race. This is es through sin, woman becomes comparatively a slave. pecially the case where sin reigns uncontrolled, as in heathen and Mahometan countries. Christianity however, so far as it operates; counteracts it; restoring woman to her original state, that of a friend and companion.* The sentence on man points out to him wherein consisted his sin; namely, in hearkening to the voice of his wife rather than to God. What a solemn lesson does this teach us, against loving the creature more than the Creator, and hearken] ing to any counsel to the rejection of his. And with respect to his punishment, it is worthy of notice that as that of Eve was common to her daughters, so that of Adam extends to the whole human The ground is cursed for his sake, cursed with barrenness. God would, as it were, take no delight in blessing it; as well he might not, for all would be perverted to, and become the food of rebellion. The more he should bless the earth, the more wicked would be its inhabitants. Man also himself is doomed to wretchedness upon it: he should drag on the few years that he might live, in sorrow and misery, of which the thorns and thistles, which it should spontaneously produce, were but emblems. God had given him before to eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden; but now he must be expelled frem thence, and take his portion with the brutes, and live upon the herb of the field. He was allowed bread, but it should be by the sweat of his face; and this is the lot of the great body of mankind. The end of this miserable state of existence was, that he should return to his native dust. Here the sentence leaves him. A veil is, at present, drawn over a future world: but we elsewhere learn that at what time the flesh returns to dust, the spirit returns to God who gave it; and that the same sentence which appointed man once to die, added, but after this the judgment. It is painful to trace the different parts of this melancholy sentence, and their fulfilment in the world to this day: yet there is a bright side even to this dark cloud. Through the promised Messiah a great many things pertaining to the curse are not only counteracted, but become blessings. Under his glorious reign, the earth * See on Chap. ii, 18-25. p. 26. us. shall yield its increase, and God, our own God, delight in blessing And while its fruitfulness is withheld, this has a merciful tendency to stop the progress of sin: for if the whole earth were like the plains of Sodom in fruitfulness, which are compared to the garden of God, its inhabitants would be as Sodom and Gomorrha in wickedness. The necessity of hard labour too, in obtaining a subsistence, which is the lot of the far greater part of mankind, tends more than a little, by separating men from each other, and depressing their spirits, to restrain them from the excesses of evil. All the afflictions of the present life contain in them a motive to look upward for a better portion: and death itself is a monitor to warn them to prepare to meet their God. These are things suited to a. sinful world and where they are sanctified, as they are to believ ers in Christ, they become real blessings. To themthey are light afflictions, and last but for a moment; and while they do last, work for them a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. To them, in short, death itself is introductory to everlasting life. Ver. 20. Adam's wife seems hitherto to have been known only by the name of woman; but now he calls her Eve, that is, life, living, or, the mother of all living. He might possibly have understood from the beginning, that the sentence of death would not prevent the existence of the human race; or if not, what had been said of the woman's seed would at least satisfy him on this subject. But it is generally supposed, and there seems to be ground for the supposition, that in calling his wife life, or living, he intended more than that she would be the mother of all mankind; that it is expressive of his faith in the promise of her victorious Seed destroying what Satan had accomplished in introducing death, and that thus she should be the means of immortal life to all who should live in him. If such were his meaning, we may consider this as the first evidence in favour of his being renewed in the spirit of his mind. Ver. 21. By the coats of skins wherewith the Lord God clothed them, it seems to be implied that animals were slain; and, as they were not at that time slain for food, it is highly probable they were slain for sacrifice; especially as this practice is mentioned in the life of Abel. Sacrifices therefore appear to have been ordained of God to teach man his desert, and the way in which he must be saved. It is remarkable that the clothing of Adam and Eve is ascribed to the Lord God, and that it appears to have succeeded the slender covering wherewith they had attempted to cover themselves. Is it not natural to conclude, that God only can hide our moral nakedness, and that the way in which he does it is by covering us with the righteousness of our atoning sacrifice? Ver. 22. This ironical reflection is expressive of both indignation and pity. Man is become wonderfully wise! Unhappy creature! He has for ever forfeited my favour, which is life; and having lost the thing signified, let him have no access to the sign He has broken my covenant: let neither him nor his posterity from henceforward expect to regain it by any obedience of theirs.'