find the word rendered avròs, that is, in the masculine gender, "he shall bruise thy head." So early was the Gospel preached. So soon does Romanism commence its assaults. I know not whether it be part of that enmity or not, but is it not true that the reptile which the human race most thoroughly and universally loathes, is just the serpent? I do not know why it is, but it is the universal feeling. Whether it arise from the peculiar structure of the reptile, or from a dead traditional recollection, having its birth in the record contained in this chapter, I know not, but the fact is as I have now stated it.

The curse is now pronounced upon Adam and Eve. “Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee. And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it; cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; in the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken; for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return." Woman bears witness to her participation of the curse. Had it never alighted on her, she had never endured the greatest of all pains. Yet does she rise toward equality with her husband, and to superiority over her sufferings, where Christian influence is greatest. In the recent discovery of chloroform, and its peculiar triumphs here, we have a foreshadow of her ultimate emancipation — a proof, at least, of science given to man, to tell him how possible is painless childbirth, how probable its return. Poor man still earns bread with hand or head, and in either case with the sweat of his brow.

Then Adam, it is said, "called his wife's name Eve; because she was the mother of all living." I think the ordinary idea of this change of name is an erroneous one. Most persons think he called her Eve because she became the mother of the whole human race. But God said, before this, "Be fruitful and multiply, and replenish the earth;" and she would have been the mother of all living, if she had retained her innocence. And, therefore, that does not warrant the change of name from Isha to "Eve, the mother of all living.” He called her first Isha, that is, " Manness," or "Woman," as we express it. But he says, "I will no longer call her Isha, but Chavah," which means " a mother," or "the living one," or "the life." Now, why was this? I am convinced that the true explanation of it is found in the fact that the promise here made was not "to seeds, as of many, but as of one," that is, as of Abraham's, and because of Abraham's also of Eve's. I believe that Adam accepted the glorious promise, "He shall bruise thy head," as the foundation of his hope, and in it he saw that in the course of coming centuries a Messiah should be born, - the Reclaimer of Paradise, the Destroyer of the serpent, the Son of Mary, Jesus, our only Redeemer, Prince and Saviour, — and that it was with reference to Him, therefore, and not with reference to all humanity, that he changed the name of Eve, and called her, instead of Isha, Chavah, or Eve. This glorious hope was worthy of a new name.

We read, here, that "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." This has been the subject of very great and very protracted inquiry. And when you notice that the cherubim placed here play so great a part in the subsequent history of the human race, you must see that there is more significance than meets the eye in the fact that "He placed cherubims at the cast of the garden of

Eden." We read in the book of Exodus, 25: 17—20, that Moses was to make, according to the commandment of God,

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a mercy-seat of pure gold: two cubits and a half shall be the length thereof, and a cubit and a half the breadth thereof. And thou shalt make," says God, "two cherubims of gold, of beaten work shalt thou make them, in the two ends of the mercy-seat. And make one cherub on the one end, and the other cherub on the other end: even of the mercy-seat shall ye make the cherubims on the two ends thereof. And the cherubims shall stretch forth their wings on high, covering the mercy-seat with their wings, and their faces shall look one to another; toward the mercy-seat shall the faces of the cherubims be." Now, Moses knew of this last fact when he wrote this chapter, and he knew also the other fact, that God is represented, in the Psalms and elsewhere, as "Thou that dwellest between the cherubims." We know, also, that the mercy-seat may be translated "propitiatory;" and the apostle says, Christ is our propitiatory or mercy-seat. It does appear to me, therefore, that the cherubim were placed here in order to teach man, by a foreshadow and a prophecy, the coming restoration, when the mercy-seat should be erected in the tabernacle, and find in the fulness of the times its antitype in Christ, the true propitiation, not only for our sins, but for the sins of the whole world. And, on the other hand, you will recollect that the cherubim were in the temple, overshadowing the mercy-seat, and that it was towards the mercy-seat that the Jews worshipped, and that it was there, also, that the glory, the Shechinah, rested. You will recollect that the word "Shechinah " comes from the word Shakan, which means, to place, plant. And if this passage were literally translated, it would be, "He shechinaed at the east of the garden of Eden cherubims." And thus we find another allusion to the mercy-seat in the tabernacle, which was a type and shadow of the great sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Let us

also recollect what Peter says, "Which things the angels desire to look into ;" and at the same time remember that the cherubim looked down on the mercy-seat which was between them; and thus you have an explanation of Peter's remarkable allusion. Another reason, too, which shows that these cherubim were meant to indicate some reference to the Gospel, may be gathered from the passage where it is said that Cain, after he "went out from the presence of the Lord, dwelt in the land of Nod, on the east of Eden,” which would seem to indicate that the cherubim were to Adam and Eve what the mercy-seat with its cherubim was to the Jews, and what Christ, who is everywhere, is to us, the great sign and symbol of an Atonement; a visible pledge that a Saviour would come in the fulness of time, according to prophecy.

But, you ask, What was the flaming sword? It was perfectly distinct and separate from the cherubim. It is not said that the cherubim had a flaming sword in their hands, but it says that "he placed at the east of the garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword, which turned every way upon itself," as it should be rendered. The flaming sword was to them the symbol of the Paradise they had lost; and the cherubim pointed them to a paradise that was yet to be regained through the death and the atonement of the Lamb.

I must revert to the expression, "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 live forever." This expression ought to be understood — if not literally, yet truly, interpreted-"Adam has made the attempt to become as one of us, to know good and evil; and now, lest he put forth his hand, and, by taking also of the tree of life, and eating, attempt to live forever." If Adam had taken of the tree of life, he would not have lived forIf he had not eaten of "the tree of the knowledge of good and evil," he would have had access to this tree, and

ever.

have been immortal; but, since he had forfeited the thing signified, obedience and its consequences, eternal life, — to lay hold upon "the tree of life" would have been just like those of modern times, Romanists and Tractarians, who lay hold on baptism, and think they obtain regeneration by using the mere sacramental sign; or, that they obtain communion with the body of Christ by eating the bread and drinking the wine, which are the mere symbols of that communion. This would have been to trust to the sacramental sign, when he had lost the thing that was signified; it would have added to his sufferings, not removed them.

How truly does this history commend itself to our reason, to our conscience, to our hearts; how truly it looks like the real, how little like the fabulous; how sublime is its record beside any other account of the introduction of sin, and death, and all our woe! Let us be under a sense of what man has made himself; — let us gratefully adore that sovereign love which has interposed to save. O Lord, create us again to good works!