The First Three Chapters of Genesis, Text

The First Three Chapters of Genesis · Text

Dr. Colman's DISSERTATION On the three firſt Chapters of GENESIS.

A Brief Diſſertation ON THE Three firſt Chapters OF GENESIS. Giving ſome of the Evident Signatures Of the INSPIRATION of GOD in thoſe Firſt Pages of the Holy Oracles. Being the Subſtance of Some SERMONS Lately Preached By Dr. Colman.

Joh. ix. 29.

We know that GOD ſpake unto Moſes.

BOSTON: Printed by S. KNEELAND and T. GREEN, for J.EDWARDS and H.FOSTER, at their Shops in Corn-hill. 1735.

THE learned Reader is deſir'd not to expect any thing Critical or Philoſophical in the following Eſſay; but a ſtudied Plaineſs and Simplicity of Method, Style and Reaſoning; adapted to Readers of a lower Form, to inform affect and confirm ſuch, and yet at the ſame time to gratify Thoſe of a higher Claſs.

This being the Author's Aim and Endeavour, he accordingly commends it to the Bleſſing of GOD for General Uſe and Service.

p. 1The Evident Signatures of Divine Inſpiration, in the firſt Pages of the HOLY ORACLES. In a brief Diſſertation on the Three firſt Chapters of GENESIS.

MANY excellent Pens, in our Nation, have of late Years appeared in Defence of Divine Revelation; which has been boldly attack'd, openly inſulted, and ſometimes profanely ridicul'd, by the Deiſts and Infidels of the preſent Day; with a Pretence to ſuperior Underſtanding and Judgment, and Freedom of Thinking; as if all beſide Themſelves were hoodwink'd and ſhackled by Prejudices of Education, or corrupted and reſtrained by Worldly p. 2Intereſts; and They alone were the Men of free Tho't, Sincerity and Courage, and Wiſdom were to die with them.

Great has been the Provocation to anſwer ſome of the more licentious and ſcurrilous Advocates for Infidelity according to their Folly, leſt they be wiſe in their own Conceit: But great has been the Guard and Caution on the part of the noble and ſerious Defenders of the Divine Authority of the Bible, to write with Decency and Juſtice, Reverence and Gravity, Reaſon and Argument, on a Subject of ſo great Importance to the Honour of God and the Salvation of Souls. They have nevertheleſs contended earneſtly for the Faith, while they have given the Reaſon of it with Meekneſs of Wiſdom; and Eno' has been ſaid to convince Gainſayers, to ſtop the Mouths of unruly and vain Talkers, and to confirm the Souls of the Diſciples.

I am my Self in a particular manner obliged to mention, with great Acknowledgment, the Pleaſure and Benefit I found in reading Dr. Thomas Burnet's Demonſtration of true Religion in a Chain of Scripture Conſequences; and a later Author of Revelation examin'd with Candour; to which the following Diſſertation owes its Riſe. It pretends not to any like Elaborateneſs, but is written for People of a lower Rank, who cannot riſe to the Price of the fore-named Books. We write for the Places where we live, and for the People to whom we belong; and at the Requeſt of Thoſe to whom the following Pages were acceptable and profitable from the Pulpit under another Form, I now publiſh them in this of a Diſſertation on the firſt Chapters of the BIBLE.

If theſe firſt Pages in the Book of God do not appear worthy of his Inſpiration, we may even give up the Reſt of the Bible. If God has not p. 3ſpoken to us by Moſes, neither has He by the following Prophets; no, nor by JESUS and his Apoſtles. But if it be Evident that Moſes wrote by Inſpiration of God, it is a ſure and ſtrong Foundation for, and Argument of the Credibility of the whole Sacred Scriptures of the Old and New Teſtament; which we find bearing a ſtrict Reference unto, Agreement with, and to be the Fulfilment of what Moſes has written.

The whole of Revealed Religion, the whole Doctrine of Chriſtianity, ſtands on this Foot. The Prophets and Apoſtles all bear Witneſs to the Writings of Moſes. The Old Teſtament ends with this, "Remember the Law of Moſes my Servant! and the New begins and ends with the like Teſtimony to Him as Inſpired of God, and ſent by Him. It begins with leading us back to Moſes, Joh. v. 39, 45, &c. Search the Scriptures, for in them ye think ye have Eternal Life, and Theſe are they that teſtify of Me: Do not think that I will accuſe you unto the Father; there is one that accuſeth you, even Moſes, in whom ye truſt: For had ye believed Moſes ye would have believed Me, for he wrote of Me; But if ye believe not his Writings, how ſhall ye believe my Words? — And if we look to the Cloſe of our Bible, we find it ending with "the Song of Moſes and the Lamb.

I will not go into the Honours of Moſes, as they are deliver'd to us in the Sacred Pages, leſt it ſhould ſeem a begging the Queſtion before us; but let us only open our Bibles and read the ſhort Narrative given of the Creation of the Earth and of Man upon it, his Sin and Judgment, and ſee whether it be not moſt worthy of the Majeſty, Holineſs and Grace of the MOST HIGH; the moſt fit and proper Beginning of a Revelation of God to Man.

p. 4The firſt Book of Moſes is Hiſtorical. And it is the grand Honour of Hiſtory that the Revelations of God begin thus. And if we weigh the Thing well we muſt needs judge that the Inſpired Oracles muſt ſo begin. Lapſed and ignorant Mankind by Moſes Time needed a Hiſtory of their own Beginning, their firſt State and the Origine of Evil. And this muſt be a Doctrinal Hiſtory, concerning GOD and Themſelves; how God made Them and all Things very good; what He made 'em for, and what He required of them; how they came into their preſent State of Sin and Miſery, and what Way there is for their Recovery out of it. This is the Argument and Subſtance of the Book of Geneſis, and more eſpecially of the firſt three Chapters of it.

GOD there informs us firſt concerning HIMSELF, his Own ETERNAL BEING AND GODHEAD, and then concerning his Works, the Origine of the World, and the Manner and End of our own Formation. In what other, or better Manner, can we think that a Revelation from God ſhould begin? The firſt Verſe of the Bible ſhows it to be the Book of God: "In the Beginning God created the Heavens and the Earth. What, but this, ſhould be the firſt Line of Scripture? The DIVINE MAJESTY here ſpeaks of Himſelf as the Firſt Cauſe of all Things; That of Him and to Him are all Things, and for His Pleaſure they are and were created. The one only true Foundation of all Science and of all Religion. It was not poſſible for Man to know any thing aright concerning Himſelf, or the Viſible Works of God, till he knew this. This is the Image and Superſcription of God upon the Bible in the firſt Line of it. God being to write His Book, for the Uſe of the Sons of Men, thro' all Generations, put his Name before it in theſe Words, In the Beginning GOD created the Heavens and the Earth.

p. 5GOD is here repreſented as Self-Exiſient, and in his own Times, as the bleſſed and only Potentate, giving unto all Things their Exiſtence and Being, viſible and inviſible; by an Act of his Will, and a Word of his Power. How well does this firſt Line of Moſes agree to the Pſalm which bears his Name? Pſal. xc. 2, 4. Before the Mountains were bro't forth, or ever Thou hadſt formed the Earth and the World, from Everlaſting to Everlaſting Thou art God: For a thouſand Years in thy Sight are but as Yeſterday when it is paſt, and as a Watch in the Night. The Eternal God ſpeaks by Moſes of His own Eternity, how He was before all Things; and the Infinite God ſpeaks of his own Infinity, his infinite Power which by a Word bro't the viſible Heavens and Earth into their Being and Order; firſt commanded the Matter into Being, ſufficient for the forming the Univerſe, and then ſpake it into that Beauty and comely Proportion which our Eyes behold.— What, but This, ought the firſt Line of ſacred Scripture to contain? He that does not ſee or read God in it is blind; and he that does not hear God ſpeaking in it of Himſelf, has no Underſtanding of what he hears. The God of infinite Wiſdom, Power and Goodneſs ſpeaks of theſe his immenſe Perfections, in theſe few Words, as plainly and copiouſly as if Volumes were writ of them.

In the Beginning, ſoil, of the Univerſe; when the Worlds came into Being, the upper and the lower; it was meerly by the Sovereign Will and Word of the LORD GOD; at what Time and in what Order. Theſe Worlds had their Beginning, but GOD had none. God gave Them their Exiſtence, when, where and how it pleaſed Him; and made all moſt good and perfect, for His Own Praiſe and Glory. There was no other Will, Wiſdom, Goodneſs or Power to do this, but His who is THE ETERNAL; p. 6Who was, and is, and is to come; the ſame Yeſterday, to Day and for Ever.

This is but a juſt Paraphraſe on the firſt Line of Scripture, which is Immenſe in Senſe. The Fulneſs of the Eternal GODHEAD is in it, and all Things that God has made are in it too.—One might dwell and expatiate on this firſt Word of Moſes for Ever, and never be able to think or ſay any thing on it adequate to the Fulneſs of Senſe and Spirit in it.— In what other Words could the Book of God begin? O the Height and Depth, the Length and Breadth of this one Line! It is Light, without any Darkneſs at all! GOD dwells and ſhines in it! It is Light unapprochable and full of Glory! Here is the Beginning and Finiſhing of the Creation of God in a Single Line! And then the DIVINE SPIRIT deſcends to that Part and Point of the Creation that belongs to Man, our Earth, and proceeds to ſpeak of it.

Ver. 2. And the Earth was without Form and void, and Darkneſs was upon the Face of the Deep. This we muſt ſuppoſe, unleſs we ſhould rather think it becoming the Glory of God to give every Globe in the Univerſe its perfect Form at once. He could indeed as eaſily have done this, but I think the Glory of Divine Wiſdom and Goodneſs more diſplayed in the gradual Proceſs related by Moſes. God had firſt created the Heavens and Hoſts of glorious Angels, a World of bright Intelligences to behold the lower Worlds, take their Place, Form and Motion. And as theſe were finiſhing from Day to Day, one Part after another, and every Part more and more perfective of the Whole, thoſe bleſſed Spectators ſang together and ſhouted forth the Praiſes of that infinite Perfection, which they ſaw with Wonder in every ſtep: As we read Job xxxviii. 7.

The moſt perfect Idea that the Mind of Man can now frame concerning the Formation of our Earth, and ſo of the other Planets within our p. 7Circle, is this, "That they were firſt a Chaos, or confus'd Particles of watry, oily, earthly, aery, and fiery Matter, blended together, without any diſtinct Order, Form or Beauty, a darkſome Maſs and Deep, which we ſhould have been ready to think could never be bro't into any Order, Comelineſs and Uſe. We read that THE SPIRIT OF GOD moved on this Face of Diſorder and vaſt Confuſion: And who elſe ſhould reveal to us what a void and formleſs thing the firſt Materials, or Collection of Matter, for ſuch a World as this, muſt needs be?

And now, what would a conſidering Angel think ſhould be the firſt Thing produced, or call'd forth into ſome Appearance, out of this Darkneſs and Diſorder? What ſhould it be but LIGHT? And Moſes tells us this was it, Ver. 3. And GOD ſaid, Let there be Light, and there was Light.

Did Moſes conceive this? wiſe as he was and penetrating, even as an Angel of God, and learned in all the Phyloſophy of Egypt? No, it was beyond the Ken of any humane Mind or Wiſdom. How is it ſpoken like a GOD! and how God-like is the Account of the Production of one Thing and another? "GOD ſaid, Let there be this and that! and let it be thus and thus! The Perfection of Wiſdom ſaw at once how it ſhould be, and the Perfection of Will ſaid, Let it be ſo. He ſpake and it was done, He commanded and it immediately exiſted, and was eſtabliſhed. Here is perfect Eaſe in the Production of every Thing; and in the Projection of it, if that Word be lawful. Moſes could not have ſpoken thus of God and of His Work, if God had not ſpoken of Himſelf to him. And yet we cannot now poſſibly conceive of any other Manner of Working worthy of the great GOD! and therefore we know that God ſpake by Moſes.

Of all viſible, material Things, which ſhould be firſt in Order of Time, and which is firſt in Order p. 8of Nature, Uſe, Influence and Dignity, but LIGHT? By this all Things are ſeen, pervaded and enlivened. For Heat accompanies Light, and it is (under the Will and Power of GOD) vital to all Things that live, grow and move, or act upon Earth.

That firſt Light was pleaſant to the ſurrounding Hoſts of Angels, how far ſoever it was below That of their Celeſtial Regions. From their high World of Light and Glory they came to ſee a new World of Material Beauties and Splendors riſing from a Chaos. They heard the Voice from the Heavenly Glory ſay, Let Light be here below! and they ſaw it to be very good.

