Chapter VI: Appendix: 757 (1)

INDEX TO SCRIPTURES ... 765

GENERAL INDEX ... 771

Illustrations

ABRAHAM AND ISAAC ... Frontispiece

THE FIRST SABBATH ... 47

THE TWO OFFERINGS ... 75

REVELRY BEFORE THE FLOOD ... 93

THE TOWER OF BABEL ... 121

MELCHIZEDEK BLESSING ABRAHAM ... 136

ABRAHAM VIEWING HIS SLEEPING SON ... 149

THE FLIGHT FROM SODOM ... 162

JACOB RECEIVING THE BLESSING ... 180

JACOB’S DREAM ... 185

GUARDING THE FLOCK BY NIGHT ... 190

JACOB MEETING ESAU ... 199

JOSEPH’S COAT IDENTIFIED ... 210

SCENE ON THE RIVER NILE ... 215

MOSES A SHEPHERD ... 249

MOSES AND AARON BEFORE PHARAOH ... 262

THE PASSOVER ... 275

DELIVERANCE OF ISRAEL AT THE RED SEA ... 285

THE PRAYER OF MOSES ... 299

MOSES BREAKING THE TABLES ... 321

THE DAILY SACRIFICE ... 346

THE CAMP OF ISRAEL ... 366

THE SMITTEN ROCK ... 415

BALAAM BLESSING ISRAEL ... 445

MOSES VIEWING THE LAND OF PROMISE ... 473

THE FALL OF JERICHO ... 490

REJOICING AT THE FEAST ... 502

THE FEAST OF TABERNACLES ... 538

GIDEON AND PHURAH ... 551

THE ESSENTIAL KNOWLEDGE ... 598

SAMUEL REPROVING SAUL ... 619

BETHLEHEM FROM THE EAST ... 640

DAVID FINDS SAUL ASLEEP ... 669

SAUL AND THE WITCH OF ENDOR ... 678

THE CORONATION OF DAVID ... 701

MODERN JERUSALEM BY MOONLIGHT ... 709

THE MOUNT OF OLIVES ... 733

THE SWEET SINGER OF ISRAEL ... 748

Small Illustrations

SONG OF THE ANGELS AT CREATION ... 33

THE SOLAR SYSTEM ... 43

LANDSCAPE ... 44

SINGING BIRDS ... 51

ANGELS GUARDING ENTRANCE TO EDEN ... 52

GLAD TIDINGS OF SALVATION ... 63

SCENE OF THE CRUCIFIXION ... 70

OFFERINGS OF CAIN AND ABEL ... 71

DEATH OF ABEL ... 79

ENOCH ... 80

TRANSLATION OF ENOCH ... 89

BUILDING THE ARK ... 90

NOAH’S ARK IN THE STORM ... 104

THE ARK AT REST ... 105

LANDSCAPE ... 111

THE RAINBOW OF PROMISE ... 116

THE TOWER OF BABEL ... 117

ABRAM JOURNEYING TOWARD CANAAN ... 125

THE EVENING SACRIFICE ... 131

ABRAHAM AND LOT VIEWING CANAAN ... 132

CROSS AND CROWN ... 145

THE BURNING OF SODOM ... 156

REBEKAH AT THE WELL ... 171

JACOB AND ESAU ... 177

BEER-SHEBA ... 182

JACOB’S FLIGHT ... 183

THE PILLAR AND HEAP OF WITNESS ... 194

THE PRAYER OF VICTORY ... 195

JACOB AND THE ANGEL ... 203

A CITY OF CANAAN ... 204

TOMB OF RACHEL ... 212

AN EGYPTIAN STORE-HOUSE ... 213

SHEPHERD WITH HIS FLOCK ... 223

JOSEPH’S BROTHERS BUYING GRAIN ... 224

THE FINDING OF MOSES ... 241

MOSES AT THE BURNING BUSH ... 256

EGYPTIAN BONDAGE ... 257

THE PASCHAL LAMB ... 273

A BUNCH OF HYSSOP ... 280

ISRAELITES LEAVING EGYPT ... 281

THE WATERS OF MARAH ... 291

TABLES OF THE LAW ... 303

THE GOLDEN CALF ... 315

THE ENMITY ... 331

TREES IN BLOSSOM ... 342

OFFERINGS FOR THE TABERNACLE ... 343

THE SCAPEGOAT ... 358

DEATH OF NADAB AND ABIHU ... 359

MOUNT SINAI ... 363

QUAILS ALIGHTING ON THE CAMP ... 374

TOMBS OF PETRA ... 386

GRAPES OF PALESTINE ... 387

DEATH OF KORAH, DATHAN, AND ABIRAM ... 395

THE MAN WHO GATHERED STICKS ... 406

CHRIST, THE SMITTEN ROCK ... 411

A LIFE-GIVING STREAM ... 421

FIERY SERPENTS ... 422

THE SERPENT OF BRASS ... 432

A CITY OF BASHAN ... 433

BALAAM SMITING THE ASS ... 438

THE SEVEN ALTARS OF BALAAM ... 452

IDOLATROUS REVELRY ... 453

MOSES VIEWING CANAAN ... 462

AN ANCIENT LAMP ... 468

MOSES ON MOUNT PISGAH ... 469

THE TRANSFIGURATION ... 480

THE JORDAN OVERFLOWING ITS BANKS ... 481

CROSSING THE JORDAN ... 486

BLOWING THE TRUMPETS BEFORE JERICHO ... 487

MONUMENT ON MOUNT EBAL ... 499

THE FRUIT OF THE VINE ... 504

JOSHUA COMMANDING THE SUN TO STAND STILL ... 505

LANDSCAPE ... 510

SYMBOLS OF VICTORY ... 521

A HARVEST SCENE ... 525

RUTH THE GLEANER ... 530

SYRIAN SPARROWS ... 536

GOING UP TO THE FEAST ... 537

SYMBOLS OF IDOLATRY ... 543

GIDEON’S NIGHT ATTACK ... 559

SAMSON WORKING IN THE MILL ... 560

DEATH OF SAMSON ... 568

SAMUEL PRESENTED TO ELI ... 569

ELI REPROVING HIS SONS ... 575

GAZA ... 581

THE RETURN OF THE ARK ... 591

STUDYING THE WORD OF GOD ... 592

IN THE CARPENTER SHOP ... 602

INSIGNIA OF ROYALTY ... 603

SAUL GOING TO BATTLE ... 616

JONATHAN AND HIS ARMOR-BEARER ... 626

SAUL REPROVED BY A PROPHET ... 627

DAVID THE SHEPHERD BOY ... 637

DAVID AT THE BROOK ... 643

DAVID AND JONATHAN ... 649

PROOF OF DAVID’S MAGNANIMITY ... 660

ABIGAIL BESEECHING DAVID ... 674

DEATH OF SAUL ... 675

VILLAGE OF ENDOR ... 683

CARAVAN CROSSING THE DESERT ... 689

DAVID VIEWING THE RUINS OF ZIKLAG ... 690

HEBRON ... 697

JERUSALEM ... 702

DAVID’S CAPITAL ... 703

SITE OF SOLOMON’S TEMPLE ... 717

OLIVE BRANCH ... 726

TOMBS OF ABSALOM ... 727

SYMBOLS OF PEACE AND PROSPERITY ... 746

IN THE BEGINNING

“By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God.”

“He spake, and it was; he commanded, and it stood fast.”

WHY WAS SIN PERMITTED?—1

“GOD is love.” His nature, his law, is love. It ever has been; it ever will be. “The high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity,” “whose ways are everlasting,” changeth not. With him “is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.”

