nibley on the last dispensation - moses chapter 1

NIBLEY On the Last Dispensation: MOSES CHAPTER 1Nibley on the Timely and Timeless

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After all these years, it comes as a surprise for me to learn that thebook of Moses appeared in the same year as the publication of the Bookof Mormon, the first chapter being delivered in the very month of its pub-lication. And it is a totally different kind of book, in another style, fromanother world. It puts to rest the silly arguments about who really wrotethe Book of Mormon, for whoever produced the book of Moses wouldhave been even a greater genius. That first chapter is a composition ofunsurpassed magnificence. And we have all overlooked it completely.

The Joseph Smith controversy is silly for the same reason the Shake-speare controversy is silly. Granted that a simple countryman could nothave written the plays that go under the name of Will Shakespeare, whocould? If that man is hard to imagine as their author, is it any easier toimagine a courtier, or a London wit, or a doctor of the schools, or, justfor laughs, a committee of any of the above as the source of that mira-culous outpouring? Joseph Smith’s achievement is of a different sort,but even more staggering: he challenged the whole world to fault him inhis massive sacred history and an unprecedented corpus of apocalypticbooks. He took all the initiative and did all the work, withholding noth-ing and claiming no immunity on religious or any other grounds; hespreads a thousand pages before us and asks us to find something wrong.

To Open the Last Dispensation: Moses Chapter 1

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And after a century and a half with all that material to work on, thelearned world comes up with nothing better than the old discreditedSolomon Spaulding story it began with. What an astounding tribute tothe achievement of the Prophet that after all this time and with all thatevidence his enemies can do no better than that! Even more impressiveis the positive evidence that is accumulating behind the book of Moses—which includes fragments from books of Adam, Noah, and Enoch; for inour day ancient books that bear those names are being seriously studiedfor the first time in modern history, and comparison with the JosephSmith versions is impressing leading scholars in the field. But evenwithout external witnesses, what a masterpiece we have in that firstchapter of the book of Moses! Consider the below.

Was the great last dispensation to be brought on withold shopworn forms and ceremonies? A dispensa-tion is a period of the world’s history during whichthe church of God with its covenants and ordinan-

ces is upon the earth; in the apocalyptic scheme of things it is acomparatively brief period of light following a long period ofdarkness. What would be an appropriate ensign to announce andinaugurate such a happy time? The single civilization that em-braces the world today, whichever way it turns, sees only itself, agreat all-confining cliché in which one can think only of what isbeing thought and do only what is being done. It cannot evenimagine a new dispensation, let alone supply one. Like a heavygalleon it labors on into everdeepening gloom, prodded on itsway from time to time by promising puffs of a New Order, NewMethod, New Education, New Deal, New Life, New Cure, NewLight, New Way, and so forth. But it is ever and again losing mo-mentum as the fleeting winds quickly blow themselves out, leav-ing the old scow to wallow on as best it may towards the dawn ofnothing. To want something totally new and different is onething; to supply it is another. Dr. Samuel Johnson, James Boswellreports, “projected . . . a work to shew how small a quantity ofreal fiction there is in the world; and that the same images, withvery little variation, have served all the authors who have everlived.” Who, then, is going to come up with anything really new?

Nibley on the Timely and the Timeless

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It would help also, since we are asking for the impossible, for thisnew thing to be vast in scope and glorious in conception and com-pounded of truth rather than fiction. From what source can welook for comfort? From none on this distracted globe.

It came from the outside, the Mormons said: the long, longsilence was broken by an angel from on high. At once the wholeworld exploded in one long hoot of derision—adequate witnessto the total novelty of the thing; here was something utterly alienand retrograde to everything the world taught and believed. Itwasn’t only that the boy Joseph Smith had an idea about anangel—it was the clear, detailed, factual, clinical account of thevisits that left his fellowmen incoherent with rage. Even moreoutrageous was his vision of the Father and Son: the mere ideaof it was astoundingly original, but again, the simple, straight-forward, noble manner in which he reported it left no room forcontention; it was “yea, yea,” and “nay, nay,” for as the only wit-ness to the most astonishing of his experiences, Joseph could notbe confounded by any contrary evidence; and by the same tokenneither could anyone be asked to take him seriously were it notthat he came before an unbelieving world with boundless richesin his hands.

