Abraham 4 There are four accounts of the Creation: Genesis 1-2 uses the word days Moses 2-3 uses the word days Abraham 4-5 uses the word time Temple Endowment Each account contains a portion of the story, varying in some ways from the other accounts.

Abraham 4:1 “They, that is the Gods” Elder Bruce R. McConkie explained: “In the ultimate and final sense of the word, the Father is the creator of all things. He is the source of all creative power, and He simply chooses others to act for him in many of his creative enterprises.” (A New Witness for the Articles of Faith, 63).

Abraham 4:1 The Earth Was Formed from Existing Matter. The belief of traditional Christianity is that God created all things ex nihilo, which means “out of nothing.” The Prophet Joseph Smith taught that “there is no such thing as immaterial matter” (Doctrine & Covenants 131:7), and the Lord said that “the elements are eternal” (Doctrine & Covenants 93:33).

The word create, as found in the Genesis account of the Creation, is from the Hebrew word that means “to organize” (Genesis 1:1). Joseph Smith likened the creative activity to the building of a ship (Teachings, 350-51). Just as a shipbuilder needs materials to create the ship, the Creator made the heavens and the earth out of existing materials.

“The Earth, after it was formed, was empty and desolate.” Abraham 4:2 “The Earth, after it was formed, was empty and desolate.” The Prophet Joseph Smith indicated that the translation “without form, and void,” as found in Genesis 1:2 and Moses 2:2, should read “empty and desolate,” as it does in Abraham 4:2 (Teachings, 181).

“The Spirit of the Gods Was Brooding” Abraham 4:2 “The Spirit of the Gods Was Brooding” “Brooding” is what a hen does with her eggs and chicks; she broods over them, meaning she protects, warms, nurtures, and defends them. Jesus used this analogy of a hen gathering her chicks in His description of what he will do for His followers (Matthew 23:37; 3 Nephi 10:3-6). In this sense, the Spirit is still brooding over the creations of God.

Abraham 4:5 Night and Day One of the interesting differences between the Abraham account of the Creation and the other scriptural accounts is the idea found in Abraham 4:5: “From the evening until the morning they called night; and from the morning until the evening they called day.” The other accounts simply refer to each creative period as a day. Additionally, the creative periods in Abraham 4 are called “times,” not days.

Abraham 4:12 “After His Kind” Compared with the book of Moses, the book of Abraham seems to more forcefully state the idea that all beings could only reproduce after their own kind. Speaking of the Creation, Elder Bruce R. McConkie taught: “There was no provision for evolvement or change from one species to another” (Christ and the Creation,” Ensign, June 1982, 12).