1

"in power and might" than men.

They are said to "excel in strength," and to be greater They can move with wonderful rapidity. At the beginning of one of Daniel's prayers, "the commandment came forth; and Gabriel, being caused to fly swiftly, touched Daniel while he was yet praying." 2

If we are the children of God they are continually about us; for to him, who makes the Lord his refuge, the promise is, "He shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways."3 The Lord Jesus tells us: "The angels of the little ones which believe in him, do always behold the face of his Father which is in heaven: "4 and, that when Lazarus died, he was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom. The Lord Jesus also said, that when He shall come at the end of the world "with great power and glory, then shall He send His angels and shall gather together His elect."

The angels are said to be deeply interested in what is. going on in the world: "desiring to look into " the revelation which God has made of Himself in Christ, and in the plan of redemption. "There is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth." Paul says, "We are made a spectacle to angels and to men." When "God was manifest in the flesh, and justified in the spirit, He was seen of angels." 10" When he bringeth in the first begotten into the world, he saith, And let all the angels of God worship him."" Angels are spoken of as contending with the fallen spirits; "Michael, the archangel, when contending with the devil disputed about the body of Moses." 12 In the Revelation we read, " Michael and his angels fought against the Devil and his angels." 13

Angels have often made themselves visible. Sometimes appearing like men; at other times, as glorious beings having great power. They have generally appeared as messengers of love and mercy ministering to the people of God; then again, they act as ministers of God's vengeance; as when they destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah with fire from heaven;1 and as when," the angel of the Lord went out, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians an hundred, fourscore and five thousand and behold, they were all dead corpses." And also, as when" God sent an angel unto Jerusalem to destroy it." "And David saw the angel of the Lord stand between the earth and the heaven, having a drawn sword in his hand stretched out over Jerusalem."

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If we are heirs of salvation, the ministering of angels will form part of our own history.

'Gen. xix. 13.

22 Kings xix. 35.

$ 1 Chron. xxi. 15.

W

CHAPTER VIII.

THE GARDEN OF EDEN, OR THE FIRST ABODE.

HO has not had his imagination excited while think

ing of the Garden of Eden? At once we associate with it every thing that can please the eye, the ear, and the taste. We look back to it with regret, almost feeling that we once enjoyed its delights. The name Eden in Hebrew means "a delight"—"The LORD God planted a garden and out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food." A Paradise of delights was prepared for man when he was created holy. The word Paradise is from the Greek, and means "garden."

The location of the Garden of Eden is minutely described in the Bible. Some of the rivers mentioned as flowing from it, the Hiddekel or Tigris, and the Euphrates, still bear the same name. It is generally supposed to have been located near the source of those rivers in the highlands of Armenia, in Asia Minor. The curse on the ground for the sin of man, causing it to produce thorns and thistles, united perhaps with the effects of the flood, has obliterated all traces of the exact spot. Some of the districts in that region, however, are still celebrated for their fertility and their beauty. There was a district known as Eden in the time of Hezekiah.1

Many make the same mistake with respect to the Garden of Eden, that they do in their views of heaven. The natuural heart, thinking only of gratifying the senses, pictures to itself a place, where it may repose on beds of flowers, enjoying their perfume without fear of thorns or noxious insects; 1 2 Kings, xix. 12.

listening to the music of birds; seeing the wolf dwelling with the lamb and the leopard lying down with the kid; with nothing to molest or make afraid; and with nothing to do but to reach forth the hand and pluck the most delicious fruits. They overlook the fact that in Eden there was a law to be obeyed, there was labor to be performed, and a constant loving communion had with God. Add these, and to the natural heart Eden is no longer Paradise, and Heaven ceases to be desirable.

In the midst of the garden grew the tree of life, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.' The fruit of the latter was forbidden to man. What kind of fruit it bore we know not, excepting "that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes."2 The command made it a test of obedience with a fearful penalty attached. Its name was probably given to the tree on account of the consequences connected with the eating of the fruit. The sin causing an immediate and a fearful knowledge of evil. When the LORD drove out the man, "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."

In Eden there was free intercourse between man and his Creator, speaking as it were face to face. "They heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day."

Another Paradise, where there is fullness of joy and pleasures forevermore, is prepared for those who are made holy by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. He said to the dying thief, "This day shalt thou be with me in Paradise." Between these two gardens and closely connected with each, another, deeply interesting to us, appears in history: it is known as the garden of Gethsemane.

CHAPTER IX.

THE

THE FIRST MAN-THE FIRST WOMAN.

HE work of creation was progressive; on each of the first five days a higher order of beings was successively created. The close of the fifth day saw the mighty pedestal erected for the great "image" which was to stand upon it; the splendid mansion prepared, with waiting attendants, for the noble being who was to occupy it. On the sixth and last day the greatest wonder, where everything was wonderful, appeared. God made man, and creation was complete. Even the history of his creation is wonderful. God spake; and inanimate matter came into being. He said: "Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life and fowl that may fly above the earth, and the waters brought them forth:" and again, "Let the earth bring forth cattle and creeping things and beasts of the earth, and it was so."1 But when man was to be created, the Trinity are spoken of as taking counsel together. "And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness." "And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul." And from a rib taken from the man, woman, as the history says, was "builded." "So God created man in his own image." Alas! it was only an image; soon lost, and man was again dust.

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The words formed, builded, as used by the great Creator, convey some idea of the wonderful being called man. “The

1 Gen. i. 20-24.

2 Gen. i. 26.