If the Jewish People Had Believed in Jesus, the Foundation for the Messiah Would have Been Laid

2 Thessolonians 1

From Paul, Silas, and Timothy.

To the church in Thessalonica, the people of God our Father and of the Lord Jesus Christ.

I pray that God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ will be kind to you and will bless you with peace!

My dear friends, we always have good reason to thank God for you, because your faith in God and your love for each other keep growing all the time. That’s why we brag about you to all of God’s churches. We tell them how patient you are and how you keep on having faith, even though you are going through a lot of trouble and suffering.

Hosea 2

I, the Lord, will build
a fence of thorns
    to block her path.
She will run after her lovers,
    but not catch them;
she will search,
    but not find them.
Then she will say, “I’ll return
to my first husband.
    Life was better then.”
She didn’t know that her grain,
wine, and olive oil
    were gifts from me,
as were the gold and silver
    she used in worshiping Baal.

Exposition of the Divine Principle
3 Color Edition-The Red part

3.2 THE SECOND WORLDWIDE COURSE TO RESTORE CANAAN

3.2.1 THE FOUNDATION OF FAITH

3.2.1.1 JESUS TAKES ON THE MISSION OF JOHN THE BAPTIST

 The foundation of faith which John had laid for the first worldwide course to restore Canaan was invaded by Satan. Jesus himself now had to take on John’s mission and restore through indemnity the foundation of faith in order to set out on the second worldwide course to restore Canaan. When Jesus fasted for forty days in the wilderness, it was to separate Satan for the very purpose of restoring the foundation of faith; however, for this he lowered himself to assume the position of John the Baptist.

 Jesus enjoined Peter not to reveal to the Jewish people that he was the Messiah192 because, although he was the Messiah, he had assumed John’s role for the purpose of beginning this phase of the providence.

3.2.1.3 THE RESULT OF THE FORTY-DAY FAST AND THE THREE TEMPTATIONS

 First, in the position of John the Baptist, Jesus restored through indemnity the foundation of faith for the second worldwide course to restore Canaan. In so doing, Jesus restored all that had been offered to God over the course of the providence for the purpose of laying the foundation of faith. Furthermore, Jesus restored through indemnity, all at once, all the dispensations of forty for the separation of Satan conducted during the four thousand years since Adam, lost despite the best efforts of central figures to lay the foundation of faith.

 Second, by rising from John the Baptist’s position to the position of the Messiah, Jesus paved the way for the fulfillment of God’s three great blessings and the restoration of the four position foundation.

3.2.2 THE FOUNDATION OF SUBSTANCE

 Jesus came as the True Parent of humanity, yet he restored through indemnity the dispensation of forty for the separation of Satan while standing in the position of John the Baptist. Therefore, after he restored the foundation of faith (and rose to the position of Messiah and True Parent) he stood in the position of a parent. At the same time, when he secured the position of Abel for fulfilling the indemnity condition to remove the fallen nature, he stood in the position of a child (still in the role of John the Baptist with respect to that condition).

 Jesus was the fulfillment of the three manifestations of grace and the Ten Commandments. Therefore, God conducted the dispensation to start the second worldwide course to restore Canaan based on Jesus’ own words and miraculous deeds. If the Jewish people (Cain) had been moved to believe in and follow Jesus, who was in the position of John the Baptist (Abel), they would have fulfilled the indemnity condition to remove the fallen nature and restored the foundation of substance. The foundation for the Messiah would thus have been laid. Standing upon this foundation, Jesus would have risen from the position of John the Baptist to the position of the Messiah. Then, by engrafting all people with himself, humankind would have been reborn, cleansed of the original sin, and would have become one with God in heart. They would have restored their original, God-given nature and built the Kingdom of Heaven on earth in Jesus’ day.

3.2.3 THE FAILURE OF THE SECOND WORLDWIDE COURSE TO RESTORE CANAAN

 Satan confronted Jesus through Judas Iscariot, the disciple who betrayed him. Due to the faithlessness of such people, Jesus could lay neither the foundation of substance nor the foundation for the Messiah for the second worldwide course to restore Canaan. The second worldwide course thus ended in tragic failure.

