“Unit 2: Day 4, Moses 4 (Genesis 3)” Old Testament Study Guide for Home-Study Seminary Students (2014)
“Unit 2: Day 4,” Old Testament Study Guide
Unit 2: Day 4
Moses 4 (Genesis 3)
Introduction
Moses 4 contains the Lord’s explanation of how Satan became the devil. The Lord also described the Fall of Adam and Eve and its consequences. Moses 4 is the Joseph Smith Translation of Genesis 3. (Although Genesis 3 is not specifically covered in this lesson, you should read it as part of your daily scripture study.)
Moses 4:1–4
The Lord reveals how Satan became the devil
Why might a person carry a coat even though the weather is not cold or wet?
Carrying a coat is a solution to the potential condition of cold or wet weather.
Think about a time when you were grateful that a solution to a condition you might face was prepared in advance (for example, having food storage in case of an emergency or backup light sources in case of a power outage).
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Write the following headings at the top of a page in your scripture study journal: Conditions We Experience and Solution Prepared in Advance
Leave plenty of room to list several items under the headings throughout the lesson. As you study Moses 4, you will learn about some of the difficult conditions you will experience in life, but you will also learn about the solution Heavenly Father prepared in advance to help you overcome these conditions.
In our premortal life, before we were born on earth, we learned about Heavenly Father’s plan of happiness and that a Savior would be required to carry out this plan. Lucifer, one of Heavenly Father’s spirit children, rebelled against Heavenly Father’s plan and came to be known as Satan or the devil.
Read Moses 4:1, looking for what Satan demanded of Heavenly Father.
Notice Satan’s repetitive use of the words I and me in verse 1. You may want to mark these words.
What can we learn about Satan from his use of the words I and me in verse 1? What did Satan demand of Heavenly Father after stating he would redeem all mankind?
Read Moses 4:2, looking for what Jesus Christ said to Heavenly Father.
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What are some differences between Jesus Christ’s statement in verse 2 and Satan’s statement in verse 1?
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According to verse 2, what did Heavenly Father say about Jesus Christ?
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Write Jesus Christ was chosen from the beginning (in the premortal existence) to … under the heading “Solution prepared in advance.” As you continue to study Moses 4, think about how you would complete this statement.
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Read Moses 4:3–4, looking for what these verses teach us about Satan.
In verse 3, you may want to mark two things Satan did that caused him to be cast down from heaven.
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Moses 4:5–12
Eve and Adam eat the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil
In Moses 4:5–6 we read about the subtlety and craftiness that Satan used as he “sought to destroy the world” (Moses 4:6) by tempting Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. Satan is sometimes referred to symbolically as a serpent (see, for example, 2 Nephi 2:18).
Read Moses 3:16–17, looking for the choices given to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden.
Adam and Eve could choose to remain in the Garden of Eden forever by eating of the fruit of any of the trees in the garden except for the tree of knowledge of good and evil. If they chose to eat of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, they would no longer be able to be in the Lord’s presence in the Garden of Eden and would die.
Read Moses 4:7–11, looking for how Satan tried to persuade Eve to eat of the forbidden fruit.
Before the Lord explained Adam and Eve’s choices that we read about in Moses 3:16–17, He gave them an important commandment. Look at Moses 2:28 to help you remember what it was.
As you read the following statement by Elder Dallin H. Oaks of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, look for what choice Adam and Eve needed to make in order to obey the Lord’s commandment to have children. Mark what you find.
“This commandment [to ‘be fruitful, and multiply’] was first in sequence and first in importance. It was essential that God’s spirit children have mortal birth and an opportunity to progress toward eternal life. …
“When Adam and Eve received the first commandment, they were in a transitional state, no longer in the spirit world but with physical bodies not yet subject to death and not yet capable of procreation. They could not fulfill the Father’s first commandment without transgressing the barrier between the bliss of the Garden of Eden and the terrible trials and wonderful opportunities of mortal life” (“The Great Plan of Happiness,” Ensign, Nov. 1993, 72–73).
Read Moses 4:12, looking for what Eve and Adam chose to do.
Moses 4:13–32
Adam and Eve learn of the consequences of the Fall
We call the consequence of Adam and Eve’s choice to partake of the forbidden fruit the Fall.
Read Moses 4:13–14, 22–25, looking for consequences of the Fall of Adam and Eve. You may want to mark the consequences you identify in your scriptures.
One doctrine we learn from the phrase “thou shalt surely die” in verse 25 is that because of the Fall, all mankind will experience physical death. (Write this doctrine under the heading “Conditions we experience” in your scripture study journal.)
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In the Garden of Eden there was another important tree, called the tree of life. Read Moses 4:28, looking for what the Lord said would happen if Adam and Eve ate the fruit of the tree of life after eating the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil.
The prophet Alma, in the Book of Mormon, taught, “If Adam had put forth his hand immediately, and partaken of the tree of life, he would have lived forever, … having no space for repentance; … and the great plan of salvation would have been frustrated” (Alma 42:5). Adam and Eve would not have had a probationary period in mortality, in which they could learn to choose between good and evil, exercise faith in Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, and repent of their sins (see Alma 12:21–27; 42:2–6).
Read Moses 4:29–31, looking for what the Lord did to prevent Adam and Eve from partaking of the fruit of the tree of life. (As you read, it might be helpful to know that the word cherubim refers to “figures representing heavenly creatures, the exact form being unknown” [Bible Dictionary, “Cherubim”; Guide to the Scriptures, “Cherubim”; scriptures.lds.org]).
When Adam and Eve were driven from the Garden of Eden, they were no longer in God’s presence (see Moses 5:4). The condition of being separated from God’s presence is called spiritual death. Write Because of the Fall, all mankind will experience spiritual death under the heading “Conditions we experience” in your scripture study journal.
Elder Earl C. Tingey of the Seventy said: “Currently, we are all in the state of spiritual death. We are separated from God. He dwells in heaven; we live on earth. We would like to return to Him” (“The Great Plan of Happiness,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2006, 73).
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What was the solution Heavenly Father prepared in advance to help us overcome physical and spiritual death and the other conditions you have identified? Considering what you know about the mission of Jesus Christ, complete the sentence from the beginning of the lesson in your scripture study journal (Jesus Christ was chosen from the beginning [in the premortal existence] to …).
In the next lesson you will learn more about Heavenly Father’s plan of redemption prepared through His Son, Jesus Christ.