“Genesis 5; Moses 6,” Scripture Helps: Old Testament (2025)
Scripture Helps
Genesis 5; Moses 6
Adam’s posterity kept a record of their revelations and genealogy. Many of Adam’s descendants became wicked. The Lord called Enoch to be a prophet and to preach repentance. Enoch lacked confidence in his abilities, but the Lord promised to help him. Enoch became a mighty prophet in the land. He taught the people why they needed a Savior and how they could come unto Him. He explained that after Adam learned about the plan of salvation, he was baptized and experienced a spiritual rebirth.
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Background and Context
How long has the priesthood been on the earth?
The priesthood “is without beginning of days or end of years.” The priesthood—and its ordinances—were available to Adam, Eve, and their righteous posterity. The Prophet Joseph Smith taught: “The Priesthood was first given to Adam; he obtained the First Presidency, and held the keys of it from generation to generation. He obtained it in the Creation, before the world was formed. … The Priesthood is an everlasting principle, and existed with God from eternity, and will to eternity, without beginning of days or end of years.”
Did ancient patriarchs really live for hundreds of years?
The Bible records that Adam and some of his descendants lived extremely long lives. The scriptures do not clearly explain the reason for these long lifespans. After the Flood account, the ages of major figures are recorded as decreasing across several generations until they approach the lifespans we recognize today. These long lifespans are also recorded in Doctrine and Covenants 107:41–52. When Joseph Smith dictated his new translation of the Bible, he changed some ages of the patriarchs but preserved their unusually long lifespans.
What do we learn about Enoch’s ministry from Joseph Smith?
The ministry of Enoch was much more significant than what is described in the Bible. In Genesis 5, we learn that “Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him.” The book of Hebrews clarifies that Enoch was translated. And Jude records a brief prophecy that Enoch made.
As the Prophet Joseph Smith worked on his inspired translation of the Bible, the Lord revealed to him many significant details about Enoch. These details, recorded in Moses 6–7, include Enoch’s call to be a prophet, his preaching, the city of Zion he established, and his visions, prophecies, and inspired teachings.
What does it mean to “abide in” and “walk with” God?
After Enoch expressed concerns about his ability to do what God asked of him, the Lord invited Enoch to “abide in” Him and “walk with” Him. Elder David A. Bednar described the meaning of these two invitations:
“The word abide denotes remaining fixed or stable and enduring without yielding. Elder Jeffrey R. Holland explained that ‘abiding’ as an action means ‘“[to] stay—but [to] stay forever.” That is the call of the gospel message to … everyone … in the world. Come, but come to remain. Come with conviction and endurance. Come permanently, for your sake and the sake of all the generations who must follow you.’ Thus, we abide in Christ as we are firm and steadfast in our devotion to the Redeemer and His holy purposes, in times both good and bad. …
“We should always remember the Lord’s instruction to Enoch: ‘Thou shalt abide in me, and I in you’ [Moses 6:34]. And I testify the Savior’s promise to abide in us is true and available to every covenant-keeping member of His restored Church. …
“Walking in and with the Savior highlights two vital aspects of discipleship: (1) obeying God’s commandments, and (2) remembering and honoring the sacred covenants that connect us to the Father and the Son.”
What happened to Enoch after he anointed his eyes with clay?
After following the Lord’s instructions to anoint his eyes with clay, Enoch was able to behold “things which were not visible to the natural eye.” The Lord had blessed Enoch with the gift of seership. A seer is “a person authorized of God to see with spiritual eyes things that God has hidden from the world. He is a revelator and a prophet.”
As a seer, Enoch saw “all things, even unto the end of the world.” In the Church today, the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles are sustained as prophets, seers, and revelators.
A Seer Hath the Lord Raised Up, by Eva Timothy
How does the Fall affect us?
Enoch taught that Adam asked God why all people must repent and be baptized. In response, God taught Adam important truths that clarified how the Fall would impact the posterity of Adam and Eve.
First, God made it clear not only that Adam and Eve were forgiven for their transgression in the Garden of Eden, but also that the consequences of their sins would not be passed down to their children. The Prophet Joseph Smith reiterated this truth when he taught, “We believe that men will be punished for their own sins, and not for Adam’s transgression.”
God also taught Adam that his posterity would be “conceived in sin” (or “born into a world of sin”). As mortal people living in a fallen world, we commit sin, which makes us unclean and separates us from God. While this experience gives us opportunity to “prize the good” after we “taste the bitter,” we also must be cleansed from our sins through Jesus Christ, for “no unclean thing can dwell” in God’s presence.
