Understanding God’s Intentions

When we begin reading Chapter 12 of the Book of Joshua, we are often filled with confusion. The immediate conclusion one might draw is that God is a murderer! How could God kill people? Or, some might exclaim, This is too bloody! Joshua and Moses are heartless killers! The text states that no one was left alive, isn't this a massacre?

Zeng Guofan, after defeating the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, carried out a massacre. Later, the Japanese army also committed massacres in China. Aren't such places cursed? After a city is massacred, can the Israelites still inhabit it? Isn't this a place under a curse? We find ourselves filled with various doubts.

God, is human life not vanity of vanities? Why engage in such actions? Why kill all these people? Isn't this the ultimate emptiness? If everything is so fleeting, why bother inheriting the land and killing those people? God! You are supposed to love the world! Since we are filled with confusion, we need to discern God's intentions.

Some try to explain that this is the God of the Old Testament, while the God of the New Testament is love. But what is the God of the Old Testament then? Is He a God of hate? That clearly doesn't hold water. Let's give this chapter a theme: Living Triumphantly on Earth!

Let's put it this way: if you run a business and there's only so much money and so many customers in the world, if they spend with you, they won't spend at another store, right? If you make a lot of money, others won't make as much, right? Should you be a nice person? Oh, no, go buy at another store! Wouldn't that ruin your business?

God's Will is for Us to Live in Prosperity

Our Chinese Mingding Destiny theological system is about living out God's glorious image on earth. Living out God's glorious image on earth is a spiritual matter. If a person loves God, I tell you, he will live out God's glorious image. The question then becomes, what about others? Is it our place to manage them? If you live out God's glorious image and make money, your competitors won't, they will lose money. Should you divide all your earnings with them? What are you doing then?

Let me explain briefly: God has an attribute—to those who have, more will be given; from those who have not, even what they have will be taken away, and given to those who have. If a person on earth grasps God's intentions, God will take things from those people and give them to him. Isn't that what happened when Joshua entered and inherited the land? Right? The land was inhabited; either those people lived there, or Joshua and the Israelites did.

Either those people lived there, or Joshua and the Israelites lived in the wilderness. Either Joshua destroyed or drove out the kings of those places. That's the gist of it. What do we see as God’s intention then? God’s intention is to have Joshua go in and kill them all. It’s a bit difficult to talk about this; is God a murdering God? Is it God's intention to annihilate the people of that place? Doesn’t God love the world? How could He possibly do such a thing?

Many of us find it unacceptable. If you can’t accept it, you can’t accept it. Can you understand God’s intention? If you are a good person, it's hard to accept God’s actions. If you are a person after God’s own heart, it's simple. The people of this place were filled with iniquity. How many outrageous things did they do? To the point that God abhorred these people and wanted to destroy them.

We must understand God's intentions and not impose our logic on God. We must put God's logic within us. I summarize: if you want to inherit the promised land, you must live triumphantly on earth. Remember, when we live triumphantly on earth, there will definitely be those who are not triumphant, and God will take what is in the hands of these untriumphant people and give it to us. In fact, living on this earth is a very spiritual matter. Don't turn Christian faith into a belief of utter emptiness.

Kindness of a Woman, Which is Not Understanding God’s Will

Christianity speaks of the emptiness of life, but why still seize land? Because our God is the God of the living. Do you understand? Our God is the God of the living, and our God's will is for us to live prosperously on earth. Therefore, all matters concerning the earth are spiritual matters. And spiritual matters are related to blessings and curses. God is determined to destroy the kings of this place. Why? Because they are under a very deep curse.

Why are they under such a deep curse? Because what these people did were outrageous things, truly excessive, simply full of iniquity. So God allowed Joshua to inherit this land, but with a small task: God would use Joshua and Moses to take this land. This tested one thing: Joshua must not have the kindness of a woman. If you have the kindness of a woman, you are a good person.

Oh, it's all vanity of vanities to live in this world. There's really no meaning. Let's just let them go and let them live. This kind of kindness of a woman is not understanding God’s intention. If you don't understand God's intentions, you don't know that those people are God's enemies. Don't misunderstand. God says, I am the Lord your God, a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.

