SETUP
What will make us happy as individuals and families?
Map
ATTENTION ACTIVITY
What's the most exciting sport event or entertainment event that you've been to?
Have you ever been so excited at such an event that you stood and shouted or cheered?
Can you think of sacred events that have been or will be accompanied by enthusiastic expressions of joy and gratitude?
Some of these events include:
- The creation of the earth (Job 38:4–7).
- The triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem (John 12:12–16).
- The Second Coming of Christ and the Resurrection (1 Thessalonians 4:16).
- Hosanna shout
How does the excitement of sporting events or other entertainment compare to the joy of these sacred events?
BACKGROUND
After the fall of Jerusalem, Ezekiel no longer spoke of God’s judgments on his contemporaries but of Israel’s redemption in the latter days. It was as though he had done all he could to stave off the destruction of his people, and when that was impossible and they were actually experiencing the suffering that captivity had imposed upon them, he turned their hearts to the future and the source of their ultimate hope in the Lord.
So Saints of the latter days should be most enthusiastic about Ezekiel’s prophecies in chapters 25–48. Of Ezekiel’s twelve, precisely recorded visions, seven were given after the fall of Jerusalem and dealt with such events of the last days as the building of the great Jewish kingdom under a shepherd named David, the gathering of scattered Israel, the unification of all the tribes of Israel, the joining of the Bible and the Book of Mormon, the battle of Armageddon, and the building of a modern temple in Jerusalem. Truly, Ezekiel was a prophet of the Restoration.
Ezekial 43 (Ezekiel is shown a vision of the temple in Jerusalem.)
v.5 - The glory of the Lord filled the house.
Will anyone share a time when they felt the presence of a living prophet or apostle?
How have you felt the glory of the Lord in the temple?
Has there been time you haven't felt it?
Why wouldn't we feel it every time?
v.11-12 - This is the law of the house
How do you understand the law of the house? (Be holy, learn everything about the temple, and receive all the ordinances)
What we learn about the temple in Ezekiel 43:1–12; 44:6–9, 23.
- The glory of the Lord fills the temple (Ezekiel 43:2, 4–5).
- The temple is “the place of [the Lord’s] throne” on earth (Ezekiel 43:7).
- The Lord walks in the temple, calling it “the place of the soles of my feet” (Ezekiel 43:7).
- The temple is a place where the Lord may “dwell in the midst” of his people (Ezekiel 43:7).
- We learn about the laws of the Lord in the temple (Ezekiel 43:11).
- There are ordinances that the Lord wants us to perform in the temple (Ezekiel 43:11).
- Even the grounds that surround the temple “shall be most holy” (Ezekiel 43:12).
- Only those who are worthy should enter the temple (Ezekiel 44:6–9).
- In the temple we learn the difference between holy and profane and between clean and unclean (Ezekiel 44:23).
*** What gifts do we receive for obeying the laws of his house?
- Eternal Life
- Being sealed as a family
- Greater understanding
- Promises of greater spiritual protection
- Personal revelation
- Personal peace
Display, candy, coins, a $20 bill and a picture of an expensive item.
Which of these items would my three year old be most interested?
Which of these is the most expensive?
Why don’t most little children choose the most expensive item? (They don’t understand the value)
How are people sometimes like my three year old in valuing the temple?
Sometimes people don’t understand the value of temples so they make choices that keep them from entering the temple.
Ezekial 47 - Ezekiel sees a river flowing from the temple that gives life to the desert and heals the Dead Sea.
What did Ezekiel see coming from the east doors of the temple in Jerusalem? (v.1)
Map (Note: Judean wilderness and the Dead Sea are east of Jerusalem. The Judean wilderness is a barren desert, and the Dead Sea is too salty to sustain animal life.)
Read v.6-12
According to Ezekiel’s vision, what changes will take place in the Judean wilderness and the Dead Sea because of the river flowing from the temple?
Trees (v.7)
Dead Sea will be healed (v.8)
Dead Sea will have fishes (v.9)
Every thing shall live wither the river cometh (v.9)
Note in Ezekial 43:7 the Lord calls the temple “the place of my throne”
In a vision similar to Ezekiel’s vision of the temple, John the Beloved was shown the throne of God. Read Revelation 22:1–3;
What flowed from the throne of God in John’s vision? (v.1 Water of Life)
What is the “water of life”? (The doctrines of the gospel;)
(see also John 4:10–14.)
Elder Bruce R. McConkie explained that living
water is “the words of eternal life, the message of salvation, the
truths about God and his kingdom; it is the doctrines of the gospel”
How are we like the Judean wilderness and the Dead Sea if we do not partake of the water of life?
How does the water of life that is available in the temple heal and give life to:
Marriages?
Families?
Our ancestors?
The Church?
What else flows from the temple that gives spiritual life and healing? (truth, wisdom, revelation, and covenants.)
What did the trees have in common with the waters of the river? (v.12 - They had healing and life-giving powers.)
*** How have you seen the temple bless you with healing and life-giving powers?
What grew along the banks of the river in John’s vision?
*** How does the love of God heal and give life?
The Prophet Joseph Smith proclaimed: "Judah must return, Jerusalem must be rebuilt, and the temple, and water come out from under the temple, and the waters of the Dead Sea be healed. It will take some time to rebuild the walls of the city and the temple, and all this must be done before the Son of Man will make His appearance."
Ezekiel measures the river’s depth.
Read v.2-3
How deep was the river the first time Ezekiel waded across it?
Read v.4-5
How deep was it the second, third, and fourth times he waded across?
***What truth do these verses suggest about the temple? (The power of the temple increases in our lives the more often we attend.)
Wonderful truths are taught in the temple, many through symbols.
If at first our understanding of these truths or of temple ordinances is only “ankle deep,” what should we do? (attend the temple as often as possible.)
CONCLUSION
President Howard W. Hunter said: "I invite the Latter-day Saints to look to the temple of the Lord as the great symbol of your membership. It is the deepest desire of my heart to have every member of the Church worthy to enter the temple. It would please the Lord if every adult member would be worthy of—and carry—a current temple recommend. The things that we must do and not do to be worthy of a temple recommend are the very things that ensure we will be happy as individuals and as families."
Note: What the prophet said will ensure we our happy as individuals and as families.
One way to receive living water is to go to the temple, the house of the
Lord, where we may be endowed with power and understanding, be
instructed by the Lord, feel peace and joy, and become healed both physically and spiritually.
How can we make the temple the “great symbol of [our] membership” in the Church?
How would looking to the temple in this way affect our outlook on life and our dedication to the Lord’s work?
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