the hiftorian wrote, needed not to be mentioned, but might be taken for granted. The only proper and conclufive argument would be to prove,

that in those early days they had no communication with, or revela"tion from God; and therefore, having no way of knowing what the "mind of the Lord was, were under a neceffity of inventing fomething "of their own." But this is far from being the cafe. God, in fome vifible form, frequently appeared, and made his mind known to Adam, and to all the fucceeding Patriarchs mentioned in the book of Genefis, for the space of 2315 years; yea, he converfed and reasoned with and inftructed Cain himself. When therefore Adam, and all the other Patriarchs, had the fullest opportunity of knowing from God himself, what kind of worship was most acceptable to him, there was no need of their own invention; and it is abfurd to fuppofe that they followed no other guide.

In the infancy of the church they wanted direction, and without doubt were directed in every thing relating to religion especially, fo far as was agreeable to that difpenfation. Doubtlefs Adam was inftructed by God to facrifice; and it is not improbable that those beafts, with the skins of which Adam and Eve were clothed, Gen. iii. 21. were flain as Sacrifices. God certainly inftructed our first parents in the faith and worship which the alteration in their circumftances required. Having made a moft gracious covenant with them, (ver. 15 ) it is not unreafonable to fuppofe, that he alfo fignified to them, that they fhould, for a perpetual ratification and affurance of it to their faith, offer to him Sacrifices; for by the blood of Sacrifices covenants were ratified in aftertimes. The eating of the tree of life, was a covenanting action, (affuring immortality to their continued obedience) fuitable to a state of innocence. But the mactation of a living creature, (expreffing the deadly nature of fin, at the fame time that it affured them of eternal life through a facrificed Redeemer) was more fuitable to a state of guilt.

Ver. 3. Cain brought of the fruit of the ground, &c. ver. 4. And Abel alfo brought of the firfllings of the flock, &c. "As there were fome "folemn times of making their devout acknowledgments to God; fo, "I doubt not, there was fome fet place, where they affembled for that "purpose. For the Hebrew word for brought, is never ufed in rela"tion to domeftic, or private Sacrifices; but always in relation to "thofe public Sacrifices which were brought to the door of the taber"nacle of the congregation. As Lev. iv. 4. He fhall bring "the bullock to the door, &c. Which occurs all along, efpecially in "the ninth chapter of that book.

"And therefore, I fuppofe, they brought these Sacrifices, here men❝tioned, to fome fixed [public] place, where the Shechinah, or glorious "prefence of God appeared. For, as they must have some settled place, "where they [publicly] performed facred offices, it is most reasonable "to think it had, in thofe early days, refpect to the Shechinah, or Di"vine prefence, as well as afterwards under the Mofaic difpenfation, "[when the Divine Prefence refided] in the tabernacle and temple. "And therefore they are faid to appear before God, [Exod. xxiii. 17. ❝ xxxiv. 24.

"xxxiv. 24. Pfal. xlii. 2, &c. or to prefent themfelves before the Lord, "Job. i. 6."*]

That fome vifible token of the prefence of God appeared in their religious affemblies in thofe earliest days of the church, and fpake and converfed with them, as occafion required, is evident enough. So the Lord God appeared frequently and familiarly to Adam. He held a conference with Cain in fuch a manner as plainly fhews it was no extraordinary thing. And when the fons, or children, of God came together to prefent themselves before the Lord, the Lord is reprefented as difcourfing with Satan about the character and circumftances of Job. Job i. 6-12. ii. I-7.

While men were not fo numerous, but that they might all affemble together at one place, probably the Shechinah ftatedly appeared among them every fabbath. But when they were fo numerous, that they could not ordinarily meet together once a week, and therefore were under a neceffity of performing their worship in feparate and remote places; yet the Shechinah, or token of the Divine Prefence, might ftill remain and appear as ufual in that original place, where Adam and his immediate defcendents had firft attended upon divine fervice, and where the Patriarchs, in a right line defcended from Adam, had their place of refidence. There, probably, Noah builded his altar, and there the Lord converfed with him. Gen. viii. 20, &c. ix. 1There Rebekah went to inquire of the Lord, Gen. xxv. 22, 23; and fhe received an answer, probably, from the Shechinah or Divine Prefence.

From all this it feems not unlikely, that Cain and Abel's Offerings were performed before the whole affembly of Adam's family (which then must have been confiderably increased), and that the divine acceptance of the one, and rejection of the other, was fignified by fome vifible mark, which appeared and was obferved by the whole congregation. It would add very much to Cain's difgult to find himself so openly difparaged, and funk fo much in the favour of God, and the efteem of the whole family, below his younger brother; over whom, on that fole account, as he was the firft-born, he claimed pre-eminence, and expected, whatever his character was, pious or impious, to have been preferred before him.

