Category: Jeremiah

History Will Enter an Era of a Great Revolution

Jeremiah 51

36 My people, I am on your side,
and I will take revenge
    on Babylon.
I will cut off its water supply,
    and its stream[n] will dry up.
37 Babylon will be a pile of rubble
    where only jackals[o] live.
People will laugh,
but they will be afraid
    to walk among the ruins.
38 The Babylonians roar and growl
    like young lions.
39 And since they are hungry,
    I will give them a banquet.
They will celebrate, get drunk,
then fall asleep,
    never to wake up!

1 Kings 18

30 Elijah told everyone to gather around him while he repaired the Lord’s altar. 31-32 Then he used twelve stones to build an altar in honor of the Lord. Each stone stood for one of the tribes of Israel, which was the name the Lord had given to their ancestor Jacob. Elijah dug a ditch around the altar, large enough to hold about thirteen quarts. 33 He placed the wood on the altar, then they cut the bull into pieces and laid the meat on the wood.

Richard: Here, a simple altar is made of twelve stones, each one representing one of the twelve tribes of Israel.
The modern altar is Home Church. There, each tribal messiah represents not only the world but even the cosmos: see the scripture reading here about being a tribal messiah. All people of faith should be accomplishing the Home Church mission as tribal messiahs. This mission centers on the teaching of true parents and absolute sexual ethics. Many Christians wonder what to do in the current situation. This is exactly what to do. Do home church in the 360 homes in your neighborhood. Contact me for more information.

Eschatology and Messianic Hope

Tribulation

2. Wars, Natural Disasters, and Widespread Devastation

And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars; see that you are not alarmed; for this must take place, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places: all this is but the beginning of the birth pangs.
    Then they will deliver you up to tribulation, and put you to death; and you will be hated by all nations for my name’s sake. And then many will fall away, and betray one another, and hate one another. And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. And because wickedness is multiplied, most men’s love will grow cold. But he who endures to the end will be saved.
    Matthew 24.6-13

And after the sixty-two weeks, an anointed one shall be cut off, and shall have nothing; and the people of the prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. Its end shall come with a flood, and to the end there shall be war; desolations are decreed. And he shall make a strong covenant with many for one week; and for half of the week he shall cause sacrifice and offering to cease; and upon the wing of abominations shall come one who makes desolate, until the decreed end is poured out on the desolator.
    Daniel 9.26-27

Society will be engulfed by ravaging wars, overflowing with havoc and devastation. In the beginning the conquerors will feel very happy over their successes and booties gathered therein, but it will all have a very sad end. I warn you of the wars of the future, you have no idea of the enormity of evil which they will carry.
    Nahjul Balagha, Khutba 141 (Shiite Islam)

Therefore, son of man, prophesy, and say to Gog, Thus says the Lord god: On that day when my people Israel are dwelling securely, you will bestir yourself and come from your place out of the uttermost parts of the north, you and many peoples with you, all of them riding on horses, a great host, a mighty army; you will come up against my people Israel, like a cloud covering the land. In the latter days I will bring you against my land, that the nations may know me, when through you, O Gog, I vindicate my holiness before their eyes.
    Ezekiel 38.14-16

Teachings of Rev. Sun Myung Moon

God always strikes His beloved children first, and then He strikes Satan. (Way of God’s Will 3.4)

God cannot strike human beings even when they take Satan’s side. God has to use the strategy of being struck first and then taking the victory. Satan always strikes first, but loses in the end. Throughout history Satan takes the side of self-centered people and incites them to hatred and conflict to try to destroy Heaven’s side. Heaven, on the contrary, aims for the good of all, working to recreate the world with love and peace.
In the Last Days, when Satan is about to lose his dominion to Heaven’s side, he will suggest atheism to the world, advocating that there is no God. This will result in movements to establish humanism, materialism and communism. All over the world, these ideologies of the left are in battle with Heaven’s side on the right.
Ultimately, however, history will enter an era of a Great Revolution when Heaven’s side will win and peace will prevail throughout the world. This could have occurred already, with the victory of Christian culture at the end of the Second World War… (270:232, June 7, 1995)

