Abraham

Abraham is the source of the three monotheistic religions, Judaism, Christianity and Islam. He is the ancestor of the Jewish people; for Christians he is the father of faith (Romans 4.1-3); in Islam he set up the Kaaba in Mecca and is the father of the Arab people through Ishmael.

Abraham is renowned as the first monotheist, who came to the truth of the one God despite growing up in an idol-maker’s household. Then he is left home at God’s command and obediently followed to an unknown land. He put his life and his future in God’s hands, trusting that He would provide.

Though sojourning as a stranger among the peoples of Canaan, he showed remarkable compassion for them, particularly when he interceded for the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah.

Father Moon teaches that God entrusted His entire providence to Abraham, and looked to him as a partner to make the conditions on earth needed to advance the work of salvation.

Therefore, every act, every offering, every prayer of Abraham was fraught with significance. When Abraham did well, as when he left home at God’s command without hesitation, God’s providence advanced.

When Abraham made a mistake, as when he failed to cut the birds in two at the important sacrifice described in Genesis chapter 15, God’s providence was set back and prolonged.

When there was a quarrel in Abraham’s family, as between Sarah and Hagar, it created a negative condition for enmity between Jews and Arabs that has persisted to this day. Abraham passed through many trials in his walk of faith. The culmination of these, when God asked him to sacrifice his son, is treated in the next section.

Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a bless- ing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who curses you I will curse; and by you all the families of the earth shall bless themselves.”

So Abram went, as the Lord had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother’s son, and all their possessions which they had gathered, and the persons that they had gotten in Haran; and they set forth to go to the land of Canaan. Genesis 12.1-5

We gave Abraham of old his proper course, for We were aware of him, when he said to his father and his people, “What are these images to which you pay devotion?” They said, “We found our fathers worshippers of them.” He said, “Truly you and your fathers were in plain error.” They said, “Do you bring us the truth, or are you some jester?” He said, “No, but your Lord is the Lord of the heavens and the earth, who created them; and I am of those who testify to that. And, by God, I shall circumvent your idols after you have gone away and turned your backs.” Then he reduced them to fragments, all save the chief of them, that perhaps they might have recourse to it. They said, “Who has done this to our gods? Surely it must be some evildoer.” [Others] said, “We heard a youth make mention of them, one called Abraham.” They said, “Bring him here before the people’s eyes that they may testify.” They said, “Are you the one who has done this to our gods, Abraham?” He said, “No, their chief has done it. So question them, if they can speak.” Then they gathered apart and said, “You yourselves are the wrongdoers,” and they were utterly confounded. Then they said [to Abraham], “You know well that they do not speak.” He said, “Do you worship instead of God that which cannot profit you at all, norharm you? Fie on you and all that you worship instead of God! Have you then no sense?” They said, “Burn him and stand by your gods, if you will!” We said, “O fire, be coolness and peace for Abraham!” They wished to set a snare for him, but We made them the greater losers. And We rescued him and Lot, and brought them to the land that We have blessed for all peoples.10 Qur’an 21.51-71

The word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, “Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.” But Abram said, “O Lord God, what wilt thou give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” And Abram said, “Behold, thou hast given me no offspring; and a slave born in my house will be my heir.”

And behold, the word of the Lord came to him, “This man shall not be your heir; your own son shall be your heir.” And he brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your descendants be.” And he believed the Lord; and he reckoned it to him as righteousness. Genesis 15.1-6

By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place which he was to receive as an inheritance; and he went out, not knowing where he was to go. By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise. For he looked forward to the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God. Hebrews 11.8-10

Teachings of Sun Myung Moon
Abraham brought a revolution at the home of his father Terah. As a boy, he would kick the idols and say to his father, “Father, what are these idols?” He must have resolved many tens of times, “Someday, with my own hands, I am going to…” (151:62, October 7, 1962)

Abraham was the most-loved son of an idol merchant, and he lived well under his parents’ care. However, one day God called him saying, “Abraham, Abraham! You must leave from the house of your father Terah and go to the land I will show you.”

