“Wandering Stars” and the Seven Kinds of People Who Damage the Church

 

“Wandering Stars” and the Seven Kinds of People Who Damage the Church

We can categorize these seven types of people as "wandering stars"—those who are not bound by heavenly revelation and divine truth and have lost their correct direction. Jude describes these people as "wandering stars," highlighting their characteristics as self-sufficiency, being blown about by the wind, fruitlessness, shame-making, complaining, following their own desires, and forming groups. 

Furthermore, 1 Corinthians 3 describes the church as God's field, God's building, and God's temple; therefore, damaging the church is not merely a matter of individual behavior, but also involves whether it is built on the sole foundation of Christ, using materials that conform to God's economy. 

Comparison	Ammonites	Moabites	Edomites	Philistines	Tyrians	Sidonians	Egyptians
Main Scriptures	Ezek. 25:3	Ezek. 25:8	Ezek. 25:12	Ezek. 25:15	Ezek. 26:2; 28:12–15	Ezek. 28:21, 24	Ezek. 29:2–9
Spiritual Significance	Those who hate Christ, God's grace, and the church	Those who drag the church into union with the world	The unregenerated old man and the natural life	The natural man in religious zeal	Those who seek worldly wealth and do not care for God's interests	Those who love the world and worldly wealth and become thorns and briers	Those who are independent of God and rely on natural resources
Attitude toward Christ	Oppose Christ	Cause the church to lose its distinction in Christ	The natural life opposes the new man	Replace Christ as life with natural zeal	Replace Christ's value with worldly gain	Worldly occupation causes people to lose the enjoyment of Christ	Replace dependence on Christ with self-ability
Attitude toward Grace	Hate God's grace	Replace the enjoyment of grace with the world	Rely on the natural self instead of living in grace	Replace grace with religious zeal	Value wealth above God's grace	Worldly enjoyment hinders the growth of grace as life	Do not rely on God's grace but on personal resources
Attitude toward the Church	Rejoice when God's dwelling place is damaged	Desire the church to become like the nations	Damage the new man through the old man and natural life	Bring natural religion into the church life	Disregard God's interests	Become thorns and briers that wound and trouble others	Replace God's building with human ability
Main Characteristic	Opposition	Worldliness	Old man	Natural religion	Worldly wealth	Worldly occupation	Self-reliance
Way of Damaging the Church	Oppose Christ, grace, and the church	Remove the distinction between the church and the world	Allow the self, natural life, jealousy, and resentment to enter the church	Replace life with natural zeal and religious activity	Turn God's things into instruments for profit or status	Use worldly enjoyment, wealth, and anxiety to hinder the growth of life	Replace God with natural wisdom, ability, and resources
Spiritual Reality	Opposing God	Loving the world	Living the old man	Living the natural man	Loving mammon	Being occupied by the world	Being independent of God
Relation to the “Wandering Stars”	Depart from God's direction and oppose His economy	Drift according to the current of the world	Walk according to the old man and natural emotions	Walk according to natural zeal	Walk according to worldly interests	Are attracted by the world and lose the heavenly direction	Follow their own wisdom and ability
What Is Lost	Love for and appreciation of Christ	The church's holiness and separation	The reality of the new man	The reality of life	God's interests	The growth of life	Dependence on God
Effect on Life	Damages God's dwelling place	Causes life to be swallowed up by the world	Causes the natural life to suppress the divine life	Causes religious activity to replace life	Causes wealth to occupy the life	Like thorns and briers, prevents life from growing	Causes natural ability to replace the supply of life
Effect on the Building	Damages God's temple	Makes the building worldly	Causes the building to be mixed with the self	Causes natural religion to enter the building	Causes the building to be governed by personal interests	Hinders the growth of life in God's cultivated land	Causes human building to replace God's building
What We Must Guard Against	Guard against hostility toward Christ, grace, and the church	Guard against the union of the church with the world	Guard against the old man, self, and natural life	Guard against natural zeal and religious activity	Guard against wealth, status, and personal interests	Guard against worldly enjoyment, anxiety, and occupation	Guard against natural wisdom, ability, and self-confidence
Positive Counterpart	Love Christ	Be sanctified and separated	Put on the new man	Walk according to the spirit	Care for God's interests	Be freed from worldly occupation	Fully depend on God
Practice of a Stable Star	Remain fixed in Christ	Do not drift with worldly currents	Refuse to let the old man reign	Do not substitute natural zeal for life	Do not allow wealth to become the center	Do not allow the world to become thorns	Do not depend on yourself but on the Lord
Christ Manifested by a Stable Star	Christ as love and the center	Christ as separation and holiness	Christ as the life of the new man	Christ as life, not religion	Christ as God's interest	Christ as the supply of life	Christ as our everything
One-Sentence Summary	Do not oppose Christ	Do not worldlyize the church	Do not allow the old man to reign	Do not replace life with natural religion	Do not let wealth replace God's interests	Do not allow the world to become thorns	Do not be independent of God

