Lesson 16: “I Cannot Go Beyond the Word of the Lord” - Scriptures and Quotes

Reading 1 – Numbers 22:1-4

Reading 2 – Numbers 22:5-13

Reading 3 – Numbers 22:15-19

Numbers 22:20

Reading 4 – Doctrine and Covenants 3:4

Jacob 4:10

Reading 5 – 2 Peter 2:13-16

President Spencer W. Kimball wrote:  "It is extremely difficult, if not impossible, for the devil to enter a door that is closed. He seems to have no keys for locked doors. But if a door is slightly ajar, he gets his toe in, and soon this is followed by his foot, then by his leg and his body and his head, and finally he is in all the way." (Miracle of Forgiveness, p215)

Reading 6 - Elder Bruce R. McConkie wrote: "I wonder how often some of us get our direction from the Church and then, Balaam-like, plead for some worldly rewards and finally receive an answer which says, in effect, If you are determined to be a millionaire or to gain this or that worldly honor, go ahead, with the understanding that you will continue to serve the Lord. Then we wonder why things don't work out for us as well as they would have done if we had put first in our lives the things of God's kingdom?" ("The Story of a Prophet's Madness," New Era, Apr. 1972, p. 7)

Numbers 22:22-23

Numbers 22:27-30

Numbers 22:38

Numbers 23:23

Reading 7 – Numbers 24:10-11

Numbers 31:7-8

Revelations 2:14

Elder Bruce R. McConkie wrote that the doctrine of Balaam is "To divine for hire; to give counsel contrary to the divine will; to pervert the right way of the Lord -- all with a view to gaining wealth and the honors of men. In effect, to preach for money, or to gain personal power and influence. In the very nature of things such a course is a perversion of the right way of the Lord" (Doctrinal New Testament Commentary: Colossians-Revelation, [Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1973] p. 451).

Lesson 15: “Look to God and Live” - Scriptures and Quotes

Reading 1 – Numbers 11:4-10

Reading 2 - President Lorenzo Snow said:  "I have thought sometimes that one of the greatest virtues the Latter-day Saints could possess is gratitude to our Heavenly Father for that which he has bestowed upon us and the path over which he has led us. It may be that walking along in that path has not always been of the most pleasant character; but we have afterwards discovered that those circumstances which have been very unpleasant have often proved of the highest advantage to us." (CR, Apr 1899)

Elder Neal A. Maxwell:  "Bearing one's testimony and expressing gratitude are like periodic inventories; counting our blessings is both healthy and invigorating. Counting is better than commiserating." (Deposition of a Disciple, p74)

Reading 3 - President Gordon B. Hinckley said:  "Absence of gratitude is the mark of the narrow, uneducated mind. It bespeaks a lack of knowledge and the ignorance of self-sufficiency. It expresses itself in ugly egotism and frequently in wanton mischief.... Where there is gratitude, there is humility, as opposed to pride." (CR, Oct. 1964)

Reading 4 – Numbers 11:18-20

Psalms 78:26-32

Reading 5 - President David O. McKay said: "Let us watch ourselves and be true to the examples set by the Church and the brethren and sisters who have sacrificed their lives, their all, to build the Church and to advance the principles taught therein. This warning is sometimes expressed in this way: 'Speak not against the authorities.' What does it mean. Be not a murmurer; that is what it means. It is one of the most poisonous things that can be introduced into the home of a Latter-day Saint--this murmuring against presidents of stakes, high councilors, Sunday school superintendents, presidents of high-priests' quorums, seventies, elders, priests, teachers and deacons.... and yet because of his weakness, because, perhaps, of some little fault that we see in an officer, we begin to murmur and find fault. Better stop murmuring, and build up. Remember that one of the worst means of tearing down an individual is slander. It is one of the most poisonous weapons that the evil one uses. Backbiting and evil speaking, throw us into the class of malefactors rather than the class of benefactors." (CR, Apr 1909, p67)

Reading 6 – Numbers 12:1-10

Reading 7 - Elder James E. Faust said: “The prophets, seers, and revelators have had and still have the responsibility and privilege of receiving and declaring the word of God for the world. Individual members, parents, and leaders have the right to receive revelation for their own responsibility but have no duty nor right to declare the word of God beyond the limits of their own responsibility” (in Conference Report, Oct. 1989, 9; or Ensign, Nov. 1989, 8).