God commanded Adam to teach his children to repent, be baptized, and receive the Holy Ghost so they could be sanctified from their sins through Jesus Christ. God declared, “This is the plan of salvation unto all men, through the blood of mine Only Begotten.”
What is significant about the name of Jesus Christ?
Quoting God’s words to Adam, Enoch taught that Jesus Christ is “the only name which shall be given under heaven, whereby salvation shall come unto the children of men.” This is one of many declarations in the scriptures about the significance of the Savior’s name. Elder Paul B. Pieper taught: “Our Heavenly Father wants to make it absolutely clear that the name of His Son, Jesus Christ, is not simply one name among many. The Savior’s name has singular and essential power. It is the only name by which salvation is possible.”
What do we know about baptism and the gift of the Holy Ghost during Old Testament times?
Of the relatively few references to the Holy Ghost in the Old Testament, none speak of the gift of the Holy Ghost. The Old Testament also does not mention the ordinance of baptism. However, revelation through the Prophet Joseph Smith makes it clear that Adam and his posterity were blessed with the fulness of the gospel, including the ordinances of baptism and the laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost. The Book of Mormon also provides examples of these ordinances being taught about and received, both before and after the coming of Jesus Christ.
What do the titles “Man of Holiness” and “Son of Man” teach us about Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ?
God the Father’s name is Man of Holiness in Adam’s language, and the Savior is frequently called the Son of Man in the scriptures. Elder D. Todd Christofferson explained how Enoch’s teachings help us better understand these sacred titles: “As a boy, I wondered why in the New Testament Jesus is often referred to (and even refers to Himself) as the Son of Man when He is really the Son of God, but Enoch’s statement makes it clear that these references are actually a recognition of His divinity and holiness—He is the Son of Man of Holiness, God the Father.”
What do the symbols of water, spirit, and blood teach us about being born again through Jesus Christ?
As the Lord taught Adam about redemption from the Fall, He described three symbols that relate to birth. The elements of water, blood, and spirit all come together to create a living soul when a person enters mortality. These elements also play an important role in a person being spiritually born again.
Baptism by water and receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit lead a person to the Savior, allowing them to be changed through His atoning blood. In this way, a person may become both justified and sanctified.
Elder D. Todd Christofferson described what it means to be justified and sanctified through Jesus Christ: “The Savior offers to all who will have faith and accept it, the gifts of being justified or pardoned before the law and also being sanctified—that is, being made spotless and holy. There is no other name, nor way, nor means whereby such redemption may occur. And truly His grace is sufficient to achieve it.”
How did Adam become a “son of God”?
Enoch taught that after Adam was baptized, “the Spirit of God descended upon him, and thus he was born of the Spirit, and became quickened in the inner man.” After this sacred experience, Adam heard a voice from heaven saying, “Behold, thou art one in me, a son of God; and thus may all become my sons.”
The title “son of God” now had two different meanings for Adam. Not only was he a literal spirit son of God created in His image, but Adam was also a son of God because he had been born again through Jesus Christ. Those who experience spiritual rebirth and receive the ordinances of the Savior’s gospel are also sometimes referred to as “children of Christ.”
Elder Neil L. Andersen explained: “As we do our part, His promise is that we will be called the ‘children of God.’ Every person on earth is the ‘offspring’ [Acts 17:28] of God, but to be called the ‘children of God’ means much, much more. As we come unto Jesus Christ and make covenants with Him, we become ‘his seed’ and ‘heirs of the kingdom’ [Mosiah 15:11], ‘children of Christ, his sons, and his daughters’ [Mosiah 5:7].”
Learn More
Walking with God
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David A. Bednar, “Abide in Me, and I in You; Therefore Walk with Me,” Liahona, May 2023, 123–26
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Emily Belle Freeman, “Walking in Covenant Relationship with Christ,” Liahona, Nov. 2023, 76–79
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Henry B. Eyring, “Walk with Me,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2017, 82–85
Learning to see like Enoch
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Brian Hansbrow, “Lessons from Enoch: Expanding Our View of Christ, Ourselves, and Others,” YA Weekly, Feb. 2022, Gospel Library
Being born again
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D. Todd Christofferson, “Born Again,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2008, 76–79
Media
Images
Enoch Preaching, by Robert T. Barrett
Enoch and the City of Zion, by Justin Kunz
Music
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“I Will Walk with Jesus,” Hymns—For Home and Church