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[00:00:00] Introduction

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Hey everybody. Welcome back. This is week 52 of Creative. Come Follow Me for the Old Testament and our final week of this year's study. Thankfully it's also Christmas week, so this week we get to see an epic bridge be built between the times of the Old Testament that we've been studying all. Coming to understand Jehovah, the God of the Old Testament, and this bridge between that and the New Testament, which is where we get to go next, and we get to see that same God of the Old Testament become that Jesus Christ, the savior of the New Testament.

And I love that Christmas is wedged right in the middle because his story, especially the nativity story, is one of hope. If you look in the manual this week, it talks about how the story of the Old Testament is one of. . In fact, if you had to give a phrase to the Old Testament, uh, like a key message that comes across, I feel like it's hope of Israel, right?

It's a story of a family that struggles at [00:01:00] times and that is miraculously saved at other times, and that there is always hope. Every prophet spoke of hope, especially hope in a latter day and in the New Testament, especially in the Christmas story, we see that hope come to be. We see him come to the world to.

Great work that we've been studying all year long. So if you look in the manual, there's three basic sections, but you could study a thousand different things. But I'm gonna try and narrow down to the bullet points that are in the manual. The first one we're gonna focus on is how I rejoice in my Redeemer.

The big message that came to me as I was studying this piece is actually in the New Testament with the story of Zacharias. So we'll go there. The second one focuses on the symbols of Christ, all the different object lessons we've seen actually written into the text this year. We're gonna break down a little bit and see how that teaches us something powerful about the Savior.

And then our last big section we'll study is how his name shall be called. Wonderful. We're gonna talk about the names of Christ that we've seen in the Old Testament and how they help us understand [00:02:00] who he will become as the God of the New Testament. And I think it's gonna be a really good week of study.

I know it's busy. I know you've got a lot to juggle, so I'm gonna keep things light and simple and memorable. So grab your scriptures, grab your notes. Let's get started.

[00:02:15] I REJOICE IN MY REDEEMER

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when you boil it down. The Old Testament, I feel like is a story about agency even from the days of Adam and Eve all the way through Malachi. I feel like we see opportunities for our chosen people to do something miraculous, right to to either lean into the faith that they have in the Lord and accomplish something great.

Or sometimes to give into their fear and fall back a little bit and backslide. And that seems to be all the stories of the Old Testament there. What do you do in that moment? When you have an opportunity to do something for the Lord? Will you engage or will you fear? And we see a whole bunch of those, right?

You see people like Jonah who lean into their fear and therefore has have a period. Separation or [00:03:00] struggle and then come back around. And then you see people like Shadrach Meshach and Abednego who are in a similar position of fear and worry, and they lean into their faith and step into the fire, and miracles happen.

What I loved as I was starting to study the Christmas story is I found one of those Old Testament feeling stories. Right at the beginning of the Christmas story, if you go to read the nativity story to your kids, chances are you start in Luke two, right? Well, next to a book from Elder Holland, I decided to open up to Luke one this year and found all kinds of goodness.

In fact, this pattern of encountering the divine and choosing whether or not to lean into their fear or not, happens two times in this very first chapter. One was Zacharias and one with Mary. We're gonna go into a lot of this in just a few weeks as we actually study these chapters in the New Testament.

But I do think as you're heading into the Christmas story this week, this is a really lovely place to begin cuz it teaches us a pattern of the Old Testament and helps us look forward to the new all at the same time. So if you aren't familiar [00:04:00] with the story of Zacharias, you go into the verses, you can go in the notes and study more deeply.

But basically, Zacharias is a. And he and his wife have never been able to have a child, and they're older like Abraham and Sarah, kind of old, and they are praying for a child. In fact, you'll see that they're righteous. They've both walked in all the ways of the Lord. And then on this day, Zacharias has a chance to go into the temple.

So his lot is chosen as one of the priests. And he's able to go into the holy place and light that altar of incense that we studied about. And traditionally, he would offer a prayer for all of Israel at that point in time, and I'm sure he. But according to Elder Holland, at least from what I was reading in his book, he says you, he was also probably offering a personal prayer cuz the answer he gets is a personal one.

