For the first twenty-five centuries after the creation of man, he was
without a written law. So far, at least, as the descendants of Seth are
concerned, the government, during those early times, seems to have been
patriarchal. The father of a family retained his authority over his
children and his children's children so long as he lived, and when he
died, the branch families did not separate, but continued their
allegiance to some other patriarch, usually the eldest son of the
former. A number of families under their respective patriarchs
constituted a tribe, and from the family patriarchs was selected a
prince for the whole tribe. Among the antediluvian patriarchs were
Adam, Seth, Enoch and Noah. Those after the flood were Noah, Abraham,
Isaac, Jacob and each of the twelve sons of Jacob. After Jacob's death,
it is most likely that Joseph acted, in some sense, as the prince of
the tribe during his lifetime. Then came slavery and oppression and
deliverance through Moses, and the giving of the law.

As God's revelation to man has been progressive, first just a few
faint streaks of light that usher in the dawn, then broad daylight and
sunrise, and finally the meridian splendor of the noontide, we are not
to expect, in these early times, the full and distinct teaching on the
subject of holiness, which we find in the Mosaic law, in the writings
of the prophets, and especially and super-eminently in the New
Testament. The word holy does not occur in the book of Genesis, and the
word sanctify is found only once, where Jehovah blessed the seventh day
and sanctified it.

And yet there are, even in these patriarchal times, several narratives
of extreme interest, which give us glimpses, at least, of the purpose
of God that His people should be holy, and we even find intimations of
His method of sanctification, by conferring it as a second experience