Jeremiah 1–3; 7; 16–18; 20: Lesson 131

Jeremiah 2–3

“Return … For I am Merciful, Saith the Lord”

Similar to today, worldly influences in Jeremiah’s time were strong. Many of the Lord’s people had fallen away from His teachings and would soon be conquered by their enemies. Despite their wickedness, Jeremiah was sent to teach that God still invited them to turn to Him and be healed. This lesson can help students increase their desire to turn to the Savior for mercy and healing.

Student preparation: Invite students to find a scripture that teaches about the blessings of repentance. They could prepare to share why those blessings are meaningful to them.

Possible Learning Activities

Cisterns that hold no water

To help students understand the condition of the people in Jeremiah’s time, explain that the Lord often helps us see spiritual truths by comparing them to things we are familiar with.

Consider bringing to class a pitcher of water, a basin or large bowl, and a cup with a few small holes in the bottom.

Hold up the pitcher of water as students read the following verse.

Read Jeremiah 2:13, looking for a title of the Savior that the water could represent. (A “cistern” is an area below ground created to store water.)

• What can the title “fountain (or spring) of living waters” teach us about Jesus Christ?

  Students might share such things as Jesus is a continual source of cleansing and spiritual replenishment.

  Invite a student to hold the cup over the basin (to ensure the water doesn’t spill) and pour some water from the pitcher into the cup. It might be helpful for students to look through verse 13 again before asking one or both of the following questions.

• What might pouring the water into the cup represent from the verse?

• What can the holes in the cisterns teach us about the spiritual condition of the people in Jeremiah’s day?

Share with students that the people of Jeremiah’s time were turning to things of the world, such as false gods rather than the Lord, for purpose and strength in their lives.

Reflect for a moment about how deliberate you are in turning to Jesus Christ for purpose and strength in your life. As you study today, be open to impressions or feelings from the Holy Ghost about turning to the Savior rather than other sources for blessings and healing.

Feeling distant from Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ

To help students connect with the following scenario, consider displaying an image of a youth like the one shown. Invite students to come up with a name and a few details about him.

Imagine there is a young man in your seminary class who feels his life is like a broken cistern because of poor choices he has made in the past. He feels distant from Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ and is not hopeful for things to get any better.

Read Jeremiah 3:12–15, 22, looking for descriptions of Jesus Christ that this youth would benefit from understanding. (It might be helpful to know that “backsliding” in these verses means faithless or wayward.)

Consider writing the following incomplete statement on the board. Invite students to share ways to complete the statement using words or phrases from the verses.

For those who repent and turn to the Lord, He will …”

Answers might include “be merciful,” “not be angry,” (verse 12), “bring you to Zion,” (verse 14), “give you pastors (leaders) which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding,” (verse 15), “heal your backsliding,” (verse 22), and so on.

It might be helpful to spend some time discussing any phrases from these verses that students have questions about. Invite students to record in their journals one or two phrases they think would be helpful for the young man in the scenario to understand about Jesus Christ. Students will have the chance to share what they choose later on.

Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ’s mercy

To help students increase their confidence in the Lord’s desire to bless and heal those who turn to Him, you could share the following statement.

Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles taught the following about Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ’s desire to heal those who repent:

Who among us has not departed from the path of holiness, foolishly thinking we could find more happiness going our own self-centered way?

Who among us has not felt humbled, brokenhearted, and desperate for forgiveness and mercy?

Perhaps some may even have wondered, “Is it even possible to go back? Will I be labeled forever, rejected, and avoided by my former friends? Is it better to just stay lost? How will God react if I try to return?”…

Our Heavenly Father will run to us, His heart overflowing with love and compassion. …

I bear witness that the moment you decide to return and walk in the way of our Savior and Redeemer, His power will enter your life and transform it. (“The Prodigal and the Road That Leads Home,” Liahona, Nov. 2023, 88)

Write in your journal insights you have gained from this statement that could bless the young man in the scenario. You will have a chance to share these later on.

If you didn’t use the video, “The Savior Wants to Forgive” in Lesson 77: “2 Samuel 11–12,” it could be shown here as an example of the Lord’s love and desire to bless and heal all who turn to Him.

Alternatively, you could show “The Miracle of the Atonement” by Elder C. Scott Grow of the Seventy, from time code 0:20 to 2:12 (Ensign or Liahona, May, 2011, 108).

