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05 - Commentary on The Book of Genesis · Commentary on The Book of Genesis

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Chapter three, Part two. Sentence passed on the serpent intimation of Messiah b.
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C. Four thousand four, verses fourteen and fifteen. And the Lord
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God said, unto the serpent, because thou hast done this, thou art
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cursed above all cattle, above every beast of the field. Upon thy belly,
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shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy
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life. And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between
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thy seed and her seed. It shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt
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bruise his heel. The prisoners being found guilty by their own confession, besides
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the personal and infallible knowledge of the judge, and nothing material being offered an
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arrest of judgment, God immediately proceeds to pass sentence, and in these verses
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he begins where the sin began with the serpent. God did not examine the
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serpent, nor ask him what he had done, nor why he did it,
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but immediately sentenced him number one, because he was already convicted of rebellion
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against God, and his malice and wickedness were notorious, not found by secret
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search, but openly avowed and declared as Sodoms number two, because he was
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to be forever excluded from all hope of pardon, And why should anything be
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said to convince and humble him who was to find no place for repentance.
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His wound was not search because it was not to be cured. Some think
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the condition of the fallen angels was not declared desperate and helpless until now that
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they had seduced man into the rebellion Numeral one. The sentence passed upon the
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tempter made he considered as lighting upon the serpent, the brute creature which Satan
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made use of, which was as the rest made for the service of man,
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but was now abused to his hurt. Therefore to testified displeasure against sin
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and a jealousy for the injured honor of Adam and Eve. God fastens a
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curse and reproach upon the serpent, and makes it a groan being burdened see
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Romans eight, verse twenty. The devil's instruments must share in the devil's punishments.
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Thus the bodies of the wicked, though only instruments of unrighteousness, shall
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partake of everlasting torments with the soul, the principal agent, even the ox
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that killed a man must be stoned. Exodus twenty one, Verses twenty eight
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and twenty nine. See here how God hates sin, and especially how much
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displeased he is with those who entice others into sin. It is a perpetual
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brand upon Jerbaum's name that he made Israel to sin. Now Number one,
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the serpent is here laid under the curse of God. Thou art cursed above
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all cattle, even the creeping things. When God made them, were blessed
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of him Verse twenty two. But sen turned the blessing into a curse.
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The serpent was more subtle than any beasts of the field Verse one, and
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here cursed above every beast of the field unsanctified. Subtlety often proves a great
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curse to a man. And the more crafty men are to do evil,
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the more mischief they do, and consequently they shall receive the greater damnation.
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Subtle tempters are the most accursed creatures under the sun. Number two. He
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is here laid under man's reproach and enmity. Subscript one. He is to
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be forever looked upon as a vile and despicable creature, and a proper object
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of scorn and contempt upon thy belly. Thou shalt go no longer upon feet
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or half erect, but thou shalt crawl along thy belly, cleaving to the
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earth, an expression of very abject miserable condition Psalms forty four, verse twenty
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five. And thou shalt not avoid eating dust with thy meat. His crime
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was that he tempted Eve to eat that which she should not. His punishment
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was that he was necessity to eat that which he would not dost thou shalt
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eat. This denotes not only a base and despicable condition, but a mean
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and pitiful spirit. It is said of those whose courage has departed from them,
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that they licked the dust like a serpent Micah seven, verse seventeen.
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How sad it is that the serpent's curse should be the covetous wordling's choice,
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whose character it is that he pants after the dust of the earth Amos two,
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verse seven. These choose their own delusions, and so shall their doom
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be Subscript two. He is to be forever looked upon as a venomous,
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noxious creature and a proper object of hatred and detestation. I will put enmity
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between thee and the woman. The inferior creatures be made for man. It
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was a curse upon any of them to be turned against man, and man
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against them, And this is part of the serpent's curse. The serpent is
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hurtful to man, and often bruises his heel because it can reach no higher
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Nay, notice is taken of his biting the horse's heels Chapter forty nine,
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verse seventeen. But man is victorious over the serpent and bruises his head,
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that is, gives him a mortal wound, aiming to destroy the whole generation
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of vipers. It is the effect of this curse upon the serpent, that,
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though that creature is subtle and very dangerous, yet it prevails not as
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it would if God gave it commission to the destruction of mankind. This sentence
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pronounced upon the serpent is much fortified by that promise of God to his people,
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thou shalt tread upon the lion and the adder Psalms ninety one, verse
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thirteen, and that of Christ to his disciples, they shall take up serpents
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Mark sixteen, verse eighteen. Witness Paul, who is unhurt by the viper
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that fastened upon his hand, observe. Here the serpent and the woman had
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just now been very familiar and friendly in discourse about the forbidden fruit, and
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a wonderful agreement there was between them. But here they are irreconcilably set at
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variance. Note sinful friendships justly end in mortal feuds. Those that unite in
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wickness will not unite long numeral two. This sentence may be considered as leveled
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at the devil, who only made use of the serpent as his vehicle in
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this appearance, but was himself the principal agent. He that spoke through the
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serpent's mouth is here struck at through the serpent's side. It is principally intended
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in the sentence, which, like the pillar of clown fire, has a
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dark side towards the devil and a bright side towards our first parents and their
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seat. Great things are contained in these words Number one. A perpetual reproach
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is here fastened upon that great enemy both to God and man, under the
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cover of the serpent. He is here sentenced to be subscript one, degraded,
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and a curse of God. It is supposed that the sin which turned
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angels into devils was pride which is here justly punished by a great variety of
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mortifications, couched under the mean circumstances of a serpent crawling on his belly and
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licking the dust. How art thou fallen, o Lucifer, he that would
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be above God? And what head a rebellion against him? Is justly exposed
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here to contempt and lies to be trodden on. A man's pride will bring
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him low, and God will humble those that will not humble themselves. Subscript
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two. Detested and abhorred of all mankind, even those that are really seduced
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into his interests, yet profess a hatred and abhorreance of him. And all
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that are born of God make it their constant care to keep themselves that this
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wicked one touched himnot one John five, verse eighteen. He is here condemned
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to a state of war and irreconcilable enmity. Subscript three. Destroyed and ruined
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at last by the Great Redeemer, signified by the breaking of his head.
