Tag: Abraham

Chapter 2: The Fall

Behold Thy God, Oh Jerusalem: Judah’s Journey from Exile to Redemption

When Christ ascended into Heaven from the Mount of Olives (Acts 1:9), there was a plethora of Jewish sects left behind besides Jewish Christians. All belonged to Israel and all thought of themselves as “the covenant people”. Here are just some of them:

Hellenistic Jews: Academics and scholars, they were heavily influenced by the Greek thinkers and philosophers of Alexandria. 

Samaritans: Mixed tribal decedents of those who had escaped as refugees from the Assyrian conquest of Israel in 721 B.C. They were not accepted by Judah as pure-blooded Israelites.

Galilean Rabbis: Most religious of the Jews, later consolidated the teachings of the rabbis into one set of uniform rules, the Mishnah.

Pharisees: Middle class businessmen by trade. Agreed with Sadducee to the execution of Christ.

Sadducee: Aristocrats and members of the ruling class, from whom the members of the Sanhedrin were chosen.

Nazarene: Title given because of a person’s birthplace. Christ was labelled a Nazarene.

Nazarite: A consecrated man who took a vow to abstain from wine, from cutting his hair and from contact with any dead. Samson and Samuel were Nazarites.

Publicans: Tax collectors for Rome. They were despised by everyone.

Scribes: More than transcribing clerks, they were officially recognized as teachers, scholars, editors and interpreters of the scriptures. Many were also authors, writers and journalists.

Zealots: Ruffians, wild, prone to violence and unreasonable thinking. Saw force as the only means of throwing off Roman dominance. Became a political movement.

Jerusalem Jews: Isolated in the mountains, they were more concerned with the Temple and were influenced by the Temple Priests.

Priests: Responsible for the daily operations of the Temple. Most were corrupt and had made themselves rich through their Priesthood Positions. Hated by the majority of Jews. 

Judean Jews: Influenced by Greek paganism. Apostate and unwilling to change. 

Essenes: A community of devout Jews who had retreated into the desert near Qumran to remain pure from the corrupt influences of their fellow Jews living in the cities. Here they planned to purify themselves while they awaited the arrival of the Messiah and the end of times. Unfortunately, they were caught up in the wars of extermination by the Romans but not before they had sealed up their records and buried them in caves near the Dead Sea. They were annihilated but their scrolls remained hidden in caves until discovered in 1947.

Jewish Christians: Those Jews who accepted Christ as their Messiah.

Gnostic Christians: Those that believed they had secret knowledge that allowed them access to Heaven. Beliefs regarding God the Father, Christ, Holy Ghost and Satan were very different and inconsistent with Jewish or mainstream understanding of roles of the Godhead, the Messiah or Satan.

When we see the melting pot into which the new Christian movement was attempting to establish itself, we have some idea of the problems Paul later faced. Most of the epistles written by Paul, which are included in the New Testament, were written to correct errors that were creeping into the practices of those who claimed to be believers in Christ.  

The first Christians were all Jews. Christianity was not a new religion as far as those first converts were concerned. It was in fact the extension and fulfillment of the Jewish religion’s hopes and aspirations. It was the culmination of almost 600 years of prayers since the fall of Jerusalem. They had hope that their Messiah would deliver them from their oppressors. But their short-sightedness had blinded them. Their problems did not start with Assyria, Babylon, Greece or Rome. It roots went back to the days of Samuel, when the Israelites, as a nation, had demanded to have a “…king to judge us like all the nations”, rather than have God rule over them.

1 Samuel 8: 4-5, 7
4 Then all the elders of Israel gathered themselves together, and came to Samuel unto Ramah,
5 And said unto him, Behold, thou art old, and thy sons walk not in thy ways: now make us a king to judge us like all the nations.
7 And the Lord said unto Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee: for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them.

Could they not see that they already had the Lord as their King and that he had preserved them through battle after bloody battle? Samuel warned what would happen should they chose worldly kings instead, but they were deaf and blind to reason.

