Continuation of Our Lord's public Ministry.-The Feast of Taberna- A set of Maps, well adapted to accompany this volume, may be found SCRIPTURE HISTORY. CHAPTER I. THE CREATION OF THE World. (Gen. i. ii.) SACRED HISTORY commences with a brief and simple, but very sublime, account of the Creation (B.c. 4004). Hence we learn that the universe is not eternal or self-subsistent,-that it was not produced by chance,-but that it was called into existence and set in order by GOD. Creation implies the agency of a living, personal, and self-subsistent or independent Being, by whose will, wisdom, and power all things were made; -a truth which stands in opposition at once to atheism, which wholly denies or overlooks the existence and operation of a Divine Being; and to the pantheistic idea of emanation, which confounds God with nature, by representing the universe as proceeding or developing itself from one original substance of which it continues to form a part. At the same time, the Creation of the whole universe by the same great agent involves the idea of His unity, or the true doctrine of one God, in opposition to polytheism, or the scheme which represents a variety of deities as presiding over the several portions of nature. All error with reference to the Divine existence is either Atheistic, Pantheistic, or Polytheistic; and is therefore excluded by an assertion of the great fact that “in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." A brief record of this event is included in the Fourth Commandment, and runs thus,-"In six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is." (Exod. xx. 11.) And in the first chapter of Genesis we have a detailed account of the separate work accomplished in each of the six days. (See Gen. i.) On the seventh day God "rested" from B the work of Creation, and set apart this day to be solemnly observed as a season of rest by all mankind for ever. (Exod. xx.11.; Gen. ii. 1—3.) It appears to be implied, in the first and second verses of the Book of Genesis, that there was an indefinite interval between the Creation of the universe "in the beginning" and the six days' work introductory to the present order of things, an interval which doubtless embraced a long period of time, including many changes, and distinguished by the various formations which have been brought to light by the researches of modern geology. But these processes are not recorded in the sacred narrative, which treats of the dealings of God with man. Here, however, the Creation of man himself is described with peculiar emphasis and solemnity. We learn that, as to his material and organic structure, this highly favoured being was formed from the dust of the ground, by a special exercise of the Divine will and power; that he received the breath of life immediately from his Divine Creator; that he was created in the image of God (i.e. having a spiritual essence, endowed with intellectual and moral faculties founded upon conscious personality; in the due exercise of these faculties, upright, pure, and holy, and thus qualified to hold sacred and happy intercourse with his Maker); and moreover that, in accordance with his superior nature, he was invested with dominion over all other inhabitants and productions of the world. (Gen. i. 26 -28.; Col. iii. 10.; Eph. iv. 24.) The first man was placed in a paradise or garden at the eastern extremity of a land called Eden, situate in some part of Central Asia which cannot now be exactly determined. This garden he was required to dress and to keep; and here, being provided with adequate employment, - furnished with all needful knowledge and skill, including that faculty of language which is to be regarded as a direct and special gift of the Creator, subsisting in his moral integrity, and enjoying holy communion with God, he was truly happy. And in order that nothing might be wanting to his felicity, God created a help meet for him, in the person of woman. As the man had been formed by Divine power from the dust of the ground, so the woman was formed from one of man's ribs which the Lord God took from his side during a deep sleep which He had caused to fall upon him; a circumstance which availed, as doubtless it was designed, to impress upon the mind of man a sense of the intimate relationship which subsisted between himself and his divinely-appointed partner. (Compare Eph. v. 28-30.) Thus was the first human pair united, by God Himself, in the bond of true conjugal affection, far above that mere impulse by means of which alone it was provided that the brutes should increase and multiply. In the first man and his wife we have the spectacle of two beings regarding themselves as one; the one recognising, and, as it were, finding and possessing itself in the other, which thus becomes to it a second self, the complement and perfection of the first. (Gen. ii. 23, 24.) And here is the human foundation of social order and well being,-perfect in proportion as the stronger nature of the husband is tempered, and the weaker nature of the wife is supported, by that love which reduces discord to harmony, and variety to unity, with the greatest advantage and the best result. The name given in Scripture to the first man is "Adam," or, more properly," the Adam,"-probably of kindred signification with the word (Adamah) denoting the ground from which his body was formed.* Adam called his wife's name Eve (i. e. life), as being the mother of all his posterity. (Gen. ii. 7-25.) Our first parents were thus, properly speaking, in a state of innocence; that is, they were practically unacquainted with sin and its results; they were good and happy. They were not ignorant, but they were sinless; they had no inclination to evil, and they were endued with power to obey God's will perfectly. They were therefore free from the impression of guilt, fear, or sorrow, and from the suffering of any pain connected with bodily dissolution or decay; while at the same time they rejoiced in the manifest presence and favour of God, and in perfect love towards each other. ELEMENTARY AND GENERAL QUESTIONS. 1. What is the first event recorded in Sacred History? Give the common date B. C. 2. Describe, in general, the work of Creation, during six days, as reported in the first chapter of Genesis. 3. How was the seventh day distinguished, and how is it to be commemorated? 4. What are we told concerning the Creation of man? 5. Where was man placed at the time of his Creation? 6. What is known concerning the situation of the Garden of Eden? 7. How was woman created? 8. What were the names of the first man and woman? Give the meanings. * Some suppose the name Adam to be cognate with an ancient Oriental word signifying "to found, establish ;" and regard it as applied to the first man as the founder of the human race. But the other interpretation is more commonly received. |