President Harold B. Lee stated:  "One is not truly converted until he sees the power of God resting upon the leaders of this Church, and until it goes down into his heart like fire." (Stand Ye In Holy Places, p63)

Reading 8 – Numbers 13:17-20

Numbers 13:25-27

Numbers 13:28-29, 31-33

Reading 9 – Numbers 14:6-9

Reading 10 - President Gordon B. Hinckley said: “Ten of the spies were victims of their own doubts and fears. They gave a negative report of the numbers and stature of the Canaanites. … They compared themselves as grasshoppers to the giants they had seen in the land. … “We see some around us who are indifferent concerning the future of this work, who are apathetic, who speak of limitations, who express fears, who spend their time digging out and writing about what they regard to be weaknesses which really are of no consequence. With doubt concerning its past, they have no vision concerning its future” (in Conference Report, Oct. 1995, 93–94; or Ensign, Nov. 1995, 71).

READ Numbers 14:36-37

Lesson 14: “Ye Shall Be a Peculiar Treasure unto Me” - Scriptures and Quotes

Reading 1 – Exodus 15:22-26

Reading 2 – Exodus 16:1-27, 35

Reading 3: John 6:48-51

Deuteronomy 8:2-3

Reading 4 - President David O. McKay said: "Let us watch ourselves and be true to the examples set by the Church and the brethren and sisters who have sacrificed their lives, their all, to build the Church and to advance the principles taught therein. This warning is sometimes expressed in this way: 'Speak not against the authorities.' What does it mean. Be not a murmurer; that is what it means. It is one of the most poisonous things that can be introduced into the home of a Latter-day Saint--this murmuring against presidents of stakes, high councilors, Sunday school superintendents, presidents of high-priests' quorums, seventies, elders, priests, teachers and deacons.... and yet because of his weakness, because, perhaps, of some little fault that we see in an officer, we begin to murmur and find fault. Better stop murmuring, and build up. Remember that one of the worst means of tearing down an individual is slander. It is one of the most poisonous weapons that the evil one uses. Backbiting and evil speaking, throw us into the class of malefactors rather than the class of benefactors." (Conference Report, Apr 1909, p67)

Reading 5 – Exodus 17:8-13

Reading 6 – Elder Boyd K. Packer has written: “Others among us are willing to sustain part of the leadership of the Church and question and criticize others of us.

Some of us suppose that if we were called to a high office in the Church immediately, we would be loyal and would show the dedication necessary. We would step forward and valiantly commit ourselves to this service.

But (you can put it down in your little black book) if you will not be loyal in the small things, you will not be loyal in the large things. If you will not respond to the so-called insignificant or menial tasks which need to be performed in the Church and kingdom, there will be no opportunity for service in the so-called greater challenges.

A man who says he will sustain the President of the Church or the General Authorities, but cannot sustain his own bishop is deceiving himself. The man who will not sustain the bishop of his ward and the president of his stake will not sustain the President of the Church.” (That All May Be Edified , p.238-239)

Reading 7 – Exodus 19:3-6

Exodus 24:3,7

Reading 8 - Brother Robert L Millet wrote:  "As has been observed before, it was one thing to get Israel out of Egypt, and another thing entirely to get Egypt out of Israel! Indeed, the compelling drama of the deliverance, exodus, and wanderings of Israel proved to be a tragedy, a story of lost opportunities--a saga of things as they might have been." (Studies In Scripture, 3:109)

Reading 8 – Exodus 20:3-5

Reading 9 - President Spencer W. Kimball said: “Idolatry is among the most serious of sins. … Modern idols or false gods can take such forms as clothes, homes, businesses, machines, automobiles, pleasure boats, and numerous other material deflectors from the path to godhood. … 