So an angel comes and stands right at that the side of the altar and promises him that he'll have a son. So if you look in verse 13, you get this big message fear not Zecharias for thy prayer is heard and the wife, Elizabeth shall bear the a son and now shall call his name. [00:05:00] And then the angel teaches him who John will be.

And remember, Zach Rice is a priest, so he should know the prophecies about a forerunner coming before the Savior, and he learns that his son will be great in the side of the Lord in 15, in 16. It says that he will have many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God. He's gonna be. An amazing missionary for the Lord in 17.

It says He shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the, just to make ready a people prepared for the Lord. This is a pretty powerful promise. He's encountered the divine and Zacharias has to respond, right?

He's in that moment of. Can this be? And you wonder how he's gonna react. And in 18, you see where he goes. Basically he doubts, he is like Peter of the water, right? He's encountered the divine and the logic in his mind doesn't add up. So what he says to the Lord is, I'm an old man and my wife is well stricken in years.

Whereby shall I know this? It's a, it's an [00:06:00] understandable doubt. The same way it's understandable that Peter sees the waves and starts to worry and fear. Um, and there's a consequence to that, much like we've seen throughout the Old Testament when people are presented an opportunity to engage with the divine and they lean into their.

Fear things don't go as well. It reminded me of, remember when the spies were sent to look on the edges of the promised land and to see, and 10 of the spies came back and said, there's giants and there's walls. We'll never make it . And then you have two of the spies who come back and say, but the fruit is so good, and we are on the Lord's side.

That's, that's where Zacharias is. But he's, he's on the, the fearing spy side. So as a consequence, the angel who is Gabriel says to him, basically I am Gabriel . Like, how could you question me? And which is funny, right? Cause he is standing in a holy place. He sees an angel with his own eyes. He's not asleep.

It's, it's a very clear answer to his prayer. And in this moment he is afraid. And so there's a consequence that comes. Just like we've seen in every pattern of the Old Testament, [00:07:00] when people lean into their fear instead of their faith, blessings are removed. So in Zecharias life for the next nine months, he won't be able to speak, and that must have been so hard given the fact that he's gonna come out of the temple having just seen an angel and just got the answer to the prayer that he and his wife have been offering for.

Decades and he can't talk about it. You know, he, he can write and he can do all kinds of things, but he can't speak. What I love about his story is this time of struggle, this time of a lack of a blessing, softens Zacharias. Just like we said with lots of people in the Old Testament, when they encountered struggle, they softened people like Job and Jeremiah, they softened and that's what happens with him as well.

But by the end, you'll. Prophecies and his testimony and it's powerful. But before you get to the end of chapter one, you're also gonna see Mary. So Mary's encounter with Gabriel is very similar. She also doesn't expect to this to happen. And when the angel comes to her, he says, you know, you've been called, so if you look in the [00:08:00] verses, it says 28 says, thou art highly favored, the Lord is with the blessed art thou among women.

And then in 30, and the angel said, under fear not. For thou has found favor with God and what I love is her reaction. She's probably equally scared. Right? In fact, maybe even more so cuz she has maybe less understanding than a priest in the temple does about the prophecies and the promises. But what I think is so.

Powerful about Mary's example is that she doesn't lean into her fear. She leans into her faith, but she still asks questions. Mary doesn't seem to doubt whether this can happen. She seems to want to know how it can happen, which implies that she believes it can. She just wants to know logistically how. So in 34 then Mary said unto the angel, how shall this be seeing?

I know not man. And then he. exactly how it's gonna be. And he also explained for with God, nothing shall be impossible. That's 37. And when she hears that, Mary makes a choice. She's standing in [00:09:00] that same pivotal moment where she could lean into her fear or lean into her faith, and she chooses faith. And so she says, behold the handmaid of the Lord.

Be it unto me according to that word, and then the angel departs from her. I love this piece of Mary. She seems like eve to me in this moment because I don't think Mary fully understands the consequences of this choice, this moment where she agrees to be the. The mother of the son of God, I don't think she could have possibly comprehended the ramifications of that choice or the pain or depth of joy and sorrow she would experience in her lifetime.

Just like I don't think Eve or Adam could understand it fully before the fall. But they understood some and they chose to step into that uncertainty and to embrace it. And I just think it, we should revere them for that. The same way we revere Adam and Eve. We should revere Mary and even Joseph and Zecharias and Elizabeth for.