The mark by which the Lord God teftified his acceptance of Abel and his Sacrifice, was, probably, a stream of fire issuing from the Shechinch, which confumed his Sacrifice. So Gen. xv. 17. A fmoking furnace and burning lamp, i. e. the Shechinah, paffed between the pieces of the Sacrifice, and confumed them, in confirmation of the covenant. And we have many other examples of this kind in facred Hiftory; as when Mofes offered the first great burnt-offering, Lev. ix. 24; when Gideon offered upon the rock, Judg. vi. 21; when David stayed the plague, I Chron. xxi. 26; and Solomon confecrated the temple, 2 Chron. vii. 13; and when Elijah contended with the Baalites, 1 Kings xviii. 38, &c. whence the Ifraelites, Pfal. xx. 3. wifhing all profperity to their king, pray that God would accept [ turn into afbes] his burnt-offering.

Bishop Patrick's Comment. in loco.

Ver. 6,7,

Ver. 6, 7. The Lord God reproved Cain for the difgust and indignation he had conceived against his brother, inftructing him in terms of divine acceptance. If thou dost weli, shalt thou not be accepted? Moft certainly For I have an impartial regard to true piety, wherefoever I find it. But if thou dost not well, fin (i. e. the punishment of fin, as ver. 13, and chap. xix. 15, and feveral other places,) lieth couching at the door, ready to fall upon thee; and unto thee shall be kis defire, and thou fhalt rule over him. Three things are here fuggefted to appeafe his refentment. 1. That the reafon of his not being refpected was not in his brother, but in him felf; for, if he had done well, he would have been as much refpected. 2. That, if he did ill, he had no reafon to expect the Divine favour, but the reverfe. 3. That this fhould not alter his civil right, nor give Abel any authority over him, but he should ftill retain the privilege of his birth-right. Note This fhews, that the privileges of his birth-right had been previously fettled, either by divine appointment, or approbation.

But the rancour of Cain's mind could not thus be cured. Being of the Wicked One, the murtherer, who had lately attempted to destroy all mankind, he took an opportunity, and flew his brother. Poffibly the next fabbath, Abel's place being empty in the affembly of Adam's family, the Lord addreffed himself to Cain, charged him with his crime, and, in punishment of it, banished him from the country where Adam and his family refided; by rendering the ground barren to him, infomuch that, notwithstanding all his endeavours, it should not yield him any increase. This would neceffarily oblige him to go seek a fubfiftence in fome other place. To this fentence Cain remonftrates as too fevere, [and by the bye, his familiar, indeed too familiar, manner of answering the Shechinah, fhews, that fuch appearances of the Divine Prefence were common and cuftomary] apprehending he fhould thereby be bid from the face of the Lord, (ver. 14.) or deprived of his care and inspection, and confidered by all mankind as a ftrolling brute, expofed to their hatred, and in continual danger of being deftroyed. But God, who for wife and holy ends often protects and prolongs the lives even of very wicked men, intended that Cain fhould live; either that he might have fpace to repent, or, being impenitent, might remain a monument of Divine Juftice; and therefore, before the whole affembly, threatened a worse punishment than Cain's to the man who fhould, by killing him, de feat the divine fentence, or frustrate his grace.

And the Lord fet a mark upon Cain, &c. In the Hebrew it is, And the Lord fet, or exhibited, a true token to Cain, that no one who met bim, fhould kill him; i. e. gave him fome pledge or affurance, declared either in words, as by an oath, or by fome outward token, that his life fhould be preferved. So the fpies gave Rahab a token, N, that her life, and the lives of all her relations, fhould be preferved. Jofbua ii. 12-14. This token to Rabab feems to have been a folemn oath; the fearlet cord was not a token to Rabab, but to the fpies, to diftin guish her house. N. B. I do not find in Scripture, that is ever fig nifies a mark, or brand, impreffed upon a man's body, but always fome external affurance, or pledge given by God. Gen. ix. 13. xvii 11.

for

*

1 Sam. ii. 34. xiv. 10. 2 King. xix. 28. · Isai. xxxviii. 7, 8. Jer. xliv. 29, &c. &c.

Ver. 16. And Cain, by force of the divine curfe, went out from the prefence of the Lord, i. e. out of the affembly where the Lord appeared, and was worshipped, and never enjoyed the bleffings and advantages which attended the affembly any more.

H

С НА Р. XV.

Of the SHECHINAH, and Divine APPEARANCES.

