“…. I am Cyrus, king of the universe, the great king, the powerful king, the king of Babylon…..As for the population of Babylon who as if without divine intention had endured a yoke not decreed for them, I soothed their weariness, I freed them from their bonds.” From Cyrus Cylinder
Cyrus Cylinder in British Museum
This is the record inscribed in the Cyrus cylinder which was written in a cuneiform to celebrate the conquest of Babylon in 539 BC. Cyrus the Great was the king of Persia, who later conquered the kingdom of Babylon in 539 BC. After completing the conquest of Babylon, the very first thing he did was to free the exiles and let the expatriated peoples return to their own land and nations. In this time of Cyrus, Jews were among those who repatriated from Babylon to the land of Israel. What is more amazing in this part of history is that this event was also recorded in the bible.
Biblical Description Of The Emancipation By Cyrus the Great
Ezra 1:2 The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and he has appointed me to build a temple for him at Jerusalem in Judah. 3 Any of his people among you may go up to Jerusalem in Judah and build the temple of the Lord, the God of Israel, the God who is in Jerusalem, and may their God be with them. 4 And in any locality where survivors may now be living, the people are to provide them with silver and gold, with goods and livestock, and with freewill offerings for the temple of God in Jerusalem.
This is the declaration made by Cyrus the Great to the Jews who had been expatriated around 605 BC by Nebuchadnezzar the King of Babylon when he conquered the city of Jerusalem. In this declaration, he basically set all the Jews free from the exile. And he let them go back to their own land. What is unusual in this decree is that he allowed them to rebuild the Jerusalem temple, which once was burnt down by the Babylonians. Moreover, he commanded his people living with Jews to provide them the materials the Jews asked for the reconstruction of the temple.
Enigmatic Messages In the Decree
Due to the decree of the king, the Jews could gather many valuable offerings among the Babylonians and could come back to their own land. This was one of the most important events in the history of the Jews. What is interesting about this event is the reason why Cyrus the Great made this seemingly improbable decree. He could simply make the exiles stay in the places where they were at the moment and use them for various purposes as the Babylonians did. More than anything else, what is inexplicable in this decree is the reason he allowed the Jews to build the temple for God and even provided materials for the purpose.
Originally, the state religion of the kingdom of Persia was the Mithraism. And the people of Persia worshiped the sun-god Mitra. And this was true to Cyrus the Great. Even though he was a sun-god worshiper who did not believe in the God in the bible, he praises God for the authority given to him. He attributes his power and authority to God Jehovah, not Mitra and in return for the favor of God Jehovah, he allowed the Jews to go back to their land and build God’s temple in Jerusalem. Then how could this happen? There was one thing that moved the heart of King Cyrus.
The Prophecy of Cyrus the Great
The Prophecy Of Cyrus the Great
After he conquered the kingdom of Babylon, he could know a prophecy through God’s people who had been living in the land as exiles. The prophecy was precisely concerned about him. Let us take look at the prophecy of Cyrus in the bible.
Isaiah 45:1 “This is what the Lord says to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I take hold of to subdue nations before him and to strip kings of their armor, to open doors before him so that gates will not be shut: 2 I will go before you and will level the mountain; I will break down gates of bronze and cut through bars of iron. 3 I will give you hidden treasures, riches stored in secret places, so that you may know that I am the Lord, the God of Israel, who summons you by name. 4 For the sake of Jacob my servant, of Israel my chosen, I summon you by name and bestow on you a title of honor, though you do not acknowledge me.
This prophecy was from Prophet Isaiah about 700 BC, which means this prophecy was recorded about 170 years before Cyrus actually became the king and conquered Babylon in 539 BC. After the conquest of Babylon, he became acquainted in this prophecy and he was moved in his heart. He realized that the God of Israel is the true God. God was the one who named him even before his birth and gave him all the power and authority to establish his vast kingdom.
God’s Will For Cyrus
In realizing this Cyrus wanted to do the will of God. He eagerly wanted to obey the mission entrusted to him by God by faithfully fulfilling the will of God. Then what was the will of God He had prepared for Cyrus?
Isaiah 45:13 I will raise up Cyrus in my righteousness: I will make all his ways straight. He will rebuild my city and set my exiles free, but not for a price or reward, says the Lord Almighty.”
According to this prophecy, God reveals the reason he has chosen Cyrus as his prophet. The mission given to Cyrus was first, to set God’s people free from the Babylon exile. Second, He had chosen Cyrus to entrust the work of rebuilding the temple of God which had been burnt down by the Babylonians. When Cyrus realized the mission God gave him, he had done everything according to the words of God obediently.
The Message Hidden In the Prophecy Of Cyrus
Then what kind of message is hidden in the story of Cyrus? Is the account of Cyrus just a part of the history of Israel? Definitely not. The bible says God bring up the past to teach the future.
Isaiah 46:10 I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say, ‘My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please.’
Roman 15:4 For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope.
The words of God in the bible is not just a record of what had happened in the past. But rather through the things of the past, God teaches about what is going to happen in the future. In other words, the history of the past is actually working as the prophecy about the future. In this sense, the story of Cyrus is not just a history of Israel, but it contains a prophecy which would be completed by the appearance of a spiritual Cyrus, a man summoned by God to fulfill the prophecy in the bible.
Then who is the spiritual Cyrus and what is the work that God entrusted him to complete?
Worship God In Spirit And In Truth–Today there are so many people who believe in God and who worship God. And also there are so many different ways in worshiping God. It seems like everybody has his or her own way of worshiping God. In this situation, if you bring up the question of a right way of worshiping God, many will blame you for your narrow-mindedness and rigidity. People tend to believe everybody has freedom to choose his or her way of worshiping God. The way of worshiping God is a matter of personal choice which should not be constrained by anybody else.
Proper Ways Of God-Worship
Worship God In Spirit And In Truth–However, when we look at the bible, God does not seem to accept all the worships equally by blessing them all. Rather, God seems to be pleased more over a certain type of worship than others. We can see this example from the story of Cain and Abel.
Genesis 4:2 Later she gave birth to his brother Abel. Now Abel kept flocks, and Cain worked the soil. 3 In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the Lord. 4 And Abel also brought an offering—fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The Lord looked with favor on Abel and his offering, 5 but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor. So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast.
Even though Cain and Abel both worshiped God, God accepted Abel’s offering but not Cain’s. This story reveals that God has preference for certain types of offerings. And also through this story we have to realize that we must worship God in the way God is pleased with to receive blessings from God.
God-Worship In the Law Of Moses
Worship God In Spirit And In Truth–We can find similar examples in the Law of Moses too. Even though many says that we can worship God in whatever way we choose to. This is completely wrong when we look at the laws and regulations God gave to His people. God could have simply commanded them to worship Him any way they want. Instead, God specified everything in an act of worship: time, place and manner.
The Place of Worship
In this worship of God, the bottom line was that people must not worship God with their own accord. Rather, they have to follow very strict regulations. First, God did not allow his people to worship him any place they want. Rather He appointed them a place of worship so they could go to worship Him.
Deuteronomy 12:5 But you are to seek the place the Lord your God will choose from among all your tribes to put his Name there for his dwelling. To that place you must go
The Time of Worship
The place God has chosen for his people was the temple in Jerusalem which King Solomon established later. Also, God did not allow his people to come to him any time they want to meet him. If they did, God punished them for their lawlessness.
Leviticus 16:2 The Lord said to Moses: “Tell your brother Aaron that he is not to come whenever he chooses into the Most Holy Place behind the curtain in front of the atonement cover on the ark, or else he will die.
