blessing the sabbath was instituted, and ordained to be a day of more especial communion and fellowship between the Creator and the creature. Some think it is mentioned here by way of prolepsis, or anticipation, and that it was not instituted till the law of the fourth commandment was given, among the rest, upon Mount Sinai. But that the sabbath was instituted from the beginning, is clear from Heb. iv. 4, and Ex. xvi. 23. Nor is it likely that the patriarchs were without a time for the solemn service and worship of God.

Sanctified it; that is, set it apart from common and profane uses, and dedicated it to sacred and divine uses; put a difference between it and other days. To sanctify is, in a strict sense, to make holy. God sanctifies us, by putting an inherent holiness in us: he sanctified the sabbath by putting an adherent holiness upon it; which none but God can do. It passes the skill of any man or company of men in the world, to make any part of time holy. Man may make a good day, such as the feast of Purim, Esth. ix. 18, 19, 26; but man cannot make a holy day, (though there have been some that have taken upon them such a power, but I know no ground they have for it,) for 'tis God's prerogative to sanctify time.

The sabbath being sanctified, that is, made holy,

by God, it ought to be sanctified, that is, kept holy, by us; which is the marrow of sabbath duty required in the fourth commandment. 'Tis no less than sacrilege to profane the sabbath; 'tis alienating that which is sacred; robbing God of his own time; making that (as far as lies in our power) unholy, which God hath made holy. God's resting on the the seventh day is rendered in the fourth commandment as a reason why we should rest. As we should labour to be perfect as our heavenly Father is perfect, so we should rest as our heavenly Father rested; and not only rest, (so the beasts do,) but dedicate and devote that rest to the service and worship of God in all his ordinances. The sabbath was made by God not only a blessed day, but a blessing day; a day in which he will meet and bless his people; and it is our duty to wait upon him for that blessing.

The reason of the change of the sabbath from the last to the first day of the week, we have in the New Testament; viz.-because on the first day of the week the Lord Jesus rested from the work of our redemption, which he finished when he rose again from the dead, according to the Scriptures. See Jer. xvi. 14, 15.

4 These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were

created, in the day that the LORD 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 LORD God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was not a man to till the ground.

The work of creation is a thing not only so useful, but so needful to be well known and firmly believed, that it is inculcated upon us line upon line. These are the generations of the heaven and the earth; thus were the heavens and the earth created and made. I have given you the story of the rise and original of the universe, that you may not dream of the world's eternity; for how can that which was created be from everlasting? The snow and the frost are said to be begotten, Job. xxxviii. 28, 29; and the mountains to be brought forth, Ps. xc. 2.

In the day. It was six days; wherefore then is it called the day? Because God doth not measure time as we do; if a thousand years, much less are six days, as one day with God. Day is used for time, as this thy day, Luke xix. 42.

The LORD God; JEHOVAH Elohim. This is the

E

first place in the Bible where we find that incommunicable name of God, JEHOVAH; which signifies having his being of himself, and giving being to all things. As long as God is described as creating the world, he is not called JEHOVAH; but as soon as ever the heavens and the earth were finished, now he is styled JEHOVAH,‚—a finishing God. Though from eternity he had his being of himself, yet he had never till now given being to all things.

God made every plant before it was in the earth, so as to have benefit by the earth; and before it grew, (or rather flourished,) that is, received nourishment from the earth, because there was no rain to moisten, no man to till, the ground. God planted them, and made them fruitful, without the least help or assistance of means or second causes. still, though Paul may plant, and Apollos water, yet it is only God that gives the increase. 1 Cor. iii. 6.

And

6 But there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground.

Though there was no rain, there went up a mist to supply the place of it; some kind of means, though very unlikely to do any thing to the purpose. But a mist, if God shower down his blessing with it, will

more further the fruitfulness of the earth, than a great deal of rain without that blessing. Well, the mist makes up one want, viz. that of rain; but still there is not a man to till the ground; and therefore there follows a more particular account of man's creation.

7 And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

Man consists of two parts;-a body, which is the shell, the cabinet ;;-a soul, which is the kernel, the jewel, and both the workmanship of the great God.

I. For his body. The Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground; here's the long and short of man's original. The Creator was the LORD God; for it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves, Ps. c. 3; and Adam is for this reason styled the son of God. Luke iii. 38. Some of the creatures are said to be created; others to be made; and of all together it is said, that they were created and made; but now man is spoken of, a new word is taken,— God formed man. The rest of the creatures started up on a sudden, at the speaking of a word; but man is formed by degrees, and thus becomes as it were