Old Testament Seminary Teacher Manual

Contents
Title Page
Introduction to the Teacher Manual
Old Testament Lessons
- Welcome to the Old Testament
- Moses 1; Abraham 3
- Genesis 1–2; Moses 2–3; Abraham 4–5
- Genesis 3–4; Moses 4–5
- Genesis 5; Moses 6
- Moses 7
- Genesis 6–11; Moses 8
- Genesis 12–17; Abraham 1–2
- Genesis 18–23
- Genesis 24–33
- Genesis 37–41
- Genesis 42–50
- Exodus 1–6
- Easter
- Exodus 7–13
- Exodus 14–18
- Exodus 19–20; 24; 31–34
- Exodus 35–40; Leviticus 1; 4; 16; 19
- Numbers 11–14; 20–24; 27
- Deuteronomy 6–8; 15; 18; 29–30; 34
- Joshua 1–8; 23–24
- Judges 2–4; 6–8; 13–16
- Ruth; 1 Samuel 1–7
- 1 Samuel 8–10; 13; 15–16
- 1 Samuel 17–18; 24–26; 2 Samuel 5–7
- 2 Samuel 11–12; 1 Kings 3; 6–9; 11
- 1 Kings 12–13; 17–22
- 2 Kings 2–7
- 2 Kings 16–25
- 2 Chronicles 14–20; 26; 30
- Ezra 1, 3–7; Nehemiah 2; 4–6; 8
- Esther
- Job 1–3; 12–14; 19; 21–24; 38–40; 42
- Psalms 1–2; 8; 19–33; 40; 46
- Psalms 49–51; 61–66; 69–72; 77–78; 85–86
- Psalms 102–103; 110; 116–119; 127–128; 135–139; 146–150
- Proverbs 1–4; 15–16; 22; 31; Ecclesiastes 1–3; 11–12
- Isaiah 1–12
- Isaiah 13–14; 22; 24–30; 35
- Isaiah 40–49
- Isaiah 50–57
- Isaiah 58–66
- Jeremiah 1–3; 7; 16–18; 20
- Jeremiah 31–33; 36–38; Lamentations 1; 3
- Ezekiel 1–3; 33–34; 36–37; 47
- Daniel 1–7
- Hosea; Joel
- Amos; Obadiah; Jonah
- Micah; Nahum; Habakkuk; Zephaniah
- Haggai 1–2; Zechariah 1–4; 7–14
- Malachi
Life Preparation Lessons
- Doctrinal Mastery: Finding Answers to My Questions
- Scripture Study Skills
- For the Strength of Youth Guide
- Building Self–Reliance
- Physical and Emotional Health
- Preparing for Future Education and Employment
- Succeed in School
- Missionary Preparation
- Temple Preparation
- Teachings of Church Leaders
Appendix

Doctrinal Mastery Practice 1: Memorizing and Applying Principles of Acquiring Spiritual Knowledge

“Doctrinal Mastery Practice 1: Memorizing and Applying Principles of Acquiring Spiritual Knowledge,” Old Testament Seminary Teacher Manual (2026)

“Doctrinal Mastery Practice 1: Memorizing and Applying Principles of Acquiring Spiritual Knowledge,” Old Testament Seminary Teacher Manual

Moses 6: Lesson 15

Doctrinal Mastery Practice 1

Memorizing and Applying Principles of Acquiring Spiritual Knowledge

Doctrinal mastery can help students build their foundation upon Jesus Christ and His gospel. This lesson gives students opportunities to memorize doctrinal mastery references and their key scripture phrases as well as learn and apply divine principles for acquiring spiritual knowledge.

Student preparation: Consider inviting students to select a doctrinal mastery passage and to work on memorizing the scripture reference and key scripture phrase. They could then consider the value in having those memorized.

Possible Learning Activities

The value of memorizing

To help students think about the value of memorizing scriptures, consider sharing the following:

Imagine that a friend comments after a seminary class that there is no value in memorizing scriptures when you can look them up on the Gospel Library app.

How do you think memorizing doctrinal mastery references and key scripture phrases can bless you?

Students might mention gaining better awareness of what is in the scriptures, finding scriptures if a device is not available, and recalling the words of Jesus Christ in moments of need. You might want to refer to examples in the scriptures of individuals who were able to recall the words of God in times of need. Examples include the Savior (see Matthew 4:1–11), Nephi (see 1 Nephi 4:1–6), and Abinadi (see Mosiah 12:27–37).

Doctrinal mastery review: Memorize

The following activity can help students review their memorization of the Old Testament doctrinal mastery references and key scripture phrases they have learned so far this year. Additional ideas for memorization activities are in the appendix materials under “Doctrinal Mastery Review Activities.”

Consider organizing students into pairs and providing each student with as many strips of paper as the number of doctrinal mastery passages you have studied thus far. Display those doctrinal mastery passages and their key scripture phrases. A list of the Old Testament doctrinal mastery references and key scripture phrases can be found in the Doctrinal Mastery Core Document (2023).

