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Patriarchs and Prophets
which he is unable to resist. God made such ample provision that man
need never have been defeated in the conflict with Satan.
As men increased upon the earth, almost the whole world joined
the ranks of rebellion. Once more Satan seemed to have gained the
victory. But omnipotent power again cut short the working of iniquity,
and the earth was cleansed by the Flood from its moral pollution.
Says the prophet, “When Thy judgments are in the earth, the
inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness. Let favor be showed
to the wicked, yet will he not learn righteousness, ... and will not
behold the majesty of Jehovah.”
Isaiah 26:9, 10
. Thus it was after the
Flood. Released from His judgments, the inhabitants of the earth again
rebelled against the Lord. Twice God’s covenant and His statutes had
been rejected by the world. Both the people before the Flood and the
descendants of Noah cast off the divine authority. Then God entered
into covenant with Abraham, and took to Himself a people to become
the depositaries of His law. To seduce and destroy this people, Satan
began at once to lay his snares. The children of Jacob were tempted
to contract marriages with the heathen and to worship their idols. But
Joseph was faithful to God, and his fidelity was a constant testimony
to the true faith. It was to quench this light that Satan worked through
the envy of Joseph’s brothers to cause him to be sold as a slave in a
heathen land. God overruled events, however, so that the knowledge
of Himself should be given to the people of Egypt. Both in the house
of Potiphar and in the prison Joseph received an education and training
that, with the fear of God, prepared him for his high position as prime
minister of the nation. From the palace of the Pharaohs his influence
was felt throughout the land, and the knowledge of God spread far and
wide. The Israelites in Egypt also became prosperous and wealthy,
and such as were true to God exerted a widespread influence. The
idolatrous priests were filled with alarm as they saw the new religion
finding favor. Inspired by Satan with his own enmity toward the God
of heaven, they set themselves to quench the light. To the priests was
committed the education of the heir to the throne, and it was this spirit
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of determined opposition to God and zeal for idolatry that molded the
character of the future monarch, and led to cruelty and oppression
toward the Hebrews.
During the forty years after the flight of Moses from Egypt, idolatry
seemed to have conquered. Year by year the hopes of the Israelites