References in the case of animals as well as man. And Delitzsch Authorities. has pointed out that the identification of the blood with and the life does not rest only on the fact that a great diminution in the quantity of the blood causes death. The efficiency of the body, especially of the muscular and nervous systems, depends on the blood; when any part of the frame is deprived of the flow of this fluid, activity is suspended, and sensibility almost ceases. As the blood is actually the basis of the physical life, so the soul is by Delitzsch. a figure spoken of as residing in the blood. Noah's Prophecy. NOTE ON THE PROPHECY OF NOAH The prophecy of Noah has been remarkably fulfilled within the comparatively narrow area of that region which stretches from beyond Jordan to the shores of the Levant. For eight hundred years-so we are informed by the sacred records-the sons of Ham, through Canaan, increased and multiplied in this favourable region, founded mighty cities, accumulated great wealth, and subdivided their inheritance among different tribes and kingdoms of a common descent. At length, however, the descendants of Shem, through Eber, accomplished their destiny. The Promised Land became their possession, the remnant of the degraded Canaanites their bond-servants. For eleven hundred years it became the theatre on which were displayed the triumphs of David, the glories of Solomon, the vicissitudes of the divided nationalities of Judah and Israel, and the sublimest of all events, the incarnation of the Son of God, and the consequent redemption of the world. Then came another displacement; the Hebrew race was driven forth from the land, and for eighteen hundred years it was alternately occupied and lost by Roman and Saracen, by Turk and Arab, until now it has become once more the heritage of the Canaanite, as an appanage of the Ottoman and Empire. Thus, as Professor D. Wilson has well remarked, References the sceptre of that little realm has passed from nation to Authorities. nation, through the historical representatives of all the great primary divisions of the human family, and a record of its ethnological changes would constitute an epitome H. Macof the natural history of man. millan. THE RAINBOW A TYPE OF CHRIST. BY REV. R. WILTON. "When eyes that watched the Flood rise and decline So when in Christ, the dazzling Light Divine To see Him once to holy John was given, 'Clothed in a cloud, a rainbow round His head,' Earth's green memorial wearing still in heaven; And when God looks upon that blessed token 6 Encircling Him who liveth, and was dead,' He keeps His covenant of peace unbroken." Rev. R. Wilton le 2 CHAPTER XXIII. THE BEGINNING OF THE NATIONS. Plato reports that in the 'golden age,' men and animals made use of one common language, but too ambitiously aspiring to immortality were, as a punishment, confounded in their speech by Jupiter. and References "IN the table given in the 10th chapter of Genesis, Authorities, there are seventy names (exclusive of Nimrod) of of names in heads of families, tribes, or nations, descended from The table Gen. x. Identification of the the three sons of Noah. From Japheth, 14; from Ham, 30; and from Shem, 26. Of Japheth we have only sons and grandsons; of Ham we have great grandsons; and of Shem, children to the fifth generation. "The principal names in connection with the chief chiefnations. nations of the world have been identified by the investigations of scholars. There is no room for doubt that from Gomer have sprung the Cimmerians, the Cymri, the Celts or Kelts; from Javan, the Ionians and Greeks; from Cush, the Ethiopians; and from Mizraim, the Egyptians; and from Shem, the Authorities. Arabians and Israelites. There is great difficulty in References tracing the settlements of some of the lesser tribes, and where there are two of the same name in different families, as is the case with Sheba and Havilah, the difficulty is greatly increased. In examining the map of the early settlements, it will be seen that the cradle of Noah's family was somewhere in Armenia, from which the sons of Japheth migrated to the North and West; the sons of Ham to Africa, by Canaan, and to the shores of the Persian Gulf; and the sons of Shem, not separating so widely, spread themselves over Assyria, Elam, and Arabia. There have been subsequent migrations of nations and tribes by which different races have been intermingled, and which perplex inquiry. If we had known nothing of the history of the descendants of Abraham previous to the exodus from Egypt, it might have been supposed that they were an African people; but the preservation of the family tree enables us to trace their connection Inglis on with Shem." Genesis, P. 99. migrations. God, having kept humanity together until it was sufficiently educated and confirmed in first moral and religious principles, the time at last came for their The time for distribution over the earth; and this appears to have been accomplished by what we should now call a "mania for emigration." The account of this 'occupies the 10th and 11th chapters of Genesis, and it is curious to note that a very similar record has been preserved by the Chaldeans, who say that "the Record of first men, relying on their great strength and size, Chaldeans. raised a tower reaching towards heaven, in the place the and Two theories of References where Babylon afterwards stood, but that, the winds Authorities. assisting, the gods brought the building down on the heads of the builders, out of the ruins of which Babylon itself was built. Before this event men had spoken the same tongue, but afterwards, by the act of the gods, they were made to differ in their speech." Two theories have been framed respecting the chap. x., xi. contents of these two chapters. Some regard them as recording two separate events. The 10th chapter recording an orderly dispersion, according to the Divine command, which was, however, resisted by one section. Others think we have two traditions of one event-chap. x. giving the bare facts, and chap. xi. giving more in detail the causes of the events. We prefer this latter explanation, and propose to consider the Divine purpose in this compelled emigration of the race. Nature everywhere Man received a distinct command to "replenish needs man. the earth, and subdue it." And it appears that nature needs man and man's labour for its proper development uninhabited countries being even unwholesome, and virtually unfruitful. God designed that almost the whole of His earth should become the trial ground of humanity; different lands have different climates, seasons, and produce, and one part of earth is fitted to supply the needs of other parts, and upon the due occupation of all parts the commerce of the world Bases of depends. Moreover, there would be great moral evils arising from the massing of individuals in any one district; in the masses there would be turbulence, and the rulers tyranny; so it is every way healthier commerce. |