This entry is a continuation of the comparison chart that I prepared to answer my Russian friend’s question of how The Book of Mormon (New World) is related to the Bible (Old World). (See Part 1, posted Feb 21.) Both books of scripture record God’s dealings with man through prophets – on two different continents.
The first prophet mentioned in The Book of Mormon is Lehi, who was contemporary with Jeremiah and other Old Testament prophets who prophesied of the destruction of Jerusalem and the Babylonian captivity of the kingdom of Judah. Jeremiah’s imprisonment was documented in the scriptures of both the Old and New Worlds (Jeremiah 37:15-17; 1 Nephi 7:13-14).
Lehi, though not mentioned in the Bible (3 Nephi 15:13-14), was rejected by the Jews and was warned of God to escape from Jerusalem with his family to save his life. The Lord commanded him to send his sons back to Jerusalem to obtain the brass plates from Laban. (See Story 4 in my book.) These plates contained many of the books of our Old Testament along with additional scriptures we don’t have (1 Nephi 5:10-16;19:10; Alma 33:15).
The brass plates were needed by the family of Lehi to preserve their language, their genealogy, and the laws and commandments of God as they sojourned in their new land across the ocean (1 Nephi 5:21-22; 19:23). The words of several Old Testament prophets, quoted from the brass plates are included in The Book of Mormon. For example:
Moses – Compare 1 Nephi 5:11; 19:23; Mosiah 13:33; Alma 33:18-19; Helaman 8:13-16 with Numbers 21:8-9; Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy.
Isaiah – Compare 1 Nephi 19:23; 20; 21; 2 Nephi 7; 8; 12; 13; 14; 15; 16; 17; 18; 19; 20; 21; 22; 23; 24; 27 with Isaiah 2; 3; 4; 5; 6; 7; 8; 9; 10; 11; 12; 13; 14; 29; 48; 49; 50; 51; 52:1-2.
Jeremiah – Compare 1 Nephi 5:13; Helaman 8:20 with Jeremiah 26:20.
Malachi – (These words were not in the brass plates because Malachi lived after Lehi left Jerusalem, but they were repeated to the Nephites by the Savior Himself when He visited them after His resurrection.) Compare 3 Nephi 24; 25 with Malachi 3; 4.
As Jesus ministered in Palestine, He told the Jews of His future visit to the Nephites when He said, “Other sheep I have… and they shall hear my voice” (John 10:14-16). When Jesus appeared to the Nephites after his resurrection, He explained that they were, in fact, the other sheep of which He spoke (3 Nephi 15:14-17 and 21-22).
The Book of Mormon is truly Another Testament of Jesus Christ, who is the God of the Old and New Testaments. The Lord explained that He would speak unto the Jews and also unto the Nephites and that each nation would have the words of the other (2 Nephi 29:12-13). Check back for Part 3 of this series on the connections to see how the life and mission of the Savior are reflected in both books of scripture.
Before the Russian Federation outlawed proselyting, we missionaries met as “English Clubs” with Russian people interested in practicing English speaking on Gospel topics. One man in our club asked how The Book of Mormon was related to the Holy Bible. In response, I worked up a chart with two columns: The Bible (Old World) and The Book of Mormon (New World). I invite you to look up the following scriptures taken from my chart to see the links between the two books.
Going chronologically, the first connection between the two holy records is the Tower of Babel, ca. 2200 BC (Genesis 11:1-9; Ether 1:3, 33-35; Helaman 6:28). Story 72 in my book, Bring-to-Life Book of Mormon Stories, summarizes how the language of Jared and his family and friends was not confounded, and Stories 73 through 75 relate how the Jaredites were led by the Lord across the great waters from the Old World to the New.
Next is a prophecy by Isaiah, ca. 720 BC (Isaiah 29:11-12), about a book (The Book of Mormon) coming forth and a future incident in 1827 AD when Joseph Smith was translating it (Joseph Smith History 1:63-65). Some characters copied from the gold plates were presented to a learned man who made a statement nearly identical to Isaiah’s prophecy.
