csg-09-03-the-providential-significance

The Providential Significance of the Blessed Couples

Section 1. The 36 Couples

1.1. The Three Couples first blessed

In 1960, before having my own Holy Wedding, I engaged three of the 36 Couples, and after my wedding, I then blessed these three Couples. That set the condition of restoring three children to God’s ideal realm, just as Jesus would have done with Peter, James, and John. The perfect, inseparable, victorious foundation had been laid. (55-164, 1972.5.7)

What have I been doing until now? I blessed the Three Couples first. Did I bless them or not? I did. I would not have been able to hold my own Holy Wedding in 1960 if I had not first laid a foundation through these three Couples. Before receiving Mother in holy matrimony, I first found spouses for the chosen three, then conducted my own Holy Wedding, after which I blessed the three betrothed Couples. That was how I followed the path of the Principle. (89-243, 1976.12.1)

Those representing the three archangels and Adam’s eight family members should be set in place before the new Adam. By establishing the three central children – that is, three spiritual children – and having them marry, the eight family members would be organized and Adam then could come before God with his family and the three archangels. That is why I first designated three sons and three daughters, the first three of the 36 Couples, and betrothed them before holding my own Holy Wedding. This was all done according to the Principle; it was brought forth through the establishment of a foundation that could not be accused in any way. Since the original Adam lost his family, the new Adam must restore the family. (126-49, 1983.4.10)

When you look at my family, you can see that I have children in the vertical position. On the horizontal foundation, who among the True Children represents the position of the horizontal Abel? It is Heung-jin. He is the second son. In order to establish the 36 Couples, people representing Jesus’ three main disciples had to be secured, restoring the number three. The first three, the archangeltype couples, fulfilled this role. After the number three had been regained, 36 couples representing Adam’s family, Noah’s family, and Jacob’s family could come forth. The first of the three Couples, who themselves represent the 36 Couples, was that of Kim Won-pil. Providential history cannot allow just anyone to stand in that position. He must have a suitable ancestral background aligned with the dispensation in the spirit world; otherwise, he cannot stand in the position of the eldest son. The one who fulfilled these requirements was Kim Wonpil. The one who occupied the position of the second son was Eu Hyo-won and the third was Kim Young-hwi. (169-109, 1987.10.29) Centering on the three representative couples, twelve had to be raised up. These twelve were to be entrusted with a historic mission; however, only twelve would not do. In addition, twelve couples representing the past and twelve couples representing the future were chosen to establish the 36 Couples. The 36 Couples are the compression of all the disconnected ancestors of the two-thousand year history of ten generations from Adam’s family to Noah’s family, another ten generations from Noah’s family to Jacob’s family, and Jacob’s twelve sons. (89-243, 1976.12.1)

1.2. The significance of the 36 Couples

The 36 Couples consist of three groups of twelve. The first group symbolizes the Old Testament Age of marrying without God’s permission. The second group symbolizes the New Testament Age of wishing to be married in God’s chosen land. However, with the death of Jesus on the cross, this wish was not fulfilled and so the age became one of the bride awaiting her groom. The third group symbolizes the Completed Testament Age, an era of perfection, and of wishing for the beginning of God’s family. Today we are passing through the providence of restoration symbolizing Jacob’s victory. Accordingly, I need to restore through indemnity the era of the servant and the realm of the adopted child and realize the era of the true child. The 36 Couples were established in order to restore these three eras symbolically. (God’s Will - 165) Of the 36 Couples, the first dozen are already married couples who represent the Old Testament Age. The second dozen symbolizes the era of Jesus desiring marriage without achieving it. The third dozen, representing Jacob who overcame every hardship and became victorious, symbolize the Completed Testament Age. In particular, the 36 Couples under my leadership form the victorious foundation upon which the Old, New, and Completed Testament Ages are indemnified in my lifetime. Furthermore, the historic significance of the Blessing of the 36 Couples is that those three eras were indemnified horizontally within my generation through their victorious perfection. (55-165, 1972.5.7)

From a providential point of view, the first dozen of the 36 Couples is in the position of the restored Adam’s family. As Adam’s family, including Cain and Abel up to Noah, makes up the number twelve, twelve couples had to be appointed in order to indemnify it. The second dozen signify the restoration of the period from Noah to Abraham, symbolizing the generations extended to twelve to include Isaac and Jacob, who had to indemnify Satan’s invasion of Abraham’s family. Jacob had twelve sons in order to restore through indemnity in his generation (horizontally) for the first time in history the indemnity conditions accumulated (vertically) through those twelve generations; that is symbolized by the third dozen couples. The 36 Couples, who have been called on the basis of the victorious individual level foundation achieved by Jacob, symbolize the Old, New, and Completed Testament Ages. (55-165, 1972.5.7)

The 36 Couples represent 36 generations. They are in the position of restored ancestors who have remedied all the mistakes committed in the course of God’s providence of restoration. They are also in the position of indemnifying Jesus’ twelve disciples representing past and present, that is, the Old and New Testament Ages. In principle, the Completed Testament Age cannot begin before the Old and New Testament Ages are properly concluded; accordingly, in order to resolve all this, the 36 Couples had to be established. (54-293, 1972.3.26)

Based upon my individual victory, I needed to lay a horizontal foundation to restore the family and therefore blessed the 36 Couples. Wasn’t the victorious foundation first laid by Noah’s family? The second twelve couples represent that tradition. Next, what does the third group of twelve couples representing Jacob’s family signify? This group was composed of virgin men and women. From here, a perfect foundation must then be laid on earth after everything has been restored through indemnity. Only then can the horizontal expansion in all directions take place from these twelve couples. The 36 Couples represent the positions of the twelve tribal elders of the three ages. Based on Jacob’s foundation, they represent the three eras of formation, growth, and completion. All must unite. (47-199, 1971.8.28)

The 36 Couples are chosen to represent countless good ancestors entrusted with missions in the providence of restoration and, as their resurrected incarnations, have the responsibility to substantially restore on earth all that they had failed to achieve vertically throughout history. You must know that the 36 Couples represent the world’s 3.6. billion people. (40-185, 1971.2.1)

Humanity can be divided between those who have formed families and those who have not. The latter can be subdivided into two groups and one of those groups is made up of people who had relations as they pleased with the opposite sex, but who failed to form a family. We can therefore divide humanity into three groups: those who married, those who related to the opposite sex but did not form families – of which there are many nowadays – and finally, virgin men and women. Such are the relationship entanglements that exist in the world today. In other words, viewed vertically, people live on three levels: matrimony, engagement, and celibacy. The second category of people reflects the state of engagement between Jesus and the Holy Spirit. They would be able to form a new family. In order to restore through indemnity all these different types of people, some representatives must be called to form families, according to God’s dispensation. That is how the 36 Couples came to be established. (58-183, 1972.6.11)

Jesus established the twelve disciples in order to represent and restore the three eras of Adam’s, Noah’s, and Jacob’s families, but could not achieve his will. In order to restore this failure through indemnity, I established the 36 Couples. This is how the process of restoration has been substantially developed. As can be seen from this, I have carried out every single task conscientiously and wholeheartedly. (23-62, 1969.5.11)

Christ at his Second Advent must restore through indemnity the position of Adam’s family. Accordingly, he must establish families who can represent Adam’s, Noah’s, and Abraham’s families as ancestors. In order to do so, he must first restore three sets of twelve couples to respectively represent the three providential families of Adam, Noah, and Abraham, and raise them up as the vertical ancestors. (22-215, 1969.2.6)

The 36 Couples signify the resurrection of our historical ancestors. What then should be the work of the resurrected ancestors? Humankind has horizontally multiplied on earth through six thousand years of vertical history. They must all be brought together. Twelve generations must be indemnified in order to complete vertical indemnification. Everyone on earth is connected to each other through these twelve generations. For those living on earth, the realm of formation corresponds to married couples who formed families, the realm of growth corresponds to those engaged couples who never formed a family, and the realm of completion corresponds to virgin men and women. (122-97, 1982.11.1)

The 36 Couples are all related to the number twelve. The ten generations from Adam to Noah add up to twelve by including Cain and Abel. The ten generations from Noah to Abraham also add up to twelve by including Isaac and Jacob. In the same way that Jacob’s family expanded horizontally through his twelve sons and took root on earth, the Unification Church also had to establish 36 couples. Adam’s, Noah’s, and Jacob’s families are represented respectively by the first, second, and third group of twelve couples. Through them, everything in history and every event that occurred in the Old and New Testament Ages can be brought together with the Completed Testament Age. As representatives of the spirit world, they are connected to each other as the ancestors on earth. As such, every one of the 36 Couples can stand in the position of being an ancestor. (164-269, 1987.5.17) Who are the 36 Couples? The first group within the 36 Couples consists of those who had married as they pleased, who were brought into the presence of God, and connected to Him through the Blessing. Next, the second group of couples consisted of those who were engaged but who did not marry before the Blessing. Matching and blessing people is not something I do casually. Why? Because these couples are for the sake of the salvation of all humankind. The third group is for virgin men and women. All already married couples should absolutely obey the first group of the 36 Blessed Couples. You will understand this more clearly when you go to the spirit world. The second group should absolutely obey the third group of couples. When the time comes for God’s will to be accomplished on earth, it will be the third group of the 36 Couples who will become the center. You are hearing this for the first time from me. So for whom would the Lord come first? He is not coming to see the already married couples. He is not coming to see people with failed relationships from the past. He is coming to find virgin men and women. (148-284, 1986.10.25)

There would be no place for you to stand had I not blessed the 36 Couples. Did you know this? When we expand from the 36 Couples, the whole world will be connected to them. If we were to consider the already married couples as the formation stage, the second group would be the growth stage, and the third, completion. That is why we refer to the three groups of couples as Adam’s family, Noah’s family, and Jacob’s family. Jacob’s era finally ushered in that of the horizontal expansion of the family. We are entering the era of world-level expansion through the twelve tribes. There should be twelve tribes rooted in me, just as there are twelve pearly gates in heaven and twelve months in one cycle of the earth’s seasons. These tribes must be in harmony with each other. Just as there were twelve brothers in Jacob’s family and twelve disciples of Jesus, there are 36 Couples around me, twelve of whom are represented by virgin men and women. With these twelve as the core, next come the couples who formed relationships as they pleased, and then finally the couples with families. There is no way to enter heaven unless these couples have set the condition of unity. (148-284, 1986.10.25)

The couples made up of virgin men and women whom I matched and blessed are standing on a level upon which they can connect to me directly. Hence, from this day onwards, when it comes to establishing the family structure, the center will always be the couples who were blessed as virgin men and women. Bearing this in mind, all of you must recognize the order of family groups from now on. Among the three groups of the 36 Couples, the third is central. (31-284, 1970.6.4)

The 36 Couples must pave the way for the overall providence, starting from Adam to Noah, from Noah to Abraham, from Abraham to Jacob and his twelve sons. This is not to relive the history of the past, but rather substantially and horizontally restore through indemnity at this time the mistakes made by our ancestors. The struggle to bring this about took place at the time of the Blessing of the 36 Couples. I did not bless them out of ignorance of what is going on in the world, but rather took responsibility for this great work because God’s circumstances are much more desperate than those of human beings and His will is much greater than theirs. I blessed the 36 Couples because I had to restore through indemnity God’s historic grief over losing His children, and because I was in the position of having to horizontally restore in substance the vertical providential history, in order to restore and establish the origin of the ancestors and the standard they had tried to set. (16-60, 1965.12.26)

What is the responsibility of the 36 Couples? They are to satisfy all historical indemnity conditions up to the present time. In other words, they must become the perfect protective fence that can exclude Satan completely. Hence, these couples should practice the new tradition and ideology that are completely separated from Satan. Rooted in these traditions, the 72 Couples and 120 Couples must expand that base. Considering all this, you should realize the importance of the responsibility of the 36 Couples. (28-60, 1970.1.3)

In the spirit world, the Blessing received by pure single men and women is very different from that received by already married couples. There are three levels in the spirit world, just as today’s society is divided into upper, middle, and lower classes. Among the 36 Couples divided into three groups of twelve, respectively representing Adam’s, Noah’s, and Jacob’s families, which group is the most precious? It is the third. In the future, you will have to serve them. At the moment, we are not distinguishing them from each other because the time to do so has not yet come, but that does not mean they are the same. They are very different. (30-189, 1970.3.22)

I put all my money into buying gold wedding rings, clothes and every other item needed by the brides and grooms of the 36 Couples Blessing. Why did I do that? The 36 Couples were not even asked to pay their Blessing fees, were they? I brought together other people’s sons and daughters and married them in circumstances far superior to those I would have granted my own children. However much secular society opposed me, I accomplished this with dignity. The Blessing was conducted in three phases. If one were to do such a thing in this world, would one get anything in return, like land or money? Would one get anything at all? Think about it: if I cared about such trifles, would I ever engage in the activities I do? However much commotion Korea and the established churches made, however much uproar the United States and the whole world made, I did not waver once. That is how I have come this far. (126-299, 1983.4.28)

1.3. Anecdotes from the 33 Couples

Blessing In 1961, the 33 Couples Blessing Ceremony was held amid great confusion and chaos. We finally had to have someone stand guard at the door before we could go through with the ceremony. Nevertheless, I did everything I had to, regardless of how much noise the protestors were making. The parents of the 33 Couples came swarming about the place, shouting all kinds of insults at us and creating a continuous uproar. Some went so far as to send dozens of anonymous letters to the court of justice demanding I be sent to jail; as a result, I had to appear in court on several occasions. There were twelve people in particular who worked frantically to destroy the Unification Church, sprinkling coal dust all over the place. The Unification Church grew amid such turmoil. We had to lay the groundwork for victory in the same place that people were opposing us. We undertook the daunting task of establishing the foundation for victory amid fierce opposition from all sides. (23-317, 1969.6.8)

At the time we were going to hold the Blessing for the 33 Couples, I sent out invitations in my name to the parents of the brides and grooms as follows: “Dear father, mother, on such and such a date, your son/daughter will be getting married at Cheongpa-dong church. Please note that you can attend the ceremony only if you are dressed in holy robes of such and such a style; otherwise, you will not be welcomed.” That invitation created havoc among the parents; you can’t imagine how much noise they made over this, crying, “How on earth can such a thing happen? Who dares to send parents invitations to the wedding of their own children?” Well, they can make all the noise they want. Once I have decided to do something, I see it through to the end. Even if they had called the police on me, in the end everything would have worked out the way I wanted it to, rather than how they wanted it. (162-321, 1987.4.17)

When the 33 Couples were being blessed, they had to treat their own parents as the fallen archangel. None of them informed their parents about the wedding. At the last minute, because there was no other choice, I sent the parents invitations about a week before the wedding and included many conditions, such as the need to wear holy robes and so on. Then the parents hurled insults at me, shouting that I had no right to take their children away from them and have them married. They caused a terrible scandal, but it could not be helped. Think for a moment about how unpleasant that must have been for the parents. In the end, we had to close the iron gates and block them from entering at all. Such were the actions we had to take in order to make the condition to separate from the fallen archangel and protect the situation. (90-124, 1976.10.21)

Among the 36 Couples, there is a leader whose father was well-known. Being a respectable gentleman, he thought very little of me. In fact, he regarded me no more highly than any man on the street. When the time came for me to bless his daughter, I sent him a notice. He came to attend the wedding because he wanted to see his daughter get married and he walked up to the gate very proudly. We informed him that if he wanted to attend the Unification Church wedding, he needed to be dressed in holy robes. He was dressed in his best suit and so was at a loss when we stopped him from entering the gate. He insisted on coming in anyway because, after all, it was his daughter’s wedding, but still he was blocked by us. In the end, he had no choice but to go to one of our members and beg him to loan his holy robes. Ultimately, he did attend his daughter’s wedding, dressed in the borrowed holy robes. (75-216, 1975.1.5)

At the time of the 33 Couples Blessing, do you think the brides and grooms could easily notify their parents of the Blessing? Would the parents have liked it if their children had discussed with them the prospect of getting married in a church they opposed? Don’t you think they wouldn’t? That was a foregone conclusion. If they were to come to the wedding, they would have been an eyesore on what would otherwise have been the couple’s happiest day. Knowing this, should I have notified them in order to give them the opportunity to meet their prospective son- or daughter-in-law beforehand? Since they had to be notified at least, we sent them invitations to arrive on the eve of the wedding, as follows: “Your son/daughter is going to be wedded in holy matrimony, so please favor us with your attendance.” (61-313, 1972.9.3)

My revolutionary course of action completely overturned existing marriage traditions. It overturned the traditions of Christianity and of Korea. How so? It denied the fathers and mothers. Did I ever discuss with your parents the prospect of you receiving the Blessing? No, because the Blessing is a heavenly command. I am the subject. At the time of the 33 Couples Blessing, we stopped parents from coming to the wedding, telling them they would be allowed to enter only if they wore holy robes. There was such an outcry about this. It was the revolution of revolutions. It completely overturned everything. (213-17, 1991.1.13)

On the occasion of the 33 Couples Blessing, wasn’t the first phase conducted at dawn? Families of the brides and grooms were outside, struggling to get in, shouting, “Set my father free!” or “Set my daughter free!” These words made me out to be a thief who had stolen somebody’s father and somebody else’s daughter. They were making me out to be a thief and shouted at me, “You, Moon! Come out! You have destroyed our family and made our daughter a raving lunatic!” When wanting to get married, the proper thing to do is to get permission from the parents; yet in our case, we sent wedding invitations to the parents and told them to wear holy robes if they wanted to come. That was unheard of. I knew that. Had I not, I would have gone through with the Blessing with a heart as light as a feather, but I had to conduct it aware of all this and that was the most difficult part of it. Don’t you think so? If not, I would have heard the insults shouted at me and wondered why. Instead, I held the wedding, knowing that they would curse me for it. I persevered with it to the end, knowing all these things. Indemnity could not have otherwise been paid. I could not just close my eyes and do a haphazard job. (211-332, 1991.1.1)

The 33 Couples were wedded in three phases: the first at dawn, the second during the day, and the third at night. Their parents came to say, “Let my son out! Let my daughter out!” Such was their protest. From the standpoint of God’s will, since human history started from false parents, I had to guide the proceedings as a true parent. Not only their parents, but also the government opposed us. I had to go to court and place a deposition before holding the wedding. No one knows what I have been through in carrying out my work. There was not even a tiny spot for me to stand on. There, I was risking everything. (91-259, 1977.2.23)

Do you want me to tell you an interesting story? When I was holding the 33 Couples Blessing in Korea, a man came to see me. His son-in-law is here with us today, by the way. The man claimed that both his daughters had been hoodwinked into becoming Unification Church members. He was a school principal and had already chosen two teachers specifically as his future sons-in-law, and so did not want to allow his daughters to participate in the Blessing. However, all I told him was, “If you want to oppose, go ahead. Both your daughters, however, will be blessed by me!” (22-261, 1969.5.4)

When I was choosing the 36 Couples for the Blessing, do you think I discussed the issue with their parents? I brought together other people’s children and married them at my own discretion, without discussing it with the parents at all. No doubt the parents would have not only cursed me, but beaten me with sticks if they had had the chance. Had we been Israelites of old, I would have had my clothes torn off and been stabbed to death. Nevertheless, I accomplished it all in the blink of an eye, before the parents had the faintest idea of what was going on. I brought together Satan’s children, made them into God’s children, and married them. In my work of completing the course of restoration, amid the heavenly fortune of the cosmos, whom should I discuss such matters with? In carrying out the Blessing, whom could I possibly have consulted? Everything had to be carried out at my own discretion. The 36 Couples are the ancestors. In fulfilling the love through which they could become ancestors, should they have consulted their physical parents? This was a matter to be discussed with God. (18-207, 1967.6.8)

The 33 Couples Blessing had to be conducted in the dark of night, behind locked doors. During the ceremony, we heard all kinds of shouts like, “Let my son go! Let my husband go! What do you think you are doing with other people’s children?” People were outraged because traditionally they arrange their children’s marriages; yet here was the founder of the Unification Church marrying them off on his own. The families protested so vehemently because they were fathers and mothers from the satanic world. Since God’s children were snatched away by Satan, I snatched them back from his clutches and restored them through indemnity. Through the Blessing, I had to regain the sons and daughters lost throughout history, restoring them through indemnity. Hence, I concluded the ceremony hurriedly. I had no choice, as I was trying to accomplish restoration through indemnity. (19-120, 1967.12.31)

Section 2. The 72 Couples

2.1. Significance of the 72 Couples

Blessing Did everything until now go wrong just because of the first ancestors’ failure to fulfill their responsibility? No. They did err, but the brothers Cain and Abel also did wrong. Thus, the 72 Couples were established to stand in the position of the brothers, Cain and Abel, in front of the 36 Couples. The establishment of the 72 Couples meant the establishment of the horizontal foundation on earth laid until Jacob’s generation, restored through Cain and Abel on the family level. Thereby, all the families of the direct ancestors up until this time could be manifested on earth in the form of resurrected families. Through this, an important center was established. Through twelve couples from the 36 Couples, the form of the tribes of Israel could finally take shape. Establishing the 72 Couples made it possible for the historical foundations of the ancestors to be manifested here on earth. (47-200, 1971.8.28) As God’s will in His providence was to organize families based on the model of the two sons in front of the ancestors, then twice thirty-six, that is, seventy-two couples, were established. In the vertical course of history, what had not been fulfilled in Adam’s family should have been completed by the families of Cain and Abel, but they failed to set the condition of indemnity. Yet, through the 72 Couples Blessing representing Cain and Abel’s families, the prolonged vertical providence could be successfully consummated at a point of intersection on the horizontal. The establishment of the 36 and 72 Couples meant that the national Cain-Abel-type foundation could be entirely substantiated on earth – in other words, the horizontal restoration of the vertical family model. That family is the model to restore Adam’s family. (16-62, 1965.12.26)

