Shincheonji lesson 7: fundamentals of the Bible, part one
Lesson 7 · Introductory
Main verses used
Links open the NET Bible.
What SCJ teaches
This section comes from class notes that an attendee wrote down during SCJ’s 9-month Bible study seminar, posted with the full Closer Look study. They are not SCJ’s printed curriculum, so the wording is the note-taker’s.
A three-part series
The stated hope is “to understand first the covenants of the Bible.” The lesson opens a three-lesson series on the basics, with eight key points: a book of covenants, the writing of God, contents, a book of war, prophecy and fulfillment, “7 Eras of the Flow of Work,” the order of fulfillment, and God’s purpose of salvation and eternal life. The aim: “Understand the covenants of the bible so that we can keep our covenant.”
The lesson recaps the previous one: those who understand the parables “have an affinity with God,” while those aligned with evil persecute and cannot “comprehend God’s symbolic messages.”
What a covenant is
From Psalm 89:3, “Throughout the Bible, God establishes covenants with those He has chosen to work with.” Names like Israel, Judah, Jerusalem and Zion should make you think “chosen people.” A covenant “is a serious promise that comes with stipulations.” There are “only two macro covenants in the Bible: The New and Old Testament.” Every covenant has five parts: subject, content, the time it was made, how long it is kept, and consequences, explained with an employment contract.
The old covenant
Subject. The covenant was between God and Israel, with Moses in the middle. When the people complained about this (Numbers 12), the notes say God “wanted a single authoritative source (a single source of truth) through which to relay his word.” And: “If one wanted to know what God says, they needed to go to Moses.”
Content. The law, beginning with “no other gods,” and the promise of a coming messiah (Deuteronomy 18). The covenant “was confirmed by the blood of animals,” with the instruction to “keep this in mind.”
Consequences. Deuteronomy 28’s curses run longer than its blessings, which “reflects how seriously God takes covenants.” The notes push back on the idea “that God loves me, so I’m good.”
Result. Israel broke the covenant, from the golden calf to Solomon’s idols. Hosea 6:7 links this to Adam, whose command in Eden is laid out with the same five parts. The comment asks: “Do you see the pattern here? If you don’t, history will repeat itself to remind us.” God sent the messiah “right on schedule,” but from Acts 13:27 the people read the prophets every Sabbath and still “did not recognize Jesus.” The lesson applies this to today: “We as Christians must humbly reflect and ask if we too could fail to correctly interpret prophecy.”
The new covenant
Hebrews 8 says the first covenant is now “obsolete.” The new covenant’s subjects are “God and believers of the promised messiah” (John 1:11-13). Its content, in the notes, is a law Jesus taught (they cite James 1) and “the promise of Jesus’s second coming.” It was established at the Last Supper, “confirmed by Jesus’s blood.”
The notes then tie the new covenant to Revelation: “(New Covenant points to Revelation),” “A new covenant points to and equals a book of revelation,” and “To fully understand the new covenant, one must study and know the Book of Revelation.” On Revelation 22:20, Jesus’ return “appears to be drawing very near.”
The consequences: those who keep it receive “salvation and eternal life in Heaven,” and those who do not face “destruction in hell and eternal punishment.” Hebrews 8:10-12 means God’s law “must be internalized,” because “Mere understanding without belief is useless.” The review adds: “Those who keep this new covenant, first must know what it is in detail.” The memory verses are Acts 13:26-27 and Hebrews 10:16.
In SCJ’s own books
Each passage was checked against the scanned page image; page numbers are as printed.
The Creation of Heaven and Earth, Lee Man-hee (Shincheonji Press), page vii:
“God always follows the same process when he creates. He selects a pastor, creates a tabernacle (i.e. a kingdom), and makes a covenant with his people.”
The same book, pages 116-117:
“The prophecies of the four gospels and of Revelation make up the new covenant that will be fulfilled in the future. They are the representative word of the New Testament.”
