The first commandment that God gave to Adam and Eve pertained to their potential for parenthood as husband and wife. . . . God has commanded that the sacred powers of procreation are to be employed only between man and woman, lawfully wedded as husband and wife.
We declare the means by which mortal life is created as divinely appointed. We affirm the sanctity of life and of its importance in God's eternal plan. Husband and wife have a solemn responsibility to love and care for each other and for their children. [1]
What happened in the Garden of Eden has been misunderstood almost from the day it happened. Had a more thorough understanding of the original Hebrew and God's plan for Adam and Eve been had, the history of the world - and certainly the history of women - would have been vastly different. Here are some points from that story:
- The forbidden fruit was not a euphemism for sexual intercourse (as was taught by the early church after Nicaea). It was a token by which Adam and Eve became mortal and subject to death. It was also a necessary step to a mortality which was necessary in order that they might "multiply and replenish."
- Sexual intercourse, in and of itself, is not a dirty and shameful thing. Rather, it is the means by which human beings can become co-creators with God by creating physical bodies for His spirit children. It was created and sanctioned by God when used with the bounds He defines.
- Sexual intercourse is a powerful, one-flesh experience that must only be used in the bounds of marriage where a long-term commitment between husband and wife assures children borne to father and mother. It is like a river of fire that is safe when contained within the "banks" of matrimony, but destructive when outside the safety of boundaries.
- Eve has for millenia been portrayed as the evil temptress without whom Adam would have been better off! [2] The original Hebrew indicates that Adam was given life but Eve was given lives. (Eve and the Choice Made in Eden, Beverly Campbell) The power to pass on human life lies with the mitochondrial DNA of Eve's body and is passed on through women to this day. Men and women have unique, but equal, responsibilities to one another as marriage partners and to the children they bring into the world.
What does that mean to me? It means that Adam and Eve understood from the beginning what their ultimate role would be. Genesis tells us that, after the Fall, Adam "knew his wife," which says to me that they were married by God in the Garden before being sent out into the world. As a married couple, they had children. The Bible mentions only 3 by name, but we know there were many others. Adam and Eve fed and clothed and housed their children. The taught their children about God and about covenants with Him, such as that of building an altar and offering sacrifice. They taught them right from wrong. Just because some of Adam's children chose not to follow those teachings (notably, Cain) doesn't mean that the parents didn't teach them.
This says to me that when I brought my children into this world, it was my obligation to feed and cloth and house them. It was my responsibility to love and care for them. It was my responsibility to teach them about God and about right from wrong. Just because my husband died young and left me a single parent, my dedication to my children did not go away. If anything, it became stronger because I was all that they had.
Our children are not "accidents" of birth, whether we planned for them or not. They are God's spiritual children and we have a stewardship, once we have provided their physical bodies, to take care of them in love and faith. They are separate and unique individuals from the moment of their conception, with an unfolding potential that we must nurture and guide. They are a truly a blessing.
Lo, children are an heritage of the Lord: and the fruit of the womb is his reward. As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth. Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them . . . (Psalm 127: 3-5)
[2] An interesting interpretation of the Genesis story, read the following blog by Rabbi Manis Friedman. According to him, Eve understood the choice and helped Adam to understand it. www.huffingtonpost.com/rabbi-manis-friedman/new-twist-old-story_b_2017349.html
The Family: A Proclamation to the World © 1995 by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
Additional text © 2012 Gebara Education
Picture of Adam and Eve and their children from www.lds.org
Picture of children from www.arthritis.org
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