The Manner of Worship
And third, God gave them a specific manner of worship: the choice of animal, the amount of wine and bread, etc. The whole Book of Leviticus itself contains all the regulations of worship. According to this regulations and laws, the priest of God worshiped God. They worshiped God in a tabernacle and later in a temple. And they worshiped God at God’s appointed times, that is, the festivals of God. Also they followed all the required regulations God set up for the worship. Most of their worships included shedding the blood of an animal for the forgiveness of sins.
Worship God in spirit and in truth
Worship God In Spirit And In Truth
In our time, however, this is not the right way of worshiping God. Jesus said that we must worship God in spirit and in truth not in a physical temple, but in a spiritual temple. (John 4:23) Just as Paul said, the temple worship according to the Law of Moses was just a copy and shadow God gave us to teach us the reality of worship. (Hebrews 8:5) Again, he teaches us that we have a better tabernacle or temple to go to worship God.
Hebrews 9:11 But when Christ came as high priest of the good things that are now already here, he went through the greater and more perfect tabernacle that is not made with human hands, that is to say, is not a part of this creation.
He teaches us that there is another temple which does not belong to the physical world. The reality of the temple is in heaven. Then what is the true spiritual temple? This heavenly temple is very important to us because this the place that we must go to worship God.
The Spiritual Heavenly Temple
Worship God In Spirit And In Truth–Then what is the spiritual temple which we must go as God’s people to worship God and receive blessings?
Revelation 21:22 I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.
According to the Book of Revelation, God teaches us that in the heavenly Jerusalem city is not physical temple. Rather, there is the reality of temple in the city, that is, the Christ or the Lamb. In other words, the reality of the temple is the Christ himself. The temple is a place where God dwells by putting his Spirit in it. On the other hand, when the Christ appeared, he put the Spirit of God in his body. For this reason Christ called his body as temple.
John 2:19 Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.” 20 They replied, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?” 21 But the temple he had spoken of was his body.
What God wanted to teach us through the temple worship in the Law of Moses was the reality of the temple, Christ who we must find and go to worship God.
God’s Appointed Time
Worship God In Spirit And In Truth–2000 years ago the Reality of God’s temple, Christ came down to this earth. He was teaching his disciples to come to him, the true temple of God. Just as God gathered his people to the physical temple at the appointed time, Christ was gathering his people toward himself during the festivals of God.
On the night of the Passover he gathered his people, and let them know that he was the reality of a sacrificial animal. He let them know that the true forgiveness can be attainable only through his flesh and blood, not with animal sacrifice. And on the last and greatest day of the Feast of Tabernacle, he was gathering his people to give them blessings of eternal life.
John 7:37 On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.”
The True Temple We Must God To Worship God
Worship God In Spirit And In Truth–According to the bible, the Christ would come again in the last day. Then how would he appear? The book of Revelation says that God would put his tabernacle among his people.
Revelation 21:2-3 I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.
The bible says that God would establish his dwelling place or the temple among his people again in the last day. Does this mean he would establish a physical temple in the city of Jerusalem in the land of Palestine. Definitely not. Paul said the temple we must seek now is not the physical temple, but spiritual temple the Christ.
God Appears As Man In The Flesh
Therefore, the only possible conclusion is the Christ would appear as man in the flesh for the second time as reality of temple by putting the Spirit of God in his body. The bible testifies about the Christ who appears in the last day like this:
Revelation 22:17 The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let the one who hears say, “Come!” Let the one who is thirsty come; and let the one who wishes take the free gift of the water of life.
Jesus in his first coming gathered his people to him the reality of the temple so that they can worship God in spirit and in truth by following and obeying the teaching of God. In the same way, the Revelation teaches about the reality of the temple, the Spirit and Bride who give his people the water of life, eternal life.
The Spirit represents the Lamb or the Second Coming Christ (Rev 19:7, 21 :9). This prophecy tells that Christ would come as man for the second time and gather his people to him the reality of the temple that they can worship God and receive the blessings of eternal life. However, this time he comes back with his bride of the Lamb, God the Mother who can give us the water of life.
Come to the Spirit and the Bride
Worship God In Spirit And In Truth–Through this teaching we can see that Christ would appear again in the flesh as the reality of the temple and gather his people to give them blessings of eternal life. Therefore, to worship God in spirit and in truth the very first thing we must do is to know the Spirit and the Bride or Father and Mother who appear as man in the flesh. Since they are the true temple of God we must come to them to worship God during the festivals of God. In that way, we can worship God in spirit and in truth and receive the blessing of forgiveness and eternal life.
Something You Cannot Do and Something You Don’t Do
In this article I would like to show that we can receive eternal life through God the Mother. People sometimes argue about many things in their relationship with others. However, most of the topic for the arguments are for things that they are not doing even though they can do them if they try. On the other hand, people seldom or even never argue about something that they cannot do.
For example, a person can rebuke the other for not trying hard enough to learn to swim. However no one will blame the other for not swimming and living under water like a fish. It is because living like a fish under water is simply impossible for man. For the same reason, a person will not scold another for not flying like a bird even though the same person might admonish another for not learn to fly a plane.
Man and Woman
It is the same with a man and woman. A husband and wife might argue for many things such as for not doing house chores, or not spending much time with family, etc. However, a wife will not blame her husband for not having a child or being incapable of being pregnant. It is because having a child is simply an impossible thing for man to do.
When God created Adam and Eve, God created Eve as helper for Adam. Then what kind of help could Eve give to Adam? For something Adam don’t do even though he can do. No at all. Eve was created for something that Adam CANNOT do even though he might want to do. That was simply impossible for Adam to do. What Adam was incapable of was “child-birth.” And for this purpose God created Eve who could give life to children.
Eternal Life Through God the Mother
The bible says that Adam and Eve was created to teach the invisible image of God so that we may know God to receive salvation. According to the bible God created man according to the invisible image of God. (Gen 1:26-27) In other words, Adam was created to show God the Father. (Rom 5:14) Then what was Eve created for?
The only life-giver Eve (or the Mother of all the living) was created to represent God the Mother. According to the will of God, it was only through Eve that the life for children can be given. In the same way, through this Eve in creation, God wanted to teach us the spiritual Eve who would give life to the children of God.
God the Mother in the Last Day
The Bible teaches that God the Mother would appear in the last day to give us the spiritual life. God the Father could have eagerly given us eternal life if he could. However, the life-giving through only Father was simply impossible in the will of God. That is why Jesus God the Father said that he would grant life at the last day. (John 6:39, 40, 44, 54)
In the last day, we should know God the Mother. We can receive the water of eternal life through God the Mother only. (Revelation 22:17)
When we study the bible, we should know the purpose of the bible. Most of the books contains the purpose and goals in them intended by writers of those books. In the same way, the bible was given to us by God and thus the bible contains the purpose God has intended to teach. Therefore, to understand the bible correctly we must know the reason why God allowed the bible to be recorded and gathered together in the present form. Through the bible ultimately we must understand the relationship between the fulfillment of laws and Christ.
The Fulfillment of Laws and Christ
Then why did God give us the bible? What is the bible for? The answers for these questions can be correctly answered only by God himself. Then let us take a look at the words of God in the bible because there is no other thing available to us except for the bible to know the teachings of God. Just as Peter said the bible is “something completely reliable” (2 Peter 1:19) to us. Therefore, we have to “pay attention to it,” to know the will of God.
