Genesis 3-4, Moses 4-5

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If you compare Genesis 3-4 to Moses 4-5, you can see just how much additional material is provided by the Pearl of Great Price on the same subject matter. Latter-day scripture really helps us to understand this part of the gospel narrative. So, for simplicity’s sake, this week we’re going to stick exclusively to the Book of Moses account since it’s the more complete version of the two.

THE GREATEST MAGICIAN AND THE GREAT PLAN OF MISERY

ICEBREAKER

And to start out this lesson, I usually like to begin with a magic trick. I’m somewhat of an amateur magician and I’ve found that it’s a great way to grab your students’ attention. In previous videos, I’ve already taught some simple yet effective magic tricks. So instead of taking the time to rehash them here, I’ll just provide you with some links to those videos in the video description. Also, to give you a new one, I’ll provide a link to a really great simple trick that requires no practice at all, yet that I feel is extremely effective. It’s a disappearing coin trick and it’s really easy to put together. There will be a link to that video in the description as well.

· Link to Magic Trick Idea #1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-_Iw8QC0EA Time Stamp 19:45-24:05

· Link to Magic Trick Idea #2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L36hpd6Ehsc&t=663s Time Stamp 21:00-23:36

· Link to Magic Trick Idea #3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xlE0OPrmKFA

But after the trick, I like to ask them if they know the names of any great magicians. And Houdini is going always to come up. Then they might say David Copperfield, Penn and Teller, David Blaine. These are some people that we would consider to be great magicians. But then I like to tell them that they have yet to name the individual who I consider to be the greatest magician of all time. Because, what is magic? It’s deception. It’s the art of making people believe something that isn’t really so. If you started the lesson with the cup and coin trick, then you could admit to them that you actually didn’t make the coin disappear. It was an illusion. A trick. Now, most magic is just harmless entertainment. But there is another magician out there—a deceiver, who is an expert at tricking people into believing things that are false. Who might I be talking about here? That, of course, would be Satan. The greatest deceiver of all time. The greatest “magician” of all time.

TRANSITION

In today’s lesson, we’re going to observe this magician at work. We’re going to watch him in the act of deceiving the first people to live on this earth. Adam and Eve, and Cain. We’re going to scrutinize how he works with these people in the hopes that we won’t be deceived by the same kinds of tricks. You know, if I were to show you how the trick that I did at the beginning worked, then you wouldn’t be deceived by it in the future, would you? You could just laugh and say, “You can’t fool me, I know how that works. I’m not falling for it”. Hopefully, after we study Satan today, we can do the same thing with his temptations. We can say “Ha, that may have worked on Cain, but it’s not going to work on me. I know the trick and I’m not falling for it”. I know that studying Satan may sound a little diabolical and counterintuitive. I mean, why would we want to spend our time learning about the adversary? Wouldn’t our time be better spent talking about good things, and God, and the gospel? Well, yes, BUT it’s good to know your enemy. The better you know your adversary, the better prepared you’ll be to face him. In football, coaches will spend hours upon hours watching film of the opposing team before they play them. Why? So they’ll be more prepared to face them. That’s what we’re going to do today. We’re going to watch film of the adversary at work here in the book of Moses.

SEARCH

The way we’re going to tackle this study is with this handout. This is what I call a thinking map. I’ll hand this out to my students at the beginning and ask them to do their best to use the scriptures to fill it in. The given references will help you to find the answers. You can have them work on this either personally, or as a companionship, or as a group. Be sure to tell them that the goal is not to “get it right”. If they struggle with this a little, or if they come up with different answers than you have, that’s ok. This is a means to an end. Its purpose is to help them get into the scriptures and truly study them. So just encourage them to do their best, and then later you’ll go over the sheet together as a class, hopefully sparking some great class discussion.

The handout is divided up into some different sections. You have “Satan’s Titles,” “Attributes of the Evil One,” “How Satan Works,” and “How to Destroy a Soul in 12 Steps.” If this seems like too much to cover in one class period, just have them do the part to the left of the Satan picture and save the Cain Activity to the right for another day or not at all. The area I believe you’ll want to spend most of your time in is the “How Satan Works” box.

SATAN’S TITLES

· But let’s begin with Satan’s titles. Satan has a number of different titles or nicknames that are assigned to him in the scriptures. And that’s the title we’ll begin with. Satan.

o 4:1, 4:4 Satan. That’s what he’s referred to here in verses 1 and 4. But before he ever became Satan, he went by a different name: Lucifer. And the name “Lucifer,” if you examine its Latin roots, actually means “the light bearer”. What that tells us is that before he became “Satan”, Lucifer was an individual with great influence and potential. A light bearer. Somebody we looked up to as an example. And it’s obvious that he was looked up to by many because the scriptures tell us that a third part of the hosts of heaven followed him when he rebelled. They even gave up their opportunity to experience mortality and receive exaltation, just to follow him. And when that rebellion occurred, his name changed. He became Satan. If you look up the word Satan in the Bible Dictionary, you’ll find that it means "the slanderer". And that might help us to understand the nature of Satan's rebellion. In the process of his mutiny, he slandered someone. To slander is to make false or accusatory statements to damage a person's reputation. So, who was Satan slandering? I don't know. Could it have been the Father? For choosing Christ instead of him? For setting up the plan the way he did? Maybe. Was he slandering all of us? That we wouldn't be able to live up to the commandments? That we would fail? Perhaps. But I think that the most likely person he was slandering was Jesus Christ. Possibly accusing him of not being able to perform the atonement. That we were all fools to put our trust in him and hang our salvation on his willingness and ability to make that great sacrifice. Whichever it was, his slander was egregious and memorable enough to forever label him as Satan, the great slanderer.

o 4:4 Another title here. Satan is the “devil”. What does that mean? Again we can go to the Bible Dictionary. The Hebrew form of that word means “spoiler”. That’s another great word to describe him. Satan is the great spoiler. He spoils lives, marriages, friendships, innocence, faith, and love. He loves to watch good things turn bad. Therefore he is a devil.

o 4:4 Another one in verse 4. He’s also referred to as the “Father of all Lies”. That’s a good magician title. A magician does not tell you the truth. They deceive with their words. Once a magician friend of mine told me that 80% of the effectiveness of a magic trick was based on something called “patter”. Patter is what a magician says, not what he does. And I believe. The words of the trick, the power of suggestion, or the lies and half-truths that a magician uses contribute greatly to whether it works or not. Satan understands this principle too. Maybe you’re familiar with some of his most famous lines of Satanic patter? For fun, let’s just see if you can complete them:

• It’s not that _______. bad

• Everybody is __________. doing it

• You can always __________. repent

• Just this ________. once

• It’s no big ________. deal

• No one will ever ___________. find out

• Rules are meant to be _________. Broken

These are just a few examples of some of the lies Satan tells. He’s the Father of ALL lies.

o 4:5 Here Satan is referred to as the serpent. Now I don’t believe that Satan actually appeared as a snake in the Garden of Eden. I just think that’s a title or a figurative expression the Lord uses to describe him. Now why, of all animals, would the Lord choose the snake as a symbol for the devil? Not that I have anything personal against actual snakes, I think they’re wonderful creatures, but I can see why they would be a good figurative representation for the devil. Why? Here’s a few possible ideas:

§ He’s hard to detect at times. He can sneak up on us very carefully and quietly. Nephi tells us that he likes to lead people carefully down to hell.

