_Concerning the Waters of the primitive Earth: What the State of the
Regions of the Air was then, and how all Waters proceeded from them;
How the Rivers arose, what was their Course, and how they ended.
Some Things in sacred Writ that confirms this Hydrography of the
first Earth; especially the Origin of the Rainbow._
HAVING thus far clear’d our Way to _Paradise_, and given a rational
Account of its general Properties; before we proceed to discourse of the
Place of it, there is one Affair of Moment, concerning this primitive
Earth, that must first be stated and explain’d; and that is, _How_ it
was water’d; from what Causes, and in what Manner? How could Fountains
rise, or Rivers flow in an Earth of that Form and Nature? We have shut
up the Sea with thick Walls on every Side, and taken away all
Communication that could be ’twixt it and the external Earth; and we
have remov’d all the Hills and the Mountains where the Springs use to
rise; and whence the Rivers descend to water the Face of the Ground: And
lastly, we have left no Issue for these Rivers, no Ocean to receive
them, nor any other Place to disburden themselves into. So that our
new-found World is like to be a dry and barren Wilderness, and so far
from being _Paradisiacal_, that it would scarce be habitable.
I CONFESS there was nothing in this whole Theory that gave such a Stop
to my Thoughts, as this Part of it, concerning the Rivers of the first
Earth; how they rose, how they flow’d, and how they ended. It seem’d at
first, that we had wip’d away at once the Notion and whole Doctrine of
Rivers, we had turn’d the Earth so smooth, that there was not an Hill,
or Rising, for the Head of a Spring, nor any Fall or Descent for the
Course of a River: Besides, I had suck’d in the common Opinion of
Philosophers, That all Rivers rise from the Sea, and return to it again,
and both those Passages, I see, were stopt up in that Earth. This gave
me occasion to reflect upon the modern and more solid Opinion concerning
the Origin of Fountains and Rivers, That they rise chiefly from Rains
and melted Snows, and not from the Sea alone; and as soon as I had
demur’d in that Particular, I saw it was necessary to consider and
examine how the Rains fell in that first Earth, to understand what the
State of their Waters and Rivers would be.
AND I had no sooner apply’d my self to that Inquiry, but I easily
discover’d, that the Order of Nature in the Regions of the Air would be
then very different from what it is now, and the Meteorology of the
World was of another sort from that of the present. The Air was always
calm and equal, there could be no violent Meteors there, nor any that
proceeded from Extremity of Cold; as Ice, Snow, or Hail; nor Thunder
neither; for the Clouds could not be of a Quality and Consistency fit
for such an Effect, either by falling one upon another, or by their
Disruption. And as for Winds, they could not be either impetuous or
irregular in that Earth; seeing there were neither Mountains nor any
other Inequalities to obstruct the Course of the Vapours; nor any
unequal Seasons, or unequal Action of the Sun, nor any contrary and
struggling Motions of the Air: Nature was then a Stranger to all those
Disorders. But as for watry Meteors, or those that rise from watry
Vapours more immediately, as Dews and Rains, there could not but be
Plenty of these in some Part or other of that Earth; for the Action of
the Sun in raising Vapours was very strong and very constant, and the
Earth was at first moist and soft, and according as it grew more dry,
the Rays of the Sun would pierce more deep into it, and reach at length
the great Abyss which lay underneath, and was an unexhausted Store-house
of new Vapours. But, ’tis true, the same Heat, which extracted these
Vapours so copiously, would also hinder them from condensing into Clouds
or Rain in the warmer Parts of the Earth; and there being no Mountains
at that Time, nor contrary Winds, nor any such Causes to stop them, or
compress them, we must consider which way they would tend, and what
their Course would be, and whether they would any where meet with Causes
capable to change or condense them; for upon this, ’tis manifest, would
depend the Meteors of that Air, and the Waters of that Earth.