For one thing, he brought out three formidable volumes ofscripture. One need look no further than the opening chapter ofeach of these to realize that a new dispensation is indeed upon us,with all the visions and blessings of old. The first section of theDoctrine and Covenants, or Book of Commandments, takes up allthe main themes of the gospel that had been the burden of everyformer dispensation, and had been lost in all the dark intervalsbetween them, and weaves them together into one strong texturein which warning and deliverance are equally balanced. Theemergence in our day of the old apocalyptic literature, heretoforeunrecognized for what it was, though it has suddenly becomeclear that the Bible teems with it, now supports Doctrine andCovenants section 1 as newfound text after text echoes its messagein identical terms.

At the same time, the opening chapter of the Book of Mormonemerges as the perfect model and type of those more specializedapocalypses or testaments attributed to individuals that are nowtaking up their position in the growing procession of early Jewishand Christian Apocrypha. The standard scenario which they fol-low is the story of the righteous man, distressed by the evils of histime and deeply concerned for the future of his people, for whom


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he weeps and prays until one day he is carried away in a visionin which he makes a celestial journey culminating with the viewof God upon His throne. On his journey he learns the plan of sal-vation as well as the secrets of the universe, and receives a call toteach and admonish God’s children on earth. Returning to earth,he first bears witness of divine providence to his immediate fam-ily, and bestows patriarchal blessings and prophetic warnings onhis sons (hence the designation of his story as a “testament”), andthen goes forth among the people to preach repentance and warnof judgments to come (that makes the account an “apocalypse”).Usually his message is rejected and he with a faithful band retiresfrom the scene as destruction descends upon the wicked. Todaywe have testaments and apocalypses bearing the name of almostevery patriarch, prophet, and apostle from Adam on down, someof them very old, and all of them connected in with each otherand with the Bible at crucial points. Hence, we can say withouthesitation that the first chapter of the Book of Mormon, the testa-ment of Lehi, has the authenticity of a truly ancient pseude-pigraphic writing stamped all over it. It is a well-nigh perfect ex-ample of the genre.

But it is the first chapter of the book of Moses that com-mands the most boundless wonder and esteem. It was broughtforth in the very month that the Book of Mormon came fromthe press and no one less inspired than the man who producedthe one could have produced the other. Find the author of thebook of Moses and you have found the author of the Book of Mor-mon. All other candidates may withdraw. And yet, what a differ-ence! The one is a collection of the writings of pious sectaries inthe wilderness—the Rekhabite motif resounds on almost everypage: chronicles and annals, letters and sermons, commentaries,hymns and meditations; the other, the voice of Moses boomingdown the corridors of time as he transmits to us the words thatcome down to him from the beginning—he sings Enoch’s song,and Noah’s, and Adam’s, to which Abraham’s is added in anotherbook. But it is that opening chapter to which we turn with awe.What other prelude could there be to the history of the race, whatother prologue could ever give it such depth of meaning and suchgratifying consistency? First, we find Moses in the presence ofGod and the bosom of eternity, being apprised of a special callingto which he has been appointed as coworker with the Savior (seeMoses 1:3–9). A preliminary test is indicated—suddenly the lightsgo out and Moses is found lying unconscious and helpless upon


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the earth; as he slowly comes to himself, he recognizes the miseryand the glory of fallen man: “Now, . . . I know that man is noth-ing, which thing I never had supposed.” And then, in the samebreath: “But now mine own eyes have beheld God; . . . his glorywas upon me; . . . I was transfigured before him” (Moses 1:10–11).Weakness is his present condition, glory his everlasting birth-right. It is in this moment of man’s greatest helplessness and vul-nerability that Satan chooses to strike, attempting first by persua-sion and then by intimidation to get Moses to worship him as thegod of this world. But Moses has not wholly forgotten who he is,“a son of God, in the similitude of his Only Begotten,” and de-nounces Satan as a sham, while professing himself awaiting fur-ther light and knowledge: “I will not cease to call upon God, Ihave other things to inquire of him” (Moses 1:13, 18). The humili-ating exposure of Satan becomes unendurable when Moses an-nounces that he actually is what his adversary falsely claims tobe, “a son of God, in the similitude of his Only Begotten; andwhere is thy glory that I should worship thee?” (Moses 1:13). Thisis too much for Satan, who casts aside his celebrated but now use-less subtlety and launches a frontal attack of satanic fury, atremendous tantrum, as he “cried with a loud voice, and rantedupon the earth, and commanded, saying: I am the Only Begotten,worship me” (Moses 1:19). The whole scene is presented in dra-matic form as a ritual combat stichomythia; and true to the ancientpattern, the hero is momentarily bested, overcome by the powersof darkness as he “began to fear” and “saw the bitterness of hell.”But with his last ounce of strength he calls upon God from thedepths and is delivered: he has won the fight, he has prevailedagainst the power of him who “sought to destroy the world, forhe knew not the mind of God.”