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His subtle politics shall all be baffled, his usurped power shall be entirely crushed,
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and he shall be forever a captive to the injured honor of divine sovereignty.
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By being told of this now he was tormented before the time. Number
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two, A perpetual quarrel is here commenced between the kingdom of God and the
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kingdom of the devil. Among men, war is proclaimed between the seed of
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the woman and the seed of the serpent. That war in heaven between Michael
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and the dragon began now Revelations twelve, verse seven. It is the fruit
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of this enmity. Subscript one, that there is a continual conflict between grace
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and corruption in the hearts of God's people. Satan, by their corruptions,
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assaults them, buffets them, sifts them, and seeks to devour them.
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They, by the exercise of their graces, resist him, wrestle with him,
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quench his fiery darts, force him to flee from them. Heaven and
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hell can never be reconciled, nor light in darkness. No more can Satan
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and a sanctified soul. For these or contrary the one to the other.
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Subscript two, that there is likewise a continual struggle between the wicked and the
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godly in this world, those that love God account those their enemies that hate
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him Psalms one hundred and thirty nine, verses twenty one and twenty two.
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And all the rage and malice of persecutors against the people of God are the
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fruit of this enmity, which will continue. While there is a go goly
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man on this side Heaven and a wicked man on this side Hell. Marvel
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not therefore, if the world hate you first John three, verse thirteen,
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number three, A gracious promise is here made of Christ as the deliverer,
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a fallen man from the power of Satan. Though what was said was addressed
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to the serpent, Yet it was said in the hearing of our first parents,
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who doubtless took the hints of grace here given them, and saw a
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door of hope open to them, else the following sentence upon themselves would have
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overwhelmed them. Here was the dawning of the Gospel day. No sooner was
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the wound given than the remedy was provided and revealed here in the head of
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the book, as the word is Hebrews ten, verse seven. In the
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beginning the Bible, it is written of Christ that he should do the will
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of God by faith. In this promise, we have reason to think our
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first parents and the patriarchs before the flood were justified and saved, and to
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this promise in the benefit of it, instantly serving God day and night,
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they hoped to come. Notice. Is here given them of three things concerning
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Christ. Subscrip one his incarnation, that he should be the seed of the
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woman, the seed of that woman. Therefore his genealogy Luke three goes so
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high as to show him to be the son of Adam. But God does
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a woman the honor to call him rather her seed, because she it was
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whom the devil had beguiled, and on whom Adam had laid the blame.
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Herein God magnifies his grace in that though the woman was first in the transgression,
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yet she shall be saved by child bearing, as some read it,
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that is, by the promised seed who shall descend from her. On Timothy
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two, verse fifteen. He was likewise to be the seed of a woman,
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only of a virgin, that he might not be tainted with the corruption
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of our nature. He was sent forth made of a woman. Galatians four,
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verse four, that this promise might be fulfilled. It is a great
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encouragement to sinners that their savior is the seed of the woman. Bone of
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our bone Hebrews two, verses eleven and fourteen. Man is therefore sinful and
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unclean because he is born of a woman, Job twenty five, verse four,
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and therefore his days are full of trouble Job fourteen, verse one.
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But the seed of the woman was made sin and a curse for us,
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so saving us from both Subscript two. His sufferings and death pointed at in
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Satan's bruising his heel, that is, his human nature. Satan tempted Christ
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in the wilderness to draw him into sin. And some think it was Satan
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that terrified Christ in his agony to drive him to despair. It was the
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devil that put it into the heart of Judas to betray Christ, of Peter
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to deny him, of the chief priest to prosecute him, of the false
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witnesses to accuse him, and of Pilot to condemn him, aiming in all
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this by destroying the Savior, to ruin the salvation. But on the contrary,
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it was by death that Christ destroyed him that had the power of death
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Hebrews two, verse fourteen. Christ's heal was bruised when his feet were pierced
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and nailed the cross, and Christ's sufferings are continued in the sufferings of the
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saints for his name. The devil tempts them, cast them into prison,
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persecutes and slays them, and so bruises the heel of Christ, who is
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afflicted in their afflictions. But while the heel is bruised on earth, it
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is well that the head is safe in heaven Subscript three, his victory over
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Satan. Thereby, Satan had now trampled upon the woman and insulted over her.
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But the sea of the woman should be raised up in the fullness of
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time to avenge her quarrel, and to trample upon him, to spoil him,
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to lead him captive, and to triumph over him. Colossians two,
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verse fifteen. He shall bruise his head, that is, he shall destroy
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all his politics and all his powers, and give a total overthrow to his
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kingdom and interest. Christ, baffled Satan's temptations, rescued souls out of his
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hands, cast him out of the bodies of people, dispossessed the strong man,
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armed, and divide his spoil. By his death, he gave a
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fatal and incurable blow to the Devil's kingdom, a wound to the head of
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this beast that can never be healed. As his gospel gets ground, Satan
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falls Luke ten, verse eighteen, and is bound Revelations twenty verse two.
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By his grace, he treads Satan under his people's feet Romans sixteen, verse
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twenty, and will shortly cast him into the lake of fire Revelations twenty,
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verse ten. And the devil's perpetual overthrow be the complete and everlasting joy and
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glory of the chosen remnant. Sentence passed on Eve b c. Four thousand
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and four, verse sixteen. Unto the woman, he said, I will
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greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception and sorrow. Thou shalt bring forth children,
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and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over
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thee we have here the sentence passed upon the woman for her sin two things.
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She is condemned to a state of sorrow and a state of subjection,
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proper punishments of a sin in which she had gratified her pleasure and her pride
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Numeral one. She is here put into a state of sorrow, one particular
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of which only is specified that am bringing forth children, but includes all those
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impressions of grief and fear which the mind of that tender sex is most apt
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to receive, and all the common calamities which they are liable too. Note
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sin brought sorrow into the world. It was this that made the world a
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veil of tears, brought showers of trouble upon our heads, and open springs
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of sorrows in our hearts, and so delude to the world. Had we
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known no guilt, we should have known no grief. The pains of child
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bearing, which are great to a proverb a scripture proverb, are the effect
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of sin. Every pang and every groan of the travailing woman speak aloud the
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fatal consequences of sin. This comes of eating forbidden fruit. Observe number one.
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The sorrows are here said to be multiplied, greatly multiplied. All the
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sorrows this present time, or so many are the calamities which human life is
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liable too, of various kinds, and often repeated. The clouds returning after
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the rain, and no marvel that our sorrows are multiplied when our sins are
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both are innumerable evils. The sorrows of child bearing are multiplied, for they
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include not only the travailing throes, but the indisposition is before it is sorrow
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from the conception, and the nursing toils and vexations. After and after all,
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if the children prove wicked and foolish, they are more than ever the
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heaviness of her that bore them. Thus are the sorrows multiplied, as one
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grief is over another succeeds in this world. Number two. It is God
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that multiplies our sorrows. I will do it. God as a righteous judge
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does it, which ought to silence us under all our sorrows, as many
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as they are, we have deserved them all and more. Nay, God,
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as a tender father, does it for our necessary correction, that we
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may be humbled for sin and weaned from the world by all our sorrows.
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And the good we get by them, with the comfort we have under them,
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will abundantly balance our sorrows, how greatlysoever they are multiplied. Numeral two.
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She is here put into a state of subjection. The whole sex,
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which by creation was equal of man, is for sin made inferior and forbidden
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to usurp authority Verse Timothy two, Verses eleven and twelve. The wife particularly
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is hereby put under the dominion of her husband, and has not sued juris
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at her own disposal, of which see and instance in that law numbers thirty,
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verses six through eight. When the husband is empowered if he pleased to
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disannall the vows made by the wife, this sentence amounts only to that command,
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wives, being subjection to your own husbands. But the entrance of sin
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has made that duty a punishment, which otherwise it would not have been.
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If man had not sinned, he would always have ruled with wisdom and love.
