Moses 7: Lesson 17

Moses 7:22–47

Enoch’s Vision

When have you felt of God’s mercy in your life? The Lord showed Enoch a vision of the earth’s history from his own day to the Millennium. Enoch learned in a profound way about Heavenly Father’s personal love for His children. This lesson can help students feel God’s mercy and love for all His children.

Student preparation: Invite students to think of experiences and scriptures that help them know what Heavenly Father is like. They could also ask parents or trusted leaders or friends to share experiences or scriptures with them. Invite students to come prepared to share.

Possible Learning Activities

Struggling to feel God’s mercy and love

To prepare students to learn more about God and His character, read or display the following scenarios:

Caleb wonders whether God only cares about people who are doing what’s right.

Zoe worries God may be angry about the choices someone close to her is making. She worries He may want to punish them.

Olivia doesn’t think she’s ever felt God’s love.

• Why might these people feel this way?

Select one of these scenarios to ponder as you continue this lesson.

To help students be receptive to the influence of the Holy Ghost throughout this lesson, encourage them to ponder the following questions:

• What do you know about Heavenly Father that could help you if you had similar concerns?

• What questions do you have about Heavenly Father?

Seek help from the Lord to know and feel His love for you and for all His children.

Enoch’s vision of those who were not taken into heaven

Consider summarizing the following in your own words:

Recall that through the help and guidance of the Lord, Enoch established the city of Zion. The people of Zion were unified in the Lord, lived in righteousness, and cared for one another (see Moses 7:16–19). In a vision, the Lord showed Enoch that He would take the people of Zion into heaven because of their faith and righteousness (see Moses 7:20–21). Enoch also “beheld the residue of the people” (Moses 7:22), referring to those people who were left on the earth because they would not follow the Savior.

Read Moses 7:23–26, looking for what Enoch saw.

• What do you learn about Satan?

• Why do you think it is important to understand these things about Satan?

Enoch sees how God reacts to wickedness

Enoch then had a tender experience as he watched God look upon the people who had chosen not to obey Him.

You may want to explain that Enoch saw Jehovah, or Jesus Christ. Ever since the Fall of Adam, Jehovah is who appears to and speaks with prophets. On these occasions, He often speaks as if He were the Father. The unity of the Father and Son is such that the Savior’s feelings also represent the Father. Therefore, what students will study of this vision between Enoch and Jehovah can also help them learn about Heavenly Father.

As students read the following verses, you might encourage them to read slowly, pause to ponder what they read, and maybe read the verses more than once. Reading in this way can help students invite the Spirit to teach them more about their Heavenly Father.

Read Moses 7:28–33 and mark words or phrases that help you know and understand Heavenly Father better.

• What do you learn about God from these verses?

Consider writing “God …” on the board and ask students to finish this statement with what they learned. Encourage various responses. Some answers might include:

• loves us deeply (verses 28–33).

• created the universe yet is available to us (verse 30).

• is just, merciful, and kind (verse 30).

• gave us agency (verse 32).

• desires that we love one another (verse 33).

• desires that we choose Him (verse 33).

As students share what they found, consider asking follow-up questions such as:

• Why is that truth about Heavenly Father meaningful to you?

• How can knowing that truth help the person in the situation you chose? How can it help you?

Using Enoch’s experience, President Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles taught that the Savior shows us what Heavenly Father is like and how much He loves us. He shared the following insight about Heavenly Father:

In the midst of a grand vision of humankind which heaven opened to his view, Enoch, observing both the blessings and challenges of mortality, turns his gaze toward the Father and is stunned to see Him weeping. He says in wonder and amazement to this most powerful Being in the universe: “How is it that thou canst weep?” …

That single, riveting scene does more to teach the true nature of God than any theological treatise could ever convey. …

What an indelible image of God’s engagement in our lives! What anguish in a parent when His children do not choose Him nor “the gospel of God” He sent! [Romans 1:1]. How easy to love someone who so singularly loves us! …

I bear personal witness this day of a personal, living God, who knows our names, hears and answers prayers, and cherishes us eternally as children of His spirit. (”The Grandeur of God,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2003, 72)

Invite students to share what stood out to them from President Holland’s statement.

Consider writing the following questions on the board. Invite students to discuss the questions in small groups. Also invite them to discuss how these ideas might apply to the scenarios they chose at the beginning of the lesson. As students answer, walk around the room and listen to some of their responses.

• Why do you think Heavenly Father weeps for us when we do not love one another?

• Why might He weep for us when we do not choose to follow and love Him?

• What are some lies that Satan would like us to believe about God’s feelings toward us?

After students have discussed these questions, consider asking what they heard from another student that would be helpful to share with the whole class. This allows students to review answers while also complimenting each other for their responses. You may also point out helpful answers you heard.

Enoch sees the life and mission of the Savior

The Lord then showed Enoch that the people left on the earth who would not repent would perish in a flood (see Moses 7:34–44). In response, Enoch wept. The Lord then comforted Enoch, saying, “Lift up your heart, and be glad; and look” (Moses 7:44).

