THE FIRST BOOK OF MOSES CALLED
GENESIS
CHAPTER 1
God creates this earth and its heaven and all forms of life in six days—Creative acts of each day set forth—God creates man, both male and female, in his own image—Man given dominion over all things, and commanded to multiply and fill the earth.
[ Chapter 1 of the Book of Moses is the introduction to the book of Genesis What is the purpose of the creation, and who was behind the creation? This text is not designed to teach us the specific science behind the creation, not as a scientific provable way that it was done. It does teach us that God is the creator, the one who organized all things and gave them purpose. The ancients did not believe that everything was created from nothingness, but rather the two Gods of water (sea water (chaos) and fresh water)that always existed and were in constant co-motion with each other. The Genesis 1 creation account has numerous heptadic features beyond the obvious seven days of creation week, of which only a few examples can be mentioned here: (a) the initial verse of the creation narrative (Gen 1:1) is composed of seven words, and the two sections of the verse are divided into two sections of fourteen (7x2) Hebrew letters each; (b) Gen 1:2 contains fourteen (7x2) words; (c) the key word for create (bara’ ) appears 7 times in Gen 1; (d) the key phrase “And God saw . . . that it was good” appears seven times; (e) the phrase “and it was so” appears seven times; (f) the word’Elohim “God” occurs 35 (7x5) times; and (g) the word ha’arets “the earth” occurs 21 (7x3) times. This heptadic pattern is taken up again in the sanctuary details. A few examples, beyond the seven sections of Exod 25-31 mentioned above, will suffice for comparison: (a) 7 lamps of the lampstand (Exod 25:37; 37:23), (b) 7 days for the inauguration of the priests and altar (Exod 29:35, 37; Lev 8:33-35), (c) sprinkling of the blood 7 times (Lev 4:6, 17; 8:11; Num 19:4), (d) 7 days of unleavened bread (Exod 12:15, 19; Lev 23:6; Num 28:17; Deut 16:3), (e) 7 days of the Feast of Tabernacles (Lev 23:24, 26, 39, 40, 42; Num 29:12; Deut 16:13), (f) sabbatical years every 7 years and jubilee after “seven Sabbaths of years” (7x7) (Lev 25:4, 8; Deut 15:1), and (g) 7 lambs (Num 28:19, 27; 29:36; etc.). Just as the creation week consisted of seven days, so, as we have seen above, Solomon took seven years to build the temple (1 Kgs 6:38). Solomon dedicated the temple on the seventh month, during the seven-day Feast of Tabernacles (1 Kgs 8:2, 56-66), and his dedication speech was structured around seven petitions (1 Kgs 8:31-55). ]
1 IN the beginning [ This appears to present a straight forward statement of fact but leaves some important questions unanswered. The “account opens with a clear, concise statement about the Creator and the creation. While very simple words the depth lies beyond the content. These seven Hebrew words are the foundation of all that is to follow in the Bible. The purpose of the statement is threefold: to identify who was the Creator, how the world came to be, and explain the purpose of God's work in the past as well as to the future. However, the opening line of Genesis as it now stands might raise questions in the polytheistic world wherein Moses was raised. Defining who the God of creation is thus becomes an important issue. The identity of this God would become particularly important in the life of Moses because he would have to confront Pharaoh and his gods (see Exodus 7–10). Moreover, he would have to teach the Israelites about the God who is behind their deliverance and exodus (see Exodus 3:14), vis-à-vis the gods of Egypt. If “the Bible begins with creation not to tell us about the creation, but to introduce us to the Creator,” what Moses 1 and now Moses 2 further offer is God’s own explanation of who he is, how he is involved, and why he is involved. The beginning of what? Time? This is not the beginning of time per se as there is no beginning(time is eternal both directions, or there is no real thing as time it is only something that applies to this earth as Abraham teaches us, For time there was not before there was a world. ). At the council of the Gods when things were decided upon? Or the time before creation(John 1:1). Compare with Abraham 4:. Joseph Smith has analyzed the very first Hebrew word of the Bible, and the first sentence: I shall comment on the very first Hebrew word in the Bible; I will make a comment on the very first sentence of the history of creation in the Bible -- Berosheit. I want to analyze the word. Baith -- in, by, through, and everything else. Rosh -- the head. Sheit -- grammatical termination. When the inspired man wrote it, he did not put the baith there. An old Jew without any authority added the word; he thought it too bad to begin to talk about the head! It read first, "The head one of the Gods brought forth the Gods." That is the true meaning of the words. Baurau signifies to bring forth. ... Thus the head God brought forth the Gods in the grand council. I will transpose and simplify it in the English language. ... The head God called together the Gods and sat in grand council to bring forth the world. The grand councilors sat at the head in yonder heavens and contemplated the creation of the world which were created at the time. (TPJS, pp. 348-49.) So in the