[Shincheonji To the World] South Korea's 'anointed' one, Man Hee Lee, to visit Southland

Spiritual leader Man Hee Lee, greeting followers in Berlin

South Korea's 'anointed' one, Man Hee Lee, to visit Southland

It could be on a par with a Billy Graham revival as later this month a Southland church hosts a South Korean religious leader, whose increasing worldwide following of all races fervently believe Jesus has commanded him to testify about the Revelation.

On July 21, The Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove, will host a lecture from the Christian Instructor Man Hee Lee, spiritual leader and founder of the Tabernacle of the Testimony (which derives its name from Revelation 15:5), who will testify to the fulfillment of the New Testament prophecies — specifically to the time of the end in Matthew 13 and 24, and the entire book of Revelation.

Monai Thornton, a 24-year-old African-American Long Beach, Cal State university student, will be one of the expected throng to hear his “truth.”

According to the Tabernacle’s lightmeetslight.com website, Lee is a descendant of a Korean royal family of the Joseon Dynasty with a lineage tracing back 500 years.

Born in 1931 in the rural town of Gyeongbuk Cheongdo, as the 7th of 12 sons, it is said his grandfather saw a radiant light shining upon Lee’s mother, and named him Man Hee, meaning light.

A former member of the Korean Special Forces, it’s claimed Lee’s transformation came in the midst of prayer when a huge star came down and a bright heavenly figure appeared, introduced himself as Jesus and anointed him.

“According to his command, I went to a church named the Tabernacle Temple in Cheongdo where I saw and heard the events right before my very eyes that were fulfilling Revelation. What I am testifying to is the fulfillment of Revelation.”

Lee’s Tabernacle of the Testimony, headquartered in South Korea with 53 church branches, boasts 140,000 worldwide members, and claims to have established 300 seminary schools, graduating more than 85,000 students.

His Open Bible Seminars, like the one scheduled in Garden Grove, draw thousands of attendees; he testified in Europe in May when over 500 pastors heard him speak in Berlin, and has a return engagement on July 4.

“I’ve learned so much from these bible studies, and the reason is because of this person,” said Thornton, who first attended a Tabernacle seminar through a friend.

“He has seen and heard the events in Revelation. A lot of the time stuff in the bible doesn’t make sense and it’s hard too understand. So, you get bogged down and you’re like I can never understand God. But he makes it so easy; it’s really grown my faith and I feel like a new person.”

Thornton, who said she is “excited, happy and curious,” with the prospect of seeing Lee in person, dismissed any idea that the Tabernacle might be some sort of cult.

“No, we believe in God as Christians,” she replied. “We’re not following him like he’s Jesus or anything like that. He’s teaching us a lot, so we give him gratitude. We’re not trying to raise him up like he’s some kind of grand person. We’re not going to move off into the middle of nowhere or something like that.”

source: http://wavenewspapers.com/news/local/west_edition/article_f35171d6-c6f5-11e1-a361-001a4bcf6878.html#user-comment-area

[Shincheonji Bible Story] Classification of the Biblical History - Jesus Christ

● Betrayal of Israel, Moses’ world, and the promise of God

God made a covenant with Israel, the world of Moses (Ex19:5-6). But that covenant was broken as they did not keep the covenant and bowed to the gentile gods at the time of Solomon. This event led Israel to be split into the northern and the southern part. And both of them violated and betrayed the covenant like Adam(Hos6:7). God did not give up, however, and began to give promises regarding future events through the prophets, and this promise made up of the Old Testament.

God conveyed this promise to Israel that betrayed for the next 600~700 years. What was the true entity of the Old Testament? It was sending the Messiah to save God's chosen people.

At the appointed time, God's promise was fulfilled by the coming of Jesus.

How was the response of the physical Israelites to Jesus?

At this time, the people of Physical Israel(Moses' generation) did not realize that they broke the covenant through their transgression at the time of Solomon (1Kings11), and that they were sinners who betrayed by worshiping gentile gods. Rather, they still believed that they were the orthodoxy and the chosen people. They did not know that God had already left them, and they called Jesus a cult and demon-possessed. Just like Adams’ world that was destroyed through the flood, they considered themselves the orthodoxy and God’s chosen people.

To them, Jesus explained that they had become the children of Satan and that they must be reborn to enter into the kingdom of heaven(Jn3:5~6), but they did not perceive this. They were totally oblivious to what they promised with God and insusceptible about that they broke the covenant.

