Page 17 - Our God of Love, Mercy, and Justice

to banish righteousness--and with it peace, happiness, and security--from the earth.
For the divine statutes, which are "holy and just and good" Romans 7:12, men were
endeavoring to substitute laws to suit the purpose of their own selfish and cruel
hearts.
Those that feared the Lord cried unto Him to interpose. "And the Lord came down

to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded." In mercy to the
world He defeated the purpose of the tower builders and overthrew the memorial of
their daring. In mercy He confounded their speech, thus putting a check on their
purposes of rebellion. God bears long with the perversity of men, giving them
ample opportunity for repentance; but He marks all their devices to resist the
authority of His just and holy law. From time to time the unseen hand that holds the

scepter of government is stretched out to restrain iniquity. Unmistakable evidence is
given that the Creator of the universe, the One infinite in wisdom and love and
truth, is the Supreme Ruler of heaven and earth, and that none can with
impunity defy His power. PP 123.

The Call of Abraham
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. . . . The true faith was not to become extinct. . . . He communicated His
will to Abraham, and gave him a distinct knowledge of the requirements of His law
and of the salvation that would be accomplished through Christ. . . .
"By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should

after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he
went." Hebrews 11:8. Abraham's unquestioning obedience is one of the most
striking evidences of faith to be found in all the Bible. To him, faith was "the
substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." Verse 1. Relying upon
the divine promise, without the least outward assurance of its fulfillment, he
abandoned home and kindred and native land, and went forth, he knew not whither, to
follow where God should lead. PP 125, 126.

Abraham dwelled in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelled in the cities of the plain,
and pitched his tent toward Sodom. But the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners
before the Lord exceedingly. Genesis 13:12, 13.
Dazzled with visions of worldly gain, Lot overlooked the moral and spiritual evils
that would be encountered there. PP 133.

The Destruction of Sodom
Abraham had honored God, and the Lord honored him, taking him into His
counsels, and revealing to him His purposes. "Shall I hide from Abraham that thing

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