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2007p2-CHAPT-2-S3-Jesus_revised-4-28-2014

John the Baptist Harbored Doubts Toward Jesus

Cheon Seong Gyeong 2088

Now you must straighten out your
roots. Your father and mother took
a wrong turn because they fell away
from their original roots. The first son
has gone wrong as well. Therefore, you
must turn them back so that they make,
as their central focus, the original right
of the parents centered on True Parents
and the right of the first son centered on
true sons and daughters. A connection
will not simply be made automatically.
Only after turning yourself around 180
degrees and engrafting onto the true
root can you begin anew. Therefore,
you must return to your homeland and
become the new ancestors for your lin-
eage. You must understand that this is
your final destiny. (178-99, 1998.6.1)

Cheon Seong Gyeong 918

In regard to the firstborn son of the
eldest son, even the grandfather comes
under his command when that son per-
forms the ancestral rites. The grandfa-
ther has to show his respect. The fact that
Koreans place value in the lineage of the
firstborn son, and also in their geneal-
ogy and lineage, holds record-breaking
historical value in God’s providence of
restoration, which can never be forgot-
ten from the deepest root of His mind.
(290-9, 1998.2.2)

Exposition of the Divine Principle
3 Color Edition-The Red part

THE PROVIDENCE OF RESTORATION UNDER THE LEADERSHIP OF JESUS

 In the beginning, Adam should have governed the angels; but due to his fall, human beings came under Satan’s dominion and formed a hellish world. To restore this through indemnity, Jesus came as the second Adam to personally bring Satan to submission and establish the Kingdom of Heaven.

 Jacob walked the symbolic course to bring Satan to submission, while Moses walked the image course. Their courses pioneered the way for Jesus to walk the actual course. In walking the worldwide course to restore Canaan, Jesus followed the model demonstrated in the national course to restore Canaan when Moses was working to subjugate Satan.

3.1 THE FIRST WORLDWIDE COURSE TO RESTORE CANAAN

3.1.1 THE FOUNDATION OF FAITH

 In the first worldwide course to restore Canaan, the central figure entrusted with the mission to restore the foundation of faith was John the Baptist.

 John the Baptist, like Moses, was called on the foundation of a four-hundred-year period for the separation of Satan. Moses had learned to love his brethren and the traditions of his fathers while living in the Pharaoh’s palace. Likewise, John the Baptist learned the way of faith and obedience to Heaven and made preparations for the Messiah while living on locusts and wild honey in the wilderness. His life was so exemplary that many people, including the priests and Levites, wondered whether he might be the Messiah.181 In this way, John the Baptist successfully established the dispensation of forty for the separation of Satan and was able to lay the foundation of faith for the first worldwide course to restore Canaan.

3.1.2 THE FOUNDATION OF SUBSTANCE

 Since John the Baptist stood in the same position as Moses, he likewise stood in the dual positions of parent and child. From the position of parent, he restored through indemnity the foundation of faith. From the position of child, he secured the position of Abel for the fulfillment of the indemnity condition to remove the fallen nature.

 God conducted the dispensation to start by encouraging the Jewish people to believe in John through the miracles surrounding his life. The Jewish people in Jesus’ time were to believe in and follow John the Baptist, whom God had raised up through miracles and signs as the focus of their faith. Thus, they would fulfill the indemnity condition to remove the fallen nature and lay the foundation of substance, thereby immediately establishing the foundation for the Messiah.

3.1.3 THE FAILURE OF THE FIRST WORLDWIDE COURSE TO RESTORE CANAAN

 The Jewish people stood upon the foundation of faith laid by John the Baptist and followed John as if they were following the Messiah. Thereupon, they brought an end to the Old Testament Age and were ready to embark upon a new course to restore Canaan worldwide. Yet, John the Baptist harbored doubts toward Jesus, even though he had testified to him. He sent a delegation and asked Jesus, “Are you he who is to come, or shall we look for another?” He denied that he was Elijah even though he in fact came to fulfill Elijah’s mission. This not only blocked the Jewish people’s path to Jesus, it even led them to oppose him. In effect, John left the position of Abel, depriving the Jewish people of the central person with whom they could fulfill the indemnity condition to remove the fallen nature. This blocked their way to complete the foundation of substance or the foundation for the Messiah. Consequently, the first worldwide course to restore Canaan was aborted. As was the case in Moses’ days, it was prolonged to a second and then a third course.

