Moses and the Burning Bush, by Harry Anderson

March 21–27

Exodus 1–6

“I Have Remembered My Covenant”

As you read Exodus 1–6, think about the people you teach. What truths in these chapters are most likely to be meaningful to them? How will you help them discover these truths?

Record Your Impressions

Invite Sharing

One idea to encourage class members to share what they are learning is to write a question like this on the board: As you read Exodus 1–6, what did you notice that you hadn’t noticed before? Invite class members to share their answers.

Teach the Doctrine

Exodus 1–2

Jesus Christ is our Deliverer.

• Even though the Savior is not mentioned by name in Exodus 1–2, this account can help class members build faith in His mission to deliver us from captivity. Class members could find words or phrases in Exodus 1–2 that describe the hardships the Israelites faced. How are these descriptions similar to the spiritual captivity or other hardships we face? How did the children of Israel seek deliverance, and how did God respond to them? (see also Exodus 2:23–25; 3:7–8). How do we draw on God’s power when we need deliverance? How does God answer our pleas for help? Class members could look for additional insights in President Russell M. Nelson’s message “Drawing the Power of Jesus Christ into Our Lives” (Ensign or Liahona, May 2017, 39–42).

  

  Moses in the Bulrushes, © Providence Collection/licensed from goodsalt.com

Exodus 3–4

As we do the Lord’s work, we can have the Lord’s power.

• This week’s outline in Come, Follow Me—For Individuals and Families suggests searching Exodus 3–4 to find out how the Lord responded to Moses’s concerns about the task of delivering the Israelites from bondage. If members of your class did this activity at home, invite them to share what they learned. Or you could do this activity as a class. Specifically, class members could search Exodus 3:11–18; 4:1–17, looking for Moses’s concerns and the Lord’s responses to each. How could the Lord’s responses help us when we have doubts about our abilities to do His work?

Exodus 3:5

We should show reverence for holy things and places.

• How can you use Moses’s example to inspire a discussion about how we should treat sacred things? For example, after reading Exodus 3:5 together, you could display sacred objects or pictures of sacred things (such as the scriptures or temples) and common objects or pictures of common things (such as secular books or regular buildings). Class members could talk about other things they consider sacred and share how they show reverence for those things (see also Leviticus 19:30; Doctrine and Covenants 6:10–12). Why does the Savior want us to treat sacred things with reverence?

Exodus 5:4–9, 20–23; 6:1–13

The Lord’s purposes will be fulfilled in His own time.

• It can be discouraging when our sincere efforts to do good don’t seem to be working—perhaps a friend is not responding to our ministering efforts or our prayers for a wayward child seem to go unanswered. To learn about a similar experience Moses had, class members could read Exodus 5:4–9, 20–23. How did the Lord help Moses overcome his feelings of discouragement? (see Exodus 6:1–13). Class members could share experiences when they did not see immediate results from their efforts to serve the Lord. What does Moses’s experience in these chapters teach us about how we can respond in similar situations? (See also “Additional Resources.”)

Additional Resources

We serve others for the Lord.

President Joy D. Jones told how she and her husband served faithfully in a ministering assignment but did not see success from their efforts. The couple pondered and prayed for guidance. Recounting the answer to their prayers, President Jones said:

“We realized that we were sincerely striving to serve this family and to serve our bishop, but we had to ask ourselves if we were really serving out of love for the Lord. King Benjamin made clear this distinction when he stated, ‘Behold, I say unto you that because I said unto you that I had spent my days in your service, I do not desire to boast, for I have only been in the service of God’ [Mosiah 2:16; emphasis added].

“So whom was King Benjamin really serving? Heavenly Father and the Savior. Knowing the who and the why in serving others helps us understand that the highest manifestation of love is devotion to God” (“For Him,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2018, 50).

Improving Our Teaching

Share spiritual experiences. One way to invite the influence of the Spirit into your class is to encourage class members to share what the Holy Ghost taught them as they studied the scriptures this week.