How good is that! What's so good about that? Our God should be like Santa Claus, and should say, I will not punish those who hate me, I will love them, bless them, and show them love to a thousand generations. That sounds good, doesn't it? Doesn't God tell us to love our enemies? Someone asked me that question, Doesn't God tell us to love our enemies? Remember! If you take God’s enemies and love them, then try it. You will become an object of destruction together with God’s enemies.

Our God is a jealous God and will by no means clear the guilty. Do you understand? Therefore, God will punish those who hate Him to the third and fourth generation. So, brothers and sisters, if there is hatred of God in your family, God will punish their sins to the third and fourth generations, and many things will happen.

If you say God is Santa Claus, it means you don't know God yet. Understand? Once, a tour guide struggled, often taking tourists to a store to buy jewellery. You know, the plane tickets, hotels, and accommodations were all insufficient. That is, the tickets were as cheap as cabbages, and there were also transportation, hotels, and accommodations. In fact, the travel agency was losing money. So how could they make money? By taking tourists to some places to spend money.

As a result, this sister of ours was struggling, and she came to me to minister to her. She dared to sell a stone that she bought for one dollar for a hundred dollars, a profit of a hundred times. A stone she bought for ten dollars she dared to sell for a thousand! But she was a good person, and she told the tourists to be careful not to buy it. When I heard this, I thought, What kind of brains do you have? Where does your salary come from? This is called the wool comes from the sheep.

People just don't have discernment in their understanding. What I mean is that people are sometimes so kind that they are muddle-headed. Doesn't she know that the tickets and hotels are insufficient? Just give them everything for free. Let's open a travel agency and have everyone come for free travel. How good is that! Is this business? This is not business. So if you often have this muddle-headedness, how can you live? I think if people are muddle-headed to this extent, I don't know how to live. I thought this matter, when I gave an example, was not a very appropriate example.

Do Not Be Excessively Righteous, Have Compassion for God's Enemies

Our God, He is actually not Santa Claus, but many Christians are like Santa Claus, excessively righteous. Our God is taking good things from the hands of those people and giving them to those who are pleasing to God. Do you say God can’t take them? Is it not okay to be kind to them? I think, If you are kind to them, what do you get? God, why don't you create another earth for Joshua? Why do you have to kill so many kings, so many people, without leaving a single one? How cruel!

Remember, don't be God's enemy, as if excessively righteous. Understand? We live to keep and follow God's words and grasp God's intentions. So no matter what, know one thing, we must live out God's glorious image on earth, which includes victory.

Then arise and become mighty warriors of God, conquering cities and seizing lands for God, and completely trampling on the demonic enemies in the spiritual world. I think in God's eyes, the way people die is the same. If you don't understand that the way people die is the same, you will feel that it is a pity to die. I think we must understand God's intentions and work with God on earth. Do not be excessively righteous and surpass God. We must completely abandon this good-hearted mentality and do things according to God’s will.

If God wants to destroy someone, and you try to preserve them, then there is trouble. So remember, there are many people who are under a very deep curse, but they want to continue to live in the curse. Then you are filled with love, and you want to painstakingly pull them into the church, to save one soul is to save one soul. This is actually a very strange idea.

In the Bible, Jesus never said to individually pull people into the church. But Jesus criticised the Pharisees, saying that you take people one by one into church, but make them sons of hell. The Bible does say that when Jesus was nailed on the cross and lifted up, He would draw all people to Himself.

We must never pull rubbish into the kingdom of God, as if preaching a faith is saving a soul. We don't have this habit. We only have one habit, which is, if they come to seek, we will release them from the curse and release them from the oppression of the devil. Isn't this the gospel preached by Jesus? Jesus trained the twelve disciples to go out to preach the gospel, heal the sick, cast out demons, release the captives, and trained 70 people in the same way, to preach the gospel, heal the sick, and cast out demons.

Vanity of Vanities Refers to Worldly Operations and Labor

Some churches are deadly. When some brothers and sisters leave, they go in groups of three and two to find people, as if to tie them back. Isn't that similar to a cult? Doesn't that make them sons of hell? So we must understand this matter and never bring these thirty-one kings, King Og of Bashan, King Sihon of Heshbon, the King of Jerusalem, the King of Hebron, the King of Jarmuth, the King of Lachish, the King of Eglon, the King of Gezer, into the kingdom of God. Did God ask you to do this? No.

