Jeremiah 1–3; 7; 16–18; 20 “Before I Formed Thee in the Belly I Knew Thee”
Prophets are called to speak the Lord’s word. Jeremiah 1:4–19
Display the living prophet’s picture and ask class members to share how they came to know that he was called of God.
Have you helped others come to know this important truth?
How does this knowledge bless our lives?
*Read Jeremiah 1:10 See, I have this day aset thee over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out, and to bpulldown, and to destroy, and to cthrow down, to dbuild, and to plant.
What do prophets in our day “root out” or “pull down”? What do they “build” and “plant”? (verse 10).
…to root out, pull down, to destroy and to throw down…Jeremiah was to declare God’s judgments.
To build and to plant…. Jeremiah was to declare the promises of God’s mercy
A prophet speaks for God. His job is still the same in our time as it was during Jeremiah’s time. He warns us against things contrary to God’s will and guides us towards goodness and happiness.
Elder Claudio R.M. Costa in October 2010 conference: “In our day the prophet of God has told us to keep the commandments, to love our fellowman, to serve, to take care of the rising generation, to rescue the inactive or less active—to do many things that we call prophetic priorities. We need to understand that these priorities are God’s priorities and the prophet is His voice in communicating them to all of the Church and the world.” (Obedience to the Prophets)
* Read aloud from Jeremiah 1:7–10. Ask the class to follow along, looking for how the Lord promised to help Jeremiah.
1:7 ¶ But the Lord said unto me, Say not, I am a child: for thou shalt go to all that I shall asend thee, and whatsoever I bcommand thee thou shalt cspeak.
8 Be not aafraid of their faces: for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the Lord.
9 Then the Lord put forth his hand, and touched my amouth. And the Lord said unto me, Behold, I have put my bwords in thy cmouth.
10 See, I have this day aset thee over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out, and to bpull down, and to destroy, and to cthrow down, to dbuild, and to plant.
Which specific promises might have been comforting for Jeremiah to hear? How might these promises have helped him?
According to verse 9, how did the Lord help Jeremiah overcome his concerns about speaking?
What can we learn from this experience about what the Lord will do for those He calls to His work? When God calls us to do His work, He will help us do what He has asked.
*Read Jeremiah 1:5 Before I aformed thee in the belly I bknew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I csanctified thee, and I dordained thee a prophet unto the enations.
What did Jeremiah learned about himself in Jeremiah 1:5? How might this knowledge have affected his ministry?
*Have someone read what President Russell M. Nelson taught:
“Your spirit is an eternal entity. The Lord said to His prophet Abraham: ‘Thou wast chosen before thou wast born’ [Abraham 3:23]. The Lord said something similar about Jeremiah [see Jeremiah 1:5] and many others [see Alma 13:2–3]. He even said it about you [see Doctrine and Covenants 138:55–56].
“Your Heavenly Father has known you for a very long time. You, as His son or daughter, were chosen by Him to come to earth at this precise time, to be a leader in His great work on earth. You were chosen not for your bodily characteristics but for your spiritual attributes, such as bravery, courage, integrity of heart, a thirst for truth, a hunger for wisdom, and a desire to serve others.
“You developed some of these attributes premortally. Others you can develop here on earth as you persistently seek them” (“Decisions for Eternity,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2013, 107).
There are places that our scriptures bear testimony to this:
* Doctrine and Covenants 138:53–56
What can we learn about ourselves from these scriptures and the fact that God knew Jeremiah before he was born? Before we were born, our Heavenly Father knew us and we existed as His spirit children.
Jeremiah’s experience of being ordained to be a prophet before he was born is known as foreordination. In True to the Faith: A Gospel Reference we read the following statement to understand what foreordination means:
“The doctrine of foreordination applies to all members of the Church, not just to the Savior and His prophets. Before the creation of the earth, faithful women were given certain responsibilities and faithful men were foreordained to certain priesthood duties. Although you do not remember that time, you surely agreed to fulfill significant tasks in the service of your Father. As you prove yourself worthy, you will be given opportunities to fulfill the assignments you then received” (True to the Faith: A Gospel Reference [2004]).
