Author: Richard U.

How Can We Escape from Our Miserable Life’s Destiny that Ends in the Cemetary?

Presenter Abstinence Education Seminar in Shannondale, Harpers Ferry, WV, July 2nd, 2021: More information and Registration Register by June 30th.

The Richard Urban Show: #96: Bioterrorism by COVID Vaccination

Letter to the Editor: Follow Up on Comments Before the Board of Education – VisionRoot

Matthew 6

22 “The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light. 23 But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!

Ecclesiastes 11

11 Be generous, and someday
    you will be rewarded.
2 Share what you have
    with seven or eight others,
because you never know
    when disaster may strike.
3 Rain clouds always bring rain;
trees always stay
    wherever they fall.
4 If you worry about the weather
and don’t plant seeds,
    you won’t harvest a crop.

Buddha

1. The Buddha Rejects the World in Search of the Path to Truth

Teachings of Rev. Sun Myung Moon

Shakyamuni entered the religious life in search of the true path. Leaving the palace behind, he journeyed as a solitary monk, overcoming many obstacles. He searched for the way for human beings to live according to the Way of Heaven, the Universal Law, which God sought to establish in the world. Yet when he set out on his journey a sea of tears blocked his way—tears from individuals, tears from his family, and tears from his countrymen. Surely the saintly Shakyamuni, who had to overcome all this, walked a most miserable path.34 (101:151, October 29, 1978)

The passing joys of those who delight in the pleasures of the flesh are nothing compared to the bliss experienced by those on the path of enlightenment, who find joy in the midst of simple poverty. Gautama Buddha, who abandoned the luxuries of the royal palace and became enraptured in the pursuit of the Way, was not the only one who wandered about homeless while searching for his heart’s resting place, though he knew not where it was. (Exposition of the Divine Principle, Introduction)

Buddha was persecuted by members of the royal family because he gave up his position as the crown prince. People persecuted him in a country where royalty was worshipped. (258:87, March 17, 1994)

Shakyamuni of India was born as a prince of his country, but when he came to understand that life was a “sea of bitterness,” he gave up his position as a prince to search for the path of truth. Buddhism originated in India, but today there are not many Buddhists in India. There has never been a religious founder who was received well in his own country. No nation has treated its saints well during their lifetime. (39:255-56, January 15, 1971)

2. The Buddha’s Enlightenment

Having mastered perfectly all the methods of trance, the prince recalled, in the first watch of the night, the sequence of his former births.
    Next the Rightly-illumined One perceived, and thus was decisively awakened: When birth is destroyed, old age, and death ceases; when becoming is destroyed, then birth ceases; when attachment is destroyed, becoming ceases; when craving is destroyed, attachment ceases…35\\
    Reflecting his right understanding, the great hermit arose before the world as Buddha, the Enlightened One. He found self nowhere, as the fire whose fuel has been exhausted. Then he conceived the Eightfold Path, the straightest and safest path for the attainment of this end.
    For seven days, the Buddha with serene mind contemplated the Truth that he had attained and gazed at the Bodhi tree without blinking: “Here on this spot I have fulfilled my cherished goal; I now rest at ease in the Dharma of selflessness.”
    Ashvaghosha, Buddhacarita 14

Through many a birth I wandered in samsara, seeking but not finding the builder of this house. Sorrowful is it to be born again and again.
O house-builder! You are seen. You shall build no house again. All your rafters are broken. Your ridgepole is shattered. My mind has attained the unconditioned. Achieved is the end of craving.
    Dhammapada 153-54

In heaven and on earth, I alone am the honored one.Digha Nikaya 2.15

Know then, that from time to time a Tathagata is born into the world, a fully Enlightened One, blessed and worthy, abounding in wisdom and goodness, happy with the knowledge of the worlds, unsurpassed as a guide to erring mortals, a teacher of gods and men, a blessed Buddha. He thoroughly understands this universe, as though he saw it face to face… The Truth does he proclaim both in its letter and in its spirit, lovely in its origin, lovely in its progress, lovely in its consummation. A higher life does he make known in all its purity and in all its perfection.
    Digha Nikaya 13, Tevigga Sutta

Teachings of Rev. Sun Myung Moon
If you establish yourself at a true perpendicular angle [to Heaven] and resonate with the true love of the universe, you will become one with God’s love both internally and externally. Then the universe will belong to you, you will become a great person, and everything will be under your dominion. Shakyamuni experienced this state, and said, “In heaven and on earth, I alone am the honored one.” (178:299, June 12, 1988)