Choosing to step forward because she does right, and we'll study it in a couple weeks where [00:10:00] you study all her words and you'll study Zacharias in more depth. But I love that both of these situations, they're both people who encountered the divine felt fear and in either leaned in or leaned away. But ultimately they both come to the same place.

In fact, you look at Zecharia's story and where he ends is in. So Elizabeth does have the son, cuz the promise is still fulfilled despite his lack of faith in that key moment, the promise is still fulfilled to him. The same way with every story of the children of Israel. We studied the end of it, right where they will.

have those promises fulfilled, they will return to their savior. They will have all those blessings restored. That's what you see. with Zecharias as well. He has a son, Elizabeth Bears the son, and they have this chance to name him, and in this moment they choose to name him John, and they could have gone another way.

What I loved about this piece of their story, and again, we'll study it more deeply in a couple weeks, is I really feel like this is a moment similar to what Hannah was [00:11:00] experiencing Remember in the Old Testament when she prayed for a son and the Lord blessed her with Samuel, and she promised that if he would give her a son, she would give him back to the Lord.

That's kind of what I feel like is happening with Elizabeth and Zacharias, and even with Mary to some degree is. All of these people know that although they will get to be the parents, that these sons are not fully theirs, that these sons are the Lords. And so when they choose to name him John, and choose to obey the angel, they're basically putting a stamp on this son that says, you are set apart.

You are, you are I, we're turning you back to the Lord. We will raise you. We will help you, but you are not fully ours. And I just think. , that's an epic moment of faith. So when Zecharias chooses to name him, John, his, his mouth is opened and he can speak again. And what he chooses to speak is not. grumbling.

It's not frustration over the last nine months of struggle, it's praise. So if you look in the verses, we'll go deeper into it [00:12:00] soon. But he praises the prophets. He praises the prophecies that he knows about both his son and the savior of the world who's coming and, and he speaks about not having fear. He also speaks at the very end about what the savior will do.

He will be someone who will. Save the people from death and from hell. He speaks of resurrection. He speaks of remission of sins. He speaks about a savior who will come to save the people, and that's a powerful moment of faith. So for me, those two side by side are like reading Old Testament stories. I don't know if you'll see it that way when you go into study, but I think it invites each of us.

Take stock of where we are. We've spent a whole year studying the miracles of the Old Testament, and we each are an opportunity now to be a chosen generation and to get this opportunity to do this great work of gathering and we can either lean into our fears and worries and inadequacies, or we can choose to look forward in.

Choose to [00:13:00] overcome the world as President Nelson invites us to do. And I think for me, that's what the Old Testament taught me, is that in those moments of opportunity, when I encounter the divine, I should look forward in faith. And I love that you see that in the story of the Christmas story as well.

[00:13:16] SYMBOLS CAN HELP ME REMEMBER JESUS CHRIST

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The second section of this week's lesson focuses on the symbols of Christ, that that's one of the things the Old Testament brings to our attention is how many different things represent the savior. Throughout all those different books of scripture, I think. . I particularly love that cuz I'm a big object lesson girl.

And so I love seeing all the different ways the Lord tries to teach us who he is and about his character through these different symbols. One for example, he talks about is the Lamb of God. This is a powerful symbol, especially because it's the first thing that John the Baptist calls him when Jesus is coming close to him and he's gonna be baptized in the river Jordan.

John calls him the Lamb of God and that's a. Clear, powerful symbol, especially to the Jews [00:14:00] because they know what a pure lamb of God means. We've studied all throughout the Old Testament that that is someone who will sacrifice A lamb is something that will give up its life in order to free others from the sins of their world.

That's, that's the meaning behind the lamb of God. It's not just that he's gentle and meek in kind, it's, it's sacrifice. It's all about the atonement of Jesus Christ. . So you have to love that symbol. In fact, I love it tied to what we just learned about Zacharias because he just testified of that power of the Savior and because John calls him the Lamb of God when he encounters him.

I feel like that shows that Zecharias and Elizabeth passed on their testimony to John because he calls him the Lamb of God. He must have learned from his parents about those prophecies and about who this savior would really be. So I love that connection between. some other symbols that the lesson manual calls out is water.

