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.

Death had now entered into the world; and that our first parents might behold in others what should soon happen to themselves, the Lord God doubtless must have killed the animals, of whose skins he made clothing for his sinning and suffering servants, before he drave them out for ever from that earthly paradise. It is probable that more than this was done, although more is not recorded, and that it pleased God now to institute the ordinance of sacrifice, and thus, from the very hour in which the Saviour of the world was promised, to establish upon earth a visible and intelligible type, of all that he should suffer, in reconciling the world unto God. Of this we cannot, indeed, speak with certainty; but as we shortly after find that sacrifices were in use, and yet have

no other hint of their probable origin, there seems but little reason to doubt, that the beasts, from whom the skins were taken, were thus employed, and this the more especially, as they were not at that time permitted to be the food of man.

And now we come to the close of Adam's residence in the garden of Eden; "The Lord God sent him forth," is the language of the inspired historian, and as if that were too gentle a mode of expressing it, he repeats the fact in the following verse, saying, "So he drove out the man;" he would no longer permit him to stay in the garden, which had been the scene of his ingratitude and guilt. "The tree of life," which, while man remained in a state of innocency, was, doubtless, to him the outward and visible means, and pledge of his immortality upon earth, is now for ever denied him, since it would have inflicted a curse instead of a blessing, and have conferred life, enduring, everlasting life, in a world upon which sin and misery had already set their cloven foot, and stamped it for their own. So cherubims were placed, and a flaming sword displayed, that the delinquents never might return; the covenant of works once broken, was not to be renewed, the gates of the earthly paradise were never again to be unbarred. What unspeakable cause have we, then, for thankfulness to God, that the armed

cherubims and the flaming sword were not transferred to the gates of the heavenly paradise; that there also is a "tree of life," the sign of the far "better covenant," no longer a covenant of works, but of free and undeserved grace; the very leaves of which tree are for the healing of the nations; that that tree is freely offered to us, and that so far from being forbidden, we are invited, all and each of us, to partake, to feed by faith upon the Son of God, even the Lord Jesus Christ, and to live for ever.

EXPOSITION XV.

GENESIS iv. 1—7.

1. And Adam knew Eve his 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.

This is the first intimation we have of divine worship, and here it commences with a sacrifice: a very strong presumption, at least, that the use made of the beasts, whose skins were adopted as clothing by our first parents, was that to which we have before adverted. If this be the case, it will also explain the reason of God's acceptance of Abel's offering, and his rejection of Cain's. Abel brought, as he was commanded, "of the firstlings of his flock," and the Almighty was pleased to recognise in them, not only the obedience of faith, but a type of the promised seed, "The Lamb slain from the foundation of the world." It was thus, so the Apostle to the Hebrews tells us, that "by faith Abel offered unto God, a more excellent sacrifice than Cain." Cain brought of the fruit of the ground, and the Almighty could see nothing in such an offering, but the voluntary sacrifice of a self-willed worshipper, who disregarding God's commands, chose to offer that which

the easiest, or the

most agreeable to his own inclination. Can we be surprised that God had respect to the worshipper, whose sacrifice he had himself appointed? Can we be astonished that for the self-willed worshipper, who preferred his own method of approaching God, to that which God had commanded, the Almighty should have no

respect? You can have no hesitation in your reply. Be careful, then, that you lose not the lesson it imparts. Do you desire that your own offerings of prayer and praise should be accepted of God? Be sure that you present them only as God has ordained, in the name and through the all-availing merits of the "one full, perfect, and sufficient sacrifice, oblation, and satisfaction for the sins of the whole world." Do you wish, that God should have respect unto you and to your offering? then come to him seeking pardon, acceptance, and grace, only through the blood and righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ.

5. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell.

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

How mercifully does the Almighty condescend to expostulate with Cain! He beholds his wrathful countenance, and he sees at the same time his revengeful heart. Recollect this when you are disposed to nourish a single unkind feeling towards your brethren; not an angry word, a