First part.
Of the rest of God, sanctification of the Sabbath, and Adam's creation.
V. 1. So the heavens and the earth were finished with all their host.
1 Our Latin text has: "With all their adornment"; but in the Hebrew is: "with their army", zebaam. And the prophets also kept this way of speaking, that they called the stars and planets the host of heaven; as Jeremiah 19:13 is written, that the Jews worshipped the whole host of heaven, that is, the sun, the moon, and other stars. And Zephaniah 1:5: "I will purge out them that worship the host of heaven upon the housetops." Item, Ap. Hist. 7, 42. Stephen says: "God turned and gave them to serve the host of heaven."
2 The prophets have this way of speaking from Moses, who calls the stars and lights in the sky "an army. But he calls men, animals and trees the army of the earth, perhaps for the sake of what was to follow "hereafter". For God calls Himself afterwards a God of hosts or knighthood; that is, not only of the angels or spirits, but of the whole creature that lies in the field and serves Him. For after the devil was rejected by him because of sin, he fell into such great enmity with God and man and became so full of it that, if it were in his power, he would in a moment rob and deprive the sea of fish, the air of birds, the earth of all kinds of fruits and destroy everything. But God created all such creatures to be in the field for us and to stand in armor and battle against the devil and evil men, as long as they serve us and are useful.
V. 2. And so on the seventh day God finished all His works that He had done, and on the seventh day He rested from all His works that He had done.
3 Here a question arises. Moses says that the Lord rested on the seventh day from all the works that he had done, that is, he ceased to work on the seventh day. Again Christ says Joh. 5, 17: "My Father works until now, and I also work". And serve for this that the epistle to the Hebrews Cap. 3, 18. and Cap. 4, 3. disputes of the rest: "For I sware in mine anger, that they should not enter (not into the land of promise, but) into my rest." To such a question we answer thus par excellence, that the text itself brings the solution with it, by saying that heaven and earth are finished. For the Sabbath or the rest on the Sabbath means that God rested in it in such a way that He did not create another heaven or another earth, and does not mean that God ceased to maintain and govern the heaven and earth that He had created.
For in what way and by what means God created the heavens and the earth, Moses clearly taught in the previous chapter, namely, that God created everything by the Word; as he then said: "The sea is filled with fish; the earth brings forth leaves and grass, as well as animals" etc. Item: "Grow and fill the earth, the sea" etc. Such words still remain today and are strong: therefore we see that the increase goes on and on and happens without end. And even if the world should stand for countless years, the power of these words would not pass away, but would be an eternal increase, from the power and might of this word, or, that I call it so, of this first foundation.
5 Therefore, this question is easy to resolve: "God rested from His works," that is, He was content with the heavens and the earth that He created at that time by the Word.
He did not create a new heaven or a new earth, or new stars and new trees; and yet God still works, because he has not abandoned the creature he once created, but governs and sustains it by the power of his word. Thus he has now rested from the creation and not from the preservation and government. In Adam the human race began; on the earth all living creatures began by the word; in the sea fish and birds began. But in Adam and the same first animals they have not ceased; but this word, which God spoke over the human race, "Grow and multiply," abides and continues all the days. So also this remains and continues: "Let the sea bring forth fish and fowl of the air." Therefore the power of the Word is almighty, sustaining and governing the whole creature.
(6) Moses therefore concludes that the Word was in the beginning. But since all things still grow, increase, are preserved and governed in the same way as in the beginning of the world, it obviously follows that the Word still exists and is not dead. Therefore, when Moses says that God rested from His works, this is not to be applied to the course and order of things as they are preserved and governed, but to the beginning in general, that God ceased to create angels, men and animals, item, new species and creatures after the beginning.
I am something new, if you want to look at my person, because sixty years ago I was nothing. And so the world judges. But God's judgment is far different. For before God I was begotten and multiplied soon in the beginning of the world, and this word: "God said, let us make man," also created me. For everything that God wanted to create, He created at that time when He spoke, although it does not all suddenly appear before our eyes. For just as an arrow or bullet shot from a gun (for this flies more swiftly) hits the target in an instant, and yet is shot through a certain space in between, so God runs through His Word from the beginning of the world to the end. For with him is not before or
after, sooner or slower, but all present and in view, and is God, in summa, beyond all bounds of time.
