The Pulpit Commentary — Genesis — Section 108

Vcrs. 20-22.-'l'lte mys(ery of life. I. hs omcrn. 1. Kot dwd nwUer. Scrip- ture, eqnally with science, rrprese11fs life as having- a J;l,ysical basis; but, urdike modern e,·olutionista, never confounds vital force with the material rncchar,iirn in which it resides, and tl1ro11gh wl,ich it opcrntt·s. Advanced biologists account for life by molecular nrrangemcnt, chemical combination, spontaneous generation, or some such equally insufficient hypothesis. Tlll~ rigorouR necessities of trutl, and logic, however, compel them to admit tlrnt neitluir the action of material forceB nor the ingenuity of man has been able to produce a biophsmic cell. "The chasm between the not living and the living the present /state of knowledge cannot bridge" (Huxley). "Most naturalists of our time lrnve given np the attempt to account for the origin of life by natural causes" (Hiieckcl). But-2. The living Goel. All existing li-fe has proceeded from some antecedent life, is the latest verdict of biological science. Every bioplnst lias been produced by a previous bioplast: omnis celfola e cellula. Essentially that is tl,c teacl,ing of revelation. 1'1:e Maker of the first bioplast was God. If the present narrative appears to recognise the doctrine of mediate creation by saying, 11 Let the waters bring forth," 11 Let the earth bring forth,'' it is careful to affirm that, in so far as material force~ contributed to the pro- duction of life, they were directly impelled thereto, and energized therefor, by tl,e creative word. The hypothesis that matter was originally possessed of, or endowerl with," the potency of life" (Tyndall) is expressly negatived by ver. 21, which represents life as the immediate creation cf Elohim. II. ITS NATURE. Scripture vouchsafes no information as to wbnt constitutes the vis viva of organised beings. Beyond characterising the beings themselves as "I iving creatures," it leaves the subject wrapped in profoundest mystery. And tl,c veil of that mystery science has not been able to penetrate. The microscope has indeed conclusively shown that living matter, or bioplasm, i8 that whic-h weaves tl:e endlessly varied structures of animal forms; but as to what that is which imparts to the transparent, structureless, albuminous fluid, called bioplasm, tlie power of self- multiplication and organisation it is silent. 11 We fail to detect any organisation in the bioplnsmic mass, but there nre movements in it and life" (Huxley). The utmo,t that science can give as its definition of life is, 11 that which originates and directs tlrn movements of bioplasm" ( cf. 'Beale on Protoplasm ; ' Cook's 'Lectures on Biology'). Scripture advances n step beyond scie1•ce, ard affirms that life in its last analysis i~ the power of God (Ps. civ. 30; Isa. xxxviii. l 6). III. hs MANIFESTATION. 1. .Abundant. The creatures of the sea were produced in swarms, and probably the birds appeared in flocks. This was-(1) Predictive of their natures as gregarious nnimals: Though afterwards prolific, they might ha Ye been created in small numbers; but, as if to maintain a correspondence between the characteristic properties cf the crentmes ar.d their first prcdurtion, they were madt>, the fish in shoals, the fowl in broods. (2) Expressive of the Creator's joy. God findM a part of His happiness in sunounding himself "·ith living creatures. lfad there been no other end to serve by the fish ond fowl of the fifth day, tl1is would have been cause sufficient for their creation. (3) Anticipative of man's arrivnl on the scene. Not only was it n step in achn1:ce on the ,vork of the previous day, and as such preliminary to the advent of mon, but the aquatic and aerial creatures were desig·ned to be subservient to man's nefds and usrs. 2. Van"ed. (]) In its form. The living crentures of the fifth dny were diverse in their physical structures. Though in the initial stages of their embryonic condition fish and fowl may 11ot ho widely dissimilar, yet their completed organisms ore not the same. Each class, too, consists of on endlessly diversified army of Fpec-ies, and the variations among ir.di- vidual members of the same species arc practically limitless. (2) Jn its functions. Although nil living creatures hnve certnin essential charncteristks in common, resembling one another in their chemicnl constituents, in their living by respiration in their growth by intersusception of nutriment, in their capability of reproduction, ;rot the ordinnry functionR they ore meant to perform through their respective orguna 28 THE BOOK OF GENESIS. [•~R. J. 20-23.