How many confusions have I resolved? First, although we read the Book of Ecclesiastes, and life is vanity of vanities, why is there still conquering cities and seizing lands? In fact, vanity of vanities refers to the operations and hard work of people. We must know that the gospel we speak of is to live prosperously and triumphantly on earth.

Don't say, I won't do business anymore, and I won't work anymore. What are you going to do then? I will be your co-worker. Can you be my co-worker like that? I think it's better for you to be a monk. I think the Christian faith never says that people stop doing anything because everything is vanity of vanities. No such thing, no such words. This is the first confusion.

The second confusion is that we must know that God will punish those who hate Him to the third and fourth generation, and show love and keep covenants to those who love Him to a thousand generations. So we must never bring those who hate God into the church. We work with God on earth, not according to our own moral values, but according to God's will. This is the confusion I want to resolve.

That is, we must work with God on earth. If God takes it from his hand and gives it to you, and you give it back to him, isn't this provoking God's wrath? God just wants to take things out of his hands and give them to those who have, to those who can attain God's intentions. Isn't that great? Of course, we are not very fond of money because we do business, or we are very fond of money because we make a lot of money. We are poor because we do not like money. It's not like that. It's not because we get this land that we love the things of this earth. It's not like that. Our idea is to live out God's glorious image on earth. This is a key part of our Chinese Mingding Destiny theology.

Some people say, What do you do by believing in Jesus? Believing in Jesus gets eternal life. It sounds a bit ethereal. You can fill out a form and apply to buy a gospel car. As long as you put the words Believe in Jesus to get eternal life on the gospel car, then you can drive this car, and the car will be given to you. But what is that? In fact, believing in Jesus is believing in the grace of redemption. The grace of redemption is that you can live out God's glorious image in the days of this world. It is definitely not going to heaven after death.

The gospel of Jesus Christ can restore the original image of God when He created us. Therefore, brothers and sisters, we must live triumphantly on earth! Some people are overwhelmed and exhausted by doing business, because they are untriumphant. Can they not be overwhelmed and exhausted? They do it painfully. If you do it painfully, why do you do it? That's being untriumphant! If they are untriumphant in the spirit, they will definitely be like this and will work hard in everything they do.

Loving God, Working with Him on Earth

So, brothers and sisters, we must strive for victory on earth, conquering and seizing territory. But this city and territory actually refer to living out victory on earth. We must first be victorious within ourselves and then live out prosperity outwardly, excelling in everything we do. You'll find something in me: I prosper in whatever I do, I enjoy whatever I do, because I love God.

There are many ways to show love for God. Some people's faith is lax; they cast God aside when work gets busy. We never demand that you attend gatherings, but even though we don't demand it, do you know how I do it? I absolutely live out victory on earth. I've been a believer for nearly thirty years, and I haven't missed a single Sunday. Don't you think that's incredible?

If there are fifty-two Sundays in a year, there are five hundred and twenty Sundays in ten years, and one thousand five hundred and sixty Sundays in thirty years, which is equivalent to four years. In nearly thirty years, I've dedicated almost four years to attending Sunday services. I haven't missed one. Do you have that kind of resolve? Why do I have this resolve? Because I love God, and I don't see it as a burden.

Some people serve, and they serve so exhaustedly. To put it bluntly, they are utterly drained. I think that's a very accurate description of them. As a result, they get cancer, and hydrocephalus. What's the point of that? I once served someone with hydrocephalus, and I asked him why he got it. He said, Look how hard we work. I only get one day off a week. How can I not get sick? But do you know what I said? I said that I work seven days a week, and I've hardly rested for nearly thirty years.

And I haven't gotten hydrocephalus, because I enjoy it. Serving God is an enjoyment for me. I'm willing, I like it. Some people play computer games and don't even feel tired because they enjoy it. Some people play mahjong and don't feel tired because they enjoy it. So, brothers and sisters, if you love God, how could you possibly see serving God as a chore? If you love God, how could you possibly see going to church as a chore? Isn't that right?

