The 8th day of creation?

Disclaimer: This post contains speculation as I think about some deep scriptural ideas. I'm merely fleshing out thoughts, not taking a definitive position about what I believe.

We all have a pretty good understanding of the six days of creation as recorded in Genesis 2 and Moses 2, followed by a day of rest.  The imagery is beautiful and the words are becoming increasingly familiar to me as I study them in multiple translations. I also look at the original Hebrew, too, and have posted many times about insights that come from that effort.

This post explores a question that came to me recently as I pondered the concept of tilling. Stisa and I have both posted about how often a covenant people are said to have tilled the land. (Here's a recent example from Stisa and here's an old example written by me.) As I pondered all of these examples, I thought about how it is said in Genesis that God "planted" a garden:

8 ¶ And the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed. (Genesis 2)

That led me to ask this question: When did God plant the garden? From Genesis 2:8, it seems clear the Garden was planted after the man was formed (though I'm the first to admit that thinking about these deeply symbolic stories with a linear timeline in mind is problematic), but it couldn't have been on the seventh day because we know He rested on that day (see Genesis 2:3). It's probably not technically sound to interpret these verses in this way. With that caveat in mind, I'll proceed.

I really like the symbolism of the 8th day of creation. This day of creation continues in some ways.  It is the "today" referred to by Christ:

23 Behold, now it is called today until the coming of the Son of Man, and verily it is a day of sacrifice, and a day for the tithing of my people; for he that is tithed shall not be burned at his coming.

24 For after today cometh the burning—this is speaking after the manner of the Lord—for verily I say, tomorrow all the proud and they that do wickedly shall be as stubble; and I will burn them up, for I am the Lord of Hosts; and I will not spare any that remain in Babylon.

25 Wherefore, if ye believe me, ye will labor while it is called today. (Doctrine & Covenants 64)

And by Jacob:

5 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, I beseech of you in words of soberness that ye would repent, and come with full purpose of heart, and cleave unto God as he cleaveth unto you. And while his arm of mercy is extended towards you in the light of the day, harden not your hearts.

6 Yea, today, if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts; for why will ye die?

7 For behold, after ye have been nourished by the good word of God all the day long, will ye bring forth evil fruit, that ye must be hewn down and cast into the fire?

8 Behold, will ye reject these words? Will ye reject the words of the prophets; and will ye reject all the words which have been spoken concerning Christ, after so many have spoken concerning him; and deny the good word of Christ, and the power of God, and the gift of the Holy Ghost, and quench the Holy Spirit, and make a mock of the great plan of redemption, which hath been laid for you? (Jacob 6)

"Planting" is a possible common link between these two passages and the Garden of Eden narrative. In Jacob 6, Jacob is explaining the extending allegory, which is rife with "planting" imagery. In Jacob 6:7, Jacob makes it clear that the covenant people are the plants He intends to "nourish" and "bring forth fruit."   In Doctrine & Covenants 64, by contrast, those who believe are commanded to "labor," similar to God's commandment in Genesis 2:15. 

I like this concept -- that the work of God's glory continues on the 8th day. This is the covenant process taking place on the earth -- in which those people in the fallen world who will hearken to the words of God's messengers voluntarily embark on the covenant path and remove the curse from the earth, converting barren wasteland back into the Garden of Eden.

A major theme from the Book of Mormon summarized in D&C 29:42-44

I enjoy finding succinct summaries of major themes of the Book of Mormon in other books of scripture, especially the Doctrine & Covenants. Here is one example:

42 But, behold, I say unto you that I, the Lord God, gave unto Adam and unto his seed, that they should not die as to the temporal death, until I, the Lord God, should send forth angels to declare unto them repentance and redemption, through faith on the name of mine Only Begotten Son.

43 And thus did I, the Lord God, appoint unto man the days of his probation—that by his natural death he might be raised in immortality unto eternal life, even as many as would believe;

44 And they that believe not unto eternal damnation; for they cannot be redeemed from their spiritual fall, because they repent not; (D&C 29)

Angels declaring repentance show up all over the Book of Mormon, actually from its very first chapter to its very last. In some cases, the angels are heavenly messengers, which is how we commonly think of angels.  But the word simply means 'messenger' and the Book of Mormon shows us over and over again how humans can hearken to the word and become angels delivering the message of repentance. 

Deep doctrine taught plainly

The verses from D&C 29 above teach a very deep point of doctrine: The fall of Adam brought us into mortality and made inevitable a future day of judgment.  We are also taught that angels will be sent forth declaring repentance prior to that day of judgment. Everything that we experience between now and our day of judgment can/should be thought of as "today" --

23 Behold, now it is called today until the coming of the Son of Man, and verily it is a day of sacrifice, and a day for the tithing of my people; for he that is tithed shall not be burned at his coming.

24 For after today cometh the burning—this is speaking after the manner of the Lord—for verily I say, tomorrow all the proud and they that do wickedly shall be as stubble; and I will burn them up, for I am the Lord of Hosts; and I will not spare any that remain in Babylon.

25 Wherefore, if ye believe me, ye will labor while it is called today. (D&C 64)

Deeper doctrine taught a little less plainly 

Years of thinking and studying about the role angels play in mortality have led me to understand that it is God's intention to turn each of us into a ministering angel.  Participation in the everlasting covenant requires this. Many scriptures teach this point, but do so a little more subtly, as in verse 25 of section 64 above. I've posted many times about this (see here).  See also D&C 88:77-81.

The "labor" which is to be performed is mediated by God's word and God's messengers, also known as "Cherubims and a flaming sword" (see Genesis 3:24). In D&C 88:74-75 the work is defined in detail:

"[God's] work" defined:
"I give unto you ... a commandment that you:

• assemble yourselves together, and 
• organize yourselves, and 
• prepare yourselves, and 
• sanctify yourselves; yea, 
• purify your hearts, and 
• cleanse your hands and your feet before me, 

that I may:

• make you clean; ...
• testify unto your Father, and your God, and my God, that you are clean from the blood of this wicked generation; ...
• fulfil this promise, this great and last promise, which I have made unto you, when I will.

The cleansing of the hands and feet makes reference to joining in the work. Thus, it seems that an important component of the process of sanctification is our willingness to simultaneously enter into God's rest and labor in the vineyard. I love the symmetry there.  It seems Mormon did, too.  Notice this subtle description of Alma-2 near the end of his time among the Nephites:

1 And now it came to pass that the sons of Alma did go forth among the people, to declare the word unto them. And Alma, also, himself, could not rest, and he also went forth.
2 Now we shall say no more concerning their preaching, except that they preached the word, and the truth, according to the spirit of prophecy and revelation; and they preached after the holy order of God by which they were called. (Alma 43)

I love it.  Alma taught about the word, the "holy order of God" and entering into God's rest in his sermon found in Alma 12-13. This note from Mormon ties all of those concepts together and relates them to his specific actions. Having long since entered into God's rest, Alma, though he was old, could not watch his sons go off to preach the word among the people without joining them.