Day 2 1 Nephi 7-12, D&C 5-8

[pam]

Discussion:

[pam]

In also doing some research along with my reading for today I learned this:

“After the Lord counseled Lehi ‘that his sons should take daughters to wife, that they might raise up seed unto the Lord in the land of promise’ (1 Nephi 7:1), Lehi immediately sent back to Jerusalem for

Ishmael and his family. Our present Book of Mormon does not indicate exactly why Ishmael’s family was selected (except that it included at least five unmarried women!), but perhaps the following statement provides additional important reasons for this

selection:

“‘Whoever has read the Book of Mormon carefully will have learned that the remnants of the house of Joseph dwelt upon the American continent; and that Lehi learned by searching the records of his fathers that were written upon the plates of brass, that he was of the lineage of Manasseh. The Prophet Joseph informed us that the record of Lehi, was contained on the 116 pages that were first translated and subsequently stolen, and of which an abridgment is given us in the first Book of Nephi, which is the record of Nephi individually, he himself being of the lineage of Manasseh; but that Ishmael was of the lineage of Ephraim, and that his sons married into Lehi’s family, and Lehi’s sons married Ishmael’s daughters, thus fulfilling the words of Jacob upon Ephraim and Manasseh in the 48th chapter of Genesis, which says: “And let my name be named on them, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the land.” Thus these descendants of Manasseh and Ephraim grew together upon this American continent. . . .’

(Erastus Snow,

Journal of Discourses, 23:184–85. Italics added.)” (Daniel H. Ludlow, A Companion to Your Study of the Book of Mormon, pp. 99–100).

Edited July 2, 2009 by pam

[pam]

In reading about Lehi's dream of the tree of life and the spacious building, there was a scripture that stood out to me. Being a parent I can understand Lehi's concerns about Laman and Lemuel.

I love the words in 1 Nephi 8:37

37 And he did exhort them then with all the feeling of a tender parent, that they would hearken to his words, that perhaps the Lord would be merciful to them, and not cast them off; yea, my father did preach unto them.

Also what of the symbolism in his dream or vision:

Large and spacious field: The world

Tree or tree of life: Love of God

River of water: Hell and the depths of it

Rod of iron: Word of God

Mist of darkness: Temptations of the devil

great and spacious building: the pride and vainess of the world

Edited July 2, 2009 by pam

[pam]

The word ponder is used quite often.

Study and Meditation

While Nephi was pondering in his heart the things his father had seen, he was “caught away in the Spirit of the Lord” (1 Nephi 11:10.

Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon were reading the scriptures when one verse, as they later wrote, “caused us to marvel, for it was given unto us of the Spirit.

“And while we meditated upon these things, the Lord touched the eyes of our understandings” (D&C 76:19; emphasis added). What followed was the vision of the three degrees of glory.

President Joseph F. Smith recorded: “On the third of October, in the year nineteen hundred and eighteen, I sat in my room pondering over the scriptures;

“And reflecting upon the great atoning sacrifice that was made by the Son of God….

“As I pondered over these things which are written, the eyes of my understanding were opened” (D&C 138:1-2, 11; emphasis added). President Smith then had a great vision of the spirit world and Christ’s visit to it.

These accounts teach an important lesson concerning the value of quiet study and meditation and how one comes to know the mysteries of God. In Moroni 10:3-5 Moroni uses the word ponder as one of the steps in acquiring a testimony of the Book of Mormon.

[pam]

D&C 5:22

22 And that you be firm in keeping the commandments wherewith I have commanded you; and if you do this, behold I grant unto you eternal life, even if you should be slain.

Wow this really hit me having the Lord say this to Joseph Smith. Especially knowing how Joseph died.

[Seanette]

Today’s reading assignment seemed to have a strong theme of illustrating that signs and intellectual proofs do not convert one to the Gospel, but that faith is required and the signs and proofs will follow faith.

1 Nephi 6: Nephi states that his purpose for writing is to persuade the reader to come to God and be saved.

1 Nephi 7: Ishmael’s family joins Lehi’s, since Lehi’s sons will need wives in order to have posterity. Interesting that the two families seemed to have similar numbers of unmarried children, in appropriate genders to match up. L&L are still stubbornly clinging to their pride and refusing to listen to what they don’t want to hear, even when they’re hearing it from an angel. This would seem to be one of many examples given in Scripture as to why one should not look for signs or manifestations to gain faith. These things only make an impression on one who already has faith, and those who do not will find some way to avoid believing what they saw or heard. However, they’re still at least somewhat capable of repentance at this point, since they do apologize to Nephi and to God for misconduct.

1 Nephi 8: Lehi’s vision of the Tree of Life, the Iron Rod, and so forth. To me, the only thing someone who believes in God and His words can do is to hold to the Iron Rod, stay focused on the goal of the Tree of Life, and disregard distractions. Letting go of that rod to wander off into the mists of darkness (such as by giving heed to materials meant to tear down faith) or to join the “in crowd” or self-proclaimed “intellectual elite” in the great and spacious building to join in mockery of believers will certainly lead to destruction. Note that the great and spacious building has no solid foundation in this vision, but is in the air.

