Old Testament Archives - Page 16 of 27 - LDS Scripture Teachings

She is my sister – One way to look at the Sacrifice of Sarah

Wife/sister motif The book of Genesis contains a trilogy of incidents in which the wife/sister motif was used by either Abraham or Isaac. The first account describes Abraham’s journey into Egypt after a famine enveloped the land of Canaan (see Genesis 12:10–13:4). Similar situations arose later when both Abraham andContinue Reading

The Moses Birth Story and the Sargon Birth Narrative

Was the birth of Moses as found in Exodus based on the Sargon birth story? In movies today heroes destined for greatness usually start with humble origins. Think about Spider-Man, Star-Wars, and The Hobbit. In these films, the heroes are generally modest people, who, when confronted with extraordinary circumstances, eitherContinue Reading

The story of Joseph sold into Egypt – The Documentary Hypothesis In Effect

Joseph sold into Egypt – Two Parallel Narratives When reading the story in Genesis about Joseph being taken by his brothers, one could walk away somewhat confused. They may think, “What is happening here?” Who took Joseph? Was it the Midianites or the Ishmaelites? When read carefully, this story isContinue Reading

Is it okay to marry your sister?

A good question! (Genesis 20:12 vs Leviticus 18:11, 20:17) If we assume that the Bible is a perfectly orchestrated book, in the words of some believers, “infallible”, something that is error free, written by the pen of an author who is basically quoting God from heaven, without his own viewsContinue Reading

The 120 year age limit

Does God limit the years that man can live to 120 years? If so, why do we have these variant textual traditions in the Bible? What is going on? (Genesis 6:3 vs Genesis 9:29, 11:10-26, 23:1, 25:7, 35:28, 47:28) “And the Lord said, My spirit shall not always strive withContinue Reading

The Relationship Between Genesis 1-11 and the Liturgy and Layout of Temples

Science and the Book of Genesis by Jeffrey Bradshaw, November 26, 2013 Accessed from: http://ldsmag.com/article-1-13600/ on 8.29.17 There Is a Deep Relationship Between Genesis 1-11 and the Liturgy and Layout of Temples The Latter-day Saints have four basic Creation stories. In contrast to versions of the Creation story that emphasizeContinue Reading

Monolatry in the Old Testament

Monolatry is all over the text of the Old Testament. This has to do with the idea of God in the Old Testament, an idea that there are many gods in the world of the Ancient Near East, but only one god is worth your time to worship! The OldContinue Reading

The problem with numbers in the Old Testament

There are all kinds of problems with the Old Testament if you are looking for this text to behave like a history book. To me, the narratives in this text are not always to be read literally, nor are they written for the Western mind’s perspective on story telling. TheContinue Reading

Is Balaam a good guy or a bad guy?

Compare Numbers 22-24 and Micah 6:5 to Numbers 31:8, 16; Deuteronomy 23:4-5; Joshua 24:9-10; Nehemiah 13:2, 2 Peter 2:15, Jude 1:11, and Revelation 2:14 Numbers 31:16 (a priestly text) is the only verse in the Old Testament that attributes the apostasy of Baal Peor to Balaam’s doing. Deuteronomy 23:4-5 saysContinue Reading

Righteous Dominion

I had the opportunity to read about the Savior’s teaching in Luke on wealth recently. In Luke 12 we read: Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth. And he spake a parable unto them, saying, TheContinue Reading

Old Testament (Page 16)