I like this story that happened to a friend of ours, Yves Perrin, who was called to be a mission president in Tahiti. He went to our neighbor Elder James M. Paramore for a chat one afternoon and asked him a question. “Elder Paramore, was I called to be the mission president in Tahiti because I am a native French speaker, was already a missionary in Tahiti and was once a principal of a school there?” Elder Paramore answered that he had it wrong. He spoke French, was a missionary to Tahiti and had been a principal of a school there because he was going to be called to be a mission president there.
Fromhttp://ldsmag.com/4-things-to-understand-about-choosing-an-apostle/
Wednesday, September 30, 2015
Sunday, September 20, 2015
Lesson 26: Gen 19
Lesson 26: Genesis 19
I. Genesis 19:1–29
Holy messengers remove Lot’s family from Sodom before God destroys Sodom and Gomorrah
---(on board before class) Have you ever heard of someone who had something bad happen to them because they were in the wrong place or with people who were making inappropriate choices?
---Think about the question on the board as you study Genesis 19.
---Remember that three holy messengers had visited Abraham on their way to destroy the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah and their wicked inhabitants.
---Genesis 19:1 silently and look for who these three messengers met when they arrived in Sodom. Report. (The messengers met Lot, Abraham’s nephew.)
---According to the Joseph Smith Translation (see Genesis 19:1, footnote a), there were three messengers, not two.
---Explain what you know about Lot and his family from Gen 13–14 and what you know about Sodom from Gen 18.
---Summary Genesis 19:2–3 Lot invited the three messengers to stay at his home for the night so they would not have to remain in the streets of Sodom. Ponder how they treat those whom the Lord sends to help us forsake sin and unrighteous influences.
---Genesis 19:4–7 looking for what the men of Sodom did that evening.
---What did the men of Sodom request of Lot? (“that we may know them” = they wanted to participate in sexual activities with Lot’s visitors [see Genesis 19:5, footnote a; see also Genesis 4:1].)
---The Joseph Smith Translation, Genesis 19:9–15 (in the Bible appendix) clarifies the events recorded in Genesis 19:8–10.
---Summary Joseph Smith Translation, Genesis 19:9–1: The men of Sodom became angry with Lot when he refused their evil intentions toward his guests. The men of Sodom then threatened to take by force not only Lot’s visitors (the holy men) but also his daughters for immoral purposes. When Lot tried to reason with the men of Sodom, they attempted to force their way into his house. The holy messengers miraculously protected Lot and his family by smiting the men with blindness (see Genesis 19:11).
---How do the actions of the men of Sodom help demonstrate the wickedness of the people in this city?
---Genesis 19:12–13 looking for what the holy men instructed Lot to do with his family. Report.
---Genesis 19:14–16 look for how Lot and his family responded to the instructions from the holy men.
---What evidence do you see in these verses that Lot and his family were reluctant to leave Sodom?
---Genesis 19:17 identify additional instructions the holy men gave to Lot and his family.
---Genesis 19:24–26 look for what happened as Lot was leaving Sodom with his wife and daughters. Report.
---To help understand why Lot’s wife was turned into a “pillar of salt” (verse 26):
Elder Jeffrey R. Holland
“Apparently what was wrong with Lot’s wife was that she wasn’t just looking back; in her heart she wanted to go back. …
“It is possible that Lot’s wife looked back with resentment toward the Lord for what He was asking her to leave behind” (“Remember Lot’s Wife” [Brigham Young University devotional address, Jan. 13, 2009], 2; speeches.byu.edu).
---According to Elder Holland, what are some possible reasons why Lot’s wife was turned into a pillar of salt?
---It is also possible that Lot’s wife may not have merely looked back but may have returned to Sodom (see Luke 17:28–32).
---This account of Lot and his family leaving Sodom can be compared to our own experience of forsaking sin and evil influences.
---What principles can we learn from the example of Lot’s wife about forsaking sin and evil influences? (To forsake sin and evil influences, we must leave them entirely and not look back.)
---What are some ways a person might be tempted to “look back” upon sins or evil influences that were previously a part of his or her life? Why is it dangerous to do so?
---What are some things a person can do to leave sins or evil influences entirely behind?
II. Genesis 19:30–38 Lot’s daughters devise a wicked plan to ensure the continuation of Lot’s posterity
---Summary Genesis 19:30–38 After Sodom, Gomorrah, and other cities were destroyed, Lot and his two daughters went to a nearby mountain to live in a cave. In an effort to preserve the seed of their father, the firstborn daughter proposed a wicked and deceptive plan to intoxicate their father and lie with him so they could each become pregnant (see Joseph Smith Translation, Genesis 19:37 [in Genesis 19:31, footnote a]; see also Joseph Smith Translation, Genesis 19:39 [in Genesis 19:35, footnote a]). As a result of this wickedness, each daughter had a son. The sons’ descendants became the Moabite and Ammonite nations. There is no justification for Lot’s daughters’ choice to break the law of chastity. The actions of Lot’s daughters may provide another example of how the wickedness in Sodom had negatively influenced members of Lot’s family. Although Lot was not a wicked man, his decision to bring his family to live among evil influences resulted in serious consequences.
---What are some consequences Lot and his family experienced for choosing to live in Sodom?
---How do you think life might have been different for Lot and his family if he had not chosen to associate with Sodom and the other wicked cities in the plains?
---What principles can we learn from Lot’s decisions to place himself and his family close to unrighteous influences? (If we choose to associate with unrighteous influences, then we may experience consequences we will regret. Our choices may affect not only ourselves but others as well.)
---List on the board examples of unrighteous influences that some young people choose to associate with in our day.
---What are some consequences that can come to us personally from associating with these unrighteous influences? What are some consequences that might affect others?
---Bishop Gary E. Stevenson [SHOW VIDEO CLIP “Leave the Party” instead]
“Some years ago, John was accepted at a prestigious Japanese university. …
“Soon after John’s arrival, word of a party to be held on the rooftop of a private residence spread among the foreign student population. That evening, John and two friends made their way to the advertised address.
“Following an elevator ride to the top floor of the building, John and his friends … began mingling with the others. As the night wore on, the atmosphere changed. The noise, music volume, and alcohol amplified, as did John’s uneasiness. Then suddenly someone began organizing the students into a large circle with the intent of sharing marijuana cigarettes. John grimaced and quickly informed his two friends that it was time to leave. Almost in ridicule, one of them replied, ‘John, this is easy—we’ll just stand in the circle, and when it is our turn, we’ll just pass it along rather than smoke it. That way we won’t have to embarrass ourselves in front of everyone by leaving.’ This sounded easy to John, but it did not sound right. He knew he had to announce his intention and act. In a moment he mustered his courage and told them that they could do as they wished, but he was leaving. One friend decided to stay and joined the circle; the other reluctantly followed John down the stairs to board the elevator. Much to their surprise, when the elevator doors opened, Japanese police officers poured out and hurried to ascend the stairs to the rooftop. John and his friend boarded the elevator and departed.
“When the police appeared at the top of the stairs, the students quickly threw the illegal drugs off the roof so they wouldn’t be caught. After securing the stairway, however, the officers lined up everyone on the roof and asked each student to extend both hands. The officers then walked down the line, carefully smelling each student’s thumbs and index fingers. All who had held the marijuana, whether they had smoked it or not, were presumed guilty, and there were huge consequences. Almost without exception, the students who had remained on the rooftop were expelled from their respective universities. …
“… As for John, the consequences in his life have been immeasurable. His time in Japan that year led him to a happy marriage and the subsequent birth of two sons. He has been a very successful businessman and recently became a professor at a Japanese university. Imagine how different his life would have been had he not had the courage to leave the party on that important evening in Japan. …
“… There will be times when you, like John, will have to demonstrate your righteous courage in plain view of your peers, the consequence of which may be ridicule and embarrassment. … Be courageous! Be strong!” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2012
---Invite students to testify of the principles they have discovered today.
---Share your testimony as well, and encourage students to entirely leave behind any sins or evil influences that may be influencing them.
Commentary and Background Information
Genesis 19:8–10 or Joseph Smith Translation, Genesis 19:9–15 (in the Bible appendix). Lot reasons with the men of Sodom
Note: Not all of the Joseph Smith Translation additions or corrections are contained in the footnotes or appendix of the Latter-day Saint edition of the King James Version of the Bible. Many of these changes were not included because of limited space.
Joseph Smith Translation, Genesis 19:9–15 clarifies the events recorded in Genesis 19:8–10. (Below, the bold-italic text represents material added by the Prophet Joseph Smith; the crossed-out text represents material he removed.)
“And they said unto him, Stand back. And they were angry with him.
“And they said again among themselves, This one fellow man came in to sojourn among us, and he will needs be now make himself to be a judge; now we will deal worse with thee, him than with them.
“Wherefore they said unto the man, We will have the men, and thy daughters also; and we will do with them as seemeth us good.
“Now this was after the wickedness of Sodom.
“And Lot said, Behold now, I have two daughters which have not known man; let me, I pray you, plead with my brethren that I may not bring them out unto you; and ye shall not do ye to unto them as is seemeth good in your eyes;
“For God will not justify his servant in this thing; wherefore, let me plead with my brethren, this once only, that unto these men ye do nothing, that they may have peace in my house; for therefore came they under the shadow of my roof.
“And they pressed sore upon the man, even were angry with Lot and came near to break the door, but the angels of God, which were holy men, put forth their hand and pulled Lot into the house unto them, and shut to the door” (Joseph Smith Translation, Genesis 19:9–15; bold, italics, and strikethrough added).
Genesis 19:26. “His wife looked back”
Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles explained how to look to the future with faith instead of doubt:
“I plead with you not to dwell on days now gone, nor to yearn vainly for yesterdays, however good those yesterdays may have been. The past is to be learned from but not lived in. We look back to claim the embers from glowing experiences but not the ashes. And when we have learned what we need to learn and have brought with us the best that we have experienced, then we look ahead, we remember that faith is always pointed toward the future. Faith always has to do with blessings and truths and events that will yet be efficacious in our lives. So a more theological way to talk about Lot’s wife is to say that she did not have faith. She doubted the Lord’s ability to give her something better than she already had. Apparently she thought—fatally, as it turned out—that nothing that lay ahead could possibly be as good as those moments she was leaving behind” (“Remember Lot’s Wife” [Brigham Young University devotional address, Jan. 13, 2009], 2–3; speeches.byu.edu).
President Boyd K. Packer of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles related the following experience of President Joseph Fielding Smith:
“President Joseph Fielding Smith told me of a repentant woman struggling to find her way out of a very immoral life. She asked him what she should do now.
“In turn, he asked her to read to him from the Old Testament the account of Lot’s wife, who was turned to a pillar of salt [see Genesis 19:26]. Then he asked her, ‘What lesson do you gain from those verses?’
“She answered, ‘The Lord will destroy the wicked.’
“‘Not so!’ President Smith said that the lesson for this repentant woman and for you is ‘Don’t look back!’ [see Boyd K. Packer, The Things of the Soul (1996), 116].
“Strangely enough, it may be that the simplest and most powerful prevention and cure for pornography, or any unclean act, is to ignore and avoid it. Delete from the mind any unworthy thought that tries to take root. Once you have decided to remain clean, you are asserting your God-given agency. And then, as President Smith counseled, ‘Don’t look back’” (“Cleansing the Inner Vessel,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2010, 76–77).
President Joseph F. Smith declared:
“True repentance is not only sorrow for sins, and humble penitence and contrition before God, but it involves the necessity of turning away from them [sins], a discontinuance of all evil practices and deeds, a thorough reformation of life, a vital change from evil to good, from vice to virtue, from darkness to light” (Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Joseph F. Smith [1998], 61).
Genesis 19:26. Lot’s wife and the pillar of salt
For a discussion of whether Lot’s wife turning into a pillar of salt was a literal event or a figurative expression, see the material in the Old Testament Student Manual: Genesis–2 Samuel, 3rd ed. (Church Educational System manual, 2003), 76–77.
Supplemental Teaching Ideas
Genesis 19. Choosing to live in Sodom had serious consequences for Lot’s family
To begin the lesson (or to illustrate that if we choose to associate with unrighteous influences, then we may experience consequences we regret), consider using the following object lesson:
Place two magnets on a table and ask a student to move one of them as close as possible to the other without them touching. After the magnets stick together, ask students what often happens to us when we move closer to evil influences and temptation in our lives. If possible, turn just one of the magnets to reverse the magnetic field. Then invite the student to move one magnet close to the other. After the magnets repel each other, ask students what we can do to distance ourselves from evil influences or things we know are tempting.
If you use this idea at the beginning of the lesson, consider asking students to watch, as they study Genesis 19, for some consequences Lot’s family experienced because they chose to live among evil influences and temptations.
If you use this idea after students identify the principle, consider asking the following questions:
•
How does this illustration apply to what we have learned about Lot and his family in Sodom? How might it apply to Abraham?
•
What are some ways we can keep our distance from evil influences and temptations?
