No longer shall your name be Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations...
Genesis 17:5

12:1 Now the Lord said to Abram, "Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you.

2 And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.

3 I will bless those who bless you, and him who curses you I will curse: and by you all the families of the earth shall bless themselves."

The eyes of the world could not understand the way of God. In this manner, with such implausible instructions, God could test the faith of the man he had chosen as His champion. This is what happened in Noah's day

And at the time of Abraham it was no different. God called Abraham, the son of an idol-maker, and commanded him, "Leave your home at once!" God does not allow for any compromise. God takes a position where evil can he totally denied. In no other way can good begin.

God has said He will start a new history, in which no element of evil will remain. God demands a complete response from man. Those who follow God's direction must begin from absolute denial of the evil world. That is why Jesus Christ taught: "He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for my sake will find it." (Matt. 10:39) He also said, "A man's foes will be those of his own household." (Matt. 10:36)

You may ask what kind of message is this? This is God's way, to choose His own people and put them in a position where they will be rejected by evil. Otherwise His champion can do no good for God. From the point of view of God's standard, then, modern Christians have been having a very easy time. This is very strange, because there is no easy way indicated in Christian teaching. I wonder how many Christians are really serious about following the path of God. God's demands are absolute. He allows no middle ground.

The Future of Christianity
October 28, 1973

12:4 So Abram went as the Lord had told him and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years ol d when he departed from Haran.

5 And Abram took Sar'ai his wife, and Lot his brother's son, and all their possessions which they had gathered, and the persons that they had gotten in Haran and they set forth to go to the land of Canaan. When they had come to the land of Canaan,

6 Abram passed through the land to the place at Shechem to the oak of Moreh. At that time the Canaanites were in the land.

7 Then the Lord appeared to Abram, and said. "To your descendants I will give this land." So he built there an altar to the Lord, who had appealed to him.

God called Abraham and drove him the opposite way, toward tribulation. You have to understand that God ordered Abraham to leave Ur of the Chaldeans and drove him into tribulations that his relatives, family and people dared not attempt.

We have to understand that Abraham transcended himself and deeply felt the existence of Heaven, which was guiding his tribe and descendants to the ideal world. Abraham knew that ordinary daily life was not something of which the people could he proud, When God's command was given to him in this state of mind, he abandoned all that he owned.

It was not easy for him to do that. Abraham set out on a truly miserable journey toward the land of Harran, abandoning all that he had -- his family, which had given him great joy, and all his belongings.

However, even though he was a pitiful wanderer, his footsteps were full of confidence because he believed that a glorious and proud day would come, even if he could not be proud of his situation at that time.

Abraham was determined that no matter what kind of ordeals and difficulties he might face, he would overcome them hundreds and thousands of times. Because the heart of Abraham and the heart of God, who was desperately looking for a reciprocal object, came together in unity. God was able to proudly give Abraham His blessings, which included the garden of the absolute ideal for which God longed. This is how Abraham was put in the blessed position of being the ancestor of faith before Heaven.

Let Us Understand God. Who Wanted to Be Proud
February 8, 1959

12:10 Now there was a famine in the land. So Abram went down to Egypt to sojourn there for the famine was severe in the land.

11 When he was about to enter Egypt, he said to Sar'ai his wife, "I know that you are a woman beautiful to behold;

12 and when the Egyptians see you, they will say. This is his wife; then they will kill me, but they will let you live.

13 Say you are my sister, that it may go well with me because of you, and that my life may be spared on your account...

14 When Abram entered Egypt the Egyptians saw that the woman was very beautiful.

15 And when the princes of Pharaoh saw her they praised her to Pharaoh. And the woman was taken into Pharaoh's house.

Since Noah was the second human ancestor, for Abraham to restore the position of Noah, he also had to assume Adam's position, For this reason, he was required to make a symbolic condition of restitution to restore the position of Adam's family before he could make the actual symbolic offering.

In this regard the Bible gives an account of a trip Abraham made to Egypt because of a famine. (Gen. 12:10-20) When they entered Egypt, Abraham instructed his wife Sarah to pose as his sister because he was afraid that the Pharaoh might desire her.

Abraham feared that the Pharaoh would have him killed if he found out that he was Sarah's husband. Indeed, at the Pharaoh's command, Abraham handed Sarah over to him while she posed as his sister. Thereupon, God chastised the Pharaoh, and Abraham took back his wife along with his nephew Lot and the abundant wealth which the Pharaoh had given him, and they left Egypt.

Without knowing it, Abraham walked this providential course to make a symbolic payment of restitution to restore the position of Adam's family. When the Archangel took Eve -- capturing under his dominion all of Eve's descendants and the natural world -- Adam and Eve were still brother and sister.

