posted
in Moses 5:6 it states 'and after many days an Angel of the Lord appeared....... referring to the time the angel appeared and asked Adam why he was offering sacrifices unto the Lord.
how many days is 'many days', in our adult institute class we are currently study POGP and last night the teacher suggested that when Adam and Eve called upon the name of the Lord (Moses 5:4) it was decades after leaving the garden of Eden, my question isn't how many days after they started praying did an Angel appear, but how many days after leaving the garden of Eden did they 'build an altar and offer prayer'. The idea that it was decades later doesn't feel right to me, so I would welcome any ideas, along with any references anyone has.
posted
I think that at the point they were cast out of the garden, they were likely in an exceptionally obedient mood.
I find it very likely that they built the altar and offered prayer and sacrifice as soon as they possibly could. The idea that they didn't build the altar for decades just doesn't seem right to me, given Adam and Eve's general righteousness.
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posted
I always pictured them offering prayer and sacrifice quite soon after leaving the garden, and after they'd been doing it for "many days", the angel appeared. I could accept that they offered prayer and sacrifice for decades before the angel appeared to them.
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posted
My view matches Janey's. The many decades idea might arise from the passages in Moses 5, in that several things are described as happening "in that day" when the angel came and explained what they had been doing based on obedience: (1) receipt of the Holy Ghost, (2) Adam and Eve Prophesy, and (3) Adam and Eve made all things known to their sons and their daughters.
The phrasing regarding their making things known to their offspring is ambiguous. They could teach it to children as they grow up, or they could excitedly tell their already existing children about the event.
It's my opinion that the scenario as a whole supports the latter interpretation, because it tells of Satan making a direct argument against Mom and Dad's news, and as a result Adam and Eve start over on child rearing under new knowledge with Cain and Abel.
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posted
It seems to me that it wouldn't make much sense for God to wait a terribly long time before explaining why they should offer sacrifices.
Doing things without knowing why you're doing them (for instance, the first class I ever took in linear algebra) isn't ultimately very instructive. Having to teach somebody else to do things when you, yourself, don't know why they're done that way is even worse.
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"The space of many days" is an interesting phrase. In the example you gave, I have it cross-referenced in my scriptures with 1st Neph 18:23
quote: And it came to pass that after we had sailed for the space of many days we did arrive at the promised land; and we went forth upon the land, and did pitch our tents; and we did call it the promised land.
We know it took the Jaredites about a year to make the same journey, so, it could be the space of about a year. However, I also ran across this quote once when we were having a discussion about time in the scriptures. It is in reference to the family of Lehi camping on the shore "for the space of many days" until they departed for the promised land:
quote: Collected Works of Hugh Nibley, Vol.6, Part.7, Ch.18, p.228 - p.229 The number of days spent camping at any one place varies (as in the Book of Mormon) with circumstances. "From ten to twelve days is the average time a Bedouin encampment of ordinary size will remain on the same ground," according to Jennings-Bramley, who, however, observes, "I have known them to stay in one spot for as long as five or six months." The usual thing is to camp as long as possible in one place until "it is soiled by the beasts, and the multiplication of fleas becomes intolerable, and the surroundings afford no more pastureage, [then] the tents are pulled down and the men decamp." "On the Syrian and Arabic plain," according to Burckhardt, "the Bedouins encamp in summer . . . near wells, where they remain often for a whole month." Lehi's time schedule thus seems to be a fairly normal one, and the eight years he took to cross Arabia argue neither very fast nor very slow progress--the Bani Hilal took twenty-seven years to go a not much greater distance. After reaching the seashore, Lehi's people simply camped there "for the space of many days," until a revelation again put them in motion.
"The space of many days" is used several times in Nephi to describe how long they camped in one spot. So in this case, "the space of many days" could have been a few months.
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I also like that explanation of the space of many days.
I also agree with what Janey says, as that makes a sense that is plausible.
quote: The many decades idea might arise from the passages in Moses 5, in that several things are described as happening "in that day" when the angel came and explained what they had been doing based on obedience: (1) receipt of the Holy Ghost, (2) Adam and Eve Prophesy, and (3) Adam and Eve made all things known to their sons and their daughters.
This is indeed where our teacher got the idea, based on v3 where they made all things known to their sons and daughters. the concenpt taught was that they had left the garden, had many children and grandchildren, then at some point decided it would be a good thing to pray to God. If this is so, what would have stirred them to do so?
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posted
I believe they built the alter right after they left the garden, prayed and offered sacrifices as required, and taught their children and grand children what they knew. Then the angel, probably Jehovah, came and revealed more, maybe all of the gospel, which the grown children rejected, with the help of Satan, who said, "I am also a son of God, believe it not". And they believed it not, and became carnal, sensual, and devilish. Moses 5:13
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