The 36 Couples established the standard of having restored all the failures of the original 36 generations and thus became ancestors themselves; however, having the 36 Couples as ancestors is not enough. Where did conflict begin? It began between Adam and Eve’s sons Cain and Abel, who thus destroyed the world and made it the way it is today; that is to say, one in which all their descendants are in constant struggle with one other. We must restore this through indemnity. In order to do so, we must set the condition that the sons and daughters of the 36 generations have united before God without a struggle. Hence, I established the 72 Couples, thus twice the number 36, to represent the Cain-Abel division. Through the establishment of the 72 Couples, historical foundations of the ancestors were laid, upon which Cain and Abel could come together, not to fight, but to form a four-position foundation. In this manner, the absolute standard through which we could guard ourselves against Satan was secured. Do you all understand the seriousness of the position of the 72 Couples? (19-120, 1967.12.31) The 72 Couples were established on the basis of the 36 Couples Blessing. They symbolize Cain and Abel’s restored families centered on Adam’s family. In order for Adam and Eve to stand in the position of perfected parents and ancestors of humankind before God, Cain and Abel must completely unite. The 36 Couples symbolize Adam’s family and are in the position of ancestors; only when they stand on the foundation of Cain and Abel’s united families can they attain the position of parents. The 72 Couples are twice the number of the 36 Couples because they are in the position of Cain and Abel. (55-167, 1972.5.7)

Who are the 72 Couples? Some translations of the Bible state that Jesus had seventy-two disciples, and others, seventy. Originally, 72 is the correct number. Centering on the twelve tribes and the number six (six united representatives per tribe), two times six is twelve and one times six is six. Multiplying them gives us seventy-two. If it were seventy disciples, the numbers would not have added up properly. Hence, the correct number is seventy-two. The 72 Couples are like the children, the descendants of the 36 Couples, while the 36 are the central couples as well as the ancestors. Our view is that our ancestors failed to fulfill God’s will because Cain and Abel, the two sons in the first family in history, failed to become one in heart, thus deferring the fulfillment of God’s will. In view of the fact that the foundation of the family, in which the brothers Cain and Abel should have united, was not established, who then are the 72 Couples? Seventy-two is thirty-six twice. Thus, the 72 Couples representing the children of the 36 Couples comprise 36 Abel and 36 Cain couples. They are the representative couples chosen to restore through indemnity that which the historical ancestors failed to accomplish: the complete unity of Abel and Cain. (84-144, 1976.2.22)

The 36, 72, and 120 Couples are a team; they cannot be separated. The 36 Couples refer to the successive generations of ancestors. The 72 Couples represent their children. The 120 Couples signify the high priests of nations in the world and represent the twelve tribes. They are the branches of these tribes that have spread out into the world. The matter at hand is to unite the ancestors Cain and Abel and the twelve tribes. That is the great work of restoration. (82-237, 1976.1.31) Each person is the fruit of the past, the center of the present, and the beginning of the future, and is therefore the meeting point of three eras. When you multiply the three separate eras by the number twelve, you get the number 36. Thus, you arrive at the 36 Couples and since the children in the position of Cain and Abel must be restored centering on these 36 Couples, it follows that the 72 Couples must come next. (34-262, 1970.9.13)

The question that always comes up in a family is whether the parents and children can completely unite. Within his family, Adam should have become one with Cain and Abel. In order to become a family that can stand in God’s presence in complete unity, the parents and the two sons must set the condition that they become one. Otherwise, they cannot enter God’s presence at all. This is where the 72 Couples, as double the number of the 36 Couples, come in. They were established to organize the tribes that Jesus would have restored through the families of his twelve apostles and 72 disciples. In other words, the 36 Couples and the 72 Couples correspond respectively to the twelve tribes of Israel and Jesus’ 72 disciples, and so they are in the position of restored representatives who can lead Israel. They also represent the restored basic numbers that God had sought to reclaim through Israel. (54-293, 1972.3.26) What are the 72 Couples? In order to restore the family completely, Cain and Abel families must first become one. In order for Adam and Eve to be restored before God perfectly, they must stand on the foundation of unity between Cain and Abel. The position of Adam and Eve is that of parents. In order for them to stand in front of God in perfection, the Cain-Abel foundation must be restored. Since the 36 Couples need the foundation of the united families of Cain and Abel to stand as ancestors, the 72 Couples, who were chosen as twice in number to the 36 Couples, came into being. The 72 Couples correspond to Jesus’ seventy-two disciples. As they succeed in laying a foundation of indemnity on earth, God’s providence can expand. Through the unity of the 72 Couples representing Cain and Abel with the 36 Couples representing Adam and Eve, all providential requirements for the family have been met, and the restoration of the family has been completed. Such is the significance of the Blessing up to the 72 Couples. With the accomplishment of the 72 Couples Blessing, a God-centered foundation was achieved on earth for the first time, both horizontally and vertically, and thereby, a central standard was set up. Thus, the vertical foothold – a central point that should be determined through God’s providence – can be established only when the 36 and 72 Couples are united as the perfected victors of history. Once that central point is determined, the victorious realm of the central ancestors desired by God will finally have been fulfilled. This perfect foundation must be developed horizontally on earth. (55-167, 1972.5.7)

Why was Jesus unable to establish the Kingdom of Heaven? It was because his clan and twelve apostles didn’t help him. He attempted to build a bridge that would connect with the nation through his clan, twelve apostles, and seventy disciples, but it collapsed. He therefore could not establish the foundation on the family, clan, or church level during his life on earth. The next problem was that the seventy disciples did not unite with Jesus. They represented the twelve tribes and the seventy elders of Israel. The correct number, actually, should be 72, not 70. If six people were chosen from each of the twelve tribes, the total would be seventytwo. Hence, in the Unification Church, we have the Blessing of the 72 Couples. In the Bible, there are seventy-two in the New Testament and seventy in the Old Testament. The correct number is 72, not 70. (67-327, 1973.7.22)

The history of restoration is that of Cain and Abel. Consequently, if two people representing Cain and Abel are placed before representatives of the first ancestors, the condition can be set through which all mistakes committed by our ancestors can be indemnified. What was the fundamental mistake? It was that Cain and Abel failed to unite. Originally, the foundation of faith and the foundation of substance were to be laid by Cain and Abel. As they failed to do this, the conditional offering through which it can be completed and brought into line with the expanding horizontal foundation on earth was the Blessing of the 72 Couples. (75-148, 1975.1.2)

Before God’s Kingdom can be realized on earth, the ideal family has to be established. Jesus’ three main disciples and twelve apostles represent the three periods of formation, growth, and completion. They are, in turn, represented by the 36 Couples. The 72 Couples representing Cain and Abel, who fought on the family level, have to restore them. They can also be regarded as the representatives of seventy-two races (74-270, 1974.12.31) Humankind is comprised of people who are similar to Adam by marrying as they please, or those following the type of Jesus in awaiting marriage, or those following the type of Christ at his Second Advent. The latter must restore all three positions. In the first place, a family following the type of Noah’s family must be restored because Noah, like Abel and Jesus, occupies the position of the second son on God’s side. The 72 Couples are the restored forms of Cain and Abel who had been divided. (22-216, 1969.2.8)

The mistake Cain committed by not being obedient to Abel, which led to their fatal conflict, has not been indemnified by providential figures of the past, and so the process of restoration has been prolonged until now. In order to restore this mistake completely, the foundation of Cain’s obedience to Abel must be indemnified before each ancestral couple. The 72 Couples, therefore, came into existence for this purpose. The number 72 is double the number 36. (22-193, 1969.2.2)

The purpose of establishing the 36 Couples lies in restoring thirty-six ancestors. Thus, the spiritual and physical worlds can unite around the 36 Couples. The 72 Couples stand in the position of Cain and Abel before the 36 Couples. With the 72 Couples Blessing, the Unification Church was in a position similar to that of Jacob, who set out on the journey for Egypt with seventy-two family members. (13-125, 1963.11.16)

The Blessing is the permission for creating a new Israel. When a Cain and an Abel couple are placed before each of the 36 Couples, the result you have is the 72 Couples. (12-47, 1962.9.10)

The standard of unity of the three generations of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob must be surpassed in three years. I burned the candle at both ends when I blessed the 72 Couples this year. Out of them all, I am satisfied with only a few. (12-50, 1962.9.13)

Section 3. The 124 Couples

3.1. Significance of 124 Couples

The 120 Couples, representing Jesus’ 120 followers, stand on the global level. As the representatives of the nations of the world, the 120 Couples are the foundation upon which the global indemnity condition can be met. By establishing these couples, the basis upon which God can come unto the world can be secured. Hence, we can say that the day on which the number of member states of the United Nations exceeded 120 marked the beginning of the Last Days. (16-62, 1965.12.26)

The 120 Couples were established in the position of representing all nations of the world. (20-342, 1968.7.20)

Christ at his Second Advent must restore through indemnity the position of Adam’s family. Accordingly, he must restore families typifying those of Adam, Noah, and Abraham, and establish them as ancestors. In order to do so, he must first find twelve couples typifying Adam’s family, then twelve typifying Noah’s family, and finally twelve typifying Abraham’s family, and set them up as vertical ancestors. Thus, I established the 36 Couples. Centering on these ancestors, the 72 Couples were established as the representatives of Cain and Abel’s families. The 120 Couples symbolize the leaders of the 120 nations of the world. (22-215, 1969.2.6)

The 120 Couples typify the world, horizontally expanding the earthly foundation in all directions; they therefore represent 120 nations. (13-125, 1963.11.16)

The Blessings up to the 124 Couples were within the Seven-Year Course. As we now have 120 Couples based upon the realm of the new Israel, a foundation is established upon which the 120 nations of the world could be restored. Consequently, the restoration of all significant numbers, which Jesus attempted through his family, was accomplished globally through the 120 Couples Blessing. (54-293, 1972.3.26)

What you need to do now is restore eighty-four and 120 people within your tribes. That is the vertical part. Didn’t the Blessing take place in the order of the 36, 72, and 120 Couples? The 120 Couples are representatives of the world. Thus, after Jesus’ resurrection, 120 people were gathered in the Upper Room on the day of Pentecost. They were the representatives of the world. When I blessed 124 Couples, the number of member states of the United Nations was also 124. All these numbers must be in accord with each other. (198-17, 1990.1.20)

The 120 followers of Jesus represent the number twelve. The 124 Couples were blessed in order to organize and establish a model of tribal and national leadership worldwide. In actuality, 124 couples were blessed, four being extra. These four were already married couples. Why were they included in the Blessing? Had they not, there would have been no way to save other already married couples from that time on This number four represents gates facing the four cardinal directions of north, south, east, and west. Based on the four couples, therefore, the way must be opened through which all already married couples can be resurrected. Hence, I blessed 124 Couples. (158-170, 1967.12.27)

The 120 Couples represent Jesus’ 120 followers. Additionally, four couples are already married couples. They were included because they are the ones who must open the gates of the Blessing in the four directions. (20-145, 1968.5.26)

Jesus shed his blood on the cross because the seventy-two disciples and twelve apostles totaling eighty-four were disunited. Hence, every one of you must substantially restore eighty-four people through indemnity. Only on such a foundation can you lead married lives. The same was true for me. In order to fulfill this, I blessed the 36 Couples, who can be subdivided into three groups of twelve each, representing formation, growth, and completion. Strictly speaking, they are three groups, but they can be compressed into one; similarly, the 72 Couples. On that foundation, the 120 Couples were blessed, and on that basis, the world could be connected. After Jesus’ resurrection and ascension, didn’t the 120 followers gather on the day of Pentecost? They symbolized representatives of the world. (122-117, 1982.11.1)

The 120 Couples stand in the position to dissolve Jesus’ anguish arising from not being able to restore the standard of Judaism. Hence, I am telling them to stand in the forefront and sacrifice themselves. All district leaders recently educated for mobilization were of the 120 Couples. The 120 Couples must sacrifice themselves. They stand in the same position as the 120 followers at Jesus’ time as the national representatives of the world’s 120 nations and are forming global tribes. (47-202, 1971.8.28)

Upon ascending to heaven, hadn’t Jesus appointed 120 followers? The 120 Couples signify them and also represent 120 nations on earth and in the spirit world, respectively. Once members of your tribes take their places among the ranks of national representatives, your field of activity will be expanded to the 120 nations, which can then be connected to the Kingdom of Heaven. You will be able to inherit such positions and from there connect to the bases on which you can carry out your activities. (215-129, 1991.2.6)

Jesus did not just have twelve apostles and 70 disciples. On the day of Pentecost after his ascension, 120 followers gathered to begin their worldwide missionary work. They are represented by 120 nations. At the time of the 120 Couples Blessing, the United Nations had 124 member states. The number of couples actually blessed was 124, out of which four had been criminals from the four directions of north, south, east, and west. Included among 124 couples are criminals who were convicted once, twice, thrice, and even four times. Why? It is because we have to save even those who are in hell. We need to save those who are imprisoned. (215-129, 1991.2.6)

Just as I have the 120 Couples, all of you have 120 kinfolk of your own, through twelve tribes multiplied by ten in the spirit world. At present, we regard the number of nations in the world in which we are carrying out missionary work as 120 or 160. Hence, at the time of the Seoul Olympics, national representatives from 120 nations got together to become as one. Similarly, within your tribe, you must establish representatives of 120 nations and make them unite with you as the representatives of the nations of the world. Only thus can you restore through indemnity the lost base of the 120 followers on earth at the time of Jesus’ resurrection and ascension, which is why we need the 120 Couples. Only when they are established on earth, brought together and completely united can the 120 representatives in the spirit world be connected to the tribes. In this way, even the spirit world can be connected to the 120 nations. Thus, the 120 Couples are absolutely indispensable to us. (215-129, 1991.2.6)

When entering heaven, you must take with you at least 120 families – something Jesus wanted to do. Who are the 120 Couples? They are representatives of the nations in the physical world. Hence, during your lifetime, you must successfully witness to at least 120 couples and ensure that you will bring them to heaven. This should be every member’s purpose in life. Each person is sent to his or her tribe as the representative of Jesus who has not died but come again to earth; this is the sending of Abel tribes to Cain tribes in the capacity of the messiah. Such is the mission of tribal messiahs. (215-185, 1991.2.17)

The question is how you can establish the tradition of love, the eternal tradition of the ideal of creation, with your children, tribe, and restored citizens. Once you enter the spirit world, you, along with them, will form a group and restore your eternal dignity and order of life. While you are still on earth, you must deal with your tribe and restore at least 120 families. I think I have explained more than enough for you to understand. I am telling you to be prepared so that you will not be embarrassed. You would not just be embarrassed, but be stripped bare and kicked out. (213-139, 1991.1.16)

The number 120, which is ten times twelve, derives from Jesus’ twelve apostles and represents the physical world. Thus, the 120 Couples were blessed in accordance with the number of Jesus’ 120 followers. Originally, the number should have been 120, but I blessed 124, adding four representing the four directions of north, south, east, and west. (16-62, 1965.12.26)

I blessed the 124 Couples representing the world’s 120 nations and the number four, on the global level, on the foundation of having established the center of tribes. What this means is that families have been formed that will represent the center of all Christianity that originated from Jesus’ 120 followers, who themselves symbolized the foundation of 120 nations. These therefore are couples whose responsibility it will be to achieve the four-position foundation on the individual level under my leadership, and bring together the ancestors, the races, and finally the world. As such, from now on, the way will be opened for all nations of the world to move toward one common destination. (75-150, 1975.1.2)

The 120 followers represent the world. Jesus wanted to begin his worldwide dispensation with these 120 followers, but couldn’t during his lifetime. We must fulfill this work. On the way toward world restoration, my descendants must be chosen in stages in order to act as bridges connecting all people. In doing this, I cannot just select anyone to become my descendants, but rather this must be done with care, as they will be representing the world. How was this done? It was through the joint weddings of the 36, 72 and 124 Couples in the Unification Church. (34-262, 1970.9.13)

3.2. Dedication ceremony and designation of 120 holy grounds

After the Blessing of the 124 Couples, I conducted a special dedication ceremony. Christ at his Second Advent comes as the resurrected substantial being with the mission of establishing the foundations on levels of the individual, family, tribe, and people – the work of God that remained incomplete at the time of Jesus. I carried out this work over the past three years. This period corresponds to that of restoring children (vertical period). During this period, I was called as the resurrected substantial being in order to fulfill this mission, just as Jesus intended to save the followers of Judaism and the Jewish people. (13-11, 1963.9.12)

The 120 Couples typify the world. This is why I designated 120 holy grounds in forty nations worldwide in 1965. (18-260, 1967.6.12)

After restoring the people, we need to restore the land. I toured forty nations around the world to establish holy grounds. I was able to do this because I had established the standard existing prior to the Fall in Korea. I established holy grounds in 105 places in forty nations around the world. The 120 Couples symbolize 120 nations. From this day forward, we need to establish 120 holy grounds. (16-7, 1963.12.21)

What are the 120 Couples? They are the representatives of 120 nations. However, from the viewpoint of heavenly structure, although the ancestors, families, and representatives of the world were established, we still have no territory. Since we have no territory, although we formed an organization of people in front of God, we still do not have the foundation upon which He could sanctify this defiled land. I therefore established 120 holy grounds in forty nations, making the numbers correspond with each other. That was how the foundation for the restoration of land was laid. When you go to the holy grounds to pray, you should be conscious of this background. In the context of mobilizing benevolent spirits to come to earth and spread across the world, you should offer prayers as representatives of the 120, 72, and 36 Couples and the True Parents as the center of the heavenly throne. Hence, from now on, in order for the Unification Church to advance, even God will be mobilized and the patriotic forefathers of the past as well. In fact, everyone in the spirit world should be mobilized. Those in the spirit world are in the Cain position, whereas we who are living on earth are in the Abel position, and so all of them will render us assistance in connection with territory. God, the angels, and our ancestors must help us. (158-129, 1967.12.26)

Section 4. The 430 Couples

4.1. Significance of the 430 Couples

What are the 430 Couples? They are the horizontal foundation of their entire nation; as such, they need to achieve unity. We have reached a stage where we can exert influence upon the world based on the national foundation, which is why we should ascend to the global stage. Therefore, my forty years of public life should be restored by establishing the number 43. This condition must be set on the global level. Hence, we are now entering the era in which the Unification Church will influence history. Then what should be done now? The clans should totally unite and move forward for the restoration of the race. On the day the race is restored, the nation will automatically be brought into line. (29-103, 1970.2.25)

430 couples must be blessed within this year because 1967 marked the 4,300th year of the Dangun Era, and these numbers must accord with providential dispensation. Moreover, it took the Israelites 430 years to return to Canaan from Egypt. That is to say, what is significant here is the number 43. That number represents a turning point in history, marking the time of our entry into a new era. Thus, we have completed the Seven-Year Course restoring the number 43. Once all these numbers accord with each other, we can cross over into the new era. From this day on, the Unification Church will make rapid progress. (19-171, 1968.1.1)

The numbers four and three together represent the number seven, and also the 430 years the Israelites remained in Egypt before departing to Canaan. Hence, 430 represents the time for a new beginning. Furthermore, the 430 Couples Blessing also took place upon completion of 4,300 years of Korean history. This is not mere coincidence. God’s providence is always carried out mathematically. The foundation built by a single religious denomination is equivalent to victory on the tribal level only, and this is not enough. By blessing the 430 Couples after 4,300 years of Korean history, I opened a common gate for all tribes worldwide. (84-146, 1976.2.22)

What is significant about the 430 Couples? They were blessed upon the completion of 4,300 years of the Dangun Era in Korean history. In that year, the gates were opened through which any Korean family could enter heaven. Even those who opposed us could now enter. Whichever clan or tribe they came from, Korean citizens could enter heaven, even the descendants of butchers, who are considered as members of the lowest class in Korea. Hence, the 430 Couples Blessing marks the time when the whole tribe must take part. The era of selectivity has now given way to the era of universality. For instance, if the Kim clan is chosen by God, everyone with the surname Kim can enter hand in hand. In 1969, I also blessed a total of 43 couples representing the many nations of the world. I conducted the Blessing in Germany, the United States, and Japan. These 43 Couples are in the object position to the 430 Couples on the national level. What this means is that, since all the tribes in Korea received the privilege of being part of God’s realm, the internal foundation has been established so that all other tribes and races in the world can also become a part of that realm. Furthermore, by connecting this reciprocal foundation, the tribes overseas can also be connected to the people of Korea, who are standing on the condition of indemnity of the homeland. (100-31, 1978.10.4)

Just as the Israelites set out from Egypt for Canaan, the 430 Couples signify that we too have set out to restore the world, which is our Canaan. Whereas they set out in the 430th year of their captivity in Egypt, we have settled on the number 43, representing 4,300 years. We are moving forward from this point. In doing so, we are not working individually but in family units. We must move forward with our families. You should understand this. The unit is no longer the individual; it is the family. Thus, you should not abandon your families and move forward alone. Furthermore, the central person in the position of Moses should not abandon the Israelites. He must lead them all out of Egypt into Canaan. If one of them happens to be in prison, he should help that person to get out so he can come with the others. I blessed the 430 Couples to represent all these numbers. Among them, every person in the world is represented, whether good, religious, or otherwise; everyone is included. All other numbers are derived from the number twelve; the numbers 40, 30, and 120 all come from that number. Thirty days in one month is also derived from that. The central numbers in the universe are all included in that number. Thus, we are setting out in the 4,300th year having restored the 430 Couples. We have climbed one step up. This is the year in which everyone has been included – not only Koreans, but also people of every other background. With Korea as the representative of the world, the whole world was included in the 430 Couples Blessing. You must know this clearly. We are on the way to expansion. (98-186, 1978.7.16)

