Tagged Stories
Displaying stories 1 - 15 of 59 in total tagged with "Old Testament"
Old Testament Lesson 48: Malachi
1 Approach These represent the notes I made during my reading of the scriptural text for this lesson. It is not a lesson outline or a lesson plan but really notes about issues and questions that struck me as interesting during my reading. Consequently, the notes do not have a conclusion and very...
Old Testament Lesson 48: The Great and Dreadful Day of the Lord
Mormon Life says: That coming will indeed be dreadful for some, but for us, it will be truly great.
AUTHOR’S NOTE: With this lesson we come to the end of the Old Testament Manual. A time or two we have strapped on the aqua lung and gone deep, but most of the time we have floated serenely on...
Sunday School Lesson 48: Zechariah 10-14, Malachi
Zechariah
1:7-6:8: We may be able to read the first six chapters of Zechariah as having a roughly chiastic structure. As with many chiasmi, however, deciding whether this is a chiasmus is a matter of judgment rather than fact.
Sunday School Lesson 47: Ezra 1-8; Nehemiah 1-2, 4, 6, 8
Note that the books of Ezra and Nehemiah were considered one book until well after the time of Christ. The rough chronology below will help place this week’s material in its historical context. 606 The fall of Nineveh, capital of Assyria. Babylon becomes the major power. Daniel and others are...
Sunday School Lesson 46: Daniel 2
Verses 4-5: Why does the king make this demand on his wise men? Verses 10-12: What did it mean to be a wise man in Babylon? Why was the king angry? Why do you think that the gods of Babylon are never mentioned in this story, not even negatively? Verse 24: Why does Daniel save the other wise men...
Old Testament Lesson 47: Let Us Rise Up and Build
Mormon Life says: This work in the House of the Lord is a high and holy work, one that is continuously and bitterly opposed by the enemies of righteousness.
INTRODUCTION: I have taken particular delight in pointing out to my students places in the scriptures that are about them. Last week as my New Testament students studied John 17, I suggested...
Sunday School Lesson 45: Daniel 1, 3, and 6; Esther 3-5, 7-8
Let me begin, once again, with a reminder that these are not intended for notes to help teachers, though they may also serve that purpose. I write them for people who want to study the lesson materials more thoroughly. So you’ll find explanatory notes and study questions (fewer for this lesson...
Sunday School Lesson 44: Ezekiel 43-44, 47
Ezekiel’s book goes back and forth between telling of the literal return from Babylon to Jerusalem in ways that we can also read to refer to the last days to speaking directly of the last days. (But when he thinks of the last days, is he thinking of the same event or events that we are thinking...
Old Testament Lesson 45: “If I Perish, I Perish”
The stories of Daniel and Esther are used in this year’s manual as examples of courage “in living gospel standards.” The following pair of lessons, from a 1937 seminary text (J.A. Washburn, Story of the Old Testament) will not, I’m afraid, be particularly helpful to teachers preparing this year’s...
Lesson 43: Ezekiel 18, 34, and 37
Chronologically we turn backwards at this point. Jeremiah was the prophet in 595 B.C. when Jerusalem was finally captured and destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar and its people were carried into Babylon. Like Lehi, Ezekiel was a contemporary of Jeremiah, but Ezekiel did not prophesy with them. Instead,...
Old Testament Lesson 44: Every Thing Shall Live Whither the River Cometh
Mormon Life says: Along with the blessings that flow to us from the temple, like a river to the Dead Sea , we have obligations to those who have gone before us. What a work we have to do! And what a blessing of joy and happiness it is to do it.
INTRODUCTION: Temples are popping up like dandelions in an untended lawn. We have the joy of living when only the most remote and economically deprived of people cannot make arrangements...
Old Testament Lesson 43: The Shepherds of Israel
Mormon Life says: What has the voice of the Shepherd asked you to do with the sticks of Judah and Joseph? What has he asked you to do for the sheep and lambs he has assigned to you in your wards and branches?
Historical Note: Ezekiel was “A priest of the family of Zadok, and one of the captives carried away by Nebuchadnezzar along with Jehoiachin. He settled at Tel Abib on the Chebar, and prophesied [in...
OT Lesson 41: Jeremiah 1-2,15,20,26,36-38
1 Approach These represent the notes I made during my reading of the scriptural text for this lesson. It is not a lesson outline or a lesson plan but really notes about issues and questions that struck me as interesting during my reading. Consequently, the notes do not have a conclusion and very...
Old Testament Lesson 42: I Will Write It in Their Hearts
Mormon Life says: Perhaps as members of the Church trust with all their hearts, transform their hopes and beliefs into action, and seek to align themselves with the will of the Lord, the answer to the question the Savior asked 2,000 years ago will be a resounding "Yes, He will find faith. He will find faith among those who take upon themselves His name. He will find it among those who are living His divine principles."
INTRODUCTION: A great deal has been said and written in recent months by Church leaders about the need to get the gospel deeper into the hearts of the people. I believe that modern Israel is...
Old Testament Lesson 41: I Have Made Thee This Day ... An Iron Pillar
Mormon Life says: The call for fishers and hunters has gone forth. Have you responded? Are you willing to be like an iron pillar and do your part of the same work Jeremiah did?
INTRODUCTION: I have sometimes taught Jeremiah with a picture of home with eight 10 windows. On each window I have written one of the qualities of this spectacular seer. I have called...
