“His ways are everlasting” (Habakkuk 3:6). In the Beginning Was the Word, by Eva Timothy

November 28–December 4

Nahum; Habakkuk; Zephaniah

“His Ways Are Everlasting”

Your example as a gospel learner can bless members of your class. Share with them how the Holy Ghost is helping you understand the scriptures, and express your confidence that He can help them too.

Record Your Impressions

Invite Sharing

To give class members an opportunity to share insights from their scripture study, you could write Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah as headings on the board. Then class members could write under the headings a word or phrase that stood out to them and the chapter and verse where they found it. Give them time to explain why these words or phrases were meaningful and what the Holy Ghost taught them.

Teach the Doctrine

Nahum 1

The Lord is both powerful and merciful.

• This week’s outline in Come, Follow Me—For Individuals and Families suggests searching Nahum 1 for verses that describe the Lord’s attributes. You might ask class members what they learned about the Lord from their personal study. For example, what do we learn about Him from verses 1–9? You might point out that Nahum prophesied of the Lord’s judgments against Nineveh, the capital of Assyria, and that Assyria had oppressed the Israelites for many years. Why was it important for the Israelites to hear Nahum’s message about God? Why is it important for us today?

  

  “The Lord is good, a strong hold in the day of trouble” (Nahum 1:7).

Habakkuk 1:1–4; 2:1–4; 3

We can trust the Lord’s will and His timing.

• It might be helpful for class members to know that, like many of us, Habakkuk was troubled by what he saw in the world around him. Perhaps class members could read Habakkuk 1:1–4 and summarize Habakkuk’s concerns. They could also compare his questions with others in the scriptures, such as those found in Mark 4:37–38 and Doctrine and Covenants 121:1–6. What similar questions do people ask about God today? What counsel did the Lord give in Habakkuk 2:1–4 that helps you trust His will and timing? (see also Mark 4:39–40; Doctrine and Covenants 121:7–8). Class members could find other helpful insights in “Additional Resources.” They could also share how the Savior has helped them “live by [their] faith” even when they have unanswered questions.

• To begin a discussion of Habakkuk 3, you could invite class members to review the chapter and share expressions of praise and faith they find. To help them apply these words to themselves, you might invite each class member to write a list of blessings God has given him or her. Invite them to ponder what would happen if they lost some of their temporal blessings. Read together Habakkuk 3:17–19, and discuss why it might be hard to “rejoice in the Lord” (verse 18) during hardships like those described in verse 17. How can we develop faith like Habakkuk’s?

Zephaniah 3:14–20

The Lord will rejoice with His people in Zion.

• To help class members find hope for the future in Zephaniah 3:14–20, you could write on the board “Be glad and rejoice with all the heart” because … Then class members could search these verses for blessings promised for the future that can help them rejoice today. How do these promises help us during difficult times?

Additional Resources

Faith means trusting God’s wisdom, compassion, and timing.

Elder Jeffrey R. Holland said:

“How long do we wait for relief from hardships that come upon us? What about enduring personal trials while we wait and wait, and help seems so slow in coming? Why the delay when burdens seem more than we can bear? …

“… There will be times in our lives when even our best spiritual effort and earnest, pleading prayers do not yield the victories for which we have yearned, whether that be regarding the large global matters or the small personal ones. So while we work and wait together for the answers to some of our prayers, I offer you my apostolic promise that they are heard and they are answered, though perhaps not at the time or in the way we wanted. But they are always answered at the time and in the way an omniscient and eternally compassionate parent should answer them. …

“… Faith means trusting God in good times and bad, even if that includes some suffering until we see His arm revealed in our behalf” (“Waiting on the Lord,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2020, 115–16).

Improving Our Teaching

Ask open-ended questions. When asking class members about their experiences with the scriptures, “let them know that you aren’t looking for a specific answer but that you are sincerely interested in what they are learning” (Teaching in the Savior’s Way, 29). For some examples of open-ended questions, see Teaching in the Savior’s Way, 31–32.