So, the parents fly off to Hawaii, leaving their kids in Alaska! (90) The two prefixes to the Hebrew words signifying image and likeness; the former of which is translated in, the latter after, or still more correctly, according to. These words are directed not to the earth, out of which man was made, as consulting with it, and to be assisting in the formation of man, as Moses Gerundensis, and other Jewish writers f, which is wretchedly stupid; nor to the angels, as the Targum of Jonathan, Jarchi, and others, who are not of God's privy council, nor were concerned in any part of the creation, and much less in the more noble part of it: nor are the words spoken after the manner of kings, as Saadiah, using the plural number as expressive of honour and majesty; since such a way of speaking did not obtain very early, not even till the close of the Old Testament: but they are spoken by God the Father to the Son and Holy Ghost, who were each of them concerned in the creation of all things, and particularly of man: hence we read of divine Creators and Makers in the plural number, Job 35:10 and Philo the Jew acknowledges that these words declare a plurality, and are expressive of others, being co-workers with God in creation g: and man being the principal part of the creation, and for the sake of whom the world, and all things in it were made, and which being finished, he is introduced into it as into an house ready prepared and furnished for him; a consultation is held among the divine Persons about the formation of him; not because of any difficulty attending it, but as expressive of his honour and dignity; it being proposed he should be made not in the likeness of any of the creatures already made, but as near as could be in the likeness and image of God. What are the ten numerations? God forbid that by indulging the body and the desires of it we should make ourselves like the beasts that perish! And God rested on the seventh day from His work of creation.Now as we get into chapter two, we find a recapitulation that will emphasize the creation of man, because of this recapitulation we have now, because man is being emphasized. The primitive condition is described too. Only a plurality of persons can justify the phrase. And this pattern of six and one, will be established by God throughout the history of His people, and interwoven into their whole culture.So we find everything is beautiful. If His servant bids others behold the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world, how much more does God Himself behold Christ and His sacrifice! This is the force of it. That man's being evil was a ground for sending the flood we can all see; but what depth of grace in the declaration that God knew perfectly the ruined condition of man at the very time when He pledges His word that there shall come no more flood on the earth! We'll send you an email with steps on how to reset your password. Even if they had the physical appearance of human beings, they would be no more than creatures of the animal world.An animals animality is in itself; a persons humanity is not. Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.". In the will is unfolded that freedom of action which chooses the good and refuses the evil. Such is the way in which God puts His truth, and this in the earliest part of His word. In our image, after our likeness I do not scrupulously insist upon the particles , (beth,) and , (caph (90)) I know not whether there is anything solid in the opinion of some who hold that this is said, because the image of God was only shadowed forth in man till he should arrive at his perfection. God certainly might here command by his bare word what he wished to be done: but he chose to give this tribute to the excellency of man, that he would, in a manner, enter into consultation concerning his creation. When we begin to enter into its real meaning, and hold fast that which is clearly the intended truth, the theory of Elohistic and Jehovistic annalists, with their redaction, vanishes into its own nothingness. all the more because of the chaste simplicity of the style and words. He had not before given his wife this her full and proper name. ii. It was not barely as He who had created all, but the God that was in special relationship with man Jehovah. Alas! We'll all be in our new bodies, perfected bodies that will know no handicaps at all. "In our image, after our likeness." should be made not in the likeness of any of the creatures Genesis 11:1-32 opens with the sin of man, which led to the division described in the preceding chapter, the moral reason of that fact, new then, but still in its substance going on, whatever the superficial changes among men in their lands, and tongues, and political distribution. And perhaps this is the only view of it which renders the reasoning of Calvin intelligible. In the account of the accomplishment of the divine purpose the words swell into a jubilant song, so that we meet here for the first time with a parallelismus membrorum, the creation of man being celebrated in three parallel clauses. It sedulously refrains from importing modern notions into the narrative. And on six days, they are to do their labors, the seventh day they are to rest. Such was not the usual style of monarchs in the ancient East. that is, to catch them, and eat them; though in the after grant by the fall. Oneness is essential for an orchestra, an athletic team, and a construction crew, as well as a family, to achieve a common purpose. Science may investigate the physical world and suggest how something happened, but it cannot say who made it happen. What value is it then for me to have a choice if He doesn't respect it? the cause of causes said to "`jod', he, It is no otherwise with God's word, save that all illustrations fail to measure the depth of the differences in it. In the reason is evolved the distinction of good and evil Genesis 1:4, Genesis 1:31, which is in itself the approval of the former and the disapproval of the latter. It is the great truth of sacrifice, of which Abel's faith laid hold, realising and confessing in his slain lamb that there was no other way in a ruined world for a holy relationship, and for the confession of the truth too, as between God and man. Abstract. Adversaries may no doubt try to embarrass you: if they will, let them do so. that says let us make, is Jehovah; I am the first, and I am the What does it mean? Man takes a special place in creation. God has the capacity to reason, so He created us with the ability to reason. The story is recorded as if someone were describing creation, not from somewhere in outer space, but from his dwelling place on earth. There was the whole matter. The reason why persons have found such perplexities, for instance) in relation to our Lord's, as compared with the Jews taking the passover and with the crucifixion, is owing to their forgetting that the evening and the morning were the first