Category: Hebrews

A Man is Ethical Only When Life Is Sacred

Hebrews 2

14 We are people of flesh and blood. That is why Jesus became one of us. He died to destroy the devil, who had power over death. 15 But he also died to rescue all of us who live each day in fear of dying. 16 Jesus clearly did not come to help angels, but he did come to help Abraham’s descendants. 17 He had to be one of us, so that he could serve God as our merciful and faithful high priest and sacrifice himself for the forgiveness of our sins. 18 And now that Jesus has suffered and was tempted, he can help anyone else who is tempted.

2 Kings 5

2 One day while the Syrian troops were raiding Israel, they captured a girl, and she became a servant of Naaman’s wife. 3 Some time later the girl said, “If your husband Naaman would go to the prophet in Samaria, he would be cured of his leprosy.”

4 When Naaman told the king what the girl had said, 5 the king replied, “Go ahead! I will give you a letter to take to the king of Israel.”

World Scripture and the Teachings of
Sun Myung Moon

Chapter 4

God’s Creation and Human Creativity

Reverence for Life

Passages in this section prescribe the ethic proper to reverence for life. Taoist and Buddhist texts remark on the artificiality of the human world and call us to return to the innocence and purity of nature. Living in nature is purifying and conducive to the spiritual life, in contrast to the dark and dirty environment of the city. for anyone who spends time in nature, reverence for the natural world and respect for all its creatures is not something forced, but flows naturally from a loving heart. Then there is the doctrine of ahimsa, non-violence towards all living beings, which arose on the Indian subcontinent. Vegetarianism is often motivated by this ethic. Moreover, among nature’s creatures, none gives more completely and without complaint than the cow, which is rightly revered by Hindus and many native peoples.
Father Moon’s teachings touch on many of these points, but especially emphasize love of nature, which he regards as the starting point for environmental ethics. However, he offers an interesting dissent from vegetari-
anism, based upon the concept that creatures of lower order seek to come closer to God’s love through being eaten and absorbed by creatures of higher order. Ideally they would strive to be nourishment for humans, who stand at the summit of creation because they embody God’s love. Nevertheless, people who do not practice true love are unworthy to consume their food.

  1. Care and Reverence for All Living Things

As a mother with her own life guards the life of
her own child, let all-embracing thoughts for all
that lives be thine.
Khuddaka Patha, Metta Sutta (Buddhism)

The mode of living that is founded upon total
harmlessness towards all creatures, or upon a
minimum of such harm, is the highest morality.
Mahabharata, Shantiparva 262.5-6 (Hinduism)

The Prophet said, “There is neither harm nor
cause for harm in Islam.”
Majma’ al-Zawa’d 4.6536 (Islam)

One should not injure, subjugate, enslave, tor-
ture, or kill any animal, living being, organism,
or sentient being. This doctrine of nonviolence
is immaculate, immutable, and eternal. Just as
suffering is painful to you, in the same way it is
painful, disquieting, and terrifying to all animals,
living beings, organisms, and sentient beings.
Acarangasutra 4.25-26 (Jainism)

A certain priest had been killed by the bite of a
snake, and when they announced the matter to
the Blessed One, he said, “Surely now, O priests,
that priest never suffused the four royal families
of snakes with his friendliness. For if that priest
had suffused the four royal families of the snakes
with his friendliness, that priest would not have
been killed by the bite of a snake…
Creatures without feet have my love,
And likewise those that have two feet,
And those that have four feet I love,
And those, too, that have many feet.
Vinaya Pitaka, Cullavagga 5.6 (Buddhism)

The moral person accepts as being good: to pre-
serve life, to promote life, to raise to its high-
est value life which is capable of development;
and as being evil: to destroy life, to injure life,
to repress life which is capable of development.
This is the absolute fundamental principle of
the moral.
A man is ethical only when life, as such, is
sacred… that of plants and animals as well as that
of his fellow man, and when he devotes himself
helpfully to all life that is in need of help.
Albert Schweitzer

Rear them, but do not lay claim to them;
Control them, but never lean upon them,
Be their steward, but do not manage them.
This is called the Mysterious Power.
Tao Te Ching 51 (Taoism)

A horse or a cow has four feet: that is Nature.
Put a halter around the horse’s head or put a rope
through the cow’s nose: that is man. Therefore
it is said, “Do not let man destroy Nature. Do
not let cleverness destroy destiny [the natural
order].”
Chuang Tzu 17 (Taoism)

In the land of Yamato there are many
mountains;
ascending to the heaven of Mount Kagu,
I gaze down on the country, and see
smoke rising here and there over the land,
sea gulls floating here and there over the sea.
A fine country is this,
the island of dragonflies, this
province of Yamato. 1
Man’yoshu I (Shinto)

