Is it a difficult thing or an easy thing to digest this centering on the leaders of the tong and ban? If you form a structure, will it be easy or difficult? This is why I am telling you to have confidence. This is something anyone, even a mere child, would not have a problem with. In fact, it’s not a problem. If you can just properly set up the leaders of tong and ban, then it will not take long. (165-323, 1987.5.27)
Cheon Seong Gyeong 1458
Adam and Eve lost the standard through which they could practice absolute faith, absolute love, and absolute obedience. They entered unprincipled marriage, thereby defiling the lineage, completely overturning the right of ownership, and bringing into ruin their whole tribe. Therefore, the absolute restoration of the lineage must take place. In other words, you need to protect the pure lineage of True Parents so that it can be passed down to your descendants eternally. Adam and Eve failed to do so and entered a fallen relationship. Therefore, you need to maintain purity and be blessed in marriage. You can then restore the absolute lineage, the absolute right of ownership, and the absolute realm of heart. This should be our motto, in fact three mottos. (269-94, 1995.4.8)
Jacob
4. Jacob’s Reconciliation with Esau
Teachings of Rev. Sun Myung Moon
The struggle over the birthright continued even after Jacob received the blessing from his father. When he returned after twenty-one years of hardships in the land of Haran he encountered Esau, who still nursed the desire to kill him. However, in the end Esau welcomed him and embraced him. Through this victory, the people of Israel could be established, graced with the birthright as the elder son nation of God. (102:177, December 24, 1978)
Jacob knew his brother Esau was ready to kill him. So he resolved to offer his wealth and servants to his elder brother. He wanted to give them all to Esau, all the things that he had earned during his entire life. Jacob prayed to God not to punish Esau, but asked God to bless Esau as He had blessed him. Because of that heart, Esau was moved to relinquish his desire to kill Jacob; and he too received God’s blessing. (52:64-65, December 22, 1971)
When Jacob returned home and wanted to claim the position of the elder son that he had been blessed with years before, who should publicly acknowledge him? Who should sign the certificate? It is Esau, in the position of Cain, who should signify his approval. Without Esau’s approval, Jacob could not receive the blessing from God.
During his twenty-one years in a foreign land, Jacob had prospered and gathered his own clan. He knew he had to make a superior foundation in every aspect in order to overcome Esau… That is why Jacob worked hard to gain cattle, servants and property; he needed to have more wealth than his brother. Then he could send gifts of servants and possessions to his brother, and to his elderly parents as well.
Through these gifts, Jacob wanted to make his elder brother think: “My brother is a fearful man. Indeed, God blessed him. It was my mistake that I sold my birthright so cheaply; hence I deserve to be less successful than my younger brother. So, when my brother comes, I should not reject him. I should rather welcome him.” In this way, Jacob could move Esau to recognize that God was with him, and to acknowledge that he was in the position of Abel.
This is the path we should walk; this is the tradition we should follow. It is a formula, applicable in any situation and in every age. (106:183-84, December 30, 1979)
The Bible records that God hated Esau from the womb (Romans 9:11-13), but this was only because he had been given the role of Cain, who was on Satan’s side, for the purpose of setting up an indemnity condition in the providence of restoration. When he fulfilled his portion of responsibility by submitting to Jacob, he restored Cain’s position and thus at last was able to receive God’s love. (Exposition of the Divine Principle, Foundation 3.2)
Only after the reunion with his brother Esau could Jacob meet his parents whom he had missed for so many years and enjoy the peace he had longed for. We, too, can enter God’s kingdom and meet God and True Parents only after we have gone through the course of Jacob and made oneness with the Esaus in our life, for such is the restoration of Cain and Abel. (67:135, May 27, 1973)
17 Abram was ninety-nine years old when the Lord appeared to him again and said, “I am God All-Powerful. If you obey me and always do right, 2 I will keep my solemn promise to you and give you more descendants than can be counted.” 3 Abram bowed with his face to the ground, and God said:
4-5 I promise that you will be the father of many nations. That’s why I now change your name from Abram to Abraham.[a]6 I will give you a lot of descendants, and in the future they will become great nations. Some of them will even be kings.
7 I will always keep the promise I have made to you and your descendants, because I am your God and their God. 8 I will give you and them the land in which you are now a foreigner. I will give the whole land of Canaan to your family forever, and I will be their God.
