Now Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers they only hated him the more… "Behold, I have dreamed another dream; and behold, the sun, the moon, and eleven stars were bowing down to me."
Genesis 37:5
Sold Into Slavery
37:2-4 This is the history of the family of Jacob. Joseph being seventeen years old, was shepherding the flock with his brothers; he was a lad with the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his fathers wives; and Joseph brought an ill report of them to their father. Now Israel loved Joseph more than any other of his children, because he was the son of his old age; and he made him a long robe with sleeves. But when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him. and could not speak peaceably to him.
37:5 Now Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers they only hated him the more. Behold, I have dreamed another dream; and behold the sun, the moon, and eleven stars were bowing down to me."
The restoration of the birthright was just carried out on the family level, and that particular family expanded to the national level years after Jacob won over Esau. Jacob and his family had to flee to Egypt, where over the generations they developed into a great tribe.
Why were Jacob and his family sent to Egypt, which was enemy territory?
Since that family was given the blessing of being called Israel, all the various elements of that family had to be united, but that had not been done. There was still room for Satan to accuse them of not being united.
This was manifested in the fact that Jacob loved his eleventh son, Joseph, very much, and the ten older brothers were jealous. Instead of thinking of Jacob's happiness or mission, they were envious of Joseph and tried to kill him, eventually selling him into slavery in Egypt.
Even though he was first a slave, Joseph became respected and loved by the Pharaoh and eventually became the prime minister. When a seven-year famine struck Canaan, Jacob's family was saved by Joseph when he gave them assistance in Egypt.
Day of Victory of Heaven
October 4, 1979
The spirit of God can touch you and teach you… In dreams, visions, and revelations.
Moreover, a spirit guide may take you on a guided tour and open the reality of the spirit world to you.
Since dreams are one medium that God uses to reveal Himself, some dreams may give important revelations… Over 70 percent of the revelations recorded in the Bible came through the medium of dreams.
[For instance,] a most important revelation came in the New Testament. After Mary conceived the baby Jesus, an angel appeared one night to Joseph, saying, “Joseph, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit.”
In the Old Testament, Jacob's eleventh son, Joseph, once told his family about a dream in which the sun, the moon, and eleven stars came and bowed down to him. This mere boy vividly recalled his dream.
Later on, Joseph became the prime minister of Egypt, and his father and mother, who were represented by the sun and moon in the dream, and his eleven brothers, the stars, came and hewed down to him.
If there is some vivid, unusual dream that you remembered for more than three years, I want you to know that such a dream is a revelation, the work of God.
The Will of God and Individual Perfection
February 27, 1977
In the Last Days, Jesus said, “The sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven.” How are we to understand this verse?
In [Joseph's] dream, the sun and moon symbolized the parents, while the stars symbolized their children. Jesus and the Holy Spirit are the True Parents who came to give rebirth to humanity in place of Adam and Eve.
Therefore, in this prophecy from Matthew, the sun and moon represent Jesus and the Holy Spirit, while the stars represent the faithful believers who are their children.
Elsewhere, Jesus is likened to the true light because he came as the incarnation of the Word and shone forth the light of truth. Here, the sunlight means the light of the words of Jesus, and the moonlight means the light of the Holy Spirit, who came as the Spirit of truth.
Exposition of the Divine Principle
Part I, Chapter 3, Section 3.2.5
37:23 So when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his robe, the long robe with sleeves that he wore
24 and they took him and cast him into a pit. The pit was empty; there was no water in it.
25 Then they sat down to eat; and looking up they saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead, with their caramels bearing gum, balm, and myrrh, on their way to carry it down to Egypt.
26 Then Judah said to his brothers, "What profit is it if we slay our brother and conceal his blood?
27 Come, let us sell him to the Ishmelites, and let not our hand be upon him, for he is our brother; our own flesh." And his brothers heeded him.