GOD is Light. So He repreſents Himſelf unto us, becauſe Light is the firſt-born of the Viſible Creation. How does it excel Darkneſs! how did it ſpring forth out of Darkneſs, and ſhine in the Eyes of admiring Angels! Hail, Holy Light! they cried: Our Milton learn'd it of Them in his Darkneſs. And ſo our late Angel of a Man, Mr. Henry in his Expoſition: Light ſays he, which of all Things ſeen does moſt reſemble it's great Parent in Beauty and Bleſſings, in Purity Brightneſs and Beneficence, in Spirituality Immenſity and Immutability.

GOD is the Father of Light, from Whom every good and perfect Gift comes down; and with Him there is no Variableneſs, nor Shadow of Change. So in the New Creation Light is the firſt Thing formed. GOD gives the Light of the Knowledge of his more Spiritual Glory, in the Face of JESUS CHRIST.

The Order of the Creation is admirable and perfect as it is related by Moſes; yet it could not have enter'd into the Heart of Man to have conceived of it, if God had not revealed it to Him. As ſoon as the Light ſhone out of Darkneſs, God ſtretched out a Firmament, He made an Atmoſphere about p. 9the Earth, an Expanſion of Air, the higher and lower Region of it, of various Uſe and vaſt Benefit, and of the laſt Neceſſity for the Growth of every Vegetable, and for the Life and Motion of every Animal. The Maſs of Water and Earth was hereby left a diſtinct Body by it ſelf. In this Firmament of Heaven the Vapours aſcend from the Ends of the Earth, the Winds blow, the Clouds roll, and God rides on them, & plays his dreadful Artillery, the Lightning and Thunder, which purifies the Air for us, while it makes us tremble. It …ndly deceives our Sight, and makes Things ſeem near to us at inconceivable Diſtances, and our Eyes receive Objects thro' an immeaſurable Space, the Sun and Stars, with Eaſe and Pleaſure. Hereby the Light and Heat and Rains deſcend on us, in fit Proportions to make the Earth fruitful; the Graſs grows for the Cattle, Herbs and Corn and Fruits for the Service of Man; the glorious Works of God are ſeen and contemplated by us, and vital Heat is convey'd to our Hearts, and preſerv'd in our Blood. — Such is the Firmament which God has ſpread over us, the Pavement of his Feet, but the Breath of our Noſtrils. Moſes has told of it, as the wondrous Work of God, accompanying the Light, which how ſhould it glare, or be at all viſible, but thro' a Vehicle of Air? In this, under God, whoſe Viſitation preſerves our Spirits, we live and move and have our Being.

And now God gather'd the Maſs of lower Waters into one Place, into one vaſt Body, or Collection of it, and the dry Land appeared. The Sea is His for he made it; & his Hands formed the dry Ground: In his Hands are the deep Places of the Earth, & the Strength of the Hills is his alſo. GOD formed it a Terraqueous Globe, Land and Water; both alike neceſſary and beauteous in their Kind and Place. He p. 10bad the Earth to bring forth the Graſs and Herb and Trees, even before there was a Sun in the Firmament of Heaven, ſay ſome; but others chuſe only to ſay, before its Heat and Light broke thro' the exhaled Vapours, drank up the dark Waters and ſcatter'd the thick Clouds of the Sky. The Moon and Stars then appeared in their Courſes, and Day and Night commenced, Months and Years. The ſame Circle and Syſtem of Planets and fix'd Stars, which are beheld by us at this Day, but can never be eno' admir'd by the Sons of Men, ſhone out at once on this Terraqueous Globe of ours.

But as yet no Eye was formed to behold and view them; no not ſo much as the Eye of a Fiſh in the Waters of an Animal on the Land, or of an Inſect in the Air. Now therefore it pleaſed God to command the Waters to bring forth the moving Creatures in them, great and ſmall; and the Fowl to fly in the open Firmament. He fill'd the Sea with Fiſh, and things creeping innumerable; and the Air with feather'd Fowl, of every Wing and Size. Angels beheld with vaſt Delight the Life, the Beauties and Motion of them all. — Who could have led Moſes down into and thro' theſe Depths of the Sea, and up into all theſe Heights of the Air, to trace out the Original of the Inhabitants of both; but only GOD the Former of them all, and the Fountain of Life unto all? For there is not the moſt inferior Life in Air or Water, but what loudly tells us of the living JEHOVAH, the GOD of Moſes, Who only hath Life in Himſelf, and giveth unto all Life and Breath and all things.

God made 'em to propagate their Life; to increaſe, multiply in, and repleniſh the Sea, the Air and Earth. He added his Bleſſing on Them for this End, which is effectual to this Day, and without which every living Thing had been barren and p. 11fruitleſs for Ever.—O the Riches, and Profuſion of Bounty, in the Living Creatures that communicate the Life-which they receive, thro' all Ages of the World, as long as Man and Sun and Moon ſhall endure.

This Power and Goodneſs inexhauſtible flowed on, and roſe higher and higher, till the dry Land was alſo ſtor'd with Beaſts, and Cattle and every creeping Thing after their Kind; and then MAN was laſt of all formed, with a Solemnity and Pleaſure peculiar to the Superior Creature on Earth; deſigned to be the Lord of all the Creatures in Air, on Earth and in the Seas, and to bear the Image and Likeneſs of the CREATOR of all. Gen. i. 26, 27. —ii. 7. 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. So God created Man in His own Image, in the Image of God created He him; Male and Female created He them: And God bleſſed them, and ſaid unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and repleniſh the Earth, and ſubdue it; and have Dominion &c:— The Lord God formed Man of the Duſt of the Ground and breathed into his Noſtrils the Breath of Life, and Man became a Living Soul.

What ſhould be the Image of the LIVING GOD, in Heaven or on Earth, but living Spirits? intelligent and immortal Creatures, made after the Power of an endleſs Life. Who but Theſe ſhould be made for Dominion in one World or the other? God is the Father of Spirits and the Fountain of Life. The Life of Angels and of Souls is of Him and to Him. The living Beings in every World muſt worſhip Him that liveth for ever and ever, and caſt their Crowns before His Throne; for they are all crowned with Glory and Honour, in His Image on them.

p. 12GOD is the BEING of Beings: I AM THAT I AM is his Name. JEHOVAH is but the ſame Name. Eternity, Immenſity and Immutability go into the full Meaning of it. And all theſe alſo go into every moral Perfection of the Divine Nature. God is therefore a SPIRIT infinite, eternal, unchangeable in his Being, Wiſdom, Power, Holineſs, Juſtice, Goodneſs and Truth.

Man in his Immortality may be ſaid to bear ſome Image of the Everlaſting Life of God. But the Moral Perfections of God muſt neceſſarily be communicated to Reaſonable Creatures, in a Degree and Meaſure ſuitable to their Place in the Creation of God, in order to their Acting wiſely, holily, juſtly; with Goodneſs and Truth. The Apoſtle tells us that this was the Image and Likeneſs of God, wherein Man was created, and to which He is in part reſtored in his Sanctification. Eph. iv. 24. Renewed in the Spirit of your Mind, and after God created in Righteouſneſs and true Holineſs. Col. iii. 10. Renewed in Knowledge, after the Image of Him that created him.

MAN is a living Soul, not only in reſpect of Immortality, but as he is an Intelligent, Self-conſcious Creature, made a Law to Himſelf, and for Self-Government; an Agent by Counſel, accountable to God, to his own Conſcience, and to the Societies to which he belongs. He feels and ſhows the Work of the Law written in his Heart, his Conſcience bearing him Witneſs, and his Thoughts excuſing or accuſing, and binding him over to the Eternal Judgment of God, Rom. ii. 15, 16.

Senſe, Reaſon and Experience do all teſtify to us that the other Animals on Earth are not ſuch Living Souls, as theſe which we feel within our Selves. As they have no Conſcience of Right and Wrong, ſo no Knowledge or Fear of a holy Maker and Judge. They are not capable of contemplating p. 13God in his Works, nor of giving Glory to him in Acts of Worſhip and Obedience. But the Soul of Man is as evidently made for thoſe Exerciſes of Religion, to glorify God with his Body and Spirit; having the Preſages of a future and everlaſting State in preſent Hopes and Fears.

Now Moſes is the firſt who told the Sons and Daughters of Men in Writing of their being created theſe living Souls, for theſe ſuperior and holy Ends. And this is the firſt Thing he tells them concerning Themſelves, which highly becomes a Revelation from God, to let us know our Selves to be the Offspring of God; that He has taught us more than the Beaſts of the Earth, and made us Wiſer than the Fowls of Heaven, and expects more from us. This ſtands excellently well in the Account given us of our Creation. God knows the Soul which he has made, and tells it what it is, & leads it to Himſelf, by ſhowing it his own Image in it ſelf.

No Writer before Moſes has told Mankind how they came into Being, in what a Glory they were created, in what Rectitude and Perfection. And ſurely a Revelation from God to Man ſhould begin with ſuch an Account of his Original and firſt State; "Who made him, how he was made, what he was made for; that God made him very good, and for Himſelf; for Glory to Himſelf from Man, and for Bleſſedneſs in Himſelf unto him.

Thus Moſes writes of GOD who was before the World, and of His making it in ſuch a Manner as becomes the Wiſdom, Goodneſs, Holineſs and Eternal Power of God. Moſes could never have undertaken and perform'd This, but under the Inſpiration of God. Known to HIM, and to Him alone, are all his Works from the Beginning to the End. Had Moſes, or any One elſe, preſum'd to have told the Manner and Order of the Creation p. 14of their own Head, they had juſtly incurr'd the fearful Words of the ALMIGHTY out of the Whirlwind, Job xxxviii. 2,—6. Who is this that darkneth Counſel by Words without Knowledge? Gird up now thy Loyns like a Man; for I will demand of thee and anſwer thou Me. Where waſt thou when I laid the Foundation of the Earth? declare if thou haſt Underſtanding. Who laid the Meaſures thereof; if thou knoweſt? or who hath ſtretched the Line up in it? Whereupon are the Foundations thereof faſtned? or who laid the Corner-ſtone thereof? Or who ſhut up the Sea with Doors, &c.

Moſes was the boldeſt Man that ever wrote, the moſt daring and inſolent, if not inſpired from on High. Yet what can be more Reverend and Awful before God, than all his Words concerning Him and his Works! — What a Preſumption had it been to have pretended to tell, Who the firſt Parents of Mankind were, how they came into Being, what God ſaid to them, where he put 'em, and how they behav'd; if it were not from certain Tradition from the Mouth of Adam, or by immediate Inſpiration from Heaven? This Man Moſes, the wiſeſt and meekeſt upon Earth, had ſhown himſelf the vaineſt and proudeſt, to write as he did at the End of two Thouſand Years, without a certain Record left him to copy after, or the certain Impulſe and Dictate of the SPIRIT OF GOD. But if God ſpake to him, and by him of his own Work, then the meeker he was the more ſutable for God to ſpeak by; for He reſiſteth the proud and giveth Grace unto the lowly.

It looks indeed as if God ſpake to Moſes in that he tells us that Man was created laſt of all the Works of God upon Earth. The Earth and the Creatures on it were made for Man, by Moſes his Account; no doubt therefore but they were made before him. Man being the Top, the Crown, and p. 15Lord of the lower Creation, it was finiſhed and perfected in his Formation. It agrees to the Wiſdom, Goodneſs and Bounty of the Great CREATOR, that it was ſo. Thro' the whole Creation the leſs perfect was created firſt. The Advance is gradual, by Moſes's Account; from Earth to Graſs, from Graſs and Trees to Cattle & creeping Things, and then to Man in the Image of God.

Man had no more any Hand in his own Coming into Being, than any of the Inferiour Creatures. It was an Honour and Favour to Him to be made laſt. God built and furniſh'd him a Palace for his Reception, being deſign'd to be the Prince and Vicercy here below. He did not come into an empty naked World, but found it richly ſtor'd with every Beauty and Bounty for Soul and Body. He had the Glories of the whole finiſhed Creation for his Mind to contemplate, and all the Stores of Nature to regale his Appetite. Here was every Thing for Delight as well as Need; all that his Soul could wiſh for: Eno' to entertain his Wonder and raiſe his Gratitude, and fill him with Adorations. This was as became the Work of God.