“If the believers in the generation of the New Testament cannot keep the commands of the new covenant, they too, will be destroyed like the people of the Old Testament generation.”
How the lesson notes compare with the books
- Covenants with chosen people. Same teaching: God works by making a covenant with those he chooses (p. vii).
- One go-between. Difference. The notes describe Moses as God’s “single authoritative source” in that era. The book turns the pattern into a rule for every time God creates: “He selects a pastor” (p. vii).
- What the new covenant is. Difference. The notes ground it in Jesus’ blood at the Last Supper, then say it “points to and equals a book of revelation.” The book defines it as “The prophecies of the four gospels and of Revelation,” to be “fulfilled in the future” (p. 116).
- The consequence. Same teaching. Both warn that new covenant believers who fail will be destroyed like Israel (p. 117).
Closer Look response: How Bible scriptures are twisted: a clear comparison of distortion and contextual meaning
What the Bible says
- Jesus calls the cup the new covenant in his blood, poured out for his disciples. And in the same way he took the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood. (Luke 22:20, NET)
- Hebrews names Jesus as the one who mediates the new covenant. But now Jesus has obtained a superior ministry, since the covenant that he mediates is also better and is enacted on better promises. (Hebrews 8:6, NET)
- Paul says there is one intermediary between God and humanity. For there is one God and one intermediary between God and humanity, Christ Jesus, himself human, who gave himself as a ransom for all, revealing God’s purpose at his appointed time. (1 Timothy 2:5-6, NET)
- Hebrews contrasts God speaking through prophets with his speaking in a son in these last days. After God spoke long ago in various portions and in various ways to our ancestors through the prophets, in these last days he has spoken to us in a son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he created the world. (Hebrews 1:1-2, NET)
- The new covenant promise in Hebrews ends in forgiveness, with no further offering needed. then he says, “Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no longer.” Now where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin. (Hebrews 10:17-18, NET)
- The same promise says all will know the Lord without needing to be taught it. And there will be no need at all for each one to teach his countryman or each one to teach his brother saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ since they will all know me, from the least to the greatest. (Hebrews 8:11, NET)
- Jesus says the one who believes has eternal life. I tell you the solemn truth, the one who believes has eternal life. (John 6:47, NET)
Where SCJ’s reading conflicts with the Bible
This lesson teaches covenants, and much of the basic structure is familiar: God makes covenants, Israel broke the old one, Jesus established the new one with his blood. The problems are in three moves. First, the lesson stresses that God works through one “single authoritative source,” and SCJ’s book turns that into a rule that God always “selects a pastor.” Second, it redefines the new covenant as the prophecies of Revelation, to be fulfilled in the future. Third, it says that to keep the covenant you must first know it “in detail,” with hell as the consequence. Each move contradicts what Hebrews, the book the lesson quotes, actually says about the new covenant.
1. Only two macro covenants
The lesson says there are only two main covenants, the Old and the New.
- Scripture names more: with Noah (Genesis 9), with Abraham (Genesis 15, 17), at Sinai through Moses (Exodus 19-24), with David (2 Samuel 7; Psalm 89:3, the lesson’s own opening verse) and the new covenant (Jeremiah 31:31-34).
- The Abrahamic covenant matters most here. Paul says the law, which came 430 years later, does not cancel the promise God made to Abraham, and the promise is received by faith (Galatians 3:15-18). Those who belong to Christ are Abraham’s descendants and heirs (3:29).
- Leaving out Abraham lets the lesson present the new covenant as another law-keeping contract with stipulations, rather than the fulfillment of a promise received by faith.
2. Moses was a mediator, and the mediator now is Jesus
The lesson spends time on the idea that God wanted “a single authoritative source,” so “if one wanted to know what God says, they needed to go to Moses.” SCJ’s The Creation of Heaven and Earth (p. vii) turns this into a rule: whenever God creates, “He selects a pastor.”
