AS AUTHOR OF THE BIBLE, JEHOVAH PROVIDES GUIDANCE FOR MANKIND Flashcards
(Job 38:32)
Can you lead out a constellation in its season Or guide the Ash constellation along with its sons?
Can you lead out a constellation in its season Or guide the Ash constellation along with its sons?
(Job 38:32)
** (Job 39:26)**
Is it by your understanding that the falcon soars, Spreading its wings to the south?
Is it by your understanding that the falcon soars, Spreading its wings to the south?
** (Job 39:26)**
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Why did Jehovah ask Job; “Can you lead out a constellation in its season or guide the Ash constellation along with its sons?” -Job 38:32
THE sun that warms our earth is just one of the billions of suns in our Milky Way. Our Milky Way is just one of the billions of galaxies in the universe. All these trillions of stars are hurtling through space, but each in its assigned orbit and each on a schedule of split-second timing. Can men guide them? No. This fact Jehovah God called to Job’s notice.
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Why did Jehovah ask Job; “Is it by your understanding that the falcon soars, spreading its wings to the south?” -Job 39:26
Birds migrate for thousands of miles, flying day and night, without map or compass, on a journey they have never made before, yet they arrive at their destination safely and on time. Can man guide the birds on their migratory flights? No.
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Contrast Jehovah’s guidance of the stars and birds with mans guidance of himself. (Proverbs 30:24; Jeremiah 10:23)
Jehovah guides the stars by his laws of motion and gravitation. Man can’t guide them. Jehovah guides migrating birds by giving them instinctive wisdom. (Proverbs 30:24) Man can’t guide them. Man can’t even guide himself. One look at the state of this world’s affairs proves that. “It does not belong to man who is walking,” the prophet Jeremiah said, “even to direct his step.” (Jeremiah 10:23) The stars heed God’s laws. Migrating birds follow his guidance. But people do not accept as guides the precepts he provides for them. As God’s Word says: “Even the stork in the sky knows its seasons; The turtledove and the swift and the thrush keep to the time of their return. But my own people do not understand the judgment of Jehovah.”’”—Jeremiah 8:7
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Jehovah directs the stars by his laws of motion and gravitation. What is the earliest Biblical reference to natural laws?
Even more fundamental than the movement of stars and planets is that all matter in the universe is governed by laws, such as the law of gravity. The earliest known non-Biblical reference to physical laws was made by Pythagoras, who believed that the universe could be explained by numbers. Two thousand years later, Galileo, Kepler, and Newton finally proved that matter is governed by rational laws.
The earliest Biblical reference to natural law is contained in the book of Job. About 1600 B.C.E., God asked Job: “Do you know the laws governing the heavens?” (Job 38:33) Recorded in the seventh century B.C.E., the book of Jeremiah refers to Jehovah as the Creator of “the laws of the moon and the stars” and “the laws of heaven and earth.” (Jeremiah 31:35; 33:25)
Birds and other creatures are guided by the instinctive wisdom given them by God. Site examples showing this.
ON December 9, 1967, an airline pilot spotted a flock of about 30 whooper swans flying toward Ireland at the amazing altitude of 27,000 feet [8,200 m]. Why were they flying so high, where the air temperature was about 40 degrees below zero Fahrenheit [-40°C]? Besides escaping the persistent snow squalls at lower altitudes, they were riding a wind current that gave them a ground speed of about 125 miles [200 km] an hour. It was estimated that the birds completed their 800-mile [1,300 km] flight from Iceland to Ireland in just seven hours.
The world champion migrator—the arctic tern—breeds north of the Arctic Circle yet spends the northern winter in the Antarctic. In a typical year, this small seabird travels between 25,000 and 30,000 miles [40,000 to 50,000 km]—the equivalent of circling the globe!
White storks breed in Northern Europe and winter in South Africa, making a round trip of 15,000 miles [24,000 km]. Thousands of these birds pass through Israel in the autumn and the spring, following a timetable known back in Bible times.—Jeremiah 8:7.
