OF JEHOVAH Shall be thy rereward, fhall advance in thy rear, or behind thee, to guard thee; alluding to the Shechinah, as it guarded and guided the children of Ifrael. Ifaiah lx. 1. Arife, Shine; for thy light, happinefs, is come, and THE GLORY OF JEHOVAH is rifen upon thee. is figuratively to denote the divine favour and guardianship.

Thus it

And in the fame manner it is applied to the Chriftian church, as denoting all the light and bleffings, grace, and glory of the Gospel. Num. xiv. 21. But as truly as I live, all the earth fhall be filled with MY GLORY; fpeaking of the Gofpel, in contradiction to the Jewish peculiarity. Ifa. XXXV. 1, 2. The wilderness of the folitary place fhall be glad for them; and the defert fhall rejoice and bloffom as the rofe, &c. They shall fee THE GLORY OF JEHOVAH, and the excellcy of our God. Ifai. xi. 3, 4, 5 The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord; make ftraight in the defert a high way for our God. Every valley fhall be exalted, &c. And THE GLORY OF JEHOVAH fhall be revealed, and all flesh thall fee it together, [ completely, or in its perfection] for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it. Hab. ii. 14. For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the GLORY OF GOD, as the waters cover the fea.

All thefe pafiages are to be underflood of the Gospel manifeftations of God's grace, which is his glory. Exodus xxxiii. 18, 19. And Mofes faid, I beseech thee, fhew me thy Glory. And he faid, I will make all my Goodnels pals before thee, and I will proclaim the name of Jehovah before thee; namely, as in Chap. xxxiv. 6,7. The Lord-proclaimed, The Lord, The Lord God merciful, and gracious, &c. The goodness and mercy of the Lord is the glory of the Lord.

And obferve, how the Apoftle, 2 Cor. iii. 13-18. alludes to the glory of the Shechinah, with which Mofes converted in the mount; and which impreffed fuch a fplendour upon his countenance, as obliged him to cover it with a veil, when he returned to the people; who otherwife could not bear to look upon the exceffive brightness of the glory of God, reflected from his, Mofes's, face. In allufion to this veil, obfcuring the brightness of Mofes his countenance, the Apoftle informs us, ver. 14, 15, that there was an obscurity, a veil over his writings; which veil, after Chrift was come, and had taken it away from the Old Teftament, the Jews, through unbelief, transferred to their own hearts, and fo remained ignorant of the true meaning of Mofes and the prophets. But, ver, 18. we all [all we Chriftians, in oppofition to the blinded Jews, ver. 13, 14.] we all with open, unveiled, face, having the GLORY of the LORD reflected upon us [from the face of Jefus, Chap. iv. 6.] as from a mirror, are, in the difpofitions of our minds, changed into the fame image of moral excellency, from glory to glory, or in order to the moit complete glory, even as by the fpirit of the Lord. John i. 14. The word was made flesh, and counowo dwelt, tabernacled, among us; and we, as well as his firft difciples, beheld the glory of Jefus Christ, as of the only begotten Son of God, full of grace and truth. The Son of God became a man fubject to like frailties with us, and lived and converfed freely amongst men; teaching them fully and plainly the great truths relating to God's gracious purposes concerning the redemption and eternal falvation of mankind. And thus God, and his merciful regards to men, his prefence in his church, and his power, engaged to keep his fervants, and to bring

them

them to the poffeffion of eternal life, is more clearly and illuftriously manifefted in the Gofpel, than his favourable prefence and protection were by the Shechinah in the temple, or in any other place, among the Ifraelites.

We who, under the Gospel difpenfation, are fo well acquainted with the nature and perfections of God, do not stand in need of any extraordinary visible token of the divine prefence. The glorious truths of the Gospel, revealed by Jefus Chrift, are our Shechinah, fhining from him upon our minds, and filling them with comfort and joy, in the affured hope of his prefent care and bleffing, and of the poffeffion of glory, honour, and immortality in the future world. And this is to us as a Shechinah, infinitely preferable to the vifible appearances in the church of old.

CHA P. XVII.

The SCRIPTURE-CHRONOLOGY from the CREATION to the DELUGE.

