Category: Old Testament

It Only Takes a Spark to Start a Forest Fire!

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Why is the Truth about the January 6th US Capitol Protest Being Obfuscated? – VisionRoot Blog Post

James 3

It takes only a spark to start a forest fire! 6 The tongue is like a spark. It is an evil power that dirties the rest of the body and sets a person’s entire life on fire with flames that come from hell itself. 7 All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles, and sea creatures can be tamed and have been tamed. 8 But our tongues get out of control. They are restless and evil, and always spreading deadly poison.

Ecclesiastes 1

10 I got whatever I wanted and did whatever made me happy. But most of all, I enjoyed my work. 11 Then I thought about everything I had done, including the hard work, and it was simply chasing the wind. Nothing on earth is worth the trouble.

Jesus

4. Preparation for Christ’s Advent and the Responsibility of John the Baptist

Teachings of Rev. Sun Myung Moon

If the Messiah were sent to this fallen world without any preparations or foundation, the enemy Satan would definitely capture him and kill him. Therefore, to prepare for his coming, God worked throughout history to establish religions. God erected the major religions and separated good from evil to find the people on His side. God’s plan was to raise an individual, family, tribe, people and nation that could be victorious over Satan. It would be the prepared foundation, ready to unite totally with the Messiah when he came. That foundation was the nation called Israel, which means victory. (74:59-60, November 12, 1974)
 
Through many prophets, God sent messages promising that He would send the Messiah to Israel. Thus God built a foundation of messianic expectation in the Jewish people. At the proper time, God fulfilled His promise by sending His Son, the Messiah. He was Jesus. (73:218, September 18, 1974)
 
When Jesus was born, God proclaimed his advent. He sent the three wise men from the East as well as Simon, Anna, John the Baptist and others to testify widely.
    Concerning John the Baptist in particular, many people knew that an angel had appeared and testified to his conception. (Luke 1.13) The miracles surrounding his birth stirred all of Judea in expectation. (Luke 1.63-66) Furthermore, John’s ascetic life in the wilderness was so impressive that many people questioned in their hearts whether perhaps he was the Christ. (Luke 3.15) God’s purpose behind sending such a great personality as John the Baptist to bear witness to Jesus as the Messiah was to encourage the Jewish people to believe in Jesus. (Exposition of the Divine Principle,Messiah 1.3)I
 
f the Jewish believers who respected John the Baptist as a prophet had united with Jesus, what would have happened? Jesus’ disciples would have been the leading citizens of Israel, not poor fishermen. With that level of support, who would have dared arrested and killed Jesus? Was it originally God’s will that Jesus’ chief followers should be tax collectors and prostitutes? (74:153, November 28, 1974)
 
When the mind of John the Baptist was focused on God, he recognized Jesus as the Messiah and testified to him. Later, when the inspiration left him and he returned to a mundane state, his ignorance returned and exacerbated his faithlessness. Unable to acknowledge that he was the return of Elijah, John began to regard Jesus in the same disbelieving way as other Jews viewed him, particularly after he was imprisoned. Jesus’ every word and deed seemed to him only strange and perplexing. At one point, John tried to resolve his doubts by sending his disciples to Jesus and asking, “Are you he who is to come, or shall we look for another?” (Matt. 11.3)…
 
    John the Baptist had been chosen while still inside the womb for the mission of attending Jesus. He led an arduous, ascetic life in the wilderness, building his ministry in order to prepare the way for the coming Messiah. When Jesus began his public ministry, God revealed the identity of Jesus to John before anyone else and inspired John to bear witness to him as the Son of God. Yet John did not properly receive the grace that Heaven had bestowed on him. Therefore, when confronted with John’s doubting question, Jesus did not answer explicitly that he was the Messiah; he instead answered in this circuitous way. (Exposition of the Divine Principle, Messiah 2.3)
 
