Tag: New Testament Fulfillment

Melchizedek Priesthood Study Manual – 1974/75 | Doctrine Lesson 5: In Whom Do You Have Faith

Timothy R. BermanLeave a comment

Is Jesus Christ Jehovah? That question sits at the center of Latter‑day Saint belief and shapes how scripture, worship, and devotion fit together.

Many Latter‑day Saints answer this simply: yes. The claim that Jesus Christ is Jehovah—the God of the Old Testament—threads through the Bible, the Book of Mormon, and modern LDS scripture. When you read those texts together, a single, continuous picture of the Savior emerges: the same divine Being who made covenants with Israel is the One who came to earth, taught, and atoned for us.

Scriptural Evidence That Connects the Names

The Old Testament presents Jehovah as Israel’s covenant‑making, creative, and redeeming God. The New Testament introduces Jesus as the divine Word who was with God in the beginning and through whom all things were made. The Book of Mormon and Doctrine and Covenants pick up that same thread and make the connection explicit. For example, when the resurrected Savior declares, “Behold, I am Jesus Christ” (3 Nephi 11:10–11), it reads as a direct fulfillment of the prophetic voice that spoke for God in earlier scripture.

Prophecies such as Isaiah 9:6 calling the coming child “Mighty God,” and John 1:1–3 identifying the Word as God, point to one eternal actor in salvation history. Passages like Colossians 1:16, which speak of Christ’s role in creation, reinforce the idea that the One who created and guided Israel is the same One who walked the earth as Jesus.

LDS Doctrinal Context

Latter‑day Saint teaching emphasizes that Jehovah is Jesus Christ. Modern prophets and revelations encourage members to read the Old and New Testaments together with latter‑day scripture, seeing continuity rather than contradiction. The doctrine of premortality—where Jesus is chosen as Savior before the world’s foundation (see Abraham 3:27)—underscores that His divine role predates His mortal life. Doctrine and Covenants passages that affirm the Lord’s universal lordship further shape this understanding.

Why This Matters for Faith and Practice

Seeing Jesus as Jehovah changes how scripture is read and how worship is lived. It ties the covenants and promises of Israel to the life, Atonement, and Resurrection of Christ. That continuity makes the Savior’s teachings feel less like a new chapter and more like the central thread of a single, unfolding story. For believers, it deepens trust in His unchanging nature and invites a more personal relationship with the God who has always been involved in human history.

Curious how Latter‑day Saints answer the question, “Is Jesus Christ Jehovah?” — and why it matters? Read more to see a clear, scripture‑rooted explanation that’s both simple and soul‑stirring.

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The Ten Plagues, The Apocalypse, and The Ascent of the Saints: From Exodus to Revelation and the Doctrine of Exaltation

Timothy R. BermanLeave a comment

We are stepping into one of the most overlooked patterns within the scriptural narrative of Exodus chapters 7-13 – the journey from the Ten Plagues of Egypt to Exaltation – Divine Glory with Christ and the Father. We are going to look at the trajectory of moving from darkness of Egypt to the radiance of the divine presence of the Father and the Son. From judgment to redemption. From mortality to immortality and eternal life with Christ (Moses 1:39).. The ten plagues are not ancient catastrophes; they are a prophetic roadmap foreshadowing how we are to become heirs and joint-heirs with Christ (Romans 8:17). Having overcome as He has overcame (Revelation 3:21) in order to sit with Christ on thrones the Father has prepared for each of us (Matthew 20:23).

Every plague reverses a day of creation. Every judgment against the Egyptian God’s, Pharaoh, and the Egyptian empire, culture, and society exposes a counterfeit god. And it is every act of divine power pushing Israel one step closer to the mountain of God. 

This is the pattern scripture reveals: descent into chaos, confrontation with darkness, and the ascent into God’s presence. Exodus establishes the divine architectural blueprint that Revelation completes. 

Christ, and the infinite atonement that is revealed through the plan of salvation, is at the center. It is the redemptive arc narrative – the covenantal path of righteousness we enter into. From the blood in the Nile to the blood of the Lamb of God slain from the foundation of the world (Revelation 13:8), the story is always pointing forward. The plagues themselves reveal the cost of spiritual rebellion. However, they also reveal the depth of God’s divine sovereign grace and mercy. 

The Passover Lamb, the Firstborn Son, the deliverance through water – baptism for the remission of sins – these are not mere isolated events. They are shadows of Christ’s victory over sin, death, and spiritual bondage (Matthew 16:18-26). 

The purpose of God is specific: to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man (Moses 1:39). It was never about escape. God was not simply removing Israel from Egypt; He was raising them into a people with a covenantal identity. Today, our Heavenly Father’s desire is to do the same with each one of us. Bring us out of our own Egypts, our own spiritual bondage, to awaken us so that we may arise from the dust and shake off the awful chains that hold us bound (Isaiah 52:2) so that we are able to put on the armor of righteousness and come forth out of obscurity (2 Nephi 1:23). 

The plagues themselves are the very chain breakers. Sinai is where a covenant people are formed. The story of the Exodus is not complete because the redeemed will eventually stand in the glory of God’s presence. For this is what Christ prayed for: This is life eternal that they may know thee, the one true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent (John 17:3). 

Revelation mirrors Exodus because the same God is acting. the bowls, the trumpets, the judgments – they echo the plagues because the final deliverance follows the same pattern as the first. The Saints are not merely escaping Egypt, Babylon, or Jerusalem; they are ascending into divine heavenly Glory, ascending into the New Jerusalem and its Heavenly Temple (Ezekiel 48:35; Revelation 3:12; Revelation 21-22; apocryphal works 4 Ezra, 2 Baruch, 3 Baruch). Directly into the presence of the Lamb of God. 

Reason this matters for us today is because every one of us walks this specific journey of spiritual growth and covenantal faith. We are moving from bondage to freedom. From darkness and into light, from spiritual Egypts to the mountain of a Holy Sovereign and Gracious God. The plagues themselves show us the cost of our sin, our spiritual rebellion, and disobedience. They also reveal God’s divine grace, His tender mercies, and the unstoppable trajectory of redemption – from plagues to glory is our covenantal path of righteousness and movement toward spiritual perfection and strait and narrow way that leads toward the Celestial Kingdom (Matthew 7:14). 

So, as we begin, keep this truth in mind: God does not leave His people in the place of judgment or condemnation. He leads them through it, beyond it, and into divine heavenly glory. The Exodus narrative is our own personal story and the ascent into immortality, eternal life, and exaltation is our calling. 

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