1 Samuel 8: 10-18
10 And Samuel told all the words of the Lord unto the people that asked of him a king.
11 And he said, This will be the manner of the king that shall reign over you: He will take your sons, and appoint them for himself, for his chariots, and to be his horsemen; and some shall run before his chariots.
12 And he will appoint him captains over thousands, and captains over fifties; and will set them to ear his ground, and to reap his harvest, and to make his instruments of war, and instruments of his chariots.
13 And he will take your daughters to be confectionaries, and to be cooks, and to be bakers.
14 And he will take your fields, and your vineyards, and your oliveyards, even the best of them, and give them to his servants.
15 And he will take the tenth of your seed, and of your vineyards, and give to his officers, and to his servants.
16 And he will take your menservants, and your maidservants, and your goodliest young men, and your asses, and put them to his work.
17 He will take the tenth of your sheep: and ye shall be his servants.
18 And ye shall cry out in that day because of your king which ye shall have chosen you; and the Lord will not hear you in that day.

As predicted, horrible results were heaped on their heads. Even now they are still reaping the whirlwinds of the foolish decision they had sown.

Also misunderstood was what oppressor their Messiah would deliver them from. The enemy their Messiah would confront was not their outward oppressors. Instead, his efforts would be directed at the war that rages within us and his offer of deliverance would be to all – not just the Jews.

And what battle was that? The one between good and evil. Then, as now, obedience to God is the only way to freedom. We can only rise above worldly kings, or thoughts, or temptations when we have the Lord as our king.Without the Lord, peace is not sustainable.

Unfortunately, the lessons from the past were not learned by Israel. In spite of all the evidence, the Jews of Christ’s day made the same wrong choice again. They chose The Law of Moses over the Law of the Gospel, they chose the sayings of the Rabbis over the saying of their Messiah, and they chose to stay in darkness of the past rather than to move into the light of the future. 

It is difficult to understand how they had turned away from God in the first instance, but after having tasted the bitter results for so long, it is almost inconceivable how they could reject him again! What a lesson for all of us to recognize that unimaginable consequences often come from what we perceive as inconsequential decisions. The Jews’ relationship with God had just undergone a tectonic shift that would last until Christ’s second coming. Is this what Christ was referring to when he said:

Mark 10: 31
But many that are first shall be last; and the last first.

To this day, the restored gospel has not been preached to the Jews. The new State of Israel was formed in 1948 and since then many have begun to gather back to their ancestral homeland. Yet, as a people they have not recognized Jesus as their Messiah. Perhaps that will not happen until the Saviour returns the second time.

The gospel of Jesus had been brought to his covenant people, the House of Israel, starting with Judah. But they (the first covenanted) refused him. Now it was to go instead through Paul, to the rest of the House of Israel, and those considered the last, the Gentiles. 

D&C 45: 51-52
And then shall the Jews look upon me and say: What are these wounds in thine hands and in thy feet? Then shall they know that I am the Lord; for I will say unto them: These wounds are the wounds with which I was wounded in the house of my friends. I am he who was lifted up. I am Jesus that was crucified. I am the Son of God.

We can see how Christ’s rejection by the very people he came to save could pose a problem. How might that effect the status of these descendants of Abraham and their pervious covenant to support and obey God? 

Here are some other questions to consider:

1/ What happens to the Jews now?
2/ Has the original covenant between God and Judah been repealed, severed or annulled? 
3/ If Judah is to be last, who among the Christian gentiles is to be first?
4/ Where is Israel today? Does she recognize the rights and accept the responsibilities associated with the Abrahamic covenant?
5/ What is the Christian Church’s status with God now so far as the covenant is concerned? 

To fully appreciate the answers to these questions, we must first understand what the covenant was, when it was first introduced and what it has since become in these last days. To do that we must go all the way back to the time of the Garden of Eden and the beginning of human history. 

