Genesis Chapter 2

In the first chapter of Genesis it teaches about the first 6 periods of creation. Chapter 2 begins:

1 Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.
2 And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made.
3 And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.

The seventh period of the creation, was a day of rest for the Lord. This was a time when God reflected on the creations that he had made. The footnote for the word made in verse 2, also says “done”. The things that we do in our daily lives are the things which we make. These things are our own personal creations, such as creating habits, relationships, as well as physical things. We should reflect on the things that we do, make, or create during our own weeks as we honor the day sanctified by the Lord.

Another footnote in verse 2, is for the word rested, which says “stopped”. God established the sabbath, as the day of rest from labor. In other words it is a day to stop or take a break from our normal work and activities. I believe that there is wisdom in setting a specific time for rest. I think that our bodies and minds need time to re-energize. The sabbath has been set-apart from the other days of the week, and we should treat it as a day unlike the typical days of our week. It is a gift from God, which we should respect and use the way that He intended. I don’t think that this means that we should spend the day sleeping and doing nothing else, but I think that it means we need to remove ourselves from the everyday business, hustle and bustle of life. I think that in doing this our minds are better able to focus on things of a more spiritual nature.

4 These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens,
5 And every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew: for the Lord God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was not a man to till the ground.
6 But there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground.
7 And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

We were all created spiritually before physically. We had an existence in the pre-mortal world. In addition, every living thing was created spiritually before being organized physically on the earth. When I read verse 5, it causes me to reflect on nature and how I feel a witness of God through the plants and weather. I think that there is definitely a spiritual presence in nature that can be felt and appreciated when we take the time to notice it.

8 And the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed.
9 And out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.
10 And a river went out of Eden to water the garden; and from thence it was parted, and became into four heads.
11 The name of the first is Pison: that is it which compasseth the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold;
12 And the gold of that land is good: there is bdellium and the onyx stone.
13 And the name of the second river is Gihon: the same is it that compasseth the whole land of Ethiopia.
14 And the name of the third river is Hiddekel: that is it which goeth toward the east of Assyria. And the fourth river is Euphrates.
15 And the Lord God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.
16 And 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: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

Adam, the first man, was created and put into the garden of Eden where God caused that plants and other beautiful things should grow. In the garden, was the tree of life, or the tree of immortality. We learn from Lehi’s Vision in 1 Nephi, that this life is a representation of the love of God (see 1 Nephi 8 and 11). There was also the tree of knowledge of good and evil, which was forbidden to mankind because it would bring mortality and death into the world. I believe that in the pre-mortal garden state, Adam was allowed to freely eat of the tree of life, which probably sustained him in his immortality. The tree of knowledge, however would prevent him from being worthy to partake of the tree of life without the blessings of the Savior’s atonement.

18 And the Lord God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.
19 And out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof.
20 And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him.
21 And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof;
22 And the rib, which the Lord God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.
23 And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.
24 Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.
25 And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.

It is the pattern and design of God for everyone to have a help-meet in this life. It does not always work out that way, and that may have to do with the trials that we each have chosen to face in this life, but it is known to God that a man is made better with a woman by his side, and vice versa. God created Eve, the first woman, to be the wife and companion of Adam. She was created to be loved and to love him. She was created to be protected by him and for him to have constant support in life. God also established eternal marriage at this time. It was eternal because in the Garden all things were eternal. God taught Adam and Eve that men would leave their paternal families and create their own eternal families with their wife. This should be the patter of marriage for us today, and it is the only type of marriage that is sanctified and recognized by God. I am grateful for the beautiful and perfect creations of God in my own life. I know that there is wisdom in these creations. I am grateful to know that God loved mankind so much that he would create a paradise that we all can hope for someday.