God sentenceth the serpent, the woman, and the man.

14 And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:

15 And 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.

16 Unto the woman he 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. 17 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 shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;

and thou shalt eat the herb of the field;

19 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.

20 And Adam called his wife's name Eve; because she was the mother of all living.

21 Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them. 22 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:

23 Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken.

24 So he drove out the man ; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life. LECTURE 9.

18 Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee;

The judgments of God tempered with mercy.

After sin comes the sentence of condemnation. Even the serpent, by whose means Satan tempted man to his fall, must not go unpunished. The whole creation has indeed suffered by our fault; every creature groaning and travailing in pain together. See Rom. 8. 22. But the serpent is cursed "above all cattle, and above every beast of the field." The meanness of its appearance, of its movements, and of its food, the natural abhorrence in which it is held by all mankind, these are instances and proofs of God's aversion against iniquity. Whilst its venom spent on man shews forth to us the malice of our adversary the devil, especially, as it is directed against our Saviour Christ. And the perseverance and success with which men labour to destroy the whole race of noxious reptiles, these remind us of the battle which has been fought for us by Christ, how He has bruised the head of our

spiritual enemy, and secured for us peace and assurance for ever. Never may we faint, or flag, or fail, in carrying on our share of the battle! Never may we be friends with the devil, or with his seed; lest at the same time we become enemies of God!

The sentence pronounced upon the serpent, contained, and conveyed to our first parents, a promise of forthcoming deliverance, which might better enable them to bear their own burden. Great must be the pains of the woman in giving birth to children; but great also would be her consolation in the hope of giving birth to a Redeemer. Severe must be henceforth the labour of the man, in obtaining food from the ground now cursed for his sake, and fearful must be his apprehension of returning unto the dust from which he was taken. Yet in the promise of a seed to the woman, who should bruise the serpent's head, he had reason to hope for victory over sin and death, to which that serpent's guile had made him subject. And therefore it was, probably, that he called his wife by a name signifying life, as the mother of all living, because she was to be the mother of a Saviour who could give life to all mankind. It is also probable that the coats of skins here mentioned, imply that the sacrifice of animals was immediately ordained, to signify beforehand the sacrifice of Christ, and to support the faith of fallen man in a Redeemer. So sweetly does God temper judgment with mercy! So graciously does He consider the necessities of the sinner, at the very time when He is making manifest his wrath against sin! Oh that we may be clothed out of that one only and sufficient sacrifice which Christ once offered for all men! Oh that whilst we labour in that state of life to which it has pleased God to call us, we may set our affections on that better life in heaven to which He has by Christ invited us!

Man fallen was shut out from paradise on earth, lest he should “eat, and live.” We cannot both transgress God's commands, and also enjoy those good things which God has prepared for them that love Him. See 1 Cor. 2. 9. We cannot, however resolutely we try, at once serve mammon, and receive our wages of God. The attempt is sure to fail. We may knock and say, Lord, Lord. But He will answer "I know you not." Matt. 25. 11, 12. We may put forth our hands with confidence. But lo cherubims, and a flaming sword which is turning every way, "to keep the way of the tree of life!" Meanwhile, there is a tree whose leaves are "for the healing of the nations." Rev. 22. 2. Thither the repentant sinner may repair; and thence he may be abundantly refreshed. Faith in a Redeemer, love for Him that redeemed us, faith working by love, these admit us once more within the gates of Eden, there to be filled with all the fulness of God.

Lord, evermore give us this food! Lord, feed us, and we want no more!

Cain slayeth Abel; is sentenced by the Lord.

1 And Adam knew Eve his doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.

wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the LORD.

2 And she again bare his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground.

3 And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the LORD.

4 And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock, and of the fat thereof. And the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering:

5 But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell.

8 And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him. 9 And the LORD said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not: Am I my brother's keeper?

10 And he said, What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground.

11 And now art thou cursed from the earth, which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother's blood from thy hand; 12. When thou tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength ; a fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in the earth. LECTURE 10.