§ Snakes live low to the ground, in the dust. Yes, Satan does have power, but it’s far lower than God’s or even ours. He can bite our heel, but we can crush his head.

§ Still, snakes can kill. How? There are two main ways. Poison, or strangulation. Both are methods that kill slowly or over time. So Satan slowly wraps himself around you and strangles the good or the Spirit out of you. He also poisons by degrees, like he did Lehonti in the Book of Mormon.

§ Another idea. Snakes have forked tongues. That’s an expression for lying. You say one thing, but you mean another.

ATTRIBUTES OF THE EVIL ONE

· Now for his attributes-verses that describe things about him or what he’s like.

o 4:1 After reading that verse, I would surmise that he is prideful and selfish. Those seem to be Satan’s first sins in the pre-mortal world. Perhaps, as a son of the morning, he got a little too stuck on himself and his influence on others. Remember that the purpose of the great council in heaven was not to present plans and then vote on whose plan we thought was best. God had already decided on the plan. The question wasn’t “What shall I do?” but “Whom shall I send?”. Satan changed the topic and presented what he felt was a better plan. Now can you sense the pride in this verse? Just look at all the I’s and ME’s in there. Here am I, send ME, I will be thy son, and I will redeem all mankind that one soul shall not be lost, and surely I will do it; wherefore, give ME thine honor. That’s a lot of I’s and ME’s. He sounds pretty self-centered. And when he says, “give me thine honor”, I don’t think he means, “Give me your throne, God”, or “Let me take your place”. I think he means “Give me the honor of being the Savior”. I don’t think he wanted to be the Father as much as he wanted to be the Son. That’s why he hates Jesus so badly. And then he adds, “And I’ll do it in a better way. In a way that nobody will be lost”. Verse 3 tells us how he planned to accomplish that. All we have to do, is take away agency, and with that, all sin is immediately eliminated. Everybody gets exalted! On the surface, it sounds good, but underneath, it’s completely diabolical. It defeats the whole purpose of the plan. How can we become like God without the ability to act? We’d be basically the same as animals, or inanimate objects. As Lehi taught in 2 Nephi 2, there are two kinds of things on this earth. Things that act and things that are acted upon. Satan’s plan would have made us into things that are acted upon. And, you know, it really wouldn’t have worked. His plan was a lie from the beginning. Plus, keep in mind that you can destroy agency in more than one way. I think we usually assume that meant forcing everybody to do what is right. But you can destroy agency in more than one way. You can destroy it by removing law or our knowledge of good and evil, or removing consequences. Each accomplish the same goal of destroying agency. We wouldn’t be held accountable. Plus, no sin would mean no need for an atonement. Satan’s plan (as I understand it) wouldn’t have required any sacrifice or effort on his part, which could probably have been a major motivation behind his idea. And that’s the way he tempts people today too, isn’t it. He’s always promising happiness and joy and reward without the need for obedience. But that’s contrary to the nature of the universe. Wickedness never was happiness. Satan’s plan was a lie.

o 4:5 What do we learn about him in verse 5? He’s subtle. That’s a magician word. To be subtle is to accomplish something through clever or indirect means. Satan’s temptations are often very subtle, rather than “in your face” or obvious.

o 4:6 He doesn’t know the mind of God. Satan does not have the power to see God’s thoughts or intentions. Also, I think that could be a way of saying that Satan just doesn’t get it. He doesn’t understand the overall purpose of the plan in the first place. He doesn’t see things eye to eye with God and disagrees on how things should be done. All he could focus on was the reward, or the outcome. “Hey, let’s just assure exaltation for everyone”. He thinks we should get something for nothing. Forget the wisdom that comes from experience and effort. Just give me what I want now, without the work. Many of Satan’s temptations follow that same pattern. You can have money without work, so gamble or steal. You can have sexual pleasure without commitment, so commit fornication. You can have the good grade without the studying, so cheat. You can commit the sin, but suffer no consequences, so lie about what you’ve done. That’s how Satan works.

o 2 Nephi 2:27 I just had to add this throw this one in here too. From this verse we learn that Satan is miserable. And he wants misery for everyone else too. He was like, “Oh, so you won’t give me what I want, God? Well I’ll show you. I’ll try to mess up the salvation of as many of your other children as I can, then.” What a miserable motivation! And why would anyone choose to be miserable? They do it when their pride and selfishness become even more important to them than their happiness. That’s Satan’s attitude. “I may be miserable,” he says, “but at least it’s my choice”.

HOW SATAN WORKS

So how does Satan do what he does? How does he tempt people? What are his tricks?

o 4:3 Rebellion.

§ Satan is the ultimate anti-authoritarian. He’s always encouraging rebellion. This is what he did in the pre-mortal council of heaven. He rebelled against God’s authority and urged others to rebel as well. Maybe it would be better termed “the rebellion in heaven” rather than the “war in heaven”. To Satan, any authority is bad authority. “Don’t tell me what to do,” he tempts us to say, regardless of whether the authority is benevolent or not. “Kids, rebel against your parents. Members, rebel against your church leaders. Citizens, rebel against your government and the law. Don’t let anyone tell you what to do”. That is a very satanic attitude.

o 4:3 Destroy the agency of man

§ Satan didn’t only seek to destroy our agency in the premortal world, he continues to do so. Satan is all about addiction, and what is addiction but a loss of agency. People say, “I just can’t seem to control myself in this thing. I can’t stop even though I want to”. When people are drunk or high, they’ve lost their agency. They often don’t even know what they’re doing. When people lie, the lies begin to control them. When people are in prison because of their crimes, they’ve lost their agency. The ironic thing is that Satan always promises freedom at the same time as he’s putting people in bondage. He’s always saying that commandments, and standards, and rules are bondage. “God’s always telling you what to do. You can’t do anything. Go out and do whatever you want. Then you’ll be free.” Well, take a look at verse 4. He leads people captive at HIS will. So Satan doesn’t care about your freedom. He wants to control you. We’re going to see that this tactic plays a major part in the fall of Adam and Eve and the story of Cain.

o 4:4 He deceives. That’s a magician word.

o 4:4 He blinds.