Another Old Testament prophet, Ezekiel, spoke ca. 570 BC (Ezekiel 37:15-20) of a future time when The Book of Mormon (stick of Joseph) and the Bible (stick of Judah) would be combined. In our time, this prophecy has been fulfilled literally as the record of Lehi (descendant of Joseph) is joined “one in thine hand” with the Bible (from the Jews) as we carry our Standard Works to church.
Both “sticks” tell of prophecies ca 600 BC of the destruction of Jerusalem and the Babylonian captivity of the Jews. Lehi (1 Nephi 1:4, 18-20) and Jeremiah (Jeremiah 21:1-10) were contemporaries who, along with other prophets, testified against the Jews of their wickedness and impending doom. Lehi was warned of the Lord to take his family into the wilderness to escape the destruction of Jerusalem and was eventually led across the deep to the New World. Stories 1-6 and 9-12 in my book summarize the travels and trials of this group.
Jerusalem was destroyed in 587 BC ( Jeremiah 52:12-14; 2 Kings 24:14; Helaman 8:20-22) during the reign of Zedekiah, King of Judah, who was forced to witness the execution of his sons, after which, his eyes were put out by the king of Babylon (Jeremiah 52:10-11 and 2 Kings 25:7). But the Bible does not record that one of Zedekiah’s sons, Mulek, escaped and was led by the Lord to the New World (Helaman 6:10; 8:21; and Omni 1:15-16). See Story 16.
These connections explain the three, ancient, New-World nations, with roots in the Old World, that we read about in The Book of Mormon: the Jaredites, Lehi’s party (later divided into Nephites and Lamanites), and the Mulekites (people of Zarahemla). But there are more links between the Bible and The Book of Mormon on my chart. Join me for Part 2 as the discussion moves into the time-frame of the New Testament.
I’m back, after serving with my wife as a “volunteer”* in the office of the Russia Rostov-na-Donu Mission for 18 months. What I have discovered after two book signing events since my return is that there are still a lot of people who know me but don’t realize that I’ve publishe
d a book. Well, it wouldn’t be exactly appropriate for me to announce it over the pulpit, now would it? Sorry to admit, social media is not really my forte for getting the word out either.
We have been counseled to read The Book of Mormon each day. Might I suggest that my book, Bring-to-Life Book of Mormon Stories, is a Reference Guide that can make daily scripture study come alive, whether you find it easy or hard to get in the habit, and no matter how may times you have been through The Book of Mormon before – first time or 100th. It will surely give you a different approach – to study the stories and what they teach. As my wife and I study together, this method is one that we are enjoying once again now for variety’s sake rather than just plowing through, chapter by chapter.
As you follow the stories outlined in my book, you will get a view of the overall flow of the characters and events in The Book of Mormon. Then if you need a quick way to remember something you have read, you can use the two indices in the back to locate it. I have found many useful ways to use my own book. Be sure to look in the Introduction, “How to Get the Most Out of this Reference Guide,” on Page xv for other suggestions.
If you have a copy of Bring-to-Life Book of Mormon Stories and like it, I would appreciate it if you would help spread the word by letting your friends know about it. Copies are available at The Book Table and Deseret Book in Logan, at Seagull Book in several locations, on-line at Amazon and Barnes & Noble as well as from my publisher iUniverse via a link on my website www.BookofMormonStories.net. To get a signed copy, look for me at upcoming author events throughout Utah. Watch the blog on my website for announcements of these events. Thank you for reading my blog.
*The Russian Federation passed a law in 2016 outlawing proselyting for faiths other than the Russian Orthodox church. Consequently, to comply with the law, LDS Missionaries became Volunteers for our church.
