Prepare your mind and heart to learn. Take time to ponder the truths you identify. Thinking deeply and praying about spiritual lessons will allow the Holy Ghost to teach you how to become more like Jesus Christ.
Begin your study with prayer.
When someone you know receives a special recognition, how does that make you feel? Listen to this counsel from Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. What should be our attitude toward others’ good fortune?
Think about what you would do to prepare to participate in the following events: a music concert, an athletic contest, a school test, or a sacrament meeting.
In what ways might your preparation for each of these events affect your experience?
As you study Genesis 35, look for what Jacob did to prepare himself for a spiritual experience and what the result was.
In Genesis 35:1 we read that God commanded Jacob to go to Bethel to worship Him. The meaning of the Hebrew name Bethel is “house of God” (Bible Dictionary, “Bethel”).
Read Genesis 35:2–4, looking for what Jacob asked his people to do to prepare to worship the Lord in Bethel.
In preparation to worship the Lord in Bethel, Jacob asked his people to “put away the strange gods,” to “be clean,” and to “change [their] garments” (Genesis 35:2). The phrase “strange gods” refers to idols or other objects associated with false gods of other nations. The people obeyed Jacob.
As recorded in Genesis 35:5–8, Jacob’s household traveled to Bethel, and he built an altar there.
Read Genesis 35:9, looking for what happened in Bethel.
1. In your own words, write a principle based on what we can learn from Jacob’s experience.
In Genesis 35:10–15 we read that the Lord appeared to Jacob and renewed His covenant with him, reiterating that he would now be called Israel. He reaffirmed His promises to Jacob and to his posterity. After God left Jacob, Jacob set up a pillar in the place where he had talked with God, to memorialize the event.
Read Genesis 35:10–12, looking for what promises the Lord reaffirmed to Jacob and his posterity.
Knowing that Jacob experienced trials while living faithfully can help us learn that even those who are faithful to the Lord experience trials and sorrow.
Read the following statement by Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin (1917–2008) of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. Look for further insight regarding why faithful individuals still experience trials and sorrow:
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Joseph B. Wirthlin
“I love the scriptures because they show examples of great and noble men and women such as Abraham, Sarah, Enoch, Moses, Joseph, Emma, and Brigham. Each of them experienced adversity and sorrow that tried, fortified, and refined their characters” (Joseph B. Wirthlin, “Come What May, and Love It,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2008, 27).
You learned in Genesis 35:10–12 that Jacob had a very significant experience with the Lord at Bethel. How do you think this experience prepared him to face his trials with more strength? What examples have you seen of adversity strengthening and refining faithful and righteous individuals?
Sometimes a person might feel envious or jealous if a sibling or close friend receives an important award; is selected for an athletic team, band, orchestra, or choir; or performs the best in his or her class on an exam.
What is the danger of feeling envious or jealous of others who experience good fortune?
As you study Genesis 37, consider the dangers of feeling hatred or envy toward others.
Read Genesis 37:1–4, looking for why Joseph’s brothers hated Joseph and “could not speak peaceably unto him” (verse 4). This phrase means that they could not be friendly toward or desire any happiness for Joseph.
Genesis 37:5–11 records two of Joseph’s dreams. In his dreams, his father, mother, and brothers “made obeisance” to him. To make obeisance means to bow down before a superior to show deep respect.
Read Genesis 37:8, 11, looking for how Joseph’s brothers reacted to his dreams.
In Genesis 37:12–22 we read that Jacob asked Joseph to visit his brothers, who were taking care of Jacob’s flock in another part of Canaan, and find out how they were doing. As Joseph approached his brothers, they saw him in the distance.
Read Genesis 37:18–20, looking for what Joseph’s brothers considered doing with him because of their envy.
We can learn the following principle from the account of Joseph and his brothers: Choosing to hate or envy others can lead us to commit additional sins.
3. Please answer the following question:
When others have possessions, talents, or attention that we would like to have, how can we avoid feelings of hatred or envy toward them?
In Genesis 37:29–36 we read that when Reuben returned to the pit and found that Joseph was gone, he rent, or tore, his clothes, thereby manifesting intense grief or distress. But despite the grief Reuben felt, he and his brothers dipped Joseph’s coat in animal blood and gave it to their father. When they did this they committed an additional sin because they caused Jacob to assume that Joseph had been killed by a wild animal. He mourned deeply, putting on sackcloth, which was clothing worn in times of sorrow. Once in Egypt, Joseph was sold to Potiphar, one of Pharaoh’s officers.
What feelings do you think Joseph’s brothers might have had when they saw their father’s reaction?
