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.

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.

---Genesis 13:12–13

---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.

Lesson 21 Abraham 3

Lesson 21: Abraham 3

I.The Lord teaches Abraham about the order of the stars (Ab 3:1-21)

---The world tells me I am great if … (answer in notebooks)

---Real qualities of greatness include …

---Share some answers

--- Abraham 3 contains the account of the Lord teaching Abraham about the stars, which helped Abraham understand the greatness of Jesus Christ and the importance of each of God’s children. Abraham received this revelation through the Urim and Thummim, an instrument given to seers to assist them in receiving revelation and translating languages.

---Look for what the Lord taught Abraham about true greatness as you study this revelation.

--- Abraham 3:1–3 aloud.

---What did Abraham learned about the stars and planets?

---drawing or inviting a student to draw on the board a simple illustration of what students describe.

---Which star is nearest to the throne of God?

---According to verse 3, what phrase did the Lord use to describe Kolob? (“The great one.”)

---Abraham 3:4–17 Abraham learned details about the planets and stars. For example, one day for Kolob is equivalent to 1,000 years on Earth (see verse 4). The Lord also showed Abraham His creations and promised Abraham that his posterity would be as numerous as the stars and sands. The Lord commanded Abraham to declare these truths in Egypt.

---“A Facsimile from the Book of Abraham, No. 2” was part of a collection of Egyptian papyri purchased from an antiquities dealer by some of the Saints in Kirtland, Ohio. The facsimile contains symbolic figures relating to the planets and stars and the Lord’s plan of salvation. Other than the explanations provided by the Prophet Joseph Smith, we have no additional revelation about the facsimile from modern prophets. God’s instruction about the comparative differences in stars was also meant to teach Abraham about the greatness of Jesus Christ and the differences between Him and God’s other spirit children.

---Abraham 3:18–19, 21 aloud.

---What did Abraham learned about the Lord Jesus Christ?

---Jesus Christ is the greatest and most intelligent of all Heavenly Father’s children.

---The word intelligent in verse 19: in the scriptures, the word intelligent often refers to the degree of light and truth an individual has received. We gain intelligence by obeying God’s commandments; thus, the more obedient we are, the greater our intelligence can be. (See D&C 93:28, 36.) Jesus Christ is nearest to and most like Heavenly Father because of the light and truth He has received through His perfect obedience.

---How can knowing that Jesus Christ is the most intelligent of all our Heavenly Father’s children help you exercise faith in Him?

II.The Lord shows Abraham the Council in Heaven (Ab 3:22-28)

---Think about a time they learned or discovered something new about themselves. (For example, they may have discovered a new talent or an interest in a particular hobby.)

--- Abraham 3:22–23 shows us that the Lord taught Abraham more about himself while showing him a vision of the Council in Heaven, which occurred before the earth was created.

---Abraham 3:22-23

---Who did Abraham see gathered together in heaven?

---In verse 22, the word intelligences refers to spirit children of God.

---What did Abraham learn about himself from this vision?

---What did Heavenly Father choose Abraham and other noble and great spirits to do on the earth? (Heavenly Father chose His noble and great children before they were born to become leaders in His kingdom on the earth.)

---True to the Faith:

“In the premortal spirit world, God appointed certain spirits to fulfill specific missions during their mortal lives. This is called foreordination. …

“The doctrine of foreordination applies to all members of the Church, not just to the Savior and His prophets. Before the creation of the earth, faithful women were given certain responsibilities and faithful men were foreordained to certain priesthood duties. Although you do not remember that time, you surely agreed to fulfill significant tasks in the service of your Father”

---How can knowing you were chosen in the premortal life to “fulfill significant tasks in the service of your [Heavenly] Father” influence your choices and actions in mortality?

---What might prevent someone in mortality from fulfilling the tasks God foreordained or chose him or her to do?

---How would you complete: “The test of life is …”

---The word prove in the following passage means to test.

--- Abraham 3:24–25 aloud.

---After reading Abraham 3:24–25, what would you say the test of life is?

---The test of life is to determine if we will do whatever God commands us.

---This test began in our premortal life, or our “first estate.” The scriptures refer to our premortal choice to follow Heavenly Father’s plan as keeping our first estate.

---Abraham 3:26 aloud.

---What blessing did Heavenly Father plan to give to those who kept their first estate? (They would be “added upon.”)

---What do you think it means to be “added upon”?

---What were the consequences for spirits who chose not to keep their first estate?

---What do you think it means to keep our second estate?

---If we do all that Heavenly Father commands us to do, then …

---Look at verse 26, how would you complete the statement on the board based on this verse?

---student finish the rest of the principle ….we will have glory added upon us forever.

---What do you think it means to have glory added upon us forever?

Read Abraham 3:27–28 aloud, and invite students to consider who the two spirits were who responded to Heavenly Father’s question concerning whom he should send.

---Who were the two spirits who responded to Heavenly Father’s question?

---How did Lucifer react when Jesus Christ was chosen?

---Because Satan and his followers did not keep their first estate, they lost the opportunity to receive physical bodies, experience mortal life, and progress toward eternal glory.

---Complete the second sentence on the board from the beginning of class in your class notebooks (“Real qualities of greatness include …”).

---Explain to the class what they wrote.

