Category: World Scripture-2

Has God Abandoned the Jews?

Matthew 26

26 When Jesus had finished teaching, he told his disciples, 2 “You know that two days from now will be Passover. That is when the Son of Man will be handed over to his enemies and nailed to a cross.”

Isaiah 50

9 No one has come to defend us
    or to bring about justice.
We hoped for a day of sunshine,
but all we found
    was a dark, gloomy night.
10 We feel our way along,
    as if we were blind;
we stumble at noon,
    as if it were night.
We can see no better
    than someone dead.[a]

11 We growl like bears
    and mourn like doves.
We hope for justice and victory,
    but they escape us.
12 How often have we sinned
and turned against you,
    the Lord God?
Our sins condemn us!
    We have done wrong.
13 We have rebelled and refused
    to follow you.
Our hearts were deceitful,
    and so we lied;
we planned to abuse others
    and turn our backs on you.

14 Injustice is everywhere;
    justice seems far away.
Truth is chased out of court;
    honesty is shoved aside.
15 Everyone tells lies;
those who turn from crime
    end up ruined.

Judaism

3. The Jewish-Christian Relationship

I am speaking the truth in Christ, I am not lying; my conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit, that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brethren, my kinsmen by race. They are Israelites, and to them belong the sonship, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises; to them belong the patriarchs, and of their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ…

    I ask, then, has God rejected his people? By no means!… As regards the gospel they are enemies of God, for your sake; but as regards election they are beloved for the sake of their forefathers. For the gifts and the call of God are irrevocable. Just as you were once disobedient to God but now have received mercy because of their disobedience, so they have now been disobedient in order that by the mercy shown to you they also may receive mercy. For God has consigned all men to disobedience, that he may have mercy upon all.
    Romans 9.1-5; 11.1, 28-32 (Christianity)

Teachings of Rev. Sun Myung Moon

Many Jews are alive on the earth today. Since a long time ago some of their ancestors betrayed the Will of God, has God therefore abandoned them? Surely not. While they may have traveled down a side path, they kept an unchanging heart toward God as God’s chosen people… As long as the Jews hold fast to their role as God’s chosen people despite any adversity, they will not disappear from the earth. Hence, there is an element of rightness that today they retain substantial economic power in the world and can exercise control in many fields. (4:243-44, May 18, 1958)

Judaism, centered upon the Old Testament, was the first work of God and is in an elder brother’s position. Christianity, centered upon the New Testament, is in the position of the second brother.
    The Unification Church, through which God has given a new revelation, the Completed Testament, is in the position of the youngest brother. These three religions are indeed three brothers in the providence of God. Then Israel, the United States and Korea, the nations where these three religions are based, must also be brothers. Because these three nations have a common destiny representing God’s side, the Communist bloc as Satan’s representative is trying to isolate and destroy them at the U.N.
    Therefore these three brother nations must join hands in a unified effort to restore the United Nations to its original purpose and function. They must contribute internally to the unification of world religions and externally to the unification of the world itself. (88:211, September 18, 1976)

The Chosen People should fulfill the mission of Humanity’s guides

Urban Life Training Newsletter-April-2021

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Cheon Seong Gyeong 325

What is the difference between true love and authority? In true love, you give love and then forget that you have given it. What is the line between good and evil? Evil is where something is given with the intention of receiving all the benefit for oneself, and goodness is where, even though you give, you forget that you have done so. Even in a household, those who serve others more stand on the good side, and the one who lives for others most becomes the master of that family in the end. Let us say there are ten friends. Which would be the best among them? The one who cares for all the others. Then the ten friends would make the one who was taking care of them the central figure and serve him. This is how the universe is inherited. (141-252, 1986.2.26)