§ Satan doesn’t want us to see the truth. His works are often in the dark—in the shadows. That’s why sin is often committed behind closed doors or hidden. He sends mists of darkness to blind or obscure our way. That’s also why he stands in opposition against seers. He doesn’t want us to see.

o 4:4 Leads people captive at HIS will

o 4:6 In verse 6, he draws people away, from God.

o 4:6 He beguiles-another great magician word.

o 4:6 and he seeks to destroy the world

§ Now let’s stop and talk about how Satan hoped to do this. I’ve often had students ask what Satan was hoping to accomplish by getting Adam and Eve to partake of the fruit? I mean, wasn’t that really advancing God’s plan? Didn’t that just play into what Heavenly Father wanted to have happen anyway? Well, was it so Satan could get started on the tempting? Maybe. Is it because he didn’t know the mind of God? Probably part of it. But allow me to offer you another possibility. And I’ll do that by asking you a question. “Was there any possible way for Satan to have frustrated or ruined the plan of Salvation that God had established? Were there any loopholes in its framework? And the surprising answer to that is YES. There was one way that Satan could have ruined the plan. What was that? We go to the Book of Mormon for that answer—go to Alma 12:23 and 26.

23 And now behold, I say unto you that if it had been possible for Adam to have partaken of the fruit of the tree of life at that time(after partaking of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of God and Evil), there would have been no death, and the word would have been void, making God a liar, for he said: If thou eat thou shalt surely die.

And then 26

26 And now behold, if it were possible that our first parents could have gone forth and partaken of the tree of life they would have been forever miserable, having no preparatory state; and thus the plan of redemption would have been frustrated, and the word of God would have been void, taking none effect.

The conditions in those verses sure sound like things that Satan would have desired to have happen, right? He would have loved to make God’s words void, to make him a liar, to make us forever miserable and to frustrate the plan of redemption. And what was the way for him to do that? All he needed to do was to have Adam and Eve first partake of the forbidden fruit, and then to immediately partake of the fruit of the tree of life. Then they would have lived forever in their sins. Well, obviously God wasn’t going to allow that to happen, and it seems from the accounts we have of the Adam and Eve story, that the Father shows up fairly quickly after they’ve partaken of the forbidden fruit. That’s also the reason why God places an angel with a flaming sword at the tree of life—to protect the plan of redemption from being frustrated. So, maybe that’s why Satan did what he did in the Garden of Eden. That was the first of two steps that could have destroyed the plan.

But regardless if that’s the reason, isn’t that also a perfect example of how Satan works with us as well? He tempts us to partake of forbidden fruit, and then swiftly moves us on to the next temptation, and the next, and the next. Satan tried to frustrate God’s plan with Adam and Eve, and was unsuccessful. However, Satan can frustrate God’s plan for us—if we allow him to. He wasn’t able to make all God’s children forever miserable, but he can make us forever miserable. He couldn’t make God a liar, but he can try to make you a liar. He couldn’t make God’s word void, but he can make a void in your life where God belongs. Let’s not let that happen to us.

o 4:7-11

§ This is a big one. This is what I would call the first temptation. The first magic trick Satan ever performed on this earth. To understand this, we first need to go back to Moses 3:16-17. I like to start by asking my students how many trees there were in the garden of Eden. Sometimes they say just one, or two. The tree of knowledge of good and evil, and the tree of life. But remember, it was called a garden for a reason. There were lots of trees in the garden of Eden. Lots of fruit trees. In those two verses, which does God first introduce to them? The trees they could eat from, or the one they weren’t supposed to? Let’s find out:

16 And I, the Lord God, commanded the man, saying: Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat,

17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it, nevertheless, thou mayest choose for thyself.

Where’s the emphasis? Where does he draw their attention? On all the wonderful trees that they COULD partake of. “You can eat from this tree, Adam, and that one, and that one, and this one. All are available to you! Freely eat from them. Enjoy them! However, there is this one tree that I’d like you to avoid. But, all the rest, be my guest.”

Now contrast that with Satan’s approach. Where does he draw the attention? Moses 4:7

7 And he said unto the woman: Yea, hath God said—Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? (And he spake by the mouth of the serpent.)

Now, at first glance, I know that sounds like he’s drawing attention trees. But I don’t think so. I place the emphasis of his tone in this way. “Hath God said--Ye shall not eat of EVERY TREE of the garden?” Can you eat from every tree Eve? Can you sense the subtlety in that? He’s carefully leading her to think about the one tree. He says “tree” singular. He wants her to bring it up, instead of him. Very sneaky and subtle. And Eve does respond with the proper attitude. Notice how she begins by referring to the “trees” plural of the garden

8 And the woman said unto the serpent: We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden;

9 But of the fruit of the tree which thou beholdest in the midst of the garden, God hath said—Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.

Aha. So now she’s brought it up. And where is Satan going to direct all her attention now? To the one tree they are forbidden to partake of. So what does he say?

10 And the serpent said unto the woman: Ye shall not surely die;

11 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.

So, “Eve, this is the fruit you want. God’s lying about it. He’s just trying to control you. He’s trying to hold you back from all the benefits and the pleasure of this tree. God is so restrictive. Isn’t he? You can’t do anything.”

Now, I would ask my students, “Does Satan still use this tactic with us?” You bet he does. Where is he always trying to direct your focus? On all the wonderful and amazing things we can do? Or the few things that we shouldn’t? He’s always focusing on the don’ts, isn’t he? “You members of the church can’t do anything. No partying, no swearing, no sex before marriage, no tattoos, no drugs, no pornography, no dating before you’re sixteen, no gambling, no alcohol, no coffee even. You can’t do anything. God sure is holding you back from all the fun and pleasure the world has to offer. God knows this, or the prophets, or your parents. They just want to control you.” Satan loves to invent power struggles. He loves to call the motives of those who love us into question. “These so-called “authorities” (he whispers) know the fun these trees can offer. Or “They just don’t get it. They’re old-fashioned, out of touch with reality. Don’t listen to them.”

And I would respond. Don’t listen to him! Don’t fall for it! He’s the liar here. In this world, there is so much more we can do than we can’t. We’ve got to learn to focus on the trees and not the tree. God does not micromanage every decision of our lives. He doesn’t tell us what career to have, what pastimes or subjects to pursue. He doesn’t tell us how to live every day of our lives. He gives us choice and agency. He says, “Be anxiously engaged in a good cause and do many things of your own free will!” (Doctrine and Covenants 58:27) There are just a few things I want you to stay away from--for your own good and happiness, I might add. So, choose your dress and appearance--your favorite colors, your favorite styles. You can dress more casually or formally, like a cowboy or an athlete or go retro. Just don’t dress immodestly, that’s all. There are lots of things you can drink in this world. Find your favorites. Milk, fruit juice, Gatorade, hot chocolate, just don’t drink alcohol or coffee. Go out and enjoy all this world has to offer. Go out and choose your favorite hobbies or sports activities or musical instruments to play or not play. Just don’t do certain activities that hurt others or yourself. There is A LOT out there that is not a matter of right or wrong, but preference. You have a lot of freedom! Recognize that! Please be careful not to fall for the first temptation.

o 4:11 Invent a power struggle

§ So from verse 11 we identified that he loves to invent power struggles between us and those who truly love and care for our well-being.

o 4:12 The Pathway of Sin

§ There are a lot of verbs that describe how Satan leads someone to sin in this verse. Although we understand that the fall was a necessary part of the plan and that what Adam and Eve did in partaking of the forbidden fruit wouldn’t necessarily be classified as sin. Still, it’s a good description of how Satan usually works. Each verb describes a part of the process of sin. So you’ve got the word:

· See-First he draws your attention to the sin and tries to place it before your eyes. Nowadays, media is often the vehicle Satan uses to present his sins and lies to us. That’s why we have to be so careful about what we watch, read, and listen to.

