The Figure of the Lord in the Book of Moses

Abstract

Since the Restoration, members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and their leaders alike have embraced the doctrine that the Lord referenced throughout our canon is none other than Jesus Christ. This traditional view has shaped our understanding of Jesus Christ and the narratives of our scripture. However, a meticulous examination of the Book of Moses challenges these long-held assumptions, compelling us to reevaluate who the figure of the Lord truly is. Within the profound revelations imparted to the prophet Moses lies a pattern that is impossible to ignore—the deliberate separation of the Lord from the Only Begotten.

A comprehensive analysis of the Book of Moses reveals that the figure of the Lord aligns not with Jesus Christ but with Heavenly Father—God Most High and the source of our eternal salvation. If correct, this would rewrite a foundational framework of our doctrine that has stood for nearly a hundred years and affects our understanding of Jesus Christ, the Plan of Salvation, and many other doctrines we hold dear. In my analysis, I used a unique edition of the Book of Moses taken directly from Joseph Smith's translation of the Bible. It omits chaptering and versification and splits the text into sections and paragraphs instead. Wording and spelling remain unchanged.

Introduction

The Book of Moses is a work of scripture extracted from a portion of the Joseph Smith Translation (JST)—a revision of the Biblical texts made by Joseph Smith before his death. Although unfinished, it made some unique and rather interesting changes to some of our religion's oldest and most fascinating texts. While there are numerous notable additions and revisions to the portion known as the Book of Moses which spans Genesis 1–6:13, my focus today is on the figure of the Lord and why Heavenly Father, not Jesus Christ, is identified by the underlying name.

The figure of the Lord has long been understood to be the Most High God within Judeo-Christian religious tradition, equatable with the Father in wider Christianity. Despite this, members of the Church of Jesus Christ have long held an opposing view—one which traces back to the teachings of James E. Talmage, a popular and widely influential figure in Latter-day Saint (LDS) thought. This contradicting viewpoint has given way to a wide field of thought into premortality and foreordination—ideas that encompass who we were before we lived on Earth and what we were meant to do, especially regarding Jesus. While I believe that proper exegesis is a better tool at proving a point than proof-texts, my goal today is to explain the scriptural basis for the belief that Jesus is not Jehovah.

~ The following is commentary I'm using to construct this article. It's not meant to be read on its own. ~

So, right at the very beginning, the Book of Moses starts with the declaration that it is a record of the words spoken to Moses by God. God identifies himself as the Lord God Almighty, and in 1:6, he says, “And I have a work for thee, Moses, my son; and thou art in the similitude of mine Only Begotten; and mine Only Begotten is and shall be the Savior, for he is full of grace and truth; but there is no God beside me, and all things are present with me, for I know them all."

The Lord God Almighty here speaks of his Only Begotten, something that we would all recognize as Heavenly Father talking about Jesus Christ. The “Almighty” appears to Moses in 1:25, and I see no reason to believe this is anyone other than the Lord God Almighty who previously appeared and then momentarily withdrew. In 1:31, Moses is blessed with the glory of the “Lord” and this is what allows him to stand in the presence of the “Lord God."

I likewise see no reason to read this as anyone other than Heavenly Father here, especially since in 1:32 the “Lord God” says that he created all things through his word and identifies said word as his “Only Begotten.” In 1:33, this same being speaks and details that he has created many worlds, all by his son, the “Only Begotten."

In 1:36, Moses identifies the “Lord” as “God” once again, this character seems to be synonymous with the “Lord God” mentioned before and in the following verse. 1:39 seems to be either identifying Heavenly Father's own purpose, to bring about the eternal life and immortality of man, or it is intertextual with the New Testament where Jesus claims said purpose as his own. Of course, it would make sense that this is actually Heavenly Father's purpose which Jesus, in his unyielding humility, has made his own as he seeks to do the Father's will.

In 1:41, this being tells Moses that he will raise up anothe for the same purpose, and this likely pointing to Joseph Smith, though it could also be Jesus.

