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PROPHET PRINCIPLES
So last week we discussed some of the things that will help us to survive the wilderness of mortality. Remember that the entire story of the Exodus is a metaphor for life. Just like the temple ceremony helps us to understand our role and destiny symbolically through the story of Adam and Eve, the story of the Exodus does something similar. Can you recognize the lessons so far? So, once you have gained faith in coming to know the one true God (the plagues), repented (leaving Egypt or the slavery of sin behind), been baptized (passing through the Red Sea) and received the Gift of the Holy Ghost (following the pillar of fire, which we haven’t discussed in detail yet, but we will) then comes the long and arduous journey of crossing the wilderness. After following those initial first principles and ordinances of the gospel, we must get down to the business of putting one faithful footstep in front of the other and enduring to the end, no matter how long and hard the journey may be. We’ve also discussed some of the things that will help sustain us on our journey. We will need to feast on the bread of heaven (manna, or the word of God), and drink from the Rock (the love of Jesus Christ and his gospel). But there is something or someone else that God has sent to help us along on our journey that we haven’t discussed yet. We must follow the Lord’s living prophet. The children of Israel did not have to figure out the way to travel alone. They had a leader. A mouthpiece for God to give them the necessary guidance and help they needed to make that journey. Chapter 17, 18, and 19 contain principles that will help us understand a prophet’s role in leading God’s people. The truths we discuss here could also apply to all church leadership positions. I’d like to spend the most amount of time on this first principle from Exodus 17 and then move a little more quickly through the remaining six.
PROPHET PRINCIPLES PART 1
ICEBREAKER
As an icebreaker, I challenge the students to all stand up and raise their arms out from their sides and hold them there for as long as they can. Tell them that there will be a reward to whoever can keep their hands up the longest. Inform them that after 2 minutes a hymnbook (or a weight of some sort) will be placed in each of the hands of anyone that is still left. After 3 minutes, if anyone is still left, another book will be placed in their hands for a total of two books in each hand. I don’t imagine anyone is going to last long after that. Once the challenge is over and you have rewarded the winner, emphasize to your class the fact that gravity will eventually pull even the strongest person’s arms down, and in a relatively short amount of time. However, take the winner of the challenge and invite two more people to come to the front. Have that person sit down on a chair and invite the two others to hold up the arms of the person sitting down. Then ask the winner how much longer they feel they could hold their arms up now. Certainly for a much longer time, perhaps indefinitely.
TRANSITION
Well, today we’re going to examine a story about someone who needed to raise his arms for a long period of time. As the children of Israel traveled through the wilderness, they were attacked by an army of Amalekites intent on keeping them from getting to the promised land. Well, just like the children of Israel, we too are bound to run into opposing forces bent on keeping US from OUR promised land. But this chapter holds a key strategy for winning those battles.
SEARCH
It’s not a long story—just 6 verses but contains a profound truth and a compelling visual. Give your students the following handout and invite them to listen carefully to the story while you read 17:8-13. One of our major objectives in scripture study is to liken the scriptures to ourselves or find the relevancy in their situation to our own. I invite you to label the different parts of the picture with what you feel each element could symbolically represent to us. Elements include:
Moses
Aaron and Hur
The Rock Moses sits on
The Battle
Amalek and the Amalekites
And the Israelites
And of course, feel free to add any elements you think I may have missed. Now when you’re done with that, see if you can create a principle of truth that we all can live by you feel this story teaches us. What would your principle be?
Now there is no one correct way of interpreting this story. There are many possible principles and lessons here so just invite your students to share and teach what they discovered. You’ll be amazed at what your students can teach you. But allow me to give you an example of one possible interpretation.
Moses=the prophet. Currently, our Moses is President Russell M. Nelson.
Who could Aaron and Hur represent then? One interpretation is to see them as President Nelson’s counselors. President Oaks, and President Eyring both support and lift up his hands and help him to lead the church.