6 And the LORD said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen? 7 If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou

Our warnings and assurances aggravate our sins.

In reading the book of Genesis, we are to remember that the history of many hundreds of years is comprised in a few chapters. And since so many things are necessarily omitted, we are not to suppose that each event recorded happened immediately after the one next before mentioned. Thus we have no means of knowing what other children Eve had borne at this period. But it appears plain that she entertained great hopes that Cain would be the promised seed; giving him the name Cain, which signifies possession, and saying, "I have gotten a man from the Lord." How often are we mistaken like this first mother of us all; and inclined to take that for gain, which in truth is loss!

"In process of time," probably at some season appointed for sacrifice, these two brothers brought their offerings unto the Lord. There can be little doubt that there was from the first an appointed place, as well as an appointed time; and moreover, that the head of each family was appointed as minister, to offer up the sacrifices which the worshippers brought. If we would know the reason why "the Lord had respect unto Abel and to his offering," and not to Cain and his, we may find it written in

the Epistle to the Hebrews, "By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain." This is a lesson, which Abel being dead "yet speaketh;" Heb. 11. 4; Believe in God. And if we would know wherefore Cain slew his brother Abel, this is set down in the first Epistle of St. John, "Because his own works were evil, and his brother's righteous." 1 John 3. 12. And therefore from Cain also we may learn to avoid jealousy and wrath.

And what an aggravation of Cain's guilt was this, that the Lord so earnestly remonstrated with him! "If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted?" Why not bring thy offering with faith like that of Abel, and then thou wilt be like him accepted. "And if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door," or rather it may seem to mean, a sin offering. There is an appointed sacrifice, which now thou mayest offer, significant of an offering hereafter to be made in atonement for all the sins of all men; whereby thy sin shall be covered; and thou shalt still as before have precedence of thy younger brother. Certainly a remonstrance such as this might have moved the most hardened heart. And yet "Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him." And is it not after the like gracious warnings and assurances that we also still continue to transgress? Has not God told us that by faith we may be justified, see Rom. 3. 28, and that "without faith it is impossible to please him?" Heb. 11. 6. Has He not declared that the Father gave the Son to be the "propitiation for our sins?" 1 John 2. 2. And yet after all this revealed, and repeated oftentimes in our ears, are there not many, who still hate their brethren? And is not he which hateth his brother a murderer? See 1 John 3. 15. Oh let us lay to heart how great is the guilt of murder, and we shall shrink from the least approach to hatred. "The voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground;" this was the Lord's reply to guilty Cain, who pretended not to know what evil he had done, and dared to ask, "Am I my brother's keeper?" To be cursed from the earth was his sentence, and besides this, that the earth should not yield to him her strength, but that he should be a fugitive and a vagabond in the earth. He had been used to be a tiller of the ground. He might still sow, but he should no more reap. He must fly from place to place, goaded by the stings of conscience, and followed by the loud crying of a brother's blood. If we have ever approached to hating a brother, if we have ever dared to be at enmity with God, let us think what a fearful sentence has been hanging over our head; and let us have recourse for our pardon to that blood of Christ, which, as the apostle writes, "speaketh better things than that of Abel." Heb. That of Abel demands judgment against Cain. That of Christ still pleads unto the Father in behalf of those who nail Him to the cross, "Forgive them; for they know not what they do." Luke 23. 34.

12. 24.

The family of Cain, and that of Seth.

13 And Cain said unto the was Adah, and the name of the LORD, My punishment is greater

LECTURE 11.

How ready God is to forgive.

It was well that Cain felt the misery of being hid from the face of God, deprived of that spiritual communion which he had been hitherto privileged to enjoy. It was well for him to speak of this as one of the most severe parts of his punishment. To be a wanderer on the face of the earth, what is this, compared with being hid from the face of God? To be apprehensive of being slain by every one that findeth us, what is this, compared with being hid from the face of God? If we but enjoy his presence, if we are