This is in Elder Holland's book as well. He talked about how water is something you to be respected, , and I like this cuz I feel this way [00:15:00] Jason. I've had many chats about this cuz I'm not nearly as nervous with our kids around water as Jason is. He gets, we had a situation when our kids were really little.

Our older three, we were in kayaks and canoes and they tipped in the middle of a river and. Jack in particular came really close to not being with us. Emily, too. They were both in a boat with Jason and it was scary and it, it shook Jason A. Little bit because ever since then he's been very anxious with our kids around water for, for good reason.

And Elder Holland talks about that as well, that he always breathes a little easier, whatever his kids come back from the water because water is something that needs to be respect. . It's also something that heals and helps and nourishes. And isn't that exactly what we've learned about the savior all this year?

That he's both those things to those who are righteous and those who are humble. He is a savior. He is a healer. He is a helper. He's a consoler and a nurturer to those who turn their back on his prophecies and his promises. He is a rushing water. [00:16:00] I mean a picture of the the Red Sea collapsing on Pharaoh's army.

That is the power of the savior as well. I think a clear doctrine of the Old Testament is that he is both, he is a god of justice and a god of mercy, and we have to love and respect both of those parts of his character . So I love the symbol of. . Another one that the lesson points out is the brass, but this one I loved.

It's a very specific story cuz it teaches about how simple it is to be saved. . We often complicate things, but I think especially when you read that in connection with what you see in the Book of Mormon about this story that. It teaches that the doctrines of Christ are clear and they are simple and we simply have to look up and follow them.

I love this for me cuz I tend to get overwhelmed and complicate things all on my own. So I love the story of the bra, but that God's doctrine is clear and if we will just look on it, uh, we can. Find the salvation that we're [00:17:00] seeking. So go on the notes. You can find some great quotes about that one. I also love that it teaches me to trust in the prophet because I feel like that's what Moses offered in that moment, is he became the gateway to say, here's how you can solve your problem, and he held it up.

So when I choose to listen to the prophets and the apostles, when I choose to study their words as much as I can, that's my way of looking up at a brass serpent. When I follow what they give me advice on, I feel like I'm, I'm on safe. , another symbol that's brought out in the ma. The manual is symbol of the rock.

There's a lot of great stories about rock in the Old Testament, but one of my favorite quotes on this is from elder ironing. It's in the notes, but he talks about, or President ironing. He talks about how when you are standing on the Rock of Christ, it's not just a stable place for you. It allows you to be on stable ground so you can lift others.

And I. That visual for me. Cause I feel like that's what we've seen in the Old Testament. You have people like Moses and Enoch and Noah and Ruth and so many in the Old Testament who [00:18:00] were so well grounded on the rock that they were able to lift those around them, even those who were resistant. And I just felt like in my family, That's a real blessing, right?

It's an invitation for me to be solidly planted on the rock so that I can pull as many of my family members up as possible. . So I love the visual of a rock. Another one that's common in the Old Testament is the branch. There's a lot of different ways to interpret the Savior being this branch, but I personally, I love it because he is a living Christ.

In fact, I studied the living Christ this week as I was preparing for Christmas, and I loved that piece of a branch, that it is something that is agile. It is a constant, it is deeply rooted and deeply connected to the tree, but it is living and changing. Adapting and you know, giving us the doctrine in our way so that we can understand it.

So I love that piece of the savior. Symbol story as well, but probably my very favorite of this [00:19:00] week's, the ones they call out in the lesson, is the symbol of light. We saw light and fire and stones and all kinds of symbols of light this year, but my favorite insight that I learned this year actually came from a talk at timeout for women from Emily Watts.

So all of all of our talks are about light, and she has this great moment where she says, but when you think about. Verse that his yoke is easy and his burden is light, that it also should apply to the light we see. And I never thought of it that way, but I really love the idea of his light being a burden at times, because I think the Savior's light is so glorious and so vibrant that he can.

Beam it out to us all over . The visual that came to my mind is this had just happened tonight as we were setting up lights and Jason brought in a new work light that he got so that we could do better back lighting. And it was so bright that when I looked at it, I had like, you know how you get that halo effect and you can only [00:20:00] see those lights everywhere you look.