“Intangible things make just as ready gods. Degrees and letters and titles can become idols. … 

“Many people build and furnish a home and buy the automobile first—and then they ‘cannot afford’ to pay tithing. Whom do they worship? Certainly not the Lord of heaven and earth. … 

“Many worship the hunt, the fishing trip, the vacation, the weekend picnics and outings. Others have as their idols the games of sport, baseball, football, the bullfight, or golf. … 

“Still another image men worship is that of power and prestige. … These gods of power, wealth, and influence are most demanding and are quite as real as the golden calves of the children of Israel in the wilderness” (The Miracle of Forgiveness [1969], 40–42).

Doctrine and Covenants 84:19-27

Lesson 12: “Fruitful in the Land of My Affliction” – Scriptures and Quotes

Reading 1 – Genesis 39:21-23

Reading 2 – 1 Peter 4:12-13

Elder Richard G. Scott has said, "While you are passing through [your trials], the pain and difficulty that comes from being enlarged will continue. If all matters were immediately resolved at your first petition, you could not grow. Your Father in Heaven and His Beloved Son love you perfectly. They would not require you to experience a moment more of difficulty than is absolutely needed for your personal benefit or for that of those you love." (Richard G. Scott, "Trust in the Lord," Ensign, Nov. 1995, 1

Romans 8:28

Reading 3 – Genesis 41:1-16

Genesis 41:25

Reading 4 – Genesis 41:37-43

Reading 5 – Genesis 42:5-8

Reading 6 – Genesis 42:17-24

Genesis 42:36-38

Reading 7 – Genesis 44:18, 30-34

Reading 8 – Genesis 45:1-15

Reading 9 – Elder Dallin H. Oaks has written:  The issue for us is trusting God enough to trust also His timing. If we can truly believe he has our welfare at heart, may we not let his plans unfold as he thinks best? The same is true with the second coming and with all those matters wherein our faith needs to include faith in the Lord's timing for us personally, not just in His overall plans and purposes. (Dallin H. Oaks: Even As I Am, p. 93)

Elder Mark E. Peterson has written that Asenath was not of the forbidden Egyptian blood, but, was, in fact, a Semite, and that marriage by Joseph to her was lawful.  The true religion was not in Egypt, except in the person of Joseph, so he taught Asenath the true gospel.  (Joseph of Egypt, pp37-38)

Lesson 10: Birthright Blessings; Marriage in the Covenant – Scriptures and Quotes

Reading 1 – Genesis 24:3-9

Reading 2 - Elder Bruce R. McConkie has written:  "Celestial marriage is a holy and an eternal ordinance; as an order of the priesthood, it has the name the new and everlasting covenant of marriage. Adam was the first one on this earth to enter into this type of union, and it has been the Lord's order in all ages when the fulness of the gospel has been on earth. Its importance in the plan of salvation and exaltation cannot be overestimated. The most important things that any member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints ever does in this world are: 1. To marry the right person, in the right place, by the right authority; and 2. To keep the covenant made in connection with this holy and perfect order of matrimony -- thus assuring the obedient persons of an inheritance of exaltation in the celestial kingdom." (Mormon Doctrine, p118)

Elder Bruce R. McConkie also wrote: "Those portions of it (the Abrahamic covenant) which pertain to personal exaltation and eternal increase are renewed with each member of the house of Israel who enters the order of celestial marriage; through that order the participating parties become inheritors of all the blessings of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob." (Mormon Doctrine, p13)

Reading 3: Genesis 24:12-14

Reading 4: Genesis 24:15-20

Genesis 24:57-58

Reading 5 – Genesis 25:22-23

Reading 6 - Genesis 25:29-34

Reading 7 – Brother R. Val Johnson has said, “The birthright given anciently to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is also yours. Your patriarchal blessing identifies your lineage in the house of Israel and describes many of the blessings and responsibilities you will receive if you live worthy of your birthright.” (R. Val Johnson, “You Have a Birthright,” New Era, Nov 2005, 9)

