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→ Timestamps:
(00:00) An overview of the The Old Testament.
(04:27) Bryce breaks down the Old Testament into nine time periods.
(09:41) Canonization and the creation of the Greek Septuagint. The authors of the New Testament quoted the Greek version of the Old Testament. The version that Jesus used is unknown.
(13:01) The Old Testament is not one book written by a single author. It is an anthology of books written over centuries by individuals. Later authors sometimes rejected and edited earlier authors. Remnants remain that multiple Gods participated in the creation. The first word in Genesis invites us to consider the Grand Pre-mortal Council.
(20:03) The creation accounts address why the world was created, not how. The purpose of the earth is to create eternal families.
(33:17) Ancient cultures shared the creation story at their temples during the New Year. The time-honored principle of marriage and family are connected to the purposes of creation.
(36:21) Chaos played a role in the formation of the earth. God transformed unorganized matter into something beautiful. The cosmology of the Bible invites modern readers to think about scripture differently.
(41:18) The temple takes us to the creation and the creation takes us to the temple because each us back to God.
(48:25) Moses 2 and 3 can be read as a single account. This is contrasted with the documentary hypothesis, where scholars believe Genesis 1 and 2 come from two different sources because of differences in the text.
(54:21) Seven eternal lessons in the creation account invite us to find success during our time on earth. Finding balance between work and rest.
(1:00:29) Seek spiritual things first, then temporal.
(1:01:50) Cherubim and a flaming sword foiled Satan’s plan and preserved the space between the trees. God protected our probationary estate. God knew from the very beginning that we would sin and need time to repent.
(1:13:11) Satan’s Plan B is to get us to take away our own or someone else’s probationary state. Toxic perfectionism is addressed. Continual progression is what matters to God.
(1:16:55) The river flowing out of Eden as a symbol for the division found in mortality. We must find ways to be unified.
(1:23:08) Instead of focusing on what we are missing, our focus should be on all our blessings.
(1:28:23) Pardes is an acronym to describe the ways of reading scripture: Peshat, remez, derash, and sod. The plain reading (peshat), allegorical or hidden reading (remez), the moral or imperative sense or application (derash), and the mystical, esoteric, or temple reading (sod).
(1:30:13) The rib in Genesis 2.22 symbolizes partnership in marriage.
(1:38:44) “Helper” or ʿēzer as found in Genesis 2.18 has often been misread and used to subjugate women. The term translated as “help meet” actually denotes the kind of powerful help that God gives. Eve’s position next to Adam places both in a setting as having dominion over the whole earth. Eve is called “Zoe” in the LXX, the mother of all the living ones. There is no kingdom without Eve.
(1:47:02) Fig leaves can represent covering our sins with bigger and bigger lies.
(1:52:47) Garments are a piece of the temple that we wear to remind us of our connection to the Savior’s atonement.

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The post Ep 354 | Genesis 1-2; Moses 2-3; Abraham 4-5, Come Follow Me 2026 (January 12-18) appeared first on LDS Scripture Teachings.

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(00:00) The book of Moses is the JST of Genesis. The word translation has multiple meanings.
Moses 1 is the missing preface to the Old Testament which reveals three important truths.
(07:03) We are God’s children, and have infinite worth and potential.
(08:45) The name of God. The Old Testament was originally written in Hebrew and many words can have various interpretations.
(12:06) Divine investiture of authority allows the Son to have the power to speak as if he is the Father.
(18:11) The creation story is not about how. It’s about why. Man is nothing and yet God wants to give us everything He has.
(21:18) The historical timeframe of Moses 1.
(23:54) Satan’s name only appears in the Bible 13 times. His presence in the Book of Moses is significant.
(27:43) The difference between the glory of God and the glory of the world.
(33:50) We can cast out Satan and control darkness by inviting light.
(35:39) Moses 1 ends with the command to show the words only to those that believe. Levels of exoteric and esoteric are in scriptural texts.
(39:44) The book of Abraham originated with Egyptian papyri that Joseph Smith translated. Fire destroyed most of the original scrolls and only small fragments remain. These fragments, called JSP I-XI, contain burial texts called The Book of Breathings.
(45:36) The relationship between the remaining fragments and the text of the Book of Abraham is not fully understood.
(47:28) Some counter-arguments to criticisms of the Book of Abraham include the missing text theory, the catalyst theory, and the Jewish redaction theory.
(55:23) The JSP I-XI fragments date to the 2nd century BC, not 1900 BC when Abraham lived. The rolls were likely copies of copies.
(1:01:08) In the Book of Abraham, the greatness of the Messiah is found in the symbolism of the cosmos and stars.
(1:10:37) Abraham learns about the pre-earth life.
(1:11:54) Joseph’s introduction to the Hebrew language likely influenced some of the words found in Abraham.

