There is much in the Old Testament that is difficult to understand, and because of the significant amount of repetition (especially the repetition of things that often seem unimportant or even irrelevant---such as the "begats," the naming of the mighty men, and the division of the promised land among the tribes of Israel). There is also much that is tedious and much that seems strange.

The then-future coming and great redemptive mission of Jesus Christ

Moses: Perhaps the best-known Old Testament prophecy concerning the future mission of Jesus Christ was spoken by Moses and is found in Deuteronomy 18:15, 18-19. Because the children of Israel were afraid to come into Moses' presence on Mt. Horeb (Sinai) Moses told them:

"The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken,"

Then the Lord, responding to Moses' prophecy, said that He would...

"raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee [i.e., Moses], and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him. And it shall come to pass, that whosoever will not hearken unto my words which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him."

Peter: In Acts 3:22 in the New Testament, the Apostle Peter---while preaching repentance unto the Jews for rejecting Jesus as their Savior---said:

"For Moses truly said unto the fathers, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you. And it shall come to pass, that every soul, which will not hear that prophet, shall be destroyed from among the people. Yea, and all the prophets from Samuel and those that follow after, as many as have spoken, have likewise foretold of these days. Ye are the children of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying unto Abraham, And in thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed. Unto you first God, having raised up his Son Jesus, sent him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from his iniquities [emphasis added]."

(2:7) "...Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee."

(22:1) "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?---"

(22:16) "...[T]hey pierced my hands and my feet."

(34:20) "He keepeth all his bones: not one of them is broken."

(68:18) "Thou hast ascended on high, thou hast led captivity captive..."

(69:21) "...[I]n my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink..."

(110:4) "...Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek."

(118:22) "The stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the corner."

(7:14) "Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel."

(9:6) "For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace."

(42:6-7) "I the Lord have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles; To open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house."

(53:4-12) "Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth. He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken. And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth.

"Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors." [The entire chapter, vs. 1-12, is noteworthy.]

(59:20) "And the Redeemer shall come to Zion, and unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob, saith the Lord."

(61:1-2) "The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn..."

There are both people and events in the Old Testament that typify, or foreshadow, the Savior and His marvelous Atonement. In fact, the Book of Mormon prophet Jacob insightfully observed that "...all things which have been given of God from the beginning of the world, unto man, are the typifying of him (2 Nephi 11:4)." Let's identify some of these. In most cases the symbolism will be apparent.

• The slaying of the firstborn of Egypt while the children of Israel were saved by the blood of the lamb.
• Adam and Eve clothed by Jehovah when they left the Garden of Eden in coats of (lamb) skins, which meant that, if they were obedient, they would be protected through the shedding of the blood of the lamb.
• The offering of sacrifices of the firstlings of the flock, as Christ was the firstborn spirit son of God as well as the firstborn from the dead.
• The offering of animals in sacrifice that were perfect males---without blemish or spot, as Christ was a perfect male without blemish or spot.
• As lambs were offered as sacrifices for sin, so Jesus was identified as the Lamb of God, offered as the ultimate sacrifice for sin.
• No bones to be broken in the sacrificial lamb, as none of the Savior's bones were broken in the process of crucifixion, contrary to common practice.
• The manna, the bread of life, provided for Israel in the wilderness, as Christ was the Bread of Life, given to us to sustain us as we wander in the wilderness of mortality.
• Water coming forth from the rock, as living water comes forth from Christ, who is the Rock.
• Jonah in the belly of the fish for three days as Christ was three days in the grave (see Matthew 12:40).
• Abraham was laid on the altar to be sacrificed by the Egyptian priests, though he was without fault, as Christ was sacrificed being without fault. (This is from chapter one of the book of Abraham in the Pearl of Great Price.)
• Abraham offering his beloved son Isaac as a sacrifice, as God offered His Son as a sacrifice. Isaac willingly submitted to the will of his father, as did Christ.
• Isaac, the son to be sacrificed, carried the wood on which he would be sacrificed, as Christ carried the wood (the cross) on which he would be sacrificed (see John 19:17).
• The scapegoat that was part of Israel's ritual on the Day of Atonement (see Leviticus 6:21-22), as Christ becomes the "scapegoat" for our sins.
• Joseph, as the savior of Israel, preserving their lives during the famine, as Christ is our Savior to preserve us in the spiritual famine of mortality.
• Moses as the savior of God's people, bringing them out of bondage in Egypt, as Christ also delivers us from the bondage of sin.
• The ritual cleansing of lepers under the law of Moses, as a type of the cleansing of the repentant sinner through Christ's atonement (see Leviticus 14)

