Where can we find clean water? The ocean water is completely polluted. However, the North Pole has snow eight hundred meters deep. That is fresh water that was accumulated thousands of years ago. It is not polluted, but clean, even after ten thousand years. It is the same with the South Pole. What if we were to build a cultural city like New York below the ice, do you think many people will come to see it or not? This could actually be done. Don’t you feel excited just thinking about it? If you build a tunnel in the ice, it will not collapse, but last for ten thousand years. By spraying cold water on the inside surface once a year, the ice will stay frozen and eventually become solid. (302-99, 1999.6.1)
Cheon Seong Gyeong 1254
Marriage is a very serious thing. Marriage is the coming together of heaven and earth, east and west, north and south, and high and low. Then, where does love go? When the two become one, where does love go? Why should we seek love? By seeking love, we automatically go to the central place of the environment. If people do not have a family, they are imperfect in this society. No one will ever trust them. That is because they fall short of the standard of the principle in sustaining the universe and so people do not acknowledge their value. That is only logical. (139-64, 1986.1.26)
Eschatology and Messianic Hope
The Kingdom of Heaven
2. A New World of Peace and Joy
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband; and I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling of God is with men. He will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself will be with them. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain any more, for the former things have passed away.”
And he who sat upon the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new.” Also he said, “Write this, for these words are trustworthy and true.” And he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the fountain of the water of life without payment. He who conquers shall have this heritage, and I will be his God and he shall be my son.”…
And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine upon it, for the glory of God is its light, and its lamp is the Lamb. By its light shall all the nations walk; and the kings of the earth shall bring their glory into it, and its gates shall never be shut by day—and there shall be no night there; they shall bring into it the glory and the honor of the nations. But nothing unclean shall enter it, nor any one who practices abomination or falsehood, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life.
Revelation 21.1-27
It shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be raised above the hills; And all the nations shall flow to it; and many peoples shall come, saying, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord , to the house of the God of Jacob; That he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths.” For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. He shall judge between the nations, and shall decide for many peoples; They shall beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.
Isaiah 2.2-4
In the City Joyful dwell the saints of God; Neither suffering nor sorrow is found therein; Neither anxiety to pay tribute nor any imposts; Neither fear of retribution nor of fall from eminence. In this happy land where my dwelling is, Abides unending well-being. All who therein dwell are blessed with eternal kingship; None is there reckoned inferior to any. That city knows no decline; Its citizens are rich and fulfilled. Unlimited their freedom— None are alien there; All in true liberty abide. Says Ravidas, the emancipated cobbler, Only a citizen of that City reckon I my friend. Adi Granth, Gauri, Ravidas, p. 345 (Sikhism)
On the day when We shall roll up heaven as a scroll is rolled for the writings; as We originated the first creation, so We shall bring it back again—a promise binding on Us; so We shall do. For We have written in the Psalms, after the Remembrance, “The earth shall be the inheritance of My righteous servants.”
This is why after the Second World War we saw that the victorious nations allowed the defeated nations to keep their independence. This signified that the world had entered the realm of the brotherhood ideology. When we reach the point closest to the appearance of the ideology on God’s side, the two brothers will fight in front of the one God.
Cheon Seong Gyeong 1208
Perfection is achieved through the completion of indemnity. Without climbing over the ridge of indemnity, there is no way for you to reach perfection. Internally, this refers to individual perfection, but from God’s point of view, this can be seen as restoration. It is possible to say that the standard of the completion of indemnity is the completion of restoration. Restoration is accomplished through indemnity. That is why we call it restoration through indemnity. Thus, indemnity and restoration cannot be separated. (God’s Will – 697)
Eschatology and Messianic Hope
The Kingdom of Heaven
The Millennial Kingdom is an ideal world without evil or sin, a world in which God’s sovereignty is fully manifest. Hope for its advent can be found to some degree in every world religion, but it is most strongly expressed in the scriptures of Judaism and Christianity, as a firm promise of God. Sometimes the term Kingdom of heaven denotes a spiritual ideal, a state of bliss in the afterlife (see chapter 5: Heaven), but that sense of the term does not do justice to the most thoroughgoing eschatological visions. In this respect, Father Moon gives numerous clear teachings about the Kingdom to be established on earth. He has dedicated his life to fulfill God’s calling to build that kingdom—not as a future vision but as a realistic program of human renewal. These passages survey the Kingdom of heaven from several perspectives. First, it is a world of God’s absolute sovereignty. We note that this need not imply anything about the political system of such a world. No regime in history, even if it claimed to be instituting God’s theocratic rule, has come anywhere close to the Kingdom in the true sense. God’s dominion is by love, not political power. It is where goodness is vested with authority for its own sake, and God can rule through the hearts of good people. Second, the Kingdom is a transfigured world—a new heaven and new earth—where all people live as one great human family. Giving and sharing is the norm; selfishness is unheard of. People know intimately the heart and will of God, rejoice in living by heaven’s norms, and have no inward impediments to doing well. It is a world of peace, where nations no longer make war and people enjoy a life free from crime or oppression. Third, the Kingdom requires a transformation of the self. Even if the world were at peace, if we still felt conflicted and disturbed, we would not feel comfortable and might continue to dwell in a private hell. Likewise, even though we might live in the most delightful environment, we could not enjoy it if our family were full of conflict and strife. Father Moon teaches that the family is a fundamental unit of the Kingdom. \ Fourth, the Kingdom is a very natural place, free of artificiality or the constraint of external laws, because the spontaneous promptings of the heart would all be good. It is a place of dazzling beauty, where people’s minds are like crystal, emanating divine light. Creation rejoices, as citizens of the Kingdom care for the environment with love and sensitivity to nature’s ways. Finally, the Kingdom transcends death. When the earthly world and the spirit world are united, the barrier of death will come down, allowing people to freely communicate with their loved ones on the other side.
