Jehovah Is “the God Who Gives Peace”

THEME SCRIPTURE

“May the God who gives peace be with all of you.”​—ROMANS 15:33.

1, 2. What situation do we read about in Genesis chapters 32 and 33? What was the result?

IMAGINE this: Two brothers were about to meet. They were going to meet close to Penuel, near the valley of Jabbok on the east side of the Jordan River. The brothers were Esau and Jacob, and they had not seen each other for a long time. Twenty years earlier, Esau had sold his right as firstborn to his brother, Jacob. When Esau heard that Jacob was returning home, he went to meet Jacob with 400 men. When Jacob heard this, he became afraid. He thought that his brother might still be angry with him and want to kill him. So Jacob sent his servants with animals as gifts for Esau. Each time the servants came with more animals, they told Esau that they were gifts from his brother. Jacob sent him more than 550 animals.

² What happened when the brothers finally met? Jacob showed courage and humility. He walked toward Esau and bowed down before his brother seven times! But before this, Jacob had already done the most important thing. He had prayed to Jehovah and asked Jehovah to protect him from Esau. Jehovah answered his prayer. The Bible tells us that Esau went running to meet him, and he began to embrace him and fall upon his neck and kiss him.​—Genesis 32:11-20; 33:1-4.

3. What do we learn from the story of Jacob and Esau?

³ This situation shows us that we should do everything we can to solve problems with others in the congregation. If we do not, the peace and unity of the congregation will be damaged. Jacob had not done anything wrong. He did not have to tell Esau that he was sorry. It was Esau who did not value his right as firstborn and who had sold it to Jacob for just one meal. But Jacob still did everything he could to have peace with him. (Genesis 25:31-34; Hebrews 12:16) Jacob’s example shows how much effort we should make to keep peace with our Christian brothers and sisters. It also shows that when we ask Jehovah to help us do this, he answers our prayers. There are many other examples in the Bible that show us how to keep peace with others. We will talk about some of them.

THE BEST EXAMPLE TO FOLLOW

4. What did God do to save mankind from sin and death?

⁴ The best example of someone who keeps peace is Jehovah. He is “the God who gives peace.” (Romans 15:33) Think of all that Jehovah did to make it possible for us to be his friends. Because we are descendants of Adam and Eve, we sin. And those who sin deserve death. (Romans 6:23) But because God loved us so much, he wanted to save us from  sin and death. So he sent his beloved Son, Jesus, from heaven to be born as a perfect human and die for our sins. And Jesus was happy to do what his Father wanted and to sacrifice his life for us. (John 10:17, 18) Then Jehovah resurrected Jesus to life in heaven. It was in heaven that Jesus presented to Jehovah the value of his sacrifice. This sacrifice, or ransom, saves from eternal death all those who repent of their sins.​—Read Hebrews 9:14, 24.

5, 6. How does Jesus’ sacrifice help humans to become friends of God?

⁵ Because of sin, humans became enemies of God. How does Jesus’ sacrifice help humans? Isaiah 53:5 says: “The chastisement meant for our peace was upon him, and because of his wounds there has been a healing for us.” Jesus’ sacrifice makes it possible for obedient humans to become friends of God. The Bible also says: “By means of him we have the release by ransom through the blood of that one, yes, the forgiveness of our trespasses.”​—Ephesians 1:7.

⁶ The Bible says about Jesus: “God saw good for all fullness to dwell in him.” This means that God uses Jesus to make his purpose come true. And what is God’s purpose? It is “to reconcile again to himself all other things by making peace through the blood” of Jesus Christ. The things that God reconciles to himself, or causes to become his friends, are “the things in the heavens” and “the things upon the earth.” What are they?​—Read Colossians 1:19, 20.

7. What are “the things in the heavens” and “the things upon the earth”?

⁷ Because of Jesus’ sacrifice, anointed Christians “have been declared righteous” as sons of God and “enjoy peace with God.” (Read Romans 5:1.) The Bible calls them “the things in the heavens” because God resurrects them to live in heaven with Jesus Christ. There they will “rule as kings over the earth” and serve as priests. (Revelation 5:10) “The things upon the earth” are humans who repent of their sins and who will live forever on earth.​—Psalm 37:29.

