Ezekiel 44
The Lord said:
15 The priests of the Levi tribe who are descendants of Zadok the priest were faithful to me, even when the rest of the Israelites turned away. And so, these priests will continue to serve as my priests and to offer the fat and the blood of sacrifices. 16 They will come into my temple, where they will offer sacrifices at my altar and lead others in worship.
1 Kings 20
23 Meanwhile, Benhadad’s officials went to him and explained:
Israel’s gods are mountain gods. We fought Israel’s army in the hills, and that’s why they defeated us. But if we fight them on flat land, there’s no way we can lose.
24 Here’s what you should do. First, get rid of those thirty-two kings and put army commanders in their places. 25 Then get more soldiers, horses, and chariots, so your army will be as strong as it was before. We’ll fight Israel’s army on flat land and wipe them out.
Benhadad agreed and did what they suggested.
The Toil of God as He Tries to Raise up His Beloved Children
Rev. Sun Myung Moon
October 11, 1959
If this is what the God who sought me is like, then how about tomorrow? Is there any way to comfort this God? Even if human beings were to experience pain, there is no greater pain than God has experienced. No matter how unsolvable a problem human beings have, there is no problem more difficult to resolve than God’s.
Do you think that God yearns for the appearance of a son who will say to Him, “Father, how much You have suffered,” with a heart more sorrowful than His? Have you ever thought that God sought sons and daughters who can say, “Father, how much have You suffered, how many times have You fallen down, and how many times have You struggled?” He wants sons and daughters who can endure many sufferings, persecutions and difficulties and cast away all sorrows, bitterness and indignation. The God we believe in and should serve is such a person.
Where are the true sons and daughters who understand the sorrow of God, who is seeking us even while going the course of the cross? We need such sons and daughters. You have to understand clearly that the group, the people, the nation and the world which can unite centering on such sons and daughters is the world that God is hoping to realize, the ideal world of creation.
I know God as a miserable being. Misery is the only word to describe God’s situation. No matter how miserable a person may be, compared to God, he is not miserable. No matter what kind of sorrow there may be, it is not comparable to that of God. No matter how bitter one may be, compared to God, he has no problem.
Upon creating Adam and Eve, God desired a garden of goodness. God created them in order to embrace them and love them and rejoice while all things of the universe reciprocated in harmony. Yet when we look at the Bible, where does it say that such a thing ever took place? The heart of God over losing Adam and Eve is the heart of sorrow over losing one’s only son and only daughter.
It is said that Jesus is the only son. What does the only son refer to? It refers to the only son who can receive God’s love and comfort God. Since Adam lost God’s love due to the Fall, Jesus was sent to recover it. He is the first son and the only son born of God’s love. That is why he is referred to as the only begotten son. What was Jesus supposed to do on the earth? He should have shown us what the love of God is like. He was supposed to show us what life centering on God’s love is like, what society centering on God’s love is like, and what the world centering on God’s love is like.
When Jesus came to the earth, did he clearly show what the love of God is like? He passed away without showing it fully to us. Did he show what the family that God loves is like? Did he show what the people, nation, and the world that God loves are like? He could not.
If Adam and Eve had reached perfection without falling, God would have raised two arms and blessed them, “Oh, my beloved sons and daughters, I want you to inherit My work and govern all the things of the universe and live together with Me eternally.” However, this will of God was completely undermined. For this reason God longs for the one day that He can bless two people like Adam and Eve, giving them all of Heaven and earth. This is what you have to understand.
What is salvation? It is to restore what has been lost. This is why while going through the historical course of ups and downs, God held the people up every time they became tired and fell down. After four thousand years passed, God sent Jesus.
By sending him God wanted to unveil the sorrow and unload the suffering of the four thousand years. Through Jesus God wanted to restore and complete the ideal of the creation of the universe. Jesus was the person sent as the one responsible for that. Jesus was the one sent to complete the ideal of creation.