1) The Mission of the True Parents
In the previous two chapters, we briefly considered an overview of the history
of God's Providence of Restoration to establish the foundation for the Messiah.
As explained, this history of the Old and New Testament Ages was to restore
through indemnity Adam and Eve's sinful act of disobedience to God's
commandment. Adam and Eve should have grown to perfection, and upon receiving
God's blessing, become True Parents through obeying God's commandment at the
risk of their very lives. Instead, they fell away, becoming false parents,
sowing the seeds of false love, false life, and false blood lineage. God sent
His sinless son Jesus Christ as the True Parent of humankind. He was to marry
his God-given bride and together become the first True Parents of humankind,
replacing Adam and Eve. As True Parents, Jesus and his bride were to have
established the first True Family in human history. Unfortunately, as
explained, Jesus could only fulfill his mission spiritually, leaving the
substantial, earthly mission of the True Parents for the Second Advent. Let's
consider then, the mission of the True Parents.
The Lord of the Second Advent, as the True Parent, brings God's original seed of True Love, True Life, and True Lineage in order to give spiritual and physical rebirth to all of humankind, wiping away all of the effects of Adam's sin. To bring an end to the sinful history of humanity, the Messiah brings the Word as a Rod of Iron which is powerful enough to bring judgement upon all unrighteousness. In the words of Mormon Doctrine:
To the righteous who have waited for him and kept his laws, the Second Coming will be a day devoutly to be desired, a day of peace and redemption, a day when injustice will cease and wickedness be banished, a day when the vineyard will be cleansed of corruption and its rightful Ruler reign in the midst of his saints. "Yea when thou comest down, and the mountains flow down at thy presence, thou shalt meet him who rejoiceth and worketh righteousness, who remembereth thee in thy ways." (D. & C. 133:44)1
According to the Doctrine and Covenants, among other great truths which no one knows, the Lord of the Second Advent will reveal the purpose of God's Creation:
Yea, verily I say unto you, in that day when the Lord shall come, he shall reveal all things- Things which have passed, and hidden things which no man knew, things of the earth, by which it was made, and the purpose and the end thereof- Things most precious, things that are above, and things that are beneath, things that are in the earth, and upon the earth, and in heaven. (D. & C. 101:32-34)
The purpose of the Gospel at the Second Advent is to allow each and every human being to understand how to overcome the effects of the fall and reach perfection so that the Kingdom of Heaven can come on the earth and so that we may be fit to live eternally in the Kingdom of Heaven in the Spiritual World upon passing from this life.
By victoriously finding the bride that Jesus could not find, the Lord of the Second Advent comes to complete God's original ideal of creation as the first True Parents in human history. The True Parents' seed of True Love, True Life, and True Lineage is sown to create the first True Family of God. True Parents are able to bring spiritual salvation and physical redemption to all humankind through the blessing of new marriages which allow all of fallen humanity to become engrafted into God's original blood lineage. Such blessed marriages will become the building blocks for an ideal clan, society, nation, and world. Thus, as the sphere of ideal blessed families grows, the sinful world of corruption will be gradually transformed into a world of goodness and peace until the Kingdom of Heaven on earth is established. Let's now consider the Principle view on the manner, time, and place in which Christ appears at his Second Coming.
2) How, When, and Where Will Christ Come Again?
Blind, deaf, and hard of heart were those who refused to see, hear, and
comprehend the purport of the Savior's mission. Similarly benighted are they
who reject the prophetic evidence of His second coming, and who fail to read
the signs of the times, which declare the event, at once glorious and terrible,
to be near at hand. Both before and after His death Christ prophesied of His
appointed return to the earth; and His faithful followers are today waiting and
watching for the signs of the great fulfillment. The Heavens are flaming with
those signals, and the burden of inspired teaching is again heard- Repent,
repent, for the kingdom of Heaven is at hand.2
As people of faith become more aware of the fact that the day of the Lord is at hand, they will grow ever more desirous of being included in the first resurrection. To be counted among the first to receive the glorious news of the arrival of the Second Advent is a great blessing (Rev. 20:6).
The Principle offers clear and precise answers to the most important questions concerning the Advent of Christ in our time: how, when, and where will Christ come again? First, let's consider the Principle view on the manner in which Christ will come to the earth at his Second Advent.
Unlike the membership of some Christian denominations which believe that they will meet Christ in the air or on the clouds at the Second Advent, Latter-day Saints are clearly expecting the Second Advent to occur here on the earth as expressed in the tenth "Article of Faith": We believe . . . that Christ will reign personally upon the earth . . ."3 In this regard, Mormon doctrine is in complete agreement with the Principle. However, in Mormon doctrine, the question of how he will arrive on the earth is not as clear. Perhaps the most common understanding among Latter-day Saints today is that he will come down from Heaven on the clouds, similar to the way he ascended into Heaven. About this, the Divine Principle provides new insight and understanding.
