Moses 7: Lesson 16

Moses 7:1–21

“The Lord Called His People Zion”

God called Enoch as a prophet to preach the message of the gospel. The people who chose to follow Enoch gathered together, and the Lord protected them from the wickedness around them. They eventually formed a joyful and holy city the Lord called “Zion” (Moses 7:18). This lesson can help students develop the Christlike attributes that Enoch and his people had.

Student preparation: Invite students to think about their previous day and the effect their actions might have had on other people.

Possible Learning Activities

Strength through interconnected roots

Think of a way to begin the lesson by helping students recognize the strength that can come from unity with others. The following is one way you could do this.

• How tall do you think the tallest type of tree can grow?

The tallest trees in the world are redwood trees. They can grow more than 300 feet (92 m) high.

• To support such a tall tree, what do you think the roots of a redwood are like?

Surprisingly, the roots of redwoods are only about 3–6 feet (1–2 m) deep. However, these roots spread out several hundred feet (more than 100 m) and become intertwined with the roots of other trees. This interconnectedness enables redwoods to stand strong for hundreds of years amid winds and floods (see Richard H. Winkel, “Web of Friendship,” New Era, Aug. 2003, 10–11).

• What do you think we can learn from redwoods that could influence our families, schools, and wards or branches?

• Why do you think the Lord would want us to find strength with others around us as well as in Him?

  To help students assess how well-connected they feel to the people around them, invite the students to answer the following questions in their study journals:

• How do others help and support you, especially in your efforts to come closer to the Savior? (This could be in your family, ward or branch, friend groups, community, and so on.)

• How do you try to support others and help them feel closer to the Savior?

As students study this lesson, invite them to be sensitive to impressions of the Holy Ghost. The Holy Ghost can teach them how they might increase the strength they feel with God and with the people around them.

Strength in Zion

In a vision, the Lord called the prophet Enoch to preach repentance and baptism to several cities. The people who followed Enoch gathered together.

Read Moses 7:13, 16–17, looking for the contrast between the people who were striving to follow the Lord and the people who fought against them.

• What impressed you about the blessings the Lord gave to the people who strove to follow Him?

To better understand what distinguished the Lord’s people, read Moses 7:18–21. (It may be helpful to point out that to be cursed means to have blessings withheld because of unrighteousness. See also “Curse, Curses” in Guide to the Scriptures.)

Moses 7:18 is a doctrinal mastery passage. Consider inviting students to mark doctrinal mastery passages in a distinctive way so they can locate them easily.

Help students understand what they studied. To do so, you could invite them to draw in their journals a simple representation of what they learned from verse 18. Students could then share what they drew and why they drew it with partners, small groups, or the class.

• What do you learn about the Lord’s people from verse 18?

• What do you think it means to be “of one heart and one mind”?

Help students identify a truth similar to the Lord’s people strive to be unified, live righteously, and care for the poor among them. You might point out that these are also characteristics of the Savior. Becoming the Lord’s people means becoming more like Him.

Becoming the Lord’s people

To help students better understand how to be unified, live righteously, and care for people in need, consider asking students to work through the following handout in small groups. They can strive to help and support each other throughout the activity. Below are two ways you might use the handout:

• Invite students to divide the sections of the handout between their group members and to study their section on their own. After completing their section, students could share what they learned.

• Tape copies of the sections of the handout on the walls and invite the small groups to move around the room completing each section together.

Invite multiple students to share what they learned or studied that was meaningful to them. You also might ask how working in groups increased students’ understanding.

• How did the Savior exemplify the characteristics of Zion during His life?

To illustrate an example of the Christlike attributes of Zion, you might share the video “Charity: An Example of the Believers” (4:50), found on Gospel Library. Consider inviting students to look for how these young women exemplified Zion.

Make a plan

Invite students to think about impressions they may have had during the lesson and to record answers to the following questions in their study journals:

• What is one Christlike attribute of Zion you feel you could improve in your life? (This could be at home, at church, or with others.)

• What is something you will begin to do this week to strengthen that Christlike attribute? (This could be a part of your goals for the Children and Youth program.)

Memorize

You may want to help students memorize the doctrinal mastery reference and key scripture phrase during this lesson and review them in future lessons. The key scripture phrase for “Moses 7:18” is “The Lord called his people Zion, because they were of one heart and one mind.” Ideas for memorization activities are in the appendix under “Doctrinal Mastery Review Activities.”

Additional Resources

How can we be unified if we don’t feel like we fit in?

Elder D. Todd Christofferson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles taught:

A sense of belonging is important to our physical, mental, and spiritual well-being. Yet it is quite possible that at times each of us might feel that we don’t fit in. In discouraging moments, we may feel that we will never measure up to the Lord’s high standards or the expectations of others. We may unwittingly impose expectations on others—or even ourselves—that are not the Lord’s expectations. We may communicate in subtle ways that the worth of a soul is based on certain achievements or callings, but these are not the measure of our standing in the Lord’s eyes. “The Lord looketh on the heart” [1 Samuel 16:7]. He cares about our desires and longings and what we are becoming. …

A … facet of the doctrine of belonging has to do with our own contributions. Although we rarely think about it, much of our belonging comes from our service and the sacrifices we make for others and for the Lord. Excessive focus on our personal needs or our own comfort can frustrate that sense of belonging. (“The Doctrine of Belonging,” Liahona, Nov. 2022, 54, 55)

How can we be unified despite our differences?

Elder Quentin L. Cook of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles taught:

Unity is enhanced when people are treated with dignity and respect, even though they are different in outward characteristics. …

With our all-inclusive doctrine, we can be an oasis of unity and celebrate diversity. Unity and diversity are not opposites. We can achieve greater unity as we foster an atmosphere of inclusion and respect for diversity. …

The culture of the gospel of Jesus Christ is not … determined by the color of one’s skin or where one lives. While we rejoice in distinctive cultures, we should leave behind aspects of those cultures that conflict with the gospel of Jesus Christ. (“Hearts Knit in Righteousness and Unity,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2020, 18, 19, 21)

Supplemental Learning Activities

Alternative lesson beginning

You could invite students to imagine that there is a school or a group of people near them in which everyone is friendly, unselfish, unified, and righteous. You might discuss the following:

• Why might you be interested in being part of a school or group like this?

• Do you think this school or group could exist today? Why or why not?

Tell the students that the Lord helped the prophet Enoch establish a group of people like this. The Lord called them Zion. You might ask the following question:

• When you hear the word Zion, what comes to mind?

Making your home more like Zion

You might want to help students see how the principles of Zion can apply in their homes. Invite students to consider how they can help their family (1) become unified in heart and in mind, (2) dwell in righteousness, and (3) care more effectively for one another. Discuss the following question:

• What are some ways you can make your home more like Zion this week?

You could write the three principles of Zion on the board, and students can list ideas.

Comparing Zion to the people in 4 Nephi 1

After the Savior’s visit to the Nephites and Lamanites in the Book of Mormon, the people lived for many years in a community that exemplified the principles of Zion.

Invite students to create a table in their journals with three columns labeled Unity, Righteousness, and Caring for the poor. Students could study 4 Nephi 1:1–3, 11–18, looking for how the Nephites and Lamanites demonstrated these attributes of Zion. They could record insights in the appropriate column in their tables.