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The post Ep 353 | Moses 1; Abraham 3, Come Follow Me 2026 (January 5-11) appeared first on LDS Scripture Teachings.

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→ Watch on YouTube: Mike’s related video with Stick of Joseph, Ep 230 BONUS VIDEO | Was Jesus DELETED from the Old Testament?

→ Timestamps:
(00:00) Israel is God’s special possession and chosen to bring Heavenly Father’s children home.
(08:24) Three main covenants that God made with Israel: The Abrahamic, Mosaic, and Davidic Covenant.
(16:00) The Old Testament is a witness of Christ.
(21:06) Types of Christ in the Old Testament.
(36:55) Jesus is Jehovah, the God of the Old Testament.
(40:37) Jesus is edited out of the Hebrew Bible during Josiah’s reign.
(48:40) The canonization of the Old Testament.
(55:58) What to look for in this year’s study of the Old Testament.

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The post Ep 352 | Introduction to the Old Testament, Come Follow Me 2026 (December 29-January 4) appeared first on LDS Scripture Teachings.

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(00:00) Proclamations are major declarations from prophets, seers, and revelators. This proclamation states that the family is central to the Creator’s plan for the eternal destiny of His children.
(05:11) There are three parts: prophetic declarations, prophetic warnings, and prophetic counsel. Prophetic declarations are clear statements of our core doctrines.
(14:04) The Family Proclamation warns that the disintegration of the family will bring upon individuals, communities, and nations the calamities foretold by ancient and modern prophets.
(16:35) Prophetic counsel is given for successful marriages and families.
(20:06) Faith and prayer.
(22:05) Repentance and forgiveness.
(28:21) Respect, love, and compassion can be combined to define charity. Respect is to see the value God has placed in every person.
(37:02) Love is a choice, not just an emotion.
(45:07) Compassion is to feel what others feel.
(50:24) Balancing work and wholesome recreational activities.

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The post Ep 351 | The Family: A Proclamation to the World, Come Follow Me 2025 (December 15-21) appeared first on LDS Scripture Teachings.

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(00:00) The 9th Article of Faith explains that the restoration is ongoing.
(04:05) President Woodruff issued Official Declaration 1 in 1890. This Manifesto led to the end of the practice of plural marriage.
(08:59) Elder Bruce C. Hafen invites us to examine ambiguity in the church with open eyes and hearts.
(17:00) The Church today disavows all theories church leaders and members advanced to explain the priesthood and temple restrictions.
(20:21) During an era of great racial division in the United States, the Saints were persecuted for their anti-slavery stance.
(24:57) Joseph Smith ordained Walker Lewis and Elijah Abel to the priesthood. Later, in 1852, President Brigham Young officially announced that black members would no longer be given the priesthood. The power to decide is given to the President of the church in D&C 107.78-80.
(35:50) The 2013 edition of the scriptures adds an insightful paragraph to Official Declaration 2. Church records offer no clear insights into the origins of the priesthood restriction.
(42:39) Three slaves came into the Salt Lake Valley in the first pioneer company. Brigham Young did not segregate congregations or deny membership to African Americans.
(52:27) Brigham Young felt the priesthood restriction would be temporary and that it would be removed at a future time.
(53:47) In 1978 President Spencer W. Kimball received a revelation extending priesthood and temple blessings to all worthy male members of the church.
(56:37) The Warmth of Other Suns, by Isabel Wilkerson, gives accounts of African Americans during the great migration in American history. The Clark family experienced tragic persecution in 1951.
(1:01:12) The Church today unequivocally condemns all racism, past and present, in any form. The love of others should be what characterizes the Latter-day Saints.

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The post Ep 350 | Articles of Faith and Official Declarations 1 & 2, Come Follow Me 2025 (December 8-14) appeared first on LDS Scripture Teachings.

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(00:00) The doctrine of salvation for the dead is revealed in Section 137.
(01:43) Divine curiosity is a catalyst for revelation.
(07:25) Joseph marvels at how Alvin obtained Celestial glory without being baptized. He learns that all who have died without a knowledge of the gospel, who would have received it, shall be heirs of the Celestial Kingdom.
(12:30) All children that die before the years of accountability are saved in the Celestial Kingdom.
(19:23) After losing dear family members, Joseph F. Smith receives revelation about the Spirit World.
(25:11) Joseph F. Smith has a vision of Jesus coming into the Spirit World after His crucifixion.
(28:33) Those in the Spirit World see the absence of their bodies as bondage. The body and spirit are very much connected.
(32:44) Coats of light and coats of skins in Genesis 3.21.
(34:16) The great feast in a temple setting as contained in D&C 138 and Isaiah 26. The Saints are invited to rise from the dust and enter into kingship.
(44:29) The Savior organizes the righteous to preach to the spirits in prison, but then he resurrects the righteous. Perhaps the work of saving the dead is for our dispensation.
(51:17) As children of God we are all connected and will continue preaching the gospel in the Spirit World after death.

