Good morning Brothers and Sisters! How are you today? How were your respective Christmases?

Please, Sally. Santa came? That's great! Did he bring anything interesting? Wow, a book called Backyard Ballistics? What is that about? It tells how to make potato canons and tennis ball mortars? That sounds like fun. That reminds me of a story... Well I best not tell you, you know, to protect the innocent.

Does anyone remember what we are studying this year?

Yes, Brent. D&C, uh no, we studied that last year. Weren't you paying attention? But you had a good time, right? Okay, that makes me feel a little better.

Yes, Randy. That is correct, we are studying the Old Testament with all of those cool stories with evil serpents, floods, lions' dens, big fish, 'er whales, polygamy, sorry Gladys, no polyandry of which I am aware, but we do have Potiphar's wife hitting on the houseboy. Anyway, there are lots of great stories. Guess where we start today?

Yes, Penny. Genesis. Well, no.

Yes, Sally. Exodus. Well, no.

Any other ideas? No one?

Well, we are going to start in Moses. How about that?

Yes, Tom. I know that is not part of the Old Testament, but the reason why we are going to start to study of the Old Testament in the Pearl of Great Price is because (cough) Moses is from Joseph Smith's inspired revision of or as it is also sometimes called, Inspired Version, or Joseph Smith Translation. Moses is an excerpt from the Genesis translation.

Why has it been called the Joseph Smith Translation, as noted by the JST in the footnotes of our scriptures?

Yes, Tabitha. Well, not really. Joseph did not employ any other documents other than the King James Version of the Bible. He didn't use any of the more newly found ancient documents which gave clearer source text for translation purposes. He also didn't use better Greek, Hebrew, and Latin dictionaries.

Just what is it that you think the word, translation, means?

Yes, Brent. You have your wireless internet access? Go to dictionary.com and look up translate. What does it say? Interesting, "to render in another language." This of course is not what Joseph was doing, so it is clearly a misnomer to call it translation.

Jessica, would you please read these following quotes from Bushman's book, Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling?

"He began by translating a book, and, though entirely unqualified by any conventional standard, continued translating to the end of his life." (Bushman, Rough Stone Rolling, p.130)

"Neither his education nor his Christian upbringing prepared Joseph to translate a book, but the magic culture may have. Treasure-seeking taught Joseph to look for the unseen in a stone... In fact, as work on the Book of Mormon proceeded, a seer-stone took the place of the Urim and Thummim as an aid in the work, blending magic with inspired translation." (Bushman, Rough Stone Rolling, p.131)

"For the Book of Moses and the inspired revision, Joseph worked from the King James Version of Genesis without promptings from another manuscript... Joseph did not translate in the sense of learning the language and consulting dictionaries, he received the words by ?revelation,' whether or not a text lay before him." (Bushman, Rough Stone Rolling, p.132)

"It is hard to imagine now how this twenty-four-year-old came to believe that he could revise the Bible. It was a striking demonstration if his outrageous confidence. To take on this hallowed book, he had to think himself as a prophet among prophets." (Bushman, Rough Stone Rolling, p.132)

Thank you, Jessica. We can see that the use of the word, translation, is not really accurate. A more accurate description would be revelation or interpretation, or something like that. In D&C 76:15, 18, we can see that Joseph describes the Bible translation experience as a more revelatory experience.

15 For while we were doing the work of translation [inspired translation of the Bible], which the Lord had appointed unto us, we came to the twenty-ninth verse of the fifth chapter of John, which was given unto us as follows?

18 Now this caused us to marvel, for it was given unto us of the Spirit.

Yes, Brenda. No, there are no documents of which I am aware that support the revisions which Joseph rendered, but it is clear that he believed them to be more accurate and more reflective of the original writings of the authors.

Aside from all of this, there are some interesting things that take place here. We are not discussing the Creation, which is the most common story told from the very beginning of the Old Testament. We are discussing a little chat that Moses had first with God, then with Satan, then with God again. Does anyone know what is going on here?

Yes, Tamy. Very good, Moses finds out here that he is the son of God, similar to Jesus. Now that is an interesting point. Joseph has made Moses a Christian here, which is an interesting divergence from the Old Testament. This is a very interesting and important theological point in our church. Moses and we as mortals like Moses are children of God. What do you think about that?

Yes, Randy. I understand. It does kind of have a double-edged sword to it. It gives us hope for our potential and encircles us about with Godly love, but at the same time, it can cause us to feel convicted in our humanity.

Yes, Paula. Thank you for your perspective. I think that perhaps you are right. God would not want us, as his children, to feel inadequate in our humanity. He would want us to rejoice in His creation, which we will learn was in His image. I almost want to break out in song, "I Am a Child of God!" I will save you the displeasure.

Tom. Tom! Please put a cork in it. I'd rather hear the kids sing it.

Now next on the agenda is Moses confrontation with Satan. This is cooooool stuff. It reminds me of some of the Greek and Roman mythology that I learned in high school. Does anyone know what happens?

Yes, Sally. After God left Moses, Moses fell to the earth, totally drained. That sounds consistent with some stories from the Book of Mormon and Joseph's story as well. What else? Then Satan came along and tried to get Moses to worship him. Moses tries to cast Satan out several times. Satan got really angry and started ranting.

Okay, let's pull out our scriptures. Please turn to Moses 1. I want to read this part. It reminds me a little bit of Zeus and Hades.

Brent, would you please read Moses1:20-22?

20 And it came to pass that Moses began to fear exceedingly; and as he began to fear, he saw the bitterness of hell. Nevertheless, calling upon God, he received strength, and he commanded, saying: Depart from me, Satan, for this one God only will I worship, which is the God of glory.

21 And now Satan began to tremble, and the earth shook; and Moses received strength, and called upon God, saying: In the name of the Only Begotten, depart hence, Satan.

22 And it came to pass that Satan cried with a loud voice, with weeping, and wailing, and gnashing of teeth; and he departed hence, even from the presence of Moses, that he beheld him not.

I really like the part where the whole earth shook and Satan cried out with a loud voice, with weeping, and wailing, and gnashing of teeth. This is the kind of stuff that is fun to teach to ten-year-old boys. So anyways, Moses is successful in casting Satan out. It sounds a little bit like a couple of the versions of the First Vision, doesn't it?

The last part of the lesson is very important from a theological perspective for the Church. After Satan is cast out with all of that cool earth shaking, God came back and visited with Moses and taught him some important stuff. Does anyone know what he was taught?

No, Fred. He didn't teach about being naked in the Garden of Eden. That comes in a future lesson.

How about you Brenda, you look like you know something, but you're being quiet?

Very good. He does talk about a lot of things. He talks about Moses leading the Israelites. He talks about Adam. He talks about the many heavens and essentially worlds without number. You are right on the frequently referenced scripture. Let's turn to Moses 1:39.

For behold, this is my work and my glory to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.

This is why God created so many worlds and provided us with all that he has. His work and his glory is to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.

Any parting questions?

Yes, Tamy. No, even though we are studying the Old Testament, it won't be until lesson 6, when we talk about Noah and the fantastic flood, that we actually focus on the Old Testament.

Randy, would you please say the closing prayer?

Thanks. See you next week.