tim. vi. 16</scripRef>. In the new creation,
the first thing wrought in the soul is <i>light:</i> the blessed
Spirit captives the will and affections by enlightening the
understanding, so coming into the heart by the door, like the good
shepherd whose own the sheep are, while sin and Satan, like thieves
and robbers, climb up some other way. Those that by sin were
darkness by grace become light in the world. 2. That the light was
made by the word of God's power. He said, <i>Let there be
light;</i> he willed and appointed it, and it was done immediately:
<i>there was light,</i> such a copy as exactly answered the
original idea in the Eternal Mind. O the power of the word of God!
<i>He spoke, and it was done,</i> done really, effectually, and for
perpetuity, not in show only, and to serve a present turn, for
<i>he commanded, and it stood fast:</i> with him it was <i>dictum,
factum—a word, and a world.</i> The world of God (that is, his
will and the good pleasure of it) is quick and powerful. Christ is
the Word, the essential eternal Word, and by him the light was
produced, for <i>in him was light, and he is the true light, the
light of the world,</i> <scripRef id="Gen.ii-p16.6" osisRef="Bible:John.1.9 Bible:John.9.5" parsed="|John|1|9|0|0;|John|9|5|0|0" passage="Joh 1:9,9:5">John i. 9;
ix. 5.</scripRef>. The divine light which shines in sanctified
souls is wrought by the power of God, the power of his word and of
the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, opening the understanding,
scattering the mists of ignorance and mistake, and giving the
knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ, as at first,
<i>God commanded the light to shine out of darkness,</i> <scripRef id="Gen.ii-p16.7" osisRef="Bible:2Cor.4.6" parsed="|2Cor|4|6|0|0" passage="2Co 4:6">2 Cor. iv. 6</scripRef>. Darkness would have been
perpetually upon the face of fallen man if the Son of God had not
<i>come, and given us an understanding,</i> <scripRef id="Gen.ii-p16.8" osisRef="Bible:1John.5.20" parsed="|1John|5|20|0|0" passage="1Jo 5:20">1 John v. 20</scripRef>. 3. That the light which God
willed, when it was produced, he approved of: <i>God saw the light
that it was good.</i> It was exactly as he designed it, and it was
fit to answer the end for which he designed it. It was useful and
profitable; the world, which now is a palace, would have been a
dungeon without it. It was amiable and pleasant. <i>Truly the light
is sweet</i> (<scripRef id="Gen.ii-p16.9" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.11.7" parsed="|Eccl|11|7|0|0" passage="Ec 11:7">Eccl. xi. 7</scripRef>);
<i>it rejoiceth the heart,</i> <scripRef id="Gen.ii-p16.10" osisRef="Bible:Prov.15.30" parsed="|Prov|15|30|0|0" passage="Pr 15:30">Prov.
xv. 30</scripRef>. What God commands he will approve and graciously
accept; he will be well pleased with the work of his own hands.
That is good indeed which is so in the sight of God, for he sees
not as man sees. If the light is good, how good is he that is the
fountain of light, from whom we receive it, and to whom we owe all
praise for it and all the services we do by it! 4. That God
<i>divided the light from the darkness,</i> so put them asunder as
that they could never be joined together, or reconciled; for
<i>what fellowship has light with darkness?</i> <scripRef id="Gen.ii-p16.11" osisRef="Bible:2Cor.6.14" parsed="|2Cor|6|14|0|0" passage="2Co 6:14">2 Cor. vi. 14</scripRef>. And yet he divided time
between them, the day for light and the night for darkness, in a
constant and regular succession to each other. Though the darkness
was now scattered by the light, yet it was not condemned to a
perpetual banishment, but takes its turn with the light, and has
its place, because it has its use; for, as the light of the morning
befriends the business of the day, so the shadows of the evening
befriend the repose of the night, and draw the curtains about us,
that we may sleep the better. See <scripRef id="Gen.ii-p16.12" osisRef="Bible:Job.7.2" parsed="|Job|7|2|0|0" passage="Job 7:2">Job
vii. 2</scripRef>. God has thus divided time between light and
darkness, because he would daily remind us that this is a world of
mixtures and changes. In heaven there is perfect and perpetual
light, and no darkness at all; in hell, utter darkness, and no
gleam of light. In that world between these two there is a great
gulf fixed; but, in this world, they are counterchanged, and we
pass daily from one to another, that we may learn to expect the
like vicissitudes in the providence of God, peace and trouble, joy
and sorrow, and may set the one over-against the other,
accommodating ourselves to both as we do to the light and darkness,
bidding both welcome, and making the best of both. 5. That God
divided them from each other by distinguishing names: <i>He called
the light day, and the darkness he called night.</i> He gave them
names, as the Lord of both; for <i>the day is

<pb id="Gen.ii-Page_5" n="5"/>

his, the night also is his,</i> <scripRef id="Gen.ii-p16.13" osisRef="Bible:Ps.74.16" parsed="|Ps|74|16|0|0" passage="Ps 74:16">Ps.
lxxiv. 16</scripRef>. He is the Lord of time, and will be so, till
day and night shall come to an end, and the stream of time be
swallowed up in the ocean of eternity. Let us acknowledge God in
the constant succession of day and night, and consecrate both to
his honour, by working for him every day and resting in him every
night, and meditating in his law day and night. 6. That this was
the first day's work, and a good day's work it was. <i>The evening
and the morning were the first day.</i> The darkness of the evening
was before the light of the morning, that it might serve for a foil
to it, to set it off, and make it shine the brighter. This was not
only the first day of the world, but the first day of the week. I
observe it to the honour of that day, because the new world began
on the first day of the week likewise, in the resurrection of
Christ, as the light of the world, early in the morning. In him the
day-spring from on high has visited the world; and happy are we,
for ever happy, if that <i>day-star arise in our hearts.</i></p>
</div><scripCom id="Gen.ii-p16.14" osisRef="Bible:Gen.1.6-Gen.1.8" parsed="|Gen|1|6|1|8" passage="Ge 1:6-8" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Gen.1.6-Gen.1.8">
<h4 id="Gen.ii-p16.15">The Creation. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Gen.ii-p16.16">b. c.</span> 4004.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Gen.ii-p17">6 And God said, Let there be a firmament in the
midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.
  7 And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which
<i>were</i> under the firmament from the waters which <i>were</i>
above the firmament: and it was so.   8 And God called the
firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second
day.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Gen.ii-p18">We have here an account of the second day's
work, the creation of the firmament, in which observe, 1. The
command of God concerning it: <i>Let there be a firmament,</i> an
<i>expansion,</i> so the Hebrew word signifies, like a sheet
spread, or a curtain drawn out. This includes all that is visible
above the earth, between it and the third heavens: the air, its
higher, middle, and lower, regions—the celestial globe, and all
the spheres and orbs of light above: it reaches as high as the
place where the stars are fixed, for that is called here the
<i>firmament of heaven</i> (<scripRef id="Gen.ii-p18.1" osisRef="Bible:Gen.1.14-Gen.1.15" parsed="|Gen|1|14|1|15" passage="Ge 1:14,15"><i>v.</i> 14, 15</scripRef>), and as low as the place
where the birds fly, for that also is called the <i>firmament of
heaven,</i> <scripRef id="Gen.ii-p18.2" osisRef="Bible:Gen.1.20" parsed="|Gen|1|20|0|0" passage="Ge 1:20"><i>v.</i> 20</scripRef>.