Elder H. Ross Workman asks, “Why should you be interested in this birthright, Esau being long dead? Because God has offered the birthright to you. Through temple ordinances every man and woman can receive the birthright blessing.” (Elder H. Ross Workman, “Devotional,” Oct. 28, 2008, BYU-Hawaii)

Reading 8 – Genesis 28:3-4

Genesis 28:11-17

Reading 9 - Elder Marion G. Romney said of this dream: “Jacob realized that the covenants he made with the Lord … were the rungs on the ladder that he himself would have to climb in order to obtain the promised blessings—blessings that would entitle him to enter heaven and associate with the Lord” (“Temples—The Gates to Heaven,” Ensign, Mar. 1971, 16).

Abraham: Living Righteously in a Wicked World - Scriptures and Quotes

President Gordon B. Hinckley said, "The traditional family is under heavy attack. I do not know that things were worse in the times of Sodom and Gomorrah. … We see similar conditions today. They prevail all across the world. I think our Father must weep as He looks down upon His wayward sons and daughters." (“Standing Strong and Immovable,” Worldwide Leadership Training Meeting, 10 Jan. 2004, 20, quoted by Elder Richard G. Scott, “How to Live Well amid Increasing Evil,” Liahona, May 2004, 100–102)

Reading 1 – Doctrine and Covenants 101:1-5

Reading 2 – Doctrine and Covenants 132:29-32

Doctrine and Covenants 132:37

Reading 3 – Luke 17:28-32

Reading 4 – Doctrine and Covenants 133:10-15

Elder Jeffrey R. Holland said, " It is possible that Lot’s wife looked back with resentment toward the Lord for what He was asking her to leave behind. We certainly know that Laman and Lemuel were resentful when Lehi and his family were commanded to leave Jerusalem. So it isn’t just that she looked back; she looked back longingly. In short, her attachment to the past outweighed her confidence in the future. That, apparently, was at least part of her sin." (Jeffrey R. Holland, "Remember Lot’s Wife," devotional address at Brigham Young University, 13 January 2009.)

Joseph Smith said: "After a person has faith in Christ, repents of his sins, and is baptized for the remission of his sins and receives the Holy Ghost, (by the laying on of hands), which is the first Comforter, then let him continue to humble himself before God, hungering and thirsting after righteousness, and living by every word of God, and the Lord will soon say unto him, Son, thou shalt be exalted. When the Lord has thoroughly proved him, and finds that the man is determined to serve Him at all hazards, then the man will find his calling and his election made sure" (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p.150).

Reading 5 – Genesis 13:6-7

Reading 6 – Genesis 13:8-9

Reading 7 - Elder Neal A. Maxwell has written "We see generosity of spirit in the life of Abraham when he and Lot, who was his nephew, found their cattle grazing on the same land. There was strife between the herdsmen of Abraham's cattle and of Lot's cattle. It is Abraham who took the initiative and said unto Lot, 'Let there be no strife, I pray thee, between me and thee, and between my herdmen and thy herdmen; for we be brethren. Is not the whole land before thee? separate thyself, I pray thee, from me: if thou wilt take the left hand, then I will go to the right; or if thou depart to the right hand, then I will go to the left.' (Genesis 13:7-9.) The complete, genuine willingness of Abraham to adjust to whatever Lot's decision was is the mark of a generosity of spirit of that remarkable patriarch." (That My Family Should Partake, pp92-93)

Genesis 13:12-13

Reading 8 – Genesis 14:22-23

Genesis 14:18-20

Reading 9: President Spencer W. Kimball said: “Our world is now much the same as it was in the days of the Nephite prophet who said: ‘… if it were not for the prayers of the righteous … ye would even now be visited with utter destruction. …’ (Al. 10:22.) Of course, there are many many upright and faithful who live all the commandments and whose lives and prayers keep the world from destruction” (in Conference Report, Apr. 1971, 7; or Ensign,  June 1971, 16).