Through the 430 Couples Blessing, Korea could be connected to the Unification Church. This means that, although many Koreans did not believe in religion, all could enjoy the privileges of the realm of the third Israel due to the fulfillment of indemnity conditions within that realm through the 430 Couples. I was therefore able to publicly announce that Korea is the nation of the chosen people. The realm of the chosen people was established. I can now expand this foundation globally. After the 430 Couples Blessing, the next stage is the global extension of the land and people from Korea. By that I mean sowing the land, designating holy grounds, and engrafting them to the 430 Couples. I therefore established holy grounds in forty nations. Following this, I made a world tour, during which, I blessed the 43 Couples. I connected a total of 43 couples from Japan, the United States, and Germany as the counterpart of the 430 Couples in Korea. This is truly historic. Through this foundation, the many nonbelievers in the world can also receive the benefits of the realm of Israel. The world passed through four thousand years of Jewish history before Christ or six thousand years including Christian history, during which traditions were passed on from generation to generation and people believed in the benefit derived from them. But now, they are being endowed with the privilege of participating in the realm of benefit in this era of horizontal expansion, even though they do not believe. Such a foundation has finally been laid. (110-123, 1980.11.10) What is the Blessing? It is the securing of families. Centering on my family, the 3, 36, 72, and 124 Couples were blessed, and through these Blessings, the global indemnity condition could be fulfilled. Then the issue of the 430 Couples arises. Although the 124 Couples were established to represent the global standard of the Blessing, there are still many Koreans who do not believe in religion and so do not lead religious lives. Isn’t that so? God’s providence must take account of all existing religions, and indemnity conditions are necessary for their sakes. But what would happen to nonbelievers? They cannot just be cut off completely and cast away. Ultimately, the many races and clans must be equally engrafted to the realm of mainstream thought through religions. Although the way leading to the world has been paved and the gates through which religious people can pass have been opened, ordinary people had been excluded; they could not be admitted. Thus, the many ordinary tribes in Korea must be engrafted. That was the reason behind the establishment of the 430 Couples: they represent the 4,300 years of Korean history. (110-123, 1980.11.10)

What are the 430 Couples? Are there not hundreds of surnames in Korea, such as Park or Kim? In like manner, there are many surnames in other nations across the world as well, and the path through which all of them can be connected to the center of God’s providence has been opened up by the 430 Couples Blessing. With regard to the 430 Couples, there are actually 430 from Korea forming a reciprocal relationship with another forty-three from Japan, the United States, and Europe. By this means, the world’s five races have been brought together through the 43 Couples, corresponding to the 430. (100-279, 1978.10.22)

The 430 Couples correspond to the 4,300 years of Korean history. They comprise all types of people: sinners and others from all walks of life, including murderers and robbers. Only thus was the doorway created through which everyone in the world could enter. (118-331, 1982.6.20) The 430 Couples must become the main driving force of the Unification Church. When I was in my forties – as many of you are now – my struggles assumed global proportions. By the time I turned forty-five I had laid all the foundations, met the indemnity conditions for Korea, connected all the nations, and established 120 holy grounds in forty countries. It was the time I started preparing for those struggles. (141-226, 1986.2.22) Do you know how important the 430 Couples are? Originally, their Blessing should have taken place last year in 1967. Instead, it was held this year on February 22, which was the twentieth anniversary of my entry into Heungnam prison. Accordingly, there is great significance in completing twenty years of my course of restoration both spiritually and physically; you therefore stand in such a significant position in commemorating that important day with me. You should realize what an honor it is to have such a right of participation. That day is not a sad one. It is also George Washington’s birthday. Knowing this, all of you should work hard to form wonderful families of your own. (159-43, 1968.3.1)

The 430 Couples are the representatives of the Korean people; they include all kinds of surnames. As such, they can stand in Adam’s position and connect to the citizens of Korea, the Adam nation which stands on the global foundation. They also include a representative couple from the Eve nation. Otherwise, the two nations could not be connected. Hence, Kuboki’s couple from Japan was included in the 430 Couples Blessing. Every other nation could be connected from that point on. (164-269, 1987.5.17)

In 1968, along with the inauguration of God’s Day, I prepared the foundation in Korea upon which God’s Blessed Families could be connected worldwide. Only after I had prepared the right foundation were we actually able to branch out globally. Thus, Japan was allowed to participate in the 430 Couples Blessing and not before. Mr. Kuboki’s couple represented Japan. In this manner, we are moving into the global era. By fulfilling such indemnity conditions, we are paving our way in the world and making successful progress as we move along. (163-145, 1987.5.1)

From the perspective of the Principle, Kook-jin is our fourth son and seventh child; he is also the eighth among all my children to be married. All these numbers are in accordance with the Principle. I chose his spouse from a family among the 430 Couples because they represent all the surnames in Korea. Surnames have become so diversified in the world. Blessing 430 couples was the same as indemnifying the 4,300 years of Korean history through people, if you think of each couple as indemnifying ten years. It is the same for indemnification on the family level. In the past, through the 430 Couples Blessing, individuals could progress; however, with the selection of Kookjin’s spouse from a 430-Couple family, the time has now come when people of all surnames in the world – from north, south, east, and west – can be restored on the family level, rather than just individually through my family. Hence, you must realize how influential Kookjin’s Blessing is. Through his wedding, Blessed Families will spread in all directions around me. (185-304, 1989.1.17)

What are the 430 Couples? The numbers four and three are linked to the 4,300 years of Korean history. Furthermore, their product is twelve and their sum is seven. All important numbers in the Divine Principle, whether you add or multiply them, involve the numbers seven, three, and four. In this way, the number 430 was determined as the number of couples to be blessed. Then, with Korea as the center, a related number of couples from the world had to be chosen as their counterparts, and so forty-three couples were selected from nations around the world to be blessed. The Blessing of the 43 Couples from Japan, Europe, and the United States created a global reciprocal realm. Through this, the horizontal foundation was completed upon which all people in the world could come into contact with heaven. The path through which everyone can pass through the door of the Blessing and come together in one place should be opened for all people of faith, even if they live at the very ends of the earth. Such is the significance of the Unification Church’s large weddings: by forging global connections through the 430 Couples, it has developed into a worldwide race of people. It is not just for Koreans. The fact that I connected the 430 Couples to the 43 Couples on the foundation of the family on the world level signifies the birth of a new race transcending ethnicity and nationality. That is how I see it. (100-171, 1978.10.14)

God’s Day being inaugurated on earth in the New Year of 1968 was a victorious day for the Unification Church. That period was also marked by the 430 Couples Blessing. Because such a day of victory had to be connected worldwide horizontally, I toured the world in 1969 and blessed the 43 Couples, thereby linking ten nations to that sphere of activity. Our victorious achievements in Korea needed to be anchored worldwide. I accomplished this by blessing 43 couples from ten nations, corresponding to the 430 Couples Blessing. The 430 Couples represented Korea’s 4,300-year history, thus enabling all Koreans to become the foundation for the Blessing. (58-223, 1970.6.11)

The 36 Couples Blessing took place under desperate circumstances. Thus, after passing through the stages of the 36, 72, and 120 Couples taking their places on earth, we entered the era of the 430 Couples, in which we could finally spread out in all directions to the rest of the world; that was the early history of the Unification Church. During this twenty-one year course since 1960, I have opened the gates of the Blessing in all directions to connect with all peoples and tribes. All the world’s five races must enter through those gates. Thus, the Unification Church has been globally active ever since the 430 Couples Blessing. What are the 430 Couples to Korea? The number 430 signifies a new beginning marked by the 430 Couples Blessing after 4,300 years of Korean history. The number 430 also stands for the number of years the Israelites were in Egypt before they departed for Canaan. They set out for the Promised Land after 430 years. Hence, through this number, the worldwide restoration of Canaan can be started based on the family. (100-277, 1978.10.22) The 430 Couples signify the coming together of the whole nation and not just the Unification Church. The number 430 is related to the 4,300 years of Korean history and also signifies setting out to restore the worldwide Canaan, equivalent to the Israelites departing for Canaan. The path has been opened for everyone to follow, whether they believe in God or not. That is to say, in place of the Israelites setting out on the national level after 430 years, we have the 430 Couples setting out on the worldwide level after 4,300 years. They are leaving for the Promised Land on the global level. Through the 430 Couples, the whole nation should be connected to the Blessing, and this connection should expand to include the whole world, which is why I blessed the 43 Couples as the worldwide counterparts of the 430 Couples. That is the condition: through these Blessings, the 430 Couples can connect to any tribe in Korea, whereas the 43 Couples, as representatives of the world, can connect to any nation. (91-259, 1977.2.23)

Originally, I was planning to hold a Blessing in 1967 in Japan but could not. Thus, when I was blessing the 430 Couples in 1968, I set the condition of having the Kuboki’s couple participate in the Blessing, representing Japan. I thus blessed Japan first before America. Then, through the Blessing in Germany – the Adam nation on the satanic side – God’s anchor was cast into another four nations in Europe. Accordingly, what you must realize is that the victorious foundation on the global level representing every nation has now been built upon which the indemnity conditions can be set. I returned after achieving all this. (23-291, 1969.6.8)

Since all of you participated in my Seven-Year Course, I took responsibility to bless everyone up to the 430 Couples. All Blessed Couples are a part of me; every one of them is great because they contributed to my course of world restoration. (22-68, 1969.1.21)

4.2. The 430 Couples and tribal messiahship

When blessing the 430 Couples, I told them to become tribal messiahs. That did not mean that they should go off and live happily by themselves. In other words, I had given them a mission similar to that of Jesus and the Holy Spirit; that is, to become the tribal messiahs working to save their tribes as the substantial embodiments of the resurrected Jesus and the Holy Spirit. That means they should fulfill the mission of tribal messiahs, not as spirits but as physical people. (40-216, 1971.2.1)

I told the 430 Couples to become tribal messiahs, but none of them understand why I said that to them. While living on earth, all of you must witness to your parents and relatives. Accordingly, one couple should restore at least 120 people. This is your mission in life. Moving forward focusing on this purpose is the way that Unification Church members should go. (34-261, 1970.9.13)

What is the second Seven-Year Course? It is a period during which your families must become Abel families. In order to fulfill that responsibility, you must restore Cain families. What do you form when Abel families restore Cain families? You form tribes. You must become tribal messiahs. The 430 Couples are tribal messiahs. This means to be global. In this way, all conditions should be met. (34-104, 1970.8.29)

The instruction issued to the 430 Couples I blessed in 1968 was to become tribal messiahs. They must fulfill this mission. Just as I organized the 36 Couples in our church, blessed members having the surname of Kim, for example, are to likewise organize 36 couples within their Kim clan. If they cannot, they should become the ancestors of at least twelve couples. The way to do this is to form trinities with their children, since they are the parents, and thus establish the standard of tribal messiahship. (31-276, 1970.6.4)

What are the 430 Couples? Their Blessing signified entering the era of tribal messiahship. Since every one of them represents the family foundations upon which all tribes in the spirit world can return to earth and be resurrected – in other words, the family foundations of the resurrected Jesus bestowed upon the entire nation – the 430 Couples are the messianic families of their tribes. What that means is that they are like the families of Christ at his Second Advent to their tribes. The 36, 72, and 120 Couples are part of me. These three groups of couples correspond to the vertical standard, whereas the 430 Couples have been established horizontally in all directions. Hence, they enter the realm of tribal messiahs, which is why I told them all, “Be tribal messiahs!” As I have already restored the 36 and 72 Couples, who form the center, as well as the 120 Couples, all you need to do now is to restore 120 couples per Blessed Family. Then everything can be indemnified both vertically and horizontally. As such, you must understand that it is the responsibility of the 430 Couples, the Blessed Couples of the Unification Church, to create 120 families in your tribes. So have you fulfilled this responsibility or not? Have you thought about that or not? You did not understand this until now, did you? Now that you have heard my explanation, do you understand? (84-157, 1976.2.22)

Individual restoration precedes family restoration. After achieving individual victory, we enter the stage of Abel families. Whether husband or wife, all of you are Abels in your family and so from there you must become tribal messiahs. As this mission can only be undertaken by families, I have entrusted it to the 430 Couples. You do not understand this at all, do you? What do I mean when I say that the 430 Couples are tribal messiahs? This is logically inevitable. These words apply to everyone. (39-119, 1971.1.10)

Section 5. The 777 Couples

5.1. The 777 Couples represent the world

The 777 Couples, formed by young men and women from ten nations, were blessed in 1970 in order to create new families and new tribes based on God’s love, transcending national boundaries and racial differences in pioneering the way of His will for the world. Thus, a new global nation was being prepared for Christ at his Second Advent, as well as the requisite personnel who could serve any nation and any citizenry in accordance with his plan. (53-255, 1972.2.29)

The 777 Couples represent the world: they are global couples. As such, they strengthen our church. However, the family structure in the Unification Church is still in tatters. None of the families until now have fulfilled their missions and so I have had to extend them to the 777 Couples, representing the global level. Originally, the 430 Couples should have done this work. This is the progress we have made thus far. The 777 Couples represent the whole world. The three sevens refer to formation, growth, and completion. I prepared the global family structure for us to enter the transracial era by blessing the 777 Couples in 1970. Thus, any of the 777 Couples, including the Japanese, could take the place of any of the 36, 72, 124, or 430 Couples who deviate from their position. In this way, the path of the providence of restoration is being paved. (79-104, 1975.6.22)

We should be ready to unite globally, transcending nationality and race. Race or skin color is not an issue for us. Having declared that I must promote a movement to form a family structure transcending our nation and race, I conducted the unprecedented joint wedding of the 777 Couples. (53-190, 1972.2.20)

The 777 Couples that I blessed in 1970 signify total perfection symbolized by the number twenty-one – the sum of their three sevens – as well as the three stages of the growing period. Rather than trying to break these stages up, I sought to put them together all at once and did so in one place. There, ten nations participated in the Blessing, representing the world in order to restore the number ten. Thus, I could organize a new global tribe by blessing those families. Thereby, a transracial standard was set for the creation of that tribe. (54-295, 1972.3.26) The 777 Couples Blessing signifies the attainment of maturity at the end of seven years of formation, seven years of growth, and seven years of completion. Thus, I brought together a great number of people from several nations and blessed them, whereby the way has been opened through which anyone on earth can form a family of God’s Kingdom. Everyone can begin to have such a family. (105-156, 1979.10.14)

Now that we have ushered in the New Year 1971, what should we resolve to accomplish? As the Unification Church is the core and center of the world, we should lose no time in propagating the Lord’s teachings to the world. On the foundation of the ten nations represented by the 777 Couples, we should fulfill our responsibility of interconnecting the world of God’s love, transcending race, nationality and skin color, and completely unite around God’s will. The 777 Couples Blessing was held in order to advocate this. This was a truly historic event. (38-213, 1971.1.3)

What are the 777 Couples? Their wedding was the last one I conducted while my work was based in Korea. Through this Unification Church Blessing in 1970, the many races of the world were connected to heaven. What was the result of the 777 Couples Blessing? By bringing together many families and tribes of the world today and connecting them to heaven, I opened the global gate through which any family, tribe, and people can form a relationship with God. By entering through the gate of the 777 Couples and following the path leading from there, all people can go to heaven. That gate is now open. This Unification Church Blessing in 1970 was thus the last of its kind held before the providence reached its present global dimension. (100-279, 1978.10.22)

The world will gradually start to move in accordance with the fortune of the Unification Church. In this connection, I conducted the first international joint wedding in 1970, the 777 Couples Blessing, which signified that everything on earth was drawing together globally based on the providence. As part of the 430 Couples Blessing, I blessed forty-three non-Korean couples overseas rather than bringing them over to Korea. Yet, the 777 Couples Blessing in Korea was the very first international joint wedding held in the whole world, with participants from ten nations. The path by which any nation on earth can return to God was completed through the family ideal in this manner. From this moment on, it became possible for the fortune of the world to align itself with the fortune of the Unification Church. (55-171, 1972.5.7)

You, the 777 Couples, are worthy of our pride. Thus, you should stand at the forefront as we enter the 1980s and take pride in bequeathing our tradition to all families. Who among you will assume such a position? By doing so, you will reach out to the world. You are the couples representing the tribes of the world. 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 represent 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 transmitted to the world. By doing so, wouldn’t you become heroes and ancestors of the world’s families immortalized in history? Knowing that you possess such an amazing and historic background, if you perish even after having made a supreme effort, you can direct your protests to me. Actually, you will never perish. (109-109, 1980.10.26)

In 1970, the 777 Couples from ten nations around the world were blessed. They are the ‘three sevens’ couples; three times seven equals twenty-one. The 777 Couples represent the whole world and also formation, growth, and completion; through their Blessing, any family could inherit the right to enter heaven freely. Such is the significance of this number. Having thus blessed the 777 Couples, I can now travel anywhere in the world with my family: Germany, Africa – anywhere on earth. That is to say, I can fulfill God’s will wherever I go. Every place is the same. Since the way is open for anyone to come to me, it follows that I can also go to any nation. The 777 Couples Blessing in 1970 made it possible for my family to go anywhere in the world. I have laid the foundation upon which, if Korea continues to oppose me, I can take my family to any nation of my choice to realize God’s will; accordingly, I can now proceed into the global era. (75-152, 1975.1.2)

Among Unification Church families, if the 36, 72, 120, and 430 Couples do not fulfill their responsibilities, these will transfer to you 777 Couples. You are the “three-seven” couples. When I say that, you are probably thinking to yourselves, “Three sevens is the number favored by the world. It corresponds to the twentyone years of the three stages of formation, growth, and completion, and is the number of perfection, the impeccable number derived from the number seven and the three stages.” However, you should not try to take advantage of the name of the 777 Couples, while continuing to fight among yourselves, being as greedy as you were before, and neglecting everything connected to God’s will. (109-98, 1980.10.26)

The 777 Couples were blessed on October 21, 1970. They came from ten nations and must therefore relate to the world. They are the ‘three-seven’ couples. There is no racial discrimination among them – whether they are Japanese or Americans. Everyone must create unity; only then can all nations in the world follow Korea into heaven. (281-42, 1997.1.2) The 777 Couples Blessing was held on October 21, 1970, symbolizing twenty-one as the result of three times seven; hence, the three sevens. It was the last one I conducted before globalizing my mission; through it, and with the 1970s as the frontier, any race can now be connected through marriage to God’s lineage. Hence, with that Blessing, we entered the era of interracial marriage. Thus, the Unification Church is not focused exclusively on the people of Korea; through the 777 Couples Blessing, it has already laid the foundation to form a new tribe by connecting the people of the world together. This Blessing marks the beginning of a new era transcending races and tribes, in which a new tribe of the world can be formed. From that time, the Unification Church began its work worldwide. (100-171, 1978.10.14)

All of you must walk the path I pioneered; it was long and time-consuming, but you have to at least set a condition of lesser indemnity that you have followed a path somewhat similar to mine. That is unavoidable. The 777 Couples Blessing, in which you took part, followed those of the True Parents, the 3, 33, 72, 120, 430, and the 43 Couples that I blessed during my world tour. Thus, it was the seventh Blessing within the nation of Korea, and from a global perspective, it was the eighth. It was the last Blessing, which is why you are the 777 Couples. The date was set for October 21st because three times seven is twenty-one. This is the final crucial moment. From now on, I will not have to conduct the Blessing myself. Hence, I included participants from ten nations. (62-336, 1972.9.26)

The teachings of the Unification Church exist for the benefit of the world. This is how it differs from other religions. Its members are also different. Even though I am criticized within secular society, people still remark about my actions, saying, “That man called Rev. Moon of the Unification Church does everything in such a grandiose way.” This time, I brought together people from ten nations in a joint wedding. Originally, I had promised to bless 777 couples, but their actual total was 791. I had to engage more than the number promised because a few couples might not have made it on the day of the Blessing due to illness or military service. In order to ensure that they did not fall short of the promised number, I actually ended up blessing 791 couples. (38-263, 1971.1.8) That is how the Divine Principle of the Unification Church is: At the time of the 777 Couples Blessing, most of the American participants had master degrees, yet they packed their bags, left their nation and flew thousands of miles to receive the Blessing here in Korea. The round-trip airfare for one person to fly to Korea from the United States is about 2,000 dollars. So it would be 4,000 dollars per couple. That would be about 1.3 million Korean won. Why then would these people spend so much money just to be married here in Korea? The answer is simply that it would be of far greater value for them to be married here rather than back home in the United States. It was far better. Since it was dozens of times better for them to spend that money and come here, they came, even though they were told not to. People would not do anything that would cause them to incur a loss. This phenomenon was possible absolutely only by the power of the Divine Principle. For these people, nothing else would have worked. (39-273, 1971.1.15)

I held a joint wedding for Unification Church members. At the time of the ceremony, people from all over the world flocked to Korea. There is no one who could accomplish such a task in the whole world apart from Rev. Moon. If awards were given to those who performed the greatest number of weddings, I would definitely receive first prize for bringing together 777 Couples from ten nations across the world. When you consider these facts, you cannot help but be astounded. (41-43, 1971.2.12)

I am sure that amongst those gathered here today are some of the 777 Couples. They represent the world, which is why there are all kinds of people included among them. At the time of their Blessing, some candidates were not even proper Unification Church members and so when you look at them, you can see that they are in various states of spiritual maturity. Then do you know why I brought together all these different people? It was because they had to stand in the position of representing the world. You must understand that what brought together these people was the love of God, who wanted to bequeath His boundless realm of forgiveness to the whole world. Some of the 777 Couples do not clearly understand His will. In fact, some of them have no understanding of it at all; yet, at least the wives who are gathered here today should become righteous people. Everything was ruined in the Garden of Eden by the wrongdoing of a woman; if the women in our church today were to devote themselves to the cause of righteousness, the outside world would have to keep in step with us. Then the men would have no choice but to follow. If they did not follow, they would have nowhere to go. (44-302, 1971.5.24)