When God had made the light, he appointed the air to be the
receptacle and vehicle of its beams, and to be as a medium of
communication between the invisible and the visible world; for,
though between heaven and earth there is an inconceivable distance,
yet there is not an impassable gulf, as there is between heaven and
hell. This firmament is not a wall of partition, but a way of
intercourse. See <scripRef id="Gen.ii-p18.3" osisRef="Bible:Job.26.7 Bible:Job.37.18 Bible:Ps.104.3 Bible:Amos.9.6" parsed="|Job|26|7|0|0;|Job|37|18|0|0;|Ps|104|3|0|0;|Amos|9|6|0|0" passage="Job 26:7,37:18,Ps 104:3,Am 9:6">Job xxvi. 7; xxxvii. 18; Ps. civ.
3; Amos ix. 6</scripRef>. 2. The creation of it. Lest it should
seem as if God had only commanded it to be done, and someone else
had done it, he adds, <i>And God made the firmament.</i> What God
requires of us he himself works in us, or it is not done. He that
commands faith, holiness, and love, creates them by the power of
his grace going along with his word, that he may have all the
praise. <i>Lord, give what thou commandest, and then command what
thou pleasest.</i> The firmament is said to be <i>the work of God's
fingers,</i> <scripRef id="Gen.ii-p18.4" osisRef="Bible:Ps.8.3" parsed="|Ps|8|3|0|0" passage="Ps 8:3">Ps. viii. 3</scripRef>.
Though the vastness of its extent declares it to be the work of his
arm stretched out, yet the admirable fineness of its constitution
shows that it is a curious piece of art, the work of his fingers.
3. The use and design of it—to <i>divide the waters from the
waters,</i> that is, to distinguish between the waters that are
wrapped up in the clouds and those that cover the sea, the waters
in the air and those in the earth. See the difference between these
two carefully observed, <scripRef id="Gen.ii-p18.5" osisRef="Bible:Deut.11.10-Deut.11.11" parsed="|Deut|11|10|11|11" passage="De 11:10,11">Deut. xi.
10, 11</scripRef>, where Canaan is upon this account preferred to
Egypt, that Egypt was moistened and made fruitful with the waters
that are under the firmament, but Canaan with waters from above,
out of the firmament, even the dew of heaven, which tarrieth not
<i>for the sons of men,</i> <scripRef id="Gen.ii-p18.6" osisRef="Bible:Mic.5.7" parsed="|Mic|5|7|0|0" passage="Mic 5:7">Mic. v.
7</scripRef>. God has, in the firmament of his power, chambers,
store-chambers, whence he <i>watereth the earth,</i> <scripRef id="Gen.ii-p18.7" osisRef="Bible:Ps.104.13 Bible:Ps.65.9-Ps.65.10" parsed="|Ps|104|13|0|0;|Ps|65|9|65|10" passage="Ps 104:13,Ps 65:9,10">Ps. civ. 13; lxv. 9, 10</scripRef>.
He has also <i>treasures, or magazines, of snow and hail, which he
hath reserved against the day of battle and war,</i> <scripRef id="Gen.ii-p18.8" osisRef="Bible:Job.38.22-Job.38.23" parsed="|Job|38|22|38|23" passage="Job 38:22,23">Job xxxviii. 22, 23</scripRef>. O what a
great God is he who has thus provided for the comfort of all that
serve him and the confusion of all that hate him! It is good having
him our friend, and bad having him our enemy. 4. The naming of it:
<i>He called the firmament heaven.</i> It is the visible heaven,
the pavement of the holy city; above the firmament God is said to
have his throne (<scripRef id="Gen.ii-p18.9" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.1.26" parsed="|Ezek|1|26|0|0" passage="Eze 1:26">Ezek. i.
26</scripRef>), for he has prepared it in the heavens; the heavens
therefore are said to rule, <scripRef id="Gen.ii-p18.10" osisRef="Bible:Dan.4.26" parsed="|Dan|4|26|0|0" passage="Da 4:26">Dan. iv.
26</scripRef>. <i>Is not God in the height of heaven?</i> <scripRef id="Gen.ii-p18.11" osisRef="Bible:Job.22.12" parsed="|Job|22|12|0|0" passage="Job 22:12">Job xxii. 12</scripRef>. Yes, he is, and we
should be led by the contemplation of the heavens that are in our
eye to consider <i>our Father who is in heaven.</i> The height of
the heavens should remind us of God's supremacy and the infinite
distance there is between us and him; the brightness of the heavens
and their purity should remind us of his glory, and majesty, and
perfect holiness; the vastness of the heavens, their encompassing
of the earth, and the influence they have upon it, should remind us
of his immensity and universal providence.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Gen.ii-p18.12" osisRef="Bible:Gen.1.9-Gen.1.13" parsed="|Gen|1|9|1|13" passage="Ge 1:9-13" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Gen.1.9-Gen.1.13">
<h4 id="Gen.ii-p18.13">The Creation. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Gen.ii-p18.14">b. c.</span> 4004.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Gen.ii-p19">9 And God said, Let the waters under the heaven
be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry <i>land</i>
appear: and it was so.   10 And God called the dry <i>land</i>
Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and
God saw that <i>it was</i> good.   11 And God said, Let the

<pb id="Gen.ii-Page_6" n="6"/>

earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed,
<i>and</i> the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed
<i>is</i> in itself, upon the earth: and it was so.   12 And
the earth brought forth grass, <i>and</i> herb yielding seed after
his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed <i>was</i> in
itself, after his kind: and God saw that <i>it was</i> good.  
13 And the evening and the morning were the third day.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Gen.ii-p20">The third day's work is related in these
verses—the forming of the sea and the dry land, and the making of
the earth fruitful. Hitherto the power of the Creator had been
exerted and employed about the upper part of the visible word; the
light of heaven was kindled, and the firmament of heaven fixed: but
now he descends to this lower world, the earth, which was designed
for the children of men, designed both for their habitation and for
their maintenance; and here we have an account of the fitting of it
for both, and building of their house and the spreading of their
table. Observe,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Gen.ii-p21">I. How the earth was prepared to be a
habitation for man, by the gathering of the waters together, and
the making of the dry land to appear. Thus, instead of the
confusion which there was (<scripRef id="Gen.ii-p21.1" osisRef="Bible:Gen.1.2" parsed="|Gen|1|2|0|0" passage="Ge 1:2"><i>v.</i>
2</scripRef>) when earth and water were mixed in one great mass,
behold, now, there is order, by such a separation as rendered them
both useful. God said, <i>Let it be so, and it was so;</i> no
sooner said than done. 1. The waters which had covered the earth
were ordered to retire, and to gather into one place, namely, those
hollows which were fitted and appointed for their reception and
rest. The waters, thus cleared, thus collected, and thus lodged, in
their proper place, he called <i>seas.</i> Though they are many, in
distant regions, and washing several shores, yet, either above
ground or under ground, they have communication with each other,
and so they are one, and the common receptacle of waters, into
which all the rivers flow, <scripRef id="Gen.ii-p21.2" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.1.7" parsed="|Eccl|1|7|0|0" passage="Ec 1:7">Eccl. i.
