Moses 6:5-25

From Feast upon the Word (http://feastupontheword.org). Copyright, Feast upon the Word.
Revision as of 09:53, 9 April 2007 by Joe Spencer (Talk | contribs)

Jump to: navigation, search

The Pearl of Great Price > The Book of Moses > Chapter 6

Previous (Moses 5:56-59)             Next (Moses 6:6-10)

Questions

  • What does it mean that Adam "glorified the name of God" (vs. 2)? Is this different from giving thanks to God?
  • What does it mean that "these men" began to call upon the name of the Lord after Enos was born (vs. 4)? Didn't Adam and Seth call upon the name of the Lord before that? What is different about their calling upon the name of the Lord here?
  • What does it mean to "call upon the name of the Lord" (vs.4)? Is this different from just praying?
  • What is "the which" recorded in the book of remembrance (vs. 5)? Would it be the blessings of the Lord mentioned in vs. 4?
  • What is the relationship between calling upon God and writing "by the spirit of inspiration" (vs. 5)?

Lexical notes

  • Click the edit link above and to the right to add lexical notes


Exegesis

Verse 2

Adam's language might be read to suggest that Abel had been an "appointed seed," through whom Adam was to have posterity alive at the Second Coming of Christ (see D&C 107:42). How this should be read in terms of Moses 5 is not entirely clear, however.

Verse 3

Seth's "acceptable sacrifice" is certainly interesting. On the one hand, the phrase clearly has reference to the difficulties between Cain and Abel: Seth, like Abel, offered sacrifice in the "acceptable" manner (the manner prescribed in Moses 5:5: blood sacrifice). This confirms the blessing of Adam in verse 2, as Seth takes up the place Abel had once occupied. On the other hand, one might read in the phrase a reference to Mal 3:1-3 or perhaps more especially to D&C 128:24: the "offering in righteousness" that the sons of Levi are eventually to make. If such a connection at first seems a little weak, it might be pointed out that D&C 128 reworks this phrase as referring to "a book containing the records of our dead, which shall be worthy of all acceptation." This is especially interesting in light of what is recorded here in verses 5-6: this acceptable sacrifice, accompanied by a truer order of prayer, results in the gift of writing, and of writing specifically "a book of remembrance." In fact, the connection is even stronger still, since the phrase "book of remembrance" appears in Mal 3:16.

Verse 4

It should be noted that it is only "then," that is, after three generations can stand together (Adam, Seth, and Enos) that these men "began ... to call upon the name of the Lord." Apparently what is being described here as calling upon the name of the Lord is some kind of truer order of prayer than any previous kind of praying in the Adam and Eve story. This seems to have important implications for how one should understand the "book of remembrance" in the next verse: it has something to do with this truer order of prayer. In fact, the next verse makes an explicit connection between calling upon God and being able to write in the book.

Verse 5

In light of the above, this verse should be read quite carefully. First of all, it is important to bring together the several references in scripture to the "book of remembrance." As it turns out, the phrase only appears five times in the scriptures. Besides this verse, it appears one other time in the book of Moses (Moses 6:46), where Enoch mentions the book while preaching. Two of the other references are connected with Malachi: Mal 3:16 and 3 Ne 24:16 (this latter being Jesus' quotation of Malachi to the Nephites). Finally, the phrase appears in the vital 85th section of the Doctrine and Covenants: "And all they who are not found written in the book of remembrance shall find none inheritance in that day, but they shall be cut asunder, and their portion shall be appointed them among unbelievers, where are wailing and gnashing of teeth" (D&C 85:9). Of the five references, this last provides the broadest and most interpretable context in which to think the nature of the book of remembrance: besides being called in that revelation by several other names/titles ("a history, and a general church record" in verse 1, "the book of the law of God" in verses 5 and 7, and "the book of the law" in verse 11), the contents and purpose of the book of remembrance are clarified. It is, apparently, a book that is associated primarily with what happens in Zion specifically, and contains records of inheritances of land according to (and apparently only according to) the law of consecration. Moreover, the genealogies (ancestry as well as descendency) of those who keep the law of consecration are kept in the book, since apparently one's "fathers" and one's "children" can be saved in and through the consecrated individual in Zion. This last point is vital, since it suggests that the book has something to do with the theme of sealing, and hence of priesthood and the temple (themes that are clearly at work in D&C 85: at Adam-Ondi-Ahman, "one mighty and strong" will come to "set in order the house of God," according to verse 7. This seems all the more important, since two of the references to the "book of remembrance" are to be found in Malachi and Jesus' quotation of Malachi (where it is clear that being written in the book has something to do with Elijah's return and the turning of the fathers to the children and the children to the fathers). Thus, if it is not inappropriate to bring all of this to bear on how one reads the present verse, the book of remembrance would probably best be understood as somehow connected with the temple/priesthood ordinances of sealing (something apparently only to be accomplished once there are three generations present).

All that said, it is certainly significant that a kind of truer order of prayer is at work here, and that it has something to do with receiving the ability—an endowment—"to write by the spirit of inspiration." (Curiously, Old Testament Manuscript 1 for the "New Translation" has "to write by the finger of inspiration," however that might be interpreted. At the very least, there seems to be a connection between "the finger of inspiration" in verse 5 here and the other Mosaic reference to the book of remembrance in Moses 6:46: "For a book of remembrance we have written among us, according to the pattern given by the finger of God." That Enoch goes on to add in the same verse, "and it is given in our own language," seems significant too, since this verse reports: "recorded, in the language of Adam.") But should this suddenly introduced gift be interpreted? It is perhaps commonly assumed that this gift amounts to two things: on the one hand, it is generally taken to have something to do with the "Adamic language" (whatever that means); on the other hand, the gift is commonly understood to be the ability to write scripture, the word of God. But is this all that is meant here?

Related links

  • Click the edit link above and to the right to add related links


Previous (Moses 5:56-59)             Next (Moses 6:6-10)
Retrieved from "http://feastupontheword.org/index.php?title=Moses_6:5-25&oldid=68467"