Reading Life Through The Principle - Day 5

So, I finished last time with these stories about Abraham, who we say is our father of faith. Abraham is the father of faith for Jews, Christians, Muslims, and also for us. The question is, what was Abraham's faith? If Abraham was the father of faith, how did he come to discover God? How did he form this relationship with God? I told those stories last week about how Abraham worked out that God existed. Abraham was a thinker, like a philosopher, and he came to the conclusion that God existed. But not only was he a philosopher; he was a truth seeker, completely and utterly committed to the truth, even at the risk of his life. We will see this as we look at his life more and more later on.

When Abraham confronted Nimrod, he had to decide who he was. Was he Nimrod's subject, the one who had to bow down and worship Nimrod, a dictator who claimed to be God? Or did he find the core of his identity in something else? For Abraham, the core of his identity was not in his relationship with Nimrod but in his relationship with God. He felt God's presence to the depths of his being. He knew God was a reality, and he could not deny that reality, even if Nimrod threatened him with death. In that sense, we could say Abraham went through this life and situation for the sake of God and the future dignity of man. Human beings should find the core of their identity not as subjects of a dictator but as sons and daughters of God. This was the way in which he himself went through this change of lineage, which is essentially a change of identity.

If someone asked me, 'Who are you?' and I were to say, 'I'm the son of God,' or if someone asked Roma, 'Who are you?' and she said, 'I'm God's daughter,' that means one is defining one's identity in terms of one's lineage. My lineage defines my identity. Change of lineage is essentially about change of identity, finding the core of one's identity in one's relationship with God as opposed to something else, like those idols I talked about before. Father talked about this speech a long time ago in 1959. He said Abraham was determined that no matter what kind of ordeals and difficulties he might face—and he faced many—he would overcome them hundreds and thousands of times. Again and again, he was challenged, and the heart of Abraham, in the heart of God, who was desperately looking for a reciprocal object, came together in unity.

Abraham was reaching out to God and encountered Him, finding God who was able to proudly give Abraham His blessings, which included the garden of the absolute ideal for which God longed. This is how Abraham was put in the blessed position of being the central ancestor of faith before heaven. We read about that in the story of Adam and Eve; God blessed Adam and Eve, and God blessed Abraham. It's interesting to look at Abraham's family. After this encounter with Nimrod, Terah, who was Abraham's father, said, 'We shouldn't stay here anymore; let's leave town.' So the family set off like refugees to another place. It's a very complicated family, which could be described as the original soap opera.

Terah's oldest son was called Haran. Haran had one son and one daughter; his son was called Lot, and he is the one who accompanied Abraham when he left Haran because Haran had already died. Lot had two daughters, which we will encounter later, and he had a sister who became Nahor's wife. Nahor had a son called Bethuel, who had a son called Laban and a daughter called Rebecca. Then Terah had a third son called Abram, who married Sarah, who was probably Terah's father's daughter. The exact relationship is not quite clear, but they were from within the same family. Later on, as you know, Abraham and Sarah had a son called Isaac, and Isaac married his cousin Rebecca. Isaac had two sons, Jacob and Esau. Jacob married two of his cousins, Leah and Rachel. Abraham, through Hagar, who was Sarah's maid, had a son called Ishmael, and from Ishmael came the Ishmaelites, the Arab people. From Esau came several daughters, and the last wife he married was Ishmael's daughter. From Leah and Rachel came the Israelites, the twelve tribes of Israel, and from two of those tribes came the Jewish people, the tribes of Judah and Benjamin. From there comes Jesus, and of course, from Jesus comes Christianity. It's a remarkable family with lots of interesting stories.

So, what is Abraham's place in God's providence? These couple of verses can be found in the Divine Principle, and I will explain and draw out the meaning of these verses. 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. I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonours you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.' The reality is that when we look at the world today, we see more than half the world's population descended from Abraham, whether they are Jews, Christians, or Muslims. After Sarah died, the Bible says that Abraham married again to a lady called Keturah, who is generally understood to be Hagar because Hagar was sent away. Through Keturah or Hagar, Abraham had more sons, quite a few actually, and before he died, he sent them away to the east. The tradition is that the other religions of the world, Hinduism, and from Hinduism came Buddhism and Sikhism, also descend from Abraham. It's remarkable; you could say that Abraham is the most influential human being in the whole of human history. He made a bigger impact on human history than any other human being. In fact, the whole inner life that we understand of ethics, morality, the purpose of life, and spirituality of all these faiths comes from Abraham.

Let's explore these verses in the Divine Principle in a bit more detail. 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.' What God is telling Abraham to do is to leave behind all the traditional sources of identity. He said, 'Go by yourself.' He went with his wife and his nephew, willing to go on this journey. This is a traditional Jewish explanation: only a person willing to stand alone, singular and unique, can worship the God who is alone, singular and unique. I will explore this whole understanding of individuality later. Only one able to leave behind the natural sources of identity can encounter God, who stands above and beyond nature. A journey into the unknown is one of the greatest possible expressions of freedom. God wanted Abraham and his children to be a living example of what it is to serve the God of freedom, in freedom, and for the sake of freedom. That's really important.