day, the second day, or any other. He who is innocent a man absolutely without any evil either in himself or in that which was around him, where all was from God (and this is the revealed account of things), how could he have a knowledge of evil? I grant that in an unfallen condition there was another state of things. The Statement before us may look at first unaccountable; but when carefully weighed and reflected on, the propriety of it becomes manifest. The very absurdity that God is a sexual being renders this interpretation highly unlikely. Any one who is acquainted with the chief writings of the old idolatrous world, of the Greeks and Romans especially, will see that what God has veiled in this brief statement, which passes calmly over that of which more had better not be spoken, is what they have amplified into the Titans and the giants and their greater deities. Adam was not androgynous (i.e., two individuals joined physically like Siamese twins) or bisexual (i.e., one individual possessing both male and female sexual organs). And God said, Let us make man It is evident that God intends to impress the mind of man with a sense of something extraordinary in the formation of his body and soul, when he introduces the account of his creation thus; Let US make man. But it was important to show its ground in the facts of creation, apart from special relationship, and that made Elohim alone appropriate in this place. From this it follows, that, according to the creative will of God, men were not to slaughter animals for food, nor were animals to prey upon one another; consequently, that the fact which now prevails universally in nature and the order of the world, the violent and often painful destruction of life, is not a primary law of nature, nor a divine institution founded in the creation itself, but entered the world along with death at the fall of man, and became a necessity of nature through the curse of sin. )Gods rest after the creation of the first human couple signified not that he had become tired or inactive (for he continues to care for what he has created), but that he had brought his work to its goal. You can study it yourself by clicking the Scripture itself then scrolling down page. And so God rested from His creative acts, as it points out here, He rested from His creation, all the work which He had made.And God blessed the seventh day (Gen 2:3). "By ruling as one, male and female fulfill the purpose of God for which they were created. 38. That he made this image to consist in righteousness and true holiness, is by the figure synecdochee; (88) for though this is the chief part, it is not the whole of Gods image. Mans body, therefore, as that of one who rules, is erect, and endowed with speech, that he may give the word of command. numerations. See his Works, vol. But how art thou fallen, O son of the morning! We gather from the present chapter that God is a spirit Genesis 1:2, that he thinks, speaks, wills, and acts (Genesis 1:3-4, etc.). It is not in this connection "created," it will be observed, but "made" them. Observe. In any case it was mercy to confine the curse certainly earned by Ham within the narrowest limits, instead of extending it to all his posterity. Abel, Enoch, Noah, we have already seen. The environmental conditions have been placed here for man, the trees, the vegetables have been placed here for his food. Those who often bring up Genesis 1:26 hope we will won't be able to provide a good answer. Darius, "I make a decree" Ezra 5:8. "Thou madest him (man) a little lower than the angels; Thou crownest him with glory and honor, and didst set him over the works of thy hands" (Hebrews 2:5-7). "Let us make man in our image." May we confide not only in scripture, but in Him who gave it! The roots themselves are marvelous. All this is an added account. last, and beside me there is no God: and three jods (yyy) testify concerning him, that The end of this chapter shows that the man in whose person the principle of human government was set up could not govern himself. There was no dispensation, properly so called, before it. And the common distinction is, that image exists in the substance, likeness in the accidents of anything. I do not consider that its locality is so very difficult to ascertain in a general way as has been often imagined. 27-27; Oswald Allis, God Spake by Moses, p. p. 108. apud Wagenseil. They are "herb-yielding seed after their kind," each has its own little code within it that reproduces after its kind; very fascinating indeed.Also, here we begin to see some of the inventive genius of God, creating seeds to produce after their own kind. If you're not saying that already, you'll be saying it before you sit in too many gas lines. The real and only force of the "and" is another fact; not at all as if it implied that the first and second verses spoke of the same time, any more than they decide the question of the length of the interval. plural number as expressive of honour and majesty; since such a Sermon Bible Commentary. [Note: Sailhamer, "Exegetical Notes . The moment God spoke, you have the Word of God. What more important fact about God and man would be necessary if the covenant at Sinai were, in fact, to be a real relationship? And the evening and the morning were the fourth day. When God made Adam from the dust of the earth, he was the closing chord of God's magnificent symphony. He prepared every thing for his subsistence, convenience, and pleasure, before he brought him into being; so that, comparing little with great things, the house was built, furnished, and amply stored, by the time the destined tenant was ready to occupy it. I need not dwell on the sad history which we all know more or less. The real worth of God's promises cannot be lessened to a believer by any cross providences that . However this is merely by the way, for it is evidently a matter of no great importance in itself, save that we should hold the entire account of Paradise to be historical in the strictest and fullest sense. Justly now we have him self-cursed from the face of the earth, pronounced a fugitive and vagabond. It is of great interest and importance to observe that God distinguished from the first between responsibility on the one hand, and life-giving on the other, in the two trees (verse 9). God produces life, whether it be for the fish that people the sea, for the birds of the air, or for the beasts, cattle, or reptiles, on the dry land. It is the truth, and in such a form and depth as man himself could not have discerned. It was the name of the divine nature, as such, in contrast with man or the creature; not the special manner in which God may reveal Himself at a particular time, or deal in exceptional ways, but the general and what you may call historical name of God, "God" as such. And God said, Let there be light in the firmament in the heaven (Gen 1:12-14). 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