3.  To  him  was  given  leave  to  eat  flesh,  as  a  relief  from  the  fruit
of  the  curse  on  the  ground,  which  rendered  the  fruits  of  it  less  pleas-
ant and  wholesome.  God  gave  Noah  leave  to  feed  on  the  flesh  of
other  animals,  to  comfort  him  under  his  toil  of  his  hands  in  tilling
the  ground.  And  this  is  another  type  of  our  feeding  on  Christ,
and  having  spiritual  life  and  refreshment  in  him  :  for,  in  feeding
on  the  flesh  of  animals,  our  food  and  the  nourishment  of  our  lives
is  obtained  at  the  expense  of  their  lives  and  shedding  their  blood,
as  we  come  to  feed  on  Christ  by  his  laying  down  his  life.  And
these  things  in  Noah  tliat  should  be  matter  of  comfort  under
God's  curse,  are  the  rather  taken  notice  of  in  him,  because  in  his
time  the  curse  on  the  ground  was  to  be  more  fully  executed  than
ever  it  had  been  before — the  good  constitution  of  the  earth  was
to  be  overthrown  by  a  flood,  and  its  wholesomeness  and  fertility
greatly  diminished,  and  so  the  toil  of  his  hands  would  be  greatly
increased,  were  it  not  for  this  relief  given  that  has  been  men-
tioned.
4.  Before  Noah,  God's  people  did  not  know  how  far  this  curse
would  proceed  ;  they  probably  foresaw  that  God  intended  to  exe-
cute the  curse  on  the  ground  in  a  much  further  degree  than  ever
yet  he  had  done.  God  had  not  comforted  his  people  by  any  limiti
set  in  any  promise  made  to  them,  but  to  Noah  God  made  a  gra-
ciou?*  promise,  setting  limits  to  the  curse,  promising  in  some  retpeets


172  NDiEs  ON  TJir.  r.ir.i.K.
