Genesis 1:1 I. What is meant by creation? The giving being to that which before was not. The expression, "the heavens and the earth," is the most exhaustive phrase the Hebrews could employ to name the universe, which is regarded as a twofold whole, consisting of unequal parts. Writing for men, Mose... [ Continue Reading ]
Genesis 1 It is possible that God made at first only one kind of matter, the germ of all the universe. Indeed, Scripture seems to hint this in the sublime record of the origin of light: "And God said, Let there be light, and there was light." Here light is evidently regarded as the first of all sub... [ Continue Reading ]
Genesis 1:2 We should be sure we understand both Nature and Scripture before we pronounce certainly on their agreement or disagreement, and it can hardly be said that either is quite understood. To attempt to reconcile all the expressions in this chapter with the details of science is a mistake. It... [ Continue Reading ]
Genesis 1:5 John 4:4 (1) One of the first lessons which God intends us to learn from the night is a larger respect for wholesome renovation. Perhaps this may not show itself in any great lengthening of our bodily life, but rather in a more healthy spirit, less exposed to that prevailing unrest whic... [ Continue Reading ]
Genesis 1:14 There are few words much oftener in our mouths than that short but most important word, "Time." It is the long measure of our labour, expectation, and pain; it is the scanty measure of our rest and joy. And yet, with all this frequent mention of it, there are, perhaps, few things about... [ Continue Reading ]
Genesis 1:16 It is noticeable that while this chapter does not profess to be a scientific account of creation, not only is creation represented as a gradual process, but the simpler living forms are introduced first, and the more advanced afterwards, as the fossil remains of plants and animals prov... [ Continue Reading ]
Genesis 1:26 It is not too much to say that redemption, with all its graces and all its glories, finds its explanation and its reason in creation. He who thought it worth while to create, foreseeing consequences, can be believed, if He says so, to have thought it worth while to rescue and to renew.... [ Continue Reading ]
Genesis 1:27 Man is one, yet threefold: he has mind, body, and soul, a mind ruling the body, a body executing the decrees of the mind, a soul giving life to and energising the body. On the mind alone there is a triple stamp of the Creator; in the mind of man are Intelligence, Will, and Memory. _Inte... [ Continue Reading ]
Genesis 1:28 Does this command mean for the human race a destiny of progress or poverty? This question is being pressed upon us to-day from many directions. It is asked, not only by theologians and economists, but as a vital question of daily bread by English labourers and workmen. In the power to... [ Continue Reading ]
Genesis 1:31 No one can prove to us that God made the world; but faith, which is stronger than all arguments, makes us certain of it. I. All which God has made is good, as He is, and, therefore, if anything in the world seems to be bad, one of two things must be true of it: (1) either it is _not_b... [ Continue Reading ]