a. Stand still, and confider the wondrous Works of God, Doft thou know when God difpofed them? Doft thou know the wondrous Works of him which is perfect in Knowledge'? b. Who hath measured the Waters in the hollow of his Hand, and meted out Heaven with the Span, and comprehended the Duft of the Earth in a Measure, and weighed the Mountains in Scales, and the Hills in a Batlance ? c. The Hoft of Heaven cannot be numbred, neither the Sand of the Sea measured. d. Lo! thefe are parts of his Ways; but how little a portion is heard of him? e. As thou knoweft not what is the way of the Spirit, nor how the Bones do grow, in the Womb of her that is with Child; even fo,' thou knoweft not the Works of God, who maketh all. CHA P. III. Concerning the NATURE and CON DITION of MAN. The Original FORMATION, and STATE of MAN. Go OD created Man in his own Image, I after his Likeness: In the Likeness of God made he him. b. He made him a little lower than the Angels; and crowned him with Glory and Ho nour. c. And the Lord God formed Man, of the Duft of the Ground; and breathed into his Noftrils the Breath of Life; And Man became a living Soul. He was fearfully and wonderfully made and his Substance curiously wrought, in Secret. d. And because, It was not good, that the Man fhould be alone, the Lord made a Woman, to be an help meet for him: and she was taken out of Man. (a) Gen. 1. 27. 26. Gen. 5. 1. (b) Pf. 8.5. (c) Gen. 2.7. Pf. 139. 14, 15. (d) Gen. 2.18. 22, 23. F 4. The 4. The Man is not of the Woman, but the Woman of the Man: neither was the Man created for the Woman, but the Woman for the Man. For, the Man is the Image and Glory of God, but, the Woman is the Glory of the Man. b. There is a Spirit in Man, and the Infpiration of the Almighty giveth them Understanding. c. God, our Maker, teacheth us more than the Beasts of the Earth; and maketh us wifer than the Fowls of Heaven. d. The Spirit of Man is the Candle of the Lord. e. God made Man upright. f. The Lord made him to have Dominion over the Works of his hands: he put all things under his feet. All Sheep, and Oxen, yea and the Beasts of the Field; the Fowl of the Air, and the Fifh of the Sea, and whatsoever paffeth through the Paths of the Seas. g. And the Lord planted a Garden in Eden; and out of the Ground, he made to grow every Tree, that is pleasant to the fight, and good for Food; the Tree of Life alfo, in the midst of the Garden; and the Tree of Knowledge of (a) 1 Cor. 11. 8. 9. 7. (b) Job 32.8. (d) Prov. 20. 27. (ƒ) Pf. 8.6, 7, 8. Good Good and Evil: And he put the Man whom he had formed, into the Garden, to dress it, and to keep it. a. And the Lord commanded the Man, saying, of every Tree of the Garden thou mayeft freely Eat; but 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 furely Dye. b. And Adam gave Names to all Cattle, and to the Fowl of the Air, and to every Beast of the Field. c. And they were both naked, the Man and his Wife, and were not ashamed. The FALL of MAN. d. Now the Serpent having beguiled Eve through his Subtlety, fhe took of the Fruit of the Tree, of which God had faid unto the Man and the Woman, ye fhall not eat of it, neither fhall ye touch it left ye dye; and she did eat, and gave also unto her Husband with her, and he did eat. e. And the Eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were Naked; and therefore they fewed Fig-leaves together, and made themselves Aprons. Gen. 2. 8, 15. (a) Gen. 2. 16, 17. (b) Gen. 2. 20. (c) Gen. 2. 25. (d) Gen. 3. 1. 2 Cor. 11.3. (e) Gen. 3.7. Gen. 3.6.3.6. F 2 4. And a. And when they heard the voice of the Lord calling unto them, they were afraid, and hid themselves from the Prefence of the Lord God. And when the Lord asked them whether they had eaten of the Tree whereof he commanded them that they should not eat; the Man, to excuse himself, faid, the Woman, whom thou gavest to be with me, fhe gave me of the Tree, and I did eat: And the Woman, to cover her Guilt, faid, the Serpent beguiled me, and I did eat. b. Then the Lord God faid unto the Serpent, because thou haft done this, thou art curfed above all Cattle, and above every Beast of the Field: Upon thy Belly fhalt thou go, and Duft fhalt thou eat all the Days of thy Life: And I will put Enmity between thee and the Woman, and between thy Seed and her Seed; it fhall bruife thy Head, and thou fhalt bruise his Heel. c. Unto the Woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy Sorrow, and thy Conception: In Sorrow thou shalt bring forth Children, and thy defire shall be to thy Husband, and he shall rule over thee. 4. And unto Adam he faid, because thou haft hearkned unto the Voice of thy Wife, and (a) Gen. 3. 8. 9. 10. (b) Gen. 3. 14, 15. (d) Gen. 3. 17. |