8. How does Jehovah’s example help you when there are problems in the congregation?

⁸ The words of Paul to the anointed Christians in Ephesus show how grateful he was for the ransom. He said that God is “rich in mercy” and that he “made us alive together with the Christ, even when we were dead in trespasses.” He said that God saved us “by undeserved kindness.” (Ephesians 2:4, 5) All of us, those who will live in heaven and those who will live on earth, are very grateful for God’s mercy and undeserved kindness. We are grateful for everything Jehovah did to make it possible for humans to have peace with him. At times, we have problems that can  put the unity of the congregation in danger. In these situations, we should think about God’s example and keep peace with our brothers and sisters.

LEARN FROM THE EXAMPLES OF ABRAHAM AND ISAAC

9, 10. How did Abraham show that he wanted to keep peace with others?

⁹ The Bible says about Abraham: “‘Abraham put faith in Jehovah, and it was counted to him as righteousness,’ and he came to be called ‘Jehovah’s friend.’” (James 2:23) One way that Abraham showed his faith in Jehovah was by keeping peace with others. For example, there was an argument between the men who took care of Abraham’s animals and those who took care of the animals of his nephew Lot. (Genesis 12:5; 13:7) Abraham and Lot decided that the best solution for them was to go to different parts of the land. Notice what Abraham did in this difficult situation. He did not think that he should make the final decision just because he was older and had a special friendship with Jehovah. Instead, he showed that he wanted to keep peace with his nephew.

¹⁰ Abraham told his nephew: “Please, do not let any quarreling continue between me and you and between my herdsmen and your herdsmen, for we men are brothers.” And he continued: “Is not the whole land available to you? Please, separate from me. If you go to the left, then I will go to the right; but if you go to the right, then I will go to the left.” Lot chose the best part of the land, the most fertile part. Abraham accepted Lot’s choice and did not get angry with him. (Genesis 13:8-11) We know this because later when enemies took Lot as a prisoner, Abraham hurried to save him.​—Genesis 14:14-16.

11. How did Abraham keep peace with his Philistine neighbors?

¹¹ Think also of how Abraham did what he could to keep peace with the Philistines, who were his neighbors in the land of Canaan. The Philistines had violently stolen a well of water that Abraham’s servants had dug at Beer-sheba. In this situation, Abraham chose not to do or say anything. Later, the Philistine king visited Abraham to make a covenant of peace between them. Abraham agreed to be kind to the descendants of the king. Only after that happened did Abraham tell the king about the stolen well. The king was shocked to hear about the well, and he returned it to Abraham. And Abraham continued to live in peace as a foreigner in that land.​—Genesis 21:22-31, 34.

12, 13. (a) How did Isaac follow the example of his father? (b) How did Jehovah bless Isaac’s efforts to keep peace?

¹² Abraham’s son Isaac loved peace just like his father. He did what he could to keep peace with the Philistines. Because there was no food in the land, Isaac and his family moved from the dry area of Beer-lahai-roi, in the Negeb, to the more fertile area of Gerar. This  area belonged to the Philistines. Jehovah blessed Isaac with good crops and many animals. The Philistines became jealous of him. They did not want Isaac’s wealth to keep increasing, so they filled his wells with dirt. Finally, the Philistine king told Isaac: “Move from our neighborhood.” To keep peace with the Philistines, Isaac did what the king said.​—Genesis 24:62; 26:1, 12-17.

¹³ After Isaac and his family moved, his shepherds dug another well. Philistine shepherds argued with Isaac’s shepherds because of the well and said that the water was theirs. Like his father, Isaac did not want to fight. Instead, he told his servants to dig another well. The Philistines argued because of that one also. Again, just to keep peace with the Philistines, Isaac moved his family and everything he had. His servants dug a well in that place, and Isaac called it Rehoboth. Later, he moved to the more fertile area of Beer-sheba. Jehovah blessed him there and told him: “Do not be afraid, because I am with you, and I will bless you and multiply your seed on account of Abraham my servant.”​—Genesis 26:17-25.

14. When the Philistine king came to make a covenant with Isaac, how did Isaac show that he wanted to keep peace with him?