Every manifestation of creative power is an expression of infinite love. The sovereignty of God involves fullness of blessing to all created beings. The psalmist says:—

“Strong is thy hand, and high is thy right hand.
Righteousness and judgment are the foundation of thy throne:
Mercy and truth go before thy face.
Blessed is the people that know the joyful sound;
They walk, O Lord, in the light of thy countenance.
In thy name do they rejoice all the day;
And in thy righteousness are they exalted.
For thou art the glory of their strength, ...
For our shield belongeth unto Jehovah,
And our King to the Holy One.”[1]

The history of the great conflict between good and evil, from the time it first began in heaven to the final overthrow of rebellion and the total eradication of sin, is also a demonstration of God’s unchanging love.

The Sovereign of the universe was not alone in his work of beneficence. He had an associate,—a co-worker who could appreciate his purposes, and could share his joy in giving happiness to created beings. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God.”[2] Christ, the Word, the only begotten of God, was one with the eternal Father,—one in nature, in character, in purpose,—the only being that could enter into all the counsels and purposes of God. “His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of peace.”[3] His “goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.”[4] And the Son of God declares concerning himself: “The Lord possessed me in the beginning of his way, before his works of old. I was set up from everlasting.... When he appointed the foundations of the earth, then I was by him, as one brought up with him; and I was daily his delight, rejoicing always before him.”[5]

The Father wrought by his Son in the creation of all heavenly beings. “By him were all things created, ... whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers. All things were created by him, and for him.”[6] Angels are God’s ministers, radiant with the light ever flowing from his presence, and speeding on rapid wing to execute his will. But the Son, the anointed of God, the “express image of his person,” “the brightness of his glory,” “upholding all things by the word of his power,” holds supremacy over them all. “A glorious high throne from the beginning,” was the place of his sanctuary; “a scepter of righteousness,” the scepter of his kingdom.[7] “Honor and majesty are before him. Strength and beauty are in his sanctuary.” Mercy and truth go before his face.[8]

The law of love being the foundation of the government of God, the happiness of all intelligent beings depends upon their perfect accord with its great principles of righteousness. God desires from all his creatures the service of love,—service that springs from an appreciation of his character. He takes no pleasure in a forced obedience; and to all he grants freedom of will, that they may render him voluntary service.

So long as all created beings acknowledged the allegiance of love, there was perfect harmony throughout the universe of God. It was the joy of the heavenly host to fulfill the purpose of their Creator. They delighted in reflecting his glory and showing forth his praise. And while love to God was supreme, love for one another was confiding and unselfish. There was no note of discord to mar the celestial harmonies. But a change came over this happy state. There was one who perverted the freedom that God had granted to his creatures. Sin originated with him, who, next to Christ, had been most honored of God, and was highest in power and glory among the inhabitants of heaven. Lucifer, “son of the morning,” was first of the covering cherubs, holy and undefiled. He stood in the presence of the great Creator, and the ceaseless beams of glory enshrouding the eternal God, rested upon him. “Thus saith the Lord God: Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty. Thou hast been in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering.... Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so. Thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire. Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.”[9]

Little by little, Lucifer came to indulge the desire for self-exaltation. The Scripture says: “Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty; thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness.”[10] “Thou hast said in thine heart, ... I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; ... I will be like the Most High.”[11] Though all his glory was from God, this mighty angel came to regard it as pertaining to himself. Not content with his position, though honored above the heavenly host, he ventured to covet homage due alone to the Creator. Instead of seeking to make God supreme in the affections and allegiance of all created beings, it was his endeavor to secure their service and loyalty to himself. And coveting the glory with which the infinite Father had invested his Son, this prince of angels aspired to power that was the prerogative of Christ alone.

