Sufficient to have stood, but free to fall.

And having placed him in a state of

by the alluring aspect of the fruit, and tempted, thus overcome, and thus inthe hope of attaining superior knowl- volved in sin, misery, and death, when edge, the too frail mother of the human he could easily have prevented it? But race put forth her hand in evil hour to the true question is, whether he could the interdicted tree, and thus wrought have prevented it without doing vioher ruin! Not only so, she gave also lence to the nature of man as a free unto her husband with her,' i. e. that agent, and consistently with the great he might eat with her; that he might ends which he had proposed to himself participate with her in the act and its in his creation. By his very constituconsequences; and Adam with fatal tion he was endowed with free will, facility complied; thus consummating and therefore liable to temptation and the sin which 'brought death into the transgression; and infinite wisdom world and all our woes.' In regard to foresaw that it would be productive of both it was their own free and uncon- more ultimate good that man should strained act; for however Satan may be made a free moral being, though he incite, he cannot compel. They could might abuse his freedom, than that he lay the blame of their disobedience should be made otherwise. He thereupon no one but themselves, and look-fore created him, as Milton happily exing to themselves, they could find no presses it :apology for their crime. By one rash act committed against an express command, and under circumstances of the highest enormity, they lifted the flood-probation, surrounded by motives of gate which has poured in a deluge of miseries upon the world. Besides the loss to themselves of the image and favour of God, remorse of conscience, expulsion from Eden, the curse of toil, sorrow, and sickness, and the sentence of death to body and soul; all the sins, sufferings, crimes, and woes which have afflicted the earth in its countless mil-life and death before him, and left it to lions of inhabitants from that day to his own unforced volition which to this, are to be traced to that transgres- choose. Had omnipotence interposed sion as their fountain-head. The lim- in these circumstances and exercised a ited grasp of the mind of man is not supernatural influence upon his freedom adequate to take in the length and of will to prevent his sin, he had therebreadth and fearful extent of the evil by destroyed the foundation of all the which has thus been entailed upon the merit of obedience, and put it out of his human family-an evil running paral-power to make any trial of him at all, lel with the present life and reaching It would have been to govern him not forward into an unmeasured eternity! as a free, but as a necessary agent, and -An event so awfully disastrous in its any reward for his conduct would in immediate and its remoter consequen- that case have been as absurd as to reces, especially when viewed in connec-ward the sun for shining, or the rivers tion with the divine attributes, natural- for running into the ocean. Man there ly gives rise to many anxious inquiries fore fell not by any inevitable necessi which we may find it difficult to an- ty, but by the abuse of his free agency, swer. We are prone to ask why, in the and to say that God did not interpose full foresight of such a result, God to prevent it, is merely to say that he did should have permitted man to be thus not see fit to do violence to the moral

which some induced to obedience and some to disobedience, but with perfect liberty of choice, an easy duty was enjoined, and the penalty of transgression laid before him. He had abundant power and abilities to enable him to stand the test. He was under no compulsion to disobey. His Maker had set

7 And the eyes or them both were opened, and they knew

h ver. 5. i ch. 2. 25.

nature of the being he formed, but left it to be influenced according to the laws to which he had made it subject. And this he did because he saw, that in its bearings on the vast scheme of his government, this course would tend finally to produce a far greater degree of glory to himself and of happiness to his creatures than any other. And even with our present imperfect vision, aided by the light of Christianity, we are able to discover some signal benefits arising from that catastrophe which to a superficial view might appear fraught only with fatal and unhappy consequences. For had not Adam fallen, Christ would not have redeemed mankind. Had there been no sinners, there could have been no Redeemer, and no redemption. The mercy of God, the most engaging of all his attributes, and the consummation of all his excellence, would have been unknown to the universe. All the blessings bestowed on mankind would have been the reward of the obedience of Adam and his posterity. But the blessings bestowed on glorified saints are rewards of the obedience of the Son of God. These rewards could not have been given, had not Christ obeyed; and Christ could not have obeyed had he not become the substitute for sinners and the Mediator between God and apostate creatures. We may see therefore that the glory of the divine perfections is more advantageously displayed by the grand scheme of human redemption than it could have been by the uninterrupted innocence of the first man. We are moreover, capable in this way of attaining higher happiness than if our first parents had continued in their integrity. The terrestrial Paradise presents only a faint image of the celestial Paradise of God; and it is most agreeable to infinite mer

that they were naked: and they sewed fig-leaves together, and made themselves aprons.

