The Lord Came and Dwelt

The Lord dwelling among his people indicates a temple, as does their name, 'Zion,' and their location on the heights.  Dwelling in or with or preaching with 'righteousness' may suggest the presence of a Melchizedek priest.

Historic

This past weekend I attended the inaugural symposium of the Academy for Temple Studies.  Sunday night, I got invited to a behind-the-scenes pilot meeting with an astonishing array of talent, including several people who are my personal heroes.  Here's Dan Peterson's blog post.  I felt like I was the dog that someone had forgotten to put out, sitting on a chair in the living room, amazed at being treated like one of the humans and wondering how long it could last.  I'm a big, loud, brash guy, and I felt humbled.

Out of the Depth of the Sea

Enoch tells us that a land came out of the depth of the sea, causing enemies to flee.

This is not Atlantis, it's the vision of a new temple foundation being laid, as in Exodus 15 (read the whole chapter, but especially verses 8 and 17).

This tends to strengthen the notion that what's going on here is a war over the temple.  The people of Shum are thrown out by the Canaanites, but God gives them a new temple.

Which Dwelt in Tents

I don't think this conflict is about how some people turned black.

The fact that people peoples live in tents tells me that this is a vision of conflict about the temple, one kind of temple people against another kind of temple people.  The fact that the winners are named "Canaan," the pre-Israelite, pagan name of the land of Israel, and are cursed for, suggests to me that we're reading here loser's history, like the Dead Sea Scrolls, 1 Enoch, and -- I think -- Isaiah.

Enoch's people are the tent people of Shum.  Though they lose and are driven out, the winners are cursed.  Enoch will continue to preach, except to wicked Canaan.

I Saw the Lord

This is a classic shalem moment, written without the euphemisms and the code.  Enoch is clothed, the veil opens, and he enters to meet the Lord (Enoch goes up in these verses; the Lord doesn't come down).  So what follows is a vision in the Holy of Holies.

Get Ye Upon the Mount

The name of the mountain, Simeon, suggests that what Enoch will experience is hearing the Lord, since Simeon is Hebrew for the 'one who hears.'

Mount Simeon doesn't otherwise appear in scripture.  The name, along with the Hebrew-ish Mahujah and Mahijah that we've already seen, tends to suggest a Hebrew language background for the Book of Moses.

Many Have Believed

A son of God is something you become.

John and Ether teach the same thing.

The Goodness and the Mysteries

The Goodness and the Mysteries: On the Path of the Book of Mormon's Visionary Men is out now as an ebook.

Paperback soon.

By the Finger of God

Writing is a divine gift.

Standing Upon the Hills and the High Places

Enoch preaches on the mountain tops, and God walks with him.  His is a temple ministry.

Anoint Thine Eyes With Clay

Is this a record of an ordinance?

If so, is this the same ordinance?

He Bowed Himself to the Earth

Enoch hears the voice of the Lord from Heaven and bows himself to the earth "before the Lord."  This doesn't make a lot of sense if he's hearing a voice literally out of the sky, but is perfect temple geography -- the voice comes from behind the veil.  Naturally his commission requires that he "go forth."

Sought Their Own Counsels

The holy of holies was supposed to be a place of light and visions.  Those who removed the light from the holy of holies were left looking for their own counsels in the dark.  This sounds like a critique of apostate temple cult post-Hezekiah, or post-Josiah.  Hmmn.

Prophesy Unto This People

The spiritual condition of the people in Enoch's day is described in a similar fashion to the spiritual condition of Isaiah's contemporaries.  Heart, ears, and eyes, in that order, fail to perceive.

Adam, Who Was the Son of God

Adam is a temple priest.

A Genealogy Was Kept

The genealogy is of the "children of God."  This is not primarily a record of physical descent, but of priesthood descent -- those who grasp the Word receive the authority to become the sons of God.

A Book of Remembrance Was Kept

For Adam and his children, writing is a temple art, connected with the priesthood.

Similarly, Nephi tells us about his literacy in connection with knowing the goodness and the mysteries of God.

Woe Unto You, Scribes and Pharisees, Hypocrites!

I read this with the kids tonight.  It seems like quite a straightforward description of what Jerusalem's priestly class has done with the Holy of Holies: barred it up so no one can go in, not even themselves.

And Thus the Gospel

The Gospel... the good tidings... is the proper name of the teachings of angel-priests who come forth from the presence of God.  God also announces it with his own voice.  It is therefore the subject of temple ordinances, the Worship of the Shalems.

Among the Sons of Men

Moses 5 recounts the origin of secret combinations.  It''s curious that we're told that these things flourished only among men, and that women rejected them.  Obviously, that hasn't always been the case, given, for instance, the daughter of Jared's behavior.  So what exactly are we seeing here?

By Thy Throat

Cain learns an oath from Satan.

It's the one forbidden to the shalems, and the one Akish employed for the same purpose as Cain... to take a head.

Cain Was Wroth

Abel walks in holiness.  Adam and Eve mourn before the Lord.  What Cain walks away from is temple worship.

I Have Gotten a Man from the Lord

After conceiving of Adam, it's curious that Eve seems to identify the father of her child as the Lord.

Extra curious, given that Adam has just apparently identified himself as the Only Begotten.

I Am Also a Son of God

This description of Satan's role in an apparently temple setting, tempting men not to be believe and to become carnal and devilish, is the role Korihor ascribes to Satan.  Curious, unless Korihor knows this temple role.

As Thou Hast Fallen

This is a surprising verse.  Who here is saying that he is the Only Begotten -- the Holy Ghost or Adam?  Or both?

In either case, we appear to still be in the first room, because we see the redemption motif.

The Firstlings of their Flocks

Adam and Eve are taught to offer blood sacrifices.  If this is the first room of the Worship of the Shalems, the angel who instructs them should be Moses.

From the Way toward the Garden

Adam and Eve are now working their way back into God's presence.  They hear his voice, but it's through the cloud of the temple incense.

Adam Began to Till the Earth

Adam has "dominion" over the beasts.  This is arche, which is said in the Greek Psalm 110 to be possessed by the Melchizedek priests.

Ye Shall Be as Gods

Eating the fruit of the tree makes a human know good from evil, and be like the gods.  This makes them different from the apostates of Isaiah's day, and like the Son of the Virgin.