Category: Ezra

Why Does the Name of Mary Magdalene Endure in Christianity?

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Acts 17

13 When the Jewish leaders in Thessalonica heard that Paul had been preaching God’s message in Berea, they went there and caused trouble by turning the crowds against Paul.

Ezra 4

12 You should know that the Jews who left your country have moved back to Jerusalem and are now rebuilding that terrible city. In fact, they have almost finished rebuilding the walls and repairing the foundations. 13 You should also know that if the walls are completed and the city is rebuilt, the Jews won’t pay any kind of taxes, and there will be less money in your treasury.

Women of the Bible

8. Mary Magdalene

Why does the name of Mary Magdalene endure in Christianity? Why is her name praised throughout the generations? It is because Jesus wanted her name to be known.
    During Jesus’ lifetime, who could understand her behavior? She was ridiculed as a woman of a low background. When she poured perfumed oil worth 300 denarii on his feet, all the disciples mocked her and Judas Iscariot protested her actions. Yet Jesus declared that her name would be remembered wherever the Gospel is preached. He said so because her offering to Jesus at that hour was greater than the devotion of his disciples or anyone else. In fact, her act of devotion to Jesus matched Jesus’ own devotion to God. (4:107, March 16, 1958)

When Jesus was petitioning to Heaven in the Garden of Gethsemane, his three disciples fell asleep; they did not listen to the voice of his prayer. However, Mary Magdalene recognized the divine value of Jesus. She washed his feet with her own hair after pouring perfumed oil on his feet. In this manner, she assured the glory of the Lord Jesus at his resurrection. At the time, his disciples ridiculed her behavior and attempted to stop her. Christians do not know that Jesus was deeply grieved at their attitude, a grievance that remains to this day.
    Jesus Christ lived in sorrow, walking a lonely path that no one recognized. Only Mary Magdalene comforted him, empathizing with Jesus’ divine heart for the past, the present and the future. For this reason, he blessed her with joyful grace and elevated her to stand in the forefront of God’s will. (2:212, May 26, 1957)

Mary Magdalene appeared insignificant compared to the disciples, yet when Jesus passed away, she was the one who visited his tomb. Mary loved Jesus—who was still a bachelor—more than anyone else. She followed him everywhere, sharing the ridicule, the cursing and the ostracism he suffered. Because she longed for him so earnestly, when Jesus was resurrected he appeared to her first. Mary Magdalene is a role model for Christians throughout the world, showing the path that they should walk in the latter days.
    What was the life of Mary Magdalene? She so loved Jesus that she forgot about what to eat or what to wear. She lived only for him, with an unchanging heart. She was not attached to her life; she did not think about saving face. Her faith was exemplary among all Jesus’ disciples. Christians in the Last Days should have the faith of Mary Magdalene. If you can have the same heart as Mary Magdalene, you would have the tears God shed over the 6000 years of the providence welling up in your eyes, and you would recognize how much you are indebted to Heaven. (4:258-59, June 29, 1958)

When Jesus was resurrected after the cross, he turned Mary Magdalene away when she tried to embrace him. He was not in a position to say, “Mary, my Bride, let us go to the Father together.” Jesus had worked hard to restore the Bride that [Heaven] had sought for 2,000 years, looking forward to the day when he could embrace his Bride. It was the Father’s will that Jesus come before Him rejoicing with his Bride, receive God’s marriage Blessing and become the True Parents… but Jesus departed this world without receiving the Blessing by which he could restore the position of humanity’s true ancestor. This is the sorrow of both God and Jesus. (5:187, January 18, 1959)