· Became pleasant-Next, he makes it look appealing. He places enticements in front of us. Tells us all the good things that we’ll get by partaking of it. He makes it look enjoyable. Of course, those “pleasures” or “good things” are often short-lived and lead to long-term misery.

· Desire-Those enticements will often instill a desire within us to partake.

· Took and ate-At last, he finally convinces us to commit the sin. But it doesn’t end there. Eve . . .

· Gave unto her husband. Satan usually then tempts us to involve others in our sins. He recruits us to do his dirty work for him and try to convince others to partake also.

o 4:13-14 Cover and Hide

§ The process doesn’t even end there though, now does it. What does Satan entice us to do after we’ve sinned? He tells us to cover it up or hide it. Adam and Eve realize that they are naked and seek to cover themselves and run and hide. Remember last week how we talked about the symbolism of nakedness as a sign of shame or guilt? Because I don’t think they were ashamed because they were naked. I mean, they were the only two people on the earth at the time. There was nobody there to see them. Plus, they were husband and wife. Rather, I think they realized that now they were open to judgment. They were responsible for their actions and could be held accountable to God. That can be painful and shameful and make you feel vulnerable. So Satan tells them to cover and hide themselves from God. He wanted them to think that that would be a better option than facing God. Satan tempts us to think this way too. When we’re guilty of sin, he’ll tell us to keep it a secret—to continue in the sin without allowing anyone else to find out—to cover it with lies, and secrecy under the cover of darkness or behind closed doors. I think it’s interesting that Adam and Eve sew fig leaves together to cover themselves. We too are sometimes tempted to sew fig leaves for ourselves. The fig leaves of excuses, lies, blame, or trying to eliminate the whole idea of right and wrong. And with Adam and Eve, how good of a covering do you think that really was? Probably not very comfortable or effective right? Leaves eventually die and crumble. It’s an ineffective short-term solution to a long-term problem. So is hiding our sins. It just won’t last. When God comes to speak to Adam and Eve, I think they quickly realize just how foolish it was to be hiding from God and they reveal themselves. I can just picture Adam hiding behind a rock or a tree and saying, “Well this is kind of silly. God is omniscient. He already knows everything. What am I doing back here?” We would do well to realize the same thing. We may be able to hide our sins from others, or even church leaders, but we can’t hide them from God. God gives us a much better solution to dealing with our sins. But we’ll take a look at that a little later.

o 5:13 Tempts us to “believe it not”. Satan is staunchly anti-faith.

o 5:13 Tempts us to become carnal, sensual, and devilish. So, satisfy your senses and your carnal desires he says. He’s all about the natural man. He says, “it’s only natural to give into anger, and lust, and greed, and craving, and pride. You have no choice but to give in. How can God expect you to act otherwise?” See, Satan wants to relegate us to the position of animals who only act on instinct and impulse. Never mind that as humans, we have a gap between stimulus and response. We have a chance to choose, and exercise our will, and act on the desires of the saint or the spirit that’s within us. Satan wants to deny us our humanity.

HOW TO DESTROY A SOUL

· Well, now to the story of Cain and Abel, Adam and Eve’s first children. And this is such a tragic story because there is so much hope at Cain’s birth. Eve says: “I have gotten a man from the Lord, wherefore he may not reject his words.” Sadly, that’s exactly what Cain’s going to do. The story of Cain is a perfect study of sin. We get a chance to see just how Satan can manipulate someone into a loss of their salvation--how he makes someone “miserable like unto himself”. I’ll sometimes call this: “How to lose your soul in 12 easy steps”. We’ll watch, line upon line, how Cain ends up becoming a servant of Satan. On the handout, the activity has you putting the steps of this story in chronological order. You look at the given verse and match it to the step that is being described.

o STEP 1, 5:16 Develop a zone of vulnerability

§ This first step is really a beginning point for all of us. The fact is that we all have zones of vulnerability. We all have weaknesses and areas where we struggle because we’re human. Therefore, we all need to be on our guard for the adversary. We need to recognize our weaknesses and know that Satan is going to try and take advantage of them. What was Cain’s weakness? I would say it’s Apathy. He says, “Who is the Lord, that I should know him?” That’s ehe “I just don’t care” approach to spiritually and the commandments. And that’s a really tough attitude to treat. How do you get someone to care? Once the desire to follow God is gone, it’s very difficult to get it back. So be very careful of that attitude.

o STEP 2, 5:18 Allow Satan to exploit the weakness

§ At face value, this is really a strange temptation. Go make an offering to God. That actually sounds like a good thing. But Satan knows something about Cain. He’s apathetic. So how’s that offering going to go? Probably not very well. And when it says that the Lord had respect to Abel’s offering and not Cain’s, it’s not because God is playing favorites. Like “Oh I like your offering Abel, but not yours Cain, cause I like Abel better than you”. No, there had to be a reason for it. There was something not right about Cain’s offering. Was it spoiled fruit? Not the best? A small offering? Whatever it was, it wasn’t acceptable. Probably as a result of Cain’s apathy towards the things of God.

o STEP 3, 5:20-23 Take offense when confronted with truth

§ Verse 21 tells us that Cain was very wroth at God’s reaction, and his countenance fell. He takes offense at the consequence of his poor decision. Those that are already on the fence when it comes to the things of God tend to get easily offended when they are confronted with the truth or face correction. But God loves Cain and is hoping he will turn his attitude around. That’s why he teaches him the lesson and great truth of verse 23. This really could be classified as THE theme of the entire Old Testament or just life in general. What is it? Starting in verse 22:

22 And the Lord said unto Cain: Why art thou wroth? Why is thy countenance fallen?

23 If thou doest well, thou shalt be accepted. And if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door, and Satan desireth to have thee; and except thou shalt hearken unto my commandments, I will deliver thee up, and it shall be unto thee according to his desire. And thou shalt rule over him;

So, “If you’re not willing to be obedient, Cain, then Satan is going to exploit that. He’s going to get the upper hand and take advantage of that. He will overcome you. BUT, if you do well, you will be accepted.” Confrontations with the truth can often be a painful moment for the sinner. Hopefully, and I believe that this is what God is hoping in the case of Cain, we will acknowledge that truth, and be humble, and change. OR, we can get offended by the truth, angry with it, and resist it. That’s exactly what Cain does. He gets wroth.

