References for Life and Ministry Meeting Workbook

1 JANUARY3-9 TREASURESFROMGOD SWORD JUDGES15-16 betrayal HowContemptible! w124/158 4 betrayal AnOminousSignoftheTimes!4 First,considerconnivingDelilah, , ,butherattemptstouncoverSamson withherwordsallthetimeandkepturginghim. Finally, hissoulgottobeimpatienttothepointofdying . Sohetoldherthathishairhadneverbeencutand thatifitwas, ,DelilahhadSamson shairshavedoffwhilehewasasleeponherlap,a ndthensheturnedhimovertohisenemiestodoto himwhatevertheywanted.( :4,5,15-21)Howcontemptibleheractionwas!A llbecauseofhergreed, 5 HighlightsFromtheBookofJudges14:16,17;16 Proverbs19:13;21 15-16 betrayal AnOminousSignoftheTimes!15 Howcanthosewhoaremarriedremainloyaltothe irmates?God sWordsays: Re-joicewiththewife[orhusband]ofyouryout h and, Seelifewiththewife[orhus-band]whomyoulov e. ( :18; :9)Asbothmatesgrowolder,theymustbe fullypresent intheirrelationship, ,spendingtimewitheachother, ,couplesneedtostudytheBibletogether,regu larlyworkintheministrytogether,andprayto getherforJehovah withseverity,thattheymaybehealthyinthefa ith.

2 (Titus1:13)Forsome, thosewhohavebeentrainedbyit, thedisciplinehashelpedthemtobecomespirit uallyrestored.( :11)Whatifwehavearelativeoraclosefriendw hoisdisfellowshipped?Nowourloyaltyisonth eline,nottothatperson, Read1 Corinthians5 6 SamsonTriumphsintheStrengthofJeho-vah!Sa msonwassingle-mindedinthepursuitofhisobj ective, , shouseatmidnight,grabbedthecitygatesandt hetwosideposts,andcarriedthemtothetopofa mountainnearHebron,whichwassome37miles[6 0km] Judges16 SWORD JUDGES17-19 DisobeyingGod sLawLeadstoProb-lems (Ex20:15),Micahtook1, ,shesaid: Imustwithoutfailsanc-tifythesilvertoJeho vahfrommyhandformyson,soastomakeacarvedi m-ageandamoltenstatue;andnowIshallgiveit backtoyou. Shethentook200sil-verpiecestoasilversmit h,whomade acarvedimageandamoltenstatue thatafterwardcametobeinMicah ,whohad ahouseofgods, ,itwasgrosslyimproper,foritvio-latedthec ommandmentforbiddingidolatry(Ex20:4-6)an dbypassedJehovah staber-nacleandhispriesthood.

3 (Jg17:1-6;De12:1-14)Later,MicahtookJonat han,adescen-dantofMoses sonGershom,intohishome,hiringthisyoungLe viteashispriest.(Jg18:4,30)Mistakenlyfee lingsatisfiedwiththis,Micahsaid: NowIdoknowthatJe-hovahwilldomegood. (Jg17:7-13)ButJonathanwasnotofAaron slineageandthuswasnotevenqualifiedforpri estlyser-vice,whichonlyaddedtoMicah serror. Nu3 2 MicahShortlythereafter, ,Micahsaid: MygodsthatImadeyouhavetaken,thepriesttoo ,andyougoyourway,andwhatdoIhaveanymore? Atthat, ,Micahreturnedhome.(Jg18:22-26)TheDanite sthereafterstruckdownandburnedLaish, ,who keptthecarvedimageofMicah,whichhehadmade ,setupforthemselvesallthedaysthatthehous eofthetrueGod[thetabernacle]continuedinS hiloh. Jg18 6 ALivingTranslationofGod sWord6 TheevidenceforretainingGod ,216times, :25;6:3;10:26;23:14, , ,000years, ,oneoccurrenceatJudges19 SWORD JUDGES20-21 KeepInquiringofJehovah w119/1532 2 CanYouBeLikePhinehasWhenYouFaceChallenge s?FollowingthetragicrapeandmurderofaLevi te sconcubinebythemenofGibeah,ofthetribeofB enjamin,theothertribessetouttowagewaraga insttheBenjamites.

