History of Noah.

LECTURE VII.

And Lamech lived an hundred eighty and two years, and begat a son and he called his name Noah, saying, This same shall comfort us concerning our work and toil of our hands, because of the ground which the Lord hath cursed....GEN. v. 28, 29.

HE fortunes and characters of men are various as

THE The and characters of an n are va insas their faces. What diversity has appeared in the lives, and in the latter end, of those persons whose history has already passed under our review, in the course of these Exercises! Adam experienced a change more bitter than death. Abel perished by the hand of his brother. The murderer becomes a terror to himself, lives in exile, and dies unnoticed. Enoch is gloriously exempted from the stroke of death, and carried directly to heaven. Noah survives the whole human race, his own family excepted; lives to behold a world destroyed, a world restored.

We are now arrived at that memorable revolution of which there exist so many striking marks on the external appearance of the globe; of which there are such frequent and distinct intimations in the traditional monuments and records of all the learned nations of antiquity; and of which it has pleased God to give such an ample and circumstantial detail in scripture.

Concerning Noah great expectations were formed, from the moment of his birth. The world was arrived at an uncommon pitch of corruption and degeneracy. The natural evils which flesh is heir to, were prodigi

ously increased by irreligion and vice; so that the earth groaned, as it were, under the curse of God, and the violence and impiety of men. Lamech, the father of Noah, with the fondness and partiality of parental affection, flatters himself that his new-born son would prove a comfort to himself, and a blessing to mankind; and, most probably directed by the spirit of prophecy, bestows upon him a name significant of his future character and conduct; of the station which he was to fill, and the purpose which he was to serve, in the destination of Providence. He had the satisfaction of living to see his expectations realized; and his eyes closed in peace at a good old age, five years before that great calamity which overwhelmed the human race...the deluge.

Scripture accounts for the universal depravity of that awful period, in these words; " And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them, that the sons of God saw the daughters of men, that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose,” Gen. vi. 1, 2. These expressions the most respectable and judicious intrepreters explain, as descriptive of unhallowed and imprudent intermarriages between the posterity of pious Seth, here called "the sons of God," and the female descendants of wicked Cain, denominated" the daughters of men." Attracted by external and transitory charms, they form alliances inconsistent with wisdom, and disallowed of Heaven. The invention of the fine arts being in the family of Cain, it is not absurd to suppose, that these were called in aid to personal beauty; and that the allurements of music and dress in particular, were employed by the daughters of Jubal, "the father of all such as handle the harp and organ," and of Tubal-Cain," the instructor of every artificer in brass and iron," to support the impression already made by their fair looks. What ensued? That which will always happen to piety

unwisely and unequally yoking itself with irreligion and prophanity; the evil principle being much more powerful to pervert the good, than the good to reform the evil. Giants are said to have been the issue of those unfortunate marriages; literally, perhaps, men of huge stature, like the sons of Anak in latter times; certainly, men of lofty, aspiring, haughty minds; the heirs to the pride, vanity, aud presumption of their mothers, more than to the decency, wisdom, and piety of their male ancestors. That corruption must have been general indeed, which comprehended all, save Noah and his household; and it must have been very grievous, to constrain the Spirit of God, to employ language so strong and expressive as this, on the occasion: "And it repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart. And the Lord said, I will destroy man, whom I have created, from the face of the earth, both man and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them," Gen. vi. 6,7. When the whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint, dissolution and destruction cannot be at a great distance. "But Noah was a just man, and perfect in his generations: and Noah walked with Gad.". How honorable for Noah to stand thus single, thus distinguished! Goodness supported and kept in countenance by the mode, and by multitudes, is amiable and praise-worthy; but goodness single and alone; goodness steming the torrent, resisting the contagion of example, despising the universal sneer, braving universal opposition, such goodness is superior to all praise: and such was the goodness of Noah. He distinguished himself in the midst of an adulterous and sinful generation, by his piety, righteousness, and zeal; and God, who suffers none to lose at his hand, distinguishes him by special marks of his favour. "But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord," Gen. vi. 8.

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Of no character does scripture speak more highly than of Noah's, "he was a just man and perfect in his generations, and walked with God." In general calamities, it must needs happen that the innocent suffer with the guilty. But in some cases, Providence is pleased specially to interpose for the deliverance of good men. Rather than one worthy family should perish in the deluge, a whole world of transgressors is respited, till the means of safety for that family are provided. Is a sinful city or nation spared? We may rest assured there are some valuable, pious persons among them. According to the idea suggested by our blessed Lord, the righteous are " the salt of the earth,” that which seasons the whole mass, and preserves, it from putrefaction and corruption. The apostle Peter styles Noah "a preacher of righteousness. He was not carried away by the prevailing profligacy of his day. He preached by a holy descent from the prevailing maxims and practices of the times. He preached by an open and bold remonstrance against the general dissoluteness and impiety. And he preached at length by his works; by the construction and fitting up of the ark for the preservation of himself and family, and for saving alive a breed of the various sorts of fowls and animals.

It is with pleasure we once more refer you to the sacred expositor of the antediluvian history: " By faith," says he, "Noah being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark, to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith," Heb. xi. 7. Here a crowd of ideas, rush upon us at once, Behold the great God in the midst of judgment remembering mercy. He will not destroy the righteous with the wicked. But God will not vouchsafe to perform that immediately by a miracle, which may be effected by the blessing of his provi dence upon human foresight, industry, and diligence.

He who was pleased to save Enoch, by translating him to heaven without tasting death, thought fit to preserve Noah by means of an ark of his own building. The design and contrivance is God's; the execution is man's. He who could have transported Noah to a different sphere, and have lodged him there in safety, till the waters of the flood had abated, kept him alive and in safety, rolling in the ark, upon the face of the mighty waters. He, who in the morning of the sixth day, by the almighty fiat, created at first the whole animal world, and though lost, could have in a moment replaced it, by the word of his power, thought proper to preserve alive the race of animals, by providing a place of refuge, and by a special instinct of his providence, warning them of their approaching danger, and conducting them to shelter.

"The

Behold, dreadful to think! the patience of God at last exhausted: and the decree goes forth. earth also was corrupt before God: and the earth was filled with violence. And God looked upon the earth, and behold, it was corrupt: for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth. And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and behold I will destroy them with the earth," Gen. vi. 11, 12, 13. God has warned, threatened, borne with men in vain ; and Noah has preached to them in vain. The day of the Lord is come, and who shall be able to stand? And who hath seen, heard of, or is able to conceive, a calamity so dreadful?" The end of all flesh is come. I will destroy them with the earth." Immediately upon the fall, universal nature underwent a change. The mild influences of the heavens were changed or withheld; the earth refused to yield her increase to the hand of the cultivator: but the full extent and awful import of the curse was never felt till now. By the deluge the whole face of nature was to be altered; the solid globe dissolved and disjointed; its parts torn