"And it came to pass that Moses looked and beheld the world upon which he was created, and as Moses beheld the world and the ends thereof, and all the children of men which are, and which were created of the same, he greatly marveled and wondered."—Book of Moses 1:8.
The fruits of the Gospel as relates to the peopling of the earth through Adam, are not fully ripe. The generations of that lineage are still incomplete; but it is interesting to study the general outline of the plan which was laid for that purpose before the earth was formed, a part of which has now been rendered into history. As made known to John the Revelator on the Isle of Patmos, this plan, presented to him by signs the meaning of which was revealed[[39]] to the Prophet Joseph Smith, contemplated the division of human history into seven periods of one day each, according to the Lord's reckoning.
The first should be a day of peace; the second, a day of war and conquest; the third, a day in which commerce should have its rise; the fourth, a day of war; the fifth, a day of persecution; the sixth, a day of preparation for the Sabbath, or Millennium; the seventh, a day of peace and rest. Let the student follow down the history of the world with this outline in mind, and he cannot fail to be impressed with the coincidence, so far, of the prophecy and its fulfillment.
Not only were the periods set, and the work to be accomplished in each determined, but the order in which the spirits to take bodies on this earth should come forth, was outlined before the earth was made. Abraham says, as hereinbefore quoted:
"Now the Lord had shown unto me, Abraham, the intelligences that were organized before the world was, and among all these there were many of the noble and great ones; and God saw these souls that they were good, and he stood in the midst of them, and he said, These I will make my rulers; for he stood among those that were spirits, and he saw that they were good; and He said unto me, Abraham, thou art one of them, thou wast chosen before thou wast born."[[40]]
When we recall the promise made to Abraham, after his advent upon the earth, that through him and his seed should all the children of the earth be blessed; when we see in the history of the world how the seed of Israel has been scattered among all nations; and when we witness the purpose of the Lord, now going forward, to gather into one family under that lineage all the descendants of Adam, this passage and that promise take on peculiar significance.
Furthermore, that the course of the star of empire was set from the first, is evident from the revelation given to Adam three years before his death at the altar of Adam-ondi-Ahman, as related in the Doctrine and Covenants. We read:
"And Adam stood up in the midst of the congregation; and notwithstanding he was bowed down with age, being full of the Holy Ghost predicted whatsoever should befall his posterity unto the latest generation."[[41]]
Among those spirits in the midst of whom the Lord stood when He saw and chose as His rulers the noble and great ones, there were no doubt many who were less intelligent. How could these spirits be so placed in the generations of Adam's race as to make the most of them? The solution of the problem is disclosed in the following extract from the Book of Mormon:
"For, behold, the Lord doth grant unto all nations, of their own nation and tongue, to teach his word; yea, in wisdom, all that he seeth fit that they should have; therefore, we see that the Lord doth counsel in wisdom, according to that which is just and true."[[42]]