Genesis 19:15-17

Genesis 19:24-26

Lesson 6: “Noah … Prepared an Ark to the Saving of His House” – Scriptures and Quotes

Moses 7:42

Reading 1 - Joseph Smith said: "Then to Noah, who is Gabriel: he stands next in authority to Adam in the Priesthood; he was called of God to this office, and was the father of all living in this day, and to him was given the dominion. These men held keys first on earth, and then in heaven." (TPJS p157)

Reading 2 - Moses 8:20-22

Moses 8:28

Reading 3 - Elder Bruce R. McConkie wrote: The coming of the flood of Noah, and with it the 'end of the world' for the carnal civilization of that day, is a perfect type of the coming of the Lord, and the end of the world for the wicked of the latter-days. In both days all the normal activities of life continue until Deity intervenes to stay the mounting mass of iniquity. (Doctrinal New Testament Commentary, 1:667)

Moses 9:26

The ultimate purpose of the adversary is to “disrupt, disturb, and destroy the home and the family” (Boyd K. Packer, “The Father and the Family”)

Moses 7:33

Reading 4 – 3 Nephi 9:2

Reading 5 – Hugh Nibley wrote, “There comes a time when the general defilement of a society becomes so great that the rising generation is put under undue pressure and cannot be said to have a fair choice between the way of light and the way of darkness. When such a point is reached the cup of iniquity is full, and the established order that has passed the point of no return and neither can nor will change its ways must be removed physically and forcibly if necessary from the earth, whether by war, plague, famine, or upheavals of nature (Mormon 2:13-15)” (Collected Works of Hugh Nibley, Vol.6, Part.5, Ch.11, p.140).

Matthew 24:38-39

Reading 6 - President Ezra Taft Benson said, “The revelation to produce and store food may be as essential to our temporal welfare today as boarding the ark was to the people in the days of Noah” (in Conference Report, Oct. 1987, 61; or Ensign, Nov. 1987, 49).

Reading 7 - Elder W. Don Ladd taught: “When it starts raining, it is too late to begin building the ark. … We … need to listen to the Lord’s spokesmen. We need to calmly continue to move ahead and prepare for what will surely come. We need not panic or fear, for if we are prepared, spiritually and temporally, we and our families will survive any flood. Our arks will float on a sea of faith if our works have been steadily and surely preparing for the future” (in Conference Report, Oct. 1994, 37; or Ensign, Nov. 1994, 29).

Reading 8 - President Spencer W. Kimball explained that when Noah built the ark, “there was no evidence of rain and flood. … His warnings were considered irrational. … How foolish to build an ark on dry ground with the sun shining and life moving forward as usual! But time ran out. The ark was finished. The floods came. The disobedient and rebellious were drowned. The miracle of the ark followed the faith manifested in its building” (Faith Precedes the Miracle [1972], 5–6).

Genesis 7:11-24

Genesis 8:20

Reading 9 - Elder Neal A. Maxwell wrote:  "When we are urged to put upon the altar of the Lord the sacrifice of a broken heart and a contrite spirit . . . we are following the ancient counsel: 'to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams' . . . . Outward rituals can become near-empty ends in themselves. What we are actually placing on the altar to be consumed is the animal and carnal of our old selves. The need for that sacrifice has not been done away." (Not My Will, But Thine, p99)

Reading 10 – Genesis 11-1-9

Hugh Nibley wrote:  "An investigation of the oldest temples...concludes that those high structures were also 'gigantic altars,' built both to attract the attention of the powers above...and to provide 'the stairways which the god, in answer to these prayers, used in order to descend to the earth. . . . He comes bringing a renewal of life in all its forms.' From the first, it would seem, men built altars in the hopes of establishing contact with heaven, and built high towers for the same purpose (see Genesis 11:4)." (Collected Works of Hugh Nibley, 4:360)

Matthew 7:13-14