Invite students to respond to the following questions in small groups.

• What did you see in this person’s life that could be compared to the cup with holes in it and the pitcher of water from the beginning of class?

• What did you learn about Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ from this person’s life?

Students could add in their journals any thoughts they think would be helpful to the young man in the scenario.

Conclusion

The following activity could be a good opportunity for students to feel the Holy Ghost testify of what they say and what they hear from other students.

Consider displaying the following instructions. (The first point below gives students a chance to share what they did for their student preparation before class.)

Prepare to share what you would say to the young man in the scenario by reviewing what you wrote in your journal. Consider including the following as well:

Something from another scripture or scripture story that shows the blessings of repentance (You might look up repentance in the Topical Guide or Guide to the Scriptures.)

Your feelings about the Savior’s love and desire to help all who turn to Him

After students have had time to prepare, invite them to share their thoughts with a partner or small group.

Once students have had the chance to share, you might conclude the lesson by inviting a few volunteers to share their responses to the following question.

• What have you learned or felt today that could influence your desire to turn to the Savior for His mercy and healing?

Additional Resources

What blessings can come from turning toward Jesus Christ?

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

By focusing our attention on Jesus Christ, all else around us—while still present—is viewed through our love for Him. Less important distractions fade, and we remove those things that are not in keeping with His light and character. As you continue to attentively catch hold of this thought of Jesus Christ, trust in Him, and keep His commandments, I promise you not only heavenly guidance but heavenly power—power that brings strength to your covenants, peace to your difficulties, and joy to your blessings. (“My Mind Caught Hold upon This Thought of Jesus Christ,” Liahona, May 2023, 93)

What if it feels like you have strayed too far?

Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles shared:

No matter what may have happened in your life, I echo and proclaim the words of my beloved friend and fellow Apostle Elder Jeffrey R. Holland: “It is not possible for you to sink lower than the infinite light of Christ’s [atoning sacrifice] shines.”

Though choices may have taken you far away from the Savior and His Church, the Master Healer stands at the road that leads home, welcoming you. And we as members of the Church of Jesus Christ seek to follow His example and embrace you as our brothers and sisters, as our friends. We rejoice and celebrate with you. (“The Prodigal and the Road That Leads Home,” Liahona, Nov. 2023, 88)

President Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles stated:

Everything in the gospel teaches us that we can change if we need to, that we can be helped if we truly want it, that we can be made whole, whatever the problems of the past. (“He Hath Filled the Hungry with Good Things,” Ensign Nov. 1997, 66)

Supplemental Learning Activities

“Things that do not profit” (Jeremiah 2:8, 11)

In conjunction with studying Jeremiah 2:13, you might have students identify and mark the phrases “things that do not profit” and “that which doth not profit” in Jeremiah 2:8, 11. You could invite students to read the following statement from President Nelson, looking for how it relates to Jeremiah’s teachings:

[H]ere is the grand truth: while the world insists that power, possessions, popularity, and pleasures of the flesh bring happiness, they do not! They cannot! What they do produce is nothing but a hollow substitute for “the blessed and happy state of those [who] keep the commandments of God.”

The truth is that it is much more exhausting to seek happiness where you can never find it! However, when you yoke yourself to Jesus Christ and do the spiritual work required to overcome the world, He, and He alone, does have the power to lift you above the pull of this world. (“Overcome the World and Find Rest,” Liahona, Nov. 2022, 96–97)

• What are examples of things that people seek happiness in where it can never be found? How might that be like a broken cistern?

• How have you or others you know found joy in following the Savior?

Turn to the Lord

Sometimes, the scriptures use phrases that we assume students understand, but they do not. It may be helpful to ensure that students understand how they can “return” to Jesus Christ (see Jeremiah 3:12, 22). One way you might do this is to invite them to find a scripture that teaches about turning to the Lord. Some examples include 2 Nephi 31:20; Enos 1:2–4; Moroni 7:16; and Doctrine and Covenants 11:12.

Students could then be invited to share what they found and how it would help a person turn or return to the Lord.

An example of the Lord’s mercy and love

As an alternative to the video examples in the lesson, you might show “Wheelz: Overcoming is Possible.” Invite students to look for how this story exemplifies what the Lord taught in Jeremiah 3:12–15, 22.