- God did defend Moses’ role in Numbers 12. But Moses himself said, “I wish that all the Lord’s people were prophets, that the Lord would put his Spirit on them!” (Numbers 11:29). Under the new covenant, that is what happened (Acts 2:16-18).
- Moses pointed beyond himself to a prophet like him, and Peter says that prophet is Jesus (Acts 3:22-23).
- Hebrews names the mediator of the new covenant: “Jesus has obtained a superior ministry, since the covenant that he mediates is also better” (Hebrews 8:6; see also 9:15 and 12:24).
- Paul: “there is one God and one intermediary between God and humanity, Christ Jesus” (1 Timothy 2:5).
- Hebrews contrasts Moses and Jesus directly: Moses was faithful as a servant in God’s house, but Christ is faithful as a son over the house (Hebrews 3:5-6). God spoke through prophets in the past, but “in these last days he has spoken to us in a son” (Hebrews 1:1-2).
No verse says God “selects a pastor” for each new work. In the new covenant, the role of single mediator is already filled, by Jesus.
3. What the new covenant actually is
The lesson says the new covenant “points to and equals a book of revelation.” SCJ’s Creation (p. 116) defines it as “the prophecies of the four gospels and of Revelation,” to be fulfilled in the future.
Hebrews quotes the new covenant in full (8:8-12, from Jeremiah 31:31-34). Its content is:
- “I will put my laws in their minds, and I will inscribe them on their hearts.”
- “I will be their God, and they will be my people.”
- “They will all know me, from the least to the greatest.”
- “I will be merciful toward their evil deeds, and their sins I will remember no longer.”
That is the new covenant: a changed heart, belonging to God, knowing him and forgiveness. None of it is a list of future prophecies.
Three more problems:
- Jesus established it at the Last Supper: “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood” (Luke 22:20). The disciples were in it that night, decades before Revelation was written.
- Hebrews treats it as already in force: Jesus “has obtained” the ministry, and the covenant he mediates “is” better (8:6).
- Hebrews says what the new covenant’s forgiveness means: “where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin” (10:17-18). It is complete.
Revelation is part of the New Testament Scriptures, and Christians should study it. But the new covenant is not Revelation, and you don’t have to decode Revelation to be in it.
4. Hebrews 8:11: No need for someone to teach “Know the Lord”
The lesson’s review says those who keep the new covenant “first must know what it is in detail,” which further study is presented as supplying.
- The new covenant promise itself says: “there will be no need at all for each one to teach his countryman or each one to teach his brother saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ since they will all know me, from the least to the greatest” (Hebrews 8:11).
- The new covenant does not depend on a teacher supplying detailed knowledge. It is defined by God making himself known to all his people, including the least.
- The lesson’s own memory verse, Hebrews 10:16, is God writing his laws on hearts. Hebrews 10:17 continues: “Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no longer.”
5. The consequences: What Hebrews warns against
SCJ’s Creation (p. 117) says new covenant believers who can’t keep its commands will be destroyed like the Old Testament generation.
- Hebrews does contain serious warnings, and that should be admitted (2:1-3; 10:26-29). But read what they warn against: neglecting “such a great salvation,” which was “first communicated through the Lord” (2:3), and having “contempt for the Son of God” and profaning “the blood of the covenant” (10:29). The danger is rejecting Christ, not failing to understand Revelation in detail.
- The new covenant “will not be like the covenant that I made with their fathers” (Hebrews 8:9). The difference is that God writes the law on the heart and forgives.
- Hebrews says of Jesus, “by one offering he has perfected for all time those who are made holy” (Hebrews 10:14), and that he “secured eternal redemption” (9:12).
- The lesson pushes back on “God loves me, so I’m good.” Scripture does allow assurance: “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1), “the one who believes has eternal life” (John 6:47) and John wrote “so that you may know that you have eternal life” (1 John 5:13).
