Lesson 8: Living Righteously in a Wicked World

Genesis 13-14; 18-19
Study the following scriptures:

1. Genesis 13. After living in Egypt for a time, Abraham and his family return to Canaan. Abraham settles in Hebron, and his nephew Lot settles near Sodom.


2. Genesis 14:1-2, 8-24. Lot is taken captive and is rescued by Abraham (14:1-2, 8-16). Abraham pays tithes to Melchizedek and refuses to accept the spoils of war from the king of Sodom (14:17-24).


3. Genesis 18:16-33; 19:1-29. The Lord says that he will destroy Sodom and Gomorrah because of the people's wickedness (18:16-22) Abraham pleads with the Lord to spare the cities if he can find righteous people living there (18:23-33). Lot and his family are commanded to leave Sodom (19:1-23). The Lord destroys Sodom and Gomorrah (19:24-29).

• At first Lot "lived in the cities of the plain," outside Sodom, but he "pitches his tent toward Sodom" (Genesis 13:12). Later he lived in the city of Sodom itself (Genesis 14:12). What things might we do that are the spiritual equivalent of pitching our tents toward Sodom?


• What did Abraham ask when he learned that the Lord was going to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah? (See Genesis 18:23-32.) What do we learn from the fact that the Lord would spare the cities if righteous people could be found in them?

Lesson 7: The Abrahamic Covenant

The PURPOSE of this lesson is to help class members understand the blessings and the responsibility of the Abrahamic Covenant.

Background:
The great prophet Abraham lived in a time of awful wickedness. It was a period of worshipping false gods and offering human sacrifice. For example, we are told of three young women who were killed upon an altar because they would not bow down and worship gods of wood and stone (see Abr. 1:11). But Abraham desired righteousness and the blessings of the priesthood because he found they brought him "greater happiness and peace" (Abr. 1:2). Because he resisted the evil around him, Abraham was placed upon the altar as a sacrifice to a false god. But God heard the prayer of his faithful prophet, loosed his bands, and smote the wicked priest of Elkenah.
Elder F. Melvin Hammond, "In Abraham's Footsteps", New Era, Sept 2002.

Prepare by Studying the following:
Abraham 1:1-4; 2:1-11; Genesis 12:1-8; 17:1-9

1. God covenants with Abraham
In these passages (listed above) Abraham seeks to be righteous and worthy of the blessings of God. God covenants with Abraham, promising that Abraham will have numerous posterity who will receive a promised land and the blessings of the priesthood and the gospel.

"Covenants are agreements we make with our Heavenly Father in which we commit our hearts, minds, and behavior to keeping the commandments defined by the Lord. As we are faithful in keeping our agreement, He covenants, or promises to bless us, ultimately with all that He has." (Paul E. Koelliker, Liahona, Nov 2005, 94-95)

Elder Bruce R. McConkie Explained: "Abraham first received the gospel by baptism (which is the covenant of salvation) then he had conferred upon him the higher priesthood, and he entered into celestial marriage (which is the covenant of exaltation), gaining assurance thereby that he would have eternal increase; finally he received a promise that all of these blessings would be offered to all of his mortal posterity. Included in the divine promises to Abraham was the assurance that Christ would come through his lineage and the assurance that Abraham's posterity would receive certain choice, promised lands as an eternal inheritance.

"All of these promises lumped together are called the Abrahamic covenant. This covenant was renewed with Isaac and again with Jacob. Those portions of it 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 2 ed. [1966], 13).

"Together, all the covenants and promises that Abraham received from the Lord are called the Abrahamic covenant. It is an everlasting covenant that extends to all of Abraham's seed (see Genesis 17:7). To be counted as Abraham's seed, an individual must obey the laws and ordinances of the gospel. Then that person can receive all the blessings of the Abrahamic covenant, even if he or she is not a literal descendant of Abraham (see Galatians 2:26-29; 4:1-7; D&C 84:33-40).

2. We are heirs to the blessings and responsibilities of the Abrahamic covenant
All Church members are the seed of Abraham, which means we are his descendants and heirs to the blessings and responsibilities of the Abrahamic covenant. These great blessings come to us when we keep gospel covenants. The first covenant we make is baptism. We later receive the fullness of the Abrahamic covenant in the temple.

