Lesson 7

Moses 1:24–42

Introduction

After his confrontation with Satan, Moses was filled with the Holy Ghost and heard the voice of the Lord. He learned that he was chosen to deliver Israel from bondage. He also beheld the earth and its inhabitants and learned the purpose of God’s many creations. Moses was then instructed to write God’s words concerning the Creation of the earth.

Suggestions for Teaching

Determine pacing

Avoid taking so much time on the first part of the lesson that you have to rush through the last part. As you prepare, estimate the time it will take to cover each section of the lesson using the teaching methods you have chosen. Because you will almost always have more to teach than there is time for, you will need to determine which portions of the scripture block to emphasize and which to summarize.

Moses 1:24–26

Moses is filled with the Holy Ghost and converses with the Lord

To provide context for Moses 1:24–42, invite students to think about the previous lesson and discuss the following two questions in pairs. You may want to write the questions on the board.

1. How was Moses able to resist Satan’s temptations? (See Moses 1:12–21 if needed.)

2. What blessings do you feel you have received when you have chosen to resist Satan’s temptations?

After sufficient time, ask a few students to share what they discussed in their partnerships.

Invite a student to read Moses 1:24–26 aloud. Ask the class to follow along, looking for how Moses was blessed for resisting Satan’s temptations.

• What did the Lord say He had chosen Moses to do? (You may need to explain that at this time the Lord’s people, the children of Israel, were in bondage to the Egyptians.)

• What phrases in verses 25–26 would help you have confidence if you were in Moses’s position? Why?

You may want to show a picture of Moses parting the Red Sea, if one is available. Explain to students that when they study the book of Exodus they will learn more about how the Lord fulfilled His promise that Moses would “be made stronger than many waters” (Moses 1:25) and that he would deliver Israel from bondage.

Moses 1:27–39

Moses learns the purpose for the Creation of the earth and its inhabitants

Show students a small container of sand and a small container of water. Ask a student to come to the front of the class and put his or her finger into the container of water and then dip the moistened finger into the container of sand. (If time permits, you could have all of the students dip their moistened fingers into the sand.) Then ask the student to begin counting the grains of sand on his or her finger. (It should be difficult for the student to count them all.) After the student has counted for a while, point to the container of sand and ask:

• How many grains of sand do you think are in this container?

• How many grains of sand do you think are on a seashore?

Invite a student to read Moses 1:27–29 aloud. Ask the class to follow along, looking for what the Lord showed Moses that relates to sand.

• How many of Heavenly Father’s children did Moses behold?

• What questions might you ask if you had seen this vision?

Invite a student to read Moses 1:30 aloud. Ask the class to follow along, looking for two questions Moses asked the Lord.

• What were the two questions Moses asked the Lord? (Write them on the board: Why were the earth and its inhabitants created? By what power were they created?)

Explain that Moses’s question about the purpose of creation is similar to questions asked by many people today. Invite a student to read the following statement by President Dieter F. Uchtdorf of the First Presidency. Ask the class to listen for why it is important that we discover the answers to these kinds of questions.

“Discovering who we really are is part of this great adventure called life. Mankind’s greatest minds have wrestled endlessly with these questions: Where did we come from? Why are we here? What happens after we die? And how does all this fit together—how does it make sense?

“Once we begin to understand the answers to these questions—not with the mind only, but with the heart and the soul—we will begin to understand who we are, and we will feel like the wanderer who is finally finding home. … Everything finally makes sense” (“The Reflection in the Water” [Church Educational System fireside for young adults, Nov. 1, 2009]; LDS.org).

• Why is it important for Heavenly Father’s children to understand the purposes of the earth and our lives here?

Invite a student to read Moses 1:31–33 aloud. Ask the class to follow along, looking for the Lord’s answer to Moses’s second question.

• What doctrine do we learn from verses 32–33 concerning who created the earth and “worlds without number”? (After students respond, you may want to suggest that they write the following doctrine in their scriptures next to verse 33: Under the direction of Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ created worlds without number. You may want to suggest that students mark footnote a for verse 32, in particular the reference to Hebrews 1:2.)

Invite several students to take turns reading aloud from Moses 1:34–38. Ask the class to follow along, looking for additional details the Lord gave to Moses about the creation of this and other worlds. Ask students to report what they find. To ensure they understand the content of these verses, you may want to ask questions like the following:

• How many worlds did God say had been created “by the Son” (Moses 1:33)? (To help students try to comprehend the meaning of “innumerable” [Moses 1:35], you may want to review the activity with the sand in the container.)

• According to verse 35, which of these worlds did the Lord say He was going to teach Moses more about?

Direct students’ attention to the first question Moses asked the Lord, which you wrote on the board. Explain that an answer to this question can be found in Moses 1:39. Before students read this verse, explain that Moses 1:39 is a scripture mastery passage. Also explain that throughout the year, students will focus on 25 scripture mastery passages. These passages will help them understand and explain basic doctrines of the gospel. (For more information on scripture mastery and the Basic Doctrines, see the appendix in this manual.) The 25 scripture mastery references are listed on the back of the seminary bookmark for the Old Testament. (You may want to invite your students to look at these scripture mastery references on their bookmarks.)

Invite a student to read Moses 1:39 aloud. Ask the class to follow along, looking for God’s purpose in creating the worlds and their inhabitants.

