[The Book of Genesis: Expounded in a Series of Discourses; 2 Vols; (Edinburgh: A. and C. Black, 1868)]
Robert Smith Candlish (1806–1873), born in the ancient city of Edinburgh on the 23rd of March, 1806, was early deprived of his father, yet was nurtured by a godly mother, whose care in his instruction prepared him for a life of sacred service. Pursuing the studies of divinity at the University of Glasgow, he distinguished himself in learning and piety, laboring diligently that he might be found a workman approved unto God. Having first exercised his ministry in the churches of Glasgow and Bonhill, Mr. Candlish was, by the providence of God, settled in St George’s Church, Edinburgh, where his fervor of spirit, acuteness of intellect, and fidelity to the Word soon gathered a great congregation hungering after righteousness. Ever zealous for the purity and independence of Christ’s Church, he stood in the forefront of the conflict which rent the Kirk of Scotland in the memorable Disruption of 1843, esteeming the spiritual liberty of the flock above temporal gain. His counsel and labors, second only to Dr. Chalmers, proved vital to the constitution of the Free Church, whose principles of scriptural government and congregational choice he stoutly defended. Dr. Candlish, adorned with the degree of Doctor of Divinity and later Principal of New College, was eminent for his expositions of Holy Scripture and his learned treatises, notably The Fatherhood of God and his commentaries upon Genesis and Ephesians. As Moderator of the Free Church Assembly and convener of its education schemes, he ever sought the propagation of truth and godliness. His life was one of diligent service, his theology rooted in the Reformed faith, and his speech seasoned with grace and conviction. Having finished his course, Dr. Candlish entered into rest in the year of our Lord 1873, leaving a legacy of earnest preaching, steadfast doctrine, and unwavering devotion to Christ’s cause in Scotland.
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This is a separate and independent account of the origin of man; quite distinct, and meant to be distinct, from the former. The two, when fairly viewed, are not at all inconsistent with one another: they are rather supplementary to one another. In the first, man comes forth in his high spiritual or heavenly nature, as allied to God and capable of intercourse with God; in the second he appears as “of the earth, earthy” (1 Cor. xv. 47); having an earthly origin and earthly relations. He is godlike, in respect of the divine proposal and decree, — “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.” But he is also “a living soul;” an animal like his co-occupiers of the earth; with animal propensities and animal connections. And it is that aspect of his nature and condition which this chapter brings out, to balance the higher ideal suggested by the narrative that precedes it.
This may partly explain a puzzle which was once more troublesome than it is likely to be now. For it is to be observed, that throughout this last account, God is called by a name not used in the preceding section; the name “Lord,” or “Jehovah,” being joined to the name **“God.”**The reason may be this. The single name “God,” denoting power or might, is more suitable while the process of creation, by God’s mighty power, is described, as it were, on the side of his sovereign creative fiat, “Let it be,” “Let us make.” Now, however, in reviewing the work as complete, and entering into its providential phase, the additional idea involved in the name “Jehovah” — that of self-existence and unchangeable majesty, with special reference to his providence — becomes appropriate. All things are made by him as the Almighty God. They subsist by him as being also the everlasting Jehovah, “the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever.” “I am Jehovah, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed” (Mal. iii. 6).
A similar distinction is intimated in the Lord’s first introduction of himself to Moses (Exod. vi. 3); “I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by the name of God Almighty, but by my name Jehovah was I not known to them.” In his dealings with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, God chiefly manifested himself as the Almighty Creator. In what he did, and in what he promised, he asserted his prerogative of omnipotence. In his dealings, again, with the Israelites in Egypt, when he returned after a long interval to visit them, — it chiefly concerned them to know him as the ever-living and unchanging God of Providence. The dispensation which he originates as the Almighty God, he sustains and carries forward as the unchangeable Jehovah. And hence, accordingly, the Lord Jesus would have revealed himself to the devout Jews of his time as bearing this very character, and this very name; with special reference to their great father Abraham, and his immortal hope: “He desired to see my day, and he saw it and was glad. For before Abraham was, I AM” (John viii. 58).
In this chapter, the state of things on the earth at its first creation is briefly described. “These are the generations,” — or, as we would say, the following is the account of the original condition, — “of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens” (ver. 4). Such is the usual beginning of a new section in the narrative, — the title or heading of a new chapter. Whenever the inspired compiler or historian opens a fresh fountain in the stream of his annals, he employs the formula of genealogical succession or derivation: “These are the generations.”
In the present instance, this formula introduces a description of the world, both natural and moral, as it stood completely adjusted, on the day of the finished creation.
The economy of the kingdom of inanimate nature, or of the vegetable world, was fitted at once to maintain the sovereignty of God, and to provide for the welfare of man, viewing man as a compound being, having both body and soul. “The Lord God made every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew: for the Lord God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was not a man to till the ground. But there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground. 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” (ver. 5-7).
Three things, it is here implied, are ordinarily necessary to the growth of plants and herbs: — soil, climate, and culture. The vital energy of the earth itself, in which all various seeds are lodged, is the first element (ver. 5). The influence of rain and dew from heaven comes next (ver. 6). And, lastly, there must be superadded the labour of the hand of man (ver. 7 compared with ver. 5).
This is the law of nature, or rather of nature’s God. Originally, only the first of these powers could be in action; and, therefore, it is probable that, at the first, God created the plants and herbs, or caused them to spring up, in full maturity, so as to fit the new, or renewed, earth for the immediate use of the animals, and also to prepare its soil for the subsequent operation of heaven’s genial moisture, and man’s faithful husbandry. Afterwards, the mist or vapour from the earth supplied the watery sky. And finally, the forming hand and inspiring Spirit of God brought forth man, — a corporeal and spiritual being, — having bodily powers and mental intelligence, — having life, both animal and rational. He was thus fitted to till the ground; and the employment was fitted for him. The energies of his bodily frame were exercised by labour; while his spirit was exercised by the intelligence and the faith which the particular kind of labour assigned to him required. He was placed in his true position. He was conscious at once of mastery over the earth which he was to till — and of dependence on the heaven from whence he was to expect the influence that alone could bless his toil. He had to work and to wait. It was a wholesome discipline; it was a becoming attitude then. It is so still. Our business now is to realise that very position in the kingdom of grace, which man at first held in the kingdom of nature. It is the position of working and waiting. “Be patient, therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain. Be ye also patient. Stablish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh” (James v. 7).
The moral world also, — the spiritual kingdom, was rightly adjusted: