1 AND it came to pass that the Lord spake unto Moses, [ This verse clearly defines that this is a revelation to Moses, and Moses here learns of the relationship between the “Almighty God” and his “Only Begotten” and the part they played in creation. ] saying: Behold, I reveal [ Moses will be shown the creation in a vision. ] unto you concerning this heaven, and this earth; [ As Moses had requested - only this earth Moses 1:35. ] write the words which I speak. I am the Beginning and the End, [ Or the creator; because all things were started and will finish through my power. ] the Almighty God; by mine Only Begotten I created these things; [ This is the Savior talking here; but he is speaking for and in behalf of the Father. What do we know about the creation? 1: READ Lectures On Faith 1 12-17 “When a man works by faith he works by mental exertion instead of physical force. It is by words, instead of exerting his physical powers, with which every being works when he works by faith. God said, ‘Let there be light: and there was light.’ . . . And the Saviour says: ‘If you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, say to this mountain, “Remove,” and it will remove; or say to that sycamine tree, “Be ye plucked up, and planted in the midst of the sea,” and it shall obey you.’ Faith, then, works by words; and with these its mightiest works have been, and will be, performed. . . . “. . . The whole visible creation, as it now exists, is the effect of faith. It was faith by which it was framed, and it is by the power of faith that it continues in its organized form, and by which the planets move round their orbits and sparkle forth their glory” (Lectures on Faith, 72–73; see also Matthew 17:20; Jacob 4:6, 9).

2: Read Abr 3:22-26 It was not formed from nothing

 

so In Review: Organized--4 step process 1st Framed by Faith - set up the framework under which they would operate (Lectures on Faith 1:
2nd as spirits, - 3rd physically as bodies that were not subject to sin or death no blood,no reproduction - 4th as mortals see Moses 3:5. ] yea, in the beginning I created the heaven, [ Jesus Christ - under the direction of the Father. By the will and power of God. Here we see two important ideas being introduced: (1) a reference to God as the Beginning/Head and (2) the notion of measurable time. Beginning, as well as End, used as referential titles for God are important because they help us see the close relationship between the Creator and his governance over the entirety of creation and temporality. Thus the very first verse of Moses 2 provides essential insights into the eternal nature and power of the Creator vis-à-vis the temporal nature of the Creation which has its “beginning” and “end” only in its Creator. Of this profound statement of the Father and Son’s shared role in creation, Elder James E. Talmage remarked: The Father operated in the work of creation through the Son, who thus became the executive through whom the will, commandment, or word of the Father was put into effect. It is with incisive appropriateness therefore, that the Son, Jesus Christ, is designated by the apostle John as the Word; or as declared by the Father ‘the word of my power.’ The part taken by Jesus Christ in the creation, a part so prominent as to justify our calling Him the Creator, is set forth in many scriptures. (Talmage, Jesus the Christ, 31) ] and the earth upon which thou standest.