The best way that we can come to understand how the Second Coming takes place is to think about the second coming of Elijah. Based on the prophecy of Malachi (Mal. 4:5), the Jewish people were expecting God to send Elijah before the coming of Christ at his First Advent. They imagined that Elijah himself would come down from Heaven in a similar way to his departure 900 years before in a flaming chariot. However, from the testimony of Jesus himself we know that another man, John the Baptist, was sent by God in the spirit and power of Elijah, fulfilling the prophecy. (Matt. 11:14, Matt. 17:13) Even so, few believed this at that time.
Similarly, there were two schools of thought concerning how Jesus would come to earth at the First Advent. These trends were supported by Old Testament prophecies which give two different scenarios. On the one hand, the prophet Daniel predicted that the Lord will come to the earth from Heaven on a cloud (Dan. 7:13). On the other hand, the prophet Micah envisioned that the Messiah would be born on the earth. (Micah 5:2). Because Daniel was more popular, and because his concept was widely accepted, most Jewish people believed that Christ would come down from the clouds of Heaven. Let's consider why these two apparently contradictory prophecies actually are saying the same thing.
As we know, Jesus was born in the flesh of a woman, his mother Mary. So, why did Daniel give the prophecy that Christ would come down from Heaven on a cloud? In John 3:13, Jesus said that "No one has ascended into Heaven but he who descended from Heaven, the Son of man." In the Bible, the word "Heaven" is frequently used in the context of great holiness, purity, and greatness. In other words, Jesus was attempting to say that his birth is special in that he is not tainted by the satanic blood lineage, but rather he is truly a descendant of God. Because the Jewish people fell into the trap of taking this prophecy literally rather than realizing that the prophecy was meant to distinguish Jesus as the Son of God, they could not unite with him, leaving Jesus no choice but to face his crucifixion. Let's consider then, what implications these examples have on prophecies concerning the Second Advent.
Today many Latter-day Saints are expecting Jesus of Nazareth himself to suddenly appear in the flesh in various places on the earth. Many Saints might have great difficulty believing that Christ had returned if God sent the Lord of the Second Advent in the same way he sent Jesus at the First Advent, by being born of a woman. Do we find any prophecy which speaks to this possibility? In Rev. 12:1&5 it says: "And a great portent appeared in heaven, a woman . . . brought forth a male child, one who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron but her child was caught up to God and to his throne." According to the Principle, this male child is the Lord of the Second Advent.
Would we expect Jesus himself to be born again through another woman, or is it more likely that another man would come in the spirit and power of Jesus? When we talk about the Second Coming of Christ, many think that only Jesus could fulfill that role. This may be in part because people often associate the name "Christ" with Jesus' last name rather than thinking of it as his God-given position, which means "Anointed One" or "Holy Messiah." (2 Nephi 2:6, 8) Is it not possible that God and Jesus could anoint a new man prepared from before his birth to fulfill the role of the Second Coming of Christ? In Rev. 3: 12 & 21, Jesus said:
He who conquers, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God; never shall he go out of it, and I will write on him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem which comes down from my God out of heaven, and my own new name. He who has an ear, et him hear what the Spirit says to the churches . . . He who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as I myself conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne.
Through this prophecy, all who long to meet and welcome the Lord of the Second Advent cannot help but wonder what Christ's new name is. From these prophecies we cannot help but seriously evaluate our own heart of attendance to the will of God, knowing that the possibility of Christ coming with a new identity clearly exists. Now we turn to the matter of when will Christ come?
Latter-day Saints do not deny that the return of Christ is imminent. According to Mormon Doctrine:
Four days later, April 6, 1843, at the General Conference of the Church, while the Spirit rested upon him, the Prophet [Joseph Smith] said: ". . .There are those of the rising generation who shall not taste death till Christ comes." . . . It is not unreasonable to suppose that many young men had babies at the time of this prophecy and also had other children as much as 50 or 75 years later, assuming for instance that they were married again to younger women. This very probable assumption would bring the date up to, say, the 2nd decade in the 20th century--and the children so born would be members of that same rising generation of which the Prophet spoke. Now if these children lived to the normal age of men generally, they would be alive well past the year 2000 A.D.4
The Principle concurs with this time period as the era in which Christ will return to the earth. To show this, we must review the parallels in history of God's Providence for restoration between the Old Testament Age and the New Testament Age which were covered in the section "Parallels of History" in the previous chapter. The six periods from the time of Jacob to the time of First Advent of Christ was 1930 years. Likewise, the period which began at the time of Jesus and has continued into the twentieth century to the birth of the Lord of the Second Advent has also lasted approximately 1930 years. Because of slight variance in the duration of the time periods, we would expect a difference of at least ten years plus or minus the year 1930 as the year of the returning Messiah's birth. In addition, it was explained in the section "Global Preparation for the Second Advent of Christ" in the previous chapter that following the end of World War I (1918), the era of the Second Advent on the earth had begun. Therefore the Principle clearly teaches that the Lord of the Second Advent was born between 1918 and 1940.
