THE PEARL OF GREAT PRICE

 

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         Personal Comments by Duane R. Hurst

   copyrighted, October 1999

 

 

THE BOOK OF MOSES

 

CHAPTER 3

 

1. Thus the heaven and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.

 

COMMENT:

This refers to completion of the physical creation of earth and all things on it. 

 

2. And on the seventh day I, God, ended my work, and all things which I had made; and I rested on the seventh day from all my work, and all things which I had made were finished, and I, God, saw that they were good;

 

COMMENT:

The seventh period is an unknown amount of time, just as all of the previous six “days” lasted until each task was completed.  This verse emphasizes the need to rest after work.  It also shows the importance of enjoying our own accomplishments.  God and Christ work very well and succeed in what They do.  They likewise admire their work and want us to have satisfaction for what we do.

 

3. And I, God, blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it; because that in it I had rested from all my work which I, God, had created and made.

 

COMMENT:

Sanctified means to be pure and clean.  This is the condition of the world before Adam and Eve chose to disobey God’s commandments.  It is the condition which we can have again through the atonement of Jesus Christ and our obedience to His gospel--the plan of salvation.  It indicates the following: 1) A detailed plan must be made before work begins; 2) Work is completed through knowledge and labor; 3) The purpose of work is to enjoy what we make, and to share it with others who appreciate what we do to help them.

 

4. And now, behold, I say unto you, that these are the generations of the heaven and of the earth, when they were created, in the day that I, the Lord God, made the heaven and the earth;

 

COMMENT:

This refers to the systematic order in making this earth.  There are slight differences in the creative process as explained in the temple endowment.  The process is:

Day 1 — Organization of the earth; this includes preparing an atmosphere.

Day 2 — Separation of land and water.

Day 3 — Dividing light from darkness: sun, moon, stars.

Day 4 — Making of all plant life.

Day 5 — Making of all animal life: in the sea, on land, in the air.

Day 6 — Making of man and woman; Adam and Eve enter the Garden of Eden.

Day 7 — God and Christ rest from Their labor.

 

5. And every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew.  For I, the Lord God, created all things, of which I have spoken, spiritually, before they were naturally upon the face of the earth.  For I, the Lord God, had not caused it to rain upon the face of the earth.  And I, the Lord God, had created all the children of men; and not yet a man to till the ground; for in heaven created I them; and there was not yet flesh upon the earth, neither in the water, neither in the air;

 

COMMENT:

This verse contains some ideas that are strange or disturbing to some people.  It refers to the spiritual creation of earth and all things.  This happened long before the physical creation.

The word “flesh” comes from the Hebrew word “basar.”  This word refers to animals which have bones, not such things as microorganisms.  “Nefesh” is the Hebrew word for spirit, actually “the breath of life.”  These two joined together become the soul.  This is confirmed in D&C 93:33 (“For man is spirit.  The elements are eternal, and spirit and element, inseparably connected, receive a fulness of joy”).  D&C 88:15 says this clearly: “And the spirit and the body are the soul of man.”

 

NOTE: Joseph Smith stated that the name of God is Ahman and His son’s name is Ahman Christ aka Christ Ahman.  This gives more significance to the term Adam-Ondi-Ahman.  According to Parley Pratt, Joseph Smith said that this phrase means “Valley of God where Adam dwelt.”  D&C 78:20 and 97:17 contain statements of Jesus Christ in which he explains that He is “Son Ahman” (meaning the Son of God).

            Hugh Nibley wrote that Adam-Ondi-Ahman means “Adam in the presence of God”.  This can be rendered directly as “Adam before God”.

 

 

 

(This is the end of chapter three.)