And now the scene changes (verses 23 and 24 read like stagedirections); the lights go up, the music soars and Moses, thoughremaining on earth, is again invested with glory and hears thevoice of God proclaiming him victor, worthy and chosen to leadGod’s people “as if thou wert God”—the type and model of theancient Year King proclaimed after his victory over death asGod’s ruler on earth. He is specifically told that he shall “be madestronger than many waters”—for he has just passed through thewaters of death and rebirth, de profundis; and shown himself ca-pable and worthy of the mission which is now entrusted to him.After this royal acclamation, reminiscent of combat and corona-tion episodes dramatized in the earliest year rites throughout the


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ancient world, the scene again changes, as Moses and the readerview the field of labor in which the prophet is to work; he receivesa thorough briefing, an intimate knowledge of the earth in itscosmic setting, its physical makeup (“every particle” of it), andeverything that lives upon it. Naturally, he wants to know what isbehind the behind and beyond the beyond, but God assures himthat such knowledge is not for now: “But only an account of thisearth, and the inhabitants thereof, give I unto you” (Moses 1:35),with which knowledge Moses is finally “content.” Nevertheless,quite fundamental to a correct understanding of this world is itsrelationship to the wider structure of things, to heavens withoutend and worlds without number, constantly coming into exis-tence and passing away in an endless processing; “and there is noend to my works, neither to my words” (Moses 1:38). And thiscosmic discourse is summed up and concluded in the most com-forting proclamation of all: “For behold, this is my work and myglory—to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man”(Moses 1:39). All this becoming and passing away, the endlessprocessing of the same elements, would offer only the overpow-ering and depressing prospect of science fiction, were it not forthat ultimate assurance: man is going somewhere after all; in thecourse of nature he is doomed (see 2 Nephi 9:7) but the course ofnature does not have the last word—God is on top of the problemand He is working for us.

The three concluding verses of the chapter place upon it anundeniable seal of authenticity. Of careful concern in each of therecords handed down through the Prophet Joseph is the estab-lishing of the exact manner in which the work has been pre-served. This is another mark of the newly discovered pseude-pigrapha: these verses of Moses might have been taken out of anynumber of Jewish or Christian Apocrypha; especially those writ-ings from the “Forty day Literature” in which the Coptic recordsare so rich: “And now, Moses, my son . . . thou shalt write thethings which I shall speak. And in a day when the children ofmen shall esteem my words as naught and take many of themfrom the book which thou shalt write, behold, I will raise up an-other like unto thee; and they shall be had again among the chil-dren of men—among as many as shall believe” (Moses 1:40–41).And so the present dispensation gets them: “And now they arespoken unto you. Show them not unto any except them that be-lieve” (Moses 1:42). Such is the standard formula for the preser-vation and transmission of apocalyptic writings.


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As a literary tour de force, Moses chapter 1 is awe-inspiring.Equally impressive is the way it takes up a position alongsideother ancient writings that tell the same story in much the sameway. Of particular relevance are the apocalypses of Abraham andAdam, from both of which Joseph Smith has conveyed purportedwritings. Let us turn to them for some illuminating comparisons.