Moses 1:39 is a scripture mastery passage. Studying scripture mastery passages will help students increase their understanding of basic doctrines and be prepared to teach them to others. You may want to suggest that students mark scripture mastery passages in a distinctive way so they will be able to locate them easily. Refer to the teaching idea at the end of the lesson to help students with their mastery of this passage.

For an explanation of scripture mastery and a list of additional activities to help students master these selected passages, see the appendix at the end of this manual.

• What is Heavenly Father’s purpose in creating the worlds and their inhabitants? (Students should identify the following doctrine: Heavenly Father’s purpose is to bring about the immortality and eternal life of man.)

• What is immortality? (The condition of living forever in a resurrected state.)

• How has the immortality of all mankind been made possible? (Because of the Atonement of Jesus Christ—which includes His Resurrection—every person who is born with a physical body will be resurrected and will live forever.)

• What is eternal life? (Becoming like God and living forever as families in His presence.)

• How can we receive eternal life? (Through His Atonement, Jesus Christ has made it possible for all who are obedient to the laws and ordinances of the gospel to receive eternal life.)

• How can it influence our lives now to know that Heavenly Father’s purpose is to bring to pass our immortality and eternal life?

If hymnbooks are available, invite students to sing the hymn “How Great Thou Art” (Hymns, no. 86) together as a class. Invite them to consider, as they sing, how the words of the hymn relate to what they have learned in Moses 1. Following the singing of the hymn, ask students to write a few sentences in their class notebooks or scripture study journals about their feelings for what Heavenly Father has created and done to bring to pass their immortality and eternal life. You may want to invite a few students to share what they wrote.

Explain that one of the blessings we have as members of the Church of Jesus Christ is restored knowledge to help others learn and understand the purposes of God and His plan for them. Ask students how they would use what they learned from Moses 1 today to help the individuals in the following scenarios:

1. In your science class, your teacher explains that human life and the Creation of the earth occurred by chance. After class, a classmate asks you what you believe.

2. A friend is experiencing challenges and wonders if God cares about him or her.

Moses 1:40–42

Moses is instructed to write the words of God

Summarize Moses 1:40–42 by explaining that the Lord instructed Moses to write the things that He was going to teach Moses about this earth. He also told Moses that “in a day when the children of men shall esteem my words as naught and take many of them from the book which thou shalt write” (Moses 1:41), He would raise up a man who would restore Moses’s words to those who believed. That man was the Prophet Joseph Smith, and Moses 2–4 contains the words Moses wrote about the earth.

Conclude by expressing your testimony as prompted by the Holy Ghost.

Scripture Mastery—Moses 1:39

Because Moses 1:39 is the first scripture mastery passage in this course, you may want to explain that “mastering” scripture passages includes being able to locate, understand, apply, and memorize them.

To help students memorize this passage, invite them to recite it to themselves several times in their minds and then out loud to a classmate once or twice. You may want to have the class recite this passage aloud at the beginning or end of each class during the next week.

Commentary and Background Information

Moses 1:31. “For mine own purpose have I made these things”

In Moses 1:31, 33, the Lord indicated that He created all things “for mine own purpose.” He then revealed that purpose in Moses 1:39—“to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.”

Elder Neal A. Maxwell of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles explained that “as the plan of salvation is executed and re-executed, again and again, in realms beyond our purview, His love is constant and personal” (“Wisdom and Order,” Ensign, June 1994, 43). Because God’s “great and eternal plan” (2 Nephi 11:5) does not vary, the same plan that will exalt the inhabitants of this earth is implemented for the same purpose in all the worlds God has created. We learn from Doctrine and Covenants 76:23–24 that the inhabitants of numerous worlds “are begotten sons and daughters unto God” through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. This truth underscores the central role of Jesus Christ’s infinite Atonement in God’s plan for the salvation of our world as well as the many others created by His Only Begotten Son.

Moses 1:39. God’s work and glory

President Dieter F. Uchtdorf of the First Presidency also taught about the importance of what Moses discovered about mankind:

“This is a paradox of man: compared to God, man is nothing; yet we are everything to God. While against the backdrop of infinite creation we may appear to be nothing, we have a spark of eternal fire burning within our breast. We have the incomprehensible promise of exaltation—worlds without end—within our grasp. And it is God’s great desire to help us reach it” (“You Matter to Him,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2011, 20).

Elder Neal A. Maxwell of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles stated:

“In the expansiveness of space, there is stunning personalness, for God knows and loves each of us! (see 1 Nephi 11:17). We are not ciphers in unexplained space!

“… Mankind is at the very center of God’s work. … His work includes our immortalization—accomplished by Christ’s glorious Atonement! Think of it, brothers and sisters, even with their extensive longevity, stars are not immortal, but you are. …

“We know the Creator of the universe is also the Author of the plan of happiness. We can trust Him. …

“… As some experience daily life situations in which they are or feel unloved and unappreciated, they can nevertheless know that God loves them! His creations so witness” (“Our Creator’s Cosmos” [Church Educational System conference, Aug. 13, 2002], 4, 6, 7; si.lds.org).

Supplemental Teaching Idea

Moses 1:1–23. Video presentation—“Christ the Creator”

To help students understand that under the direction of Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ created worlds without number, you could show “Christ the Creator” (3:05). In this video clip, Elder Neal A. Maxwell of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles explains Jesus Christ’s role in the creation of worlds and the salvation of Heavenly Father’s children.