Our Faith Go Make Jehovah Bless Us

1, 2. Wetin be the thing wey hard Jephthah and im pikin?

JEPHTHAH pikin run go meet Jephthah, im papa, when e see am dey come back from war. Jephthah pikin happy well well sey im papa no die for the war. The pikin come dey sing, dey dance because im papa don win the fight. But wetin im papa come do and wetin im papa talk, surprise am. Jephthah tear im own cloth, come talk sey: ‘Eeeh! My pikin! You don finish me.’ E come tell im pikin wetin e don promise Jehovah. This promise go mek this young woman, wey be Jephthah pikin, no marry or born pikin. But quick quick, e tell im papa sey mek e do wetin e don promise Jehovah. Wetin Jephthah pikin talk show sey e use all im mind believe sey wetin Jehovah want mek e do, na im better pass. (Judges 11:​34-37) Jephthah see sey im pikin really get faith. This one mek am happy for the kind pikin wey e get. Jephthah know sey Jehovah go happy because the pikin gree do wetin Jephthah don promise Jehovah.

² Jephthah and im pikin trust Jehovah well well. Dem believe sey the way Jehovah take dey do things, na im better pass. Jephthah and im pikin do wetin dem talk sey dem go do, even if e no easy for dem. Dem just want do wetin go mek Jehovah happy. Na that one better pass anything wey dem fit give Jehovah.

3. Wetin we go fit learn from Jephthah and im pikin?

³ E no dey easy for person to get strong faith for Jehovah. Na im mek we go need to ‘fight well well for that faith.’ (Jude 3) The thing wey Jephthah and im pikin do when things hard dem, go fit help us learn how we go take get strong faith. Wetin dem do?

DO WETIN JEHOVAH WANT EVEN WHEN OTHER PEOPLE DEY DO BAD THINGS

4, 5. (a) Wetin Jehovah tell Israel people the time wey dem reach the Land wey God promise dem? (b) Wetin Psalm 106 talk sey happen to Israel people because dem no do wetin Jehovah tell dem?

⁴ E don dey reach 300 years since when Jehovah tell Israel people mek dem kill all the people wey dey serve juju for Canaan, the land wey im promise sey e go give dem. Israel people no do wetin Jehovah talk. (Deuteronomy 7:1-4) Many people for Israel, both man and woman, come dey serve juju and dey live the kind bad life wey Canaan people dey live. Jephthah and im pikin no go forget wetin happen to Israel people that time.—Read Psalm 106:34-39.

⁵ Jehovah no save Israel people when their enemy come fight dem, because dem no do wetin Jehovah tell dem. (Judges 2:1-3, 11-15; Psalm 106:40-43) E no go easy at all for any family wey love Jehovah, that time, to still dey do wetin Jehovah want. But e still get people wey get faith that time. This people do wetin Jehovah talk. Some of dem na Jephthah, im pikin, Elkannah, Hannah and Samuel. Dem ready to do wetin go make Jehovah happy.—1 Samuel 1:20-28; 2:26.

6. Which kind bad things people dey do today, and wetin we go do?

⁶ Today, people dey think and dem dey do things like people wey dey Canaan that time. Wetin people today like to do pass na to dey sleep with different different man and woman, to dey fight and to dey pursue money. But Jehovah dey warn us. As God no want mek Israel people dey do like Canaan people, na so e no want mek we dey do the bad things wey people dey do today. We no want mek wetin happen to Israel people happen to us. (1 Corinthians 10:​6-11) Mek we do everything wey we fit do, so that we no go dey think like people wey dey this world. (Romans 12:2) Abeg, mek we dey try.

JEPHTHAH DO WETIN JEHOVAH WANT EVEN WHEN PEOPLE DO WETIN PAIN AM

7. (a) Wetin Jephthah people do am? (b) And wetin Jephthah come do?

⁷ For Jephthah time, Israel people suffer for Philistia and Ammon people hand because dem no do wetin Jehovah tell dem. (Judges 10:​7, 8) Apart from the people wey dey suffer dem, Jephthah still get problem with im brothers and the people wey dey lead Israel. Because im brothers dey jealous am and dem hate am, dem pursue am comot for im village. (Judges 11:​1-3) But Jephthah no treat dem the way dem treat am. How we take know? We know because, when the elders for the village beg am mek e come help dem, e no waste time go help dem. (Judges 11:4-11) Wetin mek Jephthah do wetin e do?

