Enoch and his City.

"Glorious things are sung of Zion,
Enoch's city seen of old,
Where the righteous, being perfect,
Walked with God in streets of gold.
Love and virtue, faith and wisdom,
Grace and gifts were all combined;
As himself each loved his neighbor,
All were of one heart and mind."

"The Seventh from Adam."—Enoch, "the seventh from Adam" in patriarchal succession, was contemporaneous with the father of the human family. Indeed, he was ordained and blessed by Adam, and was with him in the historic Valley where the future of the race was foretold by its venerable founder,^[1] Enoch's period was prolific of wonderful events, but the two standing out most prominently are:

First:—The successful practice of the Law of Consecration, resulting in the founding of Zion, City of Holiness, which was sanctified through obedience to that high and holy principle, and translated or taken into Heaven without tasting of death.^[2]

Second:—Enoch's vision of the future, extending past the Deluge, past the Crucifixion, down even to the Last Days and the glorious coming of the Christ.

The Power of Godliness.—Did the Zion-builder of the Adamic age stand at the head of a Gospel dispensation? Whether he did or did not, it is evident, from what has been revealed concerning him and his ministry, that the message of salvation was preached by him in mighty power and with marvelous success. The world, though young, had grown old in wickedness, and the need for repentance was urgent.^[3] "So great was the faith of Enoch," and so powerful the language that God had given him, "the earth trembled and the mountains fled, even according to his command; and the rivers of water were turned out of their course; and the roar of the lions was heard out of the wilderness; and all nations feared greatly, so powerful was the word of Enoch."^[4]

The Law of Consecration.—Among warring nations and in the midst of sanguinary strife, Enoch, inspired and directed by the Almighty, introduced and established a social order which cannot be better described than in the simple, sublime phrasing of the Book of Moses, the sacred volume just cited:

"And the Lord called his people Zion, because they were of one heart and one mind and dwelt in righteousness; and there was no poor among them."^[5]

"Zion is Fled."—"In process of time" consecration brought sanctification, and eventually translation, to the City of Enoch, regarding which, after its ascension, went forth the saying: "Zion is fled."^[6]

The Tower of Babel.—The people who built the Tower of Babel are said to have done so in order that its top might "reach unto heaven." It was to prevent them from accomplishing this purpose, that the Lord confounded their language.^[7] Tradition credits Joseph Smith with the statement that the "heaven" they had in view was the translated city.

The Jaredites.—A righteous remnant of the people, namely, the Jaredites, had been exempted from the general curse of tongue confusion;^[8] and through them the pure Adamic language was preserved on earth.^[9] The Jaredites, divinely led, separated themselves from the other inhabitants of the land, and migrated to North America. Here they flourished for many centuries, and then fell, a slaughtered race, ruined by internal dissension.^[10]

Translation and Resurrection.—Translation, says the Prophet Joseph, does not take men "immediately into the presence of God." For translated beings there is a terrestrial "place of habitation," where they are "held in reserve to be ministering angels unto many planets," and "have not yet entered into so great a fulness as those who are resurrected from the dead." Enoch received from God an appointment to minister to beings of this character.^[11]

The Future Unveiled.—Enoch walked with God, and was shown "the world for the space of many generations."^[12] He beheld the Millennial Dawn, and the darkest hour before the dawn. "He saw great tribulations among the wicked, and he also saw the sea, that it was troubled."^[13] In a splendid outburst of epic poetry, the inspired oracle tells how Zion was taken up into heaven; how Satan "veiled the whole face of the earth with darkness;" how he and his angels rejoiced; how "the God of heaven looked upon the residue of the people and wept;" and how the heavens wept also, shedding "their tears as the rain upon the mountains."^[14]

Enoch, addressing the compassionate Creator, inquires: "How is it that thou canst weep, seeing thou art holy, and from all eternity to all eternity? And were it possible that man could number the particles of the earth, yea millions of earths like this, it would not be a beginning to the number of thy creations, and thy curtains are stretched out still. . . . . And thou hast taken Zion to thine own bosom from all thy creations, from all eternity to all eternity; and naught but peace, justice and truth is the habitation of thy throne; and mercy shall go before thy face and have no end; how is it thou canst weep?"^[15]

The Holy One answers, portraying the impending doom, the destruction of the wicked by the Flood, and their imprisonment in spirit dungeons until the coming of the Christ, bringing deliverance to the penitent.^[16]

The Mother of Men.—Enoch hears a voice from the depths of the Earth:

"Wo, wo is me, the mother of men; I am pained, I am weary, because of the wickedness of my children. When shall I rest . . . . when shall my Creator sanctify me, and righteousness for a season abide upon my face?"^[17]

The Creator's Covenant.—"And the Lord said unto Enoch: As I live, even so will I come in the last days, in the days of wickedness and vengeance, to fulfill the oath which I have made unto you concerning the children of Noah. And the day shall come that the earth shall rest.

