Book of Moses Evidence: Satan's Deceptions

Satan’s Role in the Book of Genesis

In the book of Genesis, Adam and Eve are deceived by a serpent who has traditionally been understood to be Satan himself. After persuading Adam and Eve to partake of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, the serpent is cursed for its crime and God places enmity between it and the seed of the woman (Genesis 3:1–15).

Yet after this primordial conflict in Eden, Satan doesn’t make any further appearance in the Genesis account, whether as a snake or any other being. His influence may be generally implied to some extent, but nothing further is said about his specific efforts to deceive mankind. This stands in contrast to the Book of Moses and many other extrabiblical traditions, which sometimes provide parallel details regarding Satan’s persistent efforts to deceive the posterity of Adam and Eve. Latter-day Saints who are well-acquainted with the temple endowment may find some of these parallels to be especially familiar and relevant.

Satan’s Role in the Book of Moses

According to the Book of Moses, following the expulsion of Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden, Satan came among Adam and Eve’s children and began tempting them to abandon God and instead worship him: “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” (Moses 5:13). When read in context, Satan’s self-identification as a “son of God” appears to be significant. It could mean that he tried to pass himself off as a righteous mortal, but it could also suggest he presented himself as a being with divine authority, perhaps even as a glorified angel or a member of God’s divine council.1

Satan’s efforts to deceive mankind are also found elsewhere in the Book of Moses. The record states that during the ministry of the prophet Enoch, “Satan hath come among the children of men, and tempteth them to worship him; and men have become carnal, sensual, and devilish, and are shut out from the presence of God” (Moses 6:49). Likewise, after Moses’s vision on the mountain, “behold, Satan came tempting him, saying: Moses, son of man, worship me” (Moses 1:12).2

While other scriptures record appearances of Satan among mankind,3 many of the details found in the Book of Moses, such as Satan’s insistence that he should be venerated, have stronger parallels to extra-biblical material relating to events shortly after the Creation of the world. In many of these texts, Satan is noted as being responsible for leading Adam and Eve’s children to sin in direct consequence of his being made a leader or due to him being mistaken as a divine being.

For example, in the Life of Adam and Eve, Satan appears to Adam and Eve in an effort to prevent them from performing washing ordinances for forgiveness of their sin:

Satan was angry and transformed himself into the brightness of angels and went away to the Tigris River to Eve and found her weeping. And the devil himself, as if to grieve with her, began to weep and said to her, “Step out of the river and cry no more. Cease now from sadness and sighs. Why are you and your husband Adam disturbed? The Lord God has heard your sighs and accepted your repentance; and all we angels have entreated for you and interceded with the Lord, and he sent me to bring you up from the water and give you food which you had in Paradise, and for which you have been lamenting. Now therefore come out of the water and I will lead you to the place where your food has been prepared.”4

Satan’s efforts to appear as an angel of light, however, do not go unnoticed, as Adam recognizes Satan as the devil. Satan is then cast out from among the presence of Adam and Eve upon Adam’s request.5

One sixth- or seventh-century Christian work known as the Cave of Treasures likewise notes how Satan came to the descendants of Adam and Eve to cause them to sin and be led away from the truth: “In these years there appeared those craftsmen of sin and disciples of Satan, for it was he who was their teacher. Into them went, took residence and spread the error-producing spirit by which took place the fall of Seth’s children.”6 This text continues by noting that not only had the children of Cain already welcomed Satan into their presence, but “Satan had been made chief and guide of their camp.”7 The children of Cain followed Satan and committed all manner of sin.

