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March for Trump: December 12th, 2020-Washington DC
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#74 The Family Rooted in Absolute Sexual Ethics Part 9-with Yun-A Johnson
#73 State Legislators, Do Your Job!
Leviticus 6
14 When someone offers a sacrifice to give thanks to me, the priests from Aaron’s family must bring it to the front of the bronze altar, 15 where one of them will scoop up a handful of the flour and oil, together with all the incense on it. Then, to show that the whole offering belongs to me, he will lay all of this on the altar and send it up in smoke with a smell that pleases me. 16-17 The rest of it is to be baked without yeast and eaten by the priests in the sacred courtyard of the sacred tent. This bread is very holy, just like the sacrifices for sin or for making things right, and I have given this part to the priests from what is offered to me on the altar.
18 Only the men in Aaron’s family are allowed to eat this bread, and they must go through a ceremony to be made holy before touching it. This law will never change.
1 Kings 4
29 Solomon was brilliant. God had blessed him with insight and understanding. 30-31 He was wiser than anyone else in the world, including the wisest people of the east and of Egypt. He was even wiser than Ethan the Ezrahite, and Mahol’s three sons, Heman, Calcol, and Darda. Solomon became famous in every country around Judah and Israel. 32 Solomon wrote three thousand wise sayings and composed more than one thousand songs. 33 He could talk about all kinds of plants, from large trees to small bushes, and he taught about animals, birds, reptiles, and fish. 34 Kings all over the world heard about Solomon’s wisdom and sent people to listen to him teach.
Cain and Abel
The first murder in human history followed close on the heels of the human fall; indeed, the tension between the brothers can be attributed to the situation they inherited from their parents. the story of Cain and able raises the inescapable human problem of inequality. it asks: how should people cope with differences in wealth, talent, love, fortune, and in this case, blessing.
The bible regards Abel as one of the righteous; the Qur’an portrays him as a man of peace who refuses to take up a weapon to fight his brother Cain. hence comes the tradition that there are two kinds of people: Abel-type people are good and faithful, while Cain-type people are evil, atheistic and violent. in Father Moon’s teaching, however, Cain and Abel are most essentially brothers. Moreover, both had flaws: Abel’s arrogance over being the favored one contributed to Cain’s hatred, and Cain’s hatred had a history, too.
Father Moon teaches that God’s purpose in accepting only Abel’s offering was not to express his disdain for Cain, but rather to promote a process of restoration: by Cain yielding to Abel, Cain and Abel were to reverse the mistake of their parents when Adam was wrongly dominated by the archangel. had this restoration been successful, there would have been no murder; instead even Cain’s offering would have been accepted by God.
Inequality is inevitable; how we deal with it is where choice comes into play. Cain had a choice: to react with violence or to humbly seek his brother’s help. Abel also had a choice: to glory in his favored status or to have compassion on his less favored brother, comfort him and raise him up. the choices we make in these Cain-Abel situations can make the difference between peace and war.
Readings
Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, and Cain a tiller of the ground. In the course of time Cain brought to the lord an offering of the fruit of the ground, and Abel brought of the firstlings of the flock and of their fat portions. And the lord had regard for Abel and his offering, but for Cain and his offering He had no regard. So Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell. The lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry, and why has your countenance fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is couching at the door; its desire is for you, but you must master it.
”Cain said to Abel his brother, “Let us go out into the field.” And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel, and killed him. Then the lord said to Cain, “Where is Abel your brother?” He replied, “I do not know; am I my brother’s keeper?” And the lordsaid, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood is crying to me from the ground. And now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. When you till the ground, it shall no longer yield to you its strength; you shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth.” Cain said to the lord, “My punishment is greater than I can bear. Behold, you have driven me this day away from the ground; and from your face I shall be hidden; and I shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will slay me.” Then the lord said to him, “Not so! If any one slays Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold.” And the lord put a mark on Cain, lest any who came upon him should kill him. Then Cain went away from the presence of the lord, and dwelt in the land of Nod, east of Eden.
Genesis 4.3-16
And recite for them the story of the two sons of Adam truthfully, when they offered a sacrifice, and it was accepted of one of them, and not accepted of the other. “I will surely slay you,” said one. “God accepts only of the god-fearing,” said the other.
“Yet if you stretch out your hand against me, to slay me, I will not stretch out my hand against you, to slay you; I fear God, the Lord of all Beings. I desire that you should be laden with my sin and your sin, and so become an inhabitant of the Fire; that is the recompense of the evildoers.”
Then his soul prompted him to slay his brother, and he slew him, and became one of the losers.
Then God sent forth a raven, scratching into the earth, to show him how he might conceal the vile body of his brother. He said, “Woe is me! Am I unable to be as this raven, and so conceal my brother’s vile body?” And he became one of the remorseful.
Qur’an 5.27-31
By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, through which he received approval as righteous, God bearing witness by accepting his gifts; he died, but through his faith he is still speaking.
Hebrews 11.4
When Adam and Eve begot children, the first-born was the son of the serpent’s slime. For two beings had intercourse with Eve, and she conceived from both and bore two children. Each followed one of the male parents, and their spirits parted, one to this side and one to the other, and similarly their characters. On the side of Cain are all the haunts of the evil species, from which come evil spirits and demons and necromancers. From the side of Abel come a more merciful class, yet not wholly beneficial—good wine mixed with bad. The right kind was not produced until Seth came, who is the first ancestor of all the generations of the righteous…
Cain rose up against Abel and killed him because he inherited his nature from the side of Samael, who brought death into the world. He was jealous of Abel on account of his female, as indicated by the words, “and it came to pass when they were in the field (Gen. 4.8),” the word “field” signifying woman. According to the text, Cain was angry because his offering was not accepted, but this is a further reason.
5Zohar 1.36b (Judaism)