7</scripRef>. Waters and seas often, in scripture, signify troubles
and afflictions, <scripRef id="Gen.ii-p21.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.42.7 Bible:Ps.69.2 Bible:Ps.69.14 Bible:Ps.69.15" parsed="|Ps|42|7|0|0;|Ps|69|2|0|0;|Ps|69|14|0|0;|Ps|69|15|0|0" passage="Ps 42:7,69:2,14,15">Ps. xlii.
7; lxix. 2, 14, 15</scripRef>. God's own people are not exempted
from these in this world; but it is their comfort that they are
only waters under the heaven (there are none in heaven), and that
they are all in the place that God has appointed them and within
the bounds that he has set for them. How the waters were gathered
together at first, and how they are still bound and limited by the
same Almighty had that first confined them, are elegantly
described, <scripRef id="Gen.ii-p21.4" osisRef="Bible:Ps.104.6-Ps.104.9" parsed="|Ps|104|6|104|9" passage="Ps 104:6-9">Ps. civ. 6-9</scripRef>,
and are there mentioned as matter of praise. <i>Those that go down
to the sea in ships</i> ought to acknowledge daily the wisdom,
power, and goodness, of the Creator, in making the great waters
serviceable to man for trade and commerce; and <i>those that tarry
at home</i> must own themselves indebted to him that keeps the sea
with bars and doors in its decreed place, and stays its proud
waves, <scripRef id="Gen.ii-p21.5" osisRef="Bible:Job.38.10-Job.38.11" parsed="|Job|38|10|38|11" passage="Job 38:10,11">Job xxxviii. 10,
11</scripRef>. 2. The dry land was made to appear, and emerge out
of the waters, and was called <i>earth,</i> and <i>given to the
children of men.</i> The earth, it seems, was in being before; but
it was of no use, because it was under water. Thus many of God's
gifts are received in vain, because they are buried; make them to
appear, and they become serviceable. We who, to this day, enjoy the
benefit of the dry land (though, since this, it was once deluged,
and dried again) must own ourselves tenants to, and dependents
upon, that God whose <i>hands formed the dry land,</i> <scripRef id="Gen.ii-p21.6" osisRef="Bible:Ps.95.5 Bible:Jonah.1.9" parsed="|Ps|95|5|0|0;|Jonah|1|9|0|0" passage="Ps 95:5,Jon 1:9">Ps. xcv. 5; Jonah i. 9</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Gen.ii-p22">II. How the earth was furnished for the
maintenance and support of man, <scripRef id="Gen.ii-p22.1" osisRef="Bible:Gen.1.11-Gen.1.12" parsed="|Gen|1|11|1|12" passage="Ge 1:11,12"><i>v.</i> 11, 12</scripRef>. Present provision was now
made, by the immediate products of the upstart earth, which, in
obedience to God's command, was no sooner made than it became
fruitful, and brought forth grass for the cattle and herb for the
service of man. Provision was likewise made for time to come, by
the perpetuating of the several kinds of vegetables, which are
numerous, various, and all curious, and every one <i>having its
seed in itself after its kind,</i> that, during the continuance of
man upon the earth, food might be fetched out of the earth for his
use and benefit. <i>Lord, what is man, that he is thus visited and
regarded</i>—that such care should be taken, and such provision
made, for the support and preservation of those guilty and
obnoxious lives which have been a thousand times forfeited! Observe
here, 1. That not only the earth is the Lord's, but <i>the fulness
thereof,</i> and he is the rightful owner and sovereign disposer,
not only of it, but of all its furniture. The earth was
<i>emptiness</i> (<scripRef id="Gen.ii-p22.2" osisRef="Bible:Gen.1.2" parsed="|Gen|1|2|0|0" passage="Ge 1:2"><i>v.</i>
2</scripRef>), but now, by a word's speaking, it has become full of
God's riches, and his they are still—<i>his corn and his wine, his
wool and his flax,</i> <scripRef id="Gen.ii-p22.3" osisRef="Bible:Hos.2.9" parsed="|Hos|2|9|0|0" passage="Ho 2:9">Hos. ii.
9</scripRef>. Though the use of them is allowed to us, the property
still remains in him, and to his service and honour they must be
used. 2. That common providence is a continued creation, and in it
<i>our Father worketh hitherto.</i> The earth still remains under
the efficacy of this command, to bring forth grass, and herbs, and
its annual products; and though, being according to the common
course of nature, these are not standing miracles, yet they are
standing instances of the unwearied power and unexhausted goodness
of the world's great Maker and Master. 3. That though God,
ordinarily, makes use of the agency of second causes, according to
their nature, yet he neither needs them nor is tied to them; for,
though the precious fruits of the earth are usually brought forth
by the influences of the sun and moon (<scripRef id="Gen.ii-p22.4" osisRef="Bible:Deut.33.14" parsed="|Deut|33|14|0|0" passage="De 33:14">Deut. xxxiii. 14</scripRef>), yet here we find the earth
bearing a great abundance

<pb id="Gen.ii-Page_7" n="7"/>

of fruit, probable
ripe fruit, before the sun and moon were made. 4. That it is good
to provide things necessary before we have occasion to use them:
before the beasts and man were made, here were grass and herbs
prepared for them. God thus dealt wisely and graciously with man;
let not man then be foolish and unwise for himself. 5. That God
must have the glory of all the benefit we receive from the products
of the earth, either for food or physic. It is he that <i>hears the
heavens when they hear the earth,</i> <scripRef id="Gen.ii-p22.5" osisRef="Bible:Hos.2.21-Hos.2.22" parsed="|Hos|2|21|2|22" passage="Hos 2:21,22">Hos. ii. 21, 22</scripRef>. And if we have, through
grace, an interest in him who is the fountain, when the streams are
dried up and the <i>fig-tree doth not blossom</i> we may rejoice in
him.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Gen.ii-p22.6" osisRef="Bible:Gen.1.14-Gen.1.19" parsed="|Gen|1|14|1|19" passage="Ge 1:14-19" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Gen.1.14-Gen.1.19">
<h4 id="Gen.ii-p22.7">The Creation. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Gen.ii-p22.8">b. c.</span> 4004.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Gen.ii-p23">14 And God said, Let there be lights in the
firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let
them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:  
15 And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to
give light upon the earth: and it was so.   16 And God made
two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser
light to rule the night: <i>he made</i> the stars also.   17
And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon
the earth,   18 And to rule over the day and over the night,
and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that <i>it
was</i> good.   19 And the evening and the morning were the
fourth day.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Gen.ii-p24">This is the history of the fourth day's
work, the creating of the sun, moon, and stars, which are here
accounted for, not as they are in themselves and in their own
nature, to satisfy the curious, but as they are in relation to this
earth, to which they serve as lights; and this is enough to furnish
us with matter for praise and thanksgiving. Holy Job mentions this
as an instance of the glorious power of God, that <i>by the Spirit
he hath garnished the heavens</i> (<scripRef id="Gen.ii-p24.1" osisRef="Bible:Job.26.13" parsed="|Job|26|13|0|0" passage="Job 26:13">Job xxvi. 13</scripRef>); and here we have an account
of that garniture which is not only so much the beauty of the upper
world, but so much the blessing of this lower; for though heaven is
high, yet has it respect to this earth, and therefore should have
respect from it. Of the creation of the lights of heaven we have an
account,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Gen.ii-p25">I. In general, <scripRef id="Gen.ii-p25.1" osisRef="Bible:Gen.1.14-Gen.1.15" parsed="|Gen|1|14|1|15" passage="Ge 1:14,15"><i>v.</i> 14, 15</scripRef>, where we have 1. The
command given concerning them: <i>Let there be lights in the
firmament of heaven.</i> God had said, <i>Let there be light</i>
(<scripRef id="Gen.ii-p25.2" osisRef="Bible:Gen.1.3" parsed="|Gen|1|3|0|0" passage="Ge 1:3"><i>v.</i> 3</scripRef>), and there was
light; but this was, as it were, a chaos of light, scattered and
confused: now it was collected and modelled, and made into several
luminaries, and so rendered both more glorious and more
serviceable. God is the God of order, and not of confusion; and, as
he is light, so he is the Father and former of lights. Those lights
were to be <i>in the firmament of heaven,</i> that vast expanse
which encloses the earth, and is conspicuous to all; for <i>no man,
when he has lighted a candle, puts it under a bushel, but on a
candlestick</i> (<scripRef id="Gen.ii-p25.3" osisRef="Bible:Luke.8.16" parsed="|Luke|8|16|0|0" passage="Lu 8:16">Luke viii.