1. The World of God’s Sovereignty
The lord will become king over all the earth; on that day the lord will be one and His name one.
Zechariah 14.9
The sovereignty on that day will be God’s. He will judge between them.
Qur’an 22.56
We therefore hope in Thee, O lord our God, that we shall soon behold the triumph of Thy might, idolatry will be uprooted from the earth, and falsehood be utterly destroyed.
We hope for the day when the world will be perfected under the dominion of the Almighty and all mankind learn to revere Thy name; when all the wicked of the earth will be drawn in penitence unto Thee.
O may all the inhabitants of the world recognize that unto Thee every knee must bend, every tongue pledge loyalty. Before Thee, O lord our God, may they bow in worship, and give honor to Thy glorious name.
May they all acknowledge Thy kingdom, and may Thy dominion be established over them speedily and forevermore. For sovereignty is Thine, and to all eternity Thou wilt reign in glory.
Daily Prayer Book, Alenu (Judaism)
Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign for ever and ever.”
Revelation 11.15
Teachings of Rev. Sun Myung Moon
Once the sovereignty of Satan is expelled from the earth, then God, the eternal and absolute Being transcendent of time and space, will establish His sovereignty and His truth. In that day, God’s truth will be absolute, and hence the purpose which it serves and the standard of goodness which it sets will both be absolute. This cosmic, all-encompassing truth will be firmly established by Christ at his Second Advent. (Exposition of the Divine Principle, Fall 4.3)
Did you find your original homeland? You did not. Actually, you never had it. Your original homeland is the Kingdom of God on earth. Is there any nation on earth that can qualify as the nation of the original homeland? No, there is no such nation. Then, where can we expect to establish the original home nation? It should encompass the whole planet Earth. It shall be the Kingdom of God on earth and the Kingdom of God in heaven as well.
Three major elements are required to establish a country: sovereignty, land, and people. Does God have sovereignty anywhere in the world today? No! Does God have a land to govern? No! Are there any people in the world that allows itself to be governed by God? No! Therefore, we do not have our homeland. Eventually, God should have sovereignty over a nation called Earth and a people called Humanity. Until that day, this world is actually not a fit place for human beings to live. (155:26, October 6, 1964)
Father! Please bestow blessings upon this people and blessings upon all the people of the world.
Please resolve the grief of the many spirit people waiting in heaven for the day of the Second Advent.
May it quickly be realized—the world which Thou art able to govern, the Kingdom of peace on the earth, resolving Thy grief and Jesus’ grief.
Earnestly, earnestly we ask Thee: may the day quickly come when we can return glory to Thee and rejoice together with Thee, when the earth is filled with glory and victory for eternity. (16:52, December 26, 1965)
We are headed for a certain destination whether we know it or not, even as we move and even as we rest. Not just you, but this nation, this world and even heaven and earth are headed there as well. This is an undeniable fact.
Cheon Seong Gyeong 1110
When God created human beings, He created both the realms of direct and indirect dominion. Then, why did He create a realm of indirect dominion? When would the realms of direct and indirect dominion connect? When Adam and Eve, the original ancestors of humankind, matured and were ready to unite in love based on the horizontal, God would have descended and dwelt with them. Their marriage would have enabled them to join together in horizontal love based on the vertical love of God. In this way, heaven and earth would have unified. (135-306, 1985.12.15)
Eschatology and Messianic Hope
The Messiah
6. Prophecies of the Messiah’s Advent in the East
Teachings of Rev. Sun Myung Moon
The Korean people have long cherished a messianic hope, nurtured by the clear testimonies of their prophets. The First Israel believed in the testimonies of its prophets that the Messiah would come as their king, establish the Kingdom and bring them salvation. The Second Israel was able to endure an arduous path of faith due in part to their hope in the return of Christ. Similarly, the Korean people, the Third Israel, have believed in the prophecy that the Righteous King will appear and found a glorious and everlasting kingdom in their land. Clinging to this hope, they found the strength to endure their afflictions. This messianic idea among the Korean people was revealed through the Cheong Gam Nok, a book of prophecy written in the fourteenth century at the beginning of the Yi dynasty.
