Lesson
20: Abraham 2; Genesis 12 (Tuesday September 15th)
I.The Lord begins
to explain the covenant He will make with Abraham (Ab 2:1-11)
---Who are you?
---Elder David A.
Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.
“You may enjoy music,
athletics, or be mechanically inclined, and someday you may work in a trade or
a profession or in the arts. As important as such activities and occupations
can be, they do not define who we are. First and foremost, we are spiritual
beings. We are sons [and daughters] of ________________ and the seed of ________________.”
(God/Abraham)
---The “seed” of Abraham
refers to his posterity or descendants.
---Of all of the ways
Elder Bednar could have described you, why do you think he identified you as
the “seed of Abraham”?
---Consider as you study Abraham 2 why it is important to know that you
are the seed of Abraham.
---Summarize Abraham 2:1–5: Abraham married Sarai and then the
Lord led them and members of Abraham’s extended family, including his nephew
Lot, out of Ur and toward the land of Canaan. The travelers stopped for a time
in a land they named Haran. (map 9 of the Bible Maps)
---Abraham 2:6 aloud.
---What happened to
Abraham in Haran.
---What did the Lord want
Abraham to be?
---What did the Lord
promise to give Abraham and his seed? (A certain land as an “everlasting
possession.” = the land of Canaan.)
---What did Abraham’s
posterity need to do in order to receive the land?
---The Lord’s promise
recorded in verse 6 is part of what is known as the Abrahamic
covenant. The Abrahamic covenant refers to all of the covenants and promises
God offered to Abraham and his seed.
---Draw the following
chart on the board:
The Abrahamic Covenant
Responsibilites Blessings
---Copy this chart in notebooks.
In this and future lessons you will be adding information to this chart that
will help them understand the Abrahamic covenant.
---List in notebooks or
the responsibilities and blessings they found in verse 6. (Responsibilities they identify might include: Be a minister of Jesus
Christ; hearken to the Lord’s voice. One blessing they might identify is:
Receive land for an everlasting possession. Add these to the board.)
---The phrase “everlasting
possession” means that the promise of land extends to eternity. The lands of
the earth will eventually become part of the celestial kingdom, which the
obedient will inherit.
---Write celestial kingdom
on your lists in parentheses next to “everlasting possession.”
---Read Abraham 2:7–8 with a partner, searching for
indications that the Lord can and will keep His promises to Abraham and
Abraham’s seed.
---Abraham 2:9 aloud.
---What did the Lord
promise would come from Abraham? (From Abraham would come “a great nation.” )
---Add this blessing to
the board, and invite students to add it to their lists.
---The promise of children
was one Abraham and Sarai greatly desired. Shortly after He gave this promise,
the Lord described how numerous Abraham’s posterity would be.
---Write Abraham 3:14 in their scriptures next to Abraham 2:9.
---Abraham 3:14 aloud
---How numerous would Abraham’s
posterity be?
---Write innumerable
posterity on the board, and invite students to add it to their lists.
---The promise of
innumerable posterity is also a promise of godhood, which includes receiving
eternal posterity.
---Abraham 2:10 aloud.
---Who will be “accounted”
as Abraham’s seed?
---Who will be called
after the name of Abraham? (v 10 Those who receive the gospel of Jesus Christ.)
---Abraham 2:9, 11 aloud.
---How would you summarize
what we are to do for others as the seed of Abraham? (We are to minister to all
the families of the earth with the blessings of the gospel.)
---Do you think this is a blessing or a responsibility?
Why?
---As the seed of Abraham,
we have a responsibility to minister to and bless all the families of the earth
with the blessings of the gospel. (put under both headings)
---Imagine that our
country has been exposed to a fatal disease and everyone would soon die without
a particular medicine. Your family alone not only has the needed medicine, but
they have enough to cure everyone who is sick.
---What would you want
your family to do with the medicine?
---What might you say to a
family member who felt too busy or nervous to help distribute the medicine?
---How might our need to
assist others in this situation be like our responsibility as the seed of
Abraham?
---Elder Bednar:
“Truly, great
responsibility rests upon the seed of Abraham in these latter days. …
“… We are here upon
the earth at this time to magnify the priesthood and to preach the gospel. That
is who we are, and that is why we are here.”