After being blessed in marriage in the Unification Church, what do people do for a minimum of forty days? People in the world wouldn’t dream of it. Couples led celibate lives for five years even under one roof with their spouses. That is truly amazing. Hence, problems such as juvenile promiscuity can only be tackled by the Unification Church. If this cannot be rectified, the whole world will become a sacrificial offering to Satan. What we are trying to do is solve all these difficult problems by bringing together the people of the world and transforming them into the citizens of God’s Kingdom. Does that sound like easy work? (85-335, 1976.3.4)

We entered the era of international marriage with the 777 Couples Blessing. Everyone will be brought together. From there we can pass through formation, growth, and completion stages; this time I might even intermarry all of you. What era did I say we are living in now? We are now in the era of international and interracial marriage. (100-34, 1978.10.4)

On the bright morning of October 21, 1970, the 777 Couples will fly high the banner of liberation before all peoples of the world, signifying the resurrected foundation of cosmic victory. How many of you have felt in your hearts the value and importance of such an incredible and amazing day? People from ten nations have flocked to Korea to form the nation, clan, and family of the True Parents as their sons and daughters. Those nations, including Korea and Japan, reflect the vastness of cultural diversity. There is no fixed cultural standard (35-235, 1970.10.19)

The 777 Couples signify three times seven, which is twenty-one and thus encompass the whole world. They were blessed on October 21, 1970. On that day, the bridge for any race to go to heaven was built. Three times seven is twenty-one. What is the purpose of restoring through indemnity the crucial time of the Fall and the grief related to the three sevens? It is to escape from the realm of Satan’s accusation concerning the spiritual and physical realms – or man and woman – in Adam and Eve’s 21year course. In order to do this globally, the Unification Church laid the complete foundation on which families can escape that realm of accusation through the Blessing of the 777 Couples from ten nations. Starting with my Holy Wedding in 1960, next the Blessing of my three spiritual children, then those of the 33, 72, 120, 430, and finally the 777 Couples, a total of seven Blessings took place. In other words, all those Blessings were completed within seven stages and, consequently, what belongs to Korea can now belong to the world and vice versa. The standard for the restoration of the individual, family, tribe, and people, which I have laid in Korea, will rise vertically until the nation is restored. Starting from the individual, the stages rise to the family, tribe, people, and nation. They are ascending in the reverse order. (58-59, 1972.6.6)

At the time of the 777 Couples Blessing, some parents came to me and requested, “Rev. Moon, my daughter’s name is so-and-so. As you are the founder of the Unification Church, we hope with all of our hearts that you will select a good husband for her.” Since when was I in such a high position? The world has changed. I thought it was still winter, but when I looked, spring had come. I finally find this world worth living in. If I did not have such things to look forward to, what would I live for? (38-187, 1971.1.3)

Quite a number of participants in the 777 Couples Blessing were not qualified. In God’s eyes, there were very few people who were actually qualified to receive the Blessing. Nevertheless, by participating in this event, even those who were unqualified could be revived and a national foundation established upon which their relatives could also connect with us. That is why I included them in that Blessing. The grooms presumed that their brides would move in with them. As was their social custom, there was no doubt that the brides would come to serve their parents-in-law and live together in the house of their in-laws – far from it! Instead, they were sent to the front line without informing their husbands. Of course I know there may have been repercussions arising from this, but I had no other choice. (38-29, 1971.1.1)

In the 1970s, we must restore seven thousand years of history through indemnity and establish the dignity of Adam in Korea. Hence, we must buy a house. If you do not buy me a home, you would not be fulfilling your responsibility. Thus, I had no choice but to establish and bless the 777 Couples. By doing so, I set the condition for them to buy the best house as well as the best car in Korea. You don’t know how much satanic people opposed me in that process; it came to be the most complicated house purchase in Seoul. So I thought to myself, “Ah, this is also part of restoration through indemnity!” We must buy this house, but it is so complicated that we are still wrangling over it. The owners promised to sell us the place but there are legal problems, and so we have not even paid for it yet and are still waiting. I suppose we will have to restore all this through indemnity as well. Don’t you think so? (38-122, 1971.1.3)

Being served nice meals or living in a nice environment makes me the enemy of this nation. The Lincoln Continental sent from the United States has arrived at the port of Busan. I received it as a gift at the time of the 777 Couples Blessing, but I am still considering whether I should go around in it. It would be nice if I could sell the car, but it was sent to me in the name of the holy tears of history and the honor of God, and so the day I sell it, I would not be able to maintain the dignity of having blessed the 777 Couples. As such, I will have to keep it. (43-85, 1971.4.18)

From now on, whenever I go around in that car, people will talk among themselves and say, “Rev. Moon of the Unification Church has the number one car in Korea.” If they ask, “Where did he get the money to buy such a car?” the answer will be, “What are you talking about? He received it as a gift at the time of the 777 Couples Blessing.” There was an article about it in the newspapers. I did not buy it with my own money; it was a gift. Hence, I feel no qualms of conscience when I ride around in such a fine car; rather, I am proud of it. (46-161, 1971.8.13)

Section 6. The 1800 Couples

6.1. The background to the 1800

Couples Blessing On February 8, 1975, I performed the 1800 Couples Blessing. Now that the Unification Church members have made their debut, first on an individual and then on a family basis, not only the members of my family but all church members should become known throughout the world. Since this is God’s will, we must become living monuments that represent and testify to this victory on the family level; thus, based on the achievement of having overcome the hardships of the first and second sevenyear courses, we can finally expand our families horizontally on earth centering on the Parents through the third sevenyear course. This was valiantly displayed in the ceremony on February 8. (77-217, 1975.4.12) The 1800 Couples represent three times six, equaling eighteen, and also signify the termination of the satanic world, since it is the number three in the satanic world. Three times six is eighteen, which leads us to 1800 Couples. The gates of the worldwide Blessing have been opened even to the satanic world, which means that they have been opened to the world of the enemy. It was the 1800 Couples who opened the gates of the fallen world to the Unification Church Blessing. You need to restore 160 families before you can register your own family according to the tribal standard representing the world. That number is derived from multiplying the number four by itself and so it is Satan’s number. Therefore, it is treated the same, both in value and in content, as the number four of the satanic world. Originally, you should establish 180 families, but I will accept 160 families. That is how all families in the satanic world can join us. (281-42, 1997.1.2)

The 1800 Couples represent three times six, equaling eighteen, where the number three represents the three periods taking the place of the number six, and the number six becomes the same as the number three or Satan’s number of completion. Thus, the 1800 Couples represent all humankind. Through their Blessing, the foundation has been prepared upon which the future families of not just believers but also nonbelievers in the realm of the satanic world can be connected to heaven. This is the work we have been carrying out up until now. (114-41, 1981.5.15)

If we consider the 1800 Couples, the number sixteen is four times four, and the number eighteen is six times three. They are basically the same. The number four is the number for earth and so four multiplied by four is a dimensional number. The number eighteen is the satanic number six multiplied by three. The number three is derived from the three ages, the Old, New, and Completed Testament Ages, and this leads us to the number 180. Hence, in the process of indemnification for the Unification Church, the restoration of 180 families per couple is required, and the 1800 Couples stand on the worldwide level. (265-176, 1994.11.20)

Since Satan destroyed family relationships, we are establishing a transnational movement that binds the family to the realm of God’s direct dominion with the 777 Couples, followed by the 1800 Couples. The 1800 Couples will be the last Blessing group in creating this movement. The number eighteen comes from the satanic number six multiplied by three representing formation, growth, and completion. The fact that I have restored 1,800 couples from the satanic world signifies that I have surpassed the realm of the tribe. The victory I achieved on the national level is the starting point of the path leading to the world. The 1800 Couples are three times the number six hundred, which represents the realm of Satan’s dominion. Through the establishment of the family on this basis, the 1800 Couples have become the standard of indemnification for the family in Satan’s realm. (190-275, 1989.6.19)

God is a mathematical god. Nothing He does is by chance or based on rough estimates. Thus, families throughout the world are involving themselves in our work to one degree or another without realizing it. The 1800-Couple represent three times six, which equals eighteen. All numbers in restoration are based on six; everything involves that number. The 6000 Couples Blessing held this time in Korea, and the 2100 Couples Blessing as well, were all carried out in accordance with the Principle. (126-52, 1983.4.10)

For the Blessed Families, the international Blessing is a tradition. I placed a lot of importance on the 1800 Couples, didn’t I? Their number is based on three times six, which is why 1,800 couples were blessed. Jesus needed 120 couples and Christ at his Second Advent needs 180 couples. There is equivalent numerical and providential significance in 180 and 160 couples. They are both multiples of the number four. The number sixteen comes from four times four, and the number eighteen comes from six times three. They are Satan’s completion numbers, which we seek to reclaim for God. Didn’t I instruct Blessed Families to bless 160 couples from their tribes for this reason? Originally, it was supposed to be 180 couples, but 160 couples are also acceptable. It is easier to accomplish a smaller number and so I said 160 couples are okay; but in the future, you must bless 180 couples. The seventh Blessing I performed was the 1800 Couples Blessing – from the 3, 33, 72, 124, 430, 777 right through to the 1800 Couples, you can count seven in total. From the number seven, we must move on to the numbers eight, nine, and ten, the unitary number. Once we reach the number ten, we can move into the era of the globalization of the Blessing. (292-20, 1998.3.27)

The 160 couples are based on the number four multiplied by four. Due to the failure of Adam and of his children to establish four-position foundations, it was impossible to open the gates of the Kingdom of Heaven on earth. Nevertheless, during the era of indemnification, by virtue of 4.4 Jeol (Four-Four Day), we can restore this foundation because four times four equals sixteen – the number symbolizing God’s ideal that was usurped by Satan. If the number six is the foundation on which we can reclaim the satanic world for God, then that number times three, representing formation, growth, and completion, would equal eighteen, which explains why I blessed 1800 couples. The 1800 Couples correspond to 1600 couples. This is the number that can destroy Satan completely. (296-179, 1998.11.9)

One-hundred twenty couples were meant to be restored in the era of Jesus, but in the era of Christ at his Second Advent – the era of globalization – it should be 180 couples. Hence, I blessed the 1800 Couples and went on to the 6000 Couples Blessing. That number 1800 was derived from multiplying the satanic number six by three. Since a number was needed that could walk over everything belonging to Satan, the number eighteen emerged. (304-291, 1999.11.9)

I blessed the 1800 Couples this year. Originally, their Blessing should have taken place last year in 1974, but it was all right as long as I performed the Blessing before April of this year. From the time the Blessing ceremonies were first held in April 1960 until April of this year we are still keeping within the fourteenyear period. That is why I conducted the Blessing in February, and so we have achieved all this within fourteen years. Thus, in keeping with the completion of the second seven-year course of the Unification Church, the 1800 Couples Blessing conducted on the global level signifies that we have laid the foundation for worldwide restoration. So what are the 1800 Couples? The number eighteen is the sum of six plus six plus six. The number of couples corresponds to this and represents our gaining supremacy over the satanic world completely. Having laid the global foundation, we can conclude that we have entered the era in which we can move the nation and the world according to God’s will. (81-109, 1975.12.1) The 1800 Couples Blessing that took place on February 8, 1975 was a global event. Newspapers worldwide should have carried articles about it. The whole world should know about it. As such, you should also understand that the year 1975 was a truly historic year. We have entered the era of global proclamation. Our ascent to that level was heralded by the Blessing of the 1800 Couples. (87-62, 1976.5.1) The 1800 Couples incorporate the numbers three and six – the factors of eighteen. Since three sixes represent the completion of that satanic number, no matter what it takes, we need to establish a new origin through which we can cross over into the global era. That is how I came to think that I should surpass the minimum number of 1,800 couples within this year. With such a conviction in mind, I instructed, “You need to reach 1800 couples,” and we have accomplished this great task. (79-104, 1975.6.22)

Currently the United Nations has 183 member states. Didn’t I bless 1800 couples? Similarly, in this period of transition, 180 nations must be turned around. The numbers 180 and 1800 signify the completion of the satanic number. These numbers come from six multiplied by three and four multiplied by four. They are the numbers Satan usurped from God, which is why we as tribal messiahs were to originally restore 180 families; however, that number can be reduced to 160 – they are providentially equivalent. In fact, four times four is the ideal number. In the Seoul Olympics, 160 nations participated. The number sixteen is also involved in North and South Korea joining the United Nations: North Korea, a suzerain state of Satan, joined the United Nations as the 160th member state, and South Korea joined as the 161st, signifying a new beginning. In terms of indemnification, South Korea is standing in the lead. (272-284, 1995.10.8)

From the time of the 1800 Couples Blessing, I did not emphasize the importance of spiritual children. Since the Blessing entered its global era, everything must be resolved within the family. Whatever is horizontal must develop vertically and whatever is vertical must develop horizontally. Spiritual children must focus on their grandparents, parents, and older siblings within their families. Their grandparents will then become their grandchildren. Then what would parents become? What position would they take if grandparents become grandchildren? They would become children. What position would older siblings take? They would become younger siblings. (292-114, 1998.3.28)

February 8, 1975 was for me a most unforgettable day until now. I matched the Blessing candidates until just one hour and a half before the ceremony was to take place. Have you ever heard of such a wedding? I was still matching the couples until 8:30 a.m., even though the Blessing Ceremony commenced at ten o’clock in the morning. I stayed up the whole night, but marriage is very important in a person’s life and cannot be a game, so when a match was rejected, I proposed another and then another and so on. (83-226, 1976.2.8)

Section 7. The 6000 Couples The 6000 Couples connected Chris- tians in the vertical position with non- Christian peoples worldwide – in other words, the vertical Christians with the horizontal Cain world. That meant that the era of the satanic world attacking the

Blessed Families had passed. The spiritual standard of the growth stage has been established on the national level. In establishing the global standard, since the spiritual foundation of Christianity works as the global foundation, the substantial global standard had to be connected to the Christian cultural sphere. To do this, I went to the United States and carried out revival activities nationwide. Wherever I went, I was welcomed. In this manner, I connected all this foundation in America to Korea as the representative of the national standard. That was how I returned to Korea victorious. (190-275, 1989.6.19)

You are branches originating from one root. Branches grow from the trunk, anchored by the roots. Do you think they can grow by themselves? Think about it. Likewise, you cannot effectively operate based on your own limited concepts. Thus, you can only expand on the foundation of the tradition rooted in the True Parents’ family. As such, after the Blessings of the 36, 72, 124, and 430 Couples, I then blessed the 777, 1800, and 6000 Couples as the representatives of the conditional offering for global expansion. (145-15, 1986.4.30)

The 6000 Couples have completely opened the historic gates of the Blessed Family even to the communist realm and the satanic world. At the same time, they have fought at the risk of their lives in order to bring the United States to meet the standard of God’s nation and to establish the homeland. (135-178, 1985.11.13)

With the accomplishment of the 6000 Couples Blessing, God’s wrath on earth has finally been appeased. I shouldered the heavy responsibility of fulfilling what Christianity and the United States had failed to achieve and I accomplished it all through the Unification Church. (233-123, 1992.7.31)

Thanks to the 6000 Couples, even those in prison or hell were able to receive the Blessing. The number 6,000 opened the gates not only to the Cain world but even to hell on earth and in the spirit world. The 6000 Couples opened those gates. Since the gates were opened, all kinds of phenomena were made manifest worldwide. Thus, the gates of heaven have been opened to all humankind, even those in hell. (281-42, 1997.1.2)

The 6000 Couples are the form of the satanic number six reclaimed on the global level. Did you know that? Beginning with my own Blessing in 1960, I went on to bless the first 3 Couples, then the 33, 72, 124, 430, 777, 1800, and 6000 Couples. Since this last Blessing was the ninth, it led to the most persecution. That is why the 6000 Couples underwent more hardships than any other Blessed Couples. (283-84, 1997.4.8)

If I had not accomplished the global standard, the whole nation of Japan would have been in trouble. Thus, through the Blessed Couples, I have pursued the course of indemnity up until this time. Beginning with the 3 430, 777, 1800, and 6000 Couples were all performed in order to traverse the path of global indemnity. Didn’t Adam and Eve get married? That is why indemnification takes place through the path of marriage. (234-84, 1992.8.4)

The Unification Church holds joint weddings to establish a world of love. It does not acknowledge the existence of race. Would you say true love is different for white people and black people? This is what makes our members different from other people and our church so great. At the 6000 Couples Blessing, I married about seventy Japanese women to black men. I didn’t force them into it; it was of their own accord. Would you think such a thing possible? (140-259, 1986.2.12) Globally today, there are 182 member states in the United Nations. We have entered the realm of the number 183. I consider that number to be the same as the number 180. However, since the representative number 160 is smaller than 180 families or 180 mission countries, and since everyone wants the smaller number, I have said Blessed Couples must restore at least 160 families instead. Thus, I have blessed the 6000 Couples on the foundation of the 1800 Couples. What that represents is the complete restoration of number six from Satan’s dominion. The number 6,000 signifies that Blessed Families have no connection whatsoever with Satan. Through the 6000 Couples, surmounting the number of the satanic world, we can advance into the realm of liberation. (260-150, 1994.5.2)

Let people make trouble! If they cause trouble, I cannot lose. Even when we were conducting the 6000 Couples Blessing, and thousands of couples were pouring in for the ceremony, people were raising a commotion of protest. I said, “Fine! Oppose all you want! Let’s see if anyone fails to come.” Even though it felt like everyone was opposing us, not one person missed the ceremony. Why are we doing this? It is because we need to pass this Blessing on as quickly as possible to the youth of the world. From now on, wherever I travel, however much anyone opposes me, it will be to no avail because our joint weddings are well known all over the world. Japan opposed me and in the end they came off worse; so that has become a signboard to the rest of the world that they can no longer oppose us. (136-182, 1985.12.22)

I have endured a full-scale offensive from Satan, right at the historic front line of the world. I have paved this way, persevering through an all-out attack from Korea and Asia, but things are different now for you. In fact, you will be warmly received in your work. Do you understand? That is why you must create an environment in which you can open wide the gates in all directions in your Home Church areas and open previously locked doors, telling people that they are free to pass through them. Only then can the Kingdom of Heaven be established. The people from such places should be brought in, one after the other, by the Korean 6000 Couples. (135-337, 1985.12.15)

Do you know how many global events we host nowadays? We hold so many that people cannot report in detail to me about them all. Let us take the 6000 Couples Blessing as an example. A wedding in a small town usually involves many arguments and much fuss, but when I married the 6000 Couples, the ceremony was performed beautifully from beginning to end without even a minor incident to mar it. Thus, I am truly deeply grateful to God for everything. Since I have to travel by airplane so much, there is every chance that accidents might happen in the air or I might get involved in a car collision and so on, but up until now, God has protected me. I am really grateful for that. (130-64, 1983.12.11)

Section 8. The 6500 Couples It is the number that is three times the satanic number, indemnifying the six thousand years representing the Old, New, and Completed Testament Ages, and restoring through indemnity all families in history into the realm of God’s blessing. That is the 777 Couples Blessing. The 1800 Couples Blessing was the seventh to take place. The number seven is the number through which we can cross over into the global era. The 6000 Couples Blessing came next as the eighth and then the 6500 Couples Blessing, otherwise considered as the 6700 Couples. The 6700 Couples rep- resent humankind, eliminating every- thing focusing on the number six and

the number seven in the satanic realm. Since we were unable to cross over to the number seven in the previous 6000 Couples Blessing, I blessed the 6500 Couples in order to indemnify that. They are also called the 6700 Couples because it was 6,500 couples plus 200 couples from the United States. Through that ninth Blessing, we passed through the number nine. (288-116, 1997.11.25)

You know, on October 30 of the year before last, I married more than 6,500 Korean and Japanese people. Many Japanese were matched to Korean men and women, and Koreans were matched to Japanese men and women. I am phrasing it like this because that is the way you like to hear it. Isn’t that true? (203-277, 1990.6.27) The fact that Koreans representing the Adam nation and Japanese representing the Eve nation intermarried holds great significance. How else would they unite? Through intermarriage between nations, we have transcended the national dimension by forming unified families. Having done so, we can enter the global era, hence the importance of last year’s cross-cultural marriages. God began His providence with Korea as the nation having a unified destiny, but it failed to follow His will. So Kim Il-sung and the satanic world infiltrated the nation and divided it into North and South, which is a problem for the world. Since the nation was divided, unless its fortunes are realigned toward reunification, we cannot return to the original homeland. In connection with this, I returned last year and performed the intermarriage of representatives of the Adam and Eve nations on the basis of the Foundation Day of the Nation of the Unified World, thereby surpassing the national level of the Blessed Family at least conditionally. You must consider this in terms of the family. This is the standard of the Blessed Family. It won’t do if you don’t understand this. (194-116, 1989.10.17) Do you know the reason behind the 100 percent intermarriage between Japanese and Koreans in this Blessing? The Adam and Eve nations are Korea and Japan respectively, and because the original Adam and Eve married privately of their own accord, they brought shame on themselves and the whole world was lost. Now the fruits harvested on the national level as a result of what Adam and Eve sowed must be overturned. Through indemnity, everything was turned the right way up once again. In terms of the worldwide principle, there is not a single person in the satanic world who can defile this foundation of love, in which Adam is above and Eve is below, and will be consolidated through the blessing of the younger generation of those two nations. (188-313, 1989.3.1)

I know well enough: Japan is in the form of a beauty lying naked, adorned from head to toe in jewels; she is like a woman without clothes. Four males have their eyes on her – three archangels and the perfected Adam. In order for the latter to have authority over the others, he must intermarry the Adam and Eve nations, thereby telling the others, “You devils, do not even lay a finger on her!” Otherwise, all his children would be taken away. The Fall was consolidated by Adam and Eve’s children, particularly Cain. A woman is not strong enough to defend herself against three archangels; however, through intermarriage, God’s son can claim her – that is, restore her. Hence, intermarriage is the only way Japan can obtain the best circumstances as the owner – the circumstances of joy. (237-249, 1992.11.17)

