Beginning of the End - Ellen G. White

Chapter 32
The Grace of Christ and the New Covenant
At their creation Adam and Eve knew about the law of God.
They had been introduced to its claims, and its principles were
written on their hearts. When they fell to sin, the law was not
changed but God gave the promise of a Savior. Sacrificial offerings
pointed to the death of Christ as the great sin offering.
The law of God was handed down from father to son through
each generation, but only a few people obeyed. The world became
so evil that it was necessary to cleanse it from its wickedness by the
Flood. Noah taught his descendants the Ten Commandments. As
they again departed from God, the Lord chose Abraham, of whom
He said, "Abraham obeyed My voice and kept My charge, My
commandments, My statutes, and My laws" (Genesis 26:5). God
gave him the rite of circumcision, a pledge to be separate from
idolatry and obey the law of God. The failure of Abraham's
descendants to keep their pledge was the cause of their slavery in
Egypt. In their contact with idol worshippers and their forced
submission to the Egyptians, the divine principles became still more
corrupted with the shameful teachings of heathenism. So the Lord
came down on Mt. Sinai and spoke His law in awesome majesty in
the hearing of all the people.
He did not even then trust His laws to the memory of a people
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