Circumventing the Great Hoax - Moses 6:8,9,15,22,23

In the day that God created man, in the likeness of God made he him; In the image of his own body, male and female, created he them, and blessed them, and called their name Adam, in the day when they were created and became living souls in the land upon the footstool of God. ... And the children of men were numerous upon all the face of the land. And in those days Satan had great dominion among men, and raged in their hearts; and from thenceforth came wars and bloodshed; and a man’s hand was against his own brother, in administering death, because of secret works, seeking for power. ... And this is the genealogy of the sons of Adam, who was the son of God, with whom God, himself, conversed. And they were preachers of righteousness, and spake and prophesied, and called upon all men, everywhere, to repent; and faith was taught unto the children of men.

The topic scripture comes from the genealogy of Adam. It is interesting that although these people actually had their father Adam - a living witness of God -  living among them for 900+ years, they still chose to rebel and follow Satan. We are also told that Seth and others saw and conversed with God.

The following passage is very intriguing and instructive:

Adam and Eve blessed the name of God, and they made all things known unto their sons and their daughters. And Satan came among them, saying: I am also a son of God; and he commanded them, saying: Believe it not; and they believed it not, and they loved Satan more than God. And men began from that time forth to be carnal, sensual, and devilish. And the Lord God called upon men by the Holy Ghost everywhere and commanded them that they should repent; And as many as believed in the Son, and repented of their sins, should be saved; and as many as believed not and repented not, should be damned; and the words went forth out of the mouth of God in a firm decree; wherefore they must be fulfilled. (Moses 5:12-15)

So we have Adam and Eve teaching their posterity about God and His plan for them. And Satan, the perpetrator of the great hoax, just walks in and says "Aw don't believe that stuff." and idiotically, a most of them just drop the gospel and follow him. Now, I'm sure the phrase "believe it not" was only the first sentence of a long speech that Satan had carefully prepared in order to make his pitch to Adam's children. Regardless of the length of the speech, we have to ask the question: Why? Why did they fall for it?

In thinking about this, I have to admit that we as humans are quite gullible. This is why propaganda can be such a valuable tool. If something is advertised to us enough times, we eventually begin to believe it without thinking critically. I've seen some of the WWII propaganda that was circulated in the U.S. at the time. Many of the posters depict ugly Japanese and Germans, almost to the extent of making them look like monsters. The truth of the matter is that most of these soldiers were just regular people like you and me, just doing their duty to their country. I wonder how many took a critical look at the propaganda or even thought about calling for a more fair representation of their enemies. I cite this as an example, not to point the finger of scorn at anybody. The point is that we are all susceptible to propaganda and advertisements. But we have to be very scrupulous about what we allow ourselves to believe.

Another weakness is that we have strong tendencies to give into our carnal natures. When we are presented with an idea that appeals to our carnal side, our better judgment tends to be left on the backburner. I'm quite certain that this is why Satan's campaign of "believe it not" won such an easy victory. All he had to do was paint a picture that appealed to the carnal appetites, and re-tell the story over and over. Such an easy and effective approach.

The Lord tells us that "men loved darkness rather than light ... neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved." (John 3:16-21) We're all in the same boat. The question is not whether we're perfect. We're told in many ways: "there is none that doeth good, no, not one." (Romans 3:12) The question is what are we doing about it.

Father Lehi gives us some important information about this:

God, ... hath created all things, both the heavens and the earth, and all things that in them are, both things to act and things to be acted upon. ... And the Messiah cometh in the fulness of time, that he may redeem the children of men from the fall. And because that they are redeemed from the fall they have become free forever, knowing good from evil; to act for themselves and not to be acted upon, save it be by the punishment of the law at the great and last day, according to the commandments which God hath given. (2 Ne 2:14,26)

In taoism, the way is likened to a great river. When we presume to go against the way, life gets hard, things don't work out right, we stumble and have terrible difficulties until we learn to "flow" with the way. As the lord told Saul: "it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks." (Acts 9:5) This analogy has resemblances to the workings of the spirit of God which we must follow if we are to achieve happiness in this life and follow His divine will. However, viewing the analogy in the opposite manner, where the flow is the way of the world is also instructive. Consider all of the forces of the world, pulling us in one direction - "wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat" (Matt 7:13) Honestly, most of the time, it seems easier to just "go with the flow". Take it easy. Turn off your mind and turn on the TV. Stream something. Sleep in. Eat, drink and be merry. But doing these things is really doing nothing. It is to "be acted upon" and not act! We must not give in! We must study and improve our minds! We must think critically about the advertisements and propaganda being spewed forth. We must both have faith and repent and preach the gospel of faith and repentance! We must be anxiously engaged in a good cause! We must put on the yoke of the master whose burden is light!