The Beauty and Order of Creation, Chapter 1
CHAP. I.
Colos. 1.16.
For by Him were all things Created, that are in Heaven, and that are in Earth, visible and invisible, &c.
SECT. 1.
HAving spoken of the Creation in general I come now to the Creatures in special; which are (as learned Zanch divideth them) of three sorts.Zanch. De Operibus Dei. 1. Visible. 2. Invisible. 3. Partly visible, partly invisible. Of the two former sorts the Text in hand speaketh, and under them both, includeth the third also, which partaketh of both the other kinds; but I have chosen his Text purposely for the first and second kinds, intending upon a more peculiar Text to speak more largely of the third. By the Creatures visible, I mean all substances meet bodily, though some of them cannot be seen▪ as the Ayr and Spirits in sensible Creatures: yet under [visible] these I comprehend by a Synecdoche, because sensible, and such as may be discerned by some sense or other. By invisible, I understand all Creatures meerly spiritual▪ f…e from all bodily substance, as the Angels. By those partly visible, partly invisible, I understand Man-kind consisting of his Body, which is a gross material substance, and his soul which is of an intellectual and spiritual nature.
Of the first, Moses writeth at large in the first Chapter of Genesis. And therefore in the first place, observing that God made all bodily creatures, I will fetch the explication of this point out of the Holy Story, the most ancient that ever was penned; the Original Diary of the World, and Chronicle of the Universe; where first, you have the Creation of the whole in the first Day, and therein two things:
1. Passive.
2. A…ve.
The passive substance was the huge unwrought Mass of things, without any distinct form or shape, not yet distinguished and dig… sted into several kinds of Creatures, not qualified with those several perfections of natural goodness, which afterward the All … Creator b…stowed upon its se…eral parts. Moses, tells us, it was without form] without any special or distinct form or shape: and void] like a ruinous, confused heap; void of beauty, void of perfection, void of such qualifications,Gen…s. 1.2. as should make it very good. Again, it was dark. [And darkness was.] This confused lump lay wrapped up in the thickest Mantle of utter darkness, without any the least glimpse of light, that can be imagined, most dreadfull and hideous, but that there was no Creature then made to be aff…ighted by it. This darkness was upon the …ace of it, or the superficies; it was not only a dark Mass within, but the very surface or out-side of it was void of all glimpse of light shining on it. Again, it was deep.] An …ge Mass of wonderfull and extraordinary bigness, which yielded stuff and materials for the framing all bodily substances afterwards, except the Heavens, (if at least they are to be excepted, as for my part, I think they are) and (as I conceive) the Text makes it cleer. For In the beginning, it is said, that God made the Heaven and the Earth. And the next words are; And the Earth was without form, &c. So that by the Earth before, I understand the rude Mass of things, out of which was brought Earth▪ Waters, and other Creatures compounded of these▪ and this Earth was distinguished from Heaven▪ and as this Earth was without fo…m, so the Heaven was without light at the first: so that this (I conceive) at the first, was made that huge O…b or Sphear of Heaven, without Sun, Moon, or Stars, and together with it, the common matter of all inferiour Bodies: for first he saith, the Heaven and Earth were made; but he doth not say that the Heaven, but the Earth only was without form and void; And the Spirit of God moved upon the Waters.] Or hovered over this mixed Mass of Earth & Waters, as the Bird over her Egge, by its divine vertue framing and sha…ng distinct and several sorts of Creatures, out of this common lump.
On this first Day was the Light created, as an active Instrument to distinguish Time, and as I conceive, so also to be used in bringing forth distinct and special Creatures, by vertue of a quickning operative heat accompanying this Light. This Light you see was before the Sun, which was not created until the fourth Day. And in probability, this Light was f…xed and radicated in the Heavens, and so shined here upon this confused heap of the Earth and Waters: for had it been without a subject scattered abroad throughout the vast and void empty spaces between Heaven and Earth on every side; where had the distinction been between Day and Night? And therefore I conceive, that this excellent Creature being seated in Heaven by the Father of Lights, did shine upon half the Earth at once, as now the Sun doth, and so was ca…ried about with the motion of the Heavens, and made Day where it shone, and left the Night there whence it removed: so that whiles the Earth continued without form, and had its face cove…ed with darkness, there was the first Evening; and when the Light was made and shown upon the Earth out of darkness, there was the first Morning; and this Evening and Morning were the first Day.
SECT. 2.
IN the second place is to be considered the distinction and division between the greatest parts of the Earth and Waters.