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2007p2-CHAPT-2-S3-Jesus_revised-4-28-2014

The People Raised a Great Shout and the City Walls Tumbled Down

Book Review: As A Peace Loving Global Citizen
By Rev. Sun Myung Moon
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Mark 12

24 Jesus answered:

You are completely wrong! You don’t know what the Scriptures teach. And you don’t know anything about the power of God. 25 When God raises people to life, they won’t marry. They will be like the angels in heaven. 26 You surely know about people being raised to life. You know that in the story about Moses and the burning bush, God said, “I am the God worshiped by Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”[b] 27 He isn’t the God of the dead, but of the living. You Sadducees are all wrong.

Richard: This passage explains, apparently, that there is no marriage in heaven, per Jesus’ teaching. True Father, Rev. Moon explains that when you have a Blessed family with the children united with the parents through three generations, you can enter heaven with you family.
” Second, Heaven has permitted the grace of the authority of Sunghwa for rebirth and resurrection to be bestowed on the family unit. Here, a requisite condition is the complete unity between parents and children. In other words, you must establish the standard for absolute parents and absolute children, and establish an absolute family in the normal course of events. “
http://visionroot.org/resources/rev-sun-myung-moon/world-assembly-to-proclaim-the-embodiment-of-gods-word-and-the-era-of-the-parents-of-heaven-earth-and-humankindnew-page/ Use Ctrl+F to search the text.

Proverbs 30

Everything God says is true—
    and it’s a shield for all
    who come to him for safety.
Don’t change what God has said!
    He will correct you and show
    that you are a liar.

Exposition of the Divine Principle
3 Color Edition-The Red part

2.2.3 THE THIRD NATIONAL COURSE TO RESTORE CANAAN

2.2.3.1 THE FOUNDATION OF FAITH

 Because the Israelites turned faint-hearted upon hearing the report of the faithless spies, the second national course to restore Canaan ended in failure. The forty years Moses had spent in the wilderness of Midian to restore the foundation of faith were invaded by Satan. As a result of the failure of the mission to spy out the land, the people had to wander in the wilderness for forty years, one year for each day of the forty-day spy mission, until they returned to Kadesh-barnea. For Moses, this forty-year period was to separate Satan, who had invaded the previous foundation of faith, and to restore through indemnity the foundation of faith for the third course. Moses honored the Tabernacle with faith and loyalty throughout the entire forty years of wandering in the wilderness. By the time he returned to Kadesh-barnea, he had completed the foundation of faith for the third national course to restore Canaan. Accordingly, he also secured the position of Abel for the foundation of substance.

2.2.3.2 THE FOUNDATION OF SUBSTANCE

For Moses, the forty years of wandering in the wilderness was the period required to establish the foundation of faith for the third national course. For the Israelites, the goal for this period was to accomplish the dispensation to start the third course. They were to do this by establishing the foundation for the Tabernacle, thereby returning to the state of grace which they had enjoyed in the second course when they first constructed the Tabernacle under Moses’ direction.

2.2.3.2.1 THE FOUNDATION OF SUBSTANCE CENTERED ON MOSES

The third national course to restore Canaan was to begin at Kadesh-barnea upon completing a dispensation to start based on the rock. Henceforth, had the Israelites honored the Tabernacle with faith and devotion and followed Moses into Canaan, they would have fulfilled the indemnity condition to remove the fallen nature required for the foundation of substance in the third national course. How did God intend to conduct the dispensation to start based on the rock? During the forty years of wandering in the wilderness, the Israelites again fell into complaint and faithlessness. To save them, God instructed Moses to strike the rock with his staff that it might yield water and give drink to the people.

However, when Moses heard the people murmuring against him and complaining that they had no water to drink, he raged in uncontrolled anger and struck the rock twice. By striking the rock twice when he should have struck it only once, Moses undermined the dispensation to start based on the rock. As a consequence, he was not permitted to enter the promised land. He could only gaze upon it from a distance at the end of his life.

 The rock not only symbolized Christ; as the root of the tablets of stone, it also symbolized God, the origin of Christ.

2.2.3.2.2 THE FOUNDATION OF SUBSTANCE CENTERED ON JOSHUA

 Therefore, God worked the dispensation to start the course anew, this time based on the water from the rock, by elevating Joshua to Moses’ place and having the internal Israelites obey him and stand with him upon the foundation for the Tabernacle. On this basis, they were to enter the land of Canaan, where they were to fulfill the national indemnity condition to remove the fallen nature. In this way, God intended to establish the foundation of substance centered on Joshua in the third national course.

