Transcription of FEBRUARY 2022 34567
1 34567 FEBRUARY2022 STUDYARTICLESFOR:APRIL4 MAY1, : Manhasdominatedmantohisharm. ( :9)Inad-dition,theconductofcertainreligi ousleadersleavesmuchtobedesired, , , , ,wewilldiscussthreeareasinwhichourfaithc ouldbetested:(1)aswereadcertainBibleac-c ounts,(2)whenwereceivedirectionfromJehov ah sorganization,and(3) sWord,wemayhavequestions1-2.(a)Whydomany todayfindithardtotrustthoseinauthority?( b)Whatwillweconsiderinthisarticle? sWayofDoingThings? TheRock,perfectishisactivity, ;righteousanduprightishe. ,OurHope, ,inthebookofNumbers, ,welearnthatcentu-rieslater,Jehovahpardo nedKingDa-vidforcommittingadulteryandmur -der.
2 ( :32,35; :9,13)Wemightwonder, WhydidJehovahforgiveDavidformurderandadu lterybutsentencetheothermantodeathforase eminglylessserioustransgression? Toanswerthisquestion, ,weknowthatDavidwassincerelyrepen-tantof hisactions.( :2-4)Butwhatkindofpersonwasthemanwhobrok etheSabbathlaw?Washesorryforwhathehaddon e?HadhedisobeyedJeho-vah slawsinthepast?Hadheignoredorevenrejecte dpreviouswarnings? ,wecanbecertainofthis:Jehovah isneverun-just. ( :4)Hebaseshisdeci-sionsonallthefacts notonhearsay,prejudice,oranythingelsetha tsooftendistortshumanjudgment.
3 (ReadGen-esis18:20,21;Deuteronomy10:17.) ThemorewelearnaboutJehovahandhisstandard s, :20,21andDeuteronomy10:17strengthenourco nfidenceinJehovah sjudg-ments?atpresent,weknowmorethanenou ghaboutourGodtobecertainthathe isrighteousinallhisways. ,soweyearntoseepeopletreatedfairly.( :26)Butbecauseweareim-perfect,wecanmisju dgematters, (Seealsothebox ImperfectionDistortsOurViewofJustice. )FEBRUARY20223 Becauseweareimperfect,attimeswemayviewma ttersmoreharshlyormorelenientlythanJehov ahdoes.( :7)ThiscouldmakeusquestionJehovah , ,ifsomeaspectofJehovah swayofdoingthingsishardtounderstand, notJehovah sview thatisincorrect.
4 ,forexample,howdispleasedJonahwaswithJeh ovah sdecisiontoextendmercytothepeopleofNinev eh.(Jo-nah3:10 4:1)Yet, ,000repentantNinevitesweresaved!Intheend ,itwasJonah notJehovah ,Jeho-vahdidallowhisservantsinthepasttoe xpresstheirconcernsaboutdeci-sionshehadm adeorwasabouttomake.( :25;Jonah4:2,3)Andocca-sionally,heexplai nedhisdecision.(Jo-nah4:10,11)Neverthele ss, ,hedoesnotneedourap-proval,eitherbeforeo rafterheacts. :13,14;55 ,however, sorga-nizationreallyactaccordingtoJeho-v ah ,andwhy? ,whosewifecommittedadulterywithDavid, thefaithfulanddiscreetslave.
5 ( :45)Likethefirst-centurygoverningbody,th isslaveoverseesGod speopleworldwideandgivesdirectiontocon-g regationelders.(ReadActs16:4,5.)Theelder s,inturn, , , , , :4,5andhowtheChristiancongre-gationfunct ionstoday? ,andwhy?4 THEWATCHTOWERFEBRUARY20225eachpublisher? ,andwetooneedtotrustthem. 10 Whyshouldwecooperatewiththeeldersandsupp orttheirdecisionsevenwhenthedecisionsare notwhatwewouldhavepreferred?Becauseindoi ngso,wehelppreservetheunityamongGod speople.( :2,3)Congrega-tionsthrivewhenallhumblysu bmittothedecisionsreachedbythebodyofel-d ers.
