Post 46q: In Keeping With the New Title of this Blog, "Four Books of Scripture Which Testify of Jesus Christ," I Desire to Make Sure That I Include the Testifying of Jesus Christ Being the Son of God Which is Contained in each of the Four Books of Holy Scriptures I'm Shown Holding in the Photo Which Leads Out in Each of the Blog Posts I'll be Publishing! In This Post I Emphasize Scriptures From the Old Testament of the Holy Bible. I Hope You Will Enjoy and be Spiritually Edified by What You Read in This Post!

The Following Blog Description Explains Why My Blog has been renamed: "Four Books of Scripture Testify of Jesus Christ!

Jesus the Christ -by Del Parson

WELCOME, NEW  AND PREVIOUS VIEWERS OF THIS BLOG: In this and in every additional post of this blog you will be led on a carefully and prayerfully planned exciting and inspiring journey as you prepare by means of a guided study of the four sacred books of scripture I am shown holding above; which will assist you in becoming more righteously happy now and more fully prepared for eventual After-Mortality Eternal Endeavors on your part, along with your loved ones and countless other mortals who are seeking to qualify as our Heavenly Father's worthy children. 

Those enabling Books of Scripture were brought about through the love of the Heavenly Father of our immortal spirits which now inhabit our mortal bodies; and were a key part of the Restoration of the Gospel, and of the Church of Jesus Christ through the Prophet Joseph Smith early in the Nineteenth Century. Also intimately  involved, and surely leading out in all of this, was of course, Our Heavenly Father's Only Begotten Son who is our Lord, Savior, and Redeemer, Jesus Christ (who initially was our eldest spirit brother and is the only one of us our Heavenly Father will have ever sired into mortality). 

Jesus accomplished His infinite atonement, the Ultimate Mortal Sacrifice, along with His infallibly witnessed Resurrection. He is our Redeemer and Savior and has opened the way for each of us to learn with certainty through those four books of scripture, and through the inspired teachings of His prophets, seers and revelators of our day; that some time after our mortal deaths, thanks to His atonement and resurrection, we will each eventually experience eternal life in our own resurrected bodies, which in the case of those who truly heeded all of the scriptural and prophetic guidance, there will be full possession of Godly capabilities!

To Access This Blog's Index, Please Scroll Down To the Fifth Paragraph From the End of This Post! For Those of You Who May Be In a Hurry to Access it, Here it is now: Neil Birch's Blog Index.

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TODAY'S THEME

AN EXCERPT FROM A PREVIOUS BLOG POST OF MINE:

Dear Blog Readers, I'm writing this post as a blog post letter to a dear twelve year old granddaughter of mine. (She will become sixteen years of age in September of this year: 2013.)

Dear JoJo,

You had told me in an e-mail several weeks ago that you were studying ancient Israel and similar matters in your social studies class at school. I wrote telling you that I'd like to tell you a special story about Israel. But then as you may recall, I wrote suggesting that you may not be interested in what I was planning to write. But then, when you e-mailed me telling me you really wanted me to write it, I decided to write it. Here it is: 
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There is Jacob, the son of Isaac, the son of Abraham. Jacob's other name is Israel, a Hebrew language word which means: "One who prevails with God." You may know the meaning of the word, prevail. In case you don't, it means, in this case, Israel is a person (or a people) who please God.

Actually, my story begins with Jacob's grandfather, Abraham who is called, as we learn in the Old Testament: Father of the Faithful. Abraham's father, Terah was not a very righteous man, but Abraham believed strongly in God and learned to serve Him. He became the very first leader and father of the Nation of Israel. 

Abraham's wife, Sarah didn't have a baby until they were both very old. She was so old (about 100) that when Abraham told her that God had told him she was going to have a baby she laughed. She had a very hard time believing that! 

The baby boy was born and Sarah and Abraham were both very glad. 

Their son, Isaac, became very righteous as he grew up, as was Isaac's son, Jacob - called also, Israel. He had twelve sons. Jacob's one son that we all perhaps remember the most is Joseph Who was sold into Egypt. You may have seen the musical that tells about him and his family: "Joseph and the AmazingTechnicolor Dreamcoat."

Joseph, son of Jacob, is my very favorite person from the Old Testament. Here is a picture showing his jealous brothers selling him as a slave into Egypt when he was a teenager. I think you know his story.

Painting: Ted Henninger

JOSEPH IS SOLD INTO EGYPT BY HIS BROTHERS

Here is a second picture of Joseph, son of Jacob (Israel). After Joseph, as a grown man, had saved his father and all of his family from starvation as the second in command in Egypt just under Pharaoh, King of Egypt, Jacob gave him a father's blessing.

Painting: Harry Anderson

JACOB (ISRAEL) BLESSING JOSEPH

Now that you have been given an overview of the family of Israel, I will tell you of something exceedingly difficult that Father Abraham was asked to do by Heavenly Father that Abraham consented to do. Abraham's showing that he would actually do this terribly difficult thing, caused Heavenly Father to love him very much. I'll give you the details of that a little later.

In the meantime, JoJo, I need to prepare you by explaining something that Abraham and his people did that is not done in our day, at least, not in the USA, that I know of.

Ever Since Adam and Eve's time, Heavenly Father had commanded His children here on earth to make animal sacrifices that were very symbolic of something important that was to happen in the future. 

Do you know what the word, symbolic means? You could look it up in your dictionary, but let me just say that the ordinance of animal sacrifice about which I'll be telling you, was somewhat similar to, or can remind us of, something exceedingly important which would happen in the middle of the world's history, which would tremendously effect all people who would ever live on the earth: the sacrifice of the Son of God. 

So, the practice of animal sacrifice was given by God through His prophets to prepare the minds and hearts of people who believed in him, like Abraham, Isaac and Joseph, for the coming of the day, in the distant future, when God's perfectly righteous Only Son, who would be named, Jesus Christ, would give up his life voluntarily to pay the price for our sins so we wouldn't have to suffer for them ourselves if we fully accept His sacrifice for us by living the way He and His prophets teach us to live. 

His sacrifice would also bring about the eventual resurrection of everyone who has ever lived on the earth!

This next picture is a drawing showing an Israelite priest, (maybe during the prophet, Moses' time), offering an animal (usually it was a lamb) sacrifice to remind his people of the sacrifice of the Son of God which was to be a very great blessing to all of us, especially as we live according to God's commandments! 

Painting: Unknown Artist

JoJo, in case you can't read the small writing at the bottom of the sacrificial alter picture, it says: Altar of Burnt Offerings. 

Abraham had offered burnt animal offerings throughout his life, but on one very challenging occasion, God told Abraham, by the means of His Holy Spirit or by an angel, the following:

Genesis 22: 2 And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.

JoJo, I want you to notice in that scripture the words, "thine only son, Isaac, whom thou lovest." Those words of Heavenly Father to Abraham, just now made me weep silently for Abraham. What was asked of Abraham would be so very difficult, even for obedient Abraham, Father of the Faithful. Abraham was to: offer him (Isaac, Abraham and Sarah's only son) in Moriah as a burnt offering !

We should remember that both Abraham and Sarah were close to one hundred years of age when Isaac was born. How could they both allow him to be killed like a sacrificial lamb after waiting so long for him to be born?

And how could Father Abraham be the one to offer such a sacrifice? Let's remember, Abraham was the Father of the Faithful. Faithful to whom? To God our Heavenly Father!

Father Abraham obeyed. He loved God. He took his son, Isaac with him to the exact place where God had commanded him to go to sacrifice him. Abraham trusted in God but oh how difficult it must have been for The Father of the Faithful that day. He so loved God, but he so much loved his and Sarah's only son too!

Painting: Del Parson

Abraham and Isaac With a Load of Wood for the Sacrifice

Here is what is written in Genesis 22: 5 -13

5 And Abraham said unto his young men, Abide ye here with the ass; and I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you.

6 And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, and laid it upon Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife; and they went both of them together.

7 And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and said, My father: and he said, Here am I, my son. And he said, Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?

