ad administered the government of
the world without a visible church. And what was the result? Before the
flood the degeneracy of the human family was universal. God, therefore,
swept them all away, and began anew with Noah and his family. But the
terrible judgment of the deluge was not efficacious to prevent the new
world from following the example of the old. In the days of Abraham the
worship of God had been corrupted through polytheism and idolatry, and
ignorance and wickedness were again universal. The time had manifestly
come for the adoption of a new economy, in which God should, for the
time being, concentrate his special labors upon a single nation but with
ultimate reference to the salvation of the whole world. Thus we have in
the book of Genesis in a certain measure (for we may not presume to
speak of God's counsels as fully apprehended by us) an explanation of
the Abrahamic covenant, and, in this, of the Mosaic economy also.

4. In accordance with the above view, the book of Genesis falls into two
unequal, but natural divisions. The _first_ part extends through eleven
chapters, and is occupied with the history of _the human family as a
whole_. It is the oldest record in existence, and its contents are
perfectly unique. It describes in brief terms: the order of creation;
the institution of the Sabbath and marriage; the probation to which man
was subjected, with its disastrous result in his fall and expulsion from
Eden; the murder of Abel by Cain, and, in connection with this, the
division of mankind into two families; man's universal degeneracy; the
deluge; the covenant made by God with the earth through Noah, and the
law of murder; the confusion of tongues at Babel, and the consequent
dispersion of the different families of men, a particular account of
which is given by way of anticipation in the tenth chapter. In addition
to these notices there are two genealogical tables; the first from Adam
to Noah (ch. 5), the second from Shem to Abraham (ch. 11).

The _second_ part comprises the remainder of the book. In this we have
no longer a history of the whole race, but of Abraham's family, with
only incidental notices of the nations into connection with whom Abraham
and his posterity were brought. It opens with an account of the call of
Abraham and the covenant made with him; notices the repeated renewal of
this covenant to Abraham, with the institution of the rite of
circumcision; its subsequent renewal to Isaac