I was listening to a podcast about the Book of Moses (in the Pearl of Great Price, one of the canonized scriptures of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints) by the Maxwell Institute. During the podcast one of the presenters talked about how the Moses 6-7 taught Joseph Smith about what it meant to establish a Zion people. The Book of Moses always seemed a bit "out there" as far as modern scripture goes, but the idea that it was given to Joseph Smith to provide him a model of his role as a prophet really made sense to me. It also made me think about doing a four fold interpretation to try to explore what the Book of Moses is.
Here is a little background on the Book of Moses. Joseph Smith received the Book of Moses while he was doing a translation of the Bible in 1830-1831. Translation here is used loosely. He wasn't translating the Bible from one language to another. Instead he was prayerfully reading the Bible and then writing inspirations he received about specific passages. The Book of Moses was received while he was translating Genesis.
1. Literal: The literal interpretation of Moses 6-7 is that Enoch was a historical character who really did found a city that became so righteous that it was eventually taken up to heaven. It also would assert that that city will at some time come back down from heaven and the people of the city will join with earthly saints in establishing a New Jerusalem. Moses knew about Enoch through vision and tradition and wrote his story in his original account of the creation, but that part was eventually lost from the record. People who hold to this interpretation talk about how one of the reasons why the world was all wicked two generations later in the time of Noah was that all the righteous people were caught up to be with the City of Enoch.
2. Symbolic: There is a lot to be learned from looking at the story of Enoch symbolically. He is a type of perfect evangelist prophet. He started his ministry like Moses, Lehi, and Isaiah, with a panoramic vision of the history of the world. Like them he started out "slow of speech" and hated by the people. The Lord promises to be with him and gives him power to preach persuasively. Unlike the others, he is actually successful in converting his whole city. As he is more dedicated to doing God's will he becomes more powerful and God-like, until, by the end, he returns to God's presence. This gives each of us hope that, despite our weaknesses, if we obey God and go forth with faith, we, too, may become worthy to return to live with God again.
3. Context: This story of Enoch was given to Joseph Smith early in his ministry as the leader of the restored church. What better way to teach Joseph Smith about his role as prophet than to give him a story about the perfect prophet? After Joseph Smith received this revelation, establishing a Zion people became one of his greatest goals. When the revelations in the Doctrine and Covenants were first published, some of the church leaders were given pseudonyms to protect their identities. It is telling that Joseph Smith selected the name Enoch as his pseudonym. Whether the events of the life of Enoch actually happened or not is not as important as what the story taught Joseph and how that informed the history of the restoration.
4. Secret or Sacred: Terryl Givens asserted that Chapters 6 and 7 of the Book of Moses are the most important passages, doctrinally, that were revealed during the restoration. They portray God differently than any other Christian church of the time. The creeds of the 3rd and 4th century proclaimed that God was without body, parts, or passions, but in the story of Enoch we see God weeping over the fallen of his people. This suggests that we are not meerly God's creations intended to increase his glory, and if we fail, he discards us like a broken wrench. Enoch's conversation with God shows him to be a concerned parent, and suggests that we, faulty as we are, are the most important things to him. When we rebell, it hurts his feelings and when we are righteous he rejoices. This also suggests that by giving us free agency, God relinquished his control of our actions. Bad things can happen to us because of other's or our own choices, that he will not prevent. He can, however, through the Atonement, make restitution for anything we suffer if we will turn to him.
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