OT Lesson #48--Alison

Lesson 48: “The Great and Dreadful Day of the Lord”

Alison Coutts

Zechariah 10–14 ; Malachi; Doctrine and Covenants 45.

Quotes: 

Jörg Klebingatt

“Acknowledge and face your weaknesses, but don’t be immobilized by them, because some of them will be your companions until you depart this earth life. No matter what your current status, the very moment you voluntarily choose honest, joyful, daily repentance by striving to simply do and be your very best, the Savior’s Atonement envelops and follows you, as it were, wherever you go. Living in this manner, you can truly “always retain a remission of your sins” (Mosiah 4:12) every hour of every day, every second of every minute, and thus be fully clean and acceptable before God all the time.”[1]

Neal A. Maxwell

“Thus gospel hope is a very focused and particularized hope that is based upon justified expectations. It is a virtue that is intertwined with faith and charity, which virtues are not to be understood either when they are torn apart from each other or apart from the Lord Jesus Christ, without whom they are all vague virtues Doubt and despair go together, whereas faith and hope are constant companions. Those, for instance, who “hope” in vain for (and speak of) the day of world peace when men “shall beat their swords into plowshares” ignore the reality that the millennial dawn will be ushered in only by the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. Neither secular rhetoric nor secular assemblies will succeed in bringing lasting peace to this planet. Secularists, meanwhile, have ironically appropriated the Lord’s language of hope while denying Him! It is He and His ways alone that can bring about such desirable conditions. There will be no millennium without the Master. Paul’s futuring focused on the Lord, giving us consolation by holding forth that which is to come, confirming hope. But this hope develops, as does faith, “line upon line, precept upon precept; here a little, and there a little” (D&C 128:21).[2]

Zechariah is prophesying during the Babylonian captivity. We believe that Malachi saw Elijah coming to the Kirtland Temple and the restoration of the keys of tithing, the Second Coming, and temple/family history work. Although Malachi is the last book of the Old Testament, it isn’t necessarily the last written, in the same way that Revelation is not the last book written in the New Testament. That being said, in a literary context, the Old Testament starts with the creation of the earth and ends with the fear of the destruction of the earth if we do not live up to our covenants. These two books bridge the Old and New Covenants (Testaments). And the focus is on kept and broken covenants.

Zechariah 10:

Scattering and gathering of Israel is an example of the mercy of the Lord—happens often throughout the Old Testament, Book of Mormon and Doctrine and Covenants. Also it is a type of the Atonement—sin causes one to “scatter” spiritually and repentance causes one to “gather” to the Lord/Zion.

Zechariah 11:

7–14  The two staffs—Beauty and Binds—are symbols of the covenants which (in my opinion) the crucifixion of Christ breaks so that Israel is scattered after the 30 pieces of silver are paid.

Zechariah 12:

6–10 the Redemption of Judah and Jerusalem

Zechariah 13:

Messianic prophecies about the Second Coming and Jews recognizing who the Messiah is/was.

The Lord remembers His covenant with the Jews, but they do not remember:

Verse 6 is one of the most poignant in all scripture in my opinion: “And one shall say unto him, What are these wounds in thine hands? Then he shall answer, Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends.”

Zechariah 14:

Here is the Messiah that the Jews expected—a Messiah who cleaves mountains into two, creates valleys, and rivers—heals the Red Sea and fights for His people. It is ironic that at Christmas it is the baby Jesus who is celebrated by mainstream Christianity, not necessarily the mission He accomplished. The Jews at the time of Christ looked for the Messiah in Zecharaiah, not the child in Isaiah. Latter-day Saints recognize the impact of the whole of Christ’s premortal, mortal, and Millennial life and mission.

Malachi 3

Judgment is for everyone and has to do with adherence to covenants. D&C 76:103–5/ telestial kingdom is the same list of those who will experience the “dreadful” day.