I. Genesis 19:1–29
Holy messengers remove Lot’s family from Sodom before God destroys Sodom and Gomorrah
---(on board before class) Have you ever heard of someone who had something bad happen to them because they were in the wrong place or with people who were making inappropriate choices?
---Think about the question on the board as you study Genesis 19.
---Remember that three holy messengers had visited Abraham on their way to destroy the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah and their wicked inhabitants.
---Genesis 19:1 silently and look for who these three messengers met when they arrived in Sodom. Report. (The messengers met Lot, Abraham’s nephew.)
---According to the Joseph Smith Translation (see Genesis 19:1, footnote a), there were three messengers, not two.
---Explain what you know about Lot and his family from Gen 13–14 and what you know about Sodom from Gen 18.
---Summary Genesis 19:2–3 Lot invited the three messengers to stay at his home for the night so they would not have to remain in the streets of Sodom. Ponder how they treat those whom the Lord sends to help us forsake sin and unrighteous influences.
---Genesis 19:4–7 looking for what the men of Sodom did that evening.
---What did the men of Sodom request of Lot? (“that we may know them” = they wanted to participate in sexual activities with Lot’s visitors [see Genesis 19:5, footnote a; see also Genesis 4:1].)
---The Joseph Smith Translation, Genesis 19:9–15 (in the Bible appendix) clarifies the events recorded in Genesis 19:8–10.
---Summary Joseph Smith Translation, Genesis 19:9–1: The men of Sodom became angry with Lot when he refused their evil intentions toward his guests. The men of Sodom then threatened to take by force not only Lot’s visitors (the holy men) but also his daughters for immoral purposes. When Lot tried to reason with the men of Sodom, they attempted to force their way into his house. The holy messengers miraculously protected Lot and his family by smiting the men with blindness (see Genesis 19:11).
---How do the actions of the men of Sodom help demonstrate the wickedness of the people in this city?
---Genesis 19:12–13 looking for what the holy men instructed Lot to do with his family. Report.
---Genesis 19:14–16 look for how Lot and his family responded to the instructions from the holy men.
---What evidence do you see in these verses that Lot and his family were reluctant to leave Sodom?
---Genesis 19:17 identify additional instructions the holy men gave to Lot and his family.
---Genesis 19:24–26 look for what happened as Lot was leaving Sodom with his wife and daughters. Report.
---To help understand why Lot’s wife was turned into a “pillar of salt” (verse 26):
Elder Jeffrey R. Holland
“Apparently what was wrong with Lot’s wife was that she wasn’t just looking back; in her heart she wanted to go back. …
“It is possible that Lot’s wife looked back with resentment toward the Lord for what He was asking her to leave behind” (“Remember Lot’s Wife” [Brigham Young University devotional address, Jan. 13, 2009], 2; speeches.byu.edu).
---According to Elder Holland, what are some possible reasons why Lot’s wife was turned into a pillar of salt?
---It is also possible that Lot’s wife may not have merely looked back but may have returned to Sodom (see Luke 17:28–32).
---This account of Lot and his family leaving Sodom can be compared to our own experience of forsaking sin and evil influences.
---What principles can we learn from the example of Lot’s wife about forsaking sin and evil influences? (To forsake sin and evil influences, we must leave them entirely and not look back.)
---What are some ways a person might be tempted to “look back” upon sins or evil influences that were previously a part of his or her life? Why is it dangerous to do so?
---What are some things a person can do to leave sins or evil influences entirely behind?
II. Genesis 19:30–38 Lot’s daughters devise a wicked plan to ensure the continuation of Lot’s posterity
---Summary Genesis 19:30–38 After Sodom, Gomorrah, and other cities were destroyed, Lot and his two daughters went to a nearby mountain to live in a cave. In an effort to preserve the seed of their father, the firstborn daughter proposed a wicked and deceptive plan to intoxicate their father and lie with him so they could each become pregnant (see Joseph Smith Translation, Genesis 19:37 [in Genesis 19:31, footnote a]; see also Joseph Smith Translation, Genesis 19:39 [in Genesis 19:35, footnote a]). As a result of this wickedness, each daughter had a son. The sons’ descendants became the Moabite and Ammonite nations. There is no justification for Lot’s daughters’ choice to break the law of chastity. The actions of Lot’s daughters may provide another example of how the wickedness in Sodom had negatively influenced members of Lot’s family. Although Lot was not a wicked man, his decision to bring his family to live among evil influences resulted in serious consequences.
---What are some consequences Lot and his family experienced for choosing to live in Sodom?
---How do you think life might have been different for Lot and his family if he had not chosen to associate with Sodom and the other wicked cities in the plains?
---What principles can we learn from Lot’s decisions to place himself and his family close to unrighteous influences? (If we choose to associate with unrighteous influences, then we may experience consequences we will regret. Our choices may affect not only ourselves but others as well.)
---List on the board examples of unrighteous influences that some young people choose to associate with in our day.
---What are some consequences that can come to us personally from associating with these unrighteous influences? What are some consequences that might affect others?
---Bishop Gary E. Stevenson [SHOW VIDEO CLIP “Leave the Party” instead]
“Some years ago, John was accepted at a prestigious Japanese university. …
“Soon after John’s arrival, word of a party to be held on the rooftop of a private residence spread among the foreign student population. That evening, John and two friends made their way to the advertised address.
“Following an elevator ride to the top floor of the building, John and his friends … began mingling with the others. As the night wore on, the atmosphere changed. The noise, music volume, and alcohol amplified, as did John’s uneasiness. Then suddenly someone began organizing the students into a large circle with the intent of sharing marijuana cigarettes. John grimaced and quickly informed his two friends that it was time to leave. Almost in ridicule, one of them replied, ‘John, this is easy—we’ll just stand in the circle, and when it is our turn, we’ll just pass it along rather than smoke it. That way we won’t have to embarrass ourselves in front of everyone by leaving.’ This sounded easy to John, but it did not sound right. He knew he had to announce his intention and act. In a moment he mustered his courage and told them that they could do as they wished, but he was leaving. One friend decided to stay and joined the circle; the other reluctantly followed John down the stairs to board the elevator. Much to their surprise, when the elevator doors opened, Japanese police officers poured out and hurried to ascend the stairs to the rooftop. John and his friend boarded the elevator and departed.
“When the police appeared at the top of the stairs, the students quickly threw the illegal drugs off the roof so they wouldn’t be caught. After securing the stairway, however, the officers lined up everyone on the roof and asked each student to extend both hands. The officers then walked down the line, carefully smelling each student’s thumbs and index fingers. All who had held the marijuana, whether they had smoked it or not, were presumed guilty, and there were huge consequences. Almost without exception, the students who had remained on the rooftop were expelled from their respective universities. …
“… As for John, the consequences in his life have been immeasurable. His time in Japan that year led him to a happy marriage and the subsequent birth of two sons. He has been a very successful businessman and recently became a professor at a Japanese university. Imagine how different his life would have been had he not had the courage to leave the party on that important evening in Japan. …
“… There will be times when you, like John, will have to demonstrate your righteous courage in plain view of your peers, the consequence of which may be ridicule and embarrassment. … Be courageous! Be strong!” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2012
---Invite students to testify of the principles they have discovered today.
---Share your testimony as well, and encourage students to entirely leave behind any sins or evil influences that may be influencing them.
Commentary and Background Information
Genesis 19:8–10 or Joseph Smith Translation, Genesis 19:9–15 (in the Bible appendix). Lot reasons with the men of Sodom
Note: Not all of the Joseph Smith Translation additions or corrections are contained in the footnotes or appendix of the Latter-day Saint edition of the King James Version of the Bible. Many of these changes were not included because of limited space.
Joseph Smith Translation, Genesis 19:9–15 clarifies the events recorded in Genesis 19:8–10. (Below, the bold-italic text represents material added by the Prophet Joseph Smith; the crossed-out text represents material he removed.)
“And they said unto him, Stand back. And they were angry with him.
“And they said again among themselves, This one fellow man came in to sojourn among us, and he will needs be now make himself to be a judge; now we will deal worse with thee, him than with them.
“Wherefore they said unto the man, We will have the men, and thy daughters also; and we will do with them as seemeth us good.
“Now this was after the wickedness of Sodom.
“And Lot said, Behold now, I have two daughters which have not known man; let me, I pray you, plead with my brethren that I may not bring them out unto you; and ye shall not do ye to unto them as is seemeth good in your eyes;
“For God will not justify his servant in this thing; wherefore, let me plead with my brethren, this once only, that unto these men ye do nothing, that they may have peace in my house; for therefore came they under the shadow of my roof.
“And they pressed sore upon the man, even were angry with Lot and came near to break the door, but the angels of God, which were holy men, put forth their hand and pulled Lot into the house unto them, and shut to the door” (Joseph Smith Translation, Genesis 19:9–15; bold, italics, and strikethrough added).
Genesis 19:26. “His wife looked back”
Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles explained how to look to the future with faith instead of doubt:
“I plead with you not to dwell on days now gone, nor to yearn vainly for yesterdays, however good those yesterdays may have been. The past is to be learned from but not lived in. We look back to claim the embers from glowing experiences but not the ashes. And when we have learned what we need to learn and have brought with us the best that we have experienced, then we look ahead, we remember that faith is always pointed toward the future. Faith always has to do with blessings and truths and events that will yet be efficacious in our lives. So a more theological way to talk about Lot’s wife is to say that she did not have faith. She doubted the Lord’s ability to give her something better than she already had. Apparently she thought—fatally, as it turned out—that nothing that lay ahead could possibly be as good as those moments she was leaving behind” (“Remember Lot’s Wife” [Brigham Young University devotional address, Jan. 13, 2009], 2–3; speeches.byu.edu).
President Boyd K. Packer of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles related the following experience of President Joseph Fielding Smith:
“President Joseph Fielding Smith told me of a repentant woman struggling to find her way out of a very immoral life. She asked him what she should do now.
“In turn, he asked her to read to him from the Old Testament the account of Lot’s wife, who was turned to a pillar of salt [see Genesis 19:26]. Then he asked her, ‘What lesson do you gain from those verses?’
“She answered, ‘The Lord will destroy the wicked.’
“‘Not so!’ President Smith said that the lesson for this repentant woman and for you is ‘Don’t look back!’ [see Boyd K. Packer, The Things of the Soul (1996), 116].
“Strangely enough, it may be that the simplest and most powerful prevention and cure for pornography, or any unclean act, is to ignore and avoid it. Delete from the mind any unworthy thought that tries to take root. Once you have decided to remain clean, you are asserting your God-given agency. And then, as President Smith counseled, ‘Don’t look back’” (“Cleansing the Inner Vessel,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2010, 76–77).
President Joseph F. Smith declared:
“True repentance is not only sorrow for sins, and humble penitence and contrition before God, but it involves the necessity of turning away from them [sins], a discontinuance of all evil practices and deeds, a thorough reformation of life, a vital change from evil to good, from vice to virtue, from darkness to light” (Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Joseph F. Smith [1998], 61).
Genesis 19:26. Lot’s wife and the pillar of salt
For a discussion of whether Lot’s wife turning into a pillar of salt was a literal event or a figurative expression, see the material in the Old Testament Student Manual: Genesis–2 Samuel, 3rd ed. (Church Educational System manual, 2003), 76–77.
Supplemental Teaching Ideas
Genesis 19. Choosing to live in Sodom had serious consequences for Lot’s family
To begin the lesson (or to illustrate that if we choose to associate with unrighteous influences, then we may experience consequences we regret), consider using the following object lesson:
Place two magnets on a table and ask a student to move one of them as close as possible to the other without them touching. After the magnets stick together, ask students what often happens to us when we move closer to evil influences and temptation in our lives. If possible, turn just one of the magnets to reverse the magnetic field. Then invite the student to move one magnet close to the other. After the magnets repel each other, ask students what we can do to distance ourselves from evil influences or things we know are tempting.
If you use this idea at the beginning of the lesson, consider asking students to watch, as they study Genesis 19, for some consequences Lot’s family experienced because they chose to live among evil influences and temptations.
If you use this idea after students identify the principle, consider asking the following questions:
•
How does this illustration apply to what we have learned about Lot and his family in Sodom? How might it apply to Abraham?
•
What are some ways we can keep our distance from evil influences and temptations?
Lesson 24 and 25: Gen 17 and 18
Lesson 24: Genesis 17
I. Genesis 17:1–8
The Lord covenants with Abraham
---What do you want to do when you are an adult? (on board)
---What do you want to be when you are an adult?
---Discuss with a partner the difference between the two questions on the board then share your thoughts with the class
---Genesis 17:1 looking for what the Lord wanted Abram to do and be. Report.
---What do you think it means to “walk before” the Lord?
---What do you think it means to be perfect? (the command to be perfect refers to becoming like Heavenly Father. This is an ongoing process that will extend beyond this life and can only be accomplished by drawing upon the power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ through diligent efforts to live His gospel.)
---Genesis 17:2 looking for what the Lord planned to do with Abram. Report.
---Mark the phrase “I will make my covenant between me and thee.”
