One of the core teachings of Shincheonji is that the Promised Pastor, Man Hee Lee, has ‘seen and heard all of the events of Revelation’. He claims to be the “New John” – a person in the position of John who receives the reality revelation from the Angel in Revelation 10. He claims to have eaten the little scroll and obtained a perfect understanding of Revelation. He also claims to have seen and heard the fulfilment of all of the chapters of the book of Revelation (sources below).

However, when questioned about why MHL could not foresee COVID-19 and the subsequent legal persecution as part of the Great Tribulation upon SCJ, members are:

– Gaslit and told they misunderstood Revelation 10 and Revelation 7, and need to retake the Centre course

– told that MHL received it and knows but does not share it to anyone ahead of time

OR

– told that MHL can only identify realities as they appear (some instructors say that Jesus is continuously revealing the reality of Revelation to MHL)

These excuses seem inconsistent with the history of SCJ’s teachings about the purpose and role of New John in the fulfilment of Revelation. It was always taught that upon receiving the reality revelation, New John masters Revelation and witnesses all the events of Revelation.

Let’s see what MHL himself says about this topic.

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The Physical Fulfilment of Revelation (2014), Prologue:

“Roughly 2,000 years ago, Apostle John saw the revelation of Jesus in a vision on the island of Patmos, which is now part of Greece. At that time, John wrote the book of Revelation as a prophecy to be fulfilled in the future. Today, I have witnessed the fulfilment of the prophecies of Revelation, which were promised by our Lord, and I have written this book according to the explanation given to me by the spirit.”

The Physical Fulfilment of Revelation (2014), p9:

“Since, however, this is the time of the fulfilment and the prophecies have been fulfilled in the blink of an eye, I am ready to testify in detail according to the reality and truth I have witnessed and the explanation I have received from the spirit.”

The Physical Fulfilment of Revelation (2014), p26:

“Since John, according to the will of Jesus, directly sees and hears the explanation of everything recorded in Revelation, John’s testimony is the only testimony regarding Revelation that is true.”

The Physical Fulfilment of Revelation (2014), p97:

“Apart from Jesus, John is the only other one who ascends into and descends from heaven to testify about what he sees and hears. “What must happen after these things” refers to all the events John sees in the spiritual kingdom of heaven. In other words, John sees all the events described in Revelation 4-22, including when the spiritual throne of God described in Revelation 4 returns to unite with God’s people in the physical world.“

(cont.) “This pastor like Apostle John testifies about what he sees and hears in the spiritual heaven, just as Jesus did at the time of his First Coming.”

The Physical Fulfilment of Revelation (2014), p220:

“What does it mean for John to eat the open book? It means he completely understands its content and writes it on his heart. When New John eats God’s book, he becomes a walking Bible.”

The Physical Fulfilment of Revelation (2014), p561:

“Just as Jesus testified about the fulfilment of the Old Testament, the new John testifies about the fulfilment of the New Testament. The angel Jesus sends from the spiritual world for the churches reveals all the events of the book of Revelation to the new John. This pastor becomes the messenger of Jesus and testifies on Jesus’ behalf according to what he has seen and heard.”

The Physical Fulfilment of Revelation (2014), p563:

“Which pastor should believers follow? Should we follow a general pastor who learns the Bible incompletely from a conventional theological seminary, who is ordained by men, and who becomes a pastor capable of preaching only within his own denomination? Instead, should we not follow the true promised pastor anointed directly by Jesus himself (Rev 1:17-19), the pastor who sees God’s kingdom spiritual kingdom (Rev 4), the pastor who receives and eats the open book (Rev 10), and the pastor to whom an angel is sent to show and explain all the events of Revelation (Rev 22)?”

380114 God’s Word and the Miracles that Made Me Believe

“I’ve seen and heard God, Jesus, the beings of heaven, and even their voices occasionally, and I have also seen miracles and extraordinary events. What’s peculiar is that I have seen the transformed figures of people and all creation in the world to come, which we hope for. [We] must go—to that world I have seen.”

381006 The Testimony of the Prophecies and Fulfilment of the New Covenant Revelation from God

“Although this New Covenant Revelation has been hidden with seven seals and parables for about 2,000 years, today, Jesus took this book, opened all [its] seals, and fulfilled all that was written. Through the angel, Jesus gave the promised pastor this opened book to eat (Rv 10); [Jesus] showed him all the events of the entire book of Revelation and commanded him to deliver what he has seen and heard to the churches (Rv 22:8, 16).”

380905 [Article for Evangelism Use] To the Pastors of Korea, Who are Brothers in Faith

“I saw and heard Jesus fulfill the New Testament (New Covenant) Revelation at Jesus’ side (Rv 22:8). Moreover, I have been sent by Jesus to preach what I have seen and heard to the churches (Rv 22:16). Yet, who would believe me or listen to what I say? Even so, I want to make known to the pastors the events of all the chapters of Revelation (from Rv 1 to Rv 22) that I have seen and heard.”

380824 The Path of the Kingdom of Heaven on Which One is Born Again of Water and the Holy Spirit

If one does not know the meaning of Revelation, how can he see and believe its actual entities? Three kinds of pastors appear in Rv 1, 2, and 3. Do you know these three kinds of pastors? What are their
names, what do their faces look like, how old are they, where did they appear, and what kind of work did they do, respectively? Wouldn’t one have to see and touch these people to be able to testify about them? I have seen everything.”