Malachi 4:5–6

Condition of our heart is what will be judged. If we have love enough to unselfishly serve our families, not only living but also dead, and also our neighbor, then it will be a “great” day, not a “dreadful” day. Without genealogical links, there are no families. So we are cut off with the same curse as is detailed here for the whole earth. Equally, the covenant of tithing is a vital component of gathering, being both temporal and spiritual. Blessings that come from tithing are both spiritual and temporal—temples need to be built, missionaries need to be sent out. Our tithing blesses not only us and the Church, but the world.

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[1] https://www.lds.org/ensign/2014/11/saturday-afternoon-session/approaching-the-throne-of-god-with-confidence?lang=eng.

[2] Notwithstanding My Weakness (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1981), 41–42.

Lesson #48--Bruce

O.T. Lesson 48: “The Great and Dreadful Day of the Lord”

Malachi 3-4; Zechariah 10–14

Bruce Lott

Of what crime does Malachi 3:8 charge the people?             How so?

“One day a friend wanted me to go with him to his ranch. He opened the door of a new automobile … and said, ‘How do you like my new car?’ We rode in luxurious air-conditioned comfort through the countryside to an elegant landscaped home, and he said with no little pride, ‘This is my home.’

“He drove on to [an overlook]…. With a wide sweeping gesture, he boasted, ‘From the clump of trees, to the lake, to the bluff, and to the ranch buildings and all between—all this is mine. And the herd of cattle in the meadow—those are mine, too….

“My friend was proud that he had developed his ranch from the desert with his own strength and toil, but where had he obtained that strength and where had he obtained the land and the water with which to make it productive, if not from the Lord?

“If the earth is the Lord's, then we are merely tenants and owe our landlord an accounting….  There is no place in holy writ where God has said, ‘I give you title to this…’  It is not ours to give, to have, to hold, to sell, despoil, exploit as we see fit.”

(President Spencer W. Kimball, Faith Precedes the Miracle, 283.)

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What is promised in Malachi 3:10?

“The Lord was not promising material wealth … but that [the faithful] would prosper in righteousness” (President Ezra Taft Benson April 1986 CR). “[R]eal prosperity” is “growth in a knowledge of God, and in a testimony, and in the power to live the gospel” (Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Heber J. Grant; 124).

“Pay[ing] tithes and offerings … will not ensure riches—indeed, there is no guarantee that we will be free from economic problems —but it will … create a communion with the Savior that will enhance a person’s inner core of strength and stability” (President James E. Faust, First Presidency Message, February 1998 Ensign, 3).

           “Spiritual illumination and perspective are poured out through the windows of heaven and into our lives as we honor the law of tithing” (Elder David A. Bednar, Oct 2013 CR; quoted in online Old Testament Gospel Doctrine Teacher’s Manual, www.lds.org).

How might God give us spiritual illumination and perspective?

(See, e.g., Moses 1:1-10)

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What did God promise in Malachi 3:11?

“The animal, vegetable, and mineral kingdoms, the whole earth and all things pertaining to it, except man … abide the law of their Creator” (President Brigham Young, JD 9:246). In contrast, “the world … has never been under [God’s] control” (Elder John Taylor, 1852, The Government of God, 85).  “This world … belongs to Satan. He created it; he is its father and its god.… The earth itself is the Lord's, and He is its ruler; but the world (the corrupt society on earth) is under the rule of him who is the god of this world.” (Elder Bruce R. McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, 324.)

What should be our motivation for paying tithes and offerings?

“There can be a distinct element of selfishness in [giving]—one may give, because to do so makes [one feel proud or appear] religious. But the help given by the [righteous] is wholly different.” (See President Marion G. Romney, Oct 1977 CR.)

“Our [obedience] should be for the love of God and [His children] rather than for … any other lesser motive” including, “in ascending order,” “increase[d] income,” “worldly honors, prominence, or power”, “fear of punishment”, “a sense of duty”, or even “the hope of an eternal reward,” because all such “lesser” motives are ultimately “selfish” (See Elder Dallin H. Oaks, October 1984 CR).

