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ried on there, it appears to have had no existence in the world, which there is no reason to believe was ever the case when once it had begun. With respect to Cain, the country whither he went is called Nod, or Naid, which signifies a vagabond. It was not so called before, but on his account; as who should say, The land of the vagabond.

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Ver. 17. He was married before this, though we are not told to whom. Doubtless it was to one of Adam's daughters, mentioned in Chap. v. 4. which near affinity, though since forbidden, was then absolutely necessary. Of her in the land of the vagabond, he had a son, whom he called Enoch; not him who walked with God, but one of the same name. It signifies taught, or dedicated: it is rather difficult to account for his calling the child by this name after what had taken place. Possibly it might be one of those effects of education which are often seen in the ungodly children of religious parents. When he himself was born, he was, as we have seen, accounted an acquisition, and was doubtless dedicated, and as he grew up taught by his parents. Of this it is likely he had made great account, priding himself in it, as many graceless characters do in being the children of the righteous and now, having a child of his own, he might wish to stamp upon him this mark of honour, though it was merely nominal. After this, Cain built, or was building, a city: a very small one no doubt, as need required. He began what his family, as they increased, perfected; and called it after the name of his son. Thus he amused himself as well as he could. The divine forbearance probably hardened him in his security, as it commonly does the ungodly. Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the hearts of the sons of men are fully set in them to do evil.

Ver. 18.-24. Next follow the generations of Cain, which present a few general observations.-(1.) Nothing good is said of any one of them; but, heathen like, they appear to have lost all fear of God, and regard to man. (2.) Two or three of them become famous for arts: one was a shepherd, another a musician, and another a smith; all very well in themselves, but things in which the worst of men may excel. Some have supposed that we are ¡ndebted to revelation for all this kind of knowledge. Had it been

said, we are indebted to our Creator for it, it had been true; for to his instruction the discretion of the husbandman is ascribed.* But revelation was given for greater and better objects; namely, to furnish, not the man, but the man of God. (3.) One of them was infamous for his wickedness; namely, Lamech. He was the first who violated the law of marriage; a man who gave loose to his appetites, and lived a kind of lawless life. Among other evils, he followed the example of his ancestor Cain. It is not said whom he slew; but he himself says it was a young man. This is the first instance, but not the last, in which sensuality and murder are connected. Nor did he barely follow Cain's example: but seems to have taken encouragement from the divine forbearance towards him, and to have presumed that God would be still more forbearing towards him. Thus one sinner takes liberty to sin from the suspension of judgment towards another.

Here ends the account of cursed Cain. We hear no more of his posterity, unless it be as tempters to the sons of God, till they were all swept away by the deluge!

*Isa. xxviii. 24-29.

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DISCOURSE IX.

THE GENERATIONS OF ADAM.

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Gen. iv. 25, 26. v.

We have of late met with little else than the operations of sin and misery here I hope we shall find something that will afford us pleasure. Adam had lived to see grievous things in his family. At length, about one hundred and thirty years after the creation, Eve bare him another son. Him his mother called Seth; that is, set, or appointed; for God, said she, hath appointed me another seed instead of Abel, whom Cain slew. The manner in which the mother of mankind speaks on this occasion is much in favour of her personal religion. The language implies, that though at first she had doted upon Cain, yet as they grew up, and discovered their dispositions, Abel was preferred. He was the child in whom all the hopes of the family seem to have concentrated; and, therefore, when he fell a sacrifice to his brother's cruelty, it was considered as a very heavy loss. She was not without a son before Seth was born, for Cain was yet alive: but he was considered as none, or as worse than none; and therefore when Seth was. born, she hoped to find in him a successor to Abel: and so it prov ed; for this appears to have been the family in which the true religion was preserved in those times. At the birth of Enos, which was one hundred and five years after that of his father Seth, it is remarked with emphasis by the sacred historian-THEN BEGAN MEN TO CALL UPON THE NAME OF THE LORD. This cheering information doubtless refers to the families in connexion with which it is spoken, and denotes, not that there had been no calling upon the Lord till that time, but that from thence true religion assumed a

more visible form; the seed of the woman, afterwards called the sons of God, assembling together to worship him, while the seed of the serpent might very probably be employed in deriding them.

From the genealogy in Chap. v. I shall barely offer the following remarks:

1. It is a very honourable one. Not only did patriarchs and prophets, and the church of God for many ages, descend from it, but the Son of God himself according to the flesh; and to show the fulfilment of the promises and prophecies concerning him, is the principal reason of the genealogy having been recorded.

2. Neither Cain nor Abel have any place in it. Abel was slain before he had any children, and therefore could not; and Cain by his sin had covered his name with infamy, and therefore should not. Adam's posterity therefore, after a lapse of one hundred and thirty years, must begin anew.

3. The honour done to Seth and his posterity was of grace; for he is said to have been born in Adam's likeness, and after his image; a phrase which, I believe, is always used to express the qualities of the mind, rather than the shape of the body. Man was made after the image of God; but this being lost, they are born corrupt, the children of a corrupt father. What is true of all mankind is here noted of Seth, because he was reckoned as Adam's first-born. He therefore, like all others, was by nature a child of wrath; and what he, or any of his posterity were different from this, they were by grace.

4. The extraordinary length of human life at that period was wisely ordered; not only for the peopling of the world, but for the supplying of the defect of a written revelation. From the death of Adam to the call of Abram, a period of about eleven hundred years, there were living either Enoch, Lamech, Noah, or Shem; besides other godly persons, who were their cotemporaries, and who would feelingly relate to those about them the great events of the creation, the fall, and recovery of man.

5. Notwithstanding the longevity of the antediluvians, it is recorded of them all, in their turn, that they died. Though the stroke

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