Under the Curse

Under the Curse All Creation Groans

By James E. Talmage, of the Council of the Twelve

The Lord God spake unto Adam the transgressor, saying: "Cursed is the ground for thy sake * * * Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee. * * * In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread" (Gen. 3:17-19.) This seemingly dire pronouncement would be enigma or fiction did it not mean that a great change was thereby directly brought upon the earth and its inhabitants. A Divine command- ment had been broken, and the penalty was inevitable. Since the time of its infliction, man has had to struggle against untoward conditions; and, whereas prior to the Fall, Eden had yielded abundantly of all that was good for beast and man, transgression brought about a fallen state of both animate and inanimate nature. The Scriptures reveal a significant analogy between the — earth as a stellar unit, and man both with respect to the present and future state of each. Both have come under the curse, and both shall eventually be redeemed therefrom. In the course of a revelation from God to Enoch, the earth is personfied, and her groans and lamentations over the wicked- ness of men were heard by the prophet: "And it came to pass that Enoch looked upon the earth; and he heard a voice from the bowels thereof, saying: Wo, wo is me, the mother of men; I am pained, I am weary, because of the wickedness of my chil- dren. When shall I rest, and be cleansed from the filthiness which is gone forth out of me? When will my Creator sanctify me, that I may rest, and righteousness for a season abide upon my face?" Following further revelation as to the then future course of mankind in sin and in the rejection of the Messiah who was to be sent, Enoch wept with anguish and asked of God: "When shall the earth rest?" It was then shown unto him that the resurrected Christ shall return to earth in the last days and establish a millennial reign of peace: "And the Lord said unto Enoch: As I live, even so will I come in the last days, in the days of wicked- ness and vengeance. * * * And the day shall come that the earth shall rest; but before that day the heavens shall be darkened, and a veil of darkness shall cover the earth; and the heavens shall shake, and also the earth; and great tribulations shall be among the children of men." (Pearl of Great Price, pp. 42 and 44.)

UNDER THE CURSE 827

That the earth itself fell under the curse incident to the Fall, and that even as man shall be redeemed so shall the earth be regenerated, is implied in Paul's words: "For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together un- til now. And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the first-fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within our- selves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body." (Rom. 8:22,23.) The earth has to undergo a change analogous to death and to be regenerated in a manner comparable to a resurrection. References to the elements melting with heat, and to the earth being consumed and passing away, such as occur in many Scriptures, are suggestive of death; and the new earth, really the renewed or regenerated planet, may be compared to a resur- rected organism. The change has been likened unto a trans- figuration. (Doctrine and Covenants 63:20-21.) Every created thing has been made for a purpose; and everything that fills the measure of its creation is to be ad- vanced in the scale of progression, be it an atom or a world, an animalcule, or man. In speaking of the degrees of glory provided for his crea- tions, and of the law of regeneration and sanctification, the Lord, in a revelation through the Prophet Joseph Smith, tells plainly of the approaching death and subsequent quickening of the earth. These are his words: "And again, verily I say unto you, the earth abideth the law of a celestial kingdom, for it filleth the measure of its creation, and transgresseth not the law. Wherefore it shall be sanctified; yea, notwithstanding it shall die, it shall be quickened again, and shall abide the power by which it is quickened, and the righteous shall inherit it." (Doc- trine and Covenants 88:25-26.) Because some orbs have been disrupted and, as worlds, destroyed, and so hath the Lord averred (see Pearl of Great Price, pp. 6 and 7) we are without warrant for assuming that this shall be the fate of all the heavenly bodies. Astronomers admit that there may be many invisible worlds in space, of structure too fine and of matter too tenuous to be observed by our dull vision. These may be celestialized orbs, tenanted by celestial beings, perceptible only to celestialized senses. Following the millennial rest for the earth and peace for its inhabitants, and the intermediate period depicted in Scrip- ture (see Rev. 20:7-15), the sanctification of the earth shall be effected, as the prophets have spoken: "And there shall be a new heaven and a new earth; and they shall be like unto the old, save the old have passed away, and all things have become new" (Book of Mormon, Ether 13:9; see also Rev. 21.)