it, if it is not formed "in the Lord," 1 Cor. vii. 39, that is, with His sanction and blessing, sought and obtained.

(2.) Woman was taken out of man, and, therefore, the wife should in every thing identify herself with her husband, believing that they can have no separate interests. She was created for him, not he for her. She must, therefore, consider it her primary earthly object to promote his happiness.

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(3.) Woman was taken from man's side, probably to represent that her place is always next his heartthe closest to him of all beings-in sickness and in health-in sorrow and in joy-in poverty and in wealth. She was not made out of his head to top him—not out of his feet to be trampled upon by him; but out of his side to be equal with him-under his arm to be protected, and near his heart to be beloved."*

(4.) God brought the woman to the man, and gave her to him in marriage. A faithful wife is God's gift, and should be prized accordingly. She is one of those gifts for which we must give account. Marriage is the end of woman's creation; and that system of religion which would induce her to despise or violate the law of her being is not of God. Conventual mortification is a sacrificing to devils, and not to God.

(5.) Adam devoutly and intelligently recognised the matrimonial tie-" This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh," and draws this inference: "Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother and shall cleave unto his wife, and they shall be one flesh," which our Lord confirms, adding: "Wherefore, they are no more twain, but one flesh,' Mat. xix. 6-a powerful argument in favour of that entire concurrence in judgement, in plans, and undertakings, which married persons should cultivate with all assiduity-the wife remembering, that as she derives her being from man, and was made like him and for him, it is more becoming, in the sight of God and man, that she should conform her opinions and purposes to his, than that she should exact from him conformity in those things to her the neglect or rejection of this rule will be found the source of most of the dissentions that embitter married life-and the *Matthew Henry.

husband proving, by unreserved confidence and attention to the interests and feelings of his wife, that she holds the first place in his heart and in his house.

(6.) Adam gave his name to his wife. "She shall be called Isha (marginal reading), because she was taken out of Ish (man). A good name being one of a man's highest earthly endowments, see Prov. xxii. 1, the husband is thus represented as putting his honour in his wife's keeping, and she should ever consider it a most sacred deposit. This consideration should be well weighed by men before deciding on a partner for life. A name handed down unsullied through many generations has not unfrequently been branded with shame through the misconduct of some worthless woman, on whom, in an evil hour, it has been conferred. On the other hand, it has often fallen to the lot of a godly wife and mother to render a family name illustrious, either in her own person or that of her sons. The difference in termination marking the sex, may suggest to wives the expediency of always remembering that they are the weaker vessels, and must never intrude into the male department, or attempt to usurp authority over the man, 1 Tim. ii. 12.

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The determination of Jehovah to provide a partner for the first Adam, and the manner in which it was carried out, would suggest the Gospel scheme, even if the analogy had not been plainly asserted in the New Testament The apostle Paul refers to marriage and its obligations as a great mystery," and adds, "But I speak concerning Christ and His church," Eph. v. 32. We are, therefore, led to believe that the marriage of Adam and Eve was intended as an allegorical representation of the eternal union between the Lord Jesus Christ and His redeemed people, and while we trace the lines of parallelism between the two cases, we discover a testimony to the foreknowledge of God, and to the authenticity of the book of Genesis, which all the ingenuity of the infidel cannot shake, and which is calculated to render the believer invulnerable in the presence of the bitterest enemies of his Bible and his God.

To present the points of coincidence between Adam's union with Eve and "the marriage of the Lamb," Rev. xix. 7, as clearly as we can, let us consider—

1. The deep sleep into which, by Divine arrangement, Adam was cast, the object of which, we cannot suppose, was to enable the Omnipotent to operate upon Adam without discovery or pain, for Adam was afterwards quite aware of the process by which a companion was obtained for him, and as pain is the effect of sin, we should not look for any in the present case, when sin had not come into the world. Adam's deep sleep was typical of the death of Jesus, which was the birth of His spouse, the Church. He died that we might live; and O, what a deep sleep was that to Him who thus tasted death for every man," Heb. ii. 9, "who being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, was crucified and slain," Acts ii. 23,"for the sins of the whole world," 1 John ii. 2. As the corn of wheat, by dying, brings forth much fruit, John xii. 24, so our Adam, by his sleep of death, brought forth his Church, composed of the millions of believers who shall be gathered unto Him until the end of all things; and we know that if He had not died and risen we should have remained in our sins, and in separation from God for ever.

