of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him: male and female created he them.-And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and man became a living soul (d).” Man was created innocent, upright, and happy, with powers of understanding and will, a rational and moral free-agent. He was immediately placed in the fruitful and pleasant garden of Eden, and was, with one exception, indulged in the free use of every thing which surrounded him. A single prohibition was imposed by his Creator, as the mark of his dependence, and the test of his obedience. He was forbidden to eat the fruit of the tree which was called the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, with a solemn denunciation from God, that if he did eat of it, he should surely die. But neither his residence in the garden of Eden, in which was every thing

66

pleasant to the sight and good for food," nor

his

have been acquired by watchfulness and exercise, whereby, in process of time, he might have become so stedfast, that he could not have been prevailed upon by any temp tation to do contrary to his duty.-Patrick.

(d) Gen. c. 1. v. 26 and 27. c.2. v.7.

his absolute "dominion over all creatures of the earth, and of the sea, and of the air," could render man happy without a rational companion. "And God said, It is not good that the man should be alone: I will make him an help meet for him (e)." And God formed the first woman, Eve, out of one of Adam's ribs, and brought her unto Adam as his wife, to prove that this Being was of the same nature as himself, and therefore worthy to be considered as his companion. And Adam said, "This is now bone of my bone, and flesh of my flesh: therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife; and they shall be one flesh (f)" thus was man pronounced to be a social being, and thus was marriage instituted, by divine authority, from the beginning of the world.

But the happiness of our first parents was soon interrupted by the malignity of Satan, or the Evil Spirit, who was permitted to tempt them to transgress the command of their benevolent Creator, in the form of a serpent (g), which is said

(e) Gen. c. 2. v. 18.

(f) Gen. c. 2. v. 23 and 24.

(g) See Patrick's Commentaries, Sherlock's Discourses, and Maurice's History and Indian Antiquities, upon this subject. The prophet Isaiah, c. 27. v. I. evi

said to be, more subtle than any beast of the field (h)." The serpent seduced Eve, and Eve afterwards seduced Adam, to eat of the forbidden fruit, by exciting the hope that it would increase their knowledge, and exalt the dignity of their nature. By this violation of the express command of God, sin and misery were introduced into the world. A total change, in consequence of the Fall of Adam and Eve from their primitive innocence, instantaneously took place in their minds and dispositions; and a corrupt nature, subject to disease and death, and prone to vice and wickedness, was derived from them to all their posterity. "Unto the woman, God said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee. And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shall not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life.

Thorns also, and

"

dently alludes to Satan as " the dragon or the serpent; and he is so called in the Revelation, c. 12. v. 9. c. 20. Eastern tradition confirms this account, and represents the evil spirit under the same form.

V. 2.

(h) Gen. c. 3. v. I.

and thistles shall it bring forth to thee: and thou shalt eat the herb of the field. In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken : for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return (i)."—" And the Lord God said, Behold the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil; and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever; therefore, the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken (k).”

As the fall of Adam, and the consequent corruption of human nature, were the original cause of the necessity of a Redeemer, we find that God was pleased to give an intimation of the future redemption of mankind, at the time he denounced punishment upon Adam's disobedience: "And the Lord God said unto the serpent, I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel (1).”

To Adam and Eve were born sons and daughters, but their number is not recorded in Scripture. The only three, whose names are mentioned, are Cain, Abel, and Seth; and of these

(i) Gen. c. 3. v. 16—19.

(k) Gen. c. 3. v. 22 and 23.

(1) Gen. c. 3. v. 15. Vide Patrick in loc,

three

three the sacred historian has chiefly confined himself to the posterity of Seth, probably because from him were descended Noah and Abraham, and consequently the people chosen to preserve the knowledge of God in the world, and to give birth to the promised Messiah.

The race of men quickly increased, and the lives of the patriarchs were extended to more than 900 years. In the time of Noah, who was the ninth in descent from Adam, the wickedness of men became so great, that God saw fit to destroy, by a general deluge, all the inhabitants of the earth, except Noah and his wife, and his three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japhet, and their wives, and two, male and female, of every species of animals. These were all preserved in an Ark made by the command of God, who himself prescribed its form and dimensions. "Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord, because he was a just man, and perfect in his generations, and walked with God (m)." The deluge was 1656 2348. years after the creation of the world, and 2348 before the birth of Christ. "And every living substance was destroyed which was upon the face of the ground, both man and cattle, and the creeping things, and the fowl of the heaven: and they were destroyed from the earth, and Noah only

(m) Gen. c. 6. v. 8 and 9.