Therefore these words, "God said, 'Let it be, grow, multiply,'" order and create the creatures in the form they are now and will be until the end of the world. But God has ceased to make new ones, for He has not made a new earth or a new heaven, but as He willed that the sun and moon should walk, so they still linger. And as in the beginning he filled the sea with fishes, the heavens with birds, the earth with beasts, so they are yet perfected, abide, and are yet preserved; as Christ saith John 5:17, "My Father worketh yet, and I work." For the word which He spoke in the beginning is still going forth; as the 33rd Psalm v. 9. says: "He spoke, and it came to pass."
(9) But against this it is said: How is it true that God created nothing new, when it is certain that the rainbow was created in the time of Noah? After the Fall, God threatened that the earth would bear thistles and thorns, which it would not have borne if Adam had not sinned. Item, of the serpent it is said that it should crawl on the earth, which without doubt (as it was created in the beginning) has just gone along, as now deer and peacocks go along? This is truly a new creation, made by a new word. Item, if Adam had not fallen into sin, then one would know nothing of the wolves, lions, bears etc. If Adam had not fallen into sin, nothing would be known of the cruelty of wolves, lions, bears, and nothing at all of the whole creature would have been harmful to man. For the text clearly says that everything created by God was good. But now behold what evil things there are in nature. How many and great miseries is the body subjected to for the sake of disease alone? I do not say anything about other pernicious creatures such as fleas, flies, spiders, etc. And how many great dangers do we have to worry about from the other cruel and poisonous animals?
(10) But if it be not a thing, this is indeed a mighty and new work, that a virgin should bear the Son of God. Therefore, it follows that on the seventh day of the year
He has not ceased nor rested since the beginning of time, but is always at work, not only to preserve the creature, but also to change and change it. And so it will not be true that we have stated above that God has refrained from creating new states and things. Answer: Moses is speaking here of the uncorrupted nature. For if man had existed in the innocence in which he was created, there would have been no thorns, nor thistles, nor diseases, nor any violence or harm of animals, as can be sufficiently seen from the fact that Eve speaks to the serpent without fear, no differently than we do to a gentle little bird or a friendly little dog. And I do not doubt, the snake will have been the most beautiful creature and with this gift especially adorned, that it had the most distinguished praise of cunning before other animals; as before other animals of cunning are praised the foxes and weasels etc.
(11) While Adam was still holy and innocent, all animals dwelt with him with the greatest pleasure and were willing and ready for all kinds of services. If he had remained so, nothing would have been feared or worried about the Flood, and consequently there would have been no rainbow. But sin has been a cause why God has done many things differently, and at the last day there will be much greater change and renewal of the creature, which now, as Paul says in Romans 8:20, is subject to vanity because of sin.
(12) Moses' saying that the Lord rested is speaking of the original nature of the world. Neither was anything new created, nor were there thistles, nor thorns, nor serpents, nor toads in it; but if they were, they were without poison and covetousness to harm. Therefore Moses speaks thus of the creation of the world in its perfection. For in the beginning it was pure and innocent, because in it man was pure and innocent and without sin. But when man changed and fell into disobedience, it also changed because of sin; that is, the fall of man was followed by the corruption and cursing of the earth. "Cursed be the earth," God says to Adam in Genesis 3:17,
"for thy sake, thorns and thistles shall it bear." So also the earth is cursed for the sin of a man Cain, that it does not give up its possessions, even though it is built and maintained, Gen. 4:12. Then the cursing of the whole world is followed by the Flood, in which the whole world is drowned and destroyed except for a few pious people who are preserved, so that the promise of Christ might be fulfilled. But just as we now see that the earth was disfigured and changed because of sin, so I also believe that the light of the sun, because it was created before sin, was much brighter and more beautiful.
