Old Testament Stories “Jeremiah the Prophet” Images and Video
Come, Follow Me—For Individuals and Families: Old Testament 2022 “Jeremiah 1–3; 7; 16–18; 20” At first, Jeremiah didn’t think he would make a good prophet. “Behold, I cannot speak,” he protested when the Lord first called him (Jeremiah 1:6). The Lord reassured him, “I have put my words in thy mouth” (verse 9). Jeremiah felt that he was an inexperienced “child” (verse 6), but the Lord explained that he was actually more prepared than he realized—he had been ordained to this calling even before he was born (see verse 5). So Jeremiah set aside his fears and accepted the call. He warned Jerusalem’s kings and priests that their pretended holiness would not save them from destruction. The “child” who thought he could not speak came to feel God’s word “in [his] heart as a burning fire” and could not be silent (Jeremiah 20:9).
Prophets are called to speak the words of the Lord.
Come, Follow Me—For Primary: Old Testament 2022 “Jeremiah 1–3; 7; 16–18; 20” The calling of Jeremiah shows what the Lord asks prophets to do. How can you help the children you teach strengthen their desire to follow the living prophet?
- Show the children a picture of the living prophet, and invite them to share what they know about him.
Friend June 2022 “I Will Follow the Prophet”
- What do prophets do? Read to the children what the Lord said to another prophet, Jeremiah, in Jeremiah 1:7. Invite the children to walk in place when you read “go to all that I shall send thee” and to pretend to speak when you read “whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak.” Share your testimony that prophets do and say what the Lord commands.
- Show pictures of prophets from the scriptures (see the Gospel Art Book, Church magazines, and Come, Follow Me—For Individuals and Families). Let the children tell you what they know about these prophets. Briefly tell the children about something each one did to help with God’s work. Bear your testimony that prophets are called of God to speak His words and serve His people.
Friend March 2010 “Follow the Prophet”
Prophets are called to speak the Lord’s word.
Come, Follow Me—For Primary: Old Testament 2022 “Jeremiah 1–3; 7; 16–18; 20” How can you help the children strengthen their faith in and understanding of the role of prophets in God’s kingdom?
- Select a few key verses from Jeremiah 1 that teach important truths about prophets, such as verses 5, 7, 10, and 19. Invite each child to pick one of the verses, read it, and share something he or she learns about prophets from the verse. Invite a few children to share their testimonies of following the prophet.
Verse 5
Foreordination See Gospel Topics: Foreordination
Verse 7 God speaks through his prophets
Play a simple game by giving instructions to one child and asking him or her to repeat the instructions for the other children. Help them see that following the child’s instructions is the same as following your instructions and that following the prophet is the same as following the Lord. Read to them the last line of Doctrine and Covenants 1:38: “Whether by mine own voice or by the voice of my servants, it is the same.”
Verse 10
Prophets warn the nations, but if they do not heed the prophets words…
When the Lord first called Jeremiah to be a prophet, He told him that his mission would be “to root out, and to pull down” (Jeremiah 1:10)—and in Jerusalem, there was plenty of wickedness to root out and pull down.
Prophets also build and help us grow.
Ensign June 2016 “We Believe in Following the Prophet”
- Show a picture of the living prophet, and sing together a song about prophets, such as “We Listen to a Prophet’s Voice” (Hymns, no. 22).
Verse 1: We listen to a prophet’s voice and hear the Savior too. With love he bids us do the work the Lord would have us do. The Savior calls his chosen seer to preach the word of God, That men might learn to find the path marked by the iron rod.
Verse 2. In ev’ry land, in ev’ry tongue, our prophet will be heard; How swiftly round the world his voice reveals the gospel word! The sacred message that he brings will witness and agree, With ev’ry prophet called of God throughout earth’s history.
- Help the children make a list of things the living prophet has asked us to do. Select a recent conference message from the prophet, and help the children find counsel in his message. How are we following the prophet? Discuss how counsel from the prophets helps us follow Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ better.
October 2022 General Conference. Quotes from Russel M. Nelson
- Show the video “Why Do We Have Prophets?” (ChurchofJesusChrist.org), and ask the children how they would explain to a friend why it’s a blessing to have a living prophet (see Articles of Faith 1:6, 9). Invite the children to share their feelings about the living prophet.
- “Article of Faith 9” (September 2011 Friend)
Draw pictures of elements from the ninth article of faith.
“Article of Faith 6” (May 2015 Friend) A pastor means a spiritual leader. Bishops are pastors in their wards. Evangelist is another word for patriarch, or a priesthood holder called to give special blessings.
- “Article of Faith 6” (June 2011 Friend)
Fill in the blanks with the correct words from the sixth article of faith, then find the words in the word search
Heavenly Father knew me before I was born.
Come, Follow Me—For Primary: Old Testament 2022 “Jeremiah 1–3; 7; 16–18; 20” Because we lived with God before we came to earth, He knows us, even if we can’t remember Him. How will you help the children you teach understand this important truth?