But who else could Aaron and Hur represent? What is it that they are doing? They are upholding the prophet. Sustaining him in his role. And as long as Aaron and Hur are there to uphold him, the Israelites win the battle. Aaron and Hur could represent us. We can be Aarons! We can be Hurs! We have the opportunity to uphold and sustain him in his prophetic position. How can we do that?
There’s an excellent cross reference you can add to your lesson here. Go to Doctrine & Covenants 107:22 and look for the three ways we uphold our leaders:
22 Of the Melchizedek Priesthood, three Presiding High Priests, chosen by the body, appointed and ordained to that office, and upheld by the confidence, faith, and prayer of the church, form a quorum of the Presidency of the Church.
So how do we uphold them? Through our confidence, faith, and prayer. Now take a moment to ponder each of those three words. How do demonstrate each? We can show our confidence in them by trusting in their decisions, their capacity, and their wisdom. We can show our faith in them by heeding and acting on their counsel. And we can pray for them—pray for their well-being, their guidance, and their support because heaven knows they are still mortal and imperfect.
Now what about the rock Moses sits on? The Rock could be Christ-he is referred to by that title many times in scripture. It’s nice to know that the leadership of the church rests on the firm foundation of Christ—He is our chief cornerstone.
Then you have Amalek and the Amalekites? Satan and his legions? The enemies of the Church? The things of the world? Our own sins and problems? The consequences of poor choices? Any of these things can act as our foes and stand in the way of our happiness and progress. So what can we do when we encounter them?
We fight. We don’t give up or give in. We don’t retreat or surrender. With the blessing of the prophet watching over us, his hands upheld by our confidence, faith, and prayers, we move onward as Christian soldiers, marching as to war. The battle, therefore, is the battle of life or the battles we fight against the aforementioned foes.
TRUTH
What could our principle be then? Here’s what I came up with. If I uphold the prophet and other church leaders through my confidence, faith, and prayers, I will prevail in my spiritual battles.
LIKEN THE SCRIPTURES
How could you better uphold the prophet through your confidence, faith, and prayers?
Do we need to pay closer attention to general conference? Do we need to seek more diligently to apply their counsels? Do we need to demonstrate more trust in their promises? Do we need to pray for them more? Or do we need to stop questioning their motives, their decisions, and their ability?
What battles have you won because you’ve upheld the hands of the prophets?
ADDING WEIGHT
A brief additional insight here. Alternatively, what things could weigh down the hands of our leaders? What is the opposite of confidence, faith, and prayers?
One thing that won’t help our leaders we’ve already seen in many of the preceding chapters, and we will see again. What is the common problem you see in each of the following verses:
14:11-12
15:24
16:2-3, 7-9, 12
17:2-4, 7
Complaining, murmuring, criticizing. These things won’t help! Murmuring will only weigh down the hands of our leaders and make their calling more difficult. Hopefully we can all approach our leaders with a measure of charity, understanding, and love. We can recognize their humanity and show them patience and love. We don’t ever want to put a church leader in the position of Exodus 17:4 where Moses cries unto the Lord in perplexity and says:
“What shall I do unto this people? They be almost ready to stone me.”
Confidence not complaints. Faith not criticism and doubt. Prayers not indifference. When we sustain the prophets, we win our battles!
CONCLUSION
I’d like to bear my personal witness that President Russell M. Nelson is a prophet of God. I’ve met him and felt the power of his conviction and his connection with God. I’ve actually had the opportunity to stand in the blessing circle with him, placing my hands with his on my mother’s head to hear comforting words of blessing flow through him. I can personally testify to you that he is inspired, sincere, and close to God. His connection with the divine is palpable. I promise that you will never go wrong in following the prophets of God and supporting your leaders. Battles are won when we hold up their hands. May we like Aaron and Hur, stand with our leaders on the mount and give them our strength and support.