Then what is the purpose of the bible according to the teachings of God in the bible? Let us take a look at the words of Paul about the bible and its laws.
Galatians 3:24 Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. (KJV)
To give an answer for the question in Verse 19 of the same chapter, “Why, then, was the law given at all?” he says that the law exists to do the role of a teacher. In this case, the mission of the laws as a teacher is to lead people to Christ. In other words, all the laws of the old covenant were recorded as testimonies for the Christ who would appear to give salvation. Therefore, ultimately the one who we must recognize and meet through the Law of Moses is the Christ, or the Messiah who was to come to fulfill the laws.
Jesus’ Testimonies About the Laws
Matthew 5:17 Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.
Jesus says that he came to fulfill the laws or the old covenant. All the laws of the old covenant was intended to lead us to all the fulfillment of the laws, that is, the Christ. Paul confirms about this when he said, “For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.” (Romans 10:4)
At the end of the road of the old covenant, you will be able to find the Christ who would be waiting for you at the end. All these testimonies have the same message in it, that is, the laws of the old covenant was recorded to lead us to the Christ who would come to fulfill all the laws. Let us look at another testimony of Jesus about the relationship between himself and the laws.
John 5:39 You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me, 40 yet you refuse to come to me to have life.
The Scriptures means the words of God in the bible or the laws of the old covenant. And Jesus teaches that the purpose of the Scriptures or the laws was to teach people about the Christ himself. In other words, all the Scriptures and the laws came into existence to teach us and lead us to the Christ who can give us the salvation of eternal life.
The Second Coming Christ And the Laws
Then what about the Savior who would come in the last days? How can we recognize him? According to the bible he would appear for the second time for our salvation in the last day. (Hebrews 9:28) Then when he appears, will it be easy for us to know him and receive him? Probably not, because the bible teaches that the Christ is the Mystery.
Colossians 2:2 My goal is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, 3 in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
Paul says that Christ is the treasure which contains all the knowledge and wisdom for our salvation. If only the Jews of 2000 years ago accepted the Christ, they could have received the salvation of eternal life. In reality, however, they rejected him and crucified him. It was because the glory was hidden within him. For this reason, the bible calls the Christ “a mystery.” His glory and power were hidden from the eyes of men of the time.
They could not see the Godhead hidden inside his physical appearance. Then how about the Christ who would appear for the second time? Would it be easy for people to know him? The bible says the Christ is a mystery, not only in his first coming, but also in his second coming. Then if this is the case, how can we know who the Christ is? It is the same. As the bible says, “These are the Scriptures that testify about me,” Christ is testified in the laws.
Laws of the Bible and the Savior in the Last Day
Unlike the Jews in the time of Jesus who were given only the laws of the old covenant, we have both the old and new covenant. And all the laws of the bible was recorded so that we may find the Christ who would come to fulfill all the laws of the bible.
Then what does the laws say about the Savior? The laws of the old and new covenant teaches the true Savior in the last day, that is, God the Mother or the Heavenly Jerusalem who comes to give us the water of life.
Revelation 22:17 The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let the one who hears say, “Come!” Let the one who is thirsty come; and let the one who wishes take the free gift of the water of life.
What is the water of life? It is the salvation of eternal life we expect from the Second Coming Christ. But the bible says the salvation is coming from the Spirit and the bride. The Spirit is, as we know, God himself, then who is the bride who comes in the last day? If we look at the same book in Chapter 21, the bible teaches the bride is the Jerusalem, not the physical Jerusalem City on this earth, but the Heavenly Jerusalem coming from heaven as the bride of the Christ. (Revelation 21:9-10)
Heavenly Jerusalem in the Old Covenant
About the Spiritual Jerusalem, the laws of the old covenant testify like this:
Zechariah 14:8 On that day living water will flow out from Jerusalem, half of it east to the Dead Sea and half of it west to the Mediterranean Sea, in summer and in winter.
Not only does this book testify about the living water or the water of life as in the Book of Revelation. But this book also confirms that the source of the living water is the Jerusalem. Since the living water does not speaks about the physical water, neither can the source be the physical Jerusalem, but the spiritual Heavenly Jerusalem. Through the laws of the bible, God teaches us that the true source of salvation that we must seek in the last day is the Heavenly Jerusalem who comes down to this earth in the last day to give us salvation. Then who is this heavenly Jerusalem.
Galatians 4:26 But the Jerusalem that is above is free, and she is our mother.
In the Book of Galatians, Paul testifies that in heaven there is another Jerusalem, that is, heavenly Jerusalem. But interestingly enough he says that she is “Our Mother.” In other words, in heaven, there are our Father and our Mother. 2000 years ago, as the fulfillment of the laws of the old covenant, Christ our Father appeared to give us eternal life. But the same bible says that at the last day to fulfill all the laws of the bible, both the old covenant and new covenant, our Mother would appear as Savior to give us salvation of eternal life.
God the Mother and Salvation
The bible teaches through many parables that God the Mother is the source of salvation we must seek in the last day. Paul said that the purpose of the laws of the bible was to guide us to Christ. In this sense, the whole purpose of God through the bible was ultimately to lead us to God the Mother, Heavenly Jerusalem who would come down to this earth to give eternal life.
Therefore, those who want to eternal life must come to God the Mother because she is the true source of the water of life.
To the children of Zion, Heavenly Mother New Jerusalem gave words of greeting for 2017. Mother encouraged us to work for the completion of the gospel for the 7 continents, 70 countries, 700 provinces, and 7000 cities of gospel. Also, we could understand how deep Mother’s love is through her words.
Mother’s Love
More than anything else, Mother emphasized that we must work together. Heavenly Mother quoted, “If you want to travel fast, you should go by yourself. But if you want to go a long way, you must go together with others.” This words of Heavenly Mother moved me a lot.
Many times I feel comfortable doing things by myself. For instance, I like to go hiking by myself. When I hike with others, sometimes I feel pushed to move quicker because of the partner. Or sometimes I need to slow down. I cannot keep my pace.
However, Mother said that the most important thing is working together for the gospel. Through this words of Heavenly Mother I truly realized that Mother does not want to leave any of her children behind, but take all of them to heaven. And she wants all of us to keep the faith and work for the gospel.
A hen with her chicks under her wings
Father and Mother allowed us another year 2017 for the gospel. Especially, this is the 99th year of Christ Ahnsahnghong’s coming to this earth to preach the gospel. 99 is read “goo-goo” in Korean, which is the onomatopoeic sounds of hen calling the chicks.
Matthew 23:37 Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing.
Mother’s Wish for the Year
This year Mother wants to gather all her children to Zion under her wings and take them all to heaven. Let us work harder for the gospel in 2017 to find all our lost brothers and sisters and gather them to Zion.
There are many teachings of God in the bible and Jesus summarized the teaching into two commands that we should keep to enter into the eternal life. Then what are the two greatest commandments we must keep? And How can we keep those greatest commandments?
Two Commands For Eternal Life
When asked by an expert in the law of the way of eternal life, Jesus answered:
Luke 10: 25 On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 26 “What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?” 27 He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” 28 “You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.”
To inherit the eternal life, Jesus teaches us that we must first love God with all our heart, mind, and soul and next we must love our neighbors as ourselves. In addition, he concludes that these two commands are the essence of all the teachings of God in the bible.
Matthew 22:40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.
It means all the laws of God come essentially from these two commandments and if we fulfill these two commandments we can fulfill all the laws of God. So much are important these two commandments. Therefore, what is important to us is to know who to fulfill these two commandments. Some people interpret the commands with their own opinions, but we should not do like that because the standards for our faith should be God. And we must follow God’s teachings to fulfill the laws of God.