That's, that's kinda what I feel like with the Lord's light. It, it is so bright and glorious that to give it to us all at once would be blinding. So instead he gives it to us in these small doses. I think that's what the Old Testament was trying to teach me, is that the reason we have these covenants, the reason he asked for daily, you know, adherence to his commandments is so that he can dispense his light gradually so that my eyes can adjust and increase and I can take in more.

That's what the in Covenant teaches us, right? That we'll have more and more light until the perfect day. So I love the idea of the savior being a symbol, the light being a symbol for the savior, cuz I feel like. , he is a vibrant, searing light, but his covenants allow us to take it in a little bit at a time and take it into ourselves.

So I, I love that connection. The last one that the Manuel calls out is that he, the law of [00:21:00] Moses is a symbol for Christ. This ties into the light one for me because I feel like this is what my covenants offer as I choose to honor my covenants and keep them. It's my way of having this daily dose.

Correction and connection with the Lord so that I can come closer to him. And I think that's what the law of Moses was intended to do as well. It was a preparation, a way for them to show their obedience to the Lord, to take their agency and turn it to good so that they could come closer and get that covenant relationship with the Lord.

So I love the symbols. There's a bunch more in the Old Testament, but this will get you.

[00:21:34] “HIS NAME SHALL BE CALLED WONDERFUL”

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The last part of the lesson focuses on the names of Christ and how much we've learned through our study of the Old Testament, and I've loved this piece as well. I think it gives me, I think the Old Testament has given me a more. full understanding of who Jesus is. I think every year with every book of scripture that we continue to study, I'll get a fuller, richer picture of who he is, but I've loved what I've learned in the Old [00:22:00] Testament, especially considering it as a springboard to what we'll study in the new.

So if you think of the names that we've seen in the Old Testament, first off that he's the God of the Old Testament. I love that piece because then you can trust that his character is consistent from yesterday, today to forever. So the God who cared for the widow of Zei will care for the widow with her two mites will raise the son of the widow of na.

You can see that consistency in his character. . It's powerful to me because the children of Israel are a, a faulty bunk . They don't always hold up their end of the bargain, and the Lord is constantly stretching his arm out to them. I love that for us, cuz we all are in that boat, right? We're all beggars in one way or the other, and we need the salvation of God.

So I love that we can trust in his mercy and his patience and his long suffering because we studied him in the Old Testament and we saw how often he offered that to the children of Israel. . Another title that I love is that he's the creator of the world. Because we took time to study his creation [00:23:00] story at the very beginning of the Old Testament, I think it sets the stage for what we'll see in the new, because everything he encounters when Jesus Christ teaches, he uses objects all the time.

He talks about wine and water and fig leaves and mustard seeds and animals and all these things, and I think the reason he teaches that way is because it's a powerful symbol. It's especially powerful knowing that he created all those things. In fact, I've told you guys before, but sometimes I wonder if he created those things so he could teach an lesson.

Like maybe he created a hen and had her wings outstretched so he could teach them about that. If they had just come under his wings, you know, I don't know. He's the creator of the world, you guys. He can do all kinds of things. So I love tying those two together that to understand the reason he speaks in parables and with objects is because he created them and he knows.

Intimately, so he's the creator of the world. I also love that we learned that he is the God of our fathers and the God of the covenant. [00:24:00] I don't think before this year I had. Anywhere near an understanding of the covenant as I do today, the understanding that the covenant is a relationship with God, that I am tied to these fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, that covenant links all of us together, and he is the God of it.

He is the connector, and I've loved learning that this year. I've also loved hearing it from President Nelson, that that is supposed to be one of my defining characteristics that. . I am a daughter of God. I am a daughter of the Covenant and I'm a disciple of Christ, and I feel like studying the Old Testament has helped me appreciate why that matters so much and why it's mattered for all generations of time.

Another title that I love is The Promised Messiah. I think it's been fun, almost like I'm doing my own Halloween party as I've searched the Old Testament for. Clues that are tucked into these stories to teach me about the savior, who will come to teach me what his character will be like, what he'll accomplish, who he'll be, where he'll live, [00:25:00] what city he'll be born in.