The satanic world is one step ahead of God. If God has a family, Satan already has a nation. Hence despite the dispensations from Adam to Abraham, in the history of the Israelites and in the centuries after Jesus, the wrongs committed in those ages did not disappear but instead accumulated…
Even after two thousand years, the responsibility of Christianity remained unfinished. How could it be indemnified? This was the purpose of World War I and World War II; they were dispensations to make restitution according to the law of indemnity.
That is why at the end of World War II, the two sides could unite centered on Christian civilization. Germany, Japan, and Italy joined with the United States, England and France to form one global sovereignty, unified based on Christian values. (292:180, April 12, 1998)

After World War II, humankind was struggling to overcome the pain of war and find the way for all nations to live in peace. At that time, God commanded me to start a world-level movement to establish God’s Kingdom on the foundation of two thousand years of Christianity. The main point God revealed to me was the formula course to establish the True Parents and [unite humankind] as one true family.
However, to God’s great disappointment, the Korean Christian leaders did not accept this truth. As a result, I had no choice but to walk the path of hardship. Although I had committed no crime, I was persecuted, opposed and imprisoned. This mistake of Christianity became the condition and spiritual foundation for evil to gain power in Korea. Herein lay the internal and providential reason for the Korean War and the division of Korea that has persisted for over half a century. (288:166, November 27, 1997

Richard: When will we get it and realize that the Great Revolution referenced above is a revolution of Absolute Sexual Ethics; abstinence before marriage, faithfulness in marriage, Blessed marriage that is on God’s side?

Jesus Came Before the People in Meekness and Humility

Judges 18

30-31 Even though the place of worship was in Shiloh, the people of Dan set up the idol Micah had made. They worshiped the idol, and the Levite was their priest. His name was Jonathan, and he was a descendant of Gershom the son of Moses.[i] His descendants served as priests for the tribe of Dan, until the people of Israel were taken away as prisoners by their enemies.

Richard: Here we see some of the Israelites worshipping idols. Yet they also claimed they were worshipping God. Yet Jesus said in Matthew 6:24 ““No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and be enslaved to money.” And in Matthew 6:31-33 “31 So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”
    Idols can be money, power or authority; anything that takes us away from the focus on putting the work of God toward building His Kingdom first.

Jeremiah 25

4 The Lord has sent prophets to you time after time, but you refused to listen. 5 They told you that the Lord had said:

Change your ways! If you stop doing evil, I will let you stay forever in this land that I gave your ancestors. 6 I don’t want to harm you. So don’t make me angry by worshiping idols and other gods.

Richard:  Again God warns against seeking Idols before seeking and doing His will.  See the reading above.

Jesus

13. Jesus Bore Our Sins on the Cross

Teachings of Rev. Sun Myung Moon

Jesus accepted his destiny, taking on his shoulders the whole responsibility for the future of Israel, giving all his strength. His disciples scattered in all directions; they abandoned Jesus, concerned only to protect their own lives. Meanwhile, Jesus did not think about his own life at all. With utmost sincerity, taking more responsibility than any other person who lived for God in history, and eager to accomplish God’s purpose, he went the way of the cross. He walked that path with God. (35:23, September 27, 1970)
 
Suppose Adam and Eve had a brother, and he had not fallen. If that brother went to Satan and tried to bring Adam and Eve back, Satan would by no means let them go without a price. Satan would want something more valuable than what he would lose by giving up those fallen siblings. Therefore, the unfallen brother would have to sacrifice himself in place of his fallen siblings; only on that condition could he liberate them. That sacrificial brother is Christ, the second Adam. (52:50, December 14, 1971)
 