In an Islamic text, Satan is also said to have appeared to a wicked king and descendant of Cain. In this text, Satan disguises himself as a glorious or angelic being to gain the deference and reverence of the king Yamaḥuel, who desired to be like Satan.8 Notably, the descendants of Cain are also said to be idol-worshippers, and the birth of Enoch (identified as Idrīs) poses a threat to their sinful way of life. This text reads:

It is said that at the time when Idris (upon whom be peace!) was born, the grip of idol-worship had weakened among the descendants of Cain, and one of the more esteemed of their idols—those to which they offered worship and to which they were addicted and would make sacrifices—collapsed. At that time their king was Yamaḥuel. So they assembled themselves before him in order to confer with him about what had happened. Iblis (i.e., Satan) came among them in the form of an old man who had an abundance of white hair. Now white hair among them was a marvelous thing: they had never seen it before, because white hair did not exist before this (time) and would not appear among them until after Noah (upon whom be peace!) and after the Flood. It is said that the first to have white hair was Abraham (upon whom be peace!). He (i.e., the king) then said: “O Lord! What is this?!?” He (Iblis) answered: “(White hair is) a marker of dignity.” He (the king) responded: “O God! Increase my dignity!”

(Others) say that Iblīs came to them (the idolatrous descendants of Cain) in the shape of a spiritual entity with two wings. He told their king Yamaḥuel that Mahalalel (sic!) had fathered a child who was going to foment opposition to divinity and to kingship, and that he would cause their corruption, (this being the meaning) “of (the collapse of) that idol of yours about which you are concerned.” Then Yamaḥuel said: “Can you bring about his demise?” He (Iblīs) answered: “I will endeavor to do so.” But God assigned for Idrīs angels to protect him, and when Iblīs and some of those who were with him from his forces came (to do Idrīs harm), they kept them from harming him. At that time there appeared a certain moving star (comet?) which stayed visible for more than thirty days.9

Especially noteworthy is how the phrase “Iblis [Satan] came among them” is comparable to Moses 5:13 and 6:49 which states that “Satan came among them” and “Satan hath come among the children of men.” This passage is also noteworthy for identifying that Enoch (Idrīs) was given divine protection against Satan.10 This detail, lacking in the Bible, is comparable to a blessing Enoch received in Moses 6:32–34, promising him protection from those who sought to do him harm.11

It is also interesting that the king asked Satan about an aspect of his physical appearance (his white hair), suggesting some effort to discern the nature of his identity, to which Satan replied that it was a “marker of dignity.” In this case, Satan’s white hair may possibly correspond to the appearance of an angelic or glorified being, one who has authority from God as his true messenger or servant (see Daniel 7:9; Revelation 1:14; D&C 110:3).

Throughout the Testament of Job, Satan also appears before individuals in various disguises. Satan first presents himself as a beggar to illicit aid from one of Job’s servants, and then later as a bread merchant to lead Job’s wife astray by convincing her Job had sinned. In each instance, Satan is detected and recognized by Job, who then casts him out from their presence, similar to the account in Moses 1:18–24.12

Satan Introduced Secret Oaths and Combinations

One significant aspect of Satan’s appearance among the children of Adam and Eve in the Book of Moses deals with Cain. While some texts, including those mentioned above, specifically refer to the children of Cain as having been led astray by Satan, the Book of Moses takes this connection even further.

The text specifically describes Satan appearing to Cain and instituting secret oaths and combinations so Cain could get gain and kill his brother: “And Satan said unto Cain: Swear unto me by thy throat, and if thou tell it thou shalt die; and swear thy brethren by their heads, and by the living God, that they tell it not; for if they tell it, they shall surely die; and this that thy father may not know it; and this day I will deliver thy brother Abel into thine hands” (Moses 5:29). After Cain killed Abel, he further “gloried in that which he had done, saying: I am free; surely the flocks of my brother falleth into my hands” (Moses 5:33).

These secret works were then passed down from Cain, influencing his descendants to follow a similar dark path. Lamech, for instance, is recorded as “having entered into a covenant with Satan, after the manner of Cain, wherein he became Master Mahan, master of that great secret which was administered unto Cain by Satan; and Irad, the son of Enoch, having known their secret, began to reveal it unto the sons of Adam” (Moses 5:49). These works of darkness were so prevalent that, during Enoch’s life, “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” (Moses 6:15).

