Until about the mid-1980's in the Salt Lake City LDS Visitor's Center at Temple Square, there was a statue of Adam and Eve offering up a sacrifice upon an altar. I remember often seeing this statue when visiting Temple Square during those years. However, the significance never hit me during those years of the message that actually was being communicated by the type of sacrifice portrayed . Below is a photograph of this statue:
In the statue, Adam and Eve are portrayed kneeling across the a sacrificial stone altar from each other. Placed upon the altar is a sacrifice of grains, fruits and vegetables, or in other words, the "fruit of the ground." Lying so peacefully at their side during this sacrifice, seemingly without any worry, is a young lamb.
The Law of Sacrifice was given to Adam and Eve and their posterity. For Adam and Eve and all their descendants up until the completion of the Atoning Sacrifice of Christ, the sacrifice commanded by God was to be the blood sacrifice of an animal. This Law of Sacrifice was to be a type and representation of the blood atonement of our Savior Jesus Christ--that is, the shedding of the blood of a spotless and perfect man without sin, to pay for the sins of humanity who would repent and return to God. Observe the following commandments given to Adam and Eve by the Lord after they were cast out of the Garden of Eden:
- 5 And he [God] gave unto them commandments, that they should worship the Lord their God, and should offer the firstlings of their flocks, for an offering unto the Lord. And Adam was obedient unto the commandments of the Lord.
- 6 And after many days an angel of the Lord appeared unto Adam, saying: Why dost thou offer sacrifices unto the Lord? And Adam said unto him: I know not, save the Lord commanded me.
- 7 And then the angel spake, saying: This thing is a similitude of the sacrifice of the Only Begotten of the Father, which is full of grace and truth. (Moses 5:5-7)
It is clear that this commandment from the Lord was to offer up "the firstlings of the flocks" as a sacrifice unto him in representation and remembrance of the Atoning Sacrifice of Christ, and not the "fruit of the ground." Similar commandments from the Lord in the Bible also command the people of those times to offer up the same sacrifice of "the firstlings of the flocks."
One of the most evil and wicked men in scriptural history after his entry into sin is the man Cain. While we can read much of Cain's wickedness in the Pearl of Great Price, it is clear from both the Bible and the Book of Moses that one of Cain's first sins was that of offering up an unacceptable sacrifice unto the Lord--he deliberately changed the sacrificial ordinance that was commanded by the Lord:
- 3 And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the LORD.
- 4 And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering:
- 5 But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell. (Genesis 4:3-5)
We see in this passage that the Lord had not respect unto Cain and his offering which was an offering of the "fruit of the ground," just as is depicted in the LDS Visitor's Center statue of Adam and Eve performing sacrifice. This statue in the LDS Visitors Center on Temple Square was eulogizing the wicked sacrifice of the evil man Cain.
We declare that the LDS portrayal of this unauthorized sacrifice of the "fruit of the ground" to be a blasphemy, and a false representation of a true ordinance of the Living God. We read in Moses 5:5 that "Adam was obedient unto the commandments of the Lord." That means that Adam kept this ordinance as his Father in Heaven commanded him, contrary to the manner which this statue representation falsely ascribes to him.
It is also significant in this statue that the lamb lies peacefully at the side of Adam and Eve. The Lamb doesn't appear to be in any danger of losing its life. What does this represent? The depiction of the lamb in this statue in no apparent danger denies the Atoning Sacrifice of Jesus Christ that the ordinance of blood sacrifice is supposed to represent. In its place is substituted grains, fruits, and vegetables--tokens and symbology of "earth worship." "Earth worship" is the motif behind many forms of wickedness and Satanism.
Satan always sets up his kingdom in opposition to the Kingdom of God, and uses many similar types and symbologies that God uses, only he changes them just enough to point away from the Lord instead of towards him. Satan's only purpose is to divert men away from God and to destroy.
Those of you somewhat familiar with the TLC position on the LDS Church will know that we decry the unrighteous acts of the LDS church in changing many, many ordinances over the years. We see in Genesis 4:3-5 that one of Cain's first unrighteous acts was also the changing of an ordinance. We remind our readers that Joseph Smith taught:
Ordinances instituted in the heavens before the foundation of the world, in the priesthood, for the salvation of men, are not to be altered or changed. All must be saved on the same principles. (Joseph Smith, TPJS, p. 308)
This false depiction of Adam and Eve's sacrifice is therefore representative of the LDS Church's changing many essential ordinances of the Latter-day Restoration. In fact, every single ordinance and principle that would have permitted the LDS Church to establish Zion has been changed, altered, or done away with. Certainly in this erroneous representation of a sacrifice by Adam and Eve the LDS leadership have shown incredible ignorance not only regarding the importance of keeping ordinances in the manner they were prescribed, but even also in the understanding of the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ as is relates to the symbology of blood sacrifices.
We plead with those believers in the Latter-day Restoration of the Fullness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ to awaken from your slumber induced slowly over the years by the LDS Church. We urge you to "awake and arise" and learn the truths of the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ, and then to take the courage to act upon the same.