Shincheonji lesson 107: Revelation 6: the judgment of the sun, moon and stars of the former heaven, part one

Where SCJ’s reading conflicts with the Bible

This lesson opens with a warning: “There is nowhere else to go in the Bible,” and a student who treats the class lightly will “be finished off just like Noah’s generation.” It says, “When the book was sealed, final salvation was not possible.” It reads the first four seals of Revelation 6 as judgment on the Tabernacle Temple in Gwacheon: the white rider is “Jesus, who appears in spirit form” on a horse that is a pastor, the red rider’s sword is God’s word that set members bickering, the wheat and barley are “the remnant seed,” and the pale rider’s Death and Hades are a named Korean pastor and “Satan’s organization – the churches.” It says “Revelation 6 has already taken place,” and “Without his presence to observe these occurrences, we would not have this information.” SCJ’s own book disagrees with the notes on the white rider and on Hades. Revelation 6 describes something much larger than one church.

1. 1. “There is nowhere else to go”

   • Peter said something similar, and he said where he would go: “Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words of eternal life” (John 6:68). The answer was Jesus himself, not a course. (See Lesson 82.)

2. 2. Salvation wasn’t waiting for the scroll

   The notes say, “When the book was sealed, final salvation was not possible.”

   • Jesus “became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him” (Hebrews 5:9).
   • First-century believers were already saved: “by grace you are saved through faith” (Ephesians 2:8). “The one who has the Son has this eternal life” (1 John 5:12).
   • Final salvation comes when Christ returns (Hebrews 9:28), for all who belong to him, not when a group explains Revelation. (See Lesson 87.)

3. 3. The seals show judgment on the world

   The lesson places the four horsemen at one church in Gwacheon.

   • The fourth rider is given “authority over a fourth of the earth, to kill its population with the sword, famine, and disease, and by the wild animals of the earth” (6:8). That’s worldwide catastrophe.
   • It echoes God’s “four terrible judgments—sword, famine, wild animals, and plague” in Ezekiel 14:21. The seals show the Lamb’s sovereignty over the world’s suffering.
   • The sixth seal ends with “the kings of the earth, the very important people, the generals, the rich, the powerful, and everyone, slave and free,” hiding from “the wrath of the Lamb” (6:15-16). It hasn’t “already taken place.” (See Lessons 50 and 74.)

4. 4. The white rider: The notes and the book disagree

   • The notes say “The rider on the white horse represents Jesus.” SCJ’s own book says: “This does not mean all the riders of the white horses in this verse are Jesus. On the contrary, the riders are many different spirits” (Physical Fulfillment, p. 126).
   • Interpreters have long debated the rider of 6:2. When Revelation clearly shows Jesus on a white horse, it names him: he is called “Faithful” and “True,” “the Word of God” and “King of kings and Lord of lords” (19:11-16). It isn’t a code for a spirit riding a pastor.

5. 5. Isaiah 31:3: Horses “made of flesh, not spirit”

   The lesson uses Isaiah 31:3 to say the horse is flesh, a pastor the spirit uses.

   • Isaiah’s point is the opposite: “The Egyptians are mere humans, not God; their horses are made of flesh, not spirit” (31:3). He warns Judah not to trust in Egypt’s horses instead of God (31:1).
   • It’s a contrast between human power and God’s, not a definition that horses mean pastors.

6. 6. The red rider brings slaughter

   The lesson says the red rider’s sword is God’s word, which took false peace and set members bickering.

   • The rider “was granted permission to take peace from the earth so that people would butcher one another, and he was given a huge sword” (6:4). It describes violence and bloodshed across the earth.
   • Matthew 10:34 (“I have not come to bring peace but a sword”) describes division in families over loyalty to Jesus. It doesn’t turn Revelation’s war into an argument in a church. (See Lesson 55.)

7. 7. Wheat and barley are food prices

   The lesson says the quart of wheat and three quarts of barley are “the remnant seed.” SCJ’s book says they’re “a small number of people.”

   • “A quart of wheat will cost a day’s pay, and three quarts of barley will cost a day’s pay. But do not damage the olive oil and the wine!” (6:6). A full day’s wages for a day’s food describes famine prices.
   • The limit on oil and wine shows judgment held within bounds. It isn’t a count of people who leave a church.

8. 8. Death, Hades and the gates of Hades

   The notes say Death is a named false pastor and “Hades is also Satan’s organization – the churches.”

   • Revelation explains Death and Hades: “Death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them … Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire” (20:13-14). Hades holds the dead.
   • Jesus holds their keys: “I was dead, but look, now I am alive … and I hold the keys of death and of Hades” (1:18).
   • And Jesus promised about his church: “the gates of Hades will not overpower it” (Matthew 16:18). Calling the churches Hades directly contradicts Jesus’ promise.
   • SCJ’s own book says Hades follows Death “because Hades will receive all those who are killed” (Physical Fulfillment, p. 134), not that Hades is the churches.

9. 9. Naming people and organizations

   • The notes name a Korean pastor and a Korean religious body as Death and Hades. Revelation names no modern people or organizations. Assigning them roles from Revelation makes the book about one group’s conflicts. (See Lessons 102 and 103.)

10. 10. Saying “we would not have this information” without New John

    • Revelation was given “to show his servants what must happen” (1:1), written by John for the churches (1:11; 22:8). Its information comes from God through John’s book, available to every reader. (See Lesson 71.)

11. 11. Zechariah 6 and Genesis 37

    • Zechariah’s four chariots are “the four spirits of heaven” (Zechariah 6:5), not the four living creatures. (See Lesson 50.)
    • Joseph’s sun, moon and stars were his father, mother and brothers (Genesis 37:10). (See Lesson 59.)

12. 12. Saying God “will only gather the truly good grain”

    • The harvest is gathered by angels at the end of the age (Matthew 13:39). Threatening that unserious students will be “finished off just like Noah’s generation” uses fear to keep them in class. (See Lesson 76.)