Study From The Watchtower, Week of August 28 to September 3, 2023, Why should we fear Jehovah?, Underlined Answers.

Study From The Watchtower, 28-August-3-September-2023, Why should we fear Jehovah?, Underlined Answers.

Yellow: Direct Answer.

Dark Yellow: Additional Answer.

Light Blue: Additional Points.

"Intimate friendship with Jehovah is for those who fear him" (Ps. 25:14).

1, 2. According to Psalm 25:14, what must we do to have a close friendship with Jehovah?

WHAT qualities would you say it takes to be a good friend? You may answer that good friends have to love and support each other. Surely fear would not be included in that list of qualities. But, as the theme text says, those who want to have a close friendship with Jehovah must fear him. (Read Psalm 25:14.)

2 No matter how long we have been in the truth, we must all continue to fear Jehovah. Now, what does it mean to fear God? What will help us cultivate that healthy fear? And what do the examples of a steward named Obadiah, the high priest Jehoiada, and King Jehoash teach us about the fear of God?

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO FEAR GOD?

3. How does fear protect us?

3 Feeling fear is a normal reaction if we believe that something can harm us. That kind of fear is healthy because it helps us act wisely. Let's see some examples. The fear of falling will keep us from getting too close to the edge of a precipice. The fear of hurting ourselves will drive us away from dangerous situations. And the fear of losing a valued friendship will keep us from saying or doing anything hurtful.

4. How does Satan want us to feel toward Jehovah?

 4 Satan wants people to be afraid of Jehovah. He wants us to believe what Eliphaz told Job: that Jehovah is a vengeful God, that he is full of anger, and that he is never pleased with us (Job 4:18, 19). His goal is for fear to paralyze us and stop serving Jehovah. In order not to fall into that trap, we have to cultivate the fear of God, which is a positive quality.

5. What does it mean to fear God?

5 The person who deeply fears or respects God loves him and does not want to do anything that jeopardizes his friendship with him. A good example of someone who "feared God" was Jesus (Heb. 5:7). What he felt for Jehovah was not terror (Is. 11:2, 3). On the contrary, Jesus loved his Father with all his heart and wanted to obey him (John 14:21, 31). We too have deep respect for Jehovah and serve him with reverence because he is a God of love, wisdom, justice, and power. In addition, we know that, since he loves us very much, our actions influence him. If we disobey him, he is saddened, but if we obey him, his heart is glad (Ps. 78:41; Prov. 27:11).

WHAT WILL HELP US CULTIVATE THE FEAR OF GOD?

6. What is one way to cultivate the fear of God? (Psalm 34:11).

6 The fear of Jehovah is not a quality we are born with; we have to cultivate it (read Psalm 34:11). One way to do this is by looking at creation. Perceiving in “created things” Jehovah's wisdom, his power, and how much he loves us, our respect and love for him grow (Rom. 1:20). A sister named Adrienne said: “When I look at Jehovah's creation and see how wise he is, I am in awe and convinced that he knows what is best for me.” After meditating on this matter, she came to the following conclusion: “I wouldn't want to do anything for the world that would take me away from Jehovah, who gave me life.”Could you take some time this week to meditate on some aspect of creation? This will help you respect and love Jehovah more.—Ps. 111:2, 3.

7. How does prayer help us fear Jehovah?

7 Another thing that will help us to fear Jehovah is to get into the habit of praying to him. The more we talk to our God, the more real it is to us. Every time we ask him for strength to endure a trial, we think of his immense power. When we thank him for having given his Son for us, we remember how much he loves us. And when we ask for his guidance in dealing with a problem, we imprint on our hearts how wise he is. Those prayers help us to respect him more and to be more determined to avoid anything that could damage our friendship with him.

8. What do we have to do to not stop fearing Jehovah?

8 In order not to stop fearing Jehovah, we have to study the Bible with the aim of learning from the good and bad examples that we find in its pages. Let's look at three such examples. First, we will talk about two faithful servants of Jehovah: Obadiah, who was in charge of King Ahab's house, and Jehoiada the high priest. Then we will review the life of King Jehoash of Judah, who started well but ended badly, far from Jehovah.

