2 Samuel 2

¹² One day, Abner and the soldiers of Ishbosheth^[e] left Mahanaim and went to Gibeon. ¹³ Meanwhile, Joab the son of Zeruiah^[f] was leading David’s soldiers, and the two groups met at the pool in Gibeon.^[g] Abner and his men sat down on one side of the pool, while Joab and his men sat on the other side. ¹⁴ Abner yelled to Joab, “Let’s have some of our best soldiers get up and fight each other!”

Richard: We should focus on fulfilling our responsibility by following the teachings of the Eight Great Textbooks of Holy Scripture. We should not fight among ‘relatives’, such as the feuds between Sanctuary Church and Family Federation. Focusing on the Eight Great Textbooks will bring unity.

Isaiah 18

Downstream from Ethiopia^[a]
lies the country of Egypt,
    swarming with insects.^[b]
2 Egypt sends messengers
up the Nile River
    on ships made of reeds.^[c]
Send them fast to Ethiopia,
whose people are tall
    and have smooth skin.
Their land is divided by rivers;
they are strong and brutal,
    feared all over the world.^[d]

³ Everyone on this earth,
    listen with care!
A signal will be given
on the mountains,
    and you will hear a trumpet.
⁴ The Lord said to me,
“I will calmly look down
    from my home above—
as calmly as the sun at noon
or clouds in the heat
    of harvest season.”

⁵ Before the blossoms
    can turn into grapes,
God will cut off the sprouts
    and hack off the branches.
⁶ Ethiopians will be food
for mountain buzzards
    during the summer
and for wild animals
    during the winter.

⁷ Those Ethiopians are tall and their skin is smooth. They are feared all over the world, because they are strong and brutal. But at that time they will come from their land divided by rivers, and they will bring gifts to the Lord All-Powerful, who is worshiped on Mount Zion.

My New Self and the Heaven Where My New Self Can Dwell

Rev. Sun Myung Moon
June 14, 1959

What was it like for Jesus coming to this earth? He was born in a stable; he lived with the persecution and contempt of others; he died miserably, hung on a cross. Therefore, our task today is to feel the heart Jesus felt as he passed through the way of the cross.

If there is any glory, before I can sing of the glory, the Lord should sing to the Father, and the Father should sing to all people. Only after that can I sing of the glory. In order for the Father to sing of glory to all people, first there must be the Kingdom of Heaven on earth. Therefore, we should make the environment for God and Jesus to rest. We should re-establish the dignity of God as the Creator and the dignity of Jesus as the Savior. Heaven and earth, all things, the countless spirits in the spirit world and in hell, even Satan himself, should say, “You are indeed the son of God.”

You know that the sad historical course has not ended yet, and the time of the judgment has not yet arrived. Nevertheless, you felt the heavenly life, embrace the heavenly ideology, and received the shock of the heavenly heart. What is it all for? Of course, it is for God’s hope to be transferred to you. That is the purpose of God.

The people of this nation remain as God and Jesus’ concern. We should be willing to take the responsibility over all such concerns and liberate Jesus and God. Therefore, centering on such a determination, you should bring the victorious results from the war and attain the qualification of being a friend of Jesus. Only then can you substantially elevate to the level of resurrection. Because Jesus lived such a life and resurrected after his death, we also must go beyond the condition of being resurrected after living such a life. Therefore, we must follow the path of Jesus to discover our new selves.