28 Then Midianite traders passed by; and they drew Joseph up and lifted him out of the pit, and sold him to the Islmaelites for twenty shekels of silver; and they took Joseph to Egypt.
Jacob's family stood upon the foundation for the Messiah which had been completed in Isaac's family. Inheriting the position of Isaac's family; they set out to complete the dispensation entrusted to Abraham by taking responsibility for Abraham's sin and embarking upon the 400-year course of restitution.
Jacob, in the position of Abel, walked the entire course of restitution for Isaac's family. In Jacob's family,I t was Joseph, the son of Rachel – Jacob's wife on God's side – who was to secure the position of Abel by entering Egypt and walking the course of restitution.
After being sold into slavery by his brothers and brought to Egypt, he rose to the office of Prime Minister of Egypt by the age of 30. Joseph witnessed the realization of a prophecy that God had given him in his dreams while he was still a child.
First, Joseph's half brothers, born of Leah Jacobs's wife on Satan's side, entered Egypt and surrendered themselves to him.
Later, all of Jacob's children entered Egypt, and finally, they brought their father to Egypt. In this way, Jacob's family began the restitutional course to build a nation which would one day receive the Messiah.
Jacob, as the central figure who laid the foundation for the Messiah in Isaac's family, was responsible to redeem Abraham's foundation. He was also responsible to embark upon a restitutional course to realize on the national level the will which had been entrusted to Isaac.
Therefore, as was the case for Abraham and Isaac, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob came to be regarded as the same person concerning God's will, even though they were three different individuals. Jacob's success meant Isaac's success, and Isaac's success meant Abraham's success.
The providence of restoration centering on Abraham, though it was extended to Isaac and Jacob, was regarded in the sight of God as having been accomplished in Abraham's generation without any prolongation. It is written, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.”
Exposition of the Divine Principle
Part II, Chapter 1, Section 3.3
39:5 From the time that he made him overseer in his house and over all that he had the Lord blessed the Egyptian's house for Joseph's sake, the blessing of the Lord was upon all that he had, in house and field.
6 Now Joseph was handsome and good-looking.
7 And after a time his master's wife cast her eyes upon Joseph and said, "Lie with me."
8 But he refused and said to his master's wife, 'Lo, having me, my master has no concern about anything in the house, and he has put everything that he has in my hand;
9 he is not greater in this house than I am: nor has he kept back anything from me except yourself, because you are his wife; how then can I do this great wickedness and sin against God?"
How should we conduct ourselves to be always successful and never a failure?
I look at a successful person, and I ask, “How did he win? Was it in the proper way, by maintaining the right order?” If so, I am pleased to recognize his success, but if he is seen by everybody as having gained success through expedient and underhanded means, then I do not recognize that.
We have to judge ourselves whenever we succeed, whether our principles were consistent with those of a true victor. Why is that?
Success must always come through right orderliness. The universe will not allow us to succeed for long unless we conform to that law. Now we know the way to succeed all the time.
The Victorious Person and the Defeated Person
March 3, 1982
To reach the love of God in your daily life, the most essential thing is knowing how to conquer your body. The body has three fundamental desires. First, the body gets hungry and seeks food.
Set a superior standard and demonstrate how your love of God is stronger than your body's love of food. Jesus conquered that particular desire and went through a 40-day fast. Many prophets and saints in history emphasized fasting in their lives of faith.
Hunger is the worst kind of suffering, and if you can forget your desperate hunger in your search for God, you have made a very precious statement. Have you been longing for God more than for food? That is the real test, and that is the way you should think when you're fast.
Until I was 30, there was no day that t was not hungry because I deliberately went without food to test myself. At that time, I was so hungry that if someone was eating nearby my mouth hung open and saliva drooled out even without my being aware of it.
When it gets hungry enough, the body just automatically reacts that way. You can't say you have overcome your body until you have conquered desperate hunger by the power of your love of God.
The second fundamental urge is for sleep.
Can you demonstrate that your love of God is stronger than your body's desire for sleep?