Shakyamuni Buddha said, “In heaven and earth, I alone am the Honored One.” In what state did he teach this? If you were to enter that state of resonance, you would become one with God. In that state, you would be able to see thousands of years of human history unfold before your eyes. You would experience yourself as having that incredible value.
    How can we humans escape from the painful cycle of suffering, life after life? How can we escape from our miserable life’s destiny that ends in the cemetery? This is the homework given to each of us. In order to solve this, we have to receive training to enter the realm of resonance. (38:270-73, January 8, 1971)

We Had Better Remain Here and Bear the Abuse Patiently

Presenter Abstinence Education Seminar in Shannondale, Harpers Ferry, WV, July 2nd, 2021: More information and Registration Register by June 30th.

The Richard Urban Show: #96: Bioterrorism by COVID Vaccination

Letter to the Editor: Follow Up on Comments Before the Board of Education – VisionRoot

Cheon Seong Gyeong 460

When man and woman are in love, whether their love is in accord with God’s will and the standard He requires of them is the question. Is their love in accord with the model of love in God’s mind? We come to the conclusion that if the first man and woman had become one in love based on the love of God, then their love would have become the universal model of love. God must have desired such love from human beings. Likewise, man and woman must have wanted this love from each other. Such true love must be the core of the universe. It becomes the standard of measurement. (Blessed Family – 334)

Cheon Seong Gyeong 1300

If you want to become citizens of the third Israel connected to the Unification Church, you must receive the Blessing. In the past, at the time of Abraham, one had to be circumcised to become a citizen of Israel; and in the time of Jesus, one had to be baptized. It is the same today. In the Unification Church, one cannot become a citizen of the third Israel without receiving the Blessing. However, in receiving the Blessing one must fulfill certain conditions that are neither simple nor easy. I continuously exerted myself and devoted my whole life in fulfilling the necessary foundations for these Blessings.

Buddha

Father Moon honors Shakyamuni as the greatest saint of Asia. His life is a model for anyone who leaves family and friends behind in the search for truth. He was also persecuted during his ministry for attracting young people who abandoned their families, wives, children and wealth to become monks and nuns and follow the path to enlightenment. That blissful state, experienced by the Buddha and many Buddhists since, brought him to the summit of the universe. Everyone would do well to emulate his spiritual practice and find that state.

1. The Buddha Rejects the World in Search of the Path to Truth

Although his parents were unwilling and tears poured down their cheeks, the recluse Gotama, having cut off hair and beard and donned saffron robes, went forth from home into homelessness.
    Digha Nikaya 1.115
 
The king of the Shakya, having heard from the sage Asita that the goal of the prince was to attain supreme bliss, sought to engage the prince in sensual pleasures, lest he should wish to go off to the forest…
    He ordered that all commoners suffering any affliction should be kept off the royal road lest the tender-hearted prince be distressed at the sight of them… Yet on one excursion, the prince saw the man overcome with old age, different in form from other people, and his curiosity was aroused. “Oh, charioteer! Who is this man with gray hair, supported by a staff in his hand, his eyes sunken under his ey ebrows, his limbs feeble and bent? Is this transformation a natural state or an accident?” The charioteer, when he was thus asked, his intelligence being confused by the gods, saw no harm in telling the prince its significance, which should have been discreetly withheld from him, “Old age, it is called, the destroyer of beauty and vigor, the source of sorrow, the depriver of pleasures, the slayer of memories, the enemy of sense organs. That man has been ruined by old age. He, too, in his infancy had taken milk and, in due time, had crawled on the ground; he then became a handsome youth, and now he has reached old age…” For a long while, the prince kept his gaze on the decrepit man, sighing and shaking his head. “Turn back the horses, charioteer; go home quickly. How can I enjoy myself in the garden when the fear of death is revolving in my mind?”
    [On a second excursion, the prince is similarly distressed at the sight of a man afflicted by disease. On a third excursion, he sees a corpse carried by mourners.]
    The charioteer then said to him, “This is the last state of all men. Death is certain for all, whether they be of low, middle, or high degree.” Though he was a steadfast man, the prince felt faint as soon as he heard about death. Leaning his shoulders against the railing, he said in a sad tone, “This is the inescapable end for all men; yet, people in the world harbor no fear and seem unconcerned. Men must be hardened indeed to be so at ease as they walk down the road leading to the next life. Charioteer, turn back, for this is not the time for the pleasure-ground. How can a man of intelligence, aware of death, enjoy himself in this fateful hour?”…
    Longing for solitude, the prince kept his followers back and approached a lonely spot at the foot of a Jambu tree, covered all over with beautiful leaves. There he sat on the clean ground where the soft grass glittered like beryl. Contemplating the birth and death of beings, he undertook to steady his mind in meditation. In no time his mind became firm; he was released from mental distractions such as the desire for objects of sense, and attained the first trance of calmness. Having acquired the concentration of mind which springs from solitude, the prince was filled with extreme joy and bliss; then meditating on the course of the world, he thought, “Alas, wretched is he who, out of ignorance and the blindness of pride, ignores others who are distressed by old age, sickness, or death, though he himself, being likewise subject to disease, old age, and death, is helpless!”…
    The prince now knew what he should do, and began thinking of a way to leave his home.
    Ashvaghosha, Buddhacarita 3-5
 
