Page:An Exposition of the Old and New Testament (1828) vol 1.djvu/59

Rh divine honours; see Deut 4. 19. (2.) The duty and wisdom of daily worshipping that God who made all these things, and made them to be that to us, which they are. The revolutions of the day and night oblige us to the solemn sacrifice of prayers and praises, every morning and evening.

20. And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven. 21. And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good. 22. And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth. 23. And the evening and the morning were the fifth day.

Each day, hitherto, has produced very noble and excellent beings, which we can never sufficiently admire; but we do not read of the creation of any living creature, till the fifth day, which these verses gives us an account of. The work of creation not only proceeded gradually from one thing to another, but rose and advanced gradually from that which was less excellent to that which was more so, teaching us to press toward perfection, and endeavour that our last works may be our best works. It was on the fifth day that the fish and fowl were created, and both out of the waters; though there is one kind of flesh, of fishes, and another, of birds, yet they were made together, and both out of the waters; for the power of the first Cause can produce very different effects from the same second causes.

I. The making of the fish and fowl, at first, v. 20, 21. God commanded them to be produced; he said. Let the waters bring forth abundantly; not as if the waters had any productive power of their own, but, "Let them be brought into being, the fish in the waters, and the fowl out of them." This command he himself executed; God created great whales, &c. Insects, which perhaps, are as various and as numerous as any species of animals, and their structure as curious, were part of this day's work, some of them being allied to the fish, and others to the fowl. Mr. Boyle (I remember) says, he admires the Creator's wisdom and power as much in an ant as in an elephant. Notice is here taken of the various sorts of fish and fowl, each after their kind; and of the great numbers of both that were produced, for the waters brought forth abundantly; and particular mention is made of great whales, the largest of fishes, whose bulk and strength, exceeding that of any other animal, are remarkable proofs of the power and greatness of the Creator. The express notice here taken of the whale, above all the rest, seems sufficient to determine what animal is meant by the Leviathan, Job 41. 1. The curious formation of the bodies of animals, their different sizes, shapes, and natures, with the admirable powers of the sensitive life with which they are endued, when duly considered, serve, not only to silence and shame the objections of atheists and infidels, but to raise high thoughts and high praises of God in pious and devout souls, Ps. 104. 25, &c.

II. The blessing of them, in order to their continuance. Life is a wasting thing; its strength is not the strength of stones, it is a candle that will burn out, if it be not first blown out; and therefore the wise Creator not only made the individuals, but provided for the propagating of the several kinds, v. 22. ''God blessed them, saying. Be fruitful, and multiply. God will bless his own works, and not forsake them; and what he doeth it shall be for a perpetuity,'' Eccl. 3. 14. The power of God's providence preserves all things, as, at first, his creating power produced them. Fruitfulness is the effect of God's blessing, and must be ascribed to it; the multiplying of the fish and fowl, from year to year, is still the fruit of this blessing. Well, let us give to God the glory of the continuance of these creatures to this day for the benefit of man. See Job 12. 7..9. It is pity that fishing and fowling, recreations innocent in themselves, should be ever abused to divert any from God and their duty, while they are capable of being improved to lead us to the contemplation of the wisdom, power, and goodness of him that made all these things, and to engage us to stand in awe of him, as the fish and fowl do of us.

24. And God said. Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so. 25. And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good.

We have here the first part of the sixth day's work. The sea was, the day before, replenished with its fish, and the air with its fowl; and, this day, were made the beast of the earth, cattle, and the creeping things that pertain to the earth. Here, as before, 1. The Lord gave the word; he said, Let the earth bring forth, not as if the earth had any such prolific virtue as to produce these animals, or as if God resigned his creating power to it; but, "Let these creatures now come into being upon the earth, and out of it, in their respective kinds, conformable to the ideas of them in the divine counsels concerning their creation." 2. He also did the work; he made them all after their kind, not only of divers shapes, but of divers natures, manners, food, and fashions: some to be tame about the house, others to be wild in the fields: some living upon grass and herbs, others upon flesh; some harmless, and others ravenous; some bold, and others timorous; some for man's service, and not his sustenance, as the horse; others for his sustenance, and not his service, as the sheep; others for both, as the ox; and some for neither, as the wild beasts. In all which appears the manifold wisdom of the Creator.

26. And God said. Let us make man in our image, after our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. 27. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. 28. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl