that it is but a bait to deceive. For so one will perceive, that it will not quit the cost, that by the bargain they will never better their condition, Matth. xvi. 26. For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?'

priest, to whom accordingly the skins were given, for his own use, and the use of his wife, whose recourse was to be to him, for what she wanted. Thus these skin-coats signified the righteousness of Christ; by which our spiritual nakedness is covered, as are defended from the wrath of God; and adorned in his sight, Isa. xi. 10. Gd himself made these coats; for it is the righteousness of God, Rom. iii. 22. and they were put on for benefit by them for it is the righteousness of God, by faith of Jesus Christ, ibid. They were made to the man and his wife; for it is unto all, ib. They were actually clothed with them, had them on them; for it is upon all them that believe, ib. even Eve, as well as Adam; for there is no difference, ib. And in this matter, there is neither male nor female, they are all one in Christ Jesus, Gal. i. 28. The same God who made them, caused the man and his wife to put them or; for as the righte ousness itself is God's free gift, so is faith also, by which it is put on and applied, Eph. ii. 8. In these coats Adam and Eve appeared like the beasts who-e skins they wore: and they who have on them the righteousness of Christ, appear in some measure like him, in holiness of life, walking as he also walked, 1 John iì. 6. Thus the coats of skin were garments of honour [put] upon their flesh, as Onkelos paraphrases the text. -To this occasion also, I would refer the original eating of flesh, as brought in by sacrificing. This agrees best with the vanity and bondage (p0opac) of corruption (or destruction), which the creature was unwillingly made subject to, through the fall of man, Rom. viii. 20, 21. the chief branch of which bondage Peter expresseth, 2 Pet. ii. 12. brute beasts made (siç p0oçav) for destruction. So man's new diet would be of use to keep him in mind, that it was by eating of the flesh, and drinking of the blood, of the great sacrifice, he was to have life, now that the first covenant was breken Here ends this open section, bearing an enlargement of the history of the three last days of the creation, wherein there is a very particular account of man's creation, on the sixth day, the making of the woman, their fall and their restoration, all in a continued connection. Those who cannot believe that so many various events, as are here related from chap. ii. 7. were crowded within the compass of one day, may consider the words of the Holy Ghost, Psal. xlix. 13-12ths. Adam in honour could not night, without receding from the propriety of the expression, till they have otherwise proved the necessity of so doing. And withal they may consider the variety of events, relative to the second Adam's death, recorded Luke xxii. 66. to the end, chap. xxii. 1,33. and elsewhere; and what time these events took place. There one finds, the sanhedrim is convened; Christ is examined and condemned before them; they lead him to Pilate; he holds a court; Christ is accused, and answers for himself before him; Pilate sticks, and will not go forward so cleverly as the Jews would have him; he removes the cause to Herod's court; they had about a mile to go to Herod, and Christ appears before him; he is questioned by him in many words, vehemently ac cused, mocked, arrayed in a gorgeous robe, and sent back to Pilate again; Pilate convenes the chief priests, the rulers, and the people; there is a mighty struggle be tween Pilate and them, about him, the former to save him, the latter to get him condemned to the cross; Pilate's wife sends to him; Jesus is scourged; John xix. 1. led by the soldiers into the common hall; they put on him a scarlet robe, Matth. xxvii. 27, 28. they plate a crown of thorns, and put on his head, John xix. 2. Christ is brought out again and shewn to the chief priests, as a spectacle of commiseration, by

Fourthly, The mischievous design. The design of the great tempter, and the design of the thing, is always the ruin of the party, by falling into sin, and misery by sin. They are snares and traps for ruin, 1 Cor. x. 12. and land men in the bottomless pit.

Pilate, ver. 5. Pilate prevails not, goes in again into the judgment-hall, examines him anew, ver. 9,-12. Jesus is brought thence also, and Pilate sits down in a place called the Pavement, and there has a new encounter with the Jews, ver. 13,-15. Pilate washeth his hands, declares the pannel innocent, Matth. xxvii. 24. and then sentenceth him to die; then they lead him out of the city to Calvary, and crucify him there: All these things were done in the space of half a day, men being the immediate actors in them: for Christ was crucified about twelve o'clock, and hung upon the cross more than three hours, Luke xxiii. 44,-46.

Ver. 22. And Jehovah God said; Behold the man (who) was as one of us, viz. being made after our image, chap. i. 26, 27. the image of God the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, which is one, and but one in the blessed Three; so that he was, as it were, a fourth, a God upon earth, partaking of that image: so groundless was the temptation, ver. 5. Ye shall be as God. The plurality here mentioned cannot be God and angels, for the image of God and angels is not one, but two vastly different; neither was man made after the image of angels, but of God himself, chap. i. 26, 27. Therefore not angels, but the three persons of the ever-blessed Trinity, are here meant. That there is here an ellipsis of the relative, appears from the pointing, which determines the word, the man to be the accusative after behold, not the nominative before was: and the pointing being observed, our language bears the ellipsis, as well as the Hebrew. Comp. Lam. iii. 1. I (am) the man, hath seen affliction. Psal lii. 9-7ths. Behold the man; would not, &c. i. e the man [that], &c. as our translators rightly supply it in both these texts. For knowing, good and evil, q. d. and particularly was as one of us, in the point of knowing good and ill; knowing ill as we know it, though not experimentally as now he does. "And now lest he should put forth his hand; and take also of the tree of life; and eat, that he may live for ever." This verse is so far from being an irony, that it is a most pathetic lamentation of the Mediator over fallen man, with a most affectionate concern to prevent a second ruin. And in token hereof, the sentence is imperfect; something suppressed, and stopt as by a sob; as when David's grief swelling, cut short his expression, Psal. vi. 4-3ds. The same is to be observed in his lamentation over Jerusalem, in the days of his flesh, when he wept over that city, Luke xix. 41, 42. The sense of the whole is, q. d. "Behold the man." What a spectacle of commiseration is he now, who not long ago was as one of us, with our image in perfection upon him; who was as one of us, particularly for knowing of good and ill, knowing the same as we know them, yet could not be content with that, but would needs otherwise be as God, knowing of good and ill; and for that end put forth his hand, and ate of the forbidden tree: how much more now that he is fallen, will he entertain the thought of making himself proof against dying, slight his own mercy, thinking to keep himself in this miserable life? and for that foolish end, eat of the tree of life, with the same success with which he did of the tree of knowledge, and by eating of it reject the covenant of grace he hath embraced, and, by betaking himself to the seal of the covenant of works, run back to that covenant where there is no life for him now? So then, lest he put forth his hand again; and take also, of the tree of life, as he took of the tree of knowledge; and eat of the former, with a design thereby to render himself immortal, as he did eat of the latter, that he

SECONDLY, What is meant by leading us into temptation? It is holy wise providence so ordering matters about us as we are attacked with temptation to sin, brought upon the stage to fight with temptations, so as we may give a proof of ourselves. Here consider,

might be as God, knowing of good and ill, and so reject the new covenant, by eating of this tree, as he broke the first covenant by eating of the other tree, [I must, I will set him away out of paradise], to prevent his being ruined a second time.

Ver. 23. “ And Jehovah God, did set him away from the garden of Eden;" i. e. obliged him to remove out of the garden. That no ignominy nor violence is imported in this word, whatever may be in some things, of which it is used, appears in that it is the word Moses constantly makes use of, in the name of God, to Pharaoh, in favour of the Israelites, Exod. iv. 23. v. 1. vii. 26. al. viii. 1. viii. 16. al. 20-For to dress even the ground; what he was taken away from, i. e. from whence he was taken away. Instead of dressing the garden, chap. ii 15. which was one inclosed plat of ground, he is set to dress the ground, q. d. the ground the ground, i. e. the ground in several plats here and there. The construction is, to dress the ground; [to dress] what (i. e. that which) he was taken away from. So he was sent back to the place, where he was formed, chap. ii. 7. From thence the Lord brought him in unto paradise, and there made the covenant with him, and now that he had broken that covenant, he is sent back to the place whence he came; there to dress the ground, and as it were to dig his own grave; until he should return to that ground, from whence he had been taken

away.

H

Ver. 24. So he quite turned out, even the man. The Lord set him away, ver. 23. So he quite turned him out of paradise, for good and all, never to come back again. As this is the genuine notion of the word, so here it is most agreeable to the pathetic lamentation, and affectionate concern shewn for man, ver. 22. whereof this was the effect. And since this word in Pihel denotes no violence it can far less import any such thing in Kal. It is not more generally, than justly observed, that these two words rendered setting away, and turning out, are terms used in the law of divores. The law; as the covenant of works, was, according to the scripture, the first husband, Rom. vii. Paradise was the house of that husband. But our first parents having once sinned, were no more able to live with the first husband: So the Son of God, as supreme Lord, wrote the divorce, dissolved the relation, upon most weighty grounds, and turned them out of its house. And never was there a divorce and turning out se great a mercy to any poor broken hearted woman, who could have no comfortable life with her husband, as this was to Adam and Eve in their lapsed state, and will be to all who imitate their faith in Jesus Christ, the second Husband. And he made to inhabit on the east to the garden of Eden, i. e. east in respect of the garden. Now, the gar ¦ den was on the east part of Eden, chap. ii. 8. And the dwelling of the cherubims here assigned them, was east in respect of the garden. Therefore this dwelling-place was without Eden, or at least in the outmost part of Eden, to the east. And even the flame of the sword, [the sword] that turned itself. Flame of the sword is a flame like a sword, and therefore a real flame, but the sword not real. For to keep; even the way of the tree of life, i. e. he did this, that thereby he might keep the way leading to { the tree, or trees, of life; that man might not come upon that way for the two last clauses are, by the pointing, balanced with the two first of this hemistich. The pointing of the first word of this verse, and the manner of expression used through the whole, agreeing to the native effect of that pointing, persuade me, that the cherubin

How the Lord leads men into temptation; and how it consists with his holiness so to lead them.

1. How the Lord leads men into temptation. He does so only

two ways.

(1.) By a providential placing them in such circumstances, as the heart may take occasion of sin from them. Thus innocent Adam was led into temptation, being placed within reach of the forbidden

and the fiery sword were within the garden before this time, as well as the man was: and that be being turned out, they were turned out too in mercy to him. For the first word of the verse, being by a distinctive separated from the second word, with which it doth undoubtedly agree in construction; that shews it to be constructed, not only with that second word, but also with what follows, since the words themselves will admit the same, q. d. "And he quite turned out even the man: [And he quite turned out] and made to inhabit on the east, the cherubims; and flame, &c." I conceive, then, that Moses here gives us an account of the Schechinah, the visible sign of the divine presence, called the glory of Jehovah, or of God, Ezek. x. 4. 19. there represented to be upon the cherubims; in respect of which God is said to dwell between the cherubims, or, as the Holy Ghost phraseth it, to sit the cherubims, Psal, 1xxx. 2-1sts so that the removal of the cherubims was the removal of the Schechinah: that the fiery sword was an attendant on the Schechinah: that they both were within the garden, while man stood in his integrity: but that man having fallen, could no more enjoy the Schechinah there nevertheless, being reconciled to God through the blood of the new covenant, and s t away out of paradise; it was removed too, and the fiery sword after it: and that then the Schechinah inhabited, without the garden, on the east, next to the place where the man now was; and the fiery sword between the Schechinah and the garden, according to the order of the text; that so man might have access to the former, but no access any more to the latter. Accordingly, Moses speaks of them, not as of things newly appearing, but in the same manner of expression, as of the man, and of the tree of life. It is reasonable to think that the Schechinah was in paradise before the fall; man being there in a state of communion with God, and the tabernacle of God being said to be with men in the heavenly paradise, Rev. xxi. 3 and that the fiery sword, attended it there; since man was then in a state of probation, not beyond the hazard of the sword of justice, being capable to sin, and fall under the curse. And the removing of the Schechinah from out of the garden, where man sinned, unto another place, upon that occasion, is very agreeable to the method of the divine dispensations in such cases. Now, the Schechinah being thus removed out of paradise, together with its attendant the fiery sword; man was effectually kept from returning into it, by the lively majesty of the one, and the terror of the other : for should he have attempted a return, be behoved to have turned his back on the Schechinah, and set his face to the fiery sword; they being posted in manner above observed. Moreover, by this means, Adam, and the church in his time, were provided of a gospel-paradise, a place of the world, where was the divine presence, called the face of Jehovah, from which Cain was afterwards banished, chap. iv. 16. And thus was our Lord Jesus Christ, the true Schechinah, Col. ii. 9. turned out of the vineyard, Matth. xxi. 39. and made to inhabit in the dust of death, by his burial: whereby all believers in him, are for ever after freed from the law as a covenant of works, Rom. vii. 4. By the connection of events narrated in the text, all this seems to have been done at that time of the day wherein Christ was buried.

fruit; Joseph, by being alone in the house with an adulterous woman, where yet he came fair off; Achan, by seeing the wedge of gold, and having an opportunity to take it, where he fell by it; Peter by being in the High Priest's hall, where he was attacked. It is on this account that afflictions and persecutions are called temptations, Jam. i. 2. because there the man is beset with such things as are apt to work on his corruptions, and so to lead him into sin, through fear or hope.

(2.) By permitting Satan or his instruments, to tempt them to sin. God has them in a chain, but sometimes, for holy wise ends, the Lord lets them loose, 2 Sam. xxiv. 1. compared with 1 Chron. xxi. 1. They need no positive order; if God do not restrain them, they will fall on with all their might.

2. How it consists with God's holiness to lead men into temptation. This will appear from the consideration of three things.

(1.) God gave man a power to stand against temptation, if he would, Eccl. vii. 29. God made man upright.' Thus the stock was put in man's hand, and he is bound still to stand out against it.

(2.) God is debtor to none, either to keep them out of such eircumstances, as the heart may not take occasion of sin from thence, or to restrain Satan, or his instruments, from tempting them. Nay, it is just with him so to do, since men often cast themselves unnecessarily upon temptation, and will not be kept back from sin.

(3.) God can bring good out of it, for his own glory, the sinner's profit, or both. Thus Hezekiah and Peter were checked for their pride and vanity, and humbled.

THIRDLY, What is the import of this part of the petition?

1. That we are in danger to be tempted to sin. Temptations are ready for us in this evil world, the devil, the world, and the flesh, are ready to attack us, and break in upon us, if the hedge whereby they are held off were but removed, 1 Pet. v. 8. We walk amidst armed enemies, amongst lions' dens, amidst sparks of fire; were they but let loose, they would set on vigorously.

2. That no temptation can befal us without an over-ruling providence. Though the lion roar, he is in a chain, and cannot set on us, but as he is permitted of God, Job i. 8,-10. He who rules the sea, when the waters thereof do roar, has an over-ruling hand over devils, men and the corruptions of our hearts, that no flood can break out, but where the sluice is opened, he withdrawing the restraint. 3. That when the Lord leads us into temptation, we will be sure of an attack. There is no hope in the mercy of our enemies, no hope that they will let an occasion of fighting us slip. He that goes about seeking his prey, will not pass by it, when it is laid in his