As Abinadi preaches to King Noah and his priests about the purpose of the Law of Moses, he says something that caught my eye recently.
29 And now I say unto you that it was expedient that there should be a law given to the children of Israel, yea, even a very strict law; for they were a stiffnecked people, quick to do iniquity, and slow to remember the Lord their God;
30 Therefore there was a law given them, yea, a law of performances and of ordinances, a law which they were to observe strictly from day to day, to keep them in remembrance of God and their duty towards him.
31 But behold, I say unto you, that all these things were types of things to come. (Mosiah 13:30-31)
Abinadi asserts that the daily performances and ordinances of the Law of Moses were all types meant to prophesy of the future. I looked down at the footnotes here and it pointed to the Topical Guide entry “Christ, Types of, in Anticipation; Symbolism,” so I suppose that at some level, all the little rules were meant to teach about Christ. I wonder if anyone has studied how all those things related to Christ?*
In a way, even daily performances themselves were a type of Christ and how He would be perfectly faithful every day. If the people messed something up, it could remind them of their need for a Savior and the repentance made possible by Him.
These days, the weekly sacrament instructs us to always remember Christ and keep His commandments. Perhaps the daily performances of the Law of Moses were a kind of all-encompassing sacrament to remind the people of Christ. And maybe it was a type that prophesied of a future Millennial day and a refined Christ-like people who would no longer be stiff-necked but would keep the commandments constantly on their own and always remember Christ and His sacrifice.
Today let’s think about every duty we do in terms of how it might remind us of Christ and His sacrifice.
* There’s a Sperry Symposium book that has a nice chapter called “The Law of Moses and the Law of Christ”that explains some of the ways symbolic aspects of the Law of Moses relate to Christ.
Also, I ran into an excellent online book called The Shadowof Christ in the Law of Moses which explains ways that the Law of Moses typifies Christ. Members will be probably be familiar with symbolism of the temple, sacrifices, priesthood, and such, but its discussion on the justice aspects of the law deserves special attention for its excellent analysis of how factors of restitution and punishment in the law were designed to teach about holiness. While written by a non-member, I think it well worth the time.
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