The second test is passed when, in thinking of God, He is so real and relevant that your intense love of God conquers your urgent desire to sleep.
Throughout history all the people who seriously searched fin God led ascetic lives and always had to fight their desire to sleep. For seven years I never slept more than two hours a day. This morning I arrived at 5 am, after traveling all night. My whole life has been like that.
It is most difficult to go beyond the level of hunger and sleepiness for the love of God. Jesus had to conquer all those bodily desires. The Bible said that he fasted for 40 days, and we can well imagine that his life was a struggle both day and night.
Jesus asked his closest disciples to stay awake and watch with him while he prayed desperately in the Garden of Gethsemane, but what happened to the disciples?
They fell asleep. They could not overcome sleep, and Jesus told them that though their minds were willing, their flesh was weak.
The third desire you must conquer is the urge for physical love. The worst kind of temptation for religious people always comes in the form of sex. When men pray, Satan creeps into their minds in the form of a beautiful woman.
Men and women have instinctive sexual desire, but your intense love for God should be stronger than that desire for carnal love. In this respect, the American young people have a great deal to overcome. The permissiveness in America has left the moral life of Americans looking like a dirty rag.
Now you understand why the major religions throughout history have always emphasized the value of celibacy: Your body is your worst enemy, mine, and it has three formidable weapons: the desire for food, the desire for sleep, and the desire for physical love. You have no idea how many tears I have shed to win over these temptations.
Core of Unification
October 9, 1977
39:12 She caught him by his garment, saying, "Lie with me... But he left his garment in her hand and fled and got out of the house.
13 And when she saw that he had left his garment in her hand, and had fled out of the house,
14 she called to the men of her household and said to them… See, he has brought among us a Hebrew to insult us; he came in to me to lie with me, and I cried out with a loud voice;
15 and when he heard that lifted up my voice and cried, he left his garment with me, and fled and got out of the house...
The religious way of life initially demands sacrifice, requiring that you deny all your surroundings and ultimately deny yourself. This is not to destroy you but to save you and let you emerge later as a victorious person.
You must become invincible so that nothing can deter you from moving forward to the ultimate goal of meeting God and becoming perfected. In that commitment, you will have the willpower to deny everything and to continue moving forward to become a victor.
If you demonstrate the power to deny your surroundings, then ultimately another, more difficult kind of temptation will come spiritually… The worst temptations for men always come through women.
A most beautiful, charming woman can make a man feel intoxicated, but if you annihilate that temptation, then you will prove yourself a victorious man. The worst temptation for a woman usually comes in the form of the most handsome man.
This is the real test. This is God's standard for recognizing anyone as a true man or woman.
When you use this criterion to evaluate the many religions, do you conclude that they merely oscillate back and forth within the realm of death, or are they taking themselves out of that realm into resurrection?
The teachings of the most prominent religions in history have always been similar.
They emphasize an individual's denial of his circumstances and his leading a celibate life in most cases, trying to conquer sexual temptation and stand on the side of God.
Christianity in particular emphasizes this in the West, while in the Orient, Buddhists isolate themselves from the secular world to make themselves divine, trying to follow spiritual instead of carnal desires.
A man of religion is always going to the mountains to isolate himself. Jesus, for example, went to many lonely places, fasting and taking time for prayer and secluded meditation. That is the kind of effort needed to pass God's test and be recognized as a man of perfection.
Our Newborn Selves
November 1, 1977
39:19 When his master heard the words which his wife spoke to him, "This is the way your servant treated me," his anger was kindled.
20 And Joseph's master took him and put him into the prison, the place where the king's prisoners were confined, and he was their in prison.
Two basic types of people get sent to jail. One type goes against the legitimate Interests of society for selfish reasons and breaks the law. But the other type is working to destroy Satan. Such people will also wind up in prison.
This has been true throughout history. Two different types of people have been imprisoned and even executed. One was the genuine criminal, and the other was the true person of God trying to expel Satan from society.