---Turn in notebooks to the page with the chart listing the responsibilities and blessings of the Abrahamic covenant. Use the list you created to review the responsibilities Abram had as part of the covenant.
---Add the commandments from Genesis 17:1 “walk before the Lord and be perfect” to their list of responsibilities
---As part of establishing His covenant with Abram, the Lord did something to remind Abram of the promised blessings. Invite
---Genesis 17:3–5 looking for what the Lord did.
---According to verse 5, what did the Lord do as a reminder of the covenant?
---In Hebrew the name Abram means “exalted father” and Abraham means “father of a multitude.” Both names represent what was possible for Abraham to become because of the covenant—an exalted being, like God.
---Write the meaning of these names in the margin of your scriptures.
---Genesis 17:6 identify promises the Lord confirmed upon Abraham that correspond to this new name. Share.
---Review the blessings of the Abrahamic covenant you listed on the chart in your class notebooks.
---As you look at the chart and consider the promises given to Abraham, what do you think the Lord was preparing him to become? (Through this covenant, the Lord was preparing Abraham to become like God, an exalted father with innumerable posterity.)
---Genesis 17:7 looking for who else the Lord is willing to establish the Abrahamic covenant with.
---According to verse 7, who else does the Lord say He will establish the Abrahamic covenant with? (Abraham’s seed, or posterity.)
---Because of the scattering of Israel, most people in the world are likely the literal seed of Abraham.
---“To be counted as Abraham’s seed, an individual must obey the laws and ordinances of the gospel. Then the person can receive all the blessings of the Abrahamic covenant, even if he or she is not a literal descendant of Abraham” (True to the Faith: A Gospel Reference [2004], 5).
---This means we can receive the same spiritual blessings the Lord offered to Abraham.
---What would we need to do in order to receive the same blessings promised to Abraham? (We too must covenant with the Lord and take upon ourselves the same responsibilities as Abraham. This begins with baptism and includes each of the saving ordinances of the gospel.)
---(on the board): As we _______________________, then we become heirs to the responsibilities and blessings given to Abraham. (As we make and keep covenants with the Lord, we become heirs to the responsibilities and blessings given to Abraham.)
---Elder Russell M. Nelson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles testified: “The ultimate blessings of the Abrahamic covenant are conferred in holy temples. These blessings allow us to come forth in the First Resurrection and inherit thrones, kingdoms, powers, principalities, and dominions, to our ‘exaltation and glory in all things’ (D&C 132:19)”
---Elder Bruce R. McConkie of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles taught: “When he [or she] is married in the temple for time and for all eternity, each worthy member of the Church enters personally into the same covenant the Lord made with Abraham. This is the occasion when the promises of eternal increase are made, and it is then specified that those who keep the covenants made there shall be inheritors of all the blessings of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob” (A New Witness for the Articles of Faith [1985], 508).
---What blessings will we inherit if we make and keep these sacred temple covenants? (You might give students a moment to consider the blessings they have listed in their class notebooks or scripture study journals.)
---Our making and keeping this covenant of exaltation can also bless our posterity.
---Genesis 17:7–8 looking for what the Lord promised to do for Abraham and his seed. Add any new promise to your charts.
---What did the Lord covenant to do for Abraham’s seed?
---What do you think it means that the Lord will be a God to Abraham’s posterity?
---Testify that throughout the history of the Old Testament, it is evident that the Lord extended His arm of mercy to Abraham’s seed. Even when they strayed from the truth, the Lord made every attempt to bring them back, honoring the covenant He made with Abraham.
---In what ways can your decision to enter into covenants with the Lord bless your future children?
---In what ways have you seen the lives of children affected by their parents’ making and keeping covenants? (You might want to share your own experience or an example here.)
---Point to the questions on the board from the beginning of class, and ask:
---What does the Lord want you, as the seed of Abraham, to do?
---What does He want you to be?
---Keep the covenants you made at baptism and look forward to making and keeping the other covenants available only in the temple.
II. Genesis 17:9–14
Circumcision is a token of the Abrahamic covenant
---Summary: In Genesis 17:9–14, as a token or reminder of the covenant God made with Abraham, He commanded that Abraham and all male members of his household be circumcised. This symbol would act as a reminder of the responsibilities and blessings of the Abrahamic covenant, which includes the promise of eternal increase, dedication to God, and separation from sin and the world. The Joseph Smith Translation helps us understand that the people of Abraham’s day had gone astray from God’s ordinances and turned away from the proper performance of baptism, even participating in a form of infant baptism. Circumcision of a male child when he was eight days old was to be a reminder to parents that children need to be baptized when they are accountable at eight years of age. (See Joseph Smith Translation, Genesis 17:3–7, 11–12 [in the Bible appendix]; see also Genesis 17:12). Circumcision as a token of the Abrahamic covenant was no longer required after Jesus Christ’s mortal ministry (see Moroni 8:8).
III. Genesis 17:15–27
The Lord promised Abraham that Sarah would have a son and that he should be named Isaac
---Raise your hand if you have ever had a prayer answered in a way that was different from what you had expected.
---Abraham had desired and prayed for children. Because his wife, Sarai, was not able to have children, she gave her handmaid, Hagar, to Abraham to also be his wife and to bear him children. Hagar had a son named Ishmael. (See Genesis 16.) Abraham may have considered Ishmael to be the answer to his prayers for children, but the Lord planned to fulfill His covenant with Abraham in an additional way.
---Genesis 17:15–22 looking for how the Lord further kept His covenant with Abraham.
---Notice how the Lord changed Sarai’s name to Sarah as a part of the covenant. What did her new name mean? (See Genesis 17:15, footnote a.)
---What did the Lord reveal would happen to Sarah?
---What was Abraham’s reaction? (laughed = “rejoiced” [see Genesis 17:17, footnote a].)
---In what way might this revelation have surprised Abraham?
---Through whose lineage did the Lord reveal the covenant would be continued?
---What principle can we learn from Abraham and Sarah’s experience about how the Lord will fulfill His promises? (God will fulfill His promises, though it may not be in the way or at the time we might expect.)
---Ponder experiences you have had when the Lord has fulfilled a promise to you or answered a prayer in a way that was different from what you were expecting. Share.
---How can experiences like these influence our trust in the Lord?
---Review the elements of the Abrahamic covenant and share feelings about it and its blessings.
---Choose one thing they can do to more fully live up to their covenants with God so they can receive His promised blessings.
Commentary and Background Information
Genesis 17:1. “Be thou perfect”
Jehovah (Jesus Christ) commanded Abraham to be perfect (see Genesis 17:1). During His mortal ministry, Jesus Christ restated this command to “be ye therefore perfect” (Matthew 5:48). For Abraham to become perfect, he would need to become like God. Modern revelation confirms that Abraham eventually received the fulness of God’s blessings and “hath entered into his exaltation and sitteth upon his throne” (D&C 132:29). Abraham’s son Isaac and grandson Jacob also received of the fulness of Heavenly Father’s blessings and “sit upon thrones, and are not angels but are gods” (D&C 132:37). For more information about what it means to become like God, go to Gospel Topics on LDS.org and search for “Becoming Like God,” “Eternal Life,” or “Exaltation.”
President Lorenzo Snow taught how we can obey the command to become perfect:
“We learn that the Lord appeared to Abraham and made him very great promises, and that before he was prepared to receive them a certain requirement was made of him, that he [Abraham] should become perfect before the Lord. And the same requirement was made by the Savior of his Disciples, that they should become perfect, even as He and His Father in Heaven were perfect. This I conceive to be a subject that concerns the Latter-day Saints; and I wish to offer a few remarks by way of suggestion, for the reflection of those whom it concerns. …
“… The Lord … has not made a requirement that cannot be complied with, but on the other hand, He has placed for the use of the Latter-day Saints the means by which they can conform to His holy order. When the Lord made this requirement of Abraham, He gave him the means by which he could become qualified to obey that law and come up fully to the requirement. He had the privilege of the Holy Spirit, as we are told the gospel was preached to Abraham, and through that gospel he could obtain that divine aid which would enable him to understand the things of God, and without it no man could do so; without it no man could arrive at a state of perfection before the Lord. …
“… It requires time; it requires much patience and discipline of the mind and heart in order to obey this commandment. And although we may fail at first in our attempts, yet this should not discourage the Latter-day Saints from endeavoring to exercise a determination to comply with the great requirement. …
“… When we experience trying moments, then is the time for us to avail ourselves of that great privilege of calling upon the Lord for strength and understanding, intelligence and grace by which we can overcome the weakness of the flesh against which we have to make a continual warfare” (Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Lorenzo Snow [2012], 95–97).
“Do not expect to become perfect at once. If you do, you will be disappointed. Be better today than you were yesterday, and be better tomorrow than you are today. The temptations that perhaps partially overcome us today, let them not overcome us so far tomorrow. Thus continue to be a little better day by day” (Teachings: Lorenzo Snow, 103).
Genesis 17:7. “I will establish my covenant [with] thy seed after thee”
Elder Russell M. Nelson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles taught how we enter into the same covenant as Abraham and how that covenant can bless our children:
“At baptism, we covenant to serve the Lord and keep his commandments. When we partake of the sacrament, we renew those covenants. We may receive covenants of the priesthood and the crowning blessings of the endowment, the doctrine, and the covenants unique to the holy temple.
“The new and everlasting covenant of the gospel allows us to qualify for marriage in the temple and be blessed to ‘come forth in the first resurrection’ and ‘inherit thrones, kingdoms, principalities, and powers, dominions, … to [our] exaltation and glory in all things’ [D&C 132:19].
“Children born to parents thus married are natural heirs to the blessings of the priesthood. They are born in the covenant. Hence, ‘they require no rite of adoption or sealing to insure their place in the posterity of promise’ [James E. Talmage, The Articles of Faith (1977), 446].
“Rewards for obedience to the commandments are almost beyond mortal comprehension. Here, children of the covenant become a strain of sin-resistant souls. And hereafter, … other children of the covenant, and ‘each generation would be linked to the one which went on before … [in] the divine family of God’ [Joseph Fielding Smith, in Conference Report, Oct. 1950, 13–14]. Great comfort comes from the knowledge that our loved ones are secured to us through the covenants.”
Lesson 25: Genesis 18
I. Genesis 18:1–15
Messengers from God reiterate the promise that Abraham and Sarah will have a son
---Think about miraculous events they have read about in the scriptures. Report (on the board.)
---What makes these events miraculous?
---Look for a promise about a miraculous event as they study Genesis 18.
---While Abraham and Sarah were dwelling in the Plains of Mamre, three holy messengers visited Abraham.
---Genesis 18:2–5 look for how Abraham treated these three messengers of the Lord. Report.
---Who were these visitors? Look at the Joseph Smith Translation, Genesis 18:3 (in Genesis 18:3, footnote a) uses the phrase “My brethren” instead of “My Lord,” indicating that the Lord was not one of the three men. Joseph Smith Translation, Genesis 18:23 (in Genesis 18:22, footnote a) clarifies that these three messengers were “holy men … sent forth after the order of God.” In the King James Version of the Bible, the word angels, which was used in reference to these men (see Genesis 19:1), was translated from the Hebrew word malakhim, which can also mean “messengers.” Although we do not know the identity of the three messengers, Abraham treated them as if they were presiding authorities of the Lord’s kingdom then on the earth, and their messages were directly from the Lord.
---Summary Genesis 18:6–8 Abraham and Sarah quickly prepared a meal for the messengers.
---Genesis 18:9–10 look for what the messengers announced would happen to Sarah. Report
---Although Sarah had hoped to have children, she was past childbearing age.
---If you were Sarah, what might you have thought and felt when you heard this news?
---Genesis 18:11–12 silently and look for how Sarah reacted to this news. Report.
---Genesis 18:13–15 looking for what Abraham and Sarah learned about the Lord. Mark what you find.
---What did Abraham and Sarah learn about the Lord? (Nothing is too hard for the Lord; the Lord is able to do all things.)
---When have you seen evidence of this truth in your life or the life of someone you know?
---Even though the Lord is able to do all things, He blesses us “in his own time, and in his own way, and according to his own will” (D&C 88:68).
---Testify of how you know the Lord is able to do all things.
---Pray for the righteous desires of your hearts and hope for and trust in the Lord’s wisdom and timing.
II. Genesis 18:16–33
Abraham asks the Lord if Sodom can be spared if enough righteous people are found there
---Summary Genesis 18:16–22 because the Lord saw that Abraham would be faithful in keeping his covenants, He revealed to Abraham what He would do with Sodom and Gomorrah. While the Prophet Joseph Smith was working on his inspired translation of the Bible, he learned more about what the Lord planned to do with Sodom and why.
“And the angel of the Lord said unto Abraham, The Lord said unto us, Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous, I will destroy them.
“And I will send you, and ye shall go down now, and see that their iniquities are rewarded unto them.
“And ye shall have all things done (whether they have done) altogether according to the cry of it, which is come unto me.
“And if ye do it not, (I will know) it shall be upon your heads; for I will destroy them, and you shall know that I will do it, for it shall be before your eyes.