- “Four things on earth are among the smallest,*
- But they are instinctively wise:*
- The ants are not strong creatures,*
- Yet they prepare their food in the summer.*
- The rock badgers are not mighty creatures,*
- Yet they make their house in the crags.*
- The locusts have no king,*
- Yet they all go forward in formation.*
- The gecko lizard clings with its feet,*
- And it goes into the palace of a king.”*
Proverbs 30:24-28
Humans, who can choose their course in life (Jer. 10:23), are given direction by means of written principles that all of us need. (Ps. 48:14)
- Psalm 48:14: “For this God is our God forever and ever. He will guide us forevermore.”
- Jeremiah 10:23: “I well know, O Jehovah, that man’s way does not belong to him. It does not belong to man who is walking even to direct his step.”
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Why have most humans not succeeded in finding true peace and happiness? (Jer. 10:23)
For thousands of years, mankind in general has tried to navigate its way through life without divine help. Left on their own, however, imperfect humans are completely lost. They simply cannot find the road to true peace and happiness. Why have they been unable to reach that destination? More than 2,500 years ago, the prophet Jeremiah stated: “It does not belong to man who is walking even to direct his step.” (Jeremiah 10:23) Anyone who tries to direct his own step without accepting qualified help inevitably faces frustration.
“This is what Jehovah says, your Repurchaser, the Holy One of Israel: “I, Jehovah, am your God, The One teaching you to benefit yourself, The One guiding you in the way you should walk.”
Isaiah 48:17
“I will give you insight and instruct you in the way you should go. I will give you advice with my eye upon you.”
Psalm 32:8
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Why is Jehovah God supremely qualified to provide direction for mankind, and what does he promise? (Isaiah 48:17; Psalm 32:8)
Because he understands better than anyone else the makeup of humans. And he is fully aware of how the human race got sidetracked and became lost. He also knows what is required for them to get back on course. Furthermore, as the Creator, Jehovah always knows what is best for us. (Isaiah 48:17) Thus, we can fully trust his promise as recorded at Psalm 32:8: “I shall make you have insight and instruct you in the way you should go. I will give you advice with my eye upon you.” There is no doubt about it: Jehovah provides the best direction.
- “Your word is a lamp to my foot,*
- And a light for my path.”*
Psalm 119:105
“And your own ears will hear a word behind you saying, “This is the way. Walk in it,” in case you should go to the right or in case you should go to the left.”
Isaiah 30:21
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How can God’s utterances direct us? (Psalm 119:105; Isaiah 30:21)
A psalmist said in prayer to Jehovah: “Your word is a lamp to my foot, and a light to my roadway.” (Psalm 119:105) God’s statements and reminders are found in the Bible, and they can help us to overcome obstacles that we may encounter on our path. Indeed, when we read the Bible and let it guide us, we are experiencing firsthand what is described at Isaiah 30:21: “Your own ears will hear a word behind you saying: ‘This is the way. Walk in it, you people.’”
Note, though, that Psalm 119:105 points to two related functions of God’s Word. First, it serves as a lamp to our foot. When we face day-to-day challenges, principles found in the Bible should guide our steps so that we make wise decisions and avoid the traps and pitfalls of this world. Second, God’s reminders light our roadway, helping us to make choices that are consistent with our hope of living forever in God’s promised Paradise. With the road ahead well-lit, we will be able to discern the consequences—good or bad—of a particular course. (Romans 14:21; 1 Timothy 6:9; Revelation 22:12)
“There is a way that seems right to a man, But in the end it leads to death.”
Proverbs 14:12
“Do not be misled: God is not one to be mocked. For whatever a person is sowing, this he will also reap; because the one sowing with a view to his flesh will reap corruption from his flesh, but the one sowing with a view to the spirit will reap everlasting life from the spirit.”