beginning, is synonymous with Holy of Holies. So what is translated in Genesis as in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth could just as well be translated as in the Holy of Holies God created the heaven and earth. All things begin in the Holy of Holies. All creation comes out of the Holy of Holies where God dwells. ] God [ Jehovah - Jesus Christ - Christ was before the earth was created and he was the one that created it Moses 2:1 - He will create the earth and all things on it until it comes to man and the Heavenly Father will take over. God is a title, not a name. As a title, it could refer to several different personages. The "God" who created this earth was Jesus Christ (the pre-earthly Jehovah), as is made clear in this statement by Joseph Fielding Smith: Under the direction of his Father, Jesus Christ created this earth. No doubt others helped him, but it was Jesus Christ, our Redeemer, who, under the direction of his Father, came down and organized matter and made this planet, so that it might be inhabited by the children of God. ... We know that Jesus our Savior was a Spirit when this great work was done. He did all of these mighty works before he tabernacled in the flesh. (DS 1:74-75.) ] created [ Prepared Hebrew ` baurau = which means to form, to shape, to fashion, organize out of pre-existing stuff. The Hebrew word translated "create" by the King James translators means "organize," "fashion," or "form." Joseph Smith has provided the following commentary on this point: You ask the learned doctors why they say the world was made out of nothing; and they will answer, "Doesn't the Bible say He created the world?" And they infer, from the word create, that it must have been made out of nothing. Now, the word create came from the word Baurau which does not mean to create out of nothing; it means to organize; the same as a man would organize materials and build a ship. Hence, we infer that God had materials to organize the world out of chaos-chaotic matter, which is element, and in which dwells all the glory. Element had an existence from the time he had. The pure principles of element are principles which can never be destroyed; they may be organized and re-organized, but not destroyed. They had no beginning, and can have no end. (TPJS, pp. 350-52.) Joseph taught that the verb translated as created in Genesis 1:1 refers to organizing both spiritual and elemental matter into divine human beings with power to become exalted as God is. From his Hebrew studies, Joseph knew that the word translated as God in Genesis 1:1 is plural—Gods: “Gods created the heaven and the earth.” It was, Joseph taught, “The Gods [who] came together & concocked the plan of making the world & the inhabitants . . . Wilford Woodruff’s Journal, April 7, 1844, p. 234, original image and transcription at wilfordwoodruffpapers.org. ] the heaven and the earth. [ Yahweh’s temple is Isa 66:1-2: “Thus says the Lord: ‘Heaven is My throne, And earth is My footstool. Where is the house that you will build Me? And where is the place of My rest? 2 For all those things My hand has made, And all those things exist,’ Says the Lord.” According to this verse, heaven and the earth together constitutes Yahweh’s throne and footstool. A divine throne-room is, by definition, a temple. The heaven and earth are thus Yahweh’s cosmic temple. This conclusion is also supported in Ps 78:69, where the earthly sanctuary is compared with the cosmic temple: “He built his sanctuary like the high heavens, like the earth, which he has founded forever” (ESV). When viewed in light of these passages outside the creation narrative, the reference to “the heavens and the earth” suggests temple context as a place for God himself. ]
2 And the earth was without form, and void; [ In Hebrew without form: means wild, desert waste like without order, we might say chaos. The Hebrew word translated as void means: waste or empty or unpopulated. So here we have a statement about this un-created state of things. We will see that what follows is the structures put in place to give order in order to populate them. That the world or See Abraham 4:2 - means "empty and desolate". Large masses of water are uncontrollable, and anciently where representative of chaos, the chaos that precedes creation. These two symbolic functions, source of life and chaos, lead us to the idea of potential as yet unformed reality. The waters also speak to the larger metaphor of creation as birth. We are all born of the maternal waters. ] and darkness [ There are two primary characteristics associated with the pre-creative state of th earth that are found in EVERY creation account, from Yoruba of Nigeria to the Inuit of New Foundland, to the Cherokee of Native America, to the Maya of Guatemala, to the ancient Sumerians and Mesopotamians; They all have the two characteristics darkness and water as part of their pre-creative state account. ] was upon the face of the deep. [ Hebrew translation for deep refers to that primordial chaos of things. In Hebrew “the deep” is techom. Elcott’s Bible commentary notes that "techom" comes from a root: “signifying confusion, or disturbance, and is poetically applied to the ocean, as in Psalm 42:7, from the restless motion of the waves, but is used here to describe that chaos as a surging mass of shapeless matter.”