4 ( :1-11)TheyprayedforJehovah shelpbeforefighting,buttheyweredefeatedt wice,withsignificantlosses.( :14-25)Wouldtheyconcludethattheirprayers wereineffective?WasJehovahtrulyinterest- edinseeingthemrespondtothewrongthathadbe endone?w119/1532 4 CanYouBeLikePhinehasWhenYouFaceChallenge s?Whatlessonmightwelearnfromthis?Somepro blemsfacedinthecongregationper-sistdespi tetheelders diligenteffortsandprayersforGod ,eldersdowelltorememberJesus words: Keeponasking[orpraying],anditwillbegiv-e nyou;keeponseeking,andyouwillfind;keepon knocking,anditwillbeopenedtoyou. (Luke11:9)Evenifananswertoprayerseemsdel ayed, 4-6 DidYouKnow?Howwereslingsusedinancientwar fare? 1 Samuel17 ( )indiameterandweighingperhapsnineounces( 250g).Hewouldthenwhirltheslingabovehishe adandreleaseoneofthecords, (160to240km/h).Scholarsdis-agreeonwhethe rtheslinghadtherangeofabow,butaslingcoul dcertainlyprovejustaslethal. Judges20 SWORD RUTH1-2 PursueLoyalLove 5 ImitateJehovah sCloseFriends5 Ruthcouldeasilyhavereasonedthatshehadafa milythereinMoab ,itslanguageherlanguage, , ,who returnedtoherpeopleandhergods.

5 (Ruth1:9-15)DidRuthwanttoreturntothefals egodsofherpeople?No, 6 ImitateJehovah sCloseFriends6 ItseemsthatRuthhadcometoknowaboutJehovah God, ,though, Yourpeoplewillbemypeople, shetoldNaomi, andyourGodmyGod. (Ruth1:16)Ruth sloveforNaomiisheartwarmingtothinkabout, swings.(ReadRuth2:12.)Thatmayremindusofa babybirdtakingrefugeunderthewingsofapowe rful,protectiveparent.( :7;91:1-4) , 1 HighlightsFromtheBookofRuth1:13,21 DidJehovahmakelifebitterforNaomiandcause hercalamity?No, ,however, ,inthosedaysthefruitageofthebellywascons ideredadivineblessingandbarrenness, , FEBRUARY6 TREASURESFROMGOD SWORD RUTH3-4 EstablishandMaintainaGoodRepu-tation w1210/122 5 AnExcellentWoman Boazspoke,andnodoubthisgentle, : BlessedmayyoubeofJehovah, ,innotgoingaftertheyoungfellowswhetherlo wlyorrich. (Ruth3:10) Thefirstinstance referredtoRuth sloyalloveinaccompanyingNaomibacktoIsrae landcaringforher. Thelastinstance , ,shewantedtodogoodnotonlytoNaomibutalsot oNaomi sdeceasedhusband,tocarryonthedeadman 1 AnExcellentWoman HowsatisfyingitmusthavebeenforRuthtocont emplatewhatBoazhadsaid thatshewasknownamongallthepeopleas anexcellentwoman !

6 , sfaith, , 3 AnExcellentWoman ,weread: Je-hovahgrantedherconceptionandsheboreas on. ,welearn,Ruth ssonbecameanan-cestorofthegreatKingDavid .(Ruth4:11-22)David,inturn,wasanancestor ofJe-susChrist. Matthew1 3 HighlightsFromtheBookofRuth4:6 Inwhatwaycouldarepurchaser ruin hisinheritancebydoingtherepur-chasing?Fi rstofall,iftheonefallingintopovertyhadso ldhislandinheritance,are-purchaserwouldh avetoputoutmoneytobuythelandatapricedete rminedbythenumberofyearsremainingtillthe nextJu-bilee.(Leviticus25:25-27) ,shouldasonbeborntoRuth,thatson,ratherth ananyoftherepurchaser scurrentnearrelatives, SWORD 1 SAMUEL1-2 OpenYourHearttoJehovahinPrayer ia55 12 SheOpenedHerHearttoGodinPrayer12 HannahthussetanexampleforallofGod ,withoutreservation,pouringouttheirconce rnsbeforehimasatrustingchildwouldtoalovi ngparent.(ReadPsalm62:8;1 Thessalonians5:17.)TheapostlePe-terwasin spiredtowritethesecomfortingwordsaboutpr ayertoJehovah: Throwallyouranxietyuponhim,becausehecare sforyou.

7 4 HowHannahFoundPeaceWhatcanwelearnfromall ofthis?WhenwepraytoJehovahaboutourconcer ns, , Proverbs3:5, 5 HighlightsFromtheBookofFirstSamuel2:10 WhydidHannahpraythatJehovah givestrengthtohisking whentherewasnohumankingoverIsrael?Thatth eIsrael-iteswouldhaveahumankingwasforeto ldintheMosaicLaw.(Deuteronomy17:14-18)In hisdeathbedprophecy,Jacobsaid: Thescepter[asymbolofroyalauthority]willn otturnasidefromJudah. (Genesis49:10) ,concerningSarah theancestressoftheIsraelites Jehovahsaid: Kingsofpeopleswillcomefromher. (Genesis17:16)Hannah,then, SWORD 1 SAMUEL3-5 JehovahIsConsiderate 3 AlmightyyetConsiderate3 Samuelbegan ministeringtoJehovah atthetabernacleataveryearlyage.( :1)OnenightafterSamuelhadretired,somethi ngmostunusualhappened.(Read1 Samuel3:2-10.) ,Samuelobe-dientlyrantohimandsaid: HereIam,foryoucalledme. , , ,bymeansofhisangel,notrevealhimselftoSam uelonthefirstocca-sion?TheBibledoesnotsa y, 4 AlmightyyetConsiderate4 Read1 Samuel3 sLawcommandedchildrentorespecttheaged,es peciallyachieftain.