If so, why are the Latter-day Saints generally unaware of this fact? There are at least two explanations for this. First, as with Jesus, the Lord of the Second Advent did not immediately proclaim his Messiahship to the world, but rather, he made steady preparations during a private life from the time he was a young man until he could begin his public ministry. Secondly, as we will learn in greater detail in an upcoming section, like Jesus, the Lord of the Second Advent could not rely on the person whom God had sent to "make the way straight for the Lord," resulting in a forty year wilderness period of great hardship and suffering in order to prepare his own global foundation to proclaim the Second Advent to the World. Now the conditions are right for the proclamation of the Lord of the Second Advent to go out to the four corners of the earth. If you find the suddenness of the Second Coming shocking or unbelievable, consider this passage from Mormon Doctrine:
. . . whenever and wherever the Lord appears, he will come suddenly, that is "quickly in an hour you think not." (D. & C. 51:20). His oft repeated warning, "Behold I come quickly" (D. & C. 35:27), means that when the appointed hour arrives, he will come with a speed and a suddenness which will leave no further time for preparation for that great day.5
And
Therefore, the keys of this dispensation are committed into your hands; and by this ye may know that the great and dreadful day of the Lord is near, even at the doors. (D. & C. 111:16)
With this in mind, let us now inquire as to where Christ will come again.
Just as Jesus was born with a prepared nation to receive him, so too, the Lord of the Second Advent was born in a chosen nation which has been prepared by God. Jesus made it clear in the parable of the "wicked tenants" (Matt. 21:33-43) that Israel would not remain the chosen nation at the Second Coming. In this parable he states: "'Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a nation producing the fruits of it.' When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they perceived that he was speaking about them." (Matt. 21:43-44) According to the Principle, the chosen people after the crucifixion are the devout Christians who believe in the resurrected Jesus. Surely then, the Lord of the Second Advent was born in a Christian nation. But which nation is it? Let us address this matter based on the explanation given in the Divine Principle, which was written with full knowledge of the Messiah's identity by an early disciple.
What are God's criteria for determining the chosen nation at the Second Advent? In the Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, we find our first clue: "But the Son of Man will come as the sign of the coming of the Son of Man, which will be as the light of the morning cometh out of the east."6 The Divine Principle states that Christ will come to a Christian nation from the East. But which Eastern nation will he come from? From ancient times, the nations of the East refer to Korea, Japan, and China. Of these three nations, only one has nurtured Christianity to the point that we would agree it is a Christian nation. In fact, both Japan and Communist China have severely persecuted Christianity. I will now summarize the five explanations the Divine Principle offers for why God selected Korea to be the new chosen nation.
First, Korea has fulfilled the condition to establish the nationwide foundation for restoration through indemnity. As we know, the First Israel suffered the 400 year slavery period in Egypt in order to establish the foundation for the separation from Satan to restore the number forty. Likewise, Christianity, the Second Israel, faced the 400-year persecution by the Roman Empire to fulfill the same condition. The nation of Korea, the Third Israel, fulfilled this condition by suffering extreme persecution as a vassal state of the Japanese Empire for forty years from 1905 to 1945. After annexing Korea by force in 1910, the Korean people were completely deprived of their freedom, became imprisoned, and many patriots were massacred.
Second, Korea is God's front line and Satan's front line. In the Last Days, the world is divided into two worlds, democracy and communism. As discussed in the last chapter, when democracy overtook communism, God could make the final preparations to usher in the Kingdom of Heaven. Therefore, centering on Korea, the Lord of the Second Advent has worked behind the scenes as the commander-in-chief to bring a demise to atheistic world communism, knowing deeply the suffering of his fellow countrymen in Communist North Korea. As God's chosen nation, Korea is an offering for the sake of the restoration of the world. Just as Abraham had to cut his offerings in two to separate Satan, God had to allow Korea to be divided at the 38th parallel into an Abel-type and Cain-type nation. On June 25, 1950, the Korean War broke out, which became a world-wide confrontation between democracy and communism-- in other words, between God and Satan.
Third, Korea is the object of God's heart. In order for anyone to become the object of God's heart, they must know suffering as God has known suffering since the fall of humankind when His precious children gave their souls to the devil. Korea has an incredible history of suffering and the untold misery of having been invaded by foreign powers as many of 500 times. At the same time, there is no record of the peace-loving Korean people ever invading another sovereignty. The Korean people as a whole, are endowed with a profound religiosity. As a whole, the Korean people highly esteem values of loyalty, filial piety, and virtue. This has been possible largely due to their strong Confucian background of family ethics as a homogeneous people with a long history of 4,000 years.
Fourth, there have been prophetical testimonies of the returning Messiah among the Korean people. Koreans have believed since the Yi Dynasty, which lasted for 500 years, that the King of Righteousness, in other words, the Messiah, would appear in Korea, and establish the Millennium while receiving tributes from all the countries of the world. Another reality is the fact that people of faith from every religion in Korea are receiving revelations that the founder of their given religion will appear in Korea. Because God established all of the world's religions to ultimately unite with Christianity, it is no wonder that the person who can accomplish this task is the Messiah. In the face of so many revelations and spiritual phenomena clearly pointing to the Second Advent of Christ in Korea, Christian leaders have chosen to ignore almost all of these signs. This reminds us of the situation Jesus faced in his day. In Matt. 11:25 Jesus said, "I thank thee, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hidden these things from the wise and understanding, and revealed them to babes." This has also been the direct experience of the Lord of the Second Advent.
Fifth, all aspects of culture and civilization flourish in Korea. Korea's unique ability to harmonize the two aspects of culture--spirit and material--have allowed Korea to become one of the fastest growing developing nations, poised to become an economic powerhouse in a world economy which is down-sizing and laying off workers. These signs are now ever-present in economic giants including the United States, Great Britain, Germany, and Japan. However, as a nation which has fostered such tremendous religious diversity and unparalleled religious devotion, Koreans bring a beautiful spirit of reverence to virtually everything they do. Furthermore, the ideology of the Lord of the Second Advent has the total potential necessary to unify all of the modern trends of thought including politics, philosophy, and theology and thus solve all the social problems which plague humanity. The Messiah is also calling for the unification of science and religion to overcome man's two aspects of ignorance, spiritual and physical, in order to establish the God's Kingdom on earth. We now turn our attention to the identity and early history of the Lord of the Second Advent.
3) The Appearance of the Lord of the Second Advent
And angels shall fly through the midst of heaven, crying with a loud voice,
sounding the trump of God, saying: Prepare ye, prepare ye, O inhabitants of the
earth; for the judgement of our God is come. Behold, and lo, the Bridegroom
cometh; go ye out to meet him. (D. & C. 88: 92)
The Lord of the Second Advent was born in the coastal village of Chongju located near the Yellow Sea in what is now North Korea on January 6, 1920, by the Lunar calendar. His parents and forefathers were poor farmers in Korea who tilled the soil for centuries. The Moon family converted from Confucianism to Christianity in 1930 when Sun Myung Moon was ten years old. As a boy, Sun Myung Moon had many special qualities and unusual gifts, all of which would be challenged on the fateful day of April 17, 1935 when Jesus appeared to him. At the age of sixteen (according to the Korean counting custom) Sun Myung Moon received his call from Jesus Christ while praying on a Korean mountainside. After speaking at length about the state of Christianity and the world, Jesus asked Sun Myung Moon to continue the work which he (Jesus) had left unfinished and to promise to establish the Kingdom of Heaven on earth. Startled by Jesus' request, the young Moon refused not once but twice, even though Jesus pleaded with him that there was "nobody except you who can carry out this important work." After pondering his situation, Sun Myung Moon finally promised to himself to establish the Kingdom of Heaven on earth but remained unwilling to promise this to Jesus. Upon Jesus' third appearance, the young man told Jesus of his promise to himself, thus ameliorating the desperation of Jesus Christ.
For the next nine years, Sun Myung Moon lead an often solitary life, studying the Bible, praying, fasting and receiving revelations from God. During this time he single-handedly struggled with and overcame the dark forces of the satanic world. In order to prepare for the impossible nature of his mission, he chose a life of strict physical discipline and utter self-denial. During this time he also gained a formal education, ranging from a Korean school which taught Confucian values to the finest private university in Japan, Waseda University, where he studied electrical engineering until graduating in September of 1943. While studying in Japan, he became a political activist leader, demonstrating for Korea's freedom from Japanese rule. His activities resulted in, among other things, interrogation and brutal torture several times by Japanese police. There are numerous amazing anecdotes and true stories of Reverend Moon's early life which clearly testify to his Messianic character and sacrificial lifestyle. More than anything else, he came to experience personally the deep broken hearts of Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, shedding countless tears of comfort, determining to bring absolute victory in relieving their suffering by overcoming the satanic sovereignty and liberating humanity from the forces of evil. At the end of World War II, he was determined to find Christian groups in Korea's largest city of Seoul who had been prepared to receive the Lord of the Second Advent.
4) The Failure of American Christianity at the Second Advent
When he again visits the earth, he will come to thoroughly purge his kingdom
from wickedness, and as ruler of the nations, to dictate and administer to them
as the heir to the kingdom; and the Gentiles will be as much mistaken in regard
to his second advent as the Jews were in relation to the first.7
-Brigham Young
In Korea, American Christianity is the foundation of their Christian heritage. Therefore, when we think of the Korean Christians God prepared to receive and welcome Reverend Moon at the end of World War II, we cannot help but acknowledge the role of American Christianity. Just as God prepared John the Baptist to fulfill the mission of Elijah in making the way straight for the Lord Jesus, God prepared a Korean minister who ran a seminary and led an indigenous sect in the capital city of Seoul to make the way straight for Sun Myung Moon. We can imagine God's great hope and expectation for this one Korean minister, who represented not only Korean Christianity, but indeed, world Christianity. Like John the Baptist before him, his fate from birth was to completely submit himself to Christ and proclaim his glorious advent to all of the Second Israel.