And keep in mind that it is not too late for Cain here. The Lord is not condemning him yet. There is a way out. God says that these negative consequences will only come “except thou repent”. The Lord’s hand of mercy is being extended out to him.

o STEP 4, 5:25 Reject counsel

§ BUT, what does Cain do next? He rejects that counsel. Just like Satan did with Adam and Eve, he’ll tempt us to believe that that counsel is coming from a place of a desire to control. Satan will get us to think, “I don’t need your help. Who are you to tell me what to do?”

o STEP 5, 5:26 Stop listening to the Lord’s voice

§ And that will usually lead to our next step. Cain completely disconnects himself from the influence of God and those who follow Him. He stops listening, and someone who stops listening to God can never be helped by Him. So, we stop praying, we stop studying our scriptures, we stop going to church, we stop listening to the prophets. We look for any excuse to dismiss or invalidate the message of the messenger. Since the truth and our actions aren’t in harmony, we find it more comfortable to plug our ears than listen to the voice of God.

o STEP 6, 5:28 Unify with others like you.

§ Next. Cain gets married in this verse and the scriptures say that, together, they love Satan more than God. That probably tells you something about the character of Cain’s wife. What probably attracted him to her in the first place? She probably felt the same way about God as he did. So, to feel better about our poor decisions, we try to find an echo chamber of people who agree with us and mirror our discontent. We surround ourselves with those who share our displeasure with the things of God. Remember that the group of friends you choose to associate with will often determine the path you take in life.

o STEP 7, 5:29-31 Commit to evil

§ This is where things really begin to get serious. Satan comes to Cain and says, “Swear unto me by thy throat” OOOH, that just sounds so evil, doesn’t it? Evil has its own counterfeit covenants. But this is not a covenant of the heart or a promise of the soul, but a swearing by the throat. This is the beginning of secret combinations. There comes a point when people have so lost the Spirit that they completely give themselves over to evil. They entirely lose a desire to do good and selfishly decide that they are going to act only in their own self-interest, regardless of the effect that it has on others. They lose their humanity. I would say that most murderers and thieves and serious criminals have reached this point at some time in their life. Cain, here, commits himself to Satan and even glories in his wickedness.

o STEP 8, 5:32-33 Commit serious sin

§ Now, up to this point, Cain hasn’t committed any crime yet, but it’s all been leading up to it. Satan has carefully and slowly led him down this path of darkness to the moment of action. So Cain commits one of the greatest crimes a person can commit in mortality; he murders his brother Abel. And look at his initial reaction. What does he say? “I am free”. And I can just picture Satan in the background rubbing his hands together and whispering, “You are mine”. That’s how the devil works all the time. He promises freedom at the same time he’s wrapping us up in chains. And sin is usually accompanied by that moment of excitement, or exulting, or pleasure. But it’s short-lived. Cain doesn’t even end up getting what he murdered for—which is usually the case with sin. What was his motive? He wanted his brothers flocks. He murders to get gain. All who sin have some gain in mind they are hoping to acquire. People wouldn’t sin if there wasn’t some hope of getting something out of it. Unfortunately for them, they always get a lot more than they bargained for.

o STEP 9, 5:34 Hide the sin/take no responsibility

§ Well, the Lord is not oblivious to Cain’s deed, and he comes to him. And just like he did with Adam and Eve, he gives him a chance to confess his crime. He doesn’t come accusing, just asking, hoping for him to acknowledge it. Instead, Cain lies and tries to hide it. When God asks him “Where is Abel, thy brother?”, he says, “I know not. Am I my brother’s keeper?” Interesting question that one. What’s the answer to it? I can see the Lord saying, “Yes, Cain, you are your brother’s keeper”. We are all our brother’s keepers. We all have a responsibility to care for and look out for others, especially our family members. Hopefully we don’t take a “Cain attitude” in life towards our fellow man. In that statement of his we discover that, unlike his parents, Cain is not going to take responsibility for his actions. He’s going to try to hide it. But the truth is, we may hide our sins from others, we may hide them from priesthood leaders, but we can’t hide them from God. Verse 39 even has Cain acknowledging that truth “for these things are not hid from the Lord.” And from this point on, you never see Cain take responsibility for his action.

o STEP 10, 5:38 Feel worldly sorrow when the consequences come

§ In verses 36-37 we see the Lord explaining the consequences Cain would face for his errors. Sin brings penalty and misery. But does Cain stop and think about the life he’s taken? Does he contritely ask the Lord for forgiveness? Does he recognize the pain that he will cause his parents? No. He’s still only thinking of himself. He pouts and grumbles, “My punishment is greater than I can bear”. This is what we would call worldly sorrow as opposed to godly sorrow. That’s a focus on the worldly, temporal consequences of our actions rather than the fact that we’ve offended God, broken his commandments, or hurt others.

o STEP 11, 5:41 Cut off from God’s presence

§ This all leads us to the final result for Cain. He is completely cut off from the presence of the Lord. He reaps complete spiritual death and a separation from God and his people. Cain has now lost his soul. This is the final state for all those who refuse to repent. And oh, I wish it could just end there, but unfortunately there is one final step to examine.

o STEP 12, 5:51-52 Perpetuate evil into the next generation

§ The rest of the chapter shows the evil influence and effect that Cain has on his children and his children’s children. One of his descendants is a man named Lamech who also commits murder, and eventually “their works and abominations begin to spread among all the sons of men”. Cain perpetuates evil into the next generation, and the next, and the next until his influence has spread among all the sons of men.

o So, please, as you look at that list, heed the warning of Cain’s life at every step of his downfall. Instead of doing what he did, we can learn from his bad example by just doing the opposite of those 12 steps. These could be the 12 steps of saving your soul. So . . .

• Seek to turn weaknesses into strengths through the power of faith. (Ether 12:27)

• Don’t fall for the exploitation, resist temptation.

• Choose not to be offended confronted with truth.

• Listen to God’s counsel when you make mistakes.

• Always hearken to the voice of the Lord.

• Unify yourself with righteous.

• Commit yourself to God through sacred covenants.

• Do acts of righteousness and service.

• Take responsibility for your actions and seek to be your brother’s keeper.

• If you do sin, be sure to repent with godly sorrow.

• Remain in God’s presence.

• And perpetuate righteousness into the next generation by teaching your children the gospel.

TRUTH

I know that there have been a lot of truths and principles that we’ve discussed here. But if I had to boil it all down into just a few statements, here is what I would highlight. What we can do to not be deceived by Satan’s tricks.

Don’t rebel against benevolent authority

Obedience=Freedom

Focus on the trees, not the tree.

Don’t sew fig leaves to cover your sins.

And then we could add all the implied actions we just learned from the story of Cain and Abel.

LIKEN THE SCRIPTURES

Now have your students answer the following questions in a study journal or on the back of the handout.

