People have viewed the prospect of Judgment Day with a mixture of hope and fear.
It is a day of hope to the downtrodden, who will finally see vindication as the dominion of evil is overthrown and the guilty are punished.
It is a day of fear to those who are painfully aware of their sins and in doubt about their salvation. A last judgment of sorts comes upon every person individually at the time of death; this judgment was discussed in Chapter 5.
Yet there is also a collective judgment that falls upon the entire world at the End of Days. The divine promise of the Kingdom of God requires that evil be vanquished on earth once and for all.
While many believers interpret the Last Judgment as a supernatural event at the literal end of the world, Father Moon teaches that the Last Judgment is a real process that occurs at the change of the age, when the evil traditions of the past are put away and people everywhere take up the task of building the Kingdom of God on earth.
As in Jesus’ parable of the wheat and the tares, although the growth of goodness occurs unnoticed for a time amidst the fallen world, there will come the moment when the distinction between good and evil is clear as day.
Then, as people recognize their sins and accept the judgment of God’s Word, they will be able to root out their sins and fallen nature and begin to embody the Word in daily life, gradually transforming their character to become people of heaven.
Sun Myung Moon
Everything Evil Is Exposed and Judgment is Passed
The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field; but while men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared also. And the servants of the householder came and said to him, “Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then has it weeds?” He said to them, “An enemy has done this.” The servants said to him, “Then do you want us to go and gather them?” But he said, “No; lest in gathering the weeds you root up the wheat along with them. Let both grow together until the harvest; and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, Gather the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.” Matthew 13.24-30
If anyone hears my sayings and does not keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world. He who rejects me and does not receive my sayings has a judge; the word that I have spoken will be his judge on the last day. John 12.47-48
The ones who disbelieve will be driven along to hell in throngs until, just as they come up to it, its gates will swing open and its keepers will say to them, “Did not messengers come to you from among yourselves reciting your Lord’s verses to you and warning you about meeting [Him] on this day of yours?” They will say, “Of course!” But the Sentence about torment has still come due for disbelievers. Someone else will say, “Enter hell’s gates to remain there. What an awful lodging will it be for the overbearing!” The ones who have heeded their Lord will be driven along to the Garden in throngs until just as they come up to it, its gates will swing open and its keepers will tell them, “Peace be upon you! You have been good, so enter it to remain there.” They will say, “Praise be to God who has held true to His promise for us and let us inherit the earth! We shall settle down anywhere we wish to in the Garden. How favored are such workers’ wages!” Qur’an 39.71-74
Those who feared the Lord spoke with one another; the Lord heeded and heard them, and a book of remembrance was written before him of those who feared the Lord and thought on his name. “They shall be mine, says the Lord of hosts, my special possession on the day when I act, and I will spare them as a man spares his son who serves him. Then once more you shall distinguish between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve him. For behold, the day comes, burning like an oven, when all the arrogant and all evildoers will be stubble; the day that comes shall burn them up, says the Lord of hosts, so that it will leave them neither root nor branch. But for you who fear my name the sun of righteousness shall rise, with healing in its wings. You shall go forth leaping like calves from the stall. And you shall tread down the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet, on the day when I act, says the Lord of hosts. Malachi 3.16-4.3
When the Trumpet shall sound one blast And the earth with its mountains shall be lifted up and crushed with one crash, Then, on that day, will the Event befall. Heaven will split asunder, for that day it will be frail, The angels will be on its sides, and eight will uphold the Throne of their Lord that day, above them. On that day you will be exposed; not a secret of yours will be hidden. Then, as for him who is given his record in his right hand, he will say, “Take, read my book! Surely I knew that I should have to meet my reckoning.” Then he will be in blissful state In a high Garden whose clusters are in easy reach. [They will say to him,] “Eat and drink at ease for that you sent on before you in past days.” But as for him who is given his record in his left hand, he will say, “Oh, would that I had not been given my book And knew not what my reckoning! Oh, would that it had been death! My wealth has not availed me, My power has gone from me.” “Take him and fetter him And then expose him to hellfire…” Qur’an 69.13-31
For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any one builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw—each man’s work will become manifest; for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. If the work which any man has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. If any man’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire. 1 Corinthians 3.11-15
Teachings of Sun Myung Moon
In the Last Days, evil will be judged everywhere in the world. What is evil? It is living only for oneself, self-centered individualism. The Lord will teach you how to pass the judgment: Live for something bigger than yourself. Living only for yourself will lead to your own destruction.