2 And the earth was without form, and void; [ See Abraham 4:2 - means "empty and desolate" as the earth was a shape but nothing else. Matter unorganized anciently water was used as a symbol for chaos(Gen 1:2). The first law of thermodynamics states: “The total energy of an isolated system is constant. Energy can be transformed from one form to another, but can be neither created nor destroyed.” In other words, the total amount of energy in the universe never changes. No matter what, energy can’t be created or destroyed. It can only change form. Einstein argued that the amount of energy and matter in the universe was fixed. Albert Einstein demonstrated this tight relationship between energy and matter in his famous equation, E equals MC squared or energy equals mass times the speed of light squared when he showed that energy was a property of matter. North Carolina State University, and his colleague, Jeffrey Eyshen, Silverberg wrote in December 2020:‘My colleague and I have described an updated way to think about matter. We propose that matter is not made of particle or waves, as was long thought, but more fundamentally, that matter is made of fragments of energy.” Matter is made up of fragments of energy, then we can say the same thing about matter as you can say about energy. It can’t be created or destroyed. It’s eternal. Just like the ancients described, the primordial ocean, a sea of materia prima, raw material or first matter, a mass of unordered matter, best visualized as water, for the life it has the potential to bring forth. Scientists have never been able to create something out of nothing. They can’t do it. They have, however, been able to create matter out of light, which is extremely interesting. Basically, they use the RHIC, or relativistic heavy ion collider, and they slammed photons of light together, and pairs of electrons and positrons of matter were created. The conversion of energetic light into matter is a direct consequence of Einstein’s famous E equals MC squared equation, which states that energy and matter are interchangeable. Nuclear reactions in the sun and at the nuclear power plants regularly convert matter into energy. Now scientists have converted light energy directly into matter in a single step. ] and I caused 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. ]to come up upon the face of the deep; [ The water. Old Test Student Manual pg 30. 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 ancients used water symbolically to describe the precreative state, and why? Because water was an excellent way to convey many of the important characteristics of what the universe was like before the creation took place. Water was used to convey that the pre-creative state of the universe was made up of some sort of substance, a substance that filled the universe like water. ] and my Spirit [ Many people interpret this as “the Holy Ghost moving upon the waters”. But if you take a look at the original Hebrew. The translators of the King James Version of the Bible translated the Hebrew word "Ruah", R-U-A-H, as the spirit. The Cambridge Bible for schools and colleges says that the proper translation the word "Ruah" would be more along the lines of “the wind”. In ancient Hebrew "Ruah" was accepted as the most suitable term to express the invisible agency of God. In consequence, it is sometimes difficult to decide whether the word is used literally in its meaning of wind or breath, or metaphorically in its meaning of spirit, as the symbol of the invisible operation and influence of the Almighty. In English there are then three discrete concepts; wind, breath, and spirit. So, when translating the Bibles, the translators had to do the best they could to translate "Ruah", depending on the context of the passage, into one of these three English words. But keep in mind that among the Hebrews, these concepts were somewhat interchangeable, and ultimately represented divine power, a power similar or akin to wind, or having the life-giving potentiality of breath. Dr. Harry M. Olensky, who wrote an entire paper on Genesis chapter one verse two in the Jewish quarterly review argues that the best translation of "ruah" here is not “spirit of god” but “wind of god”. In the paper he argued that the english translators translated ruah as Spirit as the result of hellenistic influences. The problem with translating "ruah" as spirit suggests to most Christians will jump tp the conclusion that it was the Holy Ghost that brooded upon the waters. And this just may not be the case. If we look at Ellicott’s commentary for English readers, it says this of this passage: ”When then creation is ascribed to the wind, as we see in Job 26.13 and Psalm 104.30, we justly see not the mere instrumental force employed, but rather the divine operative energy which resides especially in the third person of the Holy Trinity. But we must be upon our guard against the common error of commentators who read into the text of these most ancient documents, perfect doctrines which were not revealed in their fullness until the gospel was given.” So, here too we have the Ellicott commentators concerned that this passage might not be referring to the Holy Ghost, but as some other form of divine power. So here we have the ancient Hebrews using only one word to link the temporal symbol, wind, to its spiritual counterpart, divine power. In the ancient Hebrew mind, the link between wind and divine power didn’t need to be explained, it was one word. Everybody understood that the wind was the temporal symbol par excellence for the characteristics of divine power. And then this is where we get into some of the symbolism. Listen to see if we can see some of the symbolism between this divine power and wind, because just like the wind, the divine power was invisible. And it worked in ways that were unseen to the human eye. Like the wind, the results of the divine power could be seen or felt just like the ruffling of leaves when the wind blows through the trees, even though the power itself could not be seen. Like the wind, the divine power had the ability to produce life. Like when the wind spreads seeds across the field, like the wind, the divine power was a powerful force. It had the ability to destroy, kind of like a hurricane or tornado. Like the wind, the divine power is not subject to the control of human beings. It was controlled by God, and it was used at will. Like the wind, the divine power could come suddenly and seemingly out of nowhere. And like the wind, the divine power could lift, or ascend one up to the divine presence, like a bird riding a current in the sky. See? Wind or Ru’ah in this passage is being used symbolically to represent something spiritual. So, I think that the wind here represents divine power, God’s power, which is sometimes referred to as priesthood power. And it was used by Jesus himself in John chapter three, verse eight, when he teaches Nicodemus about how the spirit operates. ] moved upon the face of the water; [ The word "moved" is actually the translation of the Hebrew word, merget, which according to the Cambridge Bible commentary tells us that this Hebrew word means “Was brooding upon”, and furnishes the picture of a bird spreading its wing over its nest. For the use of the same unusual Hebrew word, cross-reference Deuteronomy 32:11 which conveys the thought of “fostering care”; hence God is acting to care for to see that things work as planned. So Hebrew translation: "brooded"; is like a hen sitting on her eggs watching them, protecting them(Deuteronomy 32:11) until they hatch. "It is by faith that he exercises power over them, and that faith is the principle of power? And that if the principle of power, it must be so in man as well as in the Deity?" Lectures on Faith Lecture 1:17. The ancients used water to express three important characteristics of the precreative state. The first, the water in the precreative state suggests that it was full of potential for life. The second, the use of water emphasizes a state of abundant, chaotic, and disorganized matter. Third, water was a symbol to the ancients of birth it's self. When a woman’s water breaks, the physical birth of a child takes place. Water is the precursor to birth, be it the birth of the cosmos, the birth of the earth, the birth of a child, the birth of the spiritual being. So, a recounting of the creation of the cosmos in the earth serves as a living template for the creation of the new man, one who has sloughed off the chaotic, confused, disordered life of the profane, and is born anew. He or she is spiritually born. ] for I am God. [ God was the grand architect, circling out the earth for creation. Or, as Job seems to indicate, it could be God placing bounds around the primordial waters so the creation can take place. (Proverbs 8:22-27) Undeveloped and empty. This describes a formed sphere, but yet as unproductive. This description will contrast with a later stage when the earth teems with life, plants, animals, and people when God fills them with life. Note only is Nises being taught about the creation, but he is being prepard to better inderstand the mission that God has for his people. IF Moses can comprehend the concept of divine creation designed to replace emptiness with purpose, then he would be able to begin to comprehend his prophetic calling as it pertained to gathering, organizing, delivering, and creating Israel as a covenant people. During Israel’s sojourn in the wilderness, wherein God would establish the covenant after the Exodus, God would use the language of creation as found here in Moses 2/Genesis 1 to help the people understand that he had delivered them from the wasteland of the desert (see Deuteronomy 32:10) and created for them an identity and purpose through the ordinances of the tabernacle and his covenant with Israel. Gordon Wenham explained this concept as follows: Desolate, empty, lacking, unorganized. These terms are later used in connection with Deut. where God is depicted as organizing the camps of Israel and setting up the tabernacle in their midst with the intention of developing them with covenants and the order presented in the covenantal system. The concept is taking an undeveloped environment and organizing and preparing an environment where something can thrive, develop, and teem with life. Tohu, ‘waste’ has two main senses, either ‘nothingness’ (e.g., Isa 29:21) or, as here, ‘chaos, disorder,’ most frequently of the untracked desert where a man can lose his way and die (Deut 32:10; Job 6:18). This frightening disorganization is the antithesis to the order that characterized the work of creation when it is complete.(Wenham, Genesis 1–15, 15–16. God was organizing an environment wherein his children could thrive. For Egyptian parallels with tōhû and bōhû, see Walton, Old Testament, 28–29) ]

