THE fc'lRST CHAPTER OF GENESIS. 



153 



Oil the fourth day the power of the sun was allowed to pierce and 

 dissipate the mists, and the sun and moon were established as a 

 means whereby man should be able to mark time. 



Verse 27. When man was created God made them "male and 

 female " and said " ?rpleiiish " the earth — as if it had l)een peopled 

 before. 



Then after ii, 3, there was apparently another great cataclysm. 

 Probably here Satan, who had been appointed ruler of the earth, lifted 

 up because of all his splendour (Ezekiel xxviii, 11-19), rebelled against 

 God Who had given dominion to a new order of beings. Satan was 

 overthrown, the angels that had sided with him became his 

 ministrant demons in his crusade against mankind until he is for ever 

 put under the all-conquering feet of the Son of Man. 



This cataclysm might have been brought about by a slight 

 " wobble " or tilting of the earth's axis of rotation, whereby the 

 glacial area was brought low enough to destroy most of the 

 inhabitants except those on the equatorial belt. 



Then we have an account (ii, 4:-2b) of a forming, not creating^ a 



moulding " out of red earth by God of a man He called Adam, as 

 if He would try again to establish a race that, with the gift of free 

 will, would yet do His will. 



Note the order of the development of things in this chapter is the 

 reverse of that in the " Creation " chapter — in a district, already 

 called Eden, God planted a garden, and gave it to Adam as a 

 restricted dwelling place : its rivers are spoken of as already named. 

 Then after some appreciable time, after animals had been formed, a 

 female was granted to man as a helpmeet. Satan then immediately 

 set to work to try and mar this special work of God, man whom He 

 had formed for His glory. 



*' Lo these are but the outskirts of His ways 

 And how little a portion is heard of Him." 



Job xxvi, 14. 



Lieut.-Col. M. A. Alves, R.E : It was shown some years ago, 

 by the late Mr. George Pember, that the interpretation of Genesis i 

 had suffered much from Gnostic influence. In the face of verse 1, 

 the eternity of matter in a state of chaos could not be maintained ; 

 but verse 2 was interpreted as meaning that its original creation was 

 chaotic. As Mr. Rouse has pointed out, Isaiah xlv, 18, refutes this 



