“Zion, in Process of Time, Was Taken Up into Heaven”
Moses 7:21
21 And it came to pass that the Lord showed unto Enoch all the inhabitants of the earth; and he beheld, and lo, Zion, in process of time, was taken up into heaven. And the Lord said unto Enoch: Behold mine abode forever.
Elder Neal A. Maxwell wrote:
“Two seldom-cited scriptural concepts [see Alma 7:11–12; Moses 7:21] can help us understand and accept the realities of this proving life with the temptations and challenges that are common to man. These verses provide a perspective about mortality that is truly essential.
“Jesus, who is our advocate with the Father, knows ‘the weakness of man,’ and He also knows ‘how to succor them who are tempted’ (D&C 62:1). How does He know? Does He know by inference or only in the abstract? A special scripture tells us. He knows by actual, personal experience, because not only did He suffer pains, afflictions, and temptations of every kind during His second estate, but He took upon Himself our sins as well as our pains, sicknesses, and infirmities [see Alma 7:11–12]. Thus He knew, not in abstraction but in actuality, ‘according to the flesh,’ the whole of human suffering. He bore our infirmities before we bore them. He knows perfectly well how to succor us. We can tell Him nothing of pain, temptation, or affliction; He learned ‘according to the flesh,’ and His triumph was complete!
“We, too, must learn ‘according to the flesh.’ There is no other way. A second scripture is relevant. In this proving process, the seasoning of would-be Saints occurs not in a day but ‘in process of time’ as it did in the refining of those in the City of Enoch [see Moses 7:21, 68– 69]. The virtues and qualities to be acquired do not spring forth in a day or even a decade.”
(We Will Prove Them Herewith [1982], 46–47.)