Is that really possible?

            “Our society is permeated with the suggestion that selfishness [is] acceptable or even respectable” (President James E. Faust, Apr 1983 CR).

 “[A]ll of us … are subtly and constantly encouraged to believe . . . that living selfishly is natural and commendable” (President Susan L. Warner, Apr 1996 CR).

“Selfishness is really self-destruction in slow motion” but “with the shedding of selfishness … we see our luminous and true identity” (Elder Neal A. Maxwell, April 1999 and October 1990 CR).  “We torture our souls when we focus on getting rather than giving” (President James E. Faust, October 2002 CR).

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re Zechariah 12:10; 13:6) Why did Jesus let those things happen to Him?

“[F]ollowing the Savior means overcoming selfishness…. [T]he ultimate selfless act in all of history [was] when the Savior gave His life … to atone for our sins….  [H]e did it without any thought of recompense or recognition.”

(President James E. Faust, October 2002 CR.)

“Jesus said His disciples must ‘love one another; as I have loved you…’  To the very end of his mortal life ... He was anxiously attending to the present and future needs of [others]…. His entire energies [were] directed toward their needs.”

(Elder Howard W. Hunter, April 1974 CR.)

“During this Christmas season and always,

may we give to Him by loving as He loves”

(President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, 1^st Presidency Message, Dec 2014 Ensign).

New Testament Helps #1: Intertestamental Period and Jewish Groups in Israel--Alison

I will be adding to this throughout the year, but this is to get us between the Old and New Testament.

Intertestamental Period

Kent Brown and Richard Hozapfel wrote the book on the approximately 500 years between the end of Malachi and the beginning of the New Testament, and it is excerpted in an Ensign article from December 2014 which you can find here Between the Testaments.

Here is some information on the groups of people who were inhabiting Jerusalem and its environs during Christ's time (taken from the New Testament Teacher Resource Manual):

Scribes

"Scribes originally were educated men who made their livelihood as record keepers and as copyists of the scriptures. These they studied diligently, both to understand their meaning and to detect scribal errors. The scribes supplied copies of the scriptures to the growing number of synagogues and also became teachers of the law. While Israel had prophets, the scribes remained copyists and teachers. But when the prophetic voice ceased in Israel, these experts in the law of Moses began to fill the vacuum.

Ezra, one such scribe, brought back part of the exiles from captivity and taught Israel “statutes and judgments” (Ezra 7:10; see also Nehemiah 8:9–12). Along with Nehemiah he took steps to teach, not just the priests and Levites, but all the people in the Mosaic law. This new emphasis on the open reading of the scriptures came to be one of the most distinguishing features of Jewish national life.

A major factor contributing to the rising power of the scribes was the shift of the common language of the people from Hebrew to Aramaic. Though sister tongues, the languages were different enough that Jews who spoke only Aramaic had trouble understanding the scriptures. So the people had to rely on the scholars to interpret and explain them. It should not be surprising that there was no unity of interpretation among these scholars, nor that they worked to bring others to their different viewpoints."

Pharisees and Sadducees

"During the second century B.C., two important Jewish groups emerged: the Pharisees and the Sadducees. The Pharisees promoted the observance of Jewish rituals and the study of the Torah (the five books of Moses). Some of them took vows to separate themselves from the impurities of the Hellenistic influences that had crept into Jewish life and to strictly follow their interpretation of the law. They not only maintained the validity of the Torah as the source of their religion, but they enlarged on this background, trying to adapt old codes to new conditions. This interpretation became known as the oral law, since for the most part it was memorized and passed on by word of mouth. The Pharisees believed in a combination of free will and predestination, in the Resurrection, and in a judgment resulting in reward or punishment in the life to come.

