Cheon Seong Gyeong | Daily Inspiration

Where is the Lamb for a Burnt Offering?

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Cheon Seong Gyeong 2084

You must set the condition of having loved your enemies even if the world persecutes you and even if you stand facing a global enemy. God and the people of all religions who are trying to be God’s children are caught up in this one line. The teaching, “Love your enemy,” is the great truth. Although the content is simple, no one has known that this would become the dividing line between God and Satan. (The Way of Unification – 595)

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People who follow the path of goodness always face sacrifice. That is why we teach the way of sacrifice. To say “live for others” means to sacrifice rather than gaining profit. It is an act of investing oneself. Investing yourself means you should invest to the fullest extent, even offering your own life. (78-61, 1975.5.4)

Isaac

Of all the tests of faith that Abraham faced, surely none was more difficult than the command that he sacrifice his son as a burnt offering. Yet, Abraham was obedient to God’s order. He journeyed with his son to Mount Moriah, bound him and placed him on the altar, and was about to kill him only to be stopped at the last minute by an angel. The bible identifies this son as Isaac, although in the Islamic tradition he is thought to have been Ishmael.
On the way to Mount Moriah, Isaac’s faith was tested as much as Abraham’s. He was old enough to understand what was about to happen; yet he was determined to unite with his father’s wishes even at the cost of his life. He was an exemplary son in this regard.
Father Moon challenges us: Do we have the faith of Isaac, ready to die on God’s altar? Do we have the faith of Abraham, ready if need be to send a beloved child into the face of death for the sake of God’s will? Have we raised our children to have the faith of Isaac, ready to support their parents in faith?

After these things God tested Abraham, and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here am I.” He said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering upon one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.” So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and his son Isaac; and he cut the wood for the burnt offering, and arose and went to the place of which God had told him. On the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place afar off. Then Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the ass; I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you.” And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, and laid it on Isaac his son; and he took in his hand the fire and the knife. So they went both of them together. And Isaac said to his father Abraham, “My father!” And he said, “Here am I, my son.” He said, “Behold, the fire and the wood; but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” Abraham said, “God will provide himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” So they went both of them together.
When they came to the place of which God had told him, Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar, upon the wood. Then Abraham put forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son. But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven, and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here am I.” He said, “Do not lay your hand on the lad or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.” And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him was a ram, caught in a thicket by his horns; and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son. So Abraham called the name of that place The lord will provide; as it is said to this day, “On the mount of the lord it shall be provided.”
And the angel of the lord called to Abraham a second time from heaven, and said, “By myself I have sworn, says the lord, because you have done this, and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will indeed bless you, and I will multiply your descendants as the stars of heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore. And your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies, and by your descendants shall all the nations of the earth bless themselves, because you have obeyed my voice.”
Genesis 22.1-18

On their way to Mount Moriah, Abraham and Isaac met Satan disguised as an old man. “Where are you going, Abraham?” asked Satan.
“I’m on my way to pray,” answered Abraham.
“Why then the wood and the fire and the sacrificial knife?”
“We shall be on top of Mount Moriah several days and will use them to prepare our food.” “You are an old man and you have only one son with your wife Sarah, yet you are willing to sacrifice him,” mocked Satan.
“As God told me to do, so shall it be,” answered Abraham.
Satan then addressed Isaac, “Where are you going, Isaac?”
“To study God’s wisdom,” said Isaac.
“Do you intend to study after you are dead? For your father intends to sacrifice you.”
“If God wishes to accept me as a sacrifice, I am glad to do His will.”…
As they were wending their way to perform the will of God, Isaac said to his father, “O father, I am yet young, and I am fearful lest my body tremble at the sight of the knife, causing you grief; I am fearful lest the offering shall not be a perfect one, perfect as I should like it to be.”
Genesis Rabbah 56 (Judaism)

We gave [Abraham] tidings of a gentle son. And when he was old enough to walk with him, Abraham said: O my dear son, I have seen in a dream that I must sacrifice you. So look, what do you think? He said: O my father! Do what you are commanded. God willing, you will find me of the steadfast. Then, when they had both surrendered to God, and he had flung him down on his face, We called to him: O Abraham! You have already fulfilled the vision. Lo! Thus do We reward the good. Verily this was a clear test. Then We ransomed him with a tremendous victim.
And We left for him among the later folk the salutation, “Peace be to Abraham!” Thus do We reward the good. Surely he was one of Our believing servants. And We gave him tidings of the birth of Isaac, a Prophet of the righteous. And We blessed him and Isaac.
Qur’an 37.101-107