Jesus said, “Among those born of women there has risen no one greater than John the Baptist; yet he who is least in the Kingdom of Heaven is greater than he.” (Matt. 11.11) What did he mean by this? The mission of prophets through the ages was mainly to testify to the Messiah. Prophets in the past testified from a distance of time, but John the Baptist was the prophet contemporary with the Messiah, the prophet who could bear witness, in person, to the living Christ. Therefore he was the greatest among prophets. However, John failed to love and serve the Messiah. Even the least of the prophets then living in the spirit world knew that Jesus was the Son of God and served him. That is why John, who was given the greatest mission and failed, became less than the least.
    From his birth, John should have lived and died in the service of Christ, but instead he died over involvement in a trivial matter, the affair of Herodias. Was that the path God intended for John the Baptist?
    Jesus said, “From the days of John the Baptist until now the Kingdom of Heaven has advanced forcefully, and forceful men lay hold of it.” (Matt. 11:12) In other words, Jesus said that during days of John the Baptist just prior to the appearance of Jesus, there was the possibility that the Kingdom of Heaven could be taken and claimed by forceful men.
    If John the Baptist had believed in Jesus, he certainly would have become Jesus’ chief disciple. Jesus’ 12 disciples and 70 disciples would have been the leaders of John the Baptist’s group. As Jews of good reputation, they could have won over the scribes and priests to Jesus’ side.
    One day John’s followers came to him and asked, “Rabbi, he who was with you beyond the Jordan, to whom you bore witness, here he is baptizing, and all are going to him.” (John 3.26) They carried concern in their question: Look at all the people going to Jesus. What about you? John replied, “He must increase, and I must decrease.” (John 3.30) Usually this passage is interpreted as evidence of John’s humility. But what it really means is that John and Jesus were not united in heart and action. If Jesus and John had been united, their destiny would be to rise or fall together. Know, then, that the reason Jesus died on the cross was due to the failure of John the Baptist. (69:139, October 23, 1973)
 
 
 

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.
 
 

The Fundamental Core Issue of Society is the Breakdown of Sexual Morality

Ezekiel 16

23 Now I, the Lord God, say you are doomed! Not only did you do these evil things, 24 but you also built places on every street corner 25 where you disgraced yourself by having sex with anyone who walked by. And you did that more and more every day! 26 To make me angry, you even offered yourself to Egyptians, who were always ready to sleep with you.

Richard: The fundamental core issue of society is the breakdown of sexual morality. It’s really simple; don’t have sex before marriage. Keep faithful in marriage. Center your marriage on God. Teach this to the next generation. But, by and large, we are not doing that. Join us as we work to change this and make a movement of good sexual ethics.

Hosea 12

3 Even before Jacob was born,
    he cheated his brother,
and when he grew up,
    he fought against God.

4 At Bethel, Jacob wrestled
    with an angel and won;
then with tears in his eyes,
he asked for a blessing,
    and God spoke to us there.

Richard: This indicates the importance of the human portion of responsibility. Jacob knew the value of his birthright, his brother Essau did not. God sent an angel to test Jacob, and he prevailed. As I mentioned above, it is our responsibility to promote good sexual ethics. If we do not, we will continue to reap the fruits of the breakdown of society.

Jesus

1. Jesus Came to Save Sinful Humankind

Teachings of Rev. Sun Myung Moon

Jesus spent his whole life fulfilling his responsibility and mission. What he completed on earth during his 33 years of life secured an eternal and inviolable accomplishment. His Gospel of faith, and the example of his life, will remain for eternity.
    Jesus took responsibility, not only for his own generation but also for all of history. Jesus single-handedly took responsibility to complete the providential will that God had been striving to fulfill for 4,000 years. (1:37, May 16, 1956)

Jesus came to answer the universal questions, resolve humanity’s sins, and solve the problem of death. Jesus was the only person who could provide solutions to these problems. 
    Moreover, more than anyone else, Jesus lived a truthful life for the sake of God. Disregarding his personal life, he sought to elucidate the fundamental questions of the universe. Disregarding his own glory, he labored and sacrificed endlessly to fulfill the will of God. By virtue of his consistent heart and life, he was elevated before Heaven as the foremost torchbearer, representing all of history. That is why he could confidently cry out, “Believe in me.” (3:14, September 8, 1957)

Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth and the life.” What a bold statement! Was his way a treacherous mountain trail? No, it was a firm and solid road. Was his truth dim and obscure? No, he clearly knew everything that he spoke. He intended that his truth should be welcomed by all peoples, and it should become the measure of all truth. Was his life one of dying or thriving? He lowered himself to serve others, yet as he said, those who humble themselves will be lifted up. (106:13, November 4, 1979)

People in a state of imperfection cannot establish the ideal world. People ignorant of the truth cannot lay its foundations. Therefore, God promised to send to Israel the Messiah—the one perfected person with complete knowledge. Jesus would be the beginning of the God-centered sovereignty and nation; this would be possible once the Israelites united absolutely with him.
    That is, by attending38 the Messiah, immature people were to proceed on the path to individual perfection and establish families, communities and a nation united with Jesus. They had to obey Jesus’ will in its entirety. However, the Israelites who met the Messiah did not understand that God had sent him. Neither did they know that God’s work for Jesus was to save not only his own people but also the world. (54:41, March 10, 1972)

Those Who Live for Goodness Will Be Blessed by Heaven

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John 21

20 Peter turned and saw Jesus’ favorite disciple following them. He was the same one who had sat next to Jesus at the meal and had asked, “Lord, who is going to betray you?” 21 When Peter saw that disciple, he asked Jesus, “Lord, what about him?”

