Exodus 1–6: Lesson 39

Exodus 2–4

”I Will Be with Thy Mouth”

When we face difficulties, the Lord lovingly guides us through His prophets. Under Pharaoh’s reign, the children of Israel struggled in bondage and cried unto the Lord. The Lord heard their cries and called Moses as a prophet to help them. This lesson can help students more fully incorporate the Lord’s words through His prophets into their lives.

Student preparation: Invite students to review recent teachings from the prophet. Then invite them to discuss with a family member or friend how following the prophet’s teachings has blessed their lives.

Possible Learning Activities

Which voices to trust

Consider beginning class by sharing this statement and asking the following questions.

Elder Neil L. Andersen of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles observed:

We live on a planet clamoring with a million voices. The internet, our smartphones, our bloated boxes of entertainment all plead for our attention and thrust their influence upon us. (“The Prophet of God,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2018, 26)

List of a few examples of the voices you have seen or heard over the last several days.

• What do you notice about the different sources of information?

• How are the words of prophets different from other voices?

Consider displaying the following self-evaluation statements and invite students to think about their answers.

For each of the following statements, rate yourself using a scale from 1 (not true at all) to 5 (very true):

1. I place more trust in the words of prophets and apostles than in other voices or influences.

2. I have confidence in the counsel and direction we receive from the Lord’s prophets and apostles.

3. I make efforts to study the words of today’s prophets and apostles.

As students study today, invite them to listen for impressions from the Spirit about how they can more fully follow the counsel of prophets and apostles in their lives.

The Lord calls Moses to be a prophet

To help students understand how the Lord prepared Moses to be His prophet, consider inviting students to share what they know about Moses’s early life. You could display an image of the baby Moses to help students recall what they know. You could also show the video “Baby Moses” (1:37), available at ChurchofJesusChrist.org.

The following paragraphs contain details that may be helpful as students summarize.

Although he was an Israelite by birth, the prophet Moses was raised in the household of Pharaoh in Egypt. When Moses was an infant, Pharaoh commanded that all newborn Israelite boys should be killed (see Exodus 1:22). To save Moses, his mother hid him in a basket and placed it next to a river. Moses was discovered by Pharaoh’s daughter, who raised him as her son (see Exodus 2:1–10). In Egypt, Moses was well educated and “mighty in words and in deeds” (Acts 7:22).

As a grown man, Moses killed an Egyptian while defending one of the Israelite slaves. Moses fled to Midian, where he lived with a high priest named Jethro and married his daughter, Zipporah (see Exodus 2:11–21). While tending sheep in Midian, Moses had an experience with Jehovah.

Show the following picture. Invite students to imagine they were Moses as they read the following verses and answer the following questions in small groups. They can then share highlights of what they learned as a class.

Exodus 3:1–6. How would you feel? Why?

Exodus 3:7–14. Which of the Lord’s teachings may have been most meaningful or comforting to you?

To help students focus on Jesus Christ as they study these verses, consider displaying an image of the Savior on the center of the board. You could invite students to write phrases about the Savior around the picture, describing through His words what we can learn about Him and His relationship with Moses and the children of Israel. Examples of insights could include that Jesus called Moses by name (verse 4), Jesus’s presence made the ground holy (verse 5), Jesus saw the afflictions and heard the cries of His people (verse 7), and Jesus promised to be with Moses (verse 12).

If students do not mention it, point out the title “I AM” (Exodus 3:14). Explain that it comes from the same root word as Jehovah, which can be interpreted as “He is” or “He exists.” The name would have been easily recognized by the Israelites. To help students understand the significance of this name, you might ask why it would be meaningful to know that the Lord truly exists and is always present.

After students share their responses, you could ask the following question.

• If you had been in Moses’s situation, what questions or concerns might you have had?

Explain that despite the Lord’s declaration of who He is and what He promises, Moses still had concerns about his call to deliver Israel.

Read Exodus 4:10–15, looking for how the Lord addressed Moses’s concerns.

• What do you learn about the words of prophets from these verses?

  Help students identify the truth that the Lord speaks His words through His prophets.

• How could knowing this truth affect your life or your decisions?

To help students better understand this truth, you might show one of the following videos:

• “Why Do We Have Prophets?” (1:37)

• “Listen to a Prophet” from time code 0:53 to 2:56

Recall the beginning of the lesson and the various voices hoping to gain our attention. Think about what you could share with someone else to help them understand that the Lord speaks through prophets and that we should listen to prophets over other voices. You could include what you learned from Exodus 3 and any experiences you, or someone you know, have had that have helped you know that the Lord speaks His words through His prophets.

Invite students to share what they might say. A possible follow-up question is “How has this understanding blessed you or someone you know?”

Applying the words of the Lord’s prophets in our lives

• What are some ways we could hear and apply the Lord’s words, given through His prophets, in our lives?