When we look at the Greek stories, we see how everything is determined by fate. You think you're free, but it's an illusion; all the future is predestined by fate or by determinism. In contrast, the biblical view is that the future is open and unknown. In that sense, people have freedom depending on the choices they make. People create their own future depending on how they respond to their reality. They choose this road instead of that road. Many of us here, the first generation, left behind all our traditional sources of identity and went on a journey into the unknown. We didn't know where this journey would take us, which country it would lead us to, who we would end up marrying, or what we would be doing with our lives. We embarked upon this journey in an act of faith. God called us, and we left our country, our kindred, and our father's house, going to a land that God has been showing us. Eventually, God got a name, but we stepped out in faith and made lots of decisions along the way.

Let's look at this in more detail. God said to Abraham, 'Go from your country.' What is happening here is that God is saying to Abraham, 'Your identity does not depend upon your nationality.' Normally, people think, 'I'm a citizen of Russia,' or 'I'm a citizen of Germany,' or 'I'm a French citizen.' My identity derives from the state. In most countries, the state gives you an identity card, which has your name, address, and identity number. Most people derive their identity from the state, and without their identity card, they don't have an identity. God is saying to Abraham, 'Go from your country; your identity does not depend upon your nationality.' It's not about whether you're British, Scottish, German, Italian, or Armenian; your identity depends upon something deeper than that. Nationality is like an idol that people worship, a false sense of identity. Father, in his peace messages, says that people are deluded into thinking the lineage of the enemy is what their life depends upon. It took me a long time to figure out what Father was saying in this peace message. The lineage of the enemy is something that can wrap up a person's whole identity. For some, their identity is wrapped up in their nationality or the football team they support, and whether they have a good day or a bad day depends on whether their football team wins or loses. That's the lineage of the enemy in that sense; a false sense of identity is an idol. God also said to Abraham, 'Go from your kindred.' In other words, He was saying to Abraham, 'Your identity does not depend upon the circumstances of your birth or your social class.' In England, social class is really important. Are you upper class, upper middle class, middle class, lower middle class, or working class? For many people, their identity depends upon the circumstances of their birth. Sometimes, people have it programmed into their heads, 'I'm from this class, and therefore this is what I should do with my life.' It's the same as what we talked about before regarding the caste system in India. It's the same thing: 'This is my caste; I'm an untouchable, or I'm from this caste or that caste, and that's the source of my identity.' God is saying to Abraham, 'Leave that behind; your identity does not depend upon your social class.'

God is saying to Abraham, leave your father's house. What does this mean? It means your identity does not depend upon your genetic inheritance. Sometimes people think, 'Oh, I'm born with a certain set of genes; that explains everything about who I am.' However, as we discussed last week regarding epigenetics, it is possible, through the way one thinks and feels, to bring about an epigenetic change. We are not defined by our genes; the way these genes are expressed can change depending on how we think, feel, and act. We observed this in mice, and it illustrates how things are passed on through generations. First-generation individuals often try to claim their inheritance through nationality, social class, or genetic background, but the future does not have to be determined by the past. We can create a new lineage, a new sense of identity, and new roots. This is what the Father has been doing, developing the principles that Abraham started.

You might wonder, why did God choose Abraham? The Bible states that God chose him to train his children and future family to observe God's way of life, living kindly, generously, and fairly, so that God could fulfil the promise made to Abraham. God did not choose Abraham for his intelligence, wealth, power, or organisational skills; He chose him simply because he would teach his children and family to observe God's way of life, to act justly and treat people fairly. God knew that Abraham would pass on to his descendants the proper way of living and the right tradition. This understanding has been passed down through Judaism, Christianity, and Islam for 4,000 years, encompassing a certain understanding of reality, our relationship with God, marriage, family, tradition, love, and forgiveness—all stemming from Abraham.

The name Abraham means 'father.' At his core, he was a father, and the word 'Abram' means 'father of many nations.' God changed his name at a certain point, which I will address later. Jonathan Sacks made a common observation regarding Darwin's theory of evolution, noting that the urge to reproduce, which Richard Dawkins famously termed the 'selfish gene,' is reflected in the Bible. The Bible, unlike other religious texts, is fundamentally about family and familial stories. In contrast, Buddhism focuses on personal enlightenment, while the Old Testament, especially Genesis, is rich with metaphors describing the relationship between God and human beings, centring around families—Adam and Eve, Abraham's family, Isaac's family—far more than any other religion.

Abram left home and set off on a journey. There is a story in the Talmud, a commentary on the Bible, about Abram travelling from place to place. He saw a palace in flames and wondered if it was possible that the palace had no owner. He would not expect a palace to be on fire without someone to extinguish it. The owner of the palace looked out and said, 'I am the owner of the palace.' Abram then asked, 'Is it possible the world lacks a ruler?' God replied, 'I am the ruler, the sovereign of the universe.' This serves as a metaphor for Abram looking at the world God created. He saw a beautiful world filled with the beauty of nature—the moon, stars, flowers, trees, fish, animals, streams, and mountains. He was amazed and felt as if he was living in a palace, yet he also experienced the reality of evil under the dictator Nimrod. He felt that although he lived in a palace, it was on fire. He questioned why the owner of the palace did not extinguish the fire, leading him to wonder if there was no God.

