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Eden, the First Home, June 1
The Lord God ... made ... a woman, and brought her unto the man....
Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto
his wife: and they shall be one flesh.
Genesis 2:22-24
.
God celebrated the first marriage. Thus the institution has for its originator the
Creator of the universe. “Marriage is honourable” (
Hebrews 13:4
); it was one of
the first gifts of God to man, and it is one of the two institutions that, after the Fall,
Adam brought with him beyond the gates of Paradise. When the divine principles
are recognized and obeyed in this relation, marriage is a blessing; it guards the
purity and happiness of the race, it provides for man’s social needs, it elevates the
physical, the intellectual, and the moral nature....
The home of our first parents was to be a pattern for other homes as their
children should go forth to occupy the earth. That home, beautified by the hand
of God Himself, was not a gorgeous palace.... God placed Adam in a garden.
This was his dwelling.... In the surroundings of the holy pair was a lesson for
all time—that true happiness is found, not in the indulgence of pride and luxury,
but in communion with God through His created works. If men would give less
attention to the artificial, and would cultivate greater simplicity, they would come
far nearer to answering the purpose of God in their creation. Pride and ambition
are never satisfied, but those who are truly wise will find substantial and elevating
pleasure in the sources of enjoyment that God has placed within the reach of all.
To the dwellers in Eden was committed the care of the garden, “to dress it and
to keep it.” Their occupation was not wearisome, but pleasant and invigorating.
God appointed labor as a blessing to man, to occupy his mind, to strengthen his
body, and to develop his faculties. In mental and physical activity Adam found
one of the highest pleasures of his holy existence.... The holy pair were not only
children under the fatherly care of God but students receiving instruction from the
all-wise Creator.... The order and harmony of creation spoke to them of infinite
wisdom and power. They were ever discovering some attraction that filled their
hearts with deeper love and called forth fresh expressions of gratitude.
So long as they remained loyal to the divine law, their capacity to know, to
enjoy, and to love would continually increase. They would be constantly gaining
new treasures of knowledge, discovering fresh springs of happiness, and obtaining
clearer and yet clearer conceptions of the immeasurable, unfailing love of God.—
Patriarchs and Prophets, 46-51
.
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