Again that Man ſhould be created with more Solemnity, Pauſe and Pleaſure, than the other Creatures, as Moſes relates, is a Circumſtance as credible as it is agreable. God had ſaid, Let the Waters bring forth the moving Creature, and let the Earth bring forth the living Creature; but when the Formation of Man comes on the Style alters; and Reaſon good, on the Account of GOD, in whoſe Image Man was to be made. The words of God therefore were, Let Us make Man in Our Image, after Our Likeneſs, and let Them have Dominion. It was meet for the High GOD to put this Honour on His Own Image, in the Creature form'd for Dominion, and his own Worſhip. Honour and Majeſty is put upon Him in his Superior p. 16Nature, and therefore alſo in his Coming into Being. Pſal. viii. 5, 6, 7. Thou haſt made him a little lower than the Angels, and crowned him with Glory and Honour; Thou madeſt him to have Dominion over the Works of thy Hands, and haſt put all things under his Feet. God pleaſed to diſtinguiſh this his crowning Work before he made Him, and in making him, and afterward. He ſpake of Him, as he made him, as having a ſpecial Delight in the Sons of Men; "Let Us make Man, Our own Image upon Earth, a living Spirit, a rational & immortal Soul. This is ſaid for Man's ſake, as if he call'd a Council about forming him; that Man might reverence Himſelf, and love and praiſe his Maker. q. d. Let Us form this Creature for Our Self, in Knowledge and Sanctity, and for Immortality; to worſhip and obey Us, and be bleſſed in the High Enjoyment of our Favour for Evermore.

Man is ſacred and dedicated to that Glorious TRINITY or GODHEAD, Who thus ſpake of him in the Day of his Creation. His reverend and dutiful Anſwer muſt be‖‖Jerem. xxxviii. 16. Prov. xxxii. 8.Jer 38:16, GOD that made us this Soul! The SPIRIT of God hath made me, and the Inſpiration of the ALMIGHTY giveth me Underſtanding: For the Spirit of Man is the Candle of the LORD. Moſes his account of Man's Formation highly becomes a Creature ſo Endowed from on High. The whole Account is worthy of GOD and of his Work. Leſs ſhould not be ſaid of it, and more ought not.

To go on: That Man ſhould be created Male and Female, and but one Man and Woman, highly agrees to the Wiſdom and Purity of God. That it was ſo, none but God could tell; unleſs the Tradition might be had from Adam and his immediate p. 17Sons. That it ſhould be ſo is in all reſpects deſirable; Even that all Mankind, thro'out all Ages, might be of one Blood, one Family, the Children of one Father and Mother, and love accordingly: And that according to the Original Pattern, only one Man and one Woman ſhould joyn themſelves in Marriage thro' all Generations; to preſerve a chaſte, a godly, a robuſt and healthy, and ſo a happy Seed. This is the Reaſoning of the HOLY GHOST upon this Subject, toward the End of the Old Teſtament: Mal. ii. 15. Did He not make One? yet had He the Reſidue of the Spirit: And wherefore One? that He might ſeek a godly Seed. Wherefore take Heed to your Spirit, that none deal treacherouſly with the Wife of his Youth. The plain Meaning of the Prophet is this, God made but one Adam and Eve at firſt, as Moſes tells us. He could have made ten or twenty Females for the ſpeedy Propagation of Mankind, and to repleniſh the Earth, faſt with Inhabitants. And if ever there could be Reaſon to think that God would allow more than one Woman to a Man, it had been to Adam, when the whole Earth was without another Inhabitant, and it could be peopled but very ſlowly from one Pair. Yet even in this Caſe God made but one Eve, and inſtituted the Purity of the Marriage Bed therein; that no one in any Caſe, or on any Pretence, ſhould ever take more Wives than one at a Time, or break the Marriage Covenant by luſting after any other Woman. — And now, how worthy this Account of Adam and Eve, alone in the World, is of God their Maker, let the Experience of all the World ſpeak, from the manifeſt and manifold Confuſions to Perſons and Families, to Body Soul and Eſtate, from having more Wives than one, or from the impure Mixtures of Fornication and Adultery. How neceſſary and honourable is Chaſtity and holy Matrimony to Mankind, whether we conſider our p. 18ſelves as reaſonable, or as religious ſocial Creatures? The bodily Health is conſulted by the Law of Marriage, and the Health of the Soul more: It was meet therefore for the Father and Preſerver of Men to make This one of his firſt Laws and Inſtitutions, as Moſes tells us He did.

As One ſays, Since Adam was confined to one Wife, it is a ſufficient Intimation that his Sons ſhould be ſo; and that the Bond of Marriage is not to be diſſolved at Pleaſure. So our Lord JESUS has taught us to reaſon; Mat. xix. 3,—8. The Phariſees came unto Him, tempting him and ſaying, "Is it lawful for a Man to put away his Wife for every Cauſe? And he anſwered and ſaid unto them, "Have ye not read, that He which made them at the Beginning, made them Male and Female? and ſaid, For this Cauſe ſhall a Man leave Father and Mother, and ſhall cleave unto his Wife; and they twain ſhall be one Fleſh. Wherefore they are no more twain, but one Fleſh. What therefore God hath joyned together, let not Man put aſunder. They ſoy unto Him, Why did Moſes then command to give a Writing of Divorcement, and put her away? He ſaith unto them, Moſes becauſe of the Hardneſs of your Hearts ſuffered you to put away your Wives; but from the Beginning it was not ſo. No Permiſſion or Indulgence to any in Times paſt, no not to Abraham or Jacob themſelves, or to any of their Poſterity, may be pleaded for an Exemption from this Original Intention and Conſtitution in Man's Creation; but this muſt determine Us, — Adam had but one Wife, "Eve had but one Husband.

In the next place, Moſes tells us that as ſoon as God had form'd this lovely happy Pair, and brought them together, He bleſſed them. A Particular truly becoming the Father of their Spirits; the Former of their Bodies, and the Lover of his Own Image in them. He had made 'em holy, wiſe, perfect; p. 19for Happineſs in one another, and for Bleſſedneſs in Himſelf and in a better Life; and no wonder that He bleſſed 'em, rejoycing in his own Work. He bleſſed the Fiſh and the Fowl as they came into Being, and ſo the other Living Creatures that were made to propagate and multiply; for his Work was all Honourable and Glorious; but the Bleſſing of Man far excecded that on the inferior Creatures; as He was made greater and better than they. — Let the Sons and Daughters of Men know, that God moſt High is as ready to bleſs 'em all as to make 'em; and to bleſs 'em particularly in their Marriage and Family Relation: And that as he has fill'd this World with Variety of Bleſſings for them, ſo he gives them with a Bleſſing, and has greater Bleſſings than theſe in Store for them, if they will know and love and fear their MAKER; even all Spiritual Bleſſings in Heavenly Places in CHRIST JESUS.

Moſes certainly wrote as an Hiſtorian from GOD, in telling us with what Pleaſure God looked on Man, and on the inferior Creatures alſo, in the Day he made 'em; and how he beſtow'd his Bleſſing on them. It belongs to a Father to bleſs his Offſpring, from the Love he bears to 'em. And could it be poſſible that God ſhould make Adam and Eve in his own Likeneſs, and put them together, without a ſolemn Benediction?

By this Bleſſing God join'd them together in Holy Marriage, — And O what a Wedding was it! God gave the Bride, and bleſs'd the Match of his own making.— This Inſtitution of Marriage, upon the Formation of Man male and female, is a pure and evident Token that God ſpake by Moſes. It agrees to the whole after Current of Scripture, thro' both Teſtaments; to the Seventh Commandment in particular, and that every One poſſeſs himſelf in Sanctification and ….

p. 20To go on. By Moſes Account of the firſt State of Man, it appears that Adam and Eve were created with Underſtanding and Speech, and with the Powers of Reaſon in Perfection: Alſo with a Knowledge of the Brute Creatures neceſſary for their Dominion over them: And moreover, that in Things neceſſary for them to know, but above the Reach of Humane Underſtanding, they were favoured with Supernatural Revelations, or Inſpiration from on High. And certainly this is as became Him whoſe Work is perfect, who beheld it and lo it was all very good. It was neceſſary for Adam and Eve to be endowed with Knowledge and Speech, and not to have Theſe to acquire; for then had the lower Creation been without a Head or Ruler, and the Work of God had herein been greatly defective. — Moſes tells us therefore that as ſoon as our firſt Parents were created, God ſpake to them, and They to one another. God made Man a Soul and Mouth, and inſpired him with a Knowledge of Himſelf and of his MAKER. The Man and his Wife upon the firſt Sight of each other had a perfect Apprehenſion of their Relation and mutual Obligations; and knew Themſelves to be deſigned Parents of a numerous Poſterity, to people the Earth. — They knew alſo, by Moſes Account, all the Beaſts of the Earth; had an Underſtanding given them of the Nature of the brute Creatures; who were therefore bro't to Adam to receive their Names from him; which was his firſt act of Dominion over 'em, and a wondrous Proof of their Subjection to him, and a much more wonderful Evidence of that natural Wiſdom and Sagacity with which he was endued: That at the firſt Sight of any of the Creatures he could look into them, ſee their different Natures, and name them agreably.

p. 21It was a myſterious Dominion that Adam enjoyed, incircled by the various inferior Creatures, the Lion and the Bear together with the Sheep and Doves, to know what he wou'd call 'em. Gen. ii. 19, 20. Out of the Ground the Lord God formed every Beaſt of the Field, and every Fowl of the Air, and bro't them to Adam to ſee what he would call them; and whatſoever Adam called every living Creature, that was the Name thereof. Methinks the Angels miniſtred with Pleaſure on this Occaſion, & heard the Man give every Creature its proper Name. Or rather as One ſays, God by a ſpecial Inſtinct directed 'em to come to Man as their Maſter and Owner. God gave him Livery and Seiſin of them all, as the fair and great Eſtate he had endowed him with, and put him in Poſſeſſion of it all. The Creatures, as it were, did Homage to Him as their Sovereign. And they would have remain'd obedient to him, if he had been ſo unto his God. But when he loſt the Image of his God, the Creatures loſt alſo their Awe and Fear of him. All this now is worthy of God, and honorary to Man in his firſt State.

See again what a mighty Knowledge Adam was inſpired with on his firſt Sight of Eve. Read how he received Her from the Hand of God, into his own Arms. Words worthy to be written with a Pen of Gold, and graven with a Diamond on the Heart of all his Offspring. Gen. ii. 22, — 25. And the Rib which the LORD GOD had taken from Man made He a Woman, and bro't her to the Man. And Adam ſaid, "This is now Bone of my Bone, and Fleſh of my Fleſh! She ſhall be called Woman, becauſe ſhe was taken out of Man. Therefore ſhall a Man leave his Father and his Mother, and ſhall cleave unto his Wife; and They ſhall be one Fleſh. And they were both naked, the Man and his Wife, and were not aſhamed.

p. 22He knew her to be a Rib of Himſelf, his own Fleſh and Blood, taken from his very Heart, as ſoon as he ſaw her. So Chriſt loves his Church, for out of his own Side it was formed. Who, but GOD only, could inſpire Adam, in a Moment, at firſt Sight of Eve, to cry out,—Bone of my Bone! a Piece of my ſelf! taken out of me, to be again Joyned with me, and be One with me for Ever! Therefore ſhall a Man leave his Father and Mother and cleave to his Wife! What a Prophecy was this! fulfilled thro' the Earth, however degenerate it is become, unto this Day! How ſhould Adam in an Inſtant know any thing of being a Father & Mother and of having Children! and what the Temper and Manner of theſe Children ſhould be, in this grand Article of Life, thro' all Generations! What a Flight and Compaſs of Thoughts was this! beyond the Ken of Angels, who look'd on and ſaw this Interview, and heard the Salutation, and underſtood not one half of it. — This was the firſt Time, that by the Mouth of Man was made known to the Angels, the manifold Waſdom of God.

"That Adam (ſays a late moſt Ingenious Author ‡‡See Radation Examined) ſhould have a perfect Idea of Father and Mother before there was any ſuch thing, and of the Affection and Endearment ariſing from that Ralation; and at the ſame time ſee clearly a Second Affection ariſe from the Marriage of a Stranger, and getting the better of the Ties between Parent and Child; is a Problem that muſt puzzel all the Infidels in the World to explain. No Penetration of the Humane Mind, nothing but expreſs Revelation from God to Adam, can account for this Prediction. — What Idea's were here in Adam's p. 23Mind before there were any Objects for them! the Idea of Parent and Child, of the paternal & filial Affection, and of a Love ſucceeding theſe and ſurmounting them, that ſhould be Univerſal thro' all the Generations of Men upon the Earth! Theſe are Perceptions, moſt agreable for Adam to have on the Sight of Eve, and yet utterly impoſſible for him to have in any natural Way."

