The World’s Oldest Commandment

What was the first commandment given to all living creatures? In order to begin understanding sexuality in marriage, we must take a look back to the beginnings of time, even before man was found on the earth. Back to Genesis.

As recorded in the Book of Genesis and the Books of Moses and Abraham in the Pearl of Great Price, the Lord created the world, and the plants and animals, but he didn’t just create them and move on. They were all beings with intelligence; he spoke to them.

“…God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth…” (Genesis 1:22; Moses 2:22; also Abraham 4:22)

So these brand-new intelligent beings were given a commandment from their creator, and that commandment was…have sex. Since being fruitful and multiplying cannot occur without sex, the commandment was, logically, to work to complete a full sexual cycle of having children, offspring being the “fruit” of a sexual pairing that tend to “multiply” the more often the cycle is completed.

Although this same direct commandment is not recorded in scripture to the land animals, reason necessitates the idea that they, too, received this commandment from their creator. President Hinckley stated,

“Then followed the creation of animal life in the sea and upon the land. He commanded them together to multiply and replenish the earth.” (Hinckley, Gordon B. “Daughters of God”, Ensign. Nov 1991. Italics added.)

So once the animals were created and given their instructions,

“God created man in his own image…and God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.” (Genesis 1:27; Abraham 4:26)

The first commandment to the first man and woman on the earth was the same; to multiply and replenish the earth. In other words, they were informed of their duty to have sex and procreate. It was the same commandment given to the animals, but with additional responsibilities and duties, for two reasons.

What was the first reason? Adam was on a different plane than animals, and God expected more of him. He was created in the image of God himself, with the potential and requirement to become like God. Before organized religion existed, there were religious rites and requirements of worship given to man to show his faithfulness to God.

Secondly, he had additional responsibilities added upon him to care for the earth and the animals, thus further separating mankind from the animal kingdom. Adam and Eve were NOT part of the animals, except that they also were commanded…to have sex.

When Eve was created, and before the Lord left them alone together (very important), they were also promptly married by the Lord.

“And the rib, which the Lord God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man. And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh…

Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh. And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed…” (Genesis 2:22-25; Moses 3:22-25; Abraham 5:16-19; italics added)

Man was instructed to have sex, but only after being married in the manner God required, further differentiating mankind from all other living things.

Then came the fall and mortality, and Adam and Eve completed their sexual cycle as commanded, and had children. They taught their children these same things. More commandments were added by the Lord in order to help them navigate the pitfalls of mortality.

The commandment to have married sex remains in force for us today. If we make the choice to follow it, practice it, and find ways to enjoy it, it can lead to great joy and bring us closer to our spouses and to God. If we choose to abdicate the responsibility the Lord has entrusted us with…there are many directions that choice can take us in:

We can worship sex for sex’s sake by choosing to engage in sexual behavior outside the boundaries of the Lord’s approval (marriage).

We can choose to interrupt the full natural cycle of sex by not having children.

We can even choose to avoid sex completely while being married.

But we cannot deny the commandment without receiving the consequences of that denial.

“To the first man and woman on earth, the Lord said, “Be fruitful, and multiply”. This commandment was first in sequence and first in importance…” (Oaks, Dallin H. “The Great Plan of Happiness”. Ensign, Nov 1993; emphasis added)

Welcome to one and all!

My name is Sam Zaragoza, and I'm a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, also known as the Mormon Church.

My wife and I were sealed in the Seattle Washington temple over 17 years ago. Over that period of time, it's inevitable that the strength of a relationship will be tested in many ways, and we have been and continue to be tested even today.

Fortunately, my wife and I have maintained a strong relationship with each other. All through that time, as we watched others struggle with marital intimacy issues as we did, and even watched some of them lose the struggle, I always wondered, "Why did that happen? Could it have been prevented? What’s appropriate and what isn’t in the bonds of marriage? What is in compliance with the teachings of Jesus Christ, and what isn’t?"

One of the major conclusions I've come to in that time is that, despite the tremendous amount of information that can be found in our society today about sex, there is a woeful lack of wholesome, accurate and accessible information, even online. There is more to be found in the wider Christian community that is good and righteous, but their information was often still insufficient for LDS needs.

If pornography is a counterproductive source of information, then where do LDS married couples go to find out about the details of lovemaking without turning to pornography with all of its addictive and destructive attributes? What does LDS doctrine teaches us about love and lovemaking, and how can we keep from being ensnared in the traps that lay in wait for those who have made covenants to the Lord in his holy temples?

I'm currently studying to be a marriage and family coach, and the insights that I'm gaining will be part of what will be explored on this blog. I hope you will find these ideas informative and useful as you attempt to develop intimacy in your marriage while trying to stay on the “strait and narrow” path of the gospel.

Before I go any further, let me make one point perfectly clear. This blog is aimed at LDS members, and specifically those LDS members who are married. Though I attempt to be clinical and not pornographic, some of these posts will be discussing sexual topics in a measure of graphic detail. My thought is, sometimes sexuality just has to be spelled out. Vagueness is crippling when you’re trying to find useful information.

These posts will not be meant for those who are single and trying to keep the Lord's law of chastity. If you currently have no sexual outlet, then reading and discussing sexual topics is inappropriate and actually counter-productive, as I will discuss later. I would ask that those who are single would bypass blogs that are marked with a “For Married Couples Only” warning. I will continue to post warnings of this sort on further blog posts, as well as additional information meant specifically for single LDS members.

Also, if someone who is not a member of the Mormon Church comes across this blog out of curiosity, I welcome you and your thoughts and ideas, as long as they are respectful. Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints are part of the wider Christian world, since we do worship Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior as other Christians do.

However, I cannot direct my posts to Christians in general, since that would necessitate speaking only from the knowledge of the gospel that we gain from the Bible. As an LDS member, I also use the Book of Mormon, which we believe to be another testament of Jesus Christ, as well as the Doctrine and Covenants, the Pearl of Great Price, and the words of modern LDS prophets and apostles. I cannot disregard these precious resources in order to broaden my outreach to the general Christian world.

If you are married, but not LDS, and would like to read these posts, then you are welcome to do so. If you have something to add, I would welcome it. Please respect the sacredness of these topics in your comments. If you don't like the Church's beliefs or doctrines, then on that we must agree to disagree.

I look forward to our journey together.