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And if the woman had not sinned, she would always have obeyed with
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humility and meekness, And then the dominion would have been no grievance. But
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our own sin and folly make our yoke heavy. If Eve had not eaten
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forbidden through herself and tempt her husband to eat it, she would never have
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complained of her subjection. Therefore it ought never to be complained of, though
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harsh. But sin must be complained of that made it so. Those wives
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who not only despise and disobey their husbands, but domineer over them, do
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not consider that they not only violate a divine law, but thwart a divine
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sentence. Numeral three observe here, how mercy is mixed with wrath in this
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sentence. The woman shall have sorrow, but shall be in bringing forth children,
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and the sorrow shall be forgotten for joy that a child is born.
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John sixteen, verse twenty one. She shall be subject, but shall be
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to her own husband that loves her, not to a stranger or an enemy.
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The sentence was not a curse to bring her to ruin, but chastisement
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to bring her to repentance. It was well that enmity was not put between
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the man and the woman, as there was between the serpent and the woman.
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Sentence passed on atom consequences of the fall b see four thousand and four,
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verses seventeen to nineteen. And unto Adam, he said, because I
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was hearkened under the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree
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of which I command THEE, saying thou shalt not eat of it. Cursed
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is the ground for thy sake, and sorrow shalt thou eat of it.
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The days of thy life. Thorns also and thistles shalt bring forth to thee,
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And thou shalt eat the herb of the field, and the sweat of
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thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return under the ground, for
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out of it wast thou taken for dust sau art, and into dust shalt
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thou return. We have here the sentence passed upon Atom, which is prefaced
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with the recital of his crime. Because I was heart to the voice of
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thy wife Verse seventeen. He excused a fault by laying it on his wife.
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She gave it me. But God does not admit the excuse. She
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could but tempt him. She could not force him. Though it was her
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fault to persuade him to eat, it was his fault to hearken to her.
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Thus, men's frivolous please will, in the day of God's judgment,
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not only be overruled, but turned against them, and made the grounds of
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their sentence out of thine own mouth. Will I judge thee observe numer one.
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God put marks of his displeasure on Atom in three instances. Number one.
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His habitation is by this sentence cursed. Cursed is the ground for thy
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sake, And the effect of that curse is thorns and thistles shall bring forth
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unto thee. It is here intimated that his habitation should be changed. He
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should no longer dwell in distinguish blessed paradise, but should be removed to common
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ground, and that cursed the ground or earth is here put for the whole
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visible creation, which by the sin of man is made subject to vanity,
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the several parts of it being not so serviceable to man's comfort and happiness as
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they were designed to be when they were made, and would have been if
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he had not sinned. God gave the earth to the children of men,
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designed it to be a comfortable dwelling to them. But sin has altered the
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property of it. It is now cursed for man's sin. That is,
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it is a dishonorable habitation. It bespeaks man mean that his foundation is in
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the dust. It is a dry and barren habitation. Its spontaneous productions are
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now weeds and briars, something nauseous or noxious. What good fruits it produces
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must be extorted from it by the ingenuity and industry of man. Fruitfulness was
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its blessing for man's service on Verses eleven and twenty nine, and now barrenness
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was its curse. For man's punishment. Is not what it was in the
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day it was created. Sin turn of fruitful land into barrenness, and man,
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having become as a wild ass's colt, has the wild asses lot the
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wilderness for his habitation, and the barren land his dwelling. Jove thirty nine,
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verse six. Psalms sixty eight, verse six. Had not this curse
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been in part removed for aught, I know, the earth would have been
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forever barren and never produce anything but thorns and thistles. The ground is cursed,
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that is doomed to destruction at the end of time, when the earth
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and all the works there therein shall be burnt up for the sin of man,
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the measure of whose iniquity would then be full. Second Peter three,
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Verses seven and ten. But observe a mixture of mercy in this sentence.
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Subscript one. Adam himself is not cursed as a serpent was verse fourteen,
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but only the ground for his sake. God had blessings in him. Even
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the Holy seat destroy it, not for that blessing is in it Isaiah sixty
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five, verse eight. And he had blessings in store for him. Therefore
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he is not directly and immediately cursed, But as it were at second hand
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Subscript two, he is yet above ground the earth does not open and swallow
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him up. Only it is not what it was. As he continues alive,
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notwithstanding his degeneracy from his primitive purity and rectitude. So the earth continues
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to be his habitation, notwithstanding its degeneracy, from its primitive beauty and fruitfulness.
