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Well, our scripture text for today,
along with the Watchtower comments,
indicate that our obedience in small matters
may actually affect our survival
during the coming great tribulation.
Note, however, other similar comments
from Watchtowers over the years.
For example, the December 2007
Watchtower says:
“As we get nearer
to the outbreak of the great tribulation,
“we may well receive
some detailed instructions.
“Our safe journey
through those troublesome days
“will depend on our keeping in step
with other loyal servants of Jehovah.”
The April 2012 Watchtower says:
“During the great tribulation,
“Christians will need to obey instructions
from God’s Word and organization. . . .
“We will be saved only if we obey
the instructions we receive at that time.”
The March 2022 Watchtower says:
“At times, [the] slave may give direction
that we do not fully understand.
“For example, we may receive
specific instructions
“[for surviving] a natural disaster
that we think
is unlikely to occur in our area.”
The October 2023 Watchtower says:
“During the early part
of the COVID-19 pandemic
“when we were asked to stop meeting
at our Kingdom Halls
“and to suspend our house-to-house ministry,
“did you struggle to obey?
“Yet, your obedience protected you,
“united you with your fellow believers,
“and pleased Jehovah.
“All of us are now better prepared
“to obey any instructions we receive
during the great tribulation.”
And finally, The Watchtower
of February 2024 says:
“We might occasionally find it a challenge
to follow Jehovah’s guidance,
“especially when it is conveyed
by imperfect men.
“Why?
“The counsel may conflict
with our likes or dislikes.
“Or we might feel
that the direction . . . is unwise
and . . . that the counsel
must not be from Jehovah.”
So as we can see,
The Watchtower in recent years
has repeatedly reminded us to obey,
even though,
as today’s Watchtower comments indicate,
we may receive instructions
that seem strange,
impractical,
or even illogical.
Why?
Well, let’s go back in time to ancient Egypt
at the time when the Israelites
were delivered.
Do you remember
any instructions at that time
that could have seemed strange,
impractical, or even illogical?
Well, first, Jehovah told Moses and Aaron
to go tell Pharaoh to send Israel away.
Well, the result?
Pharaoh orders the Israelites
to gather their own straw
and have no reduction
in their requirement of brickmaking.
In other words, the situation
didn’t get better; it got worse.
Next, the first plague:
The Nile is turned into blood,
but Pharaoh then witnesses
his own magic-practicing priests
do the same thing.
So Pharaoh’s heart becomes obstinate.
The next plague:
Frogs, but the magic-practicing priests
duplicate that miracle as well.
So now, at this point,
might Moses and Aaron have begun to think,
‘Jehovah, this is just not working out
—not effective’?
But, then, there were more plagues,
and those plagues
Egypt’s magic-practicing priests
could not duplicate.
In fact, they admitted:
“[This] is the finger of God!”
Before the tenth plague,
the Israelite families were instructed
to slaughter a one-year-old lamb;
roast the lamb; don’t boil it;
don’t break any of its bones;
don’t save any of it till morning;
burn the leftovers in the fire,
and eat it with your belt fastened,
sandals on your feet, staff in your hand;
and eat it in a hurry
—a lot of instructions.
Did the Israelites understand
the reason for all these instructions?
For example,
“Why can’t we break
the bones of the lamb?”
No reason was given for that command.
In fact, that command was prophetic,
and the fulfillment turned out to be
over 1,500 years later.
But, at that time, did the Israelites think:
‘Moses, excuse us,
‘but you’re giving us cooking instructions.
Isn’t this rather personal?’
‘I prefer to boil my meat, even if I have to
break a few bones when I put it in the pot.’
‘I get indigestion
if I have to eat in a hurry.’
Some possibly grumbled about it,
but did they obey?
Remarkably, yes.
At Exodus 12:28, it says:
“The Israelites went and did just as Jehovah
had commanded Moses and Aaron.
They did just so.”
Well, now after the tenth plague,
Jehovah gave another
seemingly strange instruction.
He says: ‘Go ask the Egyptians
for articles of silver
and gold and clothing.’
Now, did the Israelites
object to this instruction?
Could they have said:
‘Moses, don’t you think this is bad timing?
‘After all, the entire nation of Egypt,
‘every household,
has just lost their firstborn.
‘And now we’re going to ask them
for their silver,
‘their gold, and their clothing?
Isn’t that a little insensitive?’
Well, in actuality,
the Egyptians were simply
providing compensation
for many years of slavery,
which they were not entitled to.
After all, the Israelites had come
as guests into the land of Egypt,
not as slaves.
Well, did the Israelites
obey this instruction?
They absolutely did.
The Bible says that “Jehovah
gave [them] favor
in the eyes of the Egyptians,”
and the Egyptians gave them
what they asked for.
They gave them what was needed
for the tabernacle construction much later.
Now, after their departure from Egypt,
Jehovah told Moses to have the Israelites
turn back and camp up against the Red Sea.
Now they were trapped
between the Red Sea
and Pharaoh’s oncoming war chariots.
Does that seem illogical, dangerous,
or brilliant?
You know the answer.
So, today, the lessons:
What if we receive instructions
from Jehovah’s organization
that at first seem ineffective?
Maybe these instructions
seem to make our life even harder,
as when Israel had to find straw
in addition to making bricks.
Or what if the instructions we receive
seem overly intrusive into our personal lives
—personal decisions, such as what we eat,
how to cook it, and even how we eat it?
Or what if we don’t understand the reasons
for certain instructions
for days or weeks or months
or even another 1,500 years?
Or what if instructions
from Jehovah’s organization
seem to put us in danger,
as when Israel appeared
to be trapped at the Red Sea?
What will help us to obey?
Well, we have to remember this:
With each plague,
Jehovah repeatedly showed
he was using Moses and Aaron.
And has he not done so today?
Think of how
during these difficult last days,
through disasters and wars and pandemics,
we have repeatedly been guided
by wise direction
from Jehovah’s organization,
“the faithful and discreet slave.”
The lesson:
Now is the time to train ourselves
to trust Jehovah,
trust those whom he is using,
and faithfully obey even in little things.
Doing so prepares us
not just for the great tribulation
but for the days ahead,
even during the Thousand Year Reign,
according to Psalm 45:16.
So will we keep following direction,
even when it means
setting aside personal preferences?
That depends on how we respond
to the guidance Jehovah is providing now.

Jonathan Smith: Faithfully Obey in What Is Least (Luke 16:10)