Introduction

Good morning. Let us turn to 2 Samuel, Chapter 20. The author wrote this chapter in a haphazard manner, leaving us bewildered upon reading it. One moment, someone is stabbing another to death; the next, something else is happening. It is truly chaotic. Therefore, I have been reading and listening to it repeatedly these past few days, my mind filled with the content of 2 Samuel, Chapter 20. Finally, I have come to understand it. Some say this chapter is about David quelling the rebellion. That may be so, but it is only a part of the chapter. I believe this chapter is about the challenge of managing people's hearts.

In the previous chapter, David made some decisions that I did not quite grasp. However, from this chapter, I think that David was very capable. He possessed high political wisdom and could govern a nation. Although he governed well, a man named Sheba shouted a word, and the Israelites scattered. We would be surprised by this. David had been king of Israel for many years, while Absalom had been their king for only a few months at most. How could the Israelites act this way? It turned out that it was because of a minor issue: the people of Judah welcomed David back without consulting the Israelites. Therefore, the Israelites were fault-finding, creating an opportunity for Sheba to exploit.

Managing people's hearts is a very challenging task. The previous chapter discussed winning back the hearts of the people. Whatever work we do, if we are managing a group of people, it is a very challenging endeavor. For example, if you are a city administrator, how should you manage? If you do not manage, the result will be vendors setting up stalls everywhere, cars parking haphazardly, and even people building walls that encroach on their neighbors' properties. If you manage, people are unhappy, but if you do not, it will not work either. It is quite vexing! However, David plays the game of public relations, which is very important.

Some people are mentally slow and asked me a strange question: Should we win back the heart of a person? I said, No need. People still need to be managed. If a person spits or litters indiscriminately, or throws objects from high places, they should be punished. However, we must not let them do as they please, because that is not management. So, we are now discussing the management of people's hearts, following up on the previous chapter.

Making People Smart is a Very Difficult Task

Can David's method of managing these people be applied in our church? No, it cannot! Because the people David managed were a bit simpleminded. We should avoid managing simpleminded people in the church, because if you are good to them, they will think you want to harm them; if you deceive them, they will think you are a good person. You cannot deal with such people. Therefore, I sympathize with these leaders; it is really difficult to deal with them. If it is a business, you can fire them if you are unhappy and hire a smarter person. But can David choose Israelites, can he fire Israelites? He cannot. Therefore, he can only play public relations.

Since ancient times, making people smart has been a problem. For example, in pyramid schemes, you do not need to sell anything. People just say, Come and make money with me, and you immediately follow them. They say, Recruit three more people, and each one will get one million, and we brothers will share the money, just by recruiting people to share the money. It is like P2P. Isn't that foolish? If I try to stop you, you will think I am trying to deceive you. This is obviously a scam. One child had a mental illness, but the child's mother ignored it and insisted on going to Guangxi to seize investment opportunities. We could not stop her. After a while, she came back to us, and six hundred thousand had been swindled away. Now you know how difficult it is to make people smart!

What I hate most are foolish people, because if you are good to them, they think you want to harm them; if you deceive them, they think you are good to them. However, the church cannot do this. It cannot engage in public relations; it must engage in pastoral care to make people smart. Some time ago, I heard that someone else had been deceived. They said, Come and train with us. We are very good here. We can train your leadership skills. Obviously, it was another pyramid scheme, but people with dull minds went. If they had good minds, they could not be deceived. So, it is too difficult to make people smart.

Where is the problem? It has to do with a group of people. If you go to a location of a pyramid scheme, you will see people coming and going. You may ask, How do you know? Because I have been there. When I was young, I did it for a while. Someone as smart as me reached the leadership level in a few months. I was definitely good at pyramid schemes, but I knew that doing pyramid schemes was deceiving people. Although there was money to be made, I decided not to do it after three months. I am very smart. I can understand the whole process and algorithm, such as the three-legged, four-legged, left-side, right-side, all very clearly. If I had time, I could even write the software. In short, it is about how to recruit people, how to teach you how to deceive people, and ultimately it is all about money.

If it is a place where a group of people gathers, then you must be careful. Some people post videos showing how many people are in Huawei stores and how many people are in Apple stores. If you look at the crowd, you must be a fool. A few years ago, there were tens of thousands of people participating in the lottery for apartment units. Where are those tens of thousands of people now? The property prices have been cut in half. Where are they? Gone! So, is the lottery for apartment units a good thing or a bad thing? If you win and get that apartment, but the price is cut in half, you cry to heaven in vain. You cannot tell whether something is good or not by looking at a crowd of people. For example, pyramid schemes convene large meetings. It is a large gathering of people, a chaotic and lively scene. Can that be right?