Psalm 31
17 I pray only to you. Don’t disappoint me. Disappoint my cruel enemies until they lie silent in their graves. 18 Silence those proud liars! Make them stop bragging and insulting your people.
Jacob
4. Jacob’s Reconciliation with Esau
Jacob sent messengers before him to Esau his brother in the land of Seir, the country of Edom, instructing them, “Thus you shall say to my lord Esau, ‘Thus says your servant Jacob, “I have sojourned with Laban, and stayed until now; and I have oxen, asses, flocks, menservants, and maidservants; and I have sent to tell my lord, in order that I may find favor in your sight.”’”
And the messengers returned to Jacob, saying, “We came to your brother Esau, and he is coming to meet you, and four hundred men with him.” Then Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed; and he divided the people that were with him, and the flocks and herds and camels, into two companies, thinking, “If Esau comes to the one company and destroys it, then the company which is left will escape.”
And Jacob said, “O God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac, O Lord who said to me, ‘Return to your own country and to your kindred, and I will do you good,’ I am not worthy of the least of all the steadfast love and all the faithfulness which you have shown to your servant, for with only my staff I crossed this Jordan; and now I have become two companies. Deliver me, I pray, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau, for I fear him, lest he come and slay us all, the mothers with the children. But you said, ‘I will do you good, and make your descendants as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude.’”
So he lodged there that night, and took from what he had with him a present for his brother Esau, two hundred she-goats and twenty he-goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams, thirty milch camels and their colts, forty cows and ten bulls, twenty she-asses and ten he-asses. These he delivered into the hand of his servants, every drove by itself, and said to his servants, “Pass on before me, and put a space between drove and drove.” He instructed the foremost, “When Esau my brother meets you, and asks you, ‘To whom do you belong? Where are you going? And whose are these before you?’ then you shall say, ‘They belong to your servant Jacob; they are a present sent to my lord Esau; and moreover he is behind us.’” He likewise instructed the second and the third and all who followed the droves, “You shall say the same thing to Esau when you meet him, and you shall say, ‘Moreover your servant Jacob is behind us.’” For he thought, “I may appease him with the present that goes before me, and afterwards I shall see his face; perhaps he will accept me.” So the present passed on before him; and he himself lodged that night in the camp…
And Jacob lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, Esau was coming, and four hundred men with him. So he divided his children among Leah and Rachel and the two maids. He put the maids with their children in front, then Leah with her children, and Rachel and Joseph last of all. He himself went on before them, bowing himself to the ground seven times, until he came near to his brother.
But Esau ran to meet him, and embraced him, and fell on his neck and kissed him, and they wept. And when Esau raised his eyes and saw the women and children, he said, “Who are these with you?” Jacob said, “The children whom God has graciously given your servant.” Then the maids drew near, they and their children, and bowed down; Leah likewise and her children drew near and bowed down; and last Joseph and Rachel drew near, and they bowed down. Esau said, “What do you mean by all this company which I met?” Jacob answered, “To find favor in the sight of my lord.” But Esau said, “I have enough, my brother, keep what you have for yourself.” Jacob said, “No, I pray you, if I have found favor in your sight, then accept my present from my hand; for truly to see your face is like seeing the face of God, with such favor have you received me.”
Where should Japan return to now? She should return to a place similar to the Roman peninsula. By doing so, she should connect with the continent. The focal point enabling her to do so is the Korean peninsula. It is not the Indochina or Malay peninsulas or even Singapore. There is only one single Far East region, and that can only be the Korean peninsula. The history of this peninsula should be similar to that of the Israel nation. That is because Christianity is an extension of Judaism. As a single ethnic group with a long history, Korea should go through hardships and shed much blood. They should be a righteous people. How much blood has been shed throughout the ages because of treacherous people? This is how it was for five or six hundred years during the Chosun dynasty. The number six must be indemnified. Since it was such an age, the blood of many good people had to be shed during that time. (204-161, 1990.7.8)
Cheon Seong Gyeong 1357
Your situation is akin to that of Jacob’s clan, which could not be formed within a seven-year course but rather through three seven-year courses. All you 777 Couples of the Unification Church must realize that your Blessing signifies the establishment of the tribe that can relate in all directions to the world. The fact that people from several nations were blessed proves that a tradition has been established through which the whole world can be connected to heaven. Thus, you must become earnest families comprising true husbands, wives, parents, and children who can set the standard of being able to uphold God’s will; such a responsibility lies with you 777 Couples, who are currently in your thirties, because you are the ones who best rep-resent the families of the Unification Church. The couples in their forties are too old, and those in their twenties are not mature enough for this task. Since those of you in your thirties are standing in such a position, when you fulfill the duties entrusted to you, the foundation of heavenly tradition can be laid, upon which the rich legacy of the history of the Unification Church can be transmit-ted to the world.
