“Who De Support Jehovah?”
“Na Jehovah your God you go fear, na the God wey you go serve, na the God wey you go hold tight.”—DEUT. 10:20.
SONG: 28, 32
1, 2. (a) Why e good make we hold Jehovah tight? (b) Wetin we go talk about for this topic?
E GOOD make we hold Jehovah tight. Why? Because nobody get love, sense, and power pass our God! Who no go like to support our God, or dey e side? (Ps. 96:4-6) Even with that one, some servant of Jehovah don leave Jehovah when time come for them to show say them dey e side.
2 For this topic, we go talk about the example of people wey they claim say them de worship Jehovah, but they still de do things wey Jehovah no like at all. This different-different example get better lessons and they fit help us make we really hold Jehovah tight.
JEHOVAH DE SEE OUR HEART
3. Why Jehovah advice Cain, and wetin e tell Cain?
3 Make we talk about the example of Cain. E claim say na only Jehovah e de worship, but Jehovah no accept e worship. Why? Because na wicked things e de think about for heart. (1 John 3:12) Jehovah try advice Cain. E tell Cain say: “If you change and begin do good thing, you think say I no go show you favor? But if you no change and begin do good thing, sin dey your door de wait for you. E want control you; your power go reach to control-am?” (Gen. 4:6, 7) E just be like say Jehovah de tell Cain say, “If you repent and dey for my side again, I go dey for your side too.”
4. Even as God give Cain chance make e repent, wetin Cain do?
4 Jehovah for show Cain favor if to say e change. But Cain no gree do wetin God talk. E do wetin Jehovah hate because of wetin e want and the bad thing wey e de think. (Jas. 1:14, 15) When Cain still dey young, e fit be say e no ever think-am say e go fit leave Jehovah. But as time de go, e do wetin e no ever expect. E sin against Jehovah and kill e own brother!
5. Which kind thinking fit make person sin?
5 Like Cain, today person for congregation fit claim say e de worship God but still de do wetin God hate. (Jude 11) For example, person fit allow e mind de think about how e go favor only e self. E fit begin hate another brother for e heart, or de think about sex matter wey God hate. (1 John 2:15-17; 3:15) This kind thinking fit make person sin. Even if person de go preaching and attend meeting everytime, e fit still de think bad things for e heart, and other people no go know. Na true because na only Jehovah fit see everything. And if person no de use all e heart support Jehovah, e know.—Read Jeremiah 17:9, 10.
6. How Jehovah de help us make we fit control the sin wey e dey our body?
6 Even when we make mistake, Jehovah no de leave us quick. When person leave Jehovah because of bad thing wey e do, Jehovah de advice the person say: “Come back to me, and I go come back to [you].” (Mal. 3:7) Jehovah know say we de struggle with the sin wey e dey our body. But Jehovah want make we fight bad thing. (Isa. 55:7) If we do-am, God promise us say e no go leave us. E say e go give us power wey e go help us fit control the sin for our body.—Gen. 4:7.
NO ALLOW ANYTHING FOOL YOU
7. Wetin make Solomon leave Jehovah?
7 We fit learn plenty things from the example of Solomon. E hold Jehovah tight when e dey young. So God give Solomon sense and blessing. God still say make e build one fine and big temple for Jerusalem. But after, Solomon come leave Jehovah. (1 Ki. 3:12; 11:1, 2) God command say make king for Israel no “marry plenty wife, so that e heart no go leave God.” (Deut. 17:17) Solomon no follow wetin Jehovah talk. E marry 700 wife and carry other 300 women come e house. (1 Ki. 11:3) Many of the women wey e marry no be from Israel, and they no de worship Jehovah. So Solomon still no obey the law wey talk say make anybody for Israel no marry person from another place.—Deut. 7:3, 4.
8. Na which bad things Solomon do?
8 Na small-small Solomon begin comot hand from wetin Jehovah talk. As time de pass, e come do wetin really bad. E build altar for one fake god wey the name na Ashtoreth. E still build at least one altar for another fake god wey the name na Chemosh. So e begin follow the women wey e marry to worship fake god. E even build this different-different altar for one mountain for front of Jerusalem, the place wey e build the temple! (1 Ki. 11:5-8; 2 Ki. 23:13) Maybe Solomon fool e self say as long as e de make sacrifice for temple, Jehovah no go vex for the bad wey e de do.