Among the disciples, Jesus loved Judas Iscariot in particular. He made Judas his object partner, through whom to restore God’s primary Will. Jesus intended to use him in order to erect a woman in the position of Eve, but to do this they should fulfill the roles of the personages involved in the Fall. Specifically, God’s Will required that Jesus set up Judas’s wife as the new Eve. This woman was Mary Magdalene. She had been Judas’ lover, but now as a disciple she was absolutely obedient to Jesus. So, just as Satan had taken Eve from Adam, Jesus [as Adam] planned to take Judas’s woman to be the new Eve. That way the three of them would fulfill God’s will according to the Principle.
    Accordingly, Jesus first acknowledged that Mary Magdalene belonged to Judas Iscariot. Then Jesus commenced the providence by choosing her to be his Eve. While this fundamental providence was going on, in the meantime Satan was fully on the attack, mobilizing the Pharisees and scribes against Jesus. Regardless, had Judas Iscariot trusted, obeyed and attended Jesus in this matter, they would have established the foundation for the fulfillment of God’s Will. But Judas was full of discontent and confronted Jesus. That was the beginning of his rebellion against his Teacher, which culminated when he sold out the One Man unique in all human history for a mere 30 pieces of silver. (Wolli Wonbon 242-43)

The Highest Priority Is to Know God With Certainty

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Acts 17

29 Since we are God’s children, we must not think that he is like an idol made out of gold or silver or stone. He isn’t like anything that humans have thought up and made. 30 In the past, God forgave all this because people did not know what they were doing. But now he says that everyone everywhere must turn to him. 31 He has set a day when he will judge the world’s people with fairness. And he has chosen the man Jesus to do the judging for him. God has given proof of this to all of us by raising Jesus from death.

Ezra 7

13-14 Any of the people of Israel or their priests or Levites in my kingdom may go with you to Jerusalem if they want to. My seven advisors and I agree that you may go to Jerusalem and Judah to find out if[e] the laws of your God are being obeyed. 15 When you go, take the silver and gold that I and my advisors are freely giving to the God of Israel, whose temple is in Jerusalem. 16 Take the silver and gold that you collect from everywhere in Babylonia. Also take the gifts that your own people and priests have so willingly contributed for the temple of your God in Jerusalem.

World Scripture and the Teachings of
Sun Myung Moon

Chapter 3

Perfection

2. Perfection Is Unity with God

Teachings of Rev. Sun Myung Moon

Jesus taught his disciples, “You, therefore, must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” (Matt. 5.48) According to the Principle of Creation, a person who has realized the purpose of creation does not commit sin, because he is in full harmony with God and possesses a divine nature. With respect to the purpose of creation, such a person is perfect as Heavenly Father is perfect. Jesus gave this teaching to his disciples with the hope that they could be restored as people who had realized the purpose of creation and become citizens of the Kingdom…
What will people be like once they have been restored as those who have realized the purpose of creation and become perfect as Heavenly Father is perfect? Such people are fully attuned to God and experience God’s heart within their innermost self. They possess a divine nature and live their life with God, inseparable from Him. (Exposition of the Divine Principle, Messiah 1.1)

For a person to realize his or her true nature, he or she must have a relationship with God, the cause of everything—life and death, fortune and misfortune. Without a relationship with God, a true pattern cannot be formed within the self. To become true,14 we must be centered upon God. People can realize their true selves only when God has established the foundation to lead them and reign over all aspects of their lives…
God is the origin of everything true. Only in God can we become true. Should God leave us, we cannot remain true. There then comes into existence something untrue—the origin of evil.
People cannot comprehend their true nature by themselves. Fallen people are in no position to judge whether they are true; rather the truth of our being should determine us. Therefore, we should always be obedient to our true self. We should prize it and follow it. (24:315, September 14, 1969)

We can truly say that we know God only when we experience the reality of His existence in our daily life through our five senses. That is, we should know His real being through experience. Then we will naturally be able to sense what God’s will is from moment to moment, and we will be able to act in accordance with His will in every matter. In that state of perfection, even though we sometimes may feel an urge to sin, we cannot do it. Then, God will be able to take on the physical form of human beings who are equipped with the character and qualities of lords of creation. Thus we will enable the incorporeal God to exercise dominion over all things on earth—the corporeal world—as well as over the spirit world. This is why the highest priority and most important element in human life is to know God with certainty… Once we come to know God with certainty, and know not just the concept of the spirit world but also its reality, our life can move forward as smoothly as a car on an expressway. Just as the car reaches its destination safely as long as the driver follows the rules of the road, keeps his hands on the steering wheel and doesn’t fall asleep, so too we only need to live in line with the direction from our conscience, which is given by Heaven. This is where our mind and body become one. This is where the flower of human perfection blooms and bears fruit. (May 1, 2004)