Now at that time very distinguished young men belonging to the respectable families in Magadha were living the holy life under the Lord. People looked down upon, criticized, spread it about, saying, “The recluse Gotama gets along by making [us] childless, the recluse Gotama gets along by making [us] widows, the recluse Gotama gets along by breaking up families… Who now will be led away by him?”
    Vinaya Pitaka 1.43
 
At one time Shakyamuni Buddha was staying in the town of Kausambi. In this town there was one who resented him and who bribed wicked men to circulate false stories about him. Under these circumstances it was difficult for his disciples to get sufficient food from their begging, and there was much abuse.
    Ananda said to Shakyamuni, “We had better not stay in a town like this. There are other and better towns to go to. We had better leave this town.”
    The Blessed One replied, “Suppose the next town is like this, what shall we do then?”
    “Then we move to another.”
    The Blessed One said, “No, Ananda, there will be no end in that way. We had better remain here and bear the abuse patiently until it ceases, and then we move to another place. There are profit and loss, slander and honor, praise and abuse, suffering and pleasure in this world; the Enlightened One is not controlled by these external things; they will cease as quickly as they come.”
Dhammapada Commentary
 
 

Abraham’s Wife Sarah Obeyed Abraham

The Richard Urban Show: #95-Black Math Genius Causes Controversy in Jefferson County WV Schools

Editorial: Public School Programs Should Not Be Based on Race

Cheon Seong Gyeong 1050

The restoration of the global Kingdom of Heaven cannot come into being unless the foundations for the perfection of Abel on the levels of individual, family, tribe, people, nation, and world can be linked. We who understand this must apply this principle in our daily life, regardless of day or night, and in order to carry on the development of this fundamental principle, we have to be on the run without rest. We can say that this type of person is a person of God. Do you understand? (64-81, 1972.10.24)

Cheong Seong Gyeong 1043

Which side is the subject partner and which is the object partner? Who is in the position to follow and who is in the position to lead? God accurately knows the answer; it is the one on God’s side. When God looks down on this world, He sees two sides in constant struggle. He already knows the answer to the question, “Which side is God’s?” and laughs, saying: “The people on my side are those who stand in a position of constant sacrifice, commitment, and service. Those on this side are those who fight for justice and I will choose such people.” Those at the center always sacrifice and serve. (147-98, 1986.8.31)

Women of the Bible

Women of great faith and devotion have played central roles in the advancement of God’s providence. From the Mothers of Israel to the significant women in Jesus’ life, the bible records the lives of women who made great efforts for God’s will, often at considerable personal cost. A woman’s life in olden times was not easy, and these women all struggled through particularly trying circumstances while maintaining strong faith in God.
To support her husband Abraham, Sarah endured great hardships and even risked being taken into pharaoh’s harem. Bathsheba was actually taken by King David, who also killed her husband, yet she swallowed her pain with the attitude that she should honor her dead husband by being loyal to her king. Rebecca, on the other hand, went against her husband to support her son Jacob, because she knew he was chosen to carry on the divine will. Rachel and Leah struggled with a female sibling rivalry that paralleled that between Jacob and Esau. Tamer and Mary each risked their lives to bear out of wedlock the children God desired. Mary Magdalene showed exemplary devotion to Jesus, superior even to that of the twelve apostles. Father Moon hints of her intimacy with Jesus and her destiny—were it not for the crucifixion—to become Jesus’ bride.
Father Moon sees a thread running through the lives of all these outstanding women: they were chosen in God’s providence to prepare God’s true lineage. Therefore, he had them develop great faith, and then placed them in circumstances which challenged them to restore the mistakes of the first woman, Eve