The democratic world at the end of World War II was unified under England, America, and France and was uniquely prepared by God for the Messiah to take the global stage. Working through the established sovereignties, he would offer salvation and physical redemption to all humanity. As with Jesus, this primary dispensation hinged on the responsibility of the person who came in the spirit and power of Elijah to absolutely fulfill his God-given mission on behalf of the Messiah for the sake of all humanity. Unfortunately, as with John the Baptist, the minister known as Elder Kim would not accept Sun Myung Moon's testimony that he was called by God to be a special prophet of Korea. He was not the last Christian minister to reject him. Even though the young Reverend Moon could attract Christians individually, he could not gain the needed support of entire congregations. James Talmage's words about Jesus give insight into Reverend Moon's situation in Korea in 1945:
Nevertheless, in spite of abundant and most explicit testimony of scripture, so-called Christian sects of the day are practically a unit in declaring that direct revelation ceased with the apostles or even before their time; that further communication from the heavens is unnecessary; and that to expect such is unscriptural. In assuming this position the discordant sects of the day are but following the path that was trodden by unbelievers in earlier times. The recreant Jews rejected the Savior because He came to them with a new revelation. Had they not Moses and the prophets to guide them, and what more did they need? They openly boasted: "We are Moses' disciples" and added: "We know that God spake unto Moses: as for this fellow, we know not from whence he is.8
Upon realizing that Elder Kim and anyone else qualified to make the way straight for the Lord would not unite and support him, Reverend Moon had no choice but to follow Jesus' model wilderness course by initiating a forty-year path of tremendous suffering and misery to make a worldwide foundation to fulfill his Messianic responsibility and usher in the Kingdom of Heaven on earth. As a result of the rejection of Elder Kim and others who represented the worldwide Christian foundation, the Second Israel of Christianity was invaded by Satan and subject to extreme persecution, corruption and the decline of their moral authority. As prophesied in Doctrine & Covenants:
And it shall come to pass that I, the Lord God, will send one mighty and strong, holding the scepter of power in his hand, clothed with light for a covering, whose mouth shall utter words, eternal words; while his bowels shall be a fountain of truth, to set in order the house of God, and to arrange by lot the inheritances of the saints whose names are found, and the names of their fathers, and of their children, enrolled in the book of the law of God. While that man, who was called by God and appointed, that putteth forth his hand to steady the ark of God, shall fall by the shaft of death, like as a tree that is smitten by the vivid shaft of lightning. And all they who are not found written in the book of remembrance shall find none inheritance in that day, but they shall be cut asunder, and their portion shall be appointed them among unbelievers, where are wailing and gnashing of teeth. (D. & C. 85:7-9)
Just months after Reverend Moon's rejection, in early 1946, the Soviets set up a Provisional People's Committee for North Korea which, under the eventual leadership of North Korean Premier Kim Il-Sung, would oversee the murder of countless Korean Christians who had risen up to challenge the communist takeover. Next, let's look briefly at the nature of the forty-year wilderness course, appreciating that the extent of Reverend Moon's suffering and hardship is known only Heavenly Father and himself.
5) The Lord of the Second Advent's Forty-Year Wilderness Course
Wise men in these nations should have gone to Rev. Moon and offered to follow
and serve him. But this idea never occurred to them; they had no idea that God
expected this of them. It was exactly the same situation as at Jesus' time.
People were looking at the sky. With that knowledge, we understand why they
oppose Father. So even though Rev. Moon was not crucified physically, it
amounted to the same thing, because everyone denied him. These nations should
have become one with Father. If they had, heaven on earth would have been
achieved almost instantaneously. It would have taken only seven years to
restore the world to the ideal, period. But the failure of 2,000 years ago was
repeated. Just as Jesus was denied, Reverend Moon was denied. So what was
waiting for Rev. Moon? God and Reverend Moon were chased out into the
wilderness. God worked so hard for 6,000 years to establish a victory. That
victory was lost overnight. Everything was claimed by Satan, and Reverend Moon
was chased out into the wilderness. Nobody other than Father knew this. The
whole of humankind was within arm's reach, ready to be saved, but no one came.