How to Fulfill the First Commandment
Then how can we love God with all our heart, mind and soul? Can we fulfill this command by praying to God twenty-four/seven? Or by reading the bible at least one hour a day? Or help the poor and needy people? Or by participating in the volunteer work? Everybody might have different opinions about this and how can we be sure that this is the way through which we can love God with all our hearts and minds?
King Josiah’s Religious Reform
That is why we must turn to the teachings of God to find out the way how to love God all our hearts and minds. Then what does God say about this command? As usual, God gives us one example so that we can clearly know how to fulfill the first command. In the history of Judah, there was a king who fulfilled this command and by following his example we also can fulfill the first and greatest commandment according to the will of God.
2 Kings 23:25 Neither before nor after Josiah was there a king like him who turned to the Lord as he did—with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his strength, in accordance with all the Law of Moses.
The Bible says that King Josiah turned to God with all his heart, soul, and strength and by doing so he was the one who could fulfill all the Law of Moses in accordance with the old covenant. Then what did he do? What is it that made God acknowledge King Josiah as the one who fulfill all the Law of Moses? We can find the answer in the several verses before.
2 Kings 23:21 The king gave this order to all the people: “Celebrate the Passover to the Lord your God, as it is written in this Book of the Covenant.” 22 Neither in the days of the judges who led Israel nor in the days of the kings of Israel and the kings of Judah had any such Passover been observed. 23 But in the eighteenth year of King Josiah, this Passover was celebrated to the Lord in Jerusalem.
What he did was to keep the Passover according to the regulation of God in the bible. When he kept the Passover, he was recognized by God as the one who fulfilled the first command by loving Him with all his heart, mind, and soul. Through the long history of the two kingdoms of Israel and Judah, kings and people did not obey the commands of God and did not keep the Passover. But sometimes there were kings who realized the importance of the Passover and kept the Passover. Josiah was one of the kings who kept the Passover and when he did, God recognizes that he did all he could to do what was written in the bible.
Even though what he did was keep the Passover, why was he complimented by God so much? And how could he love God with all his heart, mind and soul just by keeping the Passover? It is because there is a providence of God hidden in the Passover. Then what secret is hidden in the Passover? All the festivals of God have certain intention and providence of God hidden in it. By finding out the meaning of the festival, we can see why God gave the festival to his people. Then what was the meaning of the Passover?
King Josiah’s Religious Reform: Killing Baal Worshipers
Exodus 12:11 This is how you are to eat it: with your cloak tucked into your belt, your sandals on your feet and your staff in your hand. Eat it in haste; it is the Lord’s Passover. 12 “On that same night I will pass through Egypt and strike down every firstborn of both people and animals, and I will bring judgment on all the gods of Egypt. I am the Lord.
Even though there are many hidden meanings in the Passover, one of the most important providence of God hidden in the Passover is that through the Passover, God makes judgment for all the idols and false gods and destroys them on that day. And since all the false gods are destroyed, the only God left behind after the Passover is the true God who created the heavens and earth. And since there is only one God left, God’s people can love the true and only God with all their heart, mind, and soul without any distraction to other gods or idols. And in this way, they would be able to fulfill the first commandment of God: “You shall have no other gods before me” by worshiping the only and true God. This is the reason we must keep the Passover.
Love Your Neighbors as Yourself
The second commandment we must keep to fulfill the law of God is to love our neighbor as ourselves. Then how can we love our neighbor according to the teachings of God? Just like the first command, to fulfill this command we also must get rid of our own thoughts and opinions and follow the commands of God in the bible. Then what does the bible say about loving our neighbors as ourselves?
First, let us think about the meaning of the command. What does it mean love our neighbors as ourselves? We love ourselves. That is why we always prepare good things for us as much as we can. We eat good food, wear good clothes, and prepare good house for us. And when we are sick, we take a rest. No matter how urgent a matter we have cannot be a priority to us when our body is sick. The priority is given to our body and curing the sickness.
In this sense, to fulfill the second law we must think others in this respect by treating them as ourselves and providing them everything they need as we provide things to us when we are in need. Then is it possible to treat and think other people in this regard? It seems almost impossible because human beings are intrinsically self-preserving and self-centered. And they always put a distinction between self and other and the priority is always given to self. Therefore, it seems to be impossible to love neighbors as yourself.
But then what if this distinction between self and other breaks and they become one. If I become a part of other and the other becomes a part of I, then self-other becomes one and I can love the other as part of self as if the other were myself. Is this state of the union of self and other possible? Yes, it is and God teaches us how all of us become one and love one another as if we love oneself. It is also through the Passover. According to the bible, the Passover is a ceremony through which each of us becomes a part of whole and in this state there is no more distinction of you and I.
Through the Passover, Christ gave us his flesh and blood through the Passover bread and wine which represent his flesh and blood. Then what is the meaning of this ceremony? Paul let us know the providence of God hidden in the Passover like this:
1 Corinthians 10:16 The cup of blessing that we give thanks for is a sharing in the blood sacrifice of Christ, isn’t it? And the bread that we break is a sharing in the body of Christ, isn’t it? 17 There is one loaf of bread, so we who are many are one body, because we all share in that one loaf.
Passover: Becoming one body in Christ
Through the Passover bread and wine we all can participate in the blood and body of Christ and we can become one body in Christ because we all participate in one loaf, that is, Christ.Therefore, even though we are all different from one another, through the Passover we can become the members of the same body whose head is the Christ.
Ephesians 4:25 Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to your neighbor, for we are all members of one body.
Through the Passover, we all become the members of one body and since we are all one in one body, we can love one another as if one loves one’s own body. Through the Passover, we can take care of each other as part of one’s own body just as a person takes care of the members of his body without neglecting anything. He gives the same attention to all his body parts so that there would be nothing lacking in his body. In the same way, since all of us become one in Christ through the Passover, we can love one another without neglecting anyone.
1 Corinthians 13:20 As it is, there are many parts, but one body. 21 The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” And the head cannot say to the feet, “I don’t need you!” 22 On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, 23 and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, 24 while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the parts that lacked it, 25 so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. 26 If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it. 27 Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.
About this providence of God hidden in the Passover, Christ Ahnsahnghong teaches like this:
By sharing in the flesh and blood of Jesus, all brothers become one body in Him and come to love one another as themselves. … Since we have now become one body in Jesus, is there anyone who hates his own body? Even though we cannot love because we are evil by nature, if Jesus’ flesh and blood is in us, we come to love our brothers.
From “The Mystery of God and the Spring of the Water of Life” Chapter 31. The Regulations of the New Covenant
Conclusion
Therefore, to completely fulfill the two commandments the most important thing is keeping the Passover. By keeping the Passover, we can love God with all our heart, mind and soul by fulfilling the first and greatest commandment and also we can fulfill the second commandment, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Jesus said that we must keep these two commandments to enter eternal life. Now let us keep the Passover according to the teachings of God.
Even though the Passover was once abolished by the work of Satan in AD 325, Christ Ahnsahnghong brought us back the new covenant of the Passover so that we can have eternal life. To obey the teachings of Christ, World Mission Society Church Of God keeps the Passover according to the regulations of the new covenant. Now God is inviting everybody who wishes to have salvation to come to Zion and to keep the Passover.