Of all these actions, which did you need most to hear today?

Then, complete the following sentence. Because of this lesson, I will __________________.

CONCLUSION

I hope this activity has not been too depressing or discouraging for you. It’s not very fun to talk about Satan and deception. But it is important. I don’t want you to be fooled, and neither does your Father in Heaven. On occasion, I have actually revealed to people the secret behind one of my tricks. Surprisingly, it’s often a bit of a letdown for people. The explanation is often so simple and unspectacular that they feel a little foolish for having fallen for it. I sometimes wonder if at the final judgment, when all of Satan’s tricks and illusions are revealed, if those who have been deceived will have a similar experience. Only it will be so much more tragic because the consequences are so dire. I remember a number of years ago there was a television program called “Magic’s Greatest Secrets Finally Revealed”. And in that show, a masked magician exposed many of the tactics and skills that magicians use to perform their tricks. And there’s a reason why he wore a mask. He was worried about the backlash from the magic community. And it did make a lot of magicians very angry and even prompted a number of lawsuits. Many had to scrap a number of their tricks because of the program. They weren’t able to get away with the deception anymore. The tricks had been revealed. Well, spiritually speaking, that’s what the scriptures do for us, and the prophets, and the Spirit. Sometimes I like to hold up my scriptures or a conference edition of the Liahona, or the “For the Strength of Youth” pamphlet and say, “Satan’s greatest secrets finally revealed”. You don’t have to be deceived. You can see Satan for what he really is. A phony, a liar, a charlatan, a fraud. Don’t allow him to swindle you out of your eternal salvation. Trust in the Lord, and I know that you will never be fooled by the greatest magician.

NOT NECESSARY

There is one additional insight that I’d like to share with you about Satan before we move on. I sometimes get this concern from students over the existence of Satan. It goes like this. “Brother Wilcox, “Didn’t God need Satan to rebel so that the plan would work, and we could be tempted and tested here on earth? Didn’t God intend for Satan to rebel or even create him to rebel? It had to happen right?” My response to that is a question of my own. I ask, “Do we need Satan in order to use our agency?” The answer is that, is no. We can still make choices without somebody there to entice us to one or the other. There is a natural opposition in all things. I can still choose between good and evil without someone there enticing me to one or the other. Also, remember that we all have the natural man inside us as a condition of mortality and we can’t just blame Satan for all the poor choices that we make. I really don’t think that if Satan had not rebelled, or if he had humbly accepted God’s rejection of his idea, that God would have had to say, “Uh oh, well, now what are we going to do. We really need a Satan for this plan to work. Any volunteers? Anyone want to be Satan?” No. God did not create any of his children to fail. His work and glory is to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of all of his children. So, was Satan and his rebellion even necessary for the plan at all? I don’t think so. In the pre-mortal world, Satan used his agency to rebel. Does that mean there was another Satan above him (or below him) in order to make that possible? Again, I don’t think so. Now, Satan, because of his actions, has certainly made an indelible impression upon the plan and we would do well to understand the part that he is playing in it, but we don’t need him. We just don’t know exactly how things would have been otherwise. All we know is what is. But I really believe that you have to take the “necessity of Satan” idea off the table, or you end up with a God and a universe that is responsible for creating evil and that, to me, just cannot be. God is responsible for creating agency, but not evil.

THE FALL-HOW GOD WORKS

ICEBREAKER

Now let’s step away from Satan and examine the positive side of things now. Let’s look at Adam and Eve themselves and the way that God works with them. As an icebreaker, I sometimes like to show my students a few little videos from YouTube. I show them a clip of someone skydiving and having a blast doing it. Then I tell them that that is an example of a good fall. Then I show them a little clip of somebody falling off their bike, or their skateboard, or while skiing. There are plenty of these on YouTube to choose from. I then say that these are examples of bad falls. Then you put up a picture of Adam and Eve and ask, “Which was this?” A good fall, or a bad fall.

TRANSITION

Today we’re going to settle that debate once and for all. Much of the Christian world views the fall of Adam and Eve in a very negative light. They believe that God never intended for them to partake of the fruit and that mortality is all kind of one big mistake that God has had to compensate for ever since. Eve is often condemned and seen as a deceived woman who spoiled Eden. But really, does that make any sense? That God would punish the entire world for millennia because a woman ate a piece of fruit? That doesn’t sound like the kind of God that I believe in. There is much more at work here when it comes to the Fall than the traditional Christian view.

SEARCH

As members of the restored Church of Jesus Christ here on the earth, we have the benefit of understanding the Fall of Adam and Eve with much greater light and knowledge. We know that the Fall was an essential and necessary part of the plan of salvation.

President Dallin H. Oaks has taught:

“It was Eve who first transgressed the limits of Eden in order to initiate the conditions of mortality. Her act, whatever its nature, was formally a transgression but eternally a glorious necessity to open the doorway toward eternal life. Adam showed his wisdom by doing the same. And thus Eve and “Adam fell that men might be” (2 Nephi 2:25).

To better understand how this came about I like to do this little search activity with my students. I number them off assigning each as a 1’s, 2’s, 3’s, or 4’s and tell them that there were four initial commandments that God gave to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. These were the first commandments. What are they? Whichever number they were assigned, the matching reference is what they look up. And those four commandments are:

1. Moses 2:28 Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth. In other words—have children

2. Moses 2:28 Have dominion over the earth and all that is on it. Take good care of this world you’ve been given. What we talked about last week.

3. Moses 3:17 Don’t eat forbidden fruit

And then there’s one that’s often forgotten because it’s stated after the fact. We know from something that Adam says in Moses 4:18 that God had commanded Adam and Eve to

4. Moses 4:18 Remain together.

God did not want them to separate, but to stay together.

Now something that I often like to point out about these commandments is to ask them if they still apply to us today, OR, were these just temporary instructions for Adam and Eve only?

Interestingly enough, each of those commandments still applies to us. We are still commanded to multiply and replenish the earth. We still have a stewardship or dominion over the earth. We are still told not eat forbidden fruit. And, when married, we should seek to remain together.

Remember that the Adam and Eve story is meant to be representative of us all.

CONTRADICTORY COMMANDMENTS?

Now as you look at that list of commandments, you may notice something that seems out of place. There is an aspect of the Fall that often confuses my students. They sometimes wonder about the relationship between commandment 1 and commandment 3. Adam and Eve could not have children in Eden. They did not have that ability until after the Fall. And so my students sometimes wonder about these seemingly contradictory commandments. Why would God ask them not to do something when he really intended them to do so? I mean, was it like putting a piece of chocolate cake in front of a child and saying, now I’m going to leave for a minute, but don’t eat the cake (wink wink). And then you run around the corner, peak in, and jump out and say “ah-hah” if they touch it, hoping that they will. I struggle with that portrayal of our Heavenly Father. That sounds like a tricky God, and I don’t believe God tricks people into doing things. But how do we explain this? Well, I’m not suggesting that I know THE answer, but let me offer you an idea that has helped me or that makes sense to me.