The part we need to look at specifically is when Adam and Eve were driven out of the garden because of their disobedience. The pair find themselves in an extremely hostile world. They have to learn how to protect themselves from heat and cold by making clothing from animal skins. Food must be grown or killed and prepared. Shelter must be found or built. They have to expend great amounts of energy and learn new skills just to survive. But they are obedient to all God’s other commandments even though they are no longer able to talk with him. After many days, meaning a long while, and having had their faith tested, they are visited by an angel who instructs them regarding their future relationship with God. The law of sacrifice is introduced in similitude of the sacrifice of the Saviour would make for them. The commandment to repent is given. Almost immediately following their willingness to repent, God himself begins to speak directly to Adam.

Moses 6: 51-52 
And he called upon our father Adam by his own voice, saying: I am God; I made the world, and men before they were in the flesh.
And he also said unto him: If thou wilt turn unto me, and hearken unto my voice, and believe, and repent of all thy transgressions, and be baptized, even in water, in the name of mine Only Begotten Son … ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost…

Baptism is an ordinance involving a covenant. According to the account given by Moses:
Moses 5: 59
And thus all things were confirmed unto Adam, by an holy ordinance, and the Gospel preached, and a decree sent forth, that it should be in the world, until the end thereof…

Here we have the first indication of a covenant between man and God. This information was made known unto everyone, but we know that not everyone was willing to enter into the covenant with God. We hear of successive Priesthood leader making great attempts to teach people the gospel, the most successful being Enoch. According to Moses, Enoch heard a voice from Heaven saying:

Moses 6: 27-30
…Enoch, my son, prophesy unto this people, and say unto them—Repent, for thus saith the Lord: I am angry with this people, and my fierce anger is kindled against them… ever since the day that I created them, have they gone astray… and have not kept the commandments, which I gave unto their father, Adam. Wherefore, they have foresworn themselves, and, by their oaths, they have brought upon themselves death; and a hell I have prepared for them, if they repent not… And this is a decree, which I have sent forth in the beginning of the world, from my own mouth…

From this we learn that God considered the oath (covenant) to still be in effect during Enoch’s lifetime. It appears the people who had foresworn themselves had not been living their covenant. Enoch then called the inhabitants of the land to repent and to recommit to God by baptism. Eventually the whole City of Enoch become righteous and was removed from the Earth. 

Still, there were many who did not repent or renew their covenant. Enoch was permitted to see what would happen to these people. He saw the great flood. Enoch also beheld the future of the whole Earth, including the days of Christ, and witnessed the Messiah lifted upon the cross. Despite the sorrow caused by this great wickedness, God promised to carry on the covenant by send righteous leaders. Thus, the covenant would remain intact for those obedient followers who chose to uphold it.

God explained, “This is my work and my glory — to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.” (Moses 1: 39)

Adam and Eve understood:“Were it not for our transgression we never should have had seed, and never should have known good from evil, and the joy of our redemption, and the eternal life which God giveth unto all the obedient.” (Moses 5: 10-11)

With the catastrophic end of the first period of the world by flood, a new beginning emerges for Noah’s children. It isn’t long before that individual who is to relight the covenant torch appears on the world stage. From the ninth descendant of Shem, Son of Noah, Abram is born.

Because of his faithfulness and willingness to sacrifice even his birthright son, Abram is called by God to start a new line of covenant priesthood holders willing to bring the Gospel and salvation to God’s sons and daughters. It is through this lineage, that Jacob is born. Each party who is brought into the covenant is given a new name. The new name given to Abram was Abraham. (It is to this Abraham, the Jews trace their lineage, uniqueness and authority.)

Genesis 17: 7
And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee.

The promised blessings of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (Israel) can be listed under three headings:

Accordingly, the covenant was passed on from Abraham to his son Isaac and his grandson Jacob. When the covenant was renewed through Jacob, the new name given to him was Israel.

