How can I say, or how can we say, as Latter-day Saints, that the central and fundamental message of the Old Testament is that salvation may be found only in and through the name of the Lord, Jesus Christ, when the sacred name and title, Jesus Christ, is not even found within the pages of the Old Testament?
My answer to that question, and I feel that our answer to that question, as Latter-day Saints, lies in the fact that our study and our understanding of the Old Testament has been enhanced through the glorious flood of truth and light that has come to earth in the restoration of the fulness of the gospel of Jesus Christ, through the Prophet Joseph Smith.
It is my testimony that the angel of the Lord who instructed Nephi, son of Lehi, explains why the sacred name and title "Jesus Christ" is not found in the Old Testament of our day. He declared that there are "many plain and precious things taken away from the book which is the book of the Lamb of God, . . . " and "because of the many plain and precious things which have been taken out of the book, . . . an exceedingly great many do stumble, . . . " (1 Nephi 13:28-29) and I would add, that because of the plain and precious things that were taken away from the book of the Lamb of God, an exceedingly great many have stumbled, and continue to stumble, in an awful state of blindness, throughout the world today.
Even though the Prophet Joseph Smith did not make a complete revision of the Bible, the revision or translation he made is a priceless treasure. His inspired revision of the Bible, combined with the other scriptures of the Restoration, and the teachings of the latter-day prophets, enhances our study and our understanding of the Old Testament, and helps us to see that the Old Testament is truly a precious and powerful witness of Jesus Christ; and that the central and fundamental message of the Old Testament is that salvation may be found only in and through the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
It is my testimony that all of the prophets from the beginning knew the name and role of the Lord Jesus Christ and of His relationship to our Heavenly Father. They prayed to and worshiped the Father, in the name of Jesus Christ!
A wonderful statement of doctrine by Elder Joseph Fielding Smith, which is fundamental to our study and understanding of the Old Testament, reads: "All revelation since the fall has come through Jesus Christ, who is the Jehovah of the Old Testament. In all of the scriptures, where God is mentioned and where He has appeared, it was Jehovah who talked with Abraham, with Noah, Enoch, Moses and all the prophets. He is the God of Israel, the Holy One of Israel; the one who led that nation out of Egyptian bondage, and who gave and fulfilled the Law of Moses.
"The Father has never dealt with man directly and personally since the fall, and He has never appeared except to introduce and bear record of the Son." (Joseph Fielding Smith, Doctrines of Salvation, Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1954, vol. 1, p. 27.)
How can we show from the scriptures that Jesus Christ was the God of the Old Testament, even the Great Jehovah? Of the many passages of scripture that confirm this truth, perhaps we should begin with Exodus, the third chapter. Being commanded to go unto Pharaoh and bring the Lord's people out of Egypt, Moses wanted to know the name of the God who was speaking to Him, that he might tell the children of Israel. "And God said . . . I AM THAT I AM . . . ." (Exodus 3:14.)
The mortal Jesus, whom we know to be the Christ, or the Messiah, confirmed His identity to a group of Jews, when He made clear reference to Himself, as and by the name, I AM, which to them, was the same as saying, I AM THE GREAT JEHOVAH.
These Jews were so angered by Jesus' clear and unmistakable testimony, that they took up stones to kill Him. This entire episode is recorded in John 8:51-59.
The role and identity of Jesus Christ were known to Adam and to all the prophets from the beginning, as we learn from Moses 7:57: "For in the language of Adam, Man of Holiness is his name, and the name of his Only Begotten is the Son of Man, even Jesus Christ, a righteous Judge, who shall come in the meridian of time."
In these latter days, the resurrected Lord, Jesus Christ, again confirms His identity as the Great Jehovah, the very same who declared His sacred name to be I AM. In Doctrine and Covenants 29:1, he declared: "Listen to the voice of Jesus Christ, your Redeemer, the Great I AM, whose arm of mercy hath atoned for your sins."
Let us now consider how the scriptures show that the central and fundamental message of the Old Testament is that salvation may be found only in and through the name of Jesus Christ. In Moses chapters 5, 6, 7 and 8 we find ample evidence of the fact that Adam and the prophets understood the gospel.
From Moses 6:51-52: "And he called upon our father Adam by his own voice, saying: I am God; I made the world, and men before they were in the flesh. And he also said unto him: If thou wilt turn unto me, and hearken unto my voice, and believe, and repent of all thy transgressions, and be baptized, even in the water, in the name of mine Only Begotten Son, who is full of grace and truth, which is Jesus Christ, the only name which shall be given under heaven, whereby salvation shall come unto the children of men, ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. . . ."
I have referred to many of the names and titles of the God of the Old Testament. I now [refer to] a few representative passages from the Old Testament which clearly show that salvation is to be found only in and through the Lord Jesus Christ, whom we know to be, and whom we have already shown to be the Great Jehovah. In most of the passages that follow, we may appropriately add the sacred name and title, Jesus Christ, and especially after the use of the title "Lord" or "the Lord."
From Psalms we read: "O come, let us sing unto the Lord [Jesus Christ]: let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation." (Psalm 95:1.)
From the Prophet Isaiah we read: "Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid: for the Lord JEHOVAH [who is Jesus Christ] is my strength and my song; he also is become my salvation. Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation." (Isaiah 12:2-3.)
"I even I, am the Lord [Jesus Christ]; and beside me there is no saviour." (Isaiah 43:11; see also verses 3, 15.)
Now, let us consider how the Old Testament bears further witness of Jesus Christ. Perhaps the conversation of the resurrected Lord with two of His disciples, as they journeyed to Emmaus, will illustrate: "Then [Jesus] said unto them, O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken: Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory? And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself." (Luke 24:25-27.)
As used here by the Lord, the phrase, "the scriptures," is a clear reference to the entire Old Testament, which now consists of the same canon of scripture that was current among the Jews of the Holy Land in our Lord's time. (See Bible Dictionary, p. 622.)
Oh that we might have our understanding opened, that we might understand "the scriptures," that we might understand that the central and fundamental message of the Old Testament, and indeed of all scripture, is wonderfully summarized by the Lord, in this single verse, Luke 24:46: "And [Jesus] said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day."
So, what is the central and fundamental message of the Old Testament, and of all scripture, both ancient and modern, and what is the central and fundamental message of all prophets, both ancient and modern? It is simple, the gospel! The gospel, the good news, the glad tidings! The gospel is the wonderful message of the scriptures, of the prophets and of holy angels!
And what is the gospel? To be brief, let me put it this way: The Atonement of Jesus Christ is not part of the gospel, it is the gospel!
It is my testimony that the Old Testament once contained this glorious message, even the fulness of the everlasting gospel, and that through the light contained in the scriptures of the Restoration and the teachings of latter-day prophets, we can truly see that the Old Testament is a precious and powerful witness of the Lord Jesus Christ and of His great and infinite Atonement, and that salvation may be found only in and through His holy name.
Elder Madsen was sustained to the Second Quorum of the Seventy in 1992 and to the First Quorum of the Seventy in 1997. He is second counselor in the Philippines Area Presidency.
