The more I study the scriptures and ponder their meaning, the more I realize how much we underappreciate the significance of the archetypal story of Adam and Eve as presented in the books of Genesis, Moses, and Abraham. I believe the ancient prophets saw themselves as Adam and created intentional parallels in their accounts.
As we continue this series on “endowment patterns” in the Book of Mormon, I hope I’ll be able to draw out meaning from our list of twelve recurring details that connect back to Adam and Eve.
For reference, here is the list of details:
- Commanded/warned (often in a dream or vision) to depart
- The group they leave are involved in secret combinations or intend to kill them.
- They seek to bring all who will hearken/listen
- The new covenant people passes through a wilderness on their journey
- “Many days”
- Tents (a symbol of the presence of the Lord)
- A list of animals (sometimes “of every kind”)
- They inherit a land
- New names are given (see Genesis 2:20)
- They obey the commandments of the Lord
- Abundance/Prosper
- They are usually led by a righteous patriarch/king/royal family member
Commanded/warned (often in a dream or vision) to depart
13 O that ye would awake; awake from a deep , yea, even from the sleep of , and shake off the awful by which ye are bound, which are the chains which bind the children of men, that they are carried away captive down to the eternal of misery and woe.
14 Awake! and arise from the dust, and hear the words of a trembling
I pray that ye should awake to a of the awful situation of those that have fallen into transgression. (Mosiah 2)
2 And the things which I shall tell you are made known unto me by an from God. And he said unto me: ; and I awoke, and behold he stood before me.
3 And he said unto me: Awake, and hear the words which I shall tell thee; for behold, I am come to declare unto you the tidings of great . (Mosiah 3)
7 Behold, he changed their hearts; yea, he awakened them out of a deep sleep, and they awoke unto God. Behold, they were in the midst of darkness; nevertheless, their souls were illuminated by the light of the everlasting word; yea, they were encircled about by the of death, and the of hell, and an everlasting destruction did await them. (Alma 5)
27 But behold, if ye will awake and arouse your faculties, even to an experiment upon my words … (Alma 32)
I love this “awake from a deep sleep” symbolism. Jeff Lindsay has explored the connection between dust and chains in a series of Interpreter articles which center on the hypothesis that the Book of Moses contains source text known to authors of the Book of Mormon (part 1 here). If this topic interests you, I encourage you to read more about it. It isn’t hard to find this same symbolism in our modern temple worship. The endowment is a literal gift from God, and one of the first steps in truly appreciating how sacred and important this gift is involves a spiritual awakening.
The group they leave are involved in secret combinations or intend to kill them.
My appreciation for this symbol increased as I came to understand the connection between secret combinations and the story of Cain. (See here for a detailed explanation.) Once I understood that secret combinations are Satan’s mimic of the sacred covenant between God and Adam, a whole lot of seemingly random details suddenly fell into a beautiful pattern.
23 Wherefore, O ye Gentiles, it is wisdom in God that these things should be shown unto you, that thereby ye may repent of your sins, and suffer not that these murderous combinations shall get above you, which are built up to get and gain—and the work, yea, even the work of come upon you, yea, even the sword of the justice of the Eternal God shall fall upon you, to your overthrow and destruction if ye shall suffer these things to be.
24 Wherefore, the Lord commandeth you, when ye shall see these things come among you that ye shall awake to a sense of your awful situation, because of this which shall be among you; or wo be unto it, because of the blood of them who have been slain; for they cry from the dust for vengeance upon it (Genesis 4:10), and also upon those who built it up.
25 For it cometh to pass that whoso buildeth it up seeketh to overthrow the of all lands, nations, and countries; and it bringeth to pass the destruction of all people, for it is built up by the devil, who is the father of all lies; even that same liar who our first parents, yea, even that same liar who hath caused man to commit murder from the beginning; who hath the hearts of men that they have the prophets, and stoned them, and cast them out from the beginning.
26 Wherefore, I, Moroni, am commanded to write these things that evil may be done away, and that the time may come that Satan may have upon the hearts of the children of men, but that they may be to do good continually, that they may come unto the fountain of all and be saved. (Ether 8)
They seek to bring all who will hearken/listen
12 And Adam and blessed the name of God, and they made all things unto their sons and their daughters. (Moses 5)
1 And Adam hearkened unto the voice of God, and called upon his sons to repent. (Moses 6)
This was done in order to keep a commandment from God:
58 And thus the began to be , from the beginning, being declared by sent forth from the presence of God, and by his own voice, and by the gift of the Holy Ghost.
59 And thus all things were confirmed unto , by an holy ordinance, and the Gospel preached, and a decree sent forth, that it should be in the world, until the end thereof; and thus it was. Amen. (Moses 5)
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