Cheon Seong Gyeong 1191

What is the secret method to restore the right of the eldest son? Satan claims, “God is a perfect God and the Adam and Eve He is seeking must also be perfect. Had they not fallen, it would have been the Principled standard that Adam and Eve have to love me as the original archangel. Thus, even though I have fallen and I found myself in the position of a bad one, if you all are in a position to be called good and true, you must set up the condition of having loved me. Without this, You, God, cannot be in the position of God in front of me.” This is the problem. Satan stops everything dead, saying, “If there is a secret method of uniting with you, what is it? The person You send must love me. Unless he stands together with You in the position of loving me, and makes the condition enabling him to say that he loved me, he will not be able to regain the birthright of the firstborn son that I have been holding on to.” That is why Jesus exhorted us to love our enemies. (131-182, 1984.5.1

Judaism

2. The Suffering of the Jews

Thou hast made us like sheep for the slaughter,
and hast scattered us among the nations.
Thou hast sold thy people for a trifle,
Demanding no high price for them.
Thou hast made us the taunt of our neighbors,
the derision and scorn of those about us.
Thou hast made us a byword among the nations,
a laughingstock among the peoples…

All this has come upon us,
though we have not forgotten thee,
or been false to thy covenant.
Our heart has not turned back,
nor have our steps departed from thy way,
that thou shouldst have broken us in the place
of jackals,
and covered us with deep darkness.
If we had forgotten the name of our God,
or spread forth our hands to a strange god,
would not God discover this?
For he knows the secrets of the heart.
Nay, for thy sake we are slain all the day long,
and accounted as sheep for the slaughter.
Psalm 44.11-22

The Israelites are compared to an olive tree, because as the olive yields its oil only by hard pressure, so the Israelites do not return to righteousness except through suffering.
    Talmud, Menahot 53b

“For I am love-sick.” [Song of Solomon 2.5] Said the community of Israel before the Holy One, “Sovereign of the Universe, all the maladies which Thou bringest upon me are to make me more beloved of Thee.” Another explanation: The community of Israel said before the Holy One, “Sovereign of the Universe, the reason for all the sufferings which the nations inflict upon me is because I love Thee.”
    Canticles Rabbah 2.5

All we [the nations] like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way;and the lord has laid on him [Israel] the iniquity of us all.
    Isaiah 53.6

Teachings of Rev. Sun Myung Moon
Despite suffering many difficulties throughout their history, the Jewish people have survived to this day as a homogeneous people. No other people have survived for so long. For two thousand years they wandered without a nation of their own. They have been trampled under the feet of many countries, despised and slaughtered. Yet in spite of all manner of difficulties, the Jews have survived with gusto as a homogeneous people, maintaining their unique traditions and teachings.
    How did the Jewish people handle their tribulations? They held to the thought that the more they were oppressed, the more they needed knowledge and money. So they made their children study, even if it meant living like beggars. They strived to earn as much money as possible. They believed that money and knowledge were the keys to power and worked together for their common purpose. This is how they could dissolve their grievances over all the miseries they suffered.
    Did God make the Jews suffer to punish them, or was God training them to be a people that can endure difficulties? If God made the Jews suffer out of His love, then surely their long suffering will lead to blessings and worldwide influence.
    This is God’s will for the one chosen to guide others up the mountain: to fulfill his responsibility as a guide, he should first have the authority of one who has conquered the mountain.
    In this respect, God gave the chosen people special dignity only because they are to fulfill the mission of humanity’s guides. Their special privilege lasts only as long as their mission. Once their mission is accomplished, God would give the whole world the same privilege and honor. God’s plan for the salvation of the world goes like this.
   What is the characteristic of the chosen people? They must have the independent ability to embrace all of humankind. Otherwise they cannot digest the whole world. (81:190-91, December 28, 1975)
    We should understand that God’s will is to unite all religions. God’s intention has been to make the world one, even if it required sacrificing the Jewish people. Six million lives are not the issue; the issue is to bring unity among all religions and to make all humankind as one.
    Judaism has been persecuted more than any other religion. Because God allowed such suffering to come to the Jews, God expected them to be the strongest and most united religious people. What religion shall play the central role in uniting all religions? God chose the Jews and trained them for that role. This is my explanation of the suffering of the Jews from the perspective of God’s providence. (105:126-27, October 4, 1979)

The Chosen People Should Love the World on God’s Behalf

Urban Life Training Newsletter-April-2021

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John 6

38 I didn’t come from heaven to do what I want! I came to do what the Father wants me to do. He sent me, 39 and he wants to make certain that none of the ones he has given me will be lost. Instead, he wants me to raise them to life on the last day.40 My Father wants everyone who sees the Son to have faith in him and to have eternal life. Then I will raise them to life on the last day.

