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Patriarchs and Prophets
In sparing the life of the first murderer, God presented before the
whole universe a lesson bearing upon the great controversy. The dark
history of Cain and his descendants was an illustration of what would
have been the result of permitting the sinner to live on forever, to carry
out his rebellion against God. The forbearance of God only rendered
the wicked more bold and defiant in their iniquity. Fifteen centuries
after the sentence pronounced upon Cain, the universe witnessed the
fruition of his influence and example, in the crime and pollution that
flooded the earth. It was made manifest that the sentence of death
pronounced upon the fallen race for the transgression of God’s law
was both just and merciful. The longer men lived in sin, the more
abandoned they became. The divine sentence cutting short a career of
unbridled iniquity, and freeing the world from the influence of those
who had become hardened in rebellion, was a blessing rather than a
curse.
Satan is constantly at work, with intense energy and under a thou-
sand disguises, to misrepresent the character and government of God.
With extensive, well-organized plans and marvelous power, he is work-
ing to hold the inhabitants of the world under his deceptions. God, the
One infinite and all-wise, sees the end from the beginning, and in deal-
ing with evil His plans were far-reaching and comprehensive. It was
His purpose, not merely to put down the rebellion, but to demonstrate
to all the universe the nature of the rebellion. God’s plan was unfold-
ing, showing both His justice and His mercy, and fully vindicating His
wisdom and righteousness in His dealings with evil.
The holy inhabitants of other worlds were watching with the deep-
est interest the events taking place on the earth. In the condition of
the world that existed before the Flood they saw illustrated the results
of the administration which Lucifer had endeavored to establish in
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heaven, in rejecting the authority of Christ and casting aside the law of
God. In those high-handed sinners of the antediluvian world they saw
the subjects over whom Satan held sway. The thoughts of men’s hearts
were only evil continually.
Genesis 6:5
. Every emotion, every impulse
and imagination, was at war with the divine principles of purity and
peace and love. It was an example of the awful depravity resulting
from Satan’s policy to remove from God’s creatures the restraint of
His holy law.