“The Unification Sanctuary's leader, the Rev. Sean Moon, is the son of the Rev. Sun Myung Moon, a self-proclaimed messiah who founded the Unification Church.”
“The Unification Church, which is often described as a cult, has distanced itself from Wednesday's event, saying its ceremonies and theology do not involve weapons.”
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2018/02/26/school-to-close-for-church-ceremony-featuring-ar-15-rifles.html
My first thought when I read this today was how sad it is that these kinds of misinterpretations of the Bible can lead people in dangerous paths. My second thoughts centered around how this interpretation of Christian scripture got so far off the mark and how in this case a fringe element within Christianity adds fuel to the argument that Christianity causes people to fanatically hang onto their guns as a product of irrational religious values. For this reason I wanted to shed light upon the scripture references this church is using to form their radical views and hopefully help less religious people understand what the Bible really teaches.
These are the verses in Revelations that speak about the “rod of iron.”
“And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne.” Rev. 12:5
This verse speaks of Mary the mother of Christ and speaks of Jesus Christ as a King who will rule in heaven. The Book of Revelations is primarily a book that describes events that surround the end of days, or last days, before the second coming of Jesus Christ in glory. Christians believe the time will come that Christ will return to earth a second time, not as a baby but as the resurrected Lord and Savior.
Here is another section of the book of Revelations that refers to this second coming:
“And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written... And his name is called The Word of God. And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God... And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, King of Kings, and Lord of Lords.” Rev. 19:11-16
In this passage we see that when Christ comes he comes as if with an army of angels, and their is mention of the “fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.” There are many prophesies of his coming that are filled with descriptions of great suffering as destruction that will proceed his coming. The main point being that in the end the wicked will be destroyed and the righteous preserved; but unlike this radical sect of Christians who seem to believe they will participate in the destruction of the wicked with their “iron rods,” i.e. AR-15’s, the Book of Revelations describes the destruction of the wicked as being the product of things such as waring between the wicked, natural disasters, and in the end supernatural ways brought by the power of Christ himself and not at the hands of mortals or mortal weapons. Thus the reference to the “armies which were in heaven.”
You would be hard pressed to interpret these destructions that will befall the wicked as coming about because of armed human soldiers. If there is a scripture this group must primarily point to to prop up their idea of becoming holy Christian Soldiers it might be this one:
“And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations: And he shall rule them with a rod of iron...” Rev. 2:26-27
In the construct of this radical Christian sect this verse is pretty scary. I wonder if they believe Christ will give them power and they rule the nations with their AR-15’s? If so, this is a truly warped and dangerous religious view. What I would like to show is that a proper understanding of the “rod of iron” symbol within scripture completely changes the feeling within these verses.
First, in order for this church to teach their version of last day prophesies that have to discount many important teachings of Christ that reveal the nature of God and his dealings with his children. It is astonishing for most Christians that anyone could interpret the teachings of Christ in a way to allow for a construct in which Christ’s rule and leadership would be one of guns and bullets? For example, I’m left to ask what this church makes of this description of Christ’s second coming?
“But in the last days it shall come to pass, that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established in the top of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills; and people shall flow unto it. And many nations shall come, and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for the law shall go forth of Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. And he shall judge among many people, and rebuke strong nations afar off; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.” Micah 4:1-3
According to this prophecy, when we receive the laws of God and his kingdom is established “nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.” The implements of war will be obsolete in the rule of Christ over his people; these are descriptions of this same last days time frame spoken of in the Book of Revelations that describes Christ’s reign by saying “he shall rule them with a rod of iron.” So if the state of men in that time is one of peace and doesn’t include weapons then what does the phrase “rule with an iron rod” mean?
To the modern ear we wonder why God would use the symbol of the rod of iron to represent the peaceful words of Christ. In our times we have come to associate “ruling with a rod of iron” with phrases like “he ruled with an iron fist.” We associate iron with compulsion and regimes like the Soviet’s, such as our references to the iron curtain, or images of a hand gripping tightly to an iron rod as a symbol of control over the will of men. These modern associations and symbols give the modern reader a warlord idea of Christ’s reign, and Christians interpreting this symbol as an assault weapon only twists the true meaning of this scripture symbol even more.
