3 When the Lamb opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, “Come out!” 4 Then another horse came out. It was fiery red. And its rider was given the power to take away all peace from the earth, so that people would slaughter one another. He was also given a big sword.
Nehemiah 13
4 The priest Eliashib was a relative of Tobiah and had earlier been put in charge of the temple storerooms. 5 So he let Tobiah live in one of these rooms, where all kinds of things had been stored—the grain offerings, incense, utensils for the temple, as well as the tenth of the grain, wine, and olive oil that had been given for the use of the Levites, singers, and temple guards, and the gifts for the priests.
6 This happened in the thirty-second year that Artaxerxes ruled Babylonia. I was away from Jerusalem at the time, because I was visiting him. Later I received permission from the king 7 to return to Jerusalem. Only then did I find out that Eliashib had done this terrible thing of letting Tobiah have a room in the temple. 8 It upset me so much that I threw out every bit of Tobiah’s furniture. 9 Then I ordered the room to be cleaned and the temple utensils, the grain offerings, and the incense to be brought back into the room.
Richard: The temple was a holy place, so Tobiah should not have lived in the store room. What is the modern holy place? It is the sexual organs of a man or a woman. The temple should not be entered except by the husband and wife.
Eschatology and Messianic Hope
Recognizing the Day of the Lord
2. Unless People Prepare Well, They Will Not Recognize the Day When It Arrives
When the Son of man comes, will he find faith on earth?
Luke 18.8
What will be your state when the Son of Mary descends amongst you, and there will be an Imam amongst you? What would you do when the son of Mary would descend and lead you?
Hadith of Muslim (Islam)
The kingdom of Heaven shall be compared to ten maidens who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them; but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps. As the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept. But at midnight there was a cry, “Behold, the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.” Then all those maidens rose and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said to the wise, “Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.” But the wise replied, “Perhaps there will not be enough for us and for you; go rather to the dealers and buy for yourselves.” And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast; and the door was shut. Afterward the other maidens came also, saying, “Lord, lord, open to us.” But he replied, “Truly, I say to you, I do not know you.” Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.
Matthew 25.1-13
Rabbi Joshua ben Levi met Elijah at the mouth of the cave of Rabbi Simeon ben Yohai. He asked Elijah, “When will the Messiah come?” Elijah replied, “Go and ask him.” “But where is he?” “At the gates of Rome.” “And how shall I recognize him?” “He sits among the wretched who are suffering from sores; all the others uncover all their wounds, and then bind them all up again, but he uncovers and binds up each one separately, for he thinks, ‘Lest I should be summoned and be detained.’”
Then Rabbi Joshua found him and said to him, “Peace be with you, my Master and Rabbi.” The Messiah replied, “Peace be with you, son of Levi.” He said, “When is the Master coming?” He replied, “Today.”
Then Rabbi Joshua returned to Elijah, who said, “What did he say to you?” He replied, “Peace be with you, son of Levi.” Elijah said, “Then he assured to you and your father a place in the world to come.” The rabbi said, “He spoke falsely to me, for he said he would come today, and he has not come.” Then Elijah said, “He meant ‘today, if you hearken to His voice!” [Psalm 95.7]
Talmud, Sanhedrin 98a (Judaism)
But take heed to yourselves lest your hearts be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and cares of this life, and that day come upon you suddenly like a snare; for it will come upon all who dwell upon the face of the whole earth. But watch at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that will take place, and to stand before the Son of man.
Luke 21.34-36
Teachings of Rev. Sun Myung Moon
In the Last Days, where can you find the Will of God? Where can you find the truth, love and life of God? Would that all people find the one at the center that Will; he is the hope of all humanity.
But how can you find him? You must rectify your mind and purify it. If you make such preparations, then even if you are not seeking him, one day he will find you.
It is your responsibility to distinguish truth from falsehood. Do not expect that God will teach you. If God were to teach the truth, He would have to turn around and say it was false. Accordingly, human beings must discern the truth on their own. They must be determined to seek it on their own and find it on their own. Learn from the Parable of the Wise and Foolish Virgins: of the ten who prepared their lamps only five could receive the Lord. (2:136, March 17, 1957)
How does the Lord come? In history, Jesus came through Judaism, the First Israel. But because it failed him, this time the Lord comes through Christianity, the Second Israel.
How, then, will he come? Many Christians believe the Bible’s teaching that the Lord will come on the clouds. They have not heard that the Lord might come as a human being. However, as the Day approaches, people moved by the Spirit will testify to his coming in the flesh. Who will testify? They will be women more than men.
