The revelatory phenomena of the Last Days begin with a spiritual awakening. The twentieth century saw the birth of Pentecostalism, exhibiting speaking in tongues and other phenomena of the first Christian church.
Throughout the world, many new sects have arisen based on special revelations to their founders. This spiritual awakening takes many forms, East and West.
Moreover, in the Jewish and Christian scriptures, there are hints that God will reveal deeper aspects of His truth in the Last Days. They indicate that humankind’s current state of knowledge of God’s truth is imperfect and clouded by error.
What of Islam, Buddhism and other religions?
Truth is inexhaustible. Yet disputes over doctrines and teachings among the various denominations and sects have plagued each of the world’s great faith traditions.
It stands to reason that in the Last Days, a new expression of truth will come to clearly distinguish truth from error, put an end to religious disputes, and guide all humankind on the path to God.
It may be inevitable that many believers attached to conventional doctrines will reject the new truth when it first appears, as has happened at the birth of every religion.
Nevertheless, if the truth is broad enough to embrace the essential teachings of all the world’s religions with respect and appreciation, it should attract support from all quarters and not become the basis for yet another new sect.
Sun Myung Moon
The Perfect and Complete Truth Will Be Revealed
I have said this to you in figures; the hour is coming when I shall no longer speak to you in figures but tell you plainly of the Father. John 16.25
For our knowledge is imperfect and our prophecy is imperfect; but when the perfect comes, the imperfect will pass away. When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became a man, I gave up childish ways. For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall understand fully. 1 Corinthians 13.9-12
For each [faith community] We have appointed a divine law and a traced-out way… Unto God you will all return, and He will then inform you of that wherein you differ.8 Qur’an 5.48
What is the difference between our times and the messianic times? Purity and attainment of knowledge. Zohar, Genesis 139a (Judaism)
I have yet many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine; therefore, I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you. John 16.12-15
And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams; yea, and on my menservants and my maidservants in those days I will pour out my Spirit; and they shall prophesy. Acts 2.17-18
“And God said, ‘Let there be light!’ and there was light.” (Gen. 1.3) Although God spoke these words to the dwellers on the earth, that ‘light’ refers to the light made for the World to Come. The original light that God created was the higher light, the light of the eye. The Holy One gave Adam a glimpse of it, and at a glance, he saw the entire world. When David beheld it, he was transported to spiritual ecstasy and exclaimed, “O how abundant is thy goodness.” (Psalm 31.19) It was by this light that God showed Moses the Promised Land from Gilead to Dan. Yet from the beginning this divine light was hidden and concealed, as God perceived that the generations of men who lived in the times of Enoch, of Noah, and of the tower of Babel would use it for selfish purposes… Rabbi Isaac said, “The light created by God in the work of creation filled the world with its splendor, but was eventually withdrawn and concealed. Why? So that transgressors of the good law might not participate in it. Therefore the Holy One conceals and preserves it for the days of the Righteous One [the Messiah], as it is written, ‘Light dawns for the Righteous One…’ (Psalm 97.11)
When it shall prevail again throughout the world, humanity will become renewed and live the higher life and become one with angelic life. Until then, however, this divine light is concealed in darkness, which is its covering.” Zohar, Genesis 31b-32a (Judaism)
Sun Myung Moon
Teachings of Sun Myung Moon
The Bible… renders important parts of the truth in symbols and in parables. Since these are open to various interpretations, there have arisen numerous disagreements among believers, causing them to divide into many denominations.
The primary cause of denominational divisions lies in the character of the Bible, not in the people. The strife between denominations will only grow more intractable unless a new truth emerges that can elucidate the symbols and parables obscuring the essential truths of the Bible.
Without this new truth, God’s providence, which comes through the unification of Christianity, can never reach its goal. This is why Jesus promised that in the Last Days he will give us the new Word of truth, “I have said this to you in figures; the hour is coming when I shall no longer speak to you in figures but tell you plainly of the Father.” (John 16.25)
Due to the disbelief of the people of his time, Jesus died on the cross without being able to teach all that was in his heart. As he said, “If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things?” (John 3.12)
What is more, Jesus added, “I have yet many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now” (John 16.12), disclosing how sorrowful he was about the inability of even his closest disciples to receive all that he wanted to share.
Nevertheless, the words that Jesus left unspoken will not remain forever a secret, but one day will be divulged through the Holy Spirit as a new expression of truth.