I want to make people smart, and some people say that I am blocking their path to wealth, cutting off their opportunities. Why? Because they can really make money. My mother's downstairs neighbor opened a Laoma Le store. When my mother saw that they were making money, she said, I will buy some too! I said, Why? She said, Look, they invested 10,000 and will get back 20,000 after three months. They really made money, but that is a scam. When everyone takes the people to invest money for the second time, there is nothing left. Because people have already harvested it all, the tea is cold, and many old ladies' money has been swindled away.

I have been smart since I was a child. As long as I see a group of people, I will hide far away. One year, our Chinese women's volleyball team won the world championship, and the whole campus became lively. The streets were crowded with people. But I hid far away, because people would definitely be trampled to death, which cannot be reported. Even pilgrimages can trample people to death. People are trampled to death, so what pilgrimage is there?

As long as there is a group of people, if you join them, you will become stupid. Anyway, I will not do this. If you like to join in the fun and like to squeeze in, the result will be bad. When the church was being built, the churches that people built were 30,000 or 40,000 people, and even entering the church required buying tickets. I do not like this. I think it is stupid! Those people thought that building a large church was great, but what does it prove? It proves nothing. We can look at what Jesus did.

Again Jesus called the crowd to him and said, “Listen to me, everyone, and understand this. Nothing outside a person can defile them by going into them. Rather, it is what comes out of a person that defiles them.” After he had left the crowd and entered the house, his disciples asked him about this parable. “Are you so dull?” he asked. “Don’t you see that nothing that enters a person from the outside can defile them? For it doesn’t go into their heart but into their stomach, and then out of the body.” (In saying this, Jesus declared all foods clean.) He went on: “What comes out of a person is what defiles them. (Mark 7:14-20)

Do you see? Many people followed Jesus. Jesus healed their diseases and sent them away, letting them do what they should do. Among so many people, Jesus only chose twelve disciples, or at most seventy disciples. Why? Because he cannot manage them all. If you give me 40,000 people, anyway, I do not know what to do. I cannot manage them. But I have a characteristic, that is, I do not manage things that I cannot manage. I only manage things that I can manage.

Of course, this is just my opinion. Can everyone judge whether my humble opinion is smart or stupid? Just judge it well in your heart! As long as you follow the trend, when people snatch houses, you will also snatch them. People can snatch money, but what you snatch is definitely a pile of dog shit. Is that not fatal?

Like now, who still believes in Evergrande? No matter how big it is, I do not believe it. I believed it in the past because there were many people. These things are related to a group of people. Among a group of people, I do not know how many are stooges. You must be careful about what I say. You must know my mindset. I do not love money, so how many people have made money, how many people have grabbed things, how many people have won the lottery, I still know, but I do not have that idea. You must know my idea, that is, I buy when everyone is not buying, and I do not buy when everyone is buying. Think about it, can someone like me not take advantage? You must always keep your mind clear, because those who can be fooled are a group of foolish people.

I do not know if everyone has heard of this. That is, when you are on the grassland, you see a group of sheep, a group of horses, or a group of cows suddenly running in one direction. You ask it, Why do you want to run in that direction? In fact, it does not know. Animals are like this, and people will be like this. They run to one place. What are they doing? They do not know. There are three layers inside and three layers outside a group of people. The people on the outside squeeze inward, and the people on the inside squeeze outward. The people are squeezed. Then you hear someone asking, Who's dad died? After those people dispersed, they found a dung beetle rolling a dung ball on the ground. What is so good about this? Who's dad died? No one's dad died. This has become a joke.

We must remember in this generation to never gather in crowds! I think the government must like my argument, because I advise everyone not to gather in crowds. It is easy for accidents to happen when gathering in crowds, and it is easy to become like that group of foolish cows and sheep. People run and you follow, and you do not know where you are going. In chaotic times, stay at home and do not follow the trend or gather in crowds. This is a kind of wisdom! What if people are making money? People have made money! If you go up, it may be that people are making your money.

A Word Can Corrupt the Hearts of the Israelites

A word can corrupt the hearts of the Israelites. How foolish must the people be? One thing I want to do is to make everyone smart, to become what kind of person? That is, people say one sentence, ten sentences, or a hundred sentences, but they cannot corrupt you. Now many people are corrupted by a sentence.