Such people were always falsely accused and thus ended up in prison. History is a witness to this.
However, godly people have used imprisonment as an opportunity to cut the satanic net around this world and create a net of God's love. Even though the forces representing Satan may put a godly person in prison, they cannot handle him or digest him. They cannot destroy him, either.
If a civil government under the influence of Satan mistakenly brings a man of God to prison and that man continues to exhibit love for others in an exemplary way, what will happen?
When Satan tries to condemn such a person, he has to pay the restitution… Satan has no power to match the power of unconditional love.
This is the very strategy of God. Often in the past, God sent His beloved children into the dungeons of hell. Occasionally, he even allowed Satan to kill them, but in the eternal realm, the satanic world has to pay the price for that. In such a way, God counterattacks Satan's forces and regains the world. That has been His historical strategy.
Jesus Christ was the greatest example of this… Jesus never condemned others and told his followers instead, “Love your enemy.” He forgave the Roman soldiers because he knew he was dying as a sacrifice and that eventually his love would conquer the Roman Empire.
The value of the son of God is greater than that of all the children of the fallen realm. That is the law. But God did not lose by this sacrifice. He created another realm beyond the crucifixion: the realm of resurrection.
The years of the Victory of God
August 20, 1987
39:21 But the Lord was with Joseph and showed him steadfast love, and gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison.
22 And the keeper of the prison committed to Joseph's care all the prisoners who were in the prison; and whatever was done there, he was the doer of it;
23 the keeper of the prison paid no heed to anything that was in Joseph's care, because the Lord was with him; and whatever he did, the Lord made it prosper.
There are two kinds of people. One immediately fights and retaliates, and ruins their whole day when any kind of inconvenience comes. The second thinks philosophically: why did this come to me? What do I deserve? Why do I deserve this trouble? What can I expect from this? We must know that this encounter has great significance.
You know the story of Joseph, whose jealous brothers put him in a well. Later, he was rescued, and he served in the nobleman's [Potiphar's] house. Potiphar's wife tried to seduce him, but he did not fall.
Later on, for that reason, he got to meet his brothers. This turned out to be the way of saving the Israelites. Who knows how things will work out? Somebody was working. It's not mysterious to God, only to us.
If it were not for three years' imprisonment in North Korea, I would never have known what communism is. Maybe like everyone else, I would have thought, “Oh, that is just another philosophy,” and dismissed it. But by enduring three years in prison, I could come to understand in minute detail the nature of communism and could decide to try to liberate people from communism, the enemy of God.
This grand principle applies even to daily life. The outcome of an innocent happening, an accident, depends upon your attitude towards it. If you live like that, your life will improve…We do have accidents. Maybe that's His will, and as a result of that, we gain a different level, a higher level.
We are bound to get to a higher level if our minds are good.
Who knows what will happen in the future?
If something happens, everyone may agree, it is a tragedy. But there are two ways for us to respond: either complaint, or continue contemplating what chance this offers me. Who is the wise person, the sagacious person? The wise person, like Joseph, does not complain.
HEAVEN'S STRATEGY
38:38 And Pharaoh said to his servants, "Can we find such a man as this, in whom is the Spirit of God?"
39 So Pharaoh said to Joseph, "Since God has shown you all this, there is none so discreet and wise as you are;
40 you shall be over my house, and all my people shall order themselves as you command; only as regards the throne will I be greater than you."
41 And Pharaoh said to Joseph, "Behold, I have set you over all the land of Egypt."
Heaven's strategy is to allow itself to be struck first, and then to use this as a condition to take something from the other side. Satan strikes first, but eventually, he has to pay reparations.
Heaven teaches us to love even our enemies. Heaven ultimately requires us to love even Satan. Such love is proof that one is spiritually alive. I visited Mikhail Gorbachev and Kim Il-sung to practice God's true love by loving my enemies.