Galatians 6:7, 8
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“Wisdom is proved righteous by its works,” said Jesus. (Matthew 11:19) Are people happier and more secure because of the plunging values? (Galatians 6:7, 8; Jeremiah 10:23; Proverbs 14:12)
Reflect on some of the results: heightened mistrust, insecurity, failed relationships, children growing up without a father or a mother, pandemics of sexually transmitted diseases, unwanted pregnancies, drug addiction, and violence. These realities clearly do not spell satisfaction and success but, rather, sorrow and failure.—Galatians 6:7, 8.
Having seen similar problems in his day, Jeremiah, a prophet of God, made the following inspired observation: “I well know, O Jehovah, that to earthling man his way does not belong. It does not belong to man who is walking even to direct his step.” (Jeremiah 10:23) Yes, God did not create us to be independent from him, to choose right and wrong for ourselves. What may seem good to us may, in fact, be very harmful. “There exists a way that is upright before a man, but the ways of death are the end of it afterward,” says the Bible at Proverbs 14:12.
“The heart is more treacherous than anything else and is desperate. Who can know it?”
Jeremiah 17:9
“Whoever trusts in his own heart is stupid, But the one who walks in wisdom will escape.”
Proverbs 28:26
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What is one reason why we need guidance on moral matters? (Jeremiah 17:9; Proverbs 28:26)
Because our hearts can deceive us. “The heart is more treacherous than anything else and is desperate. Who can know it?” says the Bible at Jeremiah 17:9. If you knew someone who was both treacherous and desperate, would you trust him? Of course not! Yet, each of us has a heart that can manifest those very traits. Hence, God gives us this forthright but loving warning: “He that is trusting in his own heart is stupid, but he that is walking in wisdom is the one that will escape.”—Proverbs 28:26.
There is the key: Instead of trusting in our own imperfect faculties, we need to walk in godly wisdom and thus deliver ourselves from many pitfalls. Moreover, precious wisdom is readily available to all who sincerely want it. “If any one of you is lacking in wisdom, let him keep on asking God, for he gives generously to all and without reproaching.”—James 1:5.
“The Rock, perfect is his activity, For all his ways are justice. A God of faithfulness who is never unjust; Righteous and upright is he.”
Deuteronomy 32:4
“Trust in Jehovah with all your heart, And do not rely on your own understanding. In all your ways take notice of him, And he will make your paths straight.”
Proverbs 3:5, 6
“Should the righteous one strike me, it would be an act of loyal love; Should he reprove me, it would be like oil on my head, Which my head would never refuse. My prayer will continue even during their calamities.”
Psalm 141:5
“The wounds inflicted by a friend are faithful, But an enemy’s kisses are plentiful.”
Proverbs 27:6
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Why should we allow ourselves to be guided by God? (Deuteronomy 32:4; Proverbs 3:5, 6; Psalm 141:5; Proberbs 27:6; Isaiah 48:17, 18)
Describing our Creator, the Bible says: “The Rock, perfect is his activity, for all his ways are justice. A God of faithfulness, with whom there is no injustice; righteous and upright is he.” (Deuteronomy 32:4) Yes, Jehovah is like a massive rock. He can be fully relied upon for sound moral and spiritual guidance no matter what changes occur around us. Says Proverbs 3:5, 6: “Trust in Jehovah with all your heart and do not lean upon your own understanding. In all your ways take notice of him, and he himself will make your paths straight.”
Indeed, who could give us better guidance than our Creator, the one who counts “the very hairs of [our] head”? (Matthew 10:30) Furthermore, he has proved to be a true friend, one who loves us enough to be honest with us at all times—even when the truth may be hard for us to swallow.—Psalm 141:5; Proverbs 27:6.
Note, too, that Jehovah does not force us to submit to his guidance. Instead, he appeals to us on the basis of love. “I, Jehovah, am . . . the One teaching you to benefit yourself, the One causing you to tread in the way in which you should walk. O if only you would actually pay attention to my commandments! Then your peace would become just like a river, and your righteousness like the waves of the sea.” (Isaiah 48:17, 18) Are you not drawn to a God like that? What is more, he has made his wisdom readily available to us by means of his inspired Word, the Holy Bible, the most widely distributed book in the world!—2 Timothy 3:16.
