Today are we going back to the beginning, to cosmic explosions and brilliant flashes of light and creation that is primordial, at the very core of our existence. We have four accounts of it, in Genesis, Moses, Abraham, and in the temple. Those who attend the temple have their minds drawn back to creation continually, and we might wonder as Latter-day Saints why we are shown the creation so often. We’ll talk about why it matters so much today.

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Maurine

Today are we going back to the beginning, to cosmic explosions and brilliant flashes of light and creation that is primordial, at the very core of our existence. We have four accounts of it, in Genesis, Moses, Abraham, and in the temple. Those who attend the temple have their minds drawn back to creation continually, and we might wonder as Latter-day Saints why we are shown the creation so often. We’ll talk about why it matters so much today.

Scot

Hello, we’re Scot and Maurine Proctor and this is Meridian Magazine’s Come Follow Me podcast, where today we study creation in Genesis 1,2; Moses 2,3; Abraham 4,5. You can find all of our podcasts and the transcripts at latterdaysaintmag.com/podcast. Please tell a friend about these. Right now we are in our voluntary subscription drive for Meridian Magazine and the podcast, and we hope you will subscribe. You can go to latterdaysaintmag.com/subscribe to do that. That’s lattersaintmag.com/subscribe. We can’t thank those of you enough who do, because it is what makes us able to continue this work. You are the ones who keep us going—and it is a very small percentage of the people who are readers and listeners who actually subscribe. Please be one of them.

Maurine

We learn in Moses 1 why we are continually drawn back to the mighty magnificence of the creation. Moses is shown personally God’s work in this sweeping expanse, His moving upon stars and creating clusters of galaxies. Why all this grandeur and precision of labor? The Lord says, “For behold, this is my work and my glory—to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man” (Moses 1:39). His work is creation, but it is merely the backdrop for his sons and daughters to be transformed and finally exalted.  Creation is the prelude to His great work which is us, which is you.

Caught here in mortality in the thick of thin things, it is almost incomprehensible that a God who could create the universe is first and foremost interested in you, but Elder Maxwell said it well, “Think of it, brothers and sisters, even with their extensive longevity, stars are not immortal, but you are.” (Our Creator’s Cosmos, Neal A. Maxwell, Religious Studies Center)

Scot

C.S.Lewis said, “There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. Nations, cultures, arts, civilizations – these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat. But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub and exploit.” That veil that dropped was a thick one for us, and it not only hid God from us, but us from ourselves. You hardly know who you are.

We see this creation enacted before us in the temple and study it in scriptures to remember who God is and receive an inkling again about who we are to Him. In this world we are likely to forget. The Adversary pounds on us to forget, but the Lord gives us this big picture of creation as a counterweight to the pressing present where we lose our way in the midst of little things.

Maurine

It’s like the story of when the resurrected Christ walked with the two men on the road to Emmaus. They were grieving the loss of Jesus because they thought that he had come to vanquish Rome. Rome was in their face, their constant tormenter.Jesus expounds the scripture to them so that they understand. Rome is small stuff. He has vanquished death and hell. That’s the big stuff.

Understanding the creation gives us our bearings on the universe. Hugh Nibley said, “Of course, the temple is the place where you take your bearings on the universe. That’s what the temple means, a template on a map.” https://www.gospelink.com/library/document/19825

Scot

You see who and what really is. You see purpose and relationship. We are invited with the reminder of creation not to stay in the small picture.

Maurine

 This creation of a universe, and an earth, making it suitable for life,  then your life, your death, your plan. It’s all of one piece watched over by the Lord. And it’s big.

Abraham was told, in what is surely one of my favorite scriptures, “My name is Jehovah, and I know the end from the beginning; therefore my hand shall be over thee” (Abraham 2:8)

Scot

We learn from Genesis 1:2 that before the creation “the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep.” The Book of Abraham indicates that “the earth, after it was formed, was empty and desolate” (Abraham 4:2) One Bible translation calls it a waste.

Then comes the great organizing power of the Lord, for whom no chaos is daunting, for He is the One to whom all the elements respond. He can command the elements and they obey, perfectly. His mighty power includes the profound ability to divide light from darkness. His first creative act was not the creation of heaven and earth, but the creation of light. Indeed, his first command was “let there be light” (Genesis 1:3)—and there was. Without Him, all would be barren, lifeless and unfruitful, including our own lives.