- Read to the children Jeremiah 1:5, and explain that God knew the prophet Jeremiah before he was born. Tell each child, individually, that Heavenly Father also knew him or her before he or she was born and that He sent each of us here for a purpose.
We lived in Heaven: Explain that before we were born on earth we lived in heaven with Heavenly Father.
We were spirits there. A spirit is what is inside of us that makes us alive. When we were spirits, we didn’t have flesh and bones like our bodies have now, but we looked the same.
- Show the children a picture of a baby, and ask the children if they know where this baby lived before he or she was born. Sing together a song that teaches about our premortal life with God, such as “I Am a Child of God” or “I Lived in Heaven” (Children’s Songbook, 2–3, 4). Talk about the spiritual feelings the song brings. Bear your testimony that we all once lived with Heavenly Father and that He sent us here to earth.
Come, Follow Me—For Individuals and Families: Old Testament 2022 “Jeremiah 1–3; 7; 16–18; 20”
You could use this verse to talk about our life with Heavenly Father before we were born. Resources like “I Lived in Heaven” (Children’s Songbook, 4) and “Introduction: Our Heavenly Father’s Plan” (in New Testament Stories, 1–5) could help. How can knowing about our premortal life affect the way we live our mortal life?
Latter Day Kids “My Heavenly Father Knows Me” Lesson ideas
I can help Heavenly Father’s children come back to Him.
Come, Follow Me—For Primary: Old Testament 2022 “Jeremiah 1–3; 7; 16–18; 20” Citing Jeremiah 16:16, President Russell M. Nelson said, “Our missionaries have searched for those of scattered Israel; they have hunted for them ‘out of the holes of the rocks’; and they have fished for them as in ancient days” (“The Gathering of Scattered Israel,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2006, 81).
- While you read Jeremiah 16:16, invite the children to pretend to fish or hunt. Explain that the fishers and hunters in this verse can represent missionaries. Invite the children to pretend to be missionaries. What do missionaries do? How can we help them?
Friend October 2022 “Come Follow Me Activites: Fishers of Men”
Friend October 2022 “Fishing Game”
- Create a matching game using this week’s activity page. When a child finds matching pictures, talk about what that picture shows we can do to help Heavenly Father’s children return to Him.
President Russell M. Nelson has compared the fishers and hunters in this verse to latter-day missionaries (see “The Gathering of Scattered Israel,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2006, 81). Family members could “hunt” for objects around your home and talk about how you can help “fish” and “hunt” for scattered Israel. (Come, Follow Me—For Individuals and Families: Old Testament 2022 “Jeremiah 1–3; 7; 16–18; 20”)
I can be part of the gathering of Israel.
Come, Follow Me—For Primary: Old Testament 2022 “Jeremiah 1–3; 7; 16–18; 20” The message about the gathering of Israel found in Jeremiah 16:14–15 can provide a great opportunity to talk to the children about missionary and family history work. This is one way that we “stand as witnesses of God” (Mosiah 18:9).
- Read together Jeremiah 16:14, and ask the children to share details they remember about how “the Lord … brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt” (see Exodus 14). Invite them to read Jeremiah 16:15 to find out what event Jeremiah said would be even more memorable than that. Explain that Israel was scattered throughout the earth, but God promised to gather them back to Him and His Church. This is called the gathering of Israel. How is this similar to delivering people out of captivity?
- Share this statement from President Russell M. Nelson: “Anytime you do anything that helps anyone—on either side of the veil—take a step toward making covenants with God and receiving their essential baptismal and temple ordinances, you are helping to gather Israel” (Russell M. Nelson and Wendy W. Nelson, “Hope of Israel” [worldwide youth devotional, June 3, 2018], supplement to the New Era and Ensign, Aug. 2018, 15, ChurchofJesusChrist.org). How can we help gather Israel?
- Sing together a song about missionary work, such as “I Hope They Call Me on a Mission” or “Called to Serve” (Children’s Songbook, 169, 174), or show the video “Your Day for a Mission” (ChurchofJesusChrist.org). Ask the children what they learn from the song or the video about why someone would choose to serve a mission.
Additional Resources
The Red Crystal “Jeremiah 1–3; 7; 16–18; 20”
Come, Follow Me—For Primary: Old Testament 2022 “Jeremiah 1–3; 7; 16–18; 20”
To help family members visualize these verses, you could demonstrate what happens when you put water in a cracked or broken container. What might the “fountain of living waters” and “broken cisterns” represent? (Jeremiah 2:13). How do we drink from the Lord’s living water?
To explore these verses, you might discuss or show how pottery is made. What message does the Lord have for Israel in Jeremiah 18:1–6? What does it mean to be clay in the Lord’s hands? (see also Isaiah 64:8). For another story that compares us to potter’s clay, see Elder Richard J. Maynes’s message “The Joy of Living a Christ-Centered Life” (Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2015, 27–30).