Certainly, we can point to many examples in the Old Testament where the punishment meted out by Jehovah seemed excessive as related to the infraction. A classic example of this is the case where a man named Achan, from the tribe of Judah, was put to death because he took spoils from the city of Jericho contrary to Jehovah's commandment. Achan's punishment is described as follows:

"And Joshua and all Israel with him, took Achan... and his sons, and his daughters, and his oxen, and his asses, and his sheep, and his tent, and all that he had: and they brought them unto the valley of Achor... And all Israel stoned him with stones, and burned them with fire, after they had stoned them with stones" (Joshua 7:24-25).

When Israel was in the wilderness, Moses explained to the children of Israel how much God loved them, how He had blessed them, and how He would continue to bless them if they would also love Him and keep His commandments:

"For thou art an holy people unto the Lord thy God: the Lord thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth. The Lord did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people; for ye were the fewest of all people: But because the Lord loved you, and because he would keep the oath which he had sworn unto your fathers, hath the Lord brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out of the house of bondmen, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. Know therefore that the Lord thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations" (Deuteronomy 7:6-9).

"Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways, saith the Lord God. Repent, and turn yourselves from all your transgressions; so iniquity shall not be your ruin. Cast away from you all your transgressions, whereby ye have transgressed; and make you a new heart and a new spirit: for why will ye die, O house of Israel? For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, saith the Lord God: wherefore turn yourselves, and live ye" (Ezekiel 18:30-32).

"As I live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel?" (Ezekiel 33: 11)

Speaking the very words that Jehovah had told him, the prophet Jeremiah also spoke to the people of the love that Jehovah had for them and the promises that would be fulfilled in their behalf if they would repent and be obedient.

"Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, Amend your ways and your doings, and I will cause you to dwell in this place... For if ye throughly amend your ways and your doings; if ye throughly execute judgment between a man and his neighbour; If ye oppress not the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, and shed not innocent blood in this place, neither walk after other gods to your hurt: Then will I cause you to dwell in this place, in the land that I gave to your fathers, for ever and ever" (Jeremiah 7:3, 5-7).

In other words, He promised them that they would not be taken captive if they would but keep the commandments.

"Hear the word of the Lord, O king of Judah, that sittest upon the throne of David, thou, and thy servants, and thy people that enter in by these gates: Thus saith the Lord; Execute ye judgment and righteousness, and deliver the spoiled out of the hand of the oppressor: and do no wrong, do no violence to the stranger, the fatherless, nor the widow, neither shed innocent blood in this place. For if ye do this thing indeed, then shall there enter in by the gates of this house kings sitting upon the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, he, and his servants, and his people" (Jeremiah 22:2-4).

"Thus saith the Lord; Stand in the court of the Lord's house, and speak unto all the cities of Judah, which come to worship in the Lord's house, all the words that I command thee to speak unto them; diminish not a word: If so be they will hearken, and turn every man from his evil way, that I may repent me of the evil, which I purpose to do unto them because of the evil of their doings" (Jeremiah 26:2-3).

Jonah, who had been sheltered from the sun by the gourd vine that was now dead, answered that he did do well by his anger, "even unto death." Upon which Jehovah responded,

"Thou hast had pity on the gourd, for the which thou hast not laboured, neither madest it grow; which came up in a night, and perished in a night: And should not I spare Nineveh, that great city, wherein are more than sixscore thousand persons that cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand" (Jonah 4:10-11).

Consider the following accounts of deliverance:

