The Restoration Edition scriptures (linked in the menu of my blog) include a timeline of the Fathers who held a place among the Holy Order. It's an important visual. The scriptural account of this timeline can be read here.
One thing that particularly caught my attention was when Mahalalel was ordained. Notice from the visual that three men—Jared, Enoch, and Methuselah—were ordained to the Holy Order before him [1]. Yet, he appears ahead of them in the timeline as the next-in-line Patriarch.
We do not know why they were ordained before him because more needs to be written about Mahalalel. However, the timeline and scriptures suggest that he was a righteous man who stood as a Father like Adam and to whom we must be sealed.
Was he not worthy to be among the Holy Order until later in life? Was he rebellious, wayward, or disruptive to the community early on? Was he lacking some virtue that needed to be obtained first?
We can only guess.
But I can't help but think of Cain and Abel as I ponder closely the relationship between these four men.
Like Abel, the three men after Mahalalel were the younger relatives of the older, next-in-line son. Mahalalel perhaps watched his younger relatives get ordained before him by their common Patriarch, Adam. What would be his feelings watching this happen? The difference between Mahalalel and Cain is that Mahalalel didn't kill his younger relatives like Cain did.
Now, put yourselves in the shoes of the younger relatives. Though they were ordained before Mahalalel, a part of the program was for them to wait. So long as Mahalalel was alive, he could be next in line to become the Patriarch, like Adam before them, as long as he was (or became) a righteous man.
Except for Lamech [2], all the men listed in the timeline prior to Adam's death were among the High Priests of the first Adam-ondi-Ahman gathering. But if this story had played out like Cain and Abel's, some of them would not have been there.
Alternatively, what we see play out with Mahalalel could have been what happened to Cain:
"And the Lord said unto Cain, Why are you angry? Why is your countenance fallen? If you do well, shall you not be accepted?" (Genesis 3:8)
Though little is written about these men—minus Enoch—their virtues can be uncovered when closely examined. I hope this timeline will uncover more for us in the future.
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[1] For clarity, on the timeline, it looks like Lamech was ordained before Mahalalel, but he wasn't. He was ordained after and by the hand of Seth, not Adam. I am told that a suggestion will be submitted to have this updated in the next round of scripture production.
[2] The only High Priests called alongside Father Adam at the first Adam-ondi-Ahman were those actually ordained by Adam himself. Though Lamech was alive while Adam was alive, and though he is included in the timeline as a Holy Order birthright holder even before Adam-ondi-Ahman, he was ordained by Seth, not Adam. He, therefore, would not be numbered among those men (Teachings and Commandments 154: 17). He probably attended Adam-ondi-Ahman with the other "righteous residue." That's another sobering thought.
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