This current revival began with older ladies, women over sixty and seventy years old… who testified that the Lord would come as a human being, as Heaven directed them to prepare for the Last Days. (208:306, November 21, 1990)
7 When the Lamb opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, “Come out!” 8 Then I saw a pale green horse. Its rider was named Death, and Death’s Kingdom followed behind. They were given power over one fourth of the earth, and they could kill its people with swords, famines, diseases, and wild animals.
Nehemiah 8
8 1-2 On the first day of the seventh month,[a]the people came together in the open area in front of the Water Gate. Then they asked Ezra, who was a teacher of the Law of Moses, to read to them from this Law that the Lord had given his people. Ezra the priest came with the Law and stood before the crowd of men, women, and the children who were old enough to understand. 3 From early morning till noon, he read the Law of Moses to them, and they listened carefully. 4 Ezra stood on a high wooden platform that had been built for this occasion.
Women of the Bible
Rachel and Leah
Teachings of Rev. Sun Myung Moon
For the first seven years, Jacob worked hard to gain the hand of Rachel, but Laban gave him Leah instead. We see that the intent of God was to have Jacob fulfill Adam’s mission for restoration. To reverse the process of the Fall, he should first go through Leah (on Satan’s side), and then he could embrace Rachel. In the world there are two types of women. One type is fallen woman, and the other is a woman in the restored position. Leah plundered, as it were, her younger sister’s position. Laban, who represented Satan in this, blocked Rachel’s way in the providence of salvation by favoring Leah. Jacob tried to work it out, but the problem was that these two women were fighting each other over Jacob’s love. It was a replica of the situation in Adam’s family, where Cain and Abel fought each other over God’s love. Rachel, like Abel, was trying to follow the purpose of God. At the same time, Satan interfered through Leah to promote his Cain-like self-centered love. Satan tried to seize the leading role in love, and in so doing tried to destroy God’s ideal… She did not know at that time, but Rebecca, as the mother, was supposed to work with Jacob’s wives. She was to persuade Leah to submit to Rachel, so the wives could unite with Jacob’s heart. We can now see how difficult it was for her at that time; this was in addition to her mission to lift up Jacob in the position of Abel and enable him to appease Esau in the position of Cain, as well as to win over Isaac. It was Rachel’s position, not Leah’s, which had to be upheld, and in that way Jacob, Rachel and Leah could be united as one. The elder sister should naturally submit to the younger. It is completely analogous to the relationship between the brothers Esau and Jacob, where the elder should surrender to the younger one hundred percent and honor the younger as though he were the elder. Likewise, for restoration to occur, the positions of Leah and Rachel as elder and younger sisters should be reversed. (244:239-40, February 14, 1993)
Among American women, are there any who are truly happy? Many are entangled in a relationship of Leah (the legal wife) and Rachel (the mistress). Some even go beyond that, to the point of practicing a life of free sex under the pretext of equality. Yet their actions are often rooted in jealousy…
During their struggle over love, Leah and her maids gave birth to ten sons, while Rachel had two. This became the division between the northern kingdom of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah—between ten tribes and two tribes—in the position of Cain and Abel. Thus, the struggle for love within Jacob’s family ultimately led to a divided nation and the wars between them. (244:248-49, February 14, 1993)
9 For three and a half days the people of every nation, tribe, language, and race will stare at the bodies of these two witnesses and refuse to let them be buried. 10 Everyone on earth will celebrate and be happy. They will give gifts to each other, because of what happened to the two prophets who caused them so much trouble. 11 But three and a half days later, God will breathe life into their bodies. They will stand up, and everyone who sees them will be terrified.
Richard: Here, it appears that the enemy is winning. But then the “dead” witnesses” revive.
Psalm 17
I am innocent, Lord, and I will see your face! When I awake, all I want is to see you as you are.