1/Priesthood
This is the authority to grant the blessings of the covenant to others, such as the priesthood, temple ordinances and celestial marriage.

2/Posterity
The blessing of children, or eternal increase. The strength of the tribe was in its members. Without children you had nothing permanent. Without righteous children, your legacy was chaos. 

3/ Promised Lands 
A land of Inheritance, given from God, upon which they may live their religion and raise their families in peace and comfort.

The names of Abraham and Israel have become synonymous with the covenant and the covenant people. Yet, as an aging Jacob prepared to die, disputes arose as to which of his twelve sons (known as the 12 Tribes of Israel) would inherit the priesthood and covenant.

Normally the firstborn son would be the heir to the birthright. To him would go the responsibility of caring for the family after the patriarch’s passing. This inheritance was not just about receiving more of the father’s wealth. It was also the responsibility to provide for everyone’s survival and economic wellbeing. This included the spiritual and physical care for his father’s widow, all other single women and dependants who could not maintain themselves in the tribe. And of course, this son would also have his own wife and children to support. To compensate him for this extra economic burden, he would be given an extra portion of inheritance. For instance, in the case of a family of 12 sons, the estate would be divided into 13 portions. The eldest son would receive 2 portions and all others 1 each. The son who received this double portion would be held accountable for using the second portion wisely and equitably. In the event the eldest son could not be trusted or would not agree to the terms of the birthright responsibilities, another son could be named in his place. This was often the case and many problems resulted because of jealousy and competition between sons who had the potential to be heirs. Such was the situation in the family of Israel. 

Because unrighteousness disqualified the usual heirs, Joseph inherited the birthright blessing over of his brothers. In turn the birthright was passed onto Joseph’s sons (Israel’s grandsons) Ephraim and Manasseh. (To read more about the specific blessings of the remaining brothers of the house of Israel see Genesis 48 and 49.) 

This “birthright” arrangement worked well within the Kingdom of Israel for many centuries, until the death of King Solomon. Although noted for his wisdom in governing, Solomon failed miserably in his family affairs. His sons were pampered and there was obvious favouritism. Rehoboam, the son expected to replace Solomon, enjoyed a lifestyle that needed a substantial income to sustain. When he succeeded to his father’s throne, the ten tribes located in the northern part of the country feared higher taxes, so they rebelled and separated. That left only two tribes remaining in Judah, or the Southern Kingdom. The divide weakened both groups immediately. Eventually, the Northern Kingdom was conquered and absorbed into Assyria. The Southern Kingdom remained viable for a couple additional hundred years before being destroyed by Babylon. That extra time was enough to proclaim Judah, by default, as the birthright heir of the House of Israel.

Judah remained in captivity to Babylon for seventy years. Then King Cyrus allowed them to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the remains of Solomon’s temple. Cyrus’ gracious permission returned the promises of the covenant to the children of Israel.

1/ They were in possession of and living in the land promised to them by the Lord.

2/ They had regained the temple and the priesthood to administrate the ordinances performed within it. 

3/ They had plenty of posterity. Although the ten tribes had been lost, and what few refugees remaining from the Assyrian invasion (such as the Samaritans) were disqualified as pure Israelite because of inter-marrying with indigenous tribes, there was a distinct group of descendants from Judah. And they now had exclusive claim to the blessings of the covenant of Abraham.

That was the situation when Christ was born. Every Jew believed to the core, that they were the chosen people, the “Children of Abraham”. But not everyone agreed with each other about what they individually believed. Factions had formed within their religious community: Pharisees, Sadducees and other groups contended with one another. Even Christ denounced them for their corruption, apostate priesthood and obvious hypocrisy.

After the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ, unsettling questions began to form in the troubled minds of both Jews and Christians. Was there still a birthright blessing? Who would God choose as the legitimate heir to the covenant? Must that person be a descendant of Abraham? During the first century after Christ’s departure the answers would continue to elude at the same time as Judah was destroyed as a nation and its people were disburses throughout the world. 

