INTRODUCTION. Ixiii 



it would surely have been said upon this, as 

 upon other occasions, that he sent them. 

 When we reflect that these mystic beings, 

 when only sculptured images, were symbols 

 of the divine presence, and that God mani- 

 fested himself in his tabernacle and in his 

 temple by a cloud and glory when the work 

 was finished according to the pattern, and 

 the cherubim with the ark and mercy-seat 

 were in their places, 1 surely some suspicion 

 must enter our minds that these cherubim, 

 before the gates of Paradise, might be sta- 

 tioned there for purposes connected with the 

 worship of God after the fall. Indications of 

 this are discoverable in other passages, as 

 where it is said of Cain and Abel, that they 

 brought an offering unto the Lord ; a term 

 implying that sacrifices were not offered in 

 any place, according to the fancy of the 

 worshipper. Again, after the murder and 

 martyrdom of righteous Abel by his brother's 

 hand, and the divine sentence passed upon 

 the latter, he says, " Behold, thou hast driven 

 me out this day from the face of the earth, 

 and from thy face shall I be hid."' 1 And 



i Exod. xl. 1838. 2 Chron. v. 714. 

 * Genes, iv. 14. 