He who organizes worlds without number also organizes our life if we allow Him, dividing the light from the darkness, giving firm ground to stand on even when we are in the swirl of oceans of trouble, and helping us to become fruitful and to see our labors and our families multiplied.

Maurine

We can utterly trust this God who creates glorious form out of unorganized materials, because He is also working on us with the same genius.

Hugh Nibley used to like to talk about the second law of thermodynamics called entropy. He said, because “of entropy or the heat-death, everything runs down. Heat can only move from a hotter to a cooler body, that’s all. When it finally has distributed itself evenly, then there’s nothing. Things must have vanished away…The more complex materials, always break down to the more simple…By theory then, the more complex should have vanished long ago, but they haven’t….What is happening here is that a mind far greater than inert matter has intervened and is running things.” Everything rots and crumbles.

In the same way, people would run down, wear out and die and that would be it. Nothing rises anymore. But because of God’s enlivening power and the atonement of Jesus Christ, that relentless move toward chaos is undone. Entropy is overcome. A creator has organized and enlivened matter and continues to create in us. Life, energy and light replace death and deconstruction. Who is this God that we worship who has the capacity to save us from captivity, barrenness and chaos?

Scot

It is clear, as we have spoken, that the earth’s progression is linked to man’s. We are talking about a parallel experience. James L. Ferrell notes in his book The Hidden Christ: Beneath the Surface of the Old Testament, “In the beginning, before it had taken up orbit around a source of light, the earth was empty, desolate, and dark. (See Abraham 4:2, Genesis 1:2, Moses 2:2). This seems a pretty good description of man’s state so long as he insists on living for himself, on his own terms, refusing to hearken to the light of Christ. But the Spirit moved upon this darkness, and the earth moved into proximity with the light. (See Genesis 1:2, 3-5, Moses 2: 3-5, 6-8; Abraham 4:6-8)


“Under the influence of the light, a ‘firmament’ or atmosphere of life-sustaining air was formed above and around the earth (See Genesis 1: 6-8; Moses 2: 6-8; Abraham 4:6-8). In application to ourselves, we might consider this to be a representation of the nourishing influence of the Spirit in our lives. Under the influence of this light and within the protective canopy of this air or spirit, the earth began to come to life. Isn’t this exactly what happens to us when we are nourished by the Spirit and bathed by the light? We, too, come to life, as it were, and begin to bring forth good fruit.”

Maurine

Ferrell continues, “Interestingly, it is at this point in the process, after the Lord has sown his seeds and nourished his creation by his own light and spirit, that he then guides that creation into the orbit of those that he has set up to govern—the ‘lights in the firmament of the heaven,’ the ‘greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night’ (See Genesis 1: 14-18; Moses 2: 14-18, Abraham 4: 14-18). This too, “Ferrell says, “is analogous to what happens with us, as the light of Christ and the whisperings of the Spirit both enliven us and direct us to the Lord’s representatives on earth. These representatives, who have been called to govern in this sphere, then shed forth the Lord’s light on the issues of our day, helping us to discern the light from the darkness. “And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth, and to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness” (Genesis 1: 17-18. See also Moses 2: 17-18; Abraham 4: 17-18).

Scot

Ferrell continues, “As we obey the counsel of these governing ones and follow in the light they reveal, our early spiritual growth flowers more fully under their influence, and we, like the earth, bring forth more abundantly. In fact, under the combined influence of the light of Christ, the Spirit, and the direction of those called to govern over the earth, the earth itself becomes a sustaining source of life, nourishing and strengthening everything in its presence—fish, fowls, insects, animals. As the earth grows more abundant and more beautiful, finally, the life that appears on the earth begins to be in the image of God.

Maurine

He notes, “Isn’t this how we grow as well? As we stay in the orbit, as it were, of the light of Christ, the Spirit, and the Lord’s representatives on earth, and as we observe and follow that light, do we not bring forth more abundantly? Do we not sustain and nourish all that is around us? Do we not ultimately receive the image of God in our countenances?


“At this point in the Creation story, the parallelism between man and the heavenly body known as the earth becomes one: The earth in its abundant beauty, and man and woman joined together in innocence, are able to stand in the presence of God, this being the purpose of the process of creation, the fate of all linked through time and eternity.”

Scot

Who specifically was the Creator? We know that under the direction of God, the Father, this work was carried out by Jesus Christ. John refers to Christ when he says, “All things were made by him; and without him was not anything made that was made” (John 1:3). In Mosiah the people cry out, “we believe in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who created heaven and earth, and all things” (Mosiah 4:2) In Helaman, it says, “That ye might know of the coming of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Father of heaven and of earth, the Creator of all things from the beginning” (Helaman 14:12).

When it comes to man, God the Father tells us, “And I, God, created man in mine own image, in the image of mine Only Begotten created I him; male and female created I them.”

Maurine

How was it accomplished? Certainly through priesthood power, and in Lectures on Faith, we are told specifically, “By this we understand that the principle of power which existed in the bosom of God, by which he framed the worlds, was faith; and that it is by reason of this principle of power existing in the Deity that all created things exist; so that all things in heaven, on earth, or under the earth exist by reason of faith as it existed in him.

“Had it not been for the principle of faith, the worlds would never have been framed, neither would man have been formed of the dust. It is the principle by which Jehovah works and through which he exercises power over all temporal as well as eternal things. Take this principle or attribute (for it is an attribute) from the Deity and he would cease to exist.” (end quote)

No wonder the Lord has designed our existence so it required that we exercise faith. He is seeking to give us a necessary power.

Scot

James Ferrell notes, “The Savior’s various names testify of his creative role. On the first day, the ‘light of the world’(See John 8:12) introduced light. On the second day, ‘he that giveth breath unto the people’ (Isaiah 42:5) introduced air. On the third, the ‘living water’(Jeremiah 2:13) and ‘true vine’(John 15:1)introduced water, soil, and vegetation. On the fourth day, ‘the light which is in all things’(See Doctrine and Covenants 88: 6-13) caused the sun, the moon, and the stars to shine on the earth according to the appointed rotation of the earth. On the fifth day, the ‘fisher of men’ prepared the earth to bring forth fishes and fowls. On day six, the ‘Good Shepherd’(See John 10:1) and Lamb of God’ (See John 1:19) prepared the earth to bring forth the animals and all creeping things, and the ‘Son of man’ (See Matthew 9:6) formed man and woman “in the image of God.” (Genesis 1:24-61)

“Just as it was the Savior who transformed the earth, so, too, it is the Savior who transforms man.” (James L. Ferrell, The Hidden Christ: Beneath the Surface of the Old Testament).

Maurine

One last insight from James Ferrell’s book, The Hidden Christ, which you can tell we are impressed with,  “The Abraham and Moses accounts reveal the key to the Creation process. At the end of day one of the Creation, the Moses account says: ‘and it was done as I spake’ (Moses 2:5). At the end of day two, the Moses account says, ‘it was so even as I spake,’(Moses 2:7) and the Abraham account echoes: ‘and it was so, even as [the Gods] ordered’ (Abraham 4:7). At the end of day three, the Abraham account tells us that ‘the Gods saw that they were obeyed’ (Abraham 4:12). Day four ends with this interesting detail: ‘And the Gods watched those things which they had ordered until they obeyed.’ (Abraham 4:18).

“Similarly, at the end of day five, the Abraham account tells us: ‘And the Gods saw that they would be obeyed.’(Abraham 4:21). And at the end of day six, the Gods said: ‘We will do everything that we have said, and organize them; and behold, they shall be very obedient.’ (Abraham 4:31)

“So, for the earth, the key to each stage of progression was obedience.” And for us, it is the very same.

Scot

When our oldest daughter came home from her mission, she said that her mission president had talked about obedience very often at their gatherings. She lamented that there were so many other spiritual things to learn and talk about, but too many missionaries resisted being obedient. Look how critically important this message is for us.

Finally, the creation is marked by how often the Lord calls his work good or very good. So many scientists have written on how exacting things must be to create a planet with life on it. For example, Amir D. Aczel wrote in Time magazine, about the great mysteries of science, “How did consciousness arise in living things? Where do symbolic thinking and self-awareness come from? What is it that allows humans to understand the mysteries of biology, physics, mathematics, engineering and medicine? And what enables us to create great works of art, music, architecture. Science is nowhere near to explaining these deep mysteries.