As Jesus said, “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth; for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.” (John 16.13) (Exposition of the Divine Principle, Eschatology 5.1)
Because human beings fell, God’s word of promise could not appear as the word of fulfillment. That was the case in the Old Testament and the New Testament, which contain promises of a word yet to appear—the word of fulfillment. The lack of this word is a most serious matter for all humanity.
Faithful believers seeking Heaven should consider this problem. It is a problem for Christianity, and it is a problem for anyone who would attempt to unify all the world’s religions. Why is the world today full of division and strife?
When Jesus appeared in the world, it was also beset with division. Jesus’ word was meant to end the division and strife. However, because the people of that time did not believe in Jesus’ word, the problems that he came to resolve were not entirely resolved.
That is why today there should appear the Completed [Testament] Word: to bring order to this world filled with division and strife and to unite all doctrines and teachings. (3:326, February 2, 1958)
Amazing things occurred in the first church: speaking in tongues, spiritual works, prophesying, and more… These same spiritual phenomena will emerge in Christian history in the Last Days. Many who experience these things will be called crazy and heretics.
Yet the one upon whom the Spirit has been poured out cannot contest it. He may not know why it is happening, but Heaven will tell him. He opens his eyes and sees the spirit world.
His actions are the actions of a spiritual being. He sees, thinks and behaves totally different from you. To you, he may appear insane, but consider: did Jesus look like an intelligent man? In the eyes of his contemporaries, he was a benighted fool.
In the future, such spiritual phenomena will sweep across the world, the people and the churches. (6:184, April 26, 1959)
Among the disciples of Jesus, there was not one who was overly attached to the Old Testament Scriptures. Rather, they all responded to the spiritual experiences that they sensed through their inner minds.
In the Last Days, people who lead an ardent life of prayer or who live by their conscience will feel intense anxiety in their hearts.
This is because in their hearts, they vaguely sense a spiritual calling and want to follow the providence of the new age, yet they have not come in contact with the new truth, which can guide them to act accordingly.
These are the chosen ones who, once they hear the new truth, will be awakened simultaneously in their spirits and intellects by spirit and truth. They will then fully understand God’s providential needs concerning the new age and will volunteer with great enthusiasm and delight. We who are alive today are living in the Last Days.
We should cultivate a humble heart and make the utmost effort to receive divine inspiration through prayer. We should not be strongly attached to conventional concepts, but rather should direct ourselves to be receptive to the Spirit, in order that we may find the new truth which can guide us to the providence of the new age. (Exposition of the Divine Principle, Eschatology 5.2)
Sun Myung Moon
The Truth of the New Revelation Eclipses the Truths of Former Dispensations
The glowworm shines so long as the light-bringer has not arisen. But when the shining one has come up, its light is quenched, it glows no longer.
Such is the shining of the sectarians. So long as the rightly awakened ones arise not in the world, the sophists get no light, nor do their followers, and those of wrong views cannot be released from Ill. Udana 73 (Buddhism)
And when We put a revelation in place of another revelation—and Allah knows best what He reveals—they say, “You are only inventing.” Most of them not know.
Say, “The Holy Spirit has revealed it from your Lord with truth, that it may confirm the faith of those who believe, and as a guidance and good tidings for those who have surrendered.”9 Qur’an 16.101-102
Now if the dispensation of death, carved in letters on stone, came with such splendor that the Israelites could not look on Moses’ face because of its brightness, fading as this was, will not the dispensation of the Spirit be attended with greater splendor?
For if there was splendor in the dispensation of condemnation, the dispensation of righteousness must far exceed it in splendor. Indeed, in this case, what once had splendor has come to have no splendor at all, because of the splendor that surpasses it… Yes, to this day, whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their minds; but when a man turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. 2 Corinthians 3.7-16
Concerning His words—“The sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give light, and the stars shall fall from heaven” [Matthew 24.29]… is intended the divines of the former Dispensation, who live in the days of the subsequent Revelations, and who hold the reins of religion in their grasp. If these divines be illuminated by the light of the latter Revelation, they will be acceptable to God, and will shine with a light everlasting.
Otherwise, they will be declared as darkened, even though to outward seeming they be leaders of men, since belief and unbelief, guidance and error, felicity and misery, light and darkness, are all dependent upon the sanction of Him who is the Day-star of Truth…
In another sense, by the terms “sun,” “moon,” and “stars” are meant such laws and teachings as have been established and proclaimed in every Dispensation, such as the laws of prayer and fasting.