LET US BE BRAVE LIKE OBADIAH

9. How did the fear of God help Obadiah? (1 Kings 18:3, 12).

9 The first time the Bible mentions Obadiah it says: “Obadiah feared the Lord greatly” (read 1 Kings 18:3, 12). How did the fear of God help you? On the one hand, he made him an honest and trustworthy man. Thanks to that, the king appointed him in charge of the royal household (compare Nehemiah 7:2). And, on the other hand, he helped him demonstrate extraordinary courage, a quality that he undoubtedly needed. Because? Because he lived during the reign of the wicked Ahab, who “was worse in the sight of Jehovah than all [kings] that were before him” (1 Kings 16:30).Furthermore, Ahab was married to Jezebel, who worshiped Baal and hated Jehovah with all her being, so much so that she wanted to end pure worship in Israel, the northern kingdom. He even killed many prophets of the true God (1 Kings 18:4). What a difficult time to serve Jehovah!

10. How did Obadiah show extraordinary courage?

10 How did Obadiah show extraordinary courage? When Jezebel began to persecute Jehovah's prophets to kill them, Obadiah hid 100 of them in caves “in groups of 50” and took it upon himself “to give them bread and water” (1 Kings 18:13, 14). If Jezebel had found out, this brave man would have been executed. Of course, like any person of flesh and blood, Obadías did not want to die. But the love he felt for Jehovah and his servants was greater than the love he had for his own life.

11. How do many of Jehovah's servants follow Obadiah's example? (See also image).

11 In our days, many of Jehovah's servants live in places where our work is prohibited. They respect authorities, but, like Obadiah, our dear brothers give Jehovah what belongs only to him: his worship (Matt. 22:21). They show that they fear God by obeying him rather than men (Acts 5:29). That is why they continue to preach the good news and meet quietly (Matt. 10:16, 28). In addition, they make sure that their brothers receive the spiritual food that they need so much. Let's look at the example of Henri, who lives in a country in Africa where our work was banned. Around this time, Henri volunteered to bring the brothers Bible literature. He wrote: “The truth is that I am very shy. So I am convinced that what helped me to be courageous was the deep respect I have for Jehovah.” You too can be as brave as Henri if you learn to fear God.

ILLUSTRATION

A brother enters the home of a Witness couple. He gives the husband a publication while the wife keeps watch at the entrance of the house. In a place where our work is prohibited, a brother plucks up his courage and brings Bible literature to other Witnesses. (See paragraph 11).

LET US BE LOYAL LIKE JEHOYADAH

12. How did Jehoiada and his wife show that they were very loyal to Jehovah?

12 The high priest Jehoiada feared Jehovah, and this prompted him to be loyal and encourage true worship. When Jehoiada's daughter Athaliah illegally seized the throne of Judah, Jehoiada showed how much he feared God. Athaliah was a fearsome woman. She was so cruel and thirsty for power that in order to reign she tried to kill all the king's heirs, her own grandchildren! (2 Chron. 22:10, 11). But thanks to Jehosabeat, Jehoiada's wife, one of them was saved, a little boy named Jehoash. She and her husband hid him and took care of him. Thus they protected the lineage of kings from the family of David. Jehoiada was loyal to Jehovah and did not sit idly by in fear of Athaliah (Prov. 29:25).

13. How did Jehoiadah prove his loyalty again?

13 When Jehoash was seven years old, Jehoiada again demonstrated his loyalty to Jehovah. He devised a plan. If things worked out for him, the king would be Jehoash, a legitimate heir of David. But if he failed, Jehoiadá would most likely lose his life. Thanks to Jehovah's blessing, the plan was a complete success. With the support of the heads of the father's houses and the Levites, Jehoiada made Jehoash king and ordered Athaliah to be put to death (2 Chron. 23:1-5, 11, 12, 15; 24:1). Then he “made a covenant between Jehovah and the king and the people; in it they vowed to remain the people of Jehovah” (2 Kings 11:17). “He also placed the gatekeepers at the gates of the house of the Lord so that no one who was unclean in any way could enter” (2 Chron. 23:19).

14. What honor did Jehoiadah receive for honoring Jehovah?

14 Jehovah had said: “I will honor those who honor me,” and he did so in the case of Jehoiada (1 Sam. 2:30). For example, he took care that the good things that this high priest did were written in his Word so that they would serve as an example to us (Rom. 15: 4). And, when Jehoiada died, he received a very special honor: “he was buried in the City of David along with the kings, because he had done good in Israel concerning the true God and his house” (2 Chron. 24:15 , 16).