PROPHET PRINCIPLES PART 2
SEARCH
Now chapters 18-19 have some additional “Prophet Principles” for us to examine. Quick summary here. After the people cross the Red Sea and fight with Amalek, Moses is reunited with his family and his father-in-law Jethro. Now Jethro has some very wise advice for Moses and an excellent lesson in leadership that starts in verse 13. I believe that anyone who is called into a position of leadership in the church should study this chapter. Read verses 13-27 as a class while looking for a lesson of leadership this story teaches. You could sum up that lesson in one word. See if you can figure out what it is. If you’d like to approach this as an activity, you may even want to put the following blanks up on the board and see if they can figure out what the word is in a hangman style activity. After a student reads a verse or two, they get to guess a letter. Then see how long it takes your class to figure out the key word or lesson in leadership this story teaches. As you read you may want to highlight the following phrases.
18:13 the people stood by Moses from the morning unto the evening.
18:17 The thing that thou doest is not good.
A quick interjection here. I think this reveals something about prophets we don’t normally think about. Prophets are human. They are not infallible in their judgment or their actions. Moses is clearly not acting wisely here. Jethro informs him that what he is doing is not good. So we should be careful not to be too quick to condemn or dismiss a prophet because of something they’ve done that, to us, may very well seem to be unwise. I believe there have been some instances where even the modern brethren have perhaps said things or made policy decisions that may have not been the wisest course of action to take. I won’t get into any specifics here, but at times they may say or do things that make it easier for the enemies and critics of the Church to “make them an offender for a word”. And how should we react in those instances? Well, we forgive them and recognize their common humanity. You can’t always get everything right every time for everybody.
18:18 Thou wilt surely wear away, both thou, and this people that is with thee: for this thing is too heavy for thee; thou art not able to perform it thyself alone.
18:21 Moreover thou shalt provide out of all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness; and place such over them, to be rulers of thousands, and rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens:
18:22 so shall it be easier for thyself, and they shall bear the burden with thee.
18:23 then thou shalt be able to endure, and all this people shall also go to their place in peace.
What’s the key word here? Delegation. This is a hard lesson for many leaders to grasp and apply, myself included. Sometimes it’s tempting to try and do everything yourself—to take on too much responsibility in a calling or position of authority. That’s not good. It’s not good for the leader and it’s not good for the people that are being led either. Both suffer in that scenario as Jethro explains in verse 18. Part of the responsibility of the leader is to call able individuals, righteous individuals, and allow them to use their judgment and capacity and connection with God to lead and make decisions themselves. I received some good advice from my father when I was first called as Bishop. He said, “Call good people, and get out of their way” and I’ve tried my best to lead by that advice and feel that it has served me well over the years. I mean, what would happen to the church if President Nelson tried to cover every leadership position in the Church? It would fall apart. What if a Bishop tried to cover the responsibility of every calling in the ward? What if a parent tried to cover every responsibility in the household? It just doesn’t make sense. It’s not good. The burden would surely wear them away. It’s too heavy and can’t be done well, alone. So we have the ruler of the church in general, but we also have rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens. What latter-day Church callings would you match those terms with?
The Moses figure would be the President of the Church in this scenario
Rulers of thousands could be stake presidencies
Rulers of hundreds would be bishoprics
Rulers of fifties could be Elders quorum and Relief society presidents
Teachers, Ministers, or Fathers and Mothers could be rulers of tens.
LIKEN THE SCRIPTURES
A quick liken the scriptures question: Are there any areas in your life or church calling where you could you better apply the principle of delegation?
PROPHET PRINCIPLES PART 3
Within that larger message of delegation in chapter 18 and then also in chapter 19 we’re going to find more “Prophet Principles”. See if you can find them!
Study the following verses and identify phrases that describe a prophet’s calling.
18:15 They are called to “enquire of God” in behalf of the people.
18:16 They help us “to know the statutes of God, and his laws.”
18:19 They are “for the people to God-ward” and “bring the causes (of the people) unto God”.
18:20 They “teach us ordinances and laws”
18:20 They “show us the way wherein [we] must walk and the work that [we] must do.
Think of our most recent general conference a few weeks ago. Did you see the brethren acting in these roles?
And then what kind of matters are they specifically tasked to deal with or judge? Two adjectives here. They judge . . .