It’s understandable that these phrases are misinterpreted when the phrase is coupled with ideas related to the wrath of Almighty God and a sword with which he will smite the nations, but I believe the correct connection in these verses is that the rod of iron is the word of God, the words of Christ that teach us to walk in his paths. We are ruled by his rod of iron when we are ruled by his law, his gospel, his word. Let me explain why.
I would point to a few key phrases within the scriptures in Revelations that containing a reference to the iron rod.
These are the verses in Revelations that speak about the “rod of iron.”
“And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne.” Rev. 12:5
This verse speaks of Mary the mother of Christ and speaks of Jesus Christ as a King who will rule in heaven. The Book of Revelations is primarily a book that describes events that surround the end of days, or last days, before the second coming of Jesus Christ in glory. Christians believe the time will come that Christ will return to earth a second time, not as a baby but as the resurrected Lord and Savior.
Here is another section of the book of Revelations that refers to this second coming:
“And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written... And his name is called The Word of God. And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God... And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, King of Kings, and Lord of Lords.” Rev. 19:11-16
In this passage we see that when Christ comes he comes as if with an army of angels, and their is mention of the “fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.” There are many prophesies of his coming that are filled with descriptions of great suffering as destruction that will proceed his coming. The main point being that in the end the wicked will be destroyed and the righteous preserved; but unlike this radical sect of Christians who seem to believe they will participate in the destruction of the wicked with their “iron rods,” i.e. AR-15’s, the Book of Revelations describes the destruction of the wicked as being the product of things such as waring between the wicked, natural disasters, and in the end supernatural ways brought by the power of Christ himself and not at the hands of mortals or mortal weapons. Thus the reference to the “armies which were in heaven.”
You would be hard pressed to interpret these destructions that will befall the wicked as coming about because of armed human soldiers. If there is a scripture this group must primarily point to to prop up their idea of becoming holy Christian Soldiers it might be this one:
“And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations: And he shall rule them with a rod of iron...” Rev. 2:26-27
In the construct of this radical Christian sect this verse is pretty scary. I wonder if they believe Christ will give them power and they rule the nations with their AR-15’s? If so, this is a truly warped and dangerous religious view. What I would like to show is that a proper understanding of the “rod of iron” symbol within scripture completely changes the feeling within these verses.
First, in order for this church to teach their version of last day prophesies that have to discount many important teachings of Christ that reveal the nature of God and his dealings with his children. It is astonishing for most Christians that anyone could interpret the teachings of Christ in a way to allow for a construct in which Christ’s rule and leadership would be one of guns and bullets? For example, I’m left to ask what this church makes of this description of Christ’s second coming?
“But in the last days it shall come to pass, that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established in the top of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills; and people shall flow unto it. And many nations shall come, and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for the law shall go forth of Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. And he shall judge among many people, and rebuke strong nations afar off; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.” Micah 4:1-3
According to this prophecy, when we receive the laws of God and his kingdom is established “nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.” The implements of war will be obsolete in the rule of Christ over his people; these are descriptions of this same last days time frame spoken of in the Book of Revelations that describes Christ’s reign by saying “he shall rule them with a rod of iron.” So if the state of men in that time is one of peace and doesn’t include weapons then what does the phrase “rule with an iron rod” mean?
To the modern ear we wonder why God would use the symbol of the rod of iron to represent the peaceful words of Christ. In our times we have come to associate “ruling with a rod of iron” with phrases like “he ruled with an iron fist.” We associate iron with compulsion and regimes like the Soviet’s, such as our references to the iron curtain, or images of a hand gripping tightly to an iron rod as a symbol of control over the will of men. These modern associations and symbols give the modern reader a warlord idea of Christ’s reign, and Christians interpreting this symbol as an assault weapon only twists the true meaning of this scripture symbol even more.
