June 12–18

Exodus 1–6

“Certainly I Will Be with Thee”

Before you read this lesson material, read and ponder Exodus 1–6. As you read, pay attention to the thoughts and impressions that come from the Holy Ghost, and write down the promptings that you receive.

Record Your Impressions

Improving Our Teaching

Be an instrument of the Spirit. Teachers sometimes think that they need to use impressive methods to inspire those they teach. However, your purpose as a teacher is to teach the doctrine in the scriptures in order to help others receive the influence of the Holy Ghost—the true teacher. (See Teaching in the Savior’s Way, 10.)

Invite Sharing

Remember that one of your objectives is to invite class members to share their own insights and discoveries. One idea to encourage sharing is to write this question on the board: “As you read Exodus 1–6, what did you notice this time that you hadn’t noticed before?” Invite class members to share their answers.

Teach the Doctrine

Exodus 3–4

When we are doing the Lord’s work, we will have the Lord’s power.

• Class members may have searched Exodus 3–4 looking for Moses’s concerns about the task of delivering the Israelites from bondage and the Lord’s responses to him (see this week’s outline in Come, Follow Me for individuals and families). If they did, invite them to share what they learned. Or, you could do this activity as a class. Specifically, class members could search Exodus 3:11–17; 4:1–17. How could the Lord’s responses help us when we have doubts about our abilities to do His work?

• The different responses of Moses and Pharaoh to God’s commands can help class members think about how they respond to God’s counsel. To explore this together, ask class members to read Exodus 3:7–11 and 5:2 in pairs. Invite each pair to compare the reactions of Moses and Pharaoh. Ask them to think of times when, like Moses and Pharaoh, they were asked by the Lord to do something, such as respond to a call to serve in the Church or to a prompting from the Holy Ghost. Each pair could share with the class what they discussed. Invite class members to share an experience when they were blessed for faithfully responding when the Lord asked them to do something.

• If class members ever feel overwhelmed with their callings or assignments, Moses’s experience can give them hope. To illustrate this, you could invite a class member to do a task that is difficult to do alone, such as sorting a pile of different colored candies into individual colors in a short amount of time. Invite him or her to do the task again with support from a classmate. What does this activity teach us about Moses’s experience in Exodus 4:10–16? Why did the Lord send Aaron to help Moses? List on the board ways in which class members can support each other and their leaders in their callings or assignments.

• Review Elder David A. Bednar’s talk “In the Strength of the Lord” (Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2004, 76–78; see also the quotation in “Additional Resources”). What insights does his talk add to these verses?

Exodus 3:5

We should respect holy things and holy places.

• Doing something like Moses did to show reverence for sacred things is becoming increasingly uncommon in today’s world. How can you use Moses’s example to inspire a discussion about how we treat sacred things? For example, after reading Exodus 3:5 together, you could display sacred objects or pictures of sacred things (such as the scriptures) and common objects or pictures of common things (such as a secular book). How do we treat these things differently to show what we consider sacred? What are some other things that class members consider sacred, and how do they show reverence for those things? (see also D&C 6:10–12).

  

• You can find examples of people who created sacred moments and sacred places in the video “Our Homes Became the Sacrament Hall: Sabbath Day Worship during the Freeze” (LDS.org) and Sister Ann M. Dibbs’s talk “Your Holy Places” (Ensign or Liahona, May 2013, 115–17). Consider sharing one or more of these examples as part of your discussion of Exodus 3:5.

Exodus 5:4–9, 20–23; 6:1–13

The Lord’s purposes will be fulfilled in His own time.

• It may have been discouraging to Moses when his efforts to free his people made their situation worse. To help class members learn from this account, invite someone to read Exodus 5:4–9, 20–23 and Exodus 6:1–13. How did the Lord help Moses overcome his feelings of discouragement? Invite class members to share experiences when they did not see immediate results from their efforts to serve the Lord. What does Moses’s experience in these chapters teach us about how we should respond in similar situations?

• The story about Georgia in Sister Neill F. Marriott’s talk “Yielding Our Hearts to God” (Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2015, 31) could add to class members’ understanding of these verses. You could invite a class member ahead of time to come prepared to share the story and lead a discussion about how the experience of Sister Marriot’s family teaches the same truths that God was teaching to Moses (see Exodus 6:1–13).

Encourage Learning at Home

To inspire class members to read Exodus 7–15 at home, you could tell them that these chapters will help them better understand the Savior’s Atonement and prepare them to take the sacrament.

Additional Resources

Exodus 1–6

We will have help from heaven

When Elder David A. Bednar was serving as president of Ricks College, a two-year institution of higher learning owned by the Church, President Gordon B. Hinckley announced plans to change the institution to Brigham Young University—Idaho, a much larger four-year institution. Elder Bednar recalled: “As an administrative team we [began] to realize the monumental nature of the responsibility and challenges that were before us. … One of my colleagues asked, ‘President, are you scared?’ As best as I can recall, I answered something like this: ‘If I thought we had to execute this transition relying exclusively upon our own experience and our own judgment, then I would be terrified. But we will have help from heaven. Because we know who is in charge and that we are not alone, then no, I am not scared.’ And we … unitedly testify that there has been help from heaven, miracles have occurred, revelations have been received, doors have been opened, and we have been greatly blessed” (“In the Strength of the Lord,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2004, 78).

We treat sacred things differently

Elder F. Burton Howard spoke about the sacredness of eternal marriage, helping us understand how to treat all sacred things. He told of his wife buying a set of silverware when they were newly married. She went to great lengths to care for the silver and protect it from getting tarnished. “For years I thought she was just a little bit eccentric,” Elder Howard recalled, “and then one day I realized that she had known for a long time something that I was just beginning to understand. If you want something to last forever, you treat it differently. You shield it and protect it. You never abuse it. You don’t expose it to the elements. You don’t make it common or ordinary. If it ever becomes tarnished, you lovingly polish it until it gleams like new. It becomes special because you have made it so, and it grows more beautiful and precious as time goes by” (“Eternal Marriage,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2003, 94).