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2. The Truth of the New Revelation Eclipses the Truths of Former Dispensations
World Scripture
The glowworm shines so long as the lightbringer has not arisen. But when the shining one has come up, its light is quenched, it glows no longer. Such is the shining of the sectarians. So long as the rightly awakened ones arise not in the world, the sophists get no light, nor do their followers, and those of wrong views cannot be released from Ill.
Udana 73 (Buddhism)
And when We put a revelation in place of another revelation—and Allah knows best what He reveals—they say, “You are only inventing.” Most of them know not. Say, “The Holy Spirit has revealed it from your Lord with truth, that it may confirm the faith of those who believe, and as a guidance and good tidings for those who have surrendered.”
Qur’an 16.101-102
Now if the dispensation of death, carved in letters on stone, came with such splendor that the Israelites could not look on Moses’ face because of its brightness, fading as this was, will not the dispensation of the Spirit be attended with greater splendor? For if there was splendor in the dispensation of condemnation, the dispensation of righteousness must far exceed it in splendor. Indeed, in this case, what once had splendor has come to have no splendor at all, because of the splendor that surpasses it… Yes, to this day, whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their minds; but when a man turns to the Lord, the veil is removed.
2 Corinthians 3.7-16
Concerning His words—“The sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give light, and the stars shall fall from heaven” [Matthew 24.29]… is intended the divines of the former Dispensation, who live in the days of the subsequent Revelations, and who hold the reins of religion in their grasp. If these divines be illuminated by the light of the latter Revelation they will be acceptable to God, and will shine with a light everlasting. Otherwise, they will be declared as darkened, even though to outward seeming they be leaders of men, inasmuch as belief and unbelief, guidance and error, felicity and misery, light and darkness, are all dependent upon the sanction of Him who is the Daystar of Truth.
In another sense, by the terms “sun,” “moon,” and “stars” are meant such laws and teachings as have been established and proclaimed in every Dispensation, such as the laws of prayer and fasting. These have, according to the law of the Qur’an, been regarded, when the beauty of the Prophet Muhammad had passed beyond the veil, as the most fundamental and binding laws of His dispensation
Hence, it is clear and manifest that by the words “the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven” is intended the waywardness of the divines, and the annulment of laws firmly established by [prior] divine Revelation, all of which, in symbolic language, have been foreshadowed by the Manifestation of God.
It is unquestionable that in every succeeding Revelation the “sun” and “moon” of the teachings, laws, commandments, and prohibitions which have been established in the preceding Dispensation, and which have overshadowed the people of that age, become darkened, that is, are exhausted, and cease to exert their influence.
Book of Certitude 33-41 (Baha’i Faith)
Teachings of Sun Myung Moon
People need religion in order to seek the Ultimate Reality and realize goodness in accordance with the inclination of the original mind. Thus, the purpose of every religion is identical. However, religions have appeared in different forms according to their various missions, the cultures in which they took root, and their particular historical periods. Their scriptures have taken different forms for similar reasons. All scriptures have the same purpose: to illuminate their surroundings with the light of truth. Yet when a brighter lamp is lit, the old lamp is outshone and its mission fades. Because religions lack the power to guide modern people out of the dark valley of death into the full radiance of life, there must emerge a new expression of truth that can radiate a new and brighter light.
(Exposition of the Divine Principle, Introduction)
In the Last Days, Jesus said, “the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven.” (Matt. 24.29) How are we to understand this verse? It is written that Joseph, the eleventh of the twelve sons of Jacob, had a dream: Then he dreamed another dream, and told it to his brothers, and said, “Behold, I have dreamed another dream; and behold, the sun, the moon, and eleven stars were bowing down to me.” But when he told it to his father and to his brothers, his father rebuked him, and said to him, “What is this dream that you have dreamed? Shall I and your mother and your brothers indeed come to bow ourselves to the ground before you?”
(Gen. 37.9-10)
When Joseph later became the prime minister of Egypt, his parents and brothers bowed down before him, as the dream had foretold. In his dream, the sun and moon symbolized the parents, while the stars symbolized their children. As will be explained, Jesus and the Holy Spirit are the True Parents who came to give rebirth to humanity in place of Adam and Eve. Therefore, in this prophecy from Matthew, the sun and moon represent Jesus and the Holy Spirit, while the stars represent the faithful believers who are their children. Elsewhere, Jesus is likened to the true light because he came as the incarnation of the Word and shone forth the light of truth. (John 1.9, 14) Here, the sunlight means the light of the words of Jesus, and the moonlight means the light of the Holy Spirit, who came as the Spirit of truth. (John 16.13)
For the sun to be darkened and the moon to lose its light means that the New Testament Word given by Jesus and the Holy Spirit will lose its luster. How can the Word as revealed in the New Testament possibly lose its light? The Old Testament Word was eclipsed when Jesus and the Holy Spirit came and gave us the New Testament Word, which fulfilled the Old Testament Word. (2 Cor. 3.7-11) Likewise, when Christ returns and gives the new truth in order to fulfill the New Testament Word and build a new heaven and new earth, (Rev. 21.1) the Word which he gave at his first coming will lose its light. It is said that the Word will lose its light because, with the coming of a new era, the period of the mission of the old truth will have lapsed.
The prophecy that the stars will fall from heaven signifies that in the Last Days many faithful Christian believers will make a misstep and fall from God’s grace. At the time of Jesus, the leaders of the Jewish people were all yearning for the coming of the Messiah, but they met their downfall when they did not recognize Jesus as the Messiah and opposed him. Likewise, Christians who have been anxiously awaiting the return of Jesus are likely to make the same misjudgment and fall when he actually returns.
Jesus asked, “Nevertheless, when the Son of man comes, will he find faith on earth?” (Luke 18.8) On another occasion he said he would declare to devout believers, “I never knew you; depart from me, you evildoers.” (Matt. 7.23) Jesus gave these warnings to the Christians of the Last Days because he foresaw that they would be likely to disbelieve and trespass against him at his Second Advent.
(Exposition of the Divine Principle, Eschatology 3.2.5)
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