Suggestions
for Teaching
---List
adversities on the board: an accident or illness; the premature death of a
friend or family member; physical
or learning disabilities; experiencing cruelty from others.
---Write
the following questions on the board:
---Why
is this happening to me?
---What
can I learn from these adversities?
---Ask:
---If
something challenging happens in your life, which of these two questions are
you more likely to ask? Why?
---Many
adversities and challenges are natural conditions of mortality and do not occur
because the person experiencing them is at fault. As we study 1 Samuel 1, we will learn
about Hannah, a faithful woman who faced adversity. Look for what we can learn
from her example that can help us when we face adversity.
---Copy
the following chart on the board, and invite students to copy it in their class
notebooks:
|
Hannah’s
Adversity
|
My
Adversity
|
|
1.
2.
|
1.
2.
|
---Write
“Unable to bear children” on line 1 under the column titled “Hannah’s
Adversity.”
---In
every age, there have been women who were unable to bear children despite their
righteous desire to do so. In the culture in which Hannah lived, women
experienced social shame if they were barren (or unable to bear children). Remember
that at times in ancient Israel, righteous men and women practiced plural
marriage. Peninnah, the other wife of Hannah’s husband, Elkanah, was able to
bear children. Peninnah’s ability to have children may have made Hannah’s
inability to do so feel more devastating. Elkanah and his family would travel
to Shiloh yearly in order to worship and offer sacrifice. Shiloh was the site
where the tabernacle, or “the house of the Lord,” was located.
---Take
turns reading aloud from 1 Samuel
1:3–8
looking for the other adversity Hannah experienced during these times.
---The
phrase “her adversary also provoked her sore, for to make her fret” meant that
someone was striving to upset Hannah because of her inability to have children.
---How might Peninnah’s ability
to have children have caused conflict between the two women?
---How would you describe the
adversity Hannah experienced?
---Write
“Suffering unkindness from others” on line 2 under “Hannah’s Adversity” on
their charts.
---How might you be tempted to
react if you were to experience unkindness from others?
---What can you do if you or someone
you know is being bullied, either in person or on the Internet?
Video
clip on Hannah
Belial
means (“worthlessness; good-for-nothing, base wickedness”)
---If
Hannah were here today, what principle do you think she would testify of?
(Students may use different words, but make sure they identify the following
principle: As we turn to the Lord in our
adversity, He can provide help, hope, comfort, and peace.)
---Does the Lord always remove
our adversity when we pray for peace? What are some other ways He can give us
peace?
---Ponder
the adversities you may be facing and write them down under the column titled
“My Adversity” on your charts. Ponder how you can turn to the Lord to receive
His peace during your adversities.
---Remember
that Hannah promised the Lord that if He would give her a son, she would give
her son to His service.
---To
help emphasize another truth we can learn from this account, write the
following incomplete statement on the board: When we ask the Lord
to bless us, we must be willing to …
---How might you complete this
statement based on verses 27–28? (Students may
use different words, but they may complete the statement so it reads like the
following principle: When we ask the Lord to bless us, we must be willing to use
those blessings to serve Him.)
---Think
about how you have asked the Lord to bless you. Consider how you would use
those blessings to serve the Lord. Share some of your experiences.
---In
these verses we read a prayer in which Hannah praised the Lord for all He had
done for her. She also testified of Jehovah’s (Jesus Christ’s) power and mercy. Hannah’s prayer
displays her great faith, knowledge of the gospel, and love for God.
---What things members of the Church could
do that would set a poor example of living the gospel and could affect the way
others view the Church?
---Write
the names Hophni and Phinehas on the board. Explain that these were two sons of
Eli the priest.
---How do you think Hophni and
Phinehas’s unrighteous behavior might have affected the people who came to the
tabernacle to worship?
---These two sons
brought disrespect to the tabernacle. According to the law of Moses, the priests in
the tabernacle were to receive certain portions of the sacrifice to eat only
after the fat was burned on the altar. To take portions of the animal sacrifice
before the offering was made was to steal from God and disrespect the
priesthood ordinance. Eli’s sons sinned by taking meat from the animal
sacrifices that did not belong to them. By doing so, they were essentially
robbing God of offerings and cheating the people. Because of Eli’s sons’
actions, the people disliked offering sacrifices. However, even worse was Eli’s
sons’ misuse of their priesthood office to seduce and commit adultery with
women who came to worship at the temple.
---Eli
talked to them, but Hophni and Phinehas were disobedient to their father’s
counsel. Under the law of Moses, willful
disobedience to parents was punishable by death, and the parents were obliged
to see that the punishment was carried out. The Lord was upset with Eli because
he honored his sons over God. Because Eli did not carry out the punishment that
the law of Moses required for his sons’ actions, he was failing to do his duty.
He failed in his parental responsibility and in his office as the presiding
priest. Although he rebuked his sons, he took no action to see that the
abomination in his family and at the tabernacle was corrected.
---A
“man of God” came to Eli and pronounced the Lord’s curse upon Eli and his
house. Eli’s household would be destroyed, and his posterity would not live to
old age. His sons would die on the same day, and the Lord would give the
priests’ duties of the tabernacle to a more faithful man. Eli lost his right to
preside and his blessings of posterity because he did not respect God enough to
punish his unrepentant sons for their sins
---According to verse 30, what will happen
if we honor the Lord? (If we honor the Lord by keeping His
commandments, He will honor us.)
---Ponder
how you can more fully honor God. Remember to follow any impressions you
receive from the Spirit.
