Written by Jordan Bybee, a BYU student, studying a volume of scripture known as the Pearl of Great Price, which is written by prophets; members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints “Mormons” revere it as sacred text. This post comes from a book within the Pearl of Great Price known, as The Book of Moses; it is an extraction from the translation of the Bible as revealed to Joseph Smith the Prophet, June 1830—February 1831.
Relationship with God the Father
In Moses chapter one (found in a book of scripture held as sacred by Latter-day Saints known as the Pearl of Great Price), God reveals himself to Moses while he is on an exceedingly high mountain. In verse 3 and 4 God establishes his relationship with Moses by saying “Behold I am the Lord God Almighty, and Endless is my name; for I am without beginning of days or end of years…And, behold, thou art my son.”
First- Moses learns that he is a son of God.
Second- In subsequent verses he learns about God’s character. Someone once taught me that if you really want to know God you have to know his character. If you want a relationship with him you will have to come to know him. Moses is taught directly by God some of his most important characteristics: he is endless, knows all things, full of grace, truth, and glory, many works (all-powerful), and he desires to teach us.
Third- He is also taught that, although God is all-powerful Moses can still talk with God and ask Him questions.
Fourth- After the presence of God withdrew from Moses, Moses realizes that man is nothing.
Fifth- Moses learns that the work and glory of God is to “bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of men” (See Moses 1:39). In this last conference President Uchtdorf, in his talk “You Matter to Him”, tied these two seemingly opposite ideas together. He says, “This is a paradox of man: compared to God, man is nothing; yet we are everything to God.” What an amazing experience this must have been for Moses-to view the most magnificent creations of God and yet be taught by God that these things were created for men.
What I think he really gets from this experience is captured in the phrase “Thou art after the similitude of mine Only Begotten” (See Moses 1:6). This is what he repeats a couple of times to Satan when he comes temping him. This is what I do as well, during hard times. I repeat scriptures, meaningful phrases, etc. over and over to remind myself of my relationship with God. Otherwise it is so easy to get up in the moment and forget what past experiences with the scriptures have taught me. Although Nephi taught us to liken the scriptures unto ourselves, it is easy to say, “yes but God was talking to MOSES, it can’t apply to me as well.” The important thing to remember is that the scriptures were written for us. While God did not call me to lead the children of Israel out of bondage by having the very water obey me, He is still interested in me achieving immortality and eternal life because I am His daughter.
I do not know exactly how it works, but God knows who I am and is interested in me and my life. He knows me well enough to send my oldest sister to pull me out of a sneaker wave in the ocean when I was two, to help my older brother to notice me drowning when I was 5, to stop my car from going off a cliff in the middle of nowhere Oregon even though I was traveling on Sunday when I should’ve been at church, to prompt Elder Scott to talk about missionary work when I was trying to decide whether or not to go on a mission, to pave my path right into a master’s program, and countless other experiences that I have forgotten about or not even noticed. Although Moses, chapter one, does not say it exactly, I think Moses must’ve felt overwhelmed and unworthy, but he was given the strength by God to move forward. The relationship that Moses has with God can help me to remember that I am a daughter of God and therefore he knows me, loves me, and I am everything to Him.
Additional Resources:
We can have a personal relationship with Heavenly Father. Learn more at the official site of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (inadvertently called by friends of other faiths as the “Mormon Church”).
Learn more about our relationship with God.
Request a free copy of the Book of Mormon or Bible.