Some people say doing business is boring, but when it's time for gatherings, they're suddenly busy with work. Fine, I'm convinced. But I'm telling you, how do you live out victory in this world? How do you live out God's glorious image? Originally, they were doing ministry well, but then they needed to take some certification exam, so they couldn't do it anymore. If they can't do it, then they can't do it. It's not like they were doing it for me anyway. Then how do you live out God's image? Do people need that certification to live? People need to be victorious in spiritual matters.

Living Out God's Glorious Image

So, I often tell those Christians who aren't very successful, if you push God aside when you get busy, how can you live out God's glorious image? I give these people a saying: God will take what little you have and give it to those who have more. Who are those who have more? They are those of us who love God. We know that God will keep His covenant of love with those who love Him for a thousand generations. Isn't life simple if God loves us? Isn't living out God's glory on earth a simple thing? Isn't running a business enjoyable and simple? Isn't serving God also simple?

People just can't see through it. So, those of you among us who can't see through it, do you want to be Joshua, or do you want to be the king of Jerusalem, the Hivite king, the king of Lachish, Og king of Bashan, or Sihon king of Heshbon? As they did their thing, they were destroyed and became enemies of God. Did you think God is Santa Claus, who can tolerate you? Even the Israelites, the group Joshua led into the Promised Land, who received God's promises, who received God's covenant, and built God's temple, later lost the battle in spiritual matters. As a result, they were tossed around among the nations and became enemies of God.

Why can't we choose to carefully obey God's Word, choose to love God, and willingly serve Him? Wouldn't it be good to see through everything? If you haven't seen through it, it's okay. I can give you a prophecy: work hard, work your life away. Eventually, you'll return to the starting point. Can you avoid returning to the starting point? You will definitely return to the starting point! It's like I'm announcing something, but that's God's meaning.

Do you want to live out prosperity and victory on earth? Of course, you do! That's why the gospel I preach is so good. Some people preach the gospel as Follow me and believe in the Lord! Why should I follow you? Follow me and believe in the Lord, and you can carry a cross in this world, suffer in this world, and then gain eternal life. It sounds strange. But what is the gospel I preach? On earth, you can live out God's glorious image, be a victorious Christian, live out God's prosperity, and live out God's promises. Then, God will surely take away from those who have nothing and give to those who have more, which is us. That's wonderful!

Do you want to prosper in everything you do? If you want to prosper in everything you do, be like Joshua. If you don't want to be like Joshua, if you want to be a Christian who dies in the wilderness, that's fine. There are many of them. All six hundred thousand of them died in the wilderness! What kind of Christian do you want to be?

The Church Needs God, Not Help

Many people clamor to serve God! But they can't even keep the time for gatherings. What are you serving? I think you should just forget it. Let me pour some cold water on you to wake you up. You say you bring people here. Do I need that? I don't really need it. Because Jesus Christ Himself can draw people in. Haven't I committed enough curses in the past? We must never think that we are helping God. A few weeks ago, someone said, I'm happy to help you. If you need my help, I can donate. I said, Get out, get out! I don't need it.

Some people get unhappy: Hey? Why are you talking like that? How else should I say it? Does God need your help? Does the church need your help? Isn't that right? Does the church really need your help? If you have the idea of helping the church, I think you should just forget it! My words are harsh, a bit abrasive, but they're the truth! If I don't tell you to get out, God will make you get out, won’t He?

You know, when we were building the early church, one day I suddenly completely repented, because when I was building the church back then, many people came to help, and they all pitied me. Think about it: If many people come to help the church, can that church succeed? I'm telling you, it definitely can't. Later, I said the church doesn't need help. The church only needs God's presence. If you're willing to build God's glorious church with me, then offer yourself with me. Don't just come to help, as if I really need the help. God doesn't need help, and I don't need help. Helping is the greatest humiliation to God.

If there are still people like that among us, then I'm telling you, that kind of thinking will cause you to live under a curse, because we are too disrespectful to God. We are not dragging people into the religion. Even if you were healed or delivered among us, you can do whatever you want afterwards. I will never morally blackmail anyone. I only need a group of people with a destiny.

People with a destiny say, God, I will completely offer myself, and then be a blessing to many people on earth, emulating Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, becoming a person of destiny, living for You is my destiny. We also herd sheep, do business, and farm, but serving God is my destiny. If serving God is just your hobby, then forget it. You should just do what you're supposed to do well. My words are a bit harsh, why? You need to know one thing: If you want to lead the Israelites into the Promised Land, then you must have Joshua's character, which is to love God wholeheartedly.