God did not give him any advance preparation; the order came to him suddenly, like a bolt out of the blue. Yet in that circumstance, Abraham was not supposed to hesitate. He had to leave at once, as if he had been waiting for God’s order.

He could not say, “Lord, please give me some time to get ready.” He had to depart immediately. Had he not done so, it would have been a grave mistake affecting many generations and even the course of human history.

In other words, had Abraham delayed, it would have been a condition that Satan could accuse, nullifying all God’s historical efforts heretofore. Knowing this, those who are to attend God’s command must act right away. (43:270, May 1, 1971)

Suppose Abraham had gone to his parents and said, “Father, Mother, God has commanded me to leave Ur and travel to an unknown land. I intend to obey Him.”

They undoubtedly would have said, “Are you crazy?” Therefore, he could not say a word about it.

Moreover, his instructions were not just to visit a nearby village. God instructed him to journey to a strange land, as far away as Egypt.

Abraham could overcome these obstacles and leave home because he had absolute faith in God’s words. His love for God was absolute, greater than his love for his parents, his relatives, or his homeland.

To Abraham, nothing was more important than God’s command; he cherished it more than his own life. I am sure he stole away in the middle of the night. Suddenly, he found himself wandering like a gypsy. He lived in self-denial; he had given up everything. (69:95, October 21, 1973)

In the land of Canaan, God trained Abraham. As God advanced the dispensation, He put Abraham in circumstances where he would weep, not only for his own people but also for other peoples and even his enemies… God conducted His work by having Abraham wander about like a gypsy in a foreign land.

Though a stranger, he prayed sincerely, in tears, for the people’s salvation. That is why God could establish Abraham as the ancestor of faith and to bless his descendants to prosper greatly like the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore. (52:53, December 14, 1971)

In the wilderness, Abraham our ancestor, awaited the coming of the day when God’s reign could be established. He left the fertile rivers of his homeland in hope, looking towards the day when the sons and daughters whom God had blessed would multiply and fill the earth like the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore, and smite the evil world.

Why should we care about Abraham?

We, too, are enslaved in the country of the enemy, behind its prison bars. We, too, should feel thoroughly disgusted with our lives in this fallen environment. We should also feel goosebumps at the prospect of freedom. If you cannot feel this, then you are not worthy to be called true believers before Heaven. For what purpose did God raise Abraham?

It was not for just himself and his descendants. It was to create a bridge for God to reach out to distant peoples living in the enemy camp, in Satan’s world. Abraham was to make a foundation for God’s providence to expand outward. However, because the connection between Heaven and Earth was still fragile, God had to begin by working through Abraham’s direct lineage.

Thus, He referred to Himself as the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob… God blessed Abraham on the condition, “You must not compromise with Satan’s world. You must not assimilate into Satan’s world.

You are My chosen people. Your life should be different; your feelings, desires and ideals should all be different. Your descendants shall live only if they overcome life’s challenges by relying on Me.”

This was the nature of the blessing Abraham passed on to Isaac. Isaac kept it and conveyed it to Jacob, and Jacob likewise conveyed it to his descendants. (7:215-16, September 13, 1959)

And he said to him, “I am the Lord who brought you from Ur of the Chaldeans, to give you this land to possess.” But he said, “O Lord God, how am I to know that I shall possess it?” He said to him, “Bring me a heifer three years old, a she-goat three years old, a ram three years old, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.”

And he brought him all these, cut them in two, and laid each half over against the other; but he did not cut the birds in two. And when birds of prey came down upon the carcasses, Abram drove them away. As the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell on Abram; and lo, a dread and great darkness fell upon him.