On the eastern side of this Himalaya, the king
of mountains, are green-flowing streams, hav-
ing their source in slight and gentle mountain
slopes; blue, white, and the hundred-leafed, the
white lily and the tree of paradise, in a region
overrun and beautified with all manner of trees
and flowing shrubs and creepers, resounding
with the cries of swans, ducks, and geese, inhab-
ited by troops of monks and ascetics. 2
Jataka (Buddhism)

Come back, O Tigers, to the woods again,
and let it not be leveled with the plain.
For without you, the axe will lay it low.
You, without it, forever homeless go.
Khuddaka Patha (Buddhism)


t

If a Person Lives Alone There Is No Joy

Join us for the Urban Life Training Chapter Workshop, online or in-person on July 3rd 2020. Learn how to teach the core providential content of sexual abstinence before marriage to middle and high school youth: https://www.urbanlifetraining.org/index.php/109-training/351-urban-life-training-chapter-workshop .

Watch the latest Richard Urban Show: All Lives Matter: https://youtu.be/ivlBBBCszyA
Why are we only hearing about George Floyd and not those black lives killed during the looting and shooting? Are these protests godly, Is the Black Lives Matter movement honest, and do they promote fear and hatred?

Hebrews 11

32 What else can I say? There isn’t enough time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and the prophets. 33 Their faith helped them conquer kingdoms, and because they did right, God made promises to them. They closed the jaws of lions 34 and put out raging fires and escaped from the swords of their enemies. Although they were weak, they were given the strength and power to chase foreign armies away.

Psalm 111

God rescued his people,
    and he will never break
his agreement with them.
    He is fearsome and holy.

10 Respect and obey the Lord!
This is the first step
    to wisdom and good sense.
    God will always be respected.

World Scripture and the Teachings of
Sun Myung Moon

Chapter 2

Truth and Universal Law

Duality

Teachings of Rev. Sun Myung Moon

When God created, He worked centering on human beings. With human beings as His model, He expanded the creation in all directions. Hence, He created all creatures—minerals, plants, and animals—in pairs. The act of creation proceeded by weaving together in pairs the vertical paths and the horizontal paths. Some moved straight, some in a zigzag, others engaged in all manner of actions, but all were arranged in a pair system to create the natural world. It is teaching material for people to learn about ideal love. (173:211)

Inside the seed of a plant are two parts in a reciprocal relationship. The two are completely one inside a single shell. They engage in give and take action through the embryo in order to propagate life. In an egg, too, there is an embryo between yolk and white, and they form one body within the single shell. The same is true for the human fetus. Whether human beings or plants, life forms through a harmonious union of subject and object partners by means of give-and-take action. These multiply in a way that resembles their causal being, thus connecting to the foundation of their existence. Ultimately we resemble the First Cause. Therefore, the First Cause must be the basic model, with subject and object partners forming a perfect harmonious union, and having the status of Subject Partner in relation to all beings. (89:226, November 27, 1976)

Even though a person may have many possessions, many children and great power, there is no joy if he or she lives alone. Likewise, although God is the Subject and the Absolute Being, without a partner He also is lonely. Why did God create heaven and earth? God is the Absolute Subject, but He cannot experience joy as long as He remains alone. Joy cannot be experienced alone; it arises only in the context of a relationship. Peace, too, and happiness, only exist in the context of relationships. For this reason, God cannot function as God as long as He is alone. (58:210, June 11, 1972)

Throughout the universe, love is something that no being can possess by itself. Once a being meets its counterpart, however, and they relate with love, they can obtain all the things that love provides. For example, even though a couple may love children, until they have children of their own, they cannot experience parental love. They cannot become the owners of the kind of love that parents have for their children. From this perspective, we can understand why God created human beings and the universe: He created them as His object partners in order to realize true love.
All types of love—including the love of children, love of siblings, love of husband and wife, and love of parents—come about through the unity of subject and object partners. Once subject and object partners become one, nothing can separate them. If they could be divided, we could not say that true love is indestructible. Among married couples, there should not be even the thought of divorce. (True Family and World Peace, March 14, 1999)

God created everything in complementary pairs so that they could receive God’s true love. God wanted them to receive this one love as a partnership. If a man and a woman perfect God’s love, embody God’s love, and share that love with each other from the same ground of complementarity as God, then they will definitely become an ideal couple. (26:155-56, October 25, 1969)

For the sake of love, God created human beings as His partners. God created all things in the universe in pairs so that God’s love may be eternal, man’s love may be eternal, woman’s love may be eternal, and children’s love may be eternal. They are all God’s family; hence they should be eternal. (201:193, April 1, 1990)