Those who wish to credit Joseph Smith with a comprehen-sion of comparative literature and ritual far beyond his time andtraining are free to do so. They may even insist, as they have withthe Book of Mormon, that this is the way any uneducated rusticwould tell the story. Today, however, we have several very an-cient and significant parallels to Moses 1, which lie far beyond thereach of coincidence or daydreaming. The number of details andthe order in which they occur make it perfectly clear that we aredealing with specific works of great antiquity which come from acommon source. To show what we mean, let us compare Moses’,Abraham’s, and Adam’s confrontations with Satan; these storiesthemselves contain pointed references to Enoch, with whom eachhere is duly compared. Let it be remembered that these accountsare not scripture but are simply ancient records that help us un-derstand the Enoch story.

First the Apocalypse of Abraham, an Old Slavonic accountdiscovered in 1895 and first published by Bonwetsch in 1897.1Klaus Koch has recently ranked it as one of the six definitely au-thentic early Hebrew apocalypses.2 Let us place it in parallelcolumns against our book of Moses, chapter 1.

Moses Apocalypse of Abraham

The setting:

1:1 The words of God . . . untoMoses . . . when Moses wascaught up into an exceedinglyhigh mountain.

9:8 [Abraham, in order to re-ceive the vision, must] bringme the sacrifice . . . upon ahigh mountain.

God will show him everything:

4 I will show thee the work-manship of mine hands; butnot all, for my works are with-out end, . . .

6 In this sacrifice I will showforth to thee the ages of theworld,



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5 Wherefore, no man canbehold all my works . . . andno man can behold all myglory. . . .

and show thee that which ishidden. Thou shalt beholdgreat things, which thou hastnever seen before,

(See Abraham 2:12: Thy servanthas sought thee earnestly; nowI have found thee.)

because thou delightest toseek after me,

6 And I have a work for thee,Moses, my son. . . .

and I have called thee myfriend.

8 And . . . Moses looked, andbeheld the world upon whichhe was created; . . . and all thechildren of men which are,and which were created. . . .

9 And I will show unto thee,the ages of the world fixed andcreated by my word, and showthee what is going to happento the children of men as theyshall do good or evil.

The hero is helpless after the vision:

9 And the presence of Godwithdrew from Moses . . . and[he] was left unto himself. And. . . he fell unto the earth.

10:1 [Hearing a voice] I lookedhere and there.2 It was not a human breath,and so my spirit was afraid,and my soul departed fromme. And I became as a stone,and fell to the earth, for I hadno more strength to stand;

10 And . . . it was for the spaceof many hours before Mosesdid again receive his naturalstrength. . . .

3 And as I lay with my face tothe ground I heard the voice ofthe Holy One say, 4 Go, Jaoel, in the power of myname, and raise that man up!Let him recover from his trem-bling.

Satan takes advantage of his weakness:

13:1 I carried out everythingaccording to the angel’s in-structions . . .



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12 Behold, Satan came temp-ting him, saying: Moses, son ofman, worship me. (emphasisadded)

3 Then an unclean creaturewith wings alighted upon thesacrificial victims. . . . 4 The unclean bird said to me:What are you doing, Abraham,in this holy place . . . where youyourself may perish in the fire!5 Leave the man [angel] stan-ding beside you and flee!

13 And . . . Moses . . . said:Who art thou?. . .

6 And I asked the angel: Whois this, my Lord?

15 I can judge between theeand God. . . . 16 Get thee hence, Satan;deceive me not; . . .

7 He said: This is ungodliness:this is Azazel [Satan]!

Satan put to shame by humiliating contrast with the hero:

13 I am a son of God . . . andwhere is thy glory, that I shouldworship thee?

8 [Michael:] Shame upon you,Satan!9 For Abraham's part is inheaven, and thine is upon thisearth.10 God has placed thee uponthis earth as the Adversary, tolead dishonest spirits andpractice deception.

14 For behold, I could not lookupon God, except . . . I weretransfigured before him. But Ican look upon thee in the nat-ural man. Is it not so, surely?

12 Listen, my friend, and I willput you to shame,

15 . . . Where is thy glory, forit is darkness unto me? And Ican judge between thee andGod; . . .

13 Thou has not the power totempt all the righteous.



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16 Get thee hence, Satan;deceive me not;

14 Depart from this man! Thoucanst not lead him astray for heis thine enemy and enemy toall those who follow thee andlove after thy desire.

for God said unto me: Thouart after the similitude of mineOnly Begotten.

