Maestros de Doctrina del Evangelio: Las lecciones del manual contienen más información de la que probablemente pueda impartir en una sola clase. Invoque el Espíritu del Señor para seleccionar los relatos de las Escrituras, las preguntas y otros materiales de la lección que mejor satisfagan las necesidades de los miembros de la clase.

Recursos básicos

• Do you want to see this week's Gospel Doctrine Lección? Lección 41

• Would you like to see the class member study guide for this week? Lección 41

• You can read the assigned scriptures for this week online: Jeremiah 1–2; 15; 20; 26; 36–38.

• Do you have an MP3 player? Try downloading Jeremiah 1, which is in this week's reading. For more Old Testament audio, click here.

• The official scripture study aids often have helpful information you can use in your Leccións. For example, for this week's Lección, read the definition of "Jeremiah" and "Lamentations, Book of" in the Bible Dictionary or in the Guide to the Scriptures.

Discursos recientes y artículos de las revistas de la Iglesia

Would you like to see what Church leaders have recently said about topics in this week's Lección? Click on the photographs or talk titles below to read the complete talks.

How does living water quench spiritual thirst? Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin provides this answer: "As at Jacob’s well, so today the Lord Jesus Christ is the only source of living water. It will quench the thirst of those suffering from the drought of divine truth that so afflicts the world. The words of the Lord to ancient Israel spoken by the prophet Jeremiah describe the condition of many of God’s children in our own day: 'My people . . . have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out . . . broken cisterns, that can hold no water.' Too many of our Heavenly Father’s children spend their precious lives carving out broken cisterns of worldly gain that cannot hold the living water that satisfies fully their natural thirst for everlasting truth" ("Living Water to Quench Spiritual Thirst," Ensign, May 1995, 19).

What made Jeremiah so angry that he vowed, in effect, never to teach another Lección? What made him change his mind? Elder Jeffrey R. Holland explains: "So speak unto them he did, but initially not with much success. Things went from bad to worse until finally he was imprisoned and made a laughingstock among the people. Angry that he had been so mistreated and maligned, Jeremiah vowed, in effect, never to teach another Lección, whether that be to an investigator, Primary child, new convert, or—heaven forbid—the 15-year-olds. 'I will not make mention of [the Lord], nor speak any more in his name,' the discouraged prophet said. But then came the turning point of Jeremiah’s life. Something had been happening with every testimony he had borne, every scripture he had read, every truth he had taught. Something had been happening that he hadn’t counted on. Even as he vowed to close his mouth and walk away from the Lord’s work, he found that he could not. Why? Because 'his word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary with forbearing, and I could not stay' " (" 'Venido de Dios como maestro,' " Ensign, May 1998, 27).

Ayudas adicionales

• You might wish to review the section in Part B of Teaching, No Greater Call entitled "Love Those You Teach," pages 31–37. It is prefaced by this marvelous quote from the Prophet Joseph Smith: "Nothing is so much calculated to lead people to forsake sin as to take them by the hand, and watch over them with tenderness. When persons manifest the least kindness and love to me, O what power it has over my mind, while the opposite course has a tendency to harrow up all the harsh feelings and depress the human mind."

• It might be helpful in this Lección to emphasize the overall theme of the impending scattering of Israel due to gross wickedness, while the focus for the next Lección could be Jeremiah's message of gathering and restoration.

• It might be valuable to present the overall pattern of Jeremiah’s life and ministry by discussing how Jeremiah is a type or foreshadowing of Christ (how the prophet’s life and ministry parallels the life and ministry of Jesus).

• Given Jeremiah’s hardships (see "Historical Context" below), perhaps it would be interesting to ask the class members what they think it would have been like to live in such an environment. How would they feel?

Historical Context

• Jeremiah was a priest and prophet during the time when the southern kingdom of Judah sealed its own fate through constant and horrendous wickedness, especially unrelenting idolatry (Jeremiah 16:10–13, 20; 22:9; 32:29; 44:2–25), even sacrificing their own children to false gods (7:30–34). That fate was the captivity and exile of the kingdom of Judah, brought about by the Babylonians (586–538 B.C.), which was mourned in Psalm 137:1–6.

• Jeremiah’s voice of warning was constant, but the people of the kingdom of Judah reached such a point of wickedness that the Lord told Jeremiah not to pray for them (7:16; 11:14; 14:11) nor to marry and raise children because the impending divine judgment on Judah, through the Babylonian conquerors, would destroy the next generation (16:1–4).

• Jeremiah was steadfast even though his life was very hard. He had few close personal friends (his faithful scribe Baruch being the closest [36:4–32]). He was hated and persecuted (11:19–21; 12:6) and cast into prison (38:4–13). He went down to Egypt with remnants of Judah (43:4–7). He was a type of Christ. Both were men of sorrows and acquainted with grief (Isaiah 53:3). There were hometown plots to kill both (Jeremiah 11:21; Luke 4:28–29). Both preached in the court of the temple in Jerusalem (Jeremiah 26:1–2; Matthew 21:23–23:36). Both prophesied the destruction of the temple (Jeremiah 26:4–7; Matthew 24:1–2). Priests and mobs accused both and sought to kill them (Jeremiah 26:8–9; Matthew 26:47, 59; Mark 14:43, 55–64; John 19:6). Both defended themselves by referring to divine mandate (Jeremiah 26:12; Matthew 26:64). Both addressed a hardhearted, stiff-necked people. Both lived at a time shortly preceding the destruction of the Jerusalem temple (586 B.C. and A.D. 70).