cy to suppose, that the loss of the happiness of the one will be followed by the acquisition of still greater felicity in the other. Had not man fallen, none of that joy would have been experienced which now springs up in heav enly minds over the repentance and salvation of sinners, which will increase and deepen for ever. 'By the redemption of Christ, heaven as well as earth, angels as well as men, are materially changed from their former circumstances and character. Nay, the whole immense and eternal kingdom of Jehovah, by means of this amazing work, assumes a new aspect; and both creation and providence are invested with a new character. God is seen by his intelligent creatures in new manifestations of beauty, glory, and loveliness. Throughout never-ending ages, virtuous minds will be enlarged with knowledge, exalted in holiness, and improved in dignity and happiness beyond all which would otherwise have been proper or possible; and their affections, obedience, and praise become more refined and more elevated, in a rapid and regular progress.' Dwight. Such are the consolatory views of the present, and the enlivening hopes of the future, which we are taught in the sacred writings to draw from the primeval transgression. What God saw not fit to prevent, he has been pleased to repair, and the baneful consequences of that sad event are remedied by a dispensation of such transcendant wisdom and mercy as will be a theme of admiration and praise to adoring millions for ever. Truly 'where sin has abounded, grace has much more abounded.'

7. And the eyes of them both were opened, That is, the eyes of their minds. They had the mental perception of their guilt and misery. They

8 And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day:

k Job 38. 1.

had a sense, a discovery, of the conse-
quences of their sin which they never
had nor could have before. A similar
effect always follows the commission
of known sin. A terrible light is let in
on the soul to which, during the pro-
cess of the temptation, it was a com-
parative stranger. It is in fact the ex-
perimental knowledge of the difference
between good and evil. The result in
the case of our first parents was, that
they saw themselves naked; by which
is meant, not so much that they were
sensible that their bodies were desti-
tute of clothing, for of this they were
doubtless aware before, but they now
recognized their nakedness with shame
and confusion, and were at the same
time conscious of a sad privation of
innocence, which had before covered
them as with a robe. They felt them-
selves bereaved of the comfortable pres-
ence and favour of their Maker, and
thus made naked through exposure to
his wrath. This view of the meaning
of the terms is abundantly confirmed
by the parallel usage, Ex. 32. 25. 2
Chron. 28. 19. Rev. 16. 15.- -T They
sewed fig-leaves together. Heb.
An unfortunate rendering, as the term
sewed is too definite and such as gives
occasion to infidel cavils, as if Moses
represented the use of the implements
of sewing as known to Adam and Eve
in Paradise. The true meaning is, that
they tied, twisted, platted, or fastened
together the leafy twigs and small
branches of the fig-tree, so as to form
a sort of girdle, somewhat resembling
the laurel wreath worn upon the head
among the Romans. The original

taphar occurs Job, 16. 15, where, although it is rendered, 'I have sewed sackcloth upon my skin;' it can mean]

hid

and Adain and his wife themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden.

1 Job 31. 33. Jer. 23. 24. Amos 9. 8.

nothing more than applied, fitted, adjusted; and so also Ezek. 13. 18, 'Wo to the women that sew (5) pillows to all armholes.' The leaf of the fig-tree is large and broad and well adapted to the purpose.¶ Aprons, Heb. 'things to gird about.' Their sin made them sensible of their nakedness; their nakedness awakened the sense of shame; and the impulse of shame prompted them to the expedient of an artificial covering for their persons.

8. Heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden. The newly. begotten sense of guilt was now awakened by another circumstance. The phrase 'voice of the Lord God' is usu ally applied to thunder, of which a striking proof occurs, Job, 37. 4, 5. Ps. 29. 3-9, and it is not improbable that now for the first time a fearful tempest attended with loud peals of thunder was the occasion of their terror. The epithet 'walking' is to be joined, not with 'Lord,' but with 'voice,' as it is in the original the same word with that used to signify the sound of the trumpet upon Mount Sinai, Ex. 19. 19, And when the voice of the trumpet sounded long (Heb. walked).' A voice may be said to walk or go when it increases in intensity waxing louder and louder. The same term is applied to any thing which is capable of increasing in degree, as to a constantly brightening light, Prov. 4. 18, The path of the just is as the shining light which shineth more and more (Heb. walketh) to the perfect day;' and to the sea excited by a storm, Jon. 1. 11, 'For the sea wrought (Heb. walked) and was tempestuous ;' i. e. became increasingly tempestuous. See note on Gen. 26. 13.-¶ In the cool of the day. Heb.

12. The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, &c. Adam is here brought to convict himself, yet his confession is 9. Where art thou? Not as if God not candid and ingenuous, but equivowere ignorant of Adam's hiding-place,cating and reluctant. 'I did eat,' which for 'there is no creature that is not man- should have been his first words, are

13 And the LORD God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.

14 And the LORD God said

o ver. 4. 2 Cor. 11. 3. 1 Tim. 2. 14.

Punto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field: upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:

pExod. 21. 29, 32. q Is. 65. 25. Mic. 7. 17.

nature, and nothing but a condign punishment awaited him. Cursing with men is equivalent simply to evil speak

not go beyond words. But God's curse is not merely verbal; it implies the actual infliction of the woe denounced.

placed last, and are preceded by an apology which only aggravated the crime. But his conduct was in perfect accordance with what daily meets using or to verbal imprecations; it canwhen criminals are detected in the commission of a crime. Not daring wholly to deny his guilt, nor yet willing ingenuously to confess it, he proceeds to cast the blame upon the woman, and thus indirectly upon God, who had formed and bestowed her upon him. Thus the foolishness of man perverteth his way, and (yet) his heart fretteth against the Lord.' Prov. 19. 3. So fruitful is the depraved heart in excuses and apologies for its sins! So prone to extenuate what it cannot deny!

Thus when the fig-tree was curTM sed, Mat. 11. 21, it withered away; when the wicked children were cursed in the name of the Lord, 2 Kings, 2 24, they were torn in pieces of wild beast. So on the other hand of the divine blessing. It is the effectual bestowment of mercies. The object of the curse in this case was both the nat ural visible serpent employed as the instrument, and Satan himself by whom he was instigated. It was not the serpent alone, and by itself, that tempted the first pair; it was that animal, as moved and impelled by the devil, which accomplished their ruin. The expressions then appertain to both; 'Because thou, Satan, hast done this, through thy agency, thou art cursed,' &c.; and also, 'Because thou, serpent, hast done this, as the instrument, thou art cursed,' &c. Not that a brute reptile could really be guilty of sin, or a fit subject of punishment, but it is entirely in accordance with the usual method of the divine dispensations to put some token 14. Because thou hast done this thou of displeasure upon the instrument of art cursed, &c. God interrogated the an offence, as well as upon the offender Thus the beast who man and the woman, because he pur- who employs it. posed to lead them to repentance, but had been lain with by man, Lev. 20, 15, was to be burned to death as well as he puts no question to the serpent, as his guilt could admit of no palliation, the man himself; the golden calf made nor was there the least mercy in store by Aaron was burnt and ground to for him. He had tempted Eve self-powder and strewed upon the water, moved out of the pure malignity of his Ex. 32. 20; and even the censers of

13. Said to the woman. Taking no notice of the reply of Adam, as being too foolish to deserve it, he turned to the woman to hear what she could of fer in her own behalf.- -T What is this that thou hast done. Or Heb. 'why hast thou done this?'¶ The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat. The fact was too palpable and glaring to be denied, but in imitation of Adam, she endeavours to free herself from the blame by casting it upon the serpent. But alas! their poor evasions, like their figleaves, were too narrow to cover their sins, too thin to ward off the stroke of justice!