Stewardship and prosperity

Joseph in Egypt is probably my favorite story in the Old Testament. Reading it again I started pondering the responsibility he gets and what he does with it. When he is sold to Potiphar, he is set over his whole household and "the Lord made all that he did to prosper in his hands" (Genesis 39:3). After he was put into prison, the same thing happened again. The chief jailer committed everything in Joseph's hands and "whatever he did, the Lord made it to prosper" (Genesis 39:23). 

There is a play on his name, just like we see ever so often in the Old Testament. Joseph means to add or increase. Whatever is committed into Joseph's hands increases and prospers. It happens again when he interprets Pharao's dream. 

And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, See, I have set thee over all the land of Egypt. (Genesis 41:41)

Joseph, as usual, is a good steward who uses his responsibility and position to save Egypt from famine as well as neighboring lands, including his own family. He does that by laying up and keeping (Hebr. shamar, see Genesis 41:35) food during the prosperous years.

Lord Wilmore has written about shamar, meaning to keep, watch or preserve. Adam and Eve were commanded to "shamar" the Garden of Eden. They were given a responsibility like Joseph. This is also the word used in Hebrew when talking about keeping the commandments. It is an unusual yet intriguing idea to view our relationship with the commandments as a form of stewardship similar to that of Joseph or Adam and Eve.

The Nephites are often reminded that they are a remnant of Joseph. Their forefather is an example to look up to and his story of prosperity despite being an outcast is very relevant for the outcasts from Jerusalem who were commanded to keep God's commandment with the attached blessing that they would prosper in the land if they did so. Joseph's example of stewardship and prosperity is certainly one with both temporal and spiritual applications.

42 And the Lord said, “Who then is the faithful and wise manager, whom his master will set over his household, to give them their portion of food at the proper time?

43 Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes.

44 Truly, I say to you, he will set him over all his possessions. (Luke 12)

Sounds like Joseph. In fact, "give them their portion" uses the same verb as in the Greek Septuagint in Genesis 47:12 when Joseph "nourished his father, his brethren, and all his father's household with bread".

There are surprisingly many scriptures on this topic in the Doctrine and Covenants. Here are a few, some of them with allusions to Luke 12:

3 I, the Lord, have appointed them, and ordained them to be stewards over the revelations and commandments which I have given unto them, and which I shall hereafter give unto them;
4 And an account of this stewardship will I require of them in the day of judgment. (D&C 70)

And verily in this thing ye have done wisely, for it is required of the Lord, at the hand of every steward, to render an account of his stewardship, both in time and in eternity. (D&C 72:3)

21 For ye are the church of the Firstborn, and he will take you up in a cloud, and appoint every man his portion.
22 And he that is a faithful and wise steward shall inherit all things. Amen. (D&C 78)

And whoso is found a faithful, a just, and a wise steward shall enter into the joy of his Lord, and shall inherit eternal life. (D&C 51:19)

Adam and Eve in the scriptures, part 2

In the last post, I focused on the number of times Adam and Eve are mentioned in each book of scripture.  I learned a few surprising things from that part of the study.  The next step was to take a qualitative look at each reference and compare how doctrine in connected to Adam and Eve.  In this regard, the Book of Mormon really stands out. First we'll look at references to Adam and Eve in each of the other books. This part will include the Bible and the Doctrine & Covenants and part three will include the Book of Abraham, Book of Moses, and Book of Mormon. I'll highlight the references which connect to doctrine, light yellow if it touches a little on core gospel doctrine, and a deeper yellow if it connects deeply with core doctrine.

The Old Testament

As discussed in part 1, 18 of the 21 references to Adam and Eve in the entire Old Testament happen in Genesis 1-5.  These occur as part of the narrative account -- there is no real discussion of doctrine, just a telling of the events that transpired.

The rest of the OT only contains 3 other references to Adam the person (there is one reference to a city called Adam in Joshua 3 which I excluded from this study):

1. Deuteronomy 32:8 -- "When the most High divided to the nations their inheritance, when he separated the sons of Adam, he set the bounds of the people according to the number of the children of Israel." (This is an oblique reference to Adam as the father of the human family.)
2. 1 Chronicles 1:1 -- "Adam, Sheth, Enosh," (This is the beginning of a genealogy.)
3. Job 31:33 -- "If I covered my transgressions as Adam, by hiding mine iniquity in my bosom:" (This is a reference to an event in the Garden of Eden.)

That's it for the entire Old Testament.  I don't see much, if any, deeper doctrine connected with these references.

New Testament

The New Testament contains a few references to Adam and Eve and includes some doctrine:

1. Luke 3:38 -- "Which was the son of Enos, which was the son of Seth, which was the son of Adam, which was the son of God." (Part of a genealogy.)
2. Romans 5:14 -- "Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam’s transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come." (These two mentions of Adam come in a doctrinal discussion about sin and death.)
3. 1 Corinthians 15:22 -- "For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive." (This is a well-known verse in a doctrinal treatise on sin and atonement.)
4. 1 Timothy 2:13-14 -- "For Adam was first formed, then Eve. And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression." (This set of references includes references to events in the Garden as well as some doctrinal discussion about the roles of men and women.)
5. Jude 1:14 -- "And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints," (This reference to Adam is only in passing.)

Doctrine & Covenants

For the sake of post length, I'm going to summarize the 31 references found in the Doctrine & Covenants a little more generally:

• Section 27: Connects Adam/Michael/Ancient of days.
• Section 29: "all things unto me are spiritual" / Satan rebelled before Adam and sought God's honor / Adam became subject to the will of the devil by partaking of the fruit / God gave Adam the gospel of repentance
• Section 78: Adam-ondi-Ahman
• Section 84: Abel received the priesthood "by the hand of his father Adam"
• Section 107: The history of the order of the priesthood / a description of the great priesthood meeting held prior to Adam's death
• Section 116: Identifying Adam-ondi-Ahman
• Section 117: Adam-ondi-Ahman
• Section 128: Keys of the priesthood
• Section 136: A promise that we shall behold God's glory if we are faithful in keeping all His words.
• Section 137: A vision of Adam in the celestial kingdom
• Section 138: Adam and Eve standing in the "vast congregation of the righteous" in the post-mortal spirit world

Conclusion

We're building to something here.  Notice how the Old Testament is essentially devoid of deeper doctrine connected to Adam and Eve.  The New Testament fares a little better. The Doctrine and Covenants does quite well in this regard.  In the next post, we'll see how the last three Books included in this investigation compare.