Before we were born, we were given specific responsibilities and duties to perform during mortality. You can learn from your patriarchal blessing about some of the specific responsibilities and duties you have been given.
True to the Faith continues: “Foreordination does not guarantee that individuals will receive certain callings or responsibilities. Such opportunities come in this life as a result of the righteous exercise of agency, just as foreordination came as a result of righteousness in the premortal existence” (True to the Faith: A Gospel Reference [2004], 69).
“They have forsaken me the fountain of living waters.” Jeremiah 2; 7
What is a cistern? (a large underground reservoir). A Fountain? (like a natural spring). Living water was moving water so it was fresher.
In the arid region where the Israelites lived, people stored precious water in underground reservoirs called cisterns. Why would receiving water from a fountain be better than relying on a cistern?
*Invite a student to read Jeremiah 2:13 aloud. 13 For my people have committed two aevils; they have forsaken me the fountain of bliving waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.
Ask the class to follow along, looking for the two evils the people had committed.
What two evils had the people committed?
Whom does “the fountain of living waters” represent? (Jesus Christ.)
In what ways is the Lord like a “fountain of living waters”?
Explain that the broken cisterns represented the false gods the Israelites had chosen to worship instead of the Lord. False gods do not have the power to help us or to satisfy our needs and desires.
Joseph Wirthlin, Apr 1995. “Living Water to Quench Spiritual Thirst”. The Lord provides the living water that can quench the burning thirst of those whose lives are parched by a drought of truth. He expects us to supply to them the fulness of the gospel by giving them the scriptures and the words of the prophets and to bear personal testimony as to the truth of the restored gospel to alleviate their thirst. When they drink from the cup of gospel knowledge, their thirst is satisfied as they come to understand our Heavenly Father’s great plan of happiness.
As at Jacob’s well, so today the Lord Jesus Christ is the only source of living water. It will quench the thirst of those suffering from the drought of divine truth that so afflicts the world. The words of the Lord to ancient Israel spoken by the prophet Jeremiah describe the condition of many of God’s children in our own day: “My people … have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out … broken cisterns, that can hold no water.” Too many of our Heavenly Father’s children spend their precious lives carving out broken cisterns of worldly gain that cannot hold the living water that satisfies fully their natural thirst for everlasting truth.
Elder Bruce R. McConkie defined living water as “the words of eternal life, the message of salvation, the truths about God and his kingdom; it is the doctrines of the gospel.” He went on to explain, “Where there are prophets of God, there will be found rivers of living water, wells filled with eternal truths, springs bubbling forth their life-giving draughts that save from spiritual death.”
The Lord will gather His people. Jeremiah 3:14–18; 16:14–15
Elder D Todd Christofferson in April Conference 2019: “An underlying effort in building Zion is the gathering of the Lord’s long-dispersed covenant people. “We believe in the literal gathering of Israel and in the restoration of the Ten Tribes.” All who will repent, believe on Christ, and be baptized are His covenant people. The Lord Himself prophesied that before His return, the gospel would be preached in all the world “to recover [His] people, which are of the house of Israel, and then shall the end come.”
While we strive to be diligent in building up Zion, including our part in the gathering of the Lord’s elect and the redemption of the dead, we should pause to remember that it is the Lord’s work and He is doing it. He is the Lord of the vineyard, and we are His servants. He bids us labor in the vineyard with our might this “last time,” and He labors with us. It would probably be more accurate to say He permits us to labor with Him. As Paul said, “I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase.” It is He who is hastening His work in its time. Employing our admittedly imperfect efforts—our “small means”—the Lord brings about great things.”
*Read Jeremiah 16:14–15 14 ¶ Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that it shall no more be said, The aLordliveth, that brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt;
15 But, The Lord liveth, that abrought up the children of Israel from the land of the bnorth, and from all the clands whither he had driven them: and I will dbring them again into their eland that I gave unto their fathers.
