Beginning of the End - Ellen G. White

works of their own hands, and taught their children to bow down to
idols.
The psalmist describes the effect produced on the worshiper by
loving and respecting idols: "Those who make them are like them;
so is everyone who trusts in them" (Psalm 115:8). It is a law of the
human mind that by beholding we become changed. If the mind is
never raised above the level of humanity, if it is not uplifted to
contemplate infinite wisdom and love, mankind will be constantly
sinking lower and lower. "The Lord saw that the wickedness of man
was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his
heart was only evil continually. ... The earth also was corrupt before
God, and the earth was filled with violence." His law was
transgressed, and every imaginable sin was the result. Justice was
trampled in the dust, and the cries of the oppressed reached to
heaven.
Human Life Regarded With Indifference
Polygamy had been introduced early, though it was contrary to
God's plan. The Lord gave one wife to Adam, but after the fall
people chose to follow their own sinful desires. As a result, crime
and misery increased rapidly. Neither marriage nor the rights of
property were respected. People reveled in violence. They delighted
in destroying animals, and the use of flesh for food made them still
more cruel and bloodthirsty, until they came to regard human life
with indifference.
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