8 And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together.

9 And they came to the place which God had told him of; and Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood.

10 And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son.

11 And the angel of the LORD called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here am I.

12 And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me.

13 And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram (a male sheep) caught in a thicket (a thickly branched bunch of small trees) by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son. (emphasis and clarification added)

Now please read and feel glad for these words of the Lord found in Genesis 22: 15-18

15 ¶ And the angel of the LORD called unto Abraham out of heaven the second time, 

16 And said, By myself have I sworn, saith the LORD, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son:

17 That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies;

18 And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.

So, Abraham the Father of the Faithful who was the leader of the ancient nation of Israel, remained faithful. He passed the test the Lord gave him and was promised great blessings, which we learn from the holy scriptures, were given him!

JoJo, you might ask, why would Heavenly Father want to have Abraham go through such a great test? I suggest that one reason why, is that He wanted Abraham to fully understand how difficult it would be for Himself, Heavenly Father, when He would be going through a similar trial, the future sacrifice of His Only Mortal Son. 

We humans are all sons and daughters of our Heavenly Father, but He is the father of our spirit bodies in our previous life and He gave us the great privilege of coming in our spirit bodies prepared by Him and our Heavenly mother, into mortal bodies prepared for us by our parents here on earth. However, in the case of Jesus, Heavenly Father was not only the father of Jesus' spirit, but also was the father of Jesus' mortal body.

Jesus was Heavenly Father's only mortal son. This is how Jesus' apostle, John referred to this great truth:

John 3:16 ¶ For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (emphasis added.)

Here is the meaning of the word, begotten, JoJo, according to the dictionary: "generated by procreation" (came by birth as all babies come); "naturally begotten child";  and in Jesus' case, God, (Our Heavenly Father) is His father.)

 Heavenly Father was not, as was Abraham, to be spared from allowing His Only Son, Jesus Christ to be sacrificed!! 

A Prayer: Our Dear Heavenly Father, I, J. Neil Birch, and whomsoever of the readers of this blog post desire to join with me in this prayer (hopefully this will include my dear granddaughter, JoJo), we thank Thee from the bottoms of our hearts for the supreme sacrifice You allowed to be made, of your only mortal son, Jesus Christ, so that He could fully be our Savior and Redeemer.

We are grateful for that which He (your Only Begotten Son, Jesus Christ) did to allow us to be forgiven of all our sins (inasmuch as we truly believe in You and in Your son, Jesus and strive with all our hearts to keep all of Your commandments), that we will be blessed in this life and eventually be blessed with Eternal Life.

We pray for all of this in the Sacred and Holy Name of Thy Son, Jesus Christ. AMEN!

Abraham, you were a great man. You were willing to do that which Heavenly Father asked you to do! We love and honor you for the great example of faithfulness you set for us! We have our own trials to pass through, but are glad they are not as difficult to face as your great trial.

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DISCLAIMER

This website is not owned by or affiliated with the Church Of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (sometimes called the Mormon or LDS Church). The views expressed herein do not necessarily represent the position of the Church.

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"Four Books of Scripture Testify of Jesus Christ!" Legal /Statement.Thank you for visiting. The author retains intellectual property and creative licensing rights. Permission to use or reprint must be given in writing. © Est.2008 Neil Birch Legal /Statement.

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TO OPEN NEIL BIRCH'S BLOG INDEX: To Either Read the Full Index Item Which Refers To This Blog Post, (Or To Search The Index For Any Other BlogPost You Desire To Access): After You Have Read All of This Paragraph, Please Click on That Which is Underlined at the Very End. (The Old Testament of the Holy Bible Like the Book of Mormon, Contains Quotes From Ancient Scriptures in Which are Found Testaments of Jesus Christ! -Post 46q

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I deeply appreciate your readership and hope you found very beneficial, that which was presented to you in this blog post.

If you have any questions about what you have read or viewed in this post or in any previous posts of mine, or if you even have a curiosity about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and or its teachings, please e-mail me. I'm Neil and my e-mail address is: jneilmelva@gmail.com. If you contact me I'll get back to you just as soon as possible.

I invite you to let your friends and relatives know about this blog if you think they would be interested. Please be advised that I also have an additional blog. It is in Spanish: Its content is translated from the English in this blog.

J. Neil Birch