Enoch Follows the Example of His Grandfather Adam
Enoch is such an interesting person! He was the son of Cain (Gen 4:16-18), the first murderer, the originator of organized crime, and he was the great-great-grandfather of Lamech (Gen. 5:21-24), also a murderer and member of a crime gang. And yet, he was fully himself: a man who used his own free will to seek God and to make righteous choices, a man who gave his entire life to the preaching of the gospel and the saving of souls. What an example to any of us who come from less-than-stellar background!
"And the Lord spake unto Adam, saying: Inasmuch as thy children are conceived in sin [a sinful environment, mortality], even so when they begin to grow up, sin conceiveth in their hearts, and they taste the bitter, that they may know to prize the good.
"And it is given unto them to know good from evil; wherefore they are agents unto themselves, and I have given unto you another law and commandment.
"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, for 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" (Moses 6:55-57, emphasis added).
Perhaps in these early days of the world, everyone was more obviously related, but the use of agency divided people.
Enoch preached to these people the gospel of Jesus Christ as taught to and by their common ancestor, Adam.
"And it came to pass that Enoch continued his speech, saying: Behold, our father Adam taught these things, and many have believed and become the sons of God, and many have believed not, and have perished in their sins, and are looking forth with fear, in torment, for the fiery indignation of the wrath of God to be poured out upon them" (Moses 7:1, emphasis added).
Enoch then shared with the people the amazing vision he had experienced with God, a vision which was life-changing to these people who had looked forward with fear to their future interaction with God.
The First Vision of Enoch
As Enoch was praying intensely, he heard a command to go to the mountain, a natural temple. Ascending a mountain, like attending the temple, always requires a lot of effort. It's not a convenient and easy path to either one, but each one sets a person apart from the world.
As Enoch met this requirement of obedience and he stood upon that mountain, "I beheld the heavens open, and I was clothed upon with glory;
"And I saw the Lord; and he stood before my face, and he talked with me, even as a man talketh one with another, face to face; and he said unto me: Look and I will show unto thee the world for the space of many generations" (verses 3-4).
Enoch's vision restored the truth that the mighty God of heaven is a person, who cares about and converses with His children.
In the vision Enoch saw how people throughout the world feared each other and fought each other. They believed wholly in the concept of separation: that there is an "us" and a "them." They believed that happiness and peace can only be achieved by fighting and winning and having. He saw the people of Canaan battle against the people of Shum. He saw differences of skin color evolve because of a differing climate area, probably caused by the destruction of plant life by war. Then he saw racism immediately spring forth (verses 7,12).
The City of Enoch
Those who opposed these Old Testament Christians became such angry enemies that Enoch had to call upon the powers of God to physically separate his people from them (Moses 7:13-17).
But among those people who believed in Christ, there was complete unity.
"And the Lord called his people Zion, because they were of one heart and one mind, and dwelt in righteousness; and there was no poor among them" (verse 18).
Although the Bible tells us that Cain built a city named Enoch, the Book of Moses tells us that Enoch built his own city, "A city that was called the City of Holiness, even Zion" (verse 19).
This city was taken into heaven and from that point, the view from heaven, Enoch was shown an amazing vision. (How did we get this vision? Was it ever written down before it was revealed to Joseph Smith? We don't know. There is no evidence of it in the Old Testament. There are books of Enoch in non-Biblical sources, but I have not read them.)
The Second Vision of Enoch
Enoch saw all the nations of the earth, Satan ensnaring people with darkness, angels of God (possibly some were citizens of his city) descending to bear testimony and convert others to unity with God and membership in the city of Zion. Those who converted were caught up to heaven. (See verses 23-27.)
"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?" (verses 28-29).
And here is a revolutionary concept, not readily found on the earth or in its religions until the record of this vision was restored by Joseph Smith: God experiences emotions, including sorrow; He cares about his children! Although men were “looking forth with fear, in torment, for the fiery indignation of the wrath of God to be poured out upon them” (verse 1), God Himself was weeping at their estrangement. While Enoch was rejoicing that Zion was safe from evil, God was mourning the separation from “the residue of the people” who remained in wickedness (verse 28). (Although God cursed them in verse 20, it was an indirect cursing—simply the natural consequence of breaking His laws.) Enoch was utterly shocked that God, who is all powerful, all knowing, eternal, kind, perfect in every way, and has just seen the success of Zion, is now weeping (verse 31).
Enoch helpfully pointed out to God, "...thou hast taken Zion to thine own bosom, from all thy creations, from all eternity to all eternity; and naught but peace, justice, and truth is the habitation of thy throne; and mercy shall go before thy face and have no end; how is it thou canst weep?" (Moses 7:31).
And here is what the Lord helpfully pointed out to Enoch: "Behold these thy brethren..." have chosen poorly and they are suffering. God uses the phrase "thy brethren" three times as he tells Enoch how their willfulness and selfishness have separated them from God and from joy. From this point on, enemies disappears, replaced by thy brethren. And yet they have chosen another family: "...Satan shall be their father, and misery shall be their doom; and the whole heavens shall weep over them, wherefore should not the heavens weep, seeing these shall suffer?" (verse 37).
The heavens weep, not for the sin of the people, but for the suffering that sin causes before their redemption. Yes, they can repent in the next life and Christ will redeem them, but “...until that day they shall be in torment; wherefore, for this shall the heavens weep, yea and all the workmanship of mine hands" (verses 39-40). Separation from God and from each other causes suffering.
Once Enoch saw this with God's eyes, he “...wept and stretched forth his arms, and his heart swelled wide as eternity; and his bowels yearned; and all eternity shook” (verse 41).