The connection between Satan and secret works of darkness is especially clear in 1 Enoch, which teaches that the fallen angel Azaz’el led hosts of angels down to the earth, where they introduced forbidden knowledge and a variety of sins to humankind.13 Other Jewish and Christian texts also comment on this and specifically link the introduction of these sins to Satan tempting and teaching Cain. For example, in the Apocalypse of Abraham, Abraham “saw, as it were, Adam, and Eve who was with him, and with them the crafty adversary and Cain, who had been led by the adversary to break the law, and (I saw) the murdered Abel (and) the perdition brought on him and given through the lawless one.”14

In ancient accounts, Cain’s fraternizing with Satan was sometimes done in an effort to get some sort of gain, just as the Book of Moses teaches. For instance, in the Cave of Treasures, Adam and Eve betrothed Cain’s twin sister Levudah to Abel, and Abel’s twin sister to Cain. However, due to his lust for Levudah, Cain entered into a correspondence with Satan, who tempted Cain to murder his brother so he could marry Levudah:

When the first priest Adam ascended to the mountain-top together with his sons Cain and Abel it happened that Satan entered Cain so that he would slay his brother for Levudah’s sake, and (also) on account of his offering being rejected and not accepted in front of God while Abel’s offering was accepted. So Cain’s envy against his brother grew once more, and when they went down to the plain Cain rose against his brother Abel and slew him with a piece of rock. At once he received the judgment of death: He became trembling and restless all the days of his life and God drove him away into exile towards the forest of Nod. Then he married his sister and lived there with her.15

A similar legend is found in the Conflict of Adam and Eve with Satan, which records:

Satan came to him by night, showed himself and said unto him, “Since Adam and Eve love thy brother Abel much more than they love thee, and wish to join him in marriage to thy beautiful sister, because they love him; but wish to join thee in marriage to his ill-favoured sister, because they hate thee; Now, therefore, I counsel thee, when they do that, to kill thy brother; then thy sister will be left for thee; and his sister will be cast away.” And Satan departed from him.16

This text also states that Satan promised Cain “beautiful robes, gold and silver in plenty” and that Cain would be “better off than thy father Adam.”17 The direct appearance of Satan to Cain, as well as promises of greater wealth and the fulfilment of Cain’s wicked desires, are direct parallels with the Book of Moses.

The Cave of Treasures goes on to assert that the wicked actions of Cain which were taught to him by Satan were further promulgated through Cain’s descendants. These were also taught to Noah’s grandchild Canaan by Satan, reinstating many of these sins after the Flood. The text reads, “For what reason did he curse Canaan while everything had been Ham’s foolishness, if not because when the child had grown up and reached the age of knowledge Satan had entered him, been a teacher of sin for him and renewed within him the deeds of the tribe of Cain the murderer.”18

This, of course, aligns well with the account in the Book of Moses, which shows Satan’s recurring efforts to deceive the posterity of Adam and Eve, as well as the archetypal precedent set by Cain’s secret combination. Interestingly, similar themes also show up in the Book of Mormon, where secret combinations to get gain are ultimately traced back to Cain.19

Conclusion

Some of these core ideas—such as Satan being a deceiver or that he transforms himself into an angel of light—are found generically in the Bible. However, the more specific contexts provided in the Book of Moses (at times corroborated or reinforced by other Restoration scripture and revelation) sometimes match up very well with certain antediluvian elements seen in extrabiblical sources. In most instances, these parallels turn up in texts that were obscure or not translated into English until well after the Book of Moses was received, making it unlikely or impossible for Joseph Smith to have accessed them.

Correspondences include at least the following elements: (1) Satan repeatedly coming among men, trying to decieve Adam and Eve or their posterity, (2) Satan’s efforts to pass himself off as a holy being, (3) Satan’s efforts to get his followers to worship him, (4) Satan’s interactions with Cain, (5) and Cain’s plot with Satan becoming an archetype upon which later secret combinations were modeled or reenacted. Other subtle consistencies with the Book of Moses can sometimes be seen in these same sources, such as the persecution of Enoch and the thwarted efforts to harm him. 

Had Joseph Smith been the author of the Book of Moses, there would be no guarantee that his depiction of Satan’s deceptions would turn up in these arcane extrabiblical traditions. These parallels therefore strengthen the case for the genuine antiquity of the Book of Moses.