 In the second national course, Moses sent twelve spies to Canaan.142 Upon the foundation of heart laid by the two spies who had faithfully completed their mission, Joshua sent two men to spy out the fortified city of Jericho.143 When they returned from Jericho, the two spies made a faithful report: “Truly the Lord has given all the land into our hands; and moreover all the inhabitants of the land are fainthearted because of us.”144 The younger generation of Israelites raised in the wilderness all believed the spies’ words, and this faith indemnified the sins of their parents, who had not properly completed the previous forty-day mission to spy out the land.

By restoring the dispensation to start based on the water from the rock, they assumed the same position as their parents had when, under Moses’ leadership, they had participated in the dispensation to start at the Exodus from Egypt when God provided the three signs and ten plagues. The Israelites under Joshua’s leadership passed through a three-day course before they crossed the Jordan River. After the Israelites under Joshua’s leadership completed the three-day course, the Ark of the Covenant led them to the Jordan River. The tablets lying at the center of the Ark, and the pillars of cloud and fire both symbolized Jesus and his would-be Bride. Joshua placed the Ark of the Covenant in front of the troops to guide their way. When the priests bearing the Ark of the Covenant entered the Jordan River, its waters parted, opening the way for the people following the Ark to walk on the riverbed.

Joshua placed the Ark of the Covenant in front of the troops to guide their way. When the priests bearing the Ark of the Covenant entered the Jordan River, its waters parted, opening the way for the people following the Ark to walk on the riverbed.

Upon reaching the Jordan River, God commanded Joshua, saying:

Take twelve men from the people, from each tribe a man, and command them, “Take twelve stones from here out of the midst of the Jordan, from the very place where the priests’ feet stood, and carry them over with you, and lay them down in the place where you lodge tonight.” —Josh. 4:2-3

 And thus the people did:

The people came up out of the Jordan on the tenth day of the first month, and they encamped in Gilgal, on the east border of Jericho. And those twelve stones, which they took out of the Jordan, Joshua set up in Gilgal. —Josh. 4:19-20

The Israelites under Joshua’s leadership, who encamped at Gilgal, observed the feast of Passover on the fourteenth day of the first month of that year. Afterward, they set out for the city of Jericho.

 As they approached Jericho, in accordance with God’s command, the Israelites put forty thousand soldiers at the forefront while seven priests blew seven trumpets as they marched behind the soldiers. Following behind them was the Ark of the Covenant carried by the Levitical priests, and the rest of the Israelite army marched at the rear. The Israelites marched around the fortified city in this formation once a day for six days, but this caused no change in the city. With patience and obedience, the people were restoring through indemnity the sixday period of creation which had been invaded by Satan. After they faithfully endured through six days, on the seventh day the seven priests circled the city walls seven times, blowing the seven trumpets, and Joshua said to the people: “Shout; for the Lord has given you the city.” The people raised a great shout and the city walls tumbled down.

Joshua then launched attacks on the enemy with insurmountable force. He defeated thirty-one kings altogether.

2.2.3.3 THE FOUNDATION FOR THE MESSIAH

 Based on this victory, they laid the foundation of substance in the third national course and established the foundation for the Messiah for this course—albeit as a people without sovereignty. The family foundation for the Messiah had been fulfilled in the days of Abraham. His descendants passed through a four-hundred-year course of indemnity as slaves in Egypt before they could enter Canaan and there complete the national foundation for the Messiah. This required more than merely entering and conquering Canaan. As was discussed earlier in detail, fallen people had already founded powerful nations such as Egypt, led by satanic rulers who opposed God’s providence of restoration. Therefore, even though the national foundation for the Messiah was established under Joshua’s leadership, it would be necessary to build a sovereign kingdom from which the Messiah could confront the satanic nations of the world. However, once the younger generation of Israelites entered Canaan, they also became faithless. Hence, God’s providence was prolonged again, and would suffer repeated setbacks until the time of Jesus.

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2007p2-CHAPT-2-S1-2-Moses_revised-4-28-2014

God Set Up An Object of Faith Which Would Remain Unchanged

Book Review: As A Peace Loving Global Citizen
By Rev. Sun Myung Moon
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Cheon Seong Gyeong 2084

We want the unification of North
and South Korea right now, but what is
the solution to the division? North and
South Korea cannot be united unless a
clearly defined solution is provided. It
cannot happen by either the North or
the South simply saying, “You have to
do as we say.” They cannot be unified if
both have something to lose. It’s possible
only when there’s a plus for both. Isn’t
that so? For example, a man and woman
cannot be one after marriage if they are
both minuses to each other; they must
find something that they can gain from
each other. (61-73, 1972.8.27)

