Gospel Doctrine OT c20 Virtuous Women
Ruth; 1 Samuel 1
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Visiting RS with mom, teacher had every one stand then said, “If
your life has turned out how you planned and you haven’t had disappointment,
stay standing. If your life is not how you had envisioned it, sit down. I sat.
I wasn’t married, called off an engagement, didn’t have my degree yet, or a
car. I looked around and saw two newly wed girls, probably 4 or 5 years younger
than me, standing confidently, even proudly. I sank deeper into my chair and my
disappointment. Just give them time, I thought. Life doesn’t always turn out
how we planned.
This lesson is about some women who dealt with challenges that
were not part of how they would have designed their lives if it were up to
them.
“And the rib, which the Lord God had taken
from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.
“And Adam said, This is now bone of my
bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman” (Gen.
2:20–23).
And so Eve became God’s final creation,
the grand summation of all of the marvelous work that had gone before.
Notwithstanding this preeminence given the
creation of woman, she has so frequently through the ages been relegated to a
secondary position. She has been put down. She has been denigrated. She has
been enslaved. She has been abused. And yet some few of the greatest characters
of scripture have been women of integrity, accomplishment, and faith.
Pres.
Hinckley, “The Women In Our Lives” Gen Conf Oct 2004
Start with Naomi and Ruth.
Ruth married the son of Naomi and converted to the gospel of
Israel.
?What impact or difference did her conversion make in her life?
?How does our personal conversion impact us?
Mosiah 5:7-8
Ruth 1:16
What did Ruth give up by going to Bethlehem with Naomi? What did
Ruth gain by going with Naomi? What can we learn from Ruth about making
sacrifices for the gospel? PUT GOD FIRST. BE TRUE TO COVENANTS.
What became of Ruth’s courage to be true to her conversion and
faith? (She married Boaz and had a son which was the line of Jesus Christ. Ruth
4:17).
“Now that was a kind of a prophecy which
is very important to us. In a culture hostile to the leadership of women, these
women—Naomi and Ruth—lived to bring about an end
the scripture’s writer carefully emphasizes: Obed, the father of Jesse, the
father of David, through whose lines, which are carefully detailed for us in
the first chapter of Matthew, came Jesus who is called Christ….
Ruth confidently met hardships not uncommon in
our time—the death of a loved one, loneliness in a new place, and the need to
work hard for her bread. Her small efforts, linked significantly to a later
great event, tell me that each of us can take seriously the importance of our
daily lives and decisions as we choose to follow God.” (Aileen Clyde,
“Confidence Through Conversion” Gen Conf Oct 1992.)
Think about the influence of Ruth’s conversion and faith on
generations to come…
-------------------------------------------------------
Next is Hannah, mother of Samuel.
Hannah’s testimony reaches across
dispensations to our time, and her story is an invitation to apply the same
principles of righteousness. Through doing so we, too, might rejoice in the
Lord as we experience his innumerable blessings in our lives.
?What principles of righteousness do we learn from Hannah?
PUT GOD FIRST. BE TRUE TO COVENANTS.
We are not excused from honoring our
covenants in even the most trying situations; however, we are promised that a
way will always be provided for us to fulfill the Lord’s commandments (see 1
Ne. 3:7). The scriptures declare, “God is
faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able, but
will … make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it” (1
Cor. 10:13). In fact, the weaknesses we feel during
affliction are designed to bring us to the Lord. By turning to him, we can
receive power to endure each trial, and our weaknesses can thereby become
strengths (see Ether
12:27).
Linda
M. Campbell, “Hannah: Devoted Handmaid of the Lord”, March 1998 Ensign
Bible
dictionary says, “after Eli’s death he became the great prophet and judge of
Israel
---------------------------------------
So there are two righteous women. They were not prophetesses. They
were not leaders. They were good women just like us.
?What are you doing that is influencing your family and the world
around you?