Encourage several students to share examples of applying the prophets’ teachings. If useful, share a few ideas like:

• Applying specific prophetic counsel from a recent general conference talk.

• Studying the words of prophets more often, like listening to a general conference talk each morning while preparing for school.

• Creating a plan to study the most recent general conference talks of each of the members of the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. (If students have digital access, they could use the Study Plans feature on the Gospel Library app.)

Write in your study journal how you will hear and apply the word of the Lord through His prophets in your personal life. As part of your plan, record what obstacles you think you might face. For each obstacle, write how you might overcome it.

Explain to students that they will have an opportunity in a future lesson, Lesson 55: “Assess Your Learning 3,” to assess how they are doing at implementing their plans.

Close by sharing your testimony that the Lord speaks through His living prophets today.

Additional Resources

What else do we know about the title “I AM”?

In his mortal life, the Savior used this title to announce to the Jews that He was Jehovah (see John 8:56–59). He also referred to Himself as “the Great I Am” in the Doctrine and Covenants (Doctrine and Covenants 29:1; 38:1; 39:1).

How can I strengthen my testimony that prophets are called of God?

President Russell M. Nelson declared:

The Lord Jesus Christ, whose Church this is, appoints prophets and apostles to communicate His love and teach His laws. …

Ask your Heavenly Father if we truly are the Lord’s apostles and prophets. Ask if we have received revelation on this and other matters. (“The Love and Laws of God” [Brigham Young University devotional, Sep. 17, 2019], 3, 5, speeches.byu.edu)

Sister Carol F. McConkie, then of the Young Women General Presidency, taught:

As we prayerfully read and study sacred prophetic word with faith in Christ, with real intent, the Holy Ghost will speak truth to our minds and hearts. (“Live according to the Words of the Prophets,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2014, 79)

Should I always trust the words of the prophet?

Elder Neil L. Andersen of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles shared:

In 1982, two years before being called as a General Authority, Brother Russell M. Nelson said: “I never ask myself, ‘When does the prophet speak as a prophet and when does he not?’ My interest has been, ‘How can I be more like him?’” And he added, “My [philosophy is to] stop putting question marks behind the prophet’s statements and put exclamation points instead” [Russell M. Nelson, in Lane Johnson, “Russell M. Nelson: A Study in Obedience,” Ensign, Aug. 1982, 24]. This is how a humble and spiritual man chose to order his life. Now, 36 years later, he is the Lord’s prophet. (“The Prophet of God,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2018, 26)

What if I don’t understand the words of the prophet?

President Henry B. Eyring of the First Presidency explained:

Sometimes we will receive counsel that we cannot understand or that seems not to apply to us, even after careful prayer and thought. Don’t discard the counsel, but hold it close. If someone you trusted handed you what appeared to be nothing more than sand with the promise that it contained gold, you might wisely hold it in your hand awhile, shaking it gently. Every time I have done that with counsel from a prophet, after a time the gold flakes have begun to appear and I have been grateful. (“Finding Safety in Counsel,” Ensign, May 1997, 26)

Supplemental Learning Activities

Moses as a type of Christ

To help students understand that Moses was a type or symbol of Christ, you could invite them to compare similarities between Exodus 2 and Matthew 2:13–16. Students could point out similarities like:

• As children, both Moses and Jesus fell under a king’s edict to kill Israelite children.

• To save them from the king’s edict, Jesus was taken by Joseph and Mary to Egypt, and Moses was raised in an Egyptian home.

• Both Moses and Jesus were raised up to deliver God’s people out of bondage.

You could then ask students how these similarities teach and testify of Jesus Christ.

Responding to a prophet

To help students understand how we should respond to a prophet, invite them to read Exodus 4:29–31, looking for how the Israelites responded to Moses. You could also share the following statement by President M. Russell Ballard (1928–2023) of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles:

When we hear the counsel of the Lord expressed through the words of the President of the Church, our response should be positive and prompt. (“His Word Ye Shall Receive,” Ensign, May 2001, 65)

Discuss what we can learn from the people’s response and President Ballard’s statement. Ask for examples of responding positively and promptly and discuss why those choices make a difference.

Study activities for applying the words of prophets

Here are a few ways students could practice applying the words of prophets in their lives. For the first activity, students could study words of prophets digitally, or you could provide copies of the general conference editions of the Liahona or print out recent messages.

• Invite students to search through current messages from the prophet and apostles (from social media posts, general conference addresses, or other teachings). Ask students to find phrases that are meaningful to them. Invite them to write these phrases on the board.

• Select paragraphs or teachings from several of the prophet’s most recent addresses. Select excerpts you feel are most relevant to your students. Prepare these excerpts on a handout and invite students to study the excerpts as if the Lord was speaking to them directly. They may want to mark what stands out to them.