AND as the Heat of the Sun was chiefly towards the middle Parts of the
Earth, so the copious Vapours rais’d there, were most rarified and
agitated; and being once in the open Air, their Course would be that
Way, where they found least Resistance to their Motion; and that would
certainly be towards the Poles, and the colder Regions of the Earth. For
East and West they would meet with as warm an Air, and Vapours as much
agitated as themselves, which therefore would not yield to their
Progress that Way; but towards the North and the South, they would find
a more easy Passage, the Cold of those Parts attracting them, as we call
it, that is, making way to their Motion and Dilatation without much
Resistance, as Mountains and cold Places usually draw Vapours from the
warmer. So as the regular and constant Course of the Vapours of that
Earth, which were rais’d chiefly about the Equinoctial and middle Parts
of it, would be towards the extream Parts of it, or towards the Poles.
AND in consequence of this, when these Vapours were arriv’d in those
cooler Climates, and cooler Parts of the Air, they would be condens’d
into Rain; for wanting there the Cause of their Agitation, namely, the
Heat of the Sun, their Motion would soon begin to languish, and they
would fall closer to one another in the Form of Water. For the
Difference betwixt Vapours and Water is only gradual, and consists in
this, that Vapours are in a flying Motion, separate and distant each
from another; but the Parts of Water are in a creeping Motion, close to
one another; like a Swarm of Bees when they are settled; as Vapours
resemble the same Bees in the Air, before they settle together. Now
there is nothing puts these Vapours upon the Wing, or keeps them so, but
a strong Agitation by Heat; and when that fails, as it must do in all
colder Places and Regions, they necessarily return to Water again.
Accordingly therefore we must suppose they would soon, after they
reach’d these cold Regions, be condens’d, and fall down in a continual
Rain, or Dew, upon those Parts of the Earth. I say a _continual_ Rain;
for seeing the Action of the Sun, which rais’d the Vapours, was (at that
Time) always the same, and the State of the Air always alike, nor any
cross Winds, nor any thing else that could hinder the Course of the
Vapours towards the Poles, nor their Condensation when arriv’d there;
’tis manifest there would be a constant Source or Store-house of Waters
in those Parts of the Air, and in those Parts of the Earth.
AND this, I think, was the establish’d Order of Nature in that World,
this was the State of the Antediluvian Heavens and Earth; all their
Waters came from above, and that with a constant Supply and Circulation;
for when the Croud of Vapours rais’d about the middle Parts of the
Earth, found Vent and Issue this Way towards the Poles, the Passage
being once open’d, and the Channel made, the Current would be still
continued without Intermission; and as they were dissolv’d and spent
there, they would suck in more and more of those which followed, and
came in fresh Streams from the hotter Climates. _Aristotle_, I remember,
in his _Meteors_ speaking of the Course of the Vapours, saith, there is
a River in the Air, constantly flowing betwixt the Heavens and the
Earth, made by the ascending and descending Vapours: This was more
remarkably true in the primitive Earth, where the State of Nature was
more constant and regular; there was indeed an uninterrupted Flood of
Vapours rising in one Region of the Earth, and flowing to another, and
there continually distilling in Dews and Rain, which made this aerial
River. As may be easily apprehended from this Scheme of the Earth and
Air.
[Illustration: The Earth, with Clouds of Vapour Descending from Above.]
THUS we have found a Source for Waters in the first Earth, which had no
Communication with the Sea; and a Source that would never fail, neither
diminish or overflow, but feed the Earth with an equal Supply throughout
all the Parts of the Year. But there is a second Difficulty that appears
at the End of this, _how_ these Waters would flow upon the even Surface
of the Earth, or form themselves into Rivers; there being no Descent or
Declivity for their Course. There were no Hills, nor Mountains, nor high
Lands in the first Earth, and if these Rains fell in the Frigid Zones,
or towards the Poles, there they would stand in Lakes and Pools, having
no Descent one Way more than another; and so the rest of the Earth would
be no better for them. This, I confess, appear’d as great a Difficulty
as the former, and would be unanswerable for ought I know, if that first
Earth was not water’d by Dews only (as I believe some Worlds are) or had
been exactly Spherical; but we noted before, that it was Oval or Oblong;
and in such a Figure ’tis manifest the polar Parts are higher than the
equinoctial, that is, more remote from the Center, as appears to the Eye
in this Scheme. This affords us a present Remedy, and sets us free of
the second Difficulty; for by this Means the Waters, which fell about
the extream Parts of the Earth, would have a continual Descent towards
the middle Parts of it; this Figure gives them Motion and Distribution;
and many Rivers and Rivulets would flow from those Mother-Lakes, to
refresh the Face of the Earth, bending their Course still towards the
middle Parts of it.