It’s understandable that these phrases are misinterpreted when the phrase is coupled with ideas related to the wrath of Almighty God and a sword with which he will smite the nations, but I believe the correct connection in these verses is that the rod of iron is the word of God, the words of Christ that teach us to walk in his paths. We are ruled by his rod of iron when we are ruled by his law, his gospel, his word. Let me explain why.
I would point to a few key phrases within the scriptures in Revelations that containing a reference to the iron rod.
“He will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths” — “in righteousness he doth judge” — “And his name is called The Word of God... out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword... and he shall rule them with a rod of iron.”
I think we should focus on the phrases “teach us his ways,” “walk in his paths,” and “out of his mouth... he shall rule them.” With these associations the iron rod appears more as the rule of law, but to add further light and understanding to this point I would like to add some additional scripture background.
The Book of Mormon sheds light and insight into this scriptural symbol used in the Old Testament and repeated in the New Testament. The Book of Mormon contains an allegory given by way of revelation through a dream given to a ancient prophet named Lehi. In his dream he saw the tree of life standing in a great expanse and leading to the tree he saw a path, along the path was a rod of iron. All around the great expands there were great clouds of darkness and multitudes of people wandering in the darkness. Some of the people were seeking the light of the tree and when they came to find the path they held onto the rod of iron tightly and used it to guide them forward along the path through the darkness until they reached the tree. The allegory contains many symbols and has more details then the ones I’ve shared here, but the scripture makes it clear that the iron rod is the word of God. The meaning being that as we walk the path leading us to Christ and the eternal life he offers we must press forward in the straight and narrow path by holding onto the words of Christ.
This additional depth of meaning for this symbol is why I am certain that when this phrase appears in the Bible it is referring to the laws of Christ, his words and his commandments. “And his name is called The Word of God... out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron... he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths.”
One last difficulty remains, why a sharp sword that will smite the nations? Why is his word described in these warfare terms? Here we need to examine how the words of Christ feel to the hearers of the word. The scriptures say that the truth is a sharp two edged sword (Rev 2:12), but not because his word is harsh or because he rules us with compulsion or with an iron fist, but because the truth which flows from his word is a defense to the righteous and strikes at the heart of the wicked.
The Book of Mormon prophet, Nephi, explained it this way: “I had spoken hard things against the wicked, according to the truth; and the righteous have I justified... wherefore, the guilty taketh the truth to be hard, for it cutteth them to the very center. [I know that the words of truth are hard against all uncleanness; but the righteous fear them not, for they love the truth and are not shaken. (2 Nephi 9:40)] If ye were righteous and were willing to hearken to the truth, and give heed unto it, that ye might walk uprightly before God, then ye would not murmur because of the truth.” 1 Nephi 16:2-3
Thus the symbols of the words of Christ which are an iron rod and a sharp two edged sword are not literal symbols of war but rather symbols of comfort and defense to the righteous in a world of darkness. His word will be our law and it will be a rod of iron to guide our path in a dark world.
“I said unto them that it was the word of God; and whoso would hearken unto the word of God, and would hold fast unto it, they would never perish; neither could the temptations and the fiery darts of the adversary overpower them unto blindness, to lead them away to destruction.” 1 Nephi 15:24
And until Christ comes again to rule as King of Kings and Lord of a Lords, we will take “the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God,” (Ephesians 6:17) as our defense against the philosophies of men, and the sword of truth will give us “utterance... that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known... the gospel — For which I am an ambassador... that therein I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.” (Ephesians 6:19-20)
The beauty of these verses are that as warriors for Christ we need not arm ourselves with weapons of war but instead we can take up the sword of his truth and hold to the iron rod oh his word and do battle against the ideas of evil. We will not need to pierce the hearts of the wicked with swords or guns but rather we will be armed with truth.