16</scripRef>), and a stately golden candlestick the firmament of
heaven is, from which these candles give light <i>to all that are
in the house.</i> The firmament itself is spoken of as having a
brightness of its own (<scripRef id="Gen.ii-p25.4" osisRef="Bible:Dan.12.3" parsed="|Dan|12|3|0|0" passage="Da 12:3">Dan. xii.
3</scripRef>), but this was not sufficient to give light to the
earth; and perhaps for this reason it is not expressly said of the
second day's work, in which the firmament was made, that it was
good, because, till it was adorned with these lights on the fourth
day, it had not become serviceable to man. 2. The use they were
intended to be of to this earth. (1.) They must be for the
distinction of times, of day and night, summer and winter, which
are interchanged by the motion of the sun, whose rising makes day,
his setting night, his approach towards our tropic summer, his
recess to the other winter: and thus, <i>under the sun,</i> there
is <i>a season to every purpose,</i> <scripRef id="Gen.ii-p25.5" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.3.11" parsed="|Eccl|3|11|0|0" passage="Ec 3:11">Eccl. iii. 1</scripRef>. (2.) They must be for the
direction of actions. They are for signs of the change of weather,
that the husbandman may order his affairs with discretion,
foreseeing, by the face of the sky, when second causes have begun
to work, whether it will be fair or foul, <scripRef id="Gen.ii-p25.6" osisRef="Bible:Matt.16.2-Matt.16.3" parsed="|Matt|16|2|16|3" passage="Mt 16:2,3">Matt. xvi. 2, 3</scripRef>. They do also <i>give light
upon the earth,</i> that we may <i>walk</i> (<scripRef id="Gen.ii-p25.7" osisRef="Bible:John.11.9" parsed="|John|11|9|0|0" passage="Joh 11:9">John xi. 9</scripRef>), and <i>work</i> (<scripRef id="Gen.ii-p25.8" osisRef="Bible:John.9.4" parsed="|John|9|4|0|0" passage="Joh 9:4">John ix. 4</scripRef>). according as the duty of
every day requires. The lights of heaven do not shine for
themselves, nor for the world of spirits above, who need them not;
but they shine for us, for our pleasure and advantage. Lord, what
is man, that he should be thus regarded! <scripRef id="Gen.ii-p25.9" osisRef="Bible:Ps.8.3-Ps.8.4" parsed="|Ps|8|3|8|4" passage="Ps 8:3,4">Ps. viii. 3, 4</scripRef>. How ungrateful and
inexcusable are we, if, when God has set up these lights for us to
work by, we sleep, or play, or trifle away the time of business,
and neglect the great work we were sent into the world about! The
lights of heaven are made to serve us, and they do it faithfully,
and shine in their season, without fail: but we are set as lights
in this world to serve God; and do we in like manner answer the end
of our creation? No, we do not, our light does not shine before God
as his lights shine before us, <scripRef id="Gen.ii-p25.10" osisRef="Bible:Matt.5.14" parsed="|Matt|5|14|0|0" passage="Mt 5:14">Matt. v.
14</scripRef>. We burn our Master's candles, but do not mind our
Master's work.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Gen.ii-p26">II. In particular, <scripRef id="Gen.ii-p26.1" osisRef="Bible:Gen.1.16-Gen.1.18" parsed="|Gen|1|16|1|18" passage="Ge 1:16-18"><i>v.</i> 16-18</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Gen.ii-p27">1. Observe, The lights of heaven are the
sun, moon, and stars; and all these are the work of God's hands.
(1.) The sun is the greatest light of all, more than a million
times greater than the earth, and the most glorious and useful of
all the lamps of heaven, a noble instance of the Creator's wisdom,
power, and goodness, and an invaluable blessing to the creatures of
this lower world. Let us learn from

<pb id="Gen.ii-Page_8" n="8"/>
<scripRef id="Gen.ii-p27.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.19.1-Ps.19.6" parsed="|Ps|19|1|19|6" passage="Ps 19:1-6">Ps. xix. 1-6</scripRef> how to give unto God
the glory due unto his name, as the Maker of the sun. (2.) The moon
is a less light, and yet is here reckoned one of the greater
lights, because though, in regard to its magnitude and borrowed
light, it is inferior to many of the stars, yet, by virtue of its
office, as ruler of the night, and in respect of its usefulness to
the earth, it is more excellent than they. Those are most valuable
that are most serviceable; and those are the greater lights, not
that have the best gifts, but that humbly and faithfully do the
most good with them. <i>Whosoever will be great among you, let him
be your minister,</i> <scripRef id="Gen.ii-p27.2" osisRef="Bible:Matt.20.26" parsed="|Matt|20|26|0|0" passage="Mt 20:26">Matt. xx.
26</scripRef>. (3.) <i>He made the stars also,</i> which are here
spoken of as they appear to vulgar eyes, without distinguishing
between the planets and the fixed stars, or accounting for their
number, nature, place, magnitude, motions, or influences; for the
scriptures were written, not to gratify our curiosity and make us
astronomers, but to lead us to God, and make us saints. Now these
lights are said to <i>rule</i> (<scripRef id="Gen.ii-p27.3" osisRef="Bible:Gen.1.16 Bible:Gen.1.18" parsed="|Gen|1|16|0|0;|Gen|1|18|0|0" passage="Ge 1:16,18"><i>v.</i> 16, 18</scripRef>); not that they have a
supreme dominion, as God has, but they are deputy-governors, rulers
under him. Here the less light, the moon, is said to rule <i>the
night;</i> but in <scripRef id="Gen.ii-p27.4" osisRef="Bible:Ps.136.9" parsed="|Ps|136|9|0|0" passage="Ps 136:9">Ps. cxxxvi.
9</scripRef> the stars are mentioned as sharers in that government;
<i>The moon and stars to rule by night.</i> No more is meant than
that they <i>give light,</i> <scripRef id="Gen.ii-p27.5" osisRef="Bible:Jer.31.35" parsed="|Jer|31|35|0|0" passage="Jer 31:35">Jer.
xxxi. 35</scripRef>. The best and most honourable way of ruling is
by giving light and doing good: those command respect that live a
useful life, and so shine as lights.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Gen.ii-p28">2. Learn from all this, (1.) The sin and
folly of that ancient idolatry, the worshipping of the sun, moon,
and stars, which, some think, took rise, or countenance at least,
from some broken traditions in the patriarchal age concerning the
rule and dominion of the lights of heaven. But the account here
given of them plainly shows that they are both God's creatures and
man's servants; and therefore it is both a great affront to God and
a great reproach to ourselves to make deities of them and give them
divine honours. See <scripRef id="Gen.ii-p28.1" osisRef="Bible:Deut.4.19" parsed="|Deut|4|19|0|0" passage="De 4:19">Deut. iv.
19</scripRef>. (2.) The duty and wisdom of daily worshipping that
God who made all these things, and made them to be that to us which
they are. The revolutions of the day and night oblige us to offer
the solemn sacrifice of prayer and praise every morning and
evening.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Gen.ii-p28.2" osisRef="Bible:Gen.1.20-Gen.1.23" parsed="|Gen|1|20|1|23" passage="Ge 1:20-23" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Gen.1.20-Gen.1.23">
<h4 id="Gen.ii-p28.3">The Creation. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Gen.ii-p28.4">b. c.</span> 4004.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Gen.ii-p29">20 And God said, Let the waters bring forth
abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl <i>that</i>
may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven.   21
And God created great whales, and every living creature that
moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their
kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that <i>it
was</i> good.   22 And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful,
and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl
multiply in the earth.   23 And the evening and the morning
were the fifth day.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Gen.ii-p30">Each day, hitherto, has produced very noble
and excellent beings, which we can never sufficiently admire; but
we do not read of the creation of any living creature till the
fifth day, of which these verses give us an account. The work of
creation not only proceeded gradually from one thing to another,
but rose and advanced gradually from that which was less excellent
to that which was more so, teaching us to press towards perfection
and endeavour that our last works may be our best works. It was on
the fifth day that the fish and fowl were created, and both out of
the waters. Though there is one kind of flesh of fishes, and
another of birds, yet they were made together, and both out of the
waters; for the power of the first Cause can produce very different
effects from the same second causes. Observe, 1. The making of the
fish and fowl, at first, <scripRef id="Gen.ii-p30.1" osisRef="Bible:Gen.1.20-Gen.1.21" parsed="|Gen|1|20|1|21" passage="Ge 1:20,21"><i>v.</i>
20, 21</scripRef>. God commanded them to be produced. He said,
<i>Let the waters bring forth abundantly;</i> not as if the waters
had any productive power of their own, but, "Let them be brought
into being, the fish in the waters and the fowl out of them." This
command he himself executed: <i>God created great whales,</i>
&amp;c. Insects, which perhaps are as various and as numerous as
any species of animals, and their structure as curious, were part
of this day's work, some of them being allied to the fish and
others to the fowl. Mr. Boyle (I remember) says he admires the
Creator's wisdom and power as much in an ant as in an elephant.
Notice is here taken of the various sorts of fish and fowl, each
after their kind, and of the great numbers of both that were
produced, for the waters brought forth abundantly; and particular
mention if made of great whales, the largest of fishes, whose bulk
and strength, exceeding that of any other animal, are remarkable
proofs of the power and greatness of the Creator. The express
notice here taken of the whale, above all the rest, seems
sufficient to determine what animal is meant by the Leviathan,
<scripRef id="Gen.ii-p30.2" osisRef="Bible:Job.41.1" parsed="|Job|41|1|0|0" passage="Job 41:1">Job xli. :1</scripRef>. The curious
formation of the bodies of animals, their different sizes, shapes,
and natures, with the admirable powers of the sensitive life with
which they are endued, when duly considered, serve, not only to
silence and shame the objections of atheists and infidels, but to
raise high thoughts and high praises of God in pious and devout
souls, <scripRef id="Gen.ii-p30.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.104.25" parsed="|Ps|104|25|0|0" passage="Ps 104:25">Ps. civ. 25</scripRef>,
&amp;c. 2. The blessing of them, in order to their continuance.
Life is a wasting thing. Its strength is not the strength of
stones. It is a candle that will burn out, if it be not first blown
out; and therefore the wise Creator not only made the individuals,
but provided

<pb id="Gen.ii-Page_9" n="9"/>

for the propagation of the
several kinds; <i>God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful and
multiply,</i> <scripRef id="Gen.ii-p30.4" osisRef="Bible:Gen.1.22" parsed="|Gen|1|22|0|0" passage="Ge 1:22"><i>v.</i> 22</scripRef>.
God will bless his own works, and not forsake them; and <i>what he
does shall be for a perpetuity,</i> <scripRef id="Gen.ii-p30.5" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.3.14" parsed="|Eccl|3|14|0|0" passage="Ec 3:14">Eccl. iii. 14</scripRef>. The power of God's providence
preserves all things, as at first his creating power produced them.
Fruitfulness is the effect of God's blessing and must be ascribed
to it; the multiplying of the fish and fowl, from year to year, is
still the fruit of this blessing. Well, let us give to God the
glory of the continuance of these creatures to this day for the
benefit of man. See <scripRef id="Gen.ii-p30.6" osisRef="Bible:Job.12.7 Bible:Job.12.9" parsed="|Job|12|7|0|0;|Job|12|9|0|0" passage="Job 12:7,9">Job xii. 7,
9</scripRef>. It is a pity that fishing and fowling, recreations
innocent in themselves, should ever be abused to divert any from
God and their duty, while they are capable of being improved to
lead us to the contemplation of the wisdom, power, and goodness, of
him that made all these things, and to engage us to stand in awe of
him, as the fish and fowl do of us.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Gen.ii-p30.7" osisRef="Bible:Gen.1.24-Gen.1.25" parsed="|Gen|1|24|1|25" passage="Ge 1:24-25" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Gen.1.24-Gen.1.25">
<h4 id="Gen.ii-p30.8">The Creation. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Gen.ii-p30.9">b. c.</span> 4004.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Gen.ii-p31">24 And God said, Let the earth bring forth the
living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and
beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so.   25 And God
made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their
kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind:
and God saw that <i>it was</i> good.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Gen.ii-p32">We have here the first part of the sixth
day's work. The sea was, the day before, replenished with its fish,
and the air with its fowl; and this day were made the beasts of the
earth, the cattle, and the creeping things that pertain to the
earth. Here, as before, 1. <i>The Lord gave the word;</i> he said,
<i>Let the earth bring forth,</i> not as if the earth had any such
prolific virtue as to produce these animals, or as if God resigned
his creating power to it; but, "Let these creatures now come into
being upon the earth, and out of it, in their respective kinds,
conformable to the ideas of them in the divine counsels concerning
their creation." 2. He also did the work; he made them all after
their kind, not only of divers shapes, but of divers natures,
manners, food, and fashions—some to be tame about the house,
others to be wild in the fields—some living upon grass and herbs,
others upon flesh—some harmless, and others ravenous—some bold,
and others timorous—some for man's service, and not his
sustenance, as the horse—others for his sustenance, and not his
service, as the sheep—others for both, as the ox—and some for
neither, as the wild beasts. In all this appears the manifold
wisdom of the Creator.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Gen.ii-p32.1" osisRef="Bible:Gen.1.26-Gen.1.28" parsed="|Gen|1|26|1|28" passage="Ge 1:26-28" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Gen.1.26-Gen.1.28">
<h4 id="Gen.ii-p32.2">The Creation. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Gen.ii-p32.3">b. c.</span> 4004.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Gen.ii-p33">26 And God said, Let us make man in our image,
after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the
sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over
all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the
earth.   27 So God created man in his <i>own</i> image, in the
image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
  28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be
fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and
have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the
air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Gen.ii-p34">We have here the second part of the sixth
day's work, the creation of man, which we are, in a special manner,
concerned to take notice of, that we may know ourselves.
