Tag: Last Days

The Sun and the Moon Will Be Darkened

Check my second Podcast, Can You Trust the CDC and the World Health Organization on COVID-19? from March 28, 2020.

Cheon Seong Gyeong 2377

You must recite the Family Pledge when you wake up and when you go to bed. You must focus on one particular verse each day and live according to it. Then you must check to see if you have fulfilled the content of that verse for that day. If you could not, you must determine to do it the next day. The Pledge is the life element for nourishment and growth, and the basic element for life in the heavenly kingdom. Therefore, you should recite the Pledge and evaluate your life. If those who have families do not recite the Family Pledge, they are fakes. This is the standard your family must reach. Those that do not are failures. You must understand this point and become the standard. Those parents who can do this must memorize the Pledge completely, divide it into sections, and teach it to their children. They must also get people to follow them. (287-130, 1997.9.19)

Richard: What a great tradition to practice in your family. You can find the Family Pledge here.

Cheon Seong Gyeong 1490

Even I give serious thought to my work if it is so great that it requires a power greater than my innate power. When it is necessary to acquire a force greater than my own, where I can get that power from remains the problem. If I fail to acquire such a power, there is no choice but to retreat, but that is not an option. That is why we need to pray, and we need God. That is why we need the world of heart. There are no limits in the world of love, no matter how much you pull out from it. The world of substance ends at some point, as does the world of knowledge. The world of power can be destroyed in a second, but the world of heart is endless. Hence, you need to act based on the world of heart. (120-306, 1982.10.20)

Eschatology and Messianic Hope

New Revelation

2. The Truth of the New Revelation Eclipses the Truths of Former Dispensations

The glowworm shines so long as the light-bringer has not arisen. But when the shining one has come up, its light is quenched, it glows no longer. Such is the shining of the sectarians. So long as the rightly awakened ones arise not in the world, the sophists get no light, nor do their followers, and those of wrong views cannot be released from Ill.
    Udana 73 (Buddhism)

And when We put a revelation in place of another revelation—and Allah knows best what He reveals—they say, “You are only inventing.” Most of them know not. Say, “The Holy Spirit has revealed it from your Lord with truth, that it may confirm the faith of those who believe, and as a guidance and good tidings for those who have surrendered.”
    Qur’an 16.101-102

Now if the dispensation of death, carved in letters on stone, came with such splendor that the Israelites could not look on Moses’ face because of its brightness, fading as this was, will not the dispensation of the Spirit be attended with greater splendor? For if there was splendor in the dispensation of condemnation, the dispensation of righteousness must far exceed it in splendor. Indeed, in this case, what once had splendor has come to have no splendor at all, because of the splendor that surpasses it… Yes, to this day, whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their minds; but when a man turns to the Lord, the veil is removed.
    2 Corinthians 3.7-16

Concerning His words—“The sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give light, and the stars shall fall from heaven” [Matthew 24.29]… is intended the divines of the former Dispensation, who live in the days of the subsequent Revelations, and who hold the reins of religion in their grasp. If these divines be illuminated by the light of the latter Revelation they will be acceptable to God, and will shine with a light everlasting. Otherwise, they will be declared as darkened, even though to outward seeming they be leaders of men, inasmuch as belief and unbelief, guidance and error, felicity and misery, light and darkness, are all dependent upon the sanction of Him who is the Day-star of Truth…

In another sense, by the terms “sun,” “moon,” and “stars” are meant such laws and teachings as have been established and proclaimed in every Dispensation, such as the laws of prayer and fasting. These have, according to the law of the Qur’an, been regarded, when the beauty of the Prophet Muhammad had passed beyond the veil, as the most fundamental and binding laws of His dispensation…Hence, it is clear and manifest that by the words “the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven” is intended the waywardness of the divines, and the annulment of laws firmly established by [prior] divine Revelation, all of which, in symbolic language, have been foreshadowed by the Manifestation of God…It is unquestionable that in every succeeding Revelation the “sun” and “moon” of the teachings, laws, commandments, and prohibitions which have been established in the preceding Dispensation, and which have overshadowed the people of that age, become darkened, that is, are exhausted, and cease to exert their influence.
    Book of Certitude 33-41 (Baha’i Faith)

Worry that You Might Become a Satan

Editorial: “When Did We Visit You While You Were Sick or in Jail?”
January 6th US Capitol False Flag Entrapment Operation Needs to be Investigated

Cheon Seong Gyeong 2189

If you protest, you will not be able to fulfill your filial duty. If parents behave in a strange way, their children also must behave likewise. If parents give an order, then the children must follow accordingly, even if it is means behaving strangely. Acting in a strange manner in itself is not good. You may think that your parents are doing things unknowingly, but actually they know what they are doing. Therefore, you should follow.

