Sunday School Old Testament: Lesson 31

28 March

old-testament-gospel-doctrine-teachers-manual-35570000This lesson once again finds the Mormon Sunday School class bulldozing through not one, but two books of the Bible. It covers some of the teachings in Proverbs and gives only a brief nod to Ecclesiastes with no real “study” to be found.

I know, by now I shouldn’t be surprised or taken aback by what they pass off as a bible study in the world of Mormonism. Still I can’t help but wonder if the class members walk away feeling that something is missing from their Sunday school class that day, or hunger for something more, something with a little more meat to it.

The lesson sets itself on seven main themes: wisdom, trust in the Lord, the words we speak, pride, friendship, raising children, and happiness and good humor. I’d like to touch on a couple of these below:

Wisdom:

Having wisdom and knowledge are two things every Mormon is told to strive for, but what type of wisdom are they searching for? Ecclesiastes 1:9 tells us “there is nothing new under the sun”. Yet they keep their eyes on the prophet for any new revelation or teaching he might have for them.

Proverbs 2:6-8 reads:

“For the Lord giveth wisdom: out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding. He layeth up sound wisdom for the righteous: he is a buckler to them that walk uprightly. He keepeth the paths of judgment, and preserveth the way of his saints.”

Trust in the Lord:

To those who are in Him He gives understanding and He guards and protects those who trust Him. So why do we need living prophets again?

What Mormons imply in regard to their statements about having a living prophet is that without him there would be no continued revelation and those who reject or aren’t part of their church will miss out on this new knowledge.

I have to wonder when I see Mormons talk about trusting the Lord if truly understand what that means considering they don’t trust the bible and don’t trust in the work Jesus did on the cross to save them.

Proverbs 3:5-6 reads:

 “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths”

Pride:

Pride is and can be a huge issue for all of us. Yet Mormons seem to think they’re exempt from it when they say their church is the “only true church” on the face of the earth. In fact, just the other day a Mormon on the blog called it (and I quote) “the ONE, TRUE AND ONLY MAGNIFICENT CHURCH UPON THE EARTH TODAY). God tells us if we’re going to boast in something, boast in Him, and certainly not in any work done by someone else.

2 Corinthians 10:16-17 reads:

To preach the gospel in the regions beyond you, and not to boast in another man’s line of things made ready to our hand. But he that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord

I love how Jeremiah puts it in 9:23-34

“Thus saith the Lord, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches: But let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the Lord which exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight, saith the Lord.”

Happiness:

I don’t think God wants us to be happy per se. Happiness is very fleeting, one day everything’s going fine and we’re happy then on the way home we get a flat tire, or have a fight with a loved one and now we don’t feel so happy anymore. God understands this more than we do, and knows that what makes us happy one minute wouldn’t be enough to sustain us for long.

Joy is what He wants for us. He wants us to have joy in Him, and in our salvation. Joy is eternal because no matter how crummy your day is going if you have a relationship with Jesus Christ you know it’s going to be all right in the end.

Nehemiah 8:10 “The joy of the LORD is your strength.”

Psalm 51:12 “Restore unto me the joy of Thy salvation; and uphold me with Thy free Spirit.”

While it’s true the books of Proverbs and Ecclesiastes hold many treasures for us to immerse ourselves in, they’re not given to us in a quid pro quo manner as the Mormons would have you think. God blesses us and gifts us with things not to receive something in return. He does it because He’s our creator and He loves us.

Ephesians 1:7-9;  ”In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace; Wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence; Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself”.

In Christ,

Melissa Grimes melissa@lifeafter.org

References:

Teachers Manual

Class Members Manual

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