3 Nephi 24-26
Read 3 Nephi 24-26
Learning Activities:
1)IntroductionJesus Christ fulfilled a commandment from Heavenly Father to share with the Nephites some prophecies from the prophet Malachi (see 3 Nephi 26:2). These prophecies taught that members of the house of Israel needed to repent and return to the Lord in preparation for the Savior’s Second Coming. Jesus Christ also expounded unto the Nephites “all things, even from the beginning until the time that he should come in his glory” (3 Nephi 26:3). Mormon taught that those who believe the Book of Mormon will have even greater things manifested unto them (see 3 Nephi 26:9).
2) As you read 3 Nephi 24-25 think about why the Savior would quote Malachi. What doctrines do these 2 chapters contain that the Nephites needed to have?
3) Watch this video and make a commitment to pay your tithing.
Tithing: I Will Make a Leap of Faith
Tithing: I Will Make a Leap of Faith (4:47)—This video illustrates how a new member of the Church generated the faith necessary to pay her tithing so she could receive the blessings of the temple. Watch how this illustrates how paying tithing is one way to live the following principle: If we will return unto the Lord, He will return unto us.
4) Watch this video and then read 3 Nephi 25 and ponder what you were chosen to do.
I was Chosen
I Was Chosen (2:41)—Two teenagers share how they simultaneously blessed their own lives, their family members, and their ancestors. Consider showing this video to help students feel the truth and importance of the following principle: As we do family history and temple work, our hearts will be turned to our ancestors.
Want More?
3 Nephi 24:11. Blessings for obeying the law of tithing
President Gordon B. Hinckley (1910–2008) taught:
“The Lord has promised that he will rebuke the devourer for our sakes. … May not that rebuke of the devourer apply to various of our personal efforts and concerns?“There is the great blessing of wisdom, of knowledge, even hidden treasures of knowledge. We are promised that ours shall be a delightsome land if we will walk in obedience to this law. I can interpret the word land as people, that those who walk in obedience shall be a delightsome people. What a marvelous condition to be a delightsome people whom others would describe as blessed!” (Gordon B. Hinckley, “Tithing: An Opportunity to Prove Our Faithfulness,” Ensign, May 1982, 40).
3 Nephi 25:1–6. “Learn about and experience the Spirit of Elijah”
Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles said:
“I invite the young people of the Church to learn about and experience the Spirit of Elijah. I encourage you to study, to search out your ancestors, and to prepare yourselves to perform proxy baptisms in the house of the Lord for yourkindred dead (see D&C 124:28–36). And I urge you to help other people identify their family histories.“As you respond in faith to this invitation, your hearts shall turn to the fathers. The promises made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob will be implanted in your hearts. Your patriarchal blessing, with its declaration of lineage, will link you to these fathers and be more meaningful to you. Your love and gratitude for your ancestors will increase. Your testimony of and conversion to the Savior will become deep and abiding. And I promise you will be protected against the intensifying influence of the adversary. As you participate in and love this holy work, you will be safeguarded in your youth and throughout your lives” (David A. Bednar, “The Hearts of the Children Shall Turn,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2011, 26–27).
3 Nephi 25:6. The hearts of the children will be turned to their fathers
In approximately 430 BC, the prophet Malachi prophesied that Elijah would return to the earth “before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord” (Malachi 4:5). This prophecy is of such importance that it is found in the Bible, the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants, and the Pearl of Great Price (see Malachi 4:5–6; 3 Nephi 25:5–6; D&C 2:1–3; Joseph Smith—History 1:37–39). This prophecy reveals that one purpose of Elijah’s return was to turn the hearts of the children to their fathers.
President Joseph Fielding Smith (1876–1972) explained some ways in which the hearts of children are being turned to their fathers:
“The fathers are our dead ancestors who died without the privilege of receiving the gospel, but who received the promise that the time would come when that privilege would be granted them. The children are those now living who are preparing genealogical data and who are performing the vicarious ordinances in the temples [Joseph Fielding Smith, “Salvation for the Dead,” Millennial Star, Dec. 8, 1927, 775; Isaiah 42:7; 61:1; Zechariah 11:9; Moses 7:36–40; Abraham 2:8–11].“The turning of the hearts of the children to the fathers is placing or planting in the hearts of the children that feeling and desire which will inspire them to search out the records of the dead.Moreover the planting of the desire and inspiration in their hearts is necessary. This they must have in order that they might go into the house of the Lord and perform the necessary labor for their fathers, who died without a knowledge of the gospel, or without the privilege of receiving the fulness of the gospel [Andrew Jenson, “The ‘Mormons’ as Pioneers,” The Utah Genealogical and Historical Magazine, Jan. 1918, 15–16]” (Joseph Fielding Smith, Doctrines of Salvation, comp. Bruce R. McConkie [1955], 2:127–28).
3 Nephi 25:6. “Lest I come and smite the earth with a curse”
Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles taught the following about how the earth would be smitten with a curse if Elijah did not come:
“Inasmuch as such a sealed, united, celestially saved family of God is the ultimate purpose of mortality, any failure here would have been a curse indeed” (Jeffrey R. Holland, Christ and the New Covenant: The Messianic Message of the Book of Mormon [1997], 298).