Persecution plays into God's strategy for us to inherit all of Satan's rights to ownership. Individuals and even the entire cosmos opposed me, but this opposition only served as my opportunity to develop further. Each of us must come to know God with certainty.
God Is Our King
May 8, 2001
Occasionally, you think that God wants to judge unrighteous and bad people. How do you think God will do that? Will God just use almighty power and authority and judge people? No, God, too, is thinking love is the only way He can conquer His enemy, which is evil.
Even God thinks this way. Therefore, God, like a very impotent, incapable person, loves and invests and forgets, continually for thousands of years. Love is the only way He can embrace evil.
Even though we may not understand everything right away, we can, by reason and logic, understand that it must be so. God must be investing and forgetting. By using true love, God is carrying out this dispensation.
Do you still have reservations that God may retaliate occasionally? No, you have never seen an example of that. That is God's strategy. Here is a master. Without knowing, the servant hits the master's head. Thereafter, what kind of feeling would the servant have towards the master?
You can imagine, right?
That is what God has been doing. He has been hit first, and then subjugation takes place automatically without God saying anything. Satan, on the other hand, always jumps up and strikes, and then realizes it was wrong, and then loses.
In World War I, World War II, and World War III (World War III was the individual war). The common point was that the one who struck first lost. God put Reverend Moon in the position of making him available to be opposed by everybody in the world, and let him be struck. After striking, they will all be won over. All Satan's side will be brought over to God's side.
The Unification Church – Our Pride
May 2, 1993
42:5 And the sons of Israel came to buy corn among those that came; for the famine was in the land of Canaan.
6 And Joseph was the governor over the land, and he it was that sold to all the people of the land, and Joseph's brethren came and bowed down themselves before him with their faces to the earth.
7 And Joseph saw his brethren, and he knew them, but made himself strange unto them and spoke roughly unto them, and he said unto them, "Whence come ye?" And they said, "From the land of Canaan to buy food."
8 And Joseph knew his brethren but they knew not him.
All of Joseph's brothers tried to kill him by throwing him into a cistern. But he was saved and sold into slavery in Egypt. He went through many miserable situations. But by correctly interpreting the Pharaoh's dream, he became the prime minister of Egypt.
The Liberation of Heaven and Earth
March 3, 1976
His brothers and Father came to Egypt and humbly bowed before him, fulfilling a prophetic dream he had as a child. Based upon this providential victory, the Israelites entered Egypt and commenced a period of hardships for the purpose of severing Satan's ties.
Joseph's course foreshadowed the course that Jesus would later walk. After coming to the satanic world, Jesus would endure a path of hardships and emerge as the King of Kings at the age of 30. He was to bring all of humanity, including his forefathers, into submission, cut all their ties to the satanic world, and restore them to God's realm.
Exposition of the Divine Principle
Part II Chapter 2, Section 2
48:17 When Joseph saw his father placing his right hand on Ephraim's head he was displeased; so he took hold of his father's hand to move it from Ephriam's head to bless Manasseh's head.
18 Joseph said to him, "No, my father this one is the firstborn; put your right hand on his head." But his father refused and said, "I know, my son, I know he too will become a people, and he too will become great. Nevertheless, his younger brother will be greater than he and his descendants wilt become a group of nations.
I was in the same position as David and Joseph. For that reason, regardless of what persecution I faced from my brothers in Christianity, I never felt hatred toward them or sought revenge. Rather, I was patient and persevered, knowing that they would one day come to me, the way the brothers of Joseph did, and ask for help.
Joseph forgave his brothers, although forgiveness would be impossible from a purely personal standpoint. He knew that they all came from the same parent, as their brother Jacob. He felt, “They are my brothers, and regardless of their crime, I will forgive them.”
Likewise, from the personal standpoint, I might feel no reason for forgiveness toward the leaders of established Christianity. But knowing that God is our common Father and I must embody His will, then I can and must forgive them.
