The Other Angel - Moses 5:13-15

The plan of salvation is taught to A&E by a few different sources. First, just before they were to be expelled from the Garden, they were informed that a Savior would be provided for them so that they could repent and return to God eventually. Second, when the angel came to ask them why they were offering sacrifices, he taught them more information about the Plan, then third when they were given the gift of the Holy Ghost, the Spirit taught them more as they progressively moved forward spiritually. As they learned the gospel, they taught it to their children, with mixed results. The IM notes some of the differences between the account in Moses and the one in Genesis, saying that between verses 9-15 we learn that A&E were baptized, given the Holy Ghost, began to prophesy, which led to them better understanding the purpose of their fall. The IM continues that even though A&E teach their children the gospel, “Satan also began to influence their children and sought to persuade them to reject the gospel.” There is a lot of “they loved Satan more than they loved God,” statements made throughout the next couple of chapters and I’ve really had to think about what that dynamic looked like then vs. now. Was it the case where Satan walked around freely among them and had conversations, or was it like it is now where he invisibly whispers stuff in your ear constantly? If Satan’s abilities to interact with people were different back then, what does that do as far as accountability? It’s a complex concept. In his book “The First Thousand Years,” Cleon Skousen suggested that right after God’s angel left A&E after teaching them the gospel, Satan appeared appearing as an angel of light and declared “Believe it not!” While Moses 5:13 gives that statement as something Satan said to A&E’s children, I don’t think it was as dramatic as Skousen suggested. I really wanted to read a history of the world, so that’s why I started reading his books, but I feel that it’s not super accurate so I stopped. It seems more likely to me that Satan had just as much influence over A&E’s children as he does over us today, and people today love Satan more than God, or more appropriately, I think they love Satan’s ways more than God’s. Human nature leans heavily to Satan’s ways naturally, so we’re already fighting an uphill battle to get rid of our natural tendencies. Then we have to be convinced that God’s ways are better than what comes naturally, and that’s difficult because most people don’t know God period, let alone love him. It’s complicated. As far as A&E go, their children didn’t have their same experience in the Garden like they did, they could only take their parent’s word for it, a lot like it is today. They might have been less removed from the Garden then we are today, but they still had to form a relationship with God themselves just like we do today. Just because their parents were A&E doesn’t mean that they were guaranteed a testimony, in fact it seems like most of them rejected the gospel, which is interesting to think about.