• The deliverance of Enoch and the City of Zion from the wickedness of the world when they were translated and taken to heaven (Moses 6-7).
• The deliverance of Jared, the brother of Jared, their friends and their families from the confusion of tongues at the tower of Babel (Ether 1).
• The deliverance of Abra(ha)m from the Egyptian priests when he was being offered as a human sacrifice (Abraham 1).
• The deliverance of the Jacob and his family from the seven-year famine and into Egypt (Genesis 41-47).
• The deliverance of the children of Israel out of their Egyptian bondage (Exodus 2-14).
• The deliverance of the Amorites and their five kings into Israel's hands (with a great hailstorm and the sun being turned to blood) when Joshua and the army of Israel went to the aid of the Gibeonites (Joshua 10).
• The deliverance of Israel from bondage to the Mesopotamians by Othniel, Caleb's nephew (Judges 3).
• The deliverance of Israel from bondage to the Ammonites and Amalekites by Ehud (Judges 3).
• The deliverance of Israel from bondage to the Canaanites by Deborah and Barak (Judges 4).
• The deliverance of Israel from bondage to the Midianites by Gideon and his 300-man army (Judges 6-8).
• The deliverance of Israel, under Jephthah, from threatened destruction by the Ammonites (Judges 10-11).
• The deliverance of Israel from Philistine oppression through the mighty, miraculous, strength of Samson (Judges 13-16).
• The deliverance of Israel, under the prophet Samuel, from the Philistines, through means of a great storm (1 Samuel 7).
• The deliverance of the Philistine army into the hands of Jonathan and the army of Israel (1 Samuel 14).
• The deliverance of the Philistine giant, Goliath, into the hands of David (1 Samuel 17).
• The deliverance of the Syrian army into the hands of King Ahab's much smaller army of Israel (twice) (1 Kings 20). Here the Lord used a wicked King (Ahab) to overthrow the might of the more wicked Syrians.
• The deliverance of the Moabites into the hands of Israel, Judah, and Edom (2 Kings 3).
• The deliverance of Israel from the Syrian siege of Samaria (2 Kings 7).
• The deliverance of King Jehoshaphat and Judah (without so much as lifting their swords) from the invading armies of the Ammonites, the Moabites, and the people of Mount Seir (2 Chronicles 19-20).
• The deliverance of Judah and Jerusalem, under King Hezekiah, from the siege of the Assyrians and King Sennacherib against Jerusalem (2 Kings 18-19; 2 Chronicles 32; Isaiah 36-37)

Can there be any question about the love of God for His children, especially about His love for His chosen people, the children of the covenant? And perhaps the greatest affirmation we have of God's love for His children comes as we combine the first two great Old Testament messages. The result of this combination is declared in the gospel of John in the New Testament:

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved." (John 3:16-17).

 

The scattering of Israel (the Diaspora)

Prophecies concerning the dispersion of God's chosen people were made very early. In the book of Leviticus, Moses wrote the following words, which were spoken to him by Jehovah on Mount Sinai:

"And if ye walk contrary unto me, and will not hearken unto me; I will bring seven times more plagues upon you according to your sins... And I will scatter you among the heathen, and will draw out a sword after you: and your land shall be desolate, and your cities waste" (Leviticus 26:21, 33).

In Deuteronomy, Moses also delivered this message to the people of Israel as he spoke to them of the rebellion of future generations:

"And the Lord shall scatter you among the nations, and ye shall be left few in number among the heathen, whither the Lord shall lead you"
(Deuteronomy 4:27).

And further:

"And it shall come to pass, that as the Lord rejoiced over you to do you good, and to multiply you; so the Lord will rejoice over you to destroy you, and to bring you to nought; and ye shall be plucked from off the land whither thou goest to possess it. And the Lord shall scatter thee among all people, from the one end of the earth even unto the other; and there thou shalt serve other gods, which neither thou nor thy fathers have known, even wood and stone." (Deuteronomy 28:63-64).

When the kingdoms of Syria and Israel combined their forces in an attempt to overthrow Judah and establish a puppet kingdom, the prophet Isaiah spoke to Ahaz, the wicked king of Judah, and made the following prophecy:

"Thus saith the Lord God, It shall not stand, neither shall it come to pass. For the head of Syria is Damascus, and the head of Damascus is Rezin; and within threescore and five years shall Ephraim [i.e., the kingdom of Israel] be broken, that it be not a people" (Isaiah 7:7-8).

Partial fulfillment of Isaiah prophecy is related in 2 Kings 15:

"In the days of Pekah king of Israel came Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria, and took Ijon, and Abel-beth-maachah, and Janoah, and Kedesh, and Hazor, and Gilead, and Galilee, all the land of Naphtali, and carried them captive to Assyria." (2 Kings 15:29)

Final fulfillment of this prophecy came in the days of King Hoshea. The fulfillment of this prophecy, and some of the sins which brought it about, are recorded in 2 Kings 17:

