Levitius 23
37 I have chosen these festivals as times when my people must come together for worship and when animals, grain, and wine are to be offered on the proper days. 38 These festivals must be celebrated in addition to the Sabbaths and the times when you offer special gifts or sacrifices to keep a promise or as a voluntary offering.
Richard: I have gotten this verse or the next one three times in the last week. God is telling me that Sabbath with Him is important.
Psalm 93
The ocean is roaring, Lord!
The sea is pounding hard.
4 Its mighty waves are majestic,
but you are more majestic,
and you rule over all.
5 Your decisions are firm,
and your temple will always
be beautiful and holy.
Heaven’s Sorrowful Heart
Rev. Sun Myung Moon
January 3, 1959
However, even Joseph and Mary, who should have toiled for Jesus and stepped forth pursuing the Will for him, could not relate to Jesus with the earnestness of God’s sorrowful heart. The three wise men from the East could not look at Jesus as Heaven looked at him, bearing a sorrowful heart.
Today we must first look back on the Shim Jung with which God grieved before Jesus’ birth. You must reflect in your minds on the sorrowful heart of God when He cast out Adam and Eve, because they fell in the Garden of Eden. You must reflect back upon that sorrowful and pathetic scene when God watched Adam, his only begotten son, being borne off by the enemy Satan.
To dissolve this sorrow, God came forth unfolding the dispensation for 4,000 years after the fall of Adam and Eve. God notified all of humankind of this sorrowful situation by sending numerous prophets and sages. Yet human beings could not comprehend God’s sorrow nor could they comprehend the grief of the Heaven-sent prophets. For this reason, the Israelites happened through the historical course where they betrayed Heaven. Since God will certainly attain His Will, He toiled without a moment of rest. Eventually, for the first time after the lapse of 4,000 years, God was able to restore the lost Adam.
In what kind of position were Joseph and Mary? Adam and Eve fell when they were in the state of engagement. Joseph and Mary were in exactly the same situation. Having set Joseph and Mary up in such a position, God unfolded the dispensation. It took 4,000 years before God could choose and raise Joseph and Mary. You must know this.
If we think about the respective motives of Mary and Joseph in coming to stand in the presence of God, we see that although Mary was a young person, she knew God was unfolding the dispensation through her people. Mary ardently wished for the Messiah to come to the earth, more so than anyone. Joseph also wished earnestly for the Messiah to save his people, to guide the chosen people into the Kingdom of Heaven. He wished for this more than anyone else.
In all sincerity, Mary and Joseph eagerly awaited the Messiah and believed firmly in their minds that God’s Will would come to pass. They believed that if they made every effort, God would notify them beforehand of the Messiah’s birth. Hoping thus, they made great efforts. We must know this.
Although Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden in ancient times fell because they could not trust, Joseph and Mary had trustful minds representing the people, minds that wished for the Messiah to come, the mind to make every effort and give devoted service. We must know that this moved God and became the motive for God to be able to send the Messiah to Israel.
Mary was confused when an angel appeared to her and forewarned her of conceiving the Messiah. Because she had not come together with any man until then, Mary denied that such a thing would occur. However, Mary had an earnest mind toward the Father’s Will, and she responded to the angel’s command by saying, “Since I am the Lord’s maidservant, please do according to Your Will.” This ran counter to the Israelite law, which the Jewish people had kept for 4,000 years. For an unmarried woman to conceive was not acceptable. At that time, Mosaic Law was so strict that a pregnant, unmarried woman was to be subjected to immediate death by stoning. Nevertheless, Mary made this sort of final decision.
In that way, chosen by Heaven as a virgin and betrothed as well, Mary was placed in a position where she had to face a life or death situation and overcome it. What was more, she came to be placed in an important situation where she could exert influence over her blood relatives and over all classes of society.