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Patriarchs and Prophets
the fact that He is the Creator, and that to Him all other beings owe
their existence. Thus it is presented in the Bible. Says the prophet
Jeremiah: “The Lord is the true God, He is the living God, and an
everlasting King.... The gods that have not made the heavens and
the earth, even they shall perish from the earth, and from under these
heavens. He 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, and the work of errors:
in the time of their visitation they shall perish. The portion of Jacob is
not like them: for He is the former of all things.”
Jeremiah 10:10-12,
14-16
. The Sabbath, as a memorial of God’s creative power, points to
Him as the maker of the heavens and the earth. Hence it is a constant
witness to His existence and a reminder of His greatness, His wisdom,
and His love. Had the Sabbath always been sacredly observed, there
could never have been an atheist or an idolater.
The Sabbath institution, which originated in Eden, is as old as
the world itself. It was observed by all the patriarchs, from creation
down. During the bondage in Egypt, the Israelites were forced by their
taskmasters to violate the Sabbath, and to a great extent they lost the
knowledge of its sacredness. When the law was proclaimed at Sinai
the very 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. In order to
obliterate God from the minds of men, 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.
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Satan’s enmity against God’s law had impelled him to war against
every precept of the Decalogue. To the great principle of love and loy-
alty to God, the Father of all, the principle of filial love and obedience
is closely related. 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. Among heathen peoples the
principle enjoined in this precept was little heeded. In many nations
parents were abandoned or put to death as soon as age had rendered
them incapable of providing for themselves. In the family the mother