18:22 the great matters, and
18:26 the hard causes.
What are some of the great matters and hard causes our current leadership has had to wrestle with in recent years?
Issues related to LGBTQ concerns.
Pandemic policy.
Creating a worldwide youth program and ending our partnership with the Boy Scouts
The shift to a more home-centered, church supported approach to gospel knowledge.
Amongst many other issues. And, I’m certainly glad that I don’t have to wrestle with those kinds of concerns. I’m sure that responsibility weighs heavy on them. When you have to make decisions for a worldwide church, knowing that they will be under the scrutiny of the media, the enemies of the church, and every member of a worldwide church, that must be a very large yoke to carry. But God supports them and helps them to accomplish that great work.
Also, let’s add a few descriptions from Chapter 19 as well. What do these verses teach us about the role of a prophet? This chapter describes what Moses does when he brings the people to Mt. Sinai.
19:10 They help us to be clean
19:17 They prepare us to meet with God. And, to me, that’s really the whole purpose of the church and the priesthood in the first place. All leaders in the church should have this overall mission in mind. You may remember that last year I told you what I felt was the best scripture about the purpose of the priesthood: D&C 84:23
23 Now this Moses plainly taught to the children of Israel in the wilderness, and sought diligently to sanctify his people that they might behold the face of God;
That’s the whole mission of the priesthood—to help to sanctify others so that they might behold the face of God. Everything President Nelson and the Apostles do is to help sanctify us so that we might behold the face of God someday. Everything that all the general organization presidencies do, and all general and area authorities is to help sanctify us so that we might behold the face of God. Everything stake and ward leaders do is to fulfill this same purpose. It’s the great mission of all leadership within Christ’s church.
TRUTH/LIKEN THE SCRIPTURES
As you look at this list of prophetic priorities, a question: When have you seen a prophet fulfill one of these roles?
Share a time when either a general or local Church leader has been a blessing in your life?
CONCLUSION
I love the brethren. We are so fortunate to have them as our leaders. While the rest of the world has only politicians and celebrities and business tycoons to look to for leadership and inspiration, we have the prophets and apostles. Where they can only go to the news, and self-help books, and lectures for guidance, we have prophets and apostles. Where they must rely solely on man’s limited mortal perspective, we have the prophets and apostles to give us an eternal one. They are men of God and like Moses can lead us through the deserts of modern life safely and triumphantly. Hopefully we can be the kind of people that will say as the people do in 19:8, “All that the Lord hath spoken we will do”.
A PECULIAR PEOPLE
There’s a verse in chapter 19 that I feel acts as a great segue into a discussion about the Ten Commandments in chapter 20.
ICEBREAKER
Some of you might be familiar with the comedian Jeff Foxworthy and a bit that he does called, “You might be a redneck” and then he comes up with little sayings and scenarios that humorously describe rednecks.
Well, for an icebreaker, I like to do something similar but for members of the Church. So here are some of my favorites: (and I didn’t make these up by the way)
You may be a member of the Church if . . .
• You think it's rude to call or come to someone's home unannounced on Monday night
• You "Bless this food to nourish and strengthen" your body before eating doughnuts.
• You know how to pronounce and spell Mahonri Moriancumer.
• All your dishes have your name written on them with masking tape and at least one of your salad bowls is at a neighbor's house
• You know what CTR, PPI, YSA, GA, FSY, ZL, DL, AP, and BYU all stand for.
• You have more wheat stored in your basement than most third world countries
• You arrive to an activity an hour late and are the first person there
• You have an aunt or uncle that is younger than you.
After looking at that list, a person unfamiliar with the Church might conclude that members of the Church are a bit strange, weird, or odd. Maybe you’ve even been called one of those adjectives before because of what you believe or what you do. In fact, people might even accuse you of being Exodus 19:5. Ever had that one thrown at you? You members of the Church of Jesus Christ are so Exodus 19:5. What do I mean? Take a look at that verse and find the word that people might be tempted to use to describe us.