Observe,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Gen.ii-p35">I. That man was made last of all the
creatures, that it might not be suspected that he had been, any
way, a helper to God in the creation of the world: that question
must be for ever humbling and mortifying to him, <i>Where wast
thou,</i> or any of thy kind, <i>when I laid the foundations of the
earth?</i> <scripRef id="Gen.ii-p35.1" osisRef="Bible:Job.38.4" parsed="|Job|38|4|0|0" passage="Job 38:4">Job xxxviii. 4</scripRef>.
Yet it was both an honour and a favour to him that he was made
last: an honour, for the method of the creation was to advance from
that which was less perfect to that which was more so; and a
favour, for it was not fit he should be lodged in the palace
designed for him till it was completely fitted up and furnished for
his reception. Man, as soon as he was made, had the whole visible
creation before him, both to contemplate and to take the comfort
of. Man was made the same day that the beasts were, because his
body was made of the same earth with theirs; and, while he is in
the body, he inhabits the same earth with them. God forbid that by
indulging the body and the desires of it we should make ourselves
like the beasts that perish!</p>
<p class="indent" id="Gen.ii-p36">II. That man's creation was a more signal
and immediate act of divine wisdom and power than that of the other
creatures. The narrative of it is introduced with something of
solemnity, and a manifest distinction from the rest. Hitherto, it
had been said, "Let there be light," and "Let there be a
firmament," and "Let the earth, or waters, bring forth" such a
thing; but now the word of command is turned into a word of
consultation, "<i>Let us make man,</i> for whose sake the rest of
the creatures were made: this is a work we must take into our own
hands." In the former he speaks as one having authority, in this as
one having affection; for his <i>delights were with the sons of
men,</i> <scripRef id="Gen.ii-p36.1" osisRef="Bible:Prov.8.31" parsed="|Prov|8|31|0|0" passage="Pr 8:31">Prov. viii. 31</scripRef>. It
should seem as if this were the work which he longed to be at; as
if he had said, "Having at last settled the preliminaries, let us
now apply ourselves to the business, <i>Let us make man.</i>" Man
was to be a creature different from all that had been

<pb id="Gen.ii-Page_10" n="10"/>

hitherto made. Flesh and spirit, heaven and earth,
must be put together in him, and he must be allied to both worlds.
And therefore God himself not only undertakes to make him, but is
pleased so to express himself as if he called a council to consider
of the making of him: <i>Let us make man.</i> The three persons of
the Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, consult about it and
concur in it, because man, when he was made, was to be dedicated
and devoted to Father, Son and Holy Ghost. Into that great name we
are, with good reason, baptized, for to that great name we owe our
being. Let him rule man who said, <i>Let us make man.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Gen.ii-p37">III. That man was made in God's image and
after his likeness, two words to express the same thing and making
each other the more expressive; <i>image</i> and <i>likeness</i>
denote the likest image, the nearest resemblance of any of the
visible creatures. Man was not made in the likeness of any creature
that went before him, but in the likeness of his Creator; yet still
between God and man there is an infinite distance. Christ only is
the <i>express</i> image of God's person, as the Son of his Father,
having the same nature. It is only some of God's honour that is put
upon man, who is God's image only as the shadow in the glass, or
the king's impress upon the coin. God's image upon man consists in
these three things:—1. In his nature and constitution, not those
of his body (for God has not a body), but those of his soul. This
honour indeed God has put upon the body of man, that the Word was
made flesh, the Son of God was clothed with a body like ours and
will shortly clothe ours with a glory like that of his. And this we
may safely say, That he by whom God made the worlds, not only the
great world, but man the little world, formed the human body, at
the first, according to the platform he designed for himself in the
fulness of time. But it is the soul, the great soul, of man, that
does especially bear God's image. The soul is a spirit, an
intelligent immortal spirit, an influencing active spirit, herein
resembling God, the Father of Spirits, and the soul of the world.
<i>The spirit of man is the candle of the Lord.</i> The soul of
man, considered in its three noble faculties, understanding, will,
and active power, is perhaps the brightest clearest looking-glass
in nature, wherein to see God. 2. In his place and authority:
<i>Let us make man in our image, and let him have dominion.</i> As
he has the government of the inferior creatures, he is, as it were,
God's representative, or viceroy, upon earth; they are not capable
of fearing and serving God, therefore God has appointed them to
fear and serve man. Yet his government of himself by the freedom of
his will has in it more of God's image than his government of the
creatures. 3. In his purity and rectitude. God's image upon man
consists in knowledge, righteousness, and true holiness, <scripRef id="Gen.ii-p37.1" osisRef="Bible:Eph.4.24 Bible:Col.3.10" parsed="|Eph|4|24|0|0;|Col|3|10|0|0" passage="Eph 4:24,Col 3:10">Eph. iv. 24; Col. iii. 10</scripRef>.
He was upright, <scripRef id="Gen.ii-p37.2" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.7.29" parsed="|Eccl|7|29|0|0" passage="Ec 7:29">Eccl. vii.
29</scripRef>. He had an habitual conformity of all his natural
powers to the whole will of God. His understanding saw divine
things clearly and truly, and there were no errors nor mistakes in
his knowledge. His will complied readily and universally with the
will of God, without reluctancy or resistance. His affections were
all regular, and he had no inordinate appetites or passions. His
thoughts were easily brought and fixed to the best subjects, and
there was no vanity nor ungovernableness in them. All the inferior
powers were subject to the dictates and directions of the superior,
without any mutiny or rebellion. Thus holy, thus happy, were our
first parents, in having the image of God upon them. And this
honour, put upon man at first, is a good reason why we should not
speak ill one of another (<scripRef id="Gen.ii-p37.3" osisRef="Bible:Jas.3.9" parsed="|Jas|3|9|0|0" passage="Jam 3:9">Jam. iii.