For Abraham to make the condition of restitution to restore this, he was deprived of Sarah, who was playing the role of his sister, by the Pharaoh, who represented Satan. He then had to take her back from the Pharaoh as his wife, together with Lot as the representative of all humanity, and wealth symbolizing the natural world... Once he had fulfilled this resiitutional condition, Abraham was deemed ready to make the symbolic offering.

Exposition of the Divine Principle
Part II, Chapter 1. Section 3.1

15:1 After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision. "Fear not, Abram. I am your shield; your reward shall be very great."

2 But Abram said, "O Lord God, what wilt thou give me, for I continue childless; and the heir of my house is Elie'zer of Damascus?"

3 And Abram said, "Behold, thou hast given me no offspring; and a slave born in my house will be my heir."

4 And behold, the word of the Lord came to him, "This man shall not be your heir; your own son shall be your heir:

5 And he brought him outside and said, "Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them." Then he said to him, "So shall your descendants be."

6 And he believed the Lord; and he reckoned it to him as righteousness.

When Abraham became a wanderer, he was in miserable shape, traveling aimlessly with his family in the wilderness. Yet under those circumstances God gave him this blessing: "Number the stars, if you are able to number them. So shall your descendants be."

Only a crazy person or a man of adventure could accept that blessing and uphold his faith. Abraham suffered much almost losing his wile and all his possessions and relatives to the Pharaoh in Egypt. However, he never, never gave up his faith in the blessings of God.

Nothing could change his conviction, and he fully lived that conviction, ultimately receiving his promised blessing from God. Anyone who just sits and waits for God to take care of everything will never encounter the blessing of God.

There are three types of religious people in this world. One type are the men of faith who are sitting idle. The second are the men of faith who feel that they should at least set some condition by doing something to help God. The third type are the men of faith who want to translate their conviction 100 percent into action by offering up their lives.

Which ones do you think God will side with? Do you just want to set some condition of restitution to jump over the mountain, or do you really want to pay the full amount and release yourself completely? If you say, "I want to pay the full amount," then your attitude becomes absolute; that is most bold.

The Road of Religion and the Will of God
April 24. 1977

15:7 And he said to him. "I am the Lord who brought you from Ur of the Chalde'ans, to give yon this land to possess.

8 But he said, "O Lord God, how am Ito know that I shall possess it?"

9 He said to him, "Bring me a heifer three years old, a she-goat three years old, a ram three years old, a turtledove, and a young pigeon...

10 And he brought him all these, cut them in two, and laid each half over against the other; but he did not cut the birds in two.

11 And when birds of prey came down upon the carcasses. Abram drove them away.

History reveals that blood must always be shed before an offering can be made to God. Therefore, whatever was sacrificed was killed and cut in half, to ensure that one part representing goodness was separated from the bad so that God was free to claim it. You already know that in Abraham's offering a heifer was cut in half, a ram and a goat were cut in half and birds were to be cut in half. Treasures as well were laid on the altar.

In the ideal of creation no bloodshed should have been necessary, but because the Fall introduced Satan's blood, the shedding of blood is necessary in order to restore the original position. This is why we see in the course of history that whenever an offering was given it was made by killing things.

By instructing man to shed the blood of animals God could begin to restore man without shedding man's blood. That offering served as a condition, but most important of all it was to separate the offering from satanic domination, the whole purpose of restoration.

If the animal that is shedding blood is not obedient and goes against its master, then the offering will not be valid. Many animals could protest, but some animals like the heifer and the lamb are very obedient and calm.

The lamb is the symbol of obedience and the dove is the symbol of peace, so those animals were selected. Who kills these animals for the offering? The chief priest is the one who kills these animals, and in order for that offering to become a valid and acceptable condition, they have to be completely obedient to the priest, never protesting.

The Day of All Thongs
June 6, 1978

Because Abraham did not cut the dove and pigeon in two as he should have, birds of prey came down and defiled the sacrifices... Let its first investigate the reason why Abraham was instructed to cut the sacrifices in half.

God's work of salvation aims to restore the sovereignty of goodness by first dividing good from evil and then destroying evil and uplifting the good. This is the reason Adam had to be divided into Cain and Abel this is the reason why in Noah's day, God struck down evil through the flood judgment and winnowed out Noah's family as the good.

God had Abraham cut the sacrifices in two before offering them, with the intention of doing the symbolic work of dividing good from evil, which was left unaccomplished by Adam and Noah...

Why was it a sin not to divide the offering? First, not dividing the offering has the significance of not dividing Abel from Cain. Without being divided, the offering could not be acceptable to God because it did not provide Him with an Abel-type object partner which He could take. Consequently, the mistakes Cam and Abel had made in their sacrifices were not restored.

Second, not dividing the offering was tantamount to repeating the failure of the providence in Noah's time, when good and evil remained undivided despite the flood. Like the failure of Noah's family, Abraham's failure to divide the offering also deprived God of His good object partner. Thus, it repeated the mistake which made the dispensation of the flood a failure.

