Let’s peek into the Book of Moses and see how Joseph Smith’s biblical Enoch walked with God. Let’s see if we can find Two Persons, shall we? Bear in mind at this time according to Smith’s later theology, the Father had a body but the Son did not seeing he was bodiless like the Holy Ghost, a Personage of spirit only. But it’s clear from the narrative that visions had by Enoch as reported by Joseph Smith were certainly far greater than the one young Joseph had while in the grove. We can deduce that Enoch failed to report that the Father has a body of flesh and bone because Smith had not learned that until late in his ministry. The visions of Enoch say nothing about the all important attribute of God’s physical character.
That is a red flag!
Moses 6:26 wrote:And it came to pass that Enoch journeyed in the land, among the people; and as he journeyed, the Spirit of God descended out of heaven, and abode upon him.
Jesus taught that
God is a spirit (John 4:26) and Smith clarified his understanding of God by introducing a new translation saying,
“For unto such hath God promised his Spirit. And they who worship him, must worship in spirit and in truth.” When Smith retranslated (edited) the account given in St John, he never said anything about God the Father having a body but only that man must worship God in spirit and in truth which was the universal belief of Christians and Jews who taught that God was a spirit.
Moses 6:27 wrote:And he heard a voice from heaven, saying: Enoch, my son, prophesy unto this people,
Now comes the voice of God through the Spirit that descended out of heaven.
1. Voice
2. Spirit
3. God
Moses 6:36 wrote: And he beheld the spirits that God had created; and he beheld also things which were not visible to the natural eye;
Enoch beheld all manner of spirits that God had created and things not known or seen by the natural eyes of mere mortals.
Moses 6:42 wrote:And it came to pass, as I journeyed from the land of Cainan, by the sea east, I beheld a vision; and lo, the heavens I saw, and the Lord spake with me,
Unlike Joseph in a grove of trees, Enoch experienced a vision of seeing God and heaven by the east sea.
Moses 6:62 wrote:And now, behold, I say unto you: This is the plan of salvation unto all men, through the blood of mine Only Begotten, who shall come in the meridian of time.
Now we get a conversation between God and Enoch. It’s the Father doing the speaking because he refers to
“mine Only Begotten” and this is reminiscent of the manifestations we get in the Bible such as at Jesus’s baptism. Clearly, it’s not a manifestation from the Son in whom Enoch is conversing with but the
FATHER ONLY! The Son says nothing! The Son is something yet to come, something yet to be manifested, later when he makes his appearance in the meridian of time. Hence, Enoch is not talking to Jesus but to the Father of Jesus who is God.
Moses 7:3 wrote: And it came to pass that I turned and went up on the mount; and as I stood upon the mount, I beheld the heavens open, and I was clothed upon with glory;
Enoch climbs mount Simeon and the heavens are opened to him in a grand and glorious vision that far exceeds anything Smith said about his First Vision.
Moses 7:4 wrote:And I saw the Lord; and he stood before my face, and he talked with me, even as a man talketh one with another, face to face; and he said unto me: Look, and I will show unto thee the world for the space of many generations.
Again, Enoch meets God and hears his voice. It is the Lord. But Enoch never says anything about God having a body of flesh and bone. Only that he’s speaking to him, face to face. As far as we are given to understand by Joseph Smith’s telling of the story, God is a Spirit.
Moses 7:24 wrote:And there came generation upon generation; and Enoch was high and lifted up, even in the bosom of the Father, and of the Son of Man;
Now we shift from a traditional description of the Person of God as typified in the Old Testament and Smith gives us a Christian accounting of sorts. We get both the Father and Son. Enoch is in God’s bosom, high and lifted up, perhaps he can’t go any further! You’d think that Enoch would have learned that the Father has a body of flesh and bone and that the Son is only spirit. But nothing is said regarding this. We get the impression that the Father & Son are one as expressed in Christendom. Nothing is said about two separate Persons. Nobody says anything about God having a body!
Moses 7:27 wrote:And Enoch beheld angels descending out of heaven, bearing testimony of the Father and Son; and the Holy Ghost fell on many, and they were caught up by the powers of heaven into Zion.