In the schools of theologians, a common and customary saying has been: Keep difference of time, and you will be able to rhyme the Scriptures together. Therefore we must speak of the world much differently after the miserable corruption that followed through sin than we could have spoken before, when it was first created and was still pure and perfect. But let us look at an example that is before us: Those who have seen the promised land at these lines say that there is nothing in it that would be in accordance with the praise it has in the holy Scriptures. Therefore, when at one time a Count of Stolberg had traversed and inspected it with particular diligence, he is said to have said that he would rather take his land in Germany for it. For because of the sins, ungodly life and wickedness of the people, the land was made barren, as the 107th Psalm v. 34. says. Thus Sodoma, before it was destroyed by fire from heaven, was like a paradise, Gen. 13:10. Thus in general, sin is followed by the curse, but the curse changes things so that what was best becomes worst. Therefore Moses speaks of the perfection of the creatures as they were before sin. For if man had not sinned, all animals would have remained in obedience until God took man from paradise or from the earth and transferred him to another life; but after sin all things have been changed to the worst.
14. so now it still remains with the solution,
which is set above, namely, that God completed his work in six days, that is, that he ceased to create new states and creatures, and at that time made everything that he wanted to make. He did not speak of new things: Let there be a new earth, a new sea etc. But that the virgin Mary gave birth to the Son of God is also the cause of our sorrow and misery, into which we had fallen through sin, as is clear and evident. But God did this wonderful and great work in such a way that He first indicated through His Word that He would do it and accomplish it, just as He also indicated other future works beforehand through the Word. So this is the first question, that God has finished heaven and earth and has not made anything new. Now we must also learn what the Sabbath or God's rest is, item, how God has sanctified the Sabbath, as the text says.
V. 3. And blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it, because he had rested in it from all his works which God created and made.
15 Marci 2, 27. Christ says that the Sabbath was made for the sake of man, and not man for the sake of the Sabbath. Moses, however, is silent about man and does not say that the Sabbath was commanded for man, but that God blessed the Sabbath and sanctified it. He has not done this to any other creature. He did not sanctify heaven and earth or any other creature, but he sanctified the seventh day. This is especially so that we may understand from it that the seventh day is to be given and set apart primarily for the service of God. For sanctify means to set apart from all other creatures and to dedicate to God, and sanctify means to choose and set apart for sacred use or worship; as Moses often uses this way of speaking, as when he speaks of sacred vessels.
16 Therefore, it follows from this text that even if Adam is innocent, he is not innocent.
he would have kept the seventh day holy, that is, he would have taught his descendants about God's will and God's service, would have praised God, thought about God, sacrificed God etc. The other days he would have cultivated the land, maintained the cattle etc. Yes, he also kept this seventh day holy after the fall, that is, he taught his children on the same day, as witnessed by the sacrifice of his sons, Cain and Abel. Therefore the Sabbath was ordained for worship from the beginning of the world. And so human nature, if it had remained in its innocence, would have praised God's glory and good deeds, and on the Sabbath men would have spoken to each other of the unspeakable goodness of God, their Creator, would have sacrificed, prayed etc. For all this means and includes in itself the word "sanctify".
17 Further, in this word "rest" is also signified and indicated the immortality of the human race; as the epistle to the Hebrews Cap. 3, v. 18. finely masterfully disputes the rest of God from the 95th Psalm, v. 11: "They shall not enter into my rest." For God's rest is eternal. And if Adam had lived in paradise for a certain time according to God's will, then he would have been taken up to the rest of God, which God not only wanted to show to mankind through the sanctification of the Sabbath, but also to praise and glorify. So both would have happened: this temporal or natural life would have been blessed and holy, as well as spiritual and eternal. Now, however, we poor people also have both of these: we have lost the blessedness and welfare of the natural life for the sake of sin, and as long as we live, we are in the midst of death. And yet, because the commandment of the Sabbath is left to the church, it is indicated that spiritual and eternal life shall be restored and given to us through Christ. As the prophets diligently considered such sayings, in which Moses secretly and covertly points to the resurrection of the flesh and eternal life.
(18) Then it is shown here that man was created primarily for the knowledge and service of God. For the
The Sabbath was not ordained for the sake of sheep and cows, but for the sake of man, that in it the knowledge and acceptance of God might be exercised. And even though man has lost the knowledge of God through sin, God has left the commandment to keep the Sabbath holy, and has willed that on the seventh day one should practice his word and worship God as He has ordained, so that only men might first consider what is primarily our calling and status, namely, that our nature was created for the purpose of knowing and praising God.