Daniel 3

29 And I won’t allow people of any nation or race to say anything against their God. Anyone who does will be chopped up and their houses will be torn down, because no other god has such great power to save.

Judaism

1. The Chosen People

Teachings of Rev. Sun Myung Moon

Among all religions in human history, Judaism alone was established by a people who claimed that they brought victory for God. It originated from Jacob’s victory in the fight against the angel. Jacob did not win against a human being but an angel, a being from the invisible spirit world. The people of Israel stand on this tradition of spiritual victory over the fallen angelic realm… Hence, they could become the chosen people of God.
    Thoroughly equipped with the belief that they are the chosen people, the Jews have never forgotten their history and tradition despite the suffering of wandering throughout the world for 2,000 years. Wherever they went, no matter what circumstances they faced, they maintained their belief that they were chosen by God. Such a history never existed among any other people on earth.27 (149:85, November 17, 1986)

God appointed the Israelites to a central role and wanted all people to honor them. He wanted all people on earth to follow Israel’s example; then they would praise Israel just as God would. However, the Israelites could not set up such an exemplary historical tradition. Israel began from Jacob, who was God’s champion of love. However, subsequent generations of Israelites could not maintain his tradition.
    The Israelites should have been superior to any other people in the world in loving God and fulfilling God’s Will and providence. However, while they raised their awareness of being the chosen people, they forgot their mission and their calling for the Will of God.
    What is the purpose of the chosen people? The chosen people should love the world on God’s behalf and, as God’s representatives, set the example for all in loving the world. However, the people of Israel did not fulfill their exalted calling. Though they were supposed to give God’s love to all the world, they wanted to receive love instead. That was the problem. (169:265-66, November 1, 1987)
 
What is the path that God has decreed for Israel and Judaism? It is a path with universal significance. It is a universal mission. God chose the one specific people, Israel, to fulfill a mission not only for themselves but for humankind. (168:304, October 1, 1987)
 
Besides Judaism, there are numerous religions in the world, such as Buddhism, Confucianism and Hinduism. The religions differ, but they must not fight one another; instead, they must travel the road to one unified world. Likewise, the peoples of the world must not fight one another, but become one. There must be one teaching that can lead all the religions not to fight, but to unite.
    The Jewish people in particular, who have the responsibility to lead the world’s peoples and unite them into one, should have such a teaching. Because the realization of God’s ideal of creation is universal, Judaism and the Jewish people should uphold a teaching that corresponds to God’s ideal of creation. (168:304, October 1, 1987)
 
 

Love is the Basis for “Heaven”

Urban Life Training Newsletter-April-2021

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Mark 5

25 In the crowd was a woman who had been bleeding for twelve years. 26 She had gone to many doctors, and they had not done anything except cause her a lot of pain. She had paid them all the money she had. But instead of getting better, she only got worse.

27 The woman had heard about Jesus, so she came up behind him in the crowd and barely touched his clothes. 28 She had said to herself, “If I can just touch his clothes, I will get well.” 29 As soon as she touched them, her bleeding stopped, and she knew she was well.

Richard I believe that Home Church is healing physically and spiritually. Blessed couples who have a Home Church ministry will reap the benefits of physical and spiritual health. I know that that is the case for me and Stacey.

Zechariah 10

10 I, the Lord, am the one
    who sends storm clouds
and showers of rain
    to make fields produce.
So when the crops need rain,
    you should pray to me.

2 You can’t believe idols
    and fortunetellers,
or depend on the hope
you receive from witchcraft
    and interpreters of dreams.
But you have tried all of these,
and now you are like sheep
    without a shepherd.