Jacob
Jacob is one of the most victorious figures in the Bible, and one of the most problematical. Clever and ambitious, he tricked his brother into selling him his birthright and deceived his father Isaac into giving him his brother’s blessing. Yet, as he went through hardships in Haran and was himself deceived and mistreated by his uncle Laban, we sense a growing maturity that comes to fruition when he is able to win over his hostile brother with gifts and genuine humility. Through all the vicissitudes in his life, we can see his genuine faith in God and his desire to guard and perpetuate the godly tradition of his forefathers Abraham and Isaac. Father Moon has the highest regard for Jacob, whom he regards as the most successful providential figure in the Old Testament. In reconciling with his brother Esau, Jacob is the first person in biblical history to win over his enemy with love and sacrifice. in Father Moon’s view of God’s providence as a course of restoration, to turn right-side up all the things turned upside-down by the human fall, Jacob restored much: by defeating the angel he restored for the first time Adam’s defeat by the angel Lucifer, and by winning over his brother Esau he restored for the first time the failure of Cain and able. Jacob is a role model to Father Moon, and to anyone who understands that God entrusts to us a certain portion of responsibility—to exert ourselves to overcome adversity and restore the mistakes of the past. Therefore, his appellation “Israel,” meaning “he who strives with God” is well deserved.
1. Jacob’s Rivalry with Esau
Isaac prayed to the Lord for his wife, because she was barren; and the lord granted his prayer, and Rebecca his wife conceived. The children struggled together within her; and she said, “If it is thus, why do I live?” So she went to inquire of the lord. And the lord said to her,
“Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples, born of you, shall be divided; the one shall be stronger than the other, the elder shall serve the younger.”
When her days to be delivered were fulfilled, behold, there were twins in her womb. The first came forth red, all his body like a hairy mantle; so they called his name Esau. Afterward his brother came forth, and his hand had taken hold of Esau’s heel; so his name was called Jacob. Genesis 25.21-26
When the boys grew up, Esau was a skillful hunter, a man of the field, while Jacob was a quiet man, dwelling in tents. Isaac loved Esau, because he ate of his game; but Rebecca loved Jacob.
Once when Jacob was boiling pottage, Esau came in from the field, and he was famished. And Esau said to Jacob, “Let me eat some of that red pottage, for I am famished!” (Therefore his name was called Edom.) Jacob said, “First sell me your birthright.” Esau said, “I am about to die; of what use is a birthright to me?” Jacob said, “Swear to me first.” So he swore to him, and sold his birthright to Jacob. Then Jacob gave Esau bread and pottage of lentils, and he ate and drank, and rose and went his way. Thus Esau despised his birthright. Genesis 25.27-34
When Isaac was old and his eyes were dim so that he could not see, he called Esau his older son, and said to him, “My son”; and he answered, “Here I am.” He said, “Behold, I am old; I do not know the day of my death. Now then, take your weapons, your quiver and your bow, and go out to the field, and hunt game for me, and prepare for me savory food, such as I love, and bring it to me that I may eat; that I may bless you before I die.” Now Rebecca was listening when Isaac spoke to his son Esau… She prepared savory food, such as his father loved. Then she took the best garments of Esau her older son, which were with her in the house, and put them on Jacob her younger son; and the skins of the kids she put upon his hands and upon the smooth part of his neck; and she gave the savory food and the bread, which she had prepared, into the hand of her son Jacob. So he went in to his father, and said, “My father”; and he said, “Here I am; who are you, my son?” Jacob said to his father, “I am Esau your first-born. I have done as you told me; now sit up and eat of my game, that you may bless me.” But Isaac said to his son, “How is it that you have found it so quickly, my son?” He answered, “Because the lord your God granted me success.” Then Isaac said to Jacob, “Come near, that I may feel you, my son, to know whether you are really my son Esau or not.” So Jacob went near to Isaac his father, who felt him and said, “The voice is Jacob’s voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau.” And he did not recognize him, because his hands were hairy like his brother Esau’s hands; so he blessed him. He said, “Are you really my son Esau?” He answered, “I am.” Then he said, “Bring it to me, that I may eat of my son’s game and bless you.” So he brought it to him, and he ate; and he brought him wine, and he drank. Then his father Isaac said to him, “Come near and kiss me, my son.” So he came near and kissed him; and he smelled the smell of his garments, and blessed him, and said,