The hope for the revival of America hinges upon the awakening of Christianity, which represents the Christianity of the world. The wealth, resources, and technology of the United States should be dedicated to serving the whole world.
When it shares with the rest of the world, the United States can preserve its identity and prosperity. Such an awakening needs to come.
The Globe is Our Home
June 8, 1986
Originally, the firstborn was always the son of God. But from the Principle we know that restitution means the second son should be restored to the firstborn position, and the firstborn should be brought down to the position of second-born. If there had been no Fall, this would not be necessary.
However, Satan took the firstborn of the first creation; thus, God always claims the second-born, and by raising him into the position of firstborn, God can restore the heavenly birthright. This is why there is a tradition throughout the Bible of God blessing the second-born.
When Jacob blessed Joseph's two sons, his right hand, by custom, was supposed to be on the head of the firstborn, but he crossed his arms so that his right hand was on the second-born instead. Joseph said, “Not so, my father. This one is the firstborn; put your right hand upon his head.”
But Jacob said, “Nevertheless, his younger brother shall be greater than he.” Satan claimed the first world, in which we live. When the Messiah comes, he will bring the restored world, in the second-born position, belonging to God.
Children's Day
November 22, 1976
99:1 Then Jacob called for his sons and said: "Gather around so I can tell you what will happen to you in days to come.
2 Assemble and listen, sons Of Jacob; listen to your father Israel."
Once, a Jewish man asked me, “If the Jews are the chosen people whom God loves the most, why did God allow so much suffering to fall upon them? Can you answer me?” I replied, “The answer a rather simple, but explaining it fully would require one hour. Could you give up one hour of your nine to listen?” He said he couldn't do that, so I told him maybe we would talk another time.
I want you to know that it is God's will that all religions be united into one. You know restoration takes place according to the law of indemnity, and that God's purpose is the restoration of all mankind. Some people, like Jesus, are in the position to sacrifice for the sake of the world.
The Jews as well are in a position to help God restore billions of people around the world. Their sacrifices must not remain in vain. They served an important purpose in the history of God for the sake of restoring all the multitudes of people in history.
Among the religions of the world, the Jews have suffered the most because God's loved ones are always in a position to be a sacrifice. Because God allowed such suffering to come to the Jews, God expected them to be the strongest, most understanding, and most united religious people.
Who shall play the central role in uniting all religions? God handpicked the Jews and trained them for that role. Their oppression was not a punishment from God, but was the same glorious sacrificial role that Jesus was given to complete the restoration of mankind.
Day of the Victory of Heaven
October 4, 1979
49:1 The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler's staff from between his feet, until he comes to whom it belongs and the obedience of the nations is his.
Judah's tribe came to hold an exceptional position in the sight of God. The Cain-Abel struggle for dominion was determined in Tamar's womb. This is why Jesus Christ could be conceived only in Judah's lineage.
God always planned that Satan should have no power to claim a baby inside the mother's womb, and the act of Tamar completely dissolved the claim of Satan from the mother's womb to maturity. It was truly a tremendous, joyful victory for God.
However, all these events were merely preparation. The true child of God's lineage was not yet conceived. After that event, another 2,000 years of the history of Israel passed. Why did God have to wait for the Messiah for 2,000 more years?
God needed the foundation of a nation because the Messiah's work can only be triumphant through one sovereign nation. Not just the family, but the nation of Israel had to be formed. From the victorious foundation of the family, the formation of a tribe and a nation took 2,000 years.
Then the time was certainly ready for the advent of the Messiah. Thus, the victory at the time of Jacob came through three levels: Jacob's level, Judah's level, and Tamar's level, and after 2,000 years on the national level, the substantial act of bringing in the son of God took place.
Jacob's victory represents the victory of the individual, family, and tribe, but not a nation.
Once God was successful on the national level and could bring His son into this world, then all the nations of the world could come into God's kingdom. That was the plan.
Children's Day
November 22, 1976
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