Jeremiah 2–3 — "Return … For I Am Merciful"

Teacher notes

Supplies, board work and timing. Never printed on the cards.

SUPPLIES, AND DO NOT IMPROVISE THESE — a clear pitcher of water, a large basin or mixing bowl, and a plastic or paper cup with several small holes punched in the bottom. Punch the holes at home and test it over the sink: you want it to drain in about five seconds, fast enough to be obvious, slow enough that they watch it happen. Bring a towel. A clear pitcher matters so the water reads from the back row. THIS IS THE THEME'S HOME VERSE. Jeremiah 2:13 is the scripture the theme page already cites for panel eight — the soda stall on flat ground, the false belief that something else will hold. All autumn we have talked about it in pictures; today the class reads it in the Lord's own words, and it is the strongest version of the argument we have. Say that out loud. Panel eight is the only one of the four issues that puts something in your hand, and 2:13 is why: a broken cistern is not nothing, it is a real thing you really dug, and it is really empty. RUN THE OBJECT LESSON THE MANUAL'S WAY, IN THIS ORDER: hold up the pitcher while a student reads 2:13 and look for the title of the Savior the water represents (fountain of living waters). Ask what the fountain teaches about Jesus Christ — continual, moving, not stored. THEN have a student hold the cup over the basin and pour. Let the silence sit; do not narrate it. Then ask what pouring into the cup represents, and what the holes teach about the people in Jeremiah's day. TEACH THE DURATION, NOT THE DISGUST — this is the rule from the theme page and it is easy to get wrong this morning. Do not tell them the world's version is foul. The water in that cup is clean. It just does not stay. John 4:13–14 is the pair to 2:13 and the only comparison that is honest: whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again; whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst. Duration, not flavour. FREE IS NOT EASY, AGAIN: we said this on 10-06 with Isaiah 52:3 and it comes back today from the other side. Chapter 3 asks them to RETURN, which is a verb of travel and is uphill, and the mercy waiting at the top still costs nothing. Both halves or neither. VOCABULARY: 'cistern' — an underground pit cut in rock to catch and store water, which is the whole point, because stored water is the opposite of a fountain. 'Backsliding' in 3:12, 14 and 22 means faithless or wayward; say it early or the verses will sound like an insult rather than an invitation. 'Pastors' in 3:15 means leaders. THE BOARD SENTENCE IS THE SPINE OF THE SECOND HALF: write 'For those who repent and turn to the Lord, He will ...' and let them finish it from 3:12–15 and 22 in His own phrases — be merciful, not keep anger for ever, bring you to Zion, give you pastors to feed you with knowledge and understanding, heal your backsliding. Make them use His words, not synonyms. Five or six promises on the board is the picture; do not summarise it for them. THE SCENARIO IS DOING REAL WORK AND NEEDS CARE. A young man in this seminary class whose life feels like a broken cistern. Have them name him and give him a couple of details, and keep him fictional and keep him male — in a class this size a vague 'someone' becomes a real guess about a real person in the room within about thirty seconds. The manual's design is good: students write to him, which lets a student say the thing they need to hear themselves without having to own it out loud. Protect that. ELDER UCHTDORF, 'The Prodigal and the Road That Leads Home,' Liahona, Nov. 2023, 88. Read the four questions — is it even possible to go back, will I be labelled forever, is it better to just stay lost, how will God react if I try to return — and then the answer: 'Our Heavenly Father will run to us, His heart overflowing with love and compassion.' Do not rush from the questions to the answer. Those questions are being asked in the room. VIDEO IF YOU WANT ONE: 'The Miracle of the Atonement,' Elder C. Scott Grow, 0:20 to 2:12. 'The Savior Wants to Forgive' is the other option and the class has not seen it. Either is optional and the object lesson plus the board sentence will fill the block without one. TIMING: cistern demonstration eight minutes, 3:12–15 and 22 with the board sentence ten, Uchtdorf and writing to the young man eight, sharing in pairs four. If you are behind at 7:00, cut the video and keep the pairs — what they say to each other is where the Spirit testifies, and the manual is right about that. HANDS TO THURSDAY: tomorrow is Jeremiah 16 and the gathering — having come back to the fountain yourself is the only qualification for going to get somebody else. Panel three, walking back down the hill.