6. Acts 13:27: The fulfillment they missed was Jesus
The lesson uses Acts 13:27 to warn that Christians today could misread prophecy the way the Jerusalem leaders did.
- Keep reading. Paul says the prophecies they read every Sabbath were fulfilled when they condemned Jesus, and God raised him from the dead (13:27-30). The promise to the fathers has been fulfilled in raising Jesus (13:32-33). Through him forgiveness of sins is proclaimed (13:38).
- The mistake in Acts 13 was failing to recognize Jesus. The lesson turns it into a warning that Christians who already believe in Jesus might be missing a newer fulfillment. That reverses Paul’s point.
7. Hosea 6: The lesson skips the verse Jesus quoted
The lesson uses Hosea 6:7 to compare Israel to Adam breaking a covenant.
- The verse right before it says, “For I delight in faithfulness, not simply in sacrifice; I delight in acknowledging God, not simply in whole burnt offerings” (6:6).
- Jesus quoted that verse twice, to rebuke religious leaders who condemned others: “I want mercy and not sacrifice” (Matthew 9:13; 12:7).
- The covenant God cares about is shown in faithful love and knowing him. A lesson that measures covenant-keeping by detailed knowledge of a system misses the verse Jesus chose to emphasize.
8. Revelation was written to be understood by its first readers
The lesson quotes Revelation 1:3 and says understanding the new covenant requires studying Revelation.
- Revelation 1:3 blesses “the one who reads the words of this prophecy aloud” and “those who hear and obey the things written in it.” It was meant to be read aloud in congregations.
- It is addressed to seven real churches in Asia (1:4, 11), and Jesus says he sent his angel “to testify to you about these things for the churches” (22:16). The first readers were expected to receive it and benefit from it.
- It was not a sealed book waiting for a later interpreter. The angel tells John, “Do not seal up the words of the prophecy contained in this book, because the time is near” (22:10).
What the lesson is really for
This lesson starts the “fundamentals” series by laying three foundations:
- God works through one authoritative go-between, which SCJ’s book generalizes to “He selects a pastor.”
- The new covenant is redefined as Revelation’s prophecies, to be fulfilled in the future.
- Eternal destiny depends on knowing that covenant “in detail,” and failure means destruction like Israel’s.
Put together, these lead to one conclusion: salvation depends on understanding Revelation, and that understanding comes through the pastor God has selected. That is where later lessons go.
The biblical answer: Jesus is the one mediator of the new covenant (Hebrews 8:6; 1 Timothy 2:5), the covenant was established in his blood and is already in force (Luke 22:20), its content is a changed heart, knowing God and complete forgiveness (Hebrews 8:10-12; 10:17-18) and no one needs another teacher to tell them “Know the Lord,” because all his people will know him, from the least to the greatest (Hebrews 8:11).
What’s happening behind the lesson
These notes are our reading of the lesson text, using Steven Hassan’s BITE model (behavior, information, thought and emotional control). They describe what the text does, not the teacher’s intent. Hassan notes that not every group uses every item. Source: Steven Hassan, BITE Model, Freedom of Mind.
- Information: can point to one channel for God’s word (our reading). The lesson takes time to explain that God wanted “a single authoritative source” and that “If one wanted to know what God says, they needed to go to Moses,” including when people complained. This is offered as background for now; in our reading, it sets up the idea that God’s word comes through one appointed person.
- Thought: can set a student’s current reading beside the Pharisees’ mistake. “Do you see the pattern here? If you don’t, history will repeat itself to remind us.” Christians are asked whether they “could fail to correctly interpret prophecy,” and told that understanding the new covenant requires knowing Revelation. A student’s existing faith can be placed in the same position as those who missed Jesus.
- Emotional: can tie eternal stakes to detailed knowledge. Failing to keep the new covenant means “destruction in hell and eternal punishment,” and “one’s eternal destiny hinges” on it. The review adds that keepers “first must know what it is in detail,” which further study is presented as supplying.