Christianity
Christianity is Father Moon’s own religious heritage; hence he has more to say about it than any other religion. His main teachings concern the essence of the Christianity—its core tradition, the unity of the church, and Christianity’s mission to the world. Following Christ’s example, the core tradition of Christianity is love and sacrifice. The Christian is not reluctant or afraid to take up his cross and suffer for the sake of God’s will, as Jesus did. Therefore, Christianity is not an easy or comfortable religion, but one that demands commitment, courage and conviction. Christian love is the second essential core tradition. Jesus taught his followers to love their enemies and forgive those who hurt them. The fellowship of Christians who practice the love of Christ is a beautiful thing. However, because this love is practiced only imperfectly, and often does not extend to believers of other churches, the problem of disunity has plagued Christianity since its early days. placing doctrinal purity and denominational self-interest ahead of Christian love, churches have quarreled and persecuted one another, causing great damage to Christianity as a whole. Father Moon has dedicated himself to restoring church unity through the practice of reconciling love and a clarification of essential Christian truth. Christianity has a worldwide mission, to save all humankind. For Father Moon, this is not only a matter of preaching the Gospel and converting the heathen. In today’s world of many religions, democratic values and the ethics of love and charity are Christianity’s contributions to elevating the level of all civilizations around the globe. Ultimately, the mission of the church is to prepare the way for God’s universal Kingdom on earth, based upon these values, which will be established when Christ returns. The section concludes with a glimpse at Christian history, which can be viewed as a record of the church’s successes and failures in fulfilling its mission. It is a history that is mostly found wanting. The church has consistently failed when it has lived by the secular values of power, wealth and worldly authority. It has made progress when it returns to Christ’s tradition of sacrifice and the search for true freedom of faith. in the course of this history, God has attempted to establish a sovereign Christian civilization—first in the Middle ages through roman Catholicism, and today through Protestantism centered on the united states of America. Medieval civilization perished when the Vatican’s leaders were more intent to pursue power and worldly glory than to live by Jesus’ core tradition of love and sacrifice. America, as the current representative Christian nation with a calling to lead the world into the Kingdom, faces the same test.
1. The Core Traditions of Christianity: Love and Sacrifice
Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me, cannot be my disciple. Luke 14.27
Blessed are you when men revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so men persecuted the prophets who were before you. Matthew 5.11-12
More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit which has been given to us. Romans 5.3-5
The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church.
Tertullian, Apology
And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. And fear came upon every soul; and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles. And all who believed were together and had all things in common; and they sold their possessions and goods and distributed them to all, as any had need. And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they partook of food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.
Acts 2.42-47
Beloved, let us love one another; for love is of God, and he who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God; for God is love. In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the expiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No man has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.
1 John 4.7-12
Love most of all brands us with a mark of blame in the eyes of some. “Look,” [the pagans] say, “how [these Christians] love one another”—for they themselves hate one another—“and how they are ready to die for one another”—for they themselves are readier to kill one another.
7 A war broke out in heaven. Michael and his angels were fighting against the dragon and its angels. 8 But the dragon lost the battle. It and its angels were forced out of their places in heaven 9 and were thrown down to the earth. Yes, that old snake and his angels were thrown out of heaven! That snake, who fools everyone on earth, is known as the devil and Satan. 10 Then I heard a voice from heaven shout,
“Our God has shown his saving power, and his kingdom has come! God’s own Chosen One has shown his authority. Satan accused our people in the presence of God day and night. Now he has been thrown out!
11 Our people defeated Satan because of the blood of the Lamb and the message of God. They were willing to give up their lives.
12 The heavens should rejoice, together with everyone who lives there. But pity the earth and the sea, because the devil was thrown down to the earth. He knows his time is short, and he is very angry.”
Richard: This is applicable to the time right now. Satan and his minions have been very active, but their time will be short.
2 Chronicles 19
5 He assigned judges to each of the fortified cities in Judah 6 and told them:
Be careful when you make your decisions in court, because these are the Lord’s people, and he will know what you decide. 7 So do your work in honor of him and know that he won’t allow you to be unfair to anyone or to take bribes.
Richard: This also addresses today’s situation. Many judges have been giving false rulings. They will be held accountable.
Grace
2. Grace for the Prodigal Son
Teachings of Rev. Sun Myung Moon
Parents suffer deeply if their child commits a crime. If he is sent to jail, the parents would not say, “You deserve it!” Instead, they would forgive their child, sympathize with him and shed tears of compassion. Such is parental love. If their child were sentenced to death, the parents—especially the mothers—would wail. They would desperately search for some way to save their child’s life, even up until the last minute at the execution site. They would gladly trade their own life for his. That is the precious unchanging love of a parent.