The Japanese who intermarried with Koreans are no longer Japanese. They transcend Asia. Since they now possess the ideology to lead their own nation, the Japanese families living in Korea should be able to pioneer even China. Long ago, part of China belonged to Korea. I am bringing Adam and Eve into oneness in order to restore God’s homeland so that they can lay the foundation upon which to embrace the whole world. That is how history will unfold. A new and great history will commence henceforth. (234-91, 1992.8.4) On the last occasion I intermarried 2,500 men and women from Japan with men and women from Korea. When they first gathered together, I told them, “From this day onwards, Japanese must marry Koreans, and Koreans must marry Japanese!” Of the 2,500 Japanese, do you know how many graduated from Tokyo University? Forty-three of them are chief secretaries to assemblymen, and more than ten have graduated from Tokyo University. Most of the others are graduates of intermediate universities, and at least thirty of them are medical doctors. I told them, “Quit everything you are doing and come to Korea!” What do you think of that? (200-122, 1990.2.24)

If you were to compare a Japanese couple with an international couple, which would you say is the higher? You must serve the international couples. It is the same for Mr. Furuta and Mr. Oyamada as well. On whose shoulders lies the most important responsibility of leading Japan in the future? It is in fact the traditional standpoint of heaven to gradually appoint those who have intermarried as the leaders. This is not the case at present, but you should bear in mind that it will happen. The same is true for the United States. This is the first time I have spoken about such things in public. I am telling you because the time is ripe. (217-54, 1991.4.16)

Some time ago, when I set out to hold the Korean-Japanese Blessing, Japanese church leaders, including Mr. Kuboki, did not believe it was possible; however, after a week of prompting the leaders, it finally took place. How many thousands of people were there? Since there were 6,500 couples, it follows that well over 10,000 people were participating. Originally, more than 10,000 people had to come from Japan. Between 8,000 and 9,000 people flocked into Korea within one week; so do you think they had enough airplanes to accommodate them all? Everything was brought to a standstill at one point. I made sure that no one knew what was going on. The Korean Embassy in Japan had to mobilize even the families of their staff, and for three days and nights did nothing but stamp passports. That is how the condition was established for the Japanese and Korean governments to support us. For the 6500 Couples Blessing, the Korean government supported us. (198-373, 1990.2.11)

Christians tend to think of individuals when we talk about the enemy, yet we are not referring to just one person but a whole nation. We must love the nation that is our enemy; as such, I am telling you to love the nation of Japan. When Japanese and Koreans come into contact, don’t the sparks start to fly? Do you know that they have intermarried? If ordinary individuals ventured to carry out such intermarriage, it would likely result in nothing but destruction; however, on account of the roots planted through the Blessing, these couples will not divide up nationally, but unite and enter heaven together. Through KoreanJapanese intermarriage, the fortunes of these two nations will begin to take root on earth. (195-222, 1989.11.15)

Section 9. The 30,000 Couples Last year, 30,000 couples received the Blessing in an international wed- ding transcending nationality, geogra- phy, religion, and politics. Think about

it – 30,000 couples mean 60,000 people. It’s not a small number, is it? That many people were married, not in the duration of, say, ten days, but in a single day. They did not even come from just one nation. People of all races – white, black, and yellow – from more than 130 nations across the world participated in that Blessing. Though skin color may differ, our way of life is the same; there is but one. The lifestyle of living for the sake of others is the same for everyone. Though you may lead humble lives, everyone is living for the sake of others and such families will now spread out around the world. Consider this for a moment: Twenty years from now, people like us will be occupying most of the earth and we will have established one world, one nation. Such a time is coming. (248-183, 1993.8.3)

What day was August 25, 1992? It was the day of the 30,000 Couples Blessing. Before then, it was very difficult for members to receive the Blessing. There were some who passed on to the spirit world after leading lives of celibacy for twenty years without receiving the Blessing. Then what happened at that time? We treated a week as seven years. Whoever acknowledged during the period of one week that he or she had, without a doubt, the body of Satan and believed that the True Parents would convert his or her lineage was blessed. Those are the people who used to belong to Satan. They could not become the owners of their nations as they were; hence, the right of ownership had to revert. (251-259, 1993.10.31)

The 30,000 Couples Blessing represents the crossing of the final crest of indemnity. The 30,000 Couples represent the number three which originates from the three eras of formation, growth, and completion, and the three Ages of the Old, New, and Completed Testaments. Through the three eras and three ages, they can cross over the number six correspondingly. Through them, we are crossing the number six in the dominant realm of the number three. Based on their involvement in World War II, Britain, America, France, Japan, Germany, and Italy must be indemnified. (245-280, 1993.3.7)

You must understand that the 30,000 Couples Blessing should be accepted as one of the greatest and most historic events ever. How great is the historic background behind it? The event involves the whole world. After conducting the 30,000 Couples Blessing, there is no need for me to perform any more Blessing ceremonies. (234-287, 1992.8.27)

This year’s 30,000 Couples Blessing holds great significance in that it is being hosted along with the World Culture and Sports Festival, indicating that human society should equally develop both its spiritual and physical aspects. As we approach the 21st century and a new historic era, this unprecedented joint wedding involving 30,000 couples gathered from 130 nations around the world transcending nationality and race is a grand project which displays the great cause of peace for all humanity in our efforts to realize world peace through God-centered harmony. (234-237, 1992.8.22) On this coming August 25, around 30,000 couples from all over the world will receive the holy Blessing and commit themselves to establish a new Godcentered family tradition. The family is the basic unit of the nation and society. The resolution of social issues begins with the resolution of family issues. (234-225, 1992.8.20)

The 30,000 Couples are connected to the number three signifying formation, growth, and completion, thus representing wholeness. It is a sanctifying number. Hence, through their Blessing, the Kingdom of God on earth and in heaven has been completely opened. (265-176, 1994.11.20) As Japan, America and Germany are the Abel realm in relation to the True Parents, they can exercise the birthright of the first born. Henceforth, we will hold global blessing ceremonies focusing on Japan, America, and Germany. In 1992, I conducted the global Blessing of the 30,000 Couples. The number three represents perfection and is a heavenly number signifying formation, growth, and completion. The 30,000 Couples Blessing was global. After it, people opposing Unification Church joint weddings turned around 180 degrees. The 30,000 Couples Blessing created a closely connected international community. Through it, nationality, international borders, race, and culture became meaningless. Until now, when marrying, people could not surmount those barriers, preferring to marry someone of the same nationality with whom they already had a relationship; now, however, all this has completely opened up. We have begun a marriage movement, unprecedented in history, as brothers and sisters, demolishing all barriers separating countries, races, skin colors, religions, and cultures, through international joint weddings. (269-300, 1995.5.1)

After the 3, 33, 72, 120, 430, 777, 1800, 6000, and 6500 come the 30,000 Couples. The number 30,000 is unitary and therefore global. We had to traverse the formation, growth, and completion periods. The 30,000 Couples were in the position of setting out from the Old, New, and Completed Testament Ages. We were then crossing over into the era of global Blessing. (302-130, 1999.6.12)

The Blessing of 1992 was held on August 25, was it not? I matched and blessed the 30,000 Couples within a week. From this viewpoint, when combined with the three great ancestors on an equal basis, the five billion people of the world are all included. I am offering the Blessing equally. Thus, those who have attended the seven-day Blessing workshop can be blessed, and thereby restore through indemnity the wrongdoing of Adam’s family with regard to the conjugal love relationship and enter heaven together. (253-80, 1994.1.7)

When I was blessing the 30,000 Couples on August 25, 1992, I gave their parents who were also in attendance the privilege of being family messiahs, centering on their families as the tribal messiahs. Thereby, the children could recognize their parents as centers. As such, even those who had no understanding of the Divine Principle could also receive the Blessing, as long as they believed in the True Parents; understood what went wrong with their lineage; pledged to convert without fail their lineage, right of ownership, and realm of heart; and became the kinfolk of the True Parents, all within one week. (251-224, 1993.10.17)

From this day forth, you do not need anything else but the true love of the True Parents. The task left for you to fulfill is to connect true life and lineage with true love. All of you must therefore be blessed by the True Parents. This is not a wild fancy. When I announced that I would bless 30,000 couples last year, pastors of established churches all laughed at me, saying “Ha! Ha! Ha! Listen to that dreamer, that half-crazed man!” (245-160, 1993.2.28) Among the 30,000 Couples, I even blessed those already married who did not know anything about the Divine Principle, as long as they had attended the seven-day workshop. So I raised them to the positions of the Messiah, Adam, and Christ at his Second Advent. That is how we have reached the present situation. (242-205, 1993.1.1)

August 25, 1992 was the day I conducted the 30,000 Couples Blessing. Thereby, the fallen parents were liberated and elevated to the same level as their children, and so all fallen descendants could also attain that level of faith and came to stand on an equal footing. This Blessing represented the formation, growth, and completion periods. At the 30,000 Couples Blessing, I blessed everyone who attended the week-long workshop and took the vow. The meaning of this is that, since their parents were liberated, the children were also liberated along with them, and so they have been enabled to hold a position of equal value and status. Since this standard can only be practiced and established logically, this is how the True Parents can stand as the sovereign of all families in the world. (249-137, 1993.10.8)

At the 30,000 Couples Blessing held on August 25, 1992, everyone who came was blessed in the same way. As long as they attended a seven-day Divine Principle workshop and pledged that they believed in the True Parents, they were eligible for the Blessing. Since they came from the fallen lineage and were not true children, they entrusted everything absolutely to the True Parents. Since Satan had deprived God of the right of ownership through the Fall, they needed to return everything back to God through the conversion of the lineage, right of ownership and realm of heart, and pledge to become the children of the True Parents without fail. It was the 30,000 Couples who accomplished this task. That does not mean, however, that by receiving the Blessing, they were done with the task. They must not forget that they were blessed on the foundation inherited from their elder brothers and sisters under the rules of the Blessed Family. Once you inherit something, you must assume an attitude similar to its testator and maintain, safeguard, and cherish it. Thus, we must inherit the realm of heart similar to our ancestors of old. Unlike in the past, the satanic world has now been liberated. If all brothers and sisters unite, they will have no problem in attaining that state. I have performed the 30,000 Couples Blessing and from now on blessing 3.6 million couples and even 360 million couples will not be a problem. Even the blessing of 3.6 billion couples can be conducted at the same time in thousands and tens of thousands of places across the world through satellite broadcasting. In that way, the whole of humankind throughout the world can be blessed. As the three great ancestors are now standing in the position of having received the Blessing after having been liberated, they can be connected to their descendants in a parent-child relationship. Hence, they can exchange these positions of vertical relationship through love. We are now living in the era of horizontal equalization of being able to freely shift one’s position. Satan cannot obstruct us any longer. (257-205, 1994.3.15) We are now living in the era when we can bless everyone at once. Therefore, anyone can be blessed after one week of education, corresponding to the number seven. I announced this at the time of the 30,000 Couples Blessing. That does not mean everything is completed within one week. That is like the connection formed in the six hours of incoming tide. Once the water starts to ebb away, it will take six hours of expending all your effort just to stay where you are. Thus, you need to be trained in the traditional teachings of the Unification Church and engrafted, but as long as you have survived and are still with us, there is no need for anything else. This is all logical. It is not a sham. (258-210, 1994.3.17)

Since Adam and Eve married wrongfully, a realm unifying all countries must be established through the Blessing. We are finally conducting weddings in God’s name. I personally blessed all couples up to the 30,000. Through horizontal equalization, all the participants in the 30,000 Couples Blessing entered the same privileged realm; for the first time, even those who had only attended a week-long workshop were included in the ceremony as long as they had absolute faith. God is driving out those on Satan’s side, gaining control over the world, and, for the first time ever, laying the foundation extending from the cosmos to the world, nation, race, tribe, and family. By virtue of this, God can finally descend upon the earth, and thereupon, together with the returning Lord, create the origin of families that will drive out Satan. The global era representing such families is the three-year period from the time of the 30,000 Couples Blessing. (269-11, 1995.4.6)

On August 25 of the year before last, I conducted the 30,000 Couples Blessing. If the time it took us to reach the present stage of Blessing from the beginning can be likened to six hours, be assured that it will not take another six hours to complete the task. From here, it will take only a few minutes. Now all that is needed is for Blessing candidates to attend a week-long workshop; acknowledge the True Parents; and make the resolution to convert their lineage, right of ownership and realm of heart. All they need to do is pledge to accomplish all these things through the Blessing. (259-84, 1994.3.27)

Among the 30,000 Couples, I blessed even those without accomplishments to their credit. The reason for this was so that I could send them as tribal messiahs to liberate their relatives. Their parents opposed the Unification Church until now, as did all their relatives. In fact, the people who opposed the Unification Church most vehemently were the parents of its members. We are liberating those parents who opposed us. (242-104, 1993.1.1)

Intermarriage is the only way Japan can obtain the best circumstances as the owner – the circumstances of joy. How many times have we conducted Korean-Japanese intermarriages? This time was the second one, wasn’t it? It was the greatest struggle ever. At the time of the 30,000 Couples Blessing, Japan opposed it most desperately. Satan engaged in a full-scale offensive with the whole of Japan behind him, but I did not even budge an inch. Anyone who came to know the truth of the matter would have been completely won over to our side like the leaves turning red in autumn. They would think, “Wow! A mass wedding – that is so amazing!” NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corporation) broadcast about eighty percent of the ceremony on that occasion. (237-249, 1992.11.17)

The participation of 17,000 couples from Japan in the 30,000 Couples Blessing on August 25th last year caused uproar in Japan, with people claiming that I was going to take over their country, and for a year they pounded me. They tried to beat me to a pulp by mobilizing the mass media, declaring, “The Unification Church will no longer exist by this August. It will be disbanded so completely that in no time at all it will disappear without a trace, like the flowing river!” They did not realize that if that were possible, I would not even have begun my work in the first place. (248-276, 1993.10.3)

We must completely overturn historical traditions. You have your physical grandparents and parents – so who on earth are the True Parents? In spite of this paradoxical logic, all conscientious youths in the world are sticking to it like glue, which is why the 30,000 Couples Blessing was possible. I matched approximately 3,700 couples per day. In the future, I’ll be able to match even 30,000 couples in a day. Such is my mental capacity. No ordinary person could do what I have done; all the more so since this work involves one of the most important aspects of life: love. Indeed, I am no ordinary man. I have something special that others don’t. That is why I can be the founder of the Unification Church. (241-121, 1992.12.20)

How many of you here are university graduates? I heard that about ninety people who participated in the 30,000 Couples Blessing are here with us today – raise your hands if you are one of them. All of those with their hands raised are very young, aren’t they? Didn’t a big row erupt back in Japan because of you? The Japanese police authorities, influenced by right-wing groups, thought that if 30,000 Japanese and Koreans intermarried, Japan would become a nation subordinate to Korea. Furthermore, the older generation all came together to oppose us; they united with the press and persisted in their opposition for four months. (240-108, 1992.12.11)

It was a blow to the so-called great men of Christianity. They received this blow to their heads on August 24 and their heads went “Bang!” Then on the twenty fifth, they saw 30,000 Couples get married together and finally admitted, “None other than the Messiah can accomplish such a feat!” and went back to where they came from with a complete change of mind. (235-191, 1992.9.20)

If I listened to the words of Mother, my children, and you all, I would not have been able to work at all. I have to go ahead, pulling you. You did not know the way to go, but now you know where you are supposed to go, don’t you? Anyone would know by now – it is straightforward. From this day forth, there will be no life-and-death struggles nor will you be persecuted. With the 30,000 Couples, everyone’s view on the Blessing has been completely revised. I now have 30,000 new sons and 30,000 new daughters: they cannot all be crazy or stupid. Included in them are great scholars and all kinds of talented people; hence, they will not be disregarded. (235-139, 1992.8.29)

Through the 30,000 Couples Blessing, the world has been silenced. Isn’t there a rumor going round that I am no ordinary man? Hence, I could proclaim myself as the Messiah. I could accomplish all that I have done because I am the Messiah, the Savior. (240-250, 1992.12.13)

There is only one day in the whole year when the sea level reaches its highest point because of a particular high tide. This phenomenon occurs only once a year; it doesn’t last for a few days, but happens on just one day. Similarly, I performed the 30,000 Couples Blessing at the point of highest tide in history. There is only one time when the standard of perfection for the realm of heart in the Garden of Eden can be established, just like the highest tide. If you do not participate in this, it may become impossible to find another opportunity. Thus, however fallen people might have been, as long as they attended the seven- or three-day workshop, they were included in the Blessing. (237-247, 1992.11.17)

To the extent that all the 30,000 Couples stood on an equal footing at the time of their Blessing, the True Parents assumed the responsibility of elevating all humankind to a liberated position. Anyone can be included in the Blessing as long as they have attended a sevenday workshop; pledged to convert their lineage, right of ownership and realm of heart; and understood that human beings fell and that through the Blessing, the True Parents can indemnify all of human history and liberate them. (249-248, 1993.10.10)

At this last Blessing of the 30,000 Couples, I directed that even those who attended only a three-day workshop could take part in the ceremony. This was not the rule, but through this small condition, participants were blessed and told to return to their families as tribal messiahs and for three days educate their parents, who had married without God’s permission due to the Fall. Thus, by listening to their children, those parents could be blessed and restored to the positions of Adam and Eve. With their children representing Cain and Abel, the parents received the grace of taking part in the Blessing in the position of Adam and Eve, the restored parents. Though they might have done nothing to deserve it, the fact that they have listened to the Word was enough to elevate them to those positions. I cannot bestow such blessings only internally within our church without extending them externally to the satanic world as well. (240-246, 1992.12.13)

No one opposed me when I proclaimed myself as the True Parent and Savior from July 3 to August 24 because, as I explained in terms of what the Lord would be returning to achieve, no one had been able to do what I had accomplished for the world. As such, Christians from the established churches could not gainsay it. Then I held the 30,000 Couples Blessing, which means that 60,000 people were blessed. Before the ceremony, those Christians opposed it in every possible way, claiming it was all a downright lie, but when I actually performed it, they were dumbstruck. Once they had actually seen me conduct the ceremony, all the established churches that had until then been spreading lies about us and opposing us on all sides were silenced for good. (239-274, 1992.12.6)

I can select the right spouses for everyone in the world. I have no difficulty in finding the right spouse for people. I know who is good for whom at a glance. You would not be able to find the right spouses for your children in ten years, but on one occasion I matched fifteen couples in ten seconds. I have the head for it – I know the world inside out and so am able to do this kind of work. You believe me, don’t you, since I blessed 30,000 couples last year? In secular society, there are people who call themselves matchmakers, but I am not one. Marriages are originally meant to be arranged by one’s true parents, but because human beings lost their true parents, I must deal with this in the position of the world’s parent to engraft everyone; being the only one who knows how to do that, I have no choice but to take care of it myself. (245-241, 1993.3.7)

I matched the 30,000 Couples using their photographs before proceeding to bless them. This is amazing. Such a thing does not exist in the satanic world. It means to stand at the point of being absolutely zero when getting married; that is, those couples stood in the position of having absolute faith. Eve was unable to have absolute love because she fell, but those couples receiving the Blessing crossed national boundaries in seeking the path of love, the like of which can never ever be found in the satanic world. They have shown that they love me absolutely. To indemnify Eve’s inability to love God absolutely, they had to stand in the position of loving me absolutely. It must be recognized that they stood in the position of having totally denied themselves. (277-131, 1996.4.7)

Prior to the 30,000 Couples Blessing, Kwak Chung-hwan said, “Thirty thousand couples! That is five times the number of the 6500 Couples. How can we accomplish that?” We had had enough trouble bringing together 6500 Couples. On top of that, I had instructed that these 30,000 couples needed to be ready for the Blessing not in ten but in just three years. When I told him, “You must transcend religion and witness to whoever you can, whether Muslims, Buddhists or Confucians!” he said he couldn’t do it. His eyes were like cement. Do you know what I mean by that? Cement eyes are those that look frozen. He said we couldn’t do it, but in fact we actually exceeded our goal. (294-151, 1998.6.14)

Kim Il-sung was very interested in the Blessing, and asked “Are you really going to conduct a mass wedding of 30,000 couples?” He could not figure out how we would go about blessing 30,000 couples. I told him, “Thirty thousand couples is nothing.” I could tell they were thinking that if I were ever to bless 30,000 couples, they would very much like to see photographs of the ceremony. So I sent photos of the event and they were shown to Kim Jong-il and Kim Il-sung. The photographs of the 30,000 Couples Blessing are not displayed in the Blue House (Office of the President of South Korea), but they are hanging on the office walls of Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il. Was I right in doing that or not? As a result, the gates to China and Russia were opened. Now all that remains for me to do is to open the gates to North Korea. (239-42, 1992.11.23)

Kim Il-sung promised me that he would allow the reunion of the dispersed families of all displaced people from North Korea. He promised a NorthSouth interchange. He proposed, “Bring all the 30,000 couples to the North and we will welcome them with open arms!” It was summer at that time. Do you know the Songdo Beach Resort, where you cross fields of pine trees and sweetbriars to reach a white sandy beach lined by endless rows of pine trees? He said we could put up as many tents as we needed on the white beach and said, “If you want, we will welcome all of the 30,000 couples to North Korea!” It was the government in the South that was opposed to this idea. (273-320, 1995.10.29)