Overnight, the whole foundation which God prepared was dumped into Satan's
camp, and now this one single person, Reverend Moon, together with God, had to
figure out some plan to reindemnify the whole foundation.9
Reverend Moon's forty-year wilderness course took place from the end of World II until in 1945 until 1985. During this period, he was severely persecuted, brutally tortured, and maliciously slandered. Since he received his call from Jesus, Reverend Moon has been imprisoned and jailed for doing the Will of God six times in three different countries, including Japan, Korea, and the United States. Pulitzer Prize-winning author Carlton Sherwood gives the following account from 1947 as but one example of Reverend Moon's torture experiences during his wilderness experience:
The episode was reminiscent of his experience at the hands of Japanese police during his college days. Indeed, the North Koreans used methods of torture learned during forty years of domination by the Japanese. But this time, for Moon, the torture was much more brutal. He was hung up from the ceiling with his hands tied behind his back. Beaten until he was unconscious, he was cut loose to drop to the cement floor, doused with water until he came to, only to be strung up and beaten again. This procedure was repeated until he couldn't be revived. At the end of October, after more than six weeks in jail, the would-be prophet was thrown out the back door of the police station, half dead from internal bleeding, into a snowdrift. Luckily some of his few followers found him and nursed Moon back to health with herbal medicines. At first, he vomited blood every day. His condition was so grave at one point that his followers began preparing for his funeral.10
According to Chong Sung Ahn, during this time, Reverend Moon underwent no less than seven forms of brutal torture and was so near death as to repeat the tragic nature of Jesus' crucifixion. Fortunately, he came back to life to fulfill his earthly mission. Having endured such tremendous torture without having committed any sin and without harboring any complaint or resentment against his captors, Satan had to give up to Reverend Moon the Parent's right, the King of King's right, and the right of dominion over all of fallen humankind. In this way, Reverend Moon gained the qualification from Satan, who had invaded the Second Israel, to fufill his God-given role as the True Father of all humanity. Less than one year later, he would be imprisoned in a North Korean labor concentration camp where most prisoners survived for only six months. Reverend Moon endured it for nearly three years until he was liberated by American B-29 Bombers at the end of the Korean War in August of 1950. Remarkably, at the time of his release, he had been slated to be executed the next day. Countless other instances of persecution would follow, becoming a hallmark of Reverend Moon's ministry.
In 1951, the work of transcribing Reverend Moon's revelations by his early disciples began, later culminating in what is known today as the Divine Principle. Three years later, on May 1st, 1954, Reverend Moon founded his church, which is known as: The Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity. The Unification Church has a long and distinguished track record of untold suffering and sacrifice for the fulfillment of God's Will. The history of the Unification Church is much too long and involved to be included in this short treatise. However, this glorious history is open to anyone to study and investigate. In the next section, we will learn of one of the greatest victories in God's 6,000 years of dispensational history which took place during Reverend Moon's forty-year wilderness course.
6) The Marriage Supper of the Lamb
Yea, a supper of the house of the Lord, well prepared, unto which all nations
shall be invited. First, the rich and the learned, the wise and the noble;
And after that cometh the day of my power; then shall the poor, the lame, and
the blind, and the deaf, come in unto the marriage of the Lamb, and partake of
the supper of the Lord, prepared for the great day to come. Behold, I, the
Lord, have spoken it. (D. & C. 58:9-12)
In 1960, Reverend Moon was Blessed by God in eternal holy matrimony to his wife and now mother of thirteen, Mrs. Hak Ja Han Moon, thereby restoring the ideal of True Parents substantially on earth for the first time in human history. The Wedding Supper of the Lamb has been a source of enormous hope and comfort for God and millions of people who love and are proud of the awesome victory True Parents have achieved on behalf of all humankind. It is the innermost desire of True Parents to see all humanity rise to the occasion of becoming True Parents in their own right. As a perfected couple absolutely centered on the True Love of God, True Parents embody the ideal envisioned by God for Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. To become the first True Parents in human history, True Father and True Mother had to triumph over incredible hardships and difficulties to pioneer the path for all humanity to follow.
Mrs. Moon's personal testimony is filled with amazing interventions by God as well as prophecy of her future fate as the bride of the Messiah from before her birth. Her mother, known affectionately as Grandmother Hong, was an early disciple of Reverend Moon who raised her daughter with strict religious discipline in preparation for her future role. As a dutiful and loving wife with a global vision for God's ideal of True Love being made manifest in each and every family all over the world, Mrs. Moon is new role model for women everywhere who seek both to raise beautiful and prosperous families while expressing a commitment to contributing to the family, community, society, nation, and world. As the co-founder of the Women's Federation for World Peace, Mrs. Moon has addressed millions of women all over the world, speaking in more than forty nations about the role of women in building a peaceful world. She has also proudly defended the persecuted life of her husband in public as in this excerpt from a speech she delivered all over the world:
For decades, my husband has been completely misunderstood. For three years, he was imprisoned in a North Korean communist concentration camp. Altogether, he has been wrongly imprisoned six times for doing God's work. Moreover, the media have mocked him as a monster who brainwashes the young for self-benefit. Can anyone disagree when I say that Reverend Moon is the most persecuted religious leader in the world? My heart is broken when I think of how my husband has suffered. But he always comforts me, reassuring me that God has deep compassion for those persecuted for doing His work.11
While fulfilling her role as an exemplary wife and mother, True Mother endeavors to love all people of the world as she loves her own children. As the True Parents of all humankind, Reverend and Mrs. Moon have a deep and eager longing to see all forms of suffering and evil eradicated from earth. With their deep desire comes the conviction to carry out the necessary work worldwide to usher in the Kingdom of Heaven on earth. In the next chapter, we will explore the Ideal of the True Family and the role of the International Holy Wedding Blessing Ceremony as the means to become "engrafted" into the sinless blood-lineage of True Parents and be cleansed of all sin, spiritually and physically. Let's now get a glimpse into Reverend Moon's role in the collapse of the Communist empire worldwide.
