Good morning, let's delve into the final chapter of Judges. Before we begin our Bible study, it is best to read the original text of Judges several times, and then ponder what concept this passage is trying to convey to us. What is Judges chapter 21 about? Many say it is about being self-righteous and acting arbitrarily. To be more specific, how are they self-righteous and how do they act arbitrarily? In reality, it is about the Israelites being entangled by their own oaths, speaking whatever they want.

Micah's mother lost one thousand one hundred shekels, equivalent to the annual salary of one hundred and ten people, a considerable sum. She then issued a curse, saying, "Whoever takes my one thousand one hundred shekels of silver, may he be cut off from descendants." As it turned out, Micah discovered that the money was with him; he had taken it. This became problematic, as he feared that the curse his mother spoke would befall him if he revealed it.

Then, after consulting with his mother, Micah decided that two hundred shekels was not a small amount, equivalent to the annual salary of twenty people. So, he used two hundred shekels to make a silver idol, then fashioned an ephod, and prayed continuously. After praying, Micah felt that God was truly gracious to him because, after praying, the grandson of Moses arrived. If it were you, wouldn't you think, "My goodness, my idol is so effective!"? My idol is so powerful.

Afterward, Moses' grandson made Micah's house a temple of the Lord God, finding a job with an annual salary of ten shekels. Ten shekels to serve an idol made of two hundred shekels, that was his temple. It is unclear where he placed this deity, perhaps on the stove, or in some corner of their bedroom. It is probably a situation not unlike how Chinese people worship idols.

Micah and Moses' grandson, this was all nonsense, one speaking nonsense, one making nonsense, one doing nonsense. It was complete rubbish without any theoretical foundation, and this rubbish attracted the tribe of Dan. When the tribe of Dan saw that there was an idol of the Lord and the grandson of Moses, they had to talk. Would you rather be a priest for a tribe or a priest for a family? Let me tell you, if Micah made an idol and his family's business failed, what would he do? He would definitely throw away that idol.

My parents once made an idol, and then my sister developed mental illness and depression. When my parents saw what it was, they threw it straight into the trash. What kind of god is that! Isn't it? But Micah did not throw it away, still considering it a treasure because he made money from it.

Judges records that Micah and his mother did this one thing to break a curse. Then this incident led to a series of tragedies. In the previous chapter, sixty-five thousand people died. How could such a small idol lead to so many stories? How are these stories connected? Because of Moses' grandson, Moses' name. Moses must be in heaven now, feeling embarrassed that we talk about his grandson every day, though we do not know if he cares about this matter.

Moses' grandson's concubine cheated on him, because he did a great thing, becoming a priest of the tribe of Dan. Becoming a priest of the tribe of Dan, can that not be considered spiritual adultery? Therefore, brothers and sisters, be especially careful of spiritual adultery.
People have problems with physical adultery, and there can also be spiritual adultery. Those who are spiritually adulterous will also produce physical adultery. Ponder this matter slowly; adultery is a state of unfaithfulness, so a person who is unfaithful is called adulterous.

Spiritual adultery comes first, followed by physical adultery. The concubine died on the way back to her parents' home because of adultery, and was raped to death. So, be careful of matters of adultery; adultery really brings a spirit of death! Finally, it led to the death of sixty-five thousand people.

To review this matter from beginning to end, the concubine's death brought about the death of sixty-five thousand people. Then Moses' grandson was quite interesting, very talented, cutting the body into twelve pieces, one piece for each tribe. Gathered at Mizpah were four hundred thousand troops, who immediately took an oath, and as a result, were entangled by their own oaths. That is roughly the background.

I have been thinking about how to solve the problem of people speaking nonsense, doing nonsense, and making nonsense. That is to cultivate engineering thinking. A person with engineering thinking can get things done. For example, you can make a table, make a chair, build a house, renovate, etc. Our church is a training institution, not a research unit, to prevent people from doing nonsense.

The History of the Israelites is a History of Arbitrary Actions

If you read the entire book of Judges from beginning to end, you will find that it is a series of soap operas that took place in the Promised Land. After people entered the Promised Land, judges rose up, then failed again, then rose up again. The entire soap opera of Israel took place after God's people entered the Promised Land. Do you feel confused? Is this really the Promised Land? How could the Promised Land be like this? How did it become a land of soap operas? Did not Moses and Joshua lead the Israelites to inherit the land and triumph?

This reveals a truth that is very similar to Christians today. I believe in the Lord, I have been born again and saved, and I can go to heaven when I die. Have you noticed that the soap opera begins immediately afterward? For this kind of Christian, the soap opera also begins. You must know that believing in the Lord does not guarantee anything, entering the Promised Land does not guarantee anything. But one thing can be guaranteed: God's people perish for lack of knowledge.