15 For behold, the garment [ofglory] which once fitted you inheaven, is now laid up for him.And the decay to which he wasfated now goes over to thee!

The hero is strengthened for the contest:

17 And he also gave me com-mandments . . . saying: Callupon God in the name of mineOnly Begotten, worship me.18 . . . I have other things to in-quire of him: for his glory hasbeen upon me, wherefore I canjudge between him and thee.Depart hence, Satan.

14:3 Take heart, exercise thepower that I give thee overthis one, who hateth truth . . .4 . . . who rebelled against theAlmighty . . .5 Say to him: . . . Depart,Azazel . . .6 Thy lot is to rule over thosewho are with thee . . .7 Depart from me . . .8 And I spoke as the angel in-structed me.

The hero is overcome but calls out and is saved:

19 And . . . Satan cried with aloud voice, and ranted uponthe earth, and commanded,saying: I am the Only Begot-ten, worship me.

9 He [Satan] spoke: Abraham!And I said: Here is thy servant.

20 And . . . Moses began tofear exceedingly; and . . . sawthe bitterness of hell. Never-theless, calling upon God, hereceived strength, and he com-manded, saying: Depart fromme, Satan. . . .

10 But the angel said to me: O,do not reply to him! For Godhas given him power overthose who answer him.11 . . . no matter how much hespeaks to thee, answer him not,lest his will overpower thine.


12 For the Eternal One hasgiven him a powerful will.Answer him not!


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21 And now Satan began totremble, and the earth shook;and Moses received strength,and called upon God, saying: In the name of the Only Begot-ten, depart hence, Satan.

(The following detail aboutEnoch’s meeting in Gizeh withSatan is found in 1 Enoch 13:1–3:1 And Enoch said to Azazel,Depart! Thou shalt have nopeace, a great sentence hasgone forth against thee to bindthee. 2 And there will be no furtherdiscussion or questioning withthee, because of thy dishonestand deceitful works amongmen.

22 And . . . Satan cried with aloud voice, with weeping, andwailing, and gnashing of teeth;and he departed hence, evenfrom the presence of Moses,that he beheld him not.

3 Then he departed and spoketo all of them [his followers]and they all feared, and trem-bling and terror seized them.)

The hero is borne aloft:

(See 2 Nephi 4:25: Upon thewings of his Spirit hath mybody been carried away uponexceeding high mountains.And mine eyes have beheldgreat things, yea, even toogreat for man.)

15:2 The angel in charge of thesacrifice . . . took3 me by the right hand, andset me on the right wing of thedove while he sat on the leftside.4 So it bore me to the limits ofthe flaming fire5 and then on into heaven, asif on many winds, which wasfixed above the firmament.


24 And . . . when Satan haddeparted from the presence ofMoses, that Moses lifted up hiseyes unto heaven, being filledwith the Holy Ghost, . . .25 And calling upon . . . God,he beheld his glory again, . . .

(Bet ha-Midrash 5:170: Ishmael[double for Enoch]: When Iwent up to the mountain top. . . arriving at the seventhtemple. I stood to pray beforeGod: and I lifted up my eyesand said . . . deliver me fromSatan. And the Metatron [alsoEnoch!] came who [served?]the angel, even the Prince ofthe Presence, and spread hiswings and came to meet mewith great joy . . . and he tookme with his hand and raisedme up.)


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25 . . . And he heard a voice,saying: Blessed art thou, Moses,for I, the Almighty, have chosenthee, and thou shalt be madestronger than many waters; forthey shall obey thy commandas if thou wert God. (HereMoses is hailed as the victori-ous sacral king.)

17:1 And while he was speak-ing, fire surrounded us and avoice . . . like the voice of manywaters like the raging of the seain the surf.

27 And . . . Moses cast his eyesand beheld the earth, . . .28 And he beheld also the in-habitants thereof, and there wasnot a soul which he beheld not;. . . and their numbers weregreat, even numberless.

15:6 And I saw a mighty light. . . and in the light a mightyfire in which was a host, evena great host of mighty beings[forms] constantly changingshape and appearance, mov-ing, changing, praying, anduttering words I could not un-derstand.


