Pointing Our Souls to Him

One of my general impressions as I have recently been listening to the books of Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers in the Old Testament is this: their religion looks very little like my religious experience today! A lot of that is because of the focus on sacrifice within the law of Moses. For example, here is a description of a peace offering which surely became commonplace among them: “If he offer a lamb for his offering, then shall he offer it before the Lord. And he shall lay his hand upon the head of his offering, and kill it before the tabernacle of the congregation: and Aaron’s sons shall sprinkle the blood thereof round about upon the altar. And he shall offer of the sacrifice of the peace offering an offering made by fire unto the Lord; the fat thereof, and the whole rump, it shall he take off hard by the backbone; and the fat that covereth the inwards, and all the fat that is upon the inwards, And the two kidneys, and the fat that is upon them, which is by the flanks, and the caul above the liver, with the kidneys, it shall he take away. And the priest shall burn it upon the altar: it is the food of the offering made by fire unto the Lord” (Leviticus 3:7-11). There is a reason we don’t start with chapters from the law of Moses as we share the gospel with people! Descriptions like this related to killing animals, sprinkling their blood, separating out their inward parts, and burning them on the altar are commonplace throughout the five books of Moses. This was a central part of the Israelites religious experience, and on the outside it looks so different from what we do today. Reading the prohibitions and prescriptions of the law—with sacrifices and rituals and festivals—for these ancient Israelites leads one to wonder, “Wait, is this really the same God that commanded all of this that we worship today?”

               As I pondered this, I realized that one of the great contributions of the Book of Mormon is to show us that all of what happened under the law was indeed meant to bring people to Christ. There is a unity between what happened before Christ came (when the law was active) and after Christ came (when the law was active) that as readers of the Book of Mormon we hardly notice the difference, for example, between what Nephi taught and what Moroni taught. Both focused on Christ even though Nephi had to keep the commandments in the law of Moses and Moroni didn’t. The Book of Mormon repeatedly emphasized that though the people kept the law of Moses because it was a commandment, they still worshiped the Savior. Nephi clarified, “And, notwithstanding we believe in Christ, we keep the law of Moses, and look forward with steadfastness unto Christ, until the law shall be fulfilled. For, for this end was the law given; wherefore the law hath become dead unto us, and we are made alive in Christ because of our faith; yet we keep the law because of the commandments. And we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies, that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins” (2 Nephi 25:24-26). Even though Nephi at his temple must have been making these sacrificial offerings prescribed in the law of Moses, he and his people did not lose sight of the great and last sacrifice through Christ. Jacob also taught, “[The holy prophets] believed in Christ and worshiped the Father in his name, and also we worship the Father in his name. And for this intent we keep the law of Moses, it pointing our souls to him; and for this cause it is sanctified unto us for righteousness” (Jacob 4:5). The law was meant to point the people to their Savior, something that is perhaps hard to see just reading it in the five books of Moses. Abinadi understood that the law was temporary, whereas Christ was permanent: “And now ye have said that salvation cometh by the law of Moses. I say unto you that it is expedient that ye should keep the law of Moses as yet; but I say unto you, that the time shall come when it shall no more be expedient to keep the law of Moses. And moreover, I say unto you, that salvation doth not come by the law alone; and were it not for the atonement, which God himself shall make for the sins and iniquities of his people, that they must unavoidably perish, notwithstanding the law of Moses” (Mosiah 13:27-28). Salvation never came through the law; even for the Israelites offering up sheep on the altar, salvation came through Jesus Christ who offered Himself on the altar.

               When Ammon and his brethren taught the Lamanites, they must have instructed them on how to keep the law of Moses. That surely was challenging for these new converts to learn to do all of the prescriptions in the law, but they were able to see it only as a means of pointing them to Jesus Christ. Mormon summarized, “Yea, and they did keep the law of Moses; for it was expedient that they should keep the law of Moses as yet, for it was not all fulfilled. But notwithstanding the law of Moses, they did look forward to the coming of Christ, considering that the law of Moses was a type of his coming, and believing that they must keep those outward performances until the time that he should be revealed unto them. Now they did not suppose that salvation came by the law of Moses; but the law of Moses did serve to strengthen their faith in Christ; and thus they did retain a hope through faith, unto eternal salvation” (Alma 25:15-16). Salvation has always come through Jeus Christ. I am surely grateful that we are not required to live the law of Moses, but for those who did the law of the gospel (with faith in Jesus Christ, repentance, and baptism in His name) was still what was ultimately required for salvation