Nor is it conceivable that Moſes ſhould imagine, and feign theſe Tho'ts for the Head and Mouth of Adam: But if Moſes wrote them from God, then all is plain and eaſie. The Revealer was the ſame both to Adam and Moſes, and what was Prophecy in One, was Hiſtory in the Other.

And thus we ſee how worthy an Account we have from Moſes of the firſt State of Man, with reſpect unto that Perfection of Knowledge and Wiſdom in which he was created. Nothing could be more to the Glory of the CREATOR, nor be more honourable to the Creature, than this Account. Certainly the Wiſdom of Moſes could never have gone into all the Particulars before cited, but it is GOD has ſpoken to Him and by him. GOD who inſpired Adam to ſpeak and act, revealed it to Moſes; or it had never enter'd into his Heart.

I paſs on to another Point, which Moſes could never have tho't of, and that is the Inſtitution of a SABBATH to Man, from the Day in which he was created; together with the Reaſon for God's Sanctifying the ſeventh Part of Time. Gen. ii. 1, 2, 3. Thus the Heavens and the Earth were finiſhed, and all the Hoſt of them; and on the ſeventh Day God ended his Work which he had made; and he reſted on the ſeventh Day from all his Work which he had made: And God bleſſed the Seventh Day and ſanctified it; p. 24becauſe that in it He had reſted from all his Work, which God had created and made.

It is highly agreable to Reaſon, and ſeems to me a plain Dictate of the Religion of Nature, that ſome Portion of Time be ſtatedly Holy to God, and for the Reverend Worſhip of Mankind, as Social Creatures‖‖If God muſt be worſhipped, there muſt be a Time for it. The Author of all our Time deſerves a Share in it. The Affairs of this World can't claim it all; the Expectation of a better challenges a part. A Mind full of earthly Cares is unfit for Attendance on God. We may not take his Name lightly and in vain. The Time for Worſhip ſhould be ſtated, that it may be remembred and prepar'd for. One Day in Seven can't be tho't too much for God and our Souls. His Diguity and their Value forbid us to think ſo—See the Religion of JESUS delineated.. What that Part of Time is, ſeems to me beyond the Power of Man's Reaſon to determine, whether a third, a fifth, a ſeventh, or a tenth. God muſt therefore reveal his Mind to Man in this Point. And He muſt do it early, as Moſes tells us he did, even as ſoon as the Creation was finiſhed. God let our Parents know immediately, that the Seventh Part of Time ſhould be for ever holy to Himſelf, and for Exerciſes of Worſhip unto Mankind, Solitary and Social, to all Generations.

How well did this become the Proprietor and Lord of Man, Lord of his Life and Time, and of all his Powers, of Soul and Body! How did it become his own Glory, and his Creatures Duty and Happineſs! that Man ſhould render to Him a perpetual publick Acknowledgment as his Creator, and herein enjoy a ſtated bleſſed Communion with Him! growing in his Likeneſs and Love all his Days upon the Earth. God's Regards to Himſelf and us are manifeſt in a Sabbath. And it is meet to be his firſt Ordination to his Creature Man, his firſt Injunction, Commandment and Law to him; that Man's p. 25firſt Day ſhould be a holy Sabbath unto God.—What elſe ſhould it be? Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive Glory and Honour and Power! for thou haſt created all things, and for thy Pleaſure they were and are created, Rev. iv. ult.

Surely reveal'd Religion muſt begin with the Inſtitution of a Sabbath, and it can ſubſiſt by nothing leſs than the Obſervation of it. The Conſideration of this is a ſhining Ray on the Face of Moſes. The firſt Thing God provided for, was to be worſhipped by his Creature for ever, in the moſt open and ſolemn Manner: the Salvation of his Creature depended on it, and His own Glory from him. And none but Moſes ever gave the Reaſon why the Seventh Part of Time is ſacred to the Worſhip of God, namely, becauſe God had finiſhed his Work in the Space of ſix Days.

Here is a ſufficient Reaſon why this is the Part of Time declared to be morally Holy, and therefore to be put into the Moral Law, when given from Heaven; as Exod. xx. 11. It is a Reaſon becoming the MAKER of Man, his Lawgiver and Judge! meet to be given to Adam in Paradiſe, and meet to be given from Sinai to the Church.

The Sabbath was made for Man; as Chriſt has told us: Therefore as ſoon as Man was made the Sabbath was given to him. It is a good Day for Man, for Soul and Body both; for our Families eſpecially, our Sons and Daughters, our Men and Maid Servants. Theſe therefore are named in the Commandment, and even the labouring Cattle at our Doors. Reſt is good, under the Curſe of Toil and Sweat which Sin has bro't upon us. But holy Work is better, the Exerciſe and even Labour of the Mind Heart and Affections, in Contemplation Prayer and Praiſe, in holy Communications, in reading preaching and hearing the Word of God. This is the true Reſt of a Soul devoted to God, p. 26and under the Attractions of Heaven, at the returning Seaſons of God's own ſanctifying. See Pſalms xcii. 1,—5.cxi. 1,—4.

Juſtly have the Books of Moſes been always read in the worſhiping Aſſemblies, both of Jews and Chriſtians, every Sabbath Day; He being the firſt Man that has written of a weekly Sabbath for Man, from the Beginning of the World unto the End of it. The number Seven ſeems accordingly honoured in the Courſe of Nature, more than any other, by the Moon in its conſtant Changes.

Seven has been the Ancient and honour'd Number among the Nations of the Earth. They have meaſur'd their Time by Weeks from the Beginning. The Original of this was the Sabbath of God, as Moſes has given the Reaſon of it in his Writings. No wonder then that this Number is honour'd thro' the Book of God. Noah waited Seven days, and ſent out the Dove again. Balaam ſeems to have a ſuperſtitious Regard to this Number; "Build me ſeven Altars, and prepare me ſeven Oxen. At ſeven Years End was the Sabbatical Year, and the Jubilee to the Children of Iſrael at the End of ſeven times ſeven.

Seventy Weeks (of Years) were determined upon the Holy City, in the Prophecies of Daniel, for the Coming of the Meſſiah, the Anointing of the moſt Holy. And if we look into the Revelations of John, the laſt Book of Scripture, the Sevens multiply upon us; the ſeven golden Candleſticks, ſeven Stars, ſeven Horns, ſeven Eyes, ſeven Angels, ſeven Spirits of God, ſeven Thunders, ſeven Vials, the ſeven laſt Plagues. There ſeems ſomething very particular in the HOLY GHOST's fixing ſo much upon this Number: And what ſhould be the Key to it? but the Beginning of the Writings of Moſes, the firſt Pages in the Book of God? his finiſhing his glorious Work in Six Days, and conſecrating p. 27the Seventh to be a Holy Sabbath to Himſelf.— The Number Seven is made Honourable to us, both in the Works of God and alſo in his Word. His Word agrees with his Works herein, and it is a Teſtimony for Moſes that God ſpake by him.

It ſhould endear and make Venerable the Name of Moſes to us, that we are thus let into the Reaſon of a Sabbath to the Church and People of God thro' all Times. It was meet that the wiſe and good God ſhould fix it thus, and reveal it thus, from the Beginning. Mankind have never been without a Sabbath, nor ever will be.— We thus triumph in the Sabbath day, and in Moſes by whom God made it known to us. We ſing the Song of Moſes and celebrate our Sabbaths. We remember that the firſt Thing he ſpeaks of to us from God is the Sabbath. We remember how awfully he charges us to obſerve and keep it. Exod. xxxi. 12, 13, 14. The Name of Moſes was venerable to Nehemiah on this Account. Nehem. ix. 13, 14.

Let us keep the Holy Day with Joy, in Memory of the World's Nativity, in Remembrance of God our MAKER. Let us wiſh to keep our Sabbaths always, as our firſt Parents did their firſt Day unto God. God ſanctify us on the Sabbath Day, as He has ſanctified that to us. Let us every Lord's day remember the Law of Moſes, God's Servant. Let Moſes the Servant, lead us to CHRIST, the SON, in his own Houſe. JESUS honoured the Sabbath, and did it greater Glory than Moſes. Moſes wrote of it, and JESUS wrought his Miracles of Grace on it. JESUS preach'd on it, ſo as never Man ſpake. The Jewiſh Sabbath was buried in the Grave of JESUS; the Chriſtian Sabbath roſe with Him on the firſt Day of the Week. Then he reſted from his more glorious Work of our Redemption, made his Viſits and ſent down the HOLY SPIRIT thereon. We yet ſanctify the Seventh Part of Time, to the p. 28Honour of GOD our Maker, Redeemer & Sanctifier, To the ONE GOD, Father, Son, and Holy Ghoſt, be Glory in the Churches of his Saints, while Sun and Moon, Day and Night endure! Glory be to the FATHER, to the SON, & to the HOLY GHOST; as it was in the Beginning, is and ever ſhall be; World without End. Amen.

I have inſiſted the more upon this great Point, (the very firſt by Moſes Account after the Creation of Man, and of the laſt Importance to his Felicity and the CREATOR's Glory) becauſe I find it wholly omitted by a moſt Ingenious Writer, while he ſelects three other Things from Moſes Writings, which he well obſerves did require a Revelation in the State of Purity; namely, Food, Marriage and Language. But certainly the Sabbath ſtands as plain in Moſes Account, and equally call'd for a Revelation from God; even that Part of Time which ſhould be for ever ſacred from Man, to the ſolemn public Worſhip of God. For as Man was made for Worſhip, and alſo for worldly Works, ſo there muſt be a Sabbath, or holy Reſt, made for Man: That is to ſay, a Portion of Man's Time ſacred to God. Of this Man's Reaſon and Conſcience would eaſily tell him in his perfect State, but could not (I conceive) diſcover what that juſt Proportion was, Moſes lets us know that this call'd for a Revelation from God to Adam, and accordingly the LORD GOD ſeparated and bleſſed the ſeventh Day. That it muſt be a Seventh, and the Reaſon why a Seventh, could be known only by Revelation. And this I take to be a grand Inſtance and Argument of the Credibility of Moſes Hiſtory; that whereas ſome Time muſt be Holy to God from Man, the Proportion is given by Him, and by none before him, with the moſt ſecret and illuſtrious Reaſon of it.

p. 29This Proportion of Man's Time is found by Experience ſo convenient and ſufficient, that none can be fix'd on by the Wit of Man alike ſutable and fitting. And This is ſo great a Thing in the Hiſtory of Moſes, in the Religion of Man, and in the Worſhip of God, and is ſo plain a Thing in the ſacred Story, that I could by no Means omit it, nay could not but inlarge on it as a chief Strength and Beauty in the Argument before me. I wiſh that all Chriſtians were duly ſenſible how great a Thing the Sabbath is in true Religion, according to the Scriptures of God, from the Beginning to the End of the World.

The only Exception to what I have advanced from this early Mention of the Inſtitution of a Sabbath in the Writings of Moſes, that I have met with, is this: That we don't find the leaſt Hint of the Obſervation of a Sabbath in all the Patriarchal State from the Days of Adam to that of Moſes; and therefore it is probable that Moſes mention'd it in his Account of the Work of Creation only by Way of Anticipation, after he had received the Decalogue at Sinai; where finding it given as a Reaſon for the fourth Commandment, That in ſix Days the Lord made Heaven and Earth, the Seas and all that in them is, and reſted the ſeventh Day, wherefore the Lord bleſſed the Sabbath Day and hallowed it; he from thence took Occaſion in the Beginning of his Hiſtory to mention God's reſting from all his Work, and bleſſing the Seventh Day.

If this manner of Arguing had come from the Mouth of an Infidel, I ſhould have overlook'd the Weakneſs of it from his Prejudice againſt Revelation from God; but from the Pen of a Believer and a Chriſtian Doctor, I can impute it to nothing but his low Eſteem of the Sabbath, from an unhappy Education in that too common Prejudice prevailing in p. 30ſome Chriſtian Schools, to the unknown Injury of true Religion and vital Piety. The Verity of Moſes is indeed impeached, as well as one eminent Signature of his Inſpiration from Heaven thrown up, by this lame Conceſſion, from the Silence of Scripture concerning the Obſervation of a Sabbath before the Flood. Whereas the whole Current of Scripture from the Days of Moſes, thro' the Writings of the Prophets, Evangeliſts and Apoſtles, is ſtrong for a Weekly Sabbath, as a moſt neceſſary and important Means of Religion in the Church of God.— Is it not then by far moſt probable, that the moſt Ancient Patriarchs did according to this early Appointment, recorded by Moſes, obſerve it as a Day of Reſt from Labour, and for the Worſhip of God their Creator? And that one Day in Seven, as divinely appointed, has run thro' all Diſpenſations, both before and after Moſes, and muſt remain to the End of the World‡‡See a late Treatiſe, Faith and Practice, in 54. Sermons, on the Principal Heads of Chriſtian Religion. Sermon 31,?

