Exodus 1
15 Finally, the king called in Shiphrah and Puah, the two women who helped the Hebrew[d] mothers when they gave birth. 16 He told them, “If a Hebrew woman gives birth to a girl, let the child live. If the baby is a boy, kill him!”
17 But the two women were faithful to God and did not kill the boys, even though the king had told them to. 18 The king called them in again and asked, “Why are you letting those baby boys live?”
19 They answered, “Hebrew women have their babies much quicker than Egyptian women. By the time we arrive, their babies are already born.” 20-21 God was good to the two women because they truly respected him, and he blessed them with children of their own.
Richard: Be aligned with God’s Will and follow God’s calling, according to your conscience!
Jeremiah 21
Pay attention, you that belong
to the royal family.
12 Each new day, make sure
that justice is done,
and rescue those
who are being robbed.
Or else my anger will flame up
like a fire that never goes out.
13 Jerusalem,
from your mountaintop
you look out over the valleys[c]
and think you are safe.
But I, the Lord, am angry,
14 and I will punish you
as you deserve.
I’ll set your palace[d] on fire,
and everything around you
will go up in smoke.
Let Us Halt in Our Steps and Behold the One Who Is Protecting Us
Rev. Sun Myung Moon
March 8, 1959
Why did God not abandon the world, even as He was forsaking Jesus? Why did He allow Jesus to be hung on the cross, yet did not forsake his enemies? It was to show that there was even greater sorrow than Jesus’ death.
We fallen people must seek the infinite love of Heaven and experience His historical heart as our reality. He has protected us and labored for our sake. We must emerge victorious before God. When you look at society, you will find that it is not a joyful world. Human history is a history of sorrow. Because human history did not begin in joy, but in grief, human history has become a history of sorrow.
When you look at a person weeping painfully over his grief, you probably feel sympathy toward him. However, do not sympathize with an individual’s grief or rejoice over your situation. Our grief transcends the individual level and is connected to the family level, the national level, the world level, and even to the level of Heaven.
You commonly weep and grieve over your misfortunes, difficulties and sorrows. Yet there is a sorrow which exceeds your individual grief in your family, society, nation, the world and the universe.
To become brave soldiers who seek the heart of Heaven, we must feel not only our sorrow but sorrow at the highest level. We should reflect upon whether the persecution, betrayal and grief we suffer in our life are for the sake of the ultimate goal, our pursuit of Heaven’s love. There is grief which surpasses any sorrow felt in human relationships. If the Creator is great and lofty, His ideals and goodness are also great and lofty. Yet in place of this great and lofty ideal and goodness, sorrow has become the object of God’s heart.
When you seek heavenly love, you are to grieve and weep, but you are not to do so selfishly. You are not to bear fruit for your sake. Such people will be bound to themselves and will perish. Those who cling to their families will decline while holding onto their families, and those who cling to their nation will fall with their nation. Those who cling to the world will perish with the world.
What then must we cling to when we cry? We must cling to Heaven’s love. We should feel God’s sorrow as our sorrow and feel God’s difficulties as our own. Because we are fallen people, because we have to shoulder the sorrowful course of history and walk toward Golgotha, we are not to stop at the sorrows we feel today. That is not the end.
Jesus, who understood this, had no problem praying for his enemies. He was determined that, even if he were to encounter more sorrowful trials, he would prevail and complete his responsibility as Heaven’s son. Therefore, Jesus could step over the hill of death, forgive his enemies on the cross, and overcome death. We must understand this.
What path does religion walk? Although God established religions and gave human beings something precious, they could not walk this precious path but had to suffer difficulties and grief.