Events affecting Palestine and the Jews

1st Century A.D.

6 A.D. Provence of Roman Judea created.

33 A.D. Trial and Crucifixion of Jesus Christ carried out by Romans by insistence of Jewish Leaders: Annas , Caiaphas and the Chief Priests.

30 -70 A.D. Helena of Adiabene, vassal kingdom of Mesopotamia, coverts to Judaism. Significant numbers of her followers also join and supply support for Jewish Roman wars.

30 –70 A.D. Differences between Jews who accept or those who reject Christ causes a schism during Second Temple era.

66-70 A.D. First Jewish Wars / The Great Revolt between the Jews and Romans results in destruction of Second Temple and the fall of Jerusalem.

73 -74 A.D. Final wrap up of the Roman and Jewish wars. Fall of Masada.

70-200 A.D. Christianity formally splits from its Jewish roots, establishes its own texts and ideology to become its own religion. 

2nd Century A.D.

115-117 A.D. Kitos War, revolt against Trajan involving communities of Cypress, Cyrene (Libya), Egypt, Mesopotamia (Syria and Iraq), against Emperor Hadrian. Hundreds of thousands of Jews were killed. Jewish rebels are defeated and totally exterminated in Cypress and Cyrene.

131 A.D. Emperor Hadrian renames Jerusalem “Aelia Capitolina” and the province of Judea “Syria Palaestina”. Most of the Jewish population (about 580,000) is annihilated.

138 A.D. Emperor Hadrian dies. Jewish persecution is eased, and Jews allowed to visit Jerusalem on Tusha B’av. The Jewish centre moves to Galilee. And thus ends the Kingdom of Judah.

Chapter 9: Discovery of Lost Scriptures

Part 2 From Apostates to Apostles 

1. Enoch

Enoch was the seventh of the Great Patriarchs who lived prior to the great Flood. While his name is mentioned several times in the Bible, we have all but noting regarding who he was and what he did. (See Genesis 5: 18-24, Luke 3: 37, Hebrews 11: 5 and Jude 1: 14-15) While it appeared the life and times of Enoch had been lost to the centuries, still rumors persisted that a Book of Enoch remained somewhere on earth.

The Book of Enoch

In 1773, while attempting to discover the source of the Blue and White Nile Rivers in Egypt, James Bruce of Scotland found himself in Ethiopia rummaging about in their archives, a permission he had not anticipated but had been granted by the generous hospitality of the King of Ethiopia.

It was there Bruce discovered some Abyssinian Manuscripts which also happened to include three copies of the Book of Enoch. On the pretense of borrowing them for study, he was allowed to take them from the monastery in which they had been stored for centuries.

Instead, Bruce hastily made his way to a waiting ship with Monastery guards hot on his heels. He managed to slip away and set sail for Europe. Knowing he had made the discovery of the century, he headed straight for Paris where one copy of the book was deposited in the Royal Library. Next he presented a copy to the Bodleian Library at Oxford in England. He kept the third for himself.

Instead of receiving fame and glory, Bruce earned only contempt and silence from his peers. The books were held by the Libraries in silence and all went on as if nothing had happened. It wasn’t until later that they received some of the attention they surely deserved. 

As for Bruce, the skeptical world accepted neither his claims of discovered the source of the Nile’s famous rivers or the discovery of the Book of Enoch. The world was no more interested in knowing anything about the mysteries or the contents of the Book of Enoch than they had been when they were sealed about 1700 years earlier.

The Book of Enoch: Richard Laurence Translation

In 1821, 48 years after the Bruce claims, Richard Laurence, a Bishop of Cashel, Ireland had heard about the Enoch copy at the Oxford Library. He was able to convince the authorities to allow him to read the Book. However, they were not interested to have him reveal anything about Enoch. They did allow him to read it but would not allow him to remove it from the room in which it was kept. Neither was a candle provided by which to read the old dusty manuscripts. In spite of all this opposition, Lawrence was able to laboriously copy the book by hand in the light of a drafty window. He worked years alone in the dampness. All his hard work and sacrificing finally bore fruit when his first edition proved so popular, it sold out quickly.