* : Ver. 23, 24. God is determined that man shall not so much as dwell in the garden where the tree of life grows; but be turned out, as into the wide world. He shall no longer live upon the delicious fruits of Eden, but be driven to seek his food among the beasts of the field and to show the impossibility of his ever regaining that life which he had lost, cherubim and a flaming sword are placed to guard it. Let this suffice to impress us with that important truth, By the deeds of the law shall no flesh living be justified; and to direct us to a tree of life which has no flaming sword to prevent our access! Yet even in this, as in the other threatenings, we may perceive a mixture of mercy. Man had rendered his days evil, and God determines they shall be but few. It is well for us that a life of sin and sorrow is not immortal. *See on Chap. ii. 9. p. 23. DISCOURSE VII. THE OFFERINGS OF CAIN AND ABEL. Gen. iv. 1-8. HAVING seen the origin of sin in our world, we have now the origin and progress of things as they at present are among mankind, or of the world as it now is. Ver. 1. Adam has a son by his wife, who is called Cain ; viz. a possession, or acquisition: for, said Eve, I have gotten a man from the Lord! Many learned men have rendered it, a man, the Lord; and it is not very improbable that she should understand the seed of the woman, of her immediate offspring but if so, she was sadly mistaken! However, it expresses what we have not seen before, i. e. Eve's faith in the promise. Even though she should have had no reference to the Messiah, yet it shows that she eyed God's hand in what was given her; and viewed it as a great blessing, especially considering what a part she had acted. In this she sets an example to parents, to reckon their children an heritage from the Lord. But she also affords an example of the uncertainty of human hopes, Cain, so far from being a comfort to his parents, proved a wicked man; yea, a pattern of wickedness ; held up like Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, as a warning to others: Not as Cain, who was of that wicked one, and slew his brother! The joys attending the birth of a child require to be mixed with trembling; for who knoweth whether he shall be a wise man, or a fool? Ver. 2. Eve bears Adam another son, who was called Abel, or Hebel. In these names we probably see the partiality of parents for their first-born children. Abel signifies vanity, or a vanishing vapour. Probably he was not so goodly a child in appearance as VOL. V. 6 Cain, and did not seem likely to live long. The heart and hopes. of the parents did not seem to centre in him, but in his brother. But God seeth not as man seeth. In bestowing his blessing, he has often crossed hands, as Jacob did in blessing Ephraim and Manasseh. He chooseth the base things of the world. that no flesh should glory in his presence. These two brothers were of different occupations; one a husbandman, and the other a shepherd; both primitive employments, and both very proper. Ver. 3-5. In process of time, the two brothers both present their offerings to God: this speaks something in favour of their parents, who had brought them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. Ainsworth renders it," At the end of the days,” and understands it, at the end of the year, which was then in Autumn, the time of the gathering-in of the harvest and the vintage. The institution of a solemn feast among the Israelites on this occasion, (Exod. xxiii. 16.) seems therefore to have borne a near resemblance to that which was practised from the beginning. In the offerings of these two first-born sons of man, we see the essential difference between spiritual worship and that which is merely formal. As to the matter of which their offerings were composed, it may be thought there was nothing particularly defective each brought what he had. There is indeed no mention made of Cain's being of the best of the kind, which is noticed of Abel's. And if he neglected this, it was a sign that his heart was not much in it. He might also, no doubt, have obtained a lamb out of his brother's flock for an expiatory sacrifice. But the chief difference is that which is noticed by the Apostle : BY FAITH Abel offered a more excellent sacrifice than Cain. Cain's offering was just what a self-righteous heart would offer: it proceeded on the principle that there was no breach between him and his Creator, so as to require any confession of sin, or respect to an atonement. Such offerings abound among us; but they are without faith, and therefore it is impossible they should please God. The offering of Abel I need not describe suffice it to say, It was the reverse of that presented by Cain. It was the best of the kind, and included an expiatory sacrifice. |