• What blessings did the Lord promise Abraham as part of the Abrahamic covenant? (See Abraham 2:6-11; Genesis 12:1-8; 17:1-9)
• What are our responsibilities as heirs of the Abrahamic covenant? (See Abraham 2:9,11; Genesis 18:19)

Additional reading: Doctrine and Covenants 132:19-24, 29-32; Genesis 15; "Abrahamic Covenant of," Bible Dictionary, page 602.

A little bit of LOVE!

I have been debating whether it is too soon to offer another sweet reward to Sunday School readers. Given that tomorrow is Valentine's Day, I have decided to share the LOVE!

I will provide a sweet reward to blog readers who 1) leave a comment about how you are building your personal Ark (see Holly and other's comments) prior to church so that I have an idea of how many treats I need to bring. Or 2) those who come prepared with something written outlining how they are building their personal Ark.

I understand that there were some who were not sure how to leave a comment two weeks ago. At the bottom of the post, there is a comment link. Click on the word comment and a box will pop up allowing you to leave a comment. If it is easier for you to quickly write down a few thoughts about how you are building your Ark, I am happy to share a sweet reward with anyone who comes prepared. For those who are serving in other organizations, please come see me or send your spouse to pick up your TREAT. I wish that I were able to distribute them all, but it is not feasible for me to track everyone down.

The Blizzard of 2010 has provided us a rare opportunity to consider whether our temporal and spiritual Ark is in order. The spiritual reward of preparing your Ark will indeed out weigh the goodness of this little treat, but the great thing is that the two are not mutually exclusive!

Snowmageddon 2010

For the last couple of days, the media has been warning that the DC metropolitan area was going to be hit by a major snow storm. The prediction was between 20 and 30 inches. In an already crowded city, that is a lot of snow. Additionally, because the area does not normally get this much snow, the city does not have the resources necessary to respond quickly.

Gratefully businesses and offices alike, shut down early Friday afternoon when the snow started falling. The weather man's prediction was accurate. We have at least 25 inches. Trees and power lines are buckling under the weight of the snow. Many cars that dared to attempt getting out, found themselves off the roads.

As you can imagine, I have thought about Noah and his Ark all week. The parallel between Noah's Ark and this storm are apparent. Local newscasters reporting from grocery stores showed pictures of empty shelves and frantic shoppers. Milk, bread, and "the basics" were hard to come by. I appreciate the timing of this storm because it has provided an opportunity for me to evaluate whether we have sufficient supplies in our home. Am I building an Ark? Am I prepared for what may come; both temporally and spiritually?

While we have enough fresh produce and other food to easily get us through the weekend and next week, I am not certain how long we could live off the little "food storage" we have in the house. I have thought at length, about the general "storms" of life that we must regularly endure. These storms come in all different forms; personal trials, financial difficulty, physical ailments, and even professional challenges. While the Lord promised that He would never flood the earth again, storms will come from time to time. Are we (am I) prepared?

This is a great time for us to think about the whether our Ark is sufficient! I'll look forward to our discussion in two weeks (after Stake Conference).

“Noah … Prepared an Ark to the Saving of His House”

Check out this little clip titled, "We live in the Days just as the time of Noah." It is really inspiring. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Noah and the Ark, the story

(Liahona, Sept 1984)

Noah lived at a time when the people on the earth were very wicked. Their minds were constantly filled with violent, evil thoughts, and they did many terrible things.

In spite of the wickedness around him, Noah was a righteous young man. He was ordained to the priesthood by his grandfather, Methuselah, and was called by the Lord to teach the gospel. The Lord told him "My spirit shall not always strive with man. If men do not repent, I will send in the floods upon them." Noah knew the people did not want to be told they were unrighteous, but he obeyed the Lord and called the people to repentance. The people laughed and scorned Noah. They did not want to repent, and they did not believe that they could be destroyed by a flood.

Noah did not want the people to be destroyed. Many of them were friends and relatives that he loved. so he continued his preaching, saying: "Hearken, and give heed unto my words; believe and repent of your sins and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, even as our fathers, and ye shall receive the Holy Ghost, that ye shall have all things made manifest; and if ye do not this, the floods will come in upon you."

For one hundred years Noah warned the people to repent, but they made fun of Noah and refused to believe. The people became more wicked. In those days there were giants on the earth, and they sought to take away Noah's life; but the power of the Lord was upon Noah so that no harm came upon him.

