And the Evening and the Morning Were the First Day

In Chapter 4 of the Book of Abraham, we learn more about the Gods plan the creation of the earth and all life thereon—Their plans for the six days of creation are set forth (the chapter heading.)  It follows the sequence taught by Moses in the Book of Genesis, but it clarifies a few points.  One of the most controversial for non-Latter-day Saints is that while Jehovah/Jesus was the Creator, He did not work alone.  To use a construction analogy, the Father was the Divine Architect, Jehovah/Jesus was the Divine General Contractor, and others of the sons of heaven worked alongside Jesus. 

One of these was the Archangel Michael.  It was Michael who, under the direction of the Father and the Son, actually fought Lucifer and drove him and his followers out of heaven (see Revelation 12:6.)  Michael helped Jehovah create the world and later became Adam, the Patriarch of the human family.  In the Book of Abraham we read that the Gods plural created the heavens and the earth.  That would include the Father, the Son, probably the Holy Spirit, as well as other sons of God such as Michael.  Here is what Abraham tells us about the first event in our second estate:

And then the Lord said: Let us go down. And they went down at the beginning, and they, that is the Gods, organized and formed the heavens and the earth.  And the earth, after it was formed, was empty and desolate, because they had not formed anything but the earth; and darkness reigned upon the face of the deep, and the Spirit of the Gods was brooding upon the face of the waters.

And they (the Gods) said: Let there be light; and there was light.

 

And they (the Gods) comprehended the light, for it was bright; and they divided the light, or caused it to be divided, from the darkness.

And the Gods called the light Day, and the darkness they called Night. And it came to pass that from the evening until morning they called night; and from the morning until the evening they called day; and this was the first, or the beginning, of that which they called day and night. (Abraham 4:1-5)

 

I was watching a wonderful production done by BYU Broadcasting a few years ago.  It was called Messiah: Behold the Lamb of God. The first of the episodes was called Before Abraham Was, I Am.  One of the professors [1], in speaking of these very verses, pointed out the importance of the word said.  It was the act of saying that brought things to pass.  God was able to command the elements to obey and they did.  When they had obeyed, Genesis tells us that God pronounced it good. Later, when Jesus calmed the stormy sea by commanding the elements: Peace, be still, they obeyed because He was the creator.  He was able to use His words to command the universe because, as John tells us, He is and was the Word.  When I feel like I am drowning in despair, I remember that my "lifeguard" walks on water.  Sometimes He calms the storm: sometimes He calms me.

 

[1] Dr. Eric Huntsman

 © Gebara Education, 2016