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CHAPTER 1(June 1830) God reveals himself to Moses— Moses transfigured—Confrontation with Satan—Many inhabited worlds seen—Worlds without number created by the Son—God's work and glory to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man. |
Moses receives God, his understanding and his power of his calling as God's prophet in a series of visions. He has revealed God's great plan in the 'vision of all', from the creation of the world to all the inhabitants and history thereof to the very purpose of it all. He is called to that grand High Priesthood order of being in the Similitude of the Only Begotten, which is the Holy Priesthood after the Order of the Son of God. |
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1 THE words of God, which he
aspake unto Moses at a time when Moses was caught up into
an exceedingly high bmountain,
MOS 1:2 And he asaw God bface to facea, and he ctalked with him, and the dglory of God was upon Moses; therefore Moses could endure his presence. |
2a he saw God face to face To have God, even Jehovah, revealed to oneself, is that of receiving the second comforter. It is only by the power of the Holy Ghost being upon oneself, receiving of the spiritual glory which is beyond and protective of the mortal being, that man can stand in the presence of God. This is the purpose and role of the Holy Ghost, to witness and reveal God the Father and the Son to man. Prophets who have seen and spoken with God face to face in his glory, have had this special witness, as they have seen God and know of an assurity that HE IS. |
1a
Alma 12:30;
Moses 1:42 b Ex. 19:3; Ezek. 40:2 Rev. 21:10; Moses 1:42 2a |
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MOS 1:3 And God spake unto Moses, saying: Behold, I am the Lord God
aAlmighty, and bEndless is my
cname; for I am without beginning of days or end of years;
and is not this endless?
MOS 1:4 And, behold, thou art my son; wherefore alook, and I will show unto thee the bworkmanship of mine chands; but not all, for my dworks are without eend, and also my fwords, for they never cease. MOS 1:5 Wherefore, no man can behold all my aworks, except he behold all my bglory; and no man can cbehold all my dglory, and afterwards remain in the flesh on the earth. |
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MOS 1:6 And I have a work for thee, Moses my son; and thou art in the
asimilitude of mine bOnly
cBegottena; and
mine Only Begotten is and shall be the
dSavior, for he is full of egrace and
ftruth; but there is gno God beside me,
and all things are present with me, for I hknow them all.
MOS 1:7 And now, behold, this one thing I show unto thee, Moses, my son, for thou art in the world, and now I show it unto thee. MOS 1:8 And it came to pass that Moses looked, and beheld the aworld upon which he was created; and Moses bbeheld the world and all the ends thereof, and all the children of men which are, and which were created; of the same he greatly cmarveled and wondered. |
6a thou art in the similitude of mine Only Begotten To put upon oneself the image of Christ is the aim of all true seekers of exaltation. We are to follow him and to become like unto him in all things. That Moses was given this great blessing to be in the very similitude of the Son of God is not only a great honor but a giant step toward and the very assurance of obtaining the Celestial Glory of God. | |
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MOS 1:9 And the apresence of God withdrew from Moses, that
his bglory was not upon Moses; and Moses was left unto
himself. And as he was left unto himself, he cfell unto the
earth.
MOS 1:10 And it came to pass that it was for the space of many hours before Moses did again receive his natural astrength like unto man; and he said unto himself: Now, for this cause I know that bman is cnothing, which thing I never had supposed. MOS 1:11 But now mine own eyes have abeheld God; but not my bnatural, but my cspiritual eyes, for my dnatural eyes could not have ebeheld; for I should have fwithered and gdied in his presence; but his hglory was upon me; and I beheld his iface, for I was jtransfigured before him. |
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MOS 1:12 And it came to pass that when Moses had said these words, behold,
aSatan came btempting him, saying: Moses,
son of man, worship me.
MOS 1:13 And it came to pass that Moses looked upon Satan and said: Who art thou? For behold, I am a ason of God, in the similitude of his Only Begotten; and where is thy bglory, that I should worship thee? MOS 1:14 For behold, I could not look upon God, except his aglory should come upon me, and I were transfigured before him. But I bcan look upon thee in the natural man. Is it not so, surely? |
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MOS 1:15 Blessed be the name of my God, for his aSpirit
hath not altogether withdrawn from me, or else where is thy glory, for it is
darkness unto me? And I can judge between thee and God; for God said unto me:
bWorship God, for him only shalt thou
cserve.