“And the angels which were holy men, and were sent forth after the order of God, turned their faces from thence and went toward Sodom” (Joseph Smith Translation, Genesis 18:19–23; bold, italics, and strikethrough added).
---Genesis 18:20 aloud.
---silently read Genesis 19:5 and Jude 1:7. (If students have the Latter-day Saint edition of the King James Version of the Bible, you might also want to draw their attention to Genesis 18:20, footnote b).
---These verses in Genesis 19 and Jude 1 help us understand that the grievous sin mentioned in Genesis 18:20 included homosexual behavior. This behavior was widely accepted and practiced among the inhabitants of Sodom and nearby cities (see Jude 1:7). The prophet Ezekiel spoke of additional sins that plagued the inhabitants of Sodom. He declared that they were full of pride and idleness and that although they had a “fulness of bread,” they rejected the poor and needy (see Ezekiel 16:49–50).
---Based on verse 20, how does the Lord view homosexual behavior? (As a “very grievous” sin. All violations of the law of chastity, or sexual sins, are very serious.)
---Homosexual behavior is a serious sin.
---From the beginning, and consistently throughout the scriptures, the Lord has condemned violations of the law of chastity, including homosexual behavior.
---In order to understand why homosexual behavior is a serious sin, we must understand the doctrines behind the purposes of marriage and family in Heavenly Father’s plan.
---Listen for doctrines that can help us understand why homosexual behavior is a serious sin:
“We encourage all to bear in mind our Heavenly Father’s purposes in creating the earth and providing for our mortal birth and experience here as His children. ‘God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth’ (Genesis 1:27–28). ‘Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh’ (Genesis 2:24). Marriage between a man and a woman was instituted by God and is central to His plan for His children and for the well-being of society. Strong families, guided by a loving mother and father, serve as the fundamental institution for nurturing children, instilling faith, and transmitting to future generations the moral strengths and values that are important to civilization and crucial to eternal salvation.
“Changes in the civil law do not, indeed cannot, change the moral law that God has established. God expects us to uphold and keep His commandments regardless of divergent opinions or trends in society. His law of chastity is clear: sexual relations are proper only between a man and a woman who are legally and lawfully wedded as husband and wife. We urge you to review and teach Church members the doctrine contained in ‘The Family: A Proclamation to the World.’
“Just as those who promote same-sex marriage are entitled to civility, the same is true for those who oppose it” (“Church Instructs Leaders on Same-Sex Marriage,” Jan. 10, 2014, mormonnewsroom.org).
---What are some doctrines that help us understand why homosexual behavior is a serious sin?
---In what ways does homosexual behavior go against Heavenly Father’s plan?
---Those who experience same-sex attraction can enjoy all the blessings of the gospel as they keep the covenants they have made with God. As they choose to live the law of chastity, they can have pure and virtuous thoughts and avoid lusting. They can counsel with trusted family members and their bishops or branch presidents about how to remain sexually pure. Any member of the Church who breaks the law of chastity must repent, which includes confession to a bishop or branch president, who will lovingly help him or her obtain forgiveness from the Lord. The Lord loves all His children and wants them to repent and to be clean from sin.
---Genesis 18:22–26 look for what Abraham asked the Lord concerning Sodom
---How did the Lord respond to Abraham’s questions?
---Abraham continued to ask the Lord whether He would spare Sodom if any righteous people could be found there.
---Genesis 18:27–33 silently and look for the Lord’s responses to Abraham’s questions.
---How did the Lord respond to Abraham’s righteous concern for others?
---What principle about the Lord can we identify from His response to Abraham? (The Lord listens to our righteous pleas for others.)
---How can remembering and believing this principle help you when you have a family member or friend who needs help?
---When have you experienced the Lord answering your righteous prayers on behalf of others?
---Set a goal to pray for those people who you know need Heavenly Father’s help. Look for a fulfillment of Abraham’s requests to save the righteous as they study Genesis 19 in the next lesson.
Commentary and Background Information
Genesis 18. Same-sex attraction
For more information about the Church’s teachings regarding same-sex attraction and statements on same-sex marriage, visit the Newsroom or the Gospel Topics page on LDS.org. Search for “same-sex attraction” or “same-sex marriage.” suggested articles:
Church Instructs Leaders on Same-Sex Marriage; The Divine Institution of Marriage; Love One Another: A Discussion on Same-Sex Attraction
Genesis 18:20. A grievous sin
“Never do anything that could lead to sexual transgression. Treat others with respect, not as objects used to satisfy lustful and selfish desires. Before marriage, do not participate in passionate kissing, lie on top of another person, or touch the private, sacred parts of another person’s body, with or without clothing. Do not do anything else that arouses sexual feelings. Do not arouse those emotions in your own body. Pay attention to the promptings of the Spirit so that you can be clean and virtuous. The Spirit of the Lord will withdraw from one who is in sexual transgression” (For the Strength of Youth [booklet, 2011], 36).
Elder Dallin H. Oaks taught the following about same-sex attraction and homosexual behavior:
“The distinction between feelings or inclinations on the one hand, and behavior on the other hand, is very clear. It’s no sin to have inclinations that if yielded to would produce behavior that would be a transgression. The sin is in yielding to temptation. Temptation is not unique. Even the Savior was tempted. …
“I think it’s important for you to understand that [homosexual] … is not a noun that describes a condition. It’s an adjective that describes feelings or behavior. …
“Everyone has some challenges they have to struggle with. [Same-sex attraction is] a particular kind of challenge that is very vexing. It is common in our society and it has also become politicized. But it’s only one of a host of challenges men and women have to struggle with, and I just encourage you to seek the help of the Savior to resist temptation and to refrain from behavior that would cause you to have to repent or to have your Church membership called into question. …
“… Homosexual feelings are controllable. Perhaps there is an inclination or susceptibility to such feelings that is a reality for some and not a reality for others. But out of such susceptibilities come feelings, and feelings are controllable. If we cater to the feelings, they increase the power of the temptation. If we yield to the temptation, we have committed sinful behavior. That pattern is the same for a person that covets someone else’s property and has a strong temptation to steal. It’s the same for a person that develops a taste for alcohol. It’s the same for a person that is born with a ‘short fuse,’ as we would say of a susceptibility to anger. If they let that susceptibility remain uncontrolled, it becomes a feeling of anger, and a feeling of anger can yield to behavior that is sinful and illegal.
“We’re not talking about a unique challenge here. We’re talking about a common condition of mortality. We don’t understand exactly the ‘why,’ or the extent to which there are inclinations or susceptibilities and so on. But what we do know is that feelings can be controlled and behavior can be controlled. The line of sin is between the feelings and the behavior. The line of prudence is between the susceptibility and the feelings. We need to lay hold on the feelings and try to control them to keep us from getting into a circumstance that leads to sinful behavior” (“Interview with Elder Dallin H. Oaks and Elder Lance B. Wickman: ‘Same-Gender Attraction,’” Dec. 12, 2012, mormonnewsroom.org).
Gordon B. Hinckley emphasized that while we cannot condone sinful behavior, we love those who struggle with same-sex attraction:
“There are those who would have us believe in the validity of what they choose to call same-sex marriage. Our hearts reach out to those who struggle with feelings of affinity for the same gender. We remember you before the Lord, we sympathize with you, we regard you as our brothers and our sisters. However, we cannot condone immoral practices on your part any more than we can condone immoral practices on the part of others” (“Stand Strong against the Wiles of the World,” Ensign, Nov. 1995, 99).
How should young people respond to those who challenge Church teachings and standards?
Elder Dallin H. Oaks of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles suggested how young people can respond when confronted with arguments that advocate ideas and practices that are contrary to God’s plan of salvation:
“I suggest that it may be preferable for our young people to refrain from arguing with their associates about such assertions or proposals. They will often be better off to respond by identifying the worldly premises or assumptions in the assertions they face and then by identifying the different assumptions or premises that guide the thinking of Latter-day Saints. This won’t elicit agreement from persons who don’t share our faith, but it can move the discussion away from arguing over conclusions to identifying the real source of disagreement” (“As He Thinketh in His Heart” [evening with a General Authority, Feb. 8, 2013]; si.lds.org; see also the Seek Truth resources on the S&I Priorities page at si.lds.org).
Marriage and gender roles are based on eternal truths
Elder Dallin H. Oaks of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles explained the assumptions upon which the Church bases its views concerning marriage and gender roles:
“We reject the modern idea that marriage is a relationship that exists primarily for the fulfillment of the individuals who enter into it, with either one of them being able to terminate it at will. We focus on the well-being of children, not just ourselves.
“Our Church handbook explains: ‘By divine design, both a man and a woman are essential for bringing children into mortality and providing the best setting for the rearing and nurturing of children’ [Handbook 2: Administering the Church (2010), 1.3.2].
“Our family proclamation declares: ‘Children are entitled to birth within the bonds of matrimony, and to be reared by a father and a mother who honor marital vows with complete fidelity’ [“The Family: A Proclamation to the World,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2010, 129].
“Our belief that we are commanded to ‘honor marital vows with complete fidelity’ introduces the next fundamental premise stated in the family proclamation: ‘God has commanded that the sacred powers of procreation are to be employed only between man and woman, lawfully wedded as husband and wife’ [“The Family,” 129].
“This declaration is not politically correct, but it is true, and we are responsible to teach and practice its truth. That obviously sets us against many assumptions and practices in today’s world—the birth of millions of innocent children to unwed mothers being only one illustration. …
“Men and women spirits ‘complete each other’ because they are different, and they ‘progress together toward exaltation’ by, among other things, honoring those eternal, created differences. Thus, the family proclamation states: ‘By divine design, fathers are to preside over their families in love and righteousness and are responsible to provide the necessities of life and protection for their families. Mothers are primarily responsible for the nurture of their children. In these sacred responsibilities, fathers and mothers are obligated to help one another as equal partners’ [“The Family,” 129].
“We rejoice in the distinctive and mutually supportive roles of men and women in God’s plan. Men and women are to be different, yet they are inseparably bound together in a mutually supportive relationship to accomplish God’s plan” (“As He Thinketh in His Heart” [evening with Elder Dallin H. Oaks, Feb. 8, 2013]; si.lds.org).
Genesis 18:23–33. “Wilt thou … not spare the place?”
President Spencer W. Kimball commented on the exchange between Abraham and the Lord as they discussed the destruction of Sodom:
“Abraham knew that the cities of the plains—Sodom and Gomorrah and other places—were wicked cities, housing wicked, godless people, saying with Cain, ‘Who is the Lord that I should know him?’ (Moses 5:16.) He was aware that destruction of those cities was imminent; but in his compassion for his fellowman, he begged and pleaded with the Lord, ‘Peradventure there be fifty righteous within the city,’ will you spare the others of the city? (See Gen. 18:24.) That pleading being granted, came Abraham again and prayed that the cities would be saved if 45 were found, or 40 or 30 or 20 or down to ten, but apparently there could not be found even ten, in those vicious cities, who were righteous. (See Gen. 18:24–32.)
“The evil continued. The sin was too well entrenched. They had laughed and joked about a destruction. The transgressions for which Sodom had apparently been renowned continued on. In fact, the people wanted to take advantage of the pure angel men they had seen come into the city. The vicious men pressed and would have broken down the doors to get to them. Gen. 19:4–11.)
“Everything was done that could be done by Abraham to save the city, but it had become so depraved and wanton that to save it was impossible” (“Why Do We Continue to Tolerate Sin?” Ensign, May 1975, 109).
I. Genesis 17:1–8
The Lord covenants with Abraham
---What do you want to do when you are an adult? (on board)
---What do you want to be when you are an adult?
---Discuss with a partner the difference between the two questions on the board then share your thoughts with the class
---Genesis 17:1 looking for what the Lord wanted Abram to do and be. Report.
---What do you think it means to “walk before” the Lord?
---What do you think it means to be perfect? (the command to be perfect refers to becoming like Heavenly Father. This is an ongoing process that will extend beyond this life and can only be accomplished by drawing upon the power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ through diligent efforts to live His gospel.)
---Genesis 17:2 looking for what the Lord planned to do with Abram. Report.
---Mark the phrase “I will make my covenant between me and thee.”
---Turn in notebooks to the page with the chart listing the responsibilities and blessings of the Abrahamic covenant. Use the list you created to review the responsibilities Abram had as part of the covenant.
---Add the commandments from Genesis 17:1 “walk before the Lord and be perfect” to their list of responsibilities
---As part of establishing His covenant with Abram, the Lord did something to remind Abram of the promised blessings. Invite
---Genesis 17:3–5 looking for what the Lord did.
---According to verse 5, what did the Lord do as a reminder of the covenant?
---In Hebrew the name Abram means “exalted father” and Abraham means “father of a multitude.” Both names represent what was possible for Abraham to become because of the covenant—an exalted being, like God.
---Write the meaning of these names in the margin of your scriptures.
---Genesis 17:6 identify promises the Lord confirmed upon Abraham that correspond to this new name. Share.
---Review the blessings of the Abrahamic covenant you listed on the chart in your class notebooks.