Of course I’m not saying that we will never have need to defeat evil with physical force or use weapons of war, and I’m not saying that God condemns the use of war in defeating the wicked or denies us the justified use of force in commission of our God given right to self defense. What I am saying is that interpretations of last day peripheries, such as the ones this church has fallen into, put religious focus on the wrong principles of discipleship. As Christians we should be very careful not to interpret last day prophesies in a way that put us in armed conflict as part of some exalted Christian army and in the process miss the true power that God endows us with when we “live by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” Matthew 4:4
I think we should focus on the phrases “teach us his ways,” “walk in his paths,” and “out of his mouth... he shall rule them.” With these associations the iron rod appears more as the rule of law, but to add further light and understanding to this point I would like to add some additional scripture background.
The Book of Mormon sheds light and insight into this scriptural symbol used in the Old Testament and repeated in the New Testament. The Book of Mormon contains an allegory given by way of revelation through a dream given to a ancient prophet named Lehi. In his dream he saw the tree of life standing in a great expanse and leading to the tree he saw a path, along the path was a rod of iron. All around the great expands there were great clouds of darkness and multitudes of people wandering in the darkness. Some of the people were seeking the light of the tree and when they came to find the path they held onto the rod of iron tightly and used it to guide them forward along the path through the darkness until they reached the tree. The allegory contains many symbols and has more details then the ones I’ve shared here, but the scripture makes it clear that the iron rod is the word of God. The meaning being that as we walk the path leading us to Christ and the eternal life he offers we must press forward in the straight and narrow path by holding onto the words of Christ.
This additional depth of meaning for this symbol is why I am certain that when this phrase appears in the Bible it is referring to the laws of Christ, his words and his commandments. “And his name is called The Word of God... out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron... he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths.”
One last difficulty remains, why a sharp sword that will smite the nations? Why is his word described in these warfare terms? Here we need to examine how the words of Christ feel to the hearers of the word. The scriptures say that the truth is a sharp two edged sword (Rev 2:12), but not because his word is harsh or because he rules us with compulsion or with an iron fist, but because the truth which flows from his word is a defense to the righteous and strikes at the heart of the wicked.
The Book of Mormon prophet, Nephi, explained it this way: “I had spoken hard things against the wicked, according to the truth; and the righteous have I justified... wherefore, the guilty taketh the truth to be hard, for it cutteth them to the very center. [I know that the words of truth are hard against all uncleanness; but the righteous fear them not, for they love the truth and are not shaken. (2 Nephi 9:40)] If ye were righteous and were willing to hearken to the truth, and give heed unto it, that ye might walk uprightly before God, then ye would not murmur because of the truth.” 1 Nephi 16:2-3
Thus the symbols of the words of Christ which are an iron rod and a sharp two edged sword are not literal symbols of war but rather symbols of comfort and defense to the righteous in a world of darkness. His word will be our law and it will be a rod of iron to guide our path in a dark world.
“I said unto them that it was the word of God; and whoso would hearken unto the word of God, and would hold fast unto it, they would never perish; neither could the temptations and the fiery darts of the adversary overpower them unto blindness, to lead them away to destruction.” 1 Nephi 15:24
And until Christ comes again to rule as King of Kings and Lord of a Lords, we will take “the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God,” (Ephesians 6:17) as our defense against the philosophies of men, and the sword of truth will give us “utterance... that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known... the gospel — For which I am an ambassador... that therein I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.” (Ephesians 6:19-20)
The beauty of these verses are that as warriors for Christ we need not arm ourselves with weapons of war but instead we can take up the sword of his truth and hold to the iron rod oh his word and do battle against the ideas of evil. We will not need to pierce the hearts of the wicked with swords or guns but rather we will be armed with truth.
Of course I’m not saying that we will never have need to defeat evil with physical force or use weapons of war, and I’m not saying that God condemns the use of war in defeating the wicked or denies us the justified use of force in commission of our God given right to self defense. What I am saying is that interpretations of last day peripheries, such as the ones this church has fallen into, put religious focus on the wrong principles of discipleship. As Christians we should be very careful not to interpret last day prophesies in a way that put us in armed conflict as part of some exalted Christian army and in the process miss the true power that God endows us with when we “live by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” Matthew 4:4
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