The topic of our conversation moved on to the wedding of the 30,000 Couples and I asked, “Elder Brother Il-sung, would you be willing to open the thirty-eighth parallel if I were to bring the 30,000 Couples to North Korea?” He answered, “Of course, of course! Wow, that is splendid!” He actually invited me to bring the 30,000 Couples to North Korea. So I replied, “But there aren’t any hotels here.” He then told me, “The Songdo Beach Resort is very famous worldwide and hundreds of thousands of people can be accommodated in the pine fields there. So if you brought one tent for every ten people, you wouldn’t have any problem.” What he said was true. He said we should bring our own food as well and that he would open the port of Wonsan for us, so that we could bring all we needed by boat. (239-42, 1992.11.23) I was planning to have the 30,000 Couples visit the Songdo Beach Resort in North Korea, taking with them tents, each for ten people. It was a time when everything could be out in the open. The North Korean government even said, “We will do whatever you want.” I also notified the present South Korean government of this plan. Who prevented me from carrying it out? It was our government in the South. Still I did not perish. The bright morning sun dawns on the path that follows the heavenly way, but once you leave that path, you will be enveloped in total darkness. You will be plunged into complete and eternal darkness. (238-266, 1992.11.22)

Kim Il-sung invited all the 30,000 Couples to North Korea. He said, “Rev. Moon, if you want, this is the best chance ever to open the thirty-eighth parallel. We will welcome all the 30,000 Couples!” The people of South Korea did not know of this. Such was the attitude of the North Korean authorities. They said, “We will welcome the 30,000 Couples!” But how would we take them there? Let’s say we would use buses, fifty people to a bus, then how many would that be in total? Since there are 30,000 couples, it would mean we would need 1,200 buses. If 1,200 buses carrying fifty people each were to drive to North Korea in single file, how many kilometers would that line stretch, from the first to the last bus? Think about if, if such an incident had actually taken place, would that not have started massive demonstrations for the unification of North and South Korea? However, that is all in the past now. I know very well which people prevented this event from ever taking place. My sources in the United States informed me about that. I am not a person just passing through. In time, I plan to publish a book, a record of who did what. (238-161, 1992.11.22)

Now everyone has to know about the Unification Church. It has become such a matter of common knowledge that those who are ignorant of it would be considered as having no common sense. It is true. People who haven’t heard of the Unification Church would be considered to be good-for-nothings. You will experience this all too well if you go abroad. If they ask you where you are from and you answer, “Korea!” they will automatically ask you, “What is this I hear about the 30,000-Couple wedding?” If you were not present at the ceremony, you should say at the very least, “I saw it on television.” If they ask you, “How was it?” you cannot just say, “It was magnificent!” and stop there. When they ask you, “So it was magnificent, but who was there?” you would have to describe to them every aspect of the ceremony, wouldn’t you? The same is true for me. Three days ago, when returning from a banquet held at the Little Angels Performing Arts Center, I was informed that over 400 people had not been matched as yet and that they were gathered at some place waiting for me, even though the wedding was scheduled to take place the following day. So I went straight there and matched them until 4:00 a.m., and as I left the hall, it started to rain in torrents. “If I were to have 30,000 couples standing to attention as I blessed them in such weather, with torrential rain and flashes of lightning, it would truly be a historic event!” As this thought flashed across my mind, I was rather pleased and encouraged. (234-289, 1992.8.27)

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, alltranscendence, 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 Chunghwan 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, Daemo nim, and my elder brother, Daehyeong 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)

Section 11. The 3.6 Million Couples

11.1. The Blessing of 3.6 Million

Couples brought the era of liberation Even those who passed away before the True Parents had come can now reach the position of being able to receive the Blessing from them and live as Blessed Couples on the same level as those on earth. The Blessing of 3.6 Million Couples represents such a historic realm of liberation. Through this ceremony, all these couples and their ancestors will come together during this year. (282-189, 1997.3.12)

The Blessing of 3.6 Million Couples is the completion of the formation, growth, and completion stages. By passing through the 30,000 and 360,000 Couples Blessings, we have reached the completion stage. When you explain this in terms of water level, it would be the same as the tide flowing for six hours and ebbing by twelve hours. The water that comes in earlier and the water that comes later would still be at an equal level when the tide eventually goes back out. In fact, if the water that came in later pushed forward and replaced the water that came in first, then the former would be ahead of the latter. Therefore, we can say we have entered the era of equalization. That is why the era we are now living in is one in which deciding who is right and who is wrong cannot be based upon who is in the position of Cain and who is in the position of Abel. Since we have entered the era of equalization, anyone can receive the Blessing without discrimination. Such is the era we are living in at present. All we need to do is reach the 3.6 Million Couples’ mark. Then we will have crossed over to the other side completely. (282-181, 1997.3.12) Now that the world is changing and our time has come, our global motto is: “Being proud of and loving the True Parents means to accomplish the Blessing of 3.6 Million Couples.” What I mean is that the time for marriage on a global scale has come. After we accomplish the Blessing of 3.6 Million Couples, elementary school children will ask their teachers: “Teacher! Between the Blessing of 3.6 Million Couples conducted by Rev. Moon of the Unification Church and the private individual weddings like those of our parents, which is true? The Unification Church is trying to make the world one great extended family, transcending all nations, traditions, and cultures, so between that wedding of many couples and our weddings, which is the true one? Should I get married in the Unification Church or just as my parents got married?” Then how should the teacher answer this question? (282-39, 1997.2.16)

You know that the 3.6 million Couples will establish the liberated realm of the Blessing that is open to anyone, don’t you? Wouldn’t murderers, thieves, and all kinds of crooks be included? The whole place will abound with robbers and cheats. How long would it normally take to make them all repent? They would enter the spirit world carrying the sins of thousands of years on their backs, and even if they repented for those sins for thousands upon thousands of years, they would still not be forgiven. Only through the power of true love can they be forgiven. However strong false love may be, it would disappear automatically in the face of true love. (280-315, 1997.2.13)

Once we have accomplished the Blessing of 3.6 Million Couples, the whole world will be united, and what will this united world revolve around? It would be the anchor that can do away with all that has become habitual and defiled under the devil’s dominion in the physical world. The rope tied to this anchor is fastened around you and you must hold on tightly so your fallen lifestyle can be pushed away. This anchor cable must never be cut off. You and your families and tribes must hold on together. Our desire to keep this cable intact leads us to bind together all tribes and national messiahs. (280-263, 1997.1.2)

For whom did you witness to 160 families? It was for your own clan. If you are, say, of the Hwang clan, as its ancestor, you must take responsibility for all its families up to this point. Isn’t that what being a true parent is all about? The True Parents took responsibility for all families from the time of Adam up until now. As the world became their domain, they transcended the family, nation, and world and liberated everything. The Blessing of 3.6 Million Couples is being performed centering on the value of the liberated world and everything in it. No national, religious, traditional, or cultural barriers can exist in that world. Blessed families standing on the same level were dispatched to all corners of the world, disseminating on a global scale the unfallen original standard for the family God expected of Adam. (284-119, 1997.4.16)

In the Unification Church, being proud of and loving the True Parents means to accomplish the Blessing of 3.6 Million Couples; this is not for Korea alone. Anchored in the effort to unify South and North Korea, it involves everything that has to do with unifying the world that is divided culturally between East and West, and economically between North and South. This being the case, what you must understand is that all records should be broken by this Blessing of 3.6 Million Couples in Korea, so that the heavenly fortune can flow freely to North Korea. (282-259, 1997.4.7) What we call ‘family’ is such an amazing and fearful thing. Thus, you must never forget that the Family Pledge is in fact a great cosmic declaration. Over the past year, I have emphasized in my speeches the importance of forming families. This is an iron rule. The time when I must perform the Blessing Ceremony for the liberation of the spirit world is coming. I will begin to do that after the Blessing of 3.6 Million Couples. We are entering an era when those who have passed on to the spirit world can be called back and united with their spouses in the physical world. In this way, even hell can be liberated. (283-90, 1997.4.8)

There is no other reason for this gathering: I called you here because I decided that you needed to know these things. The families of Adam, Jesus, and Christ at his Second Advent are all structured differently. Jesus was not able to transcend Rome and the global level to save the spirit world. The Unification Church, on the other hand, has succeeded in doing so. Consequently, we can now advocate the era of kingship. After the Blessing of 3.6 Million Couples is completed, the people in the spirit world will be blessed. (283-125, 1997.4.8)

After the Blessing of 3.6 Million Couples has been accomplished, I will instruct my son Heung-jin and Daemo nim to carry out Blessing ceremonies in the spirit world on behalf of the True Parents. We are now living in an era when those who have been blessed singly in the Unification Church – upon passing on to the spirit world – can seek out their spouses and children to reorganize the family. As the time in which such a thing would become possible was not yet known, I conducted the single Blessings on several occasions in the past. (285-104, 1997.4.21)

November 29 is the day of the Blessing of 3.6 Million Couples and is the time when heaven comes into contact with the earth. It is the time when the vertical world meets the horizontal world – that is, to say, when the unfallen Adam and Eve and all humanity in the unfallen state, the entire horizontal world, are waiting for the day of the Blessing. It is the time when Adam and Eve are preparing to fulfill the perfected family in the Garden of Eden. Therefore, Satan cannot oppose even if I brought couples to the Blessing by force. As soon as the ceremony was over, those couples would be grateful to the True Parents for all of eternity because they would have been established as the representative couples inheriting the value of the universe. (285-205, 1997.5.4)

What will Christ at his Second Advent bring? He is coming as the owner of the lineage rooted in God’s love. A new line of descendants will be born from that lineage. Once perfected families are formed in the image of Adam’s perfected family, they become the basis for tribal and national perfection. This lineage is now expanding worldwide through the 30,000, 360,000 and 3.6 million Couples. In this manner, the formation, growth, and completion stages will be accomplished on earth. That is the horizontal expansion. From now on there will be no problems and everything will be straightforward. Everything will be much easier in accomplishing the goal of blessing 3.6 million couples. We are entering the era of God’s all-immanence, all-transcendence, supreme authority, and omnipotence. There can be no obstacles in blessing couples centering on true love. Why? It is because the biggest problems in the world at present are juvenile promiscuity and the breakdown of families. Since God set the standard based upon which He could not intervene in the Garden of Eden, He cannot intervene now. In the Last Days, Satan will try to destroy all families, but eventually all traces of his lineage will dry up. (286-234, 1997.8.11)

We will surpass our goal of blessing 3.6 million couples. The next number in line is 36 million couples. From the Blessing of 30,000 Couples through the 360,000, 3.6 million, 36 million and 360 million Couples, what would come next? It would be 3.6 billion couples. After six Blessing ceremonies, everything would be over. It would not even take that many. Once we have performed the Blessing of 3.6 Million Couples, other people getting married will come to understand why we have needed to make so much fuss in holding these global weddings. I know the value of the Blessing; they do not. Through it, a right of infinite value was bequeathed. From now on, everyone is bound to believe what I say. When I said I would bless 360,000 couples, others claimed, “He is one crazy guy. This will be the end of the Unification Church.” They said our church would be destroyed then and there, but we did accomplish it. This time I am saying that I will bless 3.6 million couples and they are panicking, saying, “Oh no, everything is ruined now!” Christians in the established churches are all praying together, “Please let the Unification Church fail in achieving their goal so that they can be destroyed. Please do not let them accomplish it in two years!” (285-305, 1997.6.29)

Now that it is August, two-thirds of this year is already over. This year’s motto calls for the accomplishment of the past, people opposed us on all sides, accusing us of stealing their spouses and children. By doing so, I blessed the 3, 33, 72, 124, 430, 777, 1800, 6000, and 6500 Couples. The 6500 Couples Blessing was the ninth, the tenth that of the 30,000, the eleventh the 360,000, and the twelfth the 3.6 million Couples. Through the Blessings of the 360,000 and 3.6. million Couples, we are climbing through the stages of formation, growth, and completion. Now we have reached the top. Since we have reached there, the whole world knows about us. At the same time, the biggest issue in the world will become family problems. There is no solution in sight. No power, whether political, economic or religious, can solve this problem. (286-65, 1997.8.6)

In our past daily life we celebrated in the presence of God and the True Parents only on Sundays. With the declaration of Chil Il Jeol (Seven-One Day), the era of God’s all-immanence and supreme authority, and the Blessing of 3.6 Million Couples, we can free ourselves from the realm of lamentation, in which all the things of creation have been lamenting. We will now be entering the world of the ideal and the age of justification by attendance, where we will be in constant attendance of God and the True Parents every day of the week, from Monday to Sunday, from morning till night, eating, sleeping, and leading our daily lives together with them. We are now in the process of preparing for such a time. (285-297, 1997.6.29)

Externally, the Unification Church may look like it is following in the footsteps of Christianity, but people do not know the history of struggle that we underwent internally to separate ourselves from Satan. In order to bring humanity back to be embraced in God’s bosom, we have paved the way of salvation through the eight stages, starting with the individual and the family. The Blessing of 3.6 Million Couples opens the path that everyone in the world can follow in order to achieve this salvation. Then the expansion of the Blessed Couples can occur on a global scale. The next step for us to take is the Blessing of 36 Million Couples. This will be easy. The most difficult task for us was the accomplishment of the Blessing of 3.6 Million Couples. After passing over the hill that marked the forty-year course, we need to find and inherit the lost realms of the Old and New Testaments. Since the rights of the first born, parents and king were lost, we need to pass through the process of restoring them; hence, I must fulfill the responsibility of the first born. (286-70, 1997.8.6)

I view the 30,000 and 360,000 Couples Blessings as uphill tasks. The Blessing of 3.6 Million Couples is the watershed. From now on, our path is an easy one downhill. In descending, we can accelerate and gain momentum down on the opposite slope. The 36 million Couple Blessing can be said to be the counterpart of the 360,000 Couples Blessing, and then after we complete the 360 million Couple Blessing, the mountains that are the families of the satanic world will collapse completely. With the collapse of these families, the world will become a flatland. As these mountains of fallen families remained standing until now, God has been unable to travel freely between heaven and earth. The next thing we must overcome is nationalism. Based upon the Family and Tribal Federations, we are entering the era of the National Federation. Our goal is to have twenty four nations join and work together. In entering the global era, through 360 clans, the 3.6 million, 36 million and 360 million Couples will establish God’s unified Kingdom of Heaven on earth and in the spirit world as the horizontally expanded organization of the world. I am saying that we are to completely surmount the twelve peaks of the Realm of the Cosmic Sabbath for the Parents of Heaven and Earth. Do you know how your families can become a part of my family? You can enter God’s Kingdom on earth as its citizens only after surmounting these twelve peaks. Can you even imagine how many peaks of historic anguish we have had to surmount? The Blessing of 3.6 Million Couples represents the twelfth peak. This must be accomplished – there is no other way. The twelve peaks will have been successfully surmounted through the Blessing of 3.6 Million Couples. Once we have reached the summit by accomplishing this Blessing, we will go down the opposite side, passing through the stages of formation and growth. Next will be the 36 Million Couples Blessing, followed by that of 360 million Couples and, through this, the Realm of the Cosmic Sabbath for the Parents of Heaven and Earth will be completed. In other words, everything and everyone will be liberated once and for all. Only after accomplishing the 360 Million Couples Blessing can we enter the realm of complete liberation. Then everything worldwide will be complete. (286-247, 1997.8.11)

Once we have crossed the mark that is the Blessing of 3.6 Million Couples, we will enter the world of complete liberation. Hence, I have declared this year’s motto: “Being proud of and loving the True Parents means to accomplish the Blessing of 3.6 Million Couples.” Just as I loved God and took pride in Him, once you have set the standard that you have loved and been proud of me by accomplishing the Blessing of 3.6 Million Couples, we can enter the world of complete liberation. Even without detailed explanations about the Blessing or where to go to receive it, the whole world will know that our Blessing ideal is the only means of liberating the world and they will have no choice but to listen. That is because the 3.6 Million Couples will continuously go out and convey the truth to others about this. (280-220, 1997.1.1)

Do you think you need 3.6 million couples? You do not. Only when you have restored at least two archangel families and offered them to the family in Adam’s position can the traces of the families or children of the satanic world disappear from this world. When this happens, Satan will be obedient forevermore and you will be separated from him eternally. Hence, Satan is doing all he can to oppose us; yet he has been restricted in this work since the 30,000 Couples Blessing in 1992. Through that Blessing, we had finally started to climb vertically on the global level. The growth stage was the 360,000 Couples Blessing and the completion or final stage is the Blessing of 3.6 Million Couples. Just as the Blessing has been opened 360 degrees to the whole world so that anyone can receive it, then after the successful achievement of the Blessing of 3.6 Million Couples, even people in the spirit world can receive it. Until this time, no one has been able to enter heaven; however, because Heung-jin is performing the Blessing on behalf of me, the descendants of the fallen archangel in the spirit world can stand in the position of the younger brother of Adam’s family, and in single file follow the True Parents into heaven. This is restoration through indemnity. (280-302, 1997.2.13)

Once we have completed the Blessing of 3.6 Million Couples, there will be no need for the Unification Church to hold any more Blessing ceremonies. Religion will disappear from the world. When you think of me, what preaching of mine comes to your mind? What am I trying to say now? It is that religion came into existence in order to discipline the body due to the Fall. Thus, all religions will disappear. What is it that you need to do? You need to form families and a nation through which you can attend God. That is the ideal of creation. (271-230, 1995.8.28)

Now that we are living in the Last Days, God cannot do anything to directly intervene, and Satan finds himself all alone in the world, facing a huge cliff. Satan cannot turn to the right or to the left because I have blocked him on all sides. On top of that, I am snatching his families from right under his nose. The 3.6 million- and Blessing of 360 Million Coupless will completely turn the families of the satanic world upside down. Satan has nowhere to go now. (288-55, 1997.10.31) My perspective is that I could easily achieve twice the goal that has been set. I see no obstructions standing in my way. After we have accomplished our goal, the whole world will fall backwards in amazement. You must remember that our enemies who pointed at us and laughed at us – prophesying that we would fail to accomplish the Blessing of 3.6 Million Couples – are waiting to see if we can actually do it. The lights must never be off. You cannot go to bed undressed. I have long awaited this day. All I’m asking is that you have the same consciousness about this. You must become independent and aware, ready to fight to the bitter end. Understand that you are working on behalf of God in expanding the dominion of the Judge and be fully determined to fulfill your responsibility. (288-39, 1997.10.31)

Until I proclaimed that we had met the goal of 3.6 million couples on July 15th, there was a sense of urgency in my mind. How many candidates were there from Argentina? Wasn’t it only a few hundred? They did not even top 500. So we were in trouble. However, God wrought a miracle. As we entered August, why did I declare the Realm of the Cosmic Sabbath for the Parents of Heaven and Earth? What date was that? It was August 9th. Such a time will come again: I know that the gates to the spirit world will be opened and spirits will descend to earth and unimaginable phenomena will take place in the world – that is why I proclaimed the ‘completion of 3.6 million couples’ on July 15th. (289-11, 1997.12.30)

11.2. From 3.6 million to 36 million couples

Despite the short preparation period, our original goal of 3.6 million couples from 185 nations was exceeded by 36 million couples, who are all taking part in the quest to build true families transcending skin color and religion. The final count of couples participating in the holy marriage Blessing Ceremony was 39.6 million. The significance and magnitude of the ceremony make us realize that human motivation alone could not bring this about. It is a providential accomplishment which has been achieved with God’s will as the driving force behind it. (288-125, 1997.11.26)

Have we reached 36 million couples or not? People claimed that we would not succeed in holding a Blessing for 3.6 million couples, but we have accomplished ten times that number – 36 million couples. In fact, the final count was 39.6 million couples. How wonderful is the Unification Church! Who made it the way it is? I have complete faith that we can bring together 360 million couples in six months. All it will take is six months for us to reach that goal; it is your lack of faith that is standing in the way. Six months from now is all it will take for us to find 360 million couples, and if you had the same frame of mind as I do, you could more than accomplish that goal. I am worried about how many you will actually be able to bring together. (288-101, 1997.11.16)

This is a most important message that I want to convey to all the journalists gathered here as representatives of all journalists in the world. The third World Culture and Sports Festival is presently being hosted in Washington, D.C. Along with it, the International Holy Wedding will take place on November 29 at the RFK Stadium, as well as in many nations across the world. The original number set for the Blessing Ceremony was 3.6 million couples. However, surprisingly, we have exceeded that goal by more than ten times; 39.6 million couples will be taking part in the ceremony. Such a pan-humanitarian festival will be the very foundation for a glorious beginning in encouraging humanity to resolve to defend and promote the value of the family for the sake of the future world. (288-139, 1997.11.26)

I would like to invite all of you to the special event that will take place on Saturday at the RFK Stadium. Amid the blessings from representative leaders of world religions, my wife and I will officiate at the Blessing of 39.6 million couples from 185 nations across the world. We exceeded our original goal of 3.6 million couples by 36 million. Many couples will take part in their own nations. The Blessing Ceremony will be carried out simultaneously worldwide through satellite broadcasting and video, while 30,000 couples representing 185 nations will be present at the stadium. (288-165, 1997.11.27)

Originally, through our achieving the Blessing of 36 Million Couples, everything would be made flat. In order for any water to flow into the sea, it must reach that level first. What type of water flowing into the sea flows in the slowest? The waters of the great rivers are the slowest in flowing into the sea. Does it look like that? It flows in as slowly as possible because river water wants to be absorbed completely by seawater, which is the main body. Everything in nature moves and continues to exist according to the laws of heaven and earth. Then why would we begin to make faster progress after the completion of the Blessing of 36 Million Couples? That is because we have already reached the bottom of the mountain and the terrain has become flat. Since we have surmounted the peaks of formation and growth, in terms of the realm of Satan we have reached the point of surpassing the top of the growth stage. Isn’t our next goal 360 million couples? That would be the realm of completion. (288-148, 1997.11.27)

