Cheon Seong Gyeong 2034
If you ask what kind of church Home Churches should be in the future, the answer would be that your Home Churches should become tribal churches. Our goal is not the Home Church, but is to develop toward the tribal church. If you combine the tribal churches, then all the Kim and Park tribes will naturally form a race. If the Kims, Parks, and Moons all make a good foundation to restore the tribe, it will naturally develop into a nation. That will happen. From the church of a tribe to a church of one people, to a national church, to a global church, to a universal church: this is how things are connected. (141-221, 1986.2.22
Cheon Seong Gyeong 1257
If Adam and Eve had not fallen and become mature, they would have achieved perfection not just on the individual but the universal level. Moreover, an original family centered on the love of God would have been initiated. If a clan, tribe, a people, nation and world had stemmed from this family, the world would have become a great community of one extended family attending God.
Jacob
3. Jacob Wrestles with an Angel
And Jacob was left alone; and a man wrestled with him until the breaking of the day. When the man saw that he did not prevail against Jacob, he touched the hollow of his thigh; and Jacob’s thigh was put out of joint as he wrestled with him. Then he said, “Let me go, for the day is breaking.” But Jacob said, “I will not let you go, unless you bless me.” And he said to him, “What is your name?” “Jacob.” “Your name shall no more be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with men, and have prevailed.” Then Jacob asked him, “Tell me, I pray, your name.” But he said, “Why is it that you ask my name?” And there he blessed him. So Jacob called the name of the place Peniel, saying, “For I have seen God face to face, and yet my life is preserved.” The sun rose upon him as he passed Penuel, limping because of his thigh.
Genesis 32.24-31
Teachings of Rev. Sun Myung Moon
When the angel appeared, Jacob knew he was a messenger from God. He asked the angel, “Do you come to hinder me or to bless me?” The angel answered, “I have come to bless you.” Jacob then asked, “If you came to bless me, then why don’t you simply give me the blessing?” The angel answered, “I cannot give it to you freely, because your portion of responsibility still remains.”
In other words, the angel would not bless Jacob unless he fought with desperate effort. When the angel presented that condition, Jacob wrestled with determination, “Alright, it is fine with me. Even if you break my arm I will not let you defeat me. Even if you strike me with a sword or cut my head off, I will not let go of you.” How long do you think Jacob wrestled? It was all through the night.
Both God and Satan were watching that scene. Jacob was desperate, knowing that this was the final showdown. Hence, even when the angel struck him in his hip and his thigh, he did not release the angel from his grasp. He thought, “If I die, I die. Even if we both die, I will not let go of you.” It was nerve-wracking for God to watch Jacob in that battle. Since the angel was fighting on behalf of Satan, God did not want Jacob to give up, but He could not say anything to Jacob. Imagine how anxious God must have been to watch each moment ticking during the battle between the two?
Jacob did not give up even to the last moment. He would not let go of the angel no matter how desperately the angel tried to shake him off. At that point, God publicly acknowledged Jacob’s victory, and the angel, as Satan’s representative, had to acknowledge it as well. Hence, he blessed Jacob with the name “Israel.” At that moment, all the hosts of heaven shouted for joy. They deeply exhaled, now that anxiety over the outcome was relieved.
Jacob’s love for God, that enabled him to hold onto God’s neck, shedding tears for Him for twenty years, far surpassed God’s relationship with Adam and Eve before the Fall. Therefore, he could receive the name “Israel.” (20:229-30, June 9, 1968)
If Jacob had not been so well trained in Haran under the servitude of Laban, he would not have been able to defeat the angel at the ford of Jabbok. Jacob knew that those 21 years of bitter struggle were all for this moment. He knew that what happened this night would determine victory or defeat. That is what enabled him to persevere until the end and win. The strength cultivated during his 21-year course also enabled him to subjugate Esau. Then, he could be reunited with his parents. (67:126, May 27, 1973)
The Human Fall occurred when an angel, Lucifer, subjugated human beings; therefore, in restoration humans must subjugate an angel. For this reason God sent the angel and let him attack Jacob. Once Jacob defeated the angel, it would open the door to defeating Esau, the substantial being of the archangel who was under the control of the spiritual Satan…
What was the meaning of Jacob’s victory over the angel? It was a spiritual victory over the entire angelic world. From that time on Jacob was assisted not only by God but also by the angelic world wherever he went. Most importantly, Satan could no longer spiritually control Esau, so when Esau confronted Jacob the next day, he was bound to submit to his younger brother. (92:285, April 18, 1977)
Why did the angel strike the hollow of Jacob’s thigh? The human fall was caused by the misuse of the lower parts; therefore, the blow to the sinful part of the body was an act of restitution by the principle of “an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.” Once that restitution was complete, the angel was free to bless Jacob. (55:113, April 1, 1972)