If the heart of human parents moves in this way towards their children, then do you think that God, the Parent of humankind, would do any less? Never! God’s love is far greater than human love. Surely the love of God surpasses the love of any earthly parent. (91:148, February 6, 1977)
God has been toiling to recover humankind, even though we deserve to die thousands of times in the realm of death. Never forget that when God comes to us in the realm of death, He bring us something more precious than anything in the world. Understand that when He saves us from the realm of death, He does so with anguish and a worried heart. To claim us from the realm of death, God is willing to sacrifice everything. (6:115-16, April 12, 1959)
No matter what happens in the human world, God is patient because He is who He is. He sees many tragic and heart-breaking things, yet He remains calm and composed, never losing His dignity. If God were to open His mouth and express His suffering, He could pour out tragic stories for millions of years, weeping all the while. Would God weep out of self-pity? No, God weeps only for humankind, His children. (124:60, 830123)
God is our Parent; that is why He loves us although He is high above us. We can draw an analogy to the parents of a disabled child, whose disability is so severe that he cannot recognize their love. The parents feel miserable, yet they cannot help but love their child. Even though their child is unable to appreciate even one one-hundredth of their love, and it grieves the parents to face that, they nevertheless love their child, giving all the time. They yearn to give love one hundred times more, and when they see that their child is unable to appreciate any of it, they experience grief and frustration one hundred times more. Parents yearn to love a child who can fully unite with their love, but parents of a child who cannot relate to their love experience only pain and sorrow. Truly there is no greater heartbreak… Now, can you imagine if it were not a matter of only one child’s lifetime, but forever? That is God’s miserable and heartbreaking situation, trying to love human beings… Where is the supreme relationship between Heaven and human beings, linking their deepest hearts? No matter how high we climb and search, since God is the Parent, we humans must seek the position of God’s children. Hence in Christianity, God is called Father and we are called God’s children. What is the standard of that parent-child relationship? Is it below or above the line of the Human Fall? It cannot be below it. The standard should be above the level of the Fall. Even among fallen people today, whose love is below the line of the Fall, the parent-child relationship suffers when children are not dutiful. Imagine, then, how miserable it would be for parents who had never fallen. When we think about the difficult relationships between parents and children around us, we can fathom something of God’s situation. God surely intended to love His children with a love above the line of the Fall. How strong would that love be? Yet since no one has ever stood above the line of the Fall, nobody knows. (62:20, September 10, 1972)
Heavenly Father has been searching for His lost children for six thousand biblical years, while enduring suffering upon suffering. However, if the children whom He finally found were weak and pathetic, how would He feel? It is conceivable that God might lament, “It would have been better had I not found them.” Are you confident that you are not children like that? (Blessing and Ideal Family 7.4.1)
Allow us to feel Thy merciful touch, the touch of our Father who seeks us, carrying the burden of providence for 6,000 years. Still, Thou hast not cast us aside, although we are foolish and inadequate. (3:258-59, January 12, 1958)
7 A war broke out in heaven. Michael and his angels were fighting against the dragon and its angels. 8 But the dragon lost the battle. It and its angels were forced out of their places in heaven 9 and were thrown down to the earth. Yes, that old snake and his angels were thrown out of heaven! That snake, who fools everyone on earth, is known as the devil and Satan. 10 Then I heard a voice from heaven shout,
“Our God has shown his saving power, and his kingdom has come! God’s own Chosen One has shown his authority. Satan accused our people in the presence of God day and night. Now he has been thrown out!
Richard: This indicates what is happening right now with the massive voter fraud and the censorship and blatant bias of mainstream media and social media against President Trump. Demonic forces have been thrown down from heaven and are working on earth. Yet they will not prevail!
Psalm 1
1 God blesses those people who refuse evil advice and won’t follow sinners or join in sneering at God. 2 Instead, the Law of the Lord makes them happy, and they think about it day and night.
3 They are like trees growing beside a stream, trees that produce fruit in season and always have leaves. Those people succeed in everything they do.
4 That isn’t true of those who are evil, because they are like straw blown by the wind. 5 Sinners won’t have an excuse on the day of judgment, and they won’t have a place with the people of God. 6 The Lord protects everyone who follows him, but the wicked follow a road that leads to ruin.
Spirits of the Departed
Spirits among Us
Teachings of Rev. Sun Myung Moon
You are ignorant of the original life of God’s creation. You are unable to speak with confidence in the presence of the Creator, the spirits in heaven and all things on earth. Yet even at this hour, God and some spirits in heaven and on earth are helping you. (8:43, November 1, 1959)
At the peak of your spirituality, if you resolve and act upon your resolution for God, good spirits will descend from the spirit world and assist you. However, if your spiritual level drops, those spirits that had been assisting you will begin to leave, one by one. As they depart they are sorrowful, mournfully thinking that they might never again descend to the earth and assist earthly people. Indeed, once they leave you, it is hard for them to return. Act, therefore, to increase the number of spirits who can assist you. Then your work will make smooth and rapid progress, and heavenly fortune will be with you. (161:273-74, February 26, 1987)
Spirit people cannot come here and work just as they wish; their way is blocked. Only a few particular spirits can return to earth, unless earthly people through their religious life build a bridge enabling more to cross. (102:29, November 19, 1978)
When our ancestors entered the spirit world, they were judged guilty. Unable to make progress in the spirit world, they should again descend to earth and make restitution. It would be better for you not to follow the same path. (146:224, July 1, 1986)
In the past, a person who prayed and made numerous conditions of devotion could meet the deceased founder of his religion for a short time, but then they had to separate, because the religious leader had to return to the spirit world. However, now is the time when all spirits can descend to earth, to people of their respective religions. (161:199-200, February 3, 1987