I cannot even say anything to you about this serious matter. If I told you what I know, you would descend to the depths of grief. I have had to reach my present solitary position all by myself. Who believed that we could accomplish 3.6 million couples? Kwak Chung-hwan! He did not believe it. No one believed it. I alone had faith that we could do it. Recreation takes place under the orders of creation issued by God. Ezekiel was able to bring to life thousands of people from the valley of sand; from the valley of dry bones, Ezekiel brought to life an exceedingly great army. You must understand that the Almighty God is with us. (288-161, 1997.11.27) What can be achieved through the Blessing of 3.6 Million Couples is to give holy wine to the children of your womb. Though you have lived as descendants of fallen humankind, you must never forget to set the condition of bequeathing holy wine to your children, as they are the children who have inherited the absolutely pure lineage and are in no way related to the fallen lineage. You must become one with God’s nation, pledge your allegiance to Him and with this proclamation give them holy wine. Thus reborn, the children of your womb are not Satan’s. (289-63, 1997.12.30)

Is there a contest anywhere in the world that is completed in a single round? Yes, it is the one we just took part in and we have already beaten the opposition. Since we have already achieved victory, it follows that all your families have been victorious as well. The same is true for Korea. Even the North Koreans were mystified when I said that we would perform the Blessing of 3.6 Million Couples. They asked quite plainly, “That is a lie, isn’t it? Isn’t it a lie?” We had already accomplished it and yet they refused to believe that it was not a lie. If I were to tell them that this time, I have blessed 72 million people, wouldn’t they fall over backwards in amazement? What would happen if they fell backwards? Once I save them from a bad fall, they will have to listen to me. Such a time has come at last. (288-225, 1997.11.28)

After the ideal of love is fully restored, it must be inherited. The 30,000 Couples Blessing was held for that purpose. These are the twelve peaks of the Blessing. As you well know, on the global level, the 30,000 Couples Blessing is the formation, the 360,000 the growth, and the 3.6 million the completion stage. Thus, this year our goal is to accomplish the 360 million Couple Blessing, and in order to make it happen, heaven at the moment is working very hard. Blessings are falling like showers from heaven. On the day we are victorious in the Blessing of 360 Million Couples, the unified world of the realm of heart will emerge on earth, encompassing the whole world, and the families who live in this realm of heart will be like Adam’s perfected family; they will live in God’s Kingdom on earth and when they pass on, they will enter His kingdom in the spirit world. In such a manner, the gates to heaven will be opened. (288-328, 1998.1.1)

I also needed to surmount twelve peaks after crossing over ten at first. The Blessing of 3.6 Million Couples is the twelfth peak. We must surmount them all. In the song ‘Arirang’, the word ‘arirang’ is a composite of ‘Ae,’ meaning love, ‘Ri,’ meaning village, and ‘Ryeong’ meaning hill. I understand that the word signifies the search for the village you love. In the song, the lyrics go on to say, “If you leave me, you won’t have gone ten ri (about 2.5 miles) before you become footsore.” That song also mentions the twelve peaks of arirang. At present, I am undergoing all manner of hardship to cross over the twelfth peaks. After this is accomplished, everything will be equalized, and we will all be able to go anywhere we wish. (289-263, 1998.1.21)

The Blessing of 3.6 Million Couples is the last of twelve ceremonies to take place. It takes twelve months for the earth to revolve 360 degrees around the sun. Centering on the number twelve, by connecting to the 3.6 million Couples, all days and events taking place on earth can follow the Blessing of heaven. There is no way to stop this. I am telling you that it is the era of the Blessing and worldwide liberation. This is providential. (280-269, 1997.1.2)

The providence of restoration traversed the twelve peaks. Thus, in order to surmount the global peak, we need to overcome the twelve peaks up to the we have surmounted all these peaks, we would arrive at the original homeland. We would then be in a beautiful world overflowing with gold – the spring garden of God’s love. (284-260, 1997.4.18)

Section 12. The 360 Million Couples Adam’s was the representative fam- ily – formed by the union of God and true parents – that would have embraced the universe; had Adam not fallen, being blessed by him would have been a uni- versal blessing. Yet due to the Fall, they were separated, and so families in the world today cannot enter the realm of grace of this great blessing. In order to restore that which was lost in Adam’s family through the Fall, I will bless 360 million couples standing in the equal- ized position in the realm of families worldwide. (287-142, 1997.9.14) After the Blessing of 3.6 Million Cou- ples, it will be a downhill ride – descent is easy. That will be the 36 million Cou- ples: the growth stage. What follows is the Blessing of 360 Million Couples; by then we would reach level terrain at the bottom of the hill. Descending there, we can return to the state of Adam’s fam- ily before the Fall. By achieving this, we are entering the age when parents will bless their children. From this point on, you can perform the preliminary Bless- ing ceremonies yourselves. Recognized as John the Baptist families, you will be able to do that in the name of the True Parents. (287-144, 1997.9.14) Three hundred and sixty million couples! To think that we will soon have blessed 360 million couples! You cannot deny that God is with us in this task. If I were to explain this in detail, I would have to go into the secrets of the New and Old Testaments and all the histori- cal theological systems. Once you heard those things, your ears would be opened and you would develop an insight into the providential future. Then there would be no one on earth who could stop you

from walking your providential path. Do you want this insight or not? These secrets are such that you would want to see them with your own eyes even if you had heard them, and once you had seen them you would want to listen to the words again and again, whether in person or not. To gain this knowledge you should not go a single day without hearing my words. (287-201, 1997.10.30)

What would happen after the Blessing of 36 Million Couples is accomplished and the next goal of 360 million couples comes in sight? Since that is the number of couples, that would mean there would be 720 million individuals involved in the Blessing. If each of them brought four members from their family, then four times seven is twenty-eight, and the total number brought by them would be 2.8 billion. Some would bring even more than four people. Are there only four family members per household in the East? There are some families with between five and ten members in them. That would result in more than three billion people coming over to God’s side, which is more than half the world population. The era has come when, if you were to weigh the two sides with a scale, our side would be the heavier. (288-18, 1997.10.31)

There were twelve peaks to surmount – passing through formation, growth, and completion stages – before going on to fulfill the goal of the Blessing of 360 Million Couples. We did not stop there, however. Instead of blessing only 3.6 million couples, we completed the 40 Million Couples Blessing and as a result our path from then on came to be on an equalized level. That is how the goal for the Blessing became 400 million couples. The Blessing of 360 Million Couples is one of equalization. It allows everyone to have an equal opportunity to receive the Blessing. More than half of the world’s families will be involved in it. (302-132, 1999.6.12)

Now that the Realm of the Cosmic Sabbath for the Parents of Heaven and Earth has been proclaimed, God can come on earth. Thus, now is the time for a great worldwide Blessing to take place, through which all the foundations of families and tribes can be connected. By blessing the 3.6 million, 36 million and 360 million Couples, Satan’s bloodline manifested in all humankind must be cut off. Not one person having that bloodline should be left out. This lineage must be completely converted. (288-64, 1997.10.31) By completing the Blessing of 360 Million Couples, we will enter the realm where God can have direct dominion over us, and thus be able to pass through the eras of restoration of the rights of the first born and of the parents and move into the era of restoration of God’s kingship. (289-215, 1998.1.2)

Once the Blessing of 360 Million Couples is under way, we will enter the era of the realm of the fourth Adam, in which there will be no need for indemnification. Thus, we will enter the era in which the parents can bless their children in Eden on behalf of God. In this way, the direct pathway leading to heaven can be paved, along which blessed members can lead the relatives they have blessed and reach all humankind. (290-29, 1998.2.2) Once the Blessing of 360 Million Couples is complete, I will no longer conduct any more Blessing ceremonies. From that time on, parents will bless their own children. This will be known as the era of the liberation of the realm of the fourth Adam. There will be no indemnity. In the first and second realms respectively, Adam failed in the Old Testament and New Testament Ages. Even in the Completed Testament Age, we have been persecuted. On entering the era of the liberated realm of the fourth Adam, however, the world will become the one originally envisaged before the Fall. That realm of Adam refers to the whole universe, in which people will form families wherein unfallen parents standing in the position of true parents bless their children, bequeathing the ideal of the family and all internal and external ideals created by God. Thus, the world cannot help but become one. (290-167, 1998.2.18)

With the fulfillment of the Blessing of 360 Million Couples, all barriers will collapse. Barriers for individuals, families, tribes, peoples, nations, the world, and cosmos in the satanic realm, as well as the walls in the realm of God’s heart, will all be broken down. (292-54, 1998.3.28)

Blessing 360 million couples will demolish the walls that block out the free environment of God’s Kingdom on earth, clearing away all barriers for individuals, families, tribes, peoples, nations, the world. We are doing this. Make sure that you are going the way you should. (294-220, 1998.7.19)

Blessing 360 million couples on earth would mark the beginning of the Blessing in the spirit world. In this manner, Satan’s lineage would be eradicated – that is to say, the era in which Satan can accuse us will have passed, and the era of the all-immanence, all-transcendence, supreme authority, and omnipotence of the True Parents is coming, in which they can exercise their full powers. The era of privilege in which God created and took delight in Adam and Eve, telling them, “It is good! All things will be called according to the names you give them!” is coming once again. (293-90, 1998.5.24)

We are going to bless 360 million couples. Since failure occurred within the couple, it is through couples that we need to reverse that failure. These 360 million couples transcend all humankind, history and the providence. This is the final task; through it we can completely eradicate Satan’s lineage. Let us liquidate it completely. (294-208, 1998.7.19)

I did not declare the restoration of the right of kingship so that I could unite the free democratic world and become its sole king. Though a king, I have given up the global nation. God does not have His own nation. How then can I have my global nation? What God desires is the king of all families. He is looking for the family king. The family king! He must emerge. For that to happen, Satan’s lineage must be denied through blessing 360 million couples worldwide. I am the representative who has Blessed Couples in marriage. What sort of representative am I? Since I am representing kingship, I am the family king. If I were to proclaim to the world right here and now that I am the family king, there is not one person in the world who could contradict me. (295-87, 1998.8.17)

What is this year’s motto? “Being proud of and loving the True God absolutely means accomplishing the Blessing of 360 Million Couples and rooting out the lineage of the satanic world.” What should we do after blessing 360 million couples? Who should be the first to be blessed by God in the Garden of Eden? It will not be the elderly, the middleaged or young adults, but rather adolescents. Until now, many elderly and middle-aged people and young adults have been blessed; now the time has come for us to focus on the adolescents. (296-66, 1998.10.14) The whole world is to accomplish the Blessing of 360 Million Couples and root out the lineage of the satanic world. This is the end. There will be no more after this. For this reason, the gates to hell and heaven are being thrown wide open. Those who were our enemies in the past will attend the True Parents and hold welcoming banquets for them. The True Parents had not been welcomed by families, tribes, races, nations, and the world. Therefore, in the first banquet held on the cosmic level, the people who until that time were enemies will enter the heavenly way according to God’s laws and, from that point on, move toward His kingdom on earth. (296-298, 1998.11.18)

Gathered here are couples from all the Blessings ranging from the 36 to the recent first phase of the 360 million. While being educated together for forty days, what should they be doing? The elder couples should set an example to the new members. That is why the elder members have been asked to share their testimonies. Both husbands and wives are to do this with regard to their marital life and experiences. They must report truthfully about all their physical and spiritual concerns. That is family education on the fundamental level. Wrongdoings must be uprooted and exposed. You cannot enter heaven if you hide your wrongdoings. (297-282, 1998.12.22)

We are talking about the cosmic expansion of the Blessing – where should it be held first: in the spiritual or physical world? Didn’t Eve make love with the archangel first? We must hasten to liberate the spirit world. The era of the Blessing of 360 Million Couples signifies the transition from the global level into relating with the spirit world, making it possible for spirit people to be brought to and blessed at the boundary between the two worlds. Among the people blessed in this last ceremony, were there Mafiosi or not? Were murderers included? How about yakuza or gangsters? All kinds of people were included in that Blessing. (301-160, 1999.4.25)

The Blessing of 360 Million Couples signifies that we have surpassed the realm of dominion based on accomplishments through the Principle. We are now in the global era. Spring is upon us, the season of revival. I have brought you here in order to bless you. So what should you do in return? You should become the leaders who can reign over the devil. (297-298, 1998.12.22)

Unification Church members are to offer three-tenths, not tithes. Through this tradition, everyone should offer their assets, nations, and land by connecting to the offering based on the number three. The Old Testament Age is the era of material things, the New Testament Age that of children, the Completed Testament Age of parents, and what comes next is the age of liberation. The age of liberation from anguish signifies entering God’s era. In that process, the right of ownership must revert to God. The Communist party completely reversed that through brute force, using knives and guns. We don’t do that. The tradition of the Unification Family is to harbor gratitude towards the absolute sovereignty of God’s Love-ism forever and ever, and to be tens of times more grateful in your hearts with gratitude not forced by guns or knives but coming from your hearts voluntarily. From now on, all Blessed Families from the 36 to the 360 Million Couples should inherit this tradition, and bequeath God’s Kingdom of the ideal of love to their descendants. This is the final responsibility the Unification Church should accomplish. (302-23, 1999.5.14)

Beloved Heavenly Father, on this day, February 7, 1999, the Blessing of 360 Million Couples ceremony that is being closely watched by heaven and earth is being held. All humanity on earth and all Blessed Families in the spirit world are represented here, for this is the new day of the liberation of heaven and earth when we go beyond the restoration of the right of the first born, the right of the parents, and right of kingship. This is the moment when we have reached a transition point in world history in which we can fulfill Your will and Your wishes to establish a united world of the sovereignty of true love, the Parents of Heaven and Earth and the God of the original ideal of creation. To restore the spiritual and physical worlds under Satan’s dominion and inhabited by humankind which inherited evil love, life, and lineage from the evil ancestors in Eden, then You, together in heart with humankind and the spirit world, passed through the Old, New, and Completed Testament Ages. In the Old Testament Age, Adam’s family failed to keep the covenant to inherit the lineage giving rise to a parent-child relationship with You, losing it instead through the Fall. They would have established that relationship with You in the place where they could inherit Your love, life, and lineage; yet it was in that very place that the sin of our first ancestors bound them in blood ties with Satan as their false parent, thereby giving rise to the sorrowful history that began with Adam’s family inheriting satanic love, life, and lineage from Satan as his children and thus becoming his family. This, in turn, created the environment of conflict between mind and body, husband and wife, parents and children, and between siblings, resulting in Cain’s murder of Abel in that first family. Consequently, all of humanity is divided at the levels of the family, tribe, race, and nation, and even the world with the democratic and communist worlds pitted against each other. Amid the confusion of the Last Days, it was Your will to establish the Unification Church in order to usher in the Completed Testament Age because it had not been possible to completely fulfill Your will in the Old Testament Age or establish Your ideal kingship in the New Testament Age. Upon the foundations laid in those two ages, the True Parents were to come to earth and complete all that was incomplete both on earth and in the spirit world, and form relationships based on their true love, life, and lineage on earth in the name of the God of liberation. It was Your will to completely clear the field of wild olive trees that is the fallen world and to engraft them to the true olive tree, thereby forming a connection as Your kinfolk, and, by so doing, restore Your family. Upholding Your will, the Unification Church has continued its work in performing global weddings in the name of the True Parents in order to allow all people of the world to indemnify the wrongful marriages of history and become one great family of brothers and sisters. We have walked the path of persecution in the process of our work until now, but through carrying out these things under Your guidance and protection, we have been able to overcome all the situations and people who have opposed us – from individuals to families, tribes, people, nations, the world, and cosmos, even up to the realm of Satan and hell. As we have inherited Your lineage through Your true love, You protected us just as parents protect their children so that the Unification Church was able to overcome during its difficult course all the hardships and persecution coming from the fallen world and was able to surmount individual, family tribal, racial, national, global, and cosmic peaks. Now we are able to hold, in the name of the True Parents, the Blessing Ceremony of 360 million Couples representing all humankind, and are graced to celebrate with heaven and earth the liberation that transcends religion, race, culture, and nationality. For this great occasion of the Blessing, we are truly, truly, truly grateful. In the spirit world, there are Blessing groups of fifteen billion and fifty billion parents, brothers and sisters following on from a first group of twenty billion spirit people. Here on earth, the 360 million couples – in fact more than 400 million couples – who are being blessed in today’s ceremony number more than 800 million individuals. Based on an average of four family members per household, the total number of family members related to these newly Blessed Couples must be over three billion. All Blessed Couples in both the spiritual and physical worlds should strive to resolve the ongoing problems of juvenile promiscuity and family breakdown in order to save this chaotic world and straighten out the confused history of humanity. Through this ceremony, the environmental conditions necessary for all humankind to be able to participate in the Blessing have been created, and all people connected to the mainstream ideal can now belong to You through attending it. This amazing and incredible miracle has been wrought, not just by the work of the Unification Church but also by the joint efforts of Yourself and the spirit world. Therefore, I hope and pray that You can forever hold the victorious dominion and sovereignty of eternal love and glory gained from this ceremony, and establish the Kingdom of Heaven on earth and in the spirit world through the liberation achieved by this Blessing. All humankind connected to the 360 Million Couples can now unite in heart and strive to achieve the unity of mind and body, husband and wife, and within the tribe, race, nation, world, and cosmos. These couples have been established as the nucleus representing the True Parents on earth and the family in the garden of Your love. They have been blessed in order to complete the Kingdom of Heaven on earth with the sovereignty of the love central to the ideal of creation, which has been Your eternal dream. I stand before them on this occasion which You have long desired, and bless them to become Your children who from this moment can inherit Your will to build Your kingdom on earth and in heaven as true individuals by uniting mind and body, husband and wife, parents and children, and with their siblings in the blessed world. Please be with them and bless them as they march forward to the place of victory and glory. I pronounce my benediction upon the 360 million Couples in the name of the True Parents! Amen! Amen! Amen! (299-109, 1999.2.7)

Section 13. The Already Married Couples The already married couples are those who had married without God’s permission. On the victorious founda- tion achieved by the True Parents, these couples stand in the position of Adam’s couple of having formed the relationship of love at their own discretion without having fallen, that is, of having fulfilled love voluntarily. Thus, all youths who are of the same age as Adam and Eve at the time of their Fall will belong to God’s side. Even fallen couples can attain a position similar to that of other Blessed Couples who are the direct descendants of the true Adam. Since these couples stem from a different lineage, they must be engrafted as couples. (242-102, 1993.1.1) The Blessing does not exist for you to be saved on your own. Its purpose is to save your family. Since the family of the Messiah, the True Parents, has become the center of such salvation, you must be able to carry on their tradition just as it has been from the past to the present

and the future. Bear in mind that I have blessed you in the hope that you will become our perfect representatives. The Blessing is carried out at the place where you, representing past, present, and future, have united with us, which is why I allowed you to hold the preliminary Blessing ceremonies. Only when I perform the Blessing with such thoughts in my mind can the relationship of salvation be formed for descendants of the people receiving the Blessing and for those in the spirit world. Are you not people of the Completed Testament Age? You are Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden created by God. Have this concept in your mind that you are warriors who can fight and defeat Satan, and bring the families in the satanic world over to God’s side on the final battlefield of this global war. Since this is the formula that the True Parents are working with, things are turning out according to it, as in mass production, in that these new families are becoming the seed on their behalf, taking root, growing, and thriving anywhere they are planted. (294-220, 1998.7.19)

From now on, the Unification Church should bless Cain: this is the time to bless the already married couples – they must receive the Blessing; otherwise, they cannot go to heaven. Our first ancestors fell through wrongful marriage under the auspices of the false parent’s false love, life, and lineage and doomed them to hell. Thus, to reverse that, the True Parents must come and marry them in the rightful way. That is what the Blessing is all about. It is not Korean, but rather cosmic and transracial. (274-285, 1995.11.3)

In terms of couples, there are the fallen couples in the world, the already married couples blessed in the Unification Church, and the Blessed Couples of the Unification Church. Stemming from the fallen lineage, they all have their roots on Satan’s side. They came to us through searching for the truth. The second-generation Blessed Couples, however, have God and the True Parents as their roots. You must never forget this. This is the heavenly principle. You must understand clearly that you cannot enter into the presence of God if you are not standing on the victorious foundation that is consistent with this principle. (145-349, 1986.6.1) None of you are qualified to receive the Blessing, but if you stand in Cain’s position with the standard of heart surpassing those of Adam, Noah, or Abraham, you can triumph over Satan’s accusations. Externally, you are standing in the position that God has no choice but to hate, but even then you must be able to earn His love. The True Parents were able to restore Adam and Eve’s standard through indemnity. The wife must serve her husband from the positions of God’s wife, his wife, and his child; then, she can stand in a position similar to that of his mother. In order to achieve all this, she needs to pay indemnity twofold. Only as you strive for individual perfection while establishing your family can it shield you, enabling you to achieve that goal. Likewise, if a family strives for perfection while establishing its tribe as its fence, it can establish a strong basis for that. The same holds true for the processes of perfecting the tribe, race, nation, and world. At the Blessing ceremonies, twentyfour people comprising twelve pairs of groomsmen and bridesmaids are positioned to form an entryway signifying formation, growth, and completion. They represent the number three and Jesus’ twelve apostles. After walking seven steps, the Blessing participants need to make three bows, signifying that they have passed through the formation stage. This symbolizes the course of history from the time of Adam until now. Originally, Sung-jin was supposed to be blessed first before the other Blessed Couples, including Eu Hyo-won, could be married. Groomsmen and bridesmaids are included in order to establish the spiritual standard of the twelve tribes and the twenty-four elders. By bowing, the participants fulfill the necessary indemnity condition. The True Parents sprinkle holy water during the Blessing Ceremony to set the condition that you have been restored through indemnity and that you have gone beyond the foundation prepared by the ancestors in the spirit world. The holy wine ceremony sets the condition that you have been reborn through three providential mothers. Contained in the holy wine is the blood of indemnification. By drinking it, you are cleansed internally, and by wiping yourself with the holy handkerchief, you are cleansed externally. (19-268, 1968.2.20)