Israel fled from the world and were scattered in the first exodus and now the second exodus that is taking place now will be from the lands of the north and from their scattered and lost status among the nations of the earth.
Prophecy is being fulfilled as we have been told the ten tribes shall return – the gathering shall take place before the second coming of Christ.
*16:16 ¶ Behold, I will send for many afishers, saith the Lord, and they shall fish them; and after will I send for many hunters, and they shall hunt them from every mountain, and from every hill, and out of the holes of the rocks.
The diligent hunters and fishers of the second exodus seek out families and individuals who’ve forgotten their identity as members of the house of Israel. They will also gather anyone who seeks the blessings of Israel whether they’re related by blood or not.
Missionaries have been fishers and hunters for a long time, but now we are also these fishers and hunters. Every time we convince someone to come unto Christ through baptism, come back to church and worship, or just recognize their true identity as a child of God, it is a little miracle.
The gathering of Israel ultimately means offering the gospel of Jesus Christ to God’s children on both sides of the veil who have neither made crucial covenants with God nor received their essential ordinances.
President Russell M. Nelson said: “You were sent to earth at this precise time … to help gather Israel. There is nothinghappening on this earth right now that is more important than that [gathering]. … This gathering should mean everythingto you” (Russell M. Nelson and Wendy W. Nelson, “Hope of Israel” [worldwide youth devotional, June 3, 2018], supplement to the New Era and Ensign, Aug. 2018, 12, ChurchofJesusChrist.org).
President Russell M. Nelson: “Anytime you do anything that helps anyone—on either side of the veil—take a step toward making covenants with God and receiving their essential baptismal and temple ordinances, you are helping to gather Israel” (Russell M. Nelson and Wendy W. Nelson, “Hope of Israel” [worldwide youth devotional, June 3, 2018], supplement to the New Era and Ensign, Aug. 2018, 15, ChurchofJesusChrist.org).
How can we help gather Israel?
From a Face to Face with the General Young Women Presidency in 12/2020:
Help gather Israel by inviting others to receive the gospel of Jesus Christ. We can do this by:
- Setting an example of kindness.
- Sharing uplifting messages on social media.
- Inviting friends to watch or attend sacrament meeting.
- Talking about how living the gospel brings you joy and peace.
How is Israel being gathered in our area? The 5th Sunday lesson that we had in July was to help us center on the responsibility, joy and blessings of sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ. As members and leaders seek the Lord’s will to share the gospel in a unified way, “He will lead us in every area, mission, stake, ward, branch, family and individual life,” Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf testified during the 2022 Sharing the Gospel: A Broadcast for Leaders released June 25.
Elder Uchtdorf — along with Elder David A Bednar and Elder Quentin L Cook, each a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles — discussed ways to help Latter-day Saints continue to share the gospel of Jesus Christ by following spiritual promptings to love, share and invite.
Article “How We Gather Israel Today”
Thanks to all who read scriptures and contributed in any way.
Bear testimony
We have the scriptures that came directly from our Heavenly Father, as well as the words of the prophets each General Conference. It isn’t hard to find living water to nourish us. Elder David A. Bednar said: “One of the ways I hear [the Lord] is in the scriptures. The scriptures are the prerecorded voice of the Lord” (“‘Hear Him’ in Your Heart and in Your Mind”).
I am thankful for the possibilities of receiving messages from our Savior. I agree with David A Bednar as he said: “Most often His messages to me are quiet, subtle, and small. If I expect a big answer and I receive a series of small answers, I may not recognize them. And if I expect a loud answer and I receive many soft ones, I may not recognize them.
We also sometimes might feel unworthy or wonder, “was that just me or was that the spirit of the Lord?” “Was that an impression from the Holy Ghost?” The Spirit of the Lord always invites and entices God’s children to do good, to be good, and to become better. As we consistently do our best to remember and honor our covenants and keep the commandments, things work out. I do not have to be perfect; rather, I simply need to do my best and press forward on the covenant path.”
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