66 ENOCH WALKED WITH GOD."

To "walk with God"-this Enoch did,
And thus God's children do;

They "walk by faith, and not by sight,"
With Jesus full in view.

To"walk with God"-as two dear friends,
Conversing every day;

Such company will make amends

For troubles by the way.

To "walk with God"-that child who would,
Must with his God agree;

Sin he abhors-and loves what's good-
And heaven he longs to see.

To "walk with God"-Ah! this is bliss!
Our heaven begun below;

And in a world of snares like this,
It saves from many a foe.

To "walk with God" is my desire,
Whatever others do;

And lest I weary grow, and tire,
I'll lean upon him too.

Yes gracious God! I'll lean on thee-
Thy promises, thy word,

My strength and my support shall be,

Along this painful road.

And, when my journey here is done,
O let me come to thee;

And sit with Jesus on his throne,

Thy glorious face to see.

COWPER.

PERIOD II.

FROM THE DELUGE TO THE DEATH OF JOSEPH.

B.C. 2347-B.C. 1635. 712 Years.

4. HISTORY OF NOAH AFTER THE FLOOD.

Genesis viii. ; ix. 8—27 ; x. 21; xi. 10-14.

GOD remembered Noah, and every living thing, and all the cattle that was with him in the ark; and God caused a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters assuaged. The fountains also of the great deep were stopped, and the rain from heaven was restrained. The waters then continued to abate one-hundred-and-fifty days, when the ark rested upon the mountains of Ararat. Noah sent forth a raven that he might learn if the waters were abated, but the raven did not return, he also sent forth a dove, which returned to him into the ark. Seven days after he sent forth the dove again, and she returned with an olive leaf in her mouth. Noah sent forth the dove again seven days after, but she returned no more.

At length God commanded Noah to leave the ark. "And Noah went forth, and his sons, and his wife, and his sons' wives with him ; every beast, every creeping thing,

NOTES AND EXPLANATIONS.

remembered-began to relieve his
anxiety. Ps. ciii. 9.

the cattle-here mentioned because of
their importance to man. 1 Cor.
ix. 9,10.
[less.
assuaged-subsided, became less and
Ararat. A mountainous district in

Armenia between the Black & the
Caspian seas. The highest peak in
this range of mountains is 17,000
feet above the level of the sea.

a raven-an unclean bird, which could
feed on whatever might be floating
on the top of the waters.
[grain.

a dove-a clean bird which feeds on
olive-extensively found in Eastern
countries; it reaches ftom 20 to 30
feet in height.

at length-Noah was in the ark a year and ten days.

OLIVE BRANCH.

and every fowl, and whatsoever creepeth upon the earth, after their kinds, went forth out of the ark. And Noah builded an altar unto the LORD; and took of every 'clean beast, and of every clean fowl, and offered burnt offerings on the altar. And the LORD smelled a sweet savour; and the LORD said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man's sake; for the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth; neither will I again smite any more every thing living, as I have done. While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease." God promised never again to destroy the earth by a flood; and as a token of his promise he set his bow in the cloud. He said, "And it shall come to pass, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow shall be seen in the cloud; and I will remember my covenant, which is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the 'waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh."

After the flood Noah planted a vineyard, and he drank of the wine and was drunken. His son Ham mocked him. When Noah awoke from his wine, he knew what his younger son had done unto him, and he foretold that the

NOTES AND EXPLANATIONS.

altar-this is the first time we read of an altar, but not the first time we read of sacrifices but the manner of its introduction implies that it was well known.

clean-such as

called. Lev. xi.

smelled a

were afterwards so

sweet savour-speaking after the manner of men; he was satisfied, pleased, and hence gracious. Eph. v. 2.

for-not though; i.e. "I say this for "
Man's heart is so evil that we might
always be fearing a flood were it not
for this gracious promise of God.
seed-time-from the middle of Octo-
ber to the middle of December.
harvest-from the middle of April to
the middle of June.

cold from the middle of February
to the middle of April.

heat-from the middle of June to the middle of August.

summer-from the middle of August to the middle of October.