My plea to women and girls today is to protect and cultivate the
moral force that is within you. Preserve that innate virtue and the unique
gifts you bring with you into the world. Your intuition is to do good and to be
good, and as you follow the Holy Spirit, your moral authority and influence
will grow. To the young women I say, don’t lose that moral force even before
you have it in full measure. Take particular care that your language is clean,
not coarse; that your dress reflects modesty, not vanity; and that your conduct
manifests purity, not promiscuity. You cannot lift others to virtue on the one
hand if you are entertaining vice on the other.
Sisters, of all your associations, it is your relationship with
God, your Heavenly Father, who is the source of your moral power, that you must
always put first in your life. Remember that Jesus’s power came through His
single-minded devotion to the will of the Father. He never varied from that
which pleased His Father.11 Strive
to be that kind of disciple of the Father and the Son, and your influence will
never fade.
Elder D. Todd
Christofferson, “The Moral Force of Women” Gen Conf Oct 2013
PUT GOD FIRST. STAY TRUE TO COVENANTS.
SUPPORTING QUOTES AND TALKS:
in our premortal life we exercised our agency when we chose
Christ as our leader. He does his part and each of us can do ours to make
covenants and build a partnership with him. How that happens is described by
King Benjamin in the Book of Mormon:
“And now, because of the covenant which ye have made ye shall be
called the children of Christ, his sons, and his daughters; for behold, this
day he hath spiritually begotten you; for ye say that your hearts are changed
through faith on his name; therefore, ye are born of him and have become his
sons and his daughters.
“And under this head ye are made free, and there is no other
head whereby ye can be made free. There is no other name given whereby
salvation cometh; therefore, I would that ye should take upon you the name of
Christ, all you that have entered into the covenant with God that ye should be
obedient unto the end of your lives.” (Mosiah 5:7–8.)
…
When we are converted to
the gospel of Jesus Christ we become both humble and courageous. Our conversion
strengthens us greatly in our decision making. A good example of the kinds
of real circumstances good people face in this life can be found in the Old
Testament in the very short, five-page book of Ruth. Each time I read it I see
something new. Lately I have been thinking of it as a story of conversion, of
courage and decision making. It is about another time, another culture, yet it
is about us too.
Naomi and her husband, Elimelech, and their two sons had gone
into the enemy country of Moab because there was a great famine in Israel,
their home. In due time their sons married Moabite wives, named Orpah and Ruth.
Then in a ten-year period, the father and the two sons died. Naomi had heard
that the famine had lifted in Judah, and she wanted to return to her people.
She counsels her daughters-in-law to return to their mothers’ homes. Naomi
called them her daughters and kissed them, and they wept with their love for
her. (Now isn’t that quite remarkable? I fail to understand how this clear and
well-known record hasn’t had more influence on all the unfunny mother-in-law
jokes that abound in the world.) But eventually Orpah decides to stay in Moab,
and again Naomi says to Ruth, “Behold, thy sister in law has gone back to her
people, and unto her gods: return thou after thy sister in law.” (Ruth 1:15.)
At this point, in majestic Hebraic poetry, Ruth announces her
decision and confirms her conversion. “Intreat me not to leave thee, or to
return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where
thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God.”
(Ruth 1:16.)
When Naomi, herself realistic and wise, saw Ruth’s
steadfastness, she “left off speaking to her” (see Ruth 1:18), which
does not mean she stopped talking with her, but that she quit trying to
convince her of the difficulties she would face in Israel. Ruth, the Moabitess,
would face bigotry, poverty, and much insecurity, but she was converted,
and she had decided. She and Naomi became a great team, facing together
not only the problems before them, but the opportunities that would come also.
In time, Ruth married Boaz, and a child was born to them. “And
the women said to Naomi, Blessed be the Lord … for thy daughter in law, which
loveth thee, which is better to thee than seven sons, hath born [a child].
“And Naomi took the child … and became nurse unto it.
“And the women her neighbours gave it a name, saying, There is a
son born to Naomi; and they called his name Obed: he is the father of Jesse,
the father of David.” (Ruth 4:14–17.)