9</scripRef>), nor do ill one to another (<scripRef id="Gen.ii-p37.4" osisRef="Bible:Gen.9.6" parsed="|Gen|9|6|0|0" passage="Ge 9:6">Gen. ix. 6</scripRef>), and a good reason why we should
not debase ourselves to the service of sin, and why we should
devote ourselves to God's service. But how art thou fallen, O son
of the morning! How is this image of God upon man defaced! How
small are the remains of it, and how great the ruins of it! The
Lord renew it upon our souls by his sanctifying grace!</p>
<p class="indent" id="Gen.ii-p38">IV. That man was made male and female, and
blessed with the blessing of fruitfulness and increase. God said,
<i>Let us make man,</i> and immediately it follows, <i>So God
created man;</i> he performed what he resolved. With us saying and
doing are two things; but they are not so with God. He created him
male and female, Adam and Eve—Adam first, out of earth, and Eve
out of his side, <scripRef id="Gen.ii-p38.1" osisRef="Bible:Gen.2.21-Gen.2.23" parsed="|Gen|2|21|2|23" passage="Ge 2:21-23"><i>ch.</i>
ii</scripRef>. It should seem that of the rest of the creatures God
made many couples, but of man <i>did not he make one?</i>
(<scripRef id="Gen.ii-p38.2" osisRef="Bible:Mal.2.15" parsed="|Mal|2|15|0|0" passage="Mal 2:15">Mal. ii. 15</scripRef>), though he
had the residue of the Spirit, whence Christ gathers an argument
against divorce, <scripRef id="Gen.ii-p38.3" osisRef="Bible:Matt.19.4-Matt.19.5" parsed="|Matt|19|4|19|5" passage="Mt 19:4,5">Matt. xix. 4,
5</scripRef>. Our first father, Adam, was confined to one wife;
and, if he had put her away, there was no other for him to marry,
which plainly intimated that the bond of marriage was not to be
dissolved at pleasure. Angels were not made male and female, for
they were not to propagate their kind (<scripRef id="Gen.ii-p38.4" osisRef="Bible:Luke.20.34-Luke.20.36" parsed="|Luke|20|34|20|36" passage="Lu 20:34-36">Luke xx. 34-36</scripRef>); but man was made so, that
the nature might be propagated and the race continued. Fires and
candles, the luminaries of this lower world, because they waste,
and go out, have a power to light more; but it is not so with the
lights of heaven: stars do not kindle stars. God made but one male
and one female, that all the nations of men might know themselves
to be made of one blood, descendants from one common stock, and
might thereby be induced to love one another. God, having made them
capable of transmitting the nature they had received, said to them,
<i>Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth.</i> Here he
gave them, 1. A large inheritance: <i>Replenish the earth;</i> it
is this that is bestowed upon the children of men.

<pb id="Gen.ii-Page_11" n="11"/>

They were made <i>to dwell upon the face of all the
earth,</i> <scripRef id="Gen.ii-p38.5" osisRef="Bible:Acts.17.26" parsed="|Acts|17|26|0|0" passage="Ac 17:26">Acts xvii. 26</scripRef>.
This is the place in which God has set man to be the servant of his
providence in the government of the inferior creatures, and, as it
were, the intelligence of this orb; to be the receiver of God's
bounty, which other creatures live upon, but do not know it; to be
likewise the collector of his praises in this lower world, and to
pay them into the exchequer above (<scripRef id="Gen.ii-p38.6" osisRef="Bible:Ps.145.10" parsed="|Ps|145|10|0|0" passage="Ps 145:10">Ps. cxlv. 10</scripRef>); and, lastly, to be a
probationer for a better state. 2. A numerous lasting family, to
enjoy this inheritance, pronouncing a blessing upon them, in virtue
of which their posterity should extend to the utmost corners of the
earth and continue to the utmost period of time. Fruitfulness and
increase depend upon the blessing of God: Obed-edom had eight sons,
<i>for God blessed him,</i> <scripRef id="Gen.ii-p38.7" osisRef="Bible:1Chr.26.5" parsed="|1Chr|26|5|0|0" passage="1Ch 26:5">1 Chron.
xxvi. 5</scripRef>. It is owing to this blessing, which God
commanded at first, that the race of mankind is still in being, and
that as <i>one generation passeth away another cometh.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Gen.ii-p39">V. That God gave to man, when he had made
him, a dominion over the inferior creatures, <i>over the fish of
the sea and over the fowl of the air.</i> Though man provides for
neither, he has power over both, much more <i>over every living
thing that moveth upon the earth,</i> which are more under his care
and within his reach. God designed hereby to put an honour upon
man, that he might find himself the more strongly obliged to bring
honour to his Maker. This dominion is very much diminished and lost
by the fall; yet God's providence continues so much of it to the
children of men as is necessary to the safety and support of their
lives, and God's grace has given to the saints a new and better
title to the creature than that which was forfeited by sin; for all
is ours if we are Christ's, <scripRef id="Gen.ii-p39.1" osisRef="Bible:1Cor.3.22" parsed="|1Cor|3|22|0|0" passage="1Co 3:22">1 Cor.
iii. 22</scripRef>.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Gen.ii-p39.2" osisRef="Bible:Gen.1.29-Gen.1.30" parsed="|Gen|1|29|1|30" passage="Ge 1:29-30" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Gen.1.29-Gen.1.30">
<h4 id="Gen.ii-p39.3">The Creation. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Gen.ii-p39.4">b. c.</span> 4004.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Gen.ii-p40">29 And God said, Behold, I have given you every
herb bearing seed, which <i>is</i> upon the face of all the earth,
and every tree, in the which <i>is</i> the fruit of a tree yielding
seed; to you it shall be for meat.   30 And to every beast of
the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that
creepeth upon the earth, wherein <i>there is</i> life, <i>I have
given</i> every green herb for meat: and it was so.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Gen.ii-p41">We have here the third part of the sixth
day's work, which was not any new creation, but a gracious
provision of food for all flesh, <scripRef id="Gen.ii-p41.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.136.25" parsed="|Ps|136|25|0|0" passage="Ps 136:25">Ps.
cxxxvi. 25</scripRef>. He that made man and beast thus took care to
preserve both, <scripRef id="Gen.ii-p41.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.36.6" parsed="|Ps|36|6|0|0" passage="Ps 36:6">Ps. xxxvi. 6</scripRef>.
Here is,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Gen.ii-p42">I. Food provided for man, <scripRef id="Gen.ii-p42.1" osisRef="Bible:Gen.1.29" parsed="|Gen|1|29|0|0" passage="Ge 1:29"><i>v.</i> 29</scripRef>. Herbs and fruits must be
his meat, including corn and all the products of the earth; these
were allowed him, but (it should seem) not flesh, till after the
flood, <scripRef id="Gen.ii-p42.2" osisRef="Bible:Gen.9.3" parsed="|Gen|9|3|0|0" passage="Ge 9:3"><i>ch.</i> ix. 3</scripRef>. And
before the earth was deluged, much more before it was cursed for
man's sake, its fruits, no doubt, were more pleasing to the taste
and more strengthening and nourishing to the body than marrow and
fatness, and all the portion of the king's meat, are now. See here,
1. That which should make us humble. As we were made out of the
earth, so we are maintained out of it. Once indeed men did eat
angels' food, bread from heaven; but they died (<scripRef id="Gen.ii-p42.3" osisRef="Bible:John.6.49" parsed="|John|6|49|0|0" passage="Joh 6:49">John vi. 49</scripRef>); it was to them but as food out
of the earth, <scripRef id="Gen.ii-p42.4" osisRef="Bible:Ps.104.14" parsed="|Ps|104|14|0|0" passage="Ps 104:14">Ps. civ. 14</scripRef>.