Maurine

“But much more important than these conundrums is the persistent question of the fine-tuning of the parameters of the universe: Why is our universe so precisely tailor-made for the emergence of life? This question has never been answered satisfactorily, and I believe that it will never find a scientific solution. For the deeper we delve into the mysteries of physics and cosmology, the more the universe appears to be intricate and incredibly complex. To explain the quantum-mechanical behavior of even one tiny particle requires pages and pages of extremely advanced mathematics. Why are even the tiniest particles of matter so unbelievably complicated? It appears that there is a vast, hidden “wisdom,” or structure, or knotty blueprint for even the most simple-looking element of nature. And the situation becomes much more daunting as we expand our view to the entire cosmos. (https://time.com/77676/why-science-does-not-disprove-god/.)

Scot

What about this: As one astronomer has put it, “A slight increase in nuclear forces would have resulted in stars made almost entirely of helium, stars which have a shorter lifespan, resulting in insufficient time for life, for man, to arise in the universe.  On the other hand, a slight decrease in nuclear forces would have prevented the formation of carbon atoms and other necessary ingredients of life.”

“George Sim Johnston puts it well when he writes of these breathtaking specificities that “if the cosmic expansion (at the Big Bang) had been a fraction less intense, it would have imploded billions of years ago; a fraction more intense, and the galaxies would not have formed.  Picture a wall with thousands of dials; each must be at exactly the right setting — within a toleration of millionths — in order for carbon-based life to eventually emerge in a suburb of the Milky Way.  You cannot help but think of a Creator.”  A bit more explanation:  The mass of the universe could not have been too great or galaxies could not have been formed, and if there could be no galaxies, there obviously could be neither stars nor planets circling stars.  With no planets there could be no plant, animal, or human life.” (Thomas Dubay, The Evidential Power of Beauty: Science and Theology Meet).

Maurine

Now, the Latter-day Saints have some unique understanding of the creation that are different from many other Christians. Some of these we receive from a sermon that lasted over two hours that Joseph Smith gave on a Sunday afternoon, April 7, 1844, at the funeral of his friend King Follett, who had been crushed by a bucket of rocks while repairing a wall. It was a stirring, cogent presentation that talked about the nature of God and man’s potential to become as God.  Though we don’t have a complete transcript of this talk (and don’t we wish we did) we have four manuscript reports from Willard Richards, Wilford Woodruff, Thomas Bullock, and William Clayton. (Kevin Barney, “Examining Six Key Concepts in Joseph Smith’s Understanding of Genesis 1:1”, BYU Studies. https://byustudies.byu.edu/article/examining-six-key-concepts-in-joseph-smiths-understanding-of-genesis-11/)

We will talk about a couple of the key points that Joseph Smith made in that sermon. First, the world wasn’t created ex nihilo or out of nothing. Instead as we’ve mentioned the Lord organized already existing materials.

Scot

This is what Joseph said:

“Now, I ask all the learned men who hear me, why the learned doctors who are preaching salvation say that God created the heavens and the earth out of nothing. They account it blasphemy to contradict the idea. If you tell them that God made the world out of something, they will call you a fool. The reason is that they are unlearned but I am learned and know more than all the world put together—the Holy Ghost does, anyhow. If the Holy Ghost in me comprehends more than all the world, I will associate myself with it.

“You ask them why, and they say, ‘Doesn’t the Bible say He created the world?’ And they infer that it must be out of nothing. The word create came from the word BARA, but it doesn’t mean so. What does BARA mean? It means to organize; the same as a man would organize and use things to build a ship. Hence, we infer that God Himself had materials to organize the world out of chaos—chaotic matter—which is element and in which dwells all the glory. Element had an existence from the time He had. The pure principles of element are principles that never can be destroyed. They may be organized and reorganized, but not destroyed. Nothing can be destroyed. They never can have a beginning or an ending; they exist eternally.” Stan Larson, “The King Follett Discourse: A Newly Amalgamated Text,” BYU Studies 18, no. 2 (1978): 203

Maurine

Another point that Joseph made is this: “In the very beginning there is a plurality of Gods—beyond refutation.” (From Thomas Bullock’s manuscript report of Joseph’s June 16, 1844, discourse, in Ehat and Cook, Words of Joseph Smith, 379.) He said  in the sermon that “the [head one] of the Gods brought forth the Gods,” or in another version, “In the beginning, the head of the gods called a council of the gods. They came together and concocted a plan to create the world and people it. When we begin to learn this way, that God exists in this council structure with other divine beings that he calls gods, we begin to learn the only true God and what kind of a being we have got to worship.” (See https://www.thechurchnews.com/archives/2010-08-14/biblical-evidence-of-council-of-the-gods-62795).

