The great irony that we are nothing but have infinite potential as a children of God. (Moses 1, Abraham 3)

Moses

1:4-5, 11

There are a lot of deep principles being taught in these sections of the Pearl of Great Price. I won’t pretend to understand much of it. I guess I understand what I’m supposed to understand for now. It’s this way for all of us really.

Moses was given an amazing revelation - but it didn’t include ALL of God’s works. “And, behold, thou art my son; wherefore look, and I will show thee the workmanship of mine hands; but not all, for my works are without end, and also my words, for they never cease. Wherefore, no man can behold all my works, except he behold all my glory; and no man can behold all my glory, and afterwards remain in the flesh on the earth.” Moses was transfigured when he saw God and beheld the “workmanship” of God’s hands.

Moses wouldn’t be able to comprehend or understand ALL of God’s works, glory, words without being a perfected being like God. For what he did witness, he had to be transfigured. “But now mine own eyes have beheld God; but not my natural, but my spiritual eyes, for my natural eyes could not have beheld; for I should have withered and died in his presence; but his glory was upon me; and I beheld his face, for I was transfigured before him.” Without being transfigured, Moses would have withered in God’s presence.

1:6

“And I have a work for thee, Moses, my son; and thou art in the similitude of mine Only Begotten; and mine Only Begotten is and shall be the Savior, for he is full of grace and truth; but there is no God beside me, and all things are present with me, for I know them all.” Some important principles are taught here:

1. We are God’s children. He calls Moses “my son.” This is the first great truth that we each must understand.

2. Jesus was always our Savior. Christ’s mission to be the Savior of all of God’s creations never really began. He has always been the Savior - from the premortal world to his mortal ministry and atonement to final judgment and beyond. There was never a beginning and there will never be an ending to his role as our Savior.

3. There is no God besides our God. Many people outside of the church incorrectly say that we worship many Gods. We have one set of Heavenly Parents. There is not a team of Gods. We don’t worship anyone but God. Yes, there are other Gods in other realms. Yes, God himself had a father. He is from a godly lineage. But that doesn’t mean that we worship other Gods. In our universe, there is just one.

4. All things are present with God. There is no time where he is. All time is present at once. None of us can comprehend what that means but I believe it to be true. He knows your potential and he also knows your destiny. He knew how your life would be before you were born. With every mistake you make, he already sees your repentance and eventual salvation. It has already happened for him.

1:10

“And it came to pass that it was for the space of many hours before Moses did again receive his natural strength like unto man; and he said unto himself: Now, for this cause I know that man is nothing, which thing I never had supposed.” After Moses witnessed much of God’s creation, he realized how small we are in the universe.

It’s the great irony. We are like specks of dust in a vast universe of incomprehensible size. However, we are also God’s children and, with that, have divine potential to create our own universe. So, compared to the universe, we are meaningless. But there is infinite potential for infinite inheritance in each of us.

1:12-16

“And it came to pass that when Moses had said these words, behold, Satan came tempting him, saying: Moses, son of man, worship me.  And it came to pass that Moses looked upon Satan and said: Who art thou? For behold, I am a son of God, in the similitude of his Only Begotten; and where is thy glory, that I should worship thee? For behold, I could not look upon God, except his glory should come upon me, and I were transfigured before him. But I can look upon thee in the natural man. Is it not so, surely? Blessed be the name of my God, for his Spirit hath not altogether withdrawn from me, or else where is thy glory, for it is darkness unto me? And I can judge between thee and God; for God said unto me: Worship God, for him only shalt thou serve. Get thee hence, Satan; deceive me not; for God said unto me: Thou art after the similitude of mine Only Begotten.” I love this interaction!

We learn about Satan’s nature and we also learn about how to resist his temptation. Of course, Satan had to immediately tempt Moses. Satan is an insecure busy-body who can’t let a good thing happen without attempting to meddle. He doesn’t want good things to happen - especially those events that help us to see our true nature and who we are.

This is the key to resisting Satan. If we know who we are - as children of God - we will be more resistant to his temptations. Comparatively, Satan didn’t amount to much in Moses’ eyes. He was able to accurately compare the glory of God to the missing glory of Satan. Moses knew that he had to be transfigured to be in God’s presence but could simply see and hear Satan without any kind of change. Where there was glory in God, there was darkness in Satan.

The comparison allowed Moses to “judge between thee and God.” This discernment and correct perspective is what gave Moses the strength and wisdom to say, “get thee hence, Satan.” This discernment can be ours as well. It illustrates the importance of having the right perspective. Because of the proximity of the comparison - where Satan immediately followed Moses’ visit with God - it was easy to discern and reject what was wrong. If we are enveloping ourselves in the Spirit and spending time worshipping God through study, serving, prayer, fasting, fellowshipping - we will easily recognize temptations from the adversary. We will view his attempts as pathetic.

1:18-22

Moses understood the necessity to maintain a close relationship with God. “And again Moses said: I will not cease to call upon God, I have other things to inquire of him: for his glory has been upon me, wherefore I can judge between him and thee. Depart hence, Satan.” We can all have God’s glory “be upon us.” We can walk closely with God and Jesus throughout our lives. As we do, we will be able to easily judge between Satan and God.

