Prophets, Priests, and Kings: Old Testament Figures Who Symbolize Christ

by Andrew C. Skinner

President Gordon B Hinckley “I would hope that in all we do, we would somehow constantly nourish the testimony of our people concerning the Savior.” The Old Testament, like the Book of Mormon, has the ultimate purpose of bearing witness of Jesus Christ and bringing souls to him. It is filled with types and shadows that point to the Savior and his powers. The most poignant, visible symbols of Him are those people whose callings, actions, and speech mirrored Christ’s-those whom we recognize as prophets, priest and kings. Brother Skinner examines twenty individuals whose lives and experiences typified, paralleled, and foreshadowed the life and ministry of Christ, the great Prophet, Priest and King.

Genres: Religion, Lds, Nonfiction

144 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2006

About the author

Andrew C. Skinner was born and raised in Colorado. He attended the University of Colorado where he earned his B.A. degree in history. He then earned an M.A. degree from the Iliff School of Theology in Jewish Studies and a Th.M. degree from Harvard in Biblical Hebrew. He did graduate work at Hebrew University in Jerusalem, Israel. His Ph.D. was awarded from the University of Denver in Near Eastern and European History, specializing in Judaism.

Brother Skinner taught four years at Ricks College, and has filled three assignments at the BYU Jerusalem Center where he served as a faculty member and taught Near Eastern Studies. Since September 2000 he has served as the Dean of Religious Education at Brigham Young University. Prior to his current appointment, he served as chair of the department of Ancient Scripture at BYU. He is the author or co-author of over 100 publications including Jerusalem: The Eternal City; New Testament Apostles Testify of Christ; Discoveries in the Judaean Desert: The Unidentified Fragments from Qumran Cave 4 (which is an analysis of all the unidentified Hebrew and Aramaic Dead Sea Scroll texts); Scriptural Parables for the Latter Days, and Gethsemane.

He served a full time mission for the LDS Church from 1970-72 in the California Central Mission and served as Branch President at the Missionary Training Center in Provo. He has also served as a bishop in Colorado and Utah and currently serves as a member of the Correlation Evaluation Committee of the Church.

He and his wife Janet Corbridge reside in Lindon, Utah, and they are the parents of six children.

Reviews

[Jeremy Howlett · Rating 5 out of 5]

Short and easy to digest. This work gives us a glimpse into the Christlike lives and teachings of the many key figures of the Old Testament. Brother Skinner teaches us how their lives correlate with that of our Savior Jesus Christ. The Old Testament prefigured Jesus and His life and the individuals therein pointed to His coming. A wonderful synopsis.

[Tyler · Rating 3 out of 5]

A brief but interesting and insightful book into some of the types and shadows of Jesus Christ in the Old Testament. Coupled with The Hidden Christ by James Ferrell this book helped me see a lot more of the way symbolic types can testify of Christ in the scriptures.

[Jodee Clark · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a wonderful book. Very enlightening!

[Natalie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book does a thorough job of going over the Old Testament prophets Skinner chooses to highlight. There are scriptural references throughout and the book is very readable. However, except for the chapter on King Cyrus, the author does not refer to any outside sources or create a dialogue with others on these topics. It reads as the definitive opinion on how these prophets symbolize Christ. I had hoped to find a bit of dialogue between other experts on Old Testament doctrine to either show debate or agreement on the symbols of Christ. The book starts out with some interesting points: that the Old Testament is designed to teach the truths of salvation, bear witness of Christ, and "put into operation the terms and conditions of the plan of salvation." But the rest of the book feels more like explication rather than insight. This book is helpful to read along with the Old Testament but not ground breaking in its information.

[Kimberly]

I learned so much from this book. We are discussing Old Testament stories with our kids and this was really helpful sharing these examples with my kids, because I had a better understanding of the happenings and principles. I will refer back to this book often.

[Solveig · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved to read Skinner's thoughts on how Old Testament figures have Christlike traits and how we can learn that their lives are symbols of Christ. It's an uplifting book for all who believe in Christ The Savior.