Book of Moses Evidence: Thousand Years of Rest

When prophesying of the last days, the Lord explained to Enoch that Zion would be established and that “for the space of a thousand years the earth shall rest.” Enoch also “saw the day of the coming of the Son of Man, in the last days, to dwell on the earth in righteousness for the space of a thousand years” (Moses 7:64–65). Interestingly, the only biblical passages that specifically assign a “thousand years” to the millennial reign are found in Revelation 20, where this specific duration is mentioned several times:

1 And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand.

2 And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years,

3 And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season.

4 And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.

5 But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.

6 Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.

7 And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison,

The “Thousand Years” Motif in 1 Enoch

Based on this data, one may be tempted to assume Joseph Smith simply borrowed this idea from John’s Revelation. While that explanation is certainly possible, it should be recognized that Revelation 20, itself, interacts extensively with the fallen Watchers tradition in 1 Enoch. Although scholars had previously identified aspects of this relationship,1 D. Houston Beckworth recently offered a particularly extensive analysis. He writes, “The number of similarities between 1 Enoch’s Asael myth and Revelation 20 can be divided into at least ten points of contact with 1 Enoch 10 and nine with 1 Enoch 54–57, so it is highly likely that John interpolated the Asael myth for his millennium narrative.”2

Importantly, the Book of Moses shares many similarities with both of these texts simultaneously, as can be seen in the following chart:

Thus, rather than Smith borrowing this imagery from Revelation 20, it may be that Revelation 20 itself borrows from the same millennial tradition that informed Moses 7.8 The degree to which both texts jointly mirror the same Enochic elements lends credibility to this hypothesis.

The “Thousand Years” Motif in 2 Enoch

It must be recognized, however, that 1 Enoch does not specifically mention that the millennial reign lasted a “thousand years.”9 This is where 2 Enoch becomes relevant. The text features its own creation narrative, which not only provides an account of the fall of Satan but soon after reports how the Lord “blessed the 7th day” and then “rested” from his labor (2 Enoch 32:2).10 When the text turns to the 8th day, it extends the pattern of the creation week into a chronology of world history, apparently treating its days as thousand-year epochs:

On the 8th day I likewise appointed, so that the 8th day might be the 1st, the first-created of my week, and that it should revolve in the revolution of 7000; so that the 8000 might be in the beginning of a time not reckoned and unending, neither years, nor months, nor weeks, nor days, nor hours like the first day of the week, so also that the eighth day of the week might return continually. (2 Enoch 33:1–2)11

The correlation between a single day and a thousand years is also reflected in Psalm 90:4, a passage which many scholars believe stands behind (or at least relates to) the “thousand years” imagery of Revelation 20.12 2 Enoch 33:1–2 further describes the 8th day as the beginning of an unending age in which time is no longer measured by ordinary years, months, weeks, days, or hours. This resembles the declaration that “there should be time no longer” in Revelation 10:6, an image also adopted in D&C 84:100 and 88:110 (texts that separately interact with the “thousand years” imagery of Revelation 20, as demonstrated in the Appendix). When viewed together, this data suggests that the “thousand years” motif in 2 Enoch 33 is part of the same millennial tradition manifested in John’s Revelation and the Book of Moses.

The “Thousand Years” Motif in Other Restoration Texts

As for Joseph Smith’s other revelations, the “thousand years” imagery is used only sparingly, turning up in just a few passages outside Moses 7 (see D&C 29:11, 22; 77:12; 88:101, 110).13 In each instance, the surrounding language closely parallels Revelation 20, Moses 7, or both (see Appendix). The fact that this motif is not a broadly or independently recurring feature within Smith’s revelations makes its presence in Moses 7 less likely to be randomly connected to Revelation 20.

Conclusion

Those skeptical of Joseph Smith’s revelations may naturally assume that the “thousand years” of millennial rest in Moses 7 was straightforwardly borrowed from Revelation 20, where the imagery is employed multiple times. Nevertheless, it is fascinating that Moses 7 and Revelation 20 both interact extensively with material from 1 and 2 Enoch. This raises the question of why Smith’s own Enochic revelation uses imagery from a textual unit in the New Testament that is, itself, saturated with Enochic lore. The query becomes even more pointed once it is recognized that this is the only location in the entire Bible where this imagery is used. When viewing this data under naturalistic assumptions, two primary options present themselves: either (1) Smith made a lucky guess or (2) he somehow discerned the underlying Enochic connection and intentionally implemented this imagery in his own Enoch account for that purpose.14

For those who view the “lucky guess” hypothesis as doubtful, several assumptions would be required to naturalistically explain these relationships as intentional. First, Smith would almost certainly have needed access to 1 Enoch. The text had been translated into English by Richard Laurence in 1821, and various other excerpts and summaries of it were available at the time. So access to this source was possible, even if not very probable.15 Supposing he did possess a copy of it, though, he would still have needed to (1) become quite familiar with its contents, (2) independently recognize that Revelation 20 interacts extensively with certain portions of 1 Enoch long before scholars developed the detailed intertextual case now available, and then (3) intentionally integrate the “thousand years” imagery into his own Enochic account, presumably to amplify the believability of his work.16 It must also be remembered that Smith had no plausible access in 1830 to the relevant material in 2 Enoch.17 Thus, he could not have reasonably known that the “thousand years” motif was indeed part of the Enochic tradition. He could have only guessed it at the time by association.   

As can be seen, the series of assumptions needed to conclude that Smith intentionally borrowed this language from Revelation 20, due to a perceived mutual connection with 1 Enoch, may be too elaborate and cumulatively implausible to be readily accepted. If so, those seeking a naturalistic explanation may feel compelled to view this aspect of Moses 7 as simply another fortuitous guess.

When assessed in isolation, an improbability of this caliber may not be particularly impressive. Such coincidences can and do sometimes happen. The “luck” hypothesis becomes less appealing, though, in light of the many other parallels that have been identified between the Book of Moses and extrabiblical Enochic sources, including additional instances in which the Book of Moses quotes or alludes to biblical passages that are, themselves, believed to interact with prior Enochic traditions.18 Although not conclusive on its own, the “thousand years” motif adds to the cumulative case for the authenticity of the Book of Moses and Joseph Smith’s prophetic calling.