You must live for the public good. In loving your children, you should raise them to be citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven. In your personal life, when you take for yourself, that is evil; and when you give to benefit others, that is good.
Judgment will be passed according to which side you were leaning on each 24-hour day. (17:329, April 16, 1967)
We know Jesus to be full of love, but he only appears that way to those living in misery. To those who habitually commit evil and unrighteous acts, he is an unforgiving judge.
Jesus was a man of love to fishermen, tax collectors and prostitutes, to the outcast and trampled upon, to those who in humility bared the sorrows of their souls.
However, Jesus was the lord of judgment to the officials and Roman soldiers who used their swords against believers who were making sincere efforts to walk the path of righteousness… If Jesus were only love, how could he do the work of judgment that Christians expect him to perform in the Last Days? (14:309, January 10, 1965)
What is the meaning of the prophecy that “the heavens will be kindled and dissolved and the elements will melt with fire” (2 Pet. 3.12) in the Last Days? Malachi, prophesying of Jesus to come, spoke of a day burning with the fire of judgment. (Mal. 4.1)
Jesus came into the world to cast this judgment, as he said, “For judgment I came into this world.” (John 9.39) Jesus also said, “I came to cast fire upon the earth.” (Luke 12.49) “Fire” here represents the means of the judgment for which Jesus came into the world.
Nevertheless, there is no record that in his time Jesus judged the world with literal fire. The verses referring to fire must be symbolic. It is written, “Is not my word like fire, says the Lord?” (Jer. 23.29)
Therefore, judgment by fire represents judgment by the Word of God… What is the reason that Jesus judges by the Word? Human beings are created through the Word. (John 1.3)
God’s ideal of creation was that the first human ancestors fulfill the purpose of the Word by incarnating the Word.
Yet they did not keep the Word of God and fell; thus, they failed to fulfill the purpose of the Word. Since then, God has tried to fulfill the purpose of the Word by recreating fallen human beings through the Word.
This is the providence of restoration based on truth, the Word as revealed in the Scriptures. It is written, “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth; we have beheld his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father.” (John 1.14)
Jesus completely realized the Word. He will come again as the standard of judgment by the Word and judge the extent to which humanity has fulfilled the purpose of the Word.
Judgment in this context contributes to the attainment of the goal of restoration, which is the realization of the purpose of the Word. Hence, in the course of the providence, the Word must be set up as the standard through which judgment can be carried out.
Jesus lamented, “I came to cast fire upon the earth; and would that it were already kindled!” (Luke 12.49)
As the incarnation of the Word (John 1.14), he was grieved that the people of Israel did not receive the life-giving words which he proclaimed. (Exposition of the Divine Principle, Eschatology 3.2.2)
What is the great judgment?
It is to purify our entire body, beginning with our eyes, which has inherited Satan’s blood lineage. The great judgment is not to kill Satan. It means to dissolve everything inside us that arose from immoral and unlawful norms, norms contrary to the conscience, norms that Satan has been promoting and that have defiled human history. (378:149-50, May 9, 2002)
In the future, there will surely be a new world, founded on the truth. To enter, we must pass through the judgment of truth. Next, we must pass the judgment of character. Unless our character is in alignment with this new world, we could be cast out from the trend of the age.
Then, after bringing our character into oneness with the truth, we will pass through a judgment of the heart. In the last days, we shall have to pass through the judgments of truth, of character and of heart. (14:179-80, October 3, 1964)
The Binding of Satan
Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding in his hand the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain. And he seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years, and threw him into the pit, and shut it and sealed it over him, that he should deceive the nations no more… Then I saw a great white throne and him who sat upon it; from his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Also another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, by what they had done. And the sea gave up the dead in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead in them, and all were judged by what they had done. Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire; and if any one’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. Revelation 20.1-15
Teachings of Sun Myung Moon
The Kingdom of Heaven on earth is a restored world in which Satan can no longer instigate any activity. To realize this world, it is necessary for all humanity to eliminate their common base with Satan, restore their common base with God, and engage in give and take action with Him.
The prophecy that in the Last Days God will confine Satan in a bottomless pit (Rev. 20.1- 3) signifies that Satan will be utterly incapable of any activity, since there will no longer be any counterpart with whom Satan can relate.