8 ( :28; :32)CanyouimagineSamuelgoinguptoEliinthe morningandboldlytellinghimGod sstingingjudgmentmessage?Ofcoursenot!Ind eed,theaccounttellsusthatSamuel wasafraidtotellEliofthevi-sion. However, ,ElitookchargeofthesituationandtoldSamue ltospeak. [Donot]hidefrommeasin-glewordofallthathe saidtoyou, toldhimeverything. SpiritualGemsw053/1521 6 HighlightsFromtheBookofFirstSamuel3:3 DidSamuelactuallysleepintheMostHoly?No, (1 Chronicles6:33-38)Assuch,hewasnotpermitt edto comeintoseetheholythings. (Numbers4:17-20) , wherethearkofGodwas SWORD 1 SAMUEL6-8 WhoIsYourKing? it-2163 scovenantwithAbraham,theIsraelitesreques tedahu-mankingtoleadthem, (1Sa8:4-8)True,thepeopleproperlyexpected akingdomtobeestablishedbyGodinharmonywit hhispromisetoAbrahamandtoJacob, sdeathbedprophecyconcern-ingJudah(Ge49:8 -10),inJehovah swordstoIsraelaftertheExodus(Ex19:3-6),i nthetermsoftheLawcovenant(De17:14,15),an deveninpartofthemessageGodcausedtheproph etBalaamtospeak(Nu24:2-7,17).

9 Samuel sfaithfulmotherHannahexpressedthishopein prayer.(1Sa2:7-10)Nevertheless,Jehovahha dnotfullyrevealedhis sacredsecret regardingtheKingdomandhadnotindicatedwhe nhisduetimeforitsestablishmentwouldarriv enorwhatthestructureandcompositionofthat govern-mentwouldbe 1 HeEnduredDespiteDisappointmentsNotehowJe hovahrespondedwhenSamueltookthemattertoh iminprayer: Lis-tentothevoiceofthepeopleasrespectsal lthattheysaytoyou;foritisnotyouwhomtheyh averejected,butitisIwhomtheyhaverejected frombeingkingoverthem. HowcomfortingforSamuel,yethowawfulaninsu ltthosepeoplehadflungatAlmightyGod! ,theyinsisted: No,butakingiswhatwillcometobeoverus. EverobedienttohisGod,Samuelwentandanoint edthekingwhomJehovahchose. 1 Samuel8 9 Jehovah sWayofRulingVindicated!9 HistorydemonstratedthetruthofJeho-vah , ,itisnotsurpris-ingthatthroughouttheages , ,somepoliticiansinvokeGod sblessingontheireffortstoachievepeaceand security,buthowcanGodblessthosewhodonots ubmittohiswayofruling?

10 13 WhyBeBaptized? ,HebrewandGreekverbspertainingtoconversi onhavethesenseofturningback, (1 Kings8:33,34)Conversioncallsfor worksthatbefitrepentance. (Acts26:20)Itrequiresthatweabandonfalsew orship,actinharmonywithGod scommand-ments,andrenderexclusivedevotio ntoJehovah.(Deuteronomy30:2,8-10;1 Samu-el7:3)Conversionresultsinchangesino urthinking,objectives,anddisposition.(Ez e-kiel18:31)We turnaround asungodlytraitsarereplacedbythenewperson ality. Acts3:19;Ephesians4:20-24;Colossians3 MARCH6 TREASURESFROMGOD SWORD 1 SAMUEL9-11 SaulStartedOutHumbleandModest ( :21;10:20-22)Yet, , , ,SaullostJehovah sfavorandeventuallythekingship.( :8-14) ( :21)HerefusedtopunishIsraeliteswhospokeo utagainsthisking-ship,eventhoughhecouldh avefeltjustifiedindefendinghisGod-givenp osition.( :27)KingSaulacceptedtheguidanceofGod ,hehumblygaveJehovahthecreditforthevic-t ory. :6, 1 TheAmmonites APeopleThatRepaidKindnessWithHostilityAg aintheAmmoniteshadrepaidJehovah ThespiritofGodbecameoperativeuponSaulonh ishearingthesewords[ofNahash],andhisange rgotveryhot.