He is shown the field of his mission:

In the “testamentary” literature,each patriarch takes a journeyto heaven and is given a viewof the entire earth, an accountof which then becomes an in-tegral part of his missionarymessage upon his return.(Compare 1 Nephi 1:4–15,Abraham 3:15, Moses 1:40.)


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27. . . As the voice was stillspeaking, Moses cast his eyesand beheld the earth, yea,even all of it; and there wasnot a particle of it which hedid not behold, . . .

21:1 He said to me: Look be-neath thy feet upon the Firma-ment. Recognize at that levelthe creation there presented,the creatures that are in it, andthe world that has been pre-pared for them.

28 And he beheld also the in-habitants thereof, and there wasnot a soul which he beheld not;. . . and their numbers weregreat, even numberless as thesand upon the sea shore.

2 And I looked down, andbehold . . . the earth and herfruits, and all that moves uponher . . . and the power of thepeople . . .3 the lower regions . . . the pitand its torments . . .

29 And he beheld many lands;and each land was called earth,and there were inhabitants onthe face thereof.

4 I saw there the sea and itsislands, the beasts, its fishes,leviathan and his sphere . . .5 the streams of water, theirsources and their courses . . .9 I saw there a mighty host ofmen, women, and children halfof them on the right side of thepicture and half on the left.


Confrontation with God:

31 And . . . the glory of theLord was upon Moses, so thatMoses stood in the presence ofGod, and talked with him faceto face.

16:1 I said to the angel: I cansee nothing, I have becomeweak, my spirit leaves me!2 He said to me: Stay with me;be not afraid. He whom thounow beholdest coming towardsus . . . is the Eternal One, wholoves thee.3 But He himself you do notsee . . .4 But do not be overcome, I amwith you to strengthen you.


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30 And it came to pass thatMoses called upon God. . . .

17:5 So I continued to pray . . .6 He said: Speak withoutceasing!

33 And worlds without num-ber have I created; and I alsocreated them for mine ownpurpose; . . .

7ff. (Abraham calls upon Godnaming his attributes.)11 Eli, meaning My God . . .El! El! El! El! Jaoel!13 Thou who bringest orderinto the unorganized universe,even the chaos which in theperishable world goes forthfrom good and evil.

38 And as one earth shall passaway, . . . even so shall anothercome; and there is no end tomy works, neither to mywords.

Thou who renewest the Worldof the righteous.14 O light, that shone upon thycreatures before the morninglight . . .


The epic question and answer:

30 And . . . Moses called uponGod, saying: Tell me, I praythee, why these things are so,and by what thou madest them?(Emphasis added. See alsoAbraham 1:2: “I sought for theblessings of the fathers, . . .desiring also . . . to possess agreater knowledge.”)

16 Hear my prayers!17 Look with favor upon me:Show me, teach me. Give thyservant all that which thouhast promised him.26:1 Eternal, Mighty, OnlyOne! Why hast thou soarranged things, that it shouldbe so?


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31 . . . And the Lord God saidunto Moses: For mine ownpurpose have I made thesethings. Here is wisdom and itremaineth in me.

26:5 As thine own father’s[Terah’s] will is in him, and asthine own will is in thee, sothe resolves of mine own willare set for all the future, beforeyou knew there even was sucha thing . . .

33 And worlds without num-ber have I created; and I alsocreated them for mine ownpurpose; . . .35 But only an account of thisearth, and the inhabitants there-of, give I unto you. For behold,there are many worlds . . . thatnow stand, . . . but all thingsare numbered unto me, forthey are mine and I knowthem.

19:3 Look upon the places be-neath the firmament, uponwhich thou standest [see thisformula in Abraham 3:3, 4, 5,7, etc.!] Behold there is not asingle place nor any spot at allbut what is occupied by Himwhom thou seekest.4 And as he spoke the placeopened up and beneath methere was heaven.5 And upon the seventh Fir-mament on which I stood . . .I saw the splendor of invisibleglory investing living beings.



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(Abraham 2:12: “Now, afterthe Lord had withdrawn fromspeaking to me, and with-drawn his face from me, I saidin my heart: Thy servant hassought thee earnestly; now Ihave found thee.”)

4 And he said to me: What inthy heart thou didst so desire,that I will tell thee, becausethou hast sought diligently tobehold, etc.

