Difference between revisions of "Moses 6:6-10"

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

Questions

• Of what importance would it be that the same priesthood that was exercised here by Seth and Enos would exist at the end of the world also?
• Might this prophecy already be fulfilled?

Lexical notes

• verse 6 -- This is a continuation of a series of thoughts beginning in verse 4 (not semicolons at the end of verses 4 and 5). As the chain of thoughts refers back to Seth and Enos, the pronouns here (them, their) also refer to Seth and Enos.

• verse 7 -- The form of this prophecy, as recorded here, is very similar to the form of the declaration given in Moses 5:59.

Exegesis

Verse 7

The Priesthood mentioned here is cognitively difficult to connect back to its referent. The Priesthood has been defined as being the authority of God delegated to man to act in his name, and so, in determining what is meant here by "this same Priesthood," it makes sense to look back and see where men might have been acting with authority from God. A few possibilities are immediately apparent:

• the keeping of a "book of remembrance"
• speaking "a language which was pure and undefiled"
• teaching "their children... to read and write"
• the power "to write by the spirit of inspiration"
• the ability "to call upon the name of the Lord"
• offering "an acceptable sacrifice"
• being the "appointed... seed"
• or even the general patriarchal order.

of which, the most likely candidates would seem to be:

• speaking "a language which was pure and undefiled"
• the power "to write by the spirit of inspiration"
• offering "an acceptable sacrifice"
• the general patriarchal order.

and of these it would seem uncertain whether speaking "a language which was pure and undefiled" would require priesthood authority, while the general patriarchal order is not really mentioned specifically. However, the general patriarchal order is evident throughout and cannot be disregarded. Clearly we understand that all of these things shall be at the end of the world and so the prophecy can be understood as valid, perhaps, in all aspects considered here, especially noting that these themes seem to echo those of D&C 128, where we read of

• "an acceptable sacrifice" (cf. D&C 128:24)
• the ability "to call upon the name of the Lord" (cf. D&C 128:11)
• and an "appointed seed" (cf. D&C 128:15)
• as well as the more obvious themes of records and remembrance (cf. D&C 128:8 especially).

These common themes suggests that there is some profound connection between this patriarchal priesthood and "the subject of the baptism for the dead" revealed to Joseph Smith in D&C 128. The return of a priesthood, "which was in the beginning," at the very "end of the world also" seems to be the precise concern of that section of the Doctrine and Covenants.

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