MOS 1:16 Get thee hence, Satan; deceive me not; for God said unto me: Thou are after the asimilitude of mine Only Begotten. MOS 1:17 And he also gave me commandments when he acalled unto me out of the burning bbush, saying: cCall upon God in the name of mine Only Begotten, and worship me. |
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MOS 1:18 And again Moses said: I will not cease to call upon God, I have
other things to inquire of him: for his aglory has been
upon me, wherefore I can judge between him and thee.
bDepart hence, Satan.
MOS 1:19 And now, when Moses had said these words, aSatan cried with a loud voice, and ranted upon the earth, and commanded, saying: I am the bOnly Begotten, worship me. MOS 1:20 And it came to pass that Moses began to afear exceedingly; and as he began to fear, he saw the bitterness of bhell. Nevertheless, ccalling upon God, he received dstrength, and he commanded, saying: Depart from me, Satan, for this one God only will I worship, which is the God of eglory. |
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MOS 1:21 And now Satan began to tremble, and the earth shook; and Moses
received strength, and called upon God, saying: In the name of the Only
Begotten, adepart hence, bSatan.
MOS 1:22 And it came to pass that Satan cried with a loud voice, with weeping, and wailing, and agnashing of teeth; and he departed hence, even from the presence of Moses, that he beheld him not. MOS 1:23 And now of this thing Moses bore record; but because of awickedness it is bnot had among the children of men. |
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MOS 1:24 And it came to pass that when Satan had departed from the presence
of Moses, that Moses lifted up his eyes unto heaven, being filled with the
aHoly Ghost, which beareth record of the Father and the
Son;
MOS 1:25 And calling upon the name of God, he beheld his aglory again, for it was upon him; and he heard a bvoice, saying: Blessed art thou, Moses, for I, the Almighty, have cchosen thee, and thou shalt be made stronger than many dwaters; for they shall obey thy ecommand as if thou wert fGoda. MOS 1:26 And lo, I am awith thee, even unto the end of thy days; for thou shalt bdeliver my people from cbondage, even dIsrael my echosen. |
25a as if thou wert God When one is acting by the power of God, which is the priesthood of God, one is acting in the name of God as though it were God performing the action. From the very least of the ordinances and administrations of the Holy Priesthood, they are all to be done with such reverance as to reflect that one is acting for and in behalf of God. This is the doctrine of divine investiture. Its greatest example is that of Jehovah being endowed with the fulness of the powers of God the Father of Spirits. And it is after this order, the Holy Order after the Son of God, that all priesthood comes and is to be considered as being, the power of God, given to man to act in His name. | |
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MOS 1:27 And it came to pass, as the voice was still speaking,
aMoses cast his
eyes and abeheld the earth, yea, even all of
ita; and there
was not a particle of it which he did not behold,
bdiscerning it by the cspirit of God. MOS 1:28 And he beheld also the inhabitants thereof, and there was not a asoul which he beheld not; and he discerned them by the Spirit of God; and their numbers were great, even numberless as the sand upon the sea shore. MOS 1:29 And he beheld many lands; and each land was called aearth, and there were binhabitants on the face thereof. |
27a even all of it A number of the prophets have seen the vision of all, the whole of the earth, the inhabitants and nations thereof, and it history. While Moses was not allowed to give the whole of his vision, he was allowed to write of the creation of the world and much concerning its past. It is regretable that much of what Moses did write has been corrupted and broad sections removed from his writings. If they had remained in tack, the world, including the Jewish community, would have more understanding concerning Jesus Christ. Yet we have been given much of his words as through Joseph Smith much has been restored to our understanding. |
27a
1 Ne. 14:26 27a D&C 88:47 (45-47); Moses 1:8; Moses 7:23; Abr. 3:21; TG Vision b TG Discernment, Spiritual; TG Holy Ghost, Mission of c TG God, Spirit of Rev. 21:10; Moses 1:42 28a Moses 7:23 29a Gen. 1:10; TG Earth, Dividing of b 1 Ne. 17:36
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MOS 1:30 And it came to pass that Moses called upon God, saying:
aTell me, I pray thee, why these things are so, and by what
thou madest them? MOS 1:31 And behold, the glory of the Lord was upon Moses, so that Moses stood in the presence of God, and talked with him aface to face. And the Lord God said unto Moses: For mine own bpurpose have I made these things. Here is cwisdom and it remaineth in me. MOS 1:32 And by the aword of my power, have I created them, which is mine Only Begotten Sona, who is full of agrace and truth. |
