1 Samuel 24
12 I’ll let the Lord decide which one of us has done right. I pray that the Lord will punish you for what you’re doing to me, but I won’t do anything to you. 13 An old proverb says, “Only evil people do evil things,” and so I won’t harm you.
Richard: Let God settle battles and grudges. If someone wrongs us, we should forgive and pray that God’s Will be done regarding that person. To be clear, this does not mean that we accept abusive relationships. Rather, this applies to our reaction to them.
Proverbs 28
12 When an honest person wins,
it’s time to celebrate;
when crooks are in control,
it’s best to hide.
13 If you don’t confess your sins,
you will be a failure.
But God will be merciful
if you confess your sins
and give them up.
Reversal and Restoration
Salvation is sometimes pictured as a great reversal. it looks to the day when God will act to turn the existing social and political order upside down, when the wealthy and powerful will no longer tower above the honest and god-fearing. internally, it brings the insight that the way to God is the reverse of the way of the world. an enlightened person recognizes that he should reverse his or her orientation one-hundred-and-eighty degrees. scripture speaks of this inner reversal as dying to self in order to live, seeking darkness in order to find the light, and abasing the self in order to become prominent.
This leads to the concept of salvation as restoration. restoration refers to the undoing of bad habits, modes of thinking, ways of behaving, and social relations that have grown corrupt and deviated from the proper way. it is a return to the origin, aimed at restoring the original way of life according to the true principles and purposes of God. an important expression of this theme of reversion to the origin is the Buddhist doctrine of Dependent origination (Paticcasamuppada), which is not just a law of causality but more properly the insight that all causes leading to downfall must be reversed.
Father Moon discusses this topic at length under the teaching of restoration through indemnity. indemnity, broadly speaking, means to restore mistakes by taking the opposite course. it begins with a reversal of character—from self-centeredness to other-centeredness. it extends to relationships—paying restitution for a crime to making amends for a breach of trust, from the standpoint that it is my responsibility to restore harmony with my brother, even when the original problem was not my fault. it concludes with complete restoration, the reversal of the original sin that happened at the human Fall.
- The Great Reversal
The last will be first, and the first last.
Matthew 20.16
Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.
Matthew 23.12
Him who humbles himself, God exalts; him who exalts himself, God humbles; from him who searches for greatness, greatness flies; him who flies from greatness, greatness searches out: with him who is importunate with circumstances, circumstance is importunate; by him who gives way to circumstance, circumstance stands.
Talmud, Erubin 13b (Judaism)
The way of Heaven,
Is it not like stretching a bow?
What is high up is pressed down,
What is low down is lifted up;
What has surplus is reduced,
What is deficient is supplemented.
The way of Heaven,
It reduces those who have surpluses,
To supplement those who are deficient.
The way of man is just not so:
It reduces those who are deficient,
To offer to those who have surpluses.
Who can offer his surpluses to the world?
Only a person of Tao.
Tao Te Ching 77 (Taoism)
The bows of the mighty are broken,
but the feeble gird on strength.
Those who were full have hired themselves out for bread,
but those who were hungry have ceased to hunger.
The barren has borne seven,
but she who has many children is forlorn.
The Lord kills and brings to life;
he brings down to Sheol and raises up.
The Lord makes poor and makes rich;
he brings low, he also exalts.
He raises up the poor from the dust;
he lifts the needy from the ash heap,
to make them sit with princes
and inherit a seat of honor.
For the pillars of the earth are the Lord ’s,
and on them he has set the world.
He will guard the feet of his faithful ones;
but the wicked shall be cut off in darkness;
for not by might shall a man prevail.
1 Samuel 2.4-9
Teachings of Rev. Sun Myung Moon