In 2:1, the “Lord” speaks once again and identifies himself as the “Beginning and the End,” the “Almighty God,” and the father of the “Only Begotten.” This leads me to believe that this is still Heavenly Father speaking. The “Lord” goes on to detail how he created the Heaven and the Earth following the pattern found in the First Creation Account of Genesis 1 (and a minor portion of Genesis 2).

This pattern continues without disruption until 2:26, where “God” once again mentions his “Only Begotten” and in the following verse, interestingly declares that he made us in his own image and then switches in the same vers to declaring that we were made in the image of this “Only Begotten” in a unique breakaway change from the creation account we have. While this is odd, I would posit that it is likely just a mistake of man, and a minor textual error given the fact that the same verse contradicts itself.

This story continues into Chapter 3 in the same pattern as the chapter divisions found in our scriptures today. The First Creation Account ends in 3:3 and the Second Creation Account starts in 3:4. Now we again have the “Lord God” speaking, and I see no reason yet to take this as anyone other than Heavenly Father. The “Lord God” identifies himself as “God” in 3:9, but then goes right back to being called the “Lord God."

In 3:18, the “Lord God” speaks to his “Only Begotten” marking him still as Heavenly Father. This pattern continues without further change or disruption until the end of the chapter.

Chapter 4 continues the story from before, and in the very first verse the “Lord God” once again denotes his “Only Begotten,” this time referring to Chapter 1 where the Satan appeared and was banished in the name of the “Only Begotten.” In 4:2, the “Lord God” begins to speak of the Divine Council and in verse 3 once again separates himself form his “Only Begotten."

The following verses begin to pattern after the story of Adam and Eve in the garden leading up to their partaking of the fruit. 4:6 switches from using “Lord God” to “God:” once more, and continues after this new pattern until verse 14 where this once again reverts back to “Lord God."

The following verses feature minor changes from our version of this story, and the pattern remains the same as to the characters in the interaction. 4:28 once again identifies the “Lord God” in this story as being the father of the “Only Begotten,” showing us that this has not changed and remains clear.

Chapter 5 continues where Chapter 4 leaves off with no change in regards to the figure of the “Lord God,” but does switch after verse 1 to the “Lord” after the “Lord God” refers to him as suIn verses 7-9 this language is done away with altogether, and the distinction becomes very firmly between the “Father” and the “Only Begotten."

Following verse 9, verse 10 switches from calling Heavenly Father “Lord” and begins referring to him as “God” once more. Verse 14 says, “And the Lord God called upon men by the Holy Ghost everywhere and commanded them that they should repent;” and I think this figure of the “Lord God” is still Heavenly Father. I see on reason to believe it to be anyone else yet.

In verse 16, Adam and Eve call upon God and are given a son because of their faith. They say, “I have gotten a man from the Lord; wherefore he may not reject his words.” identifying the “Lord” here as the same God they called upon.

Subsequent verse continue to switch between the “Lord” and “God,” but there is no evidence to support that they are speaking of a different person each and every time. Things continue on for some time with some notable changes and additions to the story of Cain and Abel that we all know, but those are outside the scope of my comments right now.

In 5:52, it says “Wherefore the Lord cursed Lamech, and his house, and all them that had covenanted with Satan; for they kept not the commandments of God, and it displeased God, and he ministered not unto them, and their works were abominations, and began to spread among all the sons of men. And it was among the sons of men."

I think that the figure of the “Lord” is once again Heavenly Father, both because of previous passages, and because of 5:56-57 where it says, “And God cursed the earth with a sore curse, and was angry with the wicked, with all the sons of men whom he had made; For they would not hearken unto his voice, nor believe on his Only Begotten Son, even him whom he declared should come in the meridian of time, who was prepared from before the foundation of the world."

Those two verses identify “God” as the father of the “Only Begotten” once again and show that “God” cursed the people because they would not hearken to his word, and follow his commandments as seen in 5:52, just a few verses earlier. The chapter ends just a few verses later.

Now in Chapter 6, verse 2 says, “And Adam knew his wife again, and she bare a son, and he called his name Seth. And Adam glorified the name of God; for he said: God hath appointed me another seed, instead of Abel, whom Cain slew.” This is the first reference to the “name of God” in the Book of Moses.

