“Unit 3: Day 3, Moses 6 (Genesis 5)” Old Testament Study Guide for Home-Study Seminary Students (2014)
“Unit 3: Day 3,” Old Testament Study Guide
Unit 3: Day 3
Moses 6 (Genesis 5)
Introduction
Adam’s righteous posterity kept a book of remembrance, taught the gospel to their families, and invited all men to repent. Enoch, one of Adam’s righteous descendants, was called to preach repentance to the people and was called a seer. Enoch obeyed the Lord and taught his people about the consequences of the Fall of Adam and Eve and how we can overcome those consequences. He also explained why we must repent and be baptized. (Bible text that corresponds to some of the information in Moses 6 is found in Genesis 5. Although Genesis 5 is not specifically covered in this lesson, you should read it as part of your daily scripture study. A comparison of Genesis 5 and Moses 6 will help you understand and appreciate the restoration of important truths through the Joseph Smith Translation of the Bible.)
Moses 6:1–25
Adam’s posterity keep a book of remembrance and teach their children the gospel
Imagine that a chain represents your ancestors (including your parents), yourself, and your descendants (including your children).
Because we are linked with our ancestors and descendants, certain traits, traditions, and teachings are often passed on from generation to generation. Write a few things your parents (or ancestors) have passed on to you.
Ponder what might be some of the most useful things you could pass on to your children.
Read the chapter summary for Genesis 5, and notice the names that are part of Adam’s “chain” of descendants.
Genesis 5 does not provide many details about Adam and his posterity. You might remember that as the Prophet Joseph Smith made inspired changes in the Bible, the Lord revealed additional scripture to him. Moses 6–7 contains significant details that are not contained in Genesis 5 about one of Adam’s descendants, the prophet Enoch.
Read Moses 6:1, 13, 21, 23, looking for what Adam and his righteous descendants passed on to their children. You may want to mark what you find.
From Adam and his posterity’s example, what can we learn about the responsibility parents have to their children? Answer this question by completing the following doctrine: Parents are responsible to teach their children .
-
Answer the following questions in your scripture study journal:
-
Why do you think it is important for parents to accept the responsibility to teach their children the ways of God?
-
How have your parents (or other parents you know) carried out the responsibility to teach their children the ways of God?
-
Ponder what you can do to help your parents carry out this responsibility. Also consider what you can do to prepare for this responsibility when you are a parent.
In Moses 6:2–3 we learn that Adam and Eve had a son named Seth. After Abel’s death, Seth was chosen to carry the responsibilities of the priesthood to succeeding generations (see D&C 107:40–42). The Lord described Seth as “a perfect man, and his likeness was the express likeness of his father [Adam]” (D&C 107:43).
Read Moses 6:4–8, looking for what Adam and his descendants kept that would help them teach their children.
Notice in verse 5 who could write in the book. What kinds of things do you think they wrote?
In our day a book of remembrance can take many forms. A book of remembrance can be anything we use to record inspiring thoughts and events about our lives and the lives of those we know.
-
-
How might keeping a book of remembrance help you teach your children the ways of God?
-
Ask one of your family members, friends, or ward members to share with you experiences that strengthened his or her testimony. Record these experiences for you and your posterity. Write a few sentences describing your experience of writing part of a book of remembrance.
-
In Moses 6:9–25 we learn that Adam and his righteous posterity continued to teach their families the gospel, even when those around them became wicked.
Moses 6:26–47
Enoch is called to prophesy to the people and begins his ministry
Think of a time when you felt like you were not good enough or like you could not do something the Lord asked because of a weakness.
The prophet Enoch had similar feelings when the Lord called him to cry repentance to his people. As you study Enoch’s experience in Moses 6, look for principles that can help a person experiencing these feelings.
Read Moses 6:26–28, looking for phrases that describe Enoch’s people. How did the Lord describe the people Enoch was called to teach?
Match the Lord’s description of Enoch’s people from verse 27 with what the phrase might mean:
|
|
Read Moses 6:31, and mark the concerns Enoch expressed about his ability to fulfill the Lord’s call.
Ponder how Enoch’s concern about this call to preach might be similar to what we may feel when we are called to serve the Lord.
Read Moses 6:32–34, looking for the promises the Lord made to Enoch. Notice what Enoch had to do in order to receive these promises.
What can we learn from these verses about what the Lord will do for us if we do what He asks despite our weaknesses? Answer this question by completing the following principle: If we go and do what the Lord commands us, He will .