7. Victory Over Communism
And his voice shall be heard: I have trodden the winepress alone, and have
brought judgement upon all people; and none were with me . . . And now the year
of my redeemed is come; and they shall mention the loving kindness of their
Lord, and all that he has bestowed upon them according to his goodness, and
according to his loving kindness, forever and ever. In all their afflictions
he was afflicted. And the angel of his presence saved them; and in his love,
and in his pity, he redeemed them, and bore them, and carried them all the days
of old. (D. & C. 133:50, 52-53)
Having been born in North Korea before it became communized, Reverend Moon knows firsthand the flaws, arrogance, and evils of atheistic Marxism. Given his deep experience of the love of God, Reverend Moon has often said that he does not despise Karl Marx, but rather, he recognizes that Marxism is a failed ideology. Also, as a materialistic ideology, it is a Cain-type imitation of God's Ideal for the Kingdom of Heaven on earth. In the words of Mormon Doctrine:
Basically and chiefly, Communism is a form of false religion; it is one of the major divisions of the church of the devil. It denies God and Christ; belittles Christianity; runs counter to the moral and ethical standards of religion and decency; denies men their agency; wrenches from them their inalienable rights; and swallows the individual and his well-being up in the formless mass of the state.12
Having been imprisoned in a communist concentration camp, Reverend Moon also knows the brutality of the communist regimes. While the story of Reverend Moon's decisive role in the demise of communism has yet to be written, we can find very convincing examples of his leadership against this menace, which at one time was the greatest concern in the success of God's dispensation for restoration centering on the True Parents. What exactly did Reverend Moon do to end Communism? Let's look further into this matter.
To begin with, Reverend Moon launched an international anti-communist movement known as "Victory Over Communism" and "CAUSA International." This movement brought together civic leaders, religious leaders, senators and congressmen here in America and their counterparts in Japan and Korea to be educated and informed as to why Marxism is a flawed ideology and to expose all of its shortcomings. CAUSA and VOC also organized enormous rallies in South Korea to counter strong infiltration by North Korean Communists. Also, to offer clear guidance and direction at a time when Communists had gained a strong foothold in universities and government agencies here in America, and when there was no conservative daily newspaper in Washington, Reverend Moon founded the Washington Times in 1982 with the express purpose of it serving as an instrument for anti-communist leadership and awareness in the nation's capital. The Times directly challenged the agenda of the liberal Washington Post, which was sympathetic to the goals of world communism. In the first ten years of its operation, Reverend Moon invested over one billion dollars to establish the paper as a viable rival to the Post. When Ronald Reagan was President, the Washington Times was the first newspaper he read each morning. Through the Washington Times, initiatives such as the Strategic Defense Initiative (S.D.I.) or "Star Wars" was championed as a viable means to gain a decisive advantage in the nuclear arms race by demonstrating the perceived ability to protect the United States from a nuclear missile attack. Also, Reverend Moon offered unprecedented leadership in urging Congress to reinstate funding to the Freedom Fighters in Nicaragua at a time when that nation was in serious jeopardy of falling to communism.
In addition to these and many other efforts to fight communism, we can appreciate the threat which Reverend Moon posed to Communist nations by considering their reaction to him. According to the Soviet press before the fall of communism, the world's greatest enemy of communism was none other than Reverend Sun Myung Moon. In addition, communist leaders from the U.S.S.R. and China once conspired to have Reverend Moon assassinated. Twelve Red Chinese secret agents who had been sent to the United States were apprehended by the F.B.I. before they could do any harm. Reverend Moon knew the invisible spiritual reality behind communism and therefore, accurately predicted in 1976 that communism would in 1988 lose its power and decline until its total collapse.