Then the Lord said to Abram, “Know of a surety that your descendants will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs, and will be slaves there, and they will be oppressed for four hundred years…” Genesis 15.7-13

Teachings of Sun Myung Moon
Abraham offered three sacrifices—two birds, a ram and a she-goat, and a heifer—but he was careless and failed to cut the birds in two. If he had been more serious and mindful that this offering was for the sake of humanity and for the sake of God, not for himself, then he would not have committed that historical blunder. (93:313, June 12, 1977)

Because Abraham did not cut the dove and pigeon in two as he should have, birds of prey came down and defiled the sacrifices. As a result of his mistake, the Israelites were destined to enter Egypt and suffer hardships for four hundred years. Why was it a sin not to cut the birds in half?

God’s work of salvation aims to restore the sovereignty of goodness by first dividing good from evil and then destroying evil and uplifting the good. This is the reason Adam had to be divided into Cain and Abel before the sacrifice could be made.

This is the reason why in Noah’s day, God struck down evil through the flood judgment and winnowed out Noah’s family as the good. God had Abraham cut the sacrifices in two before offering them, with the intention of doing the symbolic work of dividing good from evil, which was left unaccomplished by Adam and Noah…

In other words, when Abraham offered the birds without first dividing them, it meant that he offered what had not been wrested from Satan’s possession. (Exposition of the Divine Principle, Foundation 3.1.2)

God sought to change the course of human history through Abraham, by his condition of making the symbolic offering. Yet because the condition was not made, the course of Abraham’s family had to pass through three stages, from Abraham to Isaac and Jacob, and the turning of history required an arduous process of symbolic, image-like and substantial conditions. (81:96, December 1, 1975)

Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, bore him no children. She had an Egyptian maid whose name was Hagar; and Sarai said to Abram, “Behold now, the Lord has prevented me from bearing children; go in to my maid; it may be that I shall obtain children by her.” And Abram hearkened to the voice of Sarai.

So, after Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan, Sarai, Abram’s wife, took Hagar the Egyptian, her maid, and gave her to Abram her husband as a wife.

And he went in to Hagar, and she conceived; and when she saw that she had conceived, she looked with contempt on her mistress.

And Sarai said to Abram, “May the wrong done to me be on you! I gave my maid to your embrace, and when she saw that she had conceived, she looked on me with contempt. May the Lord judge between you and me!” But Abram said to Sarai, “Behold, your maid is in your power; do to her as you please.” Then Sarai dealt harshly with her, and she fled from her.

The angel of the Lord found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, the spring on the way to Shur. And he said, “Hagar, maid of Sarai, where have you come from and where are you going?” She said, “I am fleeing from my mistress Sarai.”

The angel of the Lord said to her, “Return to your mistress, and submit to her.” The angel of the Lord also said to her, “I will so greatly multiply your descendants that they cannot be numbered for multitude.” And the angel of the Lord said to her, “Behold, you are with child, and shall bear a son; you shall call his name Ishmael; because the Lord has given heed to your affliction. Genesis 16.1-12

Abraham said, “My Lord! Make safe this territory [of Mecca], and preserve my sons and me from serving idols. My Lord! Truly they have led many of mankind astray. But whoever follows me, he truly is of me. And whoever disobeys me—still, You are Forgiving, Merciful.

Our Lord, I have settled some of my posterity in an uncultivable valley near your Sacred House, Lord, that they may establish proper worship; so incline some hearts of men that they may yearn toward them, and provide them with fruits in order that they may be thankful.”12 Qur’an 14.35-37

Teachings of Sun Myung Moon
If Abraham had not failed in the symbolic offering, Isaac and his half-brother Ishmael would have stood in the positions of Abel and Cain.

They would have been responsible for fulfilling the indemnity condition to remove the fallen nature that Cain and Abel did not accomplish.13 However, because Abraham failed in the offering, God set up Isaac in the position of Abraham, and Esau and Jacob in the positions originally intended for Ishmael and Isaac. (Exposition of the Divine Principle, Foundation 3.2)

Ishmael was the Cain-type offspring of Abraham, born from his concubine Hagar. Abraham’s concubine and Abraham’s wife fought and became enemies. The two women were supposed to be united as one family; then God’s historical burden would have been lighter.