5 Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine:
Did you catch the word? Peculiar. Ever been called peculiar by someone because of what you believe and how you act? Now most people wouldn’t take that as a compliment, but we should. It’s actually quite an honor to be considered peculiar by the world and more importantly by God.
To understand why, we need to go to the Bible Dictionary for some help. Look up the word “peculiar” there and what does it say?
“One’s very own, exclusive, or special; not used in the Bible as odd or eccentric. The Hebrew word segullah, which is translated “peculiar” in Deut. 14:2 and 26:18, is translated “special” in Deut. 7:6. (Bible Dictionary)
So it doesn’t mean strange or bizarre at all. It means special, or precious—something of great value.
And what is it that will give us that special value? What makes us peculiar? Look at verse 5 again and see if you can find what it is that is going to set us apart. It’s not that God loves us more, or we’re better than anyone else, or our souls are of more worth than others. But what makes us a special treasure to God?
5 Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine:
Then continuing on:
6 And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation.
What makes us a peculiar treasure? A kingdom of priests and a holy nation. The fact that we obey the voice of God and keep our covenants with him.
And isn’t that true? Isn’t that the thing that really sets us apart as members of Christ’s church? It’s the commandments we keep, the covenants we make, the standards we live that really sets us apart. That’s what makes us different, special, and precious.
If someone chooses to live the Word of Wisdom, doesn’t drink alcohol, or even tea or coffee, might they be considered peculiar by the rest of the world? Probably.
Are those who live the law of chastity and commit to sexual purity before marriage going to be considered an oddity in our current loosely moraled world? More than likely.
Is someone who refuses to use foul language, dress immodestly, or shop on the Sabbath going to stand out? Most definitely.
And the world may mock that person, sneer at them, persecute them, or dismiss them as eccentric. But how will God see them? He treasures them. They are special to him. They are segullah. And personally, I’d much rather be treasured by God, than by the world.
President Gordon B. Hinckley once said:
“We're different. Of course, we're different from the world. If the world continues to go the way it is now going, we will become even more peculiar. We will stand for truth. We will stand for right. We will stand for honesty. We will stand for virtue. We will stand for personal cleanliness. We will be more and more a peculiar people.”
Gordon B. Hinckley
(Miami Florida Fireside, November 17, 1996.)
This is such an important truth, especially for young people, to grasp, because the pressure to conform to the ways and the beliefs of the world is such a strong one. It’s not easy or comfortable to go against the grain. So the next time somebody calls us peculiar because of the way we live and the commandments we keep, we can just look back at them with a smile and say, “Why thank you very much. I appreciate the compliment.” If the world thinks your strange, then you’re probably doing something right. It is no a sign of admiration to be well-adjusted to a fundamentally sick society.
THE TEN COMMANDMENTS
Well, if we are to become a peculiar treasure to God, then, as verse 5 taught us, we’ve got to obey his voice and keep his covenant. In Exodus chapter 20, the children of Israel are going to hear that voice at Mt. Sinai and receive that covenant. We know that covenant by its more familiar name: the Ten Commandments.
ICEBREAKER
For an icebreaker to this section of the lesson, challenge your students to name each of the 10 commandments and extra credit if they can name them in order. Can you do it?
1. Thou shalt have no other gods before Me
2. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven images
3. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord your God in vain
4. Keep the Sabbath day holy
5. Honor your father and your mother
6. Thou shalt not kill
7. Thou shalt not commit adultery
8. Thou shalt not steal
9. Thou shalt no bear false witness or lie
10. Thou shalt not covet
OR, here’s another possible idea. I sometimes like to read to my students the following statement made by Ted Turner, media mogul and founder of CNN. He had some interesting things to say about the Ten Commandments and I want you to imagine how you think you would respond to this statement if he were sitting here in our classroom and made the following comment:
"We’re living with outdated rules. The rules we’re living under are the Ten Commandments, and I bet nobody here even pays much attention to them because they’re too old. When Moses went up on the mountain, there were no nuclear weapons, there was no poverty. Today, the Ten Commandments wouldn’t go over. Nobody around likes to be commanded. Commandments are out!" “If you're only going to have 10 rules, I don't know if prohibiting adultery should be one of them.”