This is all still before creation. What will follow is the theological description of the creation of six days, which is further divided into days 1,2,3 (these days deal with the portion where Gods organizes the elements from the wild/chaos/without order state that they are in as stated in verse 2.) (the period in which the earth is populated dealing with the void part of the problem as stated in verse 2.) and then days 4,5 and six and the seventh day is treated differently. It is not meant to be the scientific process of the creation, something of which there is no real way to possibly understand with out current knowledge.
The description of the “face of the deep” and the “waters” is intriguing, as Moses would have been very acquainted with the ancient tradition of his day. Moses may have recalled stories of the gods overcoming the mysterious waters of chaos to accomplish their purposes. However, the creation accounts revealed to Moses appear to paint a contrasting picture with those of other ancient Near Eastern origins: One that God is in total control, has never lacked that control, and is never in danger of losing his power. He is supreme, and the creation accounts put this into vivid focus for Moses as he sees “Elohim transforms a dark, watery chaos into the cosmos, an orderly system characterized by predictability and harmony.” In fact, there appears to be a conscious effort to counter the Near Eastern Creation Myths of Moses day. In contrast to the tradition creation myth and the struggle waged between Marduk, who battles Tiamat and Qingu, and destroying them in battle, Marduk will then complete the creation which was begun by Enki. From what Moses provided God is in complete control of Creation. As well Moses provides the detail portraying God’s creation not as part of a conflict with opposing forces but as a serene and controlled process, one in which God had complete control. ] And the Spirit [ This “hovering over the waters announces God’s presence on the scene, anticipating God’s dramatic decree in v. 3 [Gen 1:3]”). [Spirit = Hebrew rûaḥ] to ‘the life organizing power of the Gods,’ seemingly referring to priesthood”(Bradshaw, Image and Likeness, 98) It is interesting to compare the account here which appears utterly devoid of sensory detail. This eerie abstractness, is very different from the account we have in Moses where God in an interchange with Moses describes the purpose. Why he is doing each of these things in the creation. (Moses 2) Breath or wind. So, bear in mind that the wind here is a story about how God imposing order on the gret expansive void(chaos). It is interesting to note that wind is associated with the second law of thermodynamics which states that in an isolated system, entropy will always increase with time. To understand what this means, we must understand what is meant by entropy. Thermodynamic entropy is essentially a measure of how organized or disorganized energy is, in a system of atoms or molecules. “If the energy in those molecules is perfectly organized, then the molecules can do 10 units of work. However, if the energy became less organized, so the entropy increases, the molecules might only be able to do 6 units of work, even though they still have 10 units of energy in them.” This means that the work potential of energy is directly related to how ordered or disordered the molecules are. Even though the energy, itself, within them, never changes. So, they need to be more ordered for them to have work potential. The less ordered they are, the less work potential they have. This is why order it matters here. When total entropy is reached, there is no more energy to spend.
A good example of this is a cup of hot tea the tea has a lot of energy compared to the room the tea is in. And over time, the heat in the tea will spread into the room. The tea will become colder. This is because the energy or heat in the tea moves to the surrounding area. Once the tea becomes cold, there is no more heat that can be spread. The tea has reached total entropy. So, over time, as heat energy molecules become more and more disorganized and dispersed, they lose their ability to convert heat energy into work. And this happens until the molecules reach thermal equilibrium, or the same temperature. And all work potential at that point is lost. This is known as total thermodynamic entropy. This process, as far as the scientific community has been able to establish, is totally irreversible, which is why this is referred to as the second law thermodynamics. We know of no process that can permanently reverse entropy. It’s a law of the natural world, that heat energy particles or molecules go from a state of order to disorder, and this moves everything irreversibly towards decay. “In an isolated system, entropy will always increase with time.”
