Category: Numbers

Art Has Its Limits

Numbers 4

4 The Lord told Moses and Aaron:

2-3 Find out how many men between the ages of thirty and fifty are in the four Levite clans of Kohath. Count only those who are able to work at the sacred tent.

Richard:  God wants us to have specific and measurable results in our ministry work.  Visionroot produces great tools to help you do that:  http://www.visionroot.org.

Mark 2

12 The man got right up. He picked up his mat and went out while everyone watched in amazement. They praised God and said, “We have never seen anything like this!”

Richard:  Miracles do happen!

Let Us Halt in Our Steps and Behold the One Who Is Protecting Us

Rev. Sun Myung Moon
March 8, 1959

Psalm 121

You may not be so well aware of this fact, but history is moving toward some destination. It is ceaselessly flowing toward the one unified world of the ideal. This is not an arrangement made by human beings or something human beings have accomplished. This flow moves forcefully in spite of our ignorance of it. Since it has the power to surround us, move our minds, and steer the course of our nation and world, and since we are on our way toward the world of our destination, we cannot help being a part of this great procession. You should reflect once more upon your being subject to this unalterable fate.

In this flow, where is our path heading? Is it to the left or the right? Is it vertical or horizontal? When we consider this flow, we find that we cannot boast about any self-centered success. The same thing holds true, even if we are delighted in the great world of the arts.

A person has value as the subject in sight of the entire universe in a reciprocal relationship with it. Therefore, until we can achieve the kind of success of which we can boast in the presence of the creation, there is no way we can alter that flow of the heart. The path we must walk is one. We set out from this amazing and great world of relationships and pass through a world of relationships before arriving at our destination. There we can fully manifest our original value and proudly stand in the presence of the Creator. Hence, we must understand that in their innermost hearts human beings long to be such victors and attain such joy and freedom. Continue reading “Art Has Its Limits”

Behold God’s Handiwork of Creation

Numbers 8

8 They are to bring a bull and its proper grain sacrifice of flour mixed with olive oil. And they must bring a second bull as a sacrifice for sin.

9 Then you, Moses, will call together all the people of Israel and have the Levites go to my sacred tent, 10 where the people will place their hands on them. 11 Aaron will present the Levites to me as a gift from the people, so that the Levites will do my work.

Jeremiah 31

People of Israel,
you are my own dear children.
    Don’t I love you best of all?
Though I often make threats,
I want you to be near me,
    so I will have mercy on you.
I, the Lord, have spoken.

Let Us Halt in Our Steps and Behold the One Who Is Protecting Us

Rev. Sun Myung Moon
March 8, 1959

Psalm 121

We have to understand this as we relate with all things and become someone who can sing of the heart of God, who created the natural world. We have to be able to sing of the heart of God who rejoiced after creating the universe; we should sing of the heart of God when He rejoiced after creating human beings. We should sing about how this world of ideology has been made so good, precious and beautiful. When we can praise God with this heart, we can become connected to heavenly and human love. You must understand that this is how the historical and providential bond of heart, which is linked to the heavenly principles and human principles, is forged.

Today, we often understand God as one who has the same sung sang as we. However, in your life of devotion, when you are praying or when you are meditating quietly, watching the natural world alone in the dark night, or when you have opened the door to your heart with a serious attitude and feel the outpouring of your original mind as you behold nature, you will feel that nature exists for you. You will experience deeply that the infinitely large world of the heavenly bodies exists for your sake. If you then bow your head and pray, “Father, thank You,” you will offer a more profound prayer than any you may offer based on your personal feelings. Continue reading “Behold God’s Handiwork of Creation”

Jesus Returns in the Same Manner He Left

Numbers 32:1

32 The tribes of Reuben and Gad owned a lot of cattle and sheep, and they saw that the regions of Jazer and Gilead had good pastureland. 2 So they went to Moses, Eleazar, and the other leaders of Israel and said, 3-4 “The Lord has helped us capture the land around the towns of Ataroth, Dibon, Jazer, Nimrah, Heshbon, Elealeh, Sebam, Nebo, and Beon. That’s good pastureland, and since we own cattle and sheep, 5 would you let us stay here east of the Jordan River and have this land as our own?”

Isaiah 31

The Egyptians are mere humans.
    They aren’t God.
Their horses are made of flesh;
    they can’t live forever.
When the Lord shows his power,
he will destroy the Egyptians
    and all who depend on them.
Together they will fall.