Now a troublemaker named Sheba son of Bikri, a Benjamite, happened to be there. He sounded the trumpet and shouted, “We have no share in David, no part in Jesse’s son! Every man to his tent, Israel!” So all the men of Israel deserted David to follow Sheba son of Bikri. But the men of Judah stayed close to their king all the way from the Jordan to Jerusalem.(2 Samuel 20:1-2)

As long as a group of people gather, it is easy to produce evil spirits. Why do stampedes happen? On Halloween, many people were trampled to death in an alley in one country. I do not know what these people went to do? Where do you have time to join in the fun? People are easily influenced if they are stupid. They went to Halloween in a daze, and then they were trampled to death. I have only one sentence: never join in the fun! Stay away from even the greatest celebrations!

How can a word corrupt the hearts of the Israelites? Because behind it is an evil spirit, always remember, it may be a football game as a trigger, with wins and losses, it may be a volleyball, basketball, or it may be a mixed ball. This Sheba is a mixed ball. He shouted so loudly that the hearts of the people were corrupted. Has David ever taken advantage of them? David has managed Israel for so many years, no!

Throughout history, there has been a group of people among the Israelites who wanted to kill Moses. Can you understand this? Moses led them out of Egypt, and then they wanted to stone him to death; David led those Israelites to escape Saul's pursuit, just because something happened, they wanted to stone David to death, all like this! I want to tell everyone a word from the bottom of my heart: I do not expect anything. A word can corrupt the hearts of the Israelites, and all the grace David had on them is wiped out! It is because people are corrupted by a word, which is very strange!

The best service is to not ask for anything, you just want to be able to bless them. If you can bless them, then bless them, if you cannot bless them, then forget it. A word corrupts the hearts of the Israelites because there are evil spirits behind them; a word corrupts your heart because there are evil spirits behind you. The Israelites just found fault because the people of Judah had not consulted them. What kind of logic is this? What does it have to do with David? In fact, it has nothing to do with it.

The Israelites said: David is from the tribe of Judah, and we have nothing to do with him. Therefore, David had done so much work before; said so many words; done so much public relations, but it was useless! A word corrupted the Israelites. If David has a lot of problems and does public relations poorly, it would be even worse. Then it would not be one Sheba, it is possible that ten Shebas would come out, so how easily people are corrupted!

I have a deep understanding of this. Those who used to oppose me were all those I personally served. They have all experienced earth-shaking testimonies, but it proves nothing! Some people I brought from the edge of destruction to the road of blessing, but they still oppose me. In the past few years, my heart has been cold, and now it is finally warm. Why was it cold? I just could not figure out why they wanted to do this. Everyone must know my logic, I just want to fix smart people! Because we cannot fix foolish ones. After blessing them and praying for their illness to be healed, then you can do whatever you want! So, a word can corrupt the hearts of the Israelites, which is the foolishness of people.

King David returned to Jerusalem and went into his palace. He took the ten concubines he had left to care for the palace and put them in seclusion. He provided for them, but did not sleep with them. They were like widows until the day they died. (2 Samuel 20:3)

Why did David, so wise, do this? Because Absalom had slept with them. If it got out, it would be said that father and son shared the same women. How shameful! People in tea houses would gossip about it. That is why David did what he did.

The Value of Amasa

In the previous chapter, David said, I will appoint Amasa as commander of the army in place of Joab. Does that sound strange? How could Joab not be upset? He was upset. Why did David do this? Because Amasa still had great influence. Although Absalom was dead, Amasa was alive. He was the commander appointed by Absalom. What was his relationship with Joab? They were cousins; Joab's mother and Amasa's mother were sisters. That is what the Bible says. David was willing to offend Joab to win over the hearts of the men of Judah!

Then the king said to Amasa, Summon the men of Judah and come here within three days. But when Amasa went to summon Judah, he took longer than the time the king had set for him. (2 Samuel 20:4-5)

Was there something fishy going on? Of course. What was Amasa doing? He went to gather his former subordinates, the men of Judah, because he was a commander. Under him were generals and lieutenant generals. Because he was gathering these men, he took longer than the king had set. What exactly happened behind the scenes? We can only speculate, but something was definitely amiss. Amasa was struggling. Day after day passed. How could he explain this to others? It was difficult to explain and even harder to do the ideological work. This was Amasa's problem.

Why did David exploit Amasa's value? Because David wanted to minimize casualties and avoid another rebellion. Not only David, but even the ancient emperors of China did the same. To govern a country, you must be a capable politician. David sent Amasa to gather the men, but what did he actually do? We do not know. Later, Joab stabbed Amasa to death. How easily the hearts of the people are corrupted! Therefore, managing people's hearts is a great challenge. Later, David gave Amasa a grand funeral. All these things are called wisdom. Without this heart, one cannot do this job!