In

winter-from the middle of December to the middle of February. Palestine and the neighbouring countries the Arabs still reckon the six divisions of the year here spoken of. token-the rainbow was henceforth to be a pledge of the promise. Common things may be applied to special uses either by God or for God. Luke xiii. 19,20.

bow-rainbow; thus constituting that which is the invariable result of the sun shining through the rain as a sign of the unchangeableness of God's promise.

waters-the earth will hereafter be destroyed not by water, but by fire. 2 Peter iii. 10.

descendants of Ham should be servants to the descendants of Shem and Japheth whom he blessed because they were dutiful. One of Shem's descendants was Eber, or 'Heber, from whom the Hebrews were probably named. Shem is called "the father of all the children of Eber".; so that it would appear the Hebrews descended through Shem, the son of Noah.

NOTES AND EXPLANATIONS.

descendants of Ham-viz. Canaanites, Africans, &c,

servants-slaves. Gen. xii, 16.

Shem-from Shem descended not only the Hebrews but most of the Asiatics;

66

from Japheth the Europeans; and
from Ham the Africans.

Heber-passing over; the same as if
we should say the
Heb. xi., 3.

THE BOW IN THE CLOUD.

foreigner.

AND THE DOVE CAME IN. AND LO IN HER MOUTH WAS

AN OLIVE LEAF."

Sweet dove! the softest, steadiest plume
In all the sunbright sky,
Brightening in ever-changeful bloom

As breezes change on high ;--

Sweet Leaf! the pledge of peace and mirth,
"Long sought, and lately won,"
Bless'd increase of reviving Earth,

When first it felt the Sun;

Sweet Rainbow! pride of summer days,
High set at Heaven's command,
Though into drear and dusky haze
Thou melt on either hand;-

Dear tokens of a pardoning God,
We hail ye, one and all,

As when our fathers walk'd abroad,

Freed from their twelvemonths' thrall,

God, by His bow, vouchsafes to write

This truth in heaven above;

As every lovely hue is light,

So every grace is love.

KEBLE.

5.

BUILDING OF BABEL. PEOPLING OF THE EARTH.

Genesis xi. 1-7; x-xi. 25.

ABOUT one-hundred-and-thirteen years after the flood, many people having journeyed from The East, settled on the plain of Shinar. And they said one to another, "Let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth."

They all spoke one language; but God said he would there confound their language, that they might not understand one another's speech. His intention was that they should settle in different parts of the earth, therefore, to punish them, and to stop their work, he made them speak various languages. They were then dispersed according to the languages which they spoke, and they left off building the city. The name of the place was called ·Babel; because the Lord did there confound the language of all people; and from thence did the Lord scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth.

The descendants of Shem dwelt in Armenia and The East. The descendants of Ham peopled Canaan,

NOTES AND EXPLANATIONS.

Arabia-Armenia, Mesopotamia, and

Persia are generally spoken of under goe this name in the Scriptures.

Shinar-Babylonia or the country round about what was afterwards called Babylon.

tower-fortress; not to save them from
another flood, or they would have
chosen a mountain site instead of
a plain.

lest we be scattered-1 Cor. iii. 19. 20.
one language-the original language
which God gave to Adam.
confound-confuse, so as to break up all
possibility of working in harmony.
different parts-Gen. i. 28.

various languages-the languages and
dialects of the earth now exceed
3,000.

left off-after 25 years labour.

Babel-confusion;' supposed to be the same as Birs Nimrood-Babylon.

Armenia-A district between Asia minor and the Caspian Sea, lying principally in the modern "Turkey in Asia" and Georgia.

Canaan-The whole of Palestine (Gen xii. 5. 6.) The name is sometimes used in a restricted sense, (Deut. vii. 1.) and then it refers to a district bordering on the Mediterranean, afterwards occupied by Ephraim, Manasseh, Issachar, and Asher; at other times it refers not only to Palestine but to districts further north also. (Gen. x. 15-18)