Lesson 11

Moses 3 (Genesis 2; Abraham 5)

Prepare to Learn

Take some time to prepare your mind and heart to learn. Remember that studying the gospel prayerfully with a desire to learn will help you to be taught and edified by the Holy Ghost.

Begin your study with prayer.

In our day, there are many false ideas about marriage. This results in confusion about what is right and wrong. Listen to Sister Sheri L. Dew, a former counselor in the Relief Society General Presidency. Why is it so important that we understand the purpose of marriage in Heavenly Father’s plan?

Click the link to see the text for this video: “It Is Not Good for Man or Woman to Be Alone,” Ensign, Nov. 2001, 12–14.

Your Favorite Day

1. Please respond to the following two questions:

• Which day of the week do you enjoy more than any other?

• What makes that day different from the others?

The Sabbath Day

As you study Moses 3, look for what we can learn about the Sabbath day and how we can make it different from the other days of the week.

Moses 3 is a continuation of the account of the Creation. Read Moses 3:1–3, looking for what the Lord did differently on the seventh day.

Sabbath-Day Observance

In Moses 3:1–3, we read that the Lord rested from His labors and blessed and sanctified the seventh day. To sanctify something means to make it sacred or holy. By resting from His labors and sanctifying the Sabbath day, the Lord established the pattern of Sabbath-day observance.

What principle can we learn from these verses about Sabbath-day observance?

A Focus on Sacred Things

From the Lord’s example recorded in Moses 3:1–3, we learn that we can keep the Sabbath day holy as we rest from our labors and focus on sacred things. You may want to write this principle in your scriptures near these verses.

2. Consider how you would answer each of the following questions. Respond to two of them.

• How can we focus on sacred things on the Sabbath?

• How do you feel you have been blessed by resting from your labors on the Sabbath day and focusing on sacred things?

• What will you do to more fully keep the Sabbath day?

The Creation

Read Moses 3:4–7, looking for what we can learn about the Creation from these verses.

Quiz 1

Using what you learned in Moses 3:4–7, indicate whether these statements are true or false.

1. We lived in heaven as spirit children of God before we were born on earth.

   1. True

   2. False

2. Some forms of life on the earth are not creations of God.

   1. True

   2. False

3. God created the spirits of all living things before they were created physically on the earth.

   1. True

   2. False

Spirit Creation

From Moses 3:4–7, we can learn that God created the spirits of all living things before they were created physically on the earth. You may want to write this doctrinal statement in your scriptures.

Elder Bruce R. McConkie (1915–85) of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles explained:

“This earth, all men [and women], animals, fish, fowls, plants, all things—all lived first as spirit entities [beings]. Their home was heaven, and the earth was created to be the place where they could take upon themselves mortality” (Bruce R. McConkie, “Christ and the Creation,” Ensign, June 1982, 13).

Adam in the Garden

In Moses 3:8–17, we read that after the Lord created Adam physically, He placed him in the Garden of Eden. These verses describe the Garden of Eden, including two trees in Eden that were significant—the tree of life and the tree of knowledge of good and evil. You will learn more about these trees in the next lesson.

Marriage and Family

Moses 3 contains additional information about the creation of Adam and Eve and about the importance of marriage and family.

Have you ever had the opportunity to explain your beliefs on marriage and family to someone who is not a member of the Church? Was it difficult?

As you study this chapter, look for truths that can help you understand and explain the Lord’s teachings on marriage and family.

As recorded in Moses 3:18–21, the Lord discussed the time between the physical creation of Adam and the physical creation of Eve. Read Moses 3:18, looking for what the Lord said about Adam during this time.

An Action to Move the Plan Forward

As long as Adam remained alone in the Garden of Eden, Heavenly Father’s plan would not progress.

Read Moses 3:20–23, looking for what Heavenly Father did so that His plan of happiness would move forward.

The Creation of Eve

President Spencer W. Kimball (1895–1985) taught that “the story of the rib, of course, is figurative” (“The Blessings and Responsibilities of Womanhood,” Ensign, Mar. 1976, 71).

Consider this statement by President Russell M. Nelson. What can we learn from the way the Lord described the physical creation of Eve?

“The rib, coming as it does from the side, seems to denote partnership. The rib signifies … a lateral relationship as partners, to work and to live, side by side” (Russell M. Nelson, “Lessons from Eve,” Ensign, Nov. 1987, 87).