Without the resolve to love God wholeheartedly, you can't do what God has given you to do. Because we love God wholeheartedly, we will do whatever God commands us to do and build God's glorious church. Do you understand? Many people say, I'll do business well, earn money, and then donate to help you build the church. I say, Forget it. The church is a place to impart blessings. The church doesn't need business. The church needs to bless people!

There are many people with this kind of confused thinking. Not long ago, someone called: Pastor! Quickly pray for my money! I said, What's this 'pray for your money' thing? What's going on? He said, Look, the pastors in our church are so poor, I do business to help them. But I invested several million and it all went down the drain. I originally wanted to help them, so you have to help me, pray for my money. My goodness! Not only did he not help the pastors, he fell into a pit himself. Can those poor pastors be helped? Isn't that right?

What exactly is the word those poor pastors are preaching? Brothers and sisters, let me say something. Although it may not be one hundred percent true, the proportion is still quite high. Why am I saying this? I don't want people to find fault with me. That's why I'm saying this. Poor pastors must be preaching the wrong word. Do you understand? Because their word is about dying and going to heaven. The word I preach is about living prosperously, living victoriously, and living out God's glory on earth.

My God is the God of the living; their god is the god of the dead. Do you understand? Those people are enemies of God. They have twisted God's words, corrupted God's people, and therefore have been cursed. These words are critical. To this day, many people have this strange idea. If pastors think being wealthy is a problem, that's a very serious matter. What have wealthy people done to offend you?

Wealth and sin have absolutely no relationship. Poverty and wealth cannot determine whether a person is spiritual or unspiritual, whether they love money or not. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were all wealthy people. Are you going to say to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, You should weep and wail because suffering is coming upon you? What kind of talk is that? Is there a problem with doing business? Who has it offended? Setting up a tent to earn money and supporting ourselves with our own hands is wonderful. Doing nothing and just praying and preaching all day, what exactly are you preaching? In fact, there are many confused things in people's hearts. We need to clear away the rubbish that confuses people in the Christian faith.

Fighting Victoriously, Claiming God's Promises

We must begin to learn to claim God's promises on earth, fight victoriously, and completely strike down the enemy, building a victorious church. These enemies of God cannot be in God's church. If you have many wrong belief systems inside you, who knows where you got them from. Anyway, you didn't get them from me. And if you still think that serving God is a matter of helping God, that is very dangerous. We are all people who have received grace. We must never offend God. God is the God of the living. Let's all live out His victory and prosperity on earth.

A sister called because her child was in high school and played games all day. Later, he barely got into a bad university. In university, he still played games all day. After finishing his games, he graduated but didn't get any qualifications. So, he took certification exams, but he didn't pass. So, this child went to work in a supermarket carrying boxes. I couldn't help but think, what's the meaning of this? If you were a pastor, would you tell him, Oh, life is vanity of vanities, don't bother struggling. Just keep carrying boxes?

What do you think? I wouldn't say that, because the gospel I believe is that this child can know God and restore God's glorious image in him. To let him come out of ignorance, because that worldly system is still in this child. The worldly system is not only in this child, but also in the child's mother.

His mother just thought that if this child got into university and graduated, he would be successful. But after graduating, he was carrying boxes in a supermarket. Was he successful? No. How did this happen? People are filled with worldly systems. They believe blindly, their faith becoming religious and loving the world, so everything is a mess.

But I said, Bring that child to me. Then I talked to the child about restoring the glorious image that God created him with. But I didn't say it that way. What I said was to be like a human being, to restore the image that a human being should have. Did I tell him that life is vanity of vanities? No. Life is vain because we underestimate these things. We can live out God's glorious image because we have clearly seen these things.

No matter what the matter is, never live in delusion. Can you understand me? That's why Joshua conquered and seized territory but didn't think it was vanity of vanities. Because the gospel that Joshua held to was that he could live out a glorious image on earth. Did Joshua live it out? He did! He lived out a state of victory, trampled on enemies, received the Promised Land, saw God's clear presence, entered into God's heart, and removed many delusions. That's Joshua!

May God bless everyone! Amen!