Lynne's Old Testament Study Notes

12/14/2022 – Malachi 3 This chapter begins with prophesies concerning Christ’s Second Coming. He tells them that He will first send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek shall suddenly come to his temple.” This very thing suddenly occurred when the early saints had built the first temple of our dispensation, when Joseph Smith was ‘my messenger’.  The Lord still continues to talk to the Israelites, for He is still worried about the way they are living, and those ways are far from the commandments He has given them--which means they are far from the help and the direction that He would otherwise be able to give them. The plan has always been: if we simply follow His commandments and do the things that will keep us close to Him, then we will always be close to His help.  So after explaining how wonderful it would be to live at a time like the Second Coming, the Lord has Malachi explain to the people just what would allow them to be able ...

12/13/2022 - Malachi 2 This chapter continues to show us that the Israelites are still not living the way the Lord has asked them to live. Even their priests are being reproved by the Lord for not keeping their covenants and for setting a poor example for the people they are supposed to be teaching and helping. The people are the same in that they are not helping one another at all, and instead they are dealing treacherously with one another. The Lord first speaks to the priests, telling them exactly what will happen if they continue in their current activities. He tells them plainly: “If ye will not hear, and if ye will not lay it to heart, to give glory unto my name…I will even send a curse upon you, and I will curse your blessings: yea I have cursed them already, because ye do not lay it to heart.” V 2 The Lord then reminds them of the ways they should be thinking and living following His laws as Lehi had done: “My covenant was with him of life and peace; and I gave them to him for ...

12/12/2022 – Malachi 1 First of all, I’ve just learned that the name Malachi means “my messenger”. Malachi lived a century after the Israelites had returned to Jerusalem, and once again, the people, as a whole, had become complacent and less devoted to the Lord. They had finally rebuilt the temple in Jerusalem, but as a people they still needed to rebuild their relationship with the Lord. The scholars believe Malachi lived around 430 BC. The student manual addresses their current situation at this time as having a declining commitment to God. Chapter 1’s synopsis certainly goes along with that description: “The Jews despise the Lord by offering polluted bread upon the altar and by sacrificing animals with blemishes” and that “The Lord’s name shall be great among the Gentiles.” The first verse: “The burden of the word of the Lord is to Israel by Malachi.” That small statement helps me to realize that knowing the Lord’s words can be a heavy responsibility in our life. The Lords asks seve...

 12/9/2022 – Zechariah 12-14 Chapter 12 : It is in this chapter that Zechariah prophecies of a great battle—the battle of Armageddon [the final great war in which all nations shall be engaged and it will be at Jerusalem]—that will precede the Second Coming of Christ. It will be a terrible battle. In v’s 8-9 the Lord tells us that He shall “defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and he that is feeble among them at that day shall be as David; and the house of David shall be as God, as the angel of the Lord before them. And it shall come to pass in that day the I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.”  Then He tells us “And I will pour upon the house of David and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son…” (v 10) Chapter 13 ’s synopsis: “The Jews shall gain forgiveness at the Second Coming—They shall ask Jes...

 12/8/2022 – Zechariah 9-11 Major things are learned in these three chapters: Zechariah prophesies of Christ’s ministry, telling all that He will enter Jerusalem riding upon an ass. He also tells us that the spirits in prison will be redeemed by the blood of the covenant, and that scattered Israel will be gathered, redeemed, and strengthened. And finally, that Christ will be betrayed for 30 pieces of silver. Chapter 9 I find v 1 very interesting and informative: “The burden of the word of the Lord in the land of Hadrach, and Damascus…” That short sentence reminds me that working for the Lord really is working, and sometimes even seems like a burden, but it is the most important burden we carry, and one we should be checking in on every single day. V 9 tells us of Jesus Christ’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem. He calls Christ “our King” who “is just, and having salvation, lowly, and riding upon an ass…”.  The student manual tells us that in times, “many Jews were looking only f...

12/7/2022 – Zachariah 7-8 The student manual gives us a briefing as to what these two chapters tell us” “Because of the Israelites’ [continued] hypocrisy and oppression of the poor, the Lord scattered them among the nations. In the latter days, He will restore Jerusalem and gather Judah; and many gentiles with gather with them to worship the Lord.” If we go to chapter 7 ’s synopsis, we find this: “The Lord reproves hypocrisy in fasts—He calls upon the people to show mercy and compassion and live godly lives.” In v 5 the Lord begins to explain where the people have fallen short: “…When ye fasted and mourned in the firth and seventh month, even those seventy years, did ye at all fast unto me, even to me?”  They had missed the entire purpose of the fast. They only went through the motions. We can certainly learn from them. All we have to do is to ask ourselves some questions…and then answer them truthfully to ourselves: I go to the church in order to: I pray in order to: I fast...