Moses telling Satan to leave upset Satan. “And now, when Moses had said these words, Satan cried with a loud voice, and ranted upon the earth, and commanded, saying: I am the Only Begotten, worship me.” We just spent a few days with our two year old grandson. He is a determined little boy. He can remain upset for a very long time. He is able to throw tantrums if he doesn’t get what he wants. This verse reminds me of him. I picture Satan with the emotional maturity of a toddler. When he doesn’t get what he wants, he throws a fit. He also wants to counterfeit what Jesus has done. He wants all of the glory without the work. He wants to be worshipped - not serve. The comparison is stark.

The tantrum must have been wild. “And it came to pass that Moses began to fear exceedingly; and as he began to fear, he saw the bitterness of hell. Nevertheless, calling upon God, he received strength, and he commanded, saying: Depart from me, Satan, for this one God only will I worship, which is the God of glory.” Moses began to fear as he saw the depth of Satan’s bitterness. He became more acquainted with the anger and vitriol of the damned. However, he turned to God and received strength - spiritual and physical. We must all have faith that God can strengthen us - literally. When we are weak and are feeling afraid or tempted, God can truly strengthen us to withstand the trial that we are enduring.

“And now Satan began to tremble, and the earth shook; and Moses received strength, and called upon God, saying: In the name of the Only Begotten, depart hence, Satan. And it came to pass that Satan cried with a loud voice, with weeping, and wailing, and gnashing of teeth; and he departed hence, even from the presence of Moses, that he beheld him not.” In the face of God himself and his servant, Satan began to tremble. Since all of his “strength” and self-esteem comes from the supposed adoration of others, when rejected - he squirms and shakes. He feels anger and sadness and regret and frustration all at once. He feels the pains of the truly damned. I could almost feel sorry for him if it wasn’t for his determination to drag us all down with him.

1:27-28

“And it came to pass, as the voice was still speaking, Moses cast his eyes and beheld the earth, yea, even all of it; and there was not a particle of it which he did not behold, discerning it by the Spirit of God. And he beheld also the inhabitants thereof, and there was not a soul which he beheld not; and he discerned them by the Spirit of God; and their numbers were great, even numberless as the sand upon the sea shore.” I can’t say I know what it means to behold all of the particles of the earth - not sure if this is literal or figurative or symbolic.

I do think it’s interesting that it was made possible by discerning by the Spirit of God. Does this mean that the revelation was caused by the Spirit or does it mean that the revelation was understood through the Spirit. I don’t know. I do know that the Spirit of discernment is a wonderful gift and any of us can know if something is right or true through the Spirit.

1:35

I was today years old when I realized what this verse was saying. “But only an account of this earth, and the inhabitants thereof, give I unto you. For behold, there are many worlds that have passed away by the word of my power. And there are many that now stand, and innumerable are they unto man; but all things are numbered unto me, for they are mine and I know them.” I hadn’t realized that many worlds have been born, fulfilled their purpose and have “passed away.” They have ended in some way. Entire populations have been born, lived and died and their world has served their purpose.

This doesn’t mean that they were resurrected and have been judged. The first person to be resurrected was Jesus Christ. His atonement was for every world that Jesus was talking about. Their judgment hasn’t come. It’s very interesting to think that worlds have come and gone. I wonder if ours is last?

1:37-38

“And the Lord God spake unto Moses, saying: The heavens, they are many, and they cannot be numbered unto man; but they are numbered unto me, for they are mine. And as one earth shall pass away, and the heavens thereof even so shall another come; and there is no end to my works, neither to my words.” This is also interesting. This is expressly stating that there are more than one heaven - not in a “degrees of glory” kind of way but in a literally way. It almost sounds like each earth has its own heaven. I’m interpreting this to mean that each earth has its own spirit world. I have heard that our spirit world resides on our earth. It makes sense that spirits remain here until reunited with their bodies on this planet. I don’t believe that the spirit world is one big pool regardless of where you were born in the universe. I think your spirit remains in the location of where your body will be resurrected.

This is all very interesting but doesn’t have much to do with my salvation so I won’t think about it too much. There was some reason why God told Moses about this but I don’t know what it is. It may be to help Moses and his followers be less small-minded and Israel-centric and tribal. If we believe that we are just one of many, we are less likely to develop pride in being God’s chosen people.

1:39

“For behold, this is my work and my glory—to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.” This is a very interesting verse. First, we learn that God works. He is anxiously engaged in a good cause. He isn’t sitting on a cloud and playing the harp and being fed delicious fruits and cheeses. He is actively working for us. He is serving. He is being selfless. No one is forcing him to do any of this. It is a demonstration of his selfless love for each of us.

It’s interesting that this work IS his glory. How is that? I think that glory is about light and truth. I think that glory is about honor and power. God’s honor is earned. He earned it through his effort. His glory is added upon when any of us progress.

He is determined to save us. He has developed a perfect plan that is perfectly aligned with eternal law. He’s following the rules of the universe that have always been. There has never been a group of really smart God’s that wrote the constitution of heaven and created a set of rules. What God is doing simply follows natural law.