And so as promised in Jer31:31~32, Jesus made a new covenant with those who received him as God's son in Lk22:14~20. We, Christians, are the recipient of this promise. So let us try to view ourselves to the mirror of the bible whether we live by the new covenant.

[Shincheonji Bible Story] Classification of the Biblical Era - Joshua

The Reality of Joshua's Generation

After the death of Moses, the physical Israelites led by Joshua, entered into the land of Canaan and worshiped God. (Jos24:31, Jud2:6~7)

Jos24:31 Israel served the LORD throughout the lifetime of Joshua and of the elders who outlived him and who had experienced everything the LORD had done for Israel.

After the death of Joshua, however, they did not pay careful attention to God's commandment and acted on their own accords. That is, they forgot about the fact that they made a covenant at Shechem.(Jos24:25~27)

Jos24:25~27 On that day Joshua made a covenant for the people, and there at Shechem he drew up for them decrees and laws. And Joshua recorded these things in the Book of the Law of God. Then he took a large stone and set it up there under the oak near the holy place of the LORD.

"See!" he said to all the people. "This stone will be a witness against us. It has heard all the words the LORD has said to us. It will be a witness against you if you are untrue to your God."

Even in the era of Judges, the circle of their rebellious action repeated on and on.

One of the most prominent betrayers was Solomon, who was the third king of Israel. As the son of the King David, he was endowed with much of wisdom, wealth and honor from God.

But he gave way to Satan by marrying with over 1,000 gentile women. 1King 11 portrays well how Solomon came to bow to gentile gods and turn his back to God's will. The king's betrayal indicates the lax state of people's mind.

Finally, God made a decision to split Israel into the two countries and send the Messiah as the only way of saving the Israelites.

Prophets from Isaiah to Malachi were the messengers to deliver God's messages on the coming of Messiah.(Mal3:1, Ps2:6~7, Isa61:1~3, Jer31:22) Therefore, to accept and understand their sayings was a right path to keep God's promise.

But what was the reality of them at that time? Did they well receive God's words? Or vice versa?

I guess that most of you are well aware of how they were.

Next time, let us examine what the Israelites were like at the time of Messiah's coming.

[Shincheonji Bible Story] Classification of the Biblical Era - Moses

Beginning of Moses' Generation

From the previous posting, we went over God's promises with Abraham. Actually, they were not to be accomplished in Abraham's time, but to be fulfilled in the future by his descendants. So, today let us examine how God's covenants with Abraham came true in reality.

In summary, God promised Abraham that he would give him the land which at that time was occupied by the Canaanites. And that his descendants would be strangers in a country not 
their own and come back in the fourth generation with great possessions. (Ref. Ge12:6~7, Ge15:13~16)

Time had passed and the appointed time came, which means that the Abraham's descendants, Jacob's family had been in Egypt for 400 years. 
Let us look at Ex2:23~25.

During that long period, the king of Egypt died. The Israelites groaned in their slavery and cried out, and their cry for help because of their slavery went up to God. God heard their groaning and he remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac and with Jacob. So God looked on the Israelites and was concerned about them.(Ex2:23~25)
These verses indicate us that God never fail to remember his promise with his chosen people. How truthful He is! And also He had always been zealous to accomplish his will in every way .(Is37:32) 

At this time, Moses was the one appointed as God's instrument. Born of one of the descendants of Levi, Moses was adopted as the son of Pharaoh's daughter, but had to flee 
to Midian for killing the Egyptian. After 40 years there, he was chosen by God to be sent back to the Israelites in Egypt to save them.(Ex3:13~14)

Only after the 10 plagues were done on Egypt, Pharaoh reluctantly let them go.
In the third month after leaving Egypt, God called to them on the Desert of Sinai and made the covenant with them according to Ex19:5~6.

Ex19:5~6  Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be 
                  my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a 
                  kingdom of priests and a holy nation. These are the words you are to speak to the 
                  Israelites.

Being the one chosen by God, Moses was faithful to fulfill God's will going through 40-years life of wilderness with the Israelites.
And finally, the Israelites were about to enter the land of Canaan. On Mount Nebo, which overlooks the land Canaan, however, Moses came to die because of his sin that he did not uphold God's holiness in the presence of the Israelites at the waters of Meribah Kadesh.(Ex32:50~52)

Afterward, through Joshua, who used to be one of the explorers of Canaan, the Israelites crossed the Jordan River and came into the land of Canaan.(Jos 4) With the help of God, he distributed the land to the Israelites according to their tribal divisions. 
It shows that God definitely fulfilled what he had promised to Abraham 500 years ago. 