Translations of this version of the Book of Enoch are referred to as the Ethiopic Book of Enoch or 1 Enoch.

Enoch – as mentioned in The Book of Moses

About nine years later (between June 1830 and February 1831), Joseph Smith, living in the small rural town of Palmyra, New York, also recorded an account of the life of Enoch found in the Book of Moses, Chapter 6: 26 to Chapter 7: 69 —  a total of 111 verses. It consists of the experiences of Enoch when he was caught up in the Heavens with God. The account is very detailed and riveting.

According to this record, the Lord promised Enoch that if he would have the faith to obey, then God would protect him, and if he opened his mouth God would give him utterance. Enoch records his experiences in Moses 7: 3-69 and gives a complete description of being able to see the creations of God throughout the heavens. God further shows Enoch the souls that will reside on this earth and their future. From that humble start, Enoch goes through a transformation of character and begins to preach. He is so successful that he converts all the people of his city and it becomes a Holy City or Zion. Eventually they are translated as a group, removed to another realm where they are to prepare for the coming of Christ.

While the account in the Book of Moses is similar to the Ethiopian version, it is not identical. It is much more detailed and contains more dialogue between Enoch and God.

This fact that the Ethiopian copy and the Joseph Smith extract differ, did little to convince the enemies of Joseph Smith that he had not written the Book of Moses and The Book of Mormon himself. The ministers, preachers and clergy of his day simply assumed Joseph Smith was lying or engaged in a game of one-upmanship.

Given the difficulties Richard Laurence had obtaining access to the original Book of Enoch and the distances from Ireland to New York, coupled with the fact that the two never met or corresponded and that copies of Laurence’s book didn’t reach the vicinity of Palmyra until 1838-39, long after Joseph’s Enoch had been completed, it should be evident to anyone who bothered to check that Joseph’s claim to revelation should at least be considered.

Other Copies of the Book of Enoch

Later, more copies of the Book of Enoch surfaced. In 1857, manuscripts were discovered in St Petersburg, but the fact that there was an account of Enoch among them was not immediately noticed. This copy is considered the oldest and best account and is called “The Slavonic Enoch”. (It is also sometimes referred to as the Second Book of Enoch or 2 Enoch.) Only one translation was made of this manuscript and that was in 1896. (Click here for more information about the Ethiopic and Slavonic Books of Enoch.)

In 1927 Hugo Odeburg published a copy of the Book of Enoch, now called Third Enoch, which was originally in Hebrew.

In 1949 a Book of Enoch was discovered in the caves near the Dead Sea. It was given to Father J. T. Milik, but he kept the book hidden for twenty-seven years not allowing anyone access to it. Dated as written in the third century A.D., it includes the names of Mahijah  and Mahujah  – names recounted only in one other place, in the book produced by Joseph Smith. (See Moses 6:40 and Moses 7:2)

Why Might the Book of Enoch Have Become “Lost”?

It is understandable why Enoch’s writings were removed from canonized scripture when we consider the teachings of the early Christian Church Fathers. Having come to the false conclusion that Earth was the centre of God’s creations, they simply could not endure the constant references by Enoch to a Physical God who came and went and dwelt somewhere in the Cosmos. Every attempt to reconcile the Heavens and everything that in them were, ended up in contention amid the council members. To end this conflict his detractors determined to exclude his records from the Bible and even expunged his name altogether. From about the time of Origen and Hilary, Enoch had disappeared from all Christian and Jewish scriptures except where necessary for the continuity of genealogy and the begats. 