By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was ready to offer up his only son, of whom it was said, “Through Isaac shall your descendants be named.” He considered that God was able to raise men even from the dead; hence, figuratively speaking, he did receive him back.
Hebrews 11.17-19

Abraham breathed his last and died in a good old age, an old man and full of years, and was gathered to his people. Isaac and Ishmael his sons buried him in the cave of Machpelah, in the field of Ephron the son of Zohar the Hittite, east of Mamre.
Genesis 25.8-9

Islam Would Emerge as the Opponent of Christianity

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God stands in the position of being the Father who has truly perfected love, and the son fulfills his filial duty based on God’s love and the fundamental love of the universe, thus uniting with the Father. How can God pave the way of filial piety of a higher dimension in front of this love? If this had been done, then the Fall would never have happened for all eternity.
This is the realm of the greatest of all liberation. This realm goes beyond the realm of the Principle. It is the original world of true love. When we think about this, then you must not think it is the end when you realize the ideal of the family, the Kingdom of God on Earth, and the Kingdom of God in Heaven. There are still some traces stained by Satan’s blood in the internal root, which have to be removed.
Tens of millions of years of history have passed, and even if several times, ten times, or even more than a hundred times that time passes, do you think it is possible to forget the world of the Fall? You should ponder the thought that God’s highest hope is to forget all this, to have you and me join together, to have the sons and daughters join together, and become filial sons and daughters who can comfort God who takes the trouble to love us. (300-33, 1999.2.21)

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The mistake Cain committed by not being obedient to Abel, which led to their fatal conflict, has not been indemnified by providential figures of the past, and so the process of restoration has been prolonged until now. In order to restore this mistake completely, the foundation of Cain’s obedience to Abel must be indemnified before each ancestral couple. The 72 Couples, therefore, came into existence for this purpose. The number 72 is double the number 36. (22-193, 1969.2.2)

Abraham

3. Abraham, Ishmael and the Roots of Islam

Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, bore him no children. She had an Egyptian maid whose name was Hagar; and Sarai said to Abram, “Behold now, the lord has prevented me from bearing children; go in to my maid; it may be that I shall obtain children by her.” And Abram hearkened to the voice of Sarai. So, after Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan, Sarai, Abram’s wife, took Hagar the Egyptian, her maid, and gave her to Abram her husband as a wife. And he went in to Hagar, and she conceived; and when she saw that she had conceived, she looked with contempt on her mistress. And Sarai said to Abram, “May the wrong done to me be on you! I gave my maid to your embrace, and when she saw that she had conceived, she looked on me with contempt. May the Lord judge between you and me!” But Abram said to Sarai, “Behold, your maid is in your power; do to her as you please.” Then Sarai dealt harshly with her, and she fled from her.
The angel of the lord found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, the spring on the way to Shur. And he said, “Hagar, maid of Sarai, where have you come from and where are you going?” She said, “I am fleeing from my mistress Sarai.” The angel of the lord said to her, “Return to your mistress, and submit to her.” The angel of the lord also said to her, “I will so greatly multiply your descendants that they cannot be numbered for multitude.” And the angel of the lord said to her, “Behold, you are with child, and shall bear a son; you shall call his name Ishmael; because the lord has given heed to your affliction.
Genesis 16.1-12

Abraham said, “My Lord! Make safe this territory [of Mecca], and preserve my sons and me from serving idols. My Lord! Truly they have led many of mankind astray. But whoever follows me, he truly is of me. And whoever disobeys me—still, You are Forgiving, Merciful.
Our Lord, I have settled some of my posterity in an uncultivable valley near your Sacred House, Lord, that they may establish proper worship; so incline some hearts of men that they may yearn toward them, and provide them with fruits in order that they may be thankful.”
Qur’an 14.35-37

Teachings of Rev. Sun Myung Moon

If Abraham had not failed in the symbolic offering, Isaac and his half-brother Ishmael would have stood in the positions of Abel and Cain. They would have been responsible to fulfill the indemnity condition to remove the fallen nature that Cain and Abel did not accomplish.13 However, because Abraham failed in the offering, God set up Isaac in the position of Abraham, and Esau and Jacob in the positions originally intended for Ishmael and Isaac. (Exposition of the Divine Principle, Foundation 3.2)

Ishmael was the Cain-type offspring of Abraham, born from his concubine Hagar. Abraham’s concubine and Abraham’s wife fought and became enemies. The two women were supposed to be united as one family; then God’s historical burden would have been lighter. Instead they fought, and Sarah expelled Hagar.
This division could have been restored at the time of Jesus, but it was not. As the result of Jesus’ crucifixion, there arose divisions—up and down, right and left, and front and rear—which have persisted through the last 2,000 years. Among nations there would be conflict between the left wing and the right wing, and among religions Islam would emerge as the opponent of Christianity. Islam was victorious in the lands of the Middle East. (215:253, February 20, 1991)

