Category: Song of Solomon

How Do You Know Whether to Complain or Be Grateful?

1 Corinthians 7

7 Now I will answer the questions that you asked in your letter. You asked, “Is it best for people not to marry?“[Or “married couples not to have sex.”] Well, having your own husband or wife should keep you from doing something immoral. 3 Husbands and wives should be fair with each other about having sex. 4 A wife belongs to her husband instead of to herself, and a husband belongs to his wife instead of to himself. 5 So don’t refuse sex to each other, unless you agree not to have sex for a little while, in order to spend time in prayer. Then Satan won’t be able to tempt you because of your lack of self-control. 6 In my opinion that is what should be done, though I don’t know of anything the Lord said about this matter. 7 I wish that all of you were like me, but God has given different gifts to each of us.

Song of Songs 1

She Speaks:

Young women of Jerusalem,
it is only right
    that you should adore him.
My skin is dark and beautiful,
like a tent in the desert
    or like Solomon’s curtains.
6 Don’t stare at me
just because the sun
    has darkened my skin.
My brothers were angry with me;
they made me work in the vineyard,
    and so I neglected
    my complexion.

Don’t let the other shepherds
    think badly of me.
7 I’m not one of those women
who shamelessly follow
    after shepherds.
My darling, I love you!
Where do you feed your sheep
    and let them rest at noon?

Joseph

2. Joseph’s Path from Prison to a Great Destiny

Teachings of Rev. Sun Myung Moon

A seemingly chance encounter may be fraught with destiny, so we should not take anything casually.
    You know the story of Joseph. His brothers put him in a well thinking to kill him, but they sold him instead and he was brought to Egypt as a slave. There the wife of his master Potiphar tried to seduce him, and when he would not be tempted she had him imprisoned. While in prison and awaiting the day of his execution, he interpreted Pharaoh’s dream and was raised to the rank of Prime Minister of Egypt. How, in the midst of his misery, could Joseph have even imagined that such good fortune would befall him? Yet these things opened the way for him to save the Israelites. Who could have known that it would turn out that way?
    Likewise, if I had not been sent to Heung Nam prison for three years, I never would have committed myself to eradicate communism from this earth with my own hands. I would not have known the reality of communism, but would have simply dismissed it as just another philosophy. It was in prison that I experienced communism first-hand. You cannot imagine the cruelty and misery of life in that prison. Yet out of my experience there I resolved to liberate all people who suffered under the communist yoke. The inmates of that prison faced all kinds of evils, and many of them perished. Yet in that awful place a miracle occurred: something unexpected happened in my life that would one day change history [cause communism to fall].
    When you consider this, how observant you should be in everything you do and at every moment! You should be able to digest any situation you encounter. This is absolutely necessary for your life as a human being. If you live your life with this attitude, success will walk by your side. If you do not, success will always be two steps ahead of you.
    For example, suppose while walking down the street you trip over a crack and knock down a young lady who happens to be walking beside you, sending her to the hospital with a broken ankle. You visit her in the hospital, befriend her, and in time she becomes a church member and gains eternal life. Looking back on that accident, do you think she will curse you or be grateful that it happened? She would say, “It’s amazing! I am so glad that my ankle was broken. Thank you, ankle! Amen!” and add proudly, “In all of history, there is no one who was witnessed to the way I was!”
    Therefore, do not pray, “Please God, guard me from getting into a car accident.” Instead, think that a car accident could be the opportunity that opens the door to many unexpected blessings. Who knows the future? You cannot see it. So how do you know whether to complain about your situation or be grateful? Since you do not know, be grateful. That is the attitude of a wise person. (November 4, 1990)

People in prison fit into two categories. One category is criminals who violated the legitimate interests of society for selfish reasons and broke the law. Even Satan’s world25 does not like such people. The second category is godly people who are disliked by people in Satan’s world. Since people in Satan’s world are God’s enemies, they target the people on God’s side for imprisonment. Everyone in prison, everyone who is executed under Satan’s sovereignty, belongs to one of these two categories. This has been so throughout history.
    God uses the imprisonment of godly people to cut the satanic net that covers this world and, by casting Heaven’s net, to connect all people to the rope of God’s love. Even though the powers of the satanic world put a godly person in prison, they cannot handle him or digest him. Eventually, they will have to pay a penalty.
    When a person whom Satan’s world imprisons loves God more intensely than Satan’s people love in their self-centered way, he creates a problem for Satan’s world. It will have to pay compensation a million-fold. Why? Satan knows that he should belong to God and be under the authority of God’s realm of true love. Therefore, as long as God is alive, when someone is exhibiting true love, Satan cannot show his face. If he nevertheless causes any harm to come to that person, he will have to pay a heavy price for eternity.
    This is the very strategy of God. Often in the past, God sent His beloved children into a situation where they would stand up for righteousness and purposefully make problems for the evil world. They would be imprisoned and sometimes even executed. Yet by killing God’s children, the satanic world has had to pay compensation for thousands of years. By this strategy God could expand the foundation of religion throughout the world. (167:305-06, August 20, 1987)

God Wants to Save the World

Song of Songs 1

5     Take me to your home.

The Young Women Speak:

We are happy for you!
And we praise your love
    even more than wine.

