The Study Watchtower, "Article 27", Week of August 28 to September 3, 2023, Why should we fear Jehovah?, Answers.

The Study Watchtower, «Article 27», 28-August-3-September-2023, Why should we fear Jehovah?, Answers. 

"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?

As the theme text says, those who want to have a close friendship with Jehovah must fear him. No matter how long we have been in the truth, we must all continue to fear Jehovah.

In order to have a close friendship with Jehovah, we must learn to fear him as the text read mentions, since if we cultivate a fear of God, he will consider us his loyal friends.

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO FEAR GOD?

3. How does fear protect us?

Fear protects us, because we avoid things that can harm us. For example, fear helps us to act prudently, as mentioned in the paragraph, if we are at a high point we are not going to throw ourselves into the void, and that is well, because we know the consequences. So fear drives us away from dangerous situations.

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

Satan wants us to be afraid of Jehovah, he wants us to believe what Eliphaz told Job: That Jehovah is a vengeful God, who is full of anger and who is never happy with us. His goal is for fear to paralyze us and stop serving Jehovah.

5. What does it mean to fear God?

Fearing God means deeply respecting him and obeying him because we don't want to do anything that jeopardizes our friendship with him.

WHAT WILL HELP US CULTIVATE THE FEAR OF GOD?

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

One way is when we look at creation, there we perceive the greatness of Jehovah, his wisdom, his power and how much he loves us. By contemplating his creation, the love we feel for him will grow and in this way we will cultivate the fear of God.

7. How does prayer help us fear Jehovah?

Prayer helps us to respect and love Jehovah more, when we have the habit of praying to Jehovah, he becomes more real to us, and when we go through trials and ask Jehovah in prayer, he helps us. And through prayer we thank Jehovah for having given his son for all of us. So prayer brings us closer to God and helps us respect him more and be more determined to avoid anything that might damage our friendship with him.

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

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 US BE BRAVE LIKE OBADIAH

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

The fear of God helped him because it made him an honest and trustworthy man. Thanks to that, the king appointed him in charge of the royal house. He also helped him demonstrate extraordinary bravery, a quality that he certainly needed. Because he lived during the reign of King Ahab, who in Jehovah's eyes was the worst king, so he lived in a difficult time. 

10. How did Obadiah show extraordinary courage?

Obadiah showed extraordinary courage when he hid the prophets in caves, 100 of them in groups of 50, and was in charge of giving them bread and water, despite the fact that Jezebel began to persecute them with the intention of killing them, he had the courage to hide them and even supply them with food, although this action implied putting his life at risk, and he did it out of love for Jehovah.

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

Many of our brothers also display Obadiah-like courage, even where our work is outlawed, they show their love for Jehovah by obeying God rather than men.

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?

Both Jehoiada and his wife showed loyalty to Jehovah when athalía, who was a cruel and terrible person, tried to be in power, although for this he had to murder all the king's heirs, that is, his own grandchildren, but thanks to Jehosabeat the wife Jehoiada, one of them, Jehoash, was saved. They demonstrated true loyalty to Jehovah. 

13. How did Jehoiadah prove his loyalty again?

This high priest once again demonstrated loyalty to Jehovah when he devised a plan, since if his plan went well, the king would be Jehoash, David's legitimate heir, but if it failed, he would most likely lose his life. However, the plan was a complete success, Jehoiada named Jehoás king with the support of the heads of the paternal houses. He also ordered Athaliah to be put to death and cleaned all filth of contamination and promised the people to continue being a people for Jehovah.

14. What honor did Jehoiadah receive for honoring Jehovah?

Jehovah keeps his promises, just as Jehovah said: "That he would honor those who honor him", Jehoiada and this good priest were honored, as their good example was recorded in the Bible as a sample of what Jehovah does with his servants who are loyal. Also when he died he had the very special honor of being buried with the kings of Israel.

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

This story about Jehoiada helps us all to have more of God. For example, he teaches the elderly that they can follow his good example by remaining vigilant in order to loyally protect the flock of God. Older siblings can also learn that if they fear Jehovah and are loyal, he does not exclude them, but instead counts on them to do his will. Young people can take note of how Jehovah treated Jehoiada, and in this way they can strive to treat older brothers with dignity and respect, especially those with a long history of faithful service.

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?

Our actions show if we are weak in a spiritual sense, and this is what Jehoas did after the death of Jehoiada, since he allowed himself to be influenced by the apostate princes who incited him to do evil and did not allow himself to be corrected when Jehovah sent him a prophet, and took no notice. He even had Zacarías, who was related to him, killed, thus demonstrating that he was an ungrateful person.

17. How did Jehoash end up?

When this king stopped fearing God, he paid dearly, he was defeated by an inferior army and later killed by his own servants.

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

According to this text, what we have to do is be strong in a spiritual sense, and for this we have to feed on the love and respect we feel for Jehovah, and we do it by meditating and praying regularly.

19. What does Jehovah expect of us?

What Jehovah expects is summarized in the words of Ecclesiastes 12:13, if we have Jehovah we will be able to face any difficulty that comes and stand firm as Obadiah and Jehoiada did. If we do, our friendship with Jehovah will be indestructible.

HE REMEMBERS?

What does it mean to fear Jehovah?

Fearing Jehovah means that the person who deeply fears or respects God loves him and does not want to do anything that jeopardizes his friendship with him.

What valuable lessons can we learn from Obadiah and Jehoiada?

We learn that the fear of Jehovah will help us to be courageous even in circumstances where our own lives are at risk.

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

In order not to be like Jehoash, we must not depend on the support of others to keep our faith strong. Instead we must actively work on our own spiritual growth.