Book Nine - Blessed Family
Chapter Three - The Providential Significance of the Blessed Couples
Section 10. The 360,000 Couples

Why did I set the number at 360,000 couples? Of all the Blessed Couples in our church, the most central of them all are the 36 Couples. They signify Adam's, Noah's, and Jacob's families, and thus together form the vertical foundation. These three types of couples had to be united. Once they accomplished that, they could make good the number twelve. When you apply the three stages to this number, you arrive at the number 36. In this way, the 36 Couples become the ancestors who represent all previous ancestors in history and all humankind. In terms of the human body, they are like the backbone. We are talking about the vertical standard that is like the backbone of a human body. The cells in the flesh can stay alive only when the flesh is united with the bones.

Human beings were driven out from God's presence because the Fall constituted an act of wrongful marriage. Thus, the 360,000 Couples Blessing is the act of proclaiming the realm of liberation for all humankind in the name of the True Parents with their all-immanence, all-transcendence, supreme authority, and omnipotence. These couples represent the perfected realms of Adam, Noah, and Jacob. You must understand that only the number 360,000 is appropriate for this Blessing, since this is a number that represents on the horizontal level the perfection of the realms of Adam, Jesus, and Christ at his Second Advent. So the accomplishment of 360,000 couples should not be a problem.

We have entered the era in which I can bless 3.6 million couples and 36 million couples. What comes after this is the 360 million Couple Blessing, is it not? Once I have accomplished all this, God's Kingdom on earth would be right before our very eyes. (269-55, 1995.4.7)

The Israelites failed to establish a pure tradition in building a nation in the seven-year period following the forty years in the wilderness, and this led to a troubled and ruinous history. We, however, should not fail in establishing the tradition, the founding ideology on which we can build the heavenly nation. We have reached the end of our forty-year course, and are entering the next phase: the seven-year course. Within these seven years, we should be united as the citizens fulfilling the founding thought, the ideology of peace and a unified world. In order to do so, the first generation representing Cain and the second generation representing Abel should unite; however, the first generation failed in this task and there is every possibility that they will fall in the wilderness.

So how can we bring them together? The only way to save the first generation is to bless them as soon as possible, and that is why the 360,000 Couples Blessing will be held. Included in this Blessing will be many already married couples and, in this way, we will form a connection with them. Those who opposed the Unification Church can be said to be our enemies. The already married couples participating in the 360,000 Couples Blessing will represent that first generation. That generation is the group of people whose fate it was to decompose into nothingness. They were destined to die and become food for the vultures, but I am going to save them.

You, their children, as the second generation, are the ones who, standing as Abel, will save the first generation. Thus, they must unite with you as their spiritual parents in absolute obedience, absolute faith, and absolute love. Restoration can take place because such is the standard that we have established. (269-216, 1995.4.23)

After the 30,000 Couples Blessing, those who opposed the Unification Church's joint weddings did a turnabout. Three years later, we will hold the 360,000 Couples Blessing. The number 36 refers to the 36 Couples representing Adam's, Noah's, and Jacob's families and is thus an ancestral number. As such, the 360,000 Couples Blessing will be one representing all ancestors, the backbone of all people in the world; it corresponds to the growth stage on the global level.

What will happen once we have conducted this ceremony? Families in the world today are breaking down, and resolving this issue remains a problem. With the world struggling to solve this problem of family breakdown, the Unification Church will bring together 360,000 young couples to form new families to live in an ideal manner, and this will lead all disordered families in the world to automatically take great interest in them. This will become a global issue.