"But before that day the heavens shall be darkened, and a veil of darkness shall cover the earth; and the heavens shall shake, and also the earth; and great tribulations shall be among the children of men. But my people will I preserve."^[18]

Another Zion Promised.—"And righteousness will I send down out of heaven, and truth will I send forth out of the earth, to bear testimony of mine Only Begotten; his resurrection from the dead; yea, and also the resurrection of all men; and righteousness and truth will I cause to sweep the earth as with a flood, to gather out mine elect from the four quarters of the earth, unto a place which I shall prepare, an Holy City, that my people may gird up their loins, and be looking forth for the time of my coming; for there shall be my tabernacle, and it shall be called Zion, a New Jerusalem.

"And the Lord said unto Enoch: Then shalt thou and all thy city meet them there, and we will receive them into our bosom, and they shall see us; and we will fall upon their necks, and they shall fall upon our necks, and we will kiss each other:

"And there shall be mine abode, and it shall be Zion, which shall come forth out of all the creations which I have made; and for the space of a thousand years the earth shall rest."^[19]

Awaiting its Return.—According to these teachings, the City of Enoch is now on a terrestrial plane, awaiting its return to Earth, when the season shall be ripe and the preparation complete for its reception. The change wrought upon its inhabitants by translation not being equivalent to resurrection, they will undergo a further change to prepare them for celestial glory. The Saints remaining on earth to meet the Lord will likewise be changed, not by the "sleep" of death, but "in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye," at the time of the Savior's coming.^[20] When he comes, Enoch's City will come with him, Zion from above blending with Zion from below, as spirit and body in the resurrection.

The Ancient Types the Modern.—The Ancient Zion foreshadowed the Zion of the Last Days, with which it is destined to blend.^[21] In Enoch's day the Lord's people, consecrating to Him their all, became equal in earthly as in heavenly things; and the righteous unity resulting from that blest condition brought forth the peace and power of sanctity. So shall it be and more when the Lord brings again Zion.

Footnotes

1. D. and C. 107:48, 53-56.2. Heb. 11:5.3. Moses 6:27, 8.4. Ib. 7:13.5. Ib. 7:18. Compare Acts 4:32, 34, 35; 4 Nephi 1:2, 3.6. Moses 7:69.7. Gen. 11:1-9.8. Ether 1:33-37.9. Orson Pratt, citing an unpublished revelation, says"What is the name of God in the pure language? The answer says: 'Ahman.' What is the name of the Son of God? Answer, 'Son Ahman, the greatest of all the parts of God, excepting Ahman.' What is the name of men? 'Sons Ahman' is the answer."—Journal of Discourses, Vol. 2, p. 342.10. Omni 1:21, 2; Mosiah 8:6-12; 28:17. See also Article Five.11. Hist. Ch. Vol. 4, pp. 209, 210.

Commenting upon that passage of scripture, "Others were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection" (Heb. 11:35) the Prophet says: "Translation obtains deliverance from the tortures and sufferings of the body; but their existence will prolong as to the labors and toils of the ministry, before they can enter into so great a rest and glory. On the other hand those who were tortured not accepting deliverance, received an immediate rest from their labors." He also explains the difference between an angel and a ministering spirit—"the one a resurrected or translated body, with its spirit, ministering to embodied spirits; the other a disembodied spirit, visiting or ministering to disembodied spirits." . . . . Translated beings, "designed for future missions," "cannot enter into rest until they have undergone a change equivalent to death."—"The Mediation and Atonement." pp. 75, 76.12. Moses 7:4.13. Ib. v. 66. Compare D. and C. 61:4-6, 14-19.14. Moses 7:26, 28.15. Ib. vv. 29-31.16. I Peter 3:18-20; 4:6.17. Moses 7:48.18. Ib. vv. 60, 61.19. Moses 7:62-64.20. I Cor. 15:51. 52.21. D. and C. 84:99-102.