Finally, the time came when there were only eight righteous people on the earth;

Noah, his wife, his sons (Shen, Ham, and Japheth), and their wives.

God said unto Noah, "Behold, I will destroy all flesh from off the earth."

The Lord had given the people many years to repent. He had warned them through his faithful prophet, Noah, but their time to repent was coming to an end.

The Lord instructed Noah, "Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark. The length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits, the breadth of it fifty cubits, and the height of it thirty cubits." (A cubit was approximately 46 to 55 centimeters.) God told Noah to make three levels in the ark and to use pitch or tar inside and out to make it watertight.

Even though building such a large ark was going to be an enormous job, Noah did not doubt. He and his sons set to work building the ark according to God's instructions. It took a long time to build, and Noah's friends and neighbors laughed at him for building such a huge boat on dry ground. But Noah was not discouraged by the jeers of the wicked people. He trusted the Lord completely and was only concerned with doing the Lord's will.

Finally the ark was completed. It was about 563 feet long, 94 feet wide, and 56 feet high. The Lord was pleased with Noah. He told Noah to take into the ark seven of those birds and animals which were considered to be clean according to the Lord's dietary laws of that time. He was also to take two of the animals that were classified as unclean, one male and one female.

God told Noah that the rains would come in seven days. Without delay, the animals, birds, and insects were loaded into the ark. Noah also followed the Lord's instructions to provide enough food and drinking water for his family and all the animals.

Exactly as God had said, in seven days it began to rain. Noah and his family went into the ark, and the Lord shut them inside so that they would be safe from the flood.

For forty days and forty nights the rain poured down, covering the land and lifting the ark off the ground. Soon the water became so deep that it covered even the high mountains. All flesh died that moved upon the earth, both of fowl, and of cattle, and of beasts, and of every creeping thing, and every man.

After the 40-day rainfall, the waters stayed upon the earth for 150 days. Finally the Lord made a wind pass over the earth, and the water began to dry up.

When the waters had lowered, the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat. So far, Noah and his family had been shut in the ark over half a year. Two more months passed before the tops of the surrounding mountains could be seen. Forty days later Noah opened the window of the ark and sent forth a dove. Because the waters still covered most of the earth, the dove could not find a place to nest. It returned to the ark, Noah waited seven more days, then sent the dove out again. Once more it returned, but this time it had an olive leaf in its bill. Noah then knew the waters had left the land. After seven more days he sent the dove out again. This time it did not return; it had found a home in the newly cleansed earth.

Noah and his family spent almost an entire year in the ark, before Noah opened the cover and saw ground. They waited almost two months more until the Lord told Noah that the land was dry enough to bring his family and all the animals forth from the ark.

In gratitude, Noah built an altar unto the Lord. He knew he had been truly blessed. To show his gratitude, Noah sacrificed one of each of the clean animals and birds as an offering to the Lord. In this sacred way Noah thanked the Lord for saving him and his family and for preserving life on the earth. In prayer Noah asked the Lord never to destroy the earth again with flood. Noah's prayer was answered; the Lord promised Noah that He would never again destroy the entire earth by flood. From that time forth the rainbow would be a symbol of that promise.

Study the following scriptures:

1. Moses 8: 19-30; Genesis 6:5-22; 7:1-10. Noah preaches the gospel, but the people do not listen. Because of the people's wickedness, the Lord declares that he will destroy all flesh from the earth. The Lord commands Noah to build an ark and take his family and two of every living thing into it.

2. Genesis 7:11-24; 8; 9:8-17. It rains for 40 days and 40 nights. All people and creatures that are not on the ark die. When the waters recede, Noah, his family, and the animals leave the ark, and Noah offers sacrifice to the Lord. The Lord sets the rainbow as a token of his convenant with Noah.

3. Genesis 11:1-9. A few generations after the flood, the people try to build a tower to heaven. The Lord confounds their languauge and scatters them over the whole earth.

• What was the world like when the Lord called NOah to preach the gospel? (See Moses 8:20-22) What similarities can you see between the people of Noah's day and the people of our day?


• How could the people of Noah's day have avoided destruction? (See Moses 8:23-24). How can listening to and following the prophets help us to avoid spiritual and temporal destruction?


• Why did Noah build the ark? (See Hebrews 11:7) What "arks" do we have today that can help save us from the evil around us? How can we help others find refuge in these "arks"?