Now the perfect harmony of heaven was broken. Lucifer’s disposition to serve himself instead of his Creator, aroused a feeling of apprehension when observed by those who considered that the glory of God should be supreme. In heavenly council the angels pleaded with Lucifer. The Son of God presented before him the greatness, the goodness, and the justice of the Creator, and the sacred, unchanging nature of his law. God himself had established the order of heaven; and in departing from it, Lucifer would dishonor his Maker, and bring ruin upon himself. But the warning, given in infinite love and mercy, only aroused a spirit of resistance. Lucifer allowed his jealousy of Christ to prevail, and became the more determined.

To dispute the supremacy of the Son of God, thus impeaching the wisdom and love of the Creator, had become the purpose of this prince of angels. To this object he was about to bend the energies of that master-mind, which, next to Christ’s was first among the hosts of God. But he who would have the will of all his creatures free, left none unguarded to the bewildering sophistry by which rebellion would seek to justify itself. Before the great contest should open, all were to have a clear presentation of His will, whose wisdom and goodness were the spring of all their joy.

The King of the universe summoned the heavenly hosts before him, that in their presence he might set forth the true position of his Son, and show the relation he sustained to all created beings. The Son of God shared the Father’s throne, and the glory of the eternal, self-existent One encircled both. About the throne gathered the holy angels, a vast, unnumbered throng—“ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands,”[12] the most exalted angels, as ministers and subjects, rejoicing in the light that fell upon them from the presence of the Deity. Before the assembled inhabitants of heaven, the King declared that none but Christ, the only begotten of God, could fully enter into his purposes, and to him it was committed to execute the mighty counsels of his will. The Son of God had wrought the Father’s will in the creation of all the hosts of heaven; and to him, as well as to God, their homage and allegiance were due. Christ was still to exercise divine power, in the creation of the earth and its inhabitants. But in all this he would not seek power or exaltation for himself contrary to God’s plan, but would exalt the Father’s glory, and execute his purposes of beneficence and love.

The angels joyfully acknowledged the supremacy of Christ, and prostrating themselves before him, poured out their love and adoration. Lucifer bowed with them; but in his heart there was a strange, fierce conflict. Truth, justice, and loyalty were struggling against envy and jealousy. The influence of the holy angels seemed for a time to carry him with them. As songs of praise ascended in melodious strains, swelled by thousands of glad voices, the spirit of evil seemed vanquished; unutterable love thrilled his entire being; his soul went out, in harmony with the sinless worshipers, in love to the Father and the Son. But again he was filled with pride in his own glory. His desire for supremacy returned, and envy of Christ was once more indulged. The high honors conferred upon Lucifer were not appreciated as God’s special gift, and therefore called forth no gratitude to his Creator. He gloried in his brightness and exaltation, and aspired to be equal with God. He was beloved and reverenced by the heavenly host, angels delighted to execute his commands, and he was clothed with wisdom and glory above them all. Yet the Son of God was exalted above him, as one in power and authority with the Father. He shared the Father’s counsels, while Lucifer did not thus enter into the purposes of God. “Why,” questioned this mighty angel, “should Christ have the supremacy? Why is he honored above Lucifer?”

Leaving his place in the immediate presence of the Father, Lucifer went forth to diffuse the spirit of discontent among the angels. He worked with mysterious secrecy, and for a time concealed his real purpose under an appearance of reverence for God. He began to insinuate doubts concerning the laws that governed heavenly beings, intimating that though laws might be necessary for the inhabitants of the worlds, angels, being more exalted, needed no such restraint, for their own wisdom was a sufficient guide. They were not beings that could bring dishonor to God; all their thoughts were holy; it was no more possible for them than for God himself to err. The exaltation of the Son of God as equal with the Father was represented as an injustice to Lucifer, who, it was claimed, was also entitled to reverence and honor. If this prince of angels could but attain to his true, exalted position, great good would accrue to the entire host of heaven; for it was his object to secure freedom for all. But now even the liberty which they had hitherto enjoyed was at an end; for an absolute ruler had been appointed them, and to his authority all must pay homage. Such were the subtle deceptions that through the wiles of Lucifer were fast obtaining in the heavenly courts.

There had been no change in the position or authority of Christ. Lucifer’s envy and misrepresentation, and his claims to equality with Christ, had made necessary a statement of the true position of the Son of God; but this had been the same from the beginning. Many of the angels were, however, blinded by Lucifer’s deceptions.

Taking advantage of the loving, loyal trust reposed in him by the holy beings under his command, he had so artfully instilled into their minds his own distrust and discontent that his agency was not discerned. Lucifer had presented the purposes of God in a false light,—misconstruing and distorting them, to excite dissent and dissatisfaction. He cunningly drew his hearers on to give utterance to their feelings; then these expressions were repeated by him when it would serve his purpose, as evidence that the angels were not fully in harmony with the government of God. While claiming for himself perfect loyalty to God, he urged that changes in the order and laws of heaven were necessary for the stability of the divine government. Thus while working to excite opposition to the law of God, and to instill his own discontent into the minds of the angels under him, he was ostensibly seeking to remove dissatisfaction, and to reconcile disaffected angels to the order of heaven. While secretly fomenting discord and rebellion, he with consummate craft caused it to appear as his sole purpose to promote loyalty, and to preserve harmony and peace.