---Look
for principles as you study 1 Samuel 3 that can help you
understand the importance of recognizing the voice of the Lord.
---What do you think it means
that “the word of the Lord was precious in those days”? (Revelations from the
Lord were rare.)
---What might this tell us about
the spiritual condition of the people at this time?
---VIDEO
CLIP on Samuel
---Why do you think Samuel
didn’t recognize the voice?
---What helped Samuel recognize the Lord’s
voice?
---What does Samuel’s experience teach us
about learning to recognize the Lord’s voice?
---Video
clip on revelation/take notes
---To
help students understand the principles on the board, ask each student to
silently read one of the following references and look for the answer to the
corresponding question. (You may want to write the references and questions on
the board or provide each student with a strip of paper with one of the
references and the associated question written on it.)
1 Nephi
17:45
(What can prevent me from recognizing the Lord’s voice?)
Alma
5:57
(What is one thing I need to do if I want to learn to recognize the Lord’s
voice?)
Doctrine
and Covenants 1:38
(Who may speak for the Lord?)
Doctrine
and Covenants 8:2–3;
11:12–13 (How can I
recognize when the Lord speaks to me through the Spirit?)
Doctrine
and Covenants 18:34–36 (What is one way I can hear the voice of the Lord
daily?)
---List
on the board different ways the Lord can speak to us.
The Lord can communicate with us through
visions, speech, dreams, and sometimes appearances. Most often we hear His
voice through His prophets, the scriptures, and the Holy Ghost as impressions,
thoughts, and ideas.
---President
Boyd K. Packer of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles described one way the
Lord communicates with us through His Spirit:
“The
Spirit does not get our attention by shouting or shaking us with a heavy hand.
Rather it whispers. It caresses so gently that if we are preoccupied we may not
feel it at all. …
“Occasionally
it will press just firmly enough for us to pay heed. But most of the time, if
we do not heed the gentle feeling, the Spirit will withdraw and wait until we
come seeking and listening.”
---What are some preoccupations
that may deter us from hearing and recognizing the gentle whisper of the Lord’s
voice?
---What does the Lord say to Samuel?
---Why doesn’t he want to tell Eli?
---How does Eli respond?
---Read
1 Samuel
3:18–21
aloud looking for phrases that indicate that the Lord was supporting Samuel as
a prophet.
---Dan
was a location at the northern extreme of Israel’s boundaries, and Beersheba
was located at the furthest south. Thus, the phrase “from Dan even to
Beer-sheba” was a way of saying “the whole country.”
---What do you think it means
that “the Lord … did let none of [Samuel’s] words fall to the ground” (verse 19)?
(All
of Samuel’s prophecies were fulfilled, which showed the people that his words
came from the Lord.)
---The
Lord also sustains the words of modern prophets (see D&C
1:37–38)
and the words of local priesthood leaders and parents.
---Consider
how you treat the words of the Lord’s servants.
---I
invite you to make a greater effort to study and follow the words of the Lord’s
prophets.
quotes for the kids to read:
1---In
every age, there have been women who were unable to bear children despite their
righteous desire to do so. In the culture in which Hannah lived, women
experienced social shame if they were barren (or unable to bear children). Remember
that at times in ancient Israel, righteous men and women practiced plural
marriage. Peninnah, the other wife of Hannah’s husband, Elkanah, was able to
bear children. Peninnah’s ability to have children may have made Hannah’s
inability to do so feel more devastating. Elkanah and his family would travel
to Shiloh yearly in order to worship and offer sacrifice. Shiloh was the site
where the tabernacle, or “the house of the Lord,” was located.
2---These two sons
brought disrespect to the tabernacle. According to the law of Moses, the priests in
the tabernacle were to receive certain portions of the sacrifice to eat only
after the fat was burned on the altar. To take portions of the animal sacrifice
before the offering was made was to steal from God and disrespect the
priesthood ordinance. Eli’s sons sinned by taking meat from the animal
sacrifices that did not belong to them. By doing so, they were essentially
robbing God of offerings and cheating the people. Because of Eli’s sons’
actions, the people disliked offering sacrifices. However, even worse was Eli’s
sons’ misuse of their priesthood office to seduce and commit adultery with
women who came to worship at the temple.
3---Eli
talked to them, but Hophni and Phinehas were disobedient to their father’s
counsel. Under the law of Moses, willful
disobedience to parents was punishable by death, and the parents were obliged
to see that the punishment was carried out. The Lord was upset with Eli because
he honored his sons over God. Because Eli did not carry out the punishment that
the law of Moses required for his sons’ actions, he was failing to do his duty.
He failed in his parental responsibility and in his office as the presiding
priest. Although he rebuked his sons, he took no action to see that the
abomination in his family and at the tabernacle was corrected.
4---A
“man of God” came to Eli and pronounced the Lord’s curse upon Eli and his
house. Eli’s household would be destroyed, and his posterity would not live to
old age. His sons would die on the same day, and the Lord would give the
priests’ duties of the tabernacle to a more faithful man. Eli lost his right to
preside and his blessings of posterity because he did not respect God enough to
punish his unrepentant sons for their sins.
5---President
Boyd K. Packer of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles described one way the
Lord communicates with us through His Spirit:
“The
Spirit does not get our attention by shouting or shaking us with a heavy hand.
Rather it whispers. It caresses so gently that if we are preoccupied we may not
feel it at all. …
“Occasionally
it will press just firmly enough for us to pay heed. But most of the time, if
we do not heed the gentle feeling, the Spirit will withdraw and wait until we
come seeking and listening.”
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