Old Testament Study Guide, Pt. 2: Deuteronomy to Solomon

Making Precious Things Plain #8

by Randal S. Chase

Deuteronomy to Solomon. This volume is the second of three on the Old Testament. It covers the Bible from the Book of Deuteronomy to the reign of King Solomon. We read Moses' counsel to his people during the final days before his translation. We follow the children of Israel into the Promised Land under the leadership of Joshua, beginning at Jericho and ending with the total conquering of all the lands promised to Abraham. We are introduced to the Judge-Heroes, including but not limited to Gideon, Deborah, and Samson. We read of the rise of the prophet Samuel and reigns of Saul, David, and Solomon. We thrill at the faith and gifts of David and mourn over his fall from grace. We are inspired by the wisdom of Solomon and the beauty of the House of Lord He built at Jerusalem, but are saddened by his idolatry in his old age. Along the way, we become familiar with the ministries and teachings of Elijah, and Elisha, and the courage and faith of Job. The cover features an extremely rare photograph of the rock (es-Sakhara) inside the Dome of the Rock, which at one time stood inside the Holy of Holies of Solomon's temple.

368 pages, Perfect Paperback

First published January 1, 2010

About the author

Randal S. Chase spent his childhood years in Nephi, Utah, where his father was a dry land wheat farmer and a businessman. In 1959 their family moved to Salt Lake City and settled in the Holladay area. He served a full-time mission in the Central British (England Central) Mission from 1968 to 1970. He returned home and married Deborah Johnsen in 1971. They are the parents of six children—two daughters and four sons—and an ever-expanding number of grandchildren.

He was called to serve as a bishop at the age of twenty-seven in the Sandy Crescent South Stake area of the Salt Lake Valley. He served six years in that capacity and has since served as a high councilor, a stake executive secretary and clerk, and in many other stake and ward callings. Regardless of whatever other callings he has received over the years, one was nearly constant: he has taught Gospel Doctrine classes in every ward he has ever lived in as an adult—for a total of thirty-five years.

Dr. Chase was a well-known media personality on Salt Lake City radio stations in the 1970s. He left on-air broadcasting in 1978 to develop and market computer-based management, sales, and music programming systems to radio and television stations in the United States, Canada, South America, and Australia. After the business was sold in 1984, he supported his family as a media and business consultant in the Salt Lake City area.

Having a great desire to teach young people of college age, he determined in the late 1980s to pursue his doctorate, and he received his PhD in communication from the University of Utah in 1997. He has taught communication courses at that institution as well as at Salt Lake Community College and Dixie State College of Utah for twenty-one years. He is currently a full-time tenured faculty member in the Communication Department at Dixie State College in St. George, Utah.

Concurrently with his academic career, Dr. Chase has served as a volunteer LDS Institute and Adult Education instructor in the CES system since 1994, both in Salt Lake City and St. George, where he currently teaches a weekly Adult Education class for three stakes in the Washington, Utah area. He has also conducted multiple Church history tours and seminars. During these years of gospel teaching, he has developed an extensive library of lesson plans and handouts that are the predecessors to his many gospel study guides.

Reviews

[Mitchell · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is part 2 of a three part series of an Old Testament study guide written by an LDS teacher. I thought part 1 was pretty good and felt like I learned a decent amount. This one, however, I was pretty disappointed. It could be because of the subject matter; this section of the Old Testament is certainly some of the more .. dry material in the book. However, I felt like he repeated himself a lot. I also thought that the external sources were lacking; like he took "Gospel Doctrine" and a couple other books and just ran with those only. The reason I wanted an Old Testament guide or commentary is to explain the symbolism and idioms used by Old Testament writers so that the overall message becomes clearer and easier to relate to ourselves. This one didn't do it for me.