9. Wetin happen as Solomon no obey the warning from Jehovah?
9 Jehovah no de see bad thing close 1 Ki. 11:9-13.
mouth. Bible tell us say: “Jehovah really vex for Solomon because e heart don comot from Jehovah . . . , wey e appear to Solomon two times and give Solomon warning about this thing, say make e no follow other god. But e no obey wetin Jehovah don talk.” Na this one make God vex and e no support Solomon again. Because of this one, e children no rule Israel when the tribes of Israel dey together. And they suffer many things for many years.—10. Wetin fit make us spoil our friendship with Jehovah?
10 Like Solomon, person fit begin make friend with people wey they no understand or de do wetin Jehovah want. This one fit spoil our friendship with God. Some of this kind people fit dey inside congregation, but they no hold Jehovah tight. Other once fit be our family people, neighbor, workmate, or schoolmate wey they no de worship Jehovah. If we de spend time with people wey they no de follow wetin Jehovah talk, small-small, they fit make us spoil our friendship with God.
11. Wetin fit help us choose the kind people wey we de spend time with?
11 Read 1 Corinthians 15:33. Plenty people get some things wey e good about them. And plenty people wey they no be Jehovah Witness fit no de put hand for some kind bad things. If na so people wey you know dey, whether inside congregation or outside, you go say they be good friends? First ask yourself how them de affect your friendship with Jehovah. They go help you hold Jehovah tight? Wetin dey their heart? For example, wetin them de talk about almost everytime? Na about cloths, money, enjoyment, things like phone, and other things wey person fit buy with money? Them de always talk bad about other people? Na bad thing them de talk as joke? Jesus tell us say: “Wetin person de talk about na wetin full e heart.” (Matt. 12:34) Wetin you go do if you notice say the people wey you de spend time with fit spoil your friendship with Jehovah? Make you reduce the amount of time wey you de spend with them. Or you stop to be their friend.—Prov. 13:20.
JEHOVAH NO WANT MAKE WE SERVE ANOTHER GOD
12. (a) Just after Israel people comot for Egypt, wetin Jehovah tell them? (b) And wetin be the answer wey they give Jehovah when e tell them say make they no serve another god?
12 We fit still learn other lesson from wetin happen to Israel people just after Ex. 19:16-19) Then Jehovah tell them say: “Na only me wey be your God, you must worship, na wetin I want be that.” For people wey they love Jehovah and de do wetin e talk, Jehovah still promise Israel people say e no go ever leave this kind people. (Read Exodus 20:1-6.) E just be like say Jehovah de tell them say, “If wuna dey my side, I go dey wuna side.” If you dey there that time, and hear that better word from Jehovah, wetin you go do? You for just do the thing wey Israel people do. They “answer with one voice say: ‘We ready to do everything wey Jehovah talk.’” (Ex. 24:3) But small time, something happen wey e show whether they really hold Jehovah tight.
Jehovah save them from Egypt. Israel people gather for front of Mount Sinai. For there, Jehovah show them who e be for some special way. The people see dark cloud, lightning, and smoke. They hear thunder and loud noise like the sound from horn. (13. Wetin happen wey e test Israel people whether they hold Jehovah tight?
13 The dark cloud, the lightning and other wonderful sign wey Jehovah show Israel people about e self make them fear. So they want make Moses go up for Mount Sinai and talk with Jehovah for them. (Ex. 20:18-21) When Moses go up for Mount Sinai, e no come back quick as they expect. As they no see Moses their leader, maybe the people confuse inside wilderness and no know wetin to do. E fit be say the people too put their mind for leader wey they fit see, like Moses. So they tell Aaron say: “Make god for us wey e go de lead us, because we no know wetin don happen to this Moses, the man wey e carry us comot from Egypt.”—Ex. 32:1, 2.