---Testify that we can achieve real greatness as we draw closer to our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ through obedience to Their commandments.

Commentary and Background Information

Abraham 3:1. Urim and Thummim

A Urim and Thummim is “an instrument prepared of God to assist man in obtaining revelation from the Lord and in translating languages. [See Exodus 28:30; Leviticus 8:8; Numbers 27:21; Deuteronomy 33:8; 1 Samuel 28:6; Ezra 2:63; Nehemiah 7:65; Joseph Smith—History 1:35.]

“Using a Urim and Thummim is the special prerogative of a seer, and it would seem reasonable that such instruments were used from the time of Adam” (Bible Dictionary, “Urim and Thummim”).

Some have wondered about how Abraham and the brother of Jared could both possess the Urim and Thummim while residing on two different continents. The scriptures teach that there is more than one Urim and Thummim (see Exodus 28:30; Mosiah 28:11–20; Ether 3:21–28; Abraham 3:1). Aaron, the high priest in Israel, carried a Urim and Thummim inside of a breastplate that was part of his priestly clothing. In the latter days, the Prophet Joseph Smith received the Urim and Thummim that had been given to the brother of Jared, which Moroni hid up along with the plates of the Book of Mormon (see Ether 3:21–28; D&C 17:1). A partial description of that instrument is recorded in Mosiah 28:13–14 and Joseph Smith—History 1:35. The Nephites referred to this instrument as “interpreters” (see Mosiah 8:13; 28:20; Alma 37:21; Ether 4:5).

The use of a Urim and Thummim by the Prophet Joseph Smith is a confirmation of his divine calling as a translator (particularly of the Book of Mormon) and a seer who, like Abraham, could receive revelations through a Urim and Thummim.

Abraham 3:19. Jesus Christ is “more intelligent than they all”

Elder Neal A. Maxwell of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles testified that Jesus Christ is the greatest and most intelligent of God’s children:

“I testify that He is utterly incomparable in what He is, what He knows, what He has accomplished, and what He has experienced. Yet, movingly, He calls us His friends. (See John 15:15.) …

“In intelligence and performance, He far surpasses the individual and the composite capacities and achievements of all who have lived, live now, and will yet live! (See Abr. 3:19.)

“He rejoices in our genuine goodness and achievement, but any assessment of where we stand in relation to Him tells us that we do not stand at all! We kneel!” (“O, Divine Redeemer,” Ensign, Nov. 1981, 8).

Abraham 3:22. “Noble and great ones”

The Prophet Joseph Smith taught about foreordination:

“Every man who has a calling to minister to the inhabitants of the world was ordained to that very purpose in the Grand Council of heaven before this world was. I suppose that I was ordained to this very office in that Grand Council” (Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Joseph Smith [2007], 511).

Adding to this understanding, President Joseph F. Smith saw in his vision of the spirit world that Joseph and Hyrum Smith, Brigham Young, John Taylor, Wilford Woodruff, and “other choice spirits” were “reserved to come forth in the fulness of times to take part in laying the foundations of the great latter-day work” (D&C 138:53). President Smith “observed that they were also among the noble and great ones who were chosen in the beginning to be rulers in the Church of God” (D&C 138:55).

Abraham 3:24. “We will make an earth”

Jesus Christ created the heaven and the earth under the Father’s direction (see Moses 1:31–33; 2:1). Others were privileged to assist Him in the Creation, including Michael, or Adam.

Regarding this fact, President Joseph Fielding Smith taught:

“It is true that Adam helped to form this earth. He labored with our Savior Jesus Christ. I have a strong view or conviction that there were others also who assisted them. Perhaps Noah and Enoch; and why not Joseph Smith, and those who were appointed to be rulers before the earth was formed?” (Doctrines of Salvation, comp. Bruce R. McConkie, 3 vols. [1954–56], 1:74–75).

Abraham 3:27. “Whom shall I send?”

Elder Neal A. Maxwell of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles affirmed that it is “extremely important to get straight what happened in that premortal council. It was not an unstructured meeting, nor was it a discussion between plans, nor an idea-producing session, as to how to formulate the plan for salvation and carry it out. Our Father’s plan was known, and the actual question put was whom the Father should send to carry out the plan” (Deposition of a Disciple [1976], 11).

However, even though Heavenly Father asked “Whom shall I send?” it was not because He did not know whom to send to earth to be the Savior and Redeemer of mankind. He always knew whom He would send, as he explained: “My Beloved Son … was my Beloved and Chosen from the beginning” (Moses 4:2; see also 1 Peter 1:20). Elder Maxwell testified that “Jesus, being sinless and being the Firstborn of the Eternal Father in the spirit world, was utterly and uniquely qualified to perform the Atonement. No one else was qualified in full conformance with the Father’s will” (One More Strain of Praise [1999], 42–43).

Yet if Heavenly Father always knew who would be the Savior, why did He ask, “Whom shall I send?” By asking this question, our Heavenly Father allowed His Firstborn Son to offer Himself “of his own voluntary will” (Leviticus 1:3). Through His submissive response, Jehovah established a perfect pattern for offering all future sacrifices, which were to be given with “real intent” (Moroni 7:6) and “not grudgingly” (2 Corinthians 9:7), just as He gave Himself (see D&C 34:3).