Enoch “...had bitterness of soul, and wept over his brethren, and said unto the heavens: I will refuse to be comforted; but the Lord said unto Enoch: Lift up your heart, and be glad; and look” (verse 44).
And then he saw “the day of the coming of the Son of Man, even in the flesh; and his soul rejoiced…” (verse 47). It is right that we should sorrow for the suffering of our beloved siblings on the earth (some of whom are our own children), but that sorrow must end; we must look up in faith to their future redemption in Christ.
After the agony of the cross and the agony of the earth in response to the crucifixion, not only did Enoch see “saints” arise to be crowned at the right hand of God (verse 56), but also “the spirits as were in prison came forth, and stood on the right hand of God. But a remainder (the word remainder suggests a small number) still waits “in chains of darkness until the judgment of the great day.” (verse 57).
The Covenant of the Rainbow
Enoch watch in horror as his wicked siblings drowned in the devastating flood that God sent upon Noah. It was so awful that Enoch begged the Lord to never again send such a flood upon the earth (verse 50).
"And the Lord could not withhold [remember in the last chapter he promised Enoch power over the elements]; and he covenanted with Enoch, and sware unto him with an oath, that he would stay the floods; that he would call upon the children of Noah..." to teach them the gospel (verse 51).
We can see more about this beautiful covenant in the Joseph Smith Translation of Genesis chapter 9. You can find this at the back of your LDS paper scriptures, or you can find it in the electronic Gospel Library app under Study Helps > Joseph Smith Translation Index.
"And the [rain]bow shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant, which I made unto thy father Enoch; that, when men should keep all my commandments, Zion should again come on the earth, the city of Enoch which I have caught up unto myself.
"And this is mine everlasting covenant, that when thy posterity shall embrace the truth, and look upward [think Celestial!], then shall Zion look downward, and all the heavens shall shake with gladness, and the earth shall tremble with joy;
"And the general assembly of the church of the firstborn shall come down out of heaven, and possess the earth, and shall have place until the end come. And this is mine everlasting covenant, which I made with thy father Enoch" (JST Genesis 9:21-23).
Did you know that a rainbow viewed from above is a full circle? This is what Enoch would see should he look down from heaven--the symbol of eternity.
The Solution to Enmity: The Atonement of Jesus Christ
Going back to the Pearl of Great Price account, we see that whereas Enoch's heart had swelled "wide as eternity" with deep sorrow for the suffering of men, now he saw the King of Zion, Jesus Christ, spread out his arms on the cross to make heaven "broad as eternity," big enough for all, even the latecomers.
"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 [remember the necessity of effort to get up a mountain?] shall never fall; wherefore, blessed are they of whom I have spoken, for they shall come forth with songs of everlasting joy" (Moses 7:53).
The earth will finally rest when Christ comes again and enmity is removed from the family of God. The City of Enoch will come down to join Zion on earth, the New Jerusalem, which hopefully will be found in each of our wards and branches across the world, “and we will receive them into our bosom, and they shall see us; and we will fall upon their necks, and they shall fall upon our necks, and we will kiss each other” (verse 63). There will be a thousand years of peace upon the earth.
"And the Lord showed Enoch all things, even unto the end of the world; and he saw the day of the righteous, the hour of their redemption, and received a fulness of joy" (verse 67).
A Fulness of Joy is Found in Unity with God and Man
This concept of "us vs. them" never left the Old Testament peoples. It was only temporarily overturned by Jesus Christ's teachings to his small group of followers in the meridian of time. Separation persists everywhere today.
Why are we so convinced that we are better than others? Is there any civilization, clan, nation, or religion on the earth that does not think they are better than others? Can we overturn this enmity today by spreading Christ's gospel of unity throughout the world? We have a massive missionary force and a massive humanitarian effort going forth from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints today, both the greatest they have ever been to serve our siblings and become united in love with them. We have outreach and service programs with other churches to combine and magnify our efforts. Once we serve someone different from us (or serve with someone different than us), using the pure love of Christ, we never see them as "others" again! We are on the right track as a church in 2026!
For those of us not currently serving missions, can we work to avoid these common temptations to separate?
- to not view others’ successes with jealousy.
- to not polarize ourselves by our political beliefs.
- to view other cultures as less than ours, being condescending even when we are trying to be kind.
- to be suspicious of those who are different because we don't understand their culture.
- to struggle to forgive those who have wronged us, to wish healing for them as well as for ourselves.
We may say that everyone is a child of God, but we feel that perhaps our group contains the best children of God, as if the rest are a different class of family members.
Or we may think that a particular child of God in our ward or branch should behave better than they do.
In all of these daily situations, we are only free to be truly happy when we unite ourselves with our Heavenly Father and view all “others” as our suffering siblings. Once we have this view, the Holy Ghost can guide us in how to love and accept others and how to share the gospel with them so that we can be one.
There is only one Church of Jesus Christ. We don't have a "beginner church" for those who don't know enough scriptures, who don't know the unspoken dress code, who can't read, who have mental illness or intellectual disabilities, or who are at the very beginning of their spiritual awakening.
Like Jesus, who saw Zaccheus in the tree, can we keep our eyes open daily, searching for and loving those on the fringes? Can we gather more and more people into our comfortable circle? Or if we don't have a comfortable circle, can we find someone to serve on our own? Wherever we are, we should remember that we are not meant to be separate. We are meant to build the City of Zion and becoming united in the love of Christ.
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I highly recommend the books by Terryl and Fiona Givens, The God Who Weeps, All Things New, and The Christ Who Heals for understanding how little we understand how much God loves us. Really, every Latter-day Saint should read at least one of these.
I also highly recommend the book At One Ment, by Thomas Wirthlin McConkie. It is mind-blowing and soul-expanding.
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