"Then the king of Assyria came up throughout all the land, and went up to Samaria, and besieged it three years. In the ninth year of Hoshea the king of Assyria took Samaria, and carried Israel away into Assyria, and placed them in Halah and in Habor by the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes. For so it was, that the children of Israel had sinned against the Lord their God, which had brought them up out of the land of Egypt, from under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and had feared other gods, And walked in the statutes of the heathen, whom the Lord cast out from before the children of Israel, and of the kings of Israel, which they had made." (2 Kings 17:5-8)

Isaiah also prophesied of Judah being taken captive to Babylon. This prophecy is recorded in two places (2 Kings 20:16-18 and Isaiah 39:5-7). I quote from 2 Kings:

"And Isaiah said unto Hezekiah, Hear the word of the Lord. Behold, the days come, that all that is in thine house, and that which thy fathers have laid up in store unto this day, shall be carried into Babylon: nothing shall be left, saith the Lord. And of thy sons that shall issue from thee, which thou shalt beget, shall they take away; and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon."

The fulfillment of this prophecy is recorded in 2 Kings 25:

"And it came to pass in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, in the tenth day of the month, that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came, he, and all his host, against Jerusalem, and pitched against it; and they built forts against it round about. And the city was besieged unto the eleventh year of king Zedekiah. And on the ninth day of the fourth month the famine prevailed in the city, and there was no bread for the people of the land.

"And the city was broken up, and all the men of war fled by night by the way of the gate between two walls, which is by the king's garden: (now the Chaldees were against the city round about:) and the king went the way toward the plain. And the army of the Chaldees pursued after the king, and overtook him in the plains of Jericho: and all his army were scattered from him. So they took the king, and brought him up to the king of Babylon to Riblah; and they gave judgment upon him. And they slew the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, and put out the eyes of Zedekiah, and bound him with fetters of brass, and carried him to Babylon. "And in the fifth month, on the seventh day of the month, which is the nineteenth year of king Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, came Nebuzar-adan, captain of the guard, a servant of the king of Babylon, unto Jerusalem: And he burnt the house of the Lord, and the king's house, and all the houses of Jerusalem, and every great man's house burnt he with fire. And all the army of the Chaldees, that were with the captain of the guard, brake down the walls of Jerusalem round about. Now the rest of the people that were left in the city, and the fugitives that fell away to the king of Babylon, with the remnant of the multitude, did Nebuzar-adan the captain of the guard carry away" (2 Kings 25:1-11).

"And it shall come to pass, when ye shall say, Wherefore doeth the Lord our God all these things unto us? then shalt thou answer them, Like as ye have forsaken me, and served strange gods in your land, so shall ye serve strangers in a land that is not yours." (Jeremiah 5:19)

"Thus saith the Lord of hosts; Behold, I will send upon them the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, and will make them like vile figs, that cannot be eaten, they are so evil. And I will persecute them with the sword, with the famine, and with the pestilence, and will deliver them to be removed to all the kingdoms of the earth, to be a curse, and an astonishment, and an hissing, and a reproach, among all the nations whither I have driven them: Because they have not hearkened to my words, saith the Lord, which I sent unto them by my servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them; but ye would not hear, saith the Lord" (Jeremiah 29:17-19).

"Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I, even I, am against thee, and will execute judgments in the midst of thee in the sight of the nations. And I will do in thee that which I have not done, and whereunto I will not do any more the like, because of all thine abominations. Therefore the fathers shall eat the sons in the midst of thee, and the sons shall eat their fathers; and I will execute judgments in thee, and the whole remnant of thee will I scatter into all the winds" (Ezekiel 5:8-10).

"Yet will I leave a remnant, that ye may have some that shall escape the sword among the nations, when ye shall be scattered through the countries. And they that escape of you shall remember me among the nations whither they shall be carried captives, because I am broken with their whorish heart, which hath departed from me, and with their eyes, which go a whoring after their idols: and they shall lothe themselves for the evils which they have committed in all their abominations. And they shall know that I am the Lord, and that I have not said in vain that I would do this evil unto them" (Ezekiel 6:8-10).

"My God will cast them away, because they did not hearken unto him: and they shall be wanderers among the nations" (Hosea 9:17).

"For, lo, I will command, and I will sift the house of Israel among all nations, like as corn is sifted in a sieve, yet shall not the least grain fall upon the earth" (Amos 9:9).