Cheon Seong Gyeong 1553

We need to transcend the cultural limitations created by the numerous peoples and the five races of the world and make those cultures into one single civilization. In other words, we need to establish an ideal world that is governed by a domestic system, a social system, a national system, as well as other institutions that are all based on Godism. This process can also be referred to as the ideology centered on the perfected Adam. It is not communism or democracy, but the way of Adam. This path is one that leads us to Godism. Such a path is like a walking stick that aids us in pursuing a certain purpose. The path or ideology itself is not what we are after. It is a necessary process we need to pass through to attain our purpose, and so ideologies undergo change.

Today, the United States is considered to be a developed country as the suzerain of democracy, but a time will come in the future when it becomes corrupt because of money and it will learn to hate democracy. The current situation in Korea also reflects this fact. Though democracy in itself is a good thing, at present the people in Korea are engaged in all kinds of scheming and the slandering of others because of money and are fighting against everyone else to take power. Can that be called democracy? What is currently taking place is a phenomenon that can only be seen under the rule of the privileged. (21-156, 1968.11.17)

Richard: Since Democracy has become corrupt in the United States, the question is what comes next. We definitely need the philosophy of Godism, which is the philosophy that Rev. Sun Myung Moon teaches.

Eschatology and Messianic Hope

Tribulation

4. The Beast or the Antichrist

Teachings of Rev. Sun Myung Moon

The world wars have resulted from Satan’s last desperate struggle to preserve his sovereignty. Since the fall of the first human ancestors, Satan has been building defective, unprincipled imitations of God’s ideal world. Aiming to restore the ideal world of His Principle, God has been in pursuit, gradually expanding His dominion by reclaiming it from the unprincipled world under Satan’s bondage. Accordingly, in the course of the providence of restoration, a false representation of the ideal appears before the emergence of its true manifestation. The biblical prophecy that the antichrist will appear before the return of Christ is an illustration of this truth. (Exposition of the Divine Principle, Preparation 4.1)

Satan knew God’s plan to unify the world through the one truth and presented a false imitation of the truth in order to unify humanity centering on him. This false truth is dialectical materialism. Dialectical materialism denies the existence of any spiritual reality, setting up an explanation of the universe based on a wholly materialistic logic. In denying the existence of God, it also denies the existence of Satan. Thus, in promoting dialectical materialism, Satan was effectively denying his own reality, even risking his own demise. Satan understood what would unfold at the close of human history and knew well that he would surely perish. Accepting that this was not the time to be worshipped, he rose in a monstrous denial of God, even at the sacrifice of himself. This is the spiritual root of dialectical materialism. As long as the democratic world lacks the truth which can overturn this evil doctrine, it will always be vulnerable and on the defensive. For this reason, someone on God’s side must proclaim the perfect truth. (Exposition of Divine Principle, Preparation 4.4.1)

Who would have known that the disciples would stand in the position of the antichrist before Jesus? Who would have known that the chosen Israelite people and Judaism would become the antichrist?  We must be concerned about this in the Last Days, too. You must reflect on yourself whether you stand in the position of the antichrist. Now is not the time to reproach others or interfere with the affairs of others. The problem lies with you, yourselves. Other denominations that oppose us are not the problem. You must worry about the fact that you might become a satan in the Last Days. Throughout the course of history, those people who blamed others for their problems have all lost themselves. (2:277, June 16, 1957)

Father! The Day of Judgment now approaches for this city of death.
Faced with such a period,
struggling in this world of fear,
wandering about without knowing which way to go,
humankind has lost its center.
People do not know what troubles they will face;
they cannot find a place to rest.
Please have compassion for all humankind,
and guide them to return to Thine embrace. (5:60, December 21, 1958)

The Beast Was Allowed to Exercise Authority for Forty-Two Months

Editorial: “When Did We Visit You While You Were Sick or in Jail?”
January 6th US Capitol False Flag Entrapment Operation Needs to be Investigated

Acts 7

54 When the council members heard Stephen’s speech, they were angry and furious. 55 But Stephen was filled with the Holy Spirit. He looked toward heaven, where he saw our glorious God and Jesus standing at his right side.56 Then Stephen said, “I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right side of God!”

Richard: Many don’t want to hear the truth.

Psalm 119

49 Don’t forget your promise
to me, your servant.
    I depend on it.

Eschatology and Messianic Hope

Tribulation

4. The Beast or the Antichrist

Let no one deceive you in any way; for that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship… The coming of the lawless one by the activity of Satan will be with all power and with pretended signs and wonders, and with all wicked deception for those who are to perish, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. Therefore God sends upon them a strong delusion, to make them believe what is false, so that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
    2 Thessalonians 2.3-12
 
And when the Word is fulfilled against the unjust, We shall produce from the earth a Beast to face them: he will speak to them, because that mankind did not believe with assurance in Our signs.
    Qur’an 27.82
 
The Dajjal will come forth having with him water and fire, and what mankind see as water will be fire which burns and what they see as fire will be cold, sweet water. Any of you who live till that time must fall into what they see as fire, for it is sweet, fresh water.
    Hadith of Bukhari and Muslim (Islam)
 
And I saw a beast rising out of the sea, with ten horns and seven heads, with ten diadems upon its horns and a blasphemous name upon its heads. And the beast that I saw was like a leopard, its feet were like a bear’s, and its mouth was like a lion’s mouth. And to it the dragon gave his power and great authority. One of its heads seemed to have a mortal wound, but its mortal wound was healed, and the whole earth followed the beast with wonder. Men worshipped the dragon, for he had given his authority to the beast, and they worshipped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast, and who can fight against it?” 
 