All those things you find in the Old Testament, and I love, I loved decrypting those clues. The last one I would call to your attention is that he is the great millennial king of all these stories where you see so many people struggling to stay faithful. Each of these prophets prophesize about this great millennial day and how it will be a day of joy and rejoicing and of profound hope.

And as we head into the Christmas week, I think that's the story of Christmas. It is a story of. Profound hope because all those promises that we've read about from all the prophets throughout the Old Testament is that there will be a day when the savior will be born, when he will come to save, he will come to open up the gateway of hope, not just for the living, but for the dead.

Those are incredible promises that we get all throughout the Old

[00:25:52] Creative Preview

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Welcome back guys. This is the creative side of week 52, and I have three simple object lessons that you can either teach all three or pick and [00:26:00] choose what you can fit into this Christmas week. But each one is designed to teach you a different part of this week's lesson. So this first one is designed to help you.

The symbols of Christ. That's a big piece of what we learned in the Old Testament, is all those different things that represented Christ throughout those stories. But my hope with this object lesson is that your kids will be able to teach each other. So this is a gift exchange on the chart. If you scratch off the circle, it's the gift week.

So you're gonna do a simple gift exchange with household objects that you already have on hand to help your kids learn the symbols of Christ. The second one is kind of similar, but it's designed to help you teach the nativity story. Differe. So I don't know if your family is like mine, but we have tendency to cram in the nativity story on Christmas Eve between a whole bunch of other things, and it never gets the attention that it deserves.

So I thought this year I might encourage you to pull out your nativity set a little bit earlier and slow down the story. What I love about the nativity story is that each of the characters teach us something different. So the [00:27:00] principle this week is designed to help you do that. It has all the scriptures, it breaks down each character and talks about some of the things we learn from them.

So to teach this lesson, you just need the principle and then you need your characters. Whatever nativity you already have, get it out and help your kids understand the story. Third one is a throwback. So back in the Book of Mormon, around Christmastime, we did a lesson with a star that formed from broken toothpicks in this cool, magical way, and it's one of my favorites still.

So I thought since we're studying the nativity story this year, it'd be a good time to bring that one back. . So for this object lesson, you just need five toothpicks. Actually, you'll probably need more than five cause they don't always break perfectly. But you need five toothpicks. And then you need a drinking straw and just some warm water and like a salad plate.

And they can pull off this amazing object lesson and then turn it into an ornament for your tree. So that's the preview. Now let's get into the details.

[00:27:55] Wrap Up

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You guys, that is it for week 52 and for the Old Testament as a [00:28:00] whole. Can you believe we got to this point, you guys? I can remember being in lesson one and looking at the enormity of the book and thinking, how on earth am I gonna do this?

And I just think. That I'm standing here is just evidence that miracles are real , that the spirit helps you when you need help. He will cushion you when hard things happen. I can testify to all of those things. Primarily what I hope to testify of is the reality of Jesus Christ. I think in this year of study, especially doing it together, I feel like I've come closer to my Savior than I've ever been before, to understanding who he is, why he is the way he is, and just with this.

Enthusiasm to look forward to what we get to study next. I can't wait for the New Testament. I feel like the foundation we've built in the Old Testament will be this springboard to help our testimonies just catapult in 2023. So I hope you come along to the ride. As always, if you want to join me for the live this week, that will be Monday [00:29:00] at 10:00 AM Mountain Time.

talk through a few of the Christmas insights I didn't get to cover and then chat through the object lessons. You can also always find me on the discussion boards if you have questions or if you just wanna post a picture of what worked for you or what didn't work for you. The discussion boards are a good place for that.

You can also find us in the podcast. I wanted to remind you though, that if you are. A subscriber to the course, then your subscription will automatically renew. So a lot of you had questions about that in emails and direct messages. Lately, nothing will change. It will just auto-renew either monthly or a yearly.

If you have any questions or problems with your billing or things don't work for you, feel free to reach out to me via email discussion board or direct message on Instagram and I will help you out. But, Otherwise, I just wanna say thank you for this year. Thanks for taking this ride with my family, especially those of you who've been with us from the very beginning.

Uh, I know, I know it's a lot and I'm so grateful to have you here and I can't wait to go with you into 2023. Merry Christmas you guys.[00:30:00]