Lesson 67

Numbers 15–19

Prepare to Learn

Prepare your mind and heart to learn. By actively participating in seminary, you show your willingness to be taught by the Holy Ghost.

Begin your study with prayer.

Some people think that they can sin and be happy. How do you feel about this kind of thinking?

Elder Marcus B. Nash of the Seventy learned from a fishing experience why we need the gospel and why we cannot find happiness in sin. You can read the text for this video here: “The Great Plan of Happiness,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2006, 49.

Scenarios

Read the following scenarios:

1. A young man who is a recent convert to the Church was raised in a home where profanity was often used. Following his baptism, he continues using this type of language out of habit, without realizing that he needs to change.

2. Just before a young woman begins her application for missionary service, she decides to spend time with friends who are not making good choices. When they offer her an alcoholic drink, she willfully drinks it, believing she can always repent later if she wants to so she can still serve a mission.

Do you think the consequences for these two people should be the same or different? Why?

Willful and Ignorant

Numbers 15 teaches that there is a difference between those who willfully sin and defy God and those who sin ignorantly or unintentionally. There are also transgressors who sin ignorantly or who make mistakes and who feel guilty about offending God.

As recorded in Numbers 15:1–26, the Lord taught the Israelites about repentance. He also taught what sacrifices they needed to perform after choosing not to follow Him and refusing to enter the promised land.

Read Numbers 15:27–29, looking for what the priest was told to do for someone who sinned ignorantly.

Symbolic Actions

As you read Numbers 15:27–29, notice how the priest’s actions might be symbolic of what the Savior does for us when we do wrong unintentionally or out of ignorance.

What can we learn about the Atonement of Jesus Christ based on the Lord’s instructions recorded in these verses?

The Atonement of Jesus Christ

We can identify the following truth from Numbers 15:27–29: If we repent, we can be forgiven of our sins, including those we commit in ignorance, through the Atonement of Jesus Christ.

How might this truth comfort someone who has ignorantly sinned?

Consequences of Disobedience

Read Numbers 15:30–31, looking for what the Lord said would happen to those who willfully break God’s commandments. The word presumptuously (in verse 30) implies willfully and knowingly breaking God’s commandments. The words “cut off” (in verse 31) indicate being separated from the Lord and not being forgiven.

What principle can we identify from these verses?

Accountability

From Numbers 15:30–31 we can identify the principle that if we willfully break God’s commandments and do not repent, then we must stand accountable before God for those sins.

What do you think it means to be accountable before God?

“Deliberate Sin”

Read the following excerpt from For the Strength of Youth to find out why willfully sinning is so serious:

“Some people knowingly break God’s commandments, planning to repent later, such as before they go to the temple or serve a mission. Such deliberate sin mocks the Savior’s Atonement” (For the Strength of Youth [booklet, 2011], 29).

Willfully breaking God’s commandments is a serious sin. To be cleansed through the Atonement of Jesus Christ we must sincerely repent of our sins. As you repent of your sins, you can receive forgiveness.

A Reminder

According to Numbers 15:37–41, the Lord told the people to “make … fringes in the borders of their garments [clothing]” (verse 38) to remind them to follow the commandments and remain holy.

What items do you have or have you seen that can help us to remember to keep the commandments?

The Lord’s Authorized Servant

Numbers 16:1–35 contains an account of a group of Israelites, led by a man named Korah, who willfully sinned by rebelling against Moses and Aaron. These men accused Moses and Aaron of lifting themselves up “above the congregation of the Lord” (verse 3). In response, Moses told Korah and his followers to bring their “censers” to the tabernacle the following day. A censer was a container for burning incense that the priests carried as they performed certain religious ceremonies in the tabernacle. Moses told Korah and his followers that when they brought their censers to the tabernacle the following day, the Lord would show whom He had chosen to be His authorized servant. (See verses 5–7.)

Korah and his followers were Levites and were not authorized to administer in the high (Melchizedek) priesthood. We read in verse 10 that Korah and his people sought the priesthood (the Joseph Smith Translation in footnote a clarifies that the word priesthood in this verse is the “high priesthood,” or Melchizedek Priesthood). The following day, after Korah and his men had gathered at the tabernacle, the Lord told the people to leave the tents of these wicked men and not touch any of their things “lest ye be consumed in all their sins” (verse 26).

Read Numbers 16:27–35, looking for what happened to those who rebelled against Moses.

What principle can we identify from this account about separating ourselves from evil influences?

Avoiding Evil Influences

From the account recorded in Numbers 16:26–35 we can identify the following principle: If we separate ourselves from evil influences, then we may avoid the Lord’s judgments that come upon the wicked.

1. Answer the following questions:

• What are some evil influences in our day that we need to separate ourselves from?

• How can separating ourselves from evil influences help us to not be tempted to rebel against God?

• What can you do to separate yourself from these influences and any other evil or negative influence you may encounter?

Aaron’s Staff

According to Numbers 16:36–50, after the wicked men had been destroyed, the Israelites murmured against Moses and Aaron. The Lord sent a plague upon them, and many of them were destroyed. The plague stopped when Aaron took fire from the altar of the tabernacle and then ran among the people with the fire, burning incense as he went. These actions represented Jesus Christ’s Atonement for us, in which His actions redeem us from our sins.

Read Numbers 17:1–4, which explains that in order to further show the children of Israel who was called to lead His people, the Lord told Moses to gather “a rod” (a staff or stick) from each of the twelve tribes of Israel. Note that Moses was instructed to write Aaron’s name on the stick representing the tribe of Levi. Moses placed each rod in the tabernacle overnight. The Lord told Moses what would happen to the rod of the person He had chosen (see verse 5).

Read Numbers 17:6–10, looking for the miracle that happened.

What truths can we learn from this miracle?

The Lord’s Chosen One

From the account recorded in Numbers 17:5–10 we can identify the following truth: The Lord will help us know whom He has called to lead His people.

2. Answer one or both of the following questions:

• What are some ways the Lord confirms to us whom He has chosen as His leaders?

• How have you personally experienced a confirming witness that the Lord’s chosen leaders are called by Him?

Duties of Priests and Levites

Numbers 18–19 records that the Lord again established the duties of the priests and the Levites and gave them additional directions regarding sacrifices they were to perform to help them be sanctified or cleansed.

Important Truths

The following truths were identified in this lesson:

• If we repent, we can be forgiven of our sins, including those we commit in ignorance, through the Atonement of Jesus Christ.

• If we willfully break God’s commandments and do not repent, then we must stand accountable before God for those sins.

• If we separate ourselves from evil influences, then we may avoid the Lord’s judgments that come upon the wicked.

• The Lord will help us know whom He has called to lead His people.

Ponder the truths identified in this lesson, and write your impressions in your study journal or in your Notes on LDS.org. Include a plan to act on these impressions.