Looking through the Bible history, we strongly perceive that God is so determined to fulfill His promise that all the circumstances including people are to be utilized in realizing his will. 
And one more thing to take note of is that when his old promise is fulfilled and the new era begins,  he makes another covenant with the  people belonging to that era. 

Along those lines, let us take a look at the commandments Joshua left to the Israelites before his death as followings:

1. Be very strong; be careful to obey all that is written in the Book of Law of Moses, without turning aside to the right or to the left.(Jos23:6)

2. Do not associate with these nations that remain among you, do not invoke the names of their gods or swear by them. If you turn away and ally yourselves with the survivors of these nations that remain among you and if you intermarry with them and associate with them, then you may be sure that the LORD your God will no longer drive out these nations before you and instead they will become snares and traps for you.(Jos23:7, 12~13)

These were the commandments from God delivered by Joshua. And as it always had been, the difference of the outcome of those who keep and  of those who do not would be huge. 

Through the series of 'The Classification of the Biblical Era', we are examining how God has been setting up the Covenants with his chosen people and how it has been fulfilled and what was the difference of the outcome of the obedient and the disobedient.

Hope you the readers to glimpse God's true way of working through this series. 

On the next posting will be how the Israelites acted in the land of Canaan and what way God presented to them.

[Shincheonji Bible Story] Classification of the Biblical Era - Abraham

Creation of Abraham's Generation

When the sin of Noah's offsprings, the Canaanites reached its full measure, God chose Abraham to fulfill His desire. With him, God made covenants.(Ps89:3)

http://www.google.com/imgres?start=199&hl=en&authuser=0&biw=1024&bih=405&tbm=isch&tbnid=t-3LalY5Q-JoXM:&imgrefurl=http://www.buenanueva.net/biblia/1-biblia1er_Grado/3_biblia1-abraham.html&docid=gx8BQQS3c_X0HM&imgurl=http://www.buenanueva.net/biblia/1-biblia1er_Grado/1imag-lecc3/3abraham-isaac-altar500.jpg&w=500&h=625&ei=1gTTUYTNIaryiAflvYGQDg&zoom=1&iact=rc&page=11&tbnh=147&tbnw=116&ndsp=19&ved=1t:429,r:2,s:200,i:10&tx=57&ty=109

>> God's Covenants wih Abraham
(1) The LORD  would give Abraham the land where the Canaanites were residing.
(Ref. Ge12:7)
(2) Abraham's offspring will be countless like stars in the heavens.
(Ref. Ge13:16, Ge15:5, Ge17:4~7)
(3) Abraham's descendants will be strangers in a country not their own and come back in the fourth generation with great possessions.
(Ref. Ge15:13~16)
(4) Through Isaac, Abraham's offspring, all nations on earth will be blessed.
(Ref. Ge21:12, Ge22:17~18)

Specifically through the covenant No.(1), we can perceive that God neither ignored nor endured the sin of the Canaanites and determined to punish them through Abraham's descendants.
The Canaanites were the descendants of Ham and Abraham was the descendant of Shem.

Abraham gave birth to two sons, who were Ishmael and Isaac. In accordance with God's will, Isaac continued bloodlineage as the child of promise of God.

As one of the two sons of Isaac, Jacob established the 12-tribes physical Israelites with his twelve sons.

In God's providence 70 members of Jacob's family went to Egypt. During 400 years in Egypt, they increased in number amounting to six hundred thousand of men on foot, besides women and children.(Ex12:37~42)

Four hundreds' length of time  was a preliminary for God to prepare Abraham's offsprings to conquer the Canaanites. With God's promise reaching its term, it came to be fulfilled by Moses, who was born of Jacob's ancestry.

Through God's untiring efforts to fulfill his will, we should think about ourselves how much we are earnest in understanding and living by God's true will. Without it, we will end up being the entity judged against God's words.

Through next posting, let us find out how all the covenants to Abraham were fulfilled by Moses and his generation.

[Shincheonji Bible Story] Classification of the Biblical Era - Noah 2

source: http://joyfulpapist.wordpress.com/tag/noahs-ark/

1. God's covenant with the newly chosen people

By receiving God's warnings as the guidance of his life of faith, Noah and his family came to open up the new era. And  God made a covenant with them.(Ps89:3)

The contents are as below.