Temple and Water Of Life–In the book of Ezekiel, the bible describes that the living water is flowing out from the temple of God in Jerusalem. The water of life first flows into the Jordan River and later into the Dead Sea. As we can see through the name “the Dead Sea,” the sea was once dead, but as soon as the living water flows into it, it starts to revive again. This is a amazing description of the power of the living water and the bible says those who wants to have eternal life must also drink from this water. Therefore, we must know what the living water is and what the source of the living water is.
The Water of Life from the Temple Jerusalem
Ezekiel 47:1 The man brought me back to the entrance to the temple, and I saw water coming out from under the threshold of the temple toward the east (for the temple faced east). The water was coming down from under the south side of the temple, south of the altar. 2 He then brought me out through the north gate and led me around the outside to the outer gate facing east, and the water was trickling from the south side….Then he led me back to the bank of the river. 7 When I arrived there, I saw a great number of trees on each side of the river. 8 He said to me, “This water flows toward the eastern region and goes down into the Arabah (or the Jordan River), where it enters the Dead Sea. When it empties into the sea, the salty water there becomes fresh. 9 Swarms of living creatures will live wherever the river flows. There will be large numbers of fish, because this water flows there and makes the salt water fresh; so where the river flows everything will live. ….. 12 Fruit trees of all kinds will grow on both banks of the river. Their leaves will not wither, nor will their fruit fail. Every month they will bear fruit, because the water from the sanctuary flows to them. Their fruit will serve for food and their leaves for healing.”
Temple and Water Of Life–The water from the temple flows into the Dead Sea which has nothing living in it as the name indicates because it contains too much salt in it. Once the water from the temple flows into the Dead Sea, however, the salt water becomes flesh and soon all different sorts of living creatures starts to thrive in the Dead Sea. Literally, the Dead Sea changes into the Living Sea because of the living water from the temple. Again and again the bible says that it is the living water that flows into the sea that gives life to everything in it and even along the banks of the Jordan River many different trees bears fruits every month all throughout the year.
Map of the Jordan River and the Dead Sea. Can you see any river flowing from Jerusalem to the Jordan river? We should understand this prophecy figuratively.
Here we can see the amazing power of the living water that flows out from the temple. This contains more significant meaning to us who are living in the last days. It is because the prophecy of the water of life from the temple in the Book of Ezekiel was not written for the physical Israelites who lived in the past in the time of the prophet, but it was actually a prophecy given to us who are living in the last days. We can confirm this through a mated prophecy in the Book of Revelation.
Revelation 22:1 Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb 2 down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.
Here we can see the exact description of the same river we have already seen in the Book of Ezekiel. Therefore, we can see Prophet Ezekiel was not speaking about things of his time, but he was writing prophecies to teach what was going to happen in the future, especially in the last days. In this sense, we come to know that things in the book should not be interpreted physically, but all of things must be understood in the figurative level.
The Reality of Temple and Water of Life
Temple and Water Of Life–If we try to understand the prophecy of Ezekiel in the literal sense, we cannot put many things together because they do not make sense at all. First, does the temple Jerusalem represent the physical temple in Jerusalem? If then, the water from the temple must be physical water too. But as we already know, there is no river flowing from the temple into the Jordan River. And moreover, the Temple of God itself does not exist in our present time because it was destroyed by the Roman army around 70 AD.
Plan of Solomon’s Temple
Therefore, we must understand these things figuratively. Then what is the reality of the temple? According to the bible, the reality of the temple is God himself.
John 2:19 Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.” 20 They replied, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?” 21 But the temple he had spoken of was his body.
The temple is originally built as God’s dwelling place and when the temple was established, God started to dwell among his people by putting His Spirit in the temple. Even though God fills up the whole universe, God loved his people and wanted to give them salvation by teaching them and leading them through his commands and laws. For that purpose, God established sanctuary or temple and started to dwell among his people in Spirit.
2 Chronicles 6:18 “But will God really dwell on earth with humans? The heavens, even the highest heavens, cannot contain you. How much less this temple I have built!
But this physical temple was given as copy and shadow until the time of the reality of the temple would be revealed. Then what was the reality of the temple? As we have already seen above, Christ himself was reality of the temple, God’s dwelling place. 2000 years ago, Jesus Christ, who was God himself came down to this earth to dwell among his people to teach his people and to give them salvation.
John 1:14 The Word (God) became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
The Word or God himself became flesh and made his dwelling or his temple among his people. It was Christ Jesus. But what was the temple or the dwelling of God he established on this earth when he came in the flesh? It was his body because the Spirit of God was dwelling in the body of Christ and that is why he called his body the temple of God. Through this we can see the body of Christ was working as temple.
The Reality of the Water of Life
Temple and Water Of Life–Now we could understand that the reality of the temple was Christ, God who came as man in the flesh. If Christ is the Temple Jerusalem, Christ must have given the water of life according to the prophecy because the temple in the prophecy was the source of the water of life that gives life to everything that accepts the living water. Then was the Christ the source of the water of life just like the prophecy?
John 4:13 Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
Through this we can see that he was truly the reality of the temple in the prophecy of Ezekiel which gives the living water to the world so that they can have life. Then what we need to understand is what is the living water which was flowing out from the temple? 2000 years ago Jesus was not the one who was giving out the physical water to the people which could give them eternal life, which would have been easier for everyone to understand his teaching and many might have accepted Jesus and received eternal life.
The Jordan River flowing into the Dead Sea. Thousands of years the river was flowing into the Dead Sea, but the Dead Sea is still dead. What is the living water that gives life to everything?
But just like everything else in the bible, he was not speaking in the literal way. Just like all other teachings of God, Jesus was using physical things to teach us spiritual things. Just as water is essential for our life, through this water Jesus wanted to teach us the spiritual water that is essential for our spiritual life, eternal life. Then what was the spiritual water coming out from the temple Christ which gives us the eternal life of salvation? According to the bible, the water of live that cleanse our sins and gives us the eternal life is the words of God coming from the Christ.
Ephesians 5:25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her 26 to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, 27 and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.
According to the bible what is it that cleanses us from stains or blemishes to make us holy and blameless? It is possible when we are washed “water through the word” of God. We can see the words of God are figuratively compared to water, and we can receive the water life and wash ourselves clean when we accept the true words of God. When we are cleansed with the words of God, we can also receive eternal life.
John 6:66 From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him. 67 “You do not want to leave too, do you?” Jesus asked the Twelve. 68 Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. 69 We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God.”
Apostle Peter boldly testifies that he is the true source of the water of life: How can I leave you my God since you are the one who gives the water of life through the words of God? He knew that Jesus was the true temple of God granting the living water to the peoples of the world and if they left Jesus they could not have eternal life. And with this understanding they could stay with Jesus even though all others deserted Jesus.
The True Temple of God in the Last Days
Temple and Water Of Life–Then according to the bible who is the true temple of God giving out the water of life to the peoples of the world in the last days? Without knowing the source of the water of life we cannot receive salvation. As we have already seen in the prophecy of Ezekiel, in the last days the world is compared to the Dead Sea. According to the bible, the sea figuratively represents human society.
Revelation 17:15 Then the angel said to me, “The waters (or the sea) you saw, where the prostitute sits, are peoples, multitudes, nations and languages.
The sea is dead because of the lack of the living water or the true words of God. Some might say what I am saying is wrong because we have the words of God taught by Jesus Christ. That is partly true. 2000 years ago the true temple of God Christ came with the water of life and gave people the true words of God so that they could have eternal life.