14. How Israel people deceive theirself, and how Jehovah feel about wetin they do?
14 The people know say Jehovah no like-am at all make they serve another god. (Ex. 20:3-5) But small time, they begin worship one calf image as their god. They no obey wetin Jehovah tell them, and they deceive theirself say they still de worship Jehovah. Aaron even talk say as them de worship the calf image, them de do “festival for Jehovah”! How Jehovah feel? Jehovah no happy because the people no do wetin they promise. So e tell Moses say the people “don spoil theirself” and “they don comot from the way [e] command make they follow.” Because Jehovah de vex for wetin they do, e even want destroy all of them.—Ex. 32:5-10.
15, 16. How Moses and Aaron show say they really de support Jehovah? (Check the first picture.)
15 But Jehovah decide say e no go destroy them again. E show them pity. So e give them chance make they show say they want dey e side. (Ex. 32:14) When Moses come back, e see as the people de shout, de sing, and de dance for front of the calf image. So, Moses destroy the image and grind-am sotey e smooth like powder. Then e shout say: “Who de support Jehovah? Make e come meet me!” Then “all the Levite gather around Moses.”—Ex. 32:17-20, 26.
16 Aaron help this people form the calf image. But e regret the thing wey e do and e join the Levites to support Jehovah. Wetin they do show say they no de only support Jehovah, but they still de separate theirself from people wey they no want follow Jehovah. The side wey they choose na better one because that day, plenty people wey they worship the Ex. 32:27-29.
image die. But Jehovah promise people wey them dey e side say e go bless them.—17. Wetin we fit learn from the thing wey Paul talk about the calf image?
17 Apostle Paul use the story about that calf image warn us say: “All this things come be example for us, so that we no go . . . worship idol as some of them do-am. They write [the examples] so that they go be as warning for us wey we de live for the time wey the end of this world don reach. So make person wey e think say e stand, dey careful make e no fall.” (1 Cor. 10:6, 7, 11, 12) As Paul talk, e fit happen say person wey e de worship Jehovah fit begin de do bad things. People wey them de fall for temptation fit think say their friendship with Jehovah still dey fine. But Jehovah no go just accept somebody just because the person want be e friend, or e de claim say e hold Jehovah tight.—1 Cor. 10:1-5.
18. Wetin fit make us begin leave Jehovah small-small, and how that one go affect us?
18 Israel people worry that time because Moses no come back quick from Mount Sinai as they expect. The same thing fit happen to us. We fit begin worry say maybe the time wey Jehovah go destroy this world and bring Paradise de delay. We fit think say the time wey Jehovah go do wetin e promise still far, or we no sure say the things go happen. If we no dey careful, our mind fit deceive us. We fit begin do our own things first instead of things wey Jehovah want. And as time de go, we fit de leave Jehovah small-small, and begin do things wey we no ever imagine say we go do when we still hold Jehovah tight.
19. Wetin we no suppose to forget, and why?
19 Always remember say Jehovah want make we de do wetin e talk with all our heart. And e still want make we no worship another god. (Ex. 20:5) If we no do wetin Jehovah want, we go de do wetin Satan want. This one go only cause us trouble. Na e make apostle Paul talk say: “Wuna no fit de drink the cup of Jehovah and the cup of demons; wuna no fit de chop for ‘the table of Jehovah’ and demons their table.”—1 Cor. 10:21.
HOLD JEHOVAH TIGHT!
20. How Jehovah fit help us even after we don make mistake?
20 The example of Cain, Solomon, and Israel people for Mount Sinai show say Jehovah give them chance make they repent and change their character. (Acts 3:19) E clear say, even if person make mistake, Jehovah no de leave the person quick. For example, Jehovah forgive Aaron even after Aaron make mistake. Today, Jehovah de use plenty ways warn us. E fit use different-different Bible story, our books, or better advice from our brothers and sisters. When we obey this warning, we go dey sure say Jehovah go show us favor.
21. When we face situation wey e fit make us leave Jehovah, wetin we go ready to do?
21 Jehovah get reason why e de show us favor. (2 Cor. 6:1) E favor de give us chance make “we no put hand for things wey God no like and things wey people for this world want.” (Read Titus 2:11-14.) As long as “we dey inside this world,” we go face different-different situation wey they go test whether we really hold Jehovah tight. Make we always dey ready to support Jehovah because ‘na Jehovah our God we go fear, na the God wey we go serve, na the God wey we go hold tight’!—Deut. 10:20.