Abraham willingly obeyed God and was willing to sacrifice his son Isaac, showing his faith in God. However, God stopped Abraham before he sacrificed Isaac, providing a ram as a substitute. This story is a similitude of God sacrificing his son Jesus Christ, with no substitute being provided for Jesus. Thomas S. Monson draws parallels between the stories of Abraham and Isaac and God and Jesus, emphasizing God's love for humanity in sacrificing his son.

1. Genesis 12–17; Abraham 1–
2
FEBRUARY 7–13

2. God will bless us for our faith and righteous desires
Genesis 15:1–6; 17:15–22; Abraham 1:1–19.
 Abraham 1:1–19 describes Abraham’s desires and difficult circumstances.
 What can we learn from Abraham’s example in Abraham 1:1–19 that can help those striving to live righteously in
such situations?
 Additional insights:
 Tone of the text in Abraham – Pearl of Great Price
 Book of Abraham is written in Egyptian – consistent with Book of Mormon which was also written in reformed Egyptian; Brass
Plates (Laban) also written in Egyptian (see Mosiah 1)
 Abraham 1:2 ; Quote, Elder Edward J. Wood
 Abraham 1:4 Priesthood was patriarchal
 Abraham 1:5 Abraham mocks his father and the idols of stone and wood

3. Faith in Times of Difficulty
 How did Abraham and Sarah demonstrate their faith in times of difficulty? How were their righteous desires
eventually fulfilled? Genesis 17:15–22; Doctrine and Covenants 132:29; Abraham 1:31).
 How can we demonstrate our faith when our righteous desires are not yet fulfilled as we would like them to
be?
 Additional observations
 Genesis 15: 9-11 Significance of the Abraham sacrificing the animals and cutting them in half

4. The Abrahamic covenant blesses all of us.
Abraham 2:6–11
 What promises and responsibilities do we receive through the Abrahamic covenant?
 Video “Special Witness—President Nelson”
 Additional insights:
 Genesis 14 (Intro) “Melchizedek was a man of faith.”
 Because of the Restoration of the gospel, most members of the Church are familiar with the Melchizedek Priesthood, but
some do not know about the man Melchizedek. Joseph Smith Translation, Genesis 14:26–27, 33–38 (in the Bible
appendix); Alma 13:13–19; and Doctrine and Covenants 107:1–4 help us learn more about. What do we learn about the
Melchizedek Priesthood from these verses?
 Genesis 14:18 Melchizedek “brought forth bread and wine”
 Genesis 16:11 Blessings of Ishmael
 Genesis 17: 4-5 The meaning of Abraham’s name; vs 15, Sarah
 Genesis 17: 8 Significance of the Land of Canaan
 Genesis 17: 21 Establishing the covenant with Isaac (interpretation of first born)

5. Genesis 18–23
“Is Any Thing Too Hard for
the Lord?”
FEBRUARY 14–20

6. The Lord fulfills His promises in His own time.
Genesis 18:9–14; 21:1–7
 What truths could we draw from Abraham and Sarah’s experience to share with a friend who is losing
hope that God will fulfill His promises?
 What experiences can you share in which God’s promises were fulfilled in your lives?

7. As disciples of Jesus Christ, we should flee
wickedness and not look back.
Genesis 19:15–26
 Elder Jeffrey R. Holland said:
“It is possible that Lot’s wife looked back with resentment toward the Lord for what He was asking her to leave
behind. … So, it isn’t just that she looked back; she looked back longingly. In short, her attachment to the past
outweighed her confidence in the future. …
“… I plead with you not to dwell on days now gone nor to yearn vainly for yesterdays, however good those
yesterdays may have been. The past is to be learned from but not lived in. We look back to claim the embers from
glowing experiences but not the ashes. And when we have learned what we need to learn and have brought with us
the best that we have experienced, then we look ahead and remember that faith is always pointed toward the
future. …
“… [Lot’s wife] did not have faith. She doubted the Lord’s ability to give her something better than she already had.
Apparently, she thought that nothing that lay ahead could possibly be as good as what she was leaving behind. …
“… Dwelling on past lives, including past mistakes, is just not right! It is not the gospel of Jesus Christ” (“The Best Is Yet
to Be,” Ensign, Jan. 2010, 24, 26–27).
 Can you think of examples of how this may be played out in our life today?

8. Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice Isaac is a
similitude of God and His Son.
Genesis 22:1–14
 The account of Abraham offering his son as a sacrifice can teach us about Heavenly Father’s sacrifice of
His Son.
 What symbols does this story provide for us to lean from?

9. Thomas S. Monson
All of us love the beautiful account from the Holy Bible of Abraham and Isaac. How exceedingly difficult it must have been for Abraham,
in obedience to God's command, to take his beloved Isaac into the land of Moriah there to present him as a burnt offering. Can you
imagine the heaviness of his heart as he gathered the wood for the fire and journeyed to the appointed place? Surely pain must have
racked his body and tortured his mind as he bound Isaac and laid him on the altar upon the wood and stretched forth his hand and took
the knife to slay his son. How glorious was the pronouncement, and with what wondered welcome did it come, "Lay not thine hand upon
the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God seeing thou has not withheld thy son, thine only son
from me." (Gen. 22:12.)
As God witnessed the suffering of Jesus, his Only Begotten Son in the flesh, and beheld his agony, there was no voice from heaven to
spare the life of Jesus. There was no ram in the thicket to be offered as a substitute sacrifice. "For God so loved the world that he gave
his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." (Conference Report, October 1965,
Afternoon Meeting 142)