But what happened to the truth? Even though Jesus and disciples sacrificed their own lives for the true words of God giving us eternal life, after their death the true gospel started to be corrupted and changed by the work of Satan to fulfill the Parable of Weeds on the field. (Matthew 13:24) Sabbath worship which took place on Saturday was changed into Sunday worship in 321 AD by Roman Emperor Constantine. And the truth of the new covenant of the Passover was abolished in 325 AD in the council of Nicaea held under the command of the same emperor.
Since then, those who wanted to follow the truth were persecuted and driven out into the wilderness and the truth started to be forgotten until only the false words of God was left behind. All the water of life was changed into dirty and unclean water, and people started to fall sick and die spiritually because of the lack of the living water. This is the situation described in the prophecy of Ezekiel and the sea or the human society in the last days without any exception are all dead. Nations, peoples, multitudes, and languages-which means all the world-is dying of the lack of the living water. The water people are drinking cannot give them the eternal life, but rather it gives them more thirst.
In this desperate situation, the bible says the river of the water of life clear as crystal will be open for the people who are thirsty. Then who are the true source of the water of life in the last days? Where should we go to receive the living water?
Revelation 22:17 The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let the one who hears say, “Come!” Let the one who is thirsty come; and let the one who wishes take the free gift of the water of life.
Who are the source of the water of life? They are the Spirit and the Bride. In the book of Ezekiel they were described as temple of God. It means they must be God who comes down to this earth in the flesh as the reality of the temple, or Christ. Then who is the Spirit? We can easily see the Spirit must be the Second Coming Christ, or God the Father coming down in the last days as man in the flesh as the reality of the temple to give us the water of life. But then who is the bride who is also the source of the water of life? Since she is also the source of the living water we can say she must be a Christ, or God who is coming down as man in the flesh. Let us confirm.
Jesus was the spiritual temple who could give the living water of eternal life. Then who is the bride of Christ Heavenly Jerusalem who will be able to give us living water in the last days?
The True Bride, God the Mother
Temple and Water Of Life–There are so many people who have many different opinions about the bride-such as church, or the angels, or some says the bride is Jesus who is coming in the last days. But rather than following people’s opinions we must listen to the true words of God in the bible. Then who is the bride? According to the bible she is described as the true temple of God who is coming down from heaven to this earth, which would be the dwelling of God in the last days.
Revelation 21:1 Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. 2 I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.
The bride is the heavenly Jerusalem Temple, which is coming down to this earth to make a dwelling of God among his people. This has a very significant meaning in it. What is the dwelling place of God? Temple. But who was the reality of the temple? Christ. Then what should this heavenly Jerusalem be? Christ, that is, God who is coming down as man in the flesh. Then is this the Second Coming Christ? It cannot be because the Spirit is the Second Coming Christ who would come to give the water of life.
Then who is the bride? Let us find more about the bride, the heavenly Jerusalem.
Revelation 21:9 One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.” 10 And he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high, and showed me the Holy City, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God.
In this description, the bride is the wife of the Lamb. The Lamb is the Second Coming Jesus (John 1:29); and therefore, the wife of the Lamb means the wife of Jesus Christ. In reality, even though he came as man in the flesh, Jesus was God the Father. Then what should we call the wife of Jesus or God the Father? The bride must be God the Mother. Amazingly enough, the bible testifies the heavenly Jerusalem and it shows the heavenly Jerusalem as its true reality, not as copy or shadow? Many might think since it is a temple, it must be a form of building flying down from heaven, or even a spaceship!
But the Bible teaches the true reality of the temple Jerusalem? Then what is the Heavenly Jerusalem?
Galatians 4:26 But the Jerusalem that is above (or in heaven) is free, and she is our mother.
The bible teaches the Heavenly Jerusalem is in reality “our Mother” or God the Mother and she is coming down from heaven in the last days. Why? To make a dwelling among his people. What does it mean then? Just like God the Father made his dwelling among his people by coming down to this earth as man in the flesh in the name of Jesus Christ, God the Mother will come down to this earth now as woman in the flesh and by putting the Spirit of God in the body she will dwell among his people to give them the water of life.
Conclusion
Temple and Water Of Life–To fulfill the prophecy of the book of Ezekiel and Revelation, God the Father and God the Mother both of them came down to this earth as man in the flesh in the Name of Christ Ahnsahnghong and Heavenly Mother New Jerusalem. As we have seen over and over they are the reality of the temple prophesied in the prophecy of Ezekiel and they are the true source of the water of life. They are calling out to you to “Come” and to “take the free gift of the water of life.” God eagerly wants you to come to them for the eternal life. Our true sanctuary, God the Mother came down to this earth and she is pouring out the living water to all the nations and peoples of the world.
Come to the Spirit and the Bride, who are the true source of the water of life.
There was an argument between a football columnist and a coach about a goalie. The columnist once has been considered as one of the keen-eyed critics in the field of football or soccer in a more region-specific term. Even though he was a very successful critic, when he tried to put his knowledge into practice by becoming a coach himself, it was a total failure. In just a couple of months later he was laid out, which became a stain in his career.
This columnist was criticizing a goalie in a English football club. This aroused a heated argument between the columnist and the coach of the team about his qualification to evaluate a player considering his failure in selecting good players as coach. So the coach of the team defended his player saying that the guy has no ability to judge a player is good or bad. If he had, he wouldn’t have failed himself when he was leading a team as coach.
For this criticism, he gave an excellent comment to prove that he has a qualification to make a judgment for a football player and his comment is true:
Haha. I’m not a chef but I know a good steak!
I think it is so witty a comment which can be turned into your own!
Haha. I’m not a columnist but I know a good column! Haha. I’m not an artist but I know a good art! Haha. I’m not a musician but I know a good music! Haha. I’m not a doctor but I know a sick person!
Haha. I know. I know.
Somehow I think this comment is very appropriate to describe the world we live in. There are so many people claiming that they know about this and about that! When they fight like this, we can laugh about their sincerity and devotion for the things they are doing even though it come to cause more arguments.
Stoning or lapidation is a capital punishment carried out by throwing stones on a criminal to put him to death. This is one of the most ancient ways of the capital punishment and also we can see some laws and examples related to this type of execution in the bible.
Stoning in the Old Testament
The Law of Moses specifies about the crimes and the proportionate punishment for those crimes. In this law, the most common way of a capital punishment was stoning to death. In the Book of Deuteronomy, we can see various cases for the stoning such as adultery, blasphemy, disrespect for parents, selling a brother as slave, etc.
Deuteronomy 13:6 If your very own brother, or your son or daughter, or the wife you love, or your closest friend secretly entices you, saying, “Let us go and worship other gods” (gods that neither you nor your ancestors have known, 7 gods of the peoples around you, whether near or far, from one end of the land to the other), 8 do not yield to them or listen to them. Show them no pity. Do not spare them or shield them. 9 You must certainly put them to death. Your hand must be the first in putting them to death, and then the hands of all the people. 10 Stone them to death, because they tried to turn you away from the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.
Or the laws says of a disrespectful and rebellious son:
Deuteronomy 21:18 If someone has a stubborn and rebellious son who does not obey his father and mother and will not listen to them when they discipline him, 19 his father and mother shall take hold of him and bring him to the elders at the gate of his town. 20 They shall say to the elders, “This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious. He will not obey us. He is a glutton and a drunkard.” 21 Then all the men of his town are to stone him to death. You must purge the evil from among you. All Israel will hear of it and be afraid.