Instead they fought, and Sarah expelled Hagar. This division could have been restored at the time of Jesus, but it was not. As a result of Jesus’ crucifixion, there arose divisions—up and down, right and left, and front and rear—which have persisted through the last 2,000 years.

Among nations, there would be conflict between the left wing and the right wing, and among religions, Islam would emerge as the opponent of Christianity. Islam was victorious in the lands of the Middle East. (215:253, February 20, 1991)

The Lord said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do, seeing that Abraham shall become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall bless themselves by him? No, for I have chosen him, that he may charge his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing righteousness and justice; so that the Lord may bring to Abraham what he has promised him.” Genesis 18.17-19

The Lord said, “Because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great and their sin is very grave, I will go down to see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry which has come to me; and if not, I will know.” So the men turned from there, and went toward Sodom, but Abraham still stood before the Lord. Then Abraham drew near, and said, “Will you indeed destroy the righteous with the wicked? Suppose there are fifty righteous within the city; will you still destroy the place and not spare it for the fifty righteous who are in it? Far be it from you to do such a thing, to slay the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous fare as the wicked! Far be that from you! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?” And the Lord said, “If I find at Sodom fifty righteous in the city, I will spare the whole place for their sake.” Abraham answered, “Behold, I have taken upon myself to speak to the Lord, I who am but dust and ashes. Suppose five of the fifty righteous are lacking? Will you destroy the whole city for lack of five?” And he said, “I will not destroy it if I find forty-five there.” “Suppose forty… thirty… twenty…” “For the sake of twenty I will not destroy it.” “Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak again but this once. Suppose ten are found there.” “For the sake of ten I will not destroy it.” And the Lord went his way when he had finished speaking to Abraham, and Abraham returned to his place. Genesis 18.20-33

Teachings of Sun Myung Moon
Sodom and Gomorrah deserved God’s punishment. It was not Abraham’s direct concern whether the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah understood the will of God or whether their people were doomed.

Yet because he had a sense of mission for the divine dispensation, he felt that he should take responsibility for them. Day and night, Abraham felt anxious over the fate of the two cities; what is written in the Bible reveals some of his inner feelings.

Today, as we witness the concluding period of the 6,000-year history of God’s providence, we can sleep in peace, wear nice clothes, and eat good food, but not because of any merit on our part.

The reason the world can at least sustain us is because, in the background, there was Abraham, and countless unknown people like him, as a hidden root. They appealed to God on behalf of their people, shedding tears and blood on countless altars…

If there were even a few righteous people in Sodom and Gomorrah who knew of Abraham’s fervent prayer that penetrated into heaven, of his discussion with God face-to-face, Abraham could have used them as a condition when he appealed to God, “O Father, who determines and judges with justice, far be it that you should slay the righteous with the wicked!”

Nonetheless, when he realized that he was the only one praying for Sodom and Gomorrah, Abraham’s heart was deeply saddened. (1:138-39, July 1, 1956)

America—this Sodom and Gomorrah-like hell! Unless I can deal with it and restore it, the Kingdom of Heaven cannot be built. It has every element that can ruin the youth of the world.

It is the breeding place of drugs, promiscuity, and all manner of corruption. I am trying to clean it up with my own hands. (105:324, October 28, 1979) Since I came to America, I have been working as hard as I can, and also I am pushing Americans to go through many hardships.

Nevertheless, if we can prosper, it can be a blessing to America, and an indemnity condition that can cover the failure of America to fulfill its God-given mission.

Then, I can pray to God, “Heavenly Father, please have regard for these children and forgive America for their sakes.

Although America deserves to perish because these children are devoted to Thee, please save this nation.” It is similar to Abraham’s prayer when he pleaded with God to spare Sodom and Gomorrah if ten righteous people could be found. (103:200, February 25, 1979)