This is notable because in 6:4 it says, “And then began these men to call upon the name of the Lord, and the Lord blessed them;” I think that given there is no present reason to suspect this is referring to anyone other than God yet, I believe this very clearly identifies the “Lord” (and the underlying name) as referring to “God,” at the very least just in the Book of Moses and the accompanying Biblical texts found in Genesis.

6:9 once more hearkens back to Genesis and the pattern after which we were created, being in the image of God, though this time it makes no mention of the “Only Begotten” which I feel strengthens the claim that the previous alleged textual error is in fact just that.

In 6:26, the “Spirit of God” descends upon Enoch and, speaks for the “Lord.” In 6:28, the figure of the “Lord” once again claims to have been the one that gave his commandments to Adam, identifies himself as the one that has prepared a “hell” for those that rebel against him. In 6:31, Enoch bows before the “Lord” and praises him, and in 6:33, Enoch is told to tell the people that they must choose to serve the “Lord God” who created them, here hearkening back to earlier in the Book of Moses and to the Second Creation Account found from Genesis 2-3.

In 6:34, the “Lord"/"Lord God” claims that his “Spirit” is upon Enoch, and I believe this is still very firmly Heavenly Father speaking. This continues for some verses where “God” and “Lord” seem to be used interchangeably. This is only strengthened by 6:42 which says, “And Enoch continued his speech, saying: The Lord which spake with me, the same is the God of heaven, and he is my God, and your God, and ye are my brethren, and why counsel ye yourselves, and deny the God of heaven?"

In 6:47, it says, “And as Enoch spake forth the words of God, the people trembled, and could not stand in his presence.” detailing that the things he's saying which he was told by the “Lord” are the words of “God.” I see this as evidence to likewise lead is to believe that the “Lord” here is Heavenly Father.

This pattern is repeated again in 6:51, where it says, “And he called upon our father Adam by his own voice, saying: I am God; I made the world, and men before they were in the flesh.” Here, it again identifies “God” as the God of all things, even before creation. This firmly identifies the “Lord"/"God"/"Lord God” as Heavenly Father in conjunction with the following verse, which says:

And he also said unto him: If thou wilt turn unto me, and hearken unto my voice, and believe, and repent of all thy transgressions, and be baptized, even in water, in the name of mine Only Begotten Son, who is full of grace and truth, which is Jesus Christ, the only name which shall be given under heaven, whereby salvation shall come unto the children of men, ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, asking all things in his name, and whatsoever ye shall ask, it shall be given you.

Now, I'm sure this part is somewhat intertextual as it is because Jesus Christ would not be the name known for many millenia, but despite that, this passage does not confuse who is speaking, which can happen where intertextuality is present.

An interesting exchange takes place in 6:53-57, though it is verse 57 which is of most interest here because the same figure of the “Lord” continues and says:

Wherefore teach it unto your children, that all men, everywhere, must repent, or they can in nowise inherit the kingdom of God, for no unclean thing can dwell there, or dwell in his presence; for, in the language of Adam, Man of Holiness is his name, and the name of his Only Begotten is the Son of Man, even Jesus Christ, a righteous Judge, who shall come in the meridian of time.

Here, the figure of the “Lord” seems to be speaking as neither Heavenly Father nor Jesus Christ, and I would posit this is likely due to an error of men, especially when you consider 6:59, in which the same figure, still speaking, says:

That by reason of transgression cometh the fall, which fall bringeth death, and inasmuch as ye were born into the world by water, and blood, and the spirit, which I have made, and so became of dust a living soul, even so ye must be born again into the kingdom of heaven, of water, and of the Spirit, and be cleansed by blood, even the blood of mine Only Begotten; that ye might be sanctified from all sin, and enjoy the words of eternal life in this world, and eternal life in the world to come, even immortal glory;

In this verse, just following the verses previous and part of the same exchange with the same figure of the “Lord” speaking, once again identifies himself as the father of the “Only Begotten.” As stated before, I believe this to be an error textual transmission.

