2006
In the Beginning …
January 2006


“In the Beginning … ,” Ensign, Jan. 2006, 40–43

Old Testament

In the Beginning …

“And God said, let there be light: and there was light” (Gen. 1:3).

Thus begin the writings of Moses in the Old Testament. Latter-day Saints also find selections from Moses’s writings in the Pearl of Great Price, where there is often more detail than in the Genesis account.

Following are visual interpretations of the well-known Bible stories of the Creation, Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel, Enoch, Noah and the Flood, and the Tower of Babel.

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Division of the Firmament and Water

Division of the Firmament and Water, by Stanley Galli. “And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters. And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so. And God called the firmament Heaven” (Gen. 1:6–8; compare Moses 2:6–8).

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The Garden of Eden

The Garden of Eden, by Stanley Galli. “And the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed. And out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil. And a river went out of Eden to water the garden” (Gen. 2:8–10; compare Moses 3:8–10).

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Leaving the Garden of Eden

Leaving the Garden of Eden, by Joseph Brickey. “And the Lord God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever: Therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, … and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword” (Gen. 3:22–24; compare Moses 4:28–31).

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The Lord Fulfilleth All His Words

The Lord Fulfilleth All His Words, by Clark Kelley Price. “And the Lord said unto Noah … I will cause it to rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights; and every living substance that I have made will I destroy from off the face of the earth. And Noah did according unto all that the Lord commanded. … There went in two and two unto Noah into the ark, the male and female” (Gen. 7:1, 4–5, 9; compare Moses 8:16–30).

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City of Zion Translated

City of Zion Translated, by Del Parson. “And the Lord called [Enoch’s] people Zion, because they were of one heart and one mind, and dwelt in righteousness; … And it came to pass in [Enoch’s] days, that he built a city that was called the City of Holiness, even Zion. … And it came to pass that the Lord showed unto Enoch all the inhabitants of the earth; and he beheld, and lo, Zion, in process of time, was taken up into heaven” (Moses 7:18–19, 21; compare Heb. 11:5 and Gen. 5:24).

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Building the Tower of Babel

Building the Tower of Babel, by Pieter Brueghel, the Elder. Courtesy of Sotheby’s, may not be copied. “And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded. … So the Lord scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city” (Gen. 11:5, 8).

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Cain and Abel

Cain and Abel, by Robert T. Barrett. “And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him” (Gen. 4:8; compare Moses 5:16–33).