Genesis 2:4-7 dust of the ground
4 These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens, 5 And 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. 6 But there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground. 7 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.
4 These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens, 5 And 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. 6 But there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground. 7 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.
Here is a name given to the Creator which we have not yet met with, and that is Jehovah—the LORD, in capital letters
This chapter is an appendix to the history of the creation, more particularly explaining and enlarging upon that part of the history which relates immediately to man
Here is a name given to the Creator which we have not yet met with
Here is a name given to the Creator which we have not yet met with
and that is Jehovah—the LORD, in capital letters
All along, in the first chapter, he was called Elohim—a God of power
but now Jehovah Elohim—a God of power and perfection, a finishing God.
Jehovah is that great and incommunicable name of God which denotes his having his being of himself, and his giving being to all things
he called by that name now that heaven and earth are finished.
Further notice taken of the production of plants and herbs, because they were made and appointed to be food for man,
The earth did not bring forth its fruits of itself
but purely by the almighty power of God, which formed every plant and every herb before it grew in the earth
Thus grace in the soul, that plant of renown, grows not of itself in nature’s soil, but is the work of God’s own hands
Rain also is the gift of God
If rain be wanted, it is God that withholds it
if rain come plentifully in its season, it is God that sends it
if it come in a distinguishing way
it is God that causeth it to rain upon one city and not upon another
7 “I also withheld the rain from you
when there were yet three months to the harvest;
I would send rain on one city,
and send no rain on another city;
one field would have rain,
and the field on which it did not rain would wither;
God, ordinarily, works by means, yet he is not tied to them
he can do his own work without them
plants were produced before the sun was made
so they were before there was either rain to water the earth or man to till it
Therefore though we must not tempt God in the neglect of means, yet we must trust God in the want of means.
God will take care to water the plants that are of his own planting
God made a mist equivalent to a shower, and with it watered the whole face of the ground
he chose to fulfil his purpose by the weakest means
that the excellency of the power might be of God
Man is a little world, consisting of heaven and earth, soul and body
The matter was despicable. He was made of the dust of the ground, a very unlikely thing to make a man of
the same infinite power that made the world of nothing made man, its master-piece, of next to nothing
He was made of the dust, the small dust, such as is upon the surface of the earth
dust moistened with the mist that went up
not made of gold-dust, powder of pearl, or diamond dust, but common dust, dust of the ground. Hence he is said to be of the earth, choikos—dusty
not made of gold-dust, powder of pearl, or diamond dust, but common dust, dust of the ground. Hence he is said to be of the earth
we also are of the earth, for we are his offspring, and of the same mould
So near an affinity is there between the earth and our earthly parents that our mother’s womb, out of which we were born, is called the earth
15 My frame was not hidden from you,
when I was being made in secret,
intricately woven in the depths of the earth
and the earth, in which we must be buried, is called our mother’s womb
21 And he said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return
Our foundation is in the earth
Our fabric is earthly, and the fashioning of it like that of an earthen vessel
Our food is out of the earth
Our familiarity is with the earth
Our fathers are in the earth
and our own final tendency is to it
what have we then to be proud of?
the Maker
the Maker was great
The Lord God, the great fountain of being and power, formed man
The workmanship exceeded the materials
the soul of man
from the breath of heaven
not made of the earth, as the body
it is a pity then that it should cleave to the earth, and mind earthly things
It came immediately from God; he gave it to be put into the body
7 and the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it.
God is not only the former but the Father of spirits
let it be for him
Into his hands let us commit our spirits, for from his hands we had them
It takes its lodging in a house of clay, and is the life and support of it
It is by it that man is a living soul, that is, a living man; for the soul is the man
body would be a worthless, useless, loathsome carcase, if the soul did not animate it
To God that gave us these souls we must shortly give an account of them, how we have employed them, used them, proportioned them, and disposed of them
that we have lost them, though it were to gain the world, we shall be undone for ever
the soul is so noble, and its nature and faculties are so excellent, let us not be of those fools that despise their own souls, by preferring their bodies before them,
God is pictured as a potter. He forms man from the dust
18 The word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying, 2 Arise, and go down to the potter’s house, and there I will cause thee to hear my words. 3 Then I went down to the potter’s house, and, behold, he wrought a work on the bwheels. 4 And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it
5 Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 6 O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? saith the LORD