---As you look at the chart and consider the promises given to Abraham, what do you think the Lord was preparing him to become? (Through this covenant, the Lord was preparing Abraham to become like God, an exalted father with innumerable posterity.)
---Genesis 17:7 looking for who else the Lord is willing to establish the Abrahamic covenant with.
---According to verse 7, who else does the Lord say He will establish the Abrahamic covenant with? (Abraham’s seed, or posterity.)
---Because of the scattering of Israel, most people in the world are likely the literal seed of Abraham.
---“To be counted as Abraham’s seed, an individual must obey the laws and ordinances of the gospel. Then the person can receive all the blessings of the Abrahamic covenant, even if he or she is not a literal descendant of Abraham” (True to the Faith: A Gospel Reference [2004], 5).
---This means we can receive the same spiritual blessings the Lord offered to Abraham.
---What would we need to do in order to receive the same blessings promised to Abraham? (We too must covenant with the Lord and take upon ourselves the same responsibilities as Abraham. This begins with baptism and includes each of the saving ordinances of the gospel.)
---(on the board): As we _______________________, then we become heirs to the responsibilities and blessings given to Abraham. (As we make and keep covenants with the Lord, we become heirs to the responsibilities and blessings given to Abraham.)
---Elder Russell M. Nelson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles testified: “The ultimate blessings of the Abrahamic covenant are conferred in holy temples. These blessings allow us to come forth in the First Resurrection and inherit thrones, kingdoms, powers, principalities, and dominions, to our ‘exaltation and glory in all things’ (D&C 132:19)”
---Elder Bruce R. McConkie of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles taught: “When he [or she] is married in the temple for time and for all eternity, each worthy member of the Church enters personally into the same covenant the Lord made with Abraham. This is the occasion when the promises of eternal increase are made, and it is then specified that those who keep the covenants made there shall be inheritors of all the blessings of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob” (A New Witness for the Articles of Faith [1985], 508).
---What blessings will we inherit if we make and keep these sacred temple covenants? (You might give students a moment to consider the blessings they have listed in their class notebooks or scripture study journals.)
---Our making and keeping this covenant of exaltation can also bless our posterity.
---Genesis 17:7–8 looking for what the Lord promised to do for Abraham and his seed. Add any new promise to your charts.
---What did the Lord covenant to do for Abraham’s seed?
---What do you think it means that the Lord will be a God to Abraham’s posterity?
---Testify that throughout the history of the Old Testament, it is evident that the Lord extended His arm of mercy to Abraham’s seed. Even when they strayed from the truth, the Lord made every attempt to bring them back, honoring the covenant He made with Abraham.
---In what ways can your decision to enter into covenants with the Lord bless your future children?
---In what ways have you seen the lives of children affected by their parents’ making and keeping covenants? (You might want to share your own experience or an example here.)
---Point to the questions on the board from the beginning of class, and ask:
---What does the Lord want you, as the seed of Abraham, to do?
---What does He want you to be?
---Keep the covenants you made at baptism and look forward to making and keeping the other covenants available only in the temple.
II. Genesis 17:9–14
Circumcision is a token of the Abrahamic covenant
---Summary: In Genesis 17:9–14, as a token or reminder of the covenant God made with Abraham, He commanded that Abraham and all male members of his household be circumcised. This symbol would act as a reminder of the responsibilities and blessings of the Abrahamic covenant, which includes the promise of eternal increase, dedication to God, and separation from sin and the world. The Joseph Smith Translation helps us understand that the people of Abraham’s day had gone astray from God’s ordinances and turned away from the proper performance of baptism, even participating in a form of infant baptism. Circumcision of a male child when he was eight days old was to be a reminder to parents that children need to be baptized when they are accountable at eight years of age. (See Joseph Smith Translation, Genesis 17:3–7, 11–12 [in the Bible appendix]; see also Genesis 17:12). Circumcision as a token of the Abrahamic covenant was no longer required after Jesus Christ’s mortal ministry (see Moroni 8:8).
III. Genesis 17:15–27
The Lord promised Abraham that Sarah would have a son and that he should be named Isaac
---Raise your hand if you have ever had a prayer answered in a way that was different from what you had expected.
---Abraham had desired and prayed for children. Because his wife, Sarai, was not able to have children, she gave her handmaid, Hagar, to Abraham to also be his wife and to bear him children. Hagar had a son named Ishmael. (See Genesis 16.) Abraham may have considered Ishmael to be the answer to his prayers for children, but the Lord planned to fulfill His covenant with Abraham in an additional way.
---Genesis 17:15–22 looking for how the Lord further kept His covenant with Abraham.
---Notice how the Lord changed Sarai’s name to Sarah as a part of the covenant. What did her new name mean? (See Genesis 17:15, footnote a.)
---What did the Lord reveal would happen to Sarah?
---What was Abraham’s reaction? (laughed = “rejoiced” [see Genesis 17:17, footnote a].)
---In what way might this revelation have surprised Abraham?
---Through whose lineage did the Lord reveal the covenant would be continued?
---What principle can we learn from Abraham and Sarah’s experience about how the Lord will fulfill His promises? (God will fulfill His promises, though it may not be in the way or at the time we might expect.)
---Ponder experiences you have had when the Lord has fulfilled a promise to you or answered a prayer in a way that was different from what you were expecting. Share.
---How can experiences like these influence our trust in the Lord?
---Review the elements of the Abrahamic covenant and share feelings about it and its blessings.
---Choose one thing they can do to more fully live up to their covenants with God so they can receive His promised blessings.
Commentary and Background Information
Genesis 17:1. “Be thou perfect”
Jehovah (Jesus Christ) commanded Abraham to be perfect (see Genesis 17:1). During His mortal ministry, Jesus Christ restated this command to “be ye therefore perfect” (Matthew 5:48). For Abraham to become perfect, he would need to become like God. Modern revelation confirms that Abraham eventually received the fulness of God’s blessings and “hath entered into his exaltation and sitteth upon his throne” (D&C 132:29). Abraham’s son Isaac and grandson Jacob also received of the fulness of Heavenly Father’s blessings and “sit upon thrones, and are not angels but are gods” (D&C 132:37). For more information about what it means to become like God, go to Gospel Topics on LDS.org and search for “Becoming Like God,” “Eternal Life,” or “Exaltation.”
President Lorenzo Snow taught how we can obey the command to become perfect:
“We learn that the Lord appeared to Abraham and made him very great promises, and that before he was prepared to receive them a certain requirement was made of him, that he [Abraham] should become perfect before the Lord. And the same requirement was made by the Savior of his Disciples, that they should become perfect, even as He and His Father in Heaven were perfect. This I conceive to be a subject that concerns the Latter-day Saints; and I wish to offer a few remarks by way of suggestion, for the reflection of those whom it concerns. …
“… The Lord … has not made a requirement that cannot be complied with, but on the other hand, He has placed for the use of the Latter-day Saints the means by which they can conform to His holy order. When the Lord made this requirement of Abraham, He gave him the means by which he could become qualified to obey that law and come up fully to the requirement. He had the privilege of the Holy Spirit, as we are told the gospel was preached to Abraham, and through that gospel he could obtain that divine aid which would enable him to understand the things of God, and without it no man could do so; without it no man could arrive at a state of perfection before the Lord. …
“… It requires time; it requires much patience and discipline of the mind and heart in order to obey this commandment. And although we may fail at first in our attempts, yet this should not discourage the Latter-day Saints from endeavoring to exercise a determination to comply with the great requirement. …
“… When we experience trying moments, then is the time for us to avail ourselves of that great privilege of calling upon the Lord for strength and understanding, intelligence and grace by which we can overcome the weakness of the flesh against which we have to make a continual warfare” (Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Lorenzo Snow [2012], 95–97).
“Do not expect to become perfect at once. If you do, you will be disappointed. Be better today than you were yesterday, and be better tomorrow than you are today. The temptations that perhaps partially overcome us today, let them not overcome us so far tomorrow. Thus continue to be a little better day by day” (Teachings: Lorenzo Snow, 103).
Genesis 17:7. “I will establish my covenant [with] thy seed after thee”
Elder Russell M. Nelson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles taught how we enter into the same covenant as Abraham and how that covenant can bless our children:
“At baptism, we covenant to serve the Lord and keep his commandments. When we partake of the sacrament, we renew those covenants. We may receive covenants of the priesthood and the crowning blessings of the endowment, the doctrine, and the covenants unique to the holy temple.
“The new and everlasting covenant of the gospel allows us to qualify for marriage in the temple and be blessed to ‘come forth in the first resurrection’ and ‘inherit thrones, kingdoms, principalities, and powers, dominions, … to [our] exaltation and glory in all things’ [D&C 132:19].
“Children born to parents thus married are natural heirs to the blessings of the priesthood. They are born in the covenant. Hence, ‘they require no rite of adoption or sealing to insure their place in the posterity of promise’ [James E. Talmage, The Articles of Faith (1977), 446].
“Rewards for obedience to the commandments are almost beyond mortal comprehension. Here, children of the covenant become a strain of sin-resistant souls. And hereafter, … other children of the covenant, and ‘each generation would be linked to the one which went on before … [in] the divine family of God’ [Joseph Fielding Smith, in Conference Report, Oct. 1950, 13–14]. Great comfort comes from the knowledge that our loved ones are secured to us through the covenants.”
Lesson 25: Genesis 18
I. Genesis 18:1–15
Messengers from God reiterate the promise that Abraham and Sarah will have a son
---Think about miraculous events they have read about in the scriptures. Report (on the board.)
---What makes these events miraculous?
---Look for a promise about a miraculous event as they study Genesis 18.
---While Abraham and Sarah were dwelling in the Plains of Mamre, three holy messengers visited Abraham.
---Genesis 18:2–5 look for how Abraham treated these three messengers of the Lord. Report.
---Who were these visitors? Look at the Joseph Smith Translation, Genesis 18:3 (in Genesis 18:3, footnote a) uses the phrase “My brethren” instead of “My Lord,” indicating that the Lord was not one of the three men. Joseph Smith Translation, Genesis 18:23 (in Genesis 18:22, footnote a) clarifies that these three messengers were “holy men … sent forth after the order of God.” In the King James Version of the Bible, the word angels, which was used in reference to these men (see Genesis 19:1), was translated from the Hebrew word malakhim, which can also mean “messengers.” Although we do not know the identity of the three messengers, Abraham treated them as if they were presiding authorities of the Lord’s kingdom then on the earth, and their messages were directly from the Lord.
---Summary Genesis 18:6–8 Abraham and Sarah quickly prepared a meal for the messengers.
---Genesis 18:9–10 look for what the messengers announced would happen to Sarah. Report
---Although Sarah had hoped to have children, she was past childbearing age.
---If you were Sarah, what might you have thought and felt when you heard this news?
---Genesis 18:11–12 silently and look for how Sarah reacted to this news. Report.
---Genesis 18:13–15 looking for what Abraham and Sarah learned about the Lord. Mark what you find.
---What did Abraham and Sarah learn about the Lord? (Nothing is too hard for the Lord; the Lord is able to do all things.)
---When have you seen evidence of this truth in your life or the life of someone you know?
---Even though the Lord is able to do all things, He blesses us “in his own time, and in his own way, and according to his own will” (D&C 88:68).
---Testify of how you know the Lord is able to do all things.
---Pray for the righteous desires of your hearts and hope for and trust in the Lord’s wisdom and timing.
II. Genesis 18:16–33
Abraham asks the Lord if Sodom can be spared if enough righteous people are found there
---Summary Genesis 18:16–22 because the Lord saw that Abraham would be faithful in keeping his covenants, He revealed to Abraham what He would do with Sodom and Gomorrah. While the Prophet Joseph Smith was working on his inspired translation of the Bible, he learned more about what the Lord planned to do with Sodom and why.
“And the angel of the Lord said unto Abraham, The Lord said unto us, Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous, I will destroy them.
“And I will send you, and ye shall go down now, and see that their iniquities are rewarded unto them.
“And ye shall have all things done (whether they have done) altogether according to the cry of it, which is come unto me.
“And if ye do it not, (I will know) it shall be upon your heads; for I will destroy them, and you shall know that I will do it, for it shall be before your eyes.
“And the angels which were holy men, and were sent forth after the order of God, turned their faces from thence and went toward Sodom” (Joseph Smith Translation, Genesis 18:19–23; bold, italics, and strikethrough added).
---Genesis 18:20 aloud.
---silently read Genesis 19:5 and Jude 1:7. (If students have the Latter-day Saint edition of the King James Version of the Bible, you might also want to draw their attention to Genesis 18:20, footnote b).
---These verses in Genesis 19 and Jude 1 help us understand that the grievous sin mentioned in Genesis 18:20 included homosexual behavior. This behavior was widely accepted and practiced among the inhabitants of Sodom and nearby cities (see Jude 1:7). The prophet Ezekiel spoke of additional sins that plagued the inhabitants of Sodom. He declared that they were full of pride and idleness and that although they had a “fulness of bread,” they rejected the poor and needy (see Ezekiel 16:49–50).
