Page:An Exposition of the Old and New Testament (1828) vol 1.djvu/63

Rh original institution of the sabbath-day, and to commemorate the work of creation, to the honour of the great Creator, who is therefore worthy to receive, on that day, blessing, and honour, and praise, from all religious assemblies.

4. These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the God made the earth and the heavens. 5. And every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew: for the God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was not a man to till the ground. 6. But there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground. 7. And the God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

In these verses,

I. Here is a name given to the Creator, which we have not yet met with, and that is Jehovah; the LORD in capital letters, which is constantly used, in our English translation, to intimate that in the original it is Jehovah. All along, in the first chapter, he was called Elohim, a God of power, but now Jehovah Elohim, a God of power and perfection, a finishing God. As we find him known by his name Jehovah, when he appeared to perform what he had promised, Exod. 6. 3, so now we have him known by that name, when he had perfected what he had begun. Jehovah is that great and incommunicable name of God, which denotes his having his being of himself, and his giving his being to all things; fitly therefore is he called by that name, now that heaven and earth are finished.

II. Further notice taken of the production of plants and herbs, because they were made and appointed to be food for man, v. 5, 6, where observe, 1. The earth did not bring forth its fruits of itself, by any innate virtue of its own, but purely by the almighty power of God, which formed every plant and every herb, before it grew in the earth. Thus grace in the soul, that plant of renown, grows not of itself in nature's soil, but is the work of God's own hands. 2. Rain also is the gift of God; it came not till the Lord God caused it to rain. If rain be wanted, it is God that withholds it; if rain come plentifully in its season, it is God that sends it; if it come in a distinguishing way, it is God that causeth it to rain upon one city, and not upon another, Amos 4. 7. 3. Though God, ordinarily, works by means, yet he is not tied to them, but when he pleases, he can do his own work without them. As the plants were produced before the sun was made, so they were before there was either rain to water the earth, or man to till it. Therefore, though we must not tempt God in the neglect of means, yet we must trust God in the want of means. 4. Some way or other, God will take care to water the plants that are of his own planting. Though, as yet, there was no rain, God made a mist equivalent to a shower, and with it watered the whole face of the ground. Thus he chose to fulfil his purpose by the weakest means, that the excellency of the power might be of God. Divine grace descends like a mist or silent dew, and waters the church without noise, Deut. 32. 2.

III. A more particular account of the creation of man, v. 7. Man is a little world, consisting of heaven and earth, soul and body; now here we have an account of the original of both, and the putting of both together: let us seriously consider it, and say, to our Creator's praise, We are fearfully and wonderfully made, Ps. 139. 14. Elihu, in the patriarchal age, refers to this history, when he says, Job 33. 6, I also am formed out of the clay, and v. 4, The breath of the Almighty hath given me life, and ch. 32. 8, There is a spirit in man. Observe then,

1. The mean original, and yet the curious structure, of the body of man. (1.) The matter was despicable. He was made of the dust of the ground, a very unlikely thing to make a man of; but the same Infinite Power that made the world of nothing, made man, its master-piece, of next to nothing. He was made of the dust, the small dust, such as is upon the surface of the earth. Probably, not dry dust, but dust moistened with the mist that went up, v. 6. He was not made of gold-dust, powder of pearl, or diamond dust, but common dust, dust of the ground. Hence he is said to be of the earth, χοϊκὸς.—dusty, 1 Cor. 15. 47. And we also are of the earth, for we are of his offspring, and of the same mould. So near an affinity is there between the earth and our earthly parents, that our mother's womb, out of which we were born, is called the earth; (Ps. 139. 15.) and the earth, in which we must be buried, is called our mother's womb, Job 1. 21. Our foundation is in the earth, Job 4. 19. Our fabric is earthly, and the fashioning of it like that of an earthen vessel. Job 10. 9. Our food is out of the earth, Job 28. 5. Our familiarity is with the earth, Job 17. 14. Our fathers are in the earth, and our own final tendency is to it; and what have we to be proud of then? Isa. 51. 1. (2.) Yet the Maker was great, and the make fine. The Lord God, the great Fountain of being and power, formed man. Of the other creatures it is said, that they were created and made; but of man, that he was formed, which denotes a gradual process in the work with great accuracy and exactness. To express the creation of this new thing, he takes a new word; a word (some think) borrowed from the potter's forming his vessel upon the wheel, for we are the clay, and God the Potter, Isa. 64. 8. The body of man is curiously wrought, Ps. 139. 15, 16. Materiam superabat opus—The workmanship exceeded the materials. Let us present our bodies to God as living sacrifices, Rom. 12. 1; as living temples, 1 Cor. 6. 19; and then these vile bodies shall shortly be new-formed like Christ's glorious body, Phil. 3. 21.

2. The high original, and yet the admirable serviceableness, of the soul of man. (1.) It takes its rise from the breath of heaven, and is produced by it. It was not made of the earth, as the body was; it is pity then that it should cleave to the earth, and mind earthly things. It came immediately from God, he gave it to be put into the body, (Eccl. 12. 7.) as, afterward, he gave the tables of stone of his own writing to be put into the ark, and the urim of his own framing to be put into the breast-plate. Hence God is not only the Former, but the Father, of spirits. Let the soul which God has breathed into us, breathe after him; and let it be for him, since it is from him. Into his hands let us commit our spirits, for from his hands we had them. (2.) It takes its lodging in a house of clay, and is the life and support of it. It is by it, that man is a living soul, that is, a living man; for the soul is the man. The body would be a worthless, useless, loathsome carcase, if the soul did not animate it. To God that gave us these souls, we must shortly give an account of them, how we have employed them, used them, proportioned them, and disposed of them: and if then it be found that we have lost them, though it were to gain the world, we are undone for ever. Since the extraction of the soul is so noble, and its nature and faculties are so excellent, let us not be of those fools that despise their own souls, by preferring their bodies before them, Prov. 15. 32.