Reading the Bible and Book of Mormon from beginning to end?

[norah63]

After reading the bible all the way through first. The book of Mormon seemed easy. Maybe just me, yet I didn't think I could read the bible and get understanding, but the words came to me, "just pass it before your eyes". And I could do that, and the revealing was left up to the Holy Spirit.

Does anyone know if there is a list of Jesus thru the Book of Mormon, like the one of the Bible?

Where each book has a line to show Jesus as the thought of that book? Maybe I'm not asking clearly, sorry about that.

[myapk]

Please for the love of all sanity do not read the bible in KJV order. The current order is 1, Torah; 2, History; 3, Poetry; 4, Major Prophets; 5, Minor Prophets. It makes the whole of Chronicles seem irrelevant and takes most of the Christ-pointers out.

Read it in the three-fold pattern, of the Torah, the Nevi'im, and the Ketuvim - the Instruction, the Prophets, and the Writings. (If that sounds familiar, it should. Luke 24:44; Christ talked about the OT like that.) You can find the Hebrew pattern of the Tanakh online. Of course, that doesn't really help you get through the Torah, because even Hebrew order goes "Genesis, Exodus..."

So.

Slow down. The Old Testament is three times as long as the New Testament, the Book of Mormon, four times as long as D&C... Combined, the Old Testament is only 100 pages less than the other books in the Standard Works. (If it were up to me, we'd spend three years on it in Sunday School.) Don't press yourself trying to get through it all in one year. Spend 10 weeks in each book of the Torah, and next year, move on to the Prophets. There were Jewish cults sects that forced you to meditate for ten years on Genesis before they would accept you. That's really what the Old Testament is - Jewish meditation literature. Sit down with a cup of (herbal) tea (or hot chocolate) and mull it over.

Study it out. The first five books of the OT are difficult for anyone, but least to the Mormons due to the similarities we can draw between the Levitical laws and the rites in the temple. Compare, contrast, check archaeology records (not boiling goats in their mother's milk is not an anti-cruelty kosher law, but a requirement to not follow other gods), and commentaries.

Invest in another translation. For me, personally, reading stuff other than the KJV is really weird because I'm used to the language. You may not be. You wouldn't buy a copy of Chaucer in the original Middle English and expect to understand. And get English translations of the Septuagint and the Dead Sea Scrolls. This may seem weird, but the basis for the Old Testament in most English translations is the Jewish Masoretic texts, which means a lot of Judaic explainers have worked their way into the texts. Lots of these are great, but some can just confuse us worse, particularly in the Torah.

Do two readings of a section: narrative and themes. What's the narrative? Where does it fit in the narrative? What are the themes of this section/chapter/book? Then, do a third whilst thinking on how that theme relates to Christ.

Read it out loud. Literally, the Hebrew word for "meditate" is "hagah." It's the same word used to mean "mutter" or "mull" and even for when a lion's eating. (You can hear that noise here.) Most scripture wasn't written, it was memorized. This means that when you hear other language popping up in other books, you can go "oh, yeah! I remember that same wording in this place" and you connect them together. (They're all over, even in the Book of Mormon.)

GET HELP! Read study bibles. Read cultural context bibles. Read chronological bibles. Read bible dictionaries and imagery dictionaries. Watch The Bible Project videos. Don't just push through if you don't understand. I mean, yeah, keep reading and don't give up, but don't glaze over as you're reading.

The Book of Mormon is Old Testament in the New World. The same rules apply. If you're really having a hard time getting through 2 Nephi, skip to the large plates. Words of Mormon, Mosiah, down to Moroni and then go back through.

EDIT: It's also helpful, I've found, to check the Hebrew names for biblical books, because it changes what you get out of the book. We look at "Numbers" for example, and get disappointed because no one wants to read 36 chapters of censuses. But the Hebrew word is "B'mivar," or "In the Desert," so you come to the book with the expectation of finding out about Israel while it was still in the desert. 

Edited October 5, 2018 by myapk