Joseph leading a donkey by a rope, Mary is walking along the side of the donkey holding a young Jesus
After the Wise Men gave their gifts to the Christ child, the Lord warned them not to return to King Herod. An angel appeared to Joseph in a dream and told him to take his family to Egypt. These warnings saved the young Jesus from Herod’s slaughter of all children two years old and under in the area around Bethlehem. After Herod’s death, the Lord instructed Joseph to return to Israel. Just as the Lord blessed the Wise Men, Joseph, and Mary with revelation, He wants to bless you with revelation too. In this lesson you will identify some ways the Lord can communicate with you. You will also be invited to look for this communication in your own life.
Helping students identify principles. An important skill for students to acquire and practice during their time in seminary is the ability to identify principles from the scriptures. When students are able to identify principles, their ability to understand and live the gospel will increase.
Student preparation: Ask students to pay attention to how the Lord is trying to communicate with them, including through revelation and inspiration from the Holy Ghost. Encourage students to make note of these communications.
Possible Learning Activities
The Lord warns the Wise Men and Joseph
Consider displaying the following questions. To help students recognize what they know and may not know about receiving revelation, invite them to answer these questions in their study journals.
Think about ways Heavenly Father has communicated with you in your life, and answer the following questions.
How well do you think you recognize when Heavenly Father is communicating with you?
What are some ways God has given you revelation or guidance?
In what area of your life do you feel you most need Heavenly Father’s guidance and direction?
Consider asking students to share ways God communicates with them or inviting them to ask questions they have about receiving revelation.
As you study Matthew 2, you will have an opportunity to learn about receiving guidance and direction from Heavenly Father.
At the time of the Savior’s birth, the ruler in Judea was known as Herod the Great. He was a wicked man. When he met with the Wise Men, he asked them to return and inform him of what they discovered about the Christ child (see Matthew 2:8). Because of Herod’s wickedness, God warned the Wise Men and sent an angel to warn Joseph in a dream.
The next portion of the lesson is intended to help students practice identifying principles when they study the scriptures.
As you study the scriptures, it is important to identify principles. A principle is an enduring truth that can provide you with perspective and help you in making decisions. We can often identify principles by answering questions like the following:
What do you think was the moral or point of the story?
Why do you think the writer included these events or passages in their record?
What lessons might the writer have intended for us to learn?
Choose one of the questions above, and answer it as you ponder Matthew 2:11–16.
As needed, help students identify their own principles. Consider inviting students to write their principles on the board. Compliment students as they identify principles. Students may identify a principle similar to the following: The Lord can warn us and protect us from danger.
How can the principle you identified help you with decisions in your life?
The Lord will warn us
From Matthew 2:11–16, you may have identified a principle about receiving warnings from the Lord. President Boyd K. Packer (1924–2015) of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles gave a promise about warnings through the Holy Ghost.
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Elder Boyd K. Packer
It is not expected that you go through life without making mistakes, but you will not make a major mistake without first being warned by the promptings of the Spirit. This promise applies to all members of the Church.
(Boyd K. Packer, “Counsel to Youth,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2011, 18)
What does Heavenly Father’s desire to warn us by the Spirit tell us about His nature and character?
How might looking for and responding to the promptings and warnings of the Spirit help you now and in the future?
Joseph, Mary, and Jesus return from Egypt
Consider available class time and students’ needs, and adapt the next portion of the lesson accordingly. For example, students could read Matthew 2:19–23 and identify their own principle, they could summarize the verses, or they could discuss ways the Lord can communicate with us.
In Matthew 2:19–23, we read that when Herod died, the Lord gave another message to Joseph while he, Mary, and Jesus were in Egypt. From this communication with Joseph, we learn that if we are willing to listen and obey, we can receive revelation and guidance.
Read Matthew 2:19–23, looking for details that teach this principle.
As students share what they found, help them understand some of the ways the Holy Ghost can communicate with us. Consider using some of the material in the “Commentary and Background Information” and “Supplemental Learning Activities” sections.
Students may benefit from watching the video “Receiving Revelation” (4:17), looking for ways the Holy Ghost can communicate with us. This video is available at ChurchofJesusChrist.org.
In Matthew 2, God communicated with the Wise Men and Joseph through dreams and through visitations from angels. Father in Heaven communicates with His children in many other ways as well, including through inspiration and revelation from the Holy Ghost. As you study the gospel at home and in seminary, pay attention to what you are learning from the scriptures as well as what Heavenly Father is teaching you through the Holy Ghost. Your gospel study can be enhanced and more personal as you listen for what God is teaching you through His Spirit.
Possible discussion questions
What are some ways the Lord communicates with you?
What experiences have you had in which the Holy Ghost has warned or guided you? How did these experiences impact your life?
If you were to hear the Savior’s voice speaking to you through the Holy Ghost as you study, how would this affect your seminary experience?
What do you feel you can do to be more receptive to the guidance and revelation of the Holy Ghost that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ want to give you?
Consider sharing a personal experience and inviting students to look for ways Heavenly Father is communicating with them in their daily lives.
Commentary and Background Information
How can the Holy Ghost help me?
President Henry B. Eyring of the First Presidency taught:
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President Henry B. Eyring
The companionship of the Holy Ghost makes what is good more attractive and temptation less compelling. That alone should be enough to make us determined to qualify for the Spirit to be with us always.
Elder Ronald A. Rasband of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles taught:
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Elder Ronald A. Rasband
Our Father in Heaven knew that in mortality we would face challenges, tribulation, and turmoil; He knew we would wrestle with questions, disappointments, temptations, and weaknesses. To give us mortal strength and divine guidance, He provided the Holy Spirit, another name for the Holy Ghost.
How can I recognize when the Lord is speaking to me?
To hear examples of how various individuals receive revelation, watch the video “Receiving Revelation” (4:17), available on ChurchofJesusChrist.org.
If you want to learn more about ways the Holy Ghost can speak to you, consider reading the article “Eight Ways God Can Speak to You” by President Dallin H. Oaks of the First Presidency (New Era, Sept. 2004, 4–8).
Why did Herod slaughter innocent children?
King Herod, “troubled” by the news that another “King of the Jews” had been born (Matthew 2:2–3), wanted to kill Jesus to secure his own throne. Knowing that Jesus had been born in Bethlehem about two years earlier, Herod ordered the deaths of all children there under the age of two (see Matthew 2:4, 7, 12–16). Herod was infamously ruthless against suspected threats, even having his wife and three of his sons executed (see Bible Dictionary, “Herod”).
Supplemental Learning Activities
Ways the Holy Ghost can communicate with us
Consider using the following scriptures to help students recognize various ways the Lord can communicate with us.
Students may benefit from thinking about and discussing questions such as “What are you hearing through the Spirit that is not being said in class?” or “How can you invite the Lord to teach you as you study in seminary?” Encourage students to record the guidance and revelation they receive from the Lord in seminary. As needed, refer to the lesson “Learning by the Spirit.”
Examples of being warned by the Spirit
If students would benefit from hearing examples of individuals being warned by the Spirit, consider relating one or both of the following experiences:
President Wilford Woodruff being warned to move his carriage (see Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Wilford Woodruff [2004], 46–47).