The emphasis here is on isolated. An isolated system, is a system that’s completely closed off to outside sources of energy. In an open system, when a car breaks down, we can use some of our own energy to repair the broken down parts. We can change the oil, fix a broken valve in the engine, fill it with gas, or do whatever is needed to bring it back to, quote, life. But in an isolated system, the car would remain irreversibly broken down because it didn’t have access to an energy source, like you or me, that could counter the effects of entropy. Without an outside source of energy, over time it would continue to degrade. But in an open system, where energy can flow into the system from an outside source, infusing it with new life, so to say, the process of entropy can be momentarily stopped or slowed down. And this is why we see life flourishing on planet Earth.
Our planet is not an isolated system. We get energy 24-7 from the Sun. And as long as we have access to this energy source, which comes from outside of our planetary system, we’re good to go. There’s an energy to fuel the existence of life, to counter thermodynamic entropy. ] of God moved upon the face of the waters. [ Translated from the Hebrew word that mean's "brooded" See Abr 4:2 The singular rather than the plural term for “water” appears in JST OT2, the source of Moses 2:2 (S. H. Faulring et al., Original Manuscripts, p. 595). However “waters” (Hebrew mayim) the original term in Genesis, is used in JST OT1 as well as in the later translation of the book of Abraham. This raises the possibility that the change in OT2 was made erroneously or on John Whitmer’s initiative rather than the Prophet’s (see K. P. Jackson, Book of Moses, p. 10). The Creation was not simply a mechanistic unfolding of events driven by ‘natural law.’ On the contrary, they show that God played an intimate, integral, and continuous part in the Creation. “moved upon” uses a word meaning to “hover over” or “to brood and fertilize.” (Abr 4:18) It conveys the sense of God taking an active part in creation and watching over and tending to it until it was “good.” The language of the text implies the presence of God, his constant work, and his efforts to instill everything with life and for life ]
3 And God said, [ Notice how he will bring things forth, he will do so by saying "let there be". He used his voice. This divine action resulted in the creation of life, the cosmos(the word cosmos, which in Greek actually means to order or arrange), and the earth. Here he is creating through divine utterance seems to be a concept outside of rudimentary thinking. He is not a Pottery type God, one who molded or fashioned the cosmos until he gets to man. The elements respond to God’s commands, his divine utterance, because part of God is in them. Part of God is in everything. Suggesting maybe that, whatever part of God is in all things, is somehow related to light. ] Let there be light: and there was light. [ The first action. In Hebrew mythology light is used to represent the presence of God. So we are taught that God is injecting himself into the equation, he is the organizer, the ones who with his light holds all things accountable to function in the sphere that he has defined for them. According to Brigham Young, "light" came to the earth when the earth was moved near the sun: When the Lord said -- "Let there be light," there was light, for the earth was brought near the sun that it might reflect upon it so as to give us light by day, and the moon to give us light by night. This is the glory the earth came from, and when it is glorified it will return again unto the presence of the Father, and it will dwell there, and these intelligent beings that I am looking at, if they live worthy of it, will dwell upon this earth. (JD 17:143.) ]
4 And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided [ Separated and gave purpose. This is how God creates things he divides things out, or separates them them gives them a purpose or a function in an ordered system, with each their role to play, and then he names them. ] the light from the darkness.
5 And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening
and the morning [ Evening and morning declare the ends of each of these creative periods which are not alway equal in length - Abraham was taught by the Lord who used the phrase time to describe "a day" see Abr 3. ] were the first day.
6 ¶ And God said, Let there be a firmament [ Firmament= "to stretch or spread out" Organization of the firmament or heavens so as to divide the waters on the earth from those in the heavens. Dividing the sky (clouds on up to where God dwells) from the oceans. This is compared to “stretching out heaven like a [tent] curtain.” The word for “curtain” (Heb. yeri‘ah) in this verse about creation is the same which is used of the curtains of the tabernacle of Moses (Exod 26:1-13; 26:8-17).] in the midst [ In the very middle. ] of the waters, and let it divide [ Hebrew "badal" “to divide/separate” is used to describe the way God created by separation (Gen 1:4, 6-7, 18), and after the creation account the next usage of the term badal in Scripture describes the veil in the tabernacle of Moses which divides between the holy place and the most holy place (Exod 26:33). In the creation account "badal" is particularly utilized in connection with reference to the expanse (Heb. raqia‘) of the atmospheric heavens (Gen 1:6-7). ] the waters from the waters.
