Patriarchs and Prophets—Chapter 11 After the dispersion from Babel idolatry again became well-nigh universal, and the Lord finally left the hardened transgressors to follow their evil ways, while He chose Abraham, of the line of Shem, and made him the keeper of His law for future generations. Abraham had grown up in the midst of…

Patriarchs and Prophets—Chapter 10 To repeople the desolate earth, which the Flood had so lately swept from its moral corruption, God had preserved but one family, the household of Noah, to whom He had declared, “Thee have I seen righteous before Me in this generation.” Genesis 7:1. Yet in the three sons of Noah was…

Patriarchs and Prophets—Chapter 9 Like the Sabbath, the week originated at creation, and it has been preserved and brought down to us through Bible history. God Himself measured off the first week as a sample for successive weeks to the close of time. Like every other, it consisted of seven literal days. Six days were…

Patriarchs and Prophets—Chapter 8 The waters rose fifteen cubits above the highest mountains. It often seemed to the family within the ark that they must perish, as for five long months their boat was tossed about, apparently at the mercy of wind and wave. It was a trying ordeal; but Noah’s faith did not waver,…

Patriarchs and Prophets—Chapter 7 This chapter is based on Genesis 6 and 7. In the days of Noah a double curse was resting upon the earth in consequence of Adam’s transgression and of the murder committed by Cain. Yet this had not greatly changed the face of nature. There were evident tokens of decay, but…

Patriarchs and Prophets—Chapter 6 This chapter is based on Genesis 4:25 to 6:2. To Adam was given another son, to be the inheritor of the divine promise, the heir of the spiritual birthright. The name Seth, given to this son, signified “appointed,” or “compensation;” “for,” said the mother, “God hath appointed me another seed instead…

Patriarchs and Prophets—Chapter 5 This chapter is based on Genesis 4:1-15. Cain and Abel, the sons of Adam, differed widely in character. Abel had a spirit of loyalty to God; he saw justice and mercy in the Creator’s dealings with the fallen race, and gratefully accepted the hope of redemption. But Cain cherished feelings of…

Patriarchs and Prophets—Chapter 3 This chapter is based on Genesis 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…

Patriarchs and Prophets—Chapter 4 The fall of man filled all heaven with sorrow. The world that God had made was blighted with the curse of sin and inhabited by beings doomed to misery and death. There appeared no escape for those who had transgressed the law. Angels ceased their songs of praise. Throughout the heavenly…

Patriarchs and Prophets—Chapter 2 This chapter is based on Genesis 1 and 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.” Psalm 33:6, 9. He “laid the foundations of…