I believe that when God asked Adam and Eve not to partake of the fruit, that he meant it. When he says that in “the day [they] partake of it, [they] shall surely die,” that was not a misleading statement. That was God’s way of explaining the nature of mortality. Partaking of the fruit would make them mortal and mortality means the certainty of physical death. Not immediately, but eventually. So he informs them of their agency and tells them not to partake of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Well, then Satan comes along, and we know how the rest of the story goes. But did God intend for Satan to do this? Was this act of the devil something that was a part of the plan? Hmmm, remember, I don’t believe that Satan is necessary to the plan. That suggests that there was some other, authorized way for the fruit to be offered to Adam and Eve. What we possibly have going on here is a matter of timing. God did not intend for them to partake of the fruit at that time. And you know, God often works with his children like this. In time God may have commanded them to partake of the fruit or explained in more detail the nature of that decision. However, in this case, they hearkened to the voice of Satan. Satan always tempts people to do things in a way or at times or in degrees that are not commanded by the Lord. Some things are wrong at one time, but completely right at another. It depends on the time. Having a sexual relationship with someone at one point can be a serious sin, but at another, completely appropriate. At most times, killing is condemned, but there are times when even that is acceptable to God—like in defending your country as a soldier or as an officer in the line of duty. Could something similar be going on here? I imagine that there would have been further instruction revealed to Adam and Eve at some later point. What Satan did was to usurp a power and an authority that was not his to use. He was not the one intended to give that instruction. That was somebody else’s job, and that would explain why he is punished and cursed after the events in the garden. In fact, for those of you that are endowed, if you pay close attention to something that Satan says in the film right after the fall, it seems to suggest this.

Now, if you’ll forgive me for the reference, there is a scene from STAR WARS-The Return of the Jedi, that reminds me of this situation. In the scene we find Luke talking to Yoda and asking if Darth Vader is really his father. He says: Is this really true? And Yoda says, “Your father, he is”. And then he adds, “Unexpected this is, and unfortunate.” And Luke shoots back and says, “Unfortunate that I know the truth?” And Yoda responds, “No, unfortunate that you rushed to face him . . . that incomplete was your training. Not ready for the burden were you”.

Maybe, that could shed some light on the Adam and Eve situation? Maybe God didn’t really intend them to know that truth quite yet. There were other things he intended to teach them first or maybe he just hoped that they could have spent a little more time in Eden before having to go out and face the trials and burdens of mortality. So the way the fall on this earth did take place was perhaps not the original. Still, the result was the same and I think that God allowed it, just as he allows Satan to tempt all of us as well. Again, I don’t claim to know all the reasons behind the ins and out of the fall, but this explanation does make sense to me. It’s just impossible to know what would have happened otherwise. All we know is what did happen.

HOW GOD WORKS WITH THE SINNER

Moving on. In our study of Satan we saw that he tempts us to be ashamed and to hide when we sin. But how does God handle sin among his children? Read Moses 4:15-19 for the answer.

What we don’t see here is an angry God coming down and yelling at them or hurting them or telling them that they’re worthless and how disappointed he is in them. No, he comes down and encourages them to come forth and explain what happened. Now God already knows what’s happened, but he gives them the chance to confess. That’s what God wants us to do when we sin. Yes, he already knows what we’ve done, but he wants to give us the chance to take responsibility for our actions and unburden ourselves of their weight. He knows that confession is liberating to the soul and healing. So he says to us, “Don’t hide your sins from me. Don’t let your past actions eat away at your peace of mind. Don’t believe Satan’s lie that you’re not worthy of my love and help. Just come forth. If you hide from me, I can’t help you. Let’s talk about this and get it resolved”. And that’s what happens with Adam and Eve. They do come forward and confess. Some wonder if verses 18-19 are an example of the blame game or passing the buck. Adam blames Eve and Eve blames the serpent. But I don’t think that’s what’s going on here. Adam and Eve are simply explaining what happened. They tell God why they ate the fruit. She gave me the fruit and I (personally responsibility) ate it. Not, “She made me do it!” Eve rightly explains that Satan tricked her, and she too says, “I did eat”. So there’s no rationalization here. Adam and Eve own up completely to their actions.

Now jump ahead to verse 27 briefly. What does God do for them here? Well, remember, those fig leaves of theirs probably didn’t do a very good job of covering their nakedness. That was an uncomfortable and temporary covering at best. It’s the same with us. We don’t do a very good job of covering our own sins. So what does God say? He says, “I will give you a better covering for your sins. Something that lasts. Something more comfortable. Something of my making.” And he gives them coats of skins to wear. Now think about that for a moment. In order for them to wear skins, what would have to take place? An animal would have to be sacrificed, right? Well, that’s the atonement, isn’t it? The Savior would sacrifice his life in order to provide us with a suitable and proper covering for our sins. That’s what the word atonement means: to cover. And I don’t know about you, but I know that I’ve tried fig leaves in the past. I’ve tried to just cover my sins on my own or solve my spiritual problems without God. It doesn’t work. But, I’ve also felt the warm, comforting, suitable covering of the Lord’s atonement in my life as well. It feels good to be covered by the Savior’s love and God’s mercy. So, when we sin, let’s allow God, and Jesus Christ to cover them for us, and not use flimsy fig leaves. Now we can’t know for sure, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the skins that were provided for them lamb skins. That would be fitting, wouldn’t it?—as they symbolized the great sacrifice of the Lamb of God.

THE RESULTS

Another truth. Transgression and sin do bring consequences. And those are going to be explained here in verses 20-32. Now your students have already been assigned a number between 1 and 4. Give them another assignment here to examine the results of the fall for these four different entities. What was the effect the Fall had on each?

1. 20-21 Satan

2. 22 Eve

3. 23-25 Adam

4. 28, 31 The Tree of Life

1. First, Satan. And we’ve already spent a long time talking about Satan today, so we’ll be brief here. We know that he is cursed but still given a measure of power to bruise our heels. Yet, we can bruise his head.

2. Let’s talk about Eve though. God says:

“I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception. In sorrow thou shalt bring forth children, and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.”

There are a couple of difficult words in this verse. First of all. Sorrow. In the original Hebrew version of the Bible, the word that is used there connotes work, labor, and worrisomeness and not so much sadness and pain. I know this part may come off a bit that way, but I don’t believe that this is God punishing Eve for partaking of the fruit. He’s not saying that he’s going to make childbearing more difficult and painful because of what she did. Satan is the only one that is directly cursed for what took place in the Fall. What’s really going on here is God explaining the conditions of mortality. He’s saying, “Eve. This is what it means to be mortal. I want you to understand that bearing children is work. It’s hard and raising children will also bring worry and labor into your life.” Another troublesome word to people in this verse is in that last sentence. “thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.” Now I bet you can guess what the troublesome word is, right? It’s rule. They husband shall rule over thee. I think that’s the wrong word to focus on. Look more closely at that sentence. There’s another, much better word to explain the relationship between husband and wife. It’s “desire.” Thy “desire” shall be to thy husband. That’s the key word. The relationship between husband and wife is one of desire and love and commitment. The word “rule” then here, is just another word for preside. A father presides over his household in love and righteousness. This isn’t a punishment for Eve and all women, but God’s declaration of differing roles between the genders as are explained in the family proclamation.