She Speaks:

Young women of Jerusalem,
it is only right
    that you should adore him.
My skin is dark and beautiful,
like a tent in the desert
    or like Solomon’s curtains.
6 Don’t stare at me
just because the sun
    has darkened my skin.
My brothers were angry with me;
they made me work in the vineyard,
    and so I neglected
    my complexion.

Don’t let the other shepherds
    think badly of me.
7 I’m not one of those women
who shamelessly follow
    after shepherds.
My darling, I love you!
Where do you feed your sheep
    and let them rest at noon?

2 Chronicles 36

36 After the death of Josiah, the people of Judah crowned his son Jehoahaz their new king. 2 He was twenty-three years old at the time, and he ruled only three months from Jerusalem. 3 King Neco of Egypt captured Jehoahaz and forced Judah to pay almost four tons of silver and seventy-five pounds of gold as taxes. 4 Then Neco appointed Jehoahaz’s brother Eliakim king of Judah and changed his name to Jehoiakim. He led Jehoahaz away to Egypt as his prisoner.

Tolerance, Religious Freedom and Interfaith Solidarity

1. Tolerance towards Believers of Other Religions

Teachings of Rev. Sun Myung Moon

The ideal of True Parents and the ideal of world peace are directly connected. We guide all nations, peoples, cultures, and religions to harmonize with one another by becoming 100 percent tolerant to one another for the sake of the ideal; this is the way to establish world peace. (205:159, August 16, 1990)
 
By demonstrating the goodness of their teachings, religions should set the example for all humankind. Instead, religions are fighting one another. Even different denominations within the same religion fight amongst themselves over differences in doctrine. On seeing this, God feels great anguish in His heart. (167:99, June 30, 1987)
 
We who are in a movement for unity must make efforts to unite with all religions. If possible, we can resolve doctrinal differences through persuasion. Otherwise, with much patience and much tolerance we have to compromise in order to cooperate with them. There are no other ways than these two. (103:125, February 18, 1979)
 
A religion that can bring peace to the world should not regard itself as important. It should not have self-centered views about its authority or its possessions. If it does, it will not go beyond the level of its own nation and the people who accept its doctrines.
    There will be no escape from the history of conflicts and wars as long as our religion follows the conventional path of pursuing self-interest. God knows this; therefore He instructs us to deny and sacrifice ourselves. Even though we believe we have the central role, we should not pursue our own self-interest but rather seek for the welfare of other religious groups. Religions should walk the path of self-denial, self-sacrifice, and service to others. (172:143, January 10, 1988)
 
God wants to save the world, not just the Presbyterian Church or the Methodist Church or the Holiness Church. God does not live for the sake of any particular church or denomination; He lives for the world. A true church sacrifices itself for the sake of the world. If need be, for the sake of saving the world, a church should be willing even to let itself go out of existence. This is the way of the Principle; we must travel this road to accomplish God’s Will.
 
    On the other hand, churches that place themselves above every other church, that regard themselves as absolute while denying the validity of all other churches, will perish. (69:87, October 20, 1973)
 
In this age, God wants to lead the world through ‘parent-level religions’—religions with a parental heart… Religions that put down or are hostile to other religions or denominations are not useful for the realization of world peace or the fulfillment of God’s providence. (260:128, May 1, 1994)❖World Scripture II V8 013107.ind393 3932/1/2007 3:14:49 PM
 
 
 

Shift Away From Self-Centered Thinking

Acts 17

5 The Jewish leaders were jealous and got some worthless bums who hung around the marketplace to start a riot in the city. They wanted to drag Paul and Silas out to the mob, and so they went straight to Jason’s home. 6 But when they did not find them there, they dragged out Jason and some of the Lord’s followers. They took them to the city authorities and shouted, “Paul and Silas have been upsetting things everywhere. Now they have come here, 7 and Jason has welcomed them into his home. All of them break the laws of the Roman Emperor by claiming that someone named Jesus is king.”

8 The officials and the people were upset when they heard this. 9 So they made Jason and the other followers pay bail before letting them go.

Richard:  This sounds like the radical left’s game plan:  send Antifa out to intimidate Trump supporters and decent God loving people.