You Must Not Compromise with Satan’s World

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The family on earth is the horizontal entity whose purpose is to create the heavenly kingdom. Reproduction is not possible in the vertical world. The number of children expands in the horizontal world and they become God’s citizens. When members of royal families who are God’s citizens multiply, they are all citizens except the firstborn. They become relatives. Those citizens become clans. There must be a firstborn among the clans, right? Among tribes, too, there needs to be the firstborn that ties all the tribes together. This is Adam and Eve. Adam and Eve were to be the king and queen of the eternal tradition. In a democratic world, all this disappears. Then what is the spherical shape? The foundation for producing the citizens of heaven is not the family foundation in Heaven, but on earth. To bear children is to produce citizens of the heavenly world. (234-165, 1992.8.10)

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What does the savior come to do? He does not come for the sake of politics. Some Christians say that when the Lord comes, the Christians will be lifted up into the air, and those left on earth will all perish. But that is not so. It is not like that. They say he will come to judge, but the savior is not someone who comes to judge. He is the son of God, and, at the same time, he comes as the parent of humankind. Will someone who comes as the parent of humanity, with the heart of the parents, look at a sick son or daughter, groaning on the brink of death, and abandon them, saying, “You go to hell!”? Even if parents in this fallen world see the miserable scene of their own child being about to die, they would cry themselves hoarse and want to do anything to save their child’s life, even at the cost of their own. That is how parents are, so how much more would the savior, who has the original parent’s heart be determined to do? He cannot think of such a thing as judging people. Don’t you think so? (222-150, 1991.11.3)

Richard: The savior returns as True Parents. Rev. and Mrs. Moon have fulfilled that role. It is up to us to learn the truth and practice it in our own lives.

Abraham

1. Abraham: A Man of Absolute Faith

Teachings of Rev. Sun Myung Moon

Abraham brought a revolution at the home of his father Terah. As a boy, he would kick the idols and say to his father, “Father, what are these idols?” He must have resolved many tens of times, “Someday, with my own hands, I am going to…” (151:62, October 7, 1962)

Abraham was the most-loved son of an idol merchant, and he lived well under his parents’ care. However, one day God called him saying, “Abraham, Abraham! You must leave from the house of your father Terah and go to the land I will show you.” God did not give him any advance preparation; the order came to him suddenly, like a bolt out of the blue. Yet in that circumstance, Abraham was not supposed to hesitate. He had to leave at once, as if he had been waiting for God’s order. He could not say, “Lord, please give me some time to get ready.” He had to depart immediately. Had he not done so, it would have been a grave mistake affecting many generations and even the course of human history. In other words, had Abraham delayed, it would have been a condition that Satan could accuse, nullifying all God’s historical efforts heretofore. Knowing this, those who are to attend God’s command must act right away. (43:270, May 1, 1971)

Suppose Abraham had gone to his parents and said, “Father, Mother, God has commanded me to leave Ur and travel to an unknown land. I intend to obey Him.” They undoubtedly would have said, “Are you crazy?” Therefore, he could not say a word about it. Moreover, his instructions were not just to visit a nearby village. God instructed him to journey to a strange land, as far away as Egypt.

Abraham could overcome these obstacles and leave home because he had absolute faith in God’s words. His love for God was absolute, greater than his love for his parents, his relatives or his homeland. To Abraham, nothing was more important that God’s command; he cherished it more than his own life. I am sure he stole away in the middle of the night. Suddenly he found himself wandering like a gypsy. He lived in self-denial; he had given up everything. (69:95, October 21, 1973)

In the land of Canaan, God trained Abraham. As God advanced the dispensation, He put Abraham in circumstances where he would weep, not only for his own people but also for other peoples and even his enemies…

God conducted His work by having Abraham wander about like a gypsy in a foreign land. Though a stranger, he prayed sincerely, in tears, for the people’s salvation. That is why God could establish Abraham as the ancestor of faith and to bless his descendants to prosper greatly like the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore. (52:53, December 14, 1971)

In the wilderness, Abraham our ancestor, awaited the coming of the day when God’s reign could be established. He left the fertile rivers of his homeland in hope, looking towards the day when the sons and daughters whom God had blessed would multiply and fill the earth like the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore, and smite the evil world.