There is meat that endures to everlasting life; the Lord evermore
give us this. 2. That which should make us thankful. The Lord is
for the body; from him we receive all the supports and comforts of
this life, and to him we must give thanks. He gives us all things
richly to enjoy, not only for necessity, but plenty, dainties, and
varieties, for ornament and delight. How much are we indebted! How
careful should we be, as we live upon God's bounty, to live to his
glory! 3. That which should make us temperate and content with our
lot. Though Adam had dominion given him over fish and fowl, yet God
confined him, in his food, to herbs and fruits; and he never
complained of it. Though afterwards he coveted forbidden fruit, for
the sake of the wisdom and knowledge he promised himself from it,
yet we never read that he coveted forbidden flesh. If God give us
food for our lives, let us not, with murmuring Israel, ask food for
our lusts, <scripRef id="Gen.ii-p42.5" osisRef="Bible:Ps.78.18" parsed="|Ps|78|18|0|0" passage="Ps 78:18">Ps. lxxviii. 18</scripRef>;
see <scripRef id="Gen.ii-p42.6" osisRef="Bible:Dan.1.15" parsed="|Dan|1|15|0|0" passage="Da 1:15">Dan. i. 15</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Gen.ii-p43">II. Food provided for the beasts, <scripRef id="Gen.ii-p43.1" osisRef="Bible:Gen.1.30" parsed="|Gen|1|30|0|0" passage="Ge 1:30"><i>v.</i> 30</scripRef>. <i>Doth God take care
for oxen?</i> Yes, certainly, he provides food convenient for them,
and not for oxen only, which were used in his sacrifices and man's
service, but even the young lions and the young ravens are the care
of his providence; they ask and have their meat from God. Let us
give to God the glory of his bounty to the inferior creatures, that
all are fed, as it were, at his table, every day. He is a great
housekeeper, a very rich and bountiful one, that satisfies the
desire of every living thing. Let this encourage God's people to
cast their care upon him, and not to be solicitous respecting what
they shall eat and what they shall drink. He that provided for Adam
without his care, and still provides for all the creatures without
their care, will not let those that trust him want any good thing,
<scripRef id="Gen.ii-p43.2" osisRef="Bible:Matt.6.26" parsed="|Matt|6|26|0|0" passage="Mt 6:26">Matt. vi. 26</scripRef>. He that feeds
his birds will not starve his babes.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Gen.ii-p43.3" osisRef="Bible:Gen.1.31" parsed="|Gen|1|31|0|0" passage="Ge 1:31" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Gen.1.31">
<h4 id="Gen.ii-p43.4">The Creation. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Gen.ii-p43.5">b. c.</span> 4004.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Gen.ii-p44">31 And God saw every thing that he had made,
and, behold, <i>it was</i> very good. And the evening and the
morning were the sixth day.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Gen.ii-p45">We have here the approbation and conclusion
of the whole work of creation. As for God, his work is perfect; and
if he begin he will also make an end, in providence and grace, as
well as here in creation. Observe,</p>
<pb id="Gen.ii-Page_12" n="12"/>
<p class="indent" id="Gen.ii-p46">I. The review God took of his work: He
<i>saw every thing that he had made.</i> So he does still; all the
works of his hands are under his eye. He that made all sees all; he
that made us sees us, <scripRef id="Gen.ii-p46.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.139.1-Ps.139.16" parsed="|Ps|139|1|139|16" passage="Ps 139:1-16">Ps. cxxxix.
1-16</scripRef>. Omniscience cannot be separated from omnipotence.
<i>Known unto God are all his works,</i> <scripRef id="Gen.ii-p46.2" osisRef="Bible:Acts.15.18" parsed="|Acts|15|18|0|0" passage="Ac 15:18">Acts xv. 18</scripRef>. But this was the Eternal Mind's
solemn reflection upon the copies of its own wisdom and the
products of its own power. God has hereby set us an example of
reviewing our works. Having given us a power of reflection, he
expects we should use that power, see our way (<scripRef id="Gen.ii-p46.3" osisRef="Bible:Jer.2.23" parsed="|Jer|2|23|0|0" passage="Jer 2:23">Jer. ii. 23</scripRef>), and think of it, <scripRef id="Gen.ii-p46.4" osisRef="Bible:Ps.119.59" parsed="|Ps|119|59|0|0" passage="Ps 119:59">Ps. cxix. 59</scripRef>. When we have finished
a day's work, and are entering upon the rest of the night, we
should commune with our own hearts about what we have been doing
that day; so likewise when we have finished a week's work, and are
entering upon the sabbath-rest, we should thus prepare to meet our
God; and when we are finishing our life's work, and are entering
upon our rest in the grave, that is a time to bring to remembrance,
that we may die repenting, and so take leave of it.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Gen.ii-p47">II. The complacency God took in his work.
When we come to review our works we find, to our shame, that much
has been very bad; but, when God reviewed his, all was very good.
He did not pronounce it good till he had seen it so, to teach us
not to answer a matter before we hear it. The work of creation was
a very good work. All that God made was well-made, and there was no
flaw nor defect in it. 1. It was good. Good, for it is all
agreeable to the mind of the Creator, just as he would have it to
be; when the transcript came to be compared with the great
original, it was found to be exact, no errata in it, not one
misplaced stroke. Good, for it answers the end of its creation, and
is fit for the purpose for which it was designed. Good, for it is
serviceable to man, whom God had appointed lord of the visible
creation. Good, for it is all for God's glory; there is that in the
whole visible creation which is a demonstration of God's being and
perfections, and which tends to beget, in the soul of man, a
religious regard to him and veneration of him. 2. It was very good.
Of each day's work (except the second) it was said that it was
good, but now, it is very good. For, (1.) Now man was made, who was
the chief of the ways of God, who was designed to be the visible
image of the Creator's glory and the mouth of the creation in his
praises. (2.) Now all was made; every part was good, but all
together very good. The glory and goodness, the beauty and harmony,
of God's works, both of providence and grace, as this of creation,
will best appear when they are perfected. When the top-stone is
brought forth we shall cry, <i>Grace, grace, unto it,</i> <scripRef id="Gen.ii-p47.1" osisRef="Bible:Zech.4.7" parsed="|Zech|4|7|0|0" passage="Zec 4:7">Zech. iv. 7</scripRef>. Therefore judge nothing
before the time.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Gen.ii-p48">III. The time when this work was concluded:
<i>The evening and the morning were the sixth day;</i> so that in
six days God made the world. We are not to think but that God could
have made the world in an instant. He said that, <i>Let there be
light, and there was light,</i> could have said, "Let there be a
world," and there would have been a world, <i>in a moment, in the
twinkling of an eye,</i> as at the resurrection, <scripRef id="Gen.ii-p48.1" osisRef="Bible:1Cor.15.52" parsed="|1Cor|15|52|0|0" passage="1Co 15:52">1 Cor. xv. 52</scripRef>. But he did it in six days,
that he might show himself a free-agent, doing his own work both in
his own way and in his own time,—that his wisdom, power, and
goodness, might appear to us, and be meditated upon by us, the more
distinctly,—and that he might set us an example of working six
days and resting the seventh; it is therefore made the reason of
the fourth commandment. So much would the sabbath conduce to the
keeping up of religion in the world that God had an eye to it in
the timing of his creation. And now, as God reviewed his work, let
us review our meditations upon it, and we shall find them very lame
and defective, and our praises low and flat; let us therefore stir
up ourselves, and all that is within us, to <i>worship him that
made the heaven, earth, and sea, and the fountains of waters,</i>
according to the tenor of the everlasting gospel, which is
preached to every nation, <scripRef id="Gen.ii-p48.2" osisRef="Bible:Rev.14.6-Rev.14.7" parsed="|Rev|14|6|14|7" passage="Re 14:6,7">Rev. xiv.
6, 7</scripRef>. All his works, in all places of his dominion, do
bless him; and, therefore, <i>bless thou the Lord, O my
soul!</i></p>
</div></div2>