It's also interesting to note that Ted Turner then came up with his own version of the ten commandments but called them the “Ten Voluntary Initiatives” instead. They included, Have no more than two children, and support the United Nations.
And you know, I’m not so sure how I would respond to him other than to stand there with my eyes wide open and my jaw on the floor. I mean, how can you deny the importance and efficacy of these simple yet fundamental rules for moral conduct and good living and perhaps the most significant contribution to religious thought of the entire Old Testament. Personally, I believe that every major civilization and culture can be thanked and credited for giving the world certain gifts. A few examples: The Mesopotamians gave us agriculture, the Egyptians monumental architecture, the Romans gave us law, the Chinese, paper and gunpowder, the English, great literature, the Germans, the printing press and music, the Greeks, almost everything else: theater, sports, democracy, mathematics, philosophy. But what about the Hebrews or the Jews? What was their major contribution to the world? Well, they simply gave us our moral, ethical, spiritual, or religious compass. You choose which word you prefer. They gave the world the laws that govern the best way to live. That code of ethics is most effectively summed up in what we call the ten commandments. And regardless of what Ted Turner thinks, is there any doubt in your mind how different and better our world would be if everyone just lived these ten basic laws. They are self-evident, universal, and, I would argue, essential for successful societies and lives. This is the gift of the Jews—wrapped in divine love from Jehovah on Mt. Sinai. Exodus 20 is that gift.
SEARCH
Now the challenge with teaching Exodus 20 is that each and every commandment is a lesson in and of itself. You could spend an entire day teaching each commandment as its own principle, digging deep into why it’s important, and how to apply it to our lives. I mean, just think about it, you could have a lesson on honesty, sexual purity, sabbath-day observance, gratitude, respect for parents, and on and on. You just don’t have time to do that in one class period I’m afraid—or even two or three. So something that I like to do with the ten commandments is provide my students with a more personalized experience with them. One way to do this is with a “Stations” type lesson. What I’ve done is put together 5different study activities that the members of your class can rotate between every 5-8 minutes or so. They’re designed in a way that they can be done in any order. And what I like about this kind of activity is that it gives each individual in your class a chance to ponder and apply the scriptures on their own while providing some variety as they move from one station to the next. How you set this up depends on the size of your class. I’ll put my desks in rows of four or five and tape each activity to those desks. They’re instructed not to write on the paper itself but only on their own personal worksheet that you’ll give everyone at the beginning of the class. And while they study, I’ll usually play some soft, instrumental church music.
Allow me to walk you through each of these activities to give you a sense of how each one works.
STATION #1
Is more of a marking activity. So first it instructs them to
Take a colored pencil and put a box around verses 3-17.
Write “The Ten Commandments” at the top of page 109.
Study verses 3-17 carefully and mark anything that stands out to you.
What is at least one thing you learned while studying this time?
STATION #2
State each of the 10 commandments as a positive, as “Thou shalt’s” rather than “Thou shalt not’s” and let’s name them “The Ten Freedoms!”. How would you word them?
And here’s how I would word them:
1. Thou shalt make God and his gospel the #1 priority in your life.
2. Thou shalt worship God through prayer, obedience, and gratitude.
3. Thou shalt speak God’s name with respect and reverence.
4. Thou shalt observe the Sabbath Day as a holy and restful day, focused on the things of God.
5. Thou shalt respect and show love for your parents.
6. Thou shalt respect all forms of life as being sacred and of great worth in the sight of God.
7. Thou shalt cherish and show loyalty to your spouse.
8. Thou shalt respect the property of others.
9. Thou shalt be honest in all you do and say.
10. Thou shalt be grateful and content with what God has blessed you with.
Pick one of your statements and describe how following that particular instruction has provided you with more freedom and blessing in your life.
STATION #3
Choose a statement from the ten commandments below that you feel most applies to you.
