Lesson 79

Prophets and Revelation (Part 1)

Introduction

The teaching materials for this doctrinal mastery topic are divided into four parts. In part 1, students will study paragraphs 5.1–5.5 in the Doctrinal Mastery Core Document and learn about how prophets have been called by God to speak for Him. They will also study the doctrinal mastery passages Jeremiah 1:4–5 and Amos 3:7.

Note: You could teach the segments of this lesson in a single class session or over the course of several class sessions, dividing class time between Doctrinal Mastery and a regular sequential scripture lesson. If you choose to teach the segments over the course of several class sessions, you may need to briefly review with students what they learned in previous segments before you teach a new segment.

Suggestions for Teaching

The role of prophets

Understanding the role of prophets can help students respond to challenges to their faith. Help students understand that the truths God has revealed through His prophets are standards by which any claim can be measured and that by following God’s authorized servants they will come closer to Him. Make it your practice to study the words of the living prophets and apostles, and encourage students to do the same. (See Chad H Webb, “Doctrinal Mastery” [Seminaries and Institutes of Religion annual training broadcast, June 14, 2016], broadcasts.lds.org.)

Understanding the Doctrine

Segment 1 (15 minutes)

Present the following scenario to the class:

Imagine that your friend, who is not a member of the Church, says to you, “I heard that Mormons believe that God speaks to prophets. What do prophets do? Why are they an important part of your religion?”

Divide students into pairs. Invite them to discuss with their partners how they would respond in this scenario, with one partner answering the first question (“What do prophets do?”) and the other partner answering the second question (“Why are they an important part of your religion?”).

When students have finished, invite a few volunteers to share their answers with the class.

Display the words Prophets and Revelation on the board as headings for two separate columns. Divide the class into two groups. Ask the first group to study paragraphs 5.1 and 5.3 in the Doctrinal Mastery Core Document and to mark all of the phrases they can find that describe the roles and responsibilities of prophets. Ask the second group to study paragraphs 5.2, 5.4, and 5.5 and to mark all of the phrases they can find that are related to revelation. (Consider writing these paragraph numbers on the board under their associated columns.)

When students have finished, invite each group to report to the class what they found. As students share their responses, write them on the board in brief statements under the appropriate column heading. You may want to ask students to copy the chart on the board into their study journals along the way.

Refer to the “Prophets” column of the completed chart, and ask:

• Why is it important that there are prophets and apostles on the earth today who fulfill these roles?

• How have you personally been blessed as prophets have fulfilled one or more of these roles?

Refer to the “Revelation” column of the completed chart, and ask:

• Why is it important for us to be guided by personal revelation from the Holy Ghost in addition to the revelations received by prophets?

Segment 2 (10 minutes)

Invite a student to read aloud the first sentence of paragraph 5.1 in the Doctrinal Mastery Core Document. Ask the class to follow along, looking for how someone is called as a prophet. Ask students to report what they find, and as they do so, help them identify the following doctrine: A prophet is a person who has been called by God to speak for Him. (Invite students to consider marking this phrase if they have not already done so.) Write this statement on the board, and underline the phrase “called by God.”

To help students understand this key statement of doctrine, display or provide them with copies of the following statement by President Russell M. Nelson. Invite a student to read the statement aloud. Ask the class to follow along, looking for how God’s way of calling prophets is different from the world’s way of choosing leaders.

“All leaders in the Lord’s Church are called by proper authority. No prophet or any other leader in this Church, for that matter, has ever called himself or herself. No prophet has ever been elected. The Lord made that clear when He said, ‘Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you’ [John 15:16]. You and I do not ‘vote’ on Church leaders at any level. We do, though, have the privilege of sustaining them” (Russell M. Nelson, “Sustaining the Prophets,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2014, 74–75).

• Why is it important that prophets are called by God rather than by self-appointment or popular vote?

Display or provide students with copies of the following statement by Elder Gary E. Stevenson, in which he describes being called to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles by President Thomas S. Monson. Remind students that when someone is called as an Apostle, he is also called as a prophet, seer, and revelator. Invite a student to read the statement aloud. Ask the class to follow along, looking for the promise that President Monson gave Elder Stevenson.

