Old Testament - Genesis 3 - January 10, 2022

 1/10/2022 – Genesis 3

Joseph Field Smith explained: “When Adam and Eve were place in Eden they were not subject to the power of death and could have lived, in the state of innocence in which they were, forever had they not violated the law given them in the Garden….By partaking of the forbidden fruit, and thus violating the law under which he (Adam) was placed, his nature was changed, and he became subject to (1) spiritual death, which is banishment from the presence of God; (2) temporal death, which is separation of spirit and body….to defeat the power which death had gained it became necessary that an infinite atonement be offered to pay the debt and thereby restore Adam and Eve and all their posterity, and all things, to immortal life through the resurrection” (Man, His Origin and Destiny, pp 50-51). For me, it is simpler to explain that before the fall, Adam & Eve were not subject to death; they were in the presence of God; they could have no posterity; they were without knowledge of good and evil, they did not know pain, or sorrow, or any of the thousand other things that come to us in our mortal ‘schooling’. 

The first verse gives us some very important information. If we use only the Genesis record, we don’t know whether Lucifer knew he was setting our mortal education into motion or not. But Lucifer’s efforts show how he worked then, and also how he can worth with us now—by moving us just a tiny step away from the Lord’s commandments, step by careful step: “Now the serpent (Lucifer) was more subtle [footnotes include ‘crafty’ and ‘sly’] than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made.” (v 1) Satan begins his conversation with Eve: ”Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden.” Eve is no dummy, she knows what the Lord has said and she corrects Lucifer: “We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden, but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.” (v2-3). Lucifer come right back to Eve with “Ye shall not surely die.” (v 4) and then Lucifer follows up with a truth “For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.” (v 5)   BUT if we use the Pearl of Great Price, we learn in Moses 4:6 that Lucifer “knew not the mind of God, wherefore he sought to destroy the world.” James E Talmage said “…his diabolical effort, far from being the initiatory step toward destruction, contributed to the plan of man’s eternal progress”.  Brigham Young said that “we should never blame Mother Eve” because through her transgression, and Adam’s joining her in it, mankind was enabled to come to know good from evil.”

M study guide gave me something to think about: “Satan has no physical body and therefore can have no literal children, his seed are those who follow him, both the one-third he led away in the premortal existence and those who follow his enticements in mortality until they come under his power.“  Our safety here on earth is to simply follow the Lord’s commands to best of our ability, and to be aware of the subtle things that would lead us away from the Lord’s guidance that He has given to us.

V 16 is a verse that has always felt quite harsh to me: “Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.” President Spencer W. Kimball must have had similar feelings, because in the Mar 1976 Ensign he wrote about that verse and the word sorrow in relationship to bringing for children. He states “I wonder if those who translated the Bible might have used the term distress instead of sorrow.” He went on to say “I have a question about the word ‘rule’. It gives the wrong impression. I would prefer to use the word ‘preside’ because that’s what [the husband] does. A righteous husband presides over his wife and family.”  The Lord continues to explain the hardships that Adam and Eve have brought upon themselves. But after that “did the Lord God make coats of skins, and clothed them” (v 21) They had lost the privileges of the garden, but the Lord still showed His love and care and concern as He prepared them for what was to come as they left the garden.

In v 22 the Lord also secured the safety of Adam and Eve as He ordered “Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever.” That is when the Lord commanded them to leave the Garden of Eden, and He also placed “Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way to keep the way of the tree of life.: (v24) ….and this is where Moses 5 comes in with more information for us.