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.
These sacrifices, which were similitudes of the sacrifice of the Only
Begotten, were continued from that time until, as is stated in the
Scriptures, Jesus came to offer "his own body once for all."—Heb., x,
10.
We will now return to the sacrifices offered by Cain and Abel, and give the statement in relation thereto contained in the Pearl of Great Price. It is as follows:
"And Cain loved Satan more than God. And Satan commanded him, saying, Make an offering unto the Lord. And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruits of the ground an offering unto the Lord. 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; but unto Cain, and to his offering, He had not respect. Now Satan knew this, and it pleased him. And Cain was very wroth and his countenance fell. And the Lord said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? Why is thy countenance fallen? If thou doest well, thou shalt be accepted, and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door, and Satan desireth to have thee, and except thou shalt hearken unto my commandments, I will deliver thee up, and it shall be unto thee according to his desire; and thou shalt rule over him, for from this time forth thou shalt be the father of his lies. Thou shalt be called Perdition, for thou wast also before the world, and it shall be said in time to come, that these abominations were had from Cain, for he rejected the greater counsel, which was had from God; and this is a cursing which I will put upon thee, except thou repent. And Cain was wroth, and listened not any more to the voice of the Lord, neither to Abel his brother, who walked in holiness before the Lord."
From the above it would appear that Satan, or Lucifer, was "also before the world," and that the term "also" refers to another personage, and that personage was the Messiah, the Christ, the Well Beloved Son, who, we are told, was the Lamb slain from before the foundation of the world; and it is obvious that Lucifer, who is elsewhere called the Son of the Morning, had an important role to play upon the earth as well as the Messiah, and that he occupied a very prominent position before the world was, and still occupies that position in opposition to his Heavenly Father, to the Son of God, and to the interests of humanity; which opposition will continue, we are informed, until he shall not only be bound, but cast into the bottomless pit; as stated by the Apostle John in the Book of Revelations:
"And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, and cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled; and after that he must be loosed a little season."—Rev., xx, 1-3.
And a little further on we read that after the thousand years have passed, "Satan shall be loosed out of his prison," and shall go out to deceive the nations and gather them to battle against the Saints, when fire from heaven will devour them.
"And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever."—Rev., xx, 10.
The operations of Satan in opposition to the designs and purposes of God are frequently noticed in Holy Writ. Reference has already been made to his control over Cain and the results thereof, and unfortunately for them, Cain was not the only one in that early age of the world's history over whom Satan gained the mastery. For he went abroad amongst the inhabitants of the earth, saying, "I am also a son of God; * * * and they loved Satan more than God. And men began, from that time forth, to be carnal, sensual, and devilish." And so they continued increasing in wickedness, until "all flesh had corrupted its way upon the earth," and the waters of the flood had to accomplish the work which the preaching of Noah could not effect.