1. I need to make God and his gospel more of a priority in my life
2. I need to offer more sincere prayers
3. I need to be more careful with my language
4. I need to show more respect for the Sabbath Day
5. I need to be more respectful of my parents
6. I need to be nicer to other people
7. I need to commit to sexual purity in all forms
8. I need to respect the property of others more
9. I need to be more honest
10. I need to be more grateful and content with what I have
Once you’ve chosen your statement, read the suggested chapter below from the For the Strength of Youth pamphlet that coincides with your commandment. And by the way, I don’t think that reading chapters from the For the strength of Youth pamphlet is only an activity reserved for the youth. These are not just standards for young people! I feel that adults should study and be just as familiar with its contents as the youth of the church. There is no age limit for standards. Each chapter in that powerful little pamphlet gives a simple, yet forceful explanation of God’s standards and expectations regarding each of these principles. So here are the suggested chapters for each commandment:
1. Agency and Accountability
2. Go forward with Faith
3. Language
4. Sabbath Day Observance
5. Family
6. Friends
7. Sexual Purity
8. Honesty and Integrity
9. Honesty and Integrity
10. Gratitude
The final question for this station: What counsel from the “For the Strength of Youth” pamphlet stood out most to you?
STATION #4
Which of the following quotes regarding the Ten Commandments is your favorite and why?
QUOTE #1
Teach of faith to keep all the commandments of God, knowing that they are given to bless His children and bring them joy. Warn them that they will encounter people who pick which commandments they will keep and ignore others that they choose to break. I call this the cafeteria approach to obedience. This practice of picking and choosing will not work. It will lead to misery. To prepare to meet God, one keeps all of His commandments. It takes faith to obey them, and keeping His commandments will strengthen that faith.
Russell M. Nelson (President of the Church, 2018-present)
CR April 2011
QUOTE #2
“Also evolving at a rapid rate has been the moral compass of society. Behaviors which once were considered inappropriate and immoral are now not only tolerated but also viewed by ever so many as acceptable…
Although the world has changed, the laws of God remain constant. They have not changed; they will not change. The Ten Commandments are just that—commandments. They are not suggestions. They are every bit as requisite today as they were when God gave them to the children of Israel.”
Thomas S. Monson (President of the Church, 2008-2018)
CR Oct 2011
QUOTE #3
"We cannot break the Ten Commandments. We can only break ourselves against them—or else, by keeping them, rise through them to the fullness of freedom under God. God means us to be free. With divine daring, He gave us the power of choice."
Cecil B. Demille (Director of the movie “The Ten Commandments”)
QUOTE #4
“…we can choose to see commandments as limitations. We may feel at times that God’s laws restrict our personal freedom, take from us our agency, and limit our growth. But as we seek for greater understanding, as we allow our Father to teach us, we will begin to see that His laws are a manifestation of His love for us and obedience to His laws is an expression of our love for Him.”
Carole M. Stephens
(First Counselor in the General Relief Society Presidency from 2012-2017)
Conference Report, October 2015
QUOTE #5
“If ye love me, keep my commandments.”
Jesus Christ (Savior and Redeemer of all)
John 14:15
QUOTE #6
In my judgment, four of the Ten Commandments are taken as seriously today as ever. As a culture, we disdain and condemn murder, stealing, and lying, and we still believe in the responsibility of children to their parents.
But as a larger society, we routinely dismiss the other six commandments:
If worldly priorities are any indication, we certainly have “other gods” we put before the true God.
We make idols of celebrities, of lifestyles, of wealth, and yes, sometimes of graven images or objects.
We use the name of God in all kinds of profane ways, including our exclamations and our swearing.
We use the Sabbath day for our biggest games, our most serious recreation, our heaviest shopping, and virtually everything else but worship.
We treat sexual relations outside marriage as recreation and entertainment.
And coveting has become a far too common way of life.
L. Tom Perry
(Conference Report, April 2013)
STATION #5
Place the following cross reference somewhere in the margins of Exodus 20: Deuteronomy 4-6 and then turn to those chapters in your Bible (you’ll find them on pages 258-265).
