The Book of Moses — Joseph Smith Sees God Face to Face and Is Confronted by Satan (June 1830)

In June 1830, just three months after the Church was organized, Joseph Smith received a remarkable vision while working on his inspired revision of the Bible (the Joseph Smith Translation). The vision, now recorded as Moses 1 in the Pearl of Great Price, is one of the most profound theophanies of the Restoration and one of the earliest documented visions Joseph received after the First Vision itself.

As Joseph began his work on the book of Genesis, the Lord lifted the veil and showed him a vision of the experiences of Moses. The vision opens with Moses being caught up to an exceedingly high mountain, where he saw God face to face and talked with Him as a man speaks with his friend. Moses beheld the glory of God and was told: "Behold, I am the Lord God Almighty, and Endless is my name; for I am without beginning of days or end of years... And, behold, thou art my son."

After this overwhelming manifestation, the glory of the Lord departed from Moses, and he was left to himself. In his weakened state, he was confronted by Satan, who came in a great trial of faith, commanding Moses to worship him. Satan raged and cried with a loud voice, but Moses, having seen God and discerned the difference between divine glory and the counterfeit of the adversary, refused: "I can judge between thee and God... Depart from me, Satan, for this one God only will I worship, which is the God of glory." Moses called upon God and was strengthened; Satan departed, and Moses was again filled with the Holy Ghost.

Following this confrontation, the Lord again appeared to Moses and showed him the earth and all the inhabitants thereof — every man, woman, and child who had lived or would live. Moses was shown the creation, the purpose of the earth, and the scope of God's work among His children. The Lord revealed that He had created worlds without number, that His work and glory is "to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man," and that all of creation is for the benefit and blessing of God's children.

This vision is remarkable for several reasons:

— It is one of the earliest documented theophanies of the Restoration in which Joseph saw and conversed with God, much like the First Vision itself but with additional detail about the nature of God and the adversary.

— It contains a direct, recorded confrontation with Satan — a remarkable spiritual trial in which Moses (and, by extension, Joseph, who received the vision) was tested by the adversary face to face, and overcame by the power of God.

— It reveals the vast scope of God's creative work — "worlds without number" — and the central purpose of the Father's plan: the immortality and eternal life of man.

— It was given at the very beginning of Joseph's prophetic ministry as a seer and translator, establishing the divine source of his calling and the spiritual foundation for the work of translation and revelation that would follow.

The Book of Moses vision stands as a powerful witness that Joseph Smith communed with God face to face, that he discerned and overcame the adversary by divine power, and that the heavens were open to him in the earliest days of the Restoration. It is a foundational text of Latter-day Saint scripture and a testament to the prophetic gift of the young Prophet.