Shincheonji online Bible seminar is ON FIRE!

Lee Man Hee, Chairman of Shincheonji, has been preaching in two online Bible seminars on this month. I thought that would be all for August, but he preached the word to the pastors yesterday! Though he’s over 90 years old, he’s restlessly carrying out his duty – to deliver God’s word to the churches.

Yesterday’s seminar was held under the theme of “The Tree of Life and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.”

Opening the seminar, Chairman said that since he saw the reality of the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, he’s now letting the audience know about this.

In Gn2, the two kinds of trees emerge at the center of the garden of Eden. When the tree of the knowledge of good and evil appeared, God warned Adam not to eat the fruit of the tree of good and evil because eating the fruit will kill Adam. The serpent in Eden deceived Eve first, tricking her into eating the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The serpent is described as the dragon, Satan, and the devil in Rev20 (it wasn’t a literal animal!). Why did the serpent trick Eve first? Because it knew that Eve is weaker since she was created with one of Adam’s ribs. Adam ate the fruit as Eve, his wife, gave him the fruit. After eating it, everything changed: they could see their nakedness and felt ashamed. When God was looking for Adam and Eve, they answered that they were hiding behind the bushes because they now knew that they were naked and felt ashamed of it. Hearing the answer that they ate the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, God made them garments of skin and kicked out them from the garden of Eden. God ordered cherubim to guard the way to the tree of life so that the sinners (Adam and Eve) won’t eat the fruit of the tree of life and live forever. We can see that even the fruit of the tree of life lets even the sinners live forever.

To keep God’s prophecy in Ps78:2 (“I will open my mouth in parables, I will utter hidden things, things from of old”) Jesus told everything about the kingdom of heaven in parables. He preached about the seeds and the kingdom of heaven. He parabolized the kingdom of heaven as a mustard seed that grows into a large tree and a bird perches on it. He also parabolized the kingdom of heaven into four types of fields where the same type of seeds was sown (path, rocky places, among thorns, and good soil). Explaining the parables of the seeds, Jesus said that the seed is the word of God (Lk8:11). Since there are two types of gods, there must be two types of seeds. If a person was born with God’s seed (God’s word), they belong to God. If a person was born with Satan’s seed (Satan’s lies), they belong to Satan.

In the Bible, a person was parabolized as a tree. In Isa5, there are choicest vines that become one with the bad vines and yield bad fruits. In the same chapter, God explains that the choicest vines are the men of Judah – Physical Israel people. They used to be the chosen people, nevertheless, they became one with the gentiles. King Solomon broke the first law of the Ten Commandments, which warns not to worship other gods. Hos6:7 also talks about this, describing that Solomon sinned like Adam. This means they both worshipped other gods.

Then, why did God create the tree of knowledge of good and evil? In Ezk28, God mentions about King of Tyre. God called the person “King of Tyre”, however, if you read it closely, you’ll see that God didn’t mean to refer to the ‘flesh’ of King of Tyre. He meant the spirit inside of him. King of Tyre wasn’t even born in the era of “the garden of Eden”, still, God says that he was in the garden of Eden. This is actually a rebellious spirit who was one of the four living creatures – Satan. Satan used to decorate himself with various jewel stones, he used to be the model of perfection, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty. He was anointed as a guardian cherub (which means one of the four living creatures, that is, four Archangels). Then, he became proud of himself and wanted to be God, and rebelled against God. That’s who the serpent is – Satan. God didn’t ‘create’ the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. It emerged among his creations.

Let’s head back to the parables. Jesus parabolized himself as a true vine in Jn15. The reason why he used the word “true” is because there are wild vines and he wanted the disciples to know that he’s not the wild vine. Then, he said, “You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you.” If Jesus is the vine, his word that comes out from him is wine.

When there are trees that belong to God, there is always the opposite. In Dan2-4, King Nebuchadnezzar, a king of Babylon, was parabolized as a big statue and a huge tree. The statue was made of different kinds of materials, implying that Babylon was a united nation of several other countries. The king of Babylon, the place where all evil spirits gather, was parabolized as a huge tree. Its top touched the sky and was visible to the ends of the earth, which means Babylon took over the whole world. In Rev18, the maddening wine of adultery deceived all nations. Though the expressions sound different, they carry the same meaning. At the second coming, Babylon was a united nation – a beast with seven heads and ten horns. They belong to the devil.

As we checked from the Bible, we now know that two kinds of trees in Gn2 are people in different affiliations. Therefore, eating the fruit of the tree of good and evil means hearing the lies of Satan. Like the venom of a serpent, lies kill people. More precisely, lies kill their souls. God created Adam by forming him from the dust of the ground and breathed the breath of life into him. His soul was alive when he was a ‘living being.’ Eating the fruit of the tree of good and evil killed his soul. In today’s time – the time when Revelation is being fulfilled, those who ate the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil are those who listened to the words of the destroyers. Babylon in Rev17 and Rev18 is the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The tree of life is the twelve tribes, where it was created according to the Bible – 12 tribes were born with God’s seed, were harvested, sealed, and registered to the tribes. In Rev22, the fruit of the tree of life gives eternal life and its leaves heal all nations. While the tree of life brings life, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil kills. Saying “Amen” to the truth is the right thing, however, saying “Amen” to lies is eating the fruit of the tree of good and evil. God told us that he sends his messengers, therefore, we must listen to the messenger. In Mal2, God’s pastor must walk with God and his lips ought to preserve knowledge and from his mouth men should seek instruction. Therefore, God’s pastor should never teach lies.

The chairman encouraged the pastors who were listening to the seminar to check if this word is true or not through the Bible. “Shincheonji was created according to the Bible, without leaving out a single word. ‘Shincheonji (means “New Heaven and New Earth” in Korean)’ and the ‘Temple of the Tabernacle of the Testimony’ were also the promised names from the Bible. No other organization was created like this. Please check with the Bible. “Who am I according to the Bible? Was I created according to the Bible?” You should check,” he exclaimed. Closing the seminar, he said that he hopes all humanity become one in God and shouted, “WE ARE ONE!”

Did you find the answers that you’ve been looking for? Because I can remember how I was surprised that the trees weren’t actual plants, but people, when I learned this word. I also was satisfied with the answers I got – I’ve been curious about why God created the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. I hope you felt the same feelings that I felt.

If you’re interested in learning the Bible deeply, don’t hesitate to register for the free online Bible course.