3 And I, 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, 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. (Psalm 33:6,9 “By the word of the Lord were the heavens made, for he spake and it was done. He commanded and it stood fast.” )] Let there be light; [ When a man works by faith he works by mental exertion instead of physical force. It is by words instead of exerting his physical powers, with which every being works when he works by faith. God said, "Let there be light: and there was light...the whole visible creation, as it now exists, is the effect of faith" Lectures On Faith Lecture 7:3,5 So the light we are talking of here is not the Sun or the moon as they were created in vs 14-19. so what is the light that we are talking of here? It is God's light, his power; the power by which all things are governed. See Elder John Taylor Journal of Discourses Vol 18; Pg 327. ] and there was light.

4 And I, God, saw the light; and that light was good. [ This light is the source of all that is good. The fact that it is good will be used in Moses 2:4, 10, 12, 18, 21, 25, 31, 3:2. This suggests that things worked out as planned, they were obedient to the plan, they were of God the source of goodness, all is in line working under the direction of the priesthood. ] And I, God, divided the light from the darkness. [ I suppose that this suggests that some things were held to work under the direction of the priesthood and continue to work correctly. However there was a division at this point. Darkness is the absence of light so in some way some things were left by design to function without the light. Does this allow for the principal of agency, a place for satan, a void so to speak. Since Satan is here; he has no light this I suspect is his place, his dominion, that dark world created that allows for opposition. ]

5 And I, God, called [ God names everything as part of the creation process, and names seem to be an incredibly important facet of the creation process. We will see this later when Genesis 2:19-20 where God gives Adam the privilege of naming every living creature. ] the light Day; and the darkness, I called Night; and this I did by the word [ And how he did it was? and the Word is Jesus Christ see John 1:1-3. ] of my power, [ Which is the power of the priesthood. ] and it was done as I spake; and the evening and the morning were the first day. ["There is no revealed recitation specifying that each of the "six days" involved in the creation was of the same duration" Christ and the Creation Ensign June 1982 11.]

