mated inhabitants swept away; well might she be said to have suffered under the influence of a curse. Jehovah is now represented as resolving no more to employ such measures in his administration of the earth; for says he, the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth: it is his nature to do evil, and this nature such measures will not change. I have now accomplished my purpose of checking high-handed impiety, and of making a moral impression upon the race. I will not carry this species of moral discipline farther. It would be necessary to repeat it continually. The order of nature shall not again be disturbed. The earth shall be encompassed with "a fresh and inseparable chorus of joyful seasons" which shall for ever "attend its But what had the offering of Noah to do with this resolution on the part of Jehovah? it because Jehovah was pleased with it, that he formed this resolution? Manifestly not. For a different reason is expressly assigned. The offering was not the cause, but the occasion.

course."

Was

CHAPTER IV.

Now ensues a transaction of the very highest dignity. Imagine to yourselves the circumstances. When the first human pair were created, the Creator blessed them and gave them dominion over this lower world, delivering all things into their hands. But the old world, the primitive constitution of terrestrial things, had now passed away. The patriarch and his family stepped forth from the ark as into a new creation. The face of the earth how changed! And as human life was now to be shortened, perhaps it was subjected to new laws. The atmosphere, the qualities of the soil, the temperature, who can say what modifications, under the

transforming power of the Creator, they might not have undergone? Perhaps new elements were introduced into the economy of terrestrial nature, which were to affect the physical constitution of man, and hasten the period of its decay. However all this may be, the little company came forth from the ark, and stepped upon the earth like some colony entering, after a long voyage, upon a new domain. The founder, Jehovah, himself pronounces over them his benediction, and by a solemn ceremonial invests them with possession. "And God

blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth. And the fear of you, and the dread of you, shall be upon every beast of the earth and upon every fowl of the air, upon all that moveth upon the earth, and upon all the fishes of the sea: into your hand are they delivered. Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you; even as the green herb have I given you all things. But flesh with the life thereof, which is the blood thereof, shall ye not eat. And surely your blood of your lives will I require, at the hand of every beast will I require it, and at the hand of every man: at the hand of every man's brother will I require the life of man. Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed, for in the image of God made he man. And you, be ye fruitful and multiply, bring forth abundantly on the earth and multiply therein."

This second investiture of man, with the dominion of the earth, it will be observed, differs from the first. While that constituted him the lord of the brute creation, it did not authorise him to use them for food. It simply gave to him "every herb bearing seed, and every tree on the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed for meat." Now, the whole brute creation are placed at his disposal, to minister with their flesh to his sustenance. Says

Jehovah, In like manner as I have heretofore given you the green herb for meat, so now I give you every moving thing that liveth. Such an ordinance was perhaps required by certain changes in the condition of the earth, or by certain new influences to which the human body was now to be subjected. But to guard man from a low estimate and wanton or cruel expenditure of life, which might result from this permission, one prohibition is solemnly enjoined upon him. "But flesh with the life thereof, which is the blood thereof, shall ye not eat." "* The natural influence of this prohibition would be to induce in a simple-hearted people a regard to that of which the most lively external manifestation in those animals which might be slain for necessary use, was not to be eaten, but to be regarded as sacred. It was in the blood that in those times the life was thought particularly to reside. The moral of the prohibition was, while the use of animals was allowed for food, to inculcate a proper regard for that existence which the Creator has given them for their enjoyment. And to counteract any tendency which this newly instituted use of animals might have to diminish the sacredness of human life; and also, perhaps, to guard it with a stronger barrier than was placed around it before the flood, Jehovah proceeds to denounce the penalty of death against whoso shall shed the blood of man: be it brute, it shall be liable to death; be it man's brother, that is, his fellow-man, he shall be subject to the same fate; such is the superior dignity of him whom, to crown his work of creation, the Creator made in the likeness of himself.

And now, to complete the transaction of the earth's resettlement, God proceeds to secure to

* This prohibition was repeated in the Mosaic Laws. See Deut. xii. 16, 23, 24. It was disregarded by the Israelites, in one instance, in the time of Samuel. See 1 Saul, xiv. 32-34.

Noah and to his sons, to their descendants, and to the whole animal creation, by perpetual covenant, the future uninterrupted enjoyment of their abode. And God spake unto Noah and to his sons with him, saying, and I, behold I, establish my covenant with you and with your seed after you; and with every living creature that is with you, of the fowl, of the cattle, and of every beast of the earth, with you, from all that go out of the ark, to every beast of the earth. And I will establish my covenant with you; neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of a flood; neither shall there any more be a flood to destroy the earth."

Let us examine briefly the spirit of this transaction. God had just made a most impressive exhibition of the sterner attributes of his character. He had shown his terrible majesty, as a ruler, in arising to destroy the earth. The energy and inflexible firmness of his moral administration had been most vigorously displayed. The sentiments of fear and awe, these elements in his moral government, had been sufficiently excited. They might extend too far. The sight of clouds and storms might agitate the human breast with frequent and distressing alarms. Men might entertain partial views of his character as a being to be feared rather than to be loved. To counteract such a tendency in the human mind, as the kind father tempers severity with expressions of paternal love, God now adds to the restraints of fear the soothing promise of future safety. It was, in effect, to say, I have indeed destroyed the earth: every living thing has perished. But do not imagine that I delight in destruction. I had an important purpose to accomplish. That purpose is now accomplished. I will repeat the measure no more. Enjoy the earth in peace and security. Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish it.

I will never more bring upon it the waters of a flood.

And as a visible memorial of this covenant, God proceeds to say: "I do set my bow in the cloud. And it shall come to pass when I bring a cloud over the earth that the bow shall be seen in the cloud; and I will remember my covenant, which is between me and you, and every living creature of all flesh, and the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh." And as Jehovah pronounced these words, behold the graceful arch appears in the skies,* "a glorious circle bent by the hand of the most high," a magnificent and appropriate pledge of his promised faithfulness. What a relief to the eye, saddened with images of gloom and terror, to fall upon its beautiful form and its soft, inimitable hues! It is not only an appropriate sign of this particular covenant, since formed, as it is, by the sun shining on the falling drops of rain, it indicates his returning presence, but also from the loveliness of its beauty it is a significant emblem of the grace and mercy of Jehovah. It is on this account, as well as from it having been declared to Noah to be the token of a gracious covenant, that it finds a place in the visions of the divine glory-the material manifestations of the divine character-seen by the prophet Ezekiel in his vision, and by St. John in the apocalypse. "And above the firmament that was over their heads was the likeness of a throne as the appearance of a sapphire stone; and upon the likeness of the throne was the likeness as the appearance of a man above upon it. And I saw as the colour of amber, as the appearance of fire round about within it; from the appearance of his loins even upward, and from the

*It is probable that it appeared at that time, since the memorial or pledge of a covenant is usually given at the time of its ratification.