19. secondly, that we might keep in our hearts a certain hope of the life to come and of eternal life. For all the things that God has willed to be done on the Sabbath are certain and clear signs and testimonies of another life after this one. And what need would there be for God to speak to us through His word if we did not belong to a future and eternal life? For if a future life is not to be hoped for, why do we not live as those to whom God does not speak and who do not know God? But since the divine majesty speaks to man alone and he alone recognizes and grasps God, it necessarily follows that after this life there is another, which we must have God's word and knowledge to attain. For this temporal and present life is a natural life, which all unreasonable animals also have, who do not know the Word and God.
(20) All this is the Sabbath, or God's rest, in which God speaks to us through His word, and we in turn speak to Him through prayer and faith. Unreasonable animals, such as dogs, horses, sheep, oxen, etc., also learn to know and understand the voice of man, and are also educated and preserved by man; but our state is far better, who hear God, know His will, and are called to a certain hope of an immortal eternal life. How then the bright and clear promises of eternal life, which God has revealed to us through His Word after these dark interpretations (as this is of the rest of God and sanctification of the Sabbath), testify: even though these
The interpretation of the Sabbath is clear enough. For if there is no other life after this one, does it not follow that we have no need of God or His word? For that which we need or do in this life we can have even without the word; just as unreasoning animals feed, live and fatten themselves, even though they neither have nor hear God's word'. For what need is there of the word for eating and drinking, if all things have been created beforehand?
(21) That therefore God gives His word and commands that it be taught, practiced and practiced; item, that He commands that the Sabbath be kept holy and is called to be served, all these things indicate that after this life there is another, and that man was not created only for a temporal and natural life, like other unreasonable animals, but for another, which is eternal; as God, who commands and ordains these things, is eternal.
(22) But here another question arises, which we have also considered above, concerning the fall of Adam, namely, when did he fall, on the seventh day or on some other day? And even though nothing thorough nor certain can be brought forward about this, I still like to have these thoughts, that he fell on the seventh day. For on the sixth day he was created, so was Eve created about the evening of the same day, while Adam slept. On the seventh day, which was sanctified by the Lord, God spoke to Adam early, gave him his service, and forbade him to eat of the tree of the knowledge of evil and good. For this is the Sabbath's own work and office, that in it God's word is preached and heard. And therefore it has remained both in Scripture and custom to appoint the morning time for prayer and preaching, as the 5th Psalm, v. 4, says: "Early will I send me unto thee, and take heed."
Therefore it can be seen that Adam heard the Lord on the morning of the seventh day, and he commanded him to take care of the house and to govern the world, and forbade the tree of knowledge. etc. Since the devil - out of impatience with this most beautiful creature and order, also out of bitter hatred and envy, that man both on the earth
Satan, who had lost the hope of eternal life after such a happy temporal life, immediately comes to him and talks to Eve, perhaps at noon, after God had previously talked to Adam. As he is still wont to do: where God's word goes, he spares no pains and effort to create lies and to awaken sects. For it grieves him that we, like Adam in paradise, become heirs and citizens of the kingdom of heaven through the word. That is why he encourages Eve to sin, brings her to it and overcomes her. And the text clearly says that the Lord came to Adam when the heat had abated and the day had become cool, and condemned Adam to death with all his descendants. I am easily persuaded of all this, and believe that it happened on the Sabbath, which was a few days, and yet not the whole day, that Adam was in paradise, and had his breath of the fruits thereof.
(24) Thus, through sin, man has lost all his glory, pleasure and joy. Since he remained in innocence, he would not have been idle in paradise, but on the Sabbath he would have taught his children, praised God publicly, and in contemplation and consideration of the works of God he would have awakened himself and others to thanksgiving; the other days, however, he would have worked, either by farming or hunting, but in a far different way than is done now. For we find work a burden, but to Adam it would have been the highest pleasure, much more pleasant and preferable than rest and idleness. And just as other misery and hardship in this life remind us of the sin and wrath of God, so also the work and heavy food should remind us of it and provoke us to repentance.
(25) Now Moses continues to describe man more clearly, by first repeating what he has just said about him in the first chapter (v. 26. f.). Although it would seem that such a repetition would be unnecessary and too much; however, because he wants to write the history finely one after the other and completely, no word is unnecessary or in vain.