Invite one partner to list the doctrinal mastery references on their strips of paper and the other partner to list the key phrases on their strips of paper. When they have finished, one partner should have strips of paper with each individual scripture reference and the other partner should have strips of paper with the matching key scripture phrases.

After students have created their papers, give them the following instructions:

Hold your pieces of paper so that you can see them but your partner cannot.
The first partner will put a paper with one of the scripture references on the desk.
The second partner will then find the matching key scripture phrase and put it on the desk.
The second partner will then lay down one of the key phrases, and the first partner will lay down the matching scripture reference.
Repeat the process until you have matched all your papers.

Partners could then switch who holds the references and the key phrases and do the activity again. Students could time themselves to see how fast they can complete the activity.

You might encourage students to use the doctrinal mastery app to continue memorizing doctrinal mastery passages. Briefly reviewing the doctrinal mastery scripture references and key scripture phrases in future lessons will also help students memorize them.

Apply principles of acquiring spiritual knowledge

The remainder of the lesson is focused on helping students apply doctrinal mastery passages and the principles of acquiring spiritual knowledge to real-life situations. Before continuing, it may be useful for students to review these principles in paragraphs 5–12 of the “Acquiring Spiritual Knowledge” section in the Doctrinal Mastery Core Document (2023). Suggested review activities can be found in the appendix under “Doctrinal Mastery Review Activities.”

It may be helpful to quickly explain that amid the many different influences we face and the busyness of everyday life, it can be difficult to keep our focus on Heavenly Father and His plan for us. To illustrate this problem, you could share one or both of the following scenarios. You could adapt the details of the scenarios to better meet the needs of your students.

Leah has always had a lot of friends in her neighborhood and school. Her peers have viewed her as popular, and she has enjoyed being seen this way. Last year, Leah’s family moved to a new city. She has had a difficult time feeling like she fits in. Leah’s lack of close friends in her new area has made her wonder about her self-worth.
Collin was a talented soccer player. His teammates, coaches, and peers often praised him for his athletic abilities and achievements. But this year, everything changed when Collin suffered a serious knee injury before the season began. He was devastated when he learned that he would have to miss his final season in high school. At first, a lot of people showed sympathy to him, and his teammates made efforts to include him in team activities. But as time went by, Collin felt increasingly unnoticed. He began to wonder how his life might change now that he was no longer seen by others as a talented soccer player.

What are some of the problems or challenges that you feel need to be addressed in these scenarios?
Why do we sometimes base our self-worth on external factors like our talents or the way people see us?

Explain that the Savior’s doctrine and the principles of acquiring spiritual knowledge can help in situations like these.

To help students begin using these principles, consider dividing the class into small groups. Assign half of the groups to focus on the principle of acting in faith and the other half to focus on the principle of examining concepts and questions with an eternal perspective. Invite the students to discuss multiple ways their assigned principle could help the individuals from the scenarios.

One way they could do this is by writing their assigned principle in the middle of a piece of paper. Around the principle, the groups could write specific ways the individuals could act in faith or ideas that could help them examine their concerns with an eternal perspective.

You could also display the following questions for the groups to discuss.

Act in faith

What faithful actions could this person take that would help them see themselves as God sees them?
What difference could it make in this person’s life to prioritize their identity as a child of God?

Examine concepts and questions with an eternal perspective

What could be helpful for this person to remember about God and His plan? How would this be helpful as they go about daily life?
What would you want this person to understand about their identity and purpose?

Divinely appointed sources

After the groups have discussed, invite them to share some of their insights with the class. Then remind students of the third principle of acquiring spiritual knowledge: seek further understanding through divinely appointed sources. Give students time to find divinely appointed sources that could help the individuals from the scenarios. The following questions could help with this.

How could the teachings in any of the doctrinal mastery passages help this person?
What other scriptures or statements from Church leaders might help?

If needed, you could remind students of scriptures or statements from Church leaders that they have studied this year that relate to our divine identity and purpose. Examples include Moses 1:2–6; Abraham 3:22–23; Genesis 1:26–27. You could also refer students to the statements from the handout titled “I Am a Child of God,” found in Lesson 8: “Genesis 1:26–27.”

As students share divinely appointed sources, invite them to discuss why or how they feel these sources could help the individuals from the scenarios. You might also ask students how they have been blessed by the principles of acquiring spiritual knowledge when facing challenges related to their own identity.

Supplemental Learning Activity

Alternative scenarios

The following scenarios focus on different topics that have been addressed this year. You could share one or both of these scenarios and invite the students to use the principles of acquiring spiritual knowledge to help the individuals in these situations.

One day at lunch, Jasmine and her friend Reyna are discussing their beliefs about marriage. During the conversation, Reyna is surprised that Jasmine believes marriage should only be between a man and a woman. Reyna asks, “Why does your Church oppose same-sex marriage? Shouldn’t people who love each other be able to get married?”
Isaac notices one of his friends, James, eating alone at lunch. As he sits down to join him, James seems deep in thought. He looks over at Isaac and says, “Hey, at church on Sunday my minister said that your church teaches that you can become like God. That sounds kind of arrogant to me. Do you really believe that?”