Cheon Seong Gyeong 1272

In order to enter God’s realm of heart,
your lineage has to be the same. You
can only join that realm of heart after
changing your lineage, which originat-
ed from a different root. The stems are
different. The roots, stems and sprouts
need to be identical. For that to be so, the
great work of the conversion of lineage
is absolutely necessary. This cannot be
carried out alone. You need True Parents
for this task. (172-55, 1988.1.7)

Exposition of the Divine Principle
3 Color Edition-The Red part

2.2.2.3 THE PROVIDENCE OF RESTORATION AND THE TABERNACLE

 The Israelites received the tablets of stone, the Tabernacle, and the Ark of the Covenant. Let us first examine how they received them. The Israelites arrived in the wilderness of Sinai at the beginning of the third month, after their victory over the Amalekites. Moses then climbed Mt. Sinai where God commanded him to fast for forty days. During his fast, Moses received God’s instructions concerning the Ark of the Covenant and the Tabernacle. When the forty-day fast was over, Moses received two tablets of stone, inscribed by the finger of God with the Ten Commandments.

 When Moses came down from Mt. Sinai with the two tablets of stone and went before the Israelites, he found them worshipping a golden calf. During Moses’ absence, they had instructed Aaron to make it, and when he had fashioned it, they proclaimed that this was the god who had led them out of Egypt. Moses’ anger burned hot when he saw this. He threw down the tablets of stone and broke them at the foot of the mountain. Moses presented himself before God on the mountain and fasted for forty days a second time. God dictated the Ten Commandments to Moses, and Moses wrote them on the tablets.97 Moses took these tablets and went before the Israelites again. This time they honored Moses. In obedience to his directions, they built the Ark of the Covenant and constructed the Tabernacle.

2.2.2.3.1 THE SIGNIFICANCE AND PURPOSE OF THE TABLETS OF STONE, THE TABERNACLE AND THE ARK OF THE COVENANT

 What did the tablets of stone signify? The two tablets symbolized restored Adam and Eve, and also symbolized Jesus and his would-be Bride who were to come as the incarnations of the Word. What did the Tabernacle symbolize? The Temple was a representation of Jesus in image. Like the Temple, the Tabernacle was a representation of Jesus, but in symbol. What did the Ark of the Covenant symbolize? The Ark represented the cosmos and, at the same time, was a smaller representation of the Tabernacle.

 For what purpose did God give the tablets of stone, the Tabernacle, and the Ark of the Covenant? The Israelites repeatedly fell into faithlessness during their journey. In the end, there was danger that even Moses might act faithlessly. To cope with this situation, God set up an object of faith, one which would remain unchanged even though the people might change.

2.2.2.3.2 THE FOUNDATION FOR THE TABERNACLE

 Just as a foundation must be laid before we can receive the Messiah, a foundation had to be laid before the Israelites could build and exalt the Tabernacle, the symbolic representation of the Messiah. Needless to say, to establish the foundation for the Tabernacle, foundations of faith and substance for the Tabernacle had to be laid.

THE FIRST FOUNDATION FOR THE TABERNACLE

 From that moment, Moses began his fast of forty days and forty nights. God directed Moses to set up a forty-day period for the separation of Satan in order to establish the foundation of faith for the Tabernacle, the symbolic Messiah. God saw that this was necessary because the Israelites had fallen into faithlessness after crossing the Red Sea.

To fulfill the indemnity condition to remove the fallen nature and lay the foundation of substance for the Tabernacle, the Israelites should have faithfully obeyed Moses from the moment he climbed the mountain to undertake the forty-day fast until they had finished constructing the Tabernacle. However, while Moses was fasting and praying on the mountain, the people all fell into faithlessness and worshipped the golden calf. Consequently, the foundation of substance for the Tabernacle was not established.

 The faithlessness of the Israelites at Mt. Sinai undermined God’s providence to establish the foundation for the Tabernacle. It nullified God’s arduous efforts to separate Satan from the people and cultivate their obedience to Moses. Due to their continued faithlessness, God’s providence to establish the foundation for the Tabernacle had to be prolonged through a second and then a third attempt.

THE SECOND FOUNDATION FOR THE TABERNACLE

 Moses could not restore the tablets of stone or build the Tabernacle around them without first restoring the foundation of faith for the Tabernacle by fulfilling once again a dispensation of forty for the separation of Satan. Therefore, Moses had to fast forty more days before he could obtain the second pair of tablets with the inscription of the Ten Commandments and establish the Tabernacle as the object of faith. This time, the Israelites faithfully waited for Moses to return.