3 I, the Lord All-Powerful,
    am fiercely angry
with you leaders,
    and I will punish you.
I care for my people,
    the nation of Judah,
and I will change
this flock of sheep
    into charging war horses.

Confucianism

2. The Confucian Concept of Heaven

Heaven helps the man who is devoted; men help the man who is true. He who walks in truth and is devoted in his thinking, and furthermore reveres the worthy, is blessed by Heaven.
I Ching, Great Commentary 1.12.1

Yüeh-cheng Tzu saw Mencius. “I mentioned you to the prince,” said he, “and he was to have come to see you. Amongst his favorites is one Tsang who dissuaded him. That is why he failed to come.”
“When a man goes forward,” said Mencius, “there is something which urges him on; when he halts, there is something which holds him back. It is not in his power either to go forward or to halt. It is due to Heaven that I failed to meet the Marquis of Lu. How can this fellow Tsang be responsible for my failure?”
Mencius I.B.16
All a gentleman can do in starting an enterprise is to leave behind a tradition which can be carried on. Heaven alone can grant success. Mencius I.B.14
When under siege in K’uang, Confucius said, “With King Wen dead, is not culture (wen) invested here in me? If Heaven intends culture to be destroyed, those who come after me will not be able to have any part of it. If Heaven does not intend this culture to be destroyed, then what can the men of K’uang do to me?”
Analects 9.5R

Revere the anger of Heaven,
And presume not to make sport or be idle.
Revere the changing moods of Heaven,
And presume not to drive about at your
pleasure.
Great Heaven is intelligent,
And is with you in all your goings.
Great Heaven is clear-seeing,
And is with you in your wanderings and
indulgences. 25
Book of Songs, Ode 254

Teachings of Rev. Sun Myung Moon

Confucius, through his teachings, taught about many aspects of human morals and ethics… Confucius knew about God’s aspect of principled laws, but not about a personal God, a God having intellect, emotion and will. This makes Confucianism an archangel-type religion. It has influenced the world in morals and ethics, especially in East Asia. (295:174-75, August 28, 1998)

Confucianism’s teaching about God is symbolic. It does not contain any concrete contents about God’s character or attributes. Its teachings are focused on morals and ethics. For example, one of its main teachings is: “If you do good deeds, you will be blessed; if you do not, you will be punished.” (53:231, February 28, 1972)

Confucius said, “Those who live for the sake of goodness will be blessed by Heaven, but to those who do not live for the sake of goodness, Heaven will bring misfortune.” What does he mean by “Heaven”? It is ambiguous. That is why his teaching sometimes appears to be a religion and other times not. (38:260, January 8, 1971)

In Korean custom, a person receiving a gift from someone his senior must take it with both hands. This symbolizes that a person can only receive when he becomes a ‘level’ base for the older person’s love. He receives by setting himself at a ninety-degree angle to the giver. We have a saying in Korea, “the heart of the people is the heart of Heaven.” Our rules and customs were formed by the logic of the [vertical] conscience, to be employed in fulfillment of the horizontal. (171:237, January 1, 1988)

This means that there must be a meeting of Heaven and earth. Heaven must connect with the [horizontal virtues of] benevolence, righteousness, propriety and wisdom. Yet, in Confucianism, they were not successfully connected. Hence, its concept of Heaven is vague, the Four Virtues are vague, and people have not known how to link them. Due to this ignorance, the substantial standards of these two forms could not be manifested in history; therefore they were washed away.
How, according to the Unification Principle, do we manifest the dual characteristics [vertical and horizontal]? How can we then establish a realm of substance, and what form will it take in society? I am talking about the substantial realm of re-creation. What human beings desire most is not knowledge, not power and not money. We desire accomplishments of love: Love between teacher and disciple, love between parent and child, love between king and subject—does not love enter into all these relationships? By the same token, Heaven also needs loving sons and daughters. Hence the Principle speaks of love between Heaven and the sons and daughters of Heaven. (185:272, January 17, 1989)


