Henry B. Eyring, “Studying and Teaching the Old Testament,” Ensign, Jan 2002, 30
From a talk to Church Educational System educators at Brigham Young University on 10 August 1999.Link to the entire talk
Receiving the Word of God
Nephi’s words make clear both the difficulty of teaching the word of God and its importance. Those who do not receive the words of God, which we are to teach, will be judged by them. President Romney has offered us help in that sacred task of teaching. I confirm his promise.First in your preparation to teach, you must go to search the scriptures and not to wrest them. President Romney taught that great difference in the way we can approach the scriptures: “Searching them … as enjoined by Jesus is a far cry from hunting through them for the purpose of finding passages which can be pressed into service to support predetermined conclusions” (in Symposium, 2). Go to the scriptures like a child, willing to be taught, and you will be. Go like a wise man or woman, and you won’t come away the wiser.
Second, you will be taught more easily as you approach the scriptures if you search with a question and with a determination to act on the answer. We can receive what seems to us new truth when we go back to the same scripture with new questions. I went to those chapters of 2 Nephi with this question: How can I study or teach from the Old Testament in a way that makes it more likely that my students or I will find happiness now while we are together, and later when they or I may face unknown trials alone?
As I studied 2 Nephi, I tried to follow both parts of this counsel. I read the chapters carefully, repeatedly, line by line and word by word. I looked for patterns, truths that Nephi repeated, ideas he restated more than once. I found a pattern. I will share it with you in the hope that it will encourage you to search for yourself. What I found has been useful to me. It may be to you. My hope is that you will search the scriptures with a desire to be taught what you should do.
For me, there seemed to be a repeated message in the teaching of Nephi, which gave me an answer to my question. It is this: The words of God given by prophets will only be received by those with the spirit of prophecy, a gift of the Spirit, which both follows from and confirms the testimony of Jesus Christ.
Nephi makes clear first that what we need now and will need later is something he calls the spirit of prophecy. Here is the fourth verse of the 25th chapter of 2 Nephi [2 Ne. 25:4]:
“Wherefore, hearken, O my people, which are of the house of Israel, and give ear unto my words; for because the words of Isaiah are not plain unto you, nevertheless they are plain unto all those that are filled with the spirit of prophecy.”
Then he speaks again of prophecy in the 26th verse [2 Ne. 25:26], but here he makes clear its relation to the testimony of Jesus. We will find the words of prophets plain when we have the spirit of prophecy, and that will depend on our testimony of Jesus Christ. Notice how Nephi used that fact:
“And we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies, that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins.”
Then Nephi went on to teach that to receive the words of prophets we must obey them. It will not be enough for us to know that the words are true or even to understand them plainly. We must obey, or the conviction of truth will fade and the meaning will become obscure. Notice the 30th verse of the 28th chapter [2 Ne. 28:30]:
“For behold, thus saith the Lord God: I will give unto the children of men line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little; and blessed are those who hearken unto my precepts, and lend an ear unto my counsel, for they shall learn wisdom; for unto him that receiveth I will give more; and from them that shall say, We have enough, from them shall be taken away even that which they have.”
Then, as if Nephi knows how hard the road ahead may be for us, he describes what it will take to endure. It will take the courage and the fortitude that comes only to those whose testimony of Jesus Christ has led them to obey to the point that they are filled with hope and charity sufficient for the journey. Note the requirement and the promise in the 20th verse of the 31st chapter [2 Ne. 31:20]:
“Wherefore, ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men. Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life.”
Nephi makes plain that the spirit of prophecy and the testimony of Jesus are gifts which must be sought in prayer. And it is clear that he does not exempt himself. Note what he says in the fourth verse of the 32nd chapter [2 Ne. 32:4]:
“Wherefore, now after I have spoken these words, if ye cannot understand them it will be because ye ask not, neither do ye knock; wherefore, ye are not brought into the light, but must perish in the dark.
“For behold, again I say unto you that if ye will enter in by the way, and receive the Holy Ghost, it will show unto you all things what ye should do.”
Then in the eighth and ninth verses Nephi extends the instruction to pray:
“And now, my beloved brethren, I perceive that ye ponder still in your hearts; and it grieveth me that I must speak concerning this thing. For if ye would hearken unto the Spirit which teacheth a man to pray ye would know that ye must pray; for the evil spirit teacheth not a man to pray, but teacheth him that he must not pray.
“But behold I say unto you that ye must pray always, and not faint; that ye must not perform any thing unto the Lord save in the first place ye shall pray unto the Father in the name of Christ, that he will consecrate thy performance unto thee, that thy performance may be for the welfare of thy soul” (2 Ne. 32:8–9).
Now, after warning us that we must pray, Nephi teaches us by his example. In the fourth verse of the 33rd chapter [2 Ne. 33:4]:
“And I know that the Lord God will consecrate my prayers for the gain of my people. And the words which I have written in weakness will be made strong unto them; for it persuadeth them to do good; it maketh known unto them of their fathers; and it speaketh of Jesus, and persuadeth them to believe in him, and to endure to the end, which is life eternal.”
For me, there emerged at least the beginning of an answer to my question.
You will remember that my question was: How can I study or teach from the Old Testament in a way that makes it more likely that my students or I will find happiness now while we are together, and later when they or I may face unknown trials alone? My answer: My students and I will receive the words of the prophets when they and I have the spirit of prophecy and the testimony of Jesus Christ. The Holy Ghost will tell them and me what to do. When we obey, we will have more light given us. When we disobey, the light will in time be withdrawn. Prayer will be our ally. And even in this difficult life we can find peace which living the gospel brings and the hope of eternal life in the world to come, the greatest of all the gifts of God. That is how my students and I will find the happiness we seek, now and later.
I encourage you once again to go in search of answers to other questions. President Romney said that Nephi could teach us what is important in the Old Testament. For instance, Nephi teaches that God sends prophets to warn of destruction. He makes plain that it is love for the people and for God that leads him and other prophets to speak so bluntly of sin. He speaks of his own human struggles. Surely those themes are a beginning of the answer to the question you might ask: “What will be of most worth to my students and me in what we study from the Old Testament?”