That only true God, that head God, whom we worship, is variously called El or Elohim, and it should be noted that Elohim is the plural of El. Some have believed that the “im” on the end that usually makes a word plural in Hebrew only refers to the intensity of perfection.

Nonetheless, it is made very clear in Abraham’s description of the creation in Abraham 4 that there is a plurality of Gods at work. “And they went down at the beginning, and they, that is the Gods, organized and formed the heavens and the earth. ”And they (the Gods) said: “Let there be light” and so forth.

Scot

Who were these Gods? We don’t know, but instead of taking away from our worship of our Father and His Son, it opens up great possibilities to who we are. Truman Madsen speaks about Lorenzo Snow’s experience. “He was sitting discussing the scriptures with a brother in Nauvoo. At that moment something happened to him which in later life he called an impression; sometimes he spoke of it as a vision, sometimes as an overwhelming revelation. He came to glimpse the meaning of what had been said to him. And he formed it in a couplet which we hesitate, all of us, and I think wisely, to cite in discussion or conversation but which is a sacred, glorious insight. It’s a couplet; he put it in faultless rhythm: “As man now is God once was. As God now is man may become.” He says he saw a conduit, as it were, down through which, in fact, by our very nature, by our being begotten of our eternal parents, we descend and up through which we may ascend. It struck him with power that if a prince born to a king will one day inherit his throne, so a son of an eternal father will one day inherit the fullness of his father’s kingdom.

“Suddenly he recovered the verses, repeated but without depth, of the New Testament that we are commanded to become perfect; then, lest we should relativize that, the Master had added, ‘even as your Father.’ The verses in 1 John vibrate with his comprehension of love: ‘Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God. . . . Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is’ (1 John 3:1–2; emphasis added).

“That became a guiding star to young Lorenzo Snow.” (Truman Madsen, “The Highest in Us” https://speeches.byu.edu/talks/truman-g-madsen/become-like-god-highest-us/) 

Maurine

Finally, we come to the creation of Adam and Eve.  Adam was Michael, who led the forces of God in the war in heaven. “When we first know Adam. He is alone in the garden, and God said, to him, that this situation is decidedly “not good.” He needs the woman Eve to be completed, “It is not good that the man should be alone” (Genesis 2:18).

“In fact, to underscore that this relationship between man and woman is unlike any other, she is not made of the dust of the earth like all of the other creatures God has made. She is made of him. They are the same material. They are meant to understand and be one with each other, to be co-equals, as Adam is with no one else. 

“Though this description of Eve being created from a rib is metaphorical, Adam gives an underlying truth, “She is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh” (Genesis 2:23). This married pair were dependent on each other and meant to be united as no other of God’s creations were with them.  In all the earth, this is a unique relationship because they are made of the very same material.

“They have a joint commission and it takes two of them, working together, to fulfill it. 

Scot

“Since Adam has been alone, in creating Eve, the Lord has created a ‘help meet” for him. Here is where we sometimes get into trouble. It is in misunderstanding the idea of ‘help’ or as it is sometimes translated ‘helper’ that we run aground in estimating who Eve is and, by implication, all women. We sometimes suppose that this means that she is a subordinate assistant or that she is meant to be domestic help or that she is meant only to cater to the needs of others. We think of saying to a child, ‘Won’t you be my little helper?’ Yet, ‘help’ is much bigger and more powerful than this. In Hebrew, help is the word ‘ezer’.

“In all of scripture, there are only two who are explicitly referred to as “ezer”—and that is Eve and God, Himself.  When God is called ‘ezer’, it is often in times of great peril, when enemies are ranged against the Children of Israel and their very lives are on the line. In those instances, God as ezer, arrives as strength, power, rescuer, and protector. He is the vital strength, the necessary power. He is critically needed. There is no survival without Him.