A Young Man of Joab Can Exert Influence

Beside Amasa’s body stood one of Joab’s young men. Let everyone who favors Joab and is for David follow Joab! he shouted. (2 Samuel 20:11)

As a result, everyone followed him. The reasons for their actions were not clearly explained, but they went anyway. Like all public relations, there are obvious traces of exploiting people’s ignorance. We, as brothers and sisters, must understand that a young man of Joab shouted, Let everyone who favors Joab and is for David follow Joab! And the Israelites followed Joab.

We must realize that someone else had shouted before. Any generation can produce a Hitler who can once again turn Germany into the way Hitler managed it. At that time, Hitler managed Germany quite well, but eventually pushed Germany into World War II. Why? Because he was not only skilled in public relations, but also a first-class speaker. One component of this is exploiting people’s ignorance. This is also very interesting. You will find that this chapter often mentions the crowds, a large group of people.

Even a Corpse Can Influence the Crowd

Amasa lay wallowing in his blood in the middle of the road, and when the man saw that all the troops came to a halt there, he dragged him from the road into a field and threw a garment over him. After Amasa’s body had been removed from the road, everyone went on with Joab to pursue Sheba son of Bikri. (2 Samuel 20:12-13)

Look, when a corpse lies by the road, everyone stops and blocks the way. Who can pass? Have you ever noticed that when you are driving and there is a traffic jam, you finally get through and find that nothing happened? The things in people's hearts are very interesting. If you put a small flag waving by the highway, the area will become congested. Because people see the flag and slow down, causing a traffic jam that can stretch for miles. Or if you put anything else on the ground, it can cause a traffic jam. Sometimes there is an accident on the opposite side of the road, and this side becomes congested because everyone slows down to watch.

When a corpse was placed there, everyone stopped. Then someone moved Amasa's body from the road to a field and covered it with a garment. After the body was removed from the road, everyone followed Joab to pursue Sheba son of Bikri. To understand this, you will find that people’s hearts are strange. A corpse can influence a large group of people. Ask yourself why you were influenced, and you will realize that you must be a person with unclear goals, strategies, and methods. If nothing can influence you, you have already set your goals, and no corpse can affect your objective. When we are alive, no matter what we encounter, nothing can influence us. We go straight toward our goal! That is good!

Therefore, brothers and sisters, I long for you to become wise. Don’t be influenced by a dung beetle and stop; don’t stop because someone dies; don’t stop because a dog dies. What would our lives become? Therefore, on the path of Mingding Destiny, nothing can influence us. We must set our goals like the Apostle Paul and press on toward the goal. That is the choice of a wise person. There are too few wise people in this generation.

When I was a child and people were watching TV, I sat there and read. Nothing could influence me. If it were someone else, they would go out and do this and that, coming and going. Then they would wonder, Where was I reading? Before they could find it, the next episode of the TV series would start. In our era, we didn't have TVs at home, so we looked through the windows into other people's homes. Even so, some people insisted on watching the TV series and joining in the fun.

Have you heard what I have said? If you were influenced in those years, you must change now! To be honest, it is not easy to change. It is a bad habit that is hard to break. I often tell people, How about this academic master? This is not to boast about myself. But I must tell you that a person who has this character in his bones from childhood is easy to shepherd. If you give him a clear goal, he can go straight to it. Why do so many people achieve nothing? Because even if they set a goal, today they are attracted by a dung beetle; tomorrow they are attracted by a corpse; the day after tomorrow they are attracted by something else. Even a black-and-white TV can corrupt you. It is really hard to change.

To be a wise person is to be influenced by nothing. People who achieve nothing are difficult to shepherd. Why? Because their hearts are floating. Why floating? Because of ignorance! If I directly say you are ignorant, you will not agree and will argue, Teacher, you can't say that to me. I will ask him, What did I say to you? He will say, Teacher, you said my head is like a walnut and my heart is like a peanut.

I will say to him, I didn't say that to you. But he will argue with me, Teacher, you are talking about me. As a result, it is bad. When I encounter this situation, I can't explain it. One sentence can corrupt a person, or one thing can corrupt a person. It is really tiring to encounter this situation. I have to control the discernment of good and evil in my flesh and still serve. I cry out, God! Have mercy on me! If you are willing, take this cup away and remove this foolish person. That is my inner logic.