8, 9. (a) How the Law wey Jehovah give Moses take help Jephthah? (b) Wetin be the thing wey dey Jephthah mind?

⁸ Jephthah na strong soldier. E know wetin don happen to Israel people before and e know the Law wey Jehovah give Moses well well. The way God take treat Israel people, mek Jephthah know wetin God like and wetin God no like. (Judges 11:12-27) Wetin Jephthah learn about God help am for anything wey e want do. E know sey God no want mek person dey vex anyhow and God no like “do me I do you”. E still know sey God want mek Im people get love for theirself. Another thing be sey, that Law teach am how e go take treat everybody, even people wey hate am.—Read Exodus 23:5; Leviticus 19:17, 18.

⁹ E fit still be sey Joseph example help Jephthah. E go don learn how Joseph take pity im brothers, even though sey dem hate am. (Genesis 37:4; 45:4, 5) E fit be sey na this Joseph example wey e get for mind help am do wetin Jehovah like. Wetin Jephthah brothers do really pain am. But e no carry wetin dem do am for mind. Na to fight for Jehovah name and Im people, dey im mind. (Judges 11:⁠9) E really want do wetin Jehovah want. Na im mek Jehovah bless am and bless Israel people.—Hebrews 11:32, 33.

10. Wetin we go do if our brother or sister for congregaton do wetin pain us?

¹⁰ E get anything wey we learn from wetin Jephthah do? Wetin we go do if our brother or our sister for congregation do wetin we feel sey dem no suppose do? Or maybe dem do wetin pain us? Mek we no stop to serve Jehovah because of wetin dem do us. Mek we no stop to go meeting or to follow our brothers and sisters for congregation dey do things together. Mek we do like Jephthah and mek we dey do wetin Jehovah want. This one go help us when we get problem. We go come get the kind character wey other people fit copy.—Romans 12:​20, 21; Colossians 3:13.

THE THING WEY WE FIT DO FOR JEHOVAH GO SHOW THE KIND FAITH WEY WE GET

11, 12. Wetin Jephthah promise Jehovah, and wetin the promise mean?

¹¹ Jephthah know sey na only God fit help am save Israel people from Ammon people hand. E promise Jehovah sey if Jehovah help am win the fight, e go give Jehovah the first person wey go come out from im house, when e come back. This person go be like ‘sacrifice wey dem burn for fire.’ (Judges 11:30, 31) Wetin that one mean?

¹² We know sey no be person Jephthah want take do sacrifice because to use person do sacrifice, na wetin Jehovah hate. (Deuteronomy 18:​9, 10) For the Law wey Jehovah give Moses, sacrifice wey dem burn for fire na special sacrifice wey person dey give Jehovah and na everything for the sacrifice be Jehovah own. So wetin Jephthah mean be sey, the person wey e go give Jehovah go dey work for Jehovah tabernacle (Jehovah house that time) till the person die. Jehovah hear wetin Jephthah talk. E come help Jephthah win the fight. (Judges 11:​32, 33) But na who Jephthah go give Jehovah?

13, 14. How the thing wey Jephthah talk for Judges 11:35 take show sey e get faith?

¹³ You remember wetin dey paragraph one? When Jephthah come back from the fight, the first person wey run come meet am na im only pikin! Jephthah love this pikin. Jephthah go gree do wetin e promise? E go gree mek the only pikin wey e get go tabernacle go work for Jehovah till e die?

¹⁴ E fit be sey na the Law wey God give Moses still help Jephthah do the correct thing. E fit don remember wetin dey Exodus 23:19. That place talk sey mek God people use their mind give Jehovah the thing wey better pass, for inside wetin dem get. The Law still talk sey when person don promise Jehovah something, ‘mek e no change mouth. Mek e do everything wey e don talk sey e go do.’ (Numbers 30:2) Jephthah show sey e get faith like Hannah, e fit even be sey two of dem live for the same time. Like Hannah, Jephthah do wetin e promise, even though sey e no go easy for am and im pikin. Since na tabernacle the pikin go dey work, e no go marry and e no go born pikin. This one mean sey if Jephthah die, nobody go get im property and nobody go dey to answer im name. (Judges 11:34) But e still show sey e get faith, when e talk sey: ‘I don already tell Jehovah wetin I go do, and I no fit change am.’ (Judges 11:35) No be small sacrifice Jephthah give Jehovah. Jehovah come bless am because e happy for wetin Jephthah do. If na you, you go fit do like Jephthah?

