“Sharing Time: God Tells His Prophets,” Liahona, Feb. 1998, 4
Sharing Time:
God Tells His Prophets
“Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets” (Amos 3:7).
If God told his prophet something the whole world needed to hear, but that prophet lived long ago or far away, how could we get the message? Answer: The prophets carefully wrote down what we need to know. We can find what they wrote in books we call the scriptures.
Hundreds of years before Jesus Christ was born, many Old Testament prophets promised the people that a Messiah (Savior) would come. The prophet Isaiah prophesied that a Child would be born (see Isa. 9:6). Another prophet, Micah, said the Savior would be born in Bethlehem (see Micah 5:2). Zechariah knew that Jesus Christ, the Messiah, would be betrayed for 30 pieces of silver (see Zech. 11:12–13).
The New Testament was written by prophets who lived about the same time as Jesus Christ. Many heard him teach, saw him crucified, and talked with him after his Resurrection. They knew that he was the Son of God (see Matt. 16:16).
Book of Mormon prophets also wrote about Jesus Christ. Nephi saw much of the Savior’s life in a vision (see 1 Ne. 11:13–33). Alma prophesied that Jesus Christ’s mother’s name would be Mary (see Alma 7:10). Samuel the Lamanite prophesied that a new star would shine at Christ’s birth (see Hel. 14:2, 5). When the Savior visited the Nephites, the prophets wrote all that they could about what he taught them (see 3 Ne. 17:11–26).
After Joseph Smith translated the Book of Mormon, the Lord gave him the revelations in the Doctrine and Covenants and the Pearl of Great Price. These books contain important information about Jesus Christ and powerful testimonies that he lives (see D&C 76:22–24).
The Lord tells his prophets many things that we need to know—how to live, how to repent, what will happen in the future. But the most important thing the scriptures teach us is that Jesus is the Christ. Every prophet bears testimony of him.
Sharing Time Ideas
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Prepare four wordstrips: Old Testament, New Testament, Book of Mormon, and Doctrine and Covenants. Select one or two pictures depicting events told in each of these standard works. (Older children may need just the name of the event written on a piece of paper.) Post the wordstrips, and assign each class a picture to dramatize or tell about. After each presentation, have the class place its picture under the proper wordstrip. Suggested pictures: David and Goliath, Daniel in the lions’ den, the Wise Men, the good Samaritan, Lehi finds the Liahona, Nephi builds a ship, Joseph Smith in Liberty Jail, the pioneers go to the Salt Lake Valley.
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To help the children memorize Amos 3:7, write the scripture and the reference across nine sheets of paper. On the reverse side of each paper, attach a picture of a prophet (include President Hinckley). Post the papers so the scripture reads correctly. Have the children repeat it once or twice. Then turn over the papers in random order, one or two at a time, and continue repeating the scripture until the children have memorized it and all the prophets are “revealed.”
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Have the younger children sit in a circle. Pass a beanbag around while singing or humming a song about the scriptures from the Children’s Songbook, such as “The Golden Plates,” page 86, or “Tell Me the Stories of Jesus,” page 57. When the music stops, have the child holding the beanbag tell a scripture story.
Instructions
To make a reminder of some of the things God has told his prophets:
Illustrated by Scott Mooy
John Baptizing Jesus, by Harry Anderson; Holy Family, by Judy Law; The Sermon on the Mount, by Harry Anderson; Bright Star in the New World, by Keith Larson; Shepherd at Nativity, by Robert T. Barrett; Christ and the Book of Mormon Children, by Del Parson; Joseph Smith’s First Vision, by Greg K. Olsen; Council in Heaven, by Robert T. Barrett; Christ Creating the Earth, by Robert T. Barrett; Christ Appearing to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery in the Kirtland Temple, by Robert T. Barrett; God the Father and Jesus Christ, by Del Parson; The Second Coming, by Harry Anderson
(1) Mount pages 6 and 7 on heavy paper or lightweight cardboard and cut out the pieces;
Illustrated by Scott Greer
(2) Make a small hole through the white dot in the center of the box. Tie the ends of a 30-centimeter piece of string together. Pull the loop through the hole, making a hanger; (3) Fold along the dotted lines, and attach the side tabs, labeled “glue first,” to form the sides of the box; (4) Make a small hole in each black dot. Tie a knot in one end of four 20-centimeter pieces of string. Keeping the knots on the inside of the box, thread a piece of string through each hole; (5) Glue the bottom tabs, labeled “glue second,” together to close the box; (6) Find the pictures that have the same color border as each side of the box, and glue them to the piece of string attached to that side; (7) Look up each scripture, and write the reference on the back of the picture it describes.