God Has Been Creating the Religious, Political and Economic Environment Conducive to the Work of Christ at His Second Coming

Hebrews 11

35 Some women received their loved ones back from death. Many of these people were tortured, but they refused to be released. They were sure that they would get a better reward when the dead are raised to life. 36 Others were made fun of and beaten with whips, and some were chained in jail. 37 Still others were stoned to death or sawed in two or killed with swords. Some had nothing but sheep skins or goat skins to wear. They were poor, mistreated, and tortured. 38 The world did not deserve these good people, who had to wander in deserts and on mountains and had to live in caves and holes in the ground.

39 All of them pleased God because of their faith! But still they died without being given what had been promised. 40 This was because God had something better in store for us. And he did not want them to reach the goal of their faith without us.

Richard: With the teachings you are studying, we can fulfill “something better in store for us”.

Jeremiah 22

24 King Jehoiachin, son of Jehoiakim, even if you were the ring I wear as the sign of my royal power, I would still pull you from my finger. 25 I would hand you over to the enemy you fear, to King Nebuchadnezzar and his army, who want to kill you. 26 You and your mother were born in Judah, but I will throw both of you into a foreign country, where you will die, 27 longing to return home.

Exposition of the Divine Principle
3 Color Edition-The Red part

THE PERIOD OF ISRAEL’S EXILE AND RETURN AND THE PERIOD OF THE PAPAL EXILE AND RETURN

 By falling into faithlessness without repentance, the people of Israel failed to realize the ideal of God’s nation founded upon the Temple. God had the people suffer hardships as exiles in Babylon. This was similar to when God had the Israelites suffer as slaves in Egypt.  The emperors and popes became corrupt and did not repent. The popes did not lay the spiritual foundation upon which the emperors could stand as the central figures for the foundation of substance. Therefore, the foundation for the Second Advent of Christ was not established. To begin a new dispensation to restore this foundation, God allowed the popes to be taken into exile and suffer captivity. In the earlier parallel period, nearly seventy years elapsed from the time King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon took into captivity King Jehoiachin and his royal family, as well as prophets including Daniel and Ezekiel, priests, officials, craftsmen and many other Israelites, until the fall of Babylon and their liberation by the royal decree of King Cyrus.14 It then took another 140 years for the exiles to return to their homeland in three waves, until they fully reformed themselves as a nation united around the Will of God as proclaimed in the messianic prophecies of Malachi. Henceforth, they began to prepare for the coming of the Messiah.

This period of approximately 210 years ran from 1309, with the papacy’s seventy years of exile in Avignon, through the Great Schism, the conciliar movement and the restoration of papal authority in the Roman church, to the eve of the Protestant Reformation spearheaded by Martin Luther in 1517. Its purpose was to restore through indemnity, in the form of substantial parallels, the 210-year period of Israel’s exile and return—from Israel’s seventy years of exile in Babylon through the stages of the returning to Israel and the rebuilding of the Temple, until the reform of politics and religion under the leadership of Ezra, Nehemiah and the prophet Malachi.

THE PERIOD OF PREPARATION FOR THE ADVENT OF THE MESSIAH AND THE PERIOD OF PREPARATION FOR THE SECOND ADVENT OF THE MESSIAH

 Following the period of Israel’s exile and return, another four hundred years elapsed before Jesus came. This was the period of preparation for the advent of the Messiah. Likewise, Christianity is to meet Christ at his Second Advent only after passing through four hundred years of the period of preparation for the Second Advent of the Messiah, which has followed the period of papal exile and return. It should restore through indemnity in the form of substantial parallels the period of preparation for the advent of the Messiah.

Upon returning from the Babylonian exile, the Israelites established the foundation of faith by repenting of their past sin of idolatry, rebuilding the Temple15 which had been destroyed by King Nebuchadnezzar, and reforming their faith based on the Mosaic Law under the guidance of Ezra the scribe.16 They then began to prepare for the coming of the Messiah according to the word of the prophet Malachi. Likewise, after the papacy’s return to Rome, medieval Christians established the foundation of faith by seeking to reform the Roman church; these efforts culminated in the Protestant Reformation led by Martin Luther. This movement pierced the gloom of medieval Europe with the light of the Gospel and pioneered new paths of faith.