Left alone a second time:

9 And the presence of Godwithdrew from Moses, that hisglory was not upon Moses; andMoses was left unto himself.And as he was left unto him-self, he fell unto the earth.

30:1 And as he was still speak-ing I found myself upon theearth.2 I spoke: Eternal, Mighty, Onlyone!3 Behold I am no longer in theglory in which I was above!And what my heart sought toknow I did not understand.

These parallel accounts, separated by centuries, cannot becoincidence. Nor can all the others. The first man to have such aconfrontation with Satan was Adam. A wealth of stories about itclosely matches the accounts of Abraham, Moses, Enoch, andother heroes. Perhaps the oldest Adam traditions are those col-lected from all over the ancient East at a very early time, whichhave reached us in later Ethiopian and Arabic manuscripts underthe title of “The Combat of Adam and Eve against Satan.”3 It con-tains at least thirteen different showdowns between Adam andthe adversary, of which we present a few of the most striking.Since the motif was characteristically repeated with variations(the monkish mind could not resist the temptation to work a goodthing to death) it will be necessary to repeat some passages fromthe book of Moses.


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Moses Combat of Adam(direct quotations from the

document are indicated withquotation marks)

1:9 And the presence of Godwithdrew from Moses, that hisglory was not upon Moses; andMoses was left unto himself.. . . He fell unto the earth.

Columns 297–98 Leaving theglorious garden, they (Adamand Eve) were seized with fearand “they fell down upon theearth and remained as if dead.”

10 And it came to pass that itwas for the space of manyhours before Moses did againreceive his natural strength likeunto man; and he said untohimself: Now, for this cause Iknow that man is nothing,which thing I never had sup-posed.

299 While Adam was still inthat condition, Eve, stretchinghigh her hands, prayed: “OLord . . . thy servant has fallenfrom the Garden” and is ban-ished to a desert place.(Genesis 3:18f.)

11 But now mine own eyeshave beheld God; but not mynatural, but my spiritual eyes,for my natural eyes could nothave beheld: for I should havewithered and died in his pres-ence; but his glory was uponme; and I beheld his face, for Iwas transfigured before him.

299 They say: “Today our eyeshaving become terrestrial canno longer behold the thingsthey once did.”

12 And it came to pass thatwhen Moses had said thesewords, behold, Satan cametempting him, saying: Moses,son of man, worship me.

306 Satan, seeing them atprayers, appears to them ina great light and sets up histhrone on the site, thus claim-ing the earth as his kingdomwhile his followers sing hymnsin his praise.




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13 And it came to pass thatMoses looked upon Satan andsaid: Who art thou? For be-hold, I am a son of God, in thesimilitude of his Only Begot-ten; and where is thy glory,that I should worship thee?

307 Adam, puzzled, prays forlight, asking: Can this be an-other God here hailed by hisangels? An angel of the Lordarrives and says: “Fear not,Adam, what you see is Satanand his companions who wishto seduce you again. First heappeared to you as a serpentand now he wants you to wor-ship him so he can draw youafter him away from God.”

15–18 . . . Where is thy glory,for it is darkness unto me? . . .Get thee hence, Satan; deceiveme not. . . . I can judge between[God] and thee. Depart hence,Satan.

Then the angel exposed andhumiliated Satan in Adam’spresence and cast him out say-ing to Adam:

13 I am a son of God. . . .14 . . . I could not look uponGod, except . . . I were trans-figured before him. (See Moses1:20: “Calling upon God, hereceived strength.”)

“Fear not: God who createdyou will strengthen you!”

307–8 The next morning asAdam prayed with upraisedhands, Satan appeared to him,saying, “Adam, I am an angelof the great God. The Lord hassent me to you.” It was his planto kill Adam and thus “remainsole master and possessor ofthe earth.” But God sent threeheavenly messengers to Adambringing him the signs of thepriesthood and kingship.309 And Adam wept becausethey reminded him of his de-parted glory, but God said they



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were signs of the atonement tocome, whereupon Adam re-joiced.

12 Satan came tempting him,saying: Moses, son of man,worship me.19 . . . I am the Only Begotten,worship me.

323–24 After a forty-day fastAdam and Eve were veryweak, stretched out upon thefloor of the cave as if dead, butstill praying. Satan then came,clothed in light, speaking sweetwords to deceive them saying:“I am the first created of God.. . . Now God has commandedme to lead you to my habita-tion . . . to be restored to yourformer glory.”

