Lesson 3: The Creation Moses 2-3, Genesis 1-2, Abraham 4-5 What does the creation account tell us? For our current needs, the Lord has given us the beautiful, powerful, concise, and systematic creation accounts of the scriptures. He has also given us collectively an intellectual curiosity that has opened theContinue Reading

The Old Testament manual has some great helps with teaching Lesson 2: “Thou was chosen before thou wast born,” and I wanted to add the following quote by Elder McConkie to my notes on this lesson: Being subject to law, and having their agency, all the spirits of men, whileContinue Reading

Thou Wast Chosen Before Thou Wast Born This lesson clearly lays out that we existed before we came to this earth, that Abraham and other prophets were taught this (see Abraham 3:22-23, Jeremiah 1:5), that Jesus was foreordained to perform the Atonement and be the Savior for all mankind (AbrahamContinue 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