(1) Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth.(Ge9:1)

(2) You must not eat meat that has its lifeblood still in it.(Ge9:4)

(3) Never again will all life be cut off by the waters of a flood; never again will there be a flood to destroy the earth.(Ge9:11)

2. Committing Sins of Noah's Generation
As the recipient of promise, Noah's generation sinned before God just as Adam's generation did.

Ge9:21 When he drank some of its wine, he became drunk and lay uncovered inside his tent. Ham, the father of Canaan, saw his father's nakedness and told his two brothers outside.

To reveal the disgrace of the father, it was the sin before God. Noah cursed Ham and Canaan against it.(Ge9:25)

Afterwards, they moved eastward and settled in a plain in Shinar. They started build the tower that could reach the heavens.
God came down to see them building the tower and confused the language so they will not understand each other, since it was not desirable in God's eyes to do so.

3. The Fall of Noah's generation
Seeing their wickedness, God formed a scheme to condemn the corrupted generation of Canaan through the Shem's descendant, which was Abraham's children. And it was fulfilled by Joshua when conquering the land of Canaan.

From Adam's story on, we can perceive that God cannot bear his chosen people behaving against  God's will, and is sure to condemn those who do that.

As God's children ourselves, how about viewing ourselves in the mirror of the bible whether we are in or out of his will?

Next time, let us examine Abraham and his generation.

[Shincheonji Bible Story] Classification of the Biblical Era - Noah 1

1.     Sins of Adam & his generation & God’s grief over the sinful world

Even though Adam had eaten the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, people of Adam’s generation did not realize that they broke the commandment from God and still thought themselves to be the chosen people. God felt even regret over creating the mankind on the earth.

<Ref. verses: Ge6:5~7>

2.     The new chosen person by God among Adam’s generation

With the result of Adam’s betrayal, there was no one to fulfill God’s will. In this situation God chose Noah among Adam’s generation as the one who would undertake and accomplish God’s tasks.

<Ref. verses: Ge6:8~9>.

3.     Warnings to Adam’s generation who turned back on God’s commandment

God gave to Noah a warning message that he would clear away sinful creatures who do not repent over their sins.

 <Ref. verses: Ge6:13~17>

4.     Condemnation on the sinned generation

At the appointed time, God sent a floodwater on the earth. In the midst of the condemnation through the flood, there were two types of people who survived and who did not. What made the difference between them?

 <Ref. verse: Ge7:23>

* The Outcome of those who survived vs. those who did not survive

   ①  Those who survived: Noah and his family => Greeting the new era acknowledged by God

<Ref. verses: 1Pe3:20, Ge6:22>
   ②  Those who did not: Adam’s generation except Noah’s family => Being condemned to perish

<Ref. verses: Mt24:38~39, Lk17:27, 1Pe3:20>

* What made the huge difference between these two groups?

: Whether to obey God’s message preached by God’s chosen person

5.     Some Survivors, beginning of the new era

As survivors of the flood by obeying God’s words, Noah and his family opened up the new era.

 <Ref. verses: Ge9:1, Ge9:11, Isa1:9>

Through the following posting, we are going to examine what Noah’s generation was like and what they ended up being after all.

[Shincheonji Bible Story] Classification of the Biblical Era - Adam

Ecc1:4 Generations come and generations go, but the earth remains forever.

Through all the biblical history, God has been choosing several individuals to make God’s will known to each era. They include Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses and Jesus.

Through this category, let us examine each era on what had happened and what the result was.

1.     Adam’s generation

In every era, God gives the chosen people his commandments to abide by.

>>  God’s commandments to Adam’s generation

: Do Not Eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil

Ge2:16~17 And the LORD God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.”

Despite being the recipient of God’s commandments, the chosen people forsook God’s word and came to be under Satan’s rule.

Ge3:1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden?”

(Serpent: Symbolic of Satan, Rev20:2 dragon = ancient serpent = devil = Satan)

Ge3:6 When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.

By turning back on God’s commandments, anyone belonging to God was found nowhere in Eden.

Ge3:22~23 And the LORD God said, “The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever.” So the LORD God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken.

By Adam’s committing sins, the original sin came into human’s genealogy and it had gotten even greater as time goes by.

Ge6:6 The LORD was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain.

Ge6:3 Then the LORD said, “My Spirit will not contend with man forever, for he is mortal; his days will be a hundred and twenty years.”

Corruption leads the generation to the end and the new generation follows.

On next posting, let us take a look at the next generation of Adam, which is Noah’s world.