V. 4. 5. Thus the heavens and the earth were made when they were created, at the time when God the Lord made the earth and the heavens; and every tree of the field, which had never been before upon the earth; and every herb of the field, which had never grown before.
(26) That he says, "At that time," is to be understood of a time that still lasted and was unfinished. As if to say, "At that time, all things were well, and it was the most beautiful creature in the world; but now I have something else to say. Let no one be troubled or inquisitively ponder and inquire why Moses might have used the baelic way of speaking of shrubs and herbs, for he is here to diligently describe all the nature of man.
V. 5. 6. God the Lord had not yet caused it to rain on the earth, and there was no man to build the land. But a mist came up from the earth and wetted all the land.
(27) There was, saith he, no rain yet to moisten the land, but a moist mist arose like dew, and went up from the earth, and moistened the earth, that it might thereafter be the more fruitful. All this belongs to the works of the third day.
N. 7. And God the Lord made man out of a lump of earth, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life. And so man became a living soul.
Here Moses returns to the work of the sixth day and shows from where the man, who was to possess and build the earth, came, namely, that God made him out of a lump of earth, as a potter makes a pot out of clay with his hand. Therefore he did not say above, as of other creatures, "Let the earth bring forth a man," but he said, "Let us make man," so that he might show the glory of man, and the special counsel of God, which he has given in the
The most obvious one is the one used in the creation of man. Although man afterwards grows and increases in the same way as the other animals; for the fruit in the womb is formed in the same way (has its beginning, its time, lives, grows, increases etc.), so that in this case there is no inequality between a pregnant animal and a pregnant woman. But in the first creation Moses shows a great inequality. For human nature was created out of special counsel and wisdom, and was prepared and formed with the finger of God. And this inequality, which is in the creation and coming of man and cattle, also indicates the immortality of the soul, of which I said shortly before. For although all the other works of God are full of wonder and very glorious, this shows that man is the most glorious creature, that God keeps counsel with Himself and uses a new way when He creates him; does not let him form the earth and bring it out of himself, like the animals and trees, but forms him Himself in His image, as the one who should be partaker of God and enjoy His rest. That is why Adam, before he is formed by the Lord, is a dead lying lump of earth: God takes it and makes the most beautiful creature out of it, which is partaker of immortality.
If Aristotle heard this, he would laugh very much at it and consider it the most foolish fable, although it is not at all unpleasant to hear that man, according to his first coming, was a cloister of the earth, but thus created by God's wisdom, that he could be immortal. For although some of the philosophers, such as Socrates and others, have agreed and taught that the soul is immortal, they have been ridiculed by others and have been utterly rejected and condemned. But is this not great foolishness on the part of reason, that it allows itself to be so vexed, when it still sees that the procreation of man is a work full of wonder? For who would not consider it foolish and inconsistent that a man, who is to live forever, is begotten by a drop of blood from his father's loins? After all, it seems much
more inconsistent and unusual than that Moses says that man was made from a lump of earth by the finger of God. Therefore, here reason shows that it knows nothing of God, who only with a thought creates from a lump of earth not a drop of blood or seed of man, but man himself and, as Moses says afterwards, he makes a woman out of the rib of man. This is the beginning and origin of man.
(30) After man and woman have been created by God, a human being is conceived and born from their blood by divine blessing. And although in this way also the unreasonable animals are begotten, nothing is taken away from the honor of our origin, by which we are God's vessels, made by God Himself; and, thus to be reckoned, God is our potter, but we are His clay, as Isaiah speaks of Cap. 64, 8. And this not only concerns our origin, but we remain the earth or clay of God throughout life, even to death and the grave.
(31) This is also so that we may learn from it the power of free will, of which our adversaries boast so much and say so much. We do have free will to some extent, but only in the things that are among us. For by God's commandment we are made masters over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, and the beasts of the earth. These we may kill if we desire, we may also use the food they give. But in the things that belong to God and are above us, man has no free will, but is certainly like a clay in the hand of the potter, in which alone is worked, but he himself works nothing. For there we choose nothing, do nothing, but are prepared, are made ready, are born again, take etc., as Isaiah Cap. 64, 8. says: "You are the potter and our father, we are your clay."