’TIS true, These Derivations of the Waters at first would be very
irregular and diffuse, till the Channels were a little worn and
hollow’d; and tho’ that Earth was smooth and uniform, yet ’tis
impossible, upon an inclining Surface, but that Waters should find a Way
of creeping downwards, as we see upon a smooth Table, or a flag’d
Pavement; if there be the least Inclination, Water will flow from the
higher to the lower Parts of it, either directly, or winding to and fro:
So the Smoothness of that Earth would be no Hindrance to the Course of
the Rivers, provided there was a general Declivity in the Site and
Libration of it, as ’tis plain there was from the Poles towards the
Æquator. The Current indeed would be easy and gentle all along, and if
it chanc’d in some Places to rest, or be stopt, it would spread it self
into a pleasant Lake, till by fresh Supplies it had rais’d its Waters so
high as to overflow and break loose again; then it would pursue its Way,
with many other Rivers its Companions, thro’ all the temperate Climates
as far as the Torrid Zone.
BUT you’ll say, When they were got thither, what would become of them
then? _How_ would they end or finish their Course? This is the third
Difficulty _concerning_ the Ending of the Rivers in that Earth; what
Issue could they have when they were come to the middle Parts of it,
whither it seems they all tended? There was no Sea to lose themselves
in, as our Rivers do; nor any subterraneous Passages to throw themselves
into; how would they die, what would be their Fate at last? I answer,
The greater Rivers, when they were come towards those Parts of the
Earth, would be divided into many Branches, or a Multitude of Rivulets;
and those would be partly exhal’d by the Heat of the Sun, and partly
drunk up by the dry and sandy Earth. But how and in what Manner this
came to pass, requires a little further Explication.
WE must therefore observe in the first Place, that those Rivers, as they
drew nearer to the æquinoctial Parts, would find a less Declivity or
Descent of Ground than in the beginning, or former Part of their Course;
that is evident from the oval Figure of the Earth, for near the middle
Parts of an Oval, the Semi-diameters, as I may call them, are very
little shorter one than another; and for this Reason the Rivers, when
they were advanc’d towards the middle Parts of the Earth, would begin to
flow more slowly, and, by that Weakness of their Current, suffer
themselves easily to be divided and distracted into several lesser
Streams and Rivulets; or else having no Force to wear a Channel, would
lie shallow upon the Ground like a Plash of Water; and in both Cases
their Waters would be much more expos’d to the Action of the Sun, than
if they had kept together in a deeper Channel, as they were before.
SECONDLY, We must observe, that seeing these Waters could not reach to
the Middle of the Torrid Zone, for want of Descent; that Part of the
Earth having the Sun always perpendicular over it, and being refresh’d
by no Rivers, would become extreamly dry and parch’d, and be converted
at length into a kind of sandy Desert; so as all the Waters that were
carried thus far, and were not exhaled and consum’d by the Sun, would be
suck’d up, as in a Spunge, by these Sands of the Torrid Zone. This was
the common Grave wherein the Rivers of the first Earth were buried; and
this is nothing but what happens still in several Parts of the present
Earth; especially in _Africk_, where many Rivers never flow into the
Sea, but expire after the same Manner as these did, drunk up by the Sun
and the Sands. And one Arm of _Euphrates_ dies, as I remember, amongst
the Sands of _Arabia_, after the Manner of the Rivers of the first
Earth.
THUS we have conquer’d the greatest Difficulty, in my Apprehension, in
this whole Theory, _To_ find out the State of the Rivers in the
primitive and antediluvian Earth, their Origin, Course, and Period. We
have been forc’d to win our Ground by Inches, and have divided the
Difficulty into Parts, that we might encounter them single with more
Ease. The Rivers of the Earth, you see, were in most respects different,
and in some, contrary to ours; and if you could turn our Rivers
backwards, to run from the Sea towards their Fountain-heads, they would
more resemble the Course of those Antediluvian Rivers; for they were
greatest at their first setting out, and the Current afterwards, when it
was more weak, and the Channel more shallow, was divided into many
Branches and little Rivers; like the Arteries in our Body, that carry
the Blood; they are greatest at first, and the further they go from the
Heart, their Source, the less they grow, and divided into a Multitude of
little Branches, which lose themselves insensibly in the Habit of the
Flesh, as these little Floods did in the Sands of the Earth.