Songs 6

My dearest, the cities of Tirzah
and Jerusalem
    are not as lovely as you.
Your charms are more powerful
than all of the stars
    in the heavens.[a]
5 Turn away your eyes—
    they make me melt.
Your hair tosses about
as gracefully as goats
    coming down from Gilead.
6 Your teeth are whiter
    than sheep freshly washed;
they match perfectly,
    not one is missing.
7 Behind your veil are hidden
    beautiful rosy cheeks.[b]

Let Us Love Heaven and Become Patriots

Rev. Sun Myung Moon
March 1, 1959

Matthew 5: 33-48

If we are to be part of the people who sincerely love Heaven, as descendants of fallen people who must follow this destiny, our minds that seek goodness must explode within us so that we can feel the sorrow of Heaven which lies deep inside everything. We must become people who complete the responsibility to alleviate this sorrow. Unless such a group of people emerges, there is no way that the great will of the providence can be accomplished.

Yet human beings have been battling until now, based only upon themselves. They have been fighting, centering on their families, nations, lands and peoples. Yet this is not Heaven. God has been toiling to become our God, for the sake of our world and humanity. On the contrary, humanity on the earth has been searching for their own self-centered families, their own self-centered nations, and land they can rule based upon themselves. This has been the course of history until now.

Due to the fall, human beings have lost the heavenly heart, conscience, body and all things. Still, they are not aware of this incredible truth. Instead, they have been pursuing material things, their bodies, their minds, and their love, all centered on themselves. If there had been no work done by God to grab these people and drag them through the way in which they can transcend themselves, humanity surely would have perished. They would have been destroyed. Continue reading “Shift Away From Self-Centered Thinking”

Who Are the Modern Christians Who Are Like Paul?

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Mark 12

12 The leaders knew that Jesus was really talking about them, and they wanted to arrest him. But because they were afraid of the crowd, they let him alone and left.

Richard:  We should protect Rev. Sun Myung Moon’s inheritor, Pastor Hyung Jin Moon and his wife Yeonah Moon.

Song of Solomon 4

She Speaks:

16 Let the north wind blow,
    the south wind too!
Let them spread the aroma
    of my garden,
so the one I love
may enter
and taste
    its delicious fruits.

Who Will Become the Friend of Golgotha?

Rev. Sun Myung Moon
October 19, 1958

Luke 12: 26-43

Today Christians say that Paul loved Heaven and knew the will of God. At that time, Paul was being persecuted by the twelve disciples. Though he conveyed the gospel as an apostle, he was persecuted by the twelve disciples. Paul met the risen Jesus and received the heavenly mission. Thus, in the position of an apostle who did not betray Jesus, Paul went to a foreign country, Rome, and spread the gospel under persecution. Since Paul sought the Lord in place of the martyrdom of the twelve disciples and the death of John, the focus of the providence shifted to a foreign nation. Do you understand? In this way, Paul entered Rome and received persecution alone. Continue reading “Who Are the Modern Christians Who Are Like Paul?”

God’s Grieving Heart throughout History

Stacey, Sarah and I wish you a very Merry Christmas!

Numbers 8

This ceremony will show that the Levites are different from the other Israelites and belong to me in a special way. 15 After they have been made acceptable and have been dedicated, they will be allowed to work at my sacred tent. 16 They are mine and will take the place of the first-born Israelite sons. 

Song of Solomon

My dearest, the cities of Tirzah
and Jerusalem
    are not as lovely as you.
Your charms are more powerful
than all of the stars
    in the heavens.[a]
5 Turn away your eyes—
    they make me melt.
Your hair tosses about
as gracefully as goats
    coming down from Gilead.
6 Your teeth are whiter
    than sheep freshly washed;
they match perfectly,
    not one is missing.
7 Behind your veil are hidden
    beautiful rosy cheeks.[b]

Let Us Be Persons of Forbearance

Sun Myung Moon
May 18, 1958

Matthew 24: 1-14

God had no choice but to hold onto Adam and Eve and start the providence of restoration. For that reason, God chose Cain and Abel and Noah. By electing and establishing many other families, God has unfolded the work of the providence of restoration. The heart of God as He led the dispensation of this providential history was fretful beyond description. Nevertheless, controlling His feelings, God has endured with great patience.

Yet how many people on this earth today feel the fretful heart of the enduring God and seize God and shed tears? If there was a man on this earth who knew God’s heart like this and shed tears, he would be able to understand that while God rejoiced at the time of the creation of all things in Heaven and earth, God’s grief due to man’s fall encompassed all of the creation in heaven and earth. Continue reading “God’s Grieving Heart throughout History”