---In addition to serving
as full-time missionaries, how else can we bless the families of the earth?
What can we do to bless our own families and the families of our friends and
neighbors?
---The crowning blessings
of salvation and eternal life identified in Abraham 2:11 are to be had only through receiving
and keeping the ordinances and covenants of the temple.
---Notebooks: How do you feel about being numbered among
the seed of Abraham?
II. Abraham
journeys through the promised land of Canaan (Ab 2:12-21)
--- Earnestly
---What do you think it means
to do something earnestly? (means sincere, serious, or intense)
---Abraham 2:12–13 aloud
---What conclusions did
Abraham draw from his experience with the Lord? (Because Abraham had sought the Lord earnestly, he had found Him.
Abraham also decided that he would do well to hearken to the Lord’s voice.)
---According to Abraham 1–2, how did Abraham seek the Lord
earnestly?
---What can we learn from
Abraham’s earnest seeking of the Lord (see Abraham 2:12)?
---If we seek the Lord
earnestly, we will find Him.
---What are some examples
of how we can earnestly seek the Lord?
---What do you think it
means that we will find Him?
---Share an experience of
when you have earnestly sought the Lord and how you found Him.
---Set a goal to more
earnestly seek the Lord in their daily lives. As you do so, you will find Him.
---Summarize Abraham 2:14–21 Abraham and his family traveled
south from Haran to the land of Canaan. There Abraham offered sacrifice, and
the Lord declared that this land of Canaan was to be the land promised in the
Abrahamic covenant. Then, because of a famine in the land, Abraham decided to
travel to Egypt.
III. The Lord
warns Abraham about the Egyptians (Ab 2:22-25; Gen 12:14-20)
---Summarize Abraham 2:22–25 and Genesis 12:14–20 Before Abraham entered Egypt,
the Lord warned him that the Egyptians would see how beautiful Sarai was and
would kill Abraham so they could take her. Therefore, the Lord instructed Sarai
to say that she was Abraham’s sister to save Abraham’s life and to protect
herself. Both Sarai and Abraham acted in faith, believing that God would
deliver them. Sarai was taken into Pharaoh’s house, and Abraham was given
riches. The Lord sent a plague to Pharaoh and his house, and Pharaoh realized
that Sarai was being protected by God and that she was married to Abraham.
Pharaoh then sent Abraham and Sarai away.
--- testimony
Commentary and Background
Information
Abraham 2:9–10. The seed
of Abraham
Elder Russell M.
Nelson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles explained what it means to be the
seed of Abraham:
“Some of us are the
literal seed of Abraham; others are gathered into his family by adoption. The
Lord makes no distinction [see Acts 10:34–35]. Together we receive these
promised blessings [of the Abrahamic covenant]—if we seek the Lord and obey His
commandments [see Exodus 19:5]. But if we don’t, we lose the
blessings of the covenant. …
“Ours is the
responsibility to help fulfill the Abrahamic covenant. Ours is the seed
foreordained and prepared to bless all people of the world [see Alma 13:1–9]. That is why priesthood duty
includes missionary work. After some 4,000 years of anticipation and
preparation, this is the appointed day when the gospel is to be taken to the
kindreds of the earth. This is the time of the promised gathering of Israel.
And we get to participate! Isn’t that exciting? The Lord is counting on us and
our sons—and He is profoundly grateful for our daughters—who worthily serve as
missionaries in this great time of the gathering of Israel” (“Covenants,”
Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2011, 88).
Abraham 2:11. “This right
shall continue in thee, and in thy seed after thee”
President James E.
Faust of the First Presidency explained the rights and obligations that come
with being Abraham’s seed:
“What does it mean to be
the seed of Abraham? Scripturally it has a deeper meaning than being his
literal descendants. The Lord made a covenant with Abraham, the great
patriarch, that all nations would be blessed through him [see Genesis 18:18]. Any man or woman can claim the
blessings of Abraham. They become his seed and heirs to the promised blessings
by accepting the gospel, being baptized, entering into temple marriage, being
faithful in keeping their covenants, and helping to carry the gospel to all the
nations of the earth. …
“As the seed of Abraham,
we have some obligations. We are commanded to come to Christ by doing ‘the
works of Abraham’ [John 8:39]. These works include obeying God,
receiving and keeping priesthood and temple ordinances and covenants, preaching
the gospel, building a family unit and teaching our children, and being
faithful to the end.
