#1 "This is My Work and My Glory"

Moses 1
Pass around a basket for those who want to participate in the lesson today, have them put their name in it.
I love the Old Testament (OT). I am excited to go through it again this year, these are the stories I learned as a child. I loved hearing about Noah and Queen Ester, I love that as I study them, not as a good story, but as living individuals who lived the same principles that I am asked to live in my own life. The strength and knowledge we can get from their lives will help us in our own lives and experiences.
One thing I learned from teaching the OT last time is that most of the scriptures are symbolic of Christ and His life (premortal, mortal, and postmortal). To help me understand many of the scriptures here I had to do 2 things, 1-learn and understand that the culture and traditions during this time is much different than today, and as we learn of their culture and traditions, we then can comprehend the meanings of their experiences; it can open up certain scriptures to us so they make perfect sense rather than leaving confusion. 2-most of the scriptures are symbolic, and as we figure out some of the symbolism it also opens up the scriptures to us. So as we go through many of our lessons I will try to explain some of these things, so we can be more efficiently taught by the spirit what we need to know as individuals trying to conquer our own mortal experience with the same courage and faith as the individuals we are going to be studying about this year.
The places I will be getting my information is 1st the spirit and prayer, next, the lesson manual, my past institute teachers lesson materials, the OT institute manuals, the Pearl of Great Price Institute manuals, and several other church published materials.
I purchased through permission of the Bishop, some of these materials from the Dist. Center and I will be pulling out a name here and there to take home one of these lovely prizes so that you too can experience the joy of studying in your homes, and using these materials to teach your families, and your own classes. I want you to be excited about learning so that you can bring that excitement to class with you because being excited about the scriptures and what you are learning is contagious!

