Crystallization-Study of Joshua, Judges, and Ruth
Message Nine
The Children of Israel Not Having a King
and Everyone Doing What Was Right
in His Own Eyes
OPENING WORD OF THE PROPHESYING MEETING
Reading the verses in each day.
Reading the main points in the outlines.
Pray-reading the verses:
Judg. 21:25 In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.
Titus 2:14 Who gave Himself for us that He might redeem us from all lawlessness and purify to Himself a particular people as His unique possession, zealous of good works.
Word of Appetizer
The conclusion of Judges says, “In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes”; what’s the significance of “doing what is right in our own eyes”?
Doing what is right in our own eyes is lawlessness; “sin is lawlessness”; in 1 John 3:4 “lawlessness,” or being without law, denotes being without, or not under, the principle of God’s ruling over man; in God’s eyes, a person sins when he acts according to his own nature and deliberation, walking according to self-will and rebelling against God’s authority; lawlessness is not recognizing and submitting to God’s authority.
The Lord Jesus rebuked those who prophesied, cast out demons, and did works of power in His name because, as “workers of lawlessness,” they did these things out of themselves, not out of obedience to God’s will.
Spiritual Burden
We need to be rescued from lawlessness and from being workers of lawlessness, do what is right in the eyes of God by obeying the principle of serving God, and conquer the satanic chaos in the old creation and carry out the divine economy for the new creation.
In the Lord’s recovery we need to be delivered from the lawlessness portrayed in Judges and to live under the rule of God in the kingdom of God and do the will of God.
Concluding Word of the Prophesying Meeting
The Revelation of the Truth
In their degradation Israel became chaotic in government, worship, and morality.
“In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes”.
God is the King of the ages, the One with absolute authority for eternity, who never changes.
We need to be rescued from lawlessness and from being workers of lawlessness and to do what is right in the eyes of God by obeying the principle of serving God.
The chaos in government, worship, and morality recorded in the book of Judges portrays the satanic chaos in the old creation.
The Experience of Life
The God in whom we believe and whom we serve and who is being dispensed into us is the King of the ages, the King of eternity; if we allow Christ to reign in us, bringing in the kingdom with lovingkindness, truthfulness, faithfulness, justice, and righteousness, we will become the same as He is in these virtues.
The universe is in a state of chaos; this chaos is the source of suffering in the world today, and as long as there is chaos in creation, there will be sufferings in the world; as the overcomers are suffering the chaos, they are “empowered in the grace which is in Christ Jesus” (2:1) and are able to stand for and live out the divine economy.
Practice and Application
We need to be rescued from lawlessness and from being workers of lawlessness, do what is right in the eyes of God by obeying the principle of serving God; in the Lord’s recovery we need to be delivered from the lawlessness portrayed in Judges and to live under the rule of God in the kingdom of God and do the will of God.
As those who are living in the midst of chaos, rebellion, and lawlessness, we need to have a clear vision of God’s economy; we need to be governed, controlled, and directed by this vision; we must be strong and unshakable in the vision of God’s economy, God’s eternal will.
PROPHESYING TOPICS—TWELVE TOPICS PER WEEK
Day 1
T1: The children of Israel did what was right in their own eyes (Judg. 21:25).
(Please explain that there was no expression of God in Judges because there was no king.)
T2: The children of Israel did that which was evil in the sight of Jehovah (Judg. 2:11).
(Why is the age of the judges considered the darkest period in the history of Israel?)
Day 2
T1: The children of Israel did what was right in their own eyes, and as a result they became rotten and corrupted (Judg. 17:6).
(Please explain that like the children of Israel in the age of the judges, today’s Christians do things according to his or her own will.)
T2: The oneness of the people of Israel has been kept by this unique place of worship (Deut. 12:14).
(Why is that in the Old Testament when the people of Israel entered into the good land, they must present their burnt offerings in the very place of God’s choice.)
Day 3
T1: No earthly king can be called the King of the ages (1 Tim. 1:17).
(Please explain that the One whom we serve and who is being dispensed into us is the King of the ages.)
T2: To enjoy Christ as the reigning One in the tent of David (Isa. 16:5).
(Please explain that for Christ to reign in us means that He reigns in us with a kingdom.)
Day 4
T1: Sin is lawlessness and rebellion (1 John 3:4; Titus 2:14).
(Please explain that a man sins when he walks according to his self-will and rebels against God’s authority.)
T2: We must realize that there are two principles in this universe (Acts 1:7; Isa. 14:13-14).
(Please explain that there are two principles in this universe; one is the principle of God’s authority, and the other is the principle of Satan’s rebellion. )
Day 5
T1: The difference between “enter into the kingdom of the heavens” and ” enter into the kingdom of God”.
(Please explain that to call on the Lord suffices for us to be saved, but to enter into the kingdom of the heavens we also need to do the will of the heavenly Father.)
T2: We need to live in the life of the heavenly Father and also by that life (Matt. 7:21-23).
(Why is that the Lord never approved those who were in His name, but not walk according to the will of the heavenly Father.)
Day 6
T1: The satanic chaos always goes along with the divine economy (Gen. 1:1-2).
(Please explain that the overcomers are those who suffer the chaos, but they are not disappointed or discouraged. )
T2: To conquer all the satanic chaos and carry out the unique divine economy.
(Please explain that the overcomers are not delivered out of the satanic chaos; instead, they conquer the destructive satanic chaos.)
