Deuteronomy 10-11; 13-14; 22-24; 26; 28-29
This post will be in the format of a Q&A. I tried it differently but I feel that it is most influential this way. I hope you learn something new and that you are encouraged to read these chapters on your own with this new insight and possibly answer these questions on your own.
This post will be in the format of a Q&A. I tried it differently but I feel that it is most influential this way. I hope you learn something new and that you are encouraged to read these chapters on your own with this new insight and possibly answer these questions on your own.
Deuteronomy is a great book of scripture and you can learn so much from it! Something my teacher, Brother Cluff, shared with us this week was that Deuteronomy is a greek word that means 'second law'. I thought this was interesting and it helped me have a different point of view while reading this book. I hope you all enjoy! If you have any questions or comments I would love to hear from you and your interpretation or knowledge.
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Where did the Lord direct Moses to keep the
tablets containing the Ten Commandments?
He directed him to keep the tablets in an
ark of wood, a cabinet or chest, according to the footnote for 1b, that the
Lord will make.
•
What do you think this instruction teaches us
about the value the Lord places on the commandments?
This instruction teaches us that the
commandments are very important to the Lord. He wants them to be protected and
also wants them to last forever.
•
Notice the Joseph Smith Translation correction
in the footnotes for verse 2.
The footnote teaches us about the importance
of the commandments. It tells us what had been lost or broken, he has included
in these plates again, the everlasting covenant of the holy priesthood.
Read Doctrine and Covenants 84:14-27. What blessings did the
children of Israel deny themselves through their disobedience in the
wilderness?
The children of Israel denied themselves,
because of their disobedience, the power of the higher priesthood. Because they didn’t have the priesthood
they denied themselves the power to receive ordinances. Since they were
disobedient and were not able to receive the priesthood and ordinances they
could not endure the presence of the Lord.
Compare Deuteronomy 11:1, 13-14, 22; 30:6, 16, 19-20 with
Matthew 22:36-40. Why do you think
Love is the most important commandment? Love is an emotion; can emotions be
commanded? How can a person love someone they don’t even see? How can we learn
to love God?
The
most important commandment is to love the Lord. When we love the Lord we will obey
his commandments, we will treat others right, and we will keep our bodies and
souls clean. Love is an emotion that I believe everyone is capable of. To love
someone you don’t know can be challenging but it is possible. Our spirits
already want to love and obey the Lord, it is our immortal body and the natural
man, it is Satan who puts bad feelings into our minds and thoughts. We can love
someone that we don’t see by getting to know them, by getting to know their
personality and their beliefs. We learn to love God by understanding who he is,
by obeying his commandments and learning about his life.
Read Deuteronomy 10:12-13; 11:1, 8-9; 13:4; and 26:17-19. What
do these verses have in common? Why you think the Lord places such a strong
emphasis on obedience to the commandments.
These
verses all teach us to love the Lord with all of our heart and soul. They teach
us to obey the commandments, to obey his statutes and ordinances. The Lord
places an emphasis on obedience to the commandments because they are very
important. We need to follow his commandments to become better sons and
daughters and become like him. By keeping the commandments we show our Father
in Heaven that we love him. When we consider Mosiah 2:41 we learn that keeping
the commandments helps us be happy. Living in the way of the Lord will make us
happy. Keeping the commandments will bring temporal and spiritual blessings as
well. D&C 130:21 teaches us that when we obtain or receive blessing from
God “it is by the obedience to the law upon which it is predicated.”
Read Deuteronomy 28:1-14 and make a list of the results of obeying the commandments.
The results from
obeying the commandments are blessings; some of those blessings are listed
next. The Lord thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth,
blessings shall come on thee and overtake thee, you shall be blessed in the
city and in the field. You shall be blessed in the fruit of they body, the
fruit of they ground and the fruit of thy cattle and flocks of sheep. You shall
be blessed when you come in and when you leave. The Lord will cause thine
enemies to be smitten. He will bless thee in the land and establish thee a holy
people unto himself. The people of the earth shall see that you are called by
the name of the Lord and they shall be afraid of thee. The Lord will make thee
plenteous in goods. The Lord will give you his good treasure; the heaven will
give rain to your land in his season. The Lord will make thee the head, not the
tail; you shall only be above not beneath.
Skim through Deuteronomy 28:15-65 and make another list of the
consequences of disobeying the commandments. Read Helaman 12:3 and write the
purposes the Lord has for sometimes chastening his children with “many
afflictions.”
If you do not obey
the commandments you will be cursed and these curses will overtake you. Your
city and field will be cursed. Your store will be cursed. The fruit of your
body and land and cattle/flocks will be cursed. You will be cursed coming in
and going out. You will have pestilence cleave unto you. No rain will come.
Your enemies will smite you. You will be smote with the botch of Egypt and with
madness, blindness and astonishment of heart. Your vineyard will not do well,
your cattle and meat will not do well, and your family will suffer. People will
be angry with you. You will not be happy and not have an abundance of thins. You
will be hungry and thirsty and naked. Your daughters will be given away to
another people. You will be in bondage.
We learn the
purpose of the Lord chastening his children in Helaman 12:3. The Lord chastens
his people so they will remember him, repent and come unto him.
The Lord clearly stated consequences of disobedience, but He does not
desire to curse His children. Read Deuteronomy 4:29-31; 26:7-11; Isaiah 55:6-7;
Ezekiel 18:21-23; and Mosiah 26:30. Write a paragraph describing the Lord’s
mercies and what His greatest desires are. Include in your statement how it
makes you feel to know that God is kind, loving, and merciful.
The Lord wants us to come back to him. He
wants us to repent. He doesn’t want us to suffer; he wants us to come unto him,
to seek him. He will have mercy on us; he will abundantly pardon our
wrongdoings. When we are forgiven the Lord will forget about it. He will
‘erase’ is from our ‘record’, so to speak. It gives the Lord great pleasure
when we come unto him, repent, and use the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ.
What gives me great comfort is knowing
that “…as often as my people repent will I forgive them their trespasses
against me” (Mosiah 26:30). We are all human and will make mistakes and keep
making mistakes. We will have to suffer the consequences of those mistakes/sins
but the Lord will always forgive us. There is not a certain amount of times
that we can repent and he will accept it. He will always accept our apology and
our repentance. Just because he will do this doesn’t mean we can slack off, we
need to try our very best to live our lives the best that we can. To love the
Lord, to love our neighbors and keep all of his commandments the best that we
can is how we should live our lives. By living our lives in the ways that the
Lord has instructed and by keeping the commandments shows our Heavenly Father
and Jesus Christ that we love them and it shows that we appreciate the
sacrifice that our brother, Jesus Christ, made for all of us. It is because of
Christ that we can be forgiven, and that we can be forgiven as often as we need
it.
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Thank you for taking the time to read my post! I hope you learned something new and that the Spirit of the Lord has touched your heart. Remember that the Lord loves you more than anything and wants you to succeed. He knows what you want and what you need, don't forget to ask him for help. When you do something wrong don't feel helpless, just go to the Lord. I love my Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ and I hope that whomever reads this knows that and knows how important all of this is for me.
Remember, God lives and He loves us!!
Remember, God lives and He loves us!!
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