Third, not dividing the offering means there was no symbolic condition to separate a realm of God's good sovereignty out of the universe under Satan's dominion.

Fourth, because the blood of death was not drained out of it, not dividing the offering meant it could not be a sanctified offering acceptable to God.

In other words, when Abraham offered the birds without first dividing them, it meant that he offered what had not been wrested from Satan's possession. His mistake had the effect of acknowledging Satan's claim of possession over them.

Exposition of the Divine Principle
Part II, Chapter 1, Section 3.1.2

15:12 As the sun was going down a deep sleep fell on Abram and lo, a dread and great darkness fat upon him.

13 Then the Lord said to Abram, "Know of a surety that your descendants will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs, and will be slaves there, and they will be oppressed for four hundred years...

Abraham's mistake in making the symbolic offering caused the offering to be defiled. All the conditions God intended to restore through it were lost. As a consequence, Abraham's descendants had to suffer oppression and slavery for 400 years in the land of Egypt. Let us investigate the reason for this.

God called upon Abraham and commanded him to make the symbolic offering at the completion of a 400-year period for the separation of Satan. This period had been set up to restore through restitution the ten generations from Adam to Noah and the 40-day period of the flood judgment, lost to Satan due to Ham's sin. It was also the period of restitution necessary to establish Abraham as the father of faith when he completed the symbolic offering.

When Abraham's mistake in the symbolic offering allowed Satan to claim the offering as his, that 400-year period was also lost to Satan. To re-create on the national level the situation before Abraham's failure in the symbolic offering, which was itself parallel to when Noah was called upon to build the ark, God set up another 400-year period for the separation of Satan.

During this period, the Israelites were slaves in Egypt. By enduring through this period, the Israelites were to restore -- this time on the national level -- the mutations of Noah and Abraham at the outset of their missions as the fathers of faith, thereupon also laying the foundation for Moses to begin his mission.

Hence, this period of slavery was both the time when the Israelites were being punished for Abraham's mistake and the time when they were laying the foundation to cut off ties to Satan and commence God's new providence.

Exposition of the Divine Principle
Part II, Chapter 1, Section 3.1.2

16:1 Now Sar'ai, Abrams wife, bore him no children. She had an Egyptian maid whose name was Hagar;

2 and Sar'ai said to Abram, "Behold now, the Lord has prevented me front bearing children; go in to my maid; it may be that I shall obtain children by her" And Abram hearkened to the voice of Sar'ai.

3 So, after Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan, Sar'ai, Abram wife, took Hagar the Egyptian, her maid, and gave her to Abram her husband as a wife.

4 And he went in to Hagar; and she conceived; and when she saw that she had conceived, she looked with contempt on her mistress... And Hagar bore Abram a son; and Abram called the name of his son, whom Hagar bare, Ish'mael.

Abraham, representing mankind, tried to make a complete turnabout by making symbolic offerings. Yet because he did not cut the birds in two, the condition was not established. Then the course of Abraham's family was to pass through three stages -- from Abraham through Isaac and Jacob. Finally, for the first time, a victorious historical turning point was made at the time of Jacob.

The Turning Point of History
December 1, 1975

If Abraham had not failed in the symbolic offering, Isaac and his half-brother Ishmael would have stood in the positions of Abel and Cain. They would have been responsible to fulfill the restitutional condition to remove the fallen nature which Cain and Abel did not accomplish. However, because Abraham failed in the offering, God set up Isaac in the position of Abraham, and Esau and Jacob in the positions originally intended for Ishmael and Isaac.

Exposition of the Divine Principle
Part II, Chapter 1, Section 3.2

... Ishmael was the Cain type offspring of Abraham. Who got the real victory in those areas of the Middle East? Islam. Abraham had two wives. Because Sarah could not bear children, he took a second wife to have a son.

When Sarah was 100 years of age, Isaac was born, but the second wife had a child too. Those two wives were supposed to be united together as one family of Abraham but that was not done.

The crucifixion of Jesus followed the same pattern as Abraham's time. Because of his crucifixion, the right and lets have been divided, and vertically, upper and lower have been divided. All kinds of divisions occurred centering on the crucifixion.

The coming of the messiah is expected within Christianity, and Judaism united in that direction. At the same time, on the left side we see them united with Barabbas. This is the tragic and detrimental division. When the Second Coming of the messiah occurs, his first mission is to unite left and right.

The messiah is going to unite mind and body on the individual level. The Second Coming must be the one who overcomes the failure of the times of Jesus. If acceptance of the Second Coming of the messiah happened immediately after World War II, there would be no communism. However, that was not done. Instead, rejection of the messiah occurred.