WE

Gen. 5th Chapter.

E are now got as far as the Deluge. And here, according to Mofes, who here begins his genealogies, is the proper place for confidering how far we are advanced in the age, or chronology, of the world. For in this chapter he gives the names and ages of the Patriarchs from Adam to Noah, together with the age of every father, at the time when every fon was born. And if we add together the ages of the fathers, when their feveral fons were born, and the years of Noah's life at the time of the Deluge, we fhall form chronological tables of the best authority, from the Creation to the Deluge, after this manner.

According to Table I. if you add together the years from the creation of Adam to the birth of Methuselah, you will find that Adam was 687 years old when Methuselah was born. And, as Adam lived in all 930 years, as in Table III. if you fubtract 687 from 930, there will remain 243, which is the year of Methuselah's life when Adam died. Therefore Methuselah

E 4

CH. XVII. Methuselah lived 243 years with Adam. In the fame way of computation you may find how long any of the junior Patriarchs lived with Adam, as in Table IV.

If to the year of Enos's life, when Cainan was born, and to the year of Lamech's life, when Noah was born, you add all the intermediate years, you will find they are 821, which is the age of Enos when Noah was born: but Enos lived 905 years; from which fubtract 821, and the remainder is 84, the number of years in which old Enos and young Noah were cotemporaries. And in the fame way you may find how long any of the fenior preceding Patriarchs lived with Noah, as in Table V.

So likewife, if you add together the years from the birth of Methuselah to the flood, you will find them to be 969; which is juft the time that Methuselah lived, as in Table III. Hence we may conclude, that Methufelah died just before the flood came; and Noah being then 600 years old, he had lived just so long with Methuselah.

So again, if you add the years from the birth of Lamech to the flood, you will find them to be 782 years; and whereas Lamech lived but 777 years, it follows, that Lamech died five years before the flood came. Therefore, all the Patriarchs, except Noah, were dead, when Noah entered into the ark.

From the above account it appears, that Methuselah lived with Adam 243 years, and doubtlefs converfed with him the greateft part of that time; and fo had opportunity abundantly fufficient to receive from Adam an account of what he knew concerning the creation, and all the transactions and events contained in the first four chapters of Genefis. And as Noah lived 600 years with Methuselah, he had time fufficient to learn the fame account from him, and may well be fupposed to have carried it with him entire into the ark, And this may be one reafon of the longevity of the antediluvians; which must be refolved into the fole will of God, and can be accounted for no other way. They lived fo long, in order to preserve, and hand down to pofterity, religious knowledge, in that period of time when it could not be committed to writing; and when it would have been either totally loft, or miferably depraved, had men lived no longer than 70 or 80 years. Befides, their longevity contributed to the more fpeedy peopling of the world, and to the bringing of neceflary arts, in tillage, building and clothing, to a greater perfection.

Ver. 1. bin nt This is the book of the generations of Adam; that is to fay, this is the pedigree, or the genealogy of the defcendants of Adam. So Mat. i. 1. The book of the generation, is the genealogy of Jefus Chrift.

Ver. 3. As we know that Adam had both Cain and Abel before Seth was born, fo both he, and the other Patriarchs, might have feveral other children before thofe that are named in this lift; it being, probably, the defign of Mofes to fet down only thofe perfons by whom the line of Noah was drawn from Seth, by their true ancestors, whether they were the eldest of the family, or not.

Ver. 21.-and begat Methuselah. It is the ingenious conjecture of

Ainsworth,

Ainfworth, that hunn is a word compounded of n he dieth, and nhun for hwn and an emiffion; as much as to fay, when he dieth, there fhall be an emiffion, or inundation, of waters. Thus Enoch may be fuppofed to have predicted the deluge in the name which he gave his fon Methuselah, with this particular circumftance, that the deluge fhould happen in the year in which his fon fhould die; as it certainly did. However we have the authority of an Apostle, that Enoch was a Prophet, and did forefee, and foretell the deluge to that generation of men. Jude, ver. 14, 15. And Enoch also, the feventh from Adam, prophesied of these, or of fuch men as thefe, faying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his Saints, or with myriads of his holy Angels, to execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard, unreasonable, contumacious, blafphemous Speeches, which ungodly finners have Spoken against him. This, I apprehend, in its primary intention, is a prediction of the deluge, by which God would punish that impious race which then inhabited the earth. But as their deftruction by the deluge is made an example of the vengeance which God will execute upon all impenitently wicked at the laft day, (2 Pet. ii. 5.) so Enoch's Prophecy will fuit the wicked of all ages, who fhall certainly meet with a like reward of their deeds.