Traditional Confucian Values Make Sense

Urban Life Training Newsletter-April-2021

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Cheon Seong Gyeong 1023

If you love the members who have just joined, then they can quickly set the condition for indemnity. The reason the church is not able to make progress is because this is not being done. This is the reason why God said to love each other and live in harmony. (18-40, 1967.5.15)

Cheon Seong Gyeong 1241

God’s Blessing is absolutely public in nature. It is not just for an individual, family, nation, or even the world. God’s Blessing is for the whole universe. (15-67, 1965. 2.13

Confucianism

1. Confucian Ethics

Teachings of Rev. Sun Myung Moon

Many of Confucius’ teachings are close to the laws of Heaven. (31:292, June 4, 1970)
 
Confucianism teaches the principled way of human life. What is its central theme? “As all things proceed according to the way of Heaven through the stages of sprout, growth, harvest and [winter] storage, a person’s character develops by the principles of benevolence (jen), righteousness (i), propriety (li), and wisdom (chih).”23 People should cultivate their character by these principles and so accord with the Way of Heaven. Confucianism thus places character as the standard for the human being, but not necessarily love.
    People practice and cultivate benevolence, righteousness, propriety and wisdom in the context of the Three Bonds—[loyalty] between a king and his subjects, [filial piety] between parents and children, and [fidelity] between husband and wife—and the Five Moral Disciplines—closeness between parents and children, righteousness between a king and his subjects, distinction between husband and wife, order between elder an younger brothers, and trust between friends. (296:272, November 10, 1998)
 
According to Eastern thought, when two people are walking along a road, the older person should go first. Why? Because he came into the world first. There is an attempt to arrange human relationships according to the orderliness of nature. He who comes later walks behind; that which is higher is placed higher; and that which is lower is placed lower… By clearly establishing all relative positions, there is a sense of unchanging order. (168:252, September 27, 1987)
 
Confucianism teaches the Three Bonds and Five Moral Disciplines.24 The Five Moral Disciplines consist of: closeness between parent and child; righteousness between the king and his subjects; distinction between [husband and wife, order] between elder and younger; trust among friends. The Three Bonds refer to loyalty, filial piety and fidelity. All people should fulfill these essential values. 
 
Providentially, Confucius’ teaching was like the proclamation of the heavenly archangel. Through the elements of Confucian morality, Heaven sought to establish social conditions that would protect against Satan and set up a society resembling the external form of Heaven. (205:179, August 28, 1998)
 
Who is a son of filial piety? According to Confucianism, he attends his parents with his life out of his deep love for them. What is a loyal subject? He offers himself for the king’s service and even sacrifices his life for his king, who represents Heaven. (143:153, March 17, 1986)
 
Throughout Korean history, Confucianism taught the duty of filial piety. When the parents passed away, according to custom their children would mourn for three years while living in seclusion on a mountain. They truly had a heart to do so.
    What can the Korean people be proud of before the world? Regardless of their position and worldly success, when their parents passed away they abandoned everything to fulfill the duty of filial piety. Confucianism established this good tradition. It was in fact God’s preliminary education for the Korean people to go his way. There can be no objection to it. (181:217, October 3, 1988)
 
Our relationship with God should be a parent-child relationship. What is the nature of this relationship? It is a vertical relationship. The teachings of Confucianism provide a correct understanding.
    Our relationship with God our Father is as undeniable and indisputable as the relationship with our parents. We are our parents’ children: could either physical force or theoretical arguments persuade us otherwise? Likewise, the knowledge that we are born as sons and daughters of God our Heavenly Father cannot be contested by anyone. (198:298, February 5, 1990)
 
In our individual lives, shouldn’t we relate to Heavenly Father as filial children? As regards the national-level providence, shouldn’t we relate to Him as loyal subjects? The traditional Confucian values—the Three Bonds and the Five Moral Disciplines—make sense. Filial piety and loyalty towards Heavenly Father are based on these traditional values. We cannot be filial children to Heavenly Father if we are not first filial to our parents. We cannot be loyal subjects of Heavenly Father if we do not first demonstrate loyalty to our nation. (7:66, July 12, 1959)