6:62 likewise identifies the “Lord” as the father of the “Only Begotten,” saying, “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."

In 6:63-65, we see the following exchange:

And behold, all things have their likeness, and all things are created and made to bear record of me, both things which are temporal, and things which are spiritual; things which are in the heavens above, and things which are on the earth, and things which are in the earth, and things which are under the earth, both above and beneath: all things bear record of me.

And it came to pass, when the Lord had spoken with Adam, our father, that Adam cried unto the Lord, and he was caught away by the Spirit of the Lord, and was carried down into the water, and was laid under the water, and was brought forth out of the water.

And thus he was baptized, and the Spirit of God descended upon him, and thus he was born of the Spirit, and became quickened in the inner man.

Thus is notable because verse 63 is likely hearkening back to Alma (if I remember correctly), where all things are said to be a witness of God. Verse 64 identifies this “Spirit of the Lord” and seems to identify this spirit as being either the same or similar to the “Spirit of God” mentioned in verse 65.

6:66-68 (the end of the chapter) says, “And he heard a voice out of heaven, saying: Thou art baptized with afire, and with the Holy Ghost. This is the record of the Father, and the Son, from henceforth and forever; And thou art after the order of him who was without beginning of days or end of years, from all eternity to all eternity. Behold, thou art one in me, a son of God; and thus may all become my sons. Amen."

Besides being perhaps slightly intertextual, this passage identifies the same speaker, still the “Lord” as “God” by declaring that we may all become “his” sons, after identifying Enoch as a “son of God” in the same sentence.

In Chapter 7, Enoch talks face-to-face with the “Lord,” who has yet to be identified as anyone other than Heavenly Father. In 7:13, it says, “And so great was the faith of Enoch that he led the people of God, and their enemies came to battle against them; and he spake the word of the Lord, and the earth trembled, and the mountains fled, even according to his command; and the drivers of water were turned out of their course; and the roar of the lions was heard out of the wilderness; and all nations feared greatly, so powerful was the word of Enoch, and so great was the power of the language which God had given him."

This passage seems to identify the “word of the Lord” with the “language which God had given him,” or at the very least, I see no textual reason to believe otherwise.

In verse 16, it says that the “Lord” dwells with his people, the same people that were previously (in 7:13) identified as the “people of God.” I see no reason to believe that this is a mistake given the evidence I have provided thus far, and so this identifies these two terms as, once again, synonymous.

7:17, in conjunction with everything thus far, identifies the “fear of the Lord” and “glory of the Lord” as belonging to the “Lord"/"God"/"Lord God."

Things get a little more interesting in 7:18-19, where it says:

And the Lord called his people Zion, because they were of bone heart and one mind, and dwelt in righteousness; and there was no poor among them.

And Enoch continued his preaching in righteousness unto the people of God. And it came to pass in his days, that he built a city that was called the City of Holiness, even Zion.

This passage identifies the “Lord"'s people as the “people of God” directly.

Some interesting stuff happens between 7:19 and 7:28, but it's verses 28 and 29 that I'm most interested in because there it identifies very clearly the “God of Heaven” as the “Lord” and the one who is weeping.

And it came to pass that the God of heaven looked upon the residue of the people, and he wept; and Enoch bore record of it, saying: How is it that the heavens weep, and shed forth their tears as the rain upon the mountains?

And Enoch said unto the Lord: How is it that thou canst weep, seeing thou art holy, and from all eternity to all eternity?

Verse 32 also identifies the this same figure as the one that previously created mankind in the garden of Eden:

The Lord said unto Enoch: Behold these thy brethren; they are the workmanship of mine own hands, and I gave unto them their knowledge, in the day I created them; and in the Garden of Eden, gave I unto man his agency;

And this figure is the same as the one just identified as the “God of Heaven."

Interestingly, in verse 35, “God” identifies himself as the “Man of Holiness,” “Man of Counsel,” and “Endless and Eternal,” in this case using them as names.