The spirit of dissatisfaction, thus kindled, was doing its baleful work. While there was no open outbreak, division of feeling imperceptibly grew up among the angels. There were some who looked with favor upon Lucifer’s insinuations against the government of God. Although they had heretofore been in perfect harmony with the order which God had established, they were now discontented and unhappy because they could not penetrate his unsearchable counsels; they were dissatisfied with his purpose in exalting Christ. These stood ready to second Lucifer’s demand for equal authority with the Son of God. But angels who were loyal and true maintained the wisdom and justice of the divine decree, and endeavored to reconcile this disaffected being to the will of God. Christ was the Son of God; he had been one with him before the angels were called into existence. He had ever stood at the right hand of the Father; his supremacy, so full of blessing to all who came under its benignant control, had not heretofore been questioned. The harmony of heaven had never been interrupted; wherefore should there now be discord? The loyal angels could see only terrible consequences from this dissension, and with earnest entreaty they counseled the disaffected ones to renounce their purpose, and prove themselves loyal to God by fidelity to his government.

In great mercy, according to his divine character, God bore long with Lucifer. The spirit of discontent and disaffection had never before been known in heaven. It was a new element, strange, mysterious, unaccountable. Lucifer himself had not at first been acquainted with the real nature of his feelings; for a time he had feared to express the workings and imaginings of his mind; yet he did not dismiss them. He did not see whither he was drifting. But such efforts as infinite love and wisdom only could devise, were made to convince him of his error. His disaffection was proved to be without cause, and he was made to see what would be the result of persisting in revolt. Lucifer was convinced that he was in the wrong. He saw that “the Lord is righteous in all his ways, and holy in all his works;”[13] that the divine statutes are just, and that he ought to acknowledge them as such before all heaven. Had he done this, he might have saved himself and many angels. He had not at that time fully cast off his allegiance to God. Though he had left his position as covering cherub, yet if he had been willing to return to God, acknowledging the Creator’s wisdom, and satisfied to fill the place appointed him in God’s great plan, he would have been reinstated in his office. The time had come for a final decision; he must fully yield to the divine sovereignty, or place himself in open rebellion. He nearly reached the decision to return; but pride forbade him. It was too great a sacrifice for one who had been so highly honored to confess that he had been in error, that his imaginings were false, and to yield to the authority which he had been working to prove unjust.

A compassionate Creator, in yearning pity for Lucifer and his followers, was seeking to draw them back from the abyss of ruin into which they were about to plunge. But his mercy was misinterpreted. Lucifer pointed to the long-suffering of God as an evidence of his own superiority, an indication that the King of the universe would yet accede to his terms. If the angels would stand firmly with him, he declared, they could yet gain all that they desired. He persistently defended his own course, and fully committed himself to the great controversy against his Maker. Thus it was that Lucifer, “the light-bearer,” the sharer of God’s glory, the attendant of his throne, by transgression became Satan, “the adversary” of God and holy beings, and the destroyer of those whom Heaven had committed to his guidance and guardianship.

Rejecting with disdain the arguments and entreaties of the loyal angels, he denounced them as deluded slaves. The preference shown to Christ he declared an act of injustice both to himself and to all the heavenly host, and announced that he would no longer submit to this invasion of his rights and theirs. He would never again acknowledge the supremacy of Christ. He had determined to claim the honor which should have been given him, and take command of all who would become his followers; and he promised those who would enter his ranks a new and better government, under which all would enjoy freedom. Great numbers of the angels signified their purpose to accept him as their leader. Flattered by the favor with which his advances were received, he hoped to win all the angels to his side, to become equal with God himself, and to be obeyed by the entire host of heaven.

Still the loyal angels urged him and his sympathizers to submit to God; and they set before them the inevitable result should they refuse: He who had created them could overthrow their power, and signally punish their rebellious daring. No angel could successfully oppose the law of God, which was as sacred as himself. They warned all to close their ears against Lucifer’s deceptive reasoning, and urged him and his followers to seek the presence of God without delay, and confess the error of questioning his wisdom and authority.

Many were disposed to heed this counsel, to repent of their disaffection, and seek to be again received into favor with the Father and his Son. But Lucifer had another deception ready. The mighty revolter now declared that the angels who had united with him had gone too far to return; that he was acquainted with the divine law, and knew that God would not forgive. He declared that all who should submit to the authority of Heaven would be stripped of their honor, degraded from their position. For himself, he was determined never again to acknowledge the authority of Christ. The only course remaining for him and his followers, he said, was to assert their liberty, and gain by force the rights which had not been willingly accorded them.

So far as Satan himself was concerned, it was true that he had now gone too far to return. But not so with those who had been blinded by his deceptions. To them the counsel and entreaties of the loyal angels opened a door of hope; and had they heeded the warning, they might have broken away from the snare of Satan. But pride, love for their leader, and the desire for unrestricted freedom, were permitted to bear sway, and the pleadings of divine love and mercy were finally rejected.

