consistent God is with his own character; for in other parts of Scripture it is written, Ezekiel xxxiii. 11, "Say unto them, as I live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live." Lam. iii. 11; Ezekiel xviii. 32; Luke xv. 7; 2 Peter iii. 9. The preceding exposition is given agreeably to our English version, where the past tense, or time, is used in the narrative of the days' of the creation. In the following I give, by the help of Hebrew scholars, a literal translation of the Hebrew text, by which the reader will perceive, that, in the original Hebrew text the future tense is used; and all good Hebrew scholars do know, that the narrative of the Six days' creation, and Seventh day's rest, is altogether in the future tense in the Hebrew text; and proof will be adduced to show that there is no authority for altering the tense or time in the original Hebrew text, from the future time to the past. The Hebrew text, with its literal translation, is given to the end of the Seventh day's prediction, which ends at the 4th verse of the 2nd Chap. But it evidently appears, that the narration in the 4th, 5th, and 6th verses belong to the work of the Six day's and Seventh day's rest. Hebrew scholars do observe, that there is an alteraisan tion of the composition at the end of the 6th verse; and the sacred name of the Almighty is changed after the 6th verse. This has made some believe, that Moses transcribed this part from the ancient prophecy of Enoch; and this being so well known at the time his name was not mentioned, Moses has given it the pre-eminency in his record. I believe it was considered then as the most excellent prophetic figurative information, concerning the then past and future creation of the whole human race. And in the time of Moses, near two and a half days, or two thousand and a half years, passed over the human race, and at that period it was found that this figurative prediction squared with the destruction by the flood, and the then past creation of the human race. This view of the subject is warranted by the Epistle written by Jude; he quotes some of the figurative language of the 1st Chap. of Genesis, and applies it to the human race: Jude 12th verse, "Clouds they are without water, carried about of winds; trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots; raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever. And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these." Those who may examine carefully the 4th, 5th, and 6th verses of the 2nd Chap. of Genises, will observe the prophet is describing the condition of the human race, during the One day, or First day, of the creation of the existence of the human race, and in which he lived; yet he speaks in the future tense. He also observes, "Not a man to till the ground." The meaning of tilling the ground see Jeremiah iv. 3, and Hosea x. 12. As the Hebrew reads backward, begin at the top of the page and read each line backward. darkness the between and light the between where every God divide shall then * Even in the English language, this figure is sometimes used to describe a large multitude, as a sea of faces or heads." And waters, in prophetic language, signify people, as explained in the Rev. by the Apostle John. And when Cain began to entertain angry feelings against his brother Abel, he was asked, Why he had a dark face, or why his countenance fell. |