Satan’s Hatred of God’s Law
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The True Sign of Loyalty to God—The Sabbath
God’s claim to reverence and worship, above the gods of the hea-
then, is based upon the fact that He is the Creator. Says the prophet
Jeremiah: “The living God ... hath made the earth by His power, He
hath established the world by His wisdom, and hath stretched out the
heavens by His discretion.” “Every man is brutish in his knowledge:
every founder is confounded by the graven image: for his molten
image is falsehood, and there is no breath in them. They are vanity,
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and the work of errors: in the time of their visitation they shall perish.”
Jeremiah 10:10-12, 14, 15
. The Sabbath, as a memorial of God’s
creative power, points to Him as the maker of the heavens and the
earth. It is a constant witness to His greatness, wisdom, and love. Had
the Sabbath always been sacredly observed, there could never have
been an atheist or an idolater.
The Sabbath, which originated in Eden, is as old as the world
itself. It was observed by all the patriarchs, from creation down.
When the law was proclaimed at Sinai, the first words of the fourth
commandment were, “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy,”
showing that the Sabbath was not then instituted. We are pointed back
for its origin to creation. Satan aimed to tear down this great memorial.
If men could be led to forget their Creator, they would make no effort
to resist the power of evil, and Satan would be sure of his prey.
Satan’s enmity against God’s law had impelled him to war against
every precept of the Decalogue. Contempt for parental authority will
soon lead to contempt for the authority of God, hence Satan’s efforts
to lessen the obligation of the fifth commandment. In many heathen
nations parents were abandoned or put to death as soon as age had
rendered them incapable of providing for themselves. The mother was
treated with little respect, and, upon the death of her husband, was
required to submit to the authority of her eldest son. Filial obedience
was enjoined by Moses; but as the Israelites departed from the Lord,
the fifth commandment, with others, came to be disregarded.
Satan was “a murderer from the beginning” (
John 8:44
); and as
soon as he obtained power over the human race, he not only prompted
them to hate and slay one another, but made the violation of the sixth
commandment a part of their religion.