A Wise Woman Saves a City

He passed through all the tribes of Israel to Abel Beth Maakah and through the entire region of the Berites, who gathered together and followed him. All those with Joab came and besieged him in Abel Beth Maakah, They cast up a siege ramp against the town, and it stood against the outer fortifications. While they were battering the wall to bring it down (2 Samuel 20:14-15)

How is it that only one woman in this city is wise? The story goes like this: Joab besieged the city to catch Sheba. As a result, Sheba fooled the people in the city, Let us protect this city together. This is interesting. At this time, a woman spoke to Joab from the city wall. Joab said, I just want Sheba's head. After hearing this, the woman went back and persuaded the people. As a result, they threw Sheba's head to Joab, and the whole city was saved.

Then a wise woman called from the city, “Listen! Listen! Tell Joab to come here so I can speak to him.” Joab went to her, and the woman asked, “Are you Joab?” “I am,” he answered. She said, “Listen to what your servant has to say.” “I’m listening,” he said. Again she said, “In the past they used to say, ‘Ask your questions at Abel,’ and so they would settle a matter. (2 Samuel 20:16-18)

We are loyal and peaceful people of Israel. Why do you want to destroy a city that is a mother in Israel? Why do you want to swallow up the Lord’s inheritance?” Joab replied, “Far be it from me! I have no intention of swallowing up or destroying anything. That is not the issue. But a man named Sheba son of Bikri, from the hill country of Ephraim, has lifted up his hand against the king, against David. Hand him over to me alone, and I will withdraw from the city.” The woman said to Joab, “His head will be thrown to you from the wall.” Then the woman, with her wisdom, persuaded all the people. They cut off the head of Sheba son of Bikri and threw it to Joab. Joab sounded the trumpet, and his men dispersed from the city, each returning to his home. And Joab went back to Jerusalem to the king. (2 Samuel 20:19-22)

Think about it, how is this woman so amazing? Where are all the wise people in this city? The city is full of fools who were fooled by Sheba's words. Fortunately, there was a wise woman whose words saved the entire city. If Joab had broken through the city, all the people in the city would have been rebels and would have been killed with Sheba. I am very moved! There are too few wise people!

Joab was commander over all Israel’s army; Benaiah son of Jehoiada was over the Kerethites and Pelethites; Adoniram was in charge of forced labor; Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud was recorder; Sheva was secretary; Zadok and Abiathar were priests; and Ira the Jairite was David’s priest. (2 Samuel 20:23-26)

If you want to manage these things, what should you do? You need to build a core management team. Therefore, David, in order to strengthen his management, has a hard time trying to manage these ignorant Israelites. To build a good core team, David made Joab commander of all Israel’s army; Benaiah son of Jehoiada was over the Kerethites and Pelethites. Let me interject here, don't ask me who the Kerethites and Pelethites are. In fact, they are just a small tribe. Then Adoniram was in charge of forced labor; Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud was recorder; Sheva was secretary; Zadok and Abiathar were priests; and Ira the Jairite was David’s priest.

David's Core Management Team

Have you noticed that David did a great job? Did Saul have this core management team before? No! At this time, Joab was the commander managing the entire army, and Jehoiada and Benaiah were in charge of the Kerethites and Pelethites. What did the Kerethites and Pelethites do? They are the current guard force. You can go check it out; maybe I'm wrong. Adoniram was in charge of forced labor, that is, prisons and judicial organs; Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud was the recorder, who wrote down the history. Why is history so important? History is not written for later generations to read, but for contemporary people to read. It is to allow contemporary people to learn from historical experiences and lessons. Tragically, people never learn any lessons from history.

Sheva was the secretary. The job of the secretary is to carefully refine the words before sending them out, like the people who sent imperial decrees in that era; Zadok and Abiathar were the chief priests; Ira the Jairite was David's prime minister. The prime minister's job is to manage the daily administration, just like the current State Council. This is David's core management team. Think about how difficult it is to manage a country! Anyway, I can’t do it; I’ll just be an ordinary citizen. Some people ask what Abishai did. He was Joab’s subordinate.

You must know the challenge of managing people's hearts. In the future, if you want to be a manager in a company, you must know how to manage and have the talent for management. Our church has been able to get to this point because the brothers and sisters, under my training, may have been basic employees before, but now they must learn to equip themselves as middle-level managers; if you are already a middle-level manager, you can move towards becoming a senior manager. In any case, it is better to be a manager. Why? Because the value created by managers is far higher than the value that ordinary people can create! If you want to earn more money, you have to move up. If you don't have the ability, you have to learn quickly.

Therefore, the content in Samuel can make people smarter. I think that's great! Do you think I'm right? I hope I got it right! We need to gradually learn and understand, and don't mess around! Compared to David, I am far behind. How amazing David was! We must develop the habit of learning, and never develop the habit of making decisions recklessly. Know what you know, and learn what you don’t know.

May God bless everyone!