Once I bless these 360,000 couples and rumors spread worldwide that it was the best thing that happened to the world, and as a result 36,000 couples from each nation were brought to participate in the Blessing, how many couples would that add up to? There are some countries that want to send 50,000 couples. Think about it. (269-300, 1995.5.1)

August 25, 1995 saw 720,000 people from all over the world, 360,000 couples of young men and women, blessed in marriage in a holy Blessing officiated by God and the True Parents. They were brought together as ideal couples as God originally intended at the time of creation. What this means is that the husbands and wives can finally establish the model of true couples and create ideal families through God's true love. (271-147, 1995.8.27)

With the 360,000 Couples Blessing, the satanic world has finally collapsed, and so we are now living in an era in which we can bless even tens of millions of couples according to the effort you put into it. That is why even if I stop worrying and praying about it, we will accomplish that number. I am certain of this. I am already thinking about the estimates, how many thousands it would be. Therefore, all I can tell you is to fulfill your responsibility! (271-255, 1995.8.28)

The 360,000 Couples Blessing is unprecedented in history. Since the 30,000 Couples Blessing, we have conducted global Blessing ceremonies open to the public. Even the second highest official of a nation took part in that ceremony, in other words, someone of at least ministerial rank. This time, even presidents took part. We must cross the hill that is the whole world. The fact that we conducted the 360,000 Couples Blessing within three years after the 30,000 Couples Blessing signifies that we have fulfilled the number three. This was considered impossible.

You Unification Church members, did you believe that we could actually accomplish this, as you went out and saw the situation in society and made all kinds of excuses for your inaction? The only ones who knew it to be possible and had faith were God and me. Nevertheless, I went ahead with the Blessing because I felt responsible. In this way, we are finally leaving the satanic world. With the 30,000 Couples representing the formation stage of the global level as the foundation, the 360,000 Couples Blessing thus represents the growth stage representing the expansion of the 36 Couples on the global level. In other words, we are scaling the uphill pass of our ancestors' unfulfilled responsibilities. (272-27, 1995.8.30)

The reason I blessed the 360,000 Couples in this year's Blessing is that I have the responsibility to recover everything that was lost, as I travel around from South America to Alaska as the prince of the pioneers of the wilderness. I must recover all that was lost before I return here. Once everything is recovered, the 360,000 Couples can go over the hill. As God's love is with me, centering on God internally and being responsible myself externally, I can determine to solve this problem. This is how I came to bless 360,000 Couples. (272-31, 1995.8.30)

I am not just a figurehead. I am speaking about this for the first time ever. I have matched countless numbers of people. I'm telling you this because the time has come for me to get out of this. There were rumors that I was a crazy man because I set the numbers of couples in advance. Now the record shows that I have blessed 360,000 couples, and even when others doubt me, crying, "What is up with that man?" you will still have faith in me. I am telling you the truth. I have never spoken about this until now. This is the first time. My hands move without my knowing it; they just move by themselves. No one knows about this. My hands just reach towards the pictures naturally without hesitation. (272-41, 1995.8.30)

You don't know how much I dreaded the coming of August 25, as we shed sweat and blood for the 360,000 Couples Blessing. I was even more nervous than when we held the Washington Monument Rally. The Blessing Ceremony could either help us move on to the next level or, if we failed to secure the required number of couples, ruin the honor and reputation we had built up before heaven. It was a very serious time for me, although you may have slept soundly and gone about your usual business.

Thanks be to God because He loved, protected, and sympathized with me who had lived a lonely and wretched life. We were able to exceed our goal, although no one thought it possible. Going from 30,000 couples to 360,000 couples, the latter is twelve times the number of the former, so the 360,000 Couples could take root twelve times more than the 30,000 Couples. You could hear the sound of the bell to the ends of the earth.

Moreover, we are living in a very dangerous era because of such problems as free sex and AIDS -- it is almost as if we have placed our hands in the mouth of a venomous serpent. Women indiscriminately searching for handsome men are at risk to contract AIDS, as are the men searching for beautiful women. Their lives will be bound for hell. There is no sure way to prevent this other than keeping your chastity. (271-214, 1995.8.28)

In 1995, just three years after the Blessing in 1992, I blessed the 360,000 Couples. They were blessed in the same position as the 30,000 Couples, based on the international level. They were placed in the same positions as Cain and Abel. After seven days of studying the words of the Principle, if they made the resolution to attend the True Parents with absolute faith, to love the True Parents with absolute love, and to walk the path of the Principle with absolute wisdom -- not with the cleverness of the satanic world, and not in ignorance, but with the wisdom of the True Parents -- then they were eligible to receive the Blessing. If they listened to the words of the Divine Principle for one week and pledged to do that, they could be placed on the same level as others receiving the Blessing. (277-133, 1996.4.7)