1.Sarah

Now there was a famine in the land. So Abram went down to Egypt to sojourn there, for the famine was severe in the land. When he was about to enter Egypt, he said to Sarai his wife, “I know that you are a woman beautiful to behold; and when the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife’; then they will kill me, but they will let you live. Say you are my sister, that it may go well with me because of you, and that my life may be spared on your account.” When Abram entered Egypt the Egyptians saw that the woman was very beautiful. And when the princes of Pharaoh saw her, they praised her to Pharaoh. And the woman was taken into Pharaoh’s house. And for her sake he dealt well with Abram; and he had sheep, oxen, he-asses, menservants, maidser-vants, she-asses, and camels.
    But the lord afflicted Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram’s wife. So Pharaoh called Abram, and said, “What is this you have done to me? Why did you not tell me that she was your wife? Why did you say, ‘She is my sister,’ so that I took her for my wife? Now then, here is your wife, take her, and be gone.” And Pharaoh gave men orders concerning him; and they set him on the way, with his wife and all that he had.
    Genesis 12.10-20

Teachings of Rev. Sun Myung Moon

What did Sarah think when Abraham suggested that when they went before Pharaoh they should be introduced as brother and sister? Not long before, she had hurriedly fled their homeland at her husband’s urging. She could have thought, “What a husband! He dragged me away from a comfortable home to this foreign land, and he now does not even want me to call him my husband, but my brother!”
    They had been journeying for months, and she rarely had the occasion to bathe. Living like gypsies, she could not always count on a meal. They had been wandering here today and there tomorrow. Thinking of her difficult life, Sarah could have felt, “What a lousy husband! He has only brought me misfortune morning, day and night. And now he asks me to call him my elder brother, not my husband…”Despite such ordeals, Sarah maintained a hopeful heart and united with her husband. They did not fight during their long journeying. Beside every great man there must be a great woman. Since she was such a great wife to Abraham, if he were ever to take her for granted and try to strike her, God would have been angry with him. (49:144, October 9, 1971)

What about Abraham was better than Noah? Abraham’s wife Sarah obeyed Abraham when he asked her to pose as his sister. Noah’s wife, on the other hand, opposed Noah when he asked her to support him in doing something beyond common sense. From this perspective, Abraham’s wife was better than Noah’s wife. Noah’s family members opposed Noah. His son Ham treated his father with contempt because his mother who raised him was filled with complaints against her husband. Isaac, on the other hand, was raised in the bosom of his mother Sarah who was united with her husband Abraham; hence he willingly obeyed his father even in a situation where he was to be killed. Sarah is the reason why Abraham’s family was better than Noah’s family. (46:322, August 17, 1971)

Without knowing it, Abraham walked this providential course to restore the positions in Adam’s family. When the Archangel took Eve—capturing under his dominion all of Eve’s descendants and the natural world—Adam and Eve were still brother and sister. For Abraham to make the indemnity condition to restore this, he was deprived of Sarah, who was playing the role of his sister, by Pharaoh, who represented Satan. He then had to take her back from Pharaoh as his wife, together with Lot as the representative of all humanity, and wealth symbolizing the natural world. This course which Abraham walked was a model course for Jesus to walk in his day. (Exposition of the Divine Principle, Foundation 3.1.2.1)

Moses Did Not Act Centering on Himself

The Richard Urban Show: #95-Black Math Genius Causes Controversy in Jefferson County WV Schools

Editorial: Public School Programs Should Not Be Based on Race

2 kings 16

17 Ahaz also had the side panels and the small bowls taken off the movable stands in the Lord’s temple. He had the large bronze bowl, called the Sea, removed from the bronze bulls on which it rested and had it placed on a stand made of stone. 18 He took down the special tent that was used for worship on the Sabbath and closed up the private entrance that the kings of Judah used for going into the temple. He did all these things to please Tiglath Pileser.

Richard: Ahaz sought military protection and favors from the King of Assyria, Tiglath Pileser. Thus, he compromised God’s standard and instituted pagan worship practices. We should also make sure that our standards are centered upon God and His word.

