The question raised recently by a student in class as to the necessity of a body as it relates to the purpose of life has sparked this and the previous post.  Much of this post comes from a talk by Elder David A. Bednar entitled “Ye Are the Temple ofContinue Reading

See also: I do not know what God is I am afraid I can’t answer that Recently I had a student ask a well thought question.  He wanted to know why a body is essential for our growth.  “Why do we even need a body?  Can’t we learn what theContinue Reading

I find it fascinating how the Bible begins and ends with tree imagery.  From Genesis to Revelation, the Lord shows us a tree as a central concept relating to redemption, the atonement, and coming back into His presence.  The Old Testament begins with a story of Adam and Eve inContinue Reading

After Cyrus conquered the Babylonians in 539 B.C. he issued a decree allowing the Jewish captives to return to the land of Israel. He also encouraged the rebuilding of the temple at Jerusalem and offered financial assistance (see Ezra 1:1-4). By 520 B.C. the Jews had stopped working on theContinue Reading

1 Behold, I will asend my bmessenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly ccome to his dtemple, even the emessenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the Lord of hosts.  But who may aabide theContinue Reading

Obadiah is the shortest book in the Old Testament.  It is difficult to ascertain when this book was written, sometime between 850-200 BC.  Dating this book is based upon the mention of the destruction of Jerusalem and the fact that many of the verses in the text are very similarContinue Reading

Hosea’s name means “deliverance” or “salvation” and is connected on a basic level with the names Joshua and Jesus.  Hosea was a prophet at the time of King Jeroboam II, who died in 746 BC. His ministry may well have continued until the loss of the Northern Kingdom in 721Continue Reading

Jonah didn’t want the people of Nineveh to be forgiven.  He was well aware of the forgiving grace of the Lord and didn’t want the Assyrians to receive it.  He would rather die than see them have this opportunity.  We see this in Jonah 1:12 as well as all ofContinue Reading

Jonah as a type: Jesus Christ The book of Jonah serves as a type for several ideas taught in scripture.  A type is a symbol that looks forward towards a future fulfillment.  It can be defined as a “preordained representative relationship with certain persons, events, and institutions bear to correspondingContinue Reading

The book of Jonah is a wonderful message of forgiveness and grace.  Jonah is called by the Lord to preach repentance to a hardened people, a people that he does not feel are worthy of being saved.  In Jonah’s estimation, the people of Nineveh are so hardened, so unworthy ofContinue Reading