2nd half lesson 159 and lesson 160 Malachi 3-4

Group One:

---Malachi 3:7–12 records what the Lord said to the Israelites who had broken their covenants and turned from Him.

---Malachi 3:7 teaches us the principle that If we will return to the Lord, He will return to us.

---What does this principle teach you about Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ?

---In Malachi 3:8–12 we learn of one way the Lord indicated the people could return to Him.

---Read Malachi 3:8–9 aloud looking for a question the Lord asked the people.

---What question did the Lord ask the Israelites?

---How had the Israelites robbed the Lord?

---Write the words tithes and offerings on the board.

---The way tithes and offerings have been paid has changed over the years. For example, Abraham gave a tenth of all he possessed to the high priest Melchizedek, and his offerings were animals or crops that were given as sacrifices to Jehovah. Today we pay one-tenth of our income as tithing and contribute the cost of two meals as fast offerings (see True to the Faith [2004], 67–68, 181).

---Remember that according to Malachi 1–2, the people had been offering animals that were lame, blind, or otherwise unsuitable as sacrifices to God.

---What did these feeble sacrifices reveal about the Israelites’ feelings toward God? How could this also be considered robbing God?

---Malachi 3:10–12 records that the Lord invited the Israelites to return to Him by paying tithing.

---Read these verses aloud and look for the blessings the Lord promised to give the Israelites if they would accept His invitation.

---What do you think the phrase “prove me now herewith” means?

---What does the Lord promise those who faithfully pay their tithes and offerings?

---Mark the phrases that teach about these promises.

---What does it mean that the Lord will open the windows of heaven?

---Anciently, the “devourer” was often something like locusts that destroyed a person’s crops. How might the promise to “rebuke the devourer” be fulfilled in our day?

---What principle can we learn from these verses?

If we return to God and pay our tithes and offerings, then the Lord will pour out blessings upon us.

---President Gordon B. Hinckley taught that paying tithing is a matter of faith:

“It is not so much a matter of money as it is a matter of faith. I have yet to find a faithful tithe payer who cannot testify that in a very literal and wonderful way the windows of heaven have been opened and blessings have been poured out upon him or her” (“The Sacred Law of Tithing,” Ensign, Dec. 1989, 4).

---Elder David A. Bednar mentions types of blessings that may come from keeping the law of tithing:

“Often as we teach and testify about the law of tithing, we emphasize the immediate, dramatic, and readily recognizable temporal blessings that we receive. And surely such blessings do occur. Yet some of the diverse blessings we obtain as we are obedient to this commandment are significant but subtle. …

“Sometimes we may ask God for success, and He gives us physical and mental stamina. We might plead for prosperity, and we receive enlarged perspective and increased patience, or we petition for growth and are blessed with the gift of grace. He may bestow upon us conviction and confidence as we strive to achieve worthy goals. And when we plead for relief from physical, mental, and spiritual difficulties, He may increase our resolve and resilience.

“I promise that as you and I observe and keep the law of tithing, indeed the windows of heaven will be opened and spiritual and temporal blessings will be poured out such that there shall not be room enough to receive them (see Malachi 3:10)” (“The Windows of Heaven,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2013, 17–18).

---What are some of the significant but subtle blessings Elder Bednar mentioned that come from keeping the law of tithing?

---In what ways have you or your family been blessed for faithfully paying tithing?

---Ponder how you are doing at paying tithes and offerings. Qualify for the windows of heaven to be opened by deciding to faithfully keep or continue keeping the law of tithing.

Me:

Lesson 160: Malachi 4

I. Malachi 4:1–4  Malachi prophesies of the fate of the wicked and the righteous at the Second Coming

---Draw or display a picture of a tree on the board. Point out and label the three essential parts of a tree: branches, trunk, and roots.

---What would happen to a tree if we eliminated one of its vital parts?

--Above the picture of the tree, write the word Family. Invite students to think of this tree as a family tree.

---If the trunk of the tree represents you, what might the branches and roots represent?

---As students study Malachi 4, invite them to look for how their actions can affect their family tree in the eternities.

---Read Malachi 4:1 aloud looking for what those who are proud and wicked will experience at the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.

---What will the proud and wicked experience at the Second Coming of the Lord?

---Explain that stubble refers to the short stalks that remain after grain has been harvested from a field. Farmers often burn the stubble in preparation to plow and plant the field again. Malachi’s reference to the wicked being like stubble in the day of burning means that the wicked will be destroyed as part of the Lord’s cleansing of the earth at His Second Coming.

---Based on our discussion about the family tree, what do you think the phrase “it shall leave them neither root nor branch” means for the wicked?

---Erase or cover up the roots and branches from the picture on the board to illustrate that the tree is incomplete and limited without these vital parts.