Because this prophecy foretold that a new king would emerge, the ruling class tried to suppress it. The Japanese colonial regime tried to stamp out this notion by burning the book and oppressing its believers. After Christianity became widely accepted, the idea was ridiculed as superstition. Nevertheless, this messianic hope still lives on, deeply ingrained in the soul of the Korean people. The hoped-for Righteous King foretold in the Cheong Gam Nok has the appellation Cheong Do Ryeong [The One Who Comes with the True Word of God]. In fact, this is a Korean prophecy of the Christ who is to return to Korea. Even before the introduction of Christianity to Korea, God had revealed through the Cheong Gam Nok that the Messiah would come to that land. (Exposition of the Divine Principle, Second Advent 3.3.4)
Just as the French prophet Nostradamus prophesied, and as is clearly recorded in one of the Orient’s greatest books of prophesies, Kyeok Am Yu Rok, Reverend Moon has come as the one who has received Heaven’s appointment. He is fulfilling the responsibilities of humanity’s True Parent and the King of Peace. (May 1, 2004)
The surprising fact is that in the spirit world, the Founders of the five major religions gathered and declared that God is the Parent of humankind. They declared that Reverend Moon is the Savior and Messiah, the Second Coming of the Lord, and the True Parent. They also affirmed that the Unification Principle is a message of peace for the salvation of humanity. They declared that its core teaching, that we live for the sake of others with love, transcends religion, nationality, and race, and that practicing its teaching of true love will complete the peaceful unification of the cosmos. They further resolved that they would attend the True Parents and unite with one accord, devoting themselves for the sake of God’s Kingdom and world peace. (July 11, 2003)
We should have the same parents and become bonded with our broth-ers and sisters. Then, we should inherit the daily life, habits, and traditions of those parents just as they are. We should form a family that heaven can rejoice in. Only then will there be family members. (155-209, 1965.10.30)
Cheon Seong Gyeong 1381
Why did I set the number at 360,000 couples? Of all the Blessed Couples in our church, the most central of them all are the 36 Couples. They signify Adam’s, Noah’s, and Jacob’s families, and thus together form the vertical foundation. These three types of couples had to be united. Once they accomplished that, they could make good the number twelve. When you apply the three stages to this number, you arrive at the number 36. In this way, the 36 Couples become the ancestors who represent all previous ancestors in history and all human-kind. In terms of the human body, they are like the backbone. We are talking about the vertical standard that is like the backbone of a human body. The cells in the flesh can stay alive only when the flesh is united with the bones.
Eschatology and Messianic Hope
The Messiah
6. Prophecies of the Messiah’s Advent in the East
No matter how long we wait there is no chance that he will come from Europe. It is Asia from whence he is to come. A great union will be born out of Hermes. He will surpass all the kings of the Orient. The country of the sun will main-tain a great messianic law. A new leader of the spirit will come in the East.
Nostradamus, Quatrains 10.75
After three years of war, when the land of Korea is devastated, there will begin to dawn the heavenly nation in the East. In the West, voices will cry out, “Cheong Do Ryeong, Cheong Do Ryeong!” and “Messiah, Messiah!” However, when that time comes, one must find the double bow and the double ul [the white cross], before one can partake of the great benefit.
This is the time when humankind meets the central fortune of Heaven. The eldest son of the East [Korea] meets and marries the eldest daughter of the Southeast [Japan].24 Everyone covets and waits for the True Man, but who is he? He is the one who judges all good and evil.
The one who comes with the full power to administer Heaven and earth does not come from the mountains, nor from the fields, but from the place of the white cross. Verily, he comes with the heavenly law.
The number of the heavenly law is 21,600—the number denoting Heaven, and 14,400—the number denoting the earth. Their sum is 36,000 [the sum of yin and yang, Heaven and earth]. When good men and women in matrimony reach this number, the holy man will come.
Yin and yang in harmony bring the fortune of the heavenly way. The united fortune of the East and the West is the Fortune of the Ten Victories.
This number changes the predisposition of nature. The religions of the East and the West come into good accord, and all the people of the world become as close as brothers and sisters. This is the manifest white cross, according to the principles of yin and yang, Heaven and earth.
The Great Way of the Ten Victories appears from the East. A thunderous voice calls out, offering the blessing. If you scorn this and go against it, your act will be as that of a praying mantis or cricket trying to stop a rolling wheel, and the holy man will only laugh.