The latter-day gathering of Israel and Second Coming of Christ

Even in the days of Moses, this wonderful message was declared:

"And it shall come to pass, when all these things are come upon thee, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before thee, and thou shalt call them to mind among all the nations, whither the Lord thy God hath driven thee, And shalt return unto the Lord thy God, and shalt obey his voice according to all that I command thee this day, thou and thy children, with all thine heart, and with all thy soul; That then the Lord thy God will turn thy captivity, and have compassion upon thee, and will return and gather thee from all the nations, whither the Lord thy God hath scattered thee. If any of thine be driven out unto the outmost parts of heaven, from thence will the Lord thy God gather thee, and from thence will he fetch thee: And the Lord thy God will bring thee into the land which thy fathers possessed, and thou shalt possess it; and he will do thee good, and multiply thee above thy fathers. And the Lord thy God will circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live" (Deuteronomy 30:1-6).

Isaiah made many prophecies relating to Israel.s gathering. Here are some:

"And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be glorious. And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea. And he shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth. The envy also of Ephraim shall depart, and the adversaries of Judah shall be cut off: Ephraim shall not envy Judah, and Judah shall not vex Ephraim. But they shall fly upon the shoulders of the Philistines toward the west; they shall spoil them of the east together: they shall lay their hand upon Edom and Moab; and the children of Ammon shall obey them. And the Lord shall utterly destroy the tongue of the Egyptian sea; and with his mighty wind shall he shake his hand over the river, and shall smite it in the seven streams, and make men go over dryshod. And there shall be an highway for the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria; like as it was to Israel in the day that he came up out of the land of Egypt" (Isaiah 11:10-16).

Here are some interesting prophecies from Jeremiah:

"Turn, O backsliding children, saith the Lord; for I am married unto you: and I will take you one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion: And I will give you pastors according to mine heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding. And it shall come to pass, when ye be multiplied and increased in the land, in those days, saith the Lord, they shall say no more, The ark of the covenant of the Lord: neither shall it come to mind: neither shall they remember it; neither shall they visit it; neither shall that be done any more. At that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of the Lord; and all the nations shall be gathered unto it, to the name of the Lord, to Jerusalem: neither shall they walk any more after the imagination of their evil heart. In those days the house of Judah shall walk with the house of Israel, and they shall come together out of the land of the north to the land that I have given for an inheritance unto your fathers. But I said, How shall I put thee among the children, and give thee a pleasant land, a goodly heritage of the hosts of nations? and I said, Thou shalt call me, My father; and shalt not turn away from me" (Jeremiah 3:14-19).

"Hear the word of the Lord, O ye nations, and declare it in the isles afar off, and say, He that scattered Israel will gather him, and keep him, as a shepherd doth his flock" (Jeremiah 31:10).

"...Thus saith the Lord God: Although I have cast them far off among the heathen, and although I have scattered them among the countries, yet will I be to them as a little sanctuary in the countries where they shall come. Therefore say, Thus saith the Lord God; I will even gather you from the people, and assemble you out of the countries where ye have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel. And they shall come and they shall take away all the detestable things thereof and all the abominations thereof from thence. And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them an heart of flesh: That they may walk in my statutes, and keep mine ordinances, and do them: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God " (Ezekiel 11:16-20).

"For thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I, even I, will both search my sheep, and seek them out. As a shepherd seeketh out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered; so will I seek out my sheep, and will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day. And I will bring them out from the people, and gather them from the countries, and will bring them to their own land, and feed them upon the mountains of Israel by the rivers, and in all the inhabited places of the country. I will feed them in a good and upon the high mountains of Israel shall their fold be: there shall they lie in a good fold, and in a fat pasture shall they feed upon the mountains of Israel. I will feed my flock, and I will cause them to lie down, saith the Lord God " (Ezekiel 34:11-15).

"...Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the heathen, whither they be gone, and will gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land: And I will make them one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king to them all: and they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all: Neither shall they defile themselves any more with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions: but I will save them out of all their dwelling places, wherein they have sinned, and will cleanse them: so shall they be my people, and I will be their God. And David my servant shall be king over them; and they all shall have one shepherd: they shall also walk in my judgments, and observe my statutes, and do them. And they shall dwell in the land that I have given unto Jacob my servant, wherein your fathers have dwelt; and they shall dwell therein, even they, and their children, and their children's children for ever: and my servant David shall be their prince for ever. Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them: and I will place them, and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore. My tabernacle also shall be with them: yea, I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And the heathen shall know that I the LORD do sanctify Israel, when my sanctuary shall be in the midst of them for evermore " (Ezekiel 37:21-28).