3. Now God is going to explain the major conditions of mortality for Adm. Mortality would also mean work and labor for him too. You’ll notice the word “sorrow” is used again here. Again. I don’t believe that means so much sadness and pain as much as it means work. Adam, you’re going to have to work to provide for yourself and your family now. Life will be full of work and challenge and effort.

4. Now quickly, the tree of life? As we discussed earlier, had Adam and Eve been able to partake of the fruit of the tree of life after the tree of knowledge of good and evil, the plan would have been frustrated. Therefore, cherubim, or angels and a flaming sword are placed there to keep that from happening.

But there’s another phrase that I want you to take a look at in verses 29-31. There was another consequence of the fall for both Adam and Eve. They would not be able to stay in the Garden of Eden. And you have two phrases describing how that took place. In verse :31 the Lord says, “I drove out the man”. That sounds a little harsh. As if he spitefully pushed them out or forcefully had to remove them from the garden. I prefer the way it’s stated in verse :29. I, the Lord God, will SEND HIM FORTH from the Garden of Eden. That has so much more hope and potential in it, doesn’t it? We’re going to send them forth into the world to make their own decisions and experience life. Like we do as parents. Eventually we have to send our children forth into the world to live their lives. To reinforce this idea, we could add the way Alma says it in Alma 42 verse 2:

2 Now behold, my son, I will explain this thing unto thee. For behold, after the Lord God sent our first parents forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground, from whence they were taken—yea, he drew out the man, and he placed at the east end of the garden of Eden, cherubim, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the tree of life

Again, “sent forth”, and also, he “drew out” the man. I like to emphasize that phrasing more than “drove out”.

Now with all those consequences and conditions, are we to get the impression that life is just work, and difficulty, and sorrow? No. After they have begun to live their lives, look at how Adam and Eve begin to see their decision to leave the Garden of Eden for mortality. Go to Moses 5:10-12.

10 And in that day Adam blessed God and was filled, and began to prophesy concerning all the families of the earth, saying: Blessed be the name of God, for because of my transgression my eyes are opened, and in this life I shall have joy, and again in the flesh I shall see God.

11 And Eve, his wife, heard all these things and was glad, saying: Were it not for our transgression we never should have had seed, and never should have known good and evil, and the joy of our redemption, and the eternal life which God giveth unto all the obedient.

12 And Adam and Eve blessed the name of God, and they made all things known unto their sons and their daughters.

Did you notice the word that both Adam and Eve use to describe mortality? Joy. Yes, life is work and labor and challenge, but it is also about joy. As Lehi taught us, “Adam fell that men might be and men are that they might have joy” (2 Nephi 2:25). I mean, is having children a bad thing? A punishment? A curse? No, it brings joy. When I held my oldest son for the first time, I felt unspeakable joy, as with all my children after. Announcing the birth of a child is usually accompanied by fanfare and celebration. And what about work. Is work a bad thing? A consequence, a punishment? No. Work is good. It can also bring joy, and fulfillment. In fact, research has shown that people are much happier when engaged in work that is meaningful and challenging to them than they are in consuming passive entertainment (Neil Postman, “Amusing Ourselves to Death). Raising children is good, work is good, life is good, despite the difficulties each of those things can bring.

TRUTH

The Fall was a necessary part of the plan of salvation. It was a good fall.

When I sin, if I confess and repent, then the mercy and power of the atonement will cover me.

The consequences of the fall are blessings, not curses, that allow us to learn and progress, have children, and work.

If I understand the purpose of life and its challenges, I can have joy even though it can be hard.

LIKEN THE SCRIPTURES

What about Adam and Eve do you admire most?

CONCLUSION

Well, it should be apparent to members of the Church of Jesus Christ just how important the Adam and Eve story is to us. We have four versions of this same story. Genesis, Moses, Abraham, and the temple, not to mention many other places in Latter-day scripture that comment on Adam and Eve and add to our understanding. I hope that we will honor our first parents. I know that I can’t wait to meet them. They must be amazing souls to have been given that privilege and responsibility of bringing mortality to pass. They deserve our respect and appreciation, not criticism. I also hope that we can view the challenges of mortality in the same light that they did. To see the roses past the thistles and the thorns and to approach life with a sense of joy and optimism. One of the things I love about the temple is how it brings these two personalities to life for me. I see myself in Adam, and my wife in Eve. They’ve taught me for years, and I imagine they will continue to teach me new things in the future.

THE TOGETHERNESS’S

Before we conclude, I’d like to provide you with one more quick thought and activity that you could do with your students here. Last week we talked about the importance of marriage and what Adam and Eve can teach us about successful marriages. Here’s a continuation of that thought. Togetherness is important to God. Remember that one of the first commandments of this earth was for Adam and Eve to remain together. When Adam discovers that Eve has partaken of the fruit, he had a decision to make. Would he stay in the Garden of Eden alone, or accompany Eve into the lone and dreary world? Remember Adam’s explanation for why he partook of the fruit? “The woman thou gavest me, and commandest that she should “remain with me”, she gave me of the fruit of the tree and I did eat.” I believe that’s a beautiful thought for married couples. Adam chose Eve over Eden. The person over the paradise. Adam knew what was more important in this case. It was his relationship with his wife, not his ease and comfort. What’s the secret to having a “remain with me” kind of marriage? It think it comes in doing things together. In Moses chapter 5 I’ve found six different things that Adam and Eve do together that I believe helped them to remain together.

Can you find them?

Moses 5:1 They LABOR together.

Moses 5:2 They HAVE CHILDREN together.

Moses 5:4 They PRAY together.

Moses 5:5 They WORSHIP together.

Moses 5:12 They TEACH THEIR CHILDREN together.

And after Cain rebels,

Moses 5:27 They MOURN together.

I believe that the more of these kinds of things that we do together as husbands and wives, the stronger our marriages will be. We can have “remain with me” marriages.

ONE FINAL NOTE: You may wonder why I haven’t said anything about the first portion of chapter 5 where Adam and Eve are offering sacrifices. I’ve decided to include that in next week’s lesson on Moses chapter 6. For one, there was just so much good material for this week’s lesson that I didn’t see how I could fit it all in. Next week covers only Moses 6 so I feel we’ll have a bit more time there to spend on it. Secondly, there is a natural connection of theme between what happens here in Moses 5 and what God teaches Adam and Eve in Moses 6. So I promise you, we’ll visit these verses next week.