6 And again, I, 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. ] in the midst of the water, and it was so, even as I spake; and I said: Let it divide the waters from the waters; [ Division of atmosphere from the waters that reside on the earth. Water in the sky verses oceans. See Answers to Gospel Questions Vol 4 Pg 116-117. "Waters", in Hebrew, is called Miyam, and the word for "Heavens" = Ha-sha-Miyam. The waters above and the waters below, and there is an expanse in between. ] and it was done;

7 And I, God, made the firmament and divided [ Made separate. ] the waters, yea, the great waters under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament, and it was so even as I spake. [ In Moses, God is telling us what He did. In Abraham 4:7, the Gods are ordering things to happen, see v 18. ] .

8 And I, God, called the firmament Heaven; and the evening and the morning were the second day. [ Or the end of the second period - we have no idea how long each of these periods really were. In Abr 4:5, the light and darkness was just called day and night. It is just a designation of light and darkness or in Abr 4: 8, night and day. ]

9  And I, God, [ See Abraham 4:9. Abraham is explaining the Gods ordered things, they set things in motion, and what was ordered was obeyed (“the waters were gathered together unto one place and the earth came up dry.”). ] said: Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and it was so; and I, God, said: Let there be dry land; and it was so. [ All God is saying here is that the heavens and the earth were created, there is dry land, there are seas, and there is a sun, moon, and stars, because I put them there for you [Adam] and for mankind. So in the original creation the land was all together and the water was all together. The world was divided in the days of Peleg Gen 10:25. D&C 133:23 all will be brought back together again for the second coming. ]

10 And I, God, called the dry land Earth; [ Further details in Abraham 4:10. ] and the gathering together of the waters, called I the Sea; and I, God, saw that all things which I had made were good.

11 And I, God, said: Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, [ The earth is now being prepared to host animals, insects and man. ] the fruit tree yielding fruit, after his kind, [ "They follow a pattern of their parentage...A bird will not become an animal nor a fish. A mammal will not beget reptiles, nor 'do men gather ...tigs or thistles (Matt 7:16) Conference report Oct 1984 Pg 83 Elder Boyd K Packer. ] and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed should be in itself upon the earth, and it was so even as I spake.

12 And the earth brought forth grass, every herb yielding seed after his kind, [ You will notice the pattern of repetition in these two verses: In ancient languages the repetition is for emphasis. The Lord makes clear that the grass and the vegetation and fruit trees all have seed within themselves in order to produce after their kind. What God is saying is that evolution is not an aspect of creation. Each class of vegetation had seed within itself to produce “after its own kind.” For the children of Israel, at the time of Moses, evolution was not an issue. But it is an issue today. Therefore God gives scripture to be read in the time that it is read. Under inspiration, and knowing the end from the beginning, knowing the issues that will be relevant in our day, he teaches concepts that will be important for us to understand in our day. It is all very clear. Read each and every word below slowly and deliberately. ] and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed should be in itself, after his kind; [ Repetition of after its own kind. The repetition in these verses is meant to emphasize something that we will need to understand. The Lord is being specific here so there is no misunderstanding. Everything will follow the pattern set forth by its parents. Flowers will become flowers, Bird will become birds not cows, we will become like our father in whom's image we were created. ] and I, God, saw that all things which I had made were 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. 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. ]

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

14 And I, God, said: Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven, [ Placement of lights in the sky. The sun the moon and planets. ] to divide the day from the night, and let them be for signs, [ To show that God exists, and God to use to help men understand, the Start of Bethleham, the moon turning to blood, three days without night... ] and for seasons, [ To govern the timing of crops to produce and bear forth fruit. ] and for days, and for years; [ So that man can keep track of time. Know when to rest when to work... ]

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 I, God, made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night, and the greater light was the sun, and the lesser light was the moon; and the stars also were made even according to my word.

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

18 And the sun to rule over the day, and the moon to rule over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness; and I, God, saw that all things which I had made were good;

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

20 And I, God, said: Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl which may fly above the earth in the open firmament [ Expanse Abr 4:20. ] of heaven.

21 And I, 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 I, God, saw that all things which I had created were good.