God permitted Satan to carry forward his work until the spirit of disaffection ripened into active revolt. It was necessary for his plans to be fully developed, that their true nature and tendency might be seen by all. Lucifer, as the anointed cherub, had been highly exalted; he was greatly loved by the heavenly beings, and his influence over them was strong. God’s government included not only the inhabitants of heaven, but of all the worlds that he had created; and Lucifer had concluded that if he could carry the angels of heaven with him in rebellion, he could carry also all the worlds. He had artfully presented his side of the question, employing sophistry and fraud to secure his objects. His power to deceive was very great. By disguising himself in a cloak of falsehood, he had gained an advantage. All his acts were so clothed with mystery, that it was difficult to disclose to the angels the true nature of his work. Until fully developed, it could not be made to appear the evil thing it was; his disaffection would not be seen to be rebellion. Even the loyal angels could not fully discern his character, or see to what his work was leading.

Lucifer had at first so conducted his temptations that he himself stood uncommitted. The angels whom he could not bring fully to his side, he accused of indifference to the interests of heavenly beings. The very work which he himself was doing, he charged upon the loyal angels. It was his policy to perplex with subtle arguments concerning the purposes of God. Everything that was simple he shrouded in mystery, and by artful perversion cast doubt upon the plainest statements of Jehovah. And his high position, so closely connected with the divine government, gave greater force to his representations.

God could employ only such means as were consistent with truth and righteousness. Satan could use what God could not,—flattery and deceit. He had sought to falsify the word of God, and had misrepresented his plan of government, claiming that God was not just in imposing laws upon the angels; that in requiring submission and obedience from his creatures, he was seeking merely the exaltation of himself. It was therefore necessary to demonstrate before the inhabitants of heaven, and of all the worlds, that God’s government is just, his law perfect. Satan had made it appear that he himself was seeking to promote the good of the universe. The true character of the usurper, and his real object, must be understood by all. He must have time to manifest himself by his wicked works.

The discord which his own course had caused in heaven, Satan charged upon the government of God. All evil he declared to be the result of the divine administration. He claimed that it was his own object to improve upon the statutes of Jehovah. Therefore God permitted him to demonstrate the nature of his claims, to show the working out of his proposed changes in the divine law. His own work must condemn him. Satan had claimed from the first that he was not in rebellion. The whole universe must see the deceiver unmasked.

Even when he was cast out of heaven, Infinite Wisdom did not destroy Satan. Since only the service of love can be acceptable to God, the allegiance of his creatures must rest upon a conviction of his justice and benevolence. The inhabitants of heaven and of the worlds, being unprepared to comprehend the nature or consequences of sin, could not then have seen the justice of God in the destruction of Satan. Had he been immediately blotted out of existence, some would have served God from fear rather than from love. The influence of the deceiver would not have been fully destroyed, nor would the spirit of rebellion have been utterly eradicated. For the good of the entire universe through ceaseless ages, he must more fully develop his principles, that his charges against the divine government might be seen in their true light by all created beings, and that the justice and mercy of God and the immutability of his law might be forever placed beyond all question.

Satan’s rebellion was to be a lesson to the universe through all coming ages,—a perpetual testimony to the nature of sin and its terrible results. The working out of Satan’s rule, its effects upon both men and angels, would show what must be the fruit of setting aside the divine authority. It would testify that with the existence of God’s government is bound up the well-being of all the creatures he has made. Thus the history of this terrible experiment of rebellion was to be a perpetual safeguard to all holy beings, to prevent them from being deceived as to the nature of transgression, to save them from committing sin, and suffering its penalty.

He that ruleth in the heavens is the one who sees the end from the beginning,—the one before whom the mysteries of the past and the future are alike outspread, and who, beyond the woe and darkness and ruin that sin has wrought, beholds the accomplishment of his own purposes of love and blessing. Though “clouds and darkness are round about him, righteousness and judgment are the foundation of his throne.”[14] And this the inhabitants of the universe, both loyal and disloyal, will one day understand. “His work is perfect; for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth, and without iniquity, just and right is he.”[15]

Footnote 1:

Ps. 89:13-18, Rev. Ver.

Footnote 2:

John 1:1, 2.

Footnote 3:

Isa. 9:6.

Footnote 4:

Micah 5:2.

Footnote 5:

Prov. 8:22-30.

Footnote 6:

Col. 1:16.

Footnote 7:

Heb. 1:3, 8; Jer. 17:12.

Footnote 8:

Ps. 96:6; 89:14.

Footnote 9:

Eze. 28:12-15

Footnote 10:

Eze. 28:17.

Footnote 11:

Isa. 14:13, 14.

Footnote 12:

Rev. 5:11.

Footnote 13:

Ps. 145:17.

Footnote 14:

Ps. 97:2. Rev. Ver.

Footnote 15:

Deut. 32:4.

THE CREATION—2

“By the word of the Lord were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth.” “For he spake, and it was; he commanded, and it stood fast.” He “laid the foundations of the earth, that it should not be removed forever.”[16]

As the earth came forth from the hand of its Maker, it was exceedingly beautiful. Its surface was diversified with mountains, hills, and plains, interspersed with noble rivers and lovely lakes; but the hills and mountains were not abrupt and rugged, abounding in terrific steeps and frightful chasms, as they now do; the sharp, ragged edges of earth’s rocky frame-work were buried beneath the fruitful soil, which everywhere produced a luxuriant growth of verdure. There were no loathsome swamps nor barren deserts. Graceful shrubs and delicate flowers greeted the eye at every turn. The heights were crowned with trees more majestic than any that now exist. The air, untainted by foul miasm, was clear and healthful. The entire landscape outvied in beauty the decorated grounds of the proudest palace. The angelic host viewed the scene with delight, and rejoiced at the wonderful works of God.