An offering must shed blood. God does not like bloodshed, but He cannot save a person unless he sets a condition of dying and being reborn. Offering sacrificial animals and having them shed blood has served as a condition for this throughout the ages.
    Thus, in the Old Testament Age, God raised the people of Israel by having them set this indemnity condition, forgiving their sins based on their offerings of animals. On that foundation, God planned to send the Messiah to open the New Testament Age and lead Israel to build the nation of God’s victory.45 However, when the people failed to believe in the Messiah, the Messiah died by offering his own self.
    Animal sacrifices represent the people who offer them. Based on their accumulated offerings of animals, all Israel at the time of Jesus stood as the fruit of the Old Testament Age; this fruit was supposed to unite with Jesus. However, when it did not happen, Jesus had to offer his own self as the sacrifice. That is how Jesus came to die on the cross. (54:252-53, March 25, 1972)
 
The basic nature of Satan is arrogance and fury. In contrast, Jesus came before the people of the world in meekness and humility.
    Jesus did not show meekness and humility because he was incapable and unworthy. He deserved to be higher and enjoy more glory than anyone else, but Jesus forsook all that and lowered himself. Satan confronted Jesus and tried to draw him into a fight, but Jesus knew that if he remained meek and humble to the end, Satan would be bound by a condition in the Principle to submit to God. Therefore Jesus maintained his humility, doing what Satan with his arrogant and wrathful nature cannot do. Then Satan, who also knew Heaven’s law, realized that he would have no choice but to recognize Jesus.
    In other words, if you move forward in meekness and humility, then even the satanic world will naturally submit. Jesus understood this principle, and he took a position of meekness and humility of which Satan was utterly incapable. Similarly, you can pioneer the new path to God only when you place yourself in a position of meekness and humility. (3:187-88, October 27, 1957) 
   
Do you know Jesus’ heart when he subjugated Satan? It was a heart full of compassion for God, compassion for all humanity, and compassion for all creation: “How pitiful is God, who lost His sons and daughters! How pitiful is creation, which lost its owners! How pitiful are human beings, who lost their value, purpose, and position!” Because Jesus’ heart exploded with such pity, Satan retreated. (9:181, May 8, 1960)
 
 
 

Is Jesus God?

Joshua 24

2 Then Joshua told everyone to listen to this message from the Lord, the God of Israel:

Long ago your ancestors lived on the other side of the Euphrates River, and they worshiped other gods. This continued until the time of your ancestor Terah and his two sons, Abraham and Nahor. 3 But I brought Abraham across the Euphrates River and led him through the land of Canaan. I blessed him by giving him Isaac, the first in a line of many descendants. 4 Then I gave Isaac two sons, Jacob and Esau. I had Esau live in the hill country of Mount Seir, but your ancestor Jacob and his children went to live in Egypt.

Jeremiah 51

63 When you finish praying, tie the scroll to a rock and throw it in the Euphrates River. Then say, 64 “This is how Babylon will sink when the Lord destroys it. Everyone in the city will die, and it won’t have the strength to rise again.”

Richard: Here, in these two verses, God gives a warning; ‘Get with the program, or else’. As I said on Monday the fundamental core issue is the breakdown and discarding of good sexual ethics.

Jesus

3. Jesus—the True Man and the Sinless ‘Second Adam’

The first man, Adam, became a living being; the last Adam [Jesus] became a life-giving spirit.
    1 Corinthians 15.45

Lo! The likeness of Jesus with God is as the likeness of Adam.
    Qur’an 3.59

For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.
    1 Timothy 2.5

In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to save him from death, and he was heard for his godly fear. Although he was a Son, he learned obedience through what he suffered; and being made perfect he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him.