The Inner Progression of the Seven Kinds of Damage

Level	Ammon	Moab	Edom	Philistia	Tyre	Sidon	Egypt
First Level: Center	Hatred of Christ	The world	The old man	The natural man	Wealth	Worldly enjoyment	Self
Second Level: Deviation	Opposing God	Joining with the world	Living by the natural life	Living by natural zeal	Pursuing personal gain	Being occupied by the world	Relying on oneself
Third Level: Result	Defiling the sanctuary	Losing separation	Damaging the new man	Religion replacing life	Neglecting God's interests	Hindering the growth of life	Man replacing God
Fourth Level: Damage to the Church	Destruction	Worldliness	Mixture	Naturalization	Commercialization	Stifling of life	Humanization
Opposite Spiritual Practice	Love Christ	Love God's church	Live the new man	Live by the spirit	Care for God's interests	Be freed from the world	Depend on God

“Wandering Star” versus “Stable Star”

Wandering Star	→	Stable Star
Not fixed in the heavenly revelation	→	Fixed in the divine revelation
Acts according to personal concepts	→	Governed by God's word
Blown by the world, the natural man, and the self	→	Led by the Spirit
Loves the world	→	Loves Christ
Lives the old man	→	Lives the new man
Natural religion	→	Christ as life
Pursues wealth	→	Cares for God's interests
Independent of God	→	Fully dependent on God
Damages God's building	→	Builds up the Body of Christ
Wanders and loses direction	→	Remains stable, shines, and bears God's testimony

The Central Spiritual Burden

The seven types can be summarized as four fundamental deviations:

1.      Deviation from Christ — Ammon
Hatred of Christ, grace, and the church causes a person to oppose God's economy.

2.      Deviation toward the world — Moab, Tyre, and Sidon
The world enters the church, worldly wealth becomes attractive, and worldly occupation becomes a thorn that hinders the growth of life.

3.      Deviation into the natural life — Edom and Philistia
The old man, the self, natural zeal, and natural religion replace Christ as life.

4.      Deviation into independence from God — Egypt
Man trusts his own wisdom, ability, and resources rather than God.

Thus:

Hating Christ → Loving the world → Living by the natural man → Relying on oneself
↓
Losing the heavenly revelation → Losing the reality of life → Damaging the church's testimony → Becoming a wandering star

Conversely:

Heavenly revelation → Fixed in Christ → Living by life → Not loving the world → Not trusting the natural man → Depending on God → Building up the church → Becoming a stable star

One Prophetic-Speaking Summary

The “wandering stars” are those who are not fixed in the heavenly revelation and in Christ as the unique foundation. We must guard against Ammon's opposition, Moab's worldliness, Edom's old man, Philistia's natural religion, Tyre's wealth, Sidon's worldly thorns, and Egypt's independence from God, so that we may not be blown about by every wind. Rather, we should be fixed in Christ, live by the divine life, build up the church, and become stable stars shining for God's testimony.

Spiritual Formula

Wandering Star:
Leaving the revelation → drifting with the wind → natural/worldly elements entering → damaging the building

Stable Star:
Being fixed in the revelation → taking Christ as the center → living by the divine life → building up the church → shining for God's testimony

One further point is important in applying these types: the seven persons or peoples should first serve as a spiritual warning to us rather than simply as labels for other believers. The proper application is to allow the light to search us: Is there in me any opposition to Christ, love of the world, activity of the old man, natural religion, pursuit of wealth, worldly occupation, or independence from God? In this way, the warning concerning the “wandering stars” becomes a positive burden for the building up of the Body of Christ.

 

*Please refer to the April 2026 Summer Training General Topic: Believers, Chapter Eleven: The Stars, the Male Child, the Firstfruits, the Harvest, and Jasper and Other Precious Stones.