For the past year, we have had the wonderful opportunity of immersing ourselves in the Old Testament[i] while studying Come Follow Me[ii].

Looking at scripture references in General Conference[iii], 15% of the scriptures referenced are from the Old Testament as shown in the following table:

Even though the Old Testament is referenced less than half as often as the New Testament, it has an outsized impact on our understanding of the Abrahamic Covenant and the scriptures in general.

The Abrahamic Covenant, the New and Everlasting Covenant and the plan of salvation are fundamentally the same.  They refer to God’s plan to complete His work on the Earth.  He said: “For behold, this is my work and my glory—to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.” (Moses 1:39) The main theme of the Old Testament is the Abrahamic Covenant and Jehovah’s interactions with the children of Israel.

By carefully studying the Old Testament, we can gain a deeper understanding of the Covenant.  The better our understanding of the Covenant, the better we will understand all of the scriptures.

Old Testament in General Conference

Which chapters and verses in the Old Testament have the leaders of the church selected to help them teach and inspire church members in General Conference?

The following table lists the ten Old Testament verses that have been referenced in the most general conference talks:

The asterisk indicates that the number of talks was computed by adding the references from the Book of Mormon, Pearl of Great Price and the Doctrine and Covenants[iv].

Moses 1:39 is the most frequently referenced verse in General Conference not only in the Old Testament, but in all of the scriptures.  This verse helps us understand that the purpose of the Covenant is “to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.”  With this one verse our purpose in this life becomes clear and our obligations under the Covenant take on meaning.  We have increased gratitude for the Savior and His atoning sacrifice.  The Atonement allows God to fulfil His obligations under the Covenant[v].

The following table lists the ten Old Testament chapters that have been most referenced in general conference talks[vi]:

The asterisk indicates that the number of talks was computed by adding the references from the Book of Mormon, Pearl of Great Price and the Doctrine and Covenants similar to the verse table above.

Six of the ten most referenced chapters are from the books of Moses and Abraham.  This clearly shows the importance of modern revelation.

Since Moses chapter 1 is the most referenced chapter in the Old Testament, it is interesting to look deeper at which verses of Moses 1 have been referenced the most.  The following table lists the ten Moses 1 verses that have been referenced in the most general conference talks:

These ten verses teach important truths.  No wonder that Moses 1 is most frequently referenced Old Testament chapter in General Conference.

These are chapters and verses that the leaders of the church have selected to help them teach and inspire in General Conference.

The Covenant and covenant language

The Covenant is a group of blessings[vii] that God is willing to grant and obligations that God expects of us.  The blessings include:

  • Special relationship with God
  • Mercy and forgiveness (Hesed)
  • Posterity
  • Promised land
  • Protection
  • Access to gospel ordinances
  • Will be gathered
  • Exaltation

Our obligations are:

  • Love God
  • Let God prevail in our lives
  • Obey commandments
  • Love and care for others
  • Receive Covenant ordinances
  • Share the gospel (gather Israel)
  • Repent when we stray

The writers of the Old Testament assumed their readers understood the Covenant.  They included words related to blessings and obligations under the Covenant in their writing.  Recognizing covenant language is key to deepening our understanding of the scriptures.

One of the most common covenant phrases is found in Jeremiah 7:23 “I will be your God, and ye shall be my people”.  Similar phrases occur 26 times in the scriptures – 20 of the 26 are found in the Old Testament.

A marriage relationship is often used to describe God’s relationship with His covenant people.  An example is found in Isaiah 61:10:

“… for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels.”

President Nelson’s October 2022 Liahona article titled The Everlasting Covenant, provides a clear description of the Covenant and covenant language.  It should be read and studied frequently.  In the article, President Nelson discusses the Hebrew word hesed.  Hesed is a difficult word to translate into English and the King James translators used lovingkindness or sometimes mercy in translating the word.  The word lovingkindness occurs 26 times in the Old Testament.

The same covenant language that is in the Old Testament occurs throughout the scriptures. That fact makes the Old Testament foundational for understanding the Covenant and the scriptures in general.

Hymns

Another interesting aspect of the Old Testament is the number of hymns that have been inspired by the Old Testament.  Here are just a few of them:

O God, the Eternal Father – the third verse includes the phrase “… With no apparent beauty, That man should him desire…”.  Isaiah 53:2 includes the phrase “… there is no beauty that we should desire him.”

Redeemer of Israel –  … the first verse includes the phrase “Our shadow by day And our pillar by night …”  Exodus 13:21 includes the phrase “And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of a cloud, to lead them the way; and by night in a pillar of fire,”

The Lord is My Shepherd – this hymn is almost word for word from Psalm 23

I Know That My Redeemer Lives – the first verse starts with “I know that my Redeemer lives…”  Job 19:25 says “For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth”

The Lord is My Light – the chorus includes “The Lord is my light.  He is my joy and my song”. Isaiah 12:2 includes the phrase “…the Lord JEHOVAH is my strength and my song”

How Firm a Foundation –   third verse:
Fear not, I am with thee; oh, be not dismayed,
For I am thy God and will still give thee aid.
I’ll strengthen thee, help thee, and cause thee to stand,
Upheld by my righteous, upheld by my righteous,
Upheld by my righteous, omnipotent hand.

Isaiah 41:10

Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.

I’ve heard a number of people comment on how much they have enjoyed learning from the Old Testament this year.  Our deepened understanding of the Covenant and covenant language will help us in our study of the New Testament.

Notes: 

[i] Come Follow Me groups the books of Moses and Abraham with the Old Testament.  For this article, references to Moses and Abraham have been combined with the Old Testament, references to Joseph Smith Matthew have been combined with the New Testament and references to Joseph Smith History have been combined with the Doctrine and Covenants.

[ii] Last year I wrote a similar article that looked at Doctrine and Covenants references in General Conference.

[iii] The data used in this article includes all General Conference talks from 1971 to the present.

[iv] For Malachi 4:6 the number of talks includes references to D&C 2:2, JS-H 1:39 and 3 Nephi 25:6.  For Malachi 3:10 references to 3 Nephi 24:10 are included.

[v] The Everlasting Covenant, Russell M. Nelson, Liahona, October 2022

[vi] Chapter references are computed by summing the reference counts for all of the verses in a chapter.

[vii] See God Will Prevail by Kerry Muhlestein