In that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen, and close up the breaches thereof; and I will raise up his ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old:

That they may possess the remnant of Edom, and of all the heathen, which are called by my name, saith the LORD that doeth this.

Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that the plowman shall overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes him that soweth seed; and the mountains shall drop sweet wine, and all the hills shall melt.

And I will bring again the captivity of my people of Israel, and they shall build the waste cities, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and drink the wine thereof; they shall also make gardens, and eat the fruit of them.
And I will plant them upon their land, and they shall no more be pulled up out of their land which I have given them, saith the LORD thy God" (Amos 9:11-15)"

One of my favorite prophecies comes from the book of Joel:

"And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions:
And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit.
And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke.
The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come.
And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the LORD shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the LORD hath said, and in the remnant whom the LORD shall call" (Joel 2:29-32).

The prophet Micah also spoke of the latter-day gathering:

"But in the last days it shall come to pass, that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established in the top of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills; and people shall flow unto it. And many nations shall come, and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for the law shall go forth of Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.

And he shall judge among many people, and rebuke strong nations afar off; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks: nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. But they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree; and none shall make them afraid: for the mouth of the Lord of hosts hath spoken it. For all people will walk every one in the name of his god, and we will walk in the name of the Lord our God for ever and ever. In that day, saith the Lord, will I assemble her that halteth, and I will gather her that is driven out, and her that I have afflicted; And I will make her that halted a remnant, and her that was cast far off a strong nation: and the Lord shall reign over them in mount Zion from henceforth, even for ever" (Micah 4:1-7).

We shall explore here only the second and third questions. The first question, about Old Testament prophecies of Christ's mortal mission, is discussed in some depth on this web site under Messages of the Old Testament.

Christ's Awareness of Old Testament Prophecies

 

The scriptures used by the Jews during Christ's ministry would have been the Septuagint. This was a translation of the Hebrew scriptures into Greek, made in the third century before Christ. Its name came from the tradition that it was translated in 70 (actually 72) days by 70 Palestinian Jews, at the order of Ptolemy, for use by the Greek-speaking Jews in Alexandria. The Septuagint was of immense value to the Jews because they were no longer able to read the Hebrew language. All Old Testament scriptures quoted in the New Testament are from this Greek Septuagint. Thus, the reading is somewhat different from what we find in those same Old Testament verses in the King James Version of the Bible.

From the very beginning of His ministry, Christ showed His familiarity with the scriptures---the scriptures in general and also those scriptures that specifically prophesied of Him. In the synagoue in his hometown of Nazareth, he announced His divine Sonship by reading Isaiah 61, verse 1 and part of verse 2. He read thus: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath annointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, To preach the acceptable year of the Lord" (Luke 4:18-19). After reading, he closed the book, and said, "This day is this scripture, fulfilled in your ears"

(Luke 4:21).

 

When Christ was tempted by Satan following His 40-day fast in the wilderness, He responded to Satan's enticings by quoting scriptures. In response to each of the three temptations, He responded by saying, "It is written," and then proceeded to quote from a scripture. When tempted to turn stones into bread, He said, "It is written, Man shalt not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God" (Matthew 4:4), a clear reference to Deuteronomy 8:3 where Moses explained to the Israelites that God had given them manna in the wilderness that He might make them know that "man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord doth man live."

When Jesus was tempted to cast himself down from the pinnacle of the temple, He responded: "It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God" (Matthew 4:7). This is a reference to Deuteronomy 6:16 where Moses told the Israelites, "Ye shall not tempt the Lord your God..."

When tempted to worship Satan in exchange for the kingdoms and glories of the world, Jesus answered, "Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve" (Matthew 4: 10). This is an obvious reference to the first commandment: "Thou shalt have no other gods before me" (Exodus 20:3), with the same message also being found in Exodus 34:14 and Deuteronomy 6:14.

When Jesus taught the multitude concerning the mission of John the Baptist, He bore witness to them that "this is he, of whom it is written, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee" (Matthew 11:10). This was a reference to Malachi 3:1: "Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple."

When Jesus drove the money changers from the temple, He said to them, "It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves" (Matthew 21:13). The Savior's reference here is to Isaiah 56:7. Here Isaiah expounded on the glorious blessings that will be bestowed on those who keep the commandments. As he talked about those who keep the Sabbath, he said, "Even them will I bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer: their burnt offerings and their sacrifices shall be accepted upon mine altar; for my house shall be called an house of prayer for all people" (emphasis added).