“President Monson described that acting on the will of the Lord, he was extending a call to the Quorum of the Twelve to me. He asked me if I would accept this call, to which, following what I am sure was a very undignified audible gasp, in complete shock, I responded affirmatively. And then, before I could even verbalize a tsunami of indescribable emotion, most of which were feelings of inadequacy, President Monson kindly reached out to me, describing how he was called many years ago as an Apostle by President David O. McKay, at which time he too felt inadequate. He calmly instructed me, ‘Bishop Stevenson, the Lord will qualify those whom He calls.’ These soothing words of a prophet have been a source of peace, a calm in a storm of painful self-examination and tender feelings in the ensuing agonizing hours which have passed day and night since then” (Gary E. Stevenson, “Plain and Precious Truths,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2015, 91).

• Why would it have been important for Elder Stevenson to know that President Monson was “acting on the will of the Lord” when Elder Stevenson was called to be an Apostle?

• Why is it important to know that the Lord will qualify the prophets and apostles whom He chooses to speak for Him?

Segment 3 (5 minutes)

Ask students to open their scriptures to Jeremiah 1:4–5. Explain that this doctrinal mastery passage from the Old Testament helps teach that prophets are called by God. Invite students to consider marking this passage in a distinctive way so they can locate it easily.

To help students understand the context of this passage, explain that as recorded in Jeremiah 1, the Lord called Jeremiah to be a prophet and commanded him to preach repentance to the wicked people in Jerusalem. This occurred during roughly the same time period in which the Lord called the Book of Mormon prophet Lehi to preach repentance to the Jews.

Invite a student to read Jeremiah 1:4–5 aloud. Ask the class to follow along, looking for when the Lord called Jeremiah to be a prophet.

• When did the Lord call Jeremiah to be a prophet?

Explain that the word ordained in Jeremiah 1:5 refers to foreordination, which is “God’s premortal ordination of His valiant spirit children to fulfill certain missions during their mortal lives” (Guide to the Scriptures, “Foreordination,” scriptures.lds.org; see also “Foreordination,” True to the Faith: A Gospel Reference [2004], 69–70).

Display or provide students with copies of the following statement by the Prophet Joseph Smith (1805–44). Invite a student to read the statement aloud. Ask the class to follow along, looking for how God’s prophets and others who are called to minister were foreordained to their calling.

“Every [one] who has a calling to minister to the inhabitants of the world was ordained to that very purpose in the Grand Council of heaven before this world was. I suppose that I was ordained to this very office in that Grand Council” (Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Joseph Smith [2007], 511).

• How does knowing that all prophets have been foreordained by God to perform their calling on the earth impact the way you view them and receive their words?

Segment 4 (10 minutes)

Refer students to the key statement of doctrine that a prophet is a person who has been called by God to speak for Him, and underline the phrase “speak for Him” on the board.

• How are we blessed by living prophets?

Ask students to open their scriptures to Amos 3:7. Explain that this doctrinal mastery passage from the Old Testament helps teach that prophets speak for God. Invite students to consider marking this passage in a distinctive way so they can locate it easily.

To help students understand the context of this passage, explain that the people of Israel and the nations nearby were very wicked and had rejected many prophets during the prophet Amos’s lifetime. God called Amos as a prophet (see Amos 7:14–15) and commanded him to warn the Israelites to repent or else they would be destroyed.

Invite a student to read Amos 3:7 aloud. Ask the class to follow along, looking for what God will always do through His prophets.

• What do you think it means that God “revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets”? (Through revelation, prophets are able to speak on behalf of God and reveal truths that would otherwise be unknown.)

• What are some examples of truths that God has revealed through His prophets in our dispensation?

Invite students to ponder when they have felt that a prophet was speaking the words of God to them. Consider inviting a few students to share their thoughts with the class. Testify that we have prophets and apostles on the earth today who have been called by God and who have the authority to speak God’s words. Challenge students to always pay close attention to the words of the prophets and apostles and to apply them to their lives.

Supplemental Teaching Idea

Video presentation—“Why Do We Have Prophets?”

To introduce the material in segment 4 regarding the truth that prophets speak for God, consider showing the video “Why Do We Have Prophets?” (1:36), available on LDS.org. As students watch the video, ask them to look for the answer to the question “Why do we have prophets?”