SECTION III.

OF THE COVENANT OF GOD, AS REVEALED TO NOAH.

WHEN God declared his intention of bringing a flood upon the world, he said to Noah: "But with thee will I establish my covenant," Gen. vi. 18. And after the flood, he again said: "And I, behold I establish my covenant with you, and with your seed after you," Gen. ix. 8, 9. We have already seen, that in every age the covenant of God has been celebrated in connection with sacrifice. Hence, Noah after the flood testified his gratitude, and implored the countenance and the favour of God by building an altar, and offering upon it of every clean beast and of every clean fowl, and by these services did he celebrate that covenant, which was his only security against that fearful judgment, of which the deluge was an emblem. That this was no new thing, is evident, from the distinction mentioned between clean and unclean animals, Gen. viii. 20; which distinction, as animal food was not granted to man till afterwards, must have been made in reference to sacrifice; so that from the beginning, directions had been given on this subject. Men were never left to offer what they pleased, any more than to devise for themselves a method of acceptance. As salvation is entirely a matter of favour, so all connected with it is wholly of divine appointment. And in particular, as the gift of the Saviour is the fruit of pure sovereign mercy, and his work is

according to the wise counsel of Jehovah, it would have been preposterous for men to devise means to prefigure either him or his atonement.

The Lord, we are told, "smelled a sweet savour," or a savour of rest; and we need not ask, what could there be in the smoke of burnt carcases that could be pleasing to him, or in which he could rest with pleasure. But there was enough in that sacrifice which they represented, to afford him the highest satisfaction. The promised blessings were all to be obtained through "the beloved Son of the Highest;" and to Noah, in whose loins the promised seed was now lodged, was the covenant of God confirmed by additional evidence; and hence, the special reference which is made to sacrifice. And as the covenant comprehends promises both in regard to this life. and that which is to come, so on this occasion, a promise was made him of temporal security to the earth, and to all flesh upon it for his sake, and for that of his posterity. Lamech on the birth of Noah, gave him this name, which signifies comforter, saying: This child shall be a comfort to us amidst our works and the toils of our hands, because of the ground which the Lord hath cursed, Gen. v. 29. And according to this prophecy, the curse pronounced on the ground was mitigated, and an assurance was given to Noah, that the world should not again be subjected to a general destruction by a flood, and that nothing should again happen to interrupt the regular interchange of the seasons. "While the earth remaineth," said God, "seed time and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and

winter, and day and night, shall not cease," Gen. viii. 22. As the animals had originally been given. unto man, so they suffered in his fall: and now that the earth which was cursed for his sake had been overwhelmed by the deluge, they suffered in the general destruction. But Noah having been preserved, as, "heir of the righteousness which is by faith," was assured, that as with him and his seed the covenant of God should be established, so in subserviency to this, the covenant should include the preservation of "every living creature that was with him, of the fowl, of the cattle, and of every beast of the earth," Gen. ix. 8-10.

The connection between the temporal and the spiritual parts of the covenant is of a twofold nature. It consists, first, in the subserviency of the former to the latter; and secondly, in the illustration of the nature and medium of spiritual blessings afforded by the shadow of earthly things. In regard to the first of these, it is sufficient to remark, that though the kingdom of Christ is not of this world, yet all its subjects must be born into it, and many of them must for a considerable time remain in it, not only to answer the purposes of God in regard to themselves, but also in relation to others. All the things and events of time, indeed, are made subservient to the interests and progress of the everlasting kingdom. In this view, it is easy to see the connection, between the promises of temporal and spiritual things. And with regard to the second kind of connection, it is equally easy to see, that the temporal part of the promise was designed as a pledge and a

figure of the fulfilment of the great promise of a spiritual deliverer, and of everlasting blessedness, when this world shall have passed away. Hence, the rainbow, which is declared to be the token of the covenant between God and all flesh, is also employed as a token of the everlasting covenant: for when "the majesty on high is exhibited," a rainbow is seen round about the throne, as the token of peace and security. The rainbow, it is natural to think, must have been known and admired from the beginning: being, however, the symptom of rain, it might after the flood have been dreaded as the presage of another deluge. But this distressing association is prevented, by its being appointed as the express token that the flood never shall return. And in like manner, since, when God appears in his glory, sinners may well be afraid of his vengeance; he appears, at the same time, surrounded by this token of mercy and reconciliation. He who hath pledged his oath, that the waters of Noah shall no more go over the earth, hath also sworn, that though the mountains shall depart, and the hills shall be removed, yet his kindness shall never depart from his people, nor the covenant of his peace be removed, Isaiah liv. 10.

Indeed, when we consider, that the deliverance of Noah in the ark, is held forth as a figure of the salvation of the Church through the work of the Redeemer; it is natural to expect, that the covenant afterwards established with him should embrace an illustration of the covenant of peace. The antediluvian world being disobedient, were sen

tenced to destruction; but punishment was delayed an hundred and twenty years, Gen. vi. 3, as criminals tried and convicted, have their execution delayed during a short period of respite. The longsuffering of God waited while Noah preached to them as under the arrest of Divine justice, all the time that the ark was preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls, were saved by water. "The like figure whereunto," says Peter, even baptism doth now save us, (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ,-who is gone into Heaven, and is on the right hand of God; angels, and authorities, and powers, being made subject unto him, 1 Peter iii. 18-22. When it is said, "The like figure whereunto baptism doth also now save us," we are taught, that being saved in the ark was a figure of a greater salvation, and that baptism, as a sign of the same salvation, is a corresponding figure. The ark was not a figure of baptism, nor is baptism a figure of it; but both are figures of the same thing, namely, salvation through Christ. Noah and his family were saved from the deluge, and in correspondence with this, baptism, or Christianity, doth now save us; not the rite, but the judicial answer (or the requisite, as the word may be understood,) of a conscience purged through the resurrection of Christ, of which requisite purification, baptism is an expressive emblem. He whose resurrection is the decisive token of the all-sufficiency and acceptance of his sacrificial death, though he was condemned of human rulers, is now acknow