At the Last Supper Jesus made it know to His Apostles that He would be betrayed by one of them, and as the Apostles questioned him, He said, "The Son of man goeth as it written of him: but woe unto that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed!" (Matthew 26:24, emphasis added). This is an obvious reference to a scripture that prophesied His betrayal. Such a prophecy concerning Christ's betrayal is found in Zechariah 11:12-13: "And I said unto them, If ye think good, give me my price; and if not, forbear. So they weighed for my price thirty pieces of silver. And the Lord said unto me, Cast it unto the potter: a goodly price that I was prised at of them. And I took the thirty pieces of silver, and cast them to the potter in the house of the Lord."

With regard to this declaration by Jesus in Matthew 26:24, the prophesy in Isaiah 53:7 is also relevant: "He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth."

When the Savior was questioned by the Pharisees and scribes about the failure of His disciples to wash, according to the "tradition of the elders," before they ate bread, He replied: "Well hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men" (Mark 7:6-7). The well-known prophecy referred to here is found in Isaiah 29:13. It says, "Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men."

When Jesus appeared to His 11 remaining Apostles in the upper room after His resurrection, he said, "Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day" (Luke 24:46). There is no scripture in the Old Testament canon, as it exists today, that says anything quite like this. There can be no doubt, however, that such a prophecy was contained within the Greek Septuagint that Jesus had available to Him. There is a scripture in Hosea that mentions the third day in reference to the resurrection, but it is improbable that Jesus was referring to this one: "After two days will he revive us: in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight" (Hosea 6:2).

When Jesus had miraculously fed a great multitude with loaves and fishes, many sought after him for the sake of the food. He rebuked them for their short-sightedness in seeking for bread that would perish, telling them that He was the Bread of Life. As part of that exchange, Jesus said, "Our fathers did eat manna in the desert; as it is written, He gave them bread from heaven to eat... Moses gave you not the bread from heaven; but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven" (John 6:31-32). This scripture refers to Exodus chapter 16 where the entire forty-year history of manna is briefly discussed. It relates also to Psalms 78: 23-24, where the psalmist wrote, "... Though he had commanded the clouds from above, and opened the doors of heaven, And had rained down manna upon them to eat, and had given them of the corn of heaven" (emphasis added).

As you can see, there is abundant evidence that Jesus was not only familiar with the scriptures of the Old Testament, He was also well aware that those scriptures spoke of Him and His earthly ministry and of His great mission of redemption.

Christ and Jehovah

As a basis for this discussion on the connection between Christ and Jehovah, it is essential to first establish the fact that God the Father and Jesus Christ, the Son of God, are two separate and distinct personages, notwithstanding what is stated in the various creeds of Christendom. The separateness of Jesus and His Father is clear from the references in the New Testament where they were manifest separately at the same time. One such occurrence was at the baptism of Jesus: "And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him: And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased" (Matthew 3:16-17, emphasis added).

Another occurrence in recorded in the Acts of the Apostles when Stephen, the first Christian martyr, was stoned for preaching that Jesus was the Christ, the scripture states that "he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God, And said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God" (Acts 7:55-56, emphasis added).

There is no denying that Jesus said that He and His Father were one (John 10:30), but there are more ways to be one than being the same person. Perhaps the best way to explain the oneness of the Father and the Son is found in John 17, where Jesus, in His great intercessory prayer, prayed to His father saying, "I have glorified thee on the earth; I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do. And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was. I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word. Now they have known that all things whatsoever thou has given me are of thee. For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me. I pray for them:... for they are thine. And all mine are thine... Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth. As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world... Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; That they all may be one; as thou, father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us; that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me" (John 17: 4-23, emphasis added).

Certainly there can be no doubt that the oneness for which the Savior prayed in behalf of Himself, His Apostles, and those who would believe the Apostles' words was not a physical oneness but a oneness of purpose.

Jesus Christ is the Son of God, the Only Begotten of the Father in the flesh (see John 1:17, 18; 3:16, 18; 1 John 4:9). He is God the Son, separate and distinct from God the Father.