Matthew 4

4 Jesus answered, “The Scriptures say:

‘No one can live only on food.
People need every word
    that God has spoken.’”

Moses

2. The Difficulties Moses Faced in Giving the Law and Guiding the Hebrews through the Wilderness

Teachings of Rev. Sun Myung Moon

In the conduct of his life Moses made himself a living sacrifice to save the lives of the whole people, but his people did not know it. Only God understood. God was his only friend, and his Father.
    Moses knew God and related to Him as his Father. Therefore, Moses felt a sense of responsibility to erase the sorrows and sadness in the Father’s heart. For that reason, he was willing even to fast for forty days. For forty days Moses appealed with all of his heart; consequently he could receive the word of God that could resurrect the Israelites.
    The giving of the Ten Commandments was a happy event. However, the Israelites did not know that someone had suffered and sacrificed in the background for the sake of introducing this joy. Had they known, the 600,000 Israelites might have not fallen in the wilderness. If they had only imitated the faith of Moses, to uphold the Ten Commandments and become sacrifices for the sake of alleviating the sorrowful heart of God, then in the months that followed they would not have fallen in the wilderness. (3:287, January 19, 1958)
 
When Moses gave the law to the Israelites, he introduced the God of authority, power and judgment instead of the God of love. The reason he did so was to protect and raise them with the law as Heaven’s people. It was to lead them to the land of Canaan, a land flowing with milk and honey, and thereby accomplish God’s Will of restoration. (35:260, October 25, 1970)
 
Moses did not act centering on himself. From important strategic decisions to trivial details, he did nothing without seeking God’s direction first. In this way, Moses could enter the palace of the Pharaoh, perform miracles and bring on ten plagues, and lead the Israelites out of Egypt and into the wilderness.
    In that danger-filled wilderness, the Israelites should have united with Moses. The wilderness and its privations should not have deterred them. They should have been of one accord with Moses, who had freed them from slavery and was leading them to the land of Canaan. There should have been no disputing with him. Nevertheless, they did not unite with Moses, but deviated from God’s path and perished.
    Why did the Israelites perish in the wilderness? They did not know Moses’ hidden devotion, who as their leader continually appealed to God on their behalf. What is more, they did not recognize the hardships and ordeals Moses suffered on their behalf, from the day he rescued them from Egypt through the years of shepherding them through the wilderness. Consequently, they felt estranged from Moses, and eventually they perished in the wilderness…
    Whenever he faced the Israelites mistrust and lack of faith in him, Moses first repented in front of God for his own lack of ability. For example, [after the Israelites fell to worshipping the golden calf,] Moses again went up to Mount Sinai and offered a forty-day fast and prayer. He cried out, “Father, why is this people not able to enter the land that Thou hast promised, even when it lays before their eyes? Who does the blame fall upon? The responsibility lies with me. I could not fulfill my responsibility to lead them well. Therefore, please accept me as the sacrifice and keep the people from going down the path to destruction.” If the Israelites had known that Moses was fasting with such an anguished heart, not for his own sake but for theirs, they would not have made the golden calf and worshipped it. (1:143-144, July 1, 1956)
 
When they were in the wilderness, they had no way to survive unless they followed Moses. But once they reached the Jordan River, Moses told them to cross ahead of him. It was beautiful to see them excitedly crossing the river and dashing into Canaan. However, Moses remained behind. Did Moses complain, “How could you do this to me, crossing the river and leaving me behind!”? No, Moses only felt, “It is alright for me to die here. You, my children, should go and occupy the land with God’s blessing forevermore.” He lifted up his hands and prayed, “God, look at these Israelites, more courageous than I. Please protect them and give them a hopeful future!” God was astonished to hear Moses’ prayer and exclaimed, “Moses, you are a great leader. Please take a rest now. I will see that your prayer is fulfilled.” What a wonderful death Moses had! (189:249-50, April 9, 1989)
 
 
 
 
 

You Had Made Yourselves a Molten Calf

Cheon Seong Gyeong 2267

When Adam and Eve fell, they were conquered by the world of death. Satan, who exercises dominion over the world of death, created families that would turn against God in the age of the ideal of creation and has formed a world that stood in opposition to Him until now. When we consider this, we understand that what God wants most in His heart is the creation of ideal families. He wants to establish families that surpass the standard desired by His enemy. He wants families surpassing the standard that existed in the ideal age before the Fall. We need to think about this. (159-128, 1968.3.7)