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Subscript three. This curse upon the earth, which cut off all expectations
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of a happiness in things below, might direct and quicken him to look for
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bliss and satisfaction only in things above. Number two. His employments and enjoyments
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are all embittered to him. Subscribe one. His business shall henceforth become a
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toil to him, and he shall go on with it in the sweat of
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his face Verse nineteen. His business before he sinned was a constant pleasure to
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him. The garden was then dressed without any uneasy labor, and kept without
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any uneasy care. But now his labor shall be a weariness, and shall
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waste his body. His care shall be a torment, and shall flick his
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mind. The curse upon the ground, which made it barren and produce thorns
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and thistles, made his employment about it much more difficult and toilsome. If
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Adam had not sinned, he had not sweated. Observe here sub Subscribe one
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that labor is our duty, which we must faithfully perform. We are bound
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to work not as creatures only, but as criminals. Is part of our
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sentence, which ileness daringly defies. Sub Subscript two that uneasiness and weariness with
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labor are our just punishment, which we must patiently submit to and not complain
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of, since they are less than our iniquity deserves. Let not us,
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by inordinate care and labor, make our punishment heavier than God has made it,
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but rather study to lighten our burden and wipe off our sweat by eyron,
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Providence and all, and expecting rest shortly. Subscript two. His food
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shall henceforth become in comparison with what it had been unpleasant to him. Sub
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Subscript one. The matter of his food is changed. He must now eat
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the herb of the field, and must no longer be feasted with the delicacies
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of the garden of Eden. Having by sin made himself like the beasts at
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parish, he is justly turned to be a fellow commoner with them, and
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to eat grass as oxen, till they know that the heavens due rule some
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subscript Two, there is a change in the manner of his eating it in
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sorrow verse seventeen, and in the sweat of his face verse nineteen. He
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must eat of it. Adam could not but eat and sorrow all the days
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of his life, remembering the forbidden fruit he had eaten, and the guilt
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and shame he had contracted by it. Observe first that human life is exposed
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to many miseries and calamities, which very much embitter the poor remains of its
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pleasures and delights. Some never eat with pleasure Joe twenty one, verse twenty
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five, through sickness or melancholy. All even the best have cause to eat
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with sorrow for sin, And all even the happiest in this world have some
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allays to their joy. Troops of diseases, disasters, and deaths in various
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shapes entered the world with sin and still ravage it. Secondly, that the
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righteousness of God is to be acknowledged in all the sad consequences of sin.
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Wherefore then should a living man complain. Yet in this part of the sentence
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there is also a mixture of mercy. He shall sweat, but his toil
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shall make his rest the more welcome. When he returns to his earth,
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as to his bed, he shall grieve, but he shall not starve.
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He shall have sorrow, but in that sorrow he shall eat bread, which
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shall strengthen his heart under his sorrows. He is not sentenced to eat dust
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as the serpent, only to eat the herb of the field. Number three.
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His life also is but short. Considering how full of trouble his days
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are, it is in favor to him that they are few. Yet death,
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being dreadful in nature, yea, even though life being pleasant, that
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concludes the sentence, Thou shall return to the ground out of which thou wast
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taken thy body, That part of thee which was taken now the ground shall
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return to it again. For dust, thou art. This points either to
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the first original of his body. It was made of the dust. Nay,
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it was made dust, and was still so so that there needed no
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more than to recall the grant of immortality, and to withdraw the power which
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was put forth to support it. And then he would of course return to
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dust, or to the present corruption and degeneracy of his mind. Dust,
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thou art, that is thy precious soul is now lost and buried in the
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dust of the body, in the mire of the flesh. It was made
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spiritual and heavenly, but has become carnal and earthly. His doom is therefore
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read to dust. Thou shalt return. Thy body shall be forsaken by thy
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soul and become itself a lump of dust. And then it shall be lodged
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in the grave, the proper place for it, and mingle itself with the
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dust of the earth, our dust Psalms one hundred and four, verse twenty
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nine. Earth to earth, dust to dust. Observe here Subscript one that
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man is a mean, frail creature, little as dust, the small dust
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of the balance. Light is dust, altogether lighter than manity. Weak is
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dust, and of no consistency. Our strength is not the strength of stones.
30:34
He that made us considers it and remembers that we are dust Psalms one
30:38
hundred and three, verse fourteen. Man is indeed the chief part of the
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dust of the world Proverbs eight, verse twenty six. But still he is
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dust. Subscript two, that he is a mortal, dying creature, and
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hastening to the grave. Dust may be raised for a time into a little
31:00
cloud, and may seem considerable while it is held up by the wind that
31:04
raised it, But when the force of that is spent, it falls again
31:10
and returns to the earth out of which it was raised. Such a thing
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is man. A great man is but a great mass of dust, and
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must return to his earth. Subscript three. That sin brought death into the
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world. If Adam had not sinned, he would not have died. Romans
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five, verse twelve. God entrusted Adam with a spark of immortality, which
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he, by patient continuance in well doing, might have blown up into an
31:38
everlasting flame, but he foolishly blew it out by wilful sin. And now
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death is the wages of sin, and sin is the sting of death.