So for over 40 years, Father has had to struggle to lay the new foundation from which he can restore the whole world. During this time, modern communism was born. Therefore, this Cold War era was a time of struggle between right and left. The fight between the free world and the communist world became very severe.

If Abraham had not failed in his symbolic offering, Isaac and his half-brother, Ishmael, in place of Abel and Cain, should have set up the condition of indemnity to remove the fallen nature which had been left unaccomplished by Cain and Abel.

Because of Abraham's failure, God, by setting up Isaac in Abraham's position, and Esau and Jacob in place of Ishmael and Isaac, worked the providence to have them set up the condition of indemnity to remove the fallen nature. Therefore, Esau and Jacob, centering on Isaac, are in the position of Shem and Ham centering on Noah.

True Patents' Birthday
February 20, 1991

17:1 When Abram was ninety-nine years old the Lord appeared to Abram, and said to him, "I am God Almighty, walk below me, and be blameless.

2 And I will make my covenant between me and you, and will multiply you exceedingly..."

3 Then Abram fell on his face: and God said to him,

4 "Behold, my covenant is with you, and you shall be the father a multitude of nations.

5 No longer shall your name be Abram, but your name shall be Abraham: for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations..."

In the seventh century the religion of Islam emerged among the central people who received much blessing from God upon their return from Egypt. Muslims and Jews were brothers, but became adversaries. Muslims are expanding more rapidly than Christianity.

They have a strong conviction. They are not swaying back and forth. But Christians are swaying back and forth, compromising. Ishmael and Isaac were both sons of Abraham, but their descendants became adversaries and fought throughout history. They fought centering on Jerusalem and Israel was lost. The lost Israel should be restored, but not by force.

That's why Rev. Moon, representing Christianity gave his hand to Minister Farrakhan; and also to President W'ahid of Indonesia. I want to see Wahid and Farrakhan become brothers. I helped them at the Million Family March.

White people opened their eyes in alarm, saying that I should not help them. But I said to those people, "You opposed me, so wait and see who is right. Everybody who follows me will be blessed by God. Close your eyes and pray. Don't open your mouth."

UTS 25th Graduation
June 21, 2001

If someone has something special, it is human nature to want to boast about it. But for a long time Abraham kept the great dispensational will promised to him in his heart. He upheld that dispensation for the sake of fulfilling the will of God.

As the chosen root, no matter who touched him or vied to uproot him, he persisted in his way for the purpose of laying down a solid and unshakable foundation. Even when he was subjected to all kinds of persecution and ridicule, he lived a life of unseen ordeals in which he persevered and overcame.

Abraham's course of ordeals, which others did not know about, became even greater when Abram ("exalted father") was elevated from the individual level to Abraham ("father of many nations"), who was chosen to be the ancestor of faith.

We should reflect back on our own past and, making a one-to-one comparison between ourselves and Abraham, we should deeply repent. What is more, we must experience the situation in which Abraham found himself.

We can never forget that we should inherit the foundation of faith that Abraham established on the basis of his hardships.

The family of Abraham, the ancestor of faith, was promised a blessing. Through Isaac, Jacob and Moses, this was raised to the level of the people, and eventually expanded to the worldwide level. If there had been no loyalty and faith in Abraham that had penetrated deeply into Heaven, then there could not have emerged a relationship on the earth that could create a bond with Heaven.

Do you know what the secret was behind Abraham's rise to the position of the ancestor of faith? Because his heart of longing toward Heaven and love for the earth was so extraordinary, he could build a wide and solid ground for the relationship with the Father in Heaven and could become the ancestor of faith.

The Responsibility Of Those Who Have Become The Root
July 1, 1956

17:15 And God said to Abraham, "As for Sar'ai your wife. you shall not call her name Sar'ai, but Sarah shall be her name.

16 I will bless her and moreover I will give you a son by her; I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of peoples shall come from her."

17:9 And God said to Abraham, "As for you, you shall keep my covenant, you and your descendants after you throughout their generations.

10 This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your descendants after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised."

Because of the Fall, Adam's family lost the original blood lineage. That's why, in order to indemnify this lost blood lineage, the people of Israel practiced circumcision. What is circumcision? It is the cutting of the tip of the manic sexual organ.

At the time of Noah, what kind of judgment was there? A flood, judgment by water. So, instead of going through the circumcision, that time was the water judgment. It was like a baptism. That's why when John the Baptist came, instead of practicing circumcision, what did he practice? Baptism. It was not just a random happening; it was God's will.

Leaders' Meeting
December 22, 1994

In the Old Testament Age, which was the providential age to find hope, circumcision was the condition for chosen people. In the New Testament Age, baptism of water and fire (through the Holy Spirit) established faith before Gad. You should know that in the coming Completed Testament Age, you can enter into the loving relationship with God by receiving His seal of love.

Let Us Regain the Victorious Nation
January 4, 1959