LESSONS FOR THE YOUNG

ON

THE SIX DAYS OF CREATION.

LESSON I.

"In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth."

GENESIS i. 1.

I COME here on this the first Lord's day of the year, to open before you, in the name of God, the first pages of his holy Word, the book of Genesis. Of all books it is the oldest and most venerable, the most instructive and most indispensable; it is the ground-work, the beginning, the key to all the others. O how necessary is it then for you to ask God every Lord's day for his spirit of wisdom and docility; his spirit of meditation and prayer!

name Genesis,

It is a Greek they named it

You know of course the meaning of the which we are accustomed to give to this book. name; but the ancient Jews did not call it so, Bereshith (that is to say, In the beginning), because they designated each book of Moses by the two or three words with which it began; for example, they called Exodus Veéléhshemoth (And these are the names); Leviticus Vajikra (And he called); Numbers Bemidbar (In the desert). But what is the meaning of this word Genesis? It has of course been told you.

Yes, Birth; so it was called in the days of our Lord by the Jews who spoke Greek, because it was by the same word, Genesis, that they had formerly rendered the fourth verse of the second chapter, where it is written, "Such are the births of the heavens and of the earth;" which they had translated, "Such is the book of the Genesis of the heavens and of the earth." And this title, it must be allowed, was admirably suited to the first book of the Bible, for it reveals to us the birth of all things, the birth of the world, the birth of the earth and heavens, the birth of light, the birth of the air, the birth of the lights of heaven, the birth of continents and seas, the birth of valleys and hills, the birth of plants, of birds, of fishes, of quadrupeds; then at length the birth of the first man, and soon afterwards, alas! the birth of death by sin, but also the birth of the gospel, or the promise of grace in Jesus Christ; then, the birth of the Church of God in the midst of the world; then, further, the new birth of the world after the deluge, and the birth of the nations who re-peopled it; and, lastly, the birth of the people of Israel, by whom the Saviour of the world was to be looked for, and among whom the Saviour of the world was to be born.

So much for the title of this book; but let us speak of its author. You all know who wrote it; you know that it was dictated from on high to the prophet Moses, while he was miraculously conducting the millions of Israel across the desert; and you know, also, that at his death Moses left it to be studied by them from age to age, and, after them, by all the Christian churches, of every tribe, and people, and tongue, and nation. "These words," said Moses, "shall be in thine heart and thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up."1 Only take heed to thyself, and keep

1 Deut. vi. 6, 7.

thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life but teach them thy sons, and thy sons' sons."

"1

You see, then, my friends, that it is in obedience to this commandment that we come here in our turn to teach them to the children of this church.

I said to you, when I began, that Genesis is the oldest of all books. But you will yourselves judge better of its venerable antiquity, when I remind you that it was written 1491 years before Jesus Christ, or, in other words, 307 years before the Trojan war, 738 years before the foundation of Rome; or, again, 869 years before the fall of Nineveh, that is to say, 869 years before that period at which books of profane history generally begin their story.

But if Genesis surpasses all other books by its antiquity, was I not right in saying that it is also the most indispensable? You will again judge of this yourselves, when you consider that, without Genesis, you would be ignorant of half the history of mankind on the earth. In fact, from Adam to Jesus Christ there are 4004 years, and from Jesus Christ to us, 1856 years, which gives 5860 years for the whole duration of man, from his creation to our days. Now Genesis alone lets us know the history of the earth during 2368 years, that is to say, during the 1656 years which reach from Adam to the Deluge, and the 712 years which reach from the Deluge to the death of Joseph. You see, then, that the entire history of mankind, up to the 6th January 1856,2 is not quite twice and a half the length of time which is treated of in the single book of Genesis.

But further, my young friends, when I added that this sublime book is indispensable, did I not perhaps say too much? Well, judge of this again yourselves. What would you know without this first of the Holy Scriptures? What would you know Deut. iv. 9.

2 The date of giving this lesson.

about that with which you must be acquainted in order to understand all the others, and in order to be Christians? Nothing of the creation of the heavens and earth; nothing of the Divine work of six days; nothing of the birth of man and woman; nothing of their abode in Eden and of their original innocence; nothing of the first covenant of paradise, of their trial, their frightful rebellion, and their condemnation; nothing of the first promise of a Saviour at the very gate of Eden; nothing of the institution of sacrifices of blood and of the career of just Abel; nothing of the Church of God during the first 1656 years of man; nothing of the prophet Noah, your father and mine, "the preacher of justification which is by faith;" nothing of the universal deluge which then destroyed the earth and renewed mankind; nothing of the renewal of the world, and of the history of man during the first four centuries that followed the flood; nothing of the call of Abraham, of the call of Isaac, of the call of Jacob; nothing of the promises made to them about the Saviour; nothing of the lives of the patriarchs; nothing, lastly, of the coming of the Israelites to Egypt, and of the life and death of Joseph. And yet, dear children, is there anything more necessary to know than all that? What would we be, I ask you, what would become of man? where would the church be if Genesis had not been given to us, and if these questions had not been answered for us? Are there any questions under heaven more indispensable for reasonable beings who pass through this world and leave it at death? Are there any to be compared with these three,-What am I? Whence do I come? Whither am I going ?—What am I in this world? why am I here? and who has placed me here? Whence do I come, and what have I to do? Whither do I go, and what shall I be to-morrow if I die to-night? And, again, why so much suffering on the earth? why such pollution in my heart? and, above all, why in my destiny that fearful death? And if I must die, why in death all those signs of the anger of God?

Why this anguish, these torments, these shudderings, these sweats, these struggles, these horrors of the tomb ? Ah! I must necessarily have an answer to all these questions; and that is just what God himself comes to give in this book of Genesis, and what you will find nowhere but in this book, or in writings which have copied it.

Bless God, then, my friends, that he has made this light rise on us, and judge from all that has been said, of the importance of this first book; judge of the care which we must bring to its study; judge whether it is not necessary to come to these lessons with much preparation, learning carefully your verses during the week, praying on the way hither, taking care not to let yourselves be distracted on the road by those of your young companions who have no respect for divine things; and, when you have come to these pews, lifting your whole heart to God, entreating that he may speak to you himself, and that he would open in your souls a door to his Word, and make it effectual there by his life-giving Spirit.

“In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.” Here are five words which I wish to explain to you before going further. First, what is this "beginning" (In the beginning)? What is "create" (In the beginning God created)? What is the name of God or Elohim given to the Creator (In the beginning Elohim created)? Lastly, What is that earth and what is that heaven which God created (In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth)? These are questions, great questions; but if time fails us to answer them all to-day, we can return to them next Lord's day.

In the beginning. These words, "In the beginning," declare to us a truth of the most solemn importance, namely, that this world has not always been, that there was a time when nothing that is in heaven or on earth existed—neither you, nor I, nor any man, or woman, or angel; what do I say?