And Enoch walked diligently ויתהלך חנוך את האלהים .22 .Ver

)

with, or unto, God, and in a manner agreeable and pleafing to God. And fo did Noah, chap. vi. 9. In this conftruction (with is ufed but once more, 1 Sam. xxv. 15; and there it implies friendship and benevolence on the part of thofe they converfed with. Therefore the Apoftle rightly inferts the idea of pleafing God in the account he gives of Enoch's tranflation, Heb. xi. 5, 6; and argues well, that Enoch's pleafing God, was the effect of his faith in God, and in a future reward. For without faith it is impoffible to please God, or to walk with, or to come unto him, as Enoch did. For he that cometh unto God, muft, in the very nature of the thing, believe that he is, and that he is the rewarder of them that diligently feek him. [Obferve-pleafing God, coming unto God, and diligently feeking him, are fynonymous, and all included in the fenfe of walking with God.] By faith Enoch led a very religious and heavenly life. His thoughts and affections were removed from things below, and fixed upon things above. He had a deep fenfe of God and his perfections, delighted in his ways, behaved as always in his fight, and conftantly ftudied to please him, and promote his glory. Being of a character fo excellent, and withal a perfon of eminent note, and great industry in oppofing the growing wicked nefs of the world, God was pleased to reward his piety, and give the reft of mankind a demonftration of a future ftate of glory, the inheritance of the holy and virtuous, by tranflating him alive, without feeing death, into heaven. It is not improbable, that he was tranflated in fome vifible manner as Elijah was afterwards, by a glorious appearance of the Shechinah, from whence fome heavenly minifters might be detached to convey him to a better world. This happened 57 years after Adam's death, in the year of the world 987, and 669 years before the deluge.

Ver.

Ver. 29. And Lamech called his fon's name Noah, [reft or refreshment, from m to reft, to take repofe,] faying, This fame fhall comfort us concerning our work, and toil of our hands, because of the ground, which the Lord hath curfed. Lamech might give his fon this name when he found he had an extraordinary genius for agriculture, and was likely, by his ufeful inventions, to diminish the very great toil which had hitherto attended the tillage of the earth. See chap. ix. 20, 21.

EN. iv. 26.-then it was begun to call by the name of the Lord.

Or then, in the days of Enos, the family of Serb, which adhered to God and his worfhip, began to give themfelves a denomination expreffive of their relation and regards to God; that is to say, to affume the title of the Sons, or Children of God, as in chap. vi. 2. in order to distinguish and separate themselves from the irreligious, family of Cain. Which title was also used after the flood. Fobi. 6. ii. I.

But (chap. vi. 1. which is in connexion with chap. iv. 26, the intermediate chapter being a genealogical parenthesis) [But when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them, &c.] The families of Seth and Cain, increafing and fpreading upon the earth, at length met and unhappily mixed together. For the fons of God, by the inftigation of fenfual appetite, without regard to reafon or religion, joined themselves in affinity to Cain's impious pofterity, by marrying their beautiful women; the confequence of which was, that they were foon corrupted by the profane converfation of their new relations. The virtuous and godly, in marrying both themselves and children, fhould be careful to keep within the limits of religion. A wife is the foundation of many other relations, and commonly has a great influence upon a man and his family; but it is a relation we can choose for ourfelves and in a cafe of fo great importance, we should neither follow the luft of covetoufnefs, nor of carnal defires, but the rules of religion, and the fear of God.

Thus, notwithstanding the Divine Manifeftations, and the preaching of Enoch and Noah, and, probably, of other good men, the contagion of wickedness by degrees infected the whole earth, and turned it into a fcene