A35537:2033
An exposition with practical observations continued upon the thirty-fifth, thirty-sixth, and thirty-seventh chapters of…
An exposition with practical observations continued upon the thirty-fifth, thirty-sixth, and thirty-seventh chapters of the book of Job being the substance of thirty-five lectures / by Joseph Caryl ...
London: printed by M. Simmons, 1664
AN EXPOSITION WITH Practical Observations UPON The Thirty-fifth, Th… › Chapter 37 › Verses 14-16
Modern spelling is a reading aid: the words are the author’s, only the spelling is modernized. Original shows the page as printed, with the transcription marks.
Some have questioned whether the Rainbow were before the Flood or no? The reason or ground of the question is given from that saying of God (Gen. 9.13.) I will set my Bow in the Cloud: it seems then there was no Rainbow before the Flood.
I answer, The Rainbow may be considered two ways; First, as to its natural being; Secondly, as to its mystical use. If we consider the Rainbow as to its natural being, it was before the Flood, for the causes of it were before the Flood, which are watery Clouds and the shining of the Sun: Now when sufficient causes appear in act, the effect doth certainly follow. But as to its mystical use, it was not before the Flood. Water had its natural elementary being and use, before Baptism was instituted, but it had not a spiritual use till then: we may say the same of the Rainbow. Some I know of the Moderns, Luther and Melanchthon assert, ⟨p. 545⟩it was not in being till then; but we have reason to vary from that opinion, with reverence to those worthy men: For God did not say in the 9th of Genesis, I will make or create my Bow in the Cloud, but, I do set my Bow in the Cloud, and it shall be there for a token of a Covenant between me and the Earth. The Rainbow had no such signification, nor was it set in the Cloud for any such purpose, before that time. So then,
I answer, The Rainbow may be considered two wayes; First, as to its natural being; Secondly, as to its mystical use. If we consider the Rainbow as to its natural being, it was before the Flood, for the causes of it were before the Flood, which are watery Clouds and the shining of the Sun: Now when sufficient causes appear in act, the effect doth certainly follow. But as to its mystical use, it was not before the Flood. Water had its natural elementary being and use, before Baptisme was instituted, but it had not a spiritual use till then: we may say the same of the Rainbow. Some I know of the Moderns, Luther and Melancthon assert, ⟨p. 545⟩