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Numeral two. We must not go off from this sentence upon our first parents,
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which we are all so nearly concerned in and feel from to this day
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till we have considered two things. Number one, how fitly the sad consequences
32:06
of sin upon the soul of Adam and a sinful race were represented and figured
32:09
out by this sentence, and perhaps were more intended in it than we are
32:15
aware of, though that misery only is mentioned which affected the body. Yet
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that was a pattern of spiritual miseries, the curse that entered into the soul.
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Subscript one. The pains of a woman in travail represent the terrors and
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pangs of a guilty conscience awakened to a sense of sin from the conception of
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lust. These sorrows are greatly multiplied, and sooner or later will come upon
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the center, like pain upon a woman in travail, which cannot be avoided.
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Subscript two. The stay of subjection to which the woman was reduced represents
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that loss of spiritual liberty and freedom will which is the effect of sin.
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The onion of sin in the soul is compared to that of a husband Roman
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seven, Verses one through five. The sinner's desire is towards it, for
33:08
he is fond of his slavery, and it rules over him. Subscript three.
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The curse of barrenness, which was brought upon the earth, and its
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produce of briars and thorns, are a fit representation of the barrenness of a
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corrupt and sinful soul. In that which is good and its fruitfulness and evil,
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it is all overgrown with thorns and nettles cover the face of it,
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and therefore it is nigh undercursing Hebrews six, verse eight. Subscript four.
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The toil and sweat bespeak the difficulty which, through the infirmity of the flesh
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man labors under in the service of God and the work of religion. So
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hard has it now become to enter into the Kingdom of heaven. Blessed be
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God, it is not impossible. Subscript five. The embittering of his food
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to him bespeaks the soul's want of the comfort of God's favor, which is
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life and the bread of life. Subscript six. The soul, like the
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body, returns to the dust of this world. Its tendency is that way.
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It has an earthly taint. John three, verse thirty one, number
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two. How admirably the satisfaction our Lord Gius made by his death and sufferings
34:25
answered to the sentence here pass upon our first parents. Subscript one. Did
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travailing pains come in with sin? We read the travail of Christ's soul Isaiah
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fifty three, verse eleven. And the pains of death who was held by
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are called o deny x two verse twenty four. The pains of a woman
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in travail Subscript two Did subjection come in with sin? Christ was made under
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the law Galatians four, verse four subscripte three Did the curse come in with
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sin? Christ was made a curse for us, died a curse of death.
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Galatians three, verse thirteen. Subscript four did thorns come in with sin?
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He was crowned with thorns for us? Subscript five did sweat come in
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with sin? He for us did sweat as it were great drops of blood.
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Subscript six did sorrow come in with sin? He was a man of
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sorrows. His soul was in his agony exceedingly sorrowful. Subscript seven did death
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come in with sin? He became obedient unto death. Thus is the plaster
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as wide as the wound. Blessed be God for Jeus Christ. Verse twenty
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and Adam called his wife's name Eve, because she was the mother of all
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living God. Having named the man and called him Adam, which signifies red
35:52
earth, Adam, in further token of dominion, named the woman and called
35:57
her Eve, that is life. Adam bears the name of the dying body,
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Eve, that of the living soul. The reason of the name is
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here given some think by Moses, the historian others by Adam himself, because
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she was, that is, was to be the mother of all living.
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He had before called her Isha woman as a wife. Here he calls her
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Eva life as a mother now Number one. If this was done by divine
36:29
direction, it was an instance of God's favor, and like the noon naming
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of Abraham and Sarah, it was a seal of the covenant, and in
36:37
an assurance to them that, notwithstanding their sin, in his displeasure against him
36:43
for it, he had not reversed that blessing, wherewith he had blessed them
36:46
be fruitful and multiply. It was likewise a confirmation of the promise now made
36:52
that the seed of the woman of this woman should break the serpent's head.
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Number two. If Adam did it of himself, it was an instance of
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his faith in the word of God. Doubtless it was not done, as
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some have suspected, in contempt or defiance of the curse, but rather in
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a humble confidence and dependence upon the blessing. Subscript one, the blessing of
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a reprieve, admiring the patience of God that he should spare such sinners to
37:20
be the parents of all living, and that he did not immediately shut up
37:22
those fountains of the human life and nature, because they could send forth no
37:28
other than polluted, poisoned streams. Subscript two The blessing of a redeemer,
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the promised seed, to whom Adam had an eye in calling his wife Eve
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life, for he should be the life of all the living, and in
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him all the families of the earth should be blessed in hope of which he
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thus triumphs Verse twenty one. Unto Adam also and to his wife did the
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Lord God make coats of skins and clothe them. We have here a further
38:00
instance of God's care concerning our first parents, notwithstanding their sin. Though he
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corrects his disobedient children and put them under the marks of his displeasure, yet
38:13
he does not disinherit them, but like a tender father, provides the herb
38:17
of the field for their food and coats of skins for their clothing. Thus
38:22
the Father provided for the returning prodigal Luke fifteen, Verses twenty two and twenty
38:28
three. If the Lord had been pleased to kill them, he would not
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have done this for them. Observe number one that clothes came in with sin
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we should have had no occasion for them, either for defense or decency,
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if sin had not made us naked to our shame. Little reason. Therefore
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we have to be proud of our clothes, which are but the badges of
38:52
our poverty and infamy. Number two, that when God may close for our
38:58
first parents, he made them warm and strong, but coarse and very plain,
39:04
not robes of scarlet, but coats of skin. Their clothes were made
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not of silk and satin, but plain skins, not trimmed nor embroidered,
39:14
none of the ornaments which the daughters of Sion afterwards invented and prided themselves in.