Maurine

“When the word ezer is used in the Bible, it carries no implication regarding the relationship or relative status of the individuals involved.” Ezer also has no narrow qualifications, no prescribed limits, no cultural restrictions.” To place restrictions or subordination on Eve because she is ezer is simply a faulty cultural construct.

Ezer is used in the Bible twice for Eve and sixteen times for God. As Donald W. Parry and Jay A. Parry noted, “No others—including kings, queens, ranking military officers, prophets, or priests are presented as help. Moreover, the vastly powerful and commanding pharaoh of Egypt, together with his officials and representatives, is specifically depicted as not being a help.” (Isaiah 30:51).… The prophets reveal that God is a help because he sustains and preserves the lives of his people.” Donald W. Parry, Jay A. Parry. Symbols and Shadows: Unlocking a Deeper Understanding of the Atonement https://www.gospelink.com/library/document/132427?highlight=1


Scot

“Let’s look at just some of those times when God is ezer or help. The first mention of it is in Exodus 18, where Moses names his son Eliezer, meaning My God is a Help   “for the God of my father, said he, was mine help [ezer], and delivered me from the sword of Pharaoh.” (Exodus 18:4). When we are talking about the army of Exodus, the most powerful nation on earth at the time, this is no small rescue.

“Moses again praises God as a help against the enemies of the Children of Israel. This is help in very difficult conditions. Here are two examples. “Hear, O Lord, the voice of Judah’ bring him unto his people: let his hands be sufficient for him; and be an help [ezer] against his foes.”(Deuteronomy 33:7).

Maurine 

“Or what of this,  “Happy art thou, O Israel: who is like unto thee, O people saved by the Lord, the shield of thy help [ezer].”(Deuteronomy 33:29). Or in another translation, “He is your shield and helper [ezer] and your glorious sword.”  

“Then there are these beautiful Psalms where the Lord is a strength when needed.  “Make haste unto me, O God:  thou art my help [ezer] and my deliverer”(Psalm 70:5). “O Israel, trust thou in the Lord:  he is their help [ezer] and shield.”(Psalm 115:9) 

“The Lord is humanity’s help in this song of ascent, as the singer looks to the temple: “I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills from whence cometh my help [ezer]. My help [ezer] cometh from the Lord, which made heaven and earth”(Psalm 121:1,2).

“The Lord as an ezer preserves life and preserves the soul in this Psalm.

Scot

“We also see a significant moment in the Old Testament when the Children of Israel come to battle against the Philistines, where they are badly outnumbered and apparently doomed to defeat and even destruction if the Lord did not intervene. They had twice been defeated by the Philistines at this same location. 

“The prophet Samuel pleads for the Lord’s help, He miraculously intervenes, and the Children of Israel are victorious. To remember that it was the Lord who helped them, they raised a monument on the field. It was called the Eben-ezer, which means “Stone of Help” thus branding it in their memories forever. “Hitherto has the Lord helped us” (1 Samuel 7:12).

“When we sing “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing” and repeat the line, “Here I raise my Eben-ezer, by that great help I’ve come,“ this is the moment we are remembering. God came as an ezer to save them.

Maurine

“In the Bible, the Hebrew words that are used in particular places are designed to resonate with one another, one reminding us of the other places where the word is used again. Thus the ezer or help connection is not casual or offhand, especially when it is used to describe only two in a positive light—Eve and God. Protector. Rescuer. Strength. Power.

“The Parrys note, ‘All sixteen scriptural passages that establish that the Lord is a help are connected implicitly or explicitly, to God’s sustaining the life of his human creations. He is a help because he protects his creative works from mortal destruction, death and the grave. He preserves them during periods of trouble and keeps them alive during famines. He crushes their foes and strikes down their adversaries. He increases them and their children. Unlike mortals “in whom there is no help” (Ps. 146:3), the Lord is a help who preserves needy mortals, the bowed-down old man, the stranger, the widow, and the fatherless. The Lord is a help who ransoms his mortals from the power of the grave and redeems them from death.;” (Maurine Proctor, “What I Want My Daughters to Know about Eve”).

Scot

That’s all for today. This has been Meridian Magazine’s Come Follow Me podcast. Next week we will study Genesis 3,4 and Moses 4,5 on the Fall of Adam and Eve. Thanks to Paul Cardall for the music that accompanied today’s podcast and to Michaela Proctor Hutchins our producer. See you next week.