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The post Ep 349 | D&C 137-138, Come Follow Me 2025 (December 1-7) appeared first on LDS Scripture Teachings.

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(00:00) D&C 136 details the will of the Lord as the Saints move west. Winter Quarters was a place to prepare for the final trek to the Great Basin.
(04:31) D&C 136 reads differently and Brigham Young’s personality seems to come through.
(14:25) Some of the events that led Joseph Smith to Carthage Jail. Plural marriage.
(17:00) Joseph established the Nauvoo Charter and the Nauvoo Legion to protect the Saints from persecution.
(27:21) The August 1843 election and its consequences.
(33:24) William Law was hurt by the way he was excommunicated and also felt economically persecuted. He and others start the Nauvoo Expositor.
(36:49) The Nauvoo City Council votes to destroy the printing press of the Nauvoo Expositor. Dallin H. Oaks’ legal paper in the Utah Law Review cautions about the dangers of presentism.
(40:12) Joseph Smith is charged for destroying the press. Thomas Sharp calls for his extermination with powder and ball in the Warsaw Signal. Joseph is told by the Lord to flee to the Rocky Mountains. Many in Nauvoo urge him to come back. Joseph surrenders to authorities and is brought to Carthage Jail.
(50:15) Joseph Smith is charged with treason for declaring martial law and calling out the Nauvoo Legion.
(51:55) Joseph Smith’s final hours before the martyrdom.
(58:39) John Taylor recovers and writes Section 135 in tribute to the prophet.
(1:00:26) Joseph Smith has given us so much more knowledge of Christ. He produced more canonized scripture than any other. He stands at the head of the largest dispensation on earth and brought forth the keys and ordinances to redeem the dead.
(1:05:21) Joseph Smith restored essential doctrines associated with the nature of God and man. Vital questions are answered in the revelations of the Restoration.

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The post Ep 348 | D&C 135-136, Come Follow Me 2025 (November 24-30) appeared first on LDS Scripture Teachings.

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(00:00) Section 133 was intended to be an appendix to the Doctrine and Covenants.
(00:55) The role of government is to maintain a balance between rights and responsibilities.
(06:59) Section 133 is a companion to Section 1. Prophecies in the Bible will be fulfilled as the Latter-day Saints gather the House of Israel.
(17:35) Temple imagery in D&C 133 and its connection to Isaiah 52 and Moroni 10.
(26:38) Rising from the dust as a symbol of enthronement and heavenly kingship.
(28:09) Moroni’s appendix parallels many of the ideas in D&C 133 and Isaiah 52.
(31:17) Come out of “digital” Babylon and build Zion.
(32:44) Literal and symbolic interpretations of the divided land becoming one again.
(36:06) The members of the Godhead are separate beings, but perfectly united in purpose.
(41:13) The Millennial possibility of a pure, unified language and people.
(42:20) Symbols of cosmic conflict in section 133: Mount Zion, the Great Deep, and North Countries. Rival religions at the time of Israel had images that were also associated with these ideas.
(51:40) Loving kindness or ḥesed means a very deep feeling of love.
(54:16) The parable of the ten virgins. They that are wise have taken the Holy Spirit for their guide.
(56:07) John prophesied that an angel would fly through the midst of heaven with the everlasting gospel.
(58:06) The 144,000 have priesthood authority and represent all the tribes of Israel.
(1:00:08) The symbolism and significance of the Savior’s red garments.
(1:07:39) Elder Holland’s statement regarding previous dispensations and how their hope rested on us.

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The post Ep 347 | D&C 133-134, Come Follow Me 2025 (November 17-23) appeared first on LDS Scripture Teachings.