In verse 39, the figure still speaking once again identifies himself as Heavenly Father: “And that which I have chosen hath pled before my face. Wherefore, he suffereth for their sins; inasmuch as they will repent in the day that my Chosen shall return unto me, and until that day they shall be in torment;"

Hereafter, it begins a different version of the Story of Noah and switches to using “Lord” once again. in verse 47, it identifies Jesus Christ as the “Son of Man” and the “Lamb,” and in 7:48-50, it identifies the figure of the “Lord' as Heavenly Father:

And it came to pass that Enoch looked upon the earth; and he heard a voice from the bowels thereof, saying: Wo, wo is me, the mother of men; I am pained, I am weary, because of the wickedness of my children. When shall I crest, and be cleansed from the filthiness which is gone forth out of me? When will my Creator sanctify me, that I may rest, and righteousness for a season abide upon my face?

And when Enoch heard the earth mourn, he wept, and cried unto the Lord, saying: O Lord, wilt thou not have compassion upon the earth? Wilt thou not bless the children of Noah?

And it came to pass that Enoch continued his cry unto the Lord, saying: I ask thee, O Lord, in the name of thine Only Begotten, even Jesus Christ, that thou wilt have mercy upon Noah and his seed, that the earth might never more be covered by the floods.

Verse 53 seems a little confusing, using Messiah as a name where it is actually a title, but otherwise remains pretty consistent with the identification of the “Lord” as Heavenly Father considering he speaks of the coming Messiah as a separate being:

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; whoso cometh in at the gate and climbeth up by me shall never fall; wherefore, blessed are they of whom I have spoken, for they shall come forth with songs of everlasting joy.

Verse 56 once more identifies “God” as the creator of the Earth:

And he heard a loud voice; and the heavens were veiled; and all the creations of God mourned; and the earth groaned; and the rocks were rent; and the saints arose, and were crowned at the right hand of the Son of Man, with crowns of glory;

7:59-60 is particularly interesting, identifying the “Lord” once more as Heavenly Father in verse 59, and if I'm right, in verse 60 saying that Heavenly Father himself will come down from Heaven. This tracks with verse 62 where it once again shows the speaker is Heavenly Father here, and not Jesus Christ, through the use of “Only Bgeotten."

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.

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;

And the day shall come that the earth shall rest, but before that day the heavens shall be darkened, and a veil of darkness shall cover the earth; and the heavens shall shake, and also the earth; and great tribulations shall be among the children of men, but my people will I preserve;

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.

Of course, this passage could also be slightly in error considering it seems like it may be depicting Enoch calling to Jesus and asking if he will return, or if not, it would be talking about God's presence likely in the form of the “Spirit of the Lord” which is actually different than the Holy Ghost/Holy Spirit.

Something to think on, I suppose.

Nothing else of interest happens until the end of the chapter, and so I will move on, at last, to Chapter 8.

8 begins with a genealogy, though in verse 2, it digresses to say this, “And it came to pass that Methuselah, the son of Enoch, was not taken, that the covenants of the Lord might be fulfilled, which he made to Enoch; for he truly covenanted with Enoch that Noah should be of the fruit of his loins."

Once again, I see no reason to believe this is talking about anyone other than Heavenly Father, especially since it is he we covenant with, not Jesus Christ.

In 8:4, the “Lord” once again curses the Earth, and then the genealogy picks back up for several verses until verse 9 where it digresses before going back to the genealogy once more until verse 13.

In 8: 13, it details how Noah and his family hearkened unto the “Lord” and in 8:15-16, it seems to identify the manner in which they hearkened unto the “Lord” as synonymous with the teachings of “God."

8:17 through to the end is pretty interesting on its own. but verse 26 once more identifies the “Lord” as the creator of mankind. IN verse 27, it says, “And thus Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord; for Noah was a just man, and perfect in his generation; and he walked with God, as did also his three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth."

I see this as further proof that the “Lord” in the Book of Moses is Heavenly Father because it would be quite odd to detail how Noah found grace in the sight of one being and then “walked” with another, considering that it would be the grace of God which would grant Noah and his sons the blessing and power of walking with “God."

The final verses revert back to using “God” once more, and now that I have reached the end, I, too, am finished.