Faith and Evidence in the Witness of Ancient Texts for the Book of Moses Enoch Story
by Jeffrey M. Bradshaw
When I first saw the photo that accompanied the New Year’s message and invitation for 2022 from President Nelson,[3] I could not help but think of the following verses from the Joseph Smith Translation of Genesis about the city of Enoch (JST Genesis 9:21–22):
21 And the 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.
22 And this is mine everlasting covenant, that when thy posterity shall embrace the truth, and look upward, then shall Zion look downward, and all the heavens shall shake with gladness, and the earth shall tremble with joy;”
I hope no one will take this as a hidden prophecy that President Nelson is soon to be translated. Rather my hope is that in reading and applying his message and the lessons of the story of the city of Enoch we will remember that the glorious day of the return of heavenly Zion to the earth depends on the degree to which each of us individually “embrace the truth and look upward” (JST Genesis 9:22).
Question: Is “Zion” associated geographically with only one specific location in the New World: the “New Jerusalem” that is to be built in Missouri?
Question: What is official or core Latter-day Saint doctrine?
In the bookstore
In God’s Image and Likeness 2: Enoch, Noah, and the Tower of Babel
The Collected Works of Hugh Nibley, Volume 2: Enoch the Prophet
Come, Follow Me—For Individuals and Families
Come, Follow Me—For Primary | Sunday School
January 24–30 Moses 7 “The Lord Called His People Zion”