22 And I, God, blessed them, [ God “blessed” them with the capability and potential to procreate. They were “blessed” – not commanded – it was an aspect of their creation. ] saying: Be fruitful, and multiply, [ Reproduce. ] and fill the waters in the sea; and let fowl multiply in the earth;

23 And the evening and the morning were the fifth day. [ What's important to see is the Gods did not move forward until they saw they would be obeyed, then they moved on...in this case, after the 5th time. ]

24 And I, God, said: Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping things, and beasts of the earth after their kind, and it was so;

25 And I, God, made the beasts of the earth after their kind, [ Representing the wild animals. God is making a point—that all things created for this existence, this environment, have seed within themselves to reproduce after their kind. This is something we need to know to counteract the pervasive teachings of Darwin and others like him who has successfully advanced the belief in evolution in our culture, teaching it as fact instead of theory. The scriptures that God gave us make clear that all things on the earth at the time that Adam and his progeny are on the earth have seed within themselves to reproduce after their own kind. There was no evolution of any sort, contrary to the modern day theories and teachings and ideas being argued in our schools and universities. ] and cattle after their kind, [ Representing the domestic animals. Repetition that suggests that whatever happened before Adam (If there was some kind of evolution) is of no import. But from the time of Adam on God has given everything the power to reproduce in its own sphere. ] and everything which creepeth upon the earth after his kind; [ Reptiles. ] and I, God, saw that all these things were good.

[ Up to this point in the creation Jesus has been assisted by the noble and great ones See Abr 3:22,24. Now with the creation of man Heavenly Father takes over. The promised Messiah pg 62. ]