Along with Enoch went all references to the premortal life experience, the grand councils in Heaven, the war between Satan and God, the war in Heaven which resulted in Satan’s rejecting God’s plan for the salvation of his children. The knowledge that Christ accepted the plan and volunteered to become our saviour. That which was lost included the necessity for a saviour, the understanding of the atonement, the special mission of Christ and the Holy Ghost, the plurality of other worlds, the great plan laid down for the progress of the sons and daughters of God our Father, and reference of the life after mortal death. All gone. All made to disappear.

At this point in history the discovery has little to no effect on mainstream Christian Churches who are still struggling after 70 years, with the problem of how to approach the discrepancy of information contained in the materials recovered from the Dead Sea Caves and how to reconcile that with what is being taught as doctrine in their own Churches. Meanwhile millions of copies of the Book of Moses, which contains the story of Enoch, have been printed and distributed freely to the world since its first formal publication in 1851.

2. Noah

The only record actually claiming to be part of the “Book of Noah” is a fragment of a record written as a chapter in the Book of Enoch which contains details about Noah’s birth. A translation of this fragment reports that his father, Lamech, was afraid of Noah because of his appearance. He ran to his Father, Methuselah saying…

“I have begotten a strange son, diverse from and unlike men, resembling the sons of God in Heaven. The hair of his head and his long locks were as white as wool and his eyes beautiful. The colour of his body is whiter than snow and redder than the bloom of a rose, and his eyes like the rays of the sun and he opened his eyes and lighted up the whole house.”

Methuselah called upon his father, Enoch, “from the ends of the earth” to calm Lamech. Enoch convinced Lamech that the babe he had begotten was mortal. None the less he commanded Lamech to call the boy, “Noah, for he shall be left to you and he and his sons shall be saved from the destruction that shall come upon the earth in his days.” 

This account is not in our scriptures. The physical description of Noah does lead one to believe he was Albino or in any other way physically extraordinary (Genesis 5: 29).

3/ Abraham

The first mention of Abraham (known at first as Abram) in the Bible is found in Genesis 11: 27. The genealogy that proceeds the narrative is very accurate but also very short of details. It is obvious that something is missing. Abraham is considered to be the father of the three great religions (Judaism, Christianity and Islam). But the information recorded in the Old Testament leaves many unanswered questions:

1/ How did Abraham’s brother die before his Father? (Genesis 11: 28)
2/ Where had Abraham spend the first 75 years of his life? (Genesis 12: 4)
3/ Did Abraham lie when he told the Pharaoh that Sarah was his Sister? (Genesis 12: 11-13)
4/ Why did God command Abram to “Get thee out of thy country and from thy kindred and from thy Father’s house, into a Land that I shall shew thee”. (Genesis 12: 1)
5/ Why was Abram’s name changed to Abraham? (Genesis 17: 5)
6/ How did Abraham come to be favored of the Lord? (Genesis 12: 2-3)

This story, as told by the Essenes and later passed to the Gnostics, is also found in various Midrashim (ancient commentaries) of the Jewish Talmud.

Abraham was born about 50 years before the death of Noah, in the days of the world’s worst and bloodiest tyrant, Nimrod. The society over whom he ruled had become a cesspool of immorality. Paranoid that the appearance of a new start in the sky indicated foreboding disastrous news, all Nimrod’s court soothsayers informed the King that this rare phenomenon was a sign that a new king had been born that would overthrow him. Hence the narcissistic Nimrod decreed that all children under the age of 2 were to be slaughtered. Abram/Abraham’s parents, Terah and his wife, had been notified by God before the birth of their child that he was special. He, like Jesus, had a specific role to play in God’s large scheme of human affairs. It was known in the community that Terah’s wife had just given birth to a baby boy, and so he was on the King’s list of parents who were expected to deliver the child up to be executed as per the decree of Nimrod. Terah was well known in the courts of Nimrod because his craft as a builder of idols had brought him to the attention of the King. Now, in a desperate decision between serving Nimrod or saving his son, Terah conceived of a desperate plan. One of Terah’s household female servants had also recently given birth to a son. Terah substituted that child for Abram/Abraham. That child was therefore brought before Nimrod and it was brutally murdered before Terah’s very eyes. Meanwhile the real Abram/Abraham was secreted away by his mother, to be raised by Seth, one of the sons of Noah.  (See: Abraham, Abraham’s Early Life and Nimrod and Abraham.) The story goes on to record the re-appearance of Abram/Abraham some 50 years later at the home of his Father in Ur – about the time when the Bible begins its telling of Abraham’s life story.