The reason God commanded the Israelites to stone a person to death is because they could purge or get rid of evil in this way. For this reason, stoning was one of the most common ways of execution for the Jews and we can see examples in the story of Achan and his family being stoned and buried underneath in the Old Testament, and also of Stephen in the New Testament.
Achan’s sin: Because of the sin of Achan, he and his family got stoned to die. Why is this story written in the bible? What is the lesson God wants to teach us?
The Meaning behind the Parable of Stone
Even though there are so many different ways of execution, why does the bible regulate the stoning as way of “purging evil and evil-doers” from among the people? Nothing can be written without any reason, and thus we can see there must be some providence of God behind this teaching too. Then what is the true meaning of this law? According to the bible, the Law of Moses was given to us to lead us to Christ.
Hebrews 10:1 The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming—not the realities themselves.
The law of Moses was just a copy and shadow and the reality could be found in Christ who fulfilled all the Law of Moses.
Colossians 2:16 Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. 17 These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ.
Then what does God want to teach us through this law of stoning to death? He did not give us this law just to make us repulsive about the law. Nor did he give us this law to intimidate us. Everything in the past contains some teaching God wants to give us. To understand God’s teaching in this law we must first understand what the stone presents? According to the bible Jesus is the reality of stone.
Acts 4:11 Jesus is
“‘the stone you builders rejected,
which has become the cornerstone.’
12 Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.”
Or In the Book of Peter, the same apostle testifies:
1 Peter 2:4 As you come to him (or Jesus), the living Stone—rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him— 5 you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house[a] to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 6 For in Scripture it says:
“See, I lay a stone in Zion,
a chosen and precious cornerstone,
and the one who trusts in him
will never be put to shame.”
Jesus, a Stone of Judgment
Then why is Jesus called a stone parabolically? Let us first look the Law of Moses to find out why people used stone. In the law people used stones to purge evil from the people so that they could maintain social order, or more precisely keep the community pure and clean so that the blessing of God could be with them. In this sense, stone was a tool for judgment for the evil-doer, or people who practiced lawlessness.
Through this laws of Moses we can see that Jesus as stone fulfills the same purpose for God’s people. He was the figuratively and in a sense literally LIVING STONE with the laws of God written in it. With the law given to him he was making judgment for people to purge the evil and lawlessness from people.
What is a rock to us? What does God want to remind us by giving so many and different rocks with so many different purposes?
According to the bible, God is the WORD (John 1:1), and in the time of Moses the word of God was materialized in the form of two STONE tablets to judge people. The stone tablets were not just the words of God, but the representation of God to signify God’s power and authority. In this sense, Jesus was the spiritual stone tablets because he was the WORD of God corporealized in the form of man.
John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. ….14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
Just as the two stone tablets were kept in the physical temple, the spiritual tablets of words of God was kept inside the body of Christ, which is spiritually a temple. (John 2:21) With the immanent words of God inside him, Jesus could make a judgment for the lawlessness and destroy them with his words of God.
John 12:47 “If anyone hears my words but does not keep them, I do not judge that person. For I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world. 48 There is a judge for the one who rejects me and does not accept my words; the very words I have spoken will condemn them at the last day.
He appeared to us as Living Stone Tablets of words of God and through the words he taught he was making judgment to purge the evil and destroy the lawlessness 2000 years ago.
Ahnsahnghong, the White Stone
Then what about in the last days? What does the bible say about the judgment in the last day? How will God purge the evil among his people so that they can be kept pure and clean to receive the blessing of salvation? The prophecies of the bible says that in the last days the Second Coming Christ would appear as stone again by coming as man in the flesh and make judgment for the people who do not listen to his words.
Revelation 2:17 Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who is victorious, I will give some of the hidden manna. I will also give that person a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to the one who receives it.
The one who speaks in the Book of Revelation is Christ and he teaches about the things that will happen in the last days. In the last days, he says he would give a white stone with a new name on it. What would be the meaning of it? This is a prophecy about his second coming and when he come comes he would appear again as stone or a living Stone in Peter’s word with the words of God written in him. Just like his first coming, he would appear as man again for the second time, but now he would appear with a new name or a different name, which cannot be Jesus this time.
This prophecy can be confirmed by another prophecy in the Book of Daniel. In a prophecy of a statue of different metals, God foretold the human history which would be laid out for the next thousands of years even to the ends of age.
Daniel 2:31 “Your Majesty looked, and there before you stood a large statue—an enormous, dazzling statue, awesome in appearance. 32 The head of the statue was made of pure gold, its chest and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze, 33 its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of baked clay. 34 While you were watching, a rock was cut out, but not by human hands. It struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and smashed them. 35 Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver and the gold were all broken to pieces and became like chaff on a threshing floor in the summer. The wind swept them away without leaving a trace. But the rock that struck the statue became a huge mountain and filled the whole earth.
As you may know, this is a prophecy about the kingdoms which would rise from the world after Babylon–Media/Persia, Greece, Rome, Ten Germanic Kingdoms and later even to the end of age. But according to this prophecy, at the end of age a rock, which was not established or originated from man, will destroy all the man’s kingdoms and establishments. Then what is this rock which would destroy the man-made institutions or systems? This is a prophecy about the Second Coming Christ who would appear at the end of age as stone or as a man in the flesh for the second time to make a judgment for people who do not listen to the words of God.
Ahnsahnghong, The Words of God
Through this prophecies we can see that Christ Ahnsahnghong is the WORD of God which became flesh and came down to us to teach us the true words of God. About the Christ’s appearance as man in the flesh, the Book of Revelation says:
Revelation 19:11 I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and wages war. 12 His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself. 13 He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God.
The rider of a white horse, the Word of God, will make war against the beast (or the Anti-Christ) and kings allied with him (Revelation 19:20) and he would destroy them. Through this war all the evils would be purged and the judgment would be given to each of the evildoers. And they would be put into the fiery furnace of burning sulfur, being tormented forever and ever. This is the end of Satan and Sin.
In this revelation, the Word of God must be God himself as we have seen in Jesus, who was the Word which appeared as man in the flesh. Then what does it mean the Word coming riding on a white horse? Parabolically, the horse means flesh, and the Word riding on a horse actually means the Word of God would appear as man in the flesh for the second time.
Isaiah 31:3 But the Egyptians are mere mortals and not God; their horses are flesh and not spirit.
When the Lord stretches out his hand,
those who help will stumble,
those who are helped will fall;
all will perish together.
According to the bible, a horse parabolically represents flesh, contrary to the spirit. Therefore, the WORD (God) coming on a horse means God’s coming as man in the flesh. All these prophecies have one thing in common: that is, God must appear as man and he must bring the words of God to make a judgment for the people.
Conclusion
In this dark world where there is not a single ray of light, God Ahnsahnghong brought the resplendent light to us to show the truth so brilliantly. Through this we can see that the Christ Ahnsahnghong is the Second Coming Christ who appeared as man in the flesh to judge the world with his words.
Now let us obey his words so that we may be saved out of the Last Judgment and receive the salvation.
According to the bible, all of us are called sinners who received the death penalty because of the sin we committed.
Romans 5:12 Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned.
Nobody is free from sin and everyone is a sinner. Again, David said:
Psalms 14:1 Only fools think there is no God.
People like that are evil and do terrible things.
They never do what is right.
2 The Lord looks down from heaven
to see if there is anyone who is wise,
anyone who looks to him for help.
3 But everyone has gone the wrong way.
Everyone has turned bad.
No one does anything good. No, not one person!
Again and again God teaches us through the bible that everyone committed sins and no one is free from sins.