After the earth with its teeming animal and vegetable life, had been called into existence, man, the crowning work of the Creator, and the one for whom the beautiful earth had been fitted up, was brought upon the stage of action. To him was given dominion over all that his eye could behold; for “God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness; and let them have dominion over ... all the earth.” “So God created man in his own image; ... male and female created he them.”[17] Here is clearly set forth the origin of the human race; and the divine record is so plainly stated that there is no occasion for erroneous conclusions. God created man in his own image. Here is no mystery. There is no ground for the supposition that man was evolved, by slow degrees of development, from the lower forms of animal or vegetable life. Such teaching lowers the great work of the Creator to the level of man’s narrow, earthly conceptions. Men are so intent upon excluding God from the sovereignty of the universe, that they degrade man, and defraud him of the dignity of his origin. He who set the starry worlds on high, and tinted with delicate skill the flowers of the field, who filled the earth and the heavens with the wonders of his power, when he came to crown his glorious work, to place one in the midst to stand as ruler of the fair earth, did not fail to create a being worthy of the hand that gave him life. The genealogy of our race, as given by inspiration, traces back its origin, not to a line of developing germs, mollusks, and quadrupeds, but to the great Creator. Though formed from the dust, Adam was “the son of God.”[18]

He was placed, as God’s representative, over the lower orders of being. They cannot understand or acknowledge the sovereignty of God, yet they were made capable of loving and serving man. The psalmist says, “Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet, ... the beasts of the field, the fowl of the air, ... and whatsoever passeth through the paths of the seas.”[19]

Man was to bear God’s image, both in outward resemblance and in character. Christ alone is “the express image”[20] of the Father; but man was formed in the likeness of God. His nature was in harmony with the will of God. His mind was capable of comprehending divine things. His affections were pure; his appetites and passions were under the control of reason. He was holy and happy in bearing the image of God, and in perfect obedience to his will.

As man came forth from the hand of his Creator, he was of lofty stature and perfect symmetry. His countenance bore the ruddy tint of health, and glowed with the light of life and joy. Adam’s height was much greater than that of men who now inhabit the earth. Eve was somewhat less in stature; yet her form was noble, and full of beauty. The sinless pair wore no artificial garments; they were clothed with a covering of light and glory, such as the angels wear. So long as they lived in obedience to God, this robe of light continued to enshroud them.

After the creation of Adam, every living creature was brought before him to receive its name; he saw that to each had been given a companion, but among them “there was not found an help meet for him.”[21] Among all the creatures that God had made on the earth, there was not one equal to man. And “God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.”[22] Man was not made to dwell in solitude; he was to be a social being. Without companionship, the beautiful scenes and delightful employments of Eden would have failed to yield perfect happiness. Even communion with angels could not have satisfied his desire for sympathy and companionship. There was none of the same nature to love, and to be loved.

God himself gave Adam a companion. He provided “an help meet for him,”—a helper corresponding to him,—one who was fitted to be his companion, and who could be one with him in love and sympathy. Eve was created from a rib taken from the side of Adam, signifying that she was not to control him as the head, nor to be trampled under his feet as an inferior, but to stand by his side as an equal, to be loved and protected by him. A part of man, bone of his bone, and flesh of his flesh, she was his second self; showing the close union and the affectionate attachment that should exist in this relation. “For no man ever yet hated his own flesh, but nourisheth and cherisheth it.” “Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife; and they shall be one.”[23]

God celebrated the first marriage. Thus the institution has for its originator the Creator of the universe. “Marriage is honorable;”[24] it was one of the first gifts of God to man, and it is one of the two institutions that, after the fall, Adam brought with him beyond the gates of Paradise. When the divine principles are recognized and obeyed in this relation, marriage is a blessing; it guards the purity and happiness of the race, it provides for man’s social needs, it elevates the physical, the intellectual, and the moral nature.

“And the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed.”[25] Everything that God had made was the perfection of beauty, and nothing seemed wanting that could contribute to the happiness of the holy pair; yet the Creator gave them still another token of his love, by preparing a garden especially for their home. In this garden were trees of every variety, many of them laden with fragrant and delicious fruit. There were lovely vines, growing upright, yet presenting a most graceful appearance, with their branches drooping under their load of tempting fruit, of the richest and most varied hues. It was the work of Adam and Eve to train the branches of the vine to form bowers, thus making for themselves a dwelling from living trees covered with foliage and fruit. There were fragrant flowers of every hue in rich profusion. In the midst of the garden stood the tree of life, surpassing in glory all other trees. Its fruit appeared like apples of gold and silver, and had the power to perpetuate life.

The creation was now complete. “The heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.” “And God saw everything that he had made, and, behold, it was very good.”[26] Eden bloomed on earth. Adam and Eve had free access to the tree of life. No taint of sin, or shadow of death, marred the fair creation. “The morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy.”[27]

The great Jehovah had laid the foundations of the earth; he had dressed the whole world in the garb of beauty, and had filled it with things useful to man; he had created all the wonders of the land and of the sea. In six days the great work of creation had been accomplished. And God “rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it; because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.”[28] God looked with satisfaction upon the work of his hands. All was perfect, worthy of its divine Author, and he rested, not as one weary, but as well pleased with the fruits of his wisdom and goodness and the manifestations of his glory.

