It is recorded in the fourth chapter of the Book of Genesis that, "Adam knew Eve, his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the Lord. And she again bare his brother Abel: and Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground. And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of 'the ground an offering unto the Lord. And Abel, he also brought of the firstings of his flock, and of the fat thereof. And the Lord had respect unto Abel, and to his offering: but unto Cain, and to his offering, he had not respect."--Genesis, iv, 1-5. As these sayings found in King James' translation of the Bible are very limited, and somewhat obscure, we will here refer, as a starting point on this subject, to the account given of these events in the Pearl of Great Price, which is a selection from the revelations, translations and narrations of Joseph Smith, the Prophet, Seer and Revelator of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. For in that translation it is stated that Adam, previous to these acts of Abel and Cain, offered up a sacrifice by the direct command of God. It is there written that the Lord gave unto Adam and Eve "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. 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. 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; wherefore thou shalt do all that thou doest in the name of the Son. And thou shalt repent, and call upon God, in the name of the Son, for evermore." We are further informed that "Adam and Eve blessed the name of God; and they made all things known unto their sons and their daughters." From the above it would seem that Adam, until instructed by the angel, did not know the reasons for the offering up of sacrifices, nor the object that the Lord had in view in requiring this offering at his hands; for, being asked by the angel why he performed this rite, he said, "I know not, save the Lord commanded me;" and the object of the visit of this holy being to Adam evidently was to show him why he was called to offer a sacrifice to the Lord, as, on Adam expressing his ignorance of the intent of this offering, the angel stated very explicitly that this thing was "a similitude of the sacrifice of the Only Begotten of the Father." We have here given a reason why Adam offered up this sacrifice. We may hereafter explain why it was necessary that the sacrifice of the Son of God should be made.