We are beginning a new year, and we’ll have the opportunity to study the Old Testament. Many years ago, the editors of the Church News asked me to write an article discussing why we should study the Old Testament.
I was going to begin the article quoting a flippant comment by Elder J. Golden Kimball, “I read the Old Testament once. And if the Lord will forgive me, I promise never to read it again.” However, that doesn’t reflect my love for this sacred scriptural volume. My feelings are better reflected in what I wrote to conclude my article. “There are familiar tones of eternal principles in this testament of Christ. Its message is so familiar to Latter-day Saints because it is the same gospel. One can embrace this book because reading it is like coming home to an old friend.”
This year I will highlight a keyword each week from the Come Follow Me reading assignments to reflect on those familiar tones. This week’s post connects early events of the Restoration to the Old Testament.
The Spring and Fall Feasts
Perhaps God designed the Hebrew year to mirror world history. The Lord declares in the Doctrine and Covenants that all time on Earth is like a year to Him. “All these are one year with God, but not with man” (Doctrine and Covenants 88:44). Should this be the case, the start of the year would depict Adam and Eve, events in the middle would represent the Savior’s mortal life, and the end would symbolize the last days and the second coming of Jesus Christ.
The Hebrew calendar year begins and ends in the fall with its three great feasts. Mid-year spring festivals revolved around Passover. These feasts represent the Savior’s first coming in the meridian of time. However, the biggest celebration happens in the fall, incorporating the Jewish holy days of Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, and Sukkot. The Lord names them “at the year’s end,” although they start on New Year’s Day (Exodus 34:22) because with the Lord “the first shall be last, and . . . the last shall be first” (Doctrine and Covenants 29:30).
We learn of these seven annual feasts in Leviticus 23. Four holy days took place in the spring, and three in the fall. The Spring feasts are Passover (Pesach), Unleavened Bread (Hag Ha-Matzot), First Fruits (Yom Habikkurim), and Pentecost (Shavout). The Fall feasts are the Feast of Trumpets (Rosh Hashanah), Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur), and the Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot).
Christ, in the meridian of times, fulfills the purpose of the midyear feasts. Christ died on Passover, was buried on the Feast of Unleavened Bread, was resurrected on the Feast of First Fruits, and the Holy Ghost descended on the Feast of Pentecost. As we will see, there’s an interesting parallel with the fall feasts and the Book of Mormon.
The Fall Feasts and the Book of Mormon
Israel’s festivals and the Book of Mormon’s origin share links to the fall High Holy Days. These ancient festivals commemorated Israel’s salvation and looked forward to its future gathering and the Messiah’s arrival.
1. Rosh Hashanah (Feast of Trumpets)
Rosh Hashanah (ראש השנה), literally “head of the year”. It is the first of the High Holidays or Yamim Noraim (“Days of Awe”), celebrated ten days before Yom Kippur. Rosh Hashanah is observed on the first two days of Tishrei, the seventh month of the Hebrew calendar. It is described in the Torah as יום תרועה (Yom Teruah), a day of sounding the Shofar.
After the long, dry season, it is finally time for Israel to start praying for rain. The final harvests are being gathered in, so fall was an ideal time for weddings in ancient Israel. The fall is filled with wedding-related imagery and is time to welcome the Bridegroom.
The Prophet Joseph Smith received the golden plates from the angel Moroni on September 22, 1827, which coincided with the first day of Tishrei which is the beginning of Rosh Hashanah. Joseph Smith’s younger sister, Katharine, noted the exact time that Joseph was to meet the angel at Cumorah to receive the plates. “I well remember the trials my brother had, before he obtained the records. After he had the vision, he went frequently to the hill, and upon returning would tell us, ‘I have seen the records, also the brass plates and the sword of Laban with the breast plate and interpreters.’ He would ask why he could not get them? The time had not yet come, but when it did arrive, he was commanded to go on the 22d day of September 1827 at 2 o’clock.” (Early Mormon Documents 1:521).
Typically, the shofar blowing is during morning services, after the Torah has been read, before the Musaf prayer. 2:00 am in New York state would have been 9:00 am in Jerusalem when the shofar was being sounded. Blowing a shofar on Rosh Hashanah symbolizes a call to repentance. Jeffrey Marsh observed, “the blowing of trumpets (shofars, or ram’s horns) to call for Israel to gather, followed by harvesting or gathering all the good grain to be preserved, and then burning the fields in preparation for a new season to begin. It is no coincidence that the very book which would launch the final harvest of souls was delivered to the Prophet Joseph Smith on the very day Israel was commanded to celebrate the final harvest” (“The Inspired Timing of the Book of Mormon”).