When I proclaimed that three years after blessing the 30,000 Couples, I would bless 360,000 Couples, not one person believed that I could actually accomplish this. Not one person believed in me. So was it accomplished or not? There is no one in this world except me who would take on such a mission. Who on earth except me would take on such a daunting challenge? Not even a whole nation would presume to take responsibility for such a task. It was truly a record-breaking event. We climbed to the top, treading on the families in the satanic world. Now that we have successfully blessed the 360,000 Couples, accomplishing the growth stage, we can climb to the top, stepping on the nations of the satanic world. Now all that is left for us to accomplish is the Blessing of 3.6 Million Couples. That would mean the beginning of the era of absolute authority. We are entering the era of God's absolute authority over marriage. (275-282, 1996.1.1)

In the 360,000 Couples Blessing, many believers of other religions such as Islam, Buddhism and Confucianism came to receive the Blessing. They have taken all the blessings from Christianity. The Christian cultural sphere, which was destined to be the realm of the royal family of heaven, is now standing last in line. Unless I save them, they will all fall straight into hell. (277-42, 1996.3.24)

Since we have entered the era of the birthright of the first born and the right of the parents, those who do not follow orders issued to them will be ruined. Their ancestors will come down to earth to deal with them. Even the angels will come down to earth to deal with them. If they commit a sin, their ancestors will come down and make them ill, and if they repent and change, make them well. They will order them to join the Unification Church.

At this time, religious leaders across the world will receive such commands from heaven and so they dare not disobey. We are now living in an era when dream-like events will happen, such as the leaders of religious orders receiving the command, "Get blessed, you scoundrels!" Now that we have blessed the 360,000 Couples, reaching 3.6 million couples will not be a problem, will it? In fact, this is more than achievable. It is truly amazing that we are living in an era in which such things are possible. The Unification Church is famous because it can accomplish such feats. How great is this! How proud we should be! How good does that make you feel?! (274-187, 1995.10.29)

The target of finding 360,000 couples for the Blessing was reached in six months. The religious people in the Third World have led lives of faith at great personal risk. They did not spend their lives patting full stomachs and belching contentedly; instead, they starved, many met their deaths, and many were forced to part from their children, never to meet again. Still, they had complete faith in God, and this faith was the foundation upon which they could continue to endure such lives. I have been able to see this for myself. (273-236, 1995.10.29)

This time we held the wedding of the 360,000 Couples -- that makes 720,000 people; how long do you think it would take you to count them all? It would probably take all your life. Did you think finding all these people to bless was humanly possible? Of course not, yet it was accomplished not in three years but six months. You don't know how serious I was at that time. That is why I mobilized the spirit world to Africa. The people here opposed me. The earth is such that when it is dark here, it is light there and vice versa. Since it is evening here, it would be daytime there. God is just and fair. (273-50, 1995.10.21)

At the time of the 360,000 Couples Blessing, people in Japan asserted that we would be unsuccessful in hosting it. So in conjunction with the Christians in Korea, they made thorough preparations to come and kill us off, so to speak, as soon as we had announced the date of the ceremony. In this manner, they made every preparation to wipe us out of existence with the full support of their government.

Yet something unexpected happened totally out of the blue: NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corporation) relayed the whole ceremony on the spot from beginning to end. They broadcast live how and in what way the 360,000 Couples had been brought there and what was happening to them; the 160 or so journalists who had come there to oppose us hung their heads down. NHK had presented the whole ceremony to the public. The journalists had intended to create confusion by publishing articles about the ceremony in a misleading manner, but NHK had taken the initiative. The latter had no choice, either; after all, it is the biggest name in the Japanese media, situated in one of the most advanced nations in the world. If it had failed to broadcast such a historic event, it would have been discredited both at home and abroad. It had to broadcast the whole event in a proper way because if it didn't, it would be regarded as not being good enough on the global level. So the lesser journalists could do nothing but leave. Soon after, former President Bush accompanied the True Mother's speaking tour in Japan and cleared out the rest of the negative media. (272-198, 1995.10.5)