22 Jesus answered, “What is it to you, if I want him to live until I return? You must follow me.” 23 So the rumor spread among the other disciples that this disciple would not die. But Jesus did not say he would not die. He simply said, “What is it to you, if I want him to live until I return?”

Job 42

3 You asked why I talk so much
    when I know so little.
I have talked about things
that are far beyond
    my understanding.
4 You told me to listen
    and answer your questions.[a]
5 I heard about you from others;
now I have seen you
    with my own eyes.
6 That’s why I hate myself
and sit here in dust and ashes
    to show my sorrow.

Confucius

1. Confucius Faced Hardships and Disappointments While Maintaining Conviction about His Mission

Teachings of Rev. Sun Myung Moon

Confucius was born in the House of Lu during the Warring States period several thousand years ago, a chaotic time of many battles and wars. Yet he was not concerned only for his own country or the surrounding states. Nor did he complain about the trouble-filled society and the difficult circum-stances into which he was born. Although he had no siblings to help him serve his parents, he tried to support them with gratitude. Confucius had the heart to be concerned about the future and the world. Despite frequent rejection, he persevered with gratitude.
    Therefore, eventually his teachings would unify the continent of China. More than that, he pioneered a way that has remained for all humankind, even beyond Asia. His aspiration and desire was to offer something truthful, and he searched for the truth that he could offer to humankind. This formed his character. This was where his teachings originated. (33:290, August 21, 1970)

Confucius intended that the House of Lu should adopt his way to govern his nation during those chaotic times. However, seeing chaos and confusion abounding throughout the world as well as in his own nation, he came up with a teaching for a way of life to be followed by all future generations of humankind. (32:260, July 19, 1970)

Confucius was persecuted; he was cursed as a “homeless, wandering dog.” The reason why he and other persecuted people of Heaven could be recognized as saints is because they followed the principle. Therefore with the passage of time their day would come, when they were destined to be victors. (189:205-06, April 6, 1989)

2. Confucius’ Religious Faith

When under siege in K’uang, Confucius said, “With King Wen dead, is not culture (wen) invested here in me? If Heaven intends culture to be destroyed, those who come after me will not be able to have any part of it. If Heaven does not intend this culture to be destroyed, then what can the men of K’uang do to me?”
     Analects 9.5
 
Confucius said, “He who sins against Heaven has none to whom he can pray.”
    Analects 3.13
 
Though his food might be coarse rice and vegetable broth, Confucius inevitably offered a little in sacrifice, and always with solemnity.
    Analects 10.8
 
Po-niu was ill and Confucius went to inquire of him. Having grasped his hand through a window, Confucius said, “It is killing him. It is the will of Heaven, alas! That such a man should have such a malady! That such a man should have such a malady!”
    Analects 6.8
 
Confucius said, “Devote yourselves to the proper demands of the people, respect the ghosts and spirits but keep them at a distance—this may be called wisdom.”Analects
    6.20
 
Confucius said, “I wish I did not have to speak at all.” Tzu Kung said, “But if you did not speak, sir, what should we disciples pass on to others?” Confucius said, “Look at Heaven there. Does it speak? The four seasons run their course and all things are produced. Does Heaven speak?”
    Analects 17.19
 
Teachings of Rev.  Sun Myung Moon
 
No religious founder puts forth a teaching or propounds principles of living centered only on human beings. Among the teachings of Confucius, there is one: “Those who live for goodness will be blessed by Heaven, but those who live contrary to goodness will face misfortune from Heaven.” That is, Heaven rewards with blessings those who do good deeds, and Heaven will recompense evildoers with disasters. Confucius could say this because he knew Heaven. He knew Heaven; therefore he could erect principles of living that are based on Heaven. Although he only vaguely knew Heaven (God), he included it in his teachings. Therefore, he is qualified to stand among the great founders of religion. (32:261, July 19, 1970)
 
Providentially, Confucius’ teaching was like the proclamation of the heavenly archangel. Through the elements of Confucian morality, Heaven sought to establish social conditions that would protect against Satan and set up a society resembling the external form of Heaven.37 (205:179, August 28, 1998)
 
 
 

How Can We Escape from Our Miserable Life’s Destiny that Ends in the Cemetary?

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Letter to the Editor: Follow Up on Comments Before the Board of Education – VisionRoot

Matthew 6

22 “The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light. 23 But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!