Symbolic and Prophetic Connections:
Remembrance of Covenants: Rosh Hashanah is also known as Yom ha-Zikkaron (“Day of Remembrance”). The plates being received on this day was a sign that Heavenly Father would remember his covenants with Israel and bring them back from exile. Jewish prayers on this day plead for God’s remembrance of his ancient promises to regather his people.
- The Shofar Call: The blowing of the shofar is the central ritual of the feast.
- The shofar commemorates the revelation given at Mount Sinai and is also understood to signify a future gift of new revelation leading to redemption.
- It is understood to be the “Trumpet of Liberation,” anticipating the restoration of Israel and the gathering of exiled children.
- The Book of Mormon, given on this day, is seen as the divine instrument for the restoration of Israel, and the image of the angel Moroni blowing a trumpet atop temples symbolizes proclaiming this everlasting gospel to the world.
The Final Harvest: Rosh Hashanah coincides with Israel’s final agricultural harvest and symbolizes the Lord’s final harvest of souls. The coming forth of the Book of Mormon is considered the major instrument prepared by the Lord for His final harvest.
2. Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement)
The ten days following Rosh Hashanah are known as the Days of Awe or Days of Repentance, culminating in Yom Kippur. This period is a crucial time to repent and prepare for the final judgment.
Symbolic and Prophetic Connections:
- Bringing the Sacred Home: Joseph Smith acquired the plates on Rosh Hashanah and hid them for “about ten days”. He then returned, wrapped them in a linen garment, and carried them home on Yom Kippur.
- The biblical High Priest accessed the Ark of the Covenant behind the veil of the Holy of Holies just once a year on Yom Kippur for the remission of Israel’s sins.
- Joseph Smith, in a symbolic priestly role, received the plates from the stone box or an “ark” atop Cumorah.
- Final At-one-ment: The Day of Atonement symbolizes the great latter-day time of At-one-ment when the Lord will return and allow the repentant to physically enter his presence.
3. Sukkot (Feast of Tabernacles)
The Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot) follows five days after Yom Kippur. This feast commemorates the Israelites’ forty years of wandering and trial during the Exodus; dwelling in booths symbolizes this trial.
Symbolic and Prophetic Connections:
- Commencement of Trial and Journey: On October 6, 1827, the first day of the Feast of Tabernacles, Joseph looked into the interpreters and sent a message to Martin Harris to take characters from the plates to be deciphered.
- Connection to Plates: This timing coincided with the Smiths enduring a period of intense trial, fending off “wicked men” attempting to steal the plates, echoing the themes of trial and journey.
4. The 40-Day Period
The entire period of Joseph Smith’s initial trial and affliction in protecting the plates—from the moment he retrieved them on the Feast of Trumpets on September 22, 1827 until he took them to safety in Harmony, Pennsylvania on November 1—was an even forty days.
This timing parallels the forty days Moses spent on Mount Sinai fasting to receive the sacred tablets of the Law, which he then carried down to place in the biblical Ark. Since the Feast of Trumpets commemorates the giving of the Law on Sinai, the subsequent 40-day protection period reinforces the connection between Joseph Smith carrying the golden plates and Moses carrying the Law.
The timing of the Book of Mormon’s coming forth aligns sequentially with the fall festivals, symbolizing God beginning His final work: the call to repentance (sofar), the opportunity for atonement (Yom Kippur), and the anticipated gathering and subsequent Millennial reign (Sukkot).
Sources: I’m indebted to the following for pointing out these connections: Don Bradley, “Israel’s Festivals, Cumorah’s ‘Ark,’ and the Coming Forth of the Book of Mormon”; Lenet Hadley Read, “Joseph Smith’s Receipt of the Plates and the Israelite Feast of Trumpets”; Gale Boyd, Days of Awe: Jewish Holy Days, Symbols and Prophecies for Latter-day Saints: John L. Fowles, The Farm Boy Does It Again: Evidences of the Prophetic Calling of Joseph Smith.