What is a true human being? Playing with God, resting with God, sleeping with God and living with God: whoever wishes to do all these with God is the supreme, true human being. God is looking for such true human beings. By the same token, we human beings are searching for what is true, and for a true world. A world where everyone lives with God is a world of true love and true happiness. (60:284, August 18, 1972) ❖

We Must Successfully Resolve the Question of the Dialectic

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Acts 9

11 The Lord said to him, “Get up and go to the house of Judas on Straight Street. When you get there, you will find a man named Saul from the city of Tarsus. Saul is praying, 12 and he has seen a vision. He saw a man named Ananias coming to him and putting his hands on him, so that he could see again.”

Ezra 8

21 Beside the Ahava River,[i] I[j] asked the people to go without eating[k] and to pray. We humbled ourselves and asked God to bring us and our children safely to Jerusalem with all of our possessions. 22 I was ashamed to ask the king to send soldiers and cavalry to protect us against enemies along the way. After all, we had told the king that our God takes care of everyone who truly worships him, but that he gets very angry and punishes anyone who refuses to obey. 23 So we went without food and asked God himself to protect us, and he answered our prayers.

Richard: Human responsibility is the most important thing. Here, the people of God take responsibility for themselves, centered on God.

World Scripture and the Teachings of
Sun Myung Moon

Chapter 2

Truth and Universal Law

Duality

3. Duality Operates by Giving and Receiving

Teachings of Rev. Sun Myung Moon

When a wife dies, or a husband dies, why does the surviving spouse feel sorrow? When a woman’s husband dies, why does she make a big scene by crying “Wah!” at the top of her lungs? She doesn’t just cry; she completely loses her mind. Why does this happen? She and her husband formed a reciprocal realm and, centering on love, entered into the universe’s realm of eternal principle. But the death of the husband caused that reciprocal realm to break apart, and the wife feels a force pushing against her with such force that it makes her skin turn red. That force makes her feel sorrow and pain…
Unmarried girls will go around playing, and sometimes you see a group of girls hanging on to each other, embracing each other and such. The same is true with boys. Wrestling with each other, rolling around on the ground like calves, they make all sorts of noise in the village. But on the day one of those young men marries and takes a wife, will he want one of his handsome friends to come and stand next to him in front of his wife? Would any man want that? No, he will kick his friend away, saying, “Don’t ever come here again! Get out of here! Now!”
It’s not a bad thing for him to tell his friend to go. He is actually telling him, “You should do as I do, and stand in a position where you can welcome the universal principle.” By kicking his friend away, he guides him to the path to perfection. (218:335, August 22, 1991)

Knowing this is the principle, the theory of evolution cannot be sustained. The supposed evolutionary link from amoebas to monkeys to human beings ignores the fact that each of the countless relationships between male and female had to pass through the gate of love and establish a realm of reciprocity.
Take sparrows, for example. During the winter, they know nothing about having relationships, so they play around and all become their own positives. But in the spring, when they start making nests and forming reciprocal realms, they become absolute. Both the male and the female of an established pair will repel a third sparrow that approaches. If a female approaches them, the male will repel it; if a male approaches, the female will repel it. Why is that? They repel the third sparrow because it threatens to break up their reciprocal realm and is an aggressor on the realm of the law of the universe. (218:338, August 22, 1991)

Hegel and especially Engels, philosophers who came up with the law of the dialectic, saw universal law as decreeing conflict and opposition. Unless we successfully resolve the question of the dialectic within the universe, we cannot find the true formula for the ideal world, nor can we establish peace and harmony with hierarchical order in organizations structured with up and down relationships. We must demonstrate the falsity of such principles as “survival of the fittest,” “the strong eat the weak,” and “power causes progress.” Otherwise, people would think that mistreating others is not a sin. (132:142, May 31, 1984)