1 Nephi 9: Nephi is instructed to make two sets of plates. He doesn’t know why, but for him, it’s enough that the Lord commands it. This is definitely a lesson on how we should approach God’s commands: we don’t need to know why (and might well not understand, given the limitations of our knowledge and understanding while we’re here in mortality), we need to trust that God has His reasons and purposes for all that He requires. (Of course, modern readers know that this has to do with the loss of the first 116 translated pages, and Joseph Smith needing to have a second source for the information covered therein, 2400 years later.)

1 Nephi 10: Lehi knows of Christ, 600 years before His coming, and knows about what He will do. Lehi compares Israel to the olive tree (this comparison will be greatly expanded on in Jacob 5).

1 Nephi 11: Nephi believes his father, but wants to know for himself, so inquires of God and is granted a vision that covers the Tree of Life and Jesus’ life and ministry. Nephi makes the point that we do not need to know all things to believe, but that knowledge is a gift coming from the Holy Spirit by faith.

Section 5: discussion of the Three Witnesses – Martin Harris is invited by God to repent in order to become one of those three, but is warned that he must let go of pride and humble himself before God. Joseph Smith is told that God’s word will come to this generation through him, and the Lord states that those who will not believe His words wouldn’t believe signs. The Lord says He will prove His words. (The statement about God’s word and Joseph Smith was fulfilled in great measure, with the Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, Pearl of Great Price, Joseph Smith Translation of the Bible, and many sermons and writings that are not considered Scripture but are still of spiritual value.)

Section 6: The first five verses appear four times in the D&C, the first nine twice. This level of repetition means this is important information. We are to seek to do God’s work, remembering that eternal life is of greater worth than worldly riches. We are to keep sacred things among the faithful, who are equipped to understand them. Those built on God’s rock will prevail.

Section 7: John the Beloved Disciple will tarry on the Earth until Christ’s return, in order to minister to the heirs of salvation.

Section 8: revelation is given by the power of the Holy Ghost, according to one’s faith.

Moses 3: spiritual creation took place before physical. There are details here that have me wondering about the exact sequence of the physical creation, since Adam is described as the “first flesh” on the earth. Does this mean that the physical creation had Adam arriving first, then plants, animals, etc.? Does it really matter that much? In any event, Adam is instructed not to eat from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. He’s told that it’s his choice, but if he does, he will die in that day. As we see as the narrative progresses, Adam experiences spiritual death shortly after partaking of the fruit, by being cast out of the presence of God. From then on, God the Father only communicates directly with man a very few times, to introduce the Son and command the listener to hear Him. (Note: elsewhere in Scripture, we’re told a day of God’s time is 1000 years in our Earth time. Adam is stated in Genesis to have died at age 930. Thus, his physical death DID occur in that day.) Adam names the animals. Eve is created, and she and Adam are married. Since there is not yet death in the world, their marriage is for eternity.

Moses 4: the Lord tells Moses about Satan’s rebellion against the Plan of Salvation, and how he was cast down. Satan shows up in the Garden of Eden and tempts Eve, who chooses to eat the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. Adam chooses to stay with Eve so that they can obey the command to multiply, and partakes. They discover their nakedness and make aprons of fig leaves to cover themselves. When God calls for them, they hide. They finally emerge and explain the situation, in history’s first recorded case of “passing the buck”. Adam tries to give responsibility for events to Eve, saying she gave him the fruit. Eve responds by passing responsibility to Satan, saying he beguiled her into eating. The Lord curses Satan and places enmity between him and the seed of the woman (a reference to Christ, since He was the only person ever to come of mortal woman without the seed of a mortal man being involved). Satan will bruise Christ’s heel (I see this as a reference to the Crucifixion, with nails through His feet or ankles), Christ will either bruise or crush Satan’s head (different verbs are used in different places to indicate what will happen). Adam and Eve are given coats of skins to cover themselves. This to me represents the sacrifice of Christ’s life to “cover” or pay for our sins, with shedding of blood. Note that the covering Adam and Eve attempted to make for themselves was inadequate, thus God supplied a covering to meet their needs. Both receive labor and suffering (Eve by childbearing, Adam by working to provide for his family) as a result of their transgression, Adam is given presiding authority over Eve. The Earth is cursed to bring forth unpleasant things and to only give Adam and Eve their needs by toil. They are cast out of the Garden of Eden, and a guard is placed at the Tree of Life to keep Adam and Eve from partaking of that fruit, which would lead to them living forever in their sin.

[KeithLBrown]

The reading for day 2, similar to our reading for the first day, encompasses a vast amount of material for our learning and edification. As there is so much to comment on, for this reading assignment I will focus my comments on the reading from the Pearl of Great Price - combining some of the reading from day 1 with the reading from day 2.

The story of creation has always fascinated me and bears witness to me that our God is indeed an awesome God. We will be reading and studying the Old Testament in a few short months, but please allow me to return to the pages of Genesis and the story of creation as recorded there to elaborate on a few points. Having taken a couple semesters of Hebrew and Greek, I will share some insights from that perspective as well.