---Read Malachi 4:2–3 aloud looking for what the righteous will experience at the Lord’s Second Coming. Explain that the “Sun of righteousness” (verse 2) is Jesus Christ.

---What will the righteous experience when the Lord comes again? (They will receive healing, “grow up as calves of the stall,” and “tread down the wicked.” You may want to list students’ answers on the board.)

---Invite students to discuss in pairs what they think these phrases mean. After sufficient time, ask them to report what they learned. As needed, explain that the phrase “calves of the stall” refers to calves that are safe, well fed, and cared for. The Lord promises that He will similarly protect and care for those who fear His name. The phrase “healing in his wings” refers to the healing and protective power of the Lord’s Atonement. The phrase “ye shall tread down the wicked” means that the Lord will help the righteous overcome evil by destroying the wicked at His Second Coming.

---What principle can we learn from these verses about what the Lord provides through His Atonement to those who fear or reverence Him? (Students may use different words, but make sure it is clear that if we reverence and obey the Lord, we will experience the power and protection of the Atonement. Using students’ words, write this principle on the board.)

---What are specific ways we can reverence and obey the Lord?

---Why does reverencing and obeying the Lord enable us to experience His power and protection?

---When have you experienced the Lord’s power or protection?

---Summarize Malachi 4:4 by explaining that the Lord asked His people to remember the statutes (laws or commandments) and judgments (ordinances) that He gave to Moses.

 Group Two:

 

II. Malachi 4:5–6  Refer students to the picture of the tree trunk on the board. To help them personalize the tragedy of having no roots or branches on their family trees, ask students to consider their own parents, grandparents, and ancestors, as well as their future spouse and children. Invite them to imagine what it might be like if they were separated from their family members in the eternities.

---Read Malachi 4:5–6 aloud looking for how the Savior said He would help the families of the world before His Second Coming.

---Whom did the Savior say He would send before the Second Coming?

---Who is Elijah? (You may want to show students the picture Elijah Appearing in the Kirtland Temple)

---Remind students that Elijah is a prophet who performed many mighty miracles [see 1 Kings 17–18; 2 Kings 1–2].)

---What do you think the phrase “turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers” (Malachi 4:6) means?

--Invite a student to read aloud the following statement by the Prophet Joseph Smith. Ask the class to listen for what the word turn means in this verse.

---You might suggest that students write Joseph Smith’s statement in the margin next to Malachi 4:5–6.

“Now, the word turn here should be translated bind, or seal” (Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Joseph Smith [2007], 472).

---What is the purpose of the coming of Elijah?

---Why do you think binding or sealing families together is important to Heavenly Father?

---Explain to students that the resurrected prophet Elijah appeared to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery on April 3, 1836, in the Kirtland Temple and conferred upon them the sealing keys of the Melchizedek Priesthood. These keys opened the doors to family history and temple work for the living and for the dead.

---Invite a student to read aloud the following statement by President Henry B. Eyring of the First Presidency. Ask the class to listen for the role we can play in fulfilling Elijah’s mission.

“Many of your ancestors died never having the chance to accept the gospel and to receive the blessings and promises you have received. …

“… There are more temples across the earth than there have ever been. More people in all the world have felt the Spirit of Elijah move them to record the identities and facts of their ancestors’ lives. There are more resources to search out your ancestors than there have ever been in the history of the world. The Lord has poured out knowledge about how to make that information available worldwide through technology that a few years ago would have seemed a miracle. …

“… When you were baptized, your ancestors looked down on you with hope. Perhaps after centuries, they rejoiced to see one of their descendants make a covenant to find them and to offer them freedom. In your reunion, you will see in their eyes either gratitude or terrible disappointment. Their hearts are bound to you. Their hope is in your hands. You will have more than your own strength as you choose to labor on to find them” (“Hearts Bound Together,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2005, 77, 79–80).

---What is our role in binding families together in the last days?

---Write the following incomplete principle on the board:

 As we do family history and temple work, …

---What will happen as we fulfill our responsibility to do family history and temple work for our ancestors?

---After students respond, add the following to the principle on the board: our hearts will be turned to our ancestors …

---Ask students to look again at Malachi 4:6, and point out that unless the hearts of family members turn to each other, the earth will be cursed or “utterly wasted” (D&C 2:3).

---To complete the principle on the board, add the following: and we will help prepare the earth for the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.

---Why do our hearts turn to our ancestors when we do their family history and temple work?

---How do you think our ancestors feel toward us for doing this work for them?

---What experiences have you had with doing family history and temple work for your own ancestors?

---Ask students to write on a piece of paper one goal that will help them more fully participate in family history and temple work.

---Encourage them to take the paper home and place it where it will remind them of their goal.