AVING had occafion, in the foregoing chapter, to mention the Shechinah, (a rabbinical word from 1 to dwell,) which is ufed to fignify a glorious Appearance, covered, or attended with a cloud, denoting the extraordinary prefence of God, who is neceffarily every where prefent; this may be a proper place to examine the Scripture upon the point of Divine Appearances. They are mentioned in both parts of the holy Scripture; fometimes without taking any notice of a vifible glory,and often exprefsly mentioning it; as in the following places. Gen. xv. 17. The fmcking furnace and lamp of fire, wx 71, are justly fuppofed to correfpond to the cloud and pillar of fire, afterwards mentioned, as reprefenting the Divine Prefence. Probably, in a vifible glory the Lord appeared to Abraham, Gen. xvii. I; and to Ifaac, chap. xxvi. 2; and certainly to Mofes in the bufh, Exod. iii. 2. The Shechinah was alfo in the cloud and pillar of fire, Exod. xiii. 21. For it was the fame cloud that afterward refted upon the tabernacle, when it was fet up, and is called the Cloud of the Lord. Exod. xl. 38. Numb. x, 34. For the glory of the Lord was within the tabernacle upon the mercy-feat, as the cloud was on the outside of it. Exod. xl. 34. 35. And it is there defcribed, as in Exod. xiii. 21. that it appeared as a cloud upon the tabernacle by day, and as a fire by night. Exod. xl. 38. Numb. ix. 15, 16.

Thus it conducted and guarded them in their journeys, [and then alone was ordinarily feen by the whole congregation] Exod. xl. 36. Numb. ix. 17, 18, &c. [Ifaiah alludes to this chap. iv. 5, 6.] And, as thus the token of the Divine Prefence went before them, the Lord is faid to go before them, and to lead them by this cloud. And out of this cloud, or rather from the glory of the Lord, within the tabernacle, the Lord fpake unto Mofes what he fpake and delivered in the books of Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers. Numb. vii. 89. And when Mofes went into the tabernacle of the congregation, to speak with him [God], then he heard the voice of one speaking unto him from off the mercy-feat, that was upon the ark the teftimony, between the two Cherubims, and he spake unto him; agree

of

ably

ably to what God had faid, Exod. xxv. 22. I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy-feat, from between the two Cherubims which are upon the ark of the teftimony, of all things which I will give thee in commandment unto the children of Ifrael. And there, as upon a throne, between the Cherubims, the glory of the Lord had its refidence in the holy place in Solomon's temple, after it had taken poffeffion of the house, at the confecration of it. 1 King. viii. to, 11. [and there it continued till the Babylonifh captivity.] Hence God is faid to dwell between the Cherubims. 1 Sam. iv. 4. 2 Sam. vi. 2. 2 King. xix. 15. Pfalm. lxxx. 1, &c. The glory of the Lord appeared to jaiah in the temple. Ifai. vi. 1. and to Ezekiel, with many awful circumftances. Ezek. i. z8. iii. 23. x. 4. xi. 23. xliii. 2, 4, 5. xliv. 4. The glory of the Lord bone round about the fhepherds, and the angel of the Lord came upon them, Luke ii. 8, 9. and to the three Difciples at the transfiguration, Mat. xvii. 5. While be yet fpake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and behold, a voice out of the cloud, which faid, this is my beloved Son, &c. The Shechinah appeared to Saul, Acts ix. 3. Suddenly there fhined round about him a light from heaven; and to Peter in the prifon. Acts xii. 7.

Thefe are the most remarkable Divine Appearances mentioned in Scripture. Now the question is, Who, in fuch inftances, was the perfon that appeared and (pake? For example, Exod. iii. 14, it is written, And God faid unto Mofes, I AM THAT I AM: and he faid, thus fhait thou fay unto the children of Ifrael, I AM hath sent me unto you. Who was it that fpake to Mofes? Or what notion are we to form of that being who pronounced thofe words, I AM THAT I AM? What makes the inquiry neceffary is this, that in the fecond verse it is faid, The ANGEL OF THE LORD appeared in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. And yet it is faid, concerning the fame perfon, ver. 4. When THE LORD faw that he turned afide to fee, GOD called to him out of the midst of the bush. ver. 6. Moreover he faid, I am the GOD of thy father, the GOD of Abraham, the GOD of Ifaac, &c. And, ver. 14. GOD faid unto Mofes, I AM THAT I AM. ver. 15. GOD faid unto Mojes, Thus fhalt thou fay unto the children of Ifrael, the LORD GOD of your fathers bath fent me unto you. Now, moft certain it is, that it was the ANGEL of the LORD that appeared to Mofes; and certain it is, that the Angel of the Lord, that appeared to Mofes in the bufh, did, out of the bufh, pronounce the feveral fentences I have quoted. It was the Angel of the Lord who faid, I am the GOD of thy father: I AM THAT I AM. But the Angel of the Lord God is not the Lord God, whofe Angel he is. How then can it be faid, that the Lord God appeared and fpake to Mofes? This is the difficulty; and the folution is ready, and very clear.

The folid and inconteftable foundation of the folution is laid by our Lord himself, who perfectly understood the whole affair of Divine Appearances, in John v. 37. And the Father himself, who hath fent me, hath born witness of me. Ye bave neither heard his voice at any time, nor feen his bape. John i. 18. No man hath feen God at any time. He is the invifible God, whom no man hath Jeen, or can fee. It is often faid, that the Lord, the most high God, appeared to the Patriarchs, to Mofes, and to the Prophets, the ancestors of the Jews; but, according to our Lord's rule, the Appearance, form, or fhape, which they faw, was not the Appearance