---Based on verse 20, how does the Lord view homosexual behavior? (As a “very grievous” sin. All violations of the law of chastity, or sexual sins, are very serious.)
---Homosexual behavior is a serious sin.
---From the beginning, and consistently throughout the scriptures, the Lord has condemned violations of the law of chastity, including homosexual behavior.
---In order to understand why homosexual behavior is a serious sin, we must understand the doctrines behind the purposes of marriage and family in Heavenly Father’s plan.
---Listen for doctrines that can help us understand why homosexual behavior is a serious sin:
“We encourage all to bear in mind our Heavenly Father’s purposes in creating the earth and providing for our mortal birth and experience here as His children. ‘God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth’ (Genesis 1:27–28). ‘Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh’ (Genesis 2:24). Marriage between a man and a woman was instituted by God and is central to His plan for His children and for the well-being of society. Strong families, guided by a loving mother and father, serve as the fundamental institution for nurturing children, instilling faith, and transmitting to future generations the moral strengths and values that are important to civilization and crucial to eternal salvation.
“Changes in the civil law do not, indeed cannot, change the moral law that God has established. God expects us to uphold and keep His commandments regardless of divergent opinions or trends in society. His law of chastity is clear: sexual relations are proper only between a man and a woman who are legally and lawfully wedded as husband and wife. We urge you to review and teach Church members the doctrine contained in ‘The Family: A Proclamation to the World.’
“Just as those who promote same-sex marriage are entitled to civility, the same is true for those who oppose it” (“Church Instructs Leaders on Same-Sex Marriage,” Jan. 10, 2014, mormonnewsroom.org).
---What are some doctrines that help us understand why homosexual behavior is a serious sin?
---In what ways does homosexual behavior go against Heavenly Father’s plan?
---Those who experience same-sex attraction can enjoy all the blessings of the gospel as they keep the covenants they have made with God. As they choose to live the law of chastity, they can have pure and virtuous thoughts and avoid lusting. They can counsel with trusted family members and their bishops or branch presidents about how to remain sexually pure. Any member of the Church who breaks the law of chastity must repent, which includes confession to a bishop or branch president, who will lovingly help him or her obtain forgiveness from the Lord. The Lord loves all His children and wants them to repent and to be clean from sin.
---Genesis 18:22–26 look for what Abraham asked the Lord concerning Sodom
---How did the Lord respond to Abraham’s questions?
---Abraham continued to ask the Lord whether He would spare Sodom if any righteous people could be found there.
---Genesis 18:27–33 silently and look for the Lord’s responses to Abraham’s questions.
---How did the Lord respond to Abraham’s righteous concern for others?
---What principle about the Lord can we identify from His response to Abraham? (The Lord listens to our righteous pleas for others.)
---How can remembering and believing this principle help you when you have a family member or friend who needs help?
---When have you experienced the Lord answering your righteous prayers on behalf of others?
---Set a goal to pray for those people who you know need Heavenly Father’s help. Look for a fulfillment of Abraham’s requests to save the righteous as they study Genesis 19 in the next lesson.
Commentary and Background Information
Genesis 18. Same-sex attraction
For more information about the Church’s teachings regarding same-sex attraction and statements on same-sex marriage, visit the Newsroom or the Gospel Topics page on LDS.org. Search for “same-sex attraction” or “same-sex marriage.” suggested articles:
Church Instructs Leaders on Same-Sex Marriage; The Divine Institution of Marriage; Love One Another: A Discussion on Same-Sex Attraction
Genesis 18:20. A grievous sin
“Never do anything that could lead to sexual transgression. Treat others with respect, not as objects used to satisfy lustful and selfish desires. Before marriage, do not participate in passionate kissing, lie on top of another person, or touch the private, sacred parts of another person’s body, with or without clothing. Do not do anything else that arouses sexual feelings. Do not arouse those emotions in your own body. Pay attention to the promptings of the Spirit so that you can be clean and virtuous. The Spirit of the Lord will withdraw from one who is in sexual transgression” (For the Strength of Youth [booklet, 2011], 36).
Elder Dallin H. Oaks taught the following about same-sex attraction and homosexual behavior:
“The distinction between feelings or inclinations on the one hand, and behavior on the other hand, is very clear. It’s no sin to have inclinations that if yielded to would produce behavior that would be a transgression. The sin is in yielding to temptation. Temptation is not unique. Even the Savior was tempted. …
“I think it’s important for you to understand that [homosexual] … is not a noun that describes a condition. It’s an adjective that describes feelings or behavior. …
“Everyone has some challenges they have to struggle with. [Same-sex attraction is] a particular kind of challenge that is very vexing. It is common in our society and it has also become politicized. But it’s only one of a host of challenges men and women have to struggle with, and I just encourage you to seek the help of the Savior to resist temptation and to refrain from behavior that would cause you to have to repent or to have your Church membership called into question. …
“… Homosexual feelings are controllable. Perhaps there is an inclination or susceptibility to such feelings that is a reality for some and not a reality for others. But out of such susceptibilities come feelings, and feelings are controllable. If we cater to the feelings, they increase the power of the temptation. If we yield to the temptation, we have committed sinful behavior. That pattern is the same for a person that covets someone else’s property and has a strong temptation to steal. It’s the same for a person that develops a taste for alcohol. It’s the same for a person that is born with a ‘short fuse,’ as we would say of a susceptibility to anger. If they let that susceptibility remain uncontrolled, it becomes a feeling of anger, and a feeling of anger can yield to behavior that is sinful and illegal.
“We’re not talking about a unique challenge here. We’re talking about a common condition of mortality. We don’t understand exactly the ‘why,’ or the extent to which there are inclinations or susceptibilities and so on. But what we do know is that feelings can be controlled and behavior can be controlled. The line of sin is between the feelings and the behavior. The line of prudence is between the susceptibility and the feelings. We need to lay hold on the feelings and try to control them to keep us from getting into a circumstance that leads to sinful behavior” (“Interview with Elder Dallin H. Oaks and Elder Lance B. Wickman: ‘Same-Gender Attraction,’” Dec. 12, 2012, mormonnewsroom.org).
Gordon B. Hinckley emphasized that while we cannot condone sinful behavior, we love those who struggle with same-sex attraction:
“There are those who would have us believe in the validity of what they choose to call same-sex marriage. Our hearts reach out to those who struggle with feelings of affinity for the same gender. We remember you before the Lord, we sympathize with you, we regard you as our brothers and our sisters. However, we cannot condone immoral practices on your part any more than we can condone immoral practices on the part of others” (“Stand Strong against the Wiles of the World,” Ensign, Nov. 1995, 99).
How should young people respond to those who challenge Church teachings and standards?
Elder Dallin H. Oaks of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles suggested how young people can respond when confronted with arguments that advocate ideas and practices that are contrary to God’s plan of salvation:
“I suggest that it may be preferable for our young people to refrain from arguing with their associates about such assertions or proposals. They will often be better off to respond by identifying the worldly premises or assumptions in the assertions they face and then by identifying the different assumptions or premises that guide the thinking of Latter-day Saints. This won’t elicit agreement from persons who don’t share our faith, but it can move the discussion away from arguing over conclusions to identifying the real source of disagreement” (“As He Thinketh in His Heart” [evening with a General Authority, Feb. 8, 2013]; si.lds.org; see also the Seek Truth resources on the S&I Priorities page at si.lds.org).
Marriage and gender roles are based on eternal truths
Elder Dallin H. Oaks of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles explained the assumptions upon which the Church bases its views concerning marriage and gender roles:
“We reject the modern idea that marriage is a relationship that exists primarily for the fulfillment of the individuals who enter into it, with either one of them being able to terminate it at will. We focus on the well-being of children, not just ourselves.
“Our Church handbook explains: ‘By divine design, both a man and a woman are essential for bringing children into mortality and providing the best setting for the rearing and nurturing of children’ [Handbook 2: Administering the Church (2010), 1.3.2].
“Our family proclamation declares: ‘Children are entitled to birth within the bonds of matrimony, and to be reared by a father and a mother who honor marital vows with complete fidelity’ [“The Family: A Proclamation to the World,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2010, 129].
“Our belief that we are commanded to ‘honor marital vows with complete fidelity’ introduces the next fundamental premise stated in the family proclamation: ‘God has commanded that the sacred powers of procreation are to be employed only between man and woman, lawfully wedded as husband and wife’ [“The Family,” 129].
“This declaration is not politically correct, but it is true, and we are responsible to teach and practice its truth. That obviously sets us against many assumptions and practices in today’s world—the birth of millions of innocent children to unwed mothers being only one illustration. …
“Men and women spirits ‘complete each other’ because they are different, and they ‘progress together toward exaltation’ by, among other things, honoring those eternal, created differences. Thus, the family proclamation states: ‘By divine design, fathers are to preside over their families in love and righteousness and are responsible to provide the necessities of life and protection for their families. Mothers are primarily responsible for the nurture of their children. In these sacred responsibilities, fathers and mothers are obligated to help one another as equal partners’ [“The Family,” 129].
“We rejoice in the distinctive and mutually supportive roles of men and women in God’s plan. Men and women are to be different, yet they are inseparably bound together in a mutually supportive relationship to accomplish God’s plan” (“As He Thinketh in His Heart” [evening with Elder Dallin H. Oaks, Feb. 8, 2013]; si.lds.org).
Genesis 18:23–33. “Wilt thou … not spare the place?”
President Spencer W. Kimball commented on the exchange between Abraham and the Lord as they discussed the destruction of Sodom:
“Abraham knew that the cities of the plains—Sodom and Gomorrah and other places—were wicked cities, housing wicked, godless people, saying with Cain, ‘Who is the Lord that I should know him?’ (Moses 5:16.) He was aware that destruction of those cities was imminent; but in his compassion for his fellowman, he begged and pleaded with the Lord, ‘Peradventure there be fifty righteous within the city,’ will you spare the others of the city? (See Gen. 18:24.) That pleading being granted, came Abraham again and prayed that the cities would be saved if 45 were found, or 40 or 30 or 20 or down to ten, but apparently there could not be found even ten, in those vicious cities, who were righteous. (See Gen. 18:24–32.)
“The evil continued. The sin was too well entrenched. They had laughed and joked about a destruction. The transgressions for which Sodom had apparently been renowned continued on. In fact, the people wanted to take advantage of the pure angel men they had seen come into the city. The vicious men pressed and would have broken down the doors to get to them. Gen. 19:4–11.)
“Everything was done that could be done by Abraham to save the city, but it had become so depraved and wanton that to save it was impossible” (“Why Do We Continue to Tolerate Sin?” Ensign, May 1975, 109).
Lesson 23 Gen 15-16
Lesson 23: Genesis 15–16
I. Genesis 15:1–8; Joseph Smith Translation, Genesis 15:9–12 (in the Bible appendix)
Abram asks how the Lord will be able to fulfill His promises
---Have you ever been promised something but had to wait a long time before the promise was fulfilled?
---What thoughts went through your mind as time passed?
---Why is waiting sometimes difficult?
---Earlier in Abram’s life, the Lord had promised him that his posterity would be as numerous as the “dust of the earth” (Genesis 13:16). Abram had waited for many years and still did not have any children.
---Scan Genesis 15:1 and notice who spoke to Abram in a vision.
---Who spoke to Abram? What might you have asked the Lord if you had been in Abram’s position?
---(2 students front of the class) read Genesis 15:1–6 aloud. Lord: (Genesis 15:1, 4–5), Abraham: (Genesis 15:2–3, 6).
---half the class to listen for Abram’s concern and the other half to listen for the Lord’s response
---What was Abram’s concern?
---explain that Eliezer was the man in charge of Abram’s house and that Abram wondered if Eliezer would become his heir if needed
---What was the Lord’s response?
---Why do you think Abram was able to believe the Lord despite his circumstances?
---Abram also had a concern about the land that the Lord had promised to him and his posterity. The Joseph Smith Translation adds four verses to this account that show how the Lord addressed this concern.
---JST Genesis 15:9–12 looking for what Abram learned. (“Son of Man” is a title for Jesus Christ.)
---According to this passage, the Lord told Abram that even if he were to die, God would be able to keep His promise. According to verse 11, why is this so?
---Abram was reminded that he would live again after his mortal life was completed because of the Savior’s Atonement and Resurrection. He was also reminded that God is able to keep His promises, whether in mortality or in the postmortal life.
---According to Joseph Smith Translation, Genesis 15:12, what was Abram’s reaction when he understood this explanation and saw “the days of the Son of Man”? (“He believed in the Lord” and “was glad, and his soul found rest,” or peace.)
---Write a principle in your scriptures based on Abram’s experience. (When we believe that the Lord will fulfill His promises to us, whether in mortality or eternity, our souls can find peace.)
---Think of any concerns or worries that they may have about their futures. Share if you feel comfortable. (Will I find the right person to marry? Will I have children? Will I be able to serve a mission? What should I choose for my career?)
---Ponder how the principle you have identified can help you have gladness and peace like Abram did.
II. Genesis 15:9–21
God covenants with Abram that His words will be fulfilled
---There are many ways by which people certify or show that they will keep a promise.