Why should we care about Abraham? We, too, are enslaved in the country of the enemy, behind its prison bars. We, too, should feel thoroughly disgusted with our lives in this fallen environment. We should also feel goose bumps at the prospect of freedom. If you cannot feel this, then you are not worthy to be called true believers before Heaven.

For what purpose did God raise Abraham? It was not for just himself and his descendants. It was to create a bridge for God to reach out to distant peoples living in the enemy camp, in Satan’s world.11 Abraham was to make a foundation for God’s providence to expand outward. However, because the connection between Heaven and earth was still fragile, God had to begin by working through Abraham’s direct lineage. Thus, He referred to Himself as the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob…

God blessed Abraham on the condition, “You must not compromise with Satan’s world. You must not assimilate into Satan’s world. You are My chosen people. Your life should be different; your feelings, desires and ideals should all be different. Your descendants shall live only if they overcome life’s challenges by relying on Me.” This was the nature of the blessing Abraham passed on to Isaac. Isaac kept it and conveyed it to Jacob, and Jacob likewise conveyed it to his descendants. (7:215-16, September 13, 1959)

Noah Had Severed His Ties to Satan

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Since we have to work for the tong ban breakthrough, you must return to your homes. Adam and Eve started out as a man and woman, and became defiled as a son and daughter. So in order to get this situation under control, we must return to the family. You must seek out your tribe and relatives and wash them by investing your blood, sweet, and tears. Don’t wash them with water. Only when you wash them by investing your blood, sweat, and tears will you be successful. Unless you enter the house and invest your blood, sweet, and tears, restoration will not take place. That way is the way I must go. (208-172, 1990.11.17)

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What is most needed in the fallen world are the True Parents who have gone beyond the realm of the Fall. According to the Principle, they are the ones who have completed their portion of responsibility and have transcended that sphere. They have entered the realm of direct dominion, having left the realm of indirect dominion. What is the realm of direct dominion? It is a world united in love. At this stage, the other master cannot appear. This is absolute. If you are completely united in love you will not follow two masters. God Himself does not desire to see another master and neither does humankind. Achieving this stage establishes an eternal foundation. If this is extended to a family, a tribe, a people and a nation, then the heavenly fortune will rotate centered on that axis of love. (149-154, 1986.11.21)

Noah

2. The Sin of Ham

Noah was the first tiller of the soil. He planted a vineyard; and he drank of the wine, and became drunk, and lay uncovered in his tent. And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brothers outside. Then Shem and Japheth took a garment, laid it upon both their shoulders, and walked backward and covered the nakedness of their father; their faces were turned away, and they did not see their father’s nakedness. When Noah awoke from his wine and knew what his youngest son had done to him, he said, “Cursed be Canaan; a slave of slaves shall he be to his brothers.”
Genesis 9.20-25

Teachings of Rev. Sun Myung Moon

Noah’s position right after the flood was much like that of Adam after the creation of heaven and earth. Adam and Eve before the Fall were close in heart and innocently open with each other and with God; as it is written, they were not ashamed of their nakedness. Yet after they fell, they felt ashamed of their nakedness. They covered their lower parts with fig leaves and hid among the trees of the garden, fearing that God would see them. This shame was an indication of their inner reality, for they had formed a bond of blood ties with Satan by committing sin with their sexual parts. By covering their lower parts and hiding, they expressed their guilty consciences, which made them feel ashamed to come before God.

Noah, who had severed his ties to Satan through the forty-day flood judgment, was supposed to secure the position of Adam right after the creation of the universe. God expected that the members of Noah’s family would react to Noah’s nakedness without any feelings of shame and without any thought to conceal his body… Had Ham been one in heart with Noah, regarding him with the same heart and from the same standpoint as God, he would have looked upon his father’s nakedness without any sense of shame. He thus would have fulfilled the indemnity condition to restore in Noah’s family the state of Adam and Eve’s innocence before the Fall.

We can thus understand that when Noah’s sons felt ashamed of their father’s nakedness and covered his body, it was tantamount to acknowledging that they, like Adam’s family after the Fall, had formed a shameful bond of kinship with Satan and were thus unworthy to come before God. Satan, like the raven hovering over the water, was looking for a condition to invade Noah’s family. He attacked the family by taking Noah’s sons as his object partners when they in effect acknowledged that they were of his lineage. (Exposition of the Divine Principle, Foundation 2.2)

Our forefather Noah worked alone. He built the ark with absolute faith, but his family did not unite with him. Because of this, everything fell apart. If Ham had become one with his father in love, why should he have felt shame? If Ham had been one in heart with Noah, he would have had no reason to feel ashamed at seeing his father’s nakedness. Wouldn’t it have been wonderful if Ham had lay down to sleep naked beside his father? If so, when Noah awoke to see him naked, don’t you think he would have blessed him, saying, “My son is just like me”? (268:293, April 3, 1995)