The rib symbolizes the side-by-side partnership of equality of Adam and Eve and all married couples.

Adam and Eve

Genesis 2:24–25 corresponds to Moses 3:24–25. Genesis 2:24 is a doctrinal mastery passage. You may want to mark doctrinal mastery passages in a distinctive way so you can locate them easily.

Read Genesis 2:24–25, looking for doctrine about marriage that we can learn from this account.

Marriage—Ordained of God

From Genesis 2:24, we can learn that marriage between a man and a woman is ordained of God.

Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles explained why God has ordained that marriage be between a man and a woman.

“Two compelling doctrinal reasons help us to understand why eternal marriage is essential to the Father’s plan.

“Reason 1: The natures of male and female spirits complete and perfect each other, and therefore men and women are intended to progress together toward exaltation.

“… For divine purposes, male and female spirits are different, distinctive, and complementary.

“… The unique combination of spiritual, physical, mental, and emotional capacities of both males and females were needed to implement the plan of happiness. Alone, neither the man nor the woman could fulfill the purposes of his or her creation.

“… Because of their distinctive temperaments and capacities, males and females each bring to a marriage relationship unique perspectives and experiences. The man and the woman contribute differently but equally to a oneness and a unity that can be achieved in no other way. The man completes and perfects the woman and the woman completes and perfects the man as they learn from and mutually strengthen and bless each other. ‘Neither is the man without the woman, neither the woman without the man, in the Lord’ (1 Corinthians 11:11; italics added).

“Reason 2: By divine design, both a man and a woman are needed to bring children into mortality and to provide the best setting for the rearing and nurturing of children. …

“A home with a loving and loyal husband and wife is the supreme setting in which children can be reared in love and righteousness and in which the spiritual and physical needs of children can be met. Just as the unique characteristics of both males and females contribute to the completeness of a marriage relationship, so those same characteristics are vital to the rearing, nurturing, and teaching of children” (David A. Bednar, “Marriage Is Essential to His Eternal Plan,” Ensign, June 2006, 82–84; see also “The Family: A Proclamation to the World,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2017, 145).

3. Based on the teachings of Elder Bednar, why has God ordained that marriage be between a man and a woman?

Help Meet

Review Moses 3:18, 20. Notice that the Lord said that Eve would be an “help meet” for Adam. The word meet means suitable, proper, or appropriate. Eve would be an appropriate and suitable help to Adam, a companion in equal and full partnership. This phrase also indicates a “helping” relationship between Adam and Eve.

President M. Russell Ballard of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles explained:

“Men and women are equal in God’s eyes and in the eyes of the Church, but equal does not mean … that they are the same. The responsibilities and divine gifts of men and women differ in their nature but not in their importance or influence. Our Church doctrine places women equal to and yet different from men. God does not regard either gender as better or more important than the other” (M. Russell Ballard, “Let Us Think Straight” [Brigham Young University Education Week devotional, Aug. 20, 2013], 6, speeches.byu.edu).

What principle can we learn from Moses 3:18, 20 about the kind of relationship the Lord desires for a husband and wife to have with each other?

Equal Partners

“The Family: A Proclamation to the World” states: “By divine design, fathers are to preside over their families in love and righteousness and are responsible to provide the necessities of life and protection for their families. Mothers are primarily responsible for the nurture of their children. In these sacred responsibilities, fathers and mothers are obligated to help one another as equal partners” (“The Family: A Proclamation to the World,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2017, 145).

From the use of the term “help meet” in Moses 3:18, 20, we can learn that husband and wife are to be equal partners. You may want to write this doctrinal statement in your scriptures near these verses.

4. Respond to one of the following questions:

• What are some examples of ways husbands and wives are equal partners?

• Do you know a married couple who demonstrates an equal partnership in marriage? What are some ways you have observed them being equal partners?

An Invitation to Share Your Beliefs

Here are the truths identified in this lesson:

• We can keep the Sabbath day holy as we rest from our labors and focus on sacred things.

• God created the spirits of all living things before they were created physically on the earth.

• Marriage between a man and a woman is ordained of God.

• Husband and wife are to be equal partners.

Consider opportunities you might have to explain your beliefs about marriage and family to others. Think about what you might say using what you learned from this lesson.

Answer Key

Quiz 1: (1) True; (2) False; (3) True