Moved by his deep love for God, Jesus worshipped Jehovah exclusively, both when he was in heaven and when he was on earth. (Luke 4:8) He taught his disciples to do likewise. Neither Jesus nor his faithful disciples ever used images in worship. Since God is a Spirit, nothing that man could possibly conceive could even come close to representing Jehovah’s glory! (Isa. 46:5) But what about making images of so-called saints and praying to them? In the second of the Ten Commandments, Jehovah said the words of today’s text. Those words are clear to those who desire to please God. Secular historians have acknowledged that the early Christians gave exclusive devotion to God. Today, Jehovah’s Witnesses follow the pattern set by the first-century Christians. w21.10 19-20 ¶5-6

Jesus warned the first-century Christians living in Judea that the time would come when the city of Jerusalem would be “surrounded by encamped armies.” (Luke 21:20-24) When that occurred, they needed to “begin fleeing to the mountains.” Their flight would lead to their salvation, but it would come at a high cost. Some years ago, The Watchtower put it this way: “They left fields and homes, not even gathering their possessions from their houses. Confident of the protection and support of Jehovah, they put his worship ahead of everything else that might seem important.” It added: “There may be tests ahead as to how we view material things; are they the most important thing, or is the salvation that will come for all on God’s side more important? Yes, our fleeing may involve some hardships and deprivations. We will have to be ready to do whatever it takes.” w22.01 4 ¶7-8

Not long after Israel’s Exodus from Egypt, Jehovah revealed himself to Moses by declaring His name and qualities. He said: “Jehovah, Jehovah, a God merciful and compassionate, slow to anger and abundant in loyal love and truth, showing loyal love to thousands, pardoning error and transgression and sin.” (Ex. 34:6, 7) With this heartwarming statement about His qualities, Jehovah revealed to Moses a unique characteristic of His loyal love. What is it? Jehovah described himself not merely as having loyal love but as being “abundant in loyal love.” That description is mentioned six more times in the Bible. (Num. 14:18; Neh. 9:17; Ps. 86:15; 103:8; Joel 2:13; Jonah 4:2) In all instances, that description refers only to Jehovah, never to humans. Is it not remarkable that Jehovah himself so strongly emphasized his quality of loyal love? w21.11 2-3 ¶3-4