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Let the poor that are meanly clad learn hens not to complain having food
39:27
and covering. Let them be content they are as well done too, as
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Adam and Eve were. And let the rich that are finally clad, learn
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hens not to make the putting on of apparel their adorning. Verse Peter three,
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Verse three. Number three. That God is to be acknowledged with thankfulness,
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not only in giving us food, but in giving us clothes. Also
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Chapter twenty eight, verse twenty. The wool and the flax are his,
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as well as the corn and the wine HOSEA two verse nine, number four.
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These coats of skin had a significancy. The beasts whose skins they were
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must be slain, slain before their eyes to show them what death is,
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and as it is in Ecclesiastes three, verse eighteen, that they may see
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that they themselves were beasts, mortal and dying. It is supposed that they
40:22
were slain not for food, but for sacrifice, to typify the great sacrifice
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which in the latter end of the world should be offered once for all.
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Thus, the first thing that died was a sacrifice or Christ in a figure
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who is therefore said to be the lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
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These sacrifices were divided between God and Man in token of reconciliation. The
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flesh was offered to God a whole burnt offering. The skins were given to
40:52
Man for clothing, signifying that Jesus Christ, having offered himself to God a
40:58
sacrifice of a sweet smelling savor, we are to clothe ourselves with His righteousness,
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as with a garment, that the shame of our nakedness may not appear.
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Adam and Eve made from themselves aprons of fig leaves, a covering too
41:15
narrow for them to wrap themselves. In Isaiah twenty eight, verse twenty,
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such are all the rags of our own righteousness. But God made them coats
41:24
of skins, large and strong and durable, and fit for them. Such
41:30
is the righteousness of Christ. Therefore put on the Lord jeous Christ, Adam
41:37
and Eve expelled from Eden b See four thousand and four, Verses twenty two
41:42
to twenty four. And the Lord God said, behold, the man is
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become as one of us to know good and evil. And now lest he
41:52
put forth his hand and take also the tree of life and eat and live
41:55
forever. Therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the gardener of Eden to
42:00
till the ground from whence he was taken. So he drove out the man,
42:04
and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden cherubums and a
42:07
flaming sword, which turned every way to keep the way of the Tree of
42:12
life. Sinpence being passed upon the offenders, we have here execution in part
42:19
done upon them. Immediately observe here numeral one, how they were justly disgraced
42:25
and shamed before God and the Holy Angels by the ironical upbraiding of them with
42:30
the issue of their enterprise. Behold, the man has become as one of
42:35
us to know good and evil, a goodly god he makes. Does he
42:38
not see what he has got, what preferments, what advantages by eating forbidden
42:44
fruit? This was said to awaken and humble them, and to bring them
42:47
to a sense of their sin and folly, and to repentance for it,
42:52
that, seeing themselves thus wretchedly deceived, by following the devil's counsel, they
42:57
might henceforth pursue the happiness God should offer in the way he should prescribe.
43:02
God thus fills their faces with shame, that they may seek His name Psalms
43:08
eighty three, verse sixteen. He puts them to this confusion in order to
43:15
their conversion. True penitents will thus upbraid themselves. What fruit have I now
43:22
by sin? Romans six, verse twenty one. Have I gained what I
43:25
foolishly promised myself in a sinful way? No? No, it never proved
43:32
what it pretended to. But the contrary numeral two, how they were justly
43:38
discarded and shut out of paradise, which was a part of the sentence implied
43:44
in that thou shalt eat the herb of the field. Here we have number
43:47
one the reason God gave why he shut man out of paradise, not only
43:54
because he had put forth his hand and taken of the Tree of Knowledge,
43:59
which was his sin, but lest he should again put forth his hand and
44:02
take also of the tree of life, now forbidden him by the divine sentence,
44:07
as before the tree of Knowledge was forbidden by the law. And should
44:13
dare to eat of that tree and so profane a divine sacrament, and defy
44:17
a divine sentence, and yet flatter himself with a conceit that thereby he should
44:22
live forever observe. Subscript one. There is a foolish proneness in those that
44:30
render themselves unworthy of the substance of Christian privileges to catch at the signs and
44:36
shadows of them. Many that like not the terms of the Covenant, yet
44:40
for their reputation's sake, are fond of the seals of it. Subscript two.