[Illustration: The Earth, with Zones near the Poles, and Rivers flowing
from there towards the Equator.]
BECAUSE it pleaseth more and makes a greater Impression upon us, to see
Things represented to the Eye, than to read their Description in Words,
we have ventur’d to give a Model of the Primæval Earth, with its Zones
or greater Climates, and the general Order and Tracts of its Rivers: Not
that we believe Things to have been in the very same Form as here
exhibited; but this may serve as a general _Idea_ of that Earth, which
may be wrought into more exactness, according as we are able to enlarge
or correct our Thoughts hereafter. And as the Zones here represented,
resemble the _Belts_ or _Fasciæ_ of _Jupiter_, so we suppose them to
proceed from like Causes, if that Planet be in an Antediluvian State, as
the Earth we here represent. As for the Polar Parts in that first Earth,
I can say very little of them, they would make a Scene by themselves,
and a very particular one; the Sun would be perpetually in their
Horizon, which makes me think the Rains would not fall so much there, as
in the other Parts of the Frigid Zones, where accordingly we have made
their chief Seat and Receptacle. That they flow’d from thence in such
like Manner as is here represented, we have already prov’d; and
sometimes in their Passage swelling into Lakes, and towards the End of
their Course parting into several Streams and Branches, they would water
those Parts of the Earth like a Garden.
WE have before compar’d the Branchings of these Rivers towards the End
of their Course, to the Ramifications of the Arteries in the Body, when
they are far from the Heart near the extream Parts; and some, it may be,
looking upon this Scheme, would carry the Comparison further, and
suppose, that as in the Body the Blood is not lost in the Habit of the
Flesh, but strain’d through it, and taken up again by the little
Branches of the Veins; so in that Earth the Waters were not lost in
those Sands of the Torrid Zone, but strain’d or percolated thorough
them, and receiv’d into the Channels of the other Hemisphere. This
indeed would in some Measure answer the Notion which several of the
ancient Fathers make use of, that the Rivers of _Paradise_ were
trajected out of the other Hemisphere into this, by subterraneous
Passages. But I confess I could never see it possible how such a
Trajection could be made, nor how they could have any Motion, being
arriv’d in another Hemisphere; and therefore I am apt to believe that
Doctrine amongst the Ancients arose from an Entanglement in their
Principles: They suppos’d generally, that _Paradise_ was in the other
Hemisphere, as we shall have occasion to shew hereafter; and yet they
believ’d that _Tygris_, _Euphrates_, _Nile_, and _Ganges_, were the
Rivers of _Paradise_, or came out of it; and these two Opinions they
could not reconcile, or make out, but by supposing that these four
Rivers had their Fountain-heads in the other Hemisphere, and by some
wonderful Trajection broke out again here. This was the Expedient they
found out to make their Opinions consistent one with another; but this
is a Method to me altogether unconceivable; and, for my part, I do not
love to be led out of my Depth, leaning only upon Antiquity. How there
could be any such Communication, either above Ground, or under Ground,
betwixt the two Hemispheres, does not appear; and therefore we must
still suppose the Torrid Zone to have been the Barrier betwixt them,
which nothing could pass either Way.
WE have now examin’d and determin’d the State of the Air, and of the
Waters in the Primitive Earth, by the Light and Consequences of Reason;
and we must not wonder to find them different from the present Order of
Nature; what things are said of them, or relating to them in Holy Writ,
do testify or imply as much; and it will be worth our time to make some
Reflection upon those Passages for our further Confirmation. _Moses_
tells us, that the _Rainbow_ was set in the Clouds after the Deluge;
those Heavens then, that never had a Rainbow before, were certainly of a
Constitution very different from ours. And St. _Peter_, _2 Epist. chap.