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(00:00) Three grand keys on the nature of ministering angels and spirits.
(02:04) Joseph Smith teaches that God has a body of flesh and bones as tangible as man’s. Traditional Christianity has lost the understanding of Heavenly Father’s physical nature.
(07:53) God resides on a globe like a sea of glass and fire.
(09:08) Joseph asks the Lord about the timing of His Second Coming.
(10:34) Truths learned in mortality will rise with us in the resurrection. Blessings are predicated upon obedience to law.
(12:52) Section 130 prepares the Saints for truths that are revealed in the temple.
(13:46) The crowning blessing of the gospel is to seal families for eternity. There are requirements for making marriage eternal.
(18:39) Elder Howard’s story of the silver as it relates to eternal marriage. If you want something to last forever, you treat it differently.
(24:23) 1st Scenario: If we choose to neither be married nor given in marriage in the eternities, we will remain separately and singly without exaltation. The compensatory grace of Jesus Christ will make this blessing available to all who were deprived of it through no blame of their own.
(28:25) 2nd Scenario: If our marriage is not sealed by the Holy Spirit of Promise then it is not in force when we are out of the world.
(30:03) 3rd Scenario: If we marry in the temple and strive to keep the covenant, we will inherit the highest degree of the celestial kingdom and have continued increase. We will be as God, participating in His divine nature. The covenant allows for mistakes, repentance, and forgiveness.
(37:01) Section 132 addresses plural marriage. Plural marriage played a role in Joseph’s martyrdom in 1844.
(38:52) Plural marriage can be compared to Abraham’s test.
(41:15) Plural marriage was practiced by the Patriarchs in Genesis.
(42:59) The historical background of Section 132.
(45:44) The RLDS Church (now The Community of Christ) contended that the President of the Church should be a direct descendant of Joseph Smith and that plural marriage was never taught by Joseph Smith. This letter to Emma (D&C 132) was used as a polemic against the RLDS teaching that Joseph did not practice plural marriage.
(46:55) The Temple Lot Case was a property dispute between the RLDS Church and Church of Christ. In these proceedings, women testified under oath that they were married to the prophet Joseph Smith. This legal dispute provided a wealth of information about plural marriage in the Nauvoo period.
(48:46) Plural marriage is not a requirement for exaltation. One man and one woman is the Lord’s standing law of marriage.
(51:38) In D&C 132 the Lord gives several reasons why plural marriage was commanded.
(53:51) Baruch Spinoza’s advice in our quest to understand the past.
(54:41) Joseph Smith wrestled with plural marriage as early as 1830 or 1831 as he worked on his translation of the Bible. We have few details of his marriage to Fanny Alger during the Kirtland period.
(59:53) During the Nauvoo era Joseph taught several close friends about plural marriage. Estimates are given of how many members lived this law.
(1:01:45) The Saints during this time thought differently about temple sealings than we do today. They believed that the law of adoption and dynastic ties increased their glory.
(1:07:36) Wilford Woodruff saw that adoption theology wasn’t right and worked to bring the Church into a greater understanding of what it means to seal families for eternity.
(1:08:52) There were 3 types of plural marriages: time, time and eternity, and adoptive/dynastic/eternal only. Some examples of Joseph’s dynastic marriages include Elizabeth Rollins Lightner and Helen Mar Kimball.
(1:15:11) A timeline of how long plural marriage was practiced. The Reed Smoot Hearings.
(1:17:27) None of Joseph Smith’s plural wives ever accused him of abuse or deception. Despite the difficulty of understanding plural marriage, we testify that Joseph was a prophet.

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The post Ep 346 | D&C 129-132, Come Follow Me 2025 (November 10-16) appeared first on LDS Scripture Teachings.

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(00:00) During the Nauvoo period, Joseph Smith receives substantial revelation pertaining to the ordinances of the temple.
(03:45) The historical background of Section 125.
(05:58) “Essaying” is a term that means trying. Becoming a Saint is a process.
(07:39) Through the help of the Lord, Brigham Young and the Twelve gathered many converts in England. A revelation is given to Brigham commending him for his efforts and he is relieved of future travel abroad.
(17:33) Joseph Smith reveals proxy ordinance work for the dead. Ezekiel’s visionary experience of the ancient temple.
(19:39) Missouri is trying to extradite Joseph on charges of attempting to assassinate the previous Governor, Lilburn Boggs. Joseph goes into hiding for a time. The Nauvoo Charter helps prevent his extradition.
(21:35) Orrin Porter Rockwell is also accused of the assassination attempt on Boggs. Rockwell is captured and spends many months in a Missouri prison.
(30:29) While in hiding, Joseph writes encouraging epistles to the Saints with an outlook of gladness and joy.
(34:13) The Lord always shows us our blessings and abundance. Satan emphasizes only what we lack in an effort to discourage us.
(37:41) Chaos and creation narratives in antiquity are tied to the temple, covenants, and recording. One example is the Enuma Elish (The Tablets of Creation). When Tiamat steals the Tablets of Destiny, the rites of the temple cease. Moses’ reception of the tablets from God may have a connection to these ideas.
(49:10) Baptismal fonts in our temples have associations with ancient symbols.
(56:42) We need the dead and they need us. This welding link tying families together is Heavenly Father’s plan.
(1:00:17) Michael Wilcox’s parable of The Keys.
(1:11:34) Kim Sorenson’s account of receiving direct blessings from making family history a part of her daily schedule.

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The post Ep 345 | D&C 125-128, Come Follow Me 2025 (November 3-9) appeared first on LDS Scripture Teachings.