 By remaining faithful while Moses was fasting on the mountain, and then obeying his instructions to build the Tabernacle, the Israelites fulfilled the indemnity condition to remove the fallen nature. This laid the foundation of substance for the Tabernacle, and hence the foundation for the Tabernacle. The Tabernacle was built by the first day of the first month of the second year.114 However, as was mentioned earlier, the foundation of substance in the second national course to restore Canaan required much more than the mere construction of the Tabernacle. In fact, until they entered Canaan and built the Temple, the Israelites were supposed to honor the Tabernacle more than they valued their own lives; they were to keep the same faith until they received the Messiah. On the twentieth day of the second month of the second year, the Israelites set out from the wilderness of Sinai, arrayed in formation around the Tabernacle and led by the pillar of cloud. Yet before long, they began to complain about their hardships and murmur against Moses. Even after God destroyed their camp in His burning wrath, the Israelites did not repent. Thus, the Israelites failed to maintain the second foundation for the Tabernacle, and it was invaded by Satan. The providence to restore this foundation was prolonged to a third attempt.

THE THIRD FOUNDATION FOR THE TABERNACLE

 Moses’ faith and devotion to the Tabernacle remained unchanging. Therefore, the Tabernacle stood firmly upon the foundation of faith which Moses had laid, while the Israelites still stood upon the foundation of having drunk the water from the rock at Rephidim.117 The rock, we recall, was the root of the tablets of stone, which was at the center of the Tabernacle. Upon this foundation, the Israelites were allowed to attempt yet another dispensation of forty for the separation of Satan. By obeying Moses, who still honored the Tabernacle, they were to restore through indemnity the foundation for the Tabernacle in their third attempt. The forty-day mission to spy out the land of Canaan was given as the condition to achieve this.

 When they returned, all the spies except Joshua and Caleb presented faithless reports. Upon hearing this report, the Israelites again murmured against Moses. They called for another leader who would take them back to Egypt. As a result of their lack of faith, the third foundation for the Tabernacle ended in failure. Their twenty-one-month course in the wilderness was extended to forty years.

2.2.2.4 THE FAILURE OF THE SECOND NATIONAL COURSE TO RESTORE CANAAN

 Due to the Israelites’ faithlessness, the foundation for the Tabernacle was invaded by Satan three times. The entire second national course to restore Canaan ended in failure. God’s providence was prolonged to a third national course.

Richard: Rev. Moon bequeated the Cheon Bok Ark to family church leaders in 2010. The Cheon Bok Ark contains the Eight Sacred Texts of Holy Scripture. We can see parallels between the Cheon Bok Ark and the Ark of the Covenant. In fact, Rev. Moon died before reaching the stated date of Foundation Day, January 13, 2013 by the Heavenly Calendar (February 22, 2013, solar calendar). Moses could not enter the promised land of Canaan, but Joshua and Caleb could. Likewise, we are able to enter the promised land of Cheon Il Guk (God’s Kingdom). To do so we have to uplift the Cheon Bok Ark, containing the Eight Sacred Textbooks. On that foundation we will eventually establish the physical Kingdom of Heaven on earth (Cheon Il Guk).

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2007p2-CHAPT-2-S1-2-Moses_revised-4-28-2014

God Worried that the Israelites Might Become Faithless

Book Review: As A Peace Loving Global Citizen
By Rev. Sun Myung Moon
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2 Kings 23

15 But Josiah was not finished yet. At Bethel he destroyed the shrine and the altar that Jeroboam son of Nebat had built and that had caused the Israelites to sin. Josiah had the shrine and the Asherah pole burned and ground into dust. 16 As he looked around, he saw graves on the hillside. He had the bones in them dug up and burned on the altar, so that it could no longer be used. This happened just as God’s prophet had said when Jeroboam was standing at the altar, celebrating a festival.

Richard: ” An Asherah pole was a sacred pole (or sometimes a tree) that was used in the worship of the pagan goddess Asherah. The Asherah pole was often mentioned in the Old Testament as one of the ways the Israelites sinned against the Lord and worshiped other gods. … But who was Asherah? She was considered a goddess of fertility. Some believe that the worship of the Queen of Heaven condemned by the prophet Jeremiah was also a reference to the goddess Asherah, though this is uncertain. Certainly, as a fertility goddess, those who worshiped Asherah were also often involved in sexual practices prohibited by the God of Israel. “

https://www.compellingtruth.org/asherah-pole.html
We have many pagan asherah poles today; all kinds of cultic worship of female ‘gods’. Not sure? Check out ‘popular’ figures like Beyonce.