Let us create true and ideal families. God desires for us to establish ideal families. What kind of parents on earth would not want their children to form ideal families? Yet, however much they have desired, they have been unable to accomplish that. It was a dream that couldn't come true -- that could not be realized through political or financial power, diplomatic skills, or military strength. Only the 360,000 Couples Blessing can take us out of that age of longing into a new era. (272-196, 1995.10.5)

If the True Parents had not come to the earth to teach people the fundamentals, those people will have problems when they pass on to the spirit world. Through this teaching being conveyed to every village and town in the world, the spiritual and physical worlds can be completely united. Thus, the 360,000 Couples Blessing held this year was truly great. At the end of the forty-year course, we were able to achieve, along with the liberation of women through the appearance of the True Mother, the 30,000 Couples Blessing. The reason the number of couples was set at 30,000 was in order to establish a new foundation of the Blessing in the world, based on the True Mother standing on the global level and involving Cain and Abel. That ceremony was the formation stage, and so this latter ceremony, the 360,000 Couples Blessing, can be said to be the growth stage. Through it, God is keeping the world in pace with His providence by focusing everyone's attention on the problems of the family.

At the moment, the whole world has become like hell. However much nations may take pride in being advanced, they must bow their heads in shame over the problems of the family. Families have completely broken down to the point that no one can tackle their problems. The situation is so serious that no economic, military, or political power can deal with it. (272-179, 1995.10.5)

The True Mother has accomplished a victorious foundation, thereby liberating women from the position of fallen Eve who could not fulfill her responsibility. Hence, the true women's liberation movement can finally be initiated. Within the next three years, we must proceed with the efforts to restore the nation through the liberation of women.

Since we have entered the era in which we can restore the nation, we are able to hold huge global weddings. Since we reclaimed 360,000 couples from the satanic realm, the satanic world has fallen to pieces. Now the families in the secular world are bound to disintegrate. Once this happens, the Blessed Families will become the mainstream, and everyone will get to know that the family ideal I teach will not only bring liberation to humanity, but also show us the shortest route to world peace; consequently, we will no longer face opposition. From now on, if anyone dares to oppose us, whether royalty or any other dignitary, those around them should shout, "Be quiet, you! Don't you know what Rev. Moon has achieved? Don't you know that he has brought together young men and women from around the world and married them in the 360,000 Couples Blessing? What have you done that is so great that you dare oppose him? Cut it out!" Now the time has come for you to go back to your hometowns and to sit on your parents until they bow down to you in submission. In other words, the time has come for us to restore the rights of the parents. Do you understand? (272-50, 1995.8.30)

God has taken hold of me and cannot let me go because I have practiced everything inside and out. I did not preach before practicing, but I practice before asking others to do the same. This was also the case with the 360,000 Couples Blessing. I embarked on this great venture after laying the groundwork for it, so I knew clearly that it would be accomplished. Since I know that we now will be able to accomplish the Blessing of 3.6 million Couples, I have instructed you to start working on it. You will definitely be able to accomplish it if you follow my words with absolute faith. (272-47, 1995.8.30)

Since we succeeded in blessing the 360,000 Couples, we have transcended the realm of dominion based on accomplishments through the Principle. You must understand this. Until now, the Unification Church has been in a place where we carried out the daily struggle for the restoration of the birthright of the first born within the realm of indirect dominion. That is why we are talking about world peace and unification. Through the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, we can -- after transcending this indirect dominion -- become one in heart with God under His direct dominion. It is where you can also become as one with me. That is why if you hold on to me and become as one with me absolutely, the two realms of dominion will not be separated, but instead will remain united, and you will be able to follow me as victorious sovereigns. You must realize that such is the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, as seen from the internal religious viewpoint. (272-95, 1995.8.30)