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It is not only justice but kindness to such to be denyed them,
44:52
For by usurping that to which they have no title, they affront God and
44:57
make their sin the more heinous. And by building their hopes upon a wrong
45:00
foundation, they render their conversion the more difficult, and their ruin the more
45:07
deplorable. Number two. The method God took in giving him this bill of
45:13
divorce and expelling and excluding him from this garden of pleasure. He turned him
45:19
out and kept him out Subscript one. He turned him out from the garden
45:24
to the common. This is twice mentioned. He sent him forth verse twenty
45:30
three, and then he drove him out Verse twenty four. God bade him
45:36
go out, told him that that was no place for him. He should
45:40
no longer occupy and enjoy that garden. But he liked the place too well
45:45
to be willing to part with it. And therefore God drove him out,
45:49
made him go out, whether he would or no. This signified the exclusion
45:54
of him and all his guilty race, from that communion with God, which
45:59
was the bliss and glory of paradise. The tokens of God's favor to him
46:05
and his delight in the sons of men, which he had in his innocent
46:08
estate, were now suspended. The communications of his grace were withheld, and
46:15
Adam became weak and like other men as Samson. When the spirit of the
46:19
Lord had departed from him, his acquaintance with God was lessened and lost,
46:24
and that correspondence which had been settled between man and his maker was interrupted and
46:30
broken off. He was driven out as one unworthy of this honor and incapable
46:35
of this service. Thus he and all mankind, by the fall, forfeited
46:42
and lost communion with God. But whither did he send him when he turned
46:46
him out of Eden? He might justly have chased him out of the world
46:51
Job eighteen, verse eighteen. But he only chased him out of the garden.
46:57
He might justly have cast him down to Hell, as he did the
47:00
angels that send when he shut them out from the heavenly paradise Second Peter two,
47:05
verse four. But man was only sent to till the ground out of
47:09
which he was taken. He was sent to a place of toil, not
47:14
to a place of torment. He was sent to the ground, not to
47:19
the grave, to the workhouse, not to the dungeon, not to the
47:22
prison house. To hold the plow, not to drag the chain. His
47:28
tilling the ground would be recompensed by his eating of its fruits, and his
47:31
converse with the earth. Whence he was taken, was improvable to good purposes.
47:37
To keep him humble and to remind him of his latter end. Observed
47:43
then that though our first parents were excluded from the privileges of their state of
47:46
innocency, yet they were not abandoned to despair God's thoughts of love, designing
47:53
them for second state of probation upon new terms Subscript two. He kept him
48:00
out and forbade him all hopes of a re entry, For he placed at
48:05
the east of the Garden of Eden a detachment of Cherubum, God's host,
48:10
armed with a dreadful and irresistible power, represented by flaming swords, which turned
48:15
every way on that side the garden, which lay next to the place whither
48:20
Adam was sent to keep the way that led to the Tree of Life,
48:23
so that he could neither steal nor force an entry. For who could make
48:28
a pass against an angel on his guard, or gain a pass made good
48:32
by such force? Now this intimated to Adam some subscript one, that God
48:38
was displeased with him, though he had mercy in store for him, Yet
48:44
at present he was angry with him, was turned to be his enemy and
48:47
fought against him. For here was a sword drawn numbers twenty two, verse
48:52
twenty three, and he was to him a consuming fire, for it was
48:58
a flaming sword. Sub Subscript two that the angels were war with him,
49:04
no peace with the heavenly host, while he was in rebellion against their lord
49:08
and ours. Sub Subscript three that the way to the Tree of life was
49:14
shut up, namely that way which at first he was put into the way
49:20
of spotless innocency. It is not said that the Cherubam were set to keep
49:24
him and his forever from the tree of life. Thanks be to God,
49:30
there is a paradise set before us, and a tree of life in the
49:32
midst of it, which rejoice in the hopes of. But they were set
49:37
to keep that way of the Tree of Life, which hitherto they had been
49:42
in. That is, it was henceforward in vain for him and his to
49:46
expect righteousness, life, and happiness by virtue of the First Covenant, for
49:52
it was irreparably broken and could never be pleaded nor any benefit taken by it.
50:00
The command of that covenant being broken, the curse of it is in
50:04
full force. It leaves no room for repentance. But we are all undone
50:08
if we be judged by that covenant. God revealed this to Adam not to
50:14
drive him to despair, but to oblige and quicken him to look for life
50:17
and happiness in the promised Seed, by whom the flaming sword is removed.
50:23
God and his angels are reconciled to us in a new and living way.
50:28
Into the Holiest is consecrated and laid open for us. End of Chapter three,
50:34
Part two,