The Thing next related by Moſes is that a Paradiſe was prepared for our firſt Parents, in their State of Innocence and Rectitude. The Earth was it ſelf indeed a Paradiſe, but ſome One of the fineſt and richeſt Spots in it was ſingled out for Man's firſt Reſidence & Dwelling. Gen. ii. 8, 15. And the Lord God planted a Garden Eaſtward in Eden, and there He put the Man whom he had formed; to dreſs it and keep it; where He had made to grow every Tree that is pleaſant to the Sight and good for Food.

As the Sabbath had been given for the Soul, the better Part of Man, ſo was this Garden prepared for him as an imbodied Spirit; to gratify his Sight, p. 31Smell, Taſte and Hearing; by every Senſe, and Bounty of God, to draw forth his Heart to Him, his magnificent and munificent CREATOR.

Here Adam and Eve walk'd together, contemplated and diſcourſed, eat and worſhip'd. The Birds ſang in the Branches, the Trees were laden with painted Fruit, the Plants were covered with Flowers of the ſweeteſt Odour, and Streams of pure Water ran by the green ſhady Walks. A Scene meet to typify and repreſent the Heavenly Felicity, which is therefore call'd by the Name of Paradiſe, and figur'd out to us by the Garden of God with the Tree of Life in it. Rev. xxii. Man's firſt State continued in, had been as like to Heaven for Happineſs, as could be on Earth.

We read of the Trees of Eden in the Garden of God: Ezek. xxxi. 9. Eden ſignifies Pleaſure. That muſt needs be a Place of Delights, which is meet to be called the Garden of God. — What a Garden was this? of God's own forming and laying out? of his own ſettling and planting? of his own preparing for the Creature of his peculiar Delight, made in his Image and Likeneſs? There was doubtleſs a Collection of every Thing pleaſant and fair for Delight, and all ranged in the moſt beauteous Order.—Souls know no higher Compariſon whereby to expreſs their Delights in GOD their Maker, Saviour and Sanctifier; nor His in Them; in and with whom He ſtill walks as He did with Adam and Eve in Eden: Cant. iv12,—16.

The Scituation of the Earthly Paradiſe ſeems to me a vain Enquiry. After Sin had blaſted it, it might become one of the moſt barren and waſte Places, even before the Flood; as the Garden of Iſrael became after their Iniquity and Puniſhment was full. The Flood tore the Surface of the Earth in pieces, and the Spot where Paradiſe was may be now a Lake of Water, or a craggy Rock. Moſes, p. 32I think, only pointed to the Place where about it was, by the new and preſent Rivers that are ſince the Diſruption of the Earth. We muſt no more think of any Paradiſe here below, there is no ſuch thing to be found. If there had ever been another, it had been in the Gardens of Solomon, but Vanity and Folly and Death ſoon convinc'd the Monarch that no Labour or Expence of Man can recover any Earthly Paradiſe.

And indeed the firſt Paradiſe had been nothing, without Purity, Rectitude and Immortality in it. As ſoon as Sin entered, and Death by Sin, Man found no more any Paradiſe in Eden, but fled, hid and was driven out of it. And ſo 'tis as to all our Imaginary Paradiſes regain'd here, in a State of Sin and Death. After all the Fatigue in the Experiment, or Attempt for them, we muſt write on 'em the Words of Solomon, which in Effect call 'em a Fools Paradiſe, Eccl. ii. 4,—11.

The Air without, and Wiſdom within, was ſuch in the Paradiſaic State, that our Parents needed no Covering. The Man and his Wife were naked, and were not aſhamed. This is admirably well ſaid of a State of Innocence and moral Perfection. The Purity and Wiſdom of God dwelt in them, and they could have nothing to bluſh at. This was the better, the Superior Part of Paradiſe; far more than all its delicious Fruits to the Eye or Palate, or than the perfum'd ſerene Air to their Noſtrils. Their Paradiſe was within Themſelves, and ſo is every wiſe and good Man's in the Grace of God within him. The obedient Animals about them were nothing to their own Obedience to God; His Spirit in 'em and Image on them. This made their Heart glad, their Face to ſhine, the Air calm, and the Fruits delicious. "By the Fall we have loſt, as One well obſerves, the true Notion of Honour and Shame". There is nothing ſhameful but Sin, p. 33but every thing is good and great that belongs to Virtue and Sanctity. It is more than Chains to the Neck, Bracelets to the Arms, or a Crown for the Head. There is no Paradiſe regain'd, but in that Regeneration which CHRIST preach'd to Nicodemus, and which his Goſpel produces in his Elect and Sanctified. We muſt be created anew after God, in Righteouſneſs and true Holineſs, and be made New Creatures. This is the Shadow of the Paradiſe paſt, and the Earneſt of that to come.

Let our Meditation of the One end in nothing ſhort of the Other. The Bible begins there and ends here. Rev. xxii. Surely it is as the Revelation of God ſhould begin and end. God meant Man two Paradiſes, the one in the Way to the other. By Adam's loſing the firſt, the other alſo is loſt to moſt of his miſerable Children. If the firſt Paradiſe had been kept, dreſs'd and improved, we had not fail'd of the ſecond. But O the Shame and Miſery to Mankind, when we reflect — how ſoon the Enjoyments of a Paradiſe were all forfeited and loſt! all vilely thrown away as a Thing of nought!

How ungrateful to God, and unnatural to Themſelves, was this Sin of our firſt Parents! We are driven from the Joys of Paradiſe, into the ſorrowful Conſideration of the Crime and Guilt of Man's Apoſtacy. From a Garden of higheſt Peace and Pleaſure, we paſs into an Hoſpital of Diſeaſes, Sores, Pains, Anguiſhes both of Soul and Body! into the Agonies of Death, the Putrefaction of the Grave, and the Torments of Hell for Evermore.

O diſmal Change of State and Place! from the Paradiſe of GOD, to the Pit of Devils. Legions of Angels had fell from the Heights of Heavenly Glory before this; had left their firſt State, and were caſt down into Hell. They are in Chains of Darkneſs reſerved unto Judgment, a Pet. ii. 4. Jude p. 34v. 6. Lucifer, (the Prince of theſe fallen Angels, the Devil and Satan, that Son of Pride and Malice) could not bear to ſee a Spirit in Fleſh in the Image and Favour of God, in a Paradiſe on Earth, while he was ſunk down to Hell, accurſed. He therefore in Spite to God and to his happy Creature Man, in his accurſed Hatred of the Image of God in One ſo much his Inferior in the Order of Creatures, meditated (and alas accompliſh'd) Man's Loſs of his Original Holineſs, his Ejection from his earthly Paradiſe, his Forfeiture of the Heavenly, and Condemnation after him to a Hell of everlaſting Burnings. And now let us ſee by what Means he effected this his deviliſh Deſign.

Only the Writings of Moſes let us into the Original of Evil. That GOD is good, and that He muſt needs make all things good, and Man ſo in a ſingular manner, is agreed on all Hands. But whence then ſhould Evil come? This is a Difficulty that has puzzled all Men, who have not ſeen or us'd the Key of Scripture. That only opens to us the Gates of the Shadow of Death, and ſhows us the Goodneſs and Holineſs of God, without the leaſt Imputation from all the Miſery and Ruin, that Man by the Inſtigation of the Devil has bro't upon himſelf.

The greateſt Wonder is, how Sin could enter into any of the Angels of God, in their Superior State of Knowledge and Wiſdom, Goodneſs and Holineſs. And the Gueſſes of learned & pious Men are very vain, I fear, in this Point, if they venture further than the SPIRIT OF GOD has led 'em, in the few Hints given of this tremendous Matter in the written Word. There we read of the Condemnation of the Devil, that it was for Pride: 1 Tim. iii. 6. The moſt probable Account that can be of the Sin of Angels: that there was ſome Diſcontent, Emulation p. 35or Envying among them, or ſome Aſpiring to be as the MOST HIGH; to which Sin he prompted our Parents alſo, and prevailed.

This was the Original of Sin and Miſery; probably long before our Earth was created and Man upon it. And when Angels ſaw the Delights of God in the Sons of Men and ſhouted for Joy, the Devils were filled with Madneſs and Vexation at it, and ſet themſelves to deſtroy this pleaſing Workmanſhip of God.

We are greatly obliged to Moſes, in the Hand of GOD, for this Diſcovery to us of the Cauſe the Way and Means of our Ruin. We are deliver'd from the vain and abſurd Imagination which others have gone into of an Evil God, as well as a Good One. A moſt impious Principle, and pleaſing eno' to the Devil; to make a God of him, and give him a Throne like the Moſt High. A very grateful Return to Him for all the Miſchief he has done us!

The Perſians went into this ridiculous Notion, which was the Reaſon of the Prophet's Words to Cyrus, the Anointed while yet unborn, in the Name of the LORD: Iſai. xlv. 5, 6, 7. I am the LORD, and there is none elſe, there is none beſide Me; I girded thee, tho' thou haſt not known Me: That they may know from the Riſing of the Sun and from the Weſt, that there is none beſide Me: I am the LORD and there is none elſe: I form the Light and create Darkneſs, I make Peace & create Evil; I the LORD do all theſe things. You may be ready to think, this would miſlead the People of Cyrus into an ill Tho't of the Good God, as if he were the Author of Evil. But the plain Meaning is, that there cannot poſſibly be two Gods, the one good and the other evil; Oppoſites and Rivals to each Other; and that ſuch an Imagination ought never to have enter'd into their fooliſh blinded Hearts. For GOD is neceſſarily One only, and moſt Good; and p. 36at firſt made all Things good, and forbad Evil to the uttermoſt. But intelligent Creatures ſinn'd againſt their own Light, abus'd their Freedom, and bro't the Evil upon Themſelves. And now this Evil is under the wiſe and righteous Government of the Good God, is the Puniſhment of a wicked World, and over ruled by God to the moſt wiſe, good and holy Ends. Therefore there is but One Providence and Dominion over all, which is altogether good and perfect, and in the Hand of the GOD of Iſrael, the one living and true God.

Into all this Train of Truth and Religion to the One Eternal ſupream GOD, Moſes leads us by his Account of the Origine of Evil; telling us how God made Man very good and happy, and how ſoon he made himſelf ſinful and miſerable.

But the Wonder then muſt be about the Way and Means of Man's bringing himſelf under Sin and Miſery. And this is the Particular which Moſes (under the Inſpiration of God) has revealed to us. A Matter of the laſt Importance to the Honour of God, and for our Recovery to Him. And when we have conſidered Moſes his Account, we cannot conceive of any other, or like Way, for the Original of all the Evils, of Body and Soul, that we find our Selves under, from our Birth into the World, to our going out of it.

Moſes therefore lets us know, in the firſt place; That God having made Man's Body to ſubſiſt and live by Food, growing out of the Earth; He immediately gave Direction to Man about his proper Food. Gen. i. 29. And God ſaid, Behold, I have given you every Herb bearing Seed, which is upon the Face of all the Earth; and every Tree yielding Fruit; to you it ſhall be for Meat. Moſes goes on in the next Chapter and tells us, That the LORD GOD having planted the Garden in Eden for his Creature p. 37Man, He fill'd it with every Tree pleaſant to the Eye and good for Food; and in the Midſt of the Garden he plac'd the Tree of Life, and alſo a Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil: And that the LORD GOD commanded the Man, ſaying, Of every Tree of the Garden thou mayeſt freely eat, out of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil thou ſhalt not eat of it; for in the Day that thou eateſt thereof thou ſhalt ſurely die.

Now what could be more good than all this? conſulting the Honour of God and Man's Happineſs, in God's Government and Man's Obedience! and other Way for Either there could be none. What could the wiſe and holy ONE do more, or what leſs, to prevent the very Being and Knowledge of Evil? He forbid it on Pain of Death, he told our Parents the certain Conſequent of their Diſobedience to Him, in this or any other Particular; that it would be ALL EVIL to them, Death and Damnation to Body and Soul.

