The Third Thousand Years

The Third Thousand Years is the next installment in the series by W. Cleon Skousen. I personally enjoyed this book a lot more than the first, mostly because there are more historical records that the author was able to draw from as he compiled this book. Even if I do not agree with the author's interpretation of the scriptures in all cases, I do appreciate that because of this book I am now reading the scriptures closer and studying them more.

For example, when talking about the story of Joseph in Egypt, the author states that it was not Joseph's brothers, but rather a group of Midianites who sold him to a caravan of Ishmaelites, who sold him into Egypt. When I read this I thought, "That's not right! His brothers sold him!" So I opened up my scriptures, and sure enough, it says that it was some Midianites who took him out of the pit. Now, maybe the Midianites and the brothers were in it together, but either way, this was something I had never noticed before.

The part that I enjoyed reading the most was all about Moses. Skousen frequently cites Josephus to give additional details to Moses' life. Now, since Josephus is not a scriptural record, perhaps we can't take everything he says for granted, but a lot of what he says matches with certain references in the Bible.

For example, Josephus says that Moses was actually the crowned prince of Egypt. Not just a prince, but the prince who would actually become ruler over all the land someday. Is this true? Perhaps... In Hebrews 11, we learn that Moses rejected the comforts of Egypt's palace of sin in favor of being with God's people.

During Moses' time as crowned prince, Josephus says he fought a battle against Ethiopia and at the end of the battle Moses married an Ethiopian princess. Well, in Numbers we read about Miriam and Aaron ridiculing Moses because of the Ethiopian he married. The scripture does not clarify whether this marriage occurred while they were all in the wilderness or if it occurred many years earlier. The fact that Doctrine and Covenants 132 teaches that Moses had plural wives indicates that this marriage to an Ethiopian probably occurred earlier and that Moses was married to her and to Zipporah at the same time.

I also loved learning more about the Law of Moses. While I am grateful we do not need to live the full extent of this law today, it was fascinating to me to learn how it worked, or rather, how it was supposed to work. As I read more about it and learned more about it, I saw how it really was a schoolmaster to bring the children of Israel to Christ. Although very strict and rigid, the principles it was founded on are the same principles that serve as the foundation of the Gospel and righteous living.