380709 [Article for Evangelism Use] To All the Pastors and Saints of the Protestant Church of Korea

“The promised pastor of Shincheonji has seen and heard all the events of the entire book of Revelation, the new covenant, that Jesus fulfilled (Rv 22:8). And after Jesus fulfilled Revelation, he gave the opened book to the promised pastor (Rv 10). To show His servants what will soon take place, God made it known by sending His angel to the promised pastor (Rv 1:2), and Jesus sent this pastor who has seen and heard the fulfillment of the entire book of Revelation to the churches and told him to testify this. Thus, the promised pastor is the living witness to the events of Revelation.”

380201 It is Fulfilled on This Earth Just as it was Fulfilled in Heaven

“All religions are saying that the coming age, that is, the new world of a new era, is the kingdom of heaven of paradise. I have seen this coming age. The Bible said that this kingdom of heaven of paradise comes to be in the era of the new heaven and new earth, Shincheonji, that is created after the first heaven and first earth pass away. God comes to this Shincheonji, and by being together with the people [there], He said that all things are made new (Rv 21:1-5).”

… there are a lot more sources which repeat this message but I think you get the point now!

Summary

Have a look at the excuses that SCJ gives about why MHL didn’t know about COVID-19 in advance (above) and, as a quick exercise, try applying these excuses to what SCJ claims has already fulfilled.

So, for example, would it make sense for MHL to not know the betrayers and destroyers in the Tabernacle Temple, despite receiving the open scroll in 1977? Does it make sense that he saw and heard the fulfilment of all of the chapters of Revelation but cannot identify in advance who the betrayers and destroyers are?

Then here is a question to mull over:

– In the past, how could MHL understand things in advance (like the identities of the betrayers and destroyers) before they happen, but in the present he cannot describe any future event?

Ultimately, the truthfulness of whether MHL has actually seen and heard all of the events of Revelation relies upon the extent to which he can describe and testify the events he has seen (all past, present and future events that connect to prophecies in Revelation).

Simply pointing to things that have already occurred and claiming it as a fulfilment isn’t good enough to be a promised pastor. Any pastor without an understanding of Revelation can do exactly what SCJ has done. Ironically, SCJ always humiliates and laughs at pastors who try to fit world events like wars and famines into biblical prophecies and say that “X is the fulfilment of Revelation chapter Y!”. Well, have SCJ not done exactly the same thing when it comes to their understanding of the Great Tribulation? This is a prime example of rank hypocrisy for SCJ to condemn other pastors trying to fit world events in biblical prophecies, but to do it themselves when it is convenient.

The fact that COVID-19 (described as the Great Tribulation) and the subsequent legal persecution occurred, and MHL seemingly had no knowledge of it at all, should raise some legitimate questions for current believers. These are events that:

1. Are allegedly prophecised in Revelation 7; and
2. Are allegedly fulfilling after the 144,000 have been sealed

… but for some reason was completely unknown to the pastor who received the open scroll and saw and heard the fulfilment of all the events of Revelation.

Issues

So, two questions arise:

1. Why was MHL not able to foresee COVID-19 and the legal persecution in advance, if SCJ now claims it as the fulfilment of Revelation 7, and if MHL has received the open scroll and heard and seen all of the events of Revelation?
2. Why does MHL refuse to make concrete predictions about the future, despite alleging that he knows what will occur in the future according to God’s will?

I understand that nobody knows when a prophecy will fulfil because only the Father in Heaven knows (Matthew 24:36), but if SCJ claims to have mastered Revelation according to the 5W1H principles, that leaves 4Ws and 1H they can testify about. So from someone who has “mastered Revelation”, it’s pretty reasonable to expect good explanations regarding any chapter in Revelation for what will occur, where it will occur, who is involved, why it occurs, and how it comes about.

MHL no doubt knows about the testing of true and false prophets outlined in Deuteronomy 18 – ask yourself if this could be why MHL is so reluctant to make any predictions about future events, despite repeatedly and explicitly boasting that he has seen and heard the fulfilment of all of the events of Revelation? It would be like someone swearing that they have the winning numbers to next week’s lottery but refusing to buy lottery tickets themselves. To normal people, this person is either deluded or just straight up lying.

If anything, if his predictions come true, it will contribute to legitimising his claim that he is the chosen pastor of God and congregation members will have their faith strengthened. So the question is, is MHL not willing to subject his claims to being tested? And if not, what do you think the reason is?

MHL & Jesus?

Also, as a final point because I know some people will think this, MHL often (and even in the articles above) compares himself to Jesus at the First Coming. The two are claimed to have received the open scroll in the same manner. But this comparison would only make sense if Jesus displayed no ability to foresee future events or explain in detail how future events would unfold. However Jesus , who SCJ claims received the open scroll according to Ez 3, did display an incredible ability to know and precisely predict future events:

– Jesus knew in advance, and correctly identified the exact disciple of the 12 who would betray him: Judas (predicted in Matthew 26:21, fulfilled in Luke 22:47)

– Jesus knew in advance that his disciples would all desert him upon his arrest (predicted in Matthew 26:31, fulfilled in Matthew 26:56).

– Jesus knew in advance that Peter would disown him three times within a single night (predicted in Matthew 26:31-35, fulfilled in Matthew 26:69-75)

– Jesus knew in advance where he would die and how (crucifixion) (predicted in Matthew 26:2, fulfilled in Mark 15:24).

– Jesus knew in advance that after his cruficixion and death, he would rise on the third day (predicted in John 2:18-22, fulfilled in Matthew 28).

So no, it’s not a good comparison, and this example probably does more to show that MHL did not receive the open scroll in the same way that Jesus did.