Meanwhile, among the world’s peoples, God founded religions suited to their regions and cultures by which they could make the necessary internal preparations to receive the Messiah. In India, God established Buddhism through Gautama Buddha (565-485 B.C.) as a new development out of Hinduism. In Greece, God inspired Socrates (470-399 B.C.) and opened the brilliant age of classical Greek civilization. In the Far East, God raised up Confucius (552-479 B.C.), whose teachings of Confucianism established the standard of human ethics. Jesus was to come upon this worldwide foundation of preparation, and through his teachings he was to bring together Judaism, Hellenism, Buddhism and Confucianism. He was to unify all religions and civilizations into one worldwide civilization founded upon the Christian Gospel.

 Since the Renaissance, God has been creating the religious, political and economic environment conducive to the work of Christ at his Second Coming.  Beginning with the Renaissance, progress in virtually every field of human endeavor, including politics, economy, culture and science, has increased at a rapid rate. Today, these fields have reached their zenith and have created a global environment conducive to the work of Christ at his Second Coming. In Jesus’ day, the Roman Empire ruled the vast domains around the Mediterranean Sea, integrated by an advanced and extensive transportation system reaching out in all directions. This was the center of a vast Hellenistic civilization founded on the Greek language. Thus, all the necessary preparations had been made for a swift transmission of the teachings of the Messiah from Israel, where Jesus lived, to Rome and the world. Similarly, in the present era of the Second Advent, the influence of the Western powers has expanded the democratic political sphere throughout the world. The rapid progress of transportation and communication has greatly bridged the gap between East and West, and the extensive contact among languages and cultures has brought the world much closer together. These developments characterize an environment in which the teachings of the returning Christ can freely and swiftly be conveyed to the hearts of all humankind.

View slides 52 to 71 below for an illustrated presentation of the above content:

2007p2-CHAPT-4-Parallels-betw-the-Two-Ages_revised-4-28-2014

The Entire World Will Oppose Him and Protest

Hebrews 13

13 Keep being concerned about each other as the Lord’s followers should.

2 Be sure to welcome strangers into your home. By doing this, some people have welcomed angels as guests, without even knowing it.

3 Remember the Lord’s people who are in jail and be concerned for them. Don’t forget those who are suffering, but imagine that you are there with them.

Isaiah 2

Our Lord, you have deserted
    your people, Israel,
because they follow customs
    of nations from the east.
They worship Philistine gods
and are close friends
    of foreigners.[b]
7 They have endless treasures
    of silver and gold;
they have countless horses
    and war chariots.
8 Everywhere in the country
they worship the idols
    they have made.
9 And so, all of them
will be ashamed and disgraced.
    Don’t help them!

I Am Relating with Two Worlds

Rev. Sun Myung Moon
September 20, 1959

Romans 7: 15-25

Because Heaven has been working the providence to fulfill His great purpose, His ultimate goal, we should also long for and prepare for the one day when the greatest goal is accomplished. For this reason it is said that the Last Days are coming. What kind of time is the Last Days? It is the time when Heaven and earth meet as mind and body, when the world ideology and all thought come together and when our minds and bodies unite. When they come together, what will they sing of? They will sing of the life of the mind and a world which can connect through the heart. You are to sing with the universe. However, such a day and such a world have not emerged on the earth.

Heaven has been working toward that world. That world is the ultimate goal of Heaven. It is the ultimate goal of humanity. To become someone who will prevail until that day, you have to engage in unspeakable conflict with your body. You should keep to your pledges without a change of heart and never waver from your determination.

If there is someone who goes forth with such a determination, his body will protest, his family will oppose him, his society, nation, and the world will protest in order to break his determination. You have to understand that the whole world is attacking such a person. This demonstrates that the greater the truth you come to understand, the greater the opposition you will face.

Christians say that they are heading toward Heaven. They claim that they are walking toward the Kingdom of Heaven. Yet they forgot that great enemies are waiting for them on the path toward the great ideology. You have to keep in mind that there are great enemies.

What is the ultimate goal of these enemies? It is the body. The target of our enemies is our body. Threats to life, threats on the levels of society and the nation and of Heaven and earth are posed against our bodies. St. Paul experienced this in his life. When he appeared before his people, he was considered an enemy. When he went to foreign lands, he was the foreign enemy. When he stood before the church, he was the enemy of the church.

No matter what religions there may be in this world, Christianity and so forth, they will certainly be judged. They will not overcome it so easily. To do so, they need to explain themselves completely. Because there is this providential relationship on the world level, in the course of seeking our true selves centering on our minds, we are confronted with suffering on the world level.

The closer we come to the Last Days, world level fear comes from all directions. Hence, the closer we come to the Last Days, the more conscientious people are overwhelmed with fear. You have witnessed this around you already. Thus, there will come a time when conscientious and artistic people, particularly those who are in academia, will be swayed by waves of fear which will restrict them from living freely. This is how it is right now. This has been manifested through panic and widespread fear.