1. The division of the upper parts of the Waters from the lower parts of the same, which was by the Firmament, or Body of the Ayr, which God made between the upper and lower parts of the Water, which I apprehend thus: That although the Earth and Waters lay confused together in one heap, yet the thinner parts of this lump coming neerer the nature of Water, was raised to the upper part; and that these muddy Waters lying in an huge heap above the gr…sser and more earthy part, the Spirit of God did penetra…e into them, and b… his vertue rarily the middle part of this wate…y matter, turning it into an huge, spacious, but much purer and thinner body of the Ayr, which is called an Expansion, or out-spread Covering, wher…by a separation was made between the W…terish matter, compassing and hiding under it the whole Earth on every side, and the upper parts of the Water, which in Clo…ds and Exh…lations were drawn and raised up; some higher, some lower, above some parts of this Ayr or Covering. And this Firmament is called Heaven; even the same spoken of elsewhere in Scripture: The Heavens sh…ll hear the Earth, Hos. 2 21. That is, the Ayr shall showre down fatt…ning Showres upon the Earth, and so we …ead of The Fowles of Heaven, that is, of the Ayr: As S. Paul also calleth the Heaven of the bl…ssed Saints and Angels, The third Heaven; a…d …o prop…rtionably, that which is the place of the Sun and Stars, is the second, and this of the Ayr here mentioned is the first Heaven; and this Evening and Morning wherein this was do…e, was the second Day, though yet without a Sun.
2. As there was a distinction of the upper and lower parts of the Waters; so now of the Waters from the Earth; the Waters …hat encompassed & wholly overwhelmed the Earth before, being by the Word of God g…h…red toget…er, a…d shut up in one pl…ce, and called Seas; so that the d…y L…nd, wh…h was al…ogether hidden before, did now appea…: the wisdome of God thus provid ng for those Creatures, which he pu…po…ed to place upon the Earth.
Next to this was …he furnishing the Earth with Pl…nts, Trees▪ Herbs, Grass &c. which were the first Creatures that had life, and that the first degree of life, v…z. Vegetation, without sen…e or motion from place to place, yet end…ed with a seminal vertue, enabling them to propagate their kinde, and to bring forth an encrease. And this was the work of the third Day, when as yet the Sun was not created.
SECT. 3.
NOw follow the Ornaments of the chi…f part of this glorious Building. 1. Of the Heaven on the Fourth Day. 2. Of the Ayr and Waters on the Fi…th Day. 3 Of the Earth on the Sixth Day. Now the Lord having without Sun, Moon or Stars, given Light to the World three Days together, doth by his All-mighty Word create Lights in the Heaven, viz. the great Light of the Sun, which should now henceforth become a Fountain of Lig…t both to other Stars, and to the rest of the Wo…ld, by which the Day should be ruled: and then a l…sser Light, though in appeara…ce great to us at a neerer distance than other st…rs, even the Moon to rule the Night; so that now there should be some Light in the Night, and not me…r Da…kness, as in the three former Nights: but either the Moon should shine with greater b…ightness on the Earth, or (a… least) the Stars sh…uld give some lesser Light in the absence of the Moon, and even in the most cloudy Night should give some little abatement of utter Darkness. But this was not all; these glorious Bodies were to serve for S…gnes and for Seasons, and for Days and Years ▪ Wherein,
I. I embrace the Opinion of Par…s, Parai comm…nt in Genes.who acknowledgeth the Stars to have a th…e-fold kind of Signification;
Natural.
Civil.
Divine.
1. Natural: as they signify and fore-shew Rain and Drought, Cold, Heat, Famine, Plenty Eclipses, &c By their rising, setting, opposi…ion conju…ction, &c.
2. Civil: As they shew unto divers sorts of Men, when is fit time for several employments viz. Pilots, Fishermen, Husbandmen, Physicians, &c.
3 Divine: So they many times foreshew the judgments of God …o come, as Wars, Pestilences, Con…lag…a…ions, and fearfull alterations of States and Kingdomes.
II. As they are for Sig…es, so likewise for Seasons. The S n by his va…iety …f motion, making the …pring, Sum…er, Aut…mn, and Winter, and the Mo…n making n…w Mon…t…s by her changes and revolutions.
III. They are likewise for Days and Y…ars: the Light carried about b…fore, made the Day, but now the S…n should meas…re the Day from this fourth Day to the last Day, the Day of Judgment, by enc…mpassing the Earth in twenty and four hours, making a na…ural Day compleat; and by a full revolution to the same point where it begun, making a full Year.
IV. To give Light to the Earth: without which all the Creatures would be in Darkness, and with that Light to impart a c…erishi…g heat and warmth, without which the natural hea, and living Creatures would …on be extinguished. And this Evening and Morning was … Fourth Day viz. with those …hree that were before the Sun; but the first Day wherein there was a Sun to give Light.
Th… n…x… Day, the Ayr and Wa…ers were furnished▪ where it seemeth that God brought both Fowles and Fishes out of the Waters: so it seemeth the Fowles were brought forth out of the Waters above the Fi…mament, and now are appointed …o fly in the Fi…mament or Ayr; and the Fishes we…e brought forth out of t…e Waters b…low, where yet they abide and swim; this was on the fi… Day. On the Sixth Day was the Earth furnished with Beasts, and creeping things of every kinde. And last of all was created a Lord of the rest, even Man upon the same Day; of which more hereafter. Thus much for these bodily Creatures, concerning which something may be profitab…y spoken by way of Application, and some…hing also by way of Allusion.