---(Invite two students to the front of the class) Demonstrate how you might show that you would keep a promise with each other (for example, they could shake hands, sign their name to an agreement or contract, or do something similar).
---Abram asked the Lord how he would receive a land of inheritance. Genesis 15:9–18 contains the account of the Lord certifying in a unique way that He would keep His promises to Abram. God commanded Abram to take various animals, cut their carcasses into two pieces, and set them apart from each other. A “smoking furnace, and a burning lamp” representing the Lord’s presence then “passed between those pieces” (see verse 17). In ancient times, when such a covenant was made, the individual passing between the carcasses was essentially saying, “May I also be cut in two if I do not keep my part of this covenant.”
---Genesis 15:18 looking for what the Lord promised Abram.
---What did the Lord promise Abram?
---Although Abram was assured that the Lord would fulfill His promises to him, what did Abram still not know? (He did not know how the promises of the Lord would be fulfilled.)
---What lesson can we learn from Abram’s experience? (We can trust that the Lord will fulfill His promises even if we do not know how He will do so. )
---Elder Richard G. Scott : “This life is an experience in profound trust. … To trust means to obey willingly without knowing the end from the beginning (see Prov. 3:5–7). …
“To exercise faith is to trust that the Lord knows what He is doing with you and that He can accomplish it for your eternal good even though you cannot understand how He can possibly do it” (“Trust in the Lord,” Ensign, Nov. 1995, 17).
---According to Elder Scott, how can we show the Lord that we trust Him?
---Think about promises that the Lord has made to you (through patriarchal and other blessings, ordinances and covenants, the words of living prophets, or the scriptures).
---Ponder the importance of obeying God’s commandments while you wait for the Lord’s promises to be fulfilled in their lives.
---Genesis 15:9–21. How to maintain faith in the face of challenges
After sharing the account of a father who brought his afflicted son to the Savior for healing (see Mark 9:14–29), Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles encouraged us to maintain our faith when we encounter doubt:
“In moments of fear or doubt or troubling times, hold the ground you have already won, even if that ground is limited. In the growth we all have to experience in mortality, the spiritual equivalent of this boy’s affliction or this parent’s desperation is going to come to all of us. When those moments come and issues surface, the resolution of which is not immediately forthcoming, hold fast to what you already know and stand strong until additional knowledge comes. … Jesus said, ‘If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you” [Matthew 17:20]. The size of your faith or the degree of your knowledge is not the issue—it is the integrity you demonstrate toward the faith you do have and the truth you already know” (“Lord, I Believe,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2013, 93–94).
III. Genesis 16:1–16
Sarai gives Hagar to Abram as his wife, and Hagar bears a son
---Write in notebooks about a challenge they or their families have experienced.
---Share?
---As you study Genesis 16, look for a principle that can help you when you face challenges in the future.
---Summary Genesis 16:1–3: Sarai could not have any children, so she gave her handmaid Hagar to Abram as a plural wife. From latter-day revelation we understand that this was a commandment from God that Abram and Sarai obeyed (see D&C 132:34). In this way, Sarai could obtain children by her servant Hagar, thus fulfilling the Lord’s promise that Abram would have children. At certain times in the history of the world, the Lord has commanded His people to practice plural marriage. Plural marriage was practiced by Abram and Sarai and by their grandson Jacob, and it was practiced for a time during the early days of the restored Church, beginning with Joseph Smith.
---Genesis 16:3. How plural marriage in the Old Testament connects to plural marriage in the last dispensation
“While working on the translation of the Bible in the early 1830s, the Prophet Joseph Smith became troubled by the fact that Abraham, Jacob, David, and other Old Testament leaders had more than one wife. The Prophet prayed for understanding and learned that at certain times, for specific purposes, following divinely given laws, plural marriage was approved and directed by God. Joseph Smith also learned that with divine approval, some Latter-day Saints would soon be chosen by priesthood authority to marry more than one wife. A number of Latter-day Saints practiced plural marriage in Nauvoo, but a public announcement of this doctrine and practice was not made until the August 1852 general conference in Salt Lake City. At that conference, Elder Orson Pratt, as directed by President Brigham Young, announced that the practice of a man having more than one wife was part of the Lord’s restitution of all things (see Acts 3:19–21)” (Our Heritage: A Brief History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints [1996], 97; see also Jacob 2:27–30).
---We read in Genesis 16:4–6 that Hagar conceived a child but began to feel jealousy and bitterness toward Sarai. Sarai responded by dealing “hardly” with Hagar, who fled into the wilderness.
---How would you feel if you had been in Sarai’s position? How would you feel if you had been in Hagar’s position?
---While Hagar was in the wilderness, an angel appeared to her.
---Genesis 16:7–10 aloud looking for what the angel told Hagar.
---What instructions did the angel give Hagar?
---According to Genesis 16:10, what promise did Hagar receive?
---In the scriptures the names of people and places often have symbolic meanings.
---Half read Genesis 16:11–12
---Other half read Genesis 16:13–14
---Read your assigned verses and find the names contained in them and report what you found--use footnotes to find meanings
---Hagar and her son Ishmael are revered in the Islamic faith as ancestors of Muhammad, the founder of Islam. Muslims [followers of Islam] also honor Abraham as a prophet.
---What can Hagar’s experience and the meanings of these names teach us about the Lord?
---The Lord hears and sees us in our trials and can help us through them. (on board)
---President Dieter F. Uchtdorf : “You are not alone on this journey. Your Heavenly Father knows you. Even when no one else hears you, He hears you. When you rejoice in righteousness, He rejoices with you. When you are beset with trial, He grieves with you” (“Your Wonderful Journey Home,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2013, 127–28).
---How can knowing that Heavenly Father really does see and hear you help you deal with the challenges you face?
---Consider inviting students to share their testimonies.
I. Genesis 15:1–8; Joseph Smith Translation, Genesis 15:9–12 (in the Bible appendix)
Abram asks how the Lord will be able to fulfill His promises
---Have you ever been promised something but had to wait a long time before the promise was fulfilled?
---What thoughts went through your mind as time passed?
---Why is waiting sometimes difficult?
---Earlier in Abram’s life, the Lord had promised him that his posterity would be as numerous as the “dust of the earth” (Genesis 13:16). Abram had waited for many years and still did not have any children.
---Scan Genesis 15:1 and notice who spoke to Abram in a vision.
---Who spoke to Abram? What might you have asked the Lord if you had been in Abram’s position?
---(2 students front of the class) read Genesis 15:1–6 aloud. Lord: (Genesis 15:1, 4–5), Abraham: (Genesis 15:2–3, 6).
---half the class to listen for Abram’s concern and the other half to listen for the Lord’s response
---What was Abram’s concern?
---explain that Eliezer was the man in charge of Abram’s house and that Abram wondered if Eliezer would become his heir if needed
---What was the Lord’s response?
---Why do you think Abram was able to believe the Lord despite his circumstances?
---Abram also had a concern about the land that the Lord had promised to him and his posterity. The Joseph Smith Translation adds four verses to this account that show how the Lord addressed this concern.
---JST Genesis 15:9–12 looking for what Abram learned. (“Son of Man” is a title for Jesus Christ.)
---According to this passage, the Lord told Abram that even if he were to die, God would be able to keep His promise. According to verse 11, why is this so?
---Abram was reminded that he would live again after his mortal life was completed because of the Savior’s Atonement and Resurrection. He was also reminded that God is able to keep His promises, whether in mortality or in the postmortal life.
---According to Joseph Smith Translation, Genesis 15:12, what was Abram’s reaction when he understood this explanation and saw “the days of the Son of Man”? (“He believed in the Lord” and “was glad, and his soul found rest,” or peace.)
---Write a principle in your scriptures based on Abram’s experience. (When we believe that the Lord will fulfill His promises to us, whether in mortality or eternity, our souls can find peace.)
---Think of any concerns or worries that they may have about their futures. Share if you feel comfortable. (Will I find the right person to marry? Will I have children? Will I be able to serve a mission? What should I choose for my career?)
---Ponder how the principle you have identified can help you have gladness and peace like Abram did.
II. Genesis 15:9–21
God covenants with Abram that His words will be fulfilled
---There are many ways by which people certify or show that they will keep a promise.
---(Invite two students to the front of the class) Demonstrate how you might show that you would keep a promise with each other (for example, they could shake hands, sign their name to an agreement or contract, or do something similar).
---Abram asked the Lord how he would receive a land of inheritance. Genesis 15:9–18 contains the account of the Lord certifying in a unique way that He would keep His promises to Abram. God commanded Abram to take various animals, cut their carcasses into two pieces, and set them apart from each other. A “smoking furnace, and a burning lamp” representing the Lord’s presence then “passed between those pieces” (see verse 17). In ancient times, when such a covenant was made, the individual passing between the carcasses was essentially saying, “May I also be cut in two if I do not keep my part of this covenant.”
---Genesis 15:18 looking for what the Lord promised Abram.
---What did the Lord promise Abram?
---Although Abram was assured that the Lord would fulfill His promises to him, what did Abram still not know? (He did not know how the promises of the Lord would be fulfilled.)
---What lesson can we learn from Abram’s experience? (We can trust that the Lord will fulfill His promises even if we do not know how He will do so. )
---Elder Richard G. Scott : “This life is an experience in profound trust. … To trust means to obey willingly without knowing the end from the beginning (see Prov. 3:5–7). …
“To exercise faith is to trust that the Lord knows what He is doing with you and that He can accomplish it for your eternal good even though you cannot understand how He can possibly do it” (“Trust in the Lord,” Ensign, Nov. 1995, 17).
---According to Elder Scott, how can we show the Lord that we trust Him?
---Think about promises that the Lord has made to you (through patriarchal and other blessings, ordinances and covenants, the words of living prophets, or the scriptures).
---Ponder the importance of obeying God’s commandments while you wait for the Lord’s promises to be fulfilled in their lives.
---Genesis 15:9–21. How to maintain faith in the face of challenges
After sharing the account of a father who brought his afflicted son to the Savior for healing (see Mark 9:14–29), Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles encouraged us to maintain our faith when we encounter doubt:
“In moments of fear or doubt or troubling times, hold the ground you have already won, even if that ground is limited. In the growth we all have to experience in mortality, the spiritual equivalent of this boy’s affliction or this parent’s desperation is going to come to all of us. When those moments come and issues surface, the resolution of which is not immediately forthcoming, hold fast to what you already know and stand strong until additional knowledge comes. … Jesus said, ‘If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you” [Matthew 17:20]. The size of your faith or the degree of your knowledge is not the issue—it is the integrity you demonstrate toward the faith you do have and the truth you already know” (“Lord, I Believe,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2013, 93–94).
III. Genesis 16:1–16
Sarai gives Hagar to Abram as his wife, and Hagar bears a son
---Write in notebooks about a challenge they or their families have experienced.
---Share?
---As you study Genesis 16, look for a principle that can help you when you face challenges in the future.
---Summary Genesis 16:1–3: Sarai could not have any children, so she gave her handmaid Hagar to Abram as a plural wife. From latter-day revelation we understand that this was a commandment from God that Abram and Sarai obeyed (see D&C 132:34). In this way, Sarai could obtain children by her servant Hagar, thus fulfilling the Lord’s promise that Abram would have children. At certain times in the history of the world, the Lord has commanded His people to practice plural marriage. Plural marriage was practiced by Abram and Sarai and by their grandson Jacob, and it was practiced for a time during the early days of the restored Church, beginning with Joseph Smith.
---Genesis 16:3. How plural marriage in the Old Testament connects to plural marriage in the last dispensation
“While working on the translation of the Bible in the early 1830s, the Prophet Joseph Smith became troubled by the fact that Abraham, Jacob, David, and other Old Testament leaders had more than one wife. The Prophet prayed for understanding and learned that at certain times, for specific purposes, following divinely given laws, plural marriage was approved and directed by God. Joseph Smith also learned that with divine approval, some Latter-day Saints would soon be chosen by priesthood authority to marry more than one wife. A number of Latter-day Saints practiced plural marriage in Nauvoo, but a public announcement of this doctrine and practice was not made until the August 1852 general conference in Salt Lake City. At that conference, Elder Orson Pratt, as directed by President Brigham Young, announced that the practice of a man having more than one wife was part of the Lord’s restitution of all things (see Acts 3:19–21)” (Our Heritage: A Brief History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints [1996], 97; see also Jacob 2:27–30).
---We read in Genesis 16:4–6 that Hagar conceived a child but began to feel jealousy and bitterness toward Sarai. Sarai responded by dealing “hardly” with Hagar, who fled into the wilderness.
---How would you feel if you had been in Sarai’s position? How would you feel if you had been in Hagar’s position?
---While Hagar was in the wilderness, an angel appeared to her.
---Genesis 16:7–10 aloud looking for what the angel told Hagar.
---What instructions did the angel give Hagar?
---According to Genesis 16:10, what promise did Hagar receive?
---In the scriptures the names of people and places often have symbolic meanings.