15. What does the history of Jehoiada teach us? (See also pictures).

15 The story about Jehoiada helps all of us to fear God more. The elders can follow his example by remaining vigilant to faithfully protect the flock of God (Acts 20:28). Older brothers can learn that if they fear Jehovah and are loyal, he can count on them to do his will; he does not exclude them. Young people can look at how Jehovah treated Jehoiada and treat older brothers with dignity and respect, especially those with a long history of faithful service.—Prov. 16:31. And finally, we can all learn a lesson from the heads of the father's houses and the Levites: we must loyally support those who lead us and obey them (Heb. 13:17).

ILLUSTRATION

If we fear Jehovah like Jehoiada the high priest, we will be loyal to our brothers and help them. (See paragraph 15).

LET'S NOT BE LIKE JEHOASH

16. How did Jehoash show that he was spiritually weak?

16 As a young man, King Jehoash strove to please Jehovah through the good influence of Jehoiada (2 Kings 12:2). But, after Jehoiada's death, Jehoash listened to apostate princes. As a result, both he and the people “began to serve the sacred poles and idols” (2 Chron. 24:4, 17, 18). Although this hurt Jehovah greatly, he “would not stop sending them prophets to bring them back.” But "they refused to listen." They didn't even listen to Jehoiada's son, Zacharias, who was a prophet and priest, and was also Jehoash's cousin. And, as if that were not enough, Jehoás had Zacarías killed even though he owed his family his life. How ungrateful! (2 Chron. 22:11; 24:19-22).

17. How did Jehoash end up?

17 Jehoash ceased to fear God, and paid dearly for it, for just as Jehovah had said: “Those who despise me will be treated with contempt” (1 Sam. 2:30). Later, a Syrian army that “numbered few men” defeated Jehoash's army, which was “very large,” and he was “severely wounded.” When the Syrians withdrew, Jehoash's own servants killed him for having murdered Zacharias. And because he was so bad, they didn't even bury him “in the graves of kings” (2 Chron. 24:23-25; see study note “son of Barachias” on Matthew 23:35).

18. According to Jeremiah 17:7, 8, what do we have to do to not be like Jehoash?

18 What lesson can we draw from the story of Jehoash? He was like a shallow-rooted tree that needed the support of a tutor or stake, the high priest Jehoiadah, to stand tall. When he died and the winds of apostasy blew, Jehoash fell apart. This case contains a powerful lesson: we cannot fear Jehovah just because other brothers and relatives do and give us his support. To be spiritually strong, we need to nurture our love and respect for Jehovah by regular study, meditation, and prayer.—Read Jeremiah 17:7, 8; Col. 2:6, 7.

19. What does Jehovah expect of us?

19 Jehovah does not ask us for the impossible. What he expects of us is summed up very well in Ecclesiastes 12:13: "He fears the true God and obeys his commandments, for that is all that man should do." If we fear Jehovah, we will be able to face any difficulties that come and stand firm like Obadiah and Jehoiada. Our friendship with Jehovah will be indestructible.

HE REMEMBERS?

What does it mean to fear Jehovah?

The person who deeply fears or respects God does not love and does not want to do anything that jeopardizes his friendship with him. A good example of someone who feared God was Jesus.

We, too, have deep respect for Jehovah and serve him with reverence, for he is a God of love, wisdom, justice, and power. In addition, we know that, since he loves us very much, our actions influence him. Since if we disobey him, he is saddened but if we obey him, his heart is glad as mentioned in Psalm 78:41 and Proverbs 27:11.

What valuable lessons can we learn from Obadiah and Jehoiada?

Well, we learn that we can be loyal and brave, in places where the work is prohibited, we learn that we can support our brothers by supporting preaching, meetings, helping them to have spiritual food, even physical food, 

We learned that older brothers can be useful because of their valuable experience as an example in the congregation, a column of support, an example for others for the young, 

Young people must respect and value older brothers, we can also all loyally support those who direct us and obey them.

What do we have to do to not be like Jehoash?

We cannot fear Jehovah just because other brothers and relatives do and give us their support. To be spiritually strong, we need to nurture our love and respect for Jehovah, and we do this by studying, meditating, and praying regularly.