God had commanded Adam and Eve to eat of all the fruits of
the tree except for the forbidden fruit.
Having been tempted by Satan, they partook of the forbidden fruit,
violating God’s command.
Because they violated God’s command, Adam and Eve were
driven out of the Garden of Eden and force to live in the world in a fallen
state. The Lord told them,”[C]ursed is
the ground for thy sake; in sorrow [HEB travail, pain] shalt thou eat of it all
the days of thy life; Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee;
and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; In the sweat of thy face shalt thou
eat bread, till thou return unto the ground” (Genesis 3:17 - 19).
When Alma2 confronted Zeezrom, he told him, “Wherefore,
[the Lord] gave commandments unto men, they having first transgressed the first
commandments as to things which were temporal, and becoming as Gods, knowing
good from evil, placing themselves in a state to act, or being placed in a
state to act according to their wills and pleasures, whether to do evil or to
do good—“ (Alma 12:31).
“The fall of Adam resulted in the conditions of
mortality. Lehi further stated: ‘After Adam and Eve had partaken of the
forbidden fruit they were driven out of the Garden of Eden, to till the earth’
(2 Nephi 2:19). The fall also resulted in the conditions of mortality that
predispose a person to sin, that is, to being a fallen, ‘natural man,’ since ‘the
natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be
forever unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit’ (Mosiah 3:19; cf.
Mosiah 16:3).”[1]
As long as Adam and Eve remained in the Garden, they could
not have children. It would remain just
the two of them. Lehi tells us that,
after the fall, they had children and this became the “family of all the earth”
(2 Nephi 2:20). The Lord told Moses, “And
worlds without number have I created; and I also created them for mine own
purpose; and by the Son I created them, which is mine Only Begotten. And the
first man of all men have I called Adam, which is many” (Moses 1:33 - 34).
Paul, writing to the Corinthians, explained:
“And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living
soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit [GR causes to become alive].
“Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that
which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual.
“The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is
the Lord from heaven.
“As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and
as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly” (1 Corinthians 15:45-48).
“All are descendants of Adam and Eve. Again, Lehi
stated: ‘And they have brought forth children; yea, even the family of all the
earth’ (2 Nephi 2:20). This is like the traditional Christian teaching
concerning monogenism (a doctrine or belief in descent from a single individual
or pair), but without the accompanying misconception of inherited sinfulness.”[2]
The Lord prolonged the length of our probation on
Earth. The reason is that we need this
time to repent and prepare to meet the Lord.
If we did not have this time, we would be lost because of Adam and Eve’s
transgression.
Confronting Zeezrom, Alma2 told him, “And we see
that death comes upon mankind, yea, the death which has been spoken of by
Amulek, which is the temporal death; nevertheless there was a space granted
unto man in which he might repent; therefore this life became a probationary state;
a time to prepare to meet God; a time to prepare for that endless state which
has been spoken of by us, which is after the resurrection of the dead” (Alma
12:24).
Teaching the poor among the Zoramites, Amulek would explain
the purpose of this life. “For behold,
this life is the time for men to prepare to meet God; yea, behold the day of
this life is the day for men to perform their labors” (Alma 34:32).
Referring to his blessing from his father, Jacob would teach
the Nephites, “And this is not all—it has been made manifest unto me, for I
have heard and seen; and it also has been made manifest unto me by the power of
the Holy Ghost; wherefore, I know if there should be no atonement made all
mankind must be lost” (Jacob 7:12)
John Tvedtnes clarifies:
“The plan of God, therefore, was for Adam and Eve to become
mortal or imperfect, in order that they and their offspring might gain
experience unavailable to them in their perfect condition. But there was a
problem to be overcome. Since the penalty for dis obedience is death, it was
necessary to forestall the judgment in order to give mankind the opportunity to
repent. In the eternal plan, this meant (1) providing a savior whose death
would satisfy the demands of justice, and (2) establishing a probationary
period during which Adam's family could be tested and learn obedience to the
plan of mercy.”[3]
Bruce Pritchett writes:
“Lehi saw Adam's fall as a transition from immortality to
mortality, from an immortal realm to a mortal one. This topic, in particular,
recurs in Old Testament literature. While Lehi believed that through the fall
humanity was universally lost (2 Nephi 2:21, 26), his words show that he
understood this in the sense that all humans had sinned (universal sinfulness)
rather than in the sense that humans were wholly depraved (original sin). He
also believed that the fall had its fortunate side: ‘Adam fell that men might
be; and men are, that they might have joy’ (2 Nephi 2:25). The particularly
fortunate consequences Lehi noted were posterity (2 Nephi 2:23) and freedom
forever to choose liberty and life through the great mediator (2 Nephi 2:27).”[4]
Hugh Nibley writes about the reason for our probation.
“The Doctrine of Probation. According to the Plan of Life
and Salvation, fixed and determined before the foundation of the world, the
earth was made to be a place of testing, men being free while here to choose
the way of light or the way of darkness. The Book of Mormon has a great deal to
say about this. Our earth life is the ‘days of probation" (1 Nephi
15:31—32; 10:21), "and the days of the children of men were prolonged,
according to the will of God. . . ; wherefore, their state became a state of
probation, and their time was lengthened’ (2 Nephi 2:21).”[5]
[1] Adam's Fall in the Book of Mormon, Second
Temple Judaism, and Early Christianity, Stephen D. Ricks, Provo,
Utah: Maxwell Institute
[3] The Influence of Lehi's Admonitions on the
Teachings of His Son Jacob, John A. Tvedtnes, Provo, Utah:
Maxwell Institute
[4] Lehi's Theology of the Fall in Its
Preexilic/Exilic Context, Bruce M. Pritchett Jr., Provo, Utah:
Maxwell Institute
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