iii. v. 5._ doth formally and expresly tell us, that the _Old Heavens_,
or the Antediluvian Heavens had a different Constitution from ours, and
particularly, that they were compos’d or constituted of Water, which
Philosophy of the Apostle’s may be easily understood, if we attend to
two things, first, that the Heavens he speaks of were not the Starry
Heavens, but the aerial Heavens, or the Regions of our Air, where the
Meteors are: Secondly, that there were no Meteors in those Regions, or
in those Heavens, till the Deluge, but watry Meteors, and therefore, he
says, they consisted of Water. And this shews the Foundation upon which
that Description is made, how coherently the Apostle argues, and answers
the Objection there propos’d: How justly also he distinguisheth the
first Heavens from the present Heavens, or rather opposeth them one to
another; because as those were constituted of Water, and watry Meteors
only, so the present Heavens, he saith, have Treasures of Fire, fiery
Exhalations and Meteors, and a Disposition to become the Executioners of
the Divine Wrath and Decrees in the final Conflagration of the Earth.
THIS minds me also of the _Celestial Waters_, or the Waters above the
Firmaments, which, Scripture sometimes mentions, and which, methinks,
cannot be explain’d so fitly and emphatically upon any Supposition as
this of ours. Those who place them above the Starry Heavens, seem
neither to understand Astronomy nor Philosophy; and, on the other hand,
if nothing be understood by them, but the Clouds and the middle Region
of the Air, as it is at present, methinks that was no such eminent and
remarkable Thing, as to deserve a particular Commemoration by _Moses_ in
his six Days Work; but if we understand them, not as they are now, but
as they were then, the only Source of Waters, or the only Source of
Waters upon that Earth, (for they had not one Drop of Water but what was
Celestial,) this gives it a new Force and Emphasis: Besides the whole
middle Region having no other sort of Meteors but them, that made it
still the greater Singularity, and more worthy Commemoration. As for the
Rivers of _Paradise_, there is nothing said concerning their Source, or
their Issue, that is either contrary to this, or that is not agreeable
to the general Account we have given of the Waters and Rivers of the
first Earth. They are not said to rise from any Mountain, but from a
great River or a kind of a Lake in _Eden_, according to the Custom of
the Rivers of that Earth. And as for their End and Issue, _Moses_ doth
not say, that they disburthen themselves into this or that Sea, as they
usually do in the Description of great Rivers, but rather implies that
they spent themselves in compassing and watering certain Countries,
which falls in again very easily with our _Hypothesis_. But I say this
rather to comply with the Opinions of others, than of my _own_ Judgment:
For I think, that Suggestion about the Supercelestial Waters made by
_Moses_, was not so much according to the strict Nature and Speciality
of Causes, as for the Ease and Profit of the People, in their Belief and
Acknowledgment of Providence for so great a Benefit, by what Causes
soever it was brought to pass.
BUT to return to the Rainbow which we mentioned before, and is not to be
past over so slightly. This we say is a Creature of the modern World,
and was not seen nor known before the Flood. _Moses_ (_Gen. ix. 12,
13._) plainly intimates as much, or rather directly affirms it; for he
says, the Bow was set in the Clouds after the Deluge, as a Confirmation
of the Promise, or Covenant, which God made with _Noah_, that he would
drown the World no more with Water. And how could it be a Sign of this,
or given as a Pledge and Confirmation of such a Promise, if it was in
the Clouds before, and with no Regard to this Promise; and stood there,
it may be, when the World was going to be drown’d? This would have been
but cold Comfort to _Noah_, to have had such a Pledge of the Divine
Veracity. You’ll say, it may be, that it was not a Sign or Pledge, that
signified naturally, but voluntarily only, and by Divine Institution: I
am of Opinion, I confess, that it signify’d naturally, and by Connexion
with the Effect, importing thus much, that the State of Nature was
chang’d from what it was before, and so chang’d, that the Earth was no
more in a Condition to perish by Water. But however, let us grant that
it signifieth only by Institution, to make it significant in this Sense,
it must be something new, otherwise it could not signify any new thing,
or be the Confirmation of a new Promise. If God Almighty had said to
_Noah_, I make a Promise to you, and to all living Creatures, that the
World shall never be destroy’d by Water again, and for Confirmation of
this, Behold, _I set the Sun in the Firmament_: Would this have been any
strengthening of _Noah_’s Faith or any Satisfaction to his Mind? Why
says _Noah_, the Sun was in the Firmament when the Deluge came, and was
a Spectator of that sad Tragedy; why may it not be so again? What Sign
or Assurance is this against a second Deluge? When God gives a Sign in
the Heavens, or on the Earth, of any Prophecy or Promise to be
fulfill’d, it must be by something new, or by some Change wrought in
Nature; whereby God doth testify to us, that he is able and willing to
stand to his Promise. God says to _Ahaz_, Isai. vii. _Ask a Sign of the
Lord; ask it either in the Depth, or in the Height above_: And when
_Ahaz_ would ask no Sign, God gives one unask’d, _Behold a Virgin shall
conceive and bear a Son_. So when _Zachary_, _Luke 1._ was promis’d a
Son, he asketh for a Sign, _Whereby shall I know this? for I am old, and
my Wife well stricken in Years_, and the Sign given him was, that he
became dumb, and continued so till the Promise was fulfilled.
Accordingly, when _Abraham_ ask’d a Sign whereby he might be assured of
God’s Promise that his Seed should inherit the Land of _Canaan_, _Gen.
xv. 8._ ’Tis said (_ver. 17._) _When the Sun went down and it was dark,
behold a smoaking Furnace and a burning Lamp passed betwixt the Pieces_
of the Beasts that he had cut asunder. So in other Instances of Signs
given in external Nature, as the Sign given to King _Hezekiah_, _Isai.
xxxviii._ for his Recovery, and to _Gideon_ for his Victory; to confirm
the Promise made to _Hezekiah_, _Judge vii._ the Shadow went back ten
Degrees in _Ahaz_ Dial. And for _Gideon_, _his Fleece was wet, and all
the Ground about it dry_; and then to change the Trial, _it was dry, and
all the Ground about it wet_. These were all Signs very proper,
significant, and satisfactory, having something surprising and
extraordinary, yet these were Signs by Institution only; and to be such
they must have something new and strange, as a Mark of the Hand of God,
otherwise they can have no Force or Significancy. Accordingly we see,
_Moses_ himself in another Place, speaks this very Sense, when in the
Mutiny or Rebellion of _Corah_ and _Dathan_, he speaks thus to the
People, _If these Men die the common Death of Men, then the Lord hath
not sent me. But if the Lord make a new Thing and the Earth open her
Mouth and swallow them up, &c. then you shall understand that these Men
have provoked the Lord, Numb. xxvi. 29, 30._ So in the Case of _Noah_,
if God _created a new Creature_ (which are _Moses_’s Words in the
forecited Place) the Sign was effectual: But where every thing continues
to be as it was before, and the Face of Nature, in all its Parts, the
very same, it cannot signify any thing new, nor any new Intention in the
Author of Nature; and consequently, cannot be a Sign or Pledge, a Token
or Assurance of the Accomplishment of any new Covenant or Promise made
by him.
THIS, methinks, is plain to common Sense, and to every Man’s Reason; but
because it is a Thing of Importance, to prove that there was no Rainbow
before the Flood, and will confirm a considerable Part of this Theory,
by discovering what the state of the Air was in the old World, give me
leave to argue it a little further, and to remove some Prejudices that
may keep others from assenting to clear Reason. I know ’tis usually
said, that Signs like Words, signify any Thing by Institution, or may be
apply’d to any Thing by the Will of the Imposer; as hanging out a white
Flag is calling for Mercy; a Bush at the Door a Sign of Wine to be sold,
and such like. But these are Instances nothing to our Purpose, these are
Signs of something present, and that signify only by Use and repeated
Experience; we are speaking of Signs of another Nature given in
Confirmation of a Promise, or Threatning, or Prophecy, and given with
Design to cure our Unbelief, or to excite and beget in us faith in God,
in the Prophet, or in the Promiser; such Signs, I say, when they are
wrought in external Nature, must be some new Appearance, and must
thereby induce us to believe the Effect, or more to believe it, than if
there had been no Sign, but only the Affirmation of the Promiser; for
otherwise the pretended Sign is a mere Cypher and Superfluity. But a
Thing that obtain’d before, and in the same Manner, (even when that came
to pass, which we are now promis’d shall not come to pass again)
signifies no more, than if there had been no Sign at all: It can neither
signify another Course in Nature, nor another Purpose in God; and
therefore is perfectly insignificant. Some instance in the Sacraments,
Jewish or Christian, and make them Signs in such a Sense as the Rainbow
is: But those are rather Symbolical Representations or Commemorations;
and some of them Marks of Distinction and Consecration of our selves to
God in such a Religion; they were also new, and very particular when
first instituted; but all such Instances fall short, and do not reach
the Case before us; we are speaking of Signs confirmatory of a Promise;
when there is something affirm’d _de futuro_, and to give us a further
Argument of the Certainty of it, and of the Power and Veracity of the
Promiser, a Sign is given. This, we say, must indispensably be something
new, otherwise it cannot have the Nature, Virtue, and influence of a
Sign.