The full array of all things biblical from both Testaments now comes to play as Enoch’s so-called Zion is caught up into glory:
1. Angels
2. Father
3. Son
4. Holy Ghost
Moses 7:28 wrote:And it came to pass that the God of heaven looked upon the residue of the people, and he wept;
This reminds us of how Jesus was fraught over the death of Lazarus and grieved at his burial,
“JESUS WEPT”!
The full emotion expressed from the sadness of Jesus’s grief in the Bible is manifest in the highly charged and emotional God who seems to drown the earth with his incessant tears. Someone, please console Enoch’s God because he’s lost the ability to cope with the fact that his children want to live their own lives rather than do what he says. God is utterly codependent on his children obeying him lest he become unhappy and cry out an endless stream of tears. We may reason that this weeping is a symbolic expression in the story and there are no physical tear ducts in eyelids that are dripping tears from a Man made of flesh and bone. But the story does not say one way or the other about whether God has a body of flesh and bone. All we are told is God is a Spirit and he is Holy.
Moses 7:35 wrote:Behold, I am God; Man of Holiness is my name; Man of Counsel is my name; and Endless and Eternal is my name, also.
We are told that God is a Man of Holiness but nothing is said about him having a body of flesh and bone. The word “Man” used to describe God can be taken in many different ways. The Bible also says God is a
man of war. The word is employed in a generic sense to describe strength and power rather than a literal description of a man of flesh and bones.
Moses 7:47 wrote: And behold, Enoch saw the day of the coming of the Son of Man, even in the flesh; and his soul rejoiced, saying: The Righteous is lifted up, and the Lamb is slain from the foundation of the world; and through faith I am in the bosom of the Father, and behold, Zion is with me.
This is a futuristic scene of God manifesting himself as the Son of Man to be crucified in the flesh. This was a prophecy and something in which Enoch was to base his faith in.
Moses 7:53 wrote: And the Lord said: Blessed is he through whose seed Messiah shall come; for he saith—I am Messiah, the King of Zion, the Rock of Heaven, which is broad as eternity
While Enoch is in the bosom of the Father the Lord declares
“I am Messiah” or in other words the very God in whom Enoch is dealing with is the very Father of heaven and earth and will manifest himself as the Son in the meridian of time. There is only ONE God!
Moses 7:55 wrote:And the Lord said unto Enoch: Look, and he looked and beheld the Son of Man lifted up on the cross, after the manner of men;
The prophecy is that the Lord will come down and be crucified.
Moses 7:59 wrote: And Enoch beheld the Son of Man ascend up unto the Father; and he called unto the Lord, saying: Wilt thou not come again upon the earth? Forasmuch as thou art God, and I know thee, and thou hast sworn unto me, and commanded me that I should ask in the name of thine Only Begotten; thou hast made me, and given unto me a right to thy throne, and not of myself, but through thine own grace; wherefore, I ask thee if thou wilt not come again on the earth.
The conversation and the questions from Enoch are conclusive in showing that he was talking to one person and one person only, the Lord. Enoch’s conversation takes place within the bosom of the Father who tells him that he will later manifest as the Son and be killed. To this Enoch questions the Lord (Father) asking if he will return again to the earth after his death.
Moses 7:60 wrote: And the Lord said unto Enoch: As I live, even so will I come in the last days, in the days of wickedness and vengeance, to fulfil the oath which I have made unto you concerning the children of Noah;
The Father reveals that he will indeed come again in the last days!
Moses 7:62 wrote:And righteousness will I send down out of heaven; and truth will I send forth out of the earth, to bear testimony of mine Only Begotten; his resurrection from the dead; yea, and also the resurrection of all men; and righteousness and truth will I cause to sweep the earth as with a flood, to gather out mine elect from the four quarters of the earth, unto a place which I shall prepare, an Holy City, that my people may gird up their loins, and be looking forth for the time of my coming; for there shall be my tabernacle, and it shall be called Zion, a New Jerusalem.
The prophecy melds the Father & Son as one. But in all this we are not shown them to be separate and distinct Persons in heaven having separate bodies: One having a body of flesh and bone and the other only spirit. This is something Joseph Smith had not yet conceived.