As we study the Old Testament this year in Sunday School it is worth catching a glimpse of what it is all about. What is the message of the Old Testament? What is the "big picture" that will help us to unlock what can be a challenging book of scripture? How would you answer these questions?

President Marion G. Romney taught: "The message of the Old Testament is the message of Christ, and His coming, and His Atonement." Glenn L. Pearson wrote in the June 1986 Ensign that unless one "sees Christ everywhere in the Old Testament, there is no understanding of the Old Testament at all" (page 17).

Indeed! The Old Testament (OT) is a testament of the Messiah, a witness of Jesus Christ. The New Testament (NT) is a testament of Jesus Christ and His coming and His Atonement. The Book of Mormon is Another Testament (AT) of Jesus Christ, spanning some 1000 years of Old Testament times (BC) into New Testament times and beyond (AD).

I like to call the Doctrine and Covenants a Further Testament (FT) of Jesus Christ and His comings (first coming and second coming) and His Atonement. Surely the Pearl of Great Price would qualify as a Collective or Composite (CT) testament of Jesus Christ as it spans some seven dispensations of the gospel and includes in its 61 pages insights and excerpts from each of the other testaments.

So we have OT NT AT FT and CT, all sacred books of scripture which "talk of Christ . . . rejoice in Christ . . . preach of Christ . . . and . . . prophesy of Christ" (see 2 Nephi 25:26). The Church has been roundly criticised by many Christian churches for presuming to have sacred scripture beyond the Bible. Fact is, the Bible has been under siege for many years now and can use help to affirm its basic message: the Divine Sonship and ministry of Jesus the Christ. Such is the purpose of the Book of Mormon and the other scriptures of the Restoration mentioned above (see 1 Nephi 13:20--27, 39--40; 2 Nephi 33:10--11; Mormon 7:8--9; D&C 20:1--12, among other references).

Let's consider just one Old Testament source that clearly and plainly, among many others, points to Christ. Remember Nephi's words that "my soul delighteth in proving unto my people the truth of the coming of Christ; for, for this end hath the law of Moses been given; and all things which have been given of God from the beginning of the world, unto man, are the typifying of him" (2 Nephi 11:4). These things---"all things which have been given of God . . . unto man . . ."---are called types, or shadows, or symbols, or signs, or patterns, or lessons, or similitudes, all designed to point mankind's focus and attention toward their Lord and Saviour and Redeemer, Jesus Christ. Elder Bruce R. McConkie has written that "ten thousand times ten thousand is not a beginning to their number, but such teachings merely introduce the subject."

Joseph of Egypt is a perfect type of Christ. . . . Consider: both were called the most loved of their fathers; both were sent by their father to their brethren; both were fully obedient to the will and wishes of their father and responded to the call by saying, "Here am I"; both went to their brothers knowing full well they would be rejected and hated; both came in the name of their father and with his authority; both were betrayed by their brothers; both blessed those with whom they labored in prison; both were tempted with great sin; both were saviours to their people, giving them the bread of life; and on and on and on. There is not space here to name all the ways that Joseph of Egypt was a type of Christ.

One compelling type in closing: Joseph was imprisoned with two political prisoners --- Jesus was crucified between two political prisoners; Joseph predicted good of one prisoner and bad of the other --- one of the thieves on the cross was repentant, the other "railed on Him"; their dreams were to come to pass in three days --- Jesus' body lay in the tomb for three days as He opened the way in the spirit prison for the dead to be saved; one of the prisoners in Genesis was a baker (of bread), the other was a butler (server of wine) --- the bread and wine are symbolic of Jesus in the sacrament; [now note this!] the baker (bread, body) was hanged on a tree ---while the butler was restored to his position. The body of Christ was crucified on a tree, while the blood of Gethsemane brings atonement and restores us to God.

Do you get the impression that there is more in the scriptures than we first glimpse? That is why we are commanded to "search the scriptures," as Jesus said, for "they are they which testify of me" (John 5:39).

Your comments and thoughts are encouraged and welcome.

Steve