A few days ago, I met someone who said that he believed in the Lord and was saved by grace, justified by faith, and could go to heaven after death. I asked him, "What did you do that Jesus did?" He did nothing that Jesus did, but he did a lot of things that Jesus did not do. In fact, the soap opera begins the moment we enter the Promised Land, because God's people perish for lack of knowledge.

If you are an ignorant person, you are guaranteed to perish, guaranteed to be a soap opera. Christians today are like the Israelites who entered the Promised Land, possibly still living in the era of Judges. The root problem of the Israelites is that they do not care about God but care about human ignorance.
I have been wondering: with my small arms and legs, can I reverse this situation a little? It is probably a bit difficult. But one thing you must know: if you want to believe in the Lord well among us, you must study in this place. Chinese Mingding Doctrine is a theology of learning. If you finish studying the Bible and there are other exams, you must also study. People who get a headache as soon as they see a book also need pastoring.

Among us, there are those who call me teacher, and I also call them teacher. They call me teacher because I am a pastor in the church. I call them teacher because they are real teachers, senior teachers in schools. Senior teachers read textbooks in class every day, reading for many years without any innovation. In the end, they develop depression and come among us to begin healing and deliverance.

If a people's teacher becomes an ignorant person, it is quite terrible. You must know that God's people perish for lack of knowledge, and people's teachers will also perish for lack of knowledge. Teachers today really cannot teach as well as artificial intelligence. I also have a sense of crisis. Artificial intelligence writes programs and software quickly and efficiently. It is very powerful, doing in half an hour what I do in three days. What artificial intelligence can do, you cannot do; what artificial intelligence cannot do, you also cannot do.

Therefore, we must bring about a new era of change, standing at the forefront of teaching people how to learn, teaching people how to live out the glorious image of God. Not only must we learn how to live out the image of God ourselves, but we must also learn to do research, teaching people how to live out the image of God, because ignorance brings destruction. Judges chapter 21 describes the Israelites acting arbitrarily, making arbitrary oaths, speaking nonsense, as if they look very powerful.

The Israelites Took Two Oaths at Mizpah

The Israelites gathered four hundred thousand troops at Mizpah and took two oaths. First: We Israelites will never give our daughters to the Benjamites as wives. I think the oath was taken because the Benjamites raped Moses' grandson's concubine to death. Second: If anyone does not come to the Lord from the assembly, whoever does not come to Mizpah to the Lord, he must be put to death. These two oaths are deadly!

Because if you give your daughter to a Benjamite as a wife, you will be cursed. If you do not come to Mizpah and strike Benjamin with us, you must be put to death. Did God teach them this? Definitely not. This is their arbitrary action, and the result is very harmful.

Judges chapter 21 revolves around the curse brought about by these two oaths, unfolding a soap opera. So, never take oaths, never speak nonsense. Some people are on a boat, sailing in the sea, and the children on the boat are crying. The adults will say: "If you cry again, I will throw you into the sea to feed the fish." Have you heard of this? As a result, the sea began to churn, the waves were turbulent, and the boat was about to be destroyed.
Do not say that after throwing them down, the sea will really be calm. So, this world is a very spiritual world. It is best not to speak nonsense. Control your mouth, and do not swear by God, nor by heaven, nor by earth. Because you are nothing, you know nothing. What can swearing do?

If the Israelites had listened to Jesus' teaching in those days, "Let your 'Yes' be 'Yes,' and your 'No,' 'No,'" they would not have been entangled by these two oaths. Now they regret that one tribe of Israel is about to be extinct. They killed all the Benjamites of Israel, killing all the men and women in the city, leaving only one place to escape. This village had only six hundred people left. As a result, the Israelites regretted that one tribe was about to be extinct.

They sat before God, crying loudly, saying, "O Lord, God of Israel, why is there a tribe missing in Israel?" In fact, God does not care at all whether one or two are missing. They messed around when they fought, speaking nonsense as soon as they opened their mouths, and now they regret it.

In fact, most people live with this logic, living in this situation, wanting to kill them all at once, and then regretting why they killed them. One moment they feel that people are very good, the next moment they feel deceived, and then they think he is very bad and want to beat him up, and finally they pity him. It is an extremely chaotic situation.

Therefore, I am also very careful when I serve people. For example, couples quarrel, and there is domestic violence. The sisters say: "Pastor, please come and help me quickly." I am now wary. I used to be silly, rushing over to help people. Later, I discovered that after they reconciled, they still disliked me, thinking I was stupid, and I became a joke.

There was another person who was subjected to domestic violence. After I rescued her from there and settled her down, she brought her husband back a few days later, and then she was subjected to domestic violence again. Later, they made me smarter. I found that people really need to be beaten. This kind of brain cannot make people smarter.

