“Jacob 2:22–35: The Law of Chastity,” Book of Mormon Teacher Manual (2024)
“Jacob 2:22–35,” Book of Mormon Teacher Manual
Jacob 2:22–35
The Law of Chastity
The world is abandoning standards of sexual purity, but the Lord’s standard of sexual purity remains unchanged. After obtaining his errand from the Lord, Jacob taught his people about the law of chastity. Jacob’s teachings still apply today. This lesson can help you delight in chastity as the Lord does.
Pray to understand students’ needs. In your efforts to focus on individual students, pray for students by name. Ask Heavenly Father to help you understand their needs and ways you can teach that will meet those needs. Listen for promptings you receive with ideas of how you can help each student.
Student preparation: You could invite students to ask their parents or a Church leader about the blessings that come from obeying the law of chastity. You may also want to contact parents to inform them that students will be learning about the law of chastity so parents can continue the discussion at home if they want to.
Possible Learning Activities
Jacob’s warning
Consider drawing a diagram similar to the example below on the board. Then invite a discussion using questions like those that follow the diagram.
You may also want to share the video “Stand Strong in Holy Places” from time code 3:22 to 4:50, where Elder Robert D. Hales (1932–2017) describes how the standards of the world are drifting farther and farther away from the Lord’s standards. This video is available on ChurchofJesusChrist.org.
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How would you describe what this diagram shows about the Lord’s standards and the world’s standards?
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In what ways do you see the world’s standards moving away from the Lord’s standards?
President Russell M. Nelson shared one way the world is moving away from the Lord’s standard:
It takes faith to live a chaste life when the world shouts that God’s law of chastity is now outmoded. (Russell M. Nelson, “Christ Is Risen; Faith in Him Will Move Mountains,” Liahona, May 2021, 104)
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What examples of this do you see?
If students have questions about specific behaviors regarding the law of chastity, encourage them to seek answers by speaking with their parents or church leaders and by studying the scriptures and the teachings of living prophets. Be sensitive to students who may have broken the law of chastity. Remind them of the Savior’s power to forgive and encourage them to speak with their bishop.
Be sensitive to students who may be victims of abuse. If it appears a student might talk to you about personal or family involvement with abuse, explain that you are required to report any allegations. Be patient, understanding, and reassuring and encourage them to talk with their bishop. If a student reports abuse, contact the Church help line or legal counsel in your area.
The Lord’s law of chastity is clear and unchanging. “Chastity is sexual purity. Those who are chaste are morally clean in their thoughts, words, and actions. Chastity means not having any sexual relations before marriage. It also means complete fidelity to husband or wife during marriage” (Gospel Topics, “Chastity”).
As you study Jacob 2, look for how the Savior feels about chastity.
Jacob loved his people. Through the Lord’s power, Jacob knew the thoughts of the people and the wickedness of their hearts (see Jacob 1:15; 2:5–6). He knew they were “beginning to labor in sin, which sin appeareth very abominable … unto God” (Jacob 2:5). After warning the Nephites about the sin of pride (see Jacob 2:12–21), Jacob warned the Nephites about “a grosser [or more serious] crime” (Jacob 2:22) that his people were contemplating.
Read Jacob 2:22–24, looking for how Jacob described this more serious sin. (Whoredoms is when someone has sexual relations with someone other than their spouse.)
You could also watch the video “Jacob Teaches about Chastity,” available on ChurchofJesusChrist.org, from time code 0:20 to 1:51.
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What role do our thoughts have in our obedience to the law of chastity (see Matthew 5:28)?
The Lord delights in chastity
Some of the Nephite men were breaking the law of chastity by taking more than one wife, when this practice had been condemned by the Lord before Lehi left Jerusalem (Jacob 2:34). Reflect on what you are doing in your life to resist temptations pertaining to the law of chastity.
Read Jacob 2:25–28, looking for what Jacob taught the Nephites to help them resist the temptation to commit sexual sin.
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What is the Lord’s perspective on chastity?
Help students identify the truth, the Lord delights in chastity. Students may benefit from marking the truth in verse 28.
Jacob was speaking to men, many of whom were persuading women to break the law of chastity. Thus, he spoke of the Lord delighting in the chastity of women. The Lord delights in the chastity of all His children—both men and women.
Provide a copy of For the Strength of Youth: A Guide for Making Choices (booklet, 2022) to each student, or help them locate it electronically. Have them read the section “Your Body Is Sacred” on their own silently, looking for why living the law of chastity is something to delight in.
To see examples of how certain youth delight in chastity, you may want to watch the video “I Choose to Be Pure” (4:19) on ChurchofJesusChrist.org.
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Why do you think the Lord delights in chastity?
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What might be evidence in a person’s life that he or she delights in chastity?
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What Christlike attributes does living the law of chastity help us develop?
Read Jacob 2:31–35, looking for how the immoral choices of Nephite men affected their families.
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What problems arise when we fail to view chastity as the Lord does?
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How would the world be different if everyone viewed chastity as the Lord does?
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How do you think delighting in chastity can influence your relationship with the Lord and with others?
One of the questions in the temple recommend interview is “Do you obey the law of chastity?”
Invite students to silently reflect on the following questions:
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What thoughts and feelings do you have when you think about answering this question to your bishop?
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What can you do so the Lord can delight in your chastity?
Reflect on what you are doing to live the law of chastity and how it is positively impacting your life. If you have broken the law of chastity, talk to your bishop. He can help you repent. The Savior wants to forgive you. In Him you can find forgiveness, peace, healing, and strength to live the law of chastity.
The next portion of the lesson is intended to help students understand Jacob’s teachings about plural marriage. If students have questions about the practice of plural marriage in Church history, they could look for answers in the Gospel Topic Essay “Plural Marriage in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.”
Jacob’s teachings about plural marriage
After Jacob taught his people not to have more than one spouse at a time (see Jacob 2:27), he explained the conditions when the Lord may authorize plural marriage (see Jacob 2:30).
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What did Jacob teach about plural marriage in verse 30?
Plural marriage is authorized only when the Lord commands it through His prophet—the President of the Church—and through no one else (see Doctrine and Covenants 132:45–48). At certain times and places in the history of the world, the Lord has commanded His people to practice plural marriage. For example, plural marriage was practiced by Abraham, Sarah, and Hagar (see Genesis 16:1–3; Doctrine and Covenants 132:34–35). Abraham’s grandson Jacob also practiced plural marriage (see Genesis 29–30; Doctrine and Covenants 132:37). It was practiced for a time during the early days of the restored Church, beginning with the Prophet Joseph Smith. Plural marriage is no longer practiced by members of the Church (see Official Declaration 1).