AN. A N"T HR 0 P 0 PATH Y.. Book I. SPEAKTNG a11d Speech, is attributed to God. Where we int1l1: note that thofe Places of Scripture wherein God is faid to fpeok or Utter certain Vvords, that he miaht I)Janifdt his Divine Pleafure to Men that Way, do not belong to this Place. God fometimos thus fpake immediately as to our li.r(t Parents, Gen. ii. 16. and iii. 9· to Noah, Gen. vi. 13. toAbraham, Gen. xii. 1. Chap. xvi. xvii. and xviii. toMofts, Exod. iii. 4, 5· and the following Verfes, and to Patriarchs, Prophets, &c. in the Old Teftament. 2. Sometimes God did fpeak mediately, by divinely infpired Men, in whom a Mind enlightened by the Spirit ofGod was formed into Words. An Account of fuch *is found every where in Scripwre, as a!fo of Angels who are his miniftering Spirits. Now God does not fpeak thus by Way of Anthropopathy or Metaphor, but truly and properly, al– though in a far djfferent<~nd more excellent Manner than Men do, or can think. But that Speaking, of God, which belongs to this Figure is, . : .. (1.) When the effetl:ual or efficacious Decree of the Divine WiU about the Creature, ~nd the Executions thereof is revealed or exprelfed after the Manner of humari Speech, as Gen. i. 3· A~d God faid, L et there be Light, and !here was Light, (fuitabk to 2 Cer, iv. 6. where it is written, and God who faid, or commanded the Light to jhine out of Darlnefs) Verfc 6. and God faid, L et there be a Firmammt in the M idft of the Waters, ~Qd Verfe 9· And God faid, Let the Waters under the Heaven be gathered together, &c. and Verfe 11. And God faid, Let the Earth bring forth Grafs, & c. Verfe 14. Alid God Jaid, Let there be Lights in_the FirmameNt of the Heavens, and Verfe 20. A_nd Goq foid, Let the lVaiers bring forth abundantly the moving Creature, and Verfe 24. And Godfaid, Let the Earth bring forth the living Creature, &c. Rab. Mof. Maimon. t fays, that this .Phrafe in the Crea~ion (and God faid) is to be underltood of the Will and not of Speech; becaufe Speech by whicha Thing is commanded, muftofNeceffity be directed to fom~ Being or Objett capable to execute his Commands, but no Objetl:s of fuch a Capacity had then Being; therefore of Neceffity it muft be underftood only of God's Will. . iVlufculus in his Comment, fays, that Mofts fpeaks of God after the Manner of Men, not that God fpoke fo. For by his Word the Virtue and Efficacy of his Will 1s ex– prelfed, &c. for what we would have done. That it might be underltood, believed, or done, we exprefs ourfdves by the Prolarion of a Word;· a·nd when God's Will is ex– prelfed, it is called a \Vord. God is a Spirit, and ufes no corporeal or organical Speech, no tranjient Voice, nor Hebrew, Greek, or other Idiom, unlefs in fame tempo– rary Difpenfation he was pleafed to utrer himfelf organically, which has no Place here-, ·&c. So the Appellation of Names given to the Creatures, Verfes 5, 8, 10. which is afcribed to God, notes only his Decree and Divine Conltitution that Men fhould fo call them. So the Bleffing of God to Fijhes, Fowl, &c. Verfe 22. denotes his real Appointment of the Multiplication of their refpeC\ive Kinds. Upon which Mufcult/S t very well fays, if you confider that God fpeaks to Aquatiles or watery Creatures, you will judge it a won– derful Kind of Speech; but he fpeaks not to their Ears, but to their Natures, to which by the V inue of his Word he hath given a Power and Efficacy to propagate their own Kinds. . From this Defcription of the Creation, the Divine Force and Efficacy of God's Will in the Creation and Confervation of the Creatures (which is fo confpicuous) is called the Wor-d of God, Pfal. xxxiii. 5, 6. cvii. 20. and cxlvii. 15, 1S. Heb. i. 3· and xi. 3: 2 Pet. iii. 5, 7, &c. So in other Decrees of the Divine Will, God is faid to JPeak, Gen. viii. 21. And the Lord faid i11 his Heart, I will 1101 again curfe the Ground, that is, he fo confl:itUted and decreed it, that by Noah . it fhould be fo manifefted unto the \Vorld. Pfal. ii. 5· 'I'ben jhall he JPeak to them in his !Vrath, that is, he will crufh his Enemies with horrible J udgmen:s and Punifhments. :· Sometimes the Decrees and Apppinrments of the Trinity by Way of Dialogue or Collcquy, among the Divine Perfons, as Gen. i. :>6. And God f~id, Let us make Man in • QgDrum 'll'c.AuGevAA!l'TOJ ttbi'UiJ projJat. t Cum tjji'cax divitttr <uoltmtatis de CreaturiJ duretzalz, ejuj<ve·E.'wwtio per modum lofp~tla: humand! cxpri"mi· tur, &c. ln more.Nebochim, Part. 1. Cap.65. :t Bmtdillio divina rput adpifi1t 1 tl R'iiU pro/ata e,Pe 4 Dto Jititur, Vcrfu 22. rtalis ljJ mllltiplifationiJ/pecit• '(um j/larum conj!Jtutio.
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