The Israelite army of four hundred thousand died forty thousand people there, and killed another twenty-five thousand people, and then did a nonsensical thing: why is there one tribe missing? Today's Israel has only the tribes of Benjamin and Judah left. The current Prime Minister of Israel is from the tribe of Benjamin.
In the end, whether it was the tribe of Dan or the tribe of Benjamin, no matter how many tribes were gone, God did not care about it. If you understand God, you will find that God really does not care. When the flood came, all the beasts and people on the earth were gone, leaving only Noah's family of eight. God really did not care.

God has opened up a path to eternal life for people, but whether people want to take this path to eternal life is their own choice. If He does not care, why did He send Jesus Christ to die on the cross to save us? Because God cares about His people. If you read the entire Bible, you will definitely conclude that what God cares about is His church. God's entire plan of redemption is to build the body of Jesus Christ, to build God's church.

Are these people of Israel God's people? Jesus said, "No, they are the offspring of the devil. They are not the descendants of Abraham; they are the descendants of the devil." Otherwise, how could they perform so many soap operas? If you are a descendant of Abraham, you have Abraham's genes in you, you have Abraham's appearance in you. If you have Abraham's faith inside you, you cannot but be blessed.

We must remember one thing: the church is the body of Jesus Christ, a place filled with the Spirit of God. If the church only hangs a sign, it is more like a pastor finding a job for himself. Brothers and sisters, never be an ignorant person, because ignorant people kill blindly, leave people blindly, and do everything based on impulse.

Lest They Be Cursed by Their Oath, They Did Many Outrageous Things

They killed all the women of the tribe of Benjamin, leaving six hundred men at Rimmon Rock. But these six hundred men could not produce offspring, and when they died, the tribe of Benjamin would be utterly gone. Now the Israelites regretted this, because they had to solve the problem of finding wives for them. You will find it all a chaotic mess.

Then they tried to find wives for the six hundred men at Rimmon Rock, who were living in constant fear, not knowing when the Israelite army would come to kill them. But the Israelites came and spoke kindly, saying, "We do not want to kill you anymore; we want to find wives for you." However, they had sworn an oath not to give their daughters to them, lest they be cursed. Then they looked among themselves to see if anyone had not taken the oath. Finally, they found the people of Jabesh Gilead and sent four hundred of their women to Benjamin.

In the end, it was all a soap opera. The six hundred men only got four hundred women. If the Israelites had been a bit more creative, they might have come up with the idea of polyandry. But then someone suggested, "Let's not do polygamy or polyandry, it will lead to bloodshed. Let's settle these four hundred women, and the other two hundred can be seized from the festival grounds."
If the people there asked, "Why are you doing this?" they could answer, "Because we swore that if we gave our daughters to the Benjamites, we would be cursed. But these were not given; they were seized, and seizing does not count. If you had given them, it would be a sin, but since these women were seized, it is not a sin." In fact, everything was done to fulfill the two oaths they had sworn. Because without the oath, there would be no curse; otherwise, the curse would become a problem.

Originally, there was not just one Micah in Israel; there were Micahs among all four hundred thousand people. Another oath was that anyone who did not come to the Lord at Mizpah would be put to death. When they checked, they found that the people of Jabesh Gilead had not come, so they killed all the people of Jabesh Gilead, except for four hundred women. The Jabesh Gileadites who appeared in Saul's time may have survived because they were not completely wiped out. Finally, they sent twelve thousand mighty warriors to kill everyone, men and women. Just after killing the Benjamites, they regretted it and then wiped out this small tribe.

We cannot figure out the logic in the minds of the Israelites, nor do we know what they were thinking. It's all a soap opera. All these things happened because people casually said something, took an oath, and then tried to fulfill the oath they had taken. There was certainly no good outcome, so Jesus said, "Do not swear."

Some people have been angry and hot-tempered since childhood, clenching their fists and swearing oaths. If that is the case, then you must rely on the precious blood of Jesus Christ to cover and break these things. Never put a curse on yourself.

The Book of Judges records the story of Israel when there was no king, and everyone did what was right in their own eyes. In fact, God does not like to establish kings; God likes to establish priests. But after God established priests, the priests could not rule the people with an iron rod like kings. There was no king in Israel, and everyone did what was right in their own eyes. How often do we also have that kind of mindset, doing what is right in our own eyes?

Do not be surprised when disaster strikes. God really does not care about killing one more or one less, nor does God care about one more or one less dying. Of the Israelites who came out of the wilderness, six hundred thousand soldiers, only Joshua and Caleb survived; all the others perished in the wilderness.

What God cares about is His Church. If we are pastors in the Church but do not diligently shepherd God's sheep, it is better not to be pastors. If we believe in the Lord and end up like Israel entering the Promised Land in that kind of state, it is better not to believe.
Now, if you choose to be a Christian, be a clear-minded Christian. Know what you are doing. Do not be as confused as the Israelites, living out a tragic result. There are many things we cannot control, so wherever we go, let us move forward in faith. Never swear oaths, because we cannot fulfill them. Be sure not to be an ignorant Christian, because God's people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.

May God bless everyone!