Other account have been discovered in more modern day, including The Apocalypse of Abraham and the Book of Abraham.

These accounts seem to provide plausible answers to questions and confirm parts of Abraham’s story, such as how he received the Priesthood of God. (It was passed from Adam until the flood, and via Noah and his son Shem to Abraham.)

Recently, scholars John A. Tvedtnes, Brian M. Hauglid and John Gee have compiled information gleaned from Christian, Jewish and Muslim sources and published their comparisons in a collection of books called “Studies in the Book of Abraham”. 

The common stories they relate tell of the struggles and adventures of Abraham and his wife Sarah who emerge from the sins and carnage of their times to become the leaders of their tribes, and prophetically are appointed and anointed to become the rulers of all nations in the future because of their righteousness and obedience. It also contains the accounts of the Earth’s spiritual and physical creation, the dramatic and life-changing events in the Garden of Eden, and the necessity for the fall of Adam and Eve, all of which were lost to the world. 

4/ Moses

The Biblical record of Moses does not stand alone. His life and writings are also recorded in the Torah and the Quran. Moses was a great political leader, a military commander, scholar, writer, historian, shepherd, emancipator, prophet of Gods, revelator, miracle worker, legislator, judge, and pioneer. In the Pearl of Great Price, the Book of Moses starts with a resounding confirmation of the willingness of God to speak to man.  Moses finds himself on an exceedingly high mountain when God appears, not as a spirit of an incomprehensible nature. Instead, “…he saw God face to face, and he talked with him, and the glory of God was upon Moses; therefore Moses could endure his presence.” (Moses 1: 2)

What We Gain From This Additional Information

We learn a lot about God and his prophets from the pages of these ancient writings. Yet this additional information is not unique in teaching us about the true nature of God.

“And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness… So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.”
Genesis 1: 26-27:

We have to wonder how the Christian churches failed so badly in their understanding of God when the very unaltered books they were referencing for the information, and that they recognized and canonized as scripture, had already spelled out in words impossible to misunderstand. We are created in God’s image. In no way does this demean or take away anything of the sacred nature and personality of God. What it does do is clarify our relationship to him and our potential as human offspring of noble, Godly parents.

We are Children of our God and have as our origin nothing short or less than we come from the courts where Gods dwell. We literally are children of our Heavenly Parents.

For as many as are led by the spirit of God, are the sons of God… Ye have not received the spirit of adoption whereby we cry” Abba, Father. The spirit itself beareth witness that we are the children of God: And if Children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ…
Romans 8: 14-17

Furthermore, we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence, shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of our spirits and live?
Hebrews 12: 9

The Lord instructed us to pray: Our Father, which art in Heaven…
Matthew 6: 9

Jesus saith unto her” Touch me not for I am not yet ascended to my Father. But go to my brethren, and say unto them,  I ascend unto my Father and your Father, and to my God and your God.”
John 20: 17

How much confusion and bloodshed could have been avoided if the early church fathers had stayed true to the teachings of Christ? Would man have been so willing to compete with such volatile indignation against his brother? Would he have so been as willingly to despise and kill knowing each person’s blood he spilled was that of his spiritual brother or his spiritual sister? All this critical knowledge removed and lost. No wonder man stumbled and became as brutish as the savage animals in the wilds. As predicted, the Children of God, not knowing their origins or destinies, became natural men and women, enemies to God. (Mosiah 3: 19-20)