“See, the smell of my son is as the smell of a field which the l ord has blessed! May God give you of the dew of heaven, and of the fatness of the earth, and plenty of grain and wine. Let peoples serve you, and nations bow down to you. Be lord over your brothers, and may your mother’s sons bow down to you. Cursed be every one who curses you, and blessed be every one who blesses you!”…
Now Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing with which his father had blessed him, and Esau said to himself, “The days of mourning for my father are approaching; then I will kill my brother Jacob.” But the words of Esau her older son were told to Rebecca; so she sent and called Jacob her younger son, and said to him, “Behold, your brother Esau comforts himself by planning to kill you. Now therefore, my son, obey my voice; arise, flee to Laban my brother in Haran, and stay with him a while, until your brother’s fury turns away.” Genesis 27.1-29, 41-44
Catching tuna is not fishing. It is more like hunting at sea. You are hear- ing the term “hunting at sea” for the first time, right? Catching one tuna is hard- er than killing a large cow. One tuna weighs more than one thousand pounds. Some tunas can weigh five hundred, six hundred, or even seven hundred kilo- grams – that is bigger than a bull. It is exciting to catch such fish! We take all the blood out since the fish will spoil if left for a long time after being caught, and in an instant the water becomes a sea of blood. At that moment, I cannot help but think, “Oh, I am so merciless!” Whenever I feel that way, I think “God allows people to suffer because they are the sacrificial offerings for the libera- tion of humankind.” Also, I feel better when I tell myself, “Well, these fish were caught from nature and I never invested myself in raising them, but from now on I will raise fish and offer them as a sacri- fice.” This is why I carry out the fish farm and marine product industries. (219-196, 1991.8.29)
Cheong Seong Gyeong 1284
What is the hope of humankind? It
is to attend True Parents. Six thousand
years ago, Adam and Eve were sup-
posed to be blessed in marriage and all
of humanity was to become the descen-
dants of God. However, due to the Fall
of Adam and Eve, human beings became
the descendants of Satan instead. There-
fore, True Parents, who were lost six
thousand years ago, must be restored
on the side of heaven. You have to be
reborn through the relationship of
love with True Parents. Only then can
you become citizens of the Kingdom of
Heaven. (19-203, 1968.1.7)
Exposition of the Divine Principle 3 Color Edition-The Red part
3.2 THE FOUNDATION OF SUBSTANCE
To establish the foundation for
the Messiah in Isaac’s family, the foundation of substance had to be laid next.
For this purpose, Isaac’s sons, Esau and Jacob, had to be placed in the divided
positions of Cain and Abel respectively. By making the substantial offering,
they were responsible to fulfill the indemnity condition to remove the fallen
nature and lay the foundation of substance.
However, before Esau and Jacob
could fulfill the indemnity condition to remove the fallen nature and make the
substantial offering, Jacob first had to fulfill the indemnity condition to
restore the position of Abel. First, Jacob fulfilled the condition of victory
in the fight to restore on the individual level the birthright of the eldest
son. Second, Jacob went to Haran, which represented the satanic world. After
suffering through twenty-one years of drudgery, he triumphed over Laban in the
fight to restore the birthright by gaining family and wealth as his due
inheritance. After winning this victory, Jacob returned to Canaan. Third, on
his way back to Canaan, the land of the promised blessing, Jacob triumphed in
wrestling with an angel at the ford of Jabbok, thereby restoring dominion over
the angel in a substantial struggle. Through these three victories, Jacob
restored through indemnity the position of Abel. Thereupon, Jacob became the
central figure of the substantial offering.