On the first day of September 1991, I proclaimed tribal messiahship and ordered members to return to their hometowns. Those who do not return to their hometowns cannot achieve the desires of their ancestors in the spirit world. The historic desire of the ancestors is for tribal messiahs to appear on earth and connect with the will of the True Parents who come in the Last Days. This is the longstanding wish that has been harbored by the ancestors in the spirit world until the present time. Their greatest wish is to form a blood relationship with the True Parents as their begotten children. That is why the Unification Church is carrying out Blessing ceremonies. Everyone – even already married couples – is being blessed. Among those blessed, already married couples are people who married without God’s permission. Then there are others who have had love relationships but failed to get married. In the free world of today, all those who did not form families must be saved. All already married couples must be saved, as well as all who have gone the wrong way through unfulfilled love relationships. After that, virgin men and women representing begotten children must be saved. It was the 36 Couples who paved the way to make it possible to open the gates of the Blessing for everyone. Among them, there are three types of couples: Adam couples, Noah couples, and Jacob couples. Of these types, the Adam couples refer to the already married couples. Originally, Christ at his Second Advent, the coming True Parents, had nothing to do with already married couples. However, through the foundations that have been laid, already married couples can be regarded as having been born of Adam’s body before the Fall, and the Lord who comes to perfect Adam cannot give up what was born of Adam’s body. (242-102, 1993.1.1) There is a problem with the already married couples: if they were to go to the spirit world, they would see that they are different from other Blessed Couples. In the spirit world, the Blessing received by single virgin men and women is very different from that of already married couples. There are three levels in the spirit world, just as today’s society is divided into upper, middle, and lower classes. Among the 36 Couples divided into of three groups of twelve respectively representing Adam’s, Noah’s, and Jacob’s families, which group is the most precious? It is the third. In the future, you will have to serve them. At the moment we are not distinguishing them from each other because the time to do so has not yet come, but that does not mean they are the same. They are very different. (30-189, 1970.3.22)

The world today is made up of people who have formed families and those who have not. When you look at the Unification Church, you can also see that it comprises Blessed Couples who were already married and those who were not. We must pave the way by which we can absorb all these different types of couples. Among your tribes there may be already married couples, there may be those who had some relationships or were engaged but never got married, and there may also be single virgin men and women. We need to indemnify the vertical past history horizontally in the present time by bringing all these peoples together. We need to stand in the position of being united within three living generations. The first-born son in the third generation – that is the grandson who is standing at the completion stage – needs to offer a sacrifice on behalf of others in a ceremony of atonement for their sins. Otherwise they cannot be united together. Thus, you need to become tribal messiahs. You have no idea how grateful the already married couples are to be called tribal messiahs. Nothing can be done without them. Therefore, all of you should bring up your children and do all it takes to have them receive the Blessing. Then your grandchildren will be in a perfected position before God. Through these third-generation children, you need to ask God to forgive your ancestors. Furthermore, three generations of ancestors must be liberated. This is the reason for the offering of sacrificial rites to them. From there they can form a relationship with God. This is the view of the Principle. Once you are familiar with all these factors, you cannot just go on living the way you did before you knew these things. You need to fulfill the mission of tribal messiahs. You must understand that the already married couples hold the great responsibility to fulfill such a dual mission. (31-282, 1970.6.4) The already married couples, the newly Blessed Couples, and my family need to come together to restore our homeland. Only when the nation is restored can Jesus’ desire be fulfilled. If Jesus’ heart is not freed from all his pain over the failure of the chosen nation, the grief of God cannot be eased. If the grief of the Son is not eased, can the grief of the Father be eased? The grief of the Son must be eased first. Jesus came as God’s Son on the global level based on the chosen nation, but his heart was filled with grief, and so we must first ease his grieving heart. (58-196, 1972.6.11)

If you already married couples cannot outperform those who were blessed while still single, you will not be able to uphold the dignity of already married Blessed Couples. Was there such a thing as the Blessing of already married couples in the Garden of Eden or within God’s will? In order to save you, I have opened the gates through which everything ragged and false can be patched up. This became possible through the inclusion of already married couples in the 36 Couples Blessing. That is the only reason you can go on living within the Will. (101-286, 1978.11.7)

What is the biggest source of trouble in a family? Actions that disrupt the love between mother and father bring trouble to that family. That is the enemy of our church. Therefore, the already married couples gathered here must confess to their children the whole truth about themselves. You need to lay a deeply rooted family foundation by practicing the family morals, the morals of love. (120-184, 1982.10.15)

The parents who are already married couples cannot stand in the position of being an object to the Coming Lord, whether they are the president of the United States or Christian leaders. This is because they are already married. There is no logical basis to marry before the Advent of the True Parents. They need to connect with the True Parents through their virgin sons and daughters. The wealth in the possession of those parents belongs to Satan’s side. It all belongs to the satanic world. The parents and even their children are all held in the satanic world. (145-21, 1986.4.30)

Of the 36 Couples, the Adam couples were already married couples, the Noah couples were engaged but not married, and the Jacob couples were virgin men and women. Noah’s family did not fulfill the Will. When you look at the people in the world today you see that there are already married couples, those who are in informal relationships or are engaged, and the completely pure single men and women. From this time on, the foremost kind of people that True Parents should be seeking for are not the Adam couples but the true sons and daughters, in other words, pure single men and women. (242-104, 1993.1.1)

The 120 followers of Jesus represent the number twelve. The 124 Couples were blessed in order to organize and establish a model of tribal and national leadership worldwide. In actuality, 124 couples were blessed, four being extra. These four were already married couples. Why were they included in the Blessing? Had they not, there would have been no way to save other already married couples from that time on This number four represents gates facing the four cardinal directions of north, south, east, and west. Based on the four couples, therefore, the way must be opened through which all already married couples can be resurrected. Hence, I blessed 124 couples. (158-170, 1967.12.27)

Originally, I was not meant to bless couples who were already married. In the course of restoration, there was no need for Adam- and Noah-type couples made up of people who were already married in their thirties. On the contrary, I was only to have blessed Jacob-type couples as my sons and daughters, who would then save their own parents. For the Blessing of 400 million Couples, based on the number four at the hundred million levels, you must restore your physical parents. You must take them even forcefully. The traditional foundations of formation, growth, and completion that we should restore are already married couples, the Noah couples, and the Jacob couples. Since we are living in the era of fallen history, Abel families stand on behalf of heaven and earth in the newly created realm of the chosen people, and so they should go and bring already married couples to God’s side, forcefully if necessary. (299-224, 1999.2.17)

God is fair. At present, there are many people who are just superficially connected to the Unification Church. I told everyone who is supportive towards the Church to receive the Blessing. At this time, blessed members will be responsible to bless their own parents. That is because they are closest to them. The parents can thus be blessed even if they are not very familiar with the Principle. We are now living in the era where even such people can receive the Blessing. This will be the final one. The era in which I bless already married couples is passing. From the next Blessing, the tribal messiahs should bless them. (233-351, 1992.8.2)

The universal belief of people in the established churches today is that salvation comes only in the form of individual salvation. They believe that if they as individuals have complete faith, they will go to heaven. When you consider God’s original ideal, however, you can easily discern that no one can go to heaven alone. It is a place where loving husbands and wives, and loving families should be together. (143-234, 1986.3.19)

Section 14. The Single Blessing Man is God’s masculine and woman His feminine external form. A couple is like the universe enfolded in a wrap- ping cloth; they thus can feel the heart of God’s ideal love. The Blessing is the most precious thing in all of heaven and earth. At the same time, it is extremely fearsome. If spouses think about some- one else other than their partner, they are violating each other. They must become have a parental heart to each other and cause people to say, “I wish my family were like yours.” (13-67, 1963.10.17) In the beginning, God first created all things and then Adam and Eve as their center and the substantial beings of glory, wishing for the coming of the

joyful day of their victorious blessing. Yet as His will was not fulfilled due to their fall, we who live in the world today should do our utmost to fulfill that day of hope within our own generation. We should hold high the glory of that victory and – whether as individuals or couples – praise God before heaven and earth. You should realize how blessed you are to be able to be a part of such a gloriously unique occasion. (30-170, 1970.3.22)

The history of religion progressed from the Old Testament Age of the servant to that of the adopted son at the coming of Jesus. Since the history that has unfolded through religion until the present day has been one of restoration, the realms of the servant and adopted son were restored. Viewed globally, religions other than Christianity undertook the work of restoring the realm of the servant, whereas Christianity restored the realm of the adopted son. In restoring the era of the servant, many religions did not allow their most devout believers to have possessions or spouses, and consequently they had to lead lives of celibacy and have nothing to their names. Thus, priests, monks, and nuns have no possessions of their own. A Buddhist temple may have possessions, but its chief monk may not. Furthermore, the idea of conjugality is not permitted to such people. Hence, from God’s providential viewpoint, of the numerous religions that people have historically believed in, those that are on a higher level could not but emphasize celibacy. In restoring the realm of the adopted son, Christianity has accomplished this spiritually but not physically; thus, the history of the physical restoration of the servant was prolonged. The wish of the servant is to find a good master. Even if the servant has his or her own spouse, if the servant meets the wrong kind of master, the spouse could be snatched away. Satan is a bad master, and so the greatest hope of a servant under his dominion is to find any way possible to meet a good one. The higher religions have shouldered responsibility for the work of restoring the servant, and so until now the idea of having a spouse was not allowed in these religions; consequently, most devout believers have had to lead lives of celibacy. (61-182, 1972.8.30)

Religion up until this time has emphasized the inviolability of conjugality and celibacy. The ideal of matrimonial conjugality was first realized in my time. From God’s viewpoint, Jesus only succeeded in establishing three chief apostles among the twelve, seventy-two disciples, and the 120 followers. But by restoring through indemnity the organization of the family of God’s ideal on earth, which Jesus could not achieve before passing away, I succeeded in restoring and going on to complete on earth that which was left unaccomplished by the first and second Adams. Since everything was lost through the Fall, then as a condition for the restoration of all the things of creation, I established 120 holy grounds across the world in 1965. With representative stones and soil from Korea as the seed of these holy grounds, I conveyed the victorious foundation and connected it horizontally worldwide. (55-168, 1972.5.7)

Until this time, marriage was largely forbidden in the religious realm. Devout believers were encouraged to leave home in order to enter the priesthood and lead lives of celibacy. However, times have changed and now we are living in the era when you can get married and return to your hometown, that is to say, receive the Blessing and form a Blessed Family. The families that follow the satanic world have their basis in the evil love, life, lineage, and mind. However, since the Blessing signifies restoration, once you walk in the footsteps of the True Parents, you will become Blessed Families of true love, life, lineage, and conscience, and these families, tribes, and eventually the whole world will become like one great extended family, living together as brothers and sisters. Everything will be brought to a conclusion through the Blessing Ceremony. (286-41, 1997.7.1) In order to win in the battle against Satan, you need a family. You can never be victorious if you fight as an individual because Satan invaded through the family, that is, of Adam and Eve. To restore this through indemnity, you need to receive the Blessing in God’s presence. Thus, a new husband and wife must emerge. When you consider present-day believers in established churches, although they may have complete faith in their religion and husband and wife may love each other dearly, once they pass away to the next world, the spouses and family members will end up in different places. They will not even be able to meet each other. If a beloved child found himself in hell and called out for his father and mother, how would they feel? Even if they were in heaven, would they feel happy? Originally, the Kingdom of Heaven created by God was a place the whole family would enter together. Since Jesus could not form a family, then the only place he could ascend to was paradise. Thus, Christ at his Second Advent must come on earth. (19-171, 1968.1.1)

You cannot enter heaven alone. The Blessing is what is required in order to pass through the gates of heaven because that is a place where only families can enter. It is a place you can only enter through the united relationship of three generations. Jacob’s seventy family members comprised three generations, which is how they were able to enter Egypt. Before you can receive the Blessing, you need to resurrect individually. You must pray just as Jesus did in the Garden of Gethsemane. Since God carried out His providence in three phases, He will let you off easily for a period of three years. In order to resurrect, you need to repent of all your wrongdoings in the past. There are many different types of people gathered here today; however, each one of you must follow the course that leads to the benefit of the whole. For an individual to resurrect, he or she should not deviate from the providential destiny. Once you have resurrected, where should you go? You must go and visit the members living in the countryside who are praying in the background for you. In actual fact, you should join your spouse only after your spiritual children have matured and are ready to receive the Blessing. Even Jesus went before the Holy Spirit only after that was achieved. (12-265, 1963.5.25)

The family is established through me. The path a family follows is the way of restoring through indemnity the realm of the suffering of women. The contents in the Bible are not centered on woman. The vertical history up to this point has been the history of seeking after the subject. For six thousand years, history has sought after one Adam. After Adam is restored, shouldn’t woman be restored as well? In this male-dominated world, women were absolutely needed. Even the most wretched tasks were carried out by women. Didn’t I say that we are indemnifying vertical history horizontally? Viewed horizontally, history up to the present has been one of seven thousand years. The period in which we have set this history on the horizontal standard and are restoring it through indemnity is the period of the first seven-year course. (47-199, 1971.8.28)

The tendency to be tempted by fallen love has been inherited through generations of fallen parents. To overcome this, humankind must be connected to Godcentered love through the True Parents; otherwise, we can never overcome the problem of fallen love. Those who dwell in the realm of the Fall, who have inherited the lineage of the fallen parents, need to welcome the True Parents in the final stage of restoration and unite with them vertically in order to overcome the fallen world. This is the standpoint of the Principle. We cannot complete this process individually. It takes a couple – a man and a woman – to restore this problem of love. This is the Blessing being conducted in the Unification Church; it cannot be performed as you wish – it must be carried out by the Parents who are the vertical center. Even in the fallen world, those who have inherited the fallen lineage do not do get married centering on themselves but rather on their parents. In the course of restoration, the True Parents must first come forth and become perfected as the vertical parents. At the same time, Cain and Abel must unite and thereby satisfy the condition for victory. The Blessing that is carried out from such a position can, for the first time, overcome the limitations of the Fall. You cannot climb to such a position alone. The top of the growth stage can be surmounted only through the Blessing and by nothing else. In other words, only upon receiving the Blessing can you pass through that stage and climb to the bottom of the completion stage. The Blessed Couples have to go through a seven-year period to attain perfect oneness with God. The three stages of the growing period – that is formation, growth, and completion – comprise twenty-one years; thus, the Blessed Couple must undergo a seven-year course in the completion stage. No one has come this far before. (55-137, 1972.5.7) There could have been only one kind of marriage feast held in the Garden of Eden, one based on Principle. Humankind received Satan’s blessing through the Fall. This is our greatest grief; we should have received God’s Blessing instead. Think for a moment how the people on Satan’s side – his innumerable descendants – rejoiced on this feast day of fallen marriage, how much they delighted in it, and how much they ate and drank in celebration of it. All of these actions have added to God’s sorrow. Marriage became an important means and source of expanding the satanic world. On account of this, ascetics placed much emphasis on celibacy. All marriages performed from ancient times to this day are a source of sorrow to God. They have left conditions that sadden Him, and not one of them has left behind any point that can give joy to Him and form a connection with Him. (158-276, 1967.12.29)

The single Blessing is premised on the idea that the spouses will be reunited in the spirit world. You must realize that it is a great blessing to be able to receive the Blessing as a couple on earth rather than alone. (101-307, 1978.11.7)

When I say that a Blessed Couple must become as one I mean to say that they must unite with me, the original plus, not just within the individual couple. You should know that the position of the Blessed Couple is one that has to follow such a course. Only after a man and woman achieve complete unity can they reach the original position of God. They must not engage in a love relationship before they attain unity with me. Until then, they should live like brother and sister. The love between husband and wife should be as pure as that of innocent teenagers and greater than that between any brother and sister. From such a place, they must pass through the process of respecting and serving each other. Once they have done so, God will come to them automatically. The ideal love is the love that is like a flash of lightning at the point where the original plus characteristic of the man and the original minus characteristic of the woman come together. (129-23, 1983.10.4)

I conducted the first international joint wedding in 1970 – the 777 Couples Blessing, which signified that everything on earth was drawing together globally. After the 430 Couples Blessing, I went to other countries to bless them because it was not providentially allowed to have them come to Korea to receive the Blessing. For the first time ever, then, an international joint wedding of 777 couples was performed in Korea with participants from ten nations around the world. In this manner, based on the family ideal, the path through which any nation on earth can return to God was completed. This event made it possible for the fortune of the world to be related to the fortune of the Unification Church. From this day onward, we do not need to go through the trouble of shedding sweat and blood in order to establish our nation. Once we give birth, multiply, and form a new tribe, then a nation is naturally created. Just like the Israelites gave birth to many healthy children while in Egypt, all we need to do is give birth. All we need to do is to be blessed like the sons of Judah and have many sets of twins. We are not to practice birth control. In this way, we can expand the foundation of the new lineage across the world. We are therefore already in the process of establishing a transracial nation in the world. (55-171, 1972.5.7)

Blessed members who predecease their spouses go to the spirit world as single persons. Nevertheless, in the case of childless couples, the surviving spouse has the possibility of remarrying a person in the same situation so as to leave behind blessed descendants. With these thoughts in mind, you can’t help but realize what a fearsome thing the Blessing is. You may not realize it right here and now, but once you pass on to the spirit world, you will understand. Those who have received the Blessing have the path to heaven opened before them. Blessed people are accused not by Satan but by God’s angels. From the standpoint of God’s laws, if you do anything wrong, the archangel will reject your status of being blessed. After you have studied the Divine Principle, received the Blessing, and at a later stage, passed into the spirit world, you will see that the paths to heaven are wide open for you. However, in spirit, you must be prepared for the occasion, dressed in the very best attire. There should be no false steps on the way. You thus have multidimensional responsibilities. (55-87, 1972.4.23) The time is coming when widows or widowers who have received the Single Blessing on earth can be blessed with their spouses in the spirit world. In the era after the Blessing has transcended the national and global levels, people on earth can be blessed with their spouses in the spirit world for the first time. Until now such things had been impossible. When you received the Single Blessing, weren’t you blessed separately? From now on, you can receive the Blessing together like everybody else. Since such a privilege has been granted on earth, when such a couple is blessed, the spouse on earth and the spouse in the spirit world are blessed together, and so they can stand united in an equal position. This is how a person on earth can be blessed with his or her spouse in the spirit world. (284-167, 1997.4.16)

The Lord, who comes as the originator and central figure of the Blessing, is not limited by the restrictive environment of the age in which he appears. He is a central person who encompasses and transcends the history of the world. As such, the Blessing does not end with a husband and wife coming together in union. Through it, a new family must be formed and further, a new tribe, race, and nation must be created. All this begins with the Blessing. From this point a new heaven and earth should unfold. Each individual should be able to say to God, “I will become such a son or daughter. The path I am treading is for the nation You desire so much. I am treading it not only for the nation, but also the world that You have sought after until now.” On the way, your couple will face many difficulties and situations of extreme deprivation. Nevertheless, these are not matters for you to worry about; the greatest challenge for you will be how to become a husband and wife who can overcome all these hardships and march forward transcending the nation and on to the global level. (30-168, 1970.3.22)

You cannot belong to two different nations. Since you have become husband and wife to create one nation of God, you can only be married once. Similarly, there cannot be two worlds, and since you are husband and wife for the sake of God’s world, you can only be married once. Furthermore, there cannot be two gods, and since you as husband and wife exist for Him, you can only be married once. (30-184, 1970.3.22)

The reason you are being married is to deeply experience parental, conjugal, and filial love. Why do you need to do this? The spirit world is a place filled with all these different desires to be stimulated by love. You must understand that you need to be married and have families in order to train yourselves to be in sync with such an environment. (92-181, 1977.4.3)

Unification Church Blessed Couples stand in a historic position. How many times has God initiated this work in history? This is His second attempt. At the first attempt, perfection was not achieved due to the Fall. To restore this, God invested His omnipresent love to build a foundation of faithful families that everyone could harmonize with, centering on the establishment of the chosen nation that, all told, had four thousand years of Judaic culture as its foundation. In simple terms, God wanted to create an ideal couple by sending the Messiah and having him receive a queen who could become the object partner of his love. (113-181, 1981.5.3)

You need to be blessed in order to present yourselves as ideal couples that have been victorious in all aspects of life, including culture, politics, and economics – as representatives with Adam’s original authority. You must realize that such is the significance of the Blessing. This is a path that you cannot walk alone. In entering heaven, man is the right leg and woman the left. Alone, you could not be a complete person because you would be one-legged and therefore lame. (118-280, 1982.6.13)

The most important work of the Unification Church today is the Blessing bestowed upon you as couples. The Blessing of couples is the seed of love planted by God in Adam’s couple. As such, it should be disseminated. All of you gathered here know what cell reproduction is, don’t you? In that tiny cell is contained the whole tree, is it not? When you sow it, a whole tree grows from it. The roots, branches, leaves, stems, flowers – in fact, all parts that make up a tree are contained in that cell. The conceptual blueprint is contained in it. Couples are blessed to become the embodiments of True Parents, and through their children, reach out to the nation and world, becoming its roots; just as the roots and leaves of a tree absorb essential elements and control the tree’s carbon assimilation and the separation of elements from the air, Blessed Families should perform similar functions. A tree takes in carbon dioxide and releases oxygen to its surroundings. Isn’t that strange? How can it do that? That is an expression of the harmony and beauty of creation. The universe is a world of love – it is not a cold-hearted and desolate place, but an enclosure of love. Just as the seeds are all wrapped in a shell, God also wants to reside in that realm of love that is the universe – the enclosure of love – with His plus and minus dual characteristics. For God to dwell enwrapped in the universe of love, there must be unity in love between Him as the subject and the universe as His object. He can only be enveloped by the love that is shared by the two sides in the process of giving and receiving. That is why love is eternal and great. It is also boundless. Wouldn’t you want to rest in such a place? The conclusion is the same. That is the seed of God’s love. You must return to that seed. (180-110, 1988.8.7)