If only Noah had been more prudent after the Flood and had not lain naked! Had he been more prudent, would he have done it? Had he been more persevering, would he have allowed himself to get drunk? Certainly not! (99:38, August 27, 1978)

He Began to Build the Ark

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Do our political leaders love the nation? Politicians do not care about what is going on in the nation, but just fight to get the presidency. Just let them try and do it! Everything will just fade away eventually, dissolving like bubbles, because they do not have the heart to sincerely live together with the people. If a leader cannot love the people, then he cannot escape the judgment of his people and history. (148-275, 1986.10.11)

Richard: False and fake political leaders will meet their reckoning.

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How many times a day do you think about your portion of responsibility? You have to remember this many times: when you eat, when you hold a spoon, when you wash the dishes, while you go to the toilet, while you walk…. Adam and Eve did not think about their portion of responsibility and consequently came to ruin. We must not become people who, like Adam and Eve, cannot fulfill our responsibility and fall. To become someone who can be restored and be victorious we have to respect and consider our portion of responsibility twenty-four hours a day. (124-103, 1983.1.30)

Noah

Noah is the first Biblical father of faith. His remarkable work to build an ark, believing God’s command that a flood was about to destroy humanity, showed faith far beyond the ordinary. Father Moon emphasizes the incredible faith of Noah, which was difficult to comprehend even for his wife and family. Another quality of Noah was his compassion for the people whom he knew to be doomed, enabling him to follow God’s command that he announce to the very people who were mocking and persecuting him that the judgment was imminent and invite them into his boat.
The story of Noah goes far back in the historical record. Diverse versions of the story go back 5,000 years, to ancient Sumer and Babylon. There is reason to believe that the account is based on historical fact, from evidence of a massive flood that wiped out a whole civilization in the region of the black sea some 7,500 years ago.
The biblical story of Noah ends with the sin of his son ham. Father Moon regards this as a serious setback for God’s providence. Always viewing history from a family perspective, he sees ham’s mistake as fracturing the unity of Noah’s family such that it could no longer serve in God’s providence.

1. Noah and the Flood

The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And the lord was sorry that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart. So the lord said, “I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the ground, man and beast and creeping things and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I have made them.” But Noah found favor in the eyes of the lord…And God said to Noah, “I have determined to make an end of all flesh; for the earth is filled with violence through them; behold, I will destroy them with the earth. Make yourself an ark of gopher wood; make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and out with pitch. This is how you are to make it: the length of the ark three hundred cubits, its breadth fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits.

Genesis 6.5-8, 13-16

My counsel… was inspired in Noah: “None of your people will believe except those who already believe, so grieve not at what they do. Make an ark under Our eyes and by Our inspiration, and speak not to Me on behalf of those who are unjust. Surely they will be drowned.”

And he began to build the ark. And whenever the chiefs of his people passed by him, they laughed at him. He said, “Though you mock us, yet we too mock you even as you mock; and you shall know to whom will come a punishment that will confound, and upon whom will fall a lasting doom.”

At length when Our command came to pass and the oven gushed forth water, We said, “Load in two of every kind in pairs, and your household—but not those against whom the word has already gone forth—and those who believe. Yet but a few were they who believed with him.

He said, “Embark in it, and in the name of God may be its sailing and its anchoring. Surely my Lord is Forgiving, Merciful.”

And it sailed with them amid waves like mountains. And Noah called out to his son, who was standing aloof, “O my son, embark with us, and be not with the disbelievers.” He said, I will betake myself for refuge to a mountain that will save me from the water. Noah said, “This day there is no one safe from God’s command, but he on whom He has mercy. And a wave came between them, so he was among the drowned.

Qur’an 11.36-43

God… did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a herald of righteousness, with seven other persons, when he brought a flood upon the ungodly.

2 Peter 2.5

Lo! We sent Noah to his people, saying, “Warn your people before there comes to them a painful doom.” He said, “O my people! Verily I am a plain warner to you. Serve God and keep your duty to Him, and obey me, that He may forgive you some of your sins and grant your respite to an appointed term. Surely the term of God, when it comes, cannot be delayed. Did you but know!”

He said, “My Lord! I have called unto my people night and day, but all my calling has added to their repugnance. Whenever I call them that You may pardon them, they thrust their fingers in their ears and cover themselves with their garments and persist, magnifying themselves in pride.”

Qur’an 71.1-7