After resting upon the seventh day, God sanctified it, or set it apart, as a day of rest for man. Following the example of the Creator, man was to rest upon this sacred day, that as he should look upon the heavens and the earth, he might reflect upon God’s great work of creation; and that as he should behold the evidences of God’s wisdom and goodness, his heart might be filled with love and reverence for his Maker.

In Eden, God set up the memorial of his work of creation, in placing his blessing upon the seventh day. The Sabbath was committed to Adam, the father and representative of the whole human family. Its observance was to be an act of grateful acknowledgment, on the part of all who should dwell upon the earth, that God was their creator and their rightful sovereign; that they were the work of his hands, and the subjects of his authority. Thus the institution was wholly commemorative, and given to all mankind. There was nothing in it shadowy, or of restricted application to any people.

God saw that a Sabbath was essential for man, even in Paradise. He needed to lay aside his own interests and pursuits for one day of the seven, that he might more fully contemplate the works of God, and meditate upon his power and goodness. He needed a Sabbath, to remind him more vividly of God, and to awaken gratitude because all that he enjoyed and possessed came from the beneficent hand of the Creator.

God designs that the Sabbath shall direct the minds of men to the contemplation of his created works. Nature speaks to their senses, declaring that there is a living God, the Creator, the Supreme Ruler of all. “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament showeth his handiwork. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night showeth knowledge.”[29] The beauty that clothes the earth is a token of God’s love. We may behold it in the everlasting hills, in the lofty trees, in the opening buds and the delicate flowers. All speak to us of God. The Sabbath, ever pointing to Him who made them all, bids men open the great book of nature, and trace therein the wisdom, the power, and the love of the Creator.

Our first parents, though created innocent and holy, were not placed beyond the possibility of wrong-doing. God made them free moral agents, capable of appreciating the wisdom and benevolence of his character and the justice of his requirements, and with full liberty to yield or to withhold obedience. They were to enjoy communion with God and with holy angels; but before they could be rendered eternally secure, their loyalty must be tested. At the very beginning of man’s existence a check was placed upon the desire for self-indulgence, the fatal passion that lay at the foundation of Satan’s fall. The tree of knowledge, which stood near the tree of life in the midst of the garden, was to be a test of the obedience, faith, and love of our first parents. While permitted to eat freely of every other tree, they were forbidden to taste of this, on pain of death. They were also to be exposed to the temptations of Satan; but if they endured the trial, they would finally be placed beyond his power, to enjoy perpetual favor with God.

God placed man under law, as an indispensable condition of his very existence. He was a subject of the divine government, and there can be no government without law. God might have created man without the power to transgress his law; he might have withheld the hand of Adam from touching the forbidden fruit; but in that case man would have been, not a free moral agent, but a mere automaton. Without freedom of choice, his obedience would not have been voluntary, but forced. There could have been no development of character. Such a course would have been contrary to God’s plan in dealing with the inhabitants of other worlds. It would have been unworthy of man as an intelligent being, and would have sustained Satan’s charge of God’s arbitrary rule.

God made man upright; he gave him noble traits of character, with no bias toward evil. He endowed him with high intellectual powers, and presented before him the strongest possible inducements to be true to his allegiance. Obedience, perfect and perpetual, was the condition of eternal happiness. On this condition he was to have access to the tree of life.

The home of our first parents was to be a pattern for other homes as their children should go forth to occupy the earth. That home, beautified by the hand of God himself, was not a gorgeous palace. Men, in their pride, delight in magnificent and costly edifices, and glory in the works of their own hands; but God placed Adam in a garden. This was his dwelling. The blue heavens were its dome; the earth, with its delicate flowers and carpet of living green, was its floor; and the leafy branches of the goodly trees were its canopy. Its walls were hung with the most magnificent adornings,—the handiwork of the great Master-artist. In the surroundings of the holy pair was a lesson for all time,—that true happiness is found, not in the indulgence of pride and luxury, but in communion with God through his created works. If men would give less attention to the artificial, and would cultivate greater simplicity, they would come far nearer to answering the purpose of God in their creation. Pride and ambition are never satisfied, but those who are truly wise will find substantial and elevating pleasure in the sources of enjoyment that God has placed within the reach of all.

To the dwellers in Eden was committed the care of the garden, “to dress it and to keep it.” Their occupation was not wearisome, but pleasant and invigorating. God appointed labor as a blessing to man, to occupy his mind, to strengthen his body, and to develop his faculties. In mental and physical activity, Adam found one of the highest pleasures of his holy existence. And when, as a result of his disobedience, he was driven from his beautiful home, and forced to struggle with a stubborn soil to gain his daily bread, that very labor, although widely different from his pleasant occupation in the garden, was a safeguard against temptation, and a source of happiness. Those who regard work as a curse, attended though it be with weariness and pain, are cherishing an error. The rich often look down with contempt upon the working classes; but this is wholly at variance with God’s purpose in creating man. What are the possessions of even the most wealthy, in comparison with the heritage given to the lordly Adam? Yet Adam was not to be idle. Our Creator, who understands what is for man’s happiness, appointed Adam his work. The true joy of life is found only by the working men and women. The angels are diligent workers; they are the ministers of God to the children of men. The Creator has prepared no place for the stagnating practice of indolence.