It was in the Power and Will of Man now to have obey'd and continued happy; but to be ſure you would have tho't that he could never dare to offend in this particular Point, by Eating of the forbidden Tree, which carried the Knowledge of Evil in its Name. But God ſaw Man's Danger was here, in his Appetite, which it was fit to reſtrain and direct as to every thing that would be hurtful to the Life of the Body, and therein alſo to the Powers of the Soul; and whatſoever was not ſo, Man might be ſure his bountiful Maker would not prohibit to him.

It ſeems very reaſonable to think, That Man in the Perfection of his Underſtanding needed the Direction of God, as Moſes tells us he had it, in reſpect of his proper F…d. He was not created with a natural Inſtinct like the brute Creatures, which is to them a more infallible Direction than p. 38Reaſon could be in the matter of Food. The Creatures were made to be govern'd only by Senſe, and a Senſe they have very perfect what to eat & drink, and what not; even as if they knew and could ſay to themſelves, This is good for me, and that would do me hurt; I chuſe this therefore as I ſhun that.—Reaſon in Man was not primarily intended for theſe inferior Things, and therefore was never meant to ſerve as Inſtinct does in the brute Kind the Purpoſes of Univerſal Senſe and Antipathy, which is neceſſary to their Preſervation. Reaſon being given us for higher Uſes, Man ſeems to need a Revelation from God about his inferior Good, his Food. It is by Obſervation and Experience that Mankind get the Knowledge of Things noxious to Them, among the Herbs or Fruits of the Earth. And there being, let us ſuppoſe, one Tree in the Midſt of the Garden of a poiſonous Nature to the Humane Body, God forbad it to Man, and made it the Trial of his Obedience; aſſuring him it would be deadly to him if he eat of it.

I own, that it is not neceſſary for us to ſuppoſe this Poiſon in the forbidden Tree. It is eno' that God forbad it, were it never ſo good in it ſelf. It was certainly intended to prove our firſt Parents whether they would continue good, or lapſe into known Evil. They knew it would be good in them to abſtain and obey, and would certainly be very evil in them, and bring Evil on 'em to diſobey and eat. They could not think that God would have denied 'em this Tree, if it were not Evil for them in it ſelf, for any other End but the Trial of their Obedience, whether they would continue good.— Yet on the other Hand, there might be (for ought we know) a natural Evil to the Body of Man in this forbidden Tree. As we are told by Biſhop Patrick that many of the Fathers p. 39ſuppos'd there was a Virtue in the Tree of Life to preſerve and maintain the Animal Spirits, and the bodily Organs, in that equal Temper and State in which they were created.— But as to This we may think differently, and yet not differ upon it. It comes to the ſame Thing, if with other Divines we judge the Tree of Life to have been only a Sign and Seal of the Continuance of Life and Happineſs to Adam, even unto Immortality and everlaſting Bleſſedneſs, thro' the Grace and Favour of his Maker, upon Condition of his Perſeverance in his State of Innocence and Obedience. In like manner the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil was at leaſt this, "A Sign and warning to Adam of the Loſs of Life and Happineſs, and of the ſad Experiment of Evil in Soul and Body; and as ſuch it was forbidden him. — So that here were Life and Death, Bleſſing and Curſing, ſet before our firſt Parents, as in two Sacramental Signs & Seals annexed to the Covenant of Works.

In ſhort, Moſes lets us know that Man's Depravation both in Soul and Body was from his Sinning againſt God, and that the Sin of Man was his indulging an irregular Appetite, in an Inſtance poſitively forbidden him, with a moſt plain Threatning of the mortal Effects of it||See Revelation Examined, Diſſert. I. He tells us alſo the Temptation Man was under to commit the Sin, namely, to attain a higher Degree of Knowledge than he was made in. God had made him very knowing and happy in all Reſpects, and he ought to have been not only contented with, but very thankful for his Endowments and Enjoyments both intellectual and ſenſitive. God had made him to uſe his Knowledge, and to govern his Appetites, p. 40in a reverential Obedience to Him his LORD. To diſobey was neceſſarily to defile himſelf both as to Soul and Body, and that preſumptnouſly in Defiance to the Warning given him of the fatal Effect on both, Death bodily and ſpiritual. Here was a Complication of Infidelity, Ingratitude, Diſcontent, Prophaneſs, Senſuality, Pride and Arrogance, with unnatural Cruelty againſt his own Life, and that of his Offspring.

This Account of the Original of Sin and Miſery wonderfully agrees with the Progreſs and Propagation of it from Age to Age. As one excellently obſerves and argues, We ſee it ſtill in our Selves to be the Eſtabliſhment of God, in the Nature and Conſtitution of Things, that all irregular Indulgence of bodily Appetite, of one Kind or other, is atttended with Evil: And ſo alſo every inordinate Affection and Paſſion of Soul, and in particular all vain Purſuits of ſuperiour Wiſdom, Affectation and Pride of Knowledge, naturally tend to impair the Powers of the Mind and make it vain. And as this is matter of Fact, ſo what can be more worthy of the Wiſdom, Goodneſs and Perfection of God's Government, than that the Abuſe of Reaſon ſhould impair the Powers of it, and Indulgence of Appetite make it more irregular. And if every Diſorder of Mind and Fleſh in Man is ſtill attended with Evil, how agreable to Reaſon muſt this Account of the Original of Evil be, which Moſes gives us; ſoil, That God acquainted Adam and Eve, as ſoon as he had made 'em, with this certain and invariable Conſtitution of Humane Nature; and therefore vehemently prohibited every inordinate Deſire and Appetite, becauſe of the Evil that would onſue upon it, to Themſelves firſt and alſo to their Poſterity after them; which in the Courſe p. 41of Nature is unavoidable, The Infections of Parents affecting their Children while yet in their Loins.

And this again was a very great Aggravation of the firſt Tranſgreſſion, that it muſt be in the Courſe of Nature the Inlet and Entail of Sin and Miſery upon the Offspring. If the firſt Parents corrupted themſelves, their Iſſue muſt come depraved into the World both in Soul and Body: For who can bring a clean Thing out of an unclean? That which is born of the Fleſh is Fleſh. People that are vicious and luſtful corrupt their own Seed, more or leſs by their Indulgences, and often entail Diſeaſes, Dolours and evil Inclinations upon their Offspring; which is one Way of God's viſiting the Iniquity of Parents on their Children to the third and fourth Generation. — And that the firſt Corruption of Mankind ſhould be by their firſt Parents eating of a Fruit forbidden to them, becauſe Evil for them to eat of, by a good God, can't ſeem at all ſtrange to us who know that there are ſeveral ſorts of Fruits growing at this Day about us, the eating whereof would poiſon our Bodies and be deadly to us, ſome preſently, ſome more leiſurely. And thoſe that do in the moſt ſlow manner affect the bodily Life, do at the ſame Periods of Time and in the ſame Degrees affect the Soul and hurt the Powers of the Mind. The Experiment and Knowledge of Evil comes on Mankind after this Manner unto this Day. No wonder then if it firſt came in at this Door. Nay it may be we ſhould find, if we could but attain a perfect Knowledge of the Effects of every forbidden Indulgence of bodily Appetite, and the Paſſions of our Souls, that there is not the leaſt of either Kind we can be guilty of, but it does in ſome Degree impair the Health and Life of the Body, as well as the Virtue and Purity of the Soul. Our Soul and Body in their preſent p. 42Union ſuffer together, by every Intemperance and Luſting of Fleſh or Spirit, bring on their own Diſſolution, and treaſure up Evil againſt the World to come; where God has told us we muſt ſuffer in both, if Sin is died in; if it is not repented of, ſubdued and forſaken here in the Body: Which is the only way to recover ſomething of a Paradiſaic State for Souls here, and of Life everlaſting for Soul and Body hereafter.

Let the Wit of Man ſhow if it can a more eredible, a like natural Account of the Original and Propagation of Sin and Miſery. And if the Freethinkers, the Deiſts and Unbelievers of the preſent Age cannot give us a more likely Account; more worthy of a wiſe and good God, and more agreable to the Nature of Man; let them receive Conviction and confeſs that GOD was in Moſes of a Truth, or at leaſt let them ceaſe their Cavilling and Snarling at the Holy Scriptures, and from blaſpheming the Writings of Moſes.

For my own part, If I know what free thinking is in this our degenerate State, wherein we find the Powers of Mind and Body infeebled and depraved to a great Degree; If I know what it is to reaſon clearly and impartially, it is on the Side of Moſes, and by Faith given to what he has written as a Revelation from God unto us. But it is no great wonder to ſee the Men of Licence and vicious Life at Defiance to the Writings of Moſes, which would convince them of Sin and lead 'em to the Original of it, and thereby condemn to Death all their lov'd criminal Indulgences both of Fleſh and Spirit. For if they own Moſes his Account to be true, Death muſt be for ever ſtaring 'em in the Face in all the Exceſſes of their bodily Appetites, in all their inordinate Paſſions, and more eſpecially in their darling imperious Aſſuming of Knowledge to themſelves, p. 43as if none had taſted of that Tree beſide 'em, but they were the Gods knowing Good & Evil.

And it is too true that this is their Guilt and Aſpiration, in Similitude of Adam's Tranſgreſſion, while they ridicule the Imputation of it and the Derivation of it. So has the Serpent beguiled 'em thro' his Subtlety, and like their firſt Parents they tranſgreſs daily, but do not ſee themſelves naked. While they laugh at the Account of Adam's Sin, and banter Moſes for it, they are but feeding on the Tree of Death without Fear.

I ſay again, The Origine of Evil had remain'd unknown to us to this Day, if God had not reveal'd it to us in his Word. The World by Wiſdom could not know it. Neither the Grecian or Roman Schools could imagine which way Mankind had become ſo vicious, fooliſh and miſerable. The moſt probable Solution of the Matter was the Opinion of a pre-exiſtent State wherein Souls had ſinned, and were ſent into theſe Bodies as into Priſons in Way of Puniſhment. Others went into the before named ridiculous Notion of two oppoſite and contrary Principles or Cauſes, the One of all the Good in the World, the other of all the Evil in it. What Confuſion was there in this Imagination of an Evil God? how were their fooliſh Hearts darkned? What a Mercy is it to be delivered out of this Maze and Labyrinth of Evil! Truth is eaſie, but Error is endleſs. How plain is the Matter now Moſes has told it to us? in the Queſt whereof we ſhould have wandered in vain without his Clue.

Evil is from the Creature and not from God. Far be it from the ALMIGHTY who cannot be tempted with Evil, neither tempteth he any Man. Angels and Men were drawn away of their own Luſt and enticed. God inclined both the One and Other ſtrongly to Good, commanded it, and forbad the p. 44Knowledge of Evil. Angels were high in the Creation of God, but aſpiring to be higher they fell by Pride. Fallen they ſwell'd with Rage and Envy and Hatred of God, and of every happy Being, the Objects of his Love and Favour. Man being of this bleſſed Number, the Prince of Devils had him in his ſpiteful Eye, and preſently deviſed Means how to ſpoil God of his Glory from Man, and Man of his Bleſſedneſs in the Favour of God. He knew there was but one Way in which to compaſs this dire Event, and that was to entice Man into Sin, the abominable Thing which God hates. To compaſs this he conſidered the Nature of Man both as to Soul and Body, the Appetite of the one to Food, and the Thirſt of the other after Knowledge: And there being in the Garden one Tree of goodly Fruit to look on forbidden to the Man, he propoſed if he could by any Means to bring him to luſt after it and eat of it, and he fix'd on that by which he and his Angels had fallen; ſcil, Diſcontent in his State, and by aſpiring after more Knowledge; a Temptation to which he would draw from the very Name of the forbidden Tree, the Tree of Knowledge; a Tree (he would feign) to be deſired for an Increaſe of Knowledge and Wiſdom.

In this Way, as Moſes tells us, Man was ſeduced, thro' the Subtlety of Satan, the Prince of Devils, to diſobey God, and bring Ruine on Himſelf and on his Poſterity, both as to Soul and Body. And what can be more probable than ſuch a Way and Inlet to all the Evil we find our Selves ſubject to here in this Life, and to Death the End of it? What but Diſobedience to God our Maker, and Rebellion againſt his Will made known to us for our Good? even for our Preſervation in Holineſs and Happineſs. What can be more honorary and glorious to God than this Account of the Original of Evil? and what more like our Selves, our own p. 45Conſciences being Witneſſes? For to be ſure we find our Selves fallen into Sin, and moſt prone to it by Nature from our Birth; and what more likely Account can there be of our coming into ſuch a State, than by the Inſtigation of ſome Devil or other, in ſuch an Inſtance as Moſes has related? Nor can we wonder at the Conſequence of ſo much Evil, bodily and ſpiritual; upon the Suppoſition of ſuch Sin and Tranſgreſſion.