When Jacob returned to Canaan
with his family and wealth after enduring twenty-one years of hardship in
Haran, he moved Esau to overcome his former hostility: And Jacob lifted up his
eyes and looked, and behold, Esau was coming, and four hundred men with him. So
he divided the children among Leah and Rachel and the two maids. And he put the
maids with their children in front, then Leah with her children, and Rachel and
Joseph last of all. He himself went on before them, bowing himself to the
ground seven times, until he came near to his brother. But Esau ran to meet him,
and embraced him, and fell on his neck and kissed him, and they wept. —Gen.
33:1-4 When Esau opened his arms and affectionately welcomed Jacob, they
fulfilled the indemnity condition to remove the fallen nature. For the first
time, the foundation of substance was laid successfully.
Their victory in the providence
centered on Abraham also restored through indemnity, horizontally in one
family, the long vertical course of history in which God had been working to
restore the foundation of substance.
3.3 THE FOUNDATION FOR THE MESSIAH
God’s work to lay the foundation
for the Messiah, which He first tried to establish in Adam’s family, had to be
conducted three times because the central figures of the providence of
restoration could not fulfill their portion of responsibility. The third
attempt was in Abraham’s time, yet even this was prolonged when he failed in
the symbolic offering. Isaac and his family inherited the Will and laid the
foundation of faith and the foundation of substance. At last, the foundation
for the Messiah was established. One would expect that the Messiah would have
come on the earth at that time. However, by Abraham’s time, fallen people had
already built up satanic nations which could have easily overpowered Abraham’s
family. Hence, even though the foundation for the Messiah was laid at that
time, it was a limited foundation, on the family level. The Messiah could not
have safely come on that foundation. A foundation of a sovereign state was
needed to cope with the nations of the satanic world.
Though the descendants of Isaac
had established the family foundation for the Messiah, they would leave their
homeland and suffer in a foreign land for four hundred years as the penalty for
Abraham’s mistake. Despite their suffering in Egypt, they would flourish and
consolidate as a people. They would return to Canaan and build the national
foundation for the Messiah as a sovereign nation prepared for the Messiah and
his work.
A course of indemnity had been
placed upon the shoulders of Abraham’s descendants due to his mistake in the
symbolic offering. Jacob was to begin this course of indemnity, not Isaac.
Indeed, the one who shoulders the major burden in walking the course of
indemnity is the Abel-type person who serves as the central figure of the
substantial offering. Jacob’s family stood upon the foundation for the Messiah
which had been completed in Isaac’s family. Inheriting the position of Isaac’s
family, they set out to complete the dispensation entrusted to Abraham by
taking responsibility for Abraham’s sin and embarking upon the four-hundred-year
course of indemnity.
In Jacob’s family it was Joseph,
the son of Rachel—Jacob’s wife on God’s side— who was to secure the position of
Abel by entering Egypt and walking the course of indemnity. Jacob, as the
central figure who laid the foundation for the Messiah in Isaac’s family, was
responsible to shoulder Abraham’s sin. He was also responsible to embark upon
an indemnity course to realize on the national level the Will which had been
entrusted to Isaac. Therefore, as was the case with Abraham and Isaac, God
regarded Abraham, Isaac and Jacob as the same person with respect to His Will,
even though they were three different individuals.
In conclusion, Jacob was victorious in taking responsibility for the indemnity course to pay for Abraham’s mistake. By using his wisdom for the sake of God’s Will, Jacob triumphed as an individual in his struggle with Esau to win the birthright. He entered Haran and, as a family, triumphed in a twenty-one-year struggle with his uncle Laban to win the birthright. On his way back from Haran to Canaan, Jacob was victorious in the fight with the angel. He was the first fallen man to fulfill the indemnity condition to restore dominion over the angel. Thereupon, he received the name “Israel,”75 signifying that he set the pattern and laid the groundwork upon which the chosen people would be established. After returning to Canaan with these victories, Jacob won Esau’s heart, and together they fulfilled the indemnity condition to remove the fallen nature. Jacob thus victoriously completed the model course to bring Satan to submission
View slides 95 to 118 below for an illustrated presentation of the above content:
