“March 6–12. Introduction to the Old Testament,” Come, Follow Me: Living, Learning, and Teaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ, for Sunday School (2017)

“March 6–12. Introduction to the Old Testament,” Come, Follow Me for Sunday School

March 6–12

Introduction to the Old Testament

Before you prepare your lesson, read and ponder the scriptures referenced in this outline, and record your spiritual impressions. This lesson outline and Come, Follow Me for individuals and families can help you introduce the Old Testament and inspire class members to study it personally and with their families.

Improving Our Teaching

Encourage class members to study the scriptures at home. One way you can encourage scripture study at home is to provide time for class members to share discoveries and insights from their personal and family study. (See Teaching in the Savior’s Way, 29.)

Invite Sharing

Invite a few class members to come prepared to share a story from the Old Testament that has a modern-day application and to tell how it has influenced them.

Teach the Doctrine

The Old Testament helps us understand the role of prophets.

Learning about prophets in the Old Testament can help class members strengthen their appreciation for a living prophet today. Show pictures of Old Testament prophets, such as those found in the Gospel Art Book. Let each class member pick one prophet and list things we learn from his life about a prophet’s roles and responsibilities. Class members can use the scripture references in the Gospel Art Book to remember details about the prophet’s life. How do our living prophets and apostles fulfill these roles?
Ask the class to list on the board the different roles of a prophet. (For ideas, see Bible Dictionary, “Prophet”). Invite class members to pick one of the roles and find an example of that role in the Old Testament or in the teachings of modern prophets. (For examples, see Exodus 24:3–4; Deuteronomy 28:15–20; Isaiah 7:14; Ezekiel 18:30–32; Moses 6:32–36). Ask class members to share their examples, and encourage them to share how they gained their testimonies of prophets.
The prophets in the Old Testament can help us understand the different ways God reveals truth, including visitations, dreams, visions, and whisperings of the Spirit. Give each class member one of the following scripture passages: Genesis 28:10–16; 1 Kings 19:9–12; Ezekiel 37:1–14; Moses 1:1–8; and Abraham 3:1–4. Invite each class member to read the passage and tell the class how the prophet received revelation from God. Why do we need to know how God reveals truth?

The Old Testament is a record of the dispensations before Jesus Christ.

God’s pattern of calling prophets and giving revelation is clearly illustrated in the Old Testament. Joseph Smith’s role as the prophet of the Restoration fits this same pattern. To help the class recognize this pattern, you could write on the board the names of the prophets who were the heads of major dispensations. Ask class members to list under each name what they know about this prophet’s specific mission (see the chart in “Additional Resources” for an example). What do Ephesians 1:10 and Doctrine and Covenants 27:13 teach us about our dispensation? What are some reasons to be grateful for this dispensation? To learn more about dispensations, see this week’s study outline in Come, Follow Me for individuals and families.
Invite the full-time missionaries or a ward missionary to come prepared to discuss ways to teach about dispensations. Class members might also benefit from reviewing pages 32–33 in Preach My Gospel and role-playing how they would teach someone about dispensations. Why do new members need to understand dispensations?

Modern revelation helps us better understand the Old Testament.

To help class members become familiar with the Joseph Smith Translation, invite a class member to review “Joseph Smith Translation (JST)” in the Bible Dictionary (scriptures.lds.org) during the week and share with the class what he or she learned. As a class, review a selection from the Joseph Smith Translation (see, for example, Joseph Smith Translation, Genesis 14:25–40 [in the Bible appendix]). What insights do we gain from the inspired translation? How do these insights influence our testimonies of the Prophet Joseph Smith? What does the Joseph Smith Translation teach us about the role of a prophet?
Class members may have some experiences when the Joseph Smith Translation has provided insights that have helped them better understand a passage of scripture. You could invite them to share these passages and the insights they gained. Consider inviting a few people ahead of time to come prepared to share.

We can liken the scriptures in the Old Testament to our lives.

For some class members, it may be hard to relate to certain stories in the Old Testament. The quotation by Elder Richard G. Scott in “Additional Resources” can help them see how Elder Scott found meaning in the Old Testament. Invite class members to begin noting Old Testament scriptures that they find meaningful and that they can share with their families and class members.

Encourage Learning at Home

How will you inspire class members to read Moses 1 and Abraham 3 by next week? You might tell them that in these chapters, they will read about remarkable visions seen by Moses and Abraham that most of the world has never heard of.

Prophet	Mission
Adam	Began the human family
Enoch	Established Zion
Noah	Saved his family in an ark
Abraham	Became a father of many nations
Moses	Freed the children of Israel from Egypt
Jesus Christ	Atoned for the sins of the world
Joseph Smith	Translated the Book of Mormon