Satan’s Enmity Against the Law
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was treated with little respect, and upon the death of her husband she
was required to submit to the authority of her eldest son. Filial obedi-
ence 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 had obtained power over the human race, he not only
prompted them to hate and slay one another, but, the more boldly to
defy the authority of God, he made the violation of the sixth com-
mandment a part of their religion.
By perverted conceptions of divine attributes, heathen nations were
led to believe human sacrifices necessary to secure the favor of their
deities; and the most horrible cruelties have been perpetrated under the
various forms of idolatry. Among these was the practice of causing
their children to pass through the fire before their idols. When one
of them came through this ordeal unharmed, the people believed that
their offerings were accepted; the one thus delivered was regarded
as specially favored by the gods, was loaded with benefits, and ever
afterward held in high esteem; and however aggravated his crimes,
he was never punished. But should one be burned in passing through
the fire, his fate was sealed; it was believed that the anger of the gods
could be appeased only by taking the life of the victim, and he was
accordingly offered as a sacrifice. In times of great apostasy these
abominations prevailed, to some extent, among the Israelites.
The violation of the seventh commandment also was early prac-
ticed in the name of religion. The most licentious and abominable rites
were made a part of the heathen worship. The gods themselves were
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represented as impure, and their worshipers gave the rein to the baser
passions. Unnatural vices prevailed and the religious festivals were
characterized by universal and open impurity.
Polygamy was practiced at an early date. It was one of the sins
that brought the wrath of God upon the antediluvian world. Yet after
the Flood it again became widespread. It was Satan’s studied effort to
pervert the marriage institution, to weaken its obligations and lessen
its sacredness; for in no surer way could he deface the image of God
in man and open the door to misery and vice.
From the opening of the great controversy it has been Satan’s pur-
pose to misrepresent God’s character and to excite rebellion against
His law, and this work appears to be crowned with success. The multi-