7 And God made the firmament, and divided [ Separated. ] the waters which were under the firmament [ The oceans, rivers and lakes. ] from the waters which were above the firmament: [ Rain, clouds and moisture in the atmosphere. ] and it was so. [ Joseph Smith Translation of Gen 1:7 "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. [ Second period of time Abr 4:13. ]
9 ¶ And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, [ Day 3: So there is one big mass of water. ] and let the dry land appear: [ And one big mass of land. The pri-mordial mound where, according to one Hebrew tradition, the primordial mound was the first land that emerged from the waters of chaos during the creative period. Identified as the consecrated topos, the primordial mound represented order and defini-
tion amidst the unruly chaotic waters. (Lundquist, "What Is a Temple?" 86-87. Lundquist's summary proposition is correct that "the cosmic mountain represents the primordial hillock, the place that first emerged from the waters covering the earth during the creative process". Persons who stood before the lofty components of the temple would naturally look heavenward,
similar to one who stands before a striking mountain. In this regard the temple became "the architectural embodiment of the cosmic mountain." Later on the temples of Jerusalem (Solomon's, Zerubbabel's, and Herod's), all being constructed upon the identical mount, were part of a continuing tradition of
sacred events that occurred there. What was once a sacred topos now became a sacred topos with sacral architecture superimposed upon it. ) Just as chaos became organized and orderly, so the temple brings order and organization unto the world. ] and it was so. [ When the dry land appears, it automatically sets the boundaries to the waters or chaos. ]
10 And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: [ God created the “Seas” (Heb. yam in the plural, described in the singular “Sea” [yam] in Exod 20:11) which it would have been in the creation before the world was divided after the flood, located on earth outside of the garden. In similar manner, a sea was constructed in the courtyard area outside the Solomonic temple was placed a stationary laver called the molten “Sea” (Heb. yam, 1 Kgs 7:23; 2 Chron 4:2). Solomon also constructed ten more portable lavers (1 Kings 7:27-30, 38-39). We most often see a sea(fountain) in our modern day temples. ] 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, [ Note how each of the plant groups are even divided here with purpose and function. The pattern of parentage see Matt 7:16 The Pattern of our Parentage Ensign Nov 1984 pg 67. ]whose seed is in itself, [ The ripened ovaries as in fruits and vegetables. If we apply this principle to the law that was given - that each should multiply after it's own kind then we can logically conclude that since man formed God after his own image then we are to yield our fruit or when we become ripened we will be like a God. ] 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.
14 ¶ And God said, [ Day 4 of the organization under Gods hands. ] Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; [ It is hardly accidental that the term for “light” (Heb ma’or, “lamp, luminary”) used to describe the appearance of the “greater light” (sun) and “lesser light” (moon) on the fourth day of creation week in Gen 1:14-16, is employed elsewhere in the Pentateuch only for the light of the menorah in the holy place of the sanctuary (Exod 25:6; 27:20; 35:8, 14, 28; 39:27; Lev 24:2; Num 4:9, 16). Moses not only engages in a polemic against the solar and lunar deities of the ANE by not using the common names for sun and moon in Hebrew are also the personal names for the ANE sun and moon gods; he also uses the technical term for “sanctuary lamp” which he reserves later for the menorah in the Holy Place, to link creation with sanctuary. ] and let them be for signs, [ The original Hebrew would translate this to be "(warning) signs". ] , and for seasons, [ Or appointed times, most notably the Jewish feast days. We are provided with the functions of the greater and lesser lights in creation that they would be for “seasons” (mo‘edim, pl. of mo‘ed). Although “seasons” is an accurate translation of this term in context, several modern versions have rightly recognized the sanctuary connotations of the term as well, and have thus translated the term in Gen 1:14 as “festivals” (HSB, NJB), in harmony with the other sanctuary-related terminology in Gen 1. While the term mo‘edim sometimes carries the more general meaning of “seasons” (e.g., Jer 8:7), the dominant use of this term elsewhere in Scripture is in the context of the sanctuary, to refer to the cultic festivals (see esp. Lev 23:2, 4, 37, 44). ] , and for days, and years: [ Given so that man can tell time, navigate calendar and recognize the hand of God. ]
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 [ "gadol" ] lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars [ Means also populations. ] also.