Ecclesiastes 11

11 Be generous, and someday
    you will be rewarded.
2 Share what you have
    with seven or eight others,
because you never know
    when disaster may strike.
3 Rain clouds always bring rain;
trees always stay
    wherever they fall.
4 If you worry about the weather
and don’t plant seeds,
    you won’t harvest a crop.

Buddha

1. The Buddha Rejects the World in Search of the Path to Truth

Teachings of Rev. Sun Myung Moon

Shakyamuni entered the religious life in search of the true path. Leaving the palace behind, he journeyed as a solitary monk, overcoming many obstacles. He searched for the way for human beings to live according to the Way of Heaven, the Universal Law, which God sought to establish in the world. Yet when he set out on his journey a sea of tears blocked his way—tears from individuals, tears from his family, and tears from his countrymen. Surely the saintly Shakyamuni, who had to overcome all this, walked a most miserable path.34 (101:151, October 29, 1978)

The passing joys of those who delight in the pleasures of the flesh are nothing compared to the bliss experienced by those on the path of enlightenment, who find joy in the midst of simple poverty. Gautama Buddha, who abandoned the luxuries of the royal palace and became enraptured in the pursuit of the Way, was not the only one who wandered about homeless while searching for his heart’s resting place, though he knew not where it was. (Exposition of the Divine Principle, Introduction)

Buddha was persecuted by members of the royal family because he gave up his position as the crown prince. People persecuted him in a country where royalty was worshipped. (258:87, March 17, 1994)

Shakyamuni of India was born as a prince of his country, but when he came to understand that life was a “sea of bitterness,” he gave up his position as a prince to search for the path of truth. Buddhism originated in India, but today there are not many Buddhists in India. There has never been a religious founder who was received well in his own country. No nation has treated its saints well during their lifetime. (39:255-56, January 15, 1971)

2. The Buddha’s Enlightenment

Having mastered perfectly all the methods of trance, the prince recalled, in the first watch of the night, the sequence of his former births.
    Next the Rightly-illumined One perceived, and thus was decisively awakened: When birth is destroyed, old age, and death ceases; when becoming is destroyed, then birth ceases; when attachment is destroyed, becoming ceases; when craving is destroyed, attachment ceases…35\\
    Reflecting his right understanding, the great hermit arose before the world as Buddha, the Enlightened One. He found self nowhere, as the fire whose fuel has been exhausted. Then he conceived the Eightfold Path, the straightest and safest path for the attainment of this end.
    For seven days, the Buddha with serene mind contemplated the Truth that he had attained and gazed at the Bodhi tree without blinking: “Here on this spot I have fulfilled my cherished goal; I now rest at ease in the Dharma of selflessness.”
    Ashvaghosha, Buddhacarita 14

Through many a birth I wandered in samsara, seeking but not finding the builder of this house. Sorrowful is it to be born again and again.
O house-builder! You are seen. You shall build no house again. All your rafters are broken. Your ridgepole is shattered. My mind has attained the unconditioned. Achieved is the end of craving.
    Dhammapada 153-54

In heaven and on earth, I alone am the honored one.Digha Nikaya 2.15

Know then, that from time to time a Tathagata is born into the world, a fully Enlightened One, blessed and worthy, abounding in wisdom and goodness, happy with the knowledge of the worlds, unsurpassed as a guide to erring mortals, a teacher of gods and men, a blessed Buddha. He thoroughly understands this universe, as though he saw it face to face… The Truth does he proclaim both in its letter and in its spirit, lovely in its origin, lovely in its progress, lovely in its consummation. A higher life does he make known in all its purity and in all its perfection.
    Digha Nikaya 13, Tevigga Sutta

Teachings of Rev. Sun Myung Moon
If you establish yourself at a true perpendicular angle [to Heaven] and resonate with the true love of the universe, you will become one with God’s love both internally and externally. Then the universe will belong to you, you will become a great person, and everything will be under your dominion. Shakyamuni experienced this state, and said, “In heaven and on earth, I alone am the honored one.” (178:299, June 12, 1988)

Shakyamuni Buddha said, “In heaven and earth, I alone am the Honored One.” In what state did he teach this? If you were to enter that state of resonance, you would become one with God. In that state, you would be able to see thousands of years of human history unfold before your eyes. You would experience yourself as having that incredible value.
    How can we humans escape from the painful cycle of suffering, life after life? How can we escape from our miserable life’s destiny that ends in the cemetery? This is the homework given to each of us. In order to solve this, we have to receive training to enter the realm of resonance. (38:270-73, January 8, 1971)