While they remained true to God, Adam and his companion were to bear rule over the earth. Unlimited control was given them over every living thing. The lion and the lamb sported peacefully around them, or lay down together at their feet. The happy birds flitted about them without fear; and as their glad songs ascended to the praise of their Creator, Adam and Eve united with them in thanksgiving to the Father and the Son.

The holy pair were not only children under the fatherly care of God, but students receiving instruction from the all-wise Creator. They were visited by angels, and were granted communion with their Maker, with no obscuring vail between. They were full of the vigor imparted by the tree of life, and their intellectual power was but little less than that of the angels. The mysteries of the visible universe—“the wondrous works of Him who is perfect in knowledge”[30]—afforded them an exhaustless source of instruction and delight. The laws and operations of nature, which have engaged men’s study for six thousand years, were opened to their minds by the infinite Framer and Upholder of all. They held converse with leaf and flower and tree, gathering from each the secrets of its life. With every living creature, from the mighty leviathan that playeth among the waters, to the insect mote that floats in the sunbeam, Adam was familiar. He had given to each its name, and he was acquainted with the nature and habits of all. God’s glory in the heavens, the innumerable worlds in their orderly revolutions, “the balancings of the clouds,”[31] the mysteries of light and sound, of day and night,—all were open to the study of our first parents. On every leaf of the forest or stone of the mountains, in every shining star, in earth and air and sky, God’s name was written. The order and harmony of creation spoke to them of infinite wisdom and power. They were ever discovering some attraction that filled their hearts with deeper love, and called forth fresh expressions of gratitude.

So long as they remained loyal to the divine law, their capacity to know, to enjoy, and to love, would continually increase. They would be constantly gaining new treasures of knowledge, discovering fresh springs of happiness, and obtaining clearer and yet clearer conceptions of the immeasurable, unfailing love of God.

Footnote 16:

Ps. 33:6, 9; 104:5.

Footnote 17:

Gen. 1:26, 27.

Footnote 18:

Luke 3:38.

Footnote 19:

Ps. 8:6-8.

Footnote 20:

Heb. 1:3.

Footnote 21:

Gen. 2:20

Footnote 22:

Gen. 2:18.

Footnote 23:

Eph. 5:29; Gen. 2:24.

Footnote 24:

Heb. 13:4.

Footnote 25:

Gen. 2:8.

Footnote 26:

Gen. 2:1-3.

Footnote 27:

Job 38:7.

Footnote 28:

Gen. 1:31.

Footnote 29:

Ps. 19:1, 2.

Footnote 30:

Job 37:16.

Footnote 31:

Job 37:16.

THE TEMPTATION AND FALL—3

No longer free to stir up rebellion in heaven, Satan’s enmity against God found a new field in plotting the ruin of the human race. In the happiness and peace of the holy pair in Eden, he beheld a vision of the bliss that to him was forever lost. Moved by envy, he determined to incite them to disobedience, and bring upon them the guilt and penalty of sin. He would change their love to distrust, and their songs of praise to reproaches against their Maker. Thus he would not only plunge these innocent beings into the same misery which he was himself enduring, but would cast dishonor upon God, and cause grief in heaven.

Our first parents were not left without a warning of the danger that threatened them. Heavenly messengers opened to them the history of Satan’s fall, and his plots for their destruction, unfolding more fully the nature of the divine government, which the prince of evil was trying to overthrow. It was by disobedience to the just commands of God that Satan and his host had fallen. How important, then, that Adam and Eve should honor that law by which alone it was possible for order and equity to be maintained.

The law of God is as sacred as himself. It is a revelation of his will, a transcript of his character, the expression of divine love and wisdom. The harmony of creation depends upon the perfect conformity of all beings, of everything, animate and inanimate, to the law of the Creator. God has ordained laws for the government, not only of living beings, but of all the operations of nature. Everything is under fixed laws, which cannot be disregarded. But while everything in nature is governed by natural laws, man alone, of all that inhabits the earth, is amenable to moral law. To man, the crowning work of creation, God has given power to understand his requirements, to comprehend the justice and beneficence of his law, and its sacred claims upon him; and of man unswerving obedience is required.

Like the angels, the dwellers in Eden had been placed upon probation; their happy estate could be retained only on condition of fidelity to the Creator’s law. They could obey and live, or disobey and perish. God had made them the recipients of rich blessings; but should they disregard his will, he who spared not the angels that sinned, could not spare them; transgression would forfeit his gifts, and bring upon them misery and ruin.

The angels warned them to be on their guard against the devices of Satan; for his efforts to ensnare them would be unwearied. While they were obedient to God, the evil one could not harm them; for, if need be, every angel in heaven would be sent to their help. If they steadfastly repelled his first insinuations, they would be as secure as the heavenly messengers. But should they once yield to temptation, their nature would become so depraved that in themselves they would have no power, and no disposition, to resist Satan.

The tree of knowledge had been made a test of their obedience and their love to God. The Lord had seen fit to lay upon them but one prohibition as to the use of all that was in the garden; but if they should disregard his will in this particular, they would incur the guilt of transgression. Satan was not to follow them with continual temptations; he could have access to them only at the forbidden tree. Should they attempt to investigate its nature, they would be exposed to his wiles. They were admonished to give careful heed to the warning which God had sent them, and to be content with the instruction which he had seen fit to impart.