6 (ReadHebrews13:17.)Moreim-portant,weshow Jehovahthatwetrustinhimbycooperatingwith thosewhomhetruststocareforus. Acts20 ( :2,3)Considerthisfact:Inaworldthatisdivi dedbyrace,religion,andpolitics,Jehovah speopleareunitedinworship Attimes, ,Novem-ber2002, QuestionBox. :17,whyshouldweco-operatewiththeelders? sblessingonhisorganization! , , ,butdoeshetrulyhatewhathedid?Ishedetermi nednottore-peatthesin?Ifbadassociationsl eduptothewrongdoing,ishewillingtocutofft hoseassociations?Theeldersprayer-fullyco nsiderthefactsinthelightoftheScriptures, takingintoaccountthewrongdoer ,hemustbedis-fellowshipped.
7 ,wemightreadilyaccepttheelders , ,hecouldbeacorruptinginfluence.( :9)Inaddition,hemaynotrecognizetheseriou snessofhissin,andhemayhavelittleincentiv etoadjusthisthink-ingandactionssothathec anregainJehovah sfavor.( :11)Wecanbesurethatwhendecidingifaperson shouldbedisfellowshipped, ,likethejudgesinancientIs-rael,they donotjudgeformanbutforJehovah. :6, ,weneedtotrustinJe-hovah ,wemayreceiveinstructionsthatseemstrange ,impractical, decisionregard-ingwrongdoingaffectsusper sonally? sdirectionnowmorethaneverbefore?Ofcourse , ,wondering, Isthisreal-lycomingfromJehovah,orarether e-sponsiblebrothersactingontheirown?
8 Howwillyoufareduringthatcrucialtimeinhum anhistory? ,youwilllikelydothesameduringthegreattri bulation. Luke16 Jehovah ,weholdouthopeformanywhoarenotservingJeh ovah, ,Jehovah,throughJesus,willmakethefinalde cisionabouttheirfuture.( :31-33; :7-9)Itwillnotbeuptoustodecidewhowillrec eiveJehovah smercyandwhowillnot.( :34,41,46)WillwebeabletotrustinJehovah sjudgments, sjudgmentsbetestedinthenearfuture?Whatwi llhelpustotrustandobeythedirectionwerece iveduringthegreattribulation?(Seeparagra ph15)6 THEWATCHTOWER theybeastumblingblockforus?
9 Clear-ly, snewworldwhenweseetheresultsofJe-hovah , ,oldage, ( :2,3)Howgratefulwewillthenbethatwetruste dinJehovah swayofdoingthings!18 MightlifeinGod snewworldpre-sentsomechallengesthatcould testourtrustinJehovah swayofdoingthings?Consider,forexample, sjudgmentsattheendofthissystemofthings? example,asrecordedatNumbers11:4-6and21:5 ? ,andtheytreatedJehovah sprovisionofmannawithcontempt.(ReadNum-b ers11:4-6;21:5.)Mightwehavesimi-larthoug htsafterthegreattribulationcomestoitsend ? , :ThemoreweappreciateJeho-vah sprovisionsnow, : Yourstrengthwillbeinkeepingcalmandshowin gtrust.
10 AswereadcertainBibleaccounts? whenwereceivedirection? aswefacefuturechallenges?SONG98 TheScriptures , ,aconcernedbrothermayapproachusandpointo utthatweareabouttotake afalsestep onethatwewillregret.( :1)Finally, , ! listentothewordsofthewise. ( :17)Nohumanknowseverything;thereisalways someonewhohasgreaterknowledgeorexperienc ethanwedo.(ReadProverbs12:15andfootnote. ) ; : Thereisaccom-plishmentthroughmanyadviser s[or counselors, ftn.]. ( :12) ,andwhydoweallneedit? :15andfootnote,whyshouldwelistentocounse l? ListentotheWordsoftheWise Inclineyourearandlistentothewordsofthewi se.
