Lessons of the Creation
I taught a Gospel Principles lesson yesterday about the creation. Several interesting things came up (several of which were not discussed in class, but only arose in my mind), as we were using the account in Moses 2.
Verse 2:
"And the earth was without form, and void; and I caused darkness to come up upon the face of the deep; and my Spirit moved upon the face of the water; for I am God. "
Two issues here. First, notice the wording "I caused darkness..." Second, there are at least three elements present in the matter that would become the Earth prior to its forming: darkness, the Spirit of God, and water. Interesting.
Another way to look at it is that the former two elements at least existed there after the darkness arose. God's first action here is to cause darkness to come up and then to do what happened in the next verse:
"And I, God, said: Let there be light; and there was light."
Now, this was not the light of the sun because, according to this account, celestial bodies weren't created until the fourth day. So this is some other, more eternal light, perhaps.
Verse 4:
"And I, God, saw the light; and that light was good. And I, God, divided the light from the darkness. "
This reminds me of Alma 32:35. Now the light and dark are separate - in the next verse they become day and night - but this is not Earth days because, again, there was no sun to determine that. Times and seasons are also made on that very productive fourth day.
I'm not going to go through verse by verse, but I'm just pointing out some things.
We know that water was already there. In vs. 6-8 (second day), those waters are divided by a firmament, but it's not land. The waters are specifically stated to be above and below the firmament, which is named "Heaven" in verse 8.
Well, I could go on for a while, but let's leave it here for now. This is enough to ponder, and remember, it comes from what the Lord has called a Pearl of Great Price. Given the prominence of the creation in our scriptures and higher ordinances, I don't think I'm grasping an insignificant doctrines by trying to understand these things.
Interesting anyway. Any thoughts?
Verse 2:
"And the earth was without form, and void; and I caused darkness to come up upon the face of the deep; and my Spirit moved upon the face of the water; for I am God. "
Two issues here. First, notice the wording "I caused darkness..." Second, there are at least three elements present in the matter that would become the Earth prior to its forming: darkness, the Spirit of God, and water. Interesting.
Another way to look at it is that the former two elements at least existed there after the darkness arose. God's first action here is to cause darkness to come up and then to do what happened in the next verse:
"And I, God, said: Let there be light; and there was light."
Now, this was not the light of the sun because, according to this account, celestial bodies weren't created until the fourth day. So this is some other, more eternal light, perhaps.
Verse 4:
"And I, God, saw the light; and that light was good. And I, God, divided the light from the darkness. "
This reminds me of Alma 32:35. Now the light and dark are separate - in the next verse they become day and night - but this is not Earth days because, again, there was no sun to determine that. Times and seasons are also made on that very productive fourth day.
I'm not going to go through verse by verse, but I'm just pointing out some things.
We know that water was already there. In vs. 6-8 (second day), those waters are divided by a firmament, but it's not land. The waters are specifically stated to be above and below the firmament, which is named "Heaven" in verse 8.
Well, I could go on for a while, but let's leave it here for now. This is enough to ponder, and remember, it comes from what the Lord has called a Pearl of Great Price. Given the prominence of the creation in our scriptures and higher ordinances, I don't think I'm grasping an insignificant doctrines by trying to understand these things.
Interesting anyway. Any thoughts?
Comments
Interesting, isn't it? I wouldn't presume to discourse on what it means. I do think it critical to note that the creation takes a prominent place in the most sacred things about LDS life and doctrine, and that we have so many accounts of it in the scriptures. There's no part of the creation story that I would say is irrelevant to salvation.