From Eternity Past

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Conditions Before the Flood

The sins that called for vengeance upon the antediluvian world exist today. The fear of God is banished from the hearts of men. His law is treated with indifference and contempt. “As in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.” Matthew 24:38, 39. God did not condemn the antediluvians for eating and drinking. He had given the fruits of the earth to supply their physical wants. Their sin consisted in taking these gifts without gratitude to the Giver, indulging appetite without restraint. It was lawful to marry. He gave special directions concerning this ordinance, clothing it with sanctity and beauty. But marriage was perverted and made to minister to passion. EP 57.5