“It is interesting that
the Lord used the word seed in His promise to Abraham. It has a fuller meaning
than posterity because it means to multiply the blessings of the covenant of
Abraham ‘unto all nations’ [Abraham 2:9]. The Lord promised Abraham a
posterity ‘as innumerable as the stars’ or ‘the sand upon the seashore’ [D&C 132:30].
“Abraham’s righteous
posterity is also privileged to be adopted into the eternal family of Jesus
Christ. This includes the right to receive eternal covenants in the temple by
which, if they are worthy, they will be organized and exalted in the eternal
family of Christ [see Galatians 3:29]. It also includes ‘the blessings
of salvation, even of life eternal’ [Abraham 2:11]” (“The Key of the Knowledge of
God,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2004, 54, 55).
Elder David A. Bednar
of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles explained when we accepted the
responsibility to be part of Abraham’s posterity:
“We were foreordained in
the premortal existence to the blessings associated with birth through a
particular lineage, even the chosen lineage of Abraham—not because we are
better, not because we are more special, but because we have particular
responsibilities that we covenanted we would fulfill. Therefore we came to the
earth through a lineage with the birthright blessing of the priesthood. Every
man who holds the priesthood was foreordained to that very responsibility in
the premortal existence” (“Teach Them to Understand” [Brigham Young
University–Idaho Education Week devotional, June 4, 1998]; byui.edu).
Abraham 2:22–25. “Say unto
the Egyptians, she is thy sister”
“Sarai was instructed to
tell the Egyptians that she was Abraham’s sister. It was a test of her faith,
just as it was undoubtedly a difficult experience for Abraham. Whatever the
Lord commands a person to do is right and must be obeyed (see Teachings of the
Prophet Joseph Smith, 256). Abraham and Sarai understood this principle
and passed the divine test the Lord had put before them. Elder Mark E.
Petersen [of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles] wrote: ‘To protect himself,
Abraham had told Pharaoh that [Sarai] was his sister, which of course she was.
Had he divulged that she was his wife, he might have been slain. But as his sister,
Pharaoh was willing to buy her at a good price’ (Abraham, Friend of God
[1979], 69; see also Genesis 20:12; for further discussion of this,
see S. Kent Brown, “Biblical Egypt: Land of Refuge, Land of Bondage,”
Ensign, Sept. 1980, pp. 45, 47)” (The Pearl of Great Price Student Manual
[Church Educational System manual, 2000], 35).
Genesis 12. Names change
for Abram and Sarai
In Genesis 12, Abraham and Sarah are still
called Abram and Sarai. But later, when the Lord formalized His covenant with
Abram and Sarai, they received new names.
Genesis 17:5 records that Abram’s name was
changed to Abraham. Ab means “father.” Rah means “exalted.” Am means “nations.”
Thus, Abraham symbolizes the covenant by which Abraham would become an exalted
father of nations or a god (see D&C 132:37).
Sarai, which possibly
means “contentions,” was changed to Sarah, which means “princess” (see Genesis 17:15) and also indicates Sarah’s future
eternal role and exaltation (see Bible Dictionary, “Sarah or Sarai”). Accompanying Sarah’s new name was a
blessing that her posterity would be great and that kings would descend from
her (see Genesis 17:16).
Supplemental Teaching Idea
Abraham 2:2–11. Video presentation—“Your Day for a
Mission”
To help students feel the
truth and importance of identifying themselves as the seed of Abraham and
fulfilling their duty to share the gospel with others, you might show students
the video “Your Day for a Mission” (3:32). In this video,
Elder Neil L. Andersen of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles tells the
story of Sid Going, who risked losing his chance at a professional rugby career
by choosing to serve a mission first. Before you show the video, invite
students to notice how Sid Going defined who he was and what his
responsibilities were.
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