Noah, the ark, and "rest" -- part 2 (Enoch's vision of the wickedness of the residue)

This is part 2 in a series of posts intended to connect a lot of seemingly unrelated ideas, as listed in part 1 here. 

In the next two posts, we'll be looking at Enoch's vision found in the Book of Moses and how that connects to Noah and "rest."

Last week I linked to a 2017 FairMormon presentation by Matthew Bowen on "Semitic Semiotics" and discussed the meaning of the name "Cain" and its association with secret combinations.  One point that I made was that the Book of Mormon references to Cain harmonize with the deeper Hebrew meaning of the name.  This suggests the authors of that book understood the Hebrew to a degree that modern readers do not. The same is true with the name Noah in the Book of Mormon, a concept which is discussed by Stisa here.

In this post, I'll set the stage to explain in the next post how the Book of Moses similarly demonstrates a thorough understanding of the deeper meaning of the name 'Noah' in an entirely different way, and how this helps unfold a deeper understanding of what it means to "enter into His rest." The big lesson I've taken away from this is that Noah is an archetype, whose story illustrates how we can overcome chaos and inevitable death through the everlasting covenant mediated by the atonement of Jesus Christ. We can very directly connect Noah's ark with the everlasting covenant in several profound ways, which I hope to outline in this series.

Enoch's vision of Noah

Before we get into the vision Enoch had of Noah, we need to set the stage by discussing what led up to that part of the vision. Understanding why the Lord showed Enoch the vision of Noah when He did helps explain what Noah's story is intended to teach us.

Knowledge, agency, commandment, consequence

The Book of Moses contains an expansive account of Enoch's vision of the arc of human history on the earth.  In verse 28, Enoch sees "the God of heaven" weep over the "residue of the people" (those who were left behind when Zion was taken up to heaven). I've discussed this verse before, as I believe it forms a foundational set of symbols which are referred to repeatedly in the Book of Mormon.  See here, here, and here for some examples of how this symbol plays into Book of Mormon imagery. 

Enoch then asks God how He, being holy and "from all eternity to all eternity," can weep?

Here is the Lord's reply:

32 The Lord said unto Enoch: Behold these thy brethren; they are the workmanship of mine own hands, and I gave unto them their knowledge, in the day I created them; and in the Garden of Eden, gave I unto man his agency;

33 And unto thy brethren have I said, and also given commandment, that they should love one another, and that they should choose me, their Father; but behold, they are without affection, and they hate their own blood;

34 And the fire of mine indignation is kindled against them; and in my hot displeasure will I send in the floods upon them, for my fierce anger is kindled against them. (Moses 7)

In these verses we find an important pattern related to the plan of salvation. By choosing to leave God's presence, we obtained (1) knowledge of good and evil and (2) agency. These gifts came with commandments to love each other and choose God over the devil. Inherent in this is the fact that we will sin, and so the need for a savior was known from the beginning. We'll get to this pattern in more depth in a future post (part 4), including four masterful sermons from the Book of Mormon which echo this pattern.

For now, let's move on in Moses chapter 7 and discuss the remaining foundational element to later set the significance of Noah in Enoch's vision into proper context. The final element of this pattern, of course, is Jesus Christ.

After God explains why His fierce anger is kindled against the residue of the people, who "hate their own blood" and have achieved unprecedented levels of wickedness (see verse 36), God then begins to unfold the plan of mercy, set from the beginning to save those who will repent from that awful fate:

39 And that which I have chosen hath pled before my face. Wherefore, he suffereth for their sins; inasmuch as they will repent in the day that my Chosen shall return unto me, and until that day they shall be in torment;

Christ and His atonement offer us an escape from death, if we choose to "enter in." 

At this point in the vision, Enoch seems to be sharing many of the same feelings as God, which is a very significant detail.

41 And it came to pass that the Lord spake unto Enoch, and told Enoch all the doings of the children of men; wherefore Enoch knew, and looked upon their wickedness, and their misery, and wept and stretched forth his arms, and his heart swelled wide as eternity; and his bowels yearned; and all eternity shook.

A heavenly vision gave Enoch eyes to see humanity the same way God sees us.

In the next post, we'll begin with Moses 7:42 and start to connect Noah to the everlasting covenant and entering into God's rest.