The 360,000 Couples Blessing signifies that we have internally and externally surmounted the level of kingship and nation of the satanic world. Thus, the responsibility of paving the way to heaven has been fulfilled, transcending the nation with dignity, with the victorious supremacy of the position of Eve as a single or married woman. We are now entering the world where we can directly inherit God's lineage under His direct dominion. (272-74, 1995.8.30)

When we were preparing for the 30,000 Couples Blessing, Kwak Chung-hwan said that it was impossible, didn't you? You said you weren't sure if we could accomplish it, didn't you? So then when I spoke of blessing 360,000 couples, it was like fortune-telling in dreamland. Do you think a fortune that is told in a dream can ever be right? What I mean is it was something that could not even be imagined. I had nonetheless already announced that we could accomplish the 360,000 Couples. Then God had said, "Okay!" I thereafter set out to do everything necessary to accomplish this task, the answer from God having already been given. So at every moment of every day, for three years, I had only this view in mind. Night and day, everywhere I went, I prayed and offered devotions centering on this goal. The devotions I offered were not less than the combined devotions of the five billion people in the world. No one knows the extent of it, not even Mother. Only God and I know.

A perfect subject makes a perfect object. It is God's responsibility to perfectly substantiate the faith of the perfect object. What do you think about that? Isn't that brilliant? Everything came to be done according to that faith. So what about the Blessing of 3.6 Million Couples that is coming up? Going from 30,000 couples to 360,000 couples was easier than you thought. This will be very easy. There are bound to be many people in the world who cry out for Rev. Moon day and night. Through this Blessing, I opened the way for Mother's parents and mine to be reunited as husband and wife, and all the sins committed by the thousands of generations of ancestors in history were forgiven. (272-117, 1995.8.30)

Until now the Blessed Couples were left to do as they pleased. Since they had not yet reached the summit that is the top of the growth stage, I could not deal with them as the perfected parent. I could not interfere with them. However, that is all in the past now. As we have passed through the forty-year course and have accomplished the 30,000- and 360,000 Couples Blessings, we have gone beyond the formation and growth stages on the global level. This means there is no one in the satanic world who can stop the progress of our church now. We have gone beyond that. Though people opposed on all sides, we have overcome them all. (272-72, 1995.8.30)

The tide comes in after six hours and in between there is a period when the water surface is perfectly flat. This is such a moment and so this coming Blessing will include those who have simply attended a seven-day workshop; made a resolution to restore their lineage, right of ownership and realm of heart; and pledged to become new people by engrafting on to the True Parents. Yet this cannot last forever. It is only for a little while that the water surface can stay level. As we are currently living at such a time, I, with my prerogative, can bless even those who have done nothing to deserve it. (268-191, 1995.4.1)

We reached the formation stage on the global level through the 30,000 Couples Blessing and the growth stage through the 360,000 Couples Blessing. This is the second stage. Since the first ancestors fell while still in the second stage, it is in this stage that we need to bring together the spiritual and physical worlds based on the family. By bringing together my parents and elder brother, I could establish a foundation of a trinity of mother, elder brother, and children. Not only that, in addition, Adam's family and Mother's family could be blessed and the sons and daughters of that family brought together. Only after passing through the three generations in this way can my sons and daughters, as Abel, be united with your couples as Cain, centering on the True Parents. Thus, at 3:00 a.m., on the day before the Blessing Ceremony of the 360,000 Couples was scheduled to take place, the Blessing of the physical parents of the True Parents needed to be performed. That shows how complicated everything is. A Blessing Ceremony held like this was not the originally intended ideal blessing of Adam and Eve. The right of kingship still remains to be restored. There is no nation that we can call our own! Nevertheless, the satanic world is heading for complete ruin. (272-311, 1995.10.13)

I blessed my mother, Choong-mo nim, and True Mother's mother, Dae-mo nim, and my elder brother, Dae-hyeong nim. It is part of the preparation for blessing those who have passed on to the spirit world. It took place at 3:00 a.m. the day before the 360,000 Couples Blessing was held. You don't realize how complicated it is. By combining all these events and flying high the banner, I am paving the path for there to be no conflict between God and Satan, or between the spiritual and physical worlds. That is the path of restoration through indemnity. (284-167, 1997.4.16)