---Half read Genesis 16:11–12
---Other half read Genesis 16:13–14
---Read your assigned verses and find the names contained in them and report what you found--use footnotes to find meanings
---Hagar and her son Ishmael are revered in the Islamic faith as ancestors of Muhammad, the founder of Islam. Muslims [followers of Islam] also honor Abraham as a prophet.
---What can Hagar’s experience and the meanings of these names teach us about the Lord?
---The Lord hears and sees us in our trials and can help us through them. (on board)
---President Dieter F. Uchtdorf : “You are not alone on this journey. Your Heavenly Father knows you. Even when no one else hears you, He hears you. When you rejoice in righteousness, He rejoices with you. When you are beset with trial, He grieves with you” (“Your Wonderful Journey Home,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2013, 127–28).
---How can knowing that Heavenly Father really does see and hear you help you deal with the challenges you face?
---Consider inviting students to share their testimonies.
Lesson 22 Gen 13-14
Lesson
22: Genesis 13–14
---Note: Before class,
place a small, inconspicuous length of thread on your clothing.
I .Abram offers a peaceful
solution to the strife between his herdmen and Lot’s herdmen (Gen 13:1-18)
--Display a delicious
treat, and ask who wants it. Invite two students who express interest in the
treat to come to the front of the class. Divide the treat into unequal
portions, and allow them to decide who gets which piece.
---How could a situation
like this cause conflict in a family?
---In today’s lesson, we
will see how Abram responded when conflict and disagreement arose in his
family. Look for principles from Abram’s example that can help them avoid or
resolve conflict in their relationships with their families and others.
---Abram and Lot left
Egypt with all their flocks and possessions and journeyed back to the land of
Canaan, where they settled together.
---Genesis 13:5–7 aloud
---What was the
disagreement?
---What do you think would
be a good solution to this situation?
--- Genesis 13:8–9 aloud.
---What did Abram suggest?
---What do Abram’s actions
teach us about being a peacemaker?
---Being a peacemaker may
require us to place others’ interests above our own.)
---Who do you know that,
like Abram, is good at putting others’ interests above his or her own?
---Genesis 13:10–11 aloud.
---Where did Lot chose to
dwell?
---Lot chose to dwell in
the more fertile, well-watered area known as the plain of Jordan. After Lot
chose where he would dwell, he and Abram took their families and parted ways.
---What did Lot do when he
arrived at his new dwelling place? (He “pitched his tent toward Sodom.” You may
want to explain that one meaning of the word toward is “by” or “near.”)
---Sodom and Gomorrah
---What do you know about
these places?
---These two cities were
located in the plain of Jordan and have become synonymous with evil and
immorality because of the wickedness of their people.
---Genesis 13:14–17 says that after Lot departed
with his family, the Lord promised Abram all the land that he could see as an
inheritance for his posterity. Abram then traveled with his family to the land
of Canaan.
---Genesis 13:18 silently, looking for what Abram
did when he arrived at his new dwelling place.
---What did Abram do when
he arrived in Hebron (in the land of Canaan)? (He built an altar to worship
God.)
---What can we learn from
Abram’s decision to build an altar when he arrived in Hebron?
II. Lot is captured while
living in Sodom (Gen 14:1-12)
---Think about all the
decisions they have had to make so far this week. Name some of these decisions.
Write their responses on the board.
---Which of these
decisions would you say are important? Which would you categorize as small or
insignificant?
---Remember that Lot
pitched his tent toward Sodom.
---What do you think might
have been some of the potential consequences of Lot’s decision to live near
Sodom?
---Genesis 14:1–10
says that four local kings united their forces, attacked several cities
(including Sodom and Gomorrah), and took their inhabitants captive.
---Genesis 14:11–12 aloud, and ask students to look
for who was captured when Sodom was attacked and conquered.
---According to Genesis 14:12, where were Lot and his family
living?
---Lot and his family had
gone from merely pitching his tent toward Sodom, as recorded in Genesis 13:12, to actually living in Sodom.
---What does this account
teach us about some of the decisions we make? (: Seemingly small choices can
lead to large consequences. In Lot’s case, his decision to pitch his tent
toward Sodom led to serious consequences.)
---Think about some
seemingly small decisions they may face that could lead to serious
consequences.
---Testify that much like
Lot’s decision regarding where to pitch his tent, the decisions we make on a
daily basis can have enormous consequences.
III. Abram rescues Lot and
meets Melchizedek and the king of Sodom upon his return (Gen 14:13-24)
---In Genesis 14:13–16 Abram learned of Lot’s capture,
he gathered and armed his servants and pursued the armies. He caught up with
them, and during the ensuing battle, Abram and his allies freed the captives.
---Genesis 14:17–18 aloud, and ask the students to
look for who came out to meet Abram.
---Genesis 14:18–21 aloud, and ask the class to look
for what each of these kings offered Abram. (Verse 17 in the Joseph Smith
Translation adds that Melchizedek “brake bread and blest it; and he blest the
wine, he being the priest of the most high God”
---Elder Bruce R.
McConkie of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles wrote that this event “may well
have … prefigured [the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper], some two thousand years
before its formal institution among men … when Jesus and his apostolic
witnesses celebrated the feast of the Passover during the week [of the
Atonement and Crucifixion]”
---What did Melchizedek
offer Abram? (A blessing.)
---Did he accept it?
---What did Abram give
Melchizedek? (Tithes.)
---What did the king of
Sodom offer Abram? (All the spoils of Sodom that had been taken by their
enemies.)
---Genesis 14:22–23 aloud, and ask the class to look
for Abram’s response to the king of Sodom.
---How would you summarize
Abram’s response to the king of Sodom?
---Has anyone has noticed
anything about your clothing? (Hold up the thread on your clothing)
---Is a little thread really
that big of a deal?
---Why do you think Abram
would not accept even a “thread” (or small reward) from the king of Sodom?
---How might accepting a
thread from the wicked king be like giving in to small temptations?
---What lesson did you learn
from Abram’s interaction with the king of Sodom? (Resisting evil influences,
regardless of how small, helps us stay true to God and free from sin.)
---Finish the following
phrases:
Your
friend says he or she is going to copy math homework from a friend only once.
To resist evil influences, you should …
A
family member chooses to watch an inappropriate television program or movie. To
resist evil influences, you should …
Ask
students to ponder what sins or temptations the adversary may be trying to
convince them are not very serious. Invite them to set a goal for how they will
resist and turn away from those sins or temptations.
IV.Melchizedek blesses
Abram (Gen 14:25-40 JST)
---Do you know why the Melchizedek Priesthood is called
by that name?
---Doctrine and Covenants 107:2–3 aloud. Look for
why the Melchizedek Priesthood is named for Melchizedek and what this
priesthood was called before Melchizedek’s day.
---Look again at Genesis 14:18–20 and list everything we learn
about Melchizedek from these verses.
---The biblical account
doesn’t give us very much information about this “great high priest” (D&C 107:2). Joseph Smith Translation gives us
much more information about who Melchizedek was and what he did.
---Find Genesis 14:25–40 in the Joseph Smith Translation
(in the appendix of the Latter-day Saint edition of the King James Version of
the Bible)
---One side to read Genesis 14:25–31 in the Joseph Smith Translation
---and the other side to
read Genesis 14:32–40 in the Joseph Smith Translation.
---Mark what their
assigned verses teach about Melchizedek.
---Based on what you
learned about him, why do you think it is appropriate to call the priesthood
after his name?
---In addition to teaching
more about the high priest Melchizedek, these verses also teach about the
priesthood that was named after him.
---Genesis 14:30–31 in the Joseph Smith Translation,
listen for what the power of the priesthood can do. (You may have to explain
that the phrase “ordained after this order” refers to those who have been
ordained to the MP)
---What does the
Melchizedek Priesthood give worthy men the power to do? (The Melchizedek
Priesthood gives men the authority to act in God’s name.)
---Share how tyou have
been blessed by a worthy Melchizedek Priesthood holder.
Commentary and Background
Information
Genesis 13:12. Lot
“pitched his tent toward Sodom”
Elder Quentin L. Cook
of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles said this concerning the decision Lot made
to pitch his tent toward Sodom:
“Separating evil from our
lives has become even more essential since our homes are wired to bring much of
what the Lord has condemned into our own living rooms if we are not vigilant.
One of the most difficult challenges in our lives is to be in the world but not
of the world (see John 15:19) [see L. Tom Perry, ‘In the
World,’ Ensign, May 1988, 13–15]. Gospel doctrine makes it clear that we must
live in this world to achieve our eternal destination. We must be tried and
tested and found worthy of a greater kingdom (see 2 Nephi 2:11; D&C 101:78). We must do as Abraham did when
he pitched his tent and built ‘an altar unto the Lord’ (Genesis 13:18) and not do as Lot did when he
‘pitched his tent toward Sodom’ (Genesis 13:12)” (“In the World but Not of the
World,” Ensign, Feb. 2006, 53).
Genesis 14:1–12. Small
decisions can have large consequences
President Gordon B.
Hinckley explained that small decisions can have large consequences:
“I heard one of my
brethren tell of a recent visit he made to a prison. There he noticed a young
man, handsome in appearance and intelligent in his ways.
“My brother said to the
prison official, ‘What is that young man doing in here?’
“The reply was that one
evening he had taken his mother’s car, had obtained some beer and drunk it, and
then, out of control of himself, he drove the car down the sidewalk and killed
two girls.
“I do not know how long he
will be in prison, but I do know that he will never entirely get over his
feelings concerning the act that put him there. On such small hinges turn the
gates of our lives. Little mistakes, which seem so unimportant in their
beginnings, determine the eternal courses we follow” (“The Quest for
Excellence,” Ensign, Sept. 1999, 2).
President Thomas S.
Monson taught:
“It has been said by one,
years ago, that history turns on small hinges, and so do people’s lives. Our
lives will depend upon the decisions which we make—for decisions determine
destiny” (“Decisions Determine Destiny,” New Era, Nov. 1979, 4).
Genesis 14:13–24. Abram
would not have anything in common with Sodom
“Of the property belonging
to the king of Sodom, which he had taken from the enemy, Abram would not keep
the smallest part, because he would not have anything in common with Sodom. On
the other hand, he accepted from Salem’s priest and king, Melchizedek, not only
bread and wine for the invigoration of the exhausted warriors, but a priestly
blessing also, and gave him in return the tenth of all his booty [possessions],
as a sign that he acknowledged this king as a priest of the living God, and
submitted to his royal priesthood. In this self-subordination of Abram to
Melchizedek there was the practical prediction of a royal priesthood which is
higher than the priesthood entrusted to Abram’s descendants, the sons of Levi,
and foreshadowed in the noble form of Melchizedek, who blessed as king and
priest the patriarch whom God had called to be a blessing to all the families
of the earth” (C. F. Keil and F. Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on
the Old Testament, 10 vols. [n.d.; repr., 1975], 1:1:208).
Genesis 14:18. What was
the bread and wine that Melchizedek blessed?
Elder Bruce R.
McConkie of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles explained what was likely taking
place on this occasion:
“The sacrament of the
Lord’s supper is an ordinance of salvation in which all the faithful must
participate if they are to live and reign with him. It may well have been
prefigured, some two thousand years before its formal institution among men,
when ‘Melchizedek, king of Salem, brought forth bread and wine; and he brake
bread and blest it, and he blest the wine, he being the priest of the most high
God. And he gave to Abram.’ (JST, Gen. 14:17–18). … [The sacrament] had its
beginning as an authorized ordinance and as a required rite when Jesus and his
apostolic witnesses celebrated the feast of the Passover during the week of our
Lord’s passion” (The Promised Messiah: The First Coming of Christ
[1978], 384).
Genesis 14:18–19 (Joseph
Smith Translation, Genesis 14:30–31 [in the Bible appendix]). The blessings and
authority of the Melchizedek Priesthood pertain to both men and women
Elder Dallin H. Oaks
of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles taught that both men and women exercise
priesthood authority when they perform their assigned duties:
“Priesthood keys direct
women as well as men, and priesthood ordinances and priesthood authority
pertain to women as well as men. …
“We are not accustomed to
speaking of women having the authority of the priesthood in their Church
callings, but what other authority can it be? When a woman—young or old—is set
apart to preach the gospel as a full-time missionary, she is given priesthood
authority to perform a priesthood function. The same is true when a woman is
set apart to function as an officer or teacher in a Church organization under the
direction of one who holds the keys of the priesthood. Whoever functions in an
office or calling received from one who holds priesthood keys exercises
priesthood authority in performing her or his assigned duties.
“Whoever exercises
priesthood authority should forget about their rights and concentrate on their
responsibilities” (“The Keys and Authority of the Priesthood,” Ensign or Liahona,
May 2014, 49, 51).
Supplemental Teaching Idea
Genesis 14:13–24. Video presentation—“Stay within the Lines”
To help students
understand how resisting temptations can help them stay free from evil
influences, you may want to show the video “Stay within the Lines” (5:10). In this video,
Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles uses a
sports analogy to encourage youth to stay within the “lines of worthiness” the
Lord has drawn for those He has called to labor in His work. This video can be
found on LDS.org.
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