Is There Any Word
In the manual: Come, Follow Me lesson 44, “I Will Turn Their Mourning into Joy,” on Gospel Library
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King Zedekiah had Jeremiah brought to him in secret and asked, “Is there any word from the Lord?” Jeremiah answered, “There is” (Jeremiah 37:17).
Read Together
Zedekiah was the last king of Judah. In the first year of his reign, Lehi began to warn Jerusalem, and the Lord soon told him to take his family into the wilderness (1 Nephi 1:4; 2:2).
17Then Zedekiah the king sent, and took him out: and the king asked him secretly in his house, and said, Is there any word from the Lord? And Jeremiah said, There is: for, said he, thou shalt be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon.
19And Zedekiah the king said unto Jeremiah, I am afraid of the Jews that are fallen to the Chaldeans, lest they deliver me into their hand, and they mock me. 20But Jeremiah said, They shall not deliver thee. Obey, I beseech thee, the voice of the Lord, which I speak unto thee: so it shall be well unto thee, and thy soul shall live.
What It Teaches
Zedekiah believed Jeremiah was a true prophet. He kept asking him for the Lord’s word (Jeremiah 37:3; 38:14). He was also afraid of his own officials. When they wanted Jeremiah dead, he told them, “the king is not he that can do any thing against you” (Jeremiah 38:5).
In Jeremiah 38:19–20, the king admits what is stopping him. He is afraid people will mock him. Jeremiah pleads, “Obey, I beseech thee, the voice of the Lord.” Zedekiah wanted the Lord’s word, and fear of other people kept him from following it.
Then Jerusalem fell to Babylon. Zedekiah was captured, and his sons were killed (Jeremiah 39:4–7). Lehi had heard the same kind of warning years earlier and obeyed, and his family was saved. Their record, the Book of Mormon, testifies of Jesus Christ.
The Lord says that when his servants speak his words, it is the same as if he spoke them himself (Doctrine and Covenants 1:38). Asking for counsel is a good start. The blessing comes when we follow it.
Talk About It
Zedekiah kept asking for the Lord’s word, then did not follow it because he feared what people would think. What makes it hard to follow counsel we already know is right?
Take to Church
Zedekiah asked for the Lord’s word and did not follow it. Lehi heard the same kind of warning and obeyed, and his family was saved.