Cheon Seong Gyeong 1191

Instead of beating His enemy to death God must set the condition of having loved him. In the same way the person standing in the position of Adam has to set up a condition of having loved the enemy Satan. If you endure over and over again while being persecuted, and prevail over all the tears, blood and sweat, until the enemy naturally surrenders to you, and return embracing God’s love, then you can receive the blessing. That is when Satan will let you go. You must receive this public approval; “You can now become a child qualified to go to the heavenly kingdom.” Who must sign this approval? Satan must. After Satan signs this, you will sign it, and then True Parents must sign it. You can only stand before God only after getting this signature from True Parents. That is the heavenly kingdom. (141-202, 1986.2.22)

Moses

2. The Difficulties Moses Faced in Giving the Law and Guiding the Hebrews through the Wilderness

The Lord said to Moses, “Come up to me on the mountain, and wait there, and I will give you the tables of stone, with the law and the commandment, which I have written for their instruction.” So Moses rose with his servant Joshua, and Moses went up into the mountain of God… Now the appearance of the glory of the Lord was like a devouring fire on the top of the mountain in the sight of the people of Israel. And Moses entered the cloud, and went up on the mountain. And Moses was on the mountain forty days and forty nights.
    Exodus 14.12-18
 
Moses said to Israel, “Know you not with what travail I gained the Torah! What toil, what labor, I endured for its sake. Forty days and forty nights I was with God. I entered among the angels, the Living Creatures, the Seraphim, of whom any one could blast the whole universe in flame. My soul, my blood, I gave for the Torah. As I learnt it in travail, so do you learn it in travail, and as you learn it in travail, so do you teach it in travail.”
    Sifre Deuteronomy (Judaism)
 
The whole congregation of the people of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness, and said to them, “Would that we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the fleshpots and ate bread to the full; for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.”
    Exodus 16.2-3
 
At the end of forty days and forty nights the Lord gave me [Moses] the two tables of stone, the tables of the covenant. Then the Lord said to me, “Arise, go down quickly from here; for your people whom you have brought from Egypt have acted corruptly; they have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them; they have made themselves a molten image… Let me alone, that I may destroy them and blot out their name from under heaven; and I will make of you a nation mightier and greater than they.”
    So I turned and came down from the mountain, and the mountain was burning with fire; and the two tables of the covenant were in my two hands. And I looked, and behold, you had sinned against the Lord your God; you had made yourselves a molten calf; you had turned aside quickly from the way which the Lord had commanded you. So I took hold of the two tables, and cast them out of my two hands, and broke them before your eyes. Then I lay prostrate before the Lord as before, forty days and forty nights; I neither ate bread nor drank water, because of all the sin which you have committed… because the Lord had said that he would destroy you. And I prayed to the Lord, “O Lord God, destroy not your people and your heritage, whom you have redeemed through your greatness, whom you have brought out of Egypt with a mighty hand. Remember your servants, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; do not regard the stubbornness of this people, or their wickedness, or their sin, lest the land from which you brought us say, ‘Because the Lord was not able to bring them into the land which he promised them, and because he hated them, he has brought them out to slay them in the wilderness.’ For they are your people and your heritage, whom you brought out by your great power and by your outstretched arm.”
    Deuteronomy 9.11-29
 
Moses said, “I am a hundred and twenty years old this day; I am no longer able to go out and come in. The Lord has said to me, ‘You shall not go over this Jordan.’ The Lord your God himself will go over before you; he will destroy these nations before you, so that you shall dispossess them; and Joshua will go over at your head, as the Lord has spoken. And the Lord will do to them as he did to Sihon and Og, the kings of the Amorites, and to their land, when he destroyed them. And the Lord will give them over to you, and you shall do to them according to all the commandment which I have commanded you. Be strong and of good courage, do not fear or be in dread of them: for it is the Lord your God who goes with you; he will not fail you or forsake you.” Then Moses summoned Joshua, and said to him in the sight of all Israel, “Be strong and of good courage; for you shall go with this people into the land which the Lord has sworn to their fathers to give them; and you shall put them in possession of it. It is the Lord who goes before you; he will be with you, he will not fail you or forsake you; do not fear or be dismayed.”
    Deuteronomy 31.2-8