And the beast was given a mouth uttering haughty and blasphemous words, and it was allowed to exercise authority for forty-two months; it opened its mouth to utter blasphemies against God, blaspheming his name and his dwelling, that is, those who dwell in heaven. Also it was allowed to make war on the saints and to conquer them. And authority was given it over every tribe and people and tongue and nation, and all who dwell on earth will worship it, every one whose name has not been written before the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb that was slain…
    Also it caused all, both small and great, both rich and poor, both free and slave, to be marked on the right hand or the forehead, so that no one can buy or sell unless he has the mark, that is, the name of the beast or the number of its name. This calls for wisdom: let him who has understanding reckon the number of the beast, for it is a human number, its number is six hundred and sixty-six.
    Revelation 13.1-18
 
Richard:  This (the mark of the beast) could very well apply to the COVID-19 vaccines.  I will write more about this in a future editorial.
 
Children, it is the last hour; and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come; therefore we know that it is the last hour. They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us; but they went out, that it might be plain that they all are not of us. But you have been anointed by the Holy One, and you all know. I write to you, not because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and know that no lie is of the truth. Who is the liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son.
    1 John 2.18-22
 
 

Billions of Spirits Are Trying to Take Over the Physical World

Cheon Seong Gyeong 358

A happy family is one where when the husband returns home he discuss-es with his wife everything that happened while he was out, and this reveals new things to pioneer. A happy family is one where they join their strengths and research together. When the parents do this, the children will contribute their strengths and join in with them, expressing their hope to build such a family. (29-113, 1970.2.25)

Cheon Seong Gyeong 1204

Even with just a small group of people, I have exerted great influence on Korea until now. Because we understand about restoration through indemnity, we do not need many people. I will carry the cross myself for the sake of indemnity, so that the children who follow do not have to go through hardships. That is why I go forward with persistence. Knowing the price of such sacrifice, everything comes to me and helps with my work. Isn’t that true? Pure young people and pure Blessed Families follow me. This is the trend in Japan and in America as well. (166-85, 1987.5.28

Eschatology and Messianic Hope

Tribulation

3. Onslaught of Demons and Evil Spirits

And the fifth angel blew his trumpet, and I saw a star fallen from heaven to earth, and he was given the key of the shaft of the bottomless pit; he opened the shaft of the bottomless pit, and from the shaft rose smoke like the smoke of a great furnace, and the sun and the air were darkened with the smoke from the shaft. Then from the smoke came locusts on the earth, and they were given power like the power of scorpions of the earth; they were told not to harm the grass of the earth or any green growth or any tree, but only those of mankind who have not the seal of God upon their foreheads; they were allowed to torture them for five months, but not to kill them, and their torture was like the torture of a scorpion, when it stings a man. And in those days men will seek death and will not find it; they will long to die, and death will fly from them.
    In appearance the locusts were like horses arrayed for battle; on their heads were what looked like crowns of gold; their faces were like human faces, their hair like women’s hair, and their teeth like lions’ teeth; they had scales like iron breastplates, and the noise of their wings was like the noise of many chariots with horses rushing into battle. They have tails like scorpions, and stings, and their power of hurting men for five months lies in their tails. They have as king over them the angel of the bottomless pit; his name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek he is called Apollyon.
    Revelation 9.1-11
 
Teachings of Rev. Sun Myung Moon
 
The age is at hand when the spirit world is attacking the earth. For this reason, many kinds of mental illnesses are appearing: neuroses, psychoses and new disorders unknown to science. Modern medicine has no cure for them. We need a new treatment, a tonic containing elements of Heaven and earth. (3:353, February 9, 1958)
 
Billions and trillions of spirits are on the offensive, trying to take over the physical world. They can cause mental illness. After the 1980s, and even more so in the new millennium, great numbers of people will develop some spiritual sensitivity. When they communicate with the spirit world, it could be either with good spirits or with evil spirits. Groups of people possessed by evil spirits may make war on others, causing bloodshed among people who otherwise do not want war. As an antenna placed high up picks up a cacophony of noises, spiritually sensitive people will suffer from mental illness.
    It would be a most fearful thing if only evil spirits mobilized to attack the physical world. There are more than enough evil spirits to strike every person living on earth. Can you imagine then what would happen? To counter it, God is making preparations. By mustering His hosts of good spirits, God is expanding the foundation of the good spirit world. (55:30, April 3, 1972)
 

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?