None of us would be willing or able to be like God and do the same thing for our own spirit children without us following this perfect plan of salvation. This process of following God’s will is what will shape us into the type of beings that would do exactly what God is doing currently - working for the immortality and eternal life of all men and women.

Abraham

3:2-3

It’s interesting how planets’ glory is tied to proximity to God. “And I saw the stars, that they were very great, and that one of them was nearest unto the throne of God; and there were many great ones which were near unto it; And the Lord said unto me: These are the governing ones; and the name of the great one is Kolob, because it is near unto me, for I am the Lord thy God: I have set this one to govern all those which belong to the same order as that upon which thou standest.”

There are some interesting points here. Proximity to something doesn’t generally mean that it is great - unless you’re talking about proximity to God. If a planet, or a person, is close to God, it is glory-filled.

I understand how a planet’s location literally determines nearness. How does a person become near to God? I think that it is through submitting our will to God’s. I think this is why “governing” is such a good word. God will never force us. He wants to govern us - he wants to influence us and allow us to choose him. He teaches and corrects and supports consequences and maintains order - like any governor would do. But, it is still up to us to choose.

Later, a verse will describe how the moon governs us. It’s not that the moon rules over us but it does mean that the moon has a strong influence over the earth. Consider the tides and magnetic poles and the measurement of time and seasons that are made possible through the moon. The moon has huge influence over the earth - mainly through its proximity.

3:4

I’m not sure how important the world “reckoning” is to the Lord. He uses it a lot in these verses. “And the Lord said unto me, by the Urim and Thummim, that Kolob was after the manner of the Lord, according to its times and seasons in the revolutions thereof; that one revolution was a day unto the Lord, after his manner of reckoning, it being one thousand years according to the time appointed unto that whereon thou standest. This is the reckoning of the Lord’s time, according to the reckoning of Kolob.” I understand this to mean that a day to the Lord is 1,000 years to us. Having said that, I also believe that there is no time to God - so I don’t know what this means if I’m being honest.

3:18-19

With any two things, there is always one that is nearer to God. With two spirits, there is always one that is more intelligent than the other. “Howbeit that he made the greater star; as, also, if there be two spirits, and one shall be more intelligent than the other, yet these two spirits, notwithstanding one is more intelligent than the other, have no beginning; they existed before, they shall have no end, they shall exist after, for they are gnolaum, or eternal.”

This verse teaches an important principle - we, as intelligences, have always existed. We are as eternal as God himself. I cannot wrap my head around how this is but it is something that I believe. We weren’t created out of nothing but were organized of a material that has always existed.

As far as intelligence goes, we are all at different levels. “And the Lord said unto me: These two facts do exist, that there are two spirits, one being more intelligent than the other; there shall be another more intelligent than they; I am the Lord thy God, I am more intelligent than they all.” Christ is the most intelligent spirit that was organized by God. We all have varying degrees of intelligence and that is okay. We should believe that Jesus is above us all in intelligence.

3:24-25

“And there stood one among them that was like unto God, and he said unto those who were with him: We will go down, for there is space there, and we will take of these materials, and we will make an earth whereon these may dwell; And we will prove them herewith, to see if they will do all things whatsoever the Lord their God shall command them.” As with spirits, the earth itself was not created out of nothing. It was organized by existing materials or “unorganized matter.”

The purpose of life is to be proved. To be proved is to be tested and to be strengthened. We are strengthened by opposition and opposition didn’t much exist in the premortal realm. We needed this earth. We need all aspects of the plan of salvation. We needed the premortal world to begin our progression from intelligence to spirit children. We need mortality to be proven. We will need the spirit world also as much as we needed the first two stages. Every stage in the plan of salvation serves an essential purpose in our becoming like our Heavenly Parents.

We are struggling to finally, fully submit our will to God’s. The first step to submitting to God’s will is to learn what God wants. He let’s us know what he wants us to do through commandments.

3:26

Those who didn’t successfully graduate from the premortal world followed Satan. They eliminated themselves from the other stages of the plan of salvation. Those who successfully graduated from the premortal world kept their “first estate.” “And they who keep their first estate shall be added upon; and they who keep not their first estate shall not have glory in the same kingdom with those who keep their first estate; and they who keep their second estate shall have glory added upon their heads for ever and ever.”

We kept our first estate and so there are benefits to this. We will be “added upon.” What does this mean? I don’t know for sure but I know that we will each receive a body that will eventually be resurrected into an immortal, glorified body. That sounds like a good addition.

It’s interesting how this verse describes those who didn’t keep their first estate. It does not say that they will be cast out into outer darkness but says that they “shall not have glory in the same kingdom with those who keep their first estate.” I don’t know exactly what this means but it seems to have some hint that they may have some glory but not in the same kingdom. It’s kind of worded weirdly.

We should all feel great that we kept our first estate. 1/3 of all of God’s spirit children did not. We followed his will and trusted him and showed our love for him by doing what he was telling us to do. We must love him enough to do the exact same thing now. If we do, we will “have glory added to our heads forever.”