Let Us Love Heaven and Become Patriots

Rev. Sun Myung Moon
March 1, 1959

Matthew 5: 33-48

The time when we find our own world, our own people, our own tribe and our own nation and serve our Lord are the last days for which Heaven is hoping. This is the last days determined by Jesus, when he came to the earth for the sake of God’s will, the day of hope we should seek. It is the day for which Heaven, Jesus and all of us are hoping. Everything will be resolved on that day.

It is the Principle that the Lord of the Second Advent will return in the same way he left. When you lose something, you must look for it where you lost it. If something is broken, you must fix it in the pattern opposite to the way it was broken. Because this is an iron- clad rule which is bound by the principles governing human affairs, the Lord of the Second Advent will return in the same way he left. You have to understand that things are recovered in the same way they were lost.

Today is the time when all that was granted to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden will be recovered. All the people who live in this land today are descendants of fallen Adam and Eve. You are the descendants of fallen parents. You are not descendants of True Parents. Hence, you must become the descendants of True Parents again. What I mean is that you must receive the blessing of True Parents inside the realm of God’s love, where you can relate with God and True Parents directly. You must then form a couple and enter the lineage of the True Parents. Yet, until today, humanity has never properly governed the earth as children of the True Parents. They could not become the sons and daughters of the True Parents. Isn’t this true? Continue reading “Jesus Returns in the Same Manner He Left”

Man Has a Sacred Source

Numbers 4

4 The Kohathites will be responsible for carrying the sacred objects used in worship at the sacred tent. 5 When the Israelites are ready to move their camp, Aaron and his sons will enter the tent and take down the curtain that separates the sacred chest from the rest of the tent. They will cover the chest with this curtain, 6 and then with a piece of fine leather, and cover it all with a solid blue cloth. After this they will put the carrying poles in place.

Richard:  How the sacred objects were handled was very important to God.  Wrong handling would lead to death.  In the modern day, the sacred objects are the sexual organs, the penis and vagina.  God wants those to be handled only by the wife and husband, respectively.  Wrong handling could lead literally to death or to spiritual destruction.

Isaiah 35

3 Here is a message for all
who are weak,
trembling,
    and worried:
4 “Cheer up! Don’t be afraid.
Your God is coming
    to punish your enemies.
God will take revenge on them
    and rescue you.

Rev Sun Myung Moon Speaks Jan. 8, 1976 Jacob House
To the Mobile Fundraising Team Workshop

Many things are wrong with communism. Young people are preoccupied. Communism is overwhelming, wanting to make the world into oneness. This is better than the democratic world on a certain level. The most important thing is that communism denies the existence of God. If you meditate on your own being and where you come from you can conclude that even animals have an original source.

If you define life as an animal it ends with the death of the animal.  You don’t know for sure what happens. In the communist world if one does not obey a command they can be annihilated or killed. Communism is a man-fabricated ideal.

Man has sacred source for God. If one obeys sacred life, one is a possession [of God]. If one obeys [as an]animal, one has no way to belong. In that way one belongs to a small man-made category and shuts self up. In a democracy humanity is valued above ideology. Jesus teaches us that your life is more than the whole world. In communism your life is for the world, nothing more. Continue reading “Man Has a Sacred Source”

Yearn for the Shimjung of Our Ancestors

My latest blog post: Is Abstinence from Sexual Activity Outside of Marriage the Expected Standard for School Age Children?

Numbers 3

39 So Moses and Aaron obeyed the Lord and counted the Levites by their clans. The total number of Levites at least one month old was twenty-two thousand.

Richard:  Our lineage is very important.

Jonah 4

Jonah was really upset and angry. 2 So he prayed:

Our Lord, I knew from the very beginning that you wouldn’t destroy Nineveh. That’s why I left my own country and headed for Spain. You are a kind and merciful God, and you are very patient. You always show love, and you don’t like to punish anyone, not even foreigners.

Richard:  We should have forbearance as we witness to others.

Oh, Where Shall I Go?

Sun Myung Moon
January 18, 1959

Matthew 7

We know that everything around us today has gone through a fallen course of history. The people who surround us today are living in a fallen reality. Based on the reality, it is possible to predict that fallen history will continue.

How can we explain the fall, which occurred in the past, exists in the present, and will be projected into the future? You know well that, during the long period of the 6,000 years until now, although our ancestors tried hard to avoid it through countless efforts and sacrifices, fallen history continued. You also know well that in the present age, many people are anxiously struggling to avoid the effects of this sinful world.

I have been living in such a world in the past and am living in it at present. As I reflect upon myself, I cannot deny that the resentment of my ancestors moves in my heart. A sad feeling flows due to the shock of living in the present world. If there is a connection that arouses yearning in us, what will it be? Continue reading “Yearn for the Shimjung of Our Ancestors”