*Give away 2 OT bookmarks

With that said, let’s jump right into the lesson. The person’s experience we will be learning about today is Moses. Even though Exodus-Deuteronomy has much about Moses it doesn’t give us as perfect a picture of his beginnings as the book of Moses in the POGP (pearl of great price). We know he was called as a prophet and we know he went to a mountain but the POGP tells us exactly what happened on that mountain. We have this record thanks to Joseph Smith. In this month’s Ensign it talks about how we have come to have information about Moses’ experience.
While working on his translation of the Bible in June 1830, the Prophet Joseph Smith had a vision in which he was shown an extraordinary experience that had been given to Moses (see Moses 1–8). Ronald A. Rasband, “‘Moses, My Son’,” Ensign, Jan 2010, 42–45
*Give away OT institute manual
From Moses’ experience the Lord wants us to learn 3 things. 1-that we are children of God, and what that means 2-that we can resist Satan’s temptations and how to do that, and 3-What God’s work and glory is in our personal lives, how we find out what that is and how we get started completing that work.
So let’s go to Moses 1:1 Here we have Moses, a leader in the house of Pharoah, a military leader over Pharoah’s vast army, riches at his fingertips whenever he wanted them. However we know that he was introduced to religion, which left his worldly life missing something-his eternal purpose. He sought to discover his eternal purpose-which can be found as he “does” things here on earth. To find out his purpose what does he do? First off He goes directly to the source, God who Moses knows can be found on an exceedingly high mountain. We know that our exceedingly high mountain can be found in the temple (Whether we kneel in our own temples by our beds, or we attend one of the temples that stand in a surrounding city), it is the same. He saw God. We need to note that whenever anyone in the OT sees or talks with God, it is Jesus Christ they see and talk with. If it sounds like the “Father” is speaking like Moses 1:6 it is still Jesus Christ speaking, but He is speaking for the Father (Eloheim).
President Joseph Fielding Smith wrote: “All revelation since the fall has come through Jesus Christ, who is the Jehovah of the OT…He is the God of Israel, the Holy One of Israel; the one who led that nation out of Egyptian bondage, and who gave and fulfilled the Law of Moses. The Father has never dealt with man directly and personally since the fall, and He had never appeared except to introduce and bear record of the Son” (Doct. Of Salv. Vol 3 1:17)
*This quote can be found in the POGP Institute manual I am giving away 2.
A new aid the Church has come out with for the OT is the OT visual resource DVD. It goes through each section of the OT with songs, video clips, scriptures, quotes from the brethren, conference address excerpts to help us see and feel the power of what our scriptures are trying to teach us. I felt the power of this video as Moses goes to that high mountain and sees what God shows him, then is tempted by Satan. As we watch this video clip I want you to notice how or what God shows Moses. Notice what things He shows him that helps Moses know who God is, what His personality is like, what He loves, and how he shows us He loves us.
*Give away 2 DVD’s
I noticed He showed him as He shows us, his creations, His people as individuals as they went about living and serving Him as they served each other. We also learn from Moses we feel the Lord’s presence as we pray and attend the temple; as we do those things the spirit of the Lord will continue to dwell in us long after we are finished with those moments.
Now we will watch the part where Satan comes. Notice how he attempts to deceive Moses. Notice how Jeffery R. Holland claims that Satan always comes after enlightenment does, to make us doubt ourselves and the revelation we receive from the Lord.
One of the things satan wants Moses and us to doubt is the phrase in Moses 1:6 That Moses as well as we are His sons and daughters, a similitude of Mine only Begotten. He wants us to doubt that we are Gods and Goddesses in training and that we are sent here to accomplish the same things as the Savior himself. That of attaining a mortal body, accomplishing individual purposes that will help us become as Christ and Eloheim is. Because we are children of God, we are great and are sent here to do great things. We can know of a surety if we are sons and daughters and what our purposes are just the same as Moses did we find out the same way Moses did, we don’t have to be prophets to know these same truths that Moses does, we have the same right to know these things, in fact the Lord wants us to know so strongly those truths through the spirit so we can conquer in this life just as Moses and the Savior did.
Now we have learned from Moses purpose #1 that we are sons and daughters and how we can know and not doubt that. #2 We saw from the movie clip how Moses conquered satan. The only way is to, Fear him Not, fight with your testimony the things that are thrown at you, call on the Lord through prayer for strength and let Him fight your battles for you! I don’t want to dwell too much on this point because I want to move to the 3rd point. Because this point will also help us in our battle against satan, this is for us to know what our work and glory is in this life. How do we know and find out what our purpose is? Through what means do we find out our purpose? Another clip on the visual DVD is a song called Who am I? it goes through some things we can do to find out who we are and what our eternal purpose is. Watch and take note of some of those ways.
*Give away 3 more DVD’s.
Some of the things I noticed in the clip were: pondering, exploring the world through travel and books, noticing creations, studying them, reading the scriptures, learning through family and friend relationships, teaching each other, prayer, learning new skills and talents, journal writing then reflecting on past experiences, working, taking care of your body, etc.
We see this is true in Moses’ experience as well. In Moses 1:25-29
V25 Lord pointed out one of His strengths and talents that he would use, that of controlling the waters as if he were God. What can we use our talents for? Bringing in the spirit to ourselves and others, helping others see their worth, faith to be healed, the possibilities are endless, because we are all individual with individual gifts.
V26 Lord told Moses what He was to do next in his life, deliver the people, we may not deliver a nation out of bondage, but he can tell us the next step in our lives with our job, calling, parental advise, etc.
V27 Moses saw the earth, every particle, he explored the creations of God down to their very particle, how else would he be able to control water?
V28-29 He beheld every soul-body and spirit! He saw people as God sees them, down to their very spirits. How else could a prophet of God love and serve a people without getting discouraged! What does that teach us? How should we view each other? What does that do? I believe it brings us closer to becoming like God; seeing things as He sees them.
In the next section Moses is shown all the worlds the Lord has created, all the Adam’s put on them, all the inhabitants on all of them, at this point I love Moses attitude, he could start to feel very small here, very insignificant, just as we sometimes could feel. But he takes a different approach. He already knows he is a son of God with a purpose and that his purpose no matter how small it may seem according to the eternal perspective, he is just curious about every part of the Lord’s kingdom, He asks for more details, more information, more of the Lord’s plan, He let’s his curiosity feed him. He just keeps begging for more. Instead of feeling sorry for ourselves that my purpose isn’t as grandiose or amazing as his purpose he is just content to be where he is, who he is and with his purpose in the plan. What is it he’s becoming then, a man who has the same goal and aim as the Father does.
*Give away 2 more OT Bookmarks
Moses 1:39 a God who just wants His children to be happy, to live with Him again, an unselfish God who isn’t just after more worlds, more power, more glory but a God who just wants us to be happy. I loved Marion G. Romney’s quote in the POGP manual concerning this scripture, “Hence we see the complete unselfishness of our Father in Heaven. His whole work and glory is to bring eternal life and happiness to his children. Should not our whole purpose in this life, therefore, be made up of righteous service one to another? If not, how can we ever hope to be as he is?” (conf. reprt. Oct 1981 p132)
I am grateful to Joseph Smith for being in tune enough to have this revelation of how Moses came to know who he is, and what his purpose was and is, and how he used those 2 things to fight that battle we all fight against satan. I know that we all can know those things in our lives, I know the Lord longs to speak to us through the Holy Spirit so we can be about our Father’s business today! I love the scriptures and know that they were written for our good and our learning. I love the Lord for his faith in me to overcome the world and I leave this in His name glorious name Jesus Christ amen.