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Old Testament Study Introduction
Retired CES Director shares his insights into studying
Bill Tervort , Retired CES Director (Rush Creek Ward)
I love The Old Testament! I believe that if we do not understand the testimony of the Savior that is contained in this sacred text our understanding of the Atonement and how to apply it will be incomplete. We would also be lacking in knowing who we are and our part in the Father’s Great Plan of Happiness!
Some of the first lessons we will study will cover The Creation and The Fall. These, along with The Atonement make up The Three Pillars of Eternity. The Father’s entire plan depends on these three!
When these scriptures discuss The Plan, we first see things that happened in our pre-earth life, including the parts Jehovah and Lucifer played (see Moses 4). When we add to this the insights from modern prophets, we are richly blessed with a fuller picture of how magnificent the Savior was in our pre-mortal existence!
As we study The Creation, there are many insights we will get from comparing the three scriptural accounts in Abraham 4-5, Moses 2-3, and Genesis 1-2.
President Harold B. Lee stated, “How vital…it is to understand the Fall, making necessary the Atonement—hence the mission of the Lord Jesus Christ [i].” Again, through this, coupled with Lehi’s teachings in 2 Nephi 2 and modern revelation, we see very clearly how noble Adam and Eve were in their parts of The Fall.[ii]
How vital…it is to understand the Fall, making necessary the Atonement—hence the mission of the Lord Jesus Christ
The symbols of The Atonement in the Old Testament are everywhere! Sacrifice of animals is one of the most common. Adam was instructed by an angel that these types of sacrifices were “a similitude of the sacrifice of the Only Begotten of the Father…” (see Moses 5:7).
Even the types of sacrifices (explained in detail in Leviticus), point to the Redeemer! The burnt offering was one where the entire lamb was placed on the altar. This surely implies that we need to accept Jesus fully into our lives.
In the sin and trespass offerings, specific parts of the animals were offered, i.e., the fat, the kidneys, and the liver. Fat pointed to the health and vitality of the animal. The kidneys and liver, we know now, are organs that cleanse our body from the inside. How wonderful that organs that cleanse were offered in similitude of the Savior’s great cleansing offering!
Then there are the testimonies of the Messiah that are in the remainder of the Old Testament. Jesus was quoting some of these on the road to Emmaus as he visited with those two disciples (see Luke 24:27).
In conclusion, if I had to choose one book of scripture to teach me about the Savior…it would not be the Old Testament! The testimony of Him found in the Book of Mormon is much too powerful to overlook.
However, if the only book of Scripture I had to testify of Jesus was the Old Testament, I could learn enough about Him, His mission (pre-earth through Millenium), and the importance of covenants to get on the Covenant Path and be saved.
[i] “Fall of Man,” address to Brigham Young University seminary and institute personnel, 23 June 1954, Historical Department Archives, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 6.
[ii] See Dallin H. Oaks, The Great Plan of Happiness, CR October 1993. This is a powerful description of Eve’s courage and wisdom.