    Hebrews 5.7-9

And when God said, “O Jesus son of Mary, did you say to mankind, ‘Take me and my mother for two gods besides Allah?’ ” He replied, “Be glorified! It was not mine to utter that to which I had no right. Thou wouldst have known it if I said it. Thou knowest what is in my mind, and I know not what is in Thy mind. Truly Thou alone art the Knower of Things Hidden. I spoke to them only that which Thou didst command me, saying, ‘Worship Allah, my Lord and your Lord.’ I was a witness to them while I dwelt among them, and when Thou didst take me Thou wert the Watcher over them. Thou art Witness over all things.”
    Qur’an 5.116-17

Teachings of Rev. Sun Myung Moon

Had Adam and Eve realized the ideal of creation and become the True Parents of humanity, they would have borne good children without original sin and formed the Kingdom of Heaven on earth. However, Adam and Eve fell and became evil parents, multiplying evil children who created this hell on earth. Hence, as Jesus told Nicodemus, fallen people cannot see the Kingdom of God unless they are first born anew—as children without original sin.
    We cannot be born without parents. Who, then, are the good parents through whom we can be born again, cleansed of original sin and able to enter the Kingdom of God? Parents who have original sin cannot give birth to good children who do not have original sin. Certainly, it is impossible to find sinless parents among fallen humankind. These parents must descend from Heaven. Jesus was the Parent who came from Heaven. He came as the True Father in order to give rebirth to fallen people, transforming them into good children, thoroughly cleansed of original sin and fit to build the Kingdom of Heaven on earth… Jesus came as the True Father whom Adam had failed to become. For this reason, the Bible speaks of him as the “last Adam” and the “Everlasting Father.” (1 Cor. 15.45, Isa. 9.6) (Exposition of the Divine Principle, Christology 4.1.1)
 
Jesus said that the value of a human life cannot be exchanged for the entire universe… Yet many Christians say that God is very high while we human beings are sinners. They say that Jesus is God while humans are creatures with no value. If that were true, how could we possibly be connected to God? How could we realize our full potential to become God-like people? That teaching creates an unbridgeable gap between God and human beings.
    To connect us to God, Jesus should stand on the side of human beings. If he stood on the side of God, we would have no hope. We read from the Bible, “For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.” (1 Tim. 2.5) The passage is correct. Because Jesus is a man, he provides the way for us sinners to approach God. If Jesus were God and not man, we would have no way to approach Him. This is a fundamental issue; it requires the correct and logical understanding.
    Jesus is a sinless person while we are sinful people—that is the difference between him and us. Because Jesus is sinless, he can relate with God’s love, life and ideal; and as the mediator, he can connect us to God’s love, life and ideal. (69:80-81, October 20, 1973)
 
Let me ask you a question: Was Jesus a man or a woman? Of course he was a man. When Jesus looked at a woman, do you think he saw her as a woman, or as a man? Of course, he saw her as a woman. Then, do you think he sometimes felt an attraction? There is always the force of electricity pulling plus and minus toward each other—it is the law of nature. While Jesus was standing there, an attractive woman would approach him. His body must have shaken like this [demonstrating]. His hand must have shaken, but his feet were firmly planted. He felt frustrated, but he did not move his feet. He knew that if he moved he might fall, so he remained still and unwavering. Ordinary people respond to temptation, but Jesus never budged, even if his hand might have touched her.
    No matter how great we may be, we cannot consider ourselves to be greater than Jesus. Jesus experienced the vulnerability of his human nature, but each time he drew the line and said, “No, I cannot do it.” “No, it is not permitted.” “I had better cut it off.” By continually overcoming temptation, he reached the point where he could say, “Now I am in oneness.” (128:78-79, June 5, 1983)
 
Richard:  Here we see in Rev. Moon’s teachings that Jesus is not God, but the sinless second Adam who mediates for us before God.
 
 

Sodom and Gomorrah Deserved God’s Punishment

2 Corinthians 9

9 I don’t need to write you about the money you plan to give for God’s people. 2 I know how eager you are to give. And I have proudly told the Lord’s followers in Macedonia that you people in Achaia have been ready for a whole year. Now your desire to give has made them want to give. 3 That’s why I am sending Titus and the two others to you. I want you to be ready, just as I promised. This will prove that we were not wrong to brag about you.

