Let us examine the scriptures every day 2025
Tuesday April 1, 2025
But what have you done to me? Why have you deceived me? (Gen. 29:25).
There were servants of Jehovah in Bible times who faced problems they did not expect. Let's think about Jacob. His father ordered him to marry one of Laban's daughters, a relative who worshiped Jehovah. And he assured him that Jehovah would give him many blessings (Gen. 28:1-4). So Jacob did the right thing: he left Canaan and traveled to the place where Laban lived, who had two daughters, Leah and Rachel. Jacob fell in love with the youngest, Rachel. To marry her, he was willing to work for Laban for seven years (Gen. 29:18). But things didn't go as he expected. Laban deceived him and gave him his eldest daughter, Leah, as a wife. A week later he allowed him to marry Rachel, but on the condition that she work for him for seven more years (Gen. 29:26, 27). But that was not all. Laban was also unfair to Jacob in business matters. He took advantage of him for 20 years! (Gen. 31:41, 42). w23.04 15 para. 5.
What other problems did Jacob have?
Jacob had to deal with more problems. He had a large family, but his children did not always get along. In fact, they even sold Joseph into slavery. On the other hand, two of Jacob's sons—Simeon and Levi—dishonored the family and the name of Jehovah. Furthermore, his beloved wife, Raquel, died giving birth to their second child. And, because of a long period of famine, Jacob had to go live in Egypt when he was very old (Gen. 34:30; 35:16-19; 37:28; 45:9-11, 28).
How did Jehovah show Jacob that he was happy with him?
Despite all these difficulties, Jacob never lost faith in Jehovah or his promises. And Jehovah made it clear to him that he was happy with him. For example, despite Laban's constant deceptions, Jacob came to have many material possessions thanks to Jehovah. And Jacob surely felt very grateful to his God when after so many years he was reunited with Joseph, whom he had left for dead. Jacob was able to endure all these trials because he had a strong friendship with Jehovah (Gen. 30:43; 32:9, 10; 46:28-30). We can also deal with unexpected problems if we have a strong friendship with him.
What did King David want to do?
King David was unable to accomplish all that he would have liked to do in his service to Jehovah. For example, he heartily desired to build a temple to his God. When he told this to the prophet Nathan, Nathan replied, “Do what your heart tells you, for the true God is with you” (1 Chron. 17:1, 2). Can we imagine how happy David must have felt when he heard those words? Maybe he immediately started planning that enormous project.
How did David react when his expectations were not met?
But Jehovah's prophet soon returned with bad news. That same night, Jehovah told Nathan that it would not be David who would build the temple, but one of his sons (1 Chron. 17:3, 4, 11, 12). How did David react when he heard the message? He modified his plans. He set out to gather the money and materials that his son Solomon would need to carry out the project (1 Chron. 29:1-5).
All Rights Reserved Copyright © 2024 Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania JW.ORG.
Comments
Post a Comment