15. Wetin many of Jehovah people don promise am, and how we fit show sey we get faith like Jephthah?

¹⁵ The time wey we tell Jehovah sey we want use all our life serve am, we promise am sey we no go stop to do wetin e want, even if e no go easy sometimes. But how we take dey behave if dem tell us to do something wey we no like? If we stop to worry and we use our mind do wetin God tell us, e go show sey we really want do wetin we don promise. Wetin Jehovah go take bless us go better pass anything wey we don leave because of am, even if e no easy for us. (Malachi 3:10) What of Jephthah pikin? How e behave?

16. Wetin Jephthah pikin do when im papa tell am wetin e promise Jehovah? (Go check the first picture.)

¹⁶ Wetin Jephthah promise Jehovah dey different from wetin Hannah promise am. Hannah pikin name na Samuel. Hannah promise Jehovah sey Samuel go be Nazirite, wey go dey work for tabernacle. (1 Samuel 1:11) Person wey be Nazirite fit marry and e fit born pikin. But Jephthah pikin own be sey, e go be like ‘sacrifice wey dem burn for fire.’ So, e no go fit enjoy wetin people wey don marry and wey get pikin, dey enjoy. (Judges 11:37-40) Think am! If sey Jephthah pikin want marry, which kind man e for marry? Since na im papa dey lead Israel, you no think sey na man wey people respect and wey people sabi well for Israel e for marry? But now, Jephthah pikin go be servant for tabernacle. Wetin this young woman come do? Wetin Jephthah pikin do show sey to do Jehovah work better pass to marry and to born pikin. E tell im papa sey: ‘Do wetin you don promise.’ (Judges 11:36) Because Jephthah pikin want serve Jehovah, e leave the normal thing wey e for like to do, wey be to marry and to born pikin. How we fit do like am?

17. (a) Wetin we go fit do to show sey we get the kind faith wey Jephthah and im pikin get? (b) Wetin Hebrews 6:​10-12 talk wey mek you feel sey you fit leave things wey you like because of Jehovah work?

¹⁷ Plenty young brothers and sisters don sey, for now, dem no go marry or born pikin. Why e be like that? Na because dem no want mek anything disturb dem for Jehovah work. Many of our brothers and sisters wey dey congregation don old. Dem still dey use their time and power do Jehovah work, instead of mek dem dey enjoy with their pikin or grand pikin dem. Some of dem dey follow build Kingdom Hall, Assembly Hall and branch office. Others go School for Kingdom Evangelizers so that dem fit go help congregation wey no too get publisher. Others still dey wey dey arrange their time well, so that dem fit use plenty time preach for every Memorial time. This brothers and sisters don show sey dem get faith, as dem take leave things wey dem like. Na better thing dem do. Jehovah no go ever forget wetin all this brothers and sisters don do. (Read Hebrews 6:10-12.) What of you? E get wetin you fit leave mek you fit work more for Jehovah?

WETIN WE DON LEARN?

18, 19. Wetin we don learn from wetin Bible tell us about Jephthah and im pikin? How we fit do like dem?

¹⁸ Wetin help Jephthah fit do wetin Jehovah like, even if e no easy? E let Jehovah Law tell am wetin e go dey do. E no do the bad things wey people wey dey around am dey do. And e no stop to dey do wetin Jehovah want even when people do wetin pain am. Jehovah bless Jephthah and im pikin because dem use their mind take do wetin Jehovah want. Jehovah come use the two of them well well for im work. Even when people stop to dey do wetin Jehovah talk, Jephthah and im pikin no stop to dey do wetin Jehovah want.

¹⁹ Bible talk sey: ‘Dey do like the people wey get the things wey God don promise because of their faith and their patience.’ (Hebrews 6:12) Mek we dey do like Jephthah and im pikin. Mek we get am for mind sey Jehovah go bless us, if we get faith and if we dey do wetin e want.