Ezeliel 20

13 But the Israelites rebelled against me in the desert. They refused to obey my laws and teachings, and they treated the Sabbath like any other day.

Then in my anger, I decided to destroy the Israelites in the desert once and for all. 14 But that would have disgraced me, because many other nations had seen me bring the Israelites out of Egypt. 15 Instead, I told them in the desert that I would not lead them into the beautiful, fertile land I had promised. 16 I said this because they had not only ignored my laws and teachings, but had disgraced my Sabbath and worshiped idols.

Exposition of the Divine Principle
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2.2.2 THE SECOND NATIONAL COURSE TO RESTORE CANAAN

2.2.2.1 THE FOUNDATION OF FAITH

 When the first national course to restore Canaan ended in failure due to the disbelief of the Israelites, Satan claimed the forty years of Moses’ life in Pharaoh’s palace during which he had laid the foundation of faith. Hence, for Moses to begin the second national course to restore Canaan, he had to lay anew the foundation of faith by completing another period of forty years to restore through indemnity his lost forty years in the palace. This was the purpose of Moses’ forty-year exile in the wilderness of Midian.  Moses went through a second dispensation of forty for the separation of Satan during the forty years he spent in the wilderness of Midian. There he restored the foundation of faith needed to embark upon the second national course to restore Canaan.

2.2.2.2 THE FOUNDATION OF SUBSTANCE

 Once Moses restored the foundation of faith in the wilderness of Midian, he also secured the position of Abel. God worked the dispensation to start the first national course to restore Canaan when Moses struck and killed an Egyptian. Similarly, to work the dispensation to start the second national course to restore Canaan, God granted Moses three signs and ten plagues with which to prevail over the Egyptians.

In the dispensation to start the second national course, God granted the Israelites the three signs and ten plagues. When the Israelites witnessed these miracles, they came to believe that Moses was truly sent by God as their leader. They believed and followed Moses, the Abel figure who had laid the national foundation of faith. Hence, the Israelites could embark upon the second national course to restore Canaan. However, the indemnity condition to remove the fallen nature required more of the Israelites. Due to their previous failure to fulfill this condition, Satan had claimed the entire providential course to restore Canaan. Now the Israelites had to restore that course by remaining faithful and obedient to Moses for the duration of their journey. Only in this way would they fulfill the national indemnity condition to remove the fallen nature. Until they had traversed the wilderness with unwavering faith in Moses and entered the land of Canaan, the national foundation of substance would not be established.

In the first course, if the Israelites had followed Moses, they would have been led along the direct route by way of the land of the Philistines and would have entered Canaan in twenty-one days—a period corresponding to Jacob’s twenty-one-year course in Haran. However, in the second course, God did not lead the people along the direct route. He was worried that when they encountered the warlike Philistines, they might again turn faithless and return to Egypt.79 Instead, God led them across the Red Sea and through the wilderness in a long detour. God planned to bring them into Canaan after twenty-one months. Thus, the Israelites began a twenty-one-month wilderness course under Moses’ leadership. At the outset of this national course, Moses asked for a leave of three days with the intention of deceiving the Pharaoh and liberating his people from bondage.

The Israelites, who numbered some 600,000 according to the Bible, departed from Rameses on the fifteenth day of the first month by the Hebrew calendar.81 They upheld God’s Will throughout the three-day journey to their first campsite at Succoth. From that time forth, God granted them the grace of a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night to guide their way. At the shore of the Red Sea, upon God’s command, Moses stretched out his staff and parted the waters; then he led the Israelites across on dry ground. The Egyptians chasing them in chariots were drowned when the waters closed up and engulfed them. The Israelites crossed the Red Sea and arrived at the wilderness of Sin on the fifteenth day of the second month. From then until the day they arrived at habitable land, God fed them with manna and quail.

When the Israelites left the wilderness of Sin and camped at Rephidim, there was no water for the people to drink. God commanded Moses to strike the rock at Horeb that water might spring forth from it. Moses did so and gave the people water which saved their lives.

View slides 43-60 below for an illustrated presentation of the above content:

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