Jeremiah 23

11 The Lord told me to say:

You prophets and priests
think so little of me, the Lord,
    that you even sin
    in my own temple!
12 Now I will punish you
    with disaster,
and you will slip and fall
    in the darkness.
I, the Lord, have spoken.

Richard: Remember, the current day priests and prophets are ministers in Christian churches.

Abraham

4. Abraham’s Plea for the People of Sodom and Gomorrah

The Lord said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do, seeing that Abraham shall become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall bless themselves by him? No, for I have chosen him, that he may charge his children and his household after him to keep the way of the lord by doing righteousness and justice; so that the lord may bring to Abraham what he has promised him.”
    Genesis 18.17-19

The Lord said, “Because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great and their sin is very grave, I will go down to see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry which has come to me; and if not, I will know.

”So the men turned from there, and went toward Sodom; but Abraham still stood before the Lord. Then Abraham drew near, and said, “Will you indeed destroy the righteous with the wicked? Suppose there are fifty righteous within the city; will you still destroy the place and not spare it for the fifty righteous who are in it? Far be it from you to do such a thing, to slay the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous fare as the wicked! Far be that from you! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?”
    And the lord said, “If I find at Sodom fifty righteous in the city, I will spare the whole place for their sake.”
    Abraham answered, “Behold, I have taken upon myself to speak to the lord, I who am but dust and ashes. Suppose five of the fifty righteous are lacking? Will you destroy the whole city for lack of five?

”And he said, “I will not destroy it if I find forty-five there.”
    “Suppose forty… thirty… twenty…”
    “For the sake of twenty I will not destroy it.”
“Oh let not the lord be angry, and I will speak again but this once. Suppose ten are found there.”
“For the sake of ten I will not destroy it.” And the lord went his way when he had finished speaking to Abraham; and Abraham returned to his place.
    Genesis 18.20-33

Teachings of Rev. Sun Myung Moon

Sodom and Gomorrah deserved God’s punishment. It was not Abraham’s direct concern whether the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah understood the will of God or whether their people were doomed. Yet because he had a sense of mission for the divine dispensation, he felt that he should take responsibility for them. Day and night, Abraham felt anxious over the fate of the two cities; what is written in the Bible reveals some of his inner feelings.
    Today, as we witness the concluding period of the 6,000-year history of God’s providence, we can sleep in peace, wear nice clothes and eat good food, but not because of any merit on our part. The reason the world can at least sustain us is because in the background there was Abraham, and countless unknown people like him, as a hidden root. They appealed to God on behalf of their peoples, shedding tears and blood on countless altars…
    If there were even a few righteous people in Sodom and Gomorrah who knew of Abraham’s fervent prayer that penetrated into heaven, of his discussion with God face-to-face, Abraham could have used them as a condition when he appealed to God, “O Father, who determines and judges with justice, far be it that you should slay the righteous with the wicked!” Nonetheless, when he realized that he was the only one praying for Sodom and Gomorrah, Abraham’s heart was deeply saddened. (1:138-39, July 1, 1956)

America—this Sodom and Gomorrah-like hell! Unless I can deal with it and restore it, the Kingdom of Heaven cannot be built. It has every element that can ruin the youth of the world. It is the breeding place of drugs, promiscuity, and all manner of corruption. I am trying to clean it up with my own hands. (105:324, October 28, 1979)

Since I came to America I have been working as hard as I can, and also I am pushing Americans to go through many hardships. Nevertheless, if we can prosper, it can be a blessing to America, and an indemnity condition that can cover the failure of America to fulfill its God-given mission. Then, I can pray to God, “Heavenly Father, please have regard for these Thy children and forgive America for their sakes. Although America deserves to perish, because these children are devoted to Thee, please save this nation.” It is similar to Abraham’s prayer when he pleaded with God to spare Sodom and Gomorrah if ten righteous people could be found. (103:200, February 25, 1979)

When God Gives a Command, It is not Something that Is Easy to Believe

Hebrews 13

11 After the high priest offers the blood of animals as a sin offering, the bodies of those animals are burned outside the camp. 12 Jesus himself suffered outside the city gate, so that his blood would make people holy. 13 That’s why we should go outside the camp to Jesus and share in his disgrace. 14 On this earth we don’t have a city that lasts forever, but we are waiting for such a city.