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.
20 And God said, [ Day 5. ] Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, [ The creatures that live in the water are brought forth.] and fowl [ The creatures that live in the watery firmament, the sky are created. ] 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, [ The law is again applied to do so after it's own kind vs 11. ] and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good. [ Was following the design or plan that each was given. ]
22 And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply,
[ Hebrew (rabah) to become many. ] and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth.
24 ¶ And God said, [ Day 6. ] Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, [ Again these groups are divided. Symbolic for those animals that are domesticated. ] and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: [ Symbolic for those animals that are not domesticated. ] and it was so.
25 And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good.
[ Note the series of key verbal parallels: Just as “God saw [ra’ah] everything that he had made/done [‘asah], and behold [hineh] it was very good,” and he “finished [kalah] his work [mela’kah],” “blessed [berek] the seventh day and sanctified [qadash] it (Gen 1:31; 2:1; 2:2; 2:3), so “Moses saw [ra’ah] all the work” which the people “made/did [‘asah]” in constructing the tabernacle of Moses” “and behold [hineh]” it was done, “and Moses finished [kalah] the work [mela’kah],” “blessed” [qadash] the people for their labors, and “consecrated/sanctified” [qadash] the tabernacle and its furnishings (Exod 39:32, 43; 40:9, 33). “The verbal parallels . . . are too striking, for coincidence.” The repetition of the same basic terms in the same basic order in these two conclusion formulae—(1) see, (2) make/do, (3) behold, (4) finish, (5) work, (6) bless, and (7) sanctifiy/consecrate—strongly suggests the linkage between the creation week and the sanctuary in the Torah. ]
26 ¶ And God [ Heavenly Father. ] said, Let us [ We might need to stop a moment and ask ourselves here who is God referring to here when he says “let us”? More than one of them there at the time of the creation. In Moses 1:33 we are taught that Jesus Christ is the creator of the world. So we can identify at least that there is God (Heavenly Father) here, and we also have Jesus Christ here. It's much more clear in the Moses version here than Genesis, that this is a Christ-centered text and that Jesus was the creator acting under the direction of his Father. And that this is part of his divine role as Jehovah, was to be involved in creation. ] make man in our image, after our likeness: [ The question has been asked, "To whom was God speaking on this occasion?" The answer has been provided by God himself in another scripture: "And I, God, said unto mine Only Begotten, which was with me from the beginning: Let us make man in our image, after our likeness." (Moses 2:26.) The "Only Begotten" of God was the pre-earthly Jehovah, who came to earth as Jesus Christ. Thus, God the Father was speaking to Jesus Christ on that occasion. The terms "in our image" and "after our likeness" indicate that God had bodily parts just as man does. This truth has been taught by Joseph Smith. The context of who is doing the actual creation has changed at this point. God said "Let Us" implying that he Heavenly Father is now part of the process see Abr 3:22; The Promised Messiah pg 62. Mos 6:9 Man is unique and our physical bodies and made to look like him see also vs 11; Joseph Smith Translation Gen 1:26-27. ] and let them have dominion [ "The Priesthood was first given to Adam; he obtained the First Presidency, and held the keys of it from generation to generation.6 He obtained it in the Creation, before the world was formed, as in Genesis 1:26, 27, 28." (Teachings Of The Prophet Joseph Smith pg 157). He had dominion given him over every living Creature. He is Michael, the Archangel.” . . . In the time before mortal life Adam . . . obtained the priesthood that would transfer from generation to generation. That priesthood organized the Chain of Belonging on earth. Smith continued, “The Priesthood is an everlasting principle & Existed with God from Eternity & will to Eternity, without beginning of days or end of years.”