The Pharisees were dedicated to the preservation of the Mosaic code. To counteract the Greek influences, they turned to strict obedience to the law. Because of their attempts to keep themselves separate from the worldly taint of false ideas, they were called Perushim, a Hebrew word meaning “separated ones.” The name Pharisees comes from the Greek transliteration of Perushim. In a time of growing alarm over the abandonment of the traditional values of Judaism, the Pharisees increased in popularity until they came to represent the religious views of the majority of the Jewish people.

While the Pharisees were primarily from the common people, the Sadducees were from the upper level of society: priests, merchants, and aristocrats. The name of the sect (Zedukim in Hebrew) is probably derived from Zadok, the high priest in the days of King David. Ezekiel entrusted Zadok’s family with control of the temple (see Ezekiel 40:46; 43:19; 44:10–15), and the descendants of this family controlled the temple hierarchy until about 200 B.C.The name Sadducees may have referred to those who were sympathetic with the Zadokites.

The Sadducees, on the whole, were conservative. Unlike the Pharisees, the Sadducees rejected the oral law as binding except for that part based on the Torah. They placed emphasis on the sacrifices in the temple and rejected a belief in angels and the Resurrection. The Sadducees generally represented the wealthy class that accepted Greek culture; thus, the Sadducees were not popular with the majority of the people."

Hasmoneans and Maccabees

"The efforts of Antiochus to stamp out Judaism became more and more brutal. Instead of obediently submitting, the Jews stiffened their resistance, and hatred for Antiochus and his Greek soldiers spread. In 167 B.C., in the small village of Modin, Syrian soldiers gathered the people and demanded that Mattathias, an old priest, offer a sacrifice to the pagan god. Even though threatened with death, Mattathias refused. Another priest stepped forward and agreed to do as the soldier demanded. As this weaker priest lifted the knife, an enraged Mattathias grabbed a sword and killed both the priest and the Syrian officer. Mattathias and his five sons then fled to the hills and called on all of Judah to join them (see 1 Maccabees 2:1–30). The revolt had begun. It raged through the land, gathering support on every side as the Jews turned on the hated Syrians. By the time Antiochus took the revolt seriously, he faced an entire nation thirsting for freedom.

Since Mattathias was a priest seeking to defend the Mosaic code, the Jews threw their support behind his family, the Hasmoneans. Mattathias died shortly after the revolt began, but his son Judas took over. Judas was a military genius and repeatedly exhorted his vastly outnumbered and poorly equipped troops to have faith in God and the righteousness of their cause. Again and again he devastated enemy forces two to four times the size of his own.

By 165 B.C.the Jews had recaptured Jerusalem, cleansed the temple of its impurities, and rededicated it to the worship of Jehovah. Judea was independent of foreign domination for the first time in over four hundred years. The Hasmonean revolt is more commonly known as the Maccabean revolt because Mattathias’s son was called Judas Maccabees, which means “Judas the Hammerer.” The hard-won victories of Mattathias and his sons were short-lived, however. Very quickly, the descendants of the Hasmoneans forgot that it was the Lord who had delivered them. Like Saul and David and Solomon, the members of the new dynasty were corrupted by the power and glory of the courts of power. The sons and grandsons of the Maccabees degenerated into a mode of politics as usual, and just over a hundred years later, in 63 B.C., Israel was conquered by the Roman general Pompey."

Samaritans

From Talmage, Jesus the Christ: "The inhabitants of Samaria were a mixed people, in whom the blood of Israel was mingled with that of the Assyrians and other nations; and one cause of the animosity existing between them and their neighbors both on the north and the south was the Samaritans’ claim for recognition as Israelites; it was their boast that Jacob was their father; but this the Jews denied. The Samaritans had a version of the Pentateuch, which they revered as the law, but they rejected all the prophetical writings of what is now the Old Testament, because they considered themselves treated with insufficient respect therein.