There are also some things we need to explain about Jehovah, the God of the Old Testament. When the Hebrew Bible was being written, the writers were hesitant to write (or speak) the name of God. Thus, in reverence to God's name, whenever the name of Jehovah should have been written, they wrote the title "Adonai" (which means lord) in its place. When the King James translators made their translation they determined that they would honor the same practice. Thus, whenever they determined that the name Jehovah should be in the text, they wrote "the LORD" (withLORDin small capital letters) in its place. The name Jehovah appears only four times in the King James Version of the Old Testament (see Exodus 6:3; Psalms 83:18; Isaiah 12:2; Isaiah 26:4). In every other instance, "the LORD" is used in its place. Even a cursory perusal of the Old Testament will reveal that this usage was extensive.

The Apostle Paul, in the first chapter of his Epistle to the Hebrews also gives us more important information about the identity of Christ and His relationship to God the Father:

God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds; Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high; Being made so much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they. For unto which of the angels said he at any time, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee? And again, I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a Son? And again, when he bringeth in the firstbegotten into the world, he saith, And let all the angels of God worship him. And of the angels he saith, Who maketh his angels spirits, and his ministers a flame of fire. But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom. Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows. And, Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of thine hands: They shall perish; but thou remainest; and they all shall wax old as doth a garment; And as a vesture shalt thou fold them up, and they shall be changed: but thou art the same, and thy years shall not fail. (Hebrews 1:1-13)

The gospel of John begins with the Apostle's well-known introduction to the identity of Jesus Christ: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not" (John 1:1-5).

Now, taking all these things into account, let us consider this passage from Isaiah: "And I will feed them that oppress thee with their own flesh; and they shall be drunken with their own blood, as with sweet wine: and all flesh shall know that I the LORD [i.e., Jehovah] am thy Saviour and thy Redeemer, the mighty One of Jacob" (Isaiah 49:26, emphasis added).

Consider, also, this scripture from Isaiah: "Thou shalt also suck the milk of the Gentiles, and shalt suck the breast of kings: and thou shalt know that I the LORD[i.e., Jehovah] am thy Saviour and thy Redeemer, the mighty One of Jacob" (Isaiah 60:16, emphasis added).

And now this scripture from Isaiah: "Thus saith theLORD[i.e., Jehovah], thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; I am the LORD [i.e., Jehovah] thy God which teacheth thee to profit, which leadeth thee by the way that thou shouldest go" (Isaiah 48:17, emphasis added). Isaiah makes it clear that (1) the Mighty One of Jacob is our Savior and Redeemer, that (2) the Holy One of Israel is also our Redeemer, and that (3) Jehovah is both the Mighty one of Jacob and the Holy One of Israel. Can there be any doubt that Jesus Christ is also Jehovah?

The Book of Mormon prophet Nephi, while explaining the prophecies of Isaiah to his people, adds another witness: "And now behold, I say unto you that the right way is to believe in Christ, and deny him not; and Christ is the Holy One of Israel; wherefore ye must bow down before him, and worship him with all your might, mind, and strength, and your whole soul; and if ye do this ye shall in nowise be cast out" (2 Nephi 25:29, emphasis added).

Though the scriptures make it clear that Jesus Christ is both Jehovah of the Old Testament and the Holy one of Israel, some tell us that this is confusing. The confusion arises because there are many instances in the Old Testament where the words of Jehovah [the LORD] appear to be words that the Father would speak, and not the Son. It is true that there are many such occurrences. But these are occasions where the Son is speaking with His Father's authority in His Father's behalf. This is called "Divine Investiture of Authority" and is quite a common phenomenon in the scriptures. In fact, since the Fall of Adam, the only times God the Father has spoken directly to the earth is to introduce His Son, as He did on the occasion of Christ's baptism: "This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased" (Matthew 3:17).

In the book of Revelation we see same principle in operation when an angel spoke to John as if he were the Son of God, saying, "Behold I come quickly: blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book. And I John saw these things, and heard them. And when I had heard and seen, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel which shewed me these things. Then saith he unto me, See thou do it not: for I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of this book: worship God" (Revelation 22:7-9, emphasis added).

The God of the Old Testament, Jehovah, is also the God of the New Testament, the Lord Jesus Christ---the Mighty one of Jacob and the Holy One of Israel. He loved us so much that He was willing to come to earth to experience mortality, then to suffer, bleed, and give His life for our sins. Then, because He was God and had power over death, He rose again from the dead and provided the resurrection for all mankind. He did all this in order to fulfill His Father's plan for the salvation of the human family. How grateful we are for Him and for His Father who sent Him. "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life" (John 3:16).