Let us therefore ſeriouſly peruſe and weigh the whole Proceſs of the Temptation and Seduction of our firſt Parents, as it is given by Moſes, and ſee if it be not the moſt likely, and only probable Account of the Origine of Evil that has been offered.

That Evil could not come from the Good GOD, as His Act, Will or Pleaſure, is moſt certain: The Nature of God muſt abhor from it, and ſo does Moſes his Account.— That Evil is of two Sorts is evident, moral and penal; the Evil of Sin and Puniſhment for Sin: Moſes reveals it, and we are conſcious to it within our Selves; we have Senſe of Sorrow and Pain, and we have the Conſcience of Sin.— That bodily and Soul Sorrows or Sufferings, and that Diſſolution of Soul and Body which they work, ſhould be the Fruit of our Sinning againſt God, is the moſt eaſy, natural and only reaſonable and worthy Account of the Matter, that the Wit of Man can give.— That Evils beſet us from the Womb, and purſue us thro' all our Life here in the Fleſh, wear out our Bodies and Spirits, and bring down our green or gray Heads to the Grave, is a thing not to be denied. — That theſe are under the Providence and Government of a moſt wiſe, good and holy GOD, is as certain as the very Being of One.—That they muſt come upon us for Correction and Judgment, and in a Way of Puniſhment, p. 46is ſenſible to Fleſh and Blood, and evident to Reaſon: We groan, weep, cry out and beg for Mercy, Compaſſion and Reſpite, under our bodily Maladies & Preſſures. — What GOD ſhould puniſh us for, but for Sin againſt Him, ſome criminal Diſorder of our Appetites and Affections, in Contradiction to the Law of our Nature, his Will made known to us for our Good and his Glory from us, is not to be imagined. — That this Sin is of our Selves, or by the Inſtigation of ſome evil Being who had himſelf fallen from God, is as evident to our Underſtandings as that God is good, and can be the Author only of what is good, pure and perfect.— That this good God ſhould do all that is fit and proper to prevent his happy Creature from falling into Evil, is every way agreable to our Reaſon, as Moſes has told us that he did. — That He ſhould hainouſly reſent his Creatures preſumptuous Sinning, is moſt agreable to all our Ideas of his Wiſdom, Holineſs, Dominion and Government.— That He is very juſt and righteous in the Infliction of Evil upon the Sinner, is as undeniable as his neceſſary Relation to us of a Lawgiver and a Judge. — The only Doubt or Queſtion then is, Whether Moſes his Account of Adam's Sin, by a criminal Indulgence of his Appetite, in a particular forbidden Inſtance, at the Sollicitation of a fallen Angel, that was before become an Enemy to GOD and Goodneſs; be not a very rational Account of the Introduction of Evil, into this Part of the Creation of God which we inhabit? — If the Infidels, who are ready to ridicule Moſes his Account, can give a better, let them do it: But this they do not attempt.— Yet they ſay that the Account of Moſes is incredible, becauſe of the Agency of the Serpent, his Part in ſeducing Eve, and God's Curſe upon him for it.—But let us deliberately read over, and examine, what Moſes has p. 47written of this Matter, in the third Chapter of Geneſis; and if we cannot vindicate it as worthy of the bleſſed GOD, and the moſt likely Way of Man's firſt Sin and the Evil conſequent thereon, then let 'em mock on.— Or I would rather ſay, Altho' we cannot anſwer for every Difficulty in the Account given of Man's Fall, yet we may ſee Eno' in it of GOD, his Wiſdom, Goodneſs, Holineſs and Juſtice, to ſtill the Enemy and the Avenger, and to fill us with Admiration of and Thankfulneſs for the Writings of Moſes.

The Matter then lies thus,

1. There was a Tree of Evil in the Garden where Adam and Eve were plac'd by God.

2. The Nature of this Tree was ſuch, or the Conſtitution of God reſpecting it was ſuch, that if Man eat of it 'twould bring Evil on him.

3. God immediately inform'd our firſt Parents hereof, and poſitively forbad 'em to eat of it, becauſe of the Evil it would bring upon them if they dar'd to touch it.

4. He therefore call'd it in their Hearing by the Name of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil; which was to ſay, whereby they would experience within themſelves what Evil is, and how it differs from the Good which they were in the full Enjoyment of.

5. He let them know therefore, that this Tree was placed there for the Trial of their Obedience; whether in the midſt of all the other Fruits of Paradiſe, of all which they might freely and ſafely eat, they would regard his Will and Pleaſure in this one Prohibition, which was alſo for their Preſervation.

6. He therefore alſo ſet a Tree of Life in the Midſt of the Garden, as a Sacramental Sign or natural Means of Immortality, for him to eat of; while the Tree forbidden to him would only bring certain Death on him. — Upon all we muſt remember the Perfection of Underſtanding wherein our firſt Parents p. 48were created; that they perfectly underſtood the Mind and Will of God in all this Prohibition, with the Reaſon and Equity of their Reſtraint in this Particular, which plainly appears from Eve's Anſwer to the Serpent, Gen. iii. 2, 3, And the Woman ſaid to the Serpent, We may cat of the Fruit of the Trees of the Garden; but of that Tree which is in the Midſt of the Garden God hath ſaid, "Ye ſhall not eat of it, neither ſhall ye touch it leſt ye die.

And now

1. Let us ſuppoſe with Moſes a World of accurſed fallen Spirits, with Satan at their Head, who in their Pride and Rebellion againſt God had left their firſt Seat, and were full of Enmity to God, full of all ſubtlety and Miſchief, Enemies of all Righteouſneſs, as contrary to God and all Goodneſs as Darkneſs is to Light.

2. We may reaſonably grant that theſe wicked diabolical Spirits, in their Spite againſt God, and Enmity to his Image in Man, and Envy of his Delight in him, would deſire to ſeduce Mankind into Sin and Miſery after themſelves.

3. There is nothing in Reaſon and Juſtice to forbid God's permitting the Tempter to try the Obedience of his happy Creature, endued with Knowledge, Holineſs and Strength for yielding him a conſtant and reſolute Obedience.

4. It is not unlikely, that God having placed a Tree in the Garden which he had forbidden Man to touch, the Tempter would fix on that particular Teſt, and try if he could not prevail over our Parents in this matter of bodily Appetite.

5. Fixing on this Way of Temptation, he lays his Train on what Motive to induce Man to tranſgreſs.

And

1. Remembring well how he fell himſelf by Pride, aſpiring after a higher State in the Creation than that God had given him, he naturally tho't this as likely a Way whereby to prevail over Man, a p. 49like Intelligent Spirit with himſelf, but in a Body of Fleſh.

2. If therefore he can prevail on Adam or Eve to luſt after greater Knowledge and Wiſdom, he knew that they would fall after him, into his own Condemnation.

3. To compaſs this he reſolves to improve the Name of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, and to recommend the Tree to Man as a Tree to be deſired to make them wiſer than God had made 'em; yea to make 'em as Gods, as Angels, like GOD Himſelf, for Underſtanding and Wiſdom.

4. To this End he craftily propoſed to enter into ſome brute Creature, or to aſſume the Form of one, and watching an Opportunity he would in the Sight of Eve or Adam, or both, eat of the Fruit of the forbidden Tree, and then ſpeak to them with a Man's Voice, and with the Reaſon and Underſtanding of a Man; to let 'em ſee with their Eyes, and hear with their Ears, the Power and Virtue of that Fruit, to change a brute Creature into Rational; and from thence to perſwade 'em that if they would eat of the ſame Fruit their Souls would by a Parity of Reaſon be raifed into Angels.

This ſeems evidently to be the Scheme which the Devil laid, according to Moſes Account; and a more ſubtle one could not be laid: It was a Depth of Satan. In Purſuance of it,

1. He conſider'd which among the brute Creatures had the moſt natural Subtlety and Beauty, and might therefore be the moſt taking in Man's Eye: And pitch'd upon the Serpent; which did not go upon its Belly, or crawl in the Duſt and feed on it as after the Curſe; but was as much more beauteous and charming a Creature to the Eye of Man, as it is now baſe, abject and hateful.

2. He watch'd his Opportunity to find Eve alone, near to the forbidden Tree, to ſpeak to her as out of the Mouth of the Serpent.

p. 503. We may will ſuppoſe ſhe was exceedingly ſurpriſed to hear a brute and dumb Creature ſpeak with humane Voice and Underſtanding, and that ſhe might be ready to expreſs her Surpriſe thereat. And

4. We may as reaſonably ſuppoſe that the Devil in the Serpent's Form, like himſelf, a falſe and lying Spirit, told her that he came by his Knowledge and Underſtanding, and by the Power of Speech, by hapning to eat of the excellent Fruit of that Tree: That whereas till now he had been indeed a brute Creature and deſtitute of Knowledge, immediately his Eyes were open, and a Man's Heart was given him, and this Light and Underſtanding came into him, which ſhe now ſaw and heard.

5. We may well imagine that the pretended Serpent told her this with a great Appearance of Joy and Tranſport, as one muſt needs have that was at once transform'd from the Spirit of a Beaſt to that of a humane Intelligence.

6. We may as well think that hereupon Eve ſpake her Admiration of this Event, and let the Serpent know how that God had forbidden them to taſte of this Tree; which ſhe could not but the more muſe upon and wonder at, upon what ſhe now ſaw and heard.

7. To which the Serpent alſo anſwers with a Shew of Wonder, and asks (as Moſes tells us) "Yea, hath God ſaid, ye ſhall not eat of every Tree in the Garden? q. d. Can it be ſo? and what can this mean? can the good God lay any ſuch Reſtraint upon you? and forbid you this Tree in particular?

8. Eve naturally, and truly replied, Yes, We may eat of the Fruit of the Trees of the Garden, but of this Tree God hath ſaid, "Ye ſhall not eat of it; neither ſhall ye touch it, leſt ye die.

It is plain there had been ſome previous Conference between the Serpent and Eve, before the Serpent's Words, "Yea, hath God ſaid, ye ſhall not eat? It ſeems to be a Return to ſomewhat ſaid p. 51before. The Temptation had been elſe too abrupt, and the Devil had betray'd himſelf to be endued with more than humane Knowledge; even to know what God had ſaid to Adam and Eve while he was yet a Brute and without Underſtanding.— Or if you would chuſe to think, that the Serpent would have Eve imagine, that he had indeed attain'd to the Intelligence of Angels by eating of the forbidden Fruit, it will but carry the Deception yet higher, and make the Temptation ſo much the ſtronger.—But it is more likely that he appear'd to take this Information from her own Lips, and leads her into Wonder and Inquiſitiveneſs after the Reaſon of ſuch a Prohibition to them; while ſhe ſaw (as was pretended) the happy wondrous Effect that the Fruit had on him, the Serpent, that was before an ignorant and dumb Beaſt.—And when the Devil had by this Wile ſhook her Mind, rais'd in her a Suſpenſe and doubtful Admiration, and too much a Regard to her Senſes, in a Contradiction to the Word of God; then the Tempter boldly ſhot his fiery Dart, and as a Creature of ſuperior Light ſaid to the Woman, "Ye ſhall not ſurely die: For God doth know that in the Day you eat your Eyes ſhall be opened, and ye ſhall be as God's, knowing Good and Evil.

This bold Satanical Reaſoning had its curſed Effect upon the Mind and Heart of Eve! She took in the Poiſon of Pride, and the Luſt after more Knowledge conceived within her, and ſhe fell after the Example of Satan. She look'd upon the Fruit with Deſire, believing all that the Serpent had ſaid of it. It look'd good for food; nay the Serpent had found it ſo: It was pleaſant to her Eye, but more to her aſpiring Mind: She conſidered it as deſirable to make her wiſe, wiſe as the Angels of God who know good and evil: She greedily took therefore of the Fruit and eat, and gave p. 52alſo to her Husband with her, and he did eat. That is to ſay, She went away to Adam, with ſome of the Fruit in her Hand, and told him of all that ſhe had ſeen and heard of the Serpent's eating and ſpeaking, with Underſtanding equal if not ſuperior to their own; and that he had told her to what Angelical and Godlike Heights of Knowledge the Fruit will raiſe them upon their eating of it: To all which Adam hearkened, and from a like Luſt after forbidden Knowledge, he ſuddenly, raſhly and fatally took from his Wifes Hand and eat.