Now the reason I send them to Deuteronomy is because it’s the book that contains the final sermons of Moses given just before he died. In one of those sermons Moses repeats the Ten Commandments and offers additional insight and promises about them.
So our first question here:
Choose a colored pencil to represent God’s promises for keeping the commandments.
Find and mark the #1 promise God makes to those who keep his commandments according to Deuteronomy 4:40, 5:16, 5:29, 5:33, 6:3, and 6:18?
The repeated promise in each of those verses? That it may go well with thee. That’s the big promise of keeping the commandments. God assures us that as long as we keep his commandments, it will go well with us. Righteousness always was happiness. God guarantees blessings and help as we heed and obey his words. Obedience brings goodness.
In that same color, find and mark another frequent promise that God makes to those who keep his commandments in Deuteronomy 4:40, 5:16, 5:33 and 6:2
And what’s that promise there? That thou mayest prolong thy days upon the earth. We find that promise in the fifth commandment as well which says: “12 Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.” Now I don’t think that means that you are guaranteed to live a long life as long as you respect and obey your parents. Many have died young that did respect their parents. I believe the “thy” in that sentence is collective rather than individual. Thy days as a people, as a nation, as a civilization will be long upon the land. It’s when communities begin to forget these fundamental laws, that they begin to fall apart. The Ten Commandments represent the basic laws of successful societies.
What additional promises do you see in the following verses? Mark them as well.
4:31he won’t forsake you, he won’t destroy you, he won’t forget his covenant with you
5:10 mercy
6:3 increase mightily
6:3/6:18 A land that floweth with milk and honey, Possess the good land
Now look back over all the promises that you marked. Can you think of a time when obedience to a commandment brought you one of those blessings?
Then one final question:
Why does God give us the commandments according to 6:24 and 7:8?
6:24 For our good always that he might preserve us
7:8 Because the Lord loved us
This is an insight that I know I’ve shared a number of times before, but I feel it’s worth repeating. I personally don’t really like the word commandment that much. That’s a word that I would change in the gospel if I could because I don’t think it really captures the spirit of commandments. Because it’s the word “command” that seems to stand out in that word. But what would I call them to really communicate the essence of a commandment? I would call them “happy-ments”. Or “divine help-ments”. Or “divine guidance-ments”. Or “how to live a blessed and meaningful life so that Satan doesn’t deceive you and make you miserable-ments”. The commandments are an expression of God’s love and concern for our well-being. They are given for our good always. They preserve us and help us to be happy and prosperous.
Now when your students have completed each of the station rotations, if you still have some time remaining in class, you can ask them to share what they felt was the most important thing that they learned, felt, or experienced as they did the activity. That can be a nice way of wrapping up the lesson.
TRUTH
The overall truth that I would want to emphasize here then? If I strive to obey the commandments, then things will go well with me, and I will be treasured by God.
CONCLUSION
Well as I said before, I believe that the Ten Commandments stand as the greatest gift the Jewish people ever gave us. These ten statements spoken from the trembling heights of Mt. Sinai still reverberate in the hearts of millions down through the ages. As Gordon B. Hinckley noted, the closer we get to the Second Coming, the more and more we will stand out as a people because of our commitment to living those laws. One of my favorite verses of scripture concerning commandments is found in Doctrine and Covenants 59:4 which reads:
4 And they shall also be crowned with blessings from above, yea, and with commandments not a few, and with revelations in their time—they that are faithful and diligent before me. I love that. One of God’s greatest blessings He can bestow on his children is commandments. And what’s the reward for living those commandments? More commandments! Commandments not a few! And how do we react? We say “Yay! Give us more! We love your commandments. They have only brought goodness and happiness into our lives. So why wouldn’t we welcome them? May our commitment to God’s commandments define us as a people. May they set us apart as his special treasure and may we live our lives as a kingdom of priests and a holy nation that honors and values these sacred instructions from Sinai.
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