After its demise, Reverend Moon travelled to Moscow in April of 1990 and met with former President Mikhail Gorbachev, offering advice for transitioning to a free-market economy. He pledged his support to help democracy take root in the former communist empire. Also, in 1991, Reverend Moon met the modern world's longest sitting president, Kim-Il Sung of North Korea, who had at one time been Reverend Moon's greatest foe. According to Reverend Moon, Kim-Il Sung, as the self-proclaimed "great leader" of the satanic communist regime in North Korea, was the literal fulfillment of the Anti-Christ. Upon meeting with Kim-Il Sung, Reverend Moon offered reconciliation, forgiveness, and the hand of friendship to help the hermit nation make contact with the West. From these examples, we have but a glimpse of the decisive role of Reverend Moon in the fall of world communism. Even though Communism fell in 1989, four years after the completion of the forty-year wilderness course, the reappearance of the Lord of the Second Advent would not take place on the world-wide level until 1993.
8) The Reappearance of the Lord of the Second Advent
Then shall they know that I am the Lord; for I will say unto them: These wounds
are the wounds with which I was wounded in the house of my friends. I am he
who was lifted up. I am Jesus that was crucified. I am the Son of God. And
then shall they weep because of their iniquities; then shall they lament
because they persecuted their king. And then shall the heathen nations be
redeemed, and they that knew no law shall have part in the first resurrection;
and it shall be tolerable for them. And Satan shall be bound, that he shall
have no place in the hearts of the children of men. And at that day, when I
shall come in my glory, shall the parable be fulfilled which I spake concerning
the ten virgins. For they that are wise and have received the truth, and have
taken the Holy Spirit for their guide, and have not been deceived--verily I say
unto you, they shall not be hewn down and cast into the fire, but shall abide
the day. And the earth shall be given unto them for an inheritance; and they
shall multiply and be strong, and their children shall grow up without sin unto
salvation. For the Lord shall be in their midst, and his glory shall be upon
them, and he will be their lawgiver
. . . Wherefore I, the Lord, have said, gather ye out from the eastern lands, assemble ye yourselves together ye elders of my church; go ye forth into the western countries, call upon the inhabitants to repent, and inasmuch as they do repent, build up churches unto me. (D. & C. 45:52-59, 64)
True Parents teach that if True Father had been received as the Lord of the Second Advent in 1945, the Kingdom of Heaven on earth would surely have been established within seven years, by 1952. This would have come about on the global level through the cooperation of the leaders of these nations. During the forty-year period from 1952 until 1992 True Parents indemnified everything necessary in order for the new age which will usher in the Kingdom of Heaven on earth to begin. This era is known as the "Completed Testament Age." From May through December 1993, True Parents shared their proclamation "True Parents and the Completed Age" speaking publicly in 40 nations and in all 50 U.S. states. In this speech Reverend and Mrs. Moon boldly declare their providential role as the first True Parents in human history fulfilling God's original ideal for Adam and Eve. Mrs. Moon also shared this message to members of Congress at the U.S. Capitol and to ambassadors at the United Nations. Today, True Parents, standing on the worldwide level, are personally entering the age of Kingship where they working to achieve lasting world peace as the King of Kings. True Parents' worldwide foundation reaches into virtually every area of human endeavor, including education, religion, the arts, science and technology, business, politics, and mass communications. Many of the organizations founded by Reverend & Mrs. Moon are dedicated to bringing about lasting world peace. True Parents are also champions of sharing technology from developed countries with underdeveloped countries. Also, through farming and fishing enterprises all over the world, True Parents intend to make a historic difference in ending world hunger. Also, after the fall of communism, True Parents rededicated the Washington Times newspaper to the cause of saving the youth and families from immorality and other forces in society which contribute to family breakdown. In the next chapter, we will look more in depth at Reverend and Mrs. Moon's vision for eternal marriage, one God-centered global family, and the cleansing of all sin by "engrafting" humanity into the sinless blood-lineage of God.
1 McConkie, Bruce. Mormon Doctrine. Salt Lake City: Bookcraft. 1996. p. 696.
2 Talmage, James E., The Articles of Faith. Salt Lake City: The Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 1988. p. 357.
3 Ibid. p. 357.
4 McConkie, Op. Cit. pp. 692-693.
5 Ibid. p. 694.
6 Smith, Joseph. Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith. p. 287.
7 Young, Brigham. Journal of Discourses. Vol. 8 p. 115.
8 Talmage, Op. Cit. p. 308.
9 Moon, Reverend Sun Myung. "The Reappearance of the Second Coming and the
Completed Testament Era." New York: The Holy Spirit Association for the
Unification of World Christianity. Sermon given at Belvedere International
Training Center; Tarrytown, New York. Col. San Kil Han, Interpreter. January
10, 1993. p. 50.
10 Sherwood, Carlton. Inquisition: the Persecution and Prosecution of the
Reverend Sun Myung Moon. Washington D.C.: Regnery Gateway. 1991. pp. 475-476.
11 Moon, Hak Ja Han. "True Parents and the Completed Testament Age." Public
speech given from May until July 1993 in 44 U.S. Cities and at 40 nations. New
York: HSA-UWC. p. 5.
12 McConkie, Op. Cit. p. 151.
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