First of all it is interesting to note that though we are taught that the world was created in 6 days and the Lord rested from all of His labors on the seventh day by sanctifying it and declaring it Holy, we must realize that a "day" as referred to here in the Scriptures is not the same as our concept of a literal 24 hour day. In Genesis 1:3-31 the Hebrew word that is used for 'day' is "yom" which signifies an extended period of time or age.

The Encyclopedia of Bible Difficulties, pages 60-61, Baker 1982, quotes Gleason L. Archer who was Associate Editor of the Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament concerning the use of the Hebrew word "yom":

“ There were six major stages in this work of formation, and these stages are represented by successive days of a week. In this connection it is important to observe that none of the six creative days bears a definite article in the Hebrew text; the translations “the first day,” “ the second day,” etc., are in error. The Hebrew says, “And the evening took place, and the morning took place, day one” (1:5). Hebrew expresses “the first day” by hayyom harison, but this text says simply yom ehad (day one). Again, in v.8 we read not hayyom hasseni (“the second day”) but yom seni (“a second day”). In Hebrew prose of this genre, the definite article was generally used where the noun was intended to be definite; only in poetic style could it be omitted. The same is true with the rest of the six days; they all lack the definite article. Thus they are well adapted to a sequential pattern, rather than to strictly delimited units of time.”

In 2 Peter 3:8 we are taught, "But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day." What we consider to be a day, and what the Lord calls a day are not the same.

Second, what about the order of the things that were created? Let us return to the Genesis passage in chapter one once again.

Day 1 - The creation of Day and Night - Genesis 1:1-5

1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.

4 And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.

5 And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.

Day 2 - Formation of Earth's atmosphere, separating the water into two parts: (a) oceanic and subterranean water and (b) atmospheric water - Genesis 1:6-8

6 ¶ And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.

7 And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so.

8 And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day.

Day 3 - Formation of the earth, seas, grass, herb yielding seed, and fruit trees - Genesis 1:9-13

9 ¶ And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so.

10 And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good.

11 And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so.

12 And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good.

13 And the evening and the morning were the third day.

Day 4 - Creation of the sun, moon, and stars - Genesis 1:14-19

4 ¶ And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:

15 And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so.

16 And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also.

17 And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth,

18 And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good.

19 And the evening and the morning were the fourth day.

Day 5 - The creation of land and sea creatures - Genesis 1:20-23

20 And God said, Let the awaters bbring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and cfowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven.

21 And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good.

22 And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth.

23 And the evening and the morning were the fifth day.

Day 6 - The creation of mankind - Genesis 1: 26-31

26 ¶ And God said, Let us bmake man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.

29 ¶ And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.

30 And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so.

31 And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

Third, I find it particularly interesting that it was not until after the creation of mankind that the Lord looks upon the things that He had created and says that it was very good. Why is that? Is it because of the special relationship that God has with man that nothing else of His creation can experience? Of all of God's creations, only man has a personal, intimate relationship with the One who created him. Also of interesting note is that the Scriptures teach us that male and female created He them. In the Garden of Eden was a man and a woman, not two men, and not two women. Only a male and a female could fulfill the commandment of God to go forth and replenish the earth. This was God's Divine plan for family from the very beginning.

A bit of Scripture trivia - What was Eve's name before it was Eve? Answer - Adam called her Woman because she was taken out of him [man]. Or, as Adam said, "This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man." It was not until some time later that her name became Eve which literally means "the mother of all living".

Fourth, regarding the incident in the Garden of Eden where that old serpent who is Satan tempts Eve to partake of the forbidden fruit and then Eve in turn gives some of the fruit to Adam. There have been many theological discussions as to what the fruit was, but I really don't think that it matters. The fruit was representative of sin. At the very moment that Adam and Eve partook of the forbidden fruit, sin entered into the world and their eyes were opened to things that they were not aware of before. For example, before they were naked and not ashamed, now as the Lord comes calling for them in the cool of the day, they run and hide themselves because of the knowledge of their nakedness.

Isn't that often the result of sinful acts in our own lives? Oftentimes we try to run and hide and pretend as if we have done nothing wrong. As far as everyone else is concerned all is well. But, like Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, we cannot hide our sins from God. He already knows all about our sins even before we confess them. Like Adam, the Lord at times calls for each of us - Where art thou? In a sense we also reply that we heard Him coming and ran and hid because we were ashamed of our nakedness (sin that we have committed). Take note also of the blame game that takes place. Adam blames Eve, and Eve blames the serpent (Satan) for the act of disobedience. Does that sound familiar as well? How many times, especially as kids (and even at times as adults), have we found it easier to place the blame on someone else rather than admitting the blame ourselves? The end result is that all three were punished - Adam, Eve, and the serpent - in one form or another. And as a further consequence, Adam and Eve began to suffer two types of death - both physical death and spiritual death (as in being separated from the presence of God because of sin).

Edited July 3, 2009 by KeithLBrown