In order to eliminate our common base with Satan and be capable of judging him, we must understand the identity and crime of Satan and accuse him before God. However, God endowed human beings and angels with freedom; therefore, He cannot restore them by force.
Of their own free will, human beings are to bring Satan to voluntary submission by upholding the Word of God through fulfilling their responsibility. Only in this way can we be restored to the original ideal purpose by God at the creation. (Exposition of the Divine Principle, Fall 4.2)
Sun Myung Moon
The Transformation of This World and the Renewal of Life in God
On the day when the earth will be changed to other than the earth, and the heavens likewise, and they will come forth unto God, the One, the Almighty… Qur’an 14.48
And then when retribution shall come for their offenses, Then, O Wise One, Thy Kingdom shall be established by Good Thought, For those who, in fulfillment, deliver evil into the hands of Truth! And then may we be those who make life renovated, O Lord, Immortals of the Wise One, and O Truth, bring your alliance, That to us your minds may gather where wisdom would be in dispute! Then, indeed, shall occur the collapse of the growth of evil, Then they shall join the promised reward: blessed abode of Good Thought, Of the Wise One, and of Right, they who earn in good reputation! Avesta, Yasna 30.8-10 (Zoroastrianism)
But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a loud noise, and the elements will be dissolved with fire, and the earth and the works that are upon it will be burned up. Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of persons ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be kindled and dissolved, and the elements will melt with fire! But according to his promise we wait for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. 2 Peter 3.10-13
Civilization as we know it is only transitory; it will finally pass away as the new age dawns and the true civilization is born. That will mark the end of the “provisional” world we live in today. God wills a reckoning for the old civilization and the establishment of a new one, and the time of His reckoning is at last drawing near. Until now, evil forces have had wide latitude in civilization, but in the transition from the old to the new, they will be weeded out. All people will go through an inexorable process of cleansing. The world will be terribly afflicted in payment for untold sins gathered over millennia. The great affliction is the sign that all societies and nations are being purified, and it will lift humankind to a new level of existence where good prevails. The transition, which is actually upon us now, is the last stage before the beginning of an earthly paradise. In the upheaval, every sphere of life and every corner of civilization will be transformed. Those who believe in God and repent will witness the coming of the new world, and they will be able to start on the road to salvation. But those still heavily burdened with sin and unable to overcome their malicious ways will end this life in absolute misery and may find no salvation in the next. Johrei (Sekai-Kyusei Kyo)
Teachings of Sun Myung Moon
The Bible states that in the Last Days the Lord will come to judge us. Catastrophic upheavals will occur, the sun and moon will fall from the heavens, and the earth will be destroyed. The concept of the Last Days is widespread among religions. In Buddhism, it is called the Age of the Extinction of the Dharma.
In Christianity, we call it the Last Days. Why should there be a Last Days? The world planned by the absolute God must be an absolute world.
Once it begins it should last forever. We surmise that it was not God’s original plan to bring the Last Days upon this world.
Rather, because evil entered the world as a consequence of the Fall, the Last Days became necessary… God cannot abandon this fallen world. He must restore the world to its original state. Therefore, the Last Days mean one era passes and a new era arrives.
If in the Last Days, because of Satan, God were to destroy the sun, the moon and the earth which He Himself created, He would be a God of failure. The sun and the moon are already resentful enough that they must shine upon evil humankind. Theirs would be a miserable fate if God destroyed them in the Last Days…
Actually, the end times is when humanity will soar upward, after cleansing and renewing the entire course of history and setting up one victorious point as the consummation of human history. The words that promise the coming of the Last Days are words of blessing.
The word “judgment” is not a bad word; it brings good news. The Last Days are the time to dissolve the thousands of years of resentment and sorrow buried so long in the hearts of God’s children. Therefore, the coming of the Day of Judgment is good news. (Way of Unification 1.4.1)
Despite its evil beginning, the world under the sovereignty of Satan must one day be transformed into a world where goodness reigns, where the three great blessings are fulfilled centered on God. The Messiah comes at this time of transformation.
The Last Days are this time, when the evil world under satanic sovereignty is transformed into the ideal world under God’s sovereignty. Hell on Earth will be transformed into the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth.
Therefore, it will not be a day of fear when the world will be destroyed by global catastrophes, as many Christians have believed. It will be a day of joy when the cherished hope of humankind, the desire of the ages, will be realized. (Exposition of the Divine Principle, Eschatology 3.1)
Sun Myung Moon