(Brown, Joseph Smith’s Translation, 247. This concept of the eternal nature of the gospel is discussed in chapter 4 of the present volume.) Note first that man has an elevated position over everything else in that he is given dominion over everything. This would have gone contrary to Egyptian culture which was that the Gods who created man were not always happy with man, he strayed of coarse too often, hence they used the waters to cause a flood. Use it for our purpose in righteousness - be good stewards, as God has been in the creation of it - comes from being made "Lords over" - to care for to nurture. When God gave power to Adam to "have dominion" over the cattle, he was bestowing priesthood authority upon Adam. Joseph Smith taught that since that time the priesthood has always been bestowed or revealed under Adam's authority: The Priesthood was first given to Adam; he obtained the First Presidency, and held the keys of it from generation to generation. He obtained it in the Creation, before the world was formed, as in Gen. 1:26, 27, 28. He had dominion given him over every living creature. He is Michael the Archangel,(Arch means chief) spoken of in the Scriptures. Then to Noah, who is Gabriel; he stands next in authority to Adam in the Priesthood; he was called of God to this office, and was the father of all living in his day, and to him was given the dominion. These men held keys first on earth, and then in heaven. The Priesthood is an everlasting principle, and existed with God from eternity, and will to eternity, without beginning of days or end of years. The keys have to be brought from heaven whenever the Gospel is sent. When they are revealed from heaven, it is by Adam's authority. ... The Priesthood is everlasting. (HC 3:385-87.) ] 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, [ God the Father and Jesus Christ look the same - hence the phrase "if you have seen me you have seen the Father". ] in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. [ Note here how the author is establishing that through the entire creation process there has been no pushback of any kind. Suggesting that all things respect him as the organizer, there is no opposition along the way. Egyptian culture would have had and was based on the premises that different Gods fought against each other which created the ebb and flow of life. What importance is it to us when we understand that we were created as males and females? "each has a divine nature and destiny. Gender is an essential characteristic of individual pre-mortal, mortal and eternal identity and purpose" The Family A Proclamation to the World. There are no other choices here, so either you believe God or you do not. Compare with Abr 4:27. ]
28 And God blessed them, [ Both of them. To be “blessed” is not the same thing as being commanded. God “blessed” them with the capability and potential to procreate. These are the same words used by Joseph Smith in the very first marriage he performed in this dispensation. Joseph remarked that the “dominion” given to Adam & Eve was the Priesthood. The Lord was speaking to them, Adam & Eve. ] and God said unto them, Be fruitful, [ Hebrew (paw-raw) - means to increase, bear or bring fruit. The fact that God spoke to Adam and Eve indicates that they had a language common each other. ] and multiply, [ Hebrew (rabah) to become many. ] and replenish [ Means to fill up, see vs 22. ] the earth,and subdue it: [ The words “subdue” and “dominion” are tightly associated with rulership or kingship. So, it appears here as though God instituted not only his priesthood in the garden, but also, some sort of civil authority structure, which was characterized by kingship and queenship. Here, God gave Adam and Eve the power to rule over the entirety of his earthly creation. ] and have dominion [ What does it mean to have dominion over the earth --Take care of it, to have responsibility for it - the control or power to govern it. In the most common sense when we speak of dominion we are referring to a King and or Queen, those who have dominion over a kingdom. Can you have dominion over a kingdom if you are not a King or a queen? What was the power given that provided for that dominion? The priesthood. He gave unto them dominion, which is Priesthood. When a man and woman enter into the New and Everlasting Covenant of Marriage, they enter into the order of the Patriarchal Priesthood. It's what is discussed in both D&C 107 & 132. He blessed them with the Priesthood. "The Priesthood was first given to Adam; he obtained the First Presidency, and held the keys of it from generation to generation. He obtained it in the creation, before the world was formed, as in Gen 1:26,27,28" (History Of The Church 3:385-388. ) ] over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. [ Compare with Abr 4:28. ]
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. [ Or food; as if it meant meat per se he would have used flesh. ]
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. [ Interesting: everything that he made was good. It has a purpose so when we destroy, mame or otherwise anything we are not in line with Gods purpose for which it was created. We read in Abraham 4:18 that the Gods were watching things, holding them each accountable that they were functioning in the respective way. They held things accountable to preform. Who is the great destroyer? An what is his purpose? - to destroy the things of God. We were created for this world as things of beauty - should you ever think that you are anything less - remember EVERYTHING that God has created was for good. It is beautiful in his eyes and they are the only ones that matter. ] And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.