The Sons Of God, Conclusion

The whole reason I began writing about the sons of God and the Priesthood was to get to the Book of Moses.  I considered doing multiple posts on Moses 5 through 8 but have run out of steam.  You can go read it if you care to.  If you can understand the concept of the sons of God you will better understand the report given in Moses.  

Cain was a son of God who fell.  Cain was wroth, and in jealousy rebelled against God and became perdition (Moses 5:38).  As a result of his rebellion, Cain was driven from the face of the Lord, and shut out from His presence (Moses 5:39, 41).   

Abel, too, was a son of God.  He was a keeper of sheep and was the first real type of the sacrificial Savior we see in scripture (Moses 5:17).  Though he was not the first son born to Adam and Eve, yet it is clear he received the blessings of the Firstborn (Moses 5:33, 38; 6:2).

Though Adam and Eve had children before Cain and Abel, there is very little mention of them (Moses 5:2-3).  It is important to consider what happened to Adam and Eve between the time they first began having children, and when Cain was born (Moses 5:3-16, 58-59).  Something important happened that changed their status before the Lord God.  It is somewhat buried in the text, and we tend to overlook the details.  It is not until those events occur that Eve bares Cain, and then Abel.  

On the other hand, when wickedness began to spread among the children of Adam and Eve, notice the appellation given them by God (Moses 5:52-56).  These are they who chose not to keep the commandments of God (ibid.).  God "ministered not unto them" (ibid.).   This is a juxtaposition with the sons of God, unto whom God ministered.      

Some time after the murder of Abel, Adam and Eve begat Seth.  Seth became the Patriarchal head, after Adam.  In this son, Adam rejoiced and glorified the name of God, saying, "God hath appointed me another seed, instead of Abel, whom Cain slew" (Moses 6:2).  Then we read this:

"And God revealed himself unto Seth, and he rebelled not, but offered an acceptable sacrifice, like unto his brother Abel" (Moses 6:3). 

Now, Adam, being moved upon by the Holy Ghost, prophesied the following:

"Now this same Priesthood, which was in the beginning, shall be in the end of the world also" (Moses 6:7).  

"This same Priesthood" has reference to that which enabled Seth to receive the revelation of God; that which enabled him to become a son of God.  This same Priesthood enabled a group of the generations of Adam to be chosen as High Priests to whom the Lord came prior to the death of Adam.  This shall be in the end of the world also. 

The genealogy that was kept and preserved in scripture was of the children of God, and not the sons of men (Moses 6:8).  Notice the next man mentioned in the Patriarchal line, after Seth, was Enos (Moses 6:13).  Though there were many sons and daughters born to Adam and Eve, it was Seth and then Enos that were recorded (Moses 6:11).  Enos was born to a father who was a son of God.  And he, Seth, had been born to Adam, who was a son of God.  This is the chain.

Study Moses 5 through 8 considering the deliberate mention of both the sons of God and the sons of men.  Look for differentiation between the daughters of men, and the daughters of the sons of God.  It will open up the meaning for you.

They Are One God

The unity of the Father and the Son cannot be overstated.  The scriptures fully capture the idea, but it is an idea that men cannot understand except it be by revelation from Heaven.  You can say the words and never understand what is meant by them.   

On the one hand, the Christian world is confused about the Godhead in that they believe the Father and the Son are the same being.  They cannot grasp the reality of the nature of the Father and the Son.  On the other hand, Mormonisms teachings on the Godhead have a tendency to lead its adherents to misapprehend the greatness of the unity of the Father and the Son.  They are too separate in our minds and hearts.  We cannot grasp the reality of the unity of the Father and the Son.  

Overall, our emphasis in teaching that Christ is our spirit brother has diminished Him.  He is the Lord God Almighty (2 Ne. 9:46).  He is the Mighty God, the Lord God, and the Holy One of Israel (2 Ne. 9).  We do not understand Him and our hearts are far removed from Him. 

The unity we experience here on this earth is not like theirs, and cannot be compared unto it.  The unity of those in Heaven is not to be learned from our experience here, though once it is learned from Heaven it may be sought after in our relationships on the earth.

The Book of Mormon is the place to begin seeking for understanding.  The doctrine is clearly taught there, though it seems contradictory without divine teaching.  If the unity of the Gods is manifest unto you, you will use the words of scripture to describe it; indeed, they are one God, yea, the very Eternal Father of Heaven and of earth (Mosiah 15:4). 

More On The Sons Of God

Joseph Smith related the following:

“And we saw a vision of the sufferings of those with whom [Satan] made war and overcame, for thus came the voice of the Lord unto us:

“Thus saith the Lord concerning all those who know my power, and have been made partakers thereof, and suffered themselves through the power of the devil to be overcome, and to deny the truth and defy my power –

“They are they who are the sons of perdition, of whom I say that it had been better for them never to have been born;

“For they are vessels of wrath, doomed to suffer the wrath of God, with the devil and his angels in eternity;

“Concerning whom I have said there is no forgiveness in this world nor in the world to come –

“Having denied the Holy Spirit after having received it, and having denied the Only Begotten Son of the Father, having crucified him unto themselves and put him to an open shame.

“These are they who shall go away into the lake of fire and brimstone, with the devil and his angels –

“And the only ones on whom the second death shall have any power;” (D&C 76:30-37).

The language used here was used later that year in the revelation on priesthood that became D&C 84; "no forgiveness in this world nor in the world to come."  These key phrases and the patterns found in these scriptures tell you they are all talking about the same thing.  Those who run the risk of losing the opportunity for salvation in this world and in the next are those who have obtained the Holy Priesthood, which is to "know [God's] power" and to be made a "partaker thereof."  Those who altogether turn therefrom are the "only ones on whom the second death shall have any power."  

The keys of this priesthood consist in obtaining the voice of God.  He will talk with those who obtain this priesthood in a familiar and friendly manner.  They will receive the keys, covenants, power, and glory which God gave to Adam in the beginning (TPJS, p. 175).  They are the sons of God. 

Notice, the Lord purposefully showed Joseph and Sidney the "sufferings of the ungodly" immediately preceding the vision of those "who shall come forth in the resurrection of the just" (D&C 76:50).  The description given beginning in v. 51 and continuing through v. 70 is of those who become "the sons of God" (D&C 76:58).  The sons of God and the sons of perdition are contrasted as opposites.  The sons of perdition are "ordained unto" their condemnation, while the sons of God are ordained "kings and priests" (D&C 76:48, 56).  

To behold the one, was to behold the other.  To have power to obtain the one, is to have it within your capacity to succumb to the other.