26 And I, God, [ Heavenly Father in this case. ] said unto mine Only Begotten, [ Or Jesus Christ. So the Father is speaking to the son, "which was with me from the beginning. ] which was with me from the beginning: Let us make man [ "Not a separate man, but a complete man, which is husband and wife... There is nothing in this, however, to indicate that the original man, the first of our race, began life as anything less than a man, or less than the human germ or embryo that becomes a man." (lds.org/manual/doctrines-of-the-gospel-student-manual/chapter-7-the-creation?lang=eng) Who exactly is the "us here? Is Heavenly Father saying let's you and I (Jesus Christ) make Adam; or is the "us" Heavenly Father and Heavenly Mother? ] in our image, [ “We know that Jehovah-Christ, assisted by ‘many of the noble and great ones’ (Abr. 3:22), of whom Michael is but the illustration, did in fact create the earth and all forms of plant and animal life on the face thereof. But when it came to placing man on earth, there was a change in Creators. That is, the Father himself became personally involved. All things were created by the son, using the power delegated by the Father, except man. In the spirit and again in the flesh, man was created by the Father. There was no delegation of authority where the crowning creature of creation was concerned” (Bruce R. McConkie, The Promised Messiah, 62). ] after our likeness; [ After our likeness,” in Hebrew, means “in looks and in substance.” Why is it important for us to be created in his likeness? If you are going to become like something it is good to start out somewhat the same. Also like entities will have like experiences. The Proclamation on the family. ] and it was so. [ Joseph Fielding Smith said: “The account of the creation of the earth as given in Genesis, and the Book of Moses, and as given in the temple, is the Creation of the physical earth, and of physical animals and plants. … There is no account of the Creation of man or other forms of life when they were created as spirits.” (Doctrines of Salvation, 3 vols., comp. Bruce R. McConkie, Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1954–56, 1:75.). ] And I, God, said: Let them have dominion [ Dominion does not mean to harm or control, it means to bless and to train. When Joseph Smith referenced Genesis 1:26-28 or Moses 2:26-28, he said the dominion given to Adam and Eve was the [patriarchal] priesthood (see TPJS, p 157). They were living under the patriarchal order of the priesthood at that time. This was before the Fall and also in the context of their creation. God is only explaining that man would have the ability to have dominion...there have not been any commandments given yet. It is interesting to note that dominion is closely associated with Kingship (being a king and a queen a temporal stewardship over the subjects). Usually the appointment of dominion is folowed by the pronouncement of being a priest and a priestess(a spiritual connection of responsibility). God is trying to teach us that all temporal power that fails to recognize its subordination to proper spiritual authority is vain. Dominion once separated from its core principles which should be under the direction of God can only exert itself in a disorderly way and move inexorably to its own ruin. So for any king or queen, the holders of temporal power revolt against this spiritual authority and declare themselves independent of all spiritual power, even trying to subordinate to themselves the spiritual authority that they had originally recognized as the source of their own power and seeking to turn the spiritual authority to the service of their own domination. Well, to then will come ruin and tyranny of the subjects. ] over the fishes 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 And I, God, [ Heavenly Father. ] created man in mine own image, in the image of mine Only Begotten created I him; [ God the Father and Jesus Christ look the same - hence the phrase "if you have seen me you have seen the Father". ] male and female created I them. [ After His kind. We see from the verses (Moses 2:27; Moses 6:9; Abraham 4:27) that Man is created in the image of God’s own body, and woman is also created from the image of God, and they together were called Adam(Moses 6:9). 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 premortal, 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 I, God, blessed them, [ Man is now created, and God “Blesses them.”, this is the same thing that he haas done with the animals. This is not a command. If we look at this in reference to the verses before and after this is all in the context of creating life. As an aspect of creation, they have the potential to replenish the earth (just like the animals), subdue it, and have dominion over it (Priesthood). This is where Adam receives this pre-fall blessing of posterity, like God has, it will later be realized in Moses 4. Not commanded Adam and Eve. To be “blessed” is not the same thing as being commanded. God “blessed” them with the capability and potential to procreate, just as the animals were in v 22. Them - together as a team. Now we are still in the creation phase, and here God blessed them that they could/would have the capability to have offspring. See also Abr 4:28 (caused). At this point it is not a commandment it is a potential that they are given at the time of creation. I have often wondered if it was more along the lines of his Patriarchal blessing. The longer I live the more I come to believe that we had a good long planning discussion with our father in heaven before we came down to earth. I think that the trials that we have here were discussed with us before we came, by a father who loved and knew us. I am more convinced of that than ever. I think that we agreed to them as we planned our life here together with him - I think that is very consistent with our agency - which above all is protected. I think the bond between us and our father in heaven was so strong that the mere suggestion by him to do something would be enough for us to say YES - whatever you think. We had no idea how tough it would be to keep and do what he wanted when we were no longer in his presence. so I think that during that discussion we were given blessings; promises; warnings - we find some of items discussed in our patriarchal blessings that we receive today. Uncle Haven used to tell me that the Patriarchal blessing that we receive is in part some of what we were told before we left the presence of God. I believe that because it just make sense. ] and said unto them: [ Adam and Eve. ] Be fruitful, [ Hebrew (paw-raw) - means to increase, bear or bring fruit. This narrative is describing an aspect of the creation itself, not a commandment for man to accomplish all these things. We need to understand this distinction. The ability and potential to reproduce is inherent to creation. Compare with Abraham 4:28 where God says "WE will cause them to be fruitful and multiply, and replenish the earth". ] and multiply, [ Hebrew (rabah) to become many, to repeat over and over. ] and replenish [ Hebrew (male) translated here to mean to fill, or be full. To bring forth children. ] the earth, and subdue it, [ Imply's inheritance - make belong to. ] and have dominion [ As seen in v 26. God says that after all these things that have been created, man would be created in the image of God, and man would then have the ability, as part of this creative context, to have dominion over every living thing on the earth. God is only explaining that man would have the ability to have dominion...there have not been any commandments given yet. Have domimion over the earth is not a commandment either, he is just giving Adam and Eve direction as to what to do going forward(so if we look at this all in context God says "have dominion over the earth, subdue it, and be fruitful in your labors") not a command to do something but direction to do it. So if you really look at it he is giving them the same elements that are part of the Abrahamic covenant/blessings. 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. What was the power given that provided for that dominion? The priesthood, in the very first marriage performed by Joseph in this dispensation, he quoted from this verse and blessed the married couple with the very same blessings given in this verse. He said the dominion given to Adam and Eve was Priesthood. [See Joseph Smith, in The Personal Writings of Joseph Smith, Compiled and Edited by Dean C. Jesse, (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1984), pp. 92, 132.. ] 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. Man is now created, and God “Blesses them.” This is not a command. As an aspect of creation, they have the capability to replenish the earth (just like the animals), subdue it, and have dominion over it (Priesthood). ]

29 And I, God, said unto man: [ Adam and Eve. ] Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, [ Hebrew translation = Vegetables. ] which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree in the which shall be 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. This stipulation lasted until the flood, after which Noah’s posterity could eat animals for meat. ]

30 And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to everything that creepeth upon the earth, wherein I grant life, there shall be given every clean herb for meat; and it was so, even as I spake.

31 And I, God, saw everything that I had made, and, behold, all things which I had made were 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. 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.