15 Our sacrifice is to keep offering praise to God in the name of Jesus. 16 But don’t forget to help others and to share your possessions with them. This too is like offering a sacrifice that pleases God.

Jeremiah 50

37 Then your chariot horses
and the foreigners in your army
    will refuse to go into battle,
and the enemy will carry away
    everything you treasure.

Noah

1. Noah and the Flood

Teachings of Rev. Sun Myung Moon

When God gives a command, it is not something that is easy to believe; rather it is something unbelievable. For example, God ordered Noah to build an ark for 120 years for the preparation for the flood judgment.9 Further, God ordered him to build the ark not by a river but on a mountaintop. Was it easy for Noah to believe this direction? The human ancestors fell due to the faithlessness; therefore, God needed Noah to stand on absolute faith. That is the reason He did not give him a command that was easy to believe. (53:93, February 10, 1972)

What do you think Noah’s family thought of him? Noah built the ark on the top of a mountain. If it had been on flat land it would be one thing, but building a ship on the top of a mountain is not only beyond common sense, it also certainly exceeded the limits of tolerance. In any ordinary sense, Noah was acting like a crazy man. If he wanted to build a ship, he should have built it on a river-bank, but since he built it on a mountain, his action was totally beyond common sense.
    When God gave that command, do you think He did it in a joking manner? No. God knew better than anyone that Noah’s course would require lifelong dedication on a path of unbearable suffering. God’s anxiety at giving that command was greater than Noah’s suffering. Nevertheless, God commanded Noah to go the path of suffering for 120 years, hoping thereby to gain a way to resolve His inner situation. How miserable was God’s heart? His misery was indescribable.
    At the decisive, tense moment, when whether or not to accept that command hung in the balance, Noah chose to obey God. At that moment, who do you think was happier, God or Noah? Had it gone the other way, God is the one who would have been saddened more than Noah. God’s position is that of a Lord who takes responsibility for joy and sorrow. (48:69, September 5, 1971)

Imagine, you women here, that you were Noah’s wife. Do you think you would have approved of him? Perhaps not. Every day he must have climbed up and down the mountain to build an ark, claiming that he had received a command from God. Every day his wife must have packed his lunch. Since Noah was too busy building the ark to provide for his family, she must have had to take the burden of providing for the family. In the beginning she might have been able to manage it, but within a few months family squabbles must have begun. Yet this difficult situation had to continue not for just twelve months or twelve years, but for 120 years. When she realized that she had to do it for 120 years, she must have fiercely accused her husband, saying that he had gone insane.
    Why couldn’t God instruct Noah to carry out His Will in ordinary circumstances? The reason is this: God cannot dwell together with evil. God’s direction is 180 degrees contrary to the direction of Satan. God abhors evil! If even a few people who are comfortable living in the satanic world have a small amount of faith in Him, God would not be pleased. In God’s sight, the things that are precious to people who compromise with evil would only defile His world.
    Even ordinary people have such a feeling. We do not like anything about our enemy; we do not even want to see him. If so, would the absolute God be pleased to receive praise from the evil world? Hence, God worked in a way that made it impossible for the people of the fallen world to have faith in Him. (69:94-95, October 21, 1973)

For one hundred and twenty years, Noah tolerated the faithless people who opposed and ridiculed him. Even when God told him to warn them that the earth was about to be judged, he accomplished his duty to God in faith. Because he was a righteous man, he was deeply concerned and saddened for the corrupt society in which he lived. While most people were living for their personal comfort, Noah alone struggled to uphold the commandment of public righteousness; Noah alone was concerned about the will of God; and Noah alone grieved in circumstances no one would want to endure. (3:169-70, October 25, 1957