Meridian Magazine--Come Follow Me Latter-day Saint Podcast

As I study the Old Testament something comes to me over and over again. When Jesus said, “Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me,” he was sending the people to the Old Testament to find Him. When Lehi opened the Plates of Brass for the first time and searched them from the beginning (see 1 Nephi 5:10) and then he “was filled with the Spirit, and began to prophesy concerning his seed (see 1 Nephi 5:17) he was immersed in the Old Testament. When Nephi says, “For my soul delighteth in the scriptures and my heart pondereth them…” he was talking about the Old Testament. When Ammon, Aaron, Omner and Himni converted seven cities of the Lamanites and brought untold thousands to the Savior, they were using only the Old Testament in their teaching! What a treasure we have in the Old Testament!

The story of the Abrahamic covenant is your family story. Kerry Muhlestein says, “We don’t often think of it in that manner.” But our grandfather Abraham grew up in a turbulent time, where “his own father was steeped in idolatry. He saw his immediate family involved in horrible practices, including human sacrifice, but he knew there was a better way. Records had come down from his forefathers and foremothers, from Adam and Eve, Seth and Enoch, and Abraham reached for the heavens hoping to join his answers in the covenant. “Then one starry night, God came to him, putting His hand over him, opening his eyes, and pouring out the power and blessings of the covenant upon him, welcoming Abraham and Sarah into the community of God and those who were bound to him. They had sought God and now they had found him.” These are the covenants offered to you.

Special guest Ketty Muhlestein shares how Deuteronomy is Moses summarizing the covenant and the process that Israel has gotten through to be a covenant people and what the covenant is and what they need to do about it. This is really important for them. But it’s equally important for us as a covenant people, who are trying to embark on building a Zion society.

In this episode, we study Numbers 11–14, 20–24, and 27 and explore one of the most exciting discoveries in Israel: the Priestly Blessing from Numbers 6:24–26. Unearthed in 1979 in the Valley of Hinnom, this 2,800-year-old silver scroll is the oldest known scriptural text, preserving the words we know so well—“The Lord bless thee and keep thee…”—and connecting us to history in a tangible, unforgettable way. Plus, we’re joined by special guest John Hilton III to dive deeper into this sacred treasure.

In a world that is steadily growing darker and more tumultuous. The Lord’s voice speaks to the tumult and says in Leviticus chapter 19 verse two, “Ye shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy.” That’s quite a commandment for his Children in a fallen world. But we know that the Lord knows how to do His work and he wants His people to be holy.

Welcome to Meridian Magazine's Come Follow Me podcast. We're thrilled to be with you again this week as we discuss Exodus chapters 19 -20, 24, and 31-34, a very important and wonderful part of the Old Testament. This week, we welcome another special guest that we think you'll be very excited to have join us. Kerry Muhlestein is one of our favorites, because we love his books so much. He's written many, but we have favorites. We love, Let God Prevail, which is all about the covenant in the Old Testament and, of course, his prolific work on the Book of Abraham. He is an Egyptologist, a professor at BYU, but most of all, we are impressed with his passion to make what people consider the hard things of the Old Testament easier.

Welcome. We're Scot and Maurine Proctor, and this is Meridian Magazine's Come Follow Me podcast, where today we'll study Exodus chapters 14 through 18 at the miraculous moment in the history of the children of Israel, where the Lord parts the Red Sea, and they pass through on dry ground in an ultimate triumph for the Lord over Egypt. Now, we have with us today Jeffrey M. Bradshaw. He has a PhD in cognitive science, but is particularly known by Latter-day Saints for his detailed commentaries on the Old Testament, the Pearl of Great Price, and temple themes in scriptures.

In this episode, we'll be studying Exodus chapter 7 through 13. Some material that you'll find very familiar to you. This is, of course, the intriguing story of the children of Israel coming out of captivity because God spared His people, and the type that became for all of the covenant people to this very day.

When Joseph became vizier of Egypt, second only to Pharoah and wearing his ring of authority, he also got a new name that doesn’t exactly roll off our English-speaking tongues. It is Zaphnath-paaneah and what it lacks in clarity, it more than makes up in its meaning which is “savior of the world.” Yes, his starving family will come from Canaan, hoping to buy the corn that Joseph has stored in Egypt, but his name signifies even more than that.

Children can tell the story of Joseph being sold into Egypt. We know it well, with nasty brothers, slave dealers, false accusations, pits of despair and drama galore. What’s most important about this story, however, may not be obvious, and that’s what we are talking about in this episode.