Judges 20
The Israelites were running away, but they headed for Baal-Tamar, where they regrouped. They had set an ambush, and they were sure it would work. Ten thousand of Israel’s best soldiers had been hiding west of Gibeah,[i] and as soon as the men of Benjamin chased the Israelites into the countryside, these ten thousand soldiers made a surprise attack on the town gates. They dashed in and captured Gibeah, killing everyone there. Then they set the town on fire, because the smoke would be the signal for the other Israelite soldiers to turn and attack the soldiers of Benjamin.
Ezekiel 16
35 Jerusalem, you prostitute, listen to me. 36 You chased after lovers, then took off your clothes and had sex. You even worshiped disgusting idols and sacrificed your own children as offerings to them. 37 So I, the Lord God, will gather every one of your lovers, those you liked and those you hated. They will stand around you, and I will rip off your clothes and let all of those lovers stare at your nakedness. 38 I will find you guilty of being an unfaithful wife and a murderer, and in my fierce anger I will sentence you to death! 39 Then I will hand you over to your lovers, who will tear down the places where you had sex. They will take your clothes and jewelry, leaving you naked and empty-handed.
Richard: We should not worship idols, such as a physical rod of iron, or weapon. A physical weapon can never be the Rod of Iron referred to in the Divine Principle. Rather, it is the Word of Truth: http://visionroot.org/resources/the-eight-books-of-holy-scripture/ .
I Am Relating With Two Worlds
Rev. Sun Myung Moon
September 20, 1959
We should sing with our bodies and with our minds. We should praise with our hearts. What? Our Lord. Who is that? It is God. God is my father. He is my father. We are God’s children. We should say, “What in the world can we exchange for God? What in the world can sever our relationship with Him?” The kind of love that people like, the ambitions that people cherish, and the glamour and luxuries that people desire are insignificant. If we can serve God, whom all things of nature and all beings want to honor as their eternal Lord, our Father, what greater happiness would there be? When a woman becomes the wife of some person of a high position, she brags and makes a big fuss about it. Yet God is our father. You cannot exchange this joy with anything under Heaven or on earth. God is looking for sons and daughters who can comfort Him and say, “God, You have searched for me through the suffering path of six thousand years. How many difficulties have You endured?” You have to understand this.
To raise up such a son, God has been influencing our ancestors thousands of times during the many centuries of history. How many times have people betrayed Him? We have to understand that we have betrayed human hearts and the heavenly heart. We have betrayed the heavenly principles and the Father’s heart. We have to repent for these sins.
What has trampled upon the heavenly principles? Since our bodies trampled upon them, our bodies are our worst enemies. Your enemies are not in front of you. Your bodies are your enemies. You have to suppress your body. You have to learn to judge yourself. For this reason people who walk the path of devotion go against conventional wisdom. They advocate laws which go in the opposite direction and walk against the trend.
To what extent have you put your lives on the line in your struggles? Among the people who attend the Unification Church, there are many who fight centering on the name of the Unification Church. However, you have to fight by your own virtue. When Jesus was carrying the cross, women wept bitterly and followed him. Jesus looked at them and said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not cry for me; cry for your own sake and the sake of your children.” (Luke 23:28) You have to solve your own problems. You are the problem. You should not curse other people or hold grudges against other people. You should curse yourself. You should rectify your false self and receive Jesus, who is your friend of the original mind and heart. You should receive the Father of the mind, the Father of the heart, the Father of the body and the Father of all things. Only when you walk this path can you avert the judgment of the Last Days.