Some people say the universe is made of energy. It is true that all beings are formed of energy, but what is needed for that energy to exist?
No being is energy itself. There is always a reciprocal standard or common base. Before we acknowledge energy, we must acknowledge the common base. If we acknowledge the common base, we must acknowledge subject and object partners…
“Relative relationship” does not refer to a thesis-antithesis-synthesis relationship, where a standard called “thesis” and something called “antithesis” oppose each other and become unified as one. Instead, it refers to a relationship where the object partner responds to the subject partner. That is, it means that a subject and object partner respond to each other and engage in action centering on a common purpose. When they engage in perfect give-and-take action and achieve a reciprocal realm, energy comes into being, and only then is the center determined. Even if there is a great deal of action, if the action is going in opposite directions, it will eventually destroy the world. (15:53, February 7, 1965)

Richard: Mistreating others is a sin. Development occurs through having a common purpose, not through conflict and violence.

God Totally Invested Himself in the Work of Creation

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Matthew 12

18 “Here is my chosen servant!
I love him,
    and he pleases me.
I will give him my Spirit,
and he will bring justice
    to the nations.
19 He won’t shout or yell
    or call out in the streets.
20 He won’t break off a bent reed
    or put out a dying flame,
but he will make sure
    that justice is done.
21 All nations will place
    their hope in him.”

Ezra 9

8 But for now, Lord God, you have shown great kindness to us. You made us truly happy by letting some of us settle in this sacred place and by helping us in our time of slavery. 9 We are slaves, but you have never turned your back on us. You love us, and because of you, the kings of Persia have helped us. It’s as though you have given us new life! You let us rebuild your temple and live safely in Judah and Jerusalem.

World Scripture and the Teachings of
Sun Myung Moon

Part 1
God and Creation

Chapter 1
God

The Creator

1. In the Beginning

Teachings of Rev. Sun Myung Moon

Christians today believe that the omnipotent God created by speaking words, saying “Let there be…” and the creation appeared as if it were a magic show. On the contrary, God totally invested His entire self into the work of creation. He invested, expressing His total love. Don’t we give our utmost sincerity and invest our flesh and blood for sake of the people we love? Likewise, in creating human beings, God invested His entire Being in us; we are the bone of His bones, the flesh of His flesh and the ideal of His ideals. Therefore, God can relate with us as His beloved object partners and His hope. (78:111-12, May 6, 1975)

When God created heaven and earth, after each day of creation, “God saw that it was good.” This means He felt joy. What is the experience of joy? It is the feeling of satisfaction we have when we accomplish a certain purpose. Because the created universe embodies God’s purposeful consciousness, God rejoiced at its creation. (9:169, May 8, 1960)

Every result begins from a motive or cause. Every existence begins from a motive and unfolds through a process before it materializes as a result. This is the case with all natural phenomena. Human beings did not make it so; rather, this is a basic principle and heavenly law, God’s law. For this reason, there is no such thing as the evolution of new species by random mutation. All things exist in order. The world was created by design, in which every existence, as an object-partner of God, arose through a principled process out of that motive [in the mind of God]. Consider successful people: could they succeed without a firm determination in their minds? Starting with a motive and plan in their mind, they prepare the ground and steadfastly push forward to reach their objective. Since this is necessary for an individual to succeed, would it not also be necessary for God, the Creator of this great universe, to attain His objectives? It is the same principle. (9:227, May 29, 1960)

The natural world contains such a wide diversity of creatures. What was the process by which each was created? They were created through the Creator’s heart of dedication and sincerity. Even the microscopic organisms were created through God’s heart of love and His cherished desire to exhibit His own splendor. (20:248, July 7, 1968)

God carried out His work of creation with the utmost sincerity, dedication and investment. He established the standard of absolute faith, absolute love and absolute obedience, and then invested absolutely. All created beings are God’s beloved object partners, whom He created by investing with utmost sincerity. (400:81, December 27, 2002)

Each of you wishes for your partner of love to be better than you in every way. By the same token, God is looking to create something and someone greater than Himself. Do you suppose God would expend only 90 percent of His energy in creating the universe, or would He give His full 100 percent? How about 100 percent a thousand times over? Indeed, He would invest and forget what He gave, and give again and again a thousand times over. Know that this is how our universe was created: God invested 100 percent of His energy, giving and forgetting what He gave, and repeating the process tens of thousands of times. (254:266, February 15, 1994)

The Nation Qualified to Stand as the Object Partner of God’s Heart Must be a People of Goodness

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Luke 11

49 Because of your evil deeds, the Wisdom of God said, “I will send prophets and apostles to you. But you will murder some and mistreat others.” 50 You people living today will be punished for all the prophets who have been murdered since the beginning of the world. 51 This includes every prophet from the time of Abel to the time of Zechariah,[i] who was murdered between the altar and the temple. You people will certainly be punished for all of this.