Matching good men and women, the holy man will live comfortably. Receiving his matching and returning gratitude to God in prayer, they will receive precious children. Then the whole world will be united, such as has never happened from the dawn of creation.
In the East where the sun rises there will appear a white cross, and it will shine upon all corners of the world. The Cheong Do Ryeong is the Great King of the Ten Victories. Remember! He is the king of all kings!
Cheong Gam Nok
For as the lightning comes from the east and shines as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of man.
Matthew 24.27
Do not doubt that the heavenly Holy One will descend from Heaven in the East. If the East fails to recognize him, he will come to be known through newly educated Western people. If both East and West are unable to discern the One who is to come, both East and West will be discarded and new humankind will emerge. What can we do?
He returns from the West after receiving such regretful treatment, and looks down from the high mountain upon the world far away. In the latter half of the twentieth century, come to the East and undo all regrets…
Two holy men appear. The first one is not the real one, but the one who comes the second time is the Savior. When Heaven sends him to the earth secretively, his family name is Moon. When the message gets to the unwanted ones, they will cause problems for the Messiah because no human being wants to be defeated. Thus the Messiah appears amidst difficulties.
Kyeok Am Yu Rok
Richard: You can see from the above readings that Rev. Sun Myung Moon has successfully fulfilled the role of the savior and returning Lord. Most importantly, he has successfully fulfilled the role of the True Parent, along with his wife, Mrs. Moon.
This right of kingship would not initially have been a right of kingship for the whole world but one starting in a single family. From the family, it would have advanced beyond being a family kingship, to have become a tribal, a national, a worldwide and a cosmic kingship. Then there would be no need for any Christian denominations or ministers. The Vatican would not be needed. Democracy would not be needed. Democracy is an ideology based only on brotherhood. This is why people are fighting. Brothers are fighting among themselves. Hence, the ideology upholding brotherhood should return to a parent-centered ideology and from there to the God-centered ideology of Godism.
Cheon Seong Gyeong 963
If your grandparents, mother and father, couple, and children, become one based on true love, and inherit God’s true love that lives for others, then even God would be absolutely obedient to that. In the world that strives to live for others – a world that moves according to the love that submits to the tradition of living for others – the basis for peace would surely emerge even if it resisted being formed. (210-354, 1990.12.27)
Eschatology and Messianic Hope
The Messiah
5. The Messiah Establishes Peace in the Middle East for Jews, Christians and Muslims
Behold, the days are coming, says the lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch,20 and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely… People shall no longer say, “As the lord lives who brought up the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt,” but “As the lord lives who brought up and led the descendants of the house of Israel out of the north country and out of all the countries where he had driven them.” Then they shall dwell in their own land.
Jeremiah 23.5-8
This world differs from the days of the Messiah only in respect of servitude to foreign powers.
Talmud, Sanhedrin 99a (Judaism)
I will restore the fortunes of Jacob, and have mercy upon the whole house of Israel; and I will be jealous for my holy name. They shall forget their shame, and all the treachery they have practiced against me, when they dwell securely in their land with none to make them afraid, when I have brought them back from the peoples and gathered them from their enemies’ lands… into their own land. I will leave none of them remaining among the nations any more; and I will not hide my face any more from them, when I pour out my Spirit upon the house of Israel, says the Lord god.
Ezekiel 39.25-29
Allah’s Apostle said, “The Hour will not be established until the son of Mary [Jesus] descends amongst you as a just ruler, he will break the cross, kill the pigs, and abolish the jizya tax.22Money will be in abundance so that nobody will accept it (as charitable gifts).”
Hadith of Bukhari 3.656 (Islam)
Teachings of Rev. Sun Myung Moon
Had Jesus completed the providence of restoration through indemnity, then married and formed a family, he could have established at once a foundation of marriage Blessings that would have brought the people of Israel into Heaven’s realm. Had he been able to go on to give the Blessing in Rome, he could have established the Kingdom of God on earth when he was in his forties.
Instead, Jesus was murdered. As a consequence, today the Israelis and Palestinians are fighting, although they are brothers. Originally, the world was supposed to have just one religion, one culture, one nation, and one realm of heart. Jesus came to make it so, but when he could not, then Islam came into being, Judaism came into being, and Christianity came into being. You need to know that these developments caused God much sorrow…
We have arrived at a time when Judaism, Islam, and Christianity should overcome their historical divisions and unite as one based on the Unification Principles. (August 15, 2003)
Jesus asks me, “Please, True Parents, save the people of Israel.” That is why I am telling you Christian leaders to take down the cross. Take down your crosses, and perishing Christianity will revive. The cross was the rack of punishment and death. It has no place in the religion of the resurrection. Ask Jesus what he thinks about it. (January 1, 2003)
