Ruth and Hannah were strong figures in the Old Testament who demonstrated faith and established a righteous lineage. This week we are paying special attention to what we can learn about God’s pattern of revelation in Ruth and 1 Samuel 1-7. Sometimes the Lord asks hard things, but when we know it comes from God, it makes it worth it to obey.
The Book of Mormon prophet Jacob had wise words concerning those that look “beyond the mark” (Jacob 4:14). This week’s discussion from the book of Judges contains an important truth about hitting the mark and never missing. There is even a Hebrew word that changes the way we think about hitting the proverbial bullseye of the gospel.
After 40 years the Israelites have arrived at their destination, but without Moses they were in need of a new prophet and leader. Enter Joshua. The Book of Joshua contains his words to his people, battles, and the continued fulfilled covenants from the Lord.
The final words of Moses can be summed up in Deuteronomy 2:7 “He knoweth thy walking through this great wilderness: these forty years the Lord thy God hath been with thee.” God is with us in wilderness and He will still be with us in our Promised Lands. We are going to study the book of Deuteronomy through a different lens today, and in the words of our guest hopefully “learn heaven through art.”
The wilderness can mean different things to different people. Maybe you first think of mountains, desert, beach, or just a Motel 6. Whatever you imagine, today’s wilderness in the book of Numbers is wild. And the stories from the wilderness not only teach us life lessons, but the word wilderness interestingly enough is a lesson on life itself.
When God wanted to dwell with His people anciently, he asked them to build a place of holiness in the wilderness—a tabernacle. When we want to be closer to God today we can visit the temple too. Exodus 35–40 and Leviticus teach the Israelites details of their one traveling tabernacle, and if we read closely we can see the similarities to our hundreds of temples all over the world.
The Come, Follow Me scriptures this week contain commandments and promises from the Lord to the children of Israel. The 10 Commandments and the subsequent instruction from the Lord are a lesson in obedience and commitment. Today we are relaying stories of what it takes to follow the commandments of God, and what it means to Latter-day Saints to be all in the gospel of Jesus Christ.
After countless miracles leading to the people of Israel leaving bondage, the Lord continued to bless his people in the wilderness. They received food and water, and deliverance from their enemies. As we study Exodus 14–18 look for how God supports us, as we sustain our faith.
Exodus chapters 7–13 contain the ten plagues of Egypt. Although we won’t likely see frogs, lice, and flies infesting our livelihoods day after day, there is a lot of sorrow and disaster in the world. And it seems to affect both God’s people as well as those who aren’t following Him. But our faith grows as we learn to look for small miracles instead of focusing on the plagues.
“The more we know these prophecies, the more we can step forward with courage and strength and do hard things and help gather Israel.”
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