Ezra 9

I am much too ashamed to face you, Lord God. Our sins and our guilt have swept over us like a flood that reaches up to the heavens. 7 Since the time of our ancestors, all of us have sinned. That’s why we, our kings, and our priests have often been defeated by other kings. They have killed some of us and made slaves of others; they have taken our possessions and made us ashamed, just as we are today.

Richard The two verses above tell us that we all need to repent for the many sins that we have committed, both individually and corporately.

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

3.3.1 A NATIONAL CONDITION OF INDEMNITY

For Korea to become a nation fit to receive the Messiah, it had to fulfill a national dispensation of forty for the separation of Satan for the cosmic-level restoration of Canaan.

The First Israel suffered four hundred years in Egypt. This was to fulfill a dispensation of forty for the separation of Satan as required to set out on the national course to restore Canaan. The Second Israel had to prevail over the four hundred years of persecution in the Roman Empire to fulfill a dispensation of forty for the separation of Satan, as required to commence the worldwide course for the restoration of Canaan. As the Third Israel, the Korean people had also to suffer under a nation on Satan’s side for a period which fulfills the number forty. Thereby, they could fulfill a dispensation of forty for the separation of Satan as required to commence the cosmic-level course to restore Canaan. This was the forty-year period during which Korea suffered untold hardships as a colony of Japan.

3.3.2 GOD’S FRONT LINE AND SATAN’S FRONT LINE

Korea, the nation where Christ will return, is the place most dear to God and most abhorred by Satan. It is the front line for both God and Satan, a place where the forces of democracy and the forces of communism collide. This line of confrontation is Korea’s thirty-eighth parallel, which was drawn to fulfill the providence of God. At the point of confrontation between God and Satan, a sacrifice must be offered as the condition to determine the outcome of their struggle. The Korean people were this sacrifice, placed on this front line of battle to be offered for the sake of the restoration of the universe. Therefore, God divided the Korean nation, just as Abraham’s sacrifices were supposed to be divided. This is the reason behind the division of Korea by the thirty-eighth parallel, which split it into two nations: one Cain-type and the other Abel-type.

At the fall of the first human ancestors, God’s side and Satan’s side parted ways from a single point.  These divided realities consolidated separately into the Cain-type and Abel-type worlds, which eventually matured to form the democratic world and the communist world. When these two worlds came into global conflict, it was centered on the Korean peninsula. Religions, ideologies, political forces and economic systems all came into conflict and caused great confusion in Korean society, which then had worldwide impact.

3.3.3 THE OBJECT PARTNER OF GOD’S HEART

To become the object partners of God’s Heart, we must first walk a path of blood, sweat and tears. Their miserable history was the path required of the chosen people of God. One can never be certain what great blessings such a path of affliction may eventually bring. The nation qualified to stand as the object partner of God’s Heart must be a people of goodness. The Korean people, a homogeneous race with a four-thousand-year history, rarely invaded other nations. Even during the Kokuryo and Silla periods, when they boasted impressive military might, they used their forces only to thwart invaders.

The Korean people are by nature endowed with a religious character. From ancient times, when their culture was still primitive, the Korean people have evinced a strong desire to worship God. They have always revered the virtues of loyalty, filial piety and chastity. Their fondness for folk tales which express these virtues, such as “The Tale of Shim-ch’ong” and “The Tale of Ch’unhyang,” stems from this powerful underpinning of their culture.

Richard: Korea could not completely fulfill its providential role. We are now seeing a clash of good and evil expanded to the world level: The Godless Agenda of Those Promoting the Covid-19 Crisis:  https://youtu.be/EuumvTpIYEo .

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