It ſeems to me, that our Firſt Parents not taking Time to deliberate on the Matter, did not ſee into the real Deviliſm of the Serpent's Words; that it was a giving God the Lye, |and to tax him with want of Goodneſs and Bounty to his Creatures, or with grudging to 'em and denying them the Knowledge that was proper for 'em. Or if we may think that the ſagacious Minds of Adam and Eve could not fail of theſe Reflections upon the Devil's Words, then was their Crime and Guilt ſo much the more like unto the very Devils who deceived them.

And now I may appeal unto the Heart of every impartial Reader, if Moſes has not given us the moſt likely Account we can imagine, of the Seduction and Fall of our firſt Parents? How the Serpent beguiled Eve thro' his Subtlety! how by one Man Sin has enter'd into the World, and Death by Sin, and has paſſed upon all! how by one Man's Diſobedience all are made Sinners.

I go on now to the Conſequents upon the Fall of Adam, as they are related by Moſes: And for my own part I cannot but think the Account given by him to be ſo rational and natural, that I cannot imagine how it could be otherwiſe. That is to ſay,

p. 53Firſt, That as ſoon as our Firſt Parents had ſinned they ſaw themſelves naked: i. e. found themſelves under ſome ſhameful Diſorder both of Mind and Body: A Cloud came upon their Minds, Guilt ſtung 'em, Fear ſeiz'd 'em, and they ſaw each other's Face chang'd for the worſe: The Joys of Innocence left their Eyes, the Poiſon of the Fruit work'd in their Veins, ſick Qualms and cold Sweats came upon them, and their Minds were full of Confuſion and Conſternation at their Diſappointment: They felt the forbidden Knowledge of Evil, and were ready to run and hide themſelves any where.

Secondly, It is moſt reaſonable to think that God would now appear, arraign and condemn them to die, according to his Threatning in Caſe they diſobey'd Him. Whereupon it is natural to think the Sinners would fly from his Preſence, as Moſes ſays they did, as ſoon as they heard his Voice.—It is alſo altogether worthy of GOD to call them forth with the Voice of an offended Father and Judge, Adam, where art thou? — The Anſwer of Adam muſt needs be juſt as Moſes relates it; ſcil, a plain Confeſſion of his Crime; for there was no hiding it. "And he ſaid, I heard thy Voice in the Garden and was afraid, becauſe I was naked, and I hid my ſelf. Shame naturally hides it ſelf, and Fear flies.— This was Confeſſion eno' of the Fact to God, and therefore the Reply is juſt which Moſes gives us from the Mouth of God, "Who told thee that thou waſt naked? haſt thou eaten of the Tree whereof I commanded thee, that thou ſhouldſt not eat? q. d. Nothing but the Loſs of thy Innocence, and Guilt of Sin, could ſtrike thee with this Fear, and cover thee with this Shame: Where is the Love and Joy with which you were won't to welcome my Preſence? — And now what could Adam ſay for himſelf, but thoſe words which Moſes relates, laying p. 54the Blame on his Wife, who was firſt in the Tranſgreſſion? And what ſhould Eve anſwer, but as Moſes has it, "The Serpent beguiled me. — And upon this their Confeſſion what ſhould follow, but God's paſſing Sentence and Judgment? — And where ſhould the Judgment begin, but on the Serpent? i. e. Satan the Contriver and Author of all this Sin and Miſchief.— And firſt the Curſe falls upon the Inſtrument which the Devil us'd, the Serpent; and our Parents ſaw the Creature chang'd from that beauteous Form wherein it was before, into a crawling hiſſing Snake, viler than every Beaſt about them, to ſlide upon his Belly in the Duſt, and feed upon it. No doubt, this Change upon the Serpent ſtruck Adam and Eve with new Remorſe and Terror; as a Criminal that is to die for Beaſtiality ſees with Horror the poor Beaſt ſlain before his Eyes, as the dire Prologue to his own Execution. — Then under the Shadow of the Enmity that ſhould for ever be between the Sons and Daughters of Eve and every Kind of Serpents, which we all know to be univerſal and invincible; (Theſe being ever ready at the Heels of Men to bite 'em, and They being ever as ready to bruiſe the Heads of Serpents and deſtroy them) I ſay, under the Image of this, the Devil is told of and threatned with a glorious SEED of this poor miſerable Woman that ſhould break his Head, while he ſhould be only able to bruiſe his Heel. — This was a deadly Word to the Old Serpent, the Devil and Satan; and no doubt the Fiend was ſtruck with Torments by it, which no Humane Soul can think of. And fit it was the Judgment ſhould begin with him who was the guilty Cauſe and Beginning of all this Tragedy.— At the ſame Time, It was a moſt merciful Revelation of a SAVIOUR, and of a Suffering REDEEMER, to be born of Eve, born of a Woman without the Concurrence of a Son of Adam; who p. 55ſhould conquer Satan and deſtroy his Work and aboliſh Death, by recovering Souls from Sin & Hell. All which has been fulfilled, we know, in the Perſon, Temptations, Miniſtry, Miracles, Obedience, Sufferings, Death, Reſurrection, Aſcention and Reign of our LORD JESUS CHRIST, the Second Adam; Who will come again in Glory to judge Angels, and caſt Death and Hell into the Lake of Fire and Brimſtone.—The Devil heard this his Judgment, and trembled, tho' he underſtood it not at the Time. Our Parents alſo heard it, and were enlightned to conceive of ſome moſt glorious Deliverer, a Son of Eve, in God's Time; and it was Life from the Dead to them; while it was Death and Damnation in the worſt Form that could be to the proud Serpent, to be overcome, deſtroyed, judged and damned by a mortal Son of that weak Woman, whom he had juſt deceiv'd into Sin and Ruin.— Say now, if this was not worthy of the Infinite Wiſdom and Foreknowledge of God, his Sovereignty and Dominion, his Juſtice Mercy and Grace! This is the LORD'S Doing and wonderful in our Eyes.

Then GOD, the Judge, proceeded and told the Woman, that he would multiply her Sorrows in bearing Children, for alluring her Husband into Sin; and that henceforth She and her Daughters ſhould be in ſuch a ſuffering ſort of Subjection to the Mens diſordered Paſſions, as they would never at all have known, if She had not been an Inſtrument in his Sin and Fall. — The Man alſo was told that the Ground was curſed for his ſake, that in Sorrow he ſhould eat of it all the Days of his Life, till he return'd into it: Which Words were a plain and expreſs Reprieve granted to Adam and Eve from deſerved inſtant Death; but as plain and poſitive a Declaration of Death working in them, from that Day forward, and bringing them down p. 56ſlowly to the Grave. — All Mankind have been from that Day a Comment on this righteous and terrible Judgment of God; having the full Experiment of it in Themſelves. All ſadly know the Truth of it. It has been, is and will be to the End of the World, as Moſes has written. Adam's Sin is the Original, Cauſe and Means, of all the dolorous Diſeaſes of Body and Griefs of Mind, which bring on that Death, to which every Son and Daughter of Adam are inevitably doom'd by the righteous Sentence of God.

And now ſay, Have we not Reaſon to think that Moſes has writ from the Mouth of God, in all this Account of Adam's Fall and Puniſhment, and of Satan's Agency therein and Judgment therefor? It agrees to all the preſent known State of Mankind, our dying Condition, the Sorrows of our Life, our Proneſs and Temptations to Sin, our Luſts and Corruptions, and our fearful Apprehenſions of the Eternal Judgment of God, a Hell of Devils.

Theſe Things might be eaſily enlarg'd on, but the bare ſimple Mention of them carries, I think, a Light and Conviction to every ſober conſidering Mind. A more reaſonable Account of the Origine of Sin on Earth, and of the Sorrows and Death the Demerit thereof, and of a final Deliverance therefrom by the Man CHRIST JESUS, cannot enter into the Heart of Man to conceive of. A better Foundation for Chriſtianity could not have been contrived by Moſes, had he liv'd and wrote after the Manifeſtation of CHRIST in the Fleſh, and after his Reſurrection from the Dead.

But alas! the Sons of Eve are born with the Seed and Poiſon of Infidelity in their Veins! that p. 57Poiſon which the Serpent infus'd into her before ſhe eat of the forbidden Fruit. And the Agency of the Devil is the ſame in all his Temptations to Infidelity at this Day.— In vain has God told us how Satan ſeduced our firſt Mother; for we are ſtill willingly beguiled by him; disbelieve and eat and die. The Devil is in Men in all their Unbelief, as much as he was in the Serpent that deceived Eve: the HOLY GHOST tells us ſo, and deplores the Miſery of an unbelieving World: Pſal. lviii. 3, 4, 5. The wicked are eſtranged from the Womb; they go aſtray as ſoon as they are born ſpeaking Lies: Their Poiſon is like the Poiſon of a Serpent, they are like the deaf Adder that ſtoppeth her Ear; which will not hearken to the Voice of Charmers, charming never ſo wiſely. Our LORD JESUS repeats the dreadful Words, and I will cloſe my Argument with his juſt Reprehenſion and Rebuke of the Infidels in his Day: John viii. 43, 44, 45. For I proceeded and came forth from God, neither came I of my ſelf, but He ſent me: Why do ye not underſtand my Speech? even becauſe ye cannot hear my Word. Ye are of your Father the DEVIL, and the Luſts of your Father ye will do; He was a MURDERER from the Beginning, and abode not in the TRUTH becauſe there is no Truth in him: When he ſpeaketh a LYI he ſpeaketh of his own; for he is a Liar and the Father of it: And becauſe I tell you the TRUTH, ye believe me not.

Let us be deeply affected with, and greatly bewail our Selves under, all the Sin and Evil that the Tranſgreſſion of our Firſt Parents has bro't upon us: Original Sin without us, (as One ſpeaks) and alſo within us ‖‖Farth and Practice. Vol I. p. 222.Are not the Ruins of Human Nature, in our Selves and Others, vaſt p. 58and hideous! Let us feel every one the Plague of his own Heart, look to the Rock whence we were hewn, and juſtify God in his Judgment. Let us admire the Grace and Mercy of God in the Way of our Recovery by the SECOND ADAM, who is our Publick Head in the Covenant of Grace, the LORD from Heaven, a quickning Spirit! Who in our Nature has aboliſhed Death, has finiſhed Tranſgreſſion, and made an End of Sin, and has bro't in an Everlaſting Righteouſneſs for the Juſtification of Sinners. Read the Glory of the Second Adam, as it is ſet by the Apoſtle over againſt the criminal Tranſgreſſion of the Firſt, and his righteous Puniſhment: Rom. V.17,—21.

From the Whole it appears, that GOD is moſt Good and We evil. As Moſes finiſhes his Account of the Works of GOD with the beſt and moſt ſnitable Word that could be ſpoken; And God ſaw every Thing that he had made, and behold it was very good! So give me Leave to cloſe this Contemplation of GOD OUR MALER with an Adoring Acknowledgment of His Goodneſs, and the moſt abaſing Confeſſion of our own Vileneſs and Sinſulneſs. Now let our Eyes ſee HIM, and let us abber our Selves, repenting in Duſt and Aſhes. This only have we found by our Enquiry after the Work of God, (and Solomon with all his Wiſdom, giving his Heart to ſee and ſearch, found only this at laſt) Eccl. vii. 29. That GOD made Man upright, but They have ſought out many Inventions. As our firſt Parents, ſo all their Poſterity after them, by the Inſtigation of Satan, have ſought and are ſeeking out new Ways of making Themſelves more wiſe and happy ‡‡Mr. Clark in Loc.. But O how much in vain, and to their p. 59own Hurt! to the vaſt Increaſe of Folly & Guilt, Vanity and Miſery! for like Men (like Adam) they full tranſgreſs: The Word of God is diſregarded, and the Lies of Satan are liſtned to.—Let us not cover our Tranſgreſſion as Adam: It is written as with a Pen of Iron and with the Point of a Diamond. The open Infidelity of the Age proclaims it; the Lives, the Tongues and Pens of the modern Infidels. —Let us deſire to ſanctify the LORD GOD in our Hearts and Lives, whether we ſpeak or write; and he ready always to give an Anſwer to every Man, that asks us a Reaſon of the Hope that is in us, with Meckneſs and Fear. I hope I have here done it in the Fear of GOD, and if I have fail'd of doing it with the Meckneſs of Moſes, I ask HIS Forgiveneſs the Zeal of Whoſe Word ſhould eat us up.

FINIS.

End of the text · Benjamin Colman, The First Three Chapters of Genesis (1735)