These have, according to the law of the Qur’an, been regarded, when the beauty of the Prophet Muhammad had passed beyond the veil, as the most fundamental and binding laws of His dispensation…
Hence, it is clear and manifest that by the words “the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven” is intended the waywardness of the divines, and the annulment of laws firmly established by [prior] divine Revelation, all of which, in symbolic language, have been foreshadowed by the Manifestation of God…
It is unquestionable that in every succeeding Revelation the “sun” and “moon” of the teachings, laws, commandments, and prohibitions which have been established in the preceding Dispensation, and which have overshadowed the people of that age, become darkened, that is, are exhausted, and cease to exert their influence.10 Book of Certitude 33-41 (Baha’i Faith)
Teachings of Sun Myung Moon
People need religion in order to seek the Ultimate Reality and realize goodness in accordance with the inclination of the original mind. Thus, the purpose of every religion is identical.
However, religions have appeared in different forms according to their various missions, the cultures in which they took root, and their particular historical periods.
Their scriptures have taken different forms for similar reasons. All scriptures have the same purpose: to illuminate their surroundings with the light of truth. Yet when a brighter lamp is lit, the old lamp is outshone and its mission fades.
Because religions lack the power to guide modern people out of the dark valley of death into the full radiance of life, there must emerge a new expression of truth that can radiate a new and brighter light. (Exposition of the Divine Principle, Introduction)
In the Last Days, Jesus said, “the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven.” (Matt. 24.29)
How are we to understand this verse? It is written that Joseph, the eleventh of the twelve sons of Jacob, had a dream: Then he dreamed another dream, and told it to his brothers, and said, “Behold, I have dreamed another dream, and behold, the sun, the moon, and eleven stars were bowing down to me.”
But when he told it to his father and to his brothers, his father rebuked him, and said to him, “What is this dream that you have dreamed? Shall I and your mother and your brothers indeed come to bow ourselves to the ground before you?” (Gen. 37.9-10)
When Joseph later became the prime minister of Egypt, his parents and brothers bowed down before him, as the dream had foretold. In his dream, the sun and moon symbolized the parents, while the stars symbolized their children.
As will be explained, Jesus and the Holy Spirit are the True Parents who came to give rebirth to humanity in place of Adam and Eve. Therefore, in this prophecy from Matthew, the sun and moon represent Jesus and the Holy Spirit, while the stars represent the faithful believers who are their children.
Elsewhere, Jesus is likened to the true light because he came as the incarnation of the Word and shone forth the light of truth. (John 1.9, 14)
Here, the sunlight means the light of the words of Jesus, and the moonlight means the light of the Holy Spirit, who came as the Spirit of truth. (John 16.13)
For the sun to be darkened and the moon to lose its light means that the New Testament Word given by Jesus and the Holy Spirit will lose its luster.
How can the Word as revealed in the New Testament possibly lose its light?
The Old Testament Word was eclipsed when Jesus and the Holy Spirit came and gave us the New Testament Word, which fulfilled the Old Testament Word.
(2 Cor. 3.7-11)
Likewise, when Christ returns and gives the new truth in order to fulfill the New Testament Word and build a new heaven and new earth, (Rev. 21.1) the Word which he gave at his first coming will lose its light. It is said that the Word will lose its light because, with the coming of a new era, the period of the mission of the old truth will have lapsed.
The prophecy that the stars will fall from heaven signifies that in the Last Days many faithful Christian believers will make a misstep and fall from God’s grace. At the time of Jesus, the leaders of the Jewish people were all yearning for the coming of the Messiah, but they met their downfall when they did not recognize Jesus as the Messiah and opposed him.
Likewise, Christians who have been anxiously awaiting the return of Jesus are likely to make the same misjudgment and fall when he actually returns. Jesus asked, “Nevertheless, when the Son of man comes, will he find faith on earth?” (Luke 18.8)
On another occasion, he said he would declare to devout believers, “I never knew you; depart from me, you evildoers.” (Matt. 7.23) Jesus gave these warnings to the Christians of the Last Days because he foresaw that they would be likely to disbelieve and trespass against him at his Second Advent. (Exposition of the Divine Principle, Eschatology 3.2.5)
Sun Myung Moon