Class Member Study: Lesson 6
Genesis 6
Genesis 7
Genesis 8
Genesis 9
Moses 7
Moses 8
Excellent Ensign Article about The Flood and the Tower of Babel: The Flood and the Tower of Babel
The article is written by Donald W. Parry a professor of Hebrew at BYU and member of the international team of translators of the Dead Sea Scrolls
IMPORTANCE OF STORIES OF ENOCH, NOAH AND TOWER OF BABEL
In these eleven chapters of Genesis,
which cover the lives of the ancient patriarchs, almost one-third of the total
history of mankind is summarized in a brief manner.
Obviously, such a limited treatment must omit
many details that would be of great benefit to us.
When
Moses wrote this history, however, he shared with us one of the most remarkable
contrasts in the history of the world.
From the time of the Fall the people of the
world began moving in two opposite directions.
One group followed the teachings of Adam and Eve and continually strived for increasing righteousness and perfection.
One group followed the teachings of Adam and Eve and continually strived for increasing righteousness and perfection.
The other group
yielded to the deceitful enticings of Satan and his servants and moved deeper
and deeper into depravity and wickedness. Both these divergent paths were
followed to their ultimate ends.
Under Enoch’s direction, a whole society became so perfect that God took it to Himself, and for the next seven hundred years those who qualified themselves were likewise translated into that remarkable city of Enoch (see Reading 4-14).
The other group moved downward as surely as Enoch’s city moved upward.
Under Enoch’s direction, a whole society became so perfect that God took it to Himself, and for the next seven hundred years those who qualified themselves were likewise translated into that remarkable city of Enoch (see Reading 4-14).
The other group moved downward as surely as Enoch’s city moved upward.
Finally they reached
such depths of wickedness that it was a blessing for them to be destroyed .
Why is this pattern
of significance to you?
Because we are in a period of history when the
same dramatic contrast and division is taking place.
Jesus taught that the
situation in the days of Noah was going to be repeated once more in history.
When is that
repetition to take place, and what are the implications of that repetition? How
does Nephi’s vision relate to this teaching?
TIME BETWEEN ENOCH AND NOAH
TIME BETWEEN ENOCH AND NOAH
Bruce R. McConkie notes:
“During
the first 2200 or so years of the earth’s history—that is, from the fall of
Adam to the ministry of Melchizedek—it
was a not uncommon occurrence for faithful members of the Church to be
translated and taken into the heavenly realms without tasting death.
Since that time there have been occasional special instances of translation, instances in which a special work of the ministry required it.
Since that time there have been occasional special instances of translation, instances in which a special work of the ministry required it.
“… Methuselah, the son of Enoch, was not translated [with Enoch’s city], ‘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.’ (Moses 8:2.)
But during the nearly 700 years from the translation of Enoch to the flood of Noah, it would appear that nearly all of the faithful members of the Church were translated, for ‘the Holy Ghost fell on many, and they were caught up by the powers of heaven into Zion.’ (Moses 7:27.)” (McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, p. 804.)
NOAH
The Lord revealed to the Prophet Joseph Smith many things in relation to the ancient prophets and the keys which they held.
In a discourse on the Priesthood July 2, 1839, the Prophet made known what the Lord had revealed to him in relation to the missions of the ancient prophets and seers. In the course of his remarks he said this
“‘… Noah,
who is Gabriel; he stands next in authority to Adam in the Priesthood; he was
called of God to this office, and was the father of all living in his day, and
to him was given the dominion. These men held keys first on earth, and then in
heaven. … ’ [Smith, Teachings, pp. 157–58.]
Joseph Fielding Smith said:
“Luke
reveals the coming of the angel Gabriel to Zacharias to inform him that his
wife would bear a son. He also appeared to Mary and announced the birth of our
Lord and Savior.
“Gabriel
then is Noah according to this revelation.” (Smith, Answers to Gospel
Questions, 3:138–41.)
Mark E. Petersen taught:
“Noah,
who built the ark, was one of God’s greatest servants, chosen before he was
born as were others of the prophets. He was no eccentric, as many have
supposed. Neither was he a mythical figure created only in legend. Noah was
real. …
“Let
no one downgrade the life and mission of this great prophet. Noah was so near
perfect in his day that he literally walked and talked with God. …
“Few
men in any age were as great as Noah. In many respects he was like Adam, the
first man. Both had served as
ministering angels in the presence of God even after their mortal experience.
Adam
was Michael, the archangel, but Noah was
Gabriel, one of those nearest to God.
Of
all the hosts of heaven, he was chosen to open the Christian
era by announcing to Mary that she would become the mother of the Savior, Jesus Christ.
He even designated the name by which the Redeemer should be known here on earth,
saying He would be the Son of God. …
“… The
Lord decreed that [the earth would be cleansed] by water, a worldwide deluge.
Therefore, from among his premortal spirit children, God chose another great
individual—His third in line, Gabriel—to resume the propagation of mankind
following the flood.” (Mark E. Petersen, Noah and the Flood [1982], 1–4.)
NIMROD FOUNDER OF BABYLON
The Joseph Smith Translation indicates,
not that Nimrod was “a mighty hunter before the Lord” (Genesis 10:9), but that he was “a mighty hunter
in the land” (JST, Genesis 10:5).
SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TOWER OF BABEL
Every time we hear
foreign tongues (including English), we can be reminded that at one time “the whole earth was of one language, and
of one speech” (Gen. 11:1). The hundreds of languages on the
earth today stand as a witness that there existed long ago a tower of Babel in
the land of Shinar.Yet in spite of the confusion of
tongues so long ago, the gospel of Jesus Christ is reversing the effects of
Babel.
In the context of a
temple dedication, Elder Spencer W. Kimball taught:
“someone said yesterday, there never should have been a Babel. There having been a Babel, it is in reverse now. The confusion of Babel is being overcome. The Finns and the Dutch and the British, the Germans and the French and the Hollanders, the Scandinavians, Italians, Austrians all meeting under one roof! All of them heard the voice of the prophet of the Lord. Everyone of them heard his message in his own tongue. Everyone of them heard the ordinances of the gospel, the ordinances of the temple, in
his own tongue. The confusion of Babel is in reverse.” 12