-
To help Enoch overcome his concerns, the Lord gave him some unusual instructions. Read Moses 6:35–36, looking for what the Lord told Enoch to do.
Clay is formed in the earth and looks like thick, sticky mud. Ponder what the Lord was teaching Enoch by having him cover his eyes with clay and then wash them.
What happened after Enoch did what the Lord told him to do?
The Lord had Enoch anoint his eyes with clay and then wash them to teach him about his sacred role as a seer. Even though we are not called to be seers like Enoch, we can still benefit from seeing things with spiritual eyes.
We can learn the following principle from the Lord’s instructions to Enoch and the blessing that resulted: By strict obedience and with the Lord’s help, we can see and discern spiritually far beyond what we can with our “natural eye.”
-
-
What do you think it means to see with spiritual eyes?
-
Why would you want to be able to see with spiritual eyes?
-
Consider what things of the world make it difficult for you to see with spiritual eyes. Set a goal to remove those worldly things from your life and focus on things that spiritually strengthen you.
Notice the word seer in Moses 6:36. Because Enoch was permitted to see things not visible to the natural eye, he was called a seer. A seer is someone who is called by God to foresee the future from the past and the present. The members of the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles have been called by God to be prophets, seers, and revelators today.
Elder John A. Widtsoe of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles described what it means to be a prophet, seer, and revelator:
“A seer is one who sees with spiritual eyes. He perceives the meaning of that which seems obscure to others; therefore he is an interpreter and clarifier of eternal truth. He foresees the future from the past and the present. … In short, he is one who sees, who walks in the Lord’s light with open eyes. …
“In summary: A prophet is a teacher of known truth; a seer is a perceiver of hidden truth, a revelator is a bearer of new truth. In the widest sense, the one most commonly used, the title, prophet, includes the other titles and makes of the prophet, a teacher, perceiver, and bearer of truth” (Evidences and Reconciliations, arr. G Homer Durham, 3 vols. in 1 [1960], 258).
Read Moses 6:37–39, looking for how the people responded to Enoch when he preached to them. You may want to mark the phrases that describe how the people responded to Enoch.
Consider why some people might be offended by the teachings of the prophets, seers, and revelators in our day.
Read Moses 6:40, looking for what Mahijah asked Enoch.
Mahijah wanted to know who Enoch was and how he came to have so much power and authority as he taught the gospel. Imagine that one of your friends or family members asked you how the prophets, seers, and revelators in our day came to have so much power and authority as they teach the gospel. To help you think about how you might respond, read Moses 6:41–43, looking for how Enoch responded.
Read Moses 6:47, and notice the people’s reaction to what Enoch said. How does the people’s reaction relate to the Lord’s promises to Enoch described in verses 32–34?
Moses 6:48–63
Enoch teaches what we must do to overcome the Fall and enter the kingdom of heaven
As you study Moses 6:48–63, you might wonder what the phrase “thy children are conceived in sin” in verse 55 means. Elder Bruce R. McConkie of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles explained that this phrase means that we are “born into a world of sin,” a world in which evil exists and influences us in our fallen state (see A New Witness for the Articles of Faith [1985], 101).
Having children within the bonds of marriage is not a sin. The means by which mortal life is created is divinely appointed:
“When married couples are physically able, they have the privilege of providing mortal bodies for Heavenly Father’s spirit children. They play a part in the great plan of happiness, which permits God’s children to receive physical bodies and experience mortality. …
“… Remember that sexual relations within marriage are divinely approved. While one purpose of these relations is to provide physical bodies for God’s children, another purpose is to express love for one another—to bind husband and wife together in loyalty, fidelity, consideration, and common purpose” (True to the Faith [2004], 26).
Notice in Moses 6:54 that “the Son of God hath atoned for original guilt.” This means that we are all accountable for our own sins and not for Adam and Eve’s transgression (see Articles of Faith 1:2). We are, however, subject to the consequences of the Fall.
Moses 6:48–63 contains the account of what Enoch taught the people. He taught them that they needed to repent, be baptized, and receive the Holy Ghost because no unclean thing can dwell in the presence of God. Enoch also taught the people that they must be born again in order to receive the blessings of the Atonement of Jesus Christ.
Because of the Atonement of Jesus Christ, we will all be redeemed from the Fall and brought back to the presence of God to be judged. Only those who have repented can dwell, or stay, in God’s presence.