13 Moses looked upon Satanand said: Who art thou?

325 But God knew that heplanned to lead them to far-away places and destroy them.Adam said, Who was this glo-rious old man who came to us?Answer: He is Satan in humanform come to deceive you bygiving you signs to prove hisbonafides but I have cast himout.

21 And now Satan began totremble. . . .22 And it came to pass thatSatan cried with a loud voice,with weeping, and wailing,and gnashing of teeth; and hedeparted hence. . . .

326 Adam and Eve, still weakfrom fasting and still praying,are again confronted by Satanwho, being rebuffed, “is soreafflicted” and weeping andwailing says, “‘God haswrecked my scheme. . . . Hehas rendered worthless theplan which I contrived againsthis servants.’ And he retired inconfusion.”



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18 I have other things to inquireof [God]: for his glory has beenupon me, wherefore I can judgebetween him and thee. Departhence, Satan.

327 Adam asked, Why is this?Answer: “God wanted to showyou the weakness of Satan andhis evil intentions, for since theday you left the Garden he hasnot let a day pass without try-ing to harm you, but I have notlet him have the victory overyou.” (Adam thus learned todistinguish between good andevil.)

5:6 And after many days anangel of the Lord appearedunto Adam, saying: Why dostthou offer sacrifices unto theLord? And Adam said untohim: I know not, save the Lordcommanded me.7 And then the angel spake,saying: This thing is a simili-tude of the sacrifice of the OnlyBegotten of the Father, which isfull of grace and truth.9 . . . As thou hast fallen thoumayest be redeemed, and allmankind, even as many as will.

329 Again Adam and Eve weresacrificing with upraised armsin prayer, asking God to accepttheir sacrifice and forgive theirsins. “And the Lord said toAdam and Eve: As you havemade this sacrifice to me, so Iwill make an offering of myflesh when I come to earth,and so save you. . . . And Godordered an angel to take tongsand receive the sacrifice ofAdam.”

10 . . . Adam . . . was filled, . . .saying: . . . In this life I shallhave joy, and again in the fleshI shall see God.

At this Adam and Eve rejoiced.God said: When the terms ofmy covenant are fulfilled, I willagain receive you into my Gar-den and my Grace. So Adamcontinued to make this sacri-fice for the rest of his days.And God caused his word tobe preached to Adam.


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1:20 . . . Moses began to fear ex-ceedingly; and as he began tofear, he saw the bitterness ofhell. Nevertheless, calling uponGod, he received strength. (SeeAbraham, facsimile 1!)5:7 This thing is a similitude ofthe sacrifice of the Only Begot-ten of the Father, which is fullof grace and truth.

330 On the fiftieth day, Adamoffering sacrifice as was hiscustom, Satan appeared in theform of a man and smote himin the side with a sharp stoneeven as Adam raised his armsin prayer. Eve tried to help himas blood and water flowed onthe altar. “God . . . sent hisword and revived Adam say-ing: ‘Finish thy sacrifice, whichis most pleasing to me. Foreven so will I be wounded andblood and water will comefrom my side; that will be thetrue Sacrifice, placed on thealtar as a perfect offering.’ . . .And so God healed Adam.”

Plainly, others knew the story long ago, but who could have taughtit to Joseph? That is the real question.




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NOTES

1. For the sources, see Paul Riessler, Altjüdisches Schrifttum ausserhalbder Bibel, 3d. ed. (Heidelberg: F. H. Kerle, 1975), 1267. It has been tracedto Ebionite and Essene circles closely related to the communities of theDead Sea Scrolls. Unfortunately, we are here reduced to using Riessler’sGerman translation of the Old Slavonic text.

2. Klaus Koch, Ratlos vor der Apokalyptik (Gütersloh: Gerd Mohn,1970), 19–20.

3. The sources are discussed and some of them are collected andtranslated in J.-P. Migne, Encyclopedia Théologique, vol. 125 (Paris: Chezl’éditeur, 1856), Cols. 289–330. It is to this work that our column numbersrefer.


nibley on the last dispensation - moses chapter 1

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