Now that was a kind of a
prophecy which is very important to us. In a culture hostile to the leadership
of women, these women—Naomi and Ruth—lived to
bring about an end the scripture’s writer carefully emphasizes: Obed, the
father of Jesse, the father of David, through whose lines, which are carefully
detailed for us in the first chapter of Matthew, came Jesus who is called
Christ. Would you ever have expected the small book of Ruth to foretell such a
great event?
Ruth confidently met
hardships not uncommon in our time—the death of a loved one, loneliness in a
new place, and the need to work hard for her bread. Her small efforts, linked
significantly to a later great event, tell me that each of us can take
seriously the importance of our daily lives and decisions as we choose to
follow God
Aileen Clyde, Gen Conf Oct 1992, “Confidence Through
Conversion”
--------------------------------
“And the rib, which the Lord God had taken from man, made he a
woman, and brought her unto the man.
“And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my
flesh: she shall be called Woman” (Gen. 2:20–23).
And so Eve became God’s final creation, the grand summation of
all of the marvelous work that had gone before.
Notwithstanding this preeminence given the creation of woman,
she has so frequently through the ages been relegated to a secondary position.
She has been put down. She has been denigrated. She has been enslaved. She has
been abused. And yet some few of the greatest characters of scripture have been
women of integrity, accomplishment, and faith.
Pres. Hinckley, “The Women In Our Lives” Gen Conf Oct 2004
-------------------------
Hannah’s testimony reaches across dispensations to our time, and
her story is an invitation to apply the same principles of righteousness.
Through doing so we, too, might rejoice in the Lord as we experience his
innumerable blessings in our lives.
First, we must choose to abide by our covenants, whatever our
circumstances, until the end of our mortal probation. Samuel the Lamanite
explains this accountability by stating, “Ye are free … to act for yourselves;
for behold, God hath given unto you a knowledge and he hath made you free …
that ye might choose life or death” (Hel. 14:30–31).
We are not excused from honoring our covenants in even the most
trying situations; however, we are promised that a way will always be provided
for us to fulfill the Lord’s commandments (see 1 Ne. 3:7). The
scriptures declare, “God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted
above that ye are able, but will … make a way to escape, that ye may be able to
bear it” (1 Cor. 10:13). In
fact, the weaknesses we feel during affliction are designed to bring us to the
Lord. By turning to him, we can receive power to endure each trial, and our
weaknesses can thereby become strengths (see Ether 12:27).
Linda M. Campbell, “Hannah: Devoted Handmaid of the Lord”,
March 1998 Ensign
---------------------------
What I mean to say is that whether you are single or married,
whether you have borne children or not, whether you are old, young, or in
between, your moral authority is vital, and perhaps we have begun to take it
and you for granted. Certainly there are trends and forces at work that would
weaken and even eliminate your influence, to the great detriment of
individuals, families, and society at large.
My plea to women and girls today is to protect and cultivate the
moral force that is within you. Preserve that innate virtue and the unique
gifts you bring with you into the world. Your intuition is to do good and to be
good, and as you follow the Holy Spirit, your moral authority and influence
will grow. To the young women I say, don’t lose that moral force even before
you have it in full measure. Take particular care that your language is clean,
not coarse; that your dress reflects modesty, not vanity; and that your conduct
manifests purity, not promiscuity. You cannot lift others to virtue on the one
hand if you are entertaining vice on the other.
Sisters, of all your
associations, it is your relationship with God, your Heavenly Father, who is
the source of your moral power, that you must always put first in your life.
Remember that Jesus’s power came through His single-minded devotion to the will
of the Father. He never varied from that which pleased His Father.11 Strive to be that
kind of disciple of the Father and the Son, and your influence will never fade.
Dear sisters, we rely on the moral force you bring to the world,
to marriage, to family, to the Church. We rely on blessings you bring down from
heaven by your prayers and faith.
Elder D. Todd Christofferson, “The Moral Force of Women” Gen
Conf Oct 2013