But here a new question arises. As Moses above (v. 7), speaking of man, introduces a new way of speaking and says: "God made man out of man.
Dust from the earth"; but of the other animals he did not speak in this way: thus he also says something new and special about man, that God has blown a living breath into his face, which he did not say about other animals, since all animals, as well as man, have breath. For this reason it is asked: Why did Moses want to speak in this way? Secondly, it is also asked (although it all refers to one question): since all animals are called living souls throughout the Scriptures, why then is it said of man alone in this place: "Man became a living soul"? Above he said: "The earth brings forth living animals, each according to its kind", but here he changes it much, and says: "Man became a living soul. This undoubtedly moved and caused the patriarchs, holy fathers and prophets to diligently ponder such sayings, and found that this peculiar way of speaking indicates that Moses also wanted to indicate something brave and special.
(33) For if you look at the natural life, of which Moses speaks here, there will be no difference between a man and an ass, because the natural life must have food and drink, sleep and rest. So also the bodies are fattened by food and drink, and increase; but if they eat not, they decrease, and fall away: for the stomach receiveth the food, and when it is digested, it sendeth it to the liver, wherein it becometh blood, whereupon all the members are strengthened and renewed. If we consider this alone, there is no difference between man and an animal, and yet Moses adorns man's life in such a way that he says of him alone that he has become a living soul, that is, not alive as such, like other animals, but alive in a higher degree, because man was created in God's image. Which image will undoubtedly have been seen apparently and excellently on the face of Adam and Eve, since they both still stood in innocence. As also after the fall from
the skill and stature of the body, that man alone walks erect and lifts up his eyes to heaven, yet the Gentiles have concluded that man is the most excellent and glorious creature among all other creatures.
34 And to this Paul referred, since he also refers to 1 Cor. 15, 45: "The first man Adam was made into the natural life, and the last Adam into the spiritual life." The natural life he calls eating, drinking, begetting children, growing, etc., all of which is also in the unreasonable animals. But he contrasts this and says that the last Adam was made into the spiritual life, that is, into such a life that does not need these works and characteristics of the natural life. Paul also teaches that even if Adam had not sinned, he would still have lived naturally and needed to eat, drink and rest etc., would have gained weight and begotten children etc., until such time as he had been raised by God into a spiritual life, in which he would have lived without the natural being (that I thus say), namely, of God alone, and not externally of herbs and fruits; and that thus, that a man nevertheless has flesh and bones, and is not purely a spirit, as the angels are.
35 Therefore I answer this question thus: That God wanted to indicate through the mouth of Moses also with this text that a future and eternal life was to be hoped for, which Adam, if he remained in innocence, would have had after this natural life. As if Moses wanted to say: Man was made for a living soul, not only as the animals live, but which God would have made alive afterwards, even without the natural life. We also have this hope of immortality through Christ, even though we have been put under death and all misery because of sin. Adam would have had it better in his innocence. Here on earth he would have lived in full pleasure and loveliness, but afterwards he would have been taken up and transferred from the natural life into the spiritual one without any pain or difficulty. But we will be saved from
The only way to transfer man from the natural to eternal life is through death, the cross, and countless dangers, fears, and hardships. So we should learn to look diligently at Moses and the holy prophets, and pay attention to why he speaks differently of man with special counsel and concern than he spoke of the other animals, namely, that he thereby awakened and strengthened in us the faith and hope of immortality, that although man, according to natural life, is like other, unreasonable animals, he nevertheless has the hope of living forever, which the other animals do not have; so he has in himself the image of God and is like God, which is not at all in the other animals.
Moreover, Moses also wanted to indicate by a beautiful secret interpretation (although it is obscure) that God should become man. For man, created in the image of God, has no difference in natural life from unreasonable cattle, which is a thing wholly contrary to one another, or, as it is called in the schools, an oppositum in adjecto. But because he is nevertheless created in the image of the invisible God, it is secretly implied, as we shall hear, that God would reveal Himself to the world in the man Christ. Such hints, short and dark interpretations of great and important things, the prophets diligently searched and memorized in Moses.