To the orthodox Jew of the time a Samaritan was more unclean than a Gentile of any other nationality. It is interesting to note the extreme and even absurd restrictions then in force in the matter of regulating unavoidable relations between the two peoples. The testimony of a Samaritan could not be heard before a Jewish tribunal. For a Jew to eat food prepared by a Samaritan was at one time regarded by rabbinical authority as an offense as great as that of eating the flesh of swine. While it was admitted that produce from a field in Samaria was not unclean, inasmuch as it sprang directly from the soil, such produce became unclean if subjected to any treatment at Samaritan hands. Thus, grapes and grain might be purchased from Samaritans, but neither wine nor flour manufactured therefrom by Samaritan labor. On one occasion the epithet “Samaritan” was hurled at Christ as an intended insult. “Say we not well that thou art a Samaritan, and hast a devil?” (John 8:48). The Samaritan conception of the mission of the expected Messiah was somewhat better founded than was that of the Jews, for the Samaritans gave greater prominence to the spiritual kingdom the Messiah would establish, and were less exclusive in their views as to whom the Messianic blessings would be extended."

Lesson #46--Alison

Lesson #46, “A Kingdom, Which Shall Never Be Destroyed”

Current Statistics of the Church (April 2014)

15,082,028 Members Worldwide

29,253 Congregations

189 Published Languages

88,000 Missionaries

406 Missions

15 Missionary Training Centers

144 Temples[1]

Quotes:

Gordon B. Hinckley, “The Church has become one large family scattered across the earth. There are now more than 13 million of us in 176 nations and territories. A marvelous and wonderful thing is coming to pass. The Lord is fulfilling His promise that His gospel shall be as the stone cut out of the mountain without hands which would roll forth and fill the whole earth, as Daniel saw in vision (see Daniel 2:31–45; D&C 65:2). A great miracle is taking place right before our eyes.”[2]

Carol F. McConkie, “We are grateful for a church ‘built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone.’ The Lord’s house is a house of order, and we need never be deceived about where to look for answers to our questions or uncertain about which voice to follow. We need not be ‘tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine.’ God reveals His word through His ordained servants, ‘for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God.’ When we choose to live according to the words of the prophets, we are on the covenant path that leads to eternal perfection.”[3]

This chapter is universally accepted as foretelling the coming of Christ’s Kingdom which is literally being fulfilled in the Restored Church of Jesus Christ (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints). Daniel was included in the Dead Sea Scrolls. In the Hebrew Bible, Daniel 2:1-4 are in Hebrew, but as soon as Nebuchadnezzar starts talking it is in Aramaic.

Chaldeans are Nebuchadnezzar’s counselors. Multi-material Idol: Jews interpret the kingdoms to go up to Alexander and the break-up of his empire (iron and clay), mainstream Christianity goes to the break-up of the Roman Empire. For Latter-day Saints, see President Spencer W. Kimball and D&C 65:

• The head of gold represented Nebuchadnezzar and his kingdom of Babylon.
• The breast and arms of silver represented Cyrus and his kingdom of Media and Persia.
• The belly and thighs of brass represented Philip and Alexander and the Greek or Macedonian kingdom.
• The legs of iron represented the Roman Empire.
• The feet of iron and clay represented a group of European nations.[4]

Pres. Kimball: “I know it is the little stone that was cut out of a mountain without hands. I know it will fill the earth as prophesied and commanded by the Savior Jesus Christ when, in his last moments on earth, he said to his eleven apostles, “Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature”—to every nation, kindred, tongue, and people. (See Mark 16:15.) I know it is true from the birth of Adam to the days of Daniel to the days of Joseph Smith and to this day. I know it is true and divine.”

Question:  What can we gain from the fact that Nebuchadnezzar posed an impossible question—“tell me what I was dreaming and what it meant” and Daniel and his friends were able to comply?

Mosiah 29:21–23

“And behold, now I say unto you, ye cannot dethrone an iniquitous king save it be through much contention, and the shedding of much blood. For behold, he has his friends in iniquity, and he keepeth his guards about him; and he teareth up the laws of those who have reigned in righteousness before him; and he trampleth under his feet the commandments of God; And he enacteth laws, and sendeth them forth among his people, yea, laws after the manner of his own wickedness; and whosoever doth not obey his laws he causeth to be destroyed; and whosoever doth rebel against him he will send his armies against them to war, and if he can he will destroy them; and thus an unrighteous king doth pervert the ways of all righteousness.”