¹⁴ Of course, Isaac could have fought for his right to use all the wells that his servants had dug. The Philistine king knew that Jehovah blessed Isaac in everything he did. When the king came with his officials to visit Isaac in Beer-sheba and make a covenant with him, he said: “We have unmistakably seen that Jehovah has proved to be with you.” But to keep peace, Isaac chose to move more than once. He did not want to fight. This time too, when the king and his officials came to visit him, Isaac showed that he wanted to keep peace with the king. The  Bible tells us: “He made a feast for them and they ate and drank. Next morning they were early in rising and they made sworn statements one to the other. After that Isaac sent them away and they went from him in peace.”​—Genesis 26:26-31.

LEARN FROM THE EXAMPLE OF JOSEPH

15. Why were Joseph’s brothers not able to speak peacefully to him?

¹⁵ The Bible says that Isaac’s son Jacob was “a blameless man.” (Genesis 25:27) As we learned earlier, Jacob did what he could to keep peace with his brother, Esau. Jacob had learned from the good example of his father, Isaac. Did Jacob’s sons learn from his example? Of all his 12 sons, Jacob loved Joseph the most. He obeyed and respected his father and was a son Jacob could trust. (Genesis 37:2, 14) But the Bible says that Joseph’s older brothers became so jealous of him that they were not able to speak peacefully to him. They hated Joseph so much that they sold him as a slave and then made their father believe that a wild animal had killed him.​—Genesis 37:4, 28, 31-33.

16, 17. How did the way Joseph treated his brothers show that he wanted to keep peace with them?

 ¹⁶ Jehovah blessed Joseph. In time, Joseph became Egypt’s prime minister, that is, the second-most powerful person in Egypt. When there was a terrible famine in Canaan, Joseph’s brothers came to Egypt to buy food. When they met Joseph there, they did not know who he was, probably because of the Egyptian clothes he was wearing. (Genesis 42:5-7) Joseph could have treated his brothers the same way they treated him and his father. Instead, Joseph did what he could to make peace with them. And when they showed that they were sorry for what they had done, Joseph told them who he was. He said: “Do not feel hurt and do not be angry with yourselves because you sold me here; because for the preservation of life God has sent me ahead of you.” Then “he proceeded to kiss all his brothers and to weep over them.”​—Genesis 45:1, 5, 15.

¹⁷ After the death of their father, Jacob, Joseph’s brothers thought that Joseph might want to take revenge on them. When they talked to Joseph about this, he “burst into tears” and said: “Do not be afraid. I myself shall keep supplying you and your little children with food.” In this situation too, Joseph showed that he loved peace. He “comforted them and spoke reassuringly to them.”​—Genesis 50:15-21.

EXAMPLES “FOR OUR INSTRUCTION”

18, 19. (a) What did you learn from the examples we talked about in this article? (b) What will we learn in the next article?

¹⁸ Paul wrote: “All the things that were written aforetime were written for our instruction, that through our endurance and through the comfort from the Scriptures we might have hope.” (Romans 15:4) What have we learned from the greatest example of all, Jehovah, and also the examples of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph?

¹⁹ If we think about all that Jehovah did to make it possible for us to become his friends, we will want to do everything we can to keep peace with others. What we learned about Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph shows that parents can be good examples for their children and teach them to keep peace with others. We also learned that Jehovah blesses the efforts of those who try to keep peace. This helps us understand why Paul wrote that Jehovah is “the God who gives peace.” (Read Romans 15:33; 16:20.) The next article will talk about why Paul said that we need to keep peace and how we can do that.

SOME WORDS EXPLAINED

▪ Ransom: The price Jehovah paid through Jesus to free humans from sin and death

▪ Repent: To feel regret for past sins and to make the necessary changes to please God

▪ Covenant: A serious promise or agreement

▪ Undeserved kindness: Jehovah’s great kindness that he gives freely to sinful humans

WHAT DID YOU LEARN?

▪ Just before he met Esau, what did Jacob do to keep peace with him?

▪ Jehovah did a lot to make it possible for humans to become his friends. What does that make you want to do?

▪ What have you learned from the examples of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph?

[Study Questions]

[Blurb on page 16]

Prayer helped Jacob to keep peace with Esau

[Blurb on page 17]

Because of Jesus’ sacrifice, obedient humans can have peace with God

[Blurb on page 18]

Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph always tried to keep peace with others

[Pictures on pages 18, 19]

What was the most important thing Jacob did to keep peace with Esau?