We who are living in the Last Days today are different from people in the past. Because this is the era of a world ideology, someone should appear who can put everything on the line, strike the external spheres into harmony with the heavenly heart and say, “Father! I have won the victory.” Isn’t this so? Heaven hopes to create such a person, and Satan has opposed this attempt on the part of Heaven.

This world is not a heavenly world; it is under the sovereignty of evil. If such a person appears in this world of evil sovereignty, then the entire world will oppose him and protest. Those who strike him, however, will perish. Individuals who strike will submit; families who oppose will submit; and the society which opposes him will submit. Moreover, when nations and the world submit after putting up opposition, the final decision will be made. From this we should learn that the flow of history is the external manifestation of a small individual on the world level.

The Second Israelites of the World Must Unite

Hebrews 10

19 My friends, the blood of Jesus gives us courage to enter the most holy place 20 by a new way that leads to life! And this way takes us through the curtain that is Christ himself.

21 We have a great high priest who is in charge of God’s house. 22 So let’s come near God with pure hearts and a confidence that comes from having faith. Let’s keep our hearts pure, our consciences free from evil, and our bodies washed with clean water. 23 We must hold tightly to the hope that we say is ours. After all, we can trust the one who made the agreement with us. 24 We should keep on encouraging each other to be thoughtful and to do helpful things. 25 Some people have gotten out of the habit of meeting for worship, but we must not do that. We should keep on encouraging each other, especially since you know that the day of the Lord’s coming is getting closer.

26 No sacrifices can be made for people who decide to sin after they find out about the truth. 27 They are God’s enemies, and all they can look forward to is a terrible judgment and a furious fire. 28 If two or more witnesses accused someone of breaking the Law of Moses, that person could be put to death. 29 But it is much worse to dishonor God’s Son and to disgrace the blood of the promise that made us holy. And it is just as bad to insult the Holy Spirit, who shows us mercy. 30 We know that God has said he will punish and take revenge. We also know that the Scriptures say the Lord will judge his people. 31 It is a terrible thing to fall into the hands of the living God!

32 Don’t forget all the hard times you went through when you first received the light. 33 Sometimes you were abused and mistreated in public, and at other times you shared in the sufferings of others. 34 You were kind to people in jail. And you gladly let your possessions be taken away, because you knew you had something better, something that would last forever.

35 Keep on being brave! It will bring you great rewards. 36 Learn to be patient, so that you will please God and be given what he has promised. 37 As the Scriptures say,

“God is coming soon!
    It won’t be very long.
38 The people God accepts
will live
because
    of their faith.[b]
But he isn’t pleased
with anyone
    who turns back.”

39 We are not like those people who turn back and get destroyed. We will keep on having faith until we are saved.

Psalm 97

If you obey and do right,
a light will show you the way
    and fill you with happiness.
12 You are the Lord’s people!
    So celebrate and praise
    the only God.

Let Us Fathom the Heart of Heaven
Rev. Sun Myung Moon
September 13, 1959

Matthew 10:24-39

Christians today are the second foundation of Israel. Christians of the world today should awaken. They should awaken to the fact that they are the second Israel. Then, even if they suffer untold tribulations here, when the one day comes, they will be able to take pride in themselves under the power and authority of Heaven. This is the day of the Second Advent, which they long for.

What should the second Israel of the world today do? When the Israelites passed through the wilderness, they were divided into tribes. Which group do you, the second Israelites, belong to? You have to understand this. You have to understand to which group you belong.

There are twelve pearl doors in Heaven, and on each of those twelve doors there is a name plaque of one of the twelve disciples. Hence, you have to understand which denomination you belong to and which tribe your denomination belongs to. The second Israelites lost the tribes. This is much like the time of wandering in the wilderness. This is such a time. You will soon encounter a time when a people like the Amalekites will attack you. You will have to fight a life or death battle. The two great camps are in confrontation, and one camp is attacking and marching forward. Heaven does not strike first. When the day of striking comes, they will strike on the level of ideology, heart, mind and in life. They will invade and strike us from the direction opposite to the origin.

We must wake up and renew our determination. The second Israelites of the world must unite. If we fight among ourselves over our position and group as the twelve disciples of Jesus did, we will be defeated. Such a time will come.

The Israelites formed twelve tribes under the leadership of Moses and cultivated a strong spirit of the people, honoring Moses and God. In the same way, in Jesus’ time there should have been a formation of groups for the purpose of serving the Messiah. If that had been accomplished, Jesus would not have died. They lost their structure and were separated. Taking separate paths and working without coordination and unity will lead to defeat. Isn’t this so?