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[1] http://www.mormonnewsroom.org/facts-and-stats.

[2] https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2007/10/the-stone-cut-out-of-the-mountain?lang=eng.

[3] https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2014/10/live-according-to-the-words-of-the-prophets?lang=eng.

[4] https://www.lds.org/general-conference/1976/04/the-stone-cut-without-hands?lang=eng.

Lesson #46--Bruce

Lesson # 46 Bruce Lott

Daniel 2 & D&C 65, Questions & Quotes

(See Old Testament Class Member Study Guide #46)

Describe & explain the parts of the great image in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream?

(See Daniel 2:31–43.)

President Spencer W. Kimball explained: “Nebuchadnezzar [was a] king of kings, a world power, represent[ed by] the head of gold.  Another kingdom would arise and take over world dominion[, that of] Cyrus the great, with his Medes and Persians, [which] would be replaced by the Greek or Macedonian kingdom under Philip and Alexander; and that world power would be replaced by the Roman Empire; and Rome would be replaced by a group of nations of Europe represented by the toes of the image.”(Apr 1976 CR; cited in OTGospel Doctrine Teacher’s Manual, .)

See D&C 65:2) What did the “stone … cut out without hands” represent?

What did Daniel prophesy concerning the Church in the latter days?

(See Daniel 2:34–35, 44.)

What can we do to help build of the kingdom of God in our homes, in our communities, and throughout the world?

On Interpretation of Scriptures

“The only true interpretation is the meaning the parable [or dream] was meant to convey, when first [given]…. [Some] rules of interpretation are: Do not force a meaning on subordinate incidents…. Remember that the comparison in a parable is not complete, does not touch at every point[, and that The dream or] parable draws a picture of life as it is, not as it ought to be, and compares certain points in this picture with heavenly doctrine.”  (Bible Dictionary, 741.)

“Knowing this first, that no prophecy [propheteia (Greek): discourse emanating from divine inspiration] of the scripture is of any private interpretation. [21] For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.” (2 Peter 1:20-21.) 

“Prophets gave the scripture, and prophets must interpret it…. [O]therwise there will be a host of private interpretations and consequently many different and disagreeing churches, which is precisely the condition in the religious world today.” (Elder Bruce R. McConkie, October 1964 Conference Report.)

“Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done”

       “What is the meaning of ‘Thy kingdom come’? It means the rule of God ... the law of God… the government of God…. ‘Thy kingdom come’, that the confusion, the evil, and wickedness … that now exist among mankind may be done away, and the principles of truth and right, the principles of kindness, charity, and love … may dwell with us…. ‘… [T]hy will be done…’ ….  We have not got it yet … but we are trying to introduce those things, and the Gospel has been restored for that purpose.”(Teachings of Presidents of the Church: John Taylor, 225; JD 26:358.)

“[W]hen Zion shall cover the earth … then shall Thy will be done ... May we, O Lord, prepare for that day...”(Elder Bruce R. McConkie, The Mortal Messiah 2:149.)

“If we would establish Zion in our homes, branches, wards, and stakes, we must … [1] become unified in one heart and one mind; … [2] become, individually and collectively, a holy people; and [3] care for the poor and needy with such effectiveness that we eliminate poverty among us. We cannot wait until Zion comes for these things to happen—Zion will come only as they happen.”

(Elder D. Todd Christofferson, October 2008 CR.)

“The length of time required ‘to accomplish all things pertaining to Zion’ is strictly up to us and how we live …” (President Spencer W. Kimball, April 1978 CR).

“Blessed are they who shall seek to bring forth Zion,

for they shall have the gift and power of the Holy Ghost”

(1 Nephi 13:37).