Read Moses 7:44–47, looking for what the Lord showed Enoch to comfort him. It may be helpful to know that “the Righteous” (verses 45 and 47) is a title for Jesus Christ.

• Why do you think seeing these things would cause Enoch’s soul to rejoice? (verse 47).

• How does sending Jesus Christ show the Father’s mercy and love?

If helpful, you can discuss how the Savior will help all of God’s children, even the people who were wicked and died in the Flood. Help students understand that although the wicked perished in the Flood and would have to suffer for their sins in the spirit world, they could still repent through the Savior (see Moses 7:38–39; 1 Peter 3:18–20).

Feeling God’s love

To conclude, invite students to seek help through the Holy Ghost as they do the following activity. Alternatively, students could write to someone in their lives who may need to feel Heavenly Father’s mercy and love.

Write a letter to help the person in the scenario you chose at the beginning of the lesson. As part of your letter, include the following:

• What you learned from Moses 7 about Heavenly Father’s mercy and love. Include specific phrases or verses you feel would be especially meaningful.

• Other scriptures or experiences that have helped you feel God’s mercy and love.

• Additional ideas you think may help this person feel God’s love.

Conclude by inviting students to share their thoughts, experiences, and feelings. Consider adding your own testimony of the Father’s love.

Additional Resources

Whom did Enoch see?

Enoch saw Jehovah, or Jesus Christ, acting for the Father. One of the consequences of the Fall was that mankind was cast out of the presence of the Father (see Moses 4:29, 31; 5:1, 4). With the exception of introducing His Son, the Father’s appearances to man would be through the Son (see Joseph Fielding Smith, Doctrines of Salvation, 1:27). It would only be through the work of the Son, Jesus Christ, that mankind could again regain the Father’s presence (see Alma 11:44; Helaman 14:15–17; Joseph Smith Translation, John 1:19).

President Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles explained:

Under the direction of and with authority given by the Father (Elohim), the Son (Jehovah/Jesus) may act as the Father…. Christ can at any time and in any place speak and act for the Father by virtue of the “divine investiture of authority” the Father has given him. (Christ and the New Covenant: The Messianic Message of the Book of Mormon [1997], 183–184)

Moses 7:28. Why does God weep?

President M. Russell Ballard (1928–2023) of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles taught:

We are children of God. Each one of us is precious to the point of bringing the Lord God Almighty to a fulness of joy if we are faithful, or to tears if we are not. (“The Atonement and the Value of One Soul,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2004, 87)

How much does God love us?

President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, then of the First Presidency, taught:

Think of the purest, most all-consuming love you can imagine. Now multiply that love by an infinite amount—that is the measure of God’s love for you [see Isaiah 54:10; Jeremiah 31:3].

… Though we are incomplete, God loves us completely. Though we are imperfect, He loves us perfectly. Though we may feel lost and without compass, God’s love encompasses us completely.

He loves us because He is filled with an infinite measure of holy, pure, and indescribable love. We are important to God not because of our résumé but because we are His children. He loves every one of us, even those who are flawed, rejected, awkward, sorrowful, or broken. God’s love is so great that He loves even the proud, the selfish, the arrogant, and the wicked.

What this means is that, regardless of our current state, there is hope for us. No matter our distress, no matter our sorrow, no matter our mistakes, our infinitely compassionate Heavenly Father desires that we draw near to Him so that He can draw near to us [see Doctrine and Covenants 88:63]. (“The Love of God,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2009, 22–23)

Moses 7:30. What does the phrase “and yet thou art there” mean?

Elder Neal A. Maxwell (1926–2004) of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles explained:

Enoch, to whom the Lord revealed so much, praised God amid His vast creations, exclaiming reassuringly, “Yet thou art there” (Moses 7:30; see also Jeremiah 10:12).

This same special assurance can see each of us through all the seasons and circumstances of our lives. A universal God is actually involved with our small, individual universes of experience! In the midst of His vast dominions, yet He numbers us, knows us, and loves us perfectly (see Moses 1:35; John 10:14). (“Yet Thou Art There,” Ensign, Nov. 1987, 30)

Supplemental Learning Activities

A chart comparing Satan and God

If students would benefit from seeing the contrast between Satan and God, consider making a chart like the following. As students go through the lesson, they can fill in what they learn about Satan and God.

Satan	God

You could invite students to contrast the filled-in columns and share the difference it makes in their lives to understand these things about Satan and Heavenly Father.

Titles of the Savior

Invite students to find the titles of the Savior in Moses 7:39, 45, 47 and study or ponder what they mean. Ask students what they learned about the Savior and why it is meaningful to them.

Enoch’s progression

Invite students to share why they want to become more like Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. Explain that as Enoch saw and talked with Jesus Christ, or Jehovah, who was speaking for and representing Heavenly Father, Enoch became more like Them. Read Moses 7:28–52, looking for ways Enoch began to feel and act like Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. Some insights include that like God, Enoch wept for the people who sinned (see Moses 7:41, 44) and rejoiced in the Atonement of Jesus Christ (see Moses 7:45–47). He also pled for mercy for the people and asked God not to send another flood after Noah. God willingly agreed (see Moses 7:50–51).