Shincheonji special lesson 122: HWPL: the work of peace at the second coming

Where SCJ’s reading conflicts with the Bible

This lesson introduces HWPL, “a peace organization where New John, Chairman Lee, serves as the head.” It says “The white horse represents New John,” that the overcomer “will become the throne of Jesus,” and that the iron scepter means teaching, including how to have peace. It reads the tree of life as “New John and the organization … Shincheonji,” whose leaves heal the nations through HWPL, and builds HWPL’s name from Revelation 22:1-2. It says “80% of wars worldwide are fought for religious reasons,” so HWPL holds interfaith dialogues, and “This process represents how the great multitude will come together.” The instructor closes: this “really increased my belief in God and Jesus using New John.” The Bible says a lot about peace, and where it comes from.

1. 1. Biblical peace comes through the cross

   • “since we have been declared righteous by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:1).
   • “he is our peace, the one who made both groups into one and who destroyed the middle wall of partition, the hostility” (Ephesians 2:14).
   • God reconciled all things to himself “by making peace through the blood of his cross” (Colossians 1:20).
   • Jesus: “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you; I do not give it to you as the world does” (John 14:27).
   • The peace Scripture describes is reconciliation with God through Christ’s death, which then reconciles people to each other. It isn’t produced by an organization or by dialogue between religions.

2. 2. The great multitude is washed in the Lamb’s blood

   The lesson says interfaith dialogues represent “how the great multitude will come together.”

   • The multitude stands “before the throne and before the Lamb,” shouting, “Salvation belongs to our God, who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb!” (Revelation 7:9-10). “They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb” (7:14).
   • They’re gathered by the Lamb’s sacrifice, not by different religions reading their scriptures together. Jesus said, “No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). (See Lesson 110.)

3. 3. The leaves: SCJ’s books say evangelists

   • The notes tie the leaves that heal the nations (Revelation 22:2) to HWPL’s peace work. SCJ’s own books say the leaves are “the evangelists who spread the word” (Creation of Heaven and Earth, p. 271) and “the evangelists working under the pastor of life” (Physical Fulfillment, p. 545). The lesson and the books don’t agree.
   • Revelation places the tree of life in the new Jerusalem, after God has made all things new and “death will not exist any more” (21:4-5; 22:1-2). It describes God’s new creation, not an organization founded in 2013. (See Lessons 82 and 85.)

4. 4. The white horse, the throne and the rod

   • The notes say “The white horse represents New John.” SCJ’s book says the horses are units of “heavenly warriors” (Physical Fulfillment, p. 126). (See Lesson 107.)
   • Revelation 3:21 promises that every overcomer will “sit with me on my throne.” No one becomes the throne. (See Lesson 104.)
   • The iron rod is for ruling and breaking (2:27), from Psalm 2, given to Jesus by the Father. It isn’t a teaching on how to have peace. (See Lesson 118.)

5. 5. Isaiah 2:4: God brings the peace

   • “He will judge disputes between nations; he will settle cases for many peoples. They will beat their swords into plowshares … Nations will not take up the sword against other nations” (Isaiah 2:4).
   • It’s the Lord who judges the nations, and peace follows his reign. Reading the farming tools as “harvesting” for SCJ adds a meaning the verse doesn’t have. (See Lesson 44.)

6. 6. Luke 19: The things that make for peace

   • Jesus wept over Jerusalem: “If you had only known on this day, even you, the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes … because you did not recognize the time of your visitation from God” (Luke 19:42-44).
   • What they missed was Jesus himself, God visiting them. The things that make for peace are found in recognizing him.

7. 7. Saying “80% of wars worldwide are fought for religious reasons”

   • The lesson gives no source. One widely cited reference work, the Encyclopedia of Wars, classified only about 7 percent of recorded wars as primarily religious.
   • A figure that inflates religion’s role supports the case for an interfaith organization. Students should ask where the number comes from.

8. 8. Good works don’t verify a teaching

   The instructor says HWPL’s global activity increased their belief that God is using New John.

   • Jesus warned that many will say, “Lord, Lord, didn’t we prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many powerful deeds in your name?” and he will answer, “I never knew you” (Matthew 7:22-23).
   • Paul warned that false teachers can disguise themselves “as servants of righteousness” (2 Corinthians 11:14-15).
   • International events, signed declarations and videos show an organization’s reach. They don’t show its leader is the one Revelation promises. The test is the message (Galatians 1:8).

9. 9. Openness about the connection

   • Students are told plainly here that HWPL is headed by SCJ’s leader and is part of fulfilling Revelation. Public partners, officials and volunteers who encounter HWPL as a peace organization deserve to know that connection.
   • “we have rejected shameful hidden deeds, not behaving with deceptiveness” (2 Corinthians 4:2). (See Lessons 86 and 119.)

10. 10. “Blessed are the peacemakers”

    • Matthew 5:9 is a true calling for every believer. Peacemaking starts close to home: “If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all people” (Romans 12:18).
    • Earlier lessons taught students to see family concern as persecution and outsiders as spiritually dead. A genuine work of peace would begin by restoring those relationships. (See Lessons 90 and 116.)

11. 11. 6,000 years of war and “how Satan twists God’s things”

    • The lesson says other churches’ reading of Revelation 6 shows “how Satan twists God’s things.” Christians have long disagreed about the first rider’s identity. Disagreement on a difficult passage isn’t Satan’s work. (See Lesson 107.)