3.001 Old Testament or First Testament

In Matthew 5, Jesus calls us the salt of the earth and the light of the world, reminding us that our lives are meant to preserve, illuminate, and point others to Him. This season on Savory Salt, we'll walk through the Old Testament, one verse and one thought each day. Perhaps these moments will add greater savor and brighter light to our lives as we seek to truly live as savory salt.

Hello, my friends. It's a new day with new opportunities. Choose ye this day whom you will serve.

I'm so excited to be inside of season three on Savory Salt with you today. We're going to dive into the Old Testament in season three, and we need to handle a little bit of housekeeping in this first episode. So bear with me.

I do have a verse for the day coming. But first, just a quick introduction. My name is Allen.

I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I am a Christian. I believe in Jesus Christ as my Savior and yours, and I testify of that inside of Savory Salt.

Savory Salt was created two years ago with the idea of taking little steps every day to be a little bit better and ultimately be the salt of the earth and the light of the world as Jesus Christ called his followers. Past seasons gone through the Book of Mormon and last season we went through Doctrine and Covenants. Now we're going to take some time the entire year to go through the Old Testament.

And I got to give you my opinion of the Old Testament in terms of its naming. I really actually believe that the Old Testament should be called the First Testament. Now I'm not going to start a campaign.

We're going to be talking about the idea of testament and testimony. What is it that we're saying the testament is? Who's the testimony about?

And I like to use the Book of Mormon as an example of that. The formal name of the Book of Mormon is the Book of Mormon, another testament of Jesus Christ. And so if it's another testament of Jesus Christ, well then, what are the other testaments?

And you got it, you're right, that would be the Old and New Testaments. So I like to consider it the way that the Book of Mormon does in terms of the, if we were to title it the full name, then the Old Testament would actually be the First Testament of Jesus Christ. And the New Testament would be the Second Testament of Jesus Christ.

And then the Book of Mormon would be another Testament of Jesus Christ. So I'm excited to dive in this year and look at all of the ways that the Old Testament or the First Testament of Jesus Christ shows Jesus Christ throughout the workings of the Israelites in the Hebrews. Now, third thing we need to cover is the pacing for the year.

I'll make sure that I've got a pacing covered for you. But there are some changes you need to be aware of, especially if you're a listener from season one and two. We will have inside of Savory Salt here, episodes focused on the Old Testament.

And you are traditionally used to having a pacing guide with the Book of Mormon as well. Here's what we're going to say to that. We are going to have episodes in season three that include Book of Mormon verses.

The Bible, Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, Pearl of Great Price, names from the testimony of Old Testament prophets and stories. So if you want a Book of Mormon pace, I encourage you to go to Season 1 of Savory Salt, which is literally starting Day 1 and taking you through the year of reading the Book of Mormon. If you need a pacer, Season 1 is going to be your help there for Savory Salt.

You also could use season two as well, which keeps the pacing. So this year, the little bit of change is going to be that the Book of Mormon verses are going to thematically align based on what we're talking about inside of the week with Savory Salt in the Old Testament. Hopefully that makes sense there.

We are going to have modern prophets as well as we share some general conference talks here and there as well. Last bit of business we need to take and then this will actually lead into our verse for today. And that is this.

We will be using different translations throughout Savory Salt, but I want to give you kind of my default translation so you're aware of it and kind of can follow along from there. I'm going to default with the King James Version of the Old Testament. However, that being said, when I share verses from any other translation in order to try and help us better understand Old Testament vocabulary or usage, I'll make sure that I share with you also the other translation that I'm going to be using.

Fair enough? And then, fun little announcement that I want to share with you, and that is Savory Salt is going online. For those of you that have Instagram, you can find us and follow us at Savory Salt Podcast.

For those of you that would like to see our online pieces, those will just have highlights from the episodes and different motivational quotes and themes to go along with the idea of savory salt. Now I know our time is getting tight, so I want to make sure we get our verse and our thought for today. And here it is.

Dallin H. Oaks gave a talk many years ago called "Bible Stories and Personal Protection". And one of the first things I want to bring up about the Old Testament is there are some amazing stories of those who make covenants with the Lord being protected.

Does he protect everyone all the time? No. But he absolutely strengthens and protects those who make covenants with him.

And so from one of his talks, this "Bible Stories and Personal Protection", I'll make sure the link's in this for you. I want to share this. He says, 'Bible Stories such as these do not mean that the servants of God are delivered from all hardship or that they are always saved from death.

Some believers lose their lives in persecutions and some suffer great hardships as a result of their faith. But the protection promised to the faithful servants of God is a reality today as it was in Bible times.' My friends, may part of our savory salt also bring to us a spiritual and personal protection from the Lord as we continue to seek to make covenants with Him and be a little bit better every day. I'm so excited for season three, my friends.

And that's all for today, my friends. You and I have come here for such a time as this. Step forward in faith and let's be savory salt. We'll be here tomorrow and we hope you are too.