WE have seen how incongruous it would be to admit, that the Rainbow
appear’d before the Deluge, and how dead a Sign that would make it, how
forc’d, fruitless and ineffectual, as to the Promise it was to confirm:
Let us now on the other hand suppose, that it first appear’d to the
Inhabitants of the Earth after the Deluge, how proper, and how apposite
a Sign would this be for Providence to pitch upon, to confirm the
Promise made to _Noah_ and his Posterity, _That_ the World should be no
more destroy’d by Water? It hath a secret Connexion with the Effect it
self, and was so far a natural Sign; but however, appearing first after
the Deluge, and in a watery Cloud, there was, methinks, a great Easiness
and Propriety of Application for such a purpose. And if we suppose, that
while God Almighty was declaring his Promise to _Noah_, and the Sign of
it, there appeared at the same Time in the Clouds a fair Rainbow, that
marvellous and beautiful Meteor, which _Noah_ had never seen before; it
could not but make a most lively Impression upon him, quickning his
Faith, and giving him Comfort and Assurance, that God would be stedfast
to his Promise.
NOR ought we to wonder that Interpreters have commonly gone the other
Way, and suppos’d that the Rainbow was before the Flood: this, I say,
was no wonder in them, for they had no _Hypothesis_ that could answer to
any other Interpretation: And in the Interpretation of the Texts of
Scripture that concern natural Things, they commonly bring them down to
their own Philosophy and Notions: As we have a great Instance in that
Discourse of St. _Peter_’s (_2 Epist. c. iii. 5._) concerning the Deluge
and the Antediluvian Heavens and Earth, which, for want of a Theory,
they have been scarce able to make Sense of; for they have forcedly
apply’d to the present Earth, or the present Form of the Earth, what
plainly respected another. A like Instance we have in the _Mosaical_
Abyss, or _Tehom-Rabba_, by whose Disruption the Deluge was made; this
they knew not well what to make of, and so have generally interpreted it
of the Sea, or of our subterraneous Waters; without any Propriety either
as to the Word, or as to the Sense. A third Instance is this of the
Rainbow, where their Philosophy hath misguided them again; for to give
them their due, they do not alledge, nor pretend to alledge any Thing
from the Text, that should make them interpret thus, or think the
Rainbow was before the Flood; but they pretend to go by certain Reasons,
as that the Clouds were before the Flood, therefore the Rainbow; and if
the Rainbow was not before the Flood, then all things were not made
within the six Days Creation: To whom these Reasons are convictive, they
must be led into the same Belief with them, but not by any Thing in the
Text, nor in the true Theory, at least if ours be so; for by that you
see, that the Vapours were never condens’d into Drops, nor into Rain, in
the temperate and inhabited Climates of that Earth, and consequently
there could never be the Production or Appearance of this Bow in the
Clouds. Thus much concerning the Rainbow.
TO recollect our selves and conclude this Chapter, and the whole
Disquisition concerning the Waters of the primitive Earth; we seem to
have so well satisfied the Difficulties propos’d in the beginning of the
Chapter, that they have rather given us an Advantage; a better
Discovery, and such a new Prospect of that Earth, as makes it not only
habitable, but more fit to be _Paradisiacal_. The Pleasantness of the
Site of _Paradise_ is made to consist chiefly in two Things, its Waters,
and its Trees, (_Gen. ii._ and _Chap. xiii. 10._ _Ezek. xxxi. 8._) and
considering the Richness of that first Soil in the primitive Earth, it
could not but abound in Trees, as it did in Rivers and Rivulets; and be
wooded like a Grove, as it was water’d like a Garden, in the temperate
Climates of it; so as it would not be, methinks, so difficult to find
one _Paradise_ there, as not to find more than one.