Today we begin studying the Old Testament for Come Follow Me. One of my greatest desires is to help people understand the scriptures, and people especially seem to struggle to understand the Old Testament. I have been trying to put together a number of resources to help people with their study. Here is a recap (plus one new item). PLEASE spread the word about these resources. The more people we can help the better.
I think I have a number of things for you that can help:
1) I have created a website. If you go to www.outofthedust.org/, you will see at the top a menu that says “Old Testament Aids.” If you go there you will find charts, maps, handouts, links to articles and videos, etc. You will also find a link to some YouTube resources I will talk about below. I will also be putting on there links to a whole bunch of podcasts and tv shows where I am a guest trying to help people understand various weeks of Come Follow Me readings. I will continue to add resources to this page throughout the year.
2) I have created a podcast called “The Scriptures Are Real.” Its focus is on making the scriptures real for people. I interview a number of people, and provide some insights on my own. The focus is on scriptures in general, but I am trying to record and release them in an order that will help facilitate Come Follow Me reading as well. You can follow the podcast at its RSS homepage, or on Apple Podcasts, or Spotify, or Google Podcasts. Outofthedust.org also has a page for this podcast. Please spread the word about this podcast (I think liking, reviewing, subscribing, etc., helps with this, but I don’t really know much about that kind of thing). The more people that can be helped by getting more out of the scriptures the better.
3) I created a YouTube channel. I am posting videos there I made for my Old Testament classes to give them helpful historical, geographical, archaeological and language background information. The videos are certainly not professional, but they have lots of information. I will continue to add more, including videos I made for my Isaiah classes, and eventually for my New Testament classes as well.
4) I have just published a book on the Book of Abraham, called Let’s Talk about the Book of Abraham. It is a short summary of its history, an explanation of some of the issues surrounding it, and a summary of its doctrines. It is short, readable, and inexpensive. It should be very helpful for the first few weeks of Come Follow Me, and for anyone who wants to understand Abraham.
5) I have also just published a commentary on Isaiah. I believe it is the most comprehensive LDS guide and commentary in Isaiah yet, with the KJV text in one column, and the commentary for those verses in the adjacent column. It is called Learning to Love Isaiah, a Guide and Commentary. I think this will really help people who want to learn to understand this great prophet’s writings.
I hope that these things help people gain what they would like from studying the Old Testament this year. I would welcome hearing from you what other resources you would find helpful.
May we be blessed to be edified as we study the Old Testament together this year!
Leading Individuals with Concerns About the Book of Abraham | An Interview with Kerry Muhlestein
A podcast episode I recorded with John Bytheway and Hank Smith on their podcast Come Follow Me has just posted. We go over how to study the Old Testament and also Moses 1 and Abraham 3, the readings for Come Follow Me that start on Monday, Dec. 27th. Part 1 has just posted, I think part 2 posts later this week. I loved doing this interview with them, they are so great to work with!