2. God opened Adam's side and took therefrom the material out of which Eve was formed. An important incident that occurred as Jesus hung upon the cross, at once calls this fact to our remembrance, and teaches us that it was symbolical of a most precious truth connected with our hopes in Him. It is written that the Roman soldiers who guarded the cross of Jesus and of the two malefactors crucified with Him, were ordered to break the legs of the three sufferers, as was the custom, to ensure their death; but that, on coming to Jesus, and being satisfied that He was really dead, they brake not his legs (of whom it was said, “a bone of Him shall not be broken,” John xix. 36.); but one of the soldiers with a spear pierced His side, and forthwith came there out blood and water," John xix. 34. This the inspired narrator considers to be a fact of the utmost importance; for he assures us that it is recorded by an eye-witness, and is offered to us as a special object of faith; and surely it is significant of the process by which the sacrifice of Christ is applied to those for whom it was offered. The shedding of His blood was the payment of our

penalty due to the righteousness of God, and, accepted by faith, is the justification of the sinner, Rom. v. 1; and as water is the emblem constantly employed in Scripture to signify the influences of the Holy Spirit, more especially by our Lord himself, see for example John vii. 38, 39, and it is through Him that the Spirit is given to God's children, there can be no difficulty in discovering the meaning of the water that issued with the blood from the wounded side of the Saviour, nor of its being associated, though not mingled, with the blood. As the latter represents the justification of the believer, so the former symbolizes his sanctification; and these two, justification and sanctification, must ever be associated, though never confounded, see 1 Cor. vi. 11. It is upon these two precious endowments, both emanating from the heart of Jesus, that the recovery of sinners to God is founded, and out of these the Church or spouse of Christ is formed, which is thus represented as taken out of the side of our second Adam while He slept the sleep of death, by which it is written, He gave Himself for the Church," that He might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, that He might present it to Himself a glorious Church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish," Eph. v. 26, 27, see 2 Cor. xi. 2.

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3. When Adam awoke from his deep sleep, he found himself completely healed, the breach in his side was closed up, and his future happiness secured without any trace being left of the process by which the work was accomplished: and thus the resurrection of Jesus was the top stone of the glorious edifice of Divine love and human regeneration, which He had undertaken to construct. Before He had submitted to pay our penalty, He saw of the travail of His soul and was satisfied,” Isa. liii. 11; and "for the joy that was set before Him," in our recovery, "He endured the cross, despising the shame," Heb. xii 2. then, must He have felt when, snapping asunder the cords of death, He arose triumphantly from the tomb with a full consciousness that the redemption work was done the redemption sorrow past! The price was paid the purchase effected-and the bride won, never to be separated from that heart which gave her

How,

birth. No pang shall again visit that heart-no wound shall be made in that loving bosom-every breach is for ever healed-" old things are passed away, and behold all things are become new," 2 Cor. v. 17.

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4. Jehovah, having formed the woman, brought her to Adam as his future wife-the companion of his paradise; and thus is the Church, composed of all true believers, "presented as a chaste virgin_to Christ," 2 Cor. xi. 2. Thine," says Jesus to His Father, "they were, and thou gavest them me," John xvii. 6.; and to this the Psalmist refers when he declares, "The King's daughter is all glorious within: her clothing is of wrought gold. She shall be brought unto the King in raiment of needlework,” Ps. xlv. 13, 14. Our Lord himself assures us that 66 no man can come to Him except the Father, which hath sent Him, draw him," John vi. 44, and thus the Church is formed by the Father in Christ; and, when completed by the accession of all the newly created children of God, is presented to the Son as the ever-living companion of His glory. Observe, we must be brought unto Christ as those who derive their life from Him, and seek their eternal happiness in His society.

5. Adam accepted his wife at God's hands, and pronounced her perfect identity with himself. He also declared that her name should ever be significant of her origin, and her oneness with him. We rejoice here to remember our Lord's assurance, "All that the Father giveth me shall come to me, and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out," John vi. 37, He knows them that are His, and when He comes again He will receive them unto Himself, John xiv. 3. They are declared to be members of His body, of His flesh, and of His bones," Eph. v. 30; and they are told that when He comes again He will change their vile bodies, that they may be like unto his glorious body, Phil. iii. 21. Thus will the bride be one with the bridegroom from whom she receives her being, Col. iii. 4-to whose image she is, by eternal counsel, conformed, Rom. viii. 29, and for whom she has been created, Col. i. 16, and upon her He confers His "new name," the sign and seal of an eternal betrothment, see Rev. ii. 17.; iii. 12.

6. Adam, in asserting the obligation of the marriage covenant-" Therefore shall a man leave his father