The Weight of the Sin
Then where did we sin and how big or grave the sin was? It is the sin we committed on this earth or the sins we committed in heaven? We can find the answer through the punishment we must receive for the sins. According to the bible, the sin we committed is not small or minor, but a big and grievous one. The true weight of our sins can be scaled by the punishment sentenced to us.
The Fall of Angels: Angels rebelled against God from heaven and cast down to this earth, to a spiritual prison to stay until the day of execution for the punishment of their sins.
Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Then sentence given to us for the sin is the death penalty. If the sin is the one we committed on this earth, it does not seems to make any sense at all because a baby or young child who did not committed any crimes or sins also dies. So we can see that the sins we committed must be the ones we had done in the spiritual world, not in this physical world. And we can feel the sheer weight of the sin through the penalty given to us. Even though we do not remember and we cannot see because we got blinded by the sins, by the punishment or wage of the sin we can know clearly that the sin was not small. Because of the sentence, each one of us can be sure that we will die at one point in the future. For some it is soon, or for others it it late; but sooner or later death comes to everybody.
The Sins We Committed
Then what were the sins we committed in heaven? This can be found in the description of the two exemplary cases of sinners who once lived on this earth: the king of Tyre and Babylon. In the Book of Ezekiel God teaches us that because of the sins he committed the King of Tyre who had been once a beautiful angel in heaven was driven out from heaven to this earth. (Ezekiel 28:12-17) And also in the Book of Isaiah, through the king of Babylon God teaches us the sins the angels committed from heaven.
Isaiah 14:12 How you have fallen from heaven,
morning star, son of the dawn! You have been cast down to the earth,
you who once laid low the nations!
13 You said in your heart,
“I will ascend to the heavens; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of Mount Zaphon. 14 I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.”
15 But you are brought down to the realm of the dead,
to the depths of the pit.
Gustave Dore-The Fall of Lucifer. Angel’s rebellion and Punishment of Death Penalty
The bible says that the king of Babylon was once an angel in heaven, but he was cast down to this earth, a spiritual prison for the sinners just like us. And the bible continues to explain about the sins he committed in heaven: that is, rebellion. He tried to put himself in the position of the Most High or God and because of this rebellion he was driven out from heaven and bound on this earth until the death penalty got executed for him in the time of his death. And the bible teaches that this was the sins of everybody who lives on this earth.
Just like the king of Tyre and Babylon, we were once in heaven as beautiful angels, but we rebelled against God and fought against the Most High. Finally, being defeated, we were cast down to this earth and are living the life of prisoners going through many hardships and difficulties. Then how can we define the sins we committed? Rebellion is to deny the previous order and tries to establish a new order by destroying the previous one by force. Simply, we can say that a rebellion is the denial of the law given by the ruler and in this sense a rebellion is a law-breaking. In heaven the king or God gave his laws and regulations to keep the order, but some angels broke the laws of God and rebelled against him. This story is recorded in many places in the bible in the form of parable. We have already seen the stories of the king of Tyre and Babylon.
Also, we can see the original rebellion of the angels against God in the form of parable. In the story of Adam and Eve, the Garden of Eden represents heaven as we can see in the Book of Ezekiel, and Adam and Eve the angels in heaven. To the angels God gave one command and one law: Do not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Because they were deceived by the Devil or Snake, however, the angels broke the law of God and tries to “be like God, knowing good and evil.” (Genesis 3:1-5) Because of this rebellion, they got cast out from the Eden and became a restless wanderers on this earth.
The War in Heaven and the Fall of Angels
The place where we can find the rebellion of the angels most clearly is from the Book of Revelation.
Revelation 12:7 Then war broke out in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. 8 But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven. 9 The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.
In this war in heaven, we can see the Satan and his followers waging a war against God and they got defeated and cast down to this earth, the spiritual prison.
The Payment for a Rebellion
Then what was the payment for the rebellion? The bible teaches us that this earthly system was made to reflect the system in heaven. On this earth when a man rebels against the ruler or king, he could be put to death immediately. Even nowadays the situation is similar not only in a totalitarian system, but also in a democratic system. For example, in the United States which is called the symbol of democracy and freedom, there is still a death penalty. And one of the case in which a criminal can be given the capital punishment is a treason or a rebellion against the government.
Through this law on this earth as copy and shadow, we can understand that in heaven there must be a similar law. Some angel, however, broke the heavenly laws and rebelled against God. Later, they failed and sent to a prison (or the earth). They have to stay in this prison until their sentence is cleared out and executed. This is the destiny given to everybody on this earth. For this reason, the bible defines the sin very clearly.
The Original Sin, the Sin of Adam and Eve: What is the meaning of it?
1 John 3:4 Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness. 5 But you know that he (or Christ) appeared so that he might take away our sins. And in him is no sin. 6 No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him.
The bible says the sin we committed was breaking the heavenly laws of God; and therefore, sin is lawlessness or law-breaking. Because of this sins, we are given the death-penalty. But the bible says that we can be forgiven of our sins through Christ. Who is the Christ who can give us the forgiveness of sins and how? In this earth, when a man was caught for treason, how is the one who can give the forgiveness? It is only the ruler or the king of the nation whom they rebelled against. Through the mercy and grace of the king, they could be forgiven. It is the same spiritually. Since we committed sins against God, it is only through the grace and mercy of God can we receive the forgiveness of sins. But the bible says that we can be forgiven of our sins through Christ. Then who should be Christ? He must be God himself who can forgiven of our sins.
Luke 5:20 When Jesus saw their faith, he said, “Friend, your sins are forgiven.” 21 The Pharisees and the teachers of the law began thinking to themselves, “Who is this fellow who speaks blasphemy? Who can forgive sins but God alone?” 22 Jesus knew what they were thinking and asked, “Why are you thinking these things in your hearts? 23 Which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? 24 But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So he said to the paralyzed man, “I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.” 25 Immediately he stood up in front of them, took what he had been lying on and went home praising God. 26 Everyone was amazed and gave praise to God. They were filled with awe and said, “We have seen remarkable things today.”
By saying that the Son of Man (Jesus himself) has authority on earth to forgive sins, Jesus was saying that He is God himself. God left heaven and came down to this earth to a spiritual prison for wretched sinners to give us the forgiveness of sins so that we can go back to the kingdom of heaven. Out of ignorance, however, people rejected their God and rebelled against him over again by picking up stones and hurling insults and spitting on him. They lost their chance for salvation.
Christ Ahnsahnghong, God Coming as Man for the Second Time
Now in our time, God came down to this earth again for the second time to give us the forgiveness of sins. Once we broke the laws of God and committed sins. Because of the sins we are given the death penalty. Now God came again in the name of Christ Ahnsahnghong and restored the laws of the new covenant so that we can be forgiven of our sins through his flesh and blood and to receive eternal life through the laws of God.
The Forgiveness of Sins through the Bread and Wine of the Passover
However, people in this world, out of their complete ignorance to the laws of God, denies Christ Ahnsahnghong and do not keep the laws of God, committing sins by breaking the laws again. Now is the time for us to know the laws of God and should obey the laws. The bible teaches us one truth through which we can be forgiven of our sins and the death penalty can be lifted up from us: the law of the new covenant.
Matthew 26:26 While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take and eat; this is my body.” 27 Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. 28 This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.
God came down to us and gave us the forgiveness of the sins for the second time. Now let us leave the way of the lawlessness and obey the laws of God. In this way, we can receive eternal life and go back to the kingdom of heaven to the eternal glory.