In the supplemental study material for the D&C/Church History Gospel Doctrine Lesson 13, I discovered a fascinating piece under the “Translation and Historicity of the Book of Abraham.” It is a devotional speech given at BYU-Hawaii by Kerry Muhlestein, Egyptologist and Associate Professor of Ancient Scripture at BYU on November 12, 2013. Beyond giving some interesting findings about the papyri that Joseph Smith used to “translate” the Book of Abraham, Muhlestein provides a treatise on a more important principle that applies today as well as yesterday. He compares how we come to know things, viz., the relationship between academic knowledge and what we know by revelation and testimony.
He points out that many theories that scholars were so sure about 20 to 30 years ago have been overturned by newer findings. Examples are given over which some LDS academicians have lost their testimonies of the gospel because of theories that conflict with what Joseph Smith claimed. When fragments of the papyri from the mummies that Joseph possessed turned up, modern translators showed that the text in the Pearl of Great Price did not match up. This was a challenge to the faith of some scholars. However, Muhlestein explains that the assumptions used by the theorists were in error. Sadly, by the time the theories were disproved, those who had left the Church were no longer sensitive to spiritual guidance. To get the details, I recommend that you read or listen to the lecture. Here is the link – http://devotional.byuh.edu/media131112.
To keep from being deceived, Muhlestein proposes a model: “We must sift our learning through the gospel rather than sift the gospel through our learning…. Remember that revelation is our most trustworthy source of learning and not abandon that when something doesn’t make sense to our limited minds.” Or as President Uchtdorf has said, “Doubt your doubts before you doubt your faith.”
In the lecture, Muhlestein admits he could give many more examples where academic findings and theories seem to contradict what we know by faith, including authorship of the book of Isaiah, which he discusses somewhat. Other examples come to my mind where man’s theories or philosophies in the physical or social sciences seem in conflict with revealed truths, such as: carbon dating vs. the creation, Israelite dna findings vs. Lamanites, polygamy, relativism, secular progression, ordained women, same-sex marriage, and gender change.
The article includes several good scriptural references showing that: God’s thoughts are higher than our thoughts (Isaiah 55:8-9), when men are learned they think they are wise (2 Nephi 9:28-29), we shouldn’t put our trust in the precepts of man (2 Nephi 28:31). These sources confirming that revelation is the most trusted source of knowledge. Don’t be deceived!
The Church has provided new, informative, and interesting materials for the study of The Doctrine and Covenants and Church History in Gospel Doctrine Sunday School class this year. Check them out!
To find these articles, pictures, and videos, use the Gospel Library app. In the Library, choose “Lessons” then “Sunday School” then “Doctrine and Covenants and Church History: Gospel Doctrine Teacher’s Manual.” Under each Lesson, the “Preparation” section contains links to the extra study materials, including “Church History Study Guide,” which is on history.lds.org.
Items that have piqued my interest thus far (through Lesson 7), include:
- Lesson 3 – An essay introducing the several different accounts of Joseph Smith’s First Vision (4 self-published by Joseph and 5 second-hand accounts written by contemporaries).
- Lesson 5 – “Oliver Cowdery’s Gift,” an article that explains, among other background, his use of a divining rod, called “the gift of Aaron” in our current version of D&C 8:6. Earlier versions of the D&C described it as the “gift of working with the sprout,” and then later “sprout” was changed to “rod.” Interesting? I found it so!
- Lesson 7 – “Rare Footage of First Baptisms in West Africa.” This is a must-see! In September 1978, three months after the announcement of the revelation received by President Spencer W. Kimball allowing all worthy male members of the Church to receive the priesthood, two couple
missionaries were called to West Africa. With a handheld video camera “they captured some very significant events in modern Church history.” Included were images of one of the largest baptismal services in Nigeria, “117 people were baptized the first day and 67 the next!”
Are you worried that you might be cheating on your Sunday school teacher by looking up these extra resources from the teacher’s manual? No way! There is never time enough in the class to cover all of the material in the lesson. It’s up to you to do your own studying at home. If you don’t do that, you won’t get the full benefit of this rich treasure trove of information to strengthen your knowledge and testimony of the restored gospel.