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MOS 1:33 And aworlds without number have I
bcreated; and I also created them for mine own purpose; and
by the cSon I dcreated them, which is
mine eOnly Begotten. MOS 1:34 And the afirst man of all men have I called bAdam, which is cmany. MOS 1:35 But only an account of this eartha, and the inhabitants thereof, give I unto you. For behold, there are many worlds that have passed away by the word of my power. And there are many that now stand, and innumerable are they unto man; but all things are numbered unto me, for they are mine and I aknow them. |
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MOS 1:36 And it came to pass that Moses spake unto the Lord, saying: Be
merciful unto thy servant, O God, and atell me concerning
this earth, and the inhabitants thereof, and also the heavens, and then thy
servant will be content. MOS 1:37 And the Lord God spake unto Moses, saying: The aheavens, they are many, and they cannot be numbered unto man; but they are numbered unto me, for they are mine. MOS 1:38 And as one earth shall pass away, and the heavens thereof even so shall another comea; and there is no aend to my works, neither to my words. MOS 1:39 For behold, this is my awork and my bglory—to bring to pass the cimmortality and deternal elife of man. |
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MOS 1:40 And now, Moses, my son, I will speak unto thee concerning this earth
upon which thou standest; and thou shalt awrite the things
which I shall speak. 41 And in a day when the children of men shall esteem my words as anaught and btake many of them from the cbook which thou shalt writea, behold, I will raise up another dlike unto thee; and they shall be ehad again among the children of menb—among as many as shall believec. |
41a men shall esteem my words as naught
and take many of them from the book which thou shalt write Moses,
like others of the prophets, did testify plainly of Christ and he did also
did write concerning that Christ and his gospel was taught and had in the
days of Adam, Enoch and Noah and was known by Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph,
Moses and all the holy prophets. But for the designs of men and their
purposes in it, these and many others things were taken from the words of
Moses. That a part of them were had down unto the day of Christ is
evident in that Philip testifies to Nathanael that Moses in the law, as
well as other prophets had written, 'Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph'
(John 1:45). Even now the fact that Jesus was promised Messiah of the
covenant of the Firstborn, even the legal and rightful son of Joseph of Egypt
and was so prophesied to be so by Moses and others, is still not plainly made
manifest but by the diligent seeker of truth of the matter (See
Messiah ben David ~ Messiah ben Joseph).
41b I will raise up another like unto thee; and they shall be had again among the children of men Now this other who would restore the words of Moses is none other than Joseph Smith. And that was accomplished in the inspired translation of the Bible, particularly the book of Genesis. In what manner Joseph Smith is like unto Moses, is that he too was a prophet called by God, having had such personal visitation of Him. And also were Moses led Israel out from their bondage to the Egyptians, it is the work of Joseph Smith which did and does lead the children of men out of that spiritual bondage of being kept from the word of God. In this Joseph Smith in the great deliver, also a descendant of Joseph of Egypt, like unto Joseph, like unto Moses as the latter day prophet of the restoration and the gospel going forth to all the world. 41c among as many as shall believe Now to receive the revealed words of Moses which were once taken from his writings, one must come to believe that Joseph Smith was indeed the prophet of the restoration. And as many as do not believe, they still do not have the words of Moses restored unto them. Only those who do believe do readily accept Joseph Smith's inspired translation as being that which Moses himself did once write. The evidence is there that there are items missing which have been so deleted by men, but to have that which had been restored accepted, it also takes accepting that God does again speak to us by a living prophet as in the days of olden times. |
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MOS 1:42 (These words were aspoken unto Moses in the mount,
the name of which shall not be known among the children of men. And now they
are spoken unto you. Show them not unto any except them that believe. Even
so. Amen.) |