Everyone experiences evil in the world. When people say they do not believe in God, a common response is that if God existed, there would be no evil. They argue that if God is almighty, all-knowing, and genuinely cares, He would intervene and stop evil. They might cite personal tragedies, questioning why God did not prevent them. This is one way of dealing with the reality of evil. Another perspective, often found in spiritual communities, is to assert that there is a God and that evil is an illusion. This viewpoint, seen in Hinduism, suggests that what appears as injustice is actually justice from God's perspective. However, Abraham could not accept either of these views. From his own experience, he felt the presence of God and could not deny God's reality, yet he also recognised the existence of evil. Thus, he concluded that both God and evil exist, leading him to seek a reconciliation between the two.

Abraham asked God, 'Where are you?' and God replied, 'I am here. Where are you?' This reflects a profound question often raised in the context of suffering, such as during the Holocaust. People question why God allowed such evil to occur, but the real question is why humans perpetrated it and why bystanders did not intervene. This theme of confronting evil and suffering is common among the founders of great religions. For Moses, it began when he witnessed an unjust beating of a slave and intervened. For the Buddha, it was the realisation of suffering that prompted his spiritual journey. Jesus, too, was moved by the injustices of Roman occupation, while Muhammad sought answers to the injustices he observed in Mecca. Similarly, the Father sought to understand the suffering of the Korean people under Japanese occupation, reaching out to God for insight. This quest for understanding in the face of suffering is crucial and resonates deeply with my own spiritual journey.

Reflecting on my life, I recall a significant moment when I was 13 years old in 1970. I had the opportunity to go on a cruise ship with teenagers through the Baltic Sea, stopping in the Soviet Union. This was the first time the Soviet Union allowed tourists, starting with school children. During this journey, I visited Leningrad and then took an overnight train to Moscow. What struck me profoundly was the oppressive atmosphere; there were soldiers everywhere, and the environment felt grey and stifling. In Red Square, I wanted to see St. Basil's Cathedral, but it was closed for renovations. Instead, I was taken to Lenin's mausoleum, where thousands queued to see the preserved body of Lenin. I wondered why people would wait so long to see a dead body. The experience of visiting the Soviet Union left a lasting impact on me, highlighting the lack of spiritual freedom and the oppressive spirit of the regime. When I returned to England, I sought to understand communism, which led me to read Alexander Solzhenitsyn's 'A Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich.' This small book opened my eyes to the reality of political prisoners in the Soviet Union, making me realise that this was not just history but a current reality.

During my lifetime, while I was enjoying freedom, hundreds of thousands of people were living miserable lives for no good reason. They may have said something wrong or come from the wrong class. In Solzhenitsyn's case, he wrote something critical about the war effort during the Second World War and was given 15 years of imprisonment. When I realised this, it had a huge impact on me. I started reading more books and my conscience was struck. I thought, how can I live my life when all these people are suffering in the gulag? I felt I had to dedicate my life to undermining communism. At 15, I took a Russian class at school, inspired by my fascination with James Bond. I thought I would become a spy, go to the Soviet Union, and liberate those people. Many years later, in 1991, I had the opportunity to go to the Soviet Union and write textbooks for the spiritual and moral education of young people in a post-communist society. I lived there for seven years, which were some of the most meaningful years of my life.

I realised that my spiritual journey began with that experience, and it is equally important for our second generation to encounter the reality of life. It is crucial not to overprotect them. Wise people educate their children in this way. For example, Princess Diana, who was married to Prince Charles, used to secretly take her sons, William and Harry, out of the palace. She introduced them to homeless people living in cardboard boxes and sleeping bags on the pavements. This was to help them understand that while they were growing up in a palace, not everyone was as fortunate. Such experiences help develop a conscience and an attitude of public service, which they have inherited. It is essential for our children's education to understand the reality of life, as these encounters can lead to significant turning points in human history.

Now, let's discuss Abraham and obedience, which is quite interesting. It took me a long time to figure this out. When I read that God said to Abraham, 'I am God Almighty; walk before me and be blameless,' I found it peculiar. God did not say to Abraham, 'Follow me' or 'Obey me'; He said, 'Walk before me.' This made me wonder, who is Abraham supposed to be following if he is not following God? If God is following Abraham, then who is Abraham following? God wants Abraham to take the initiative and responsibility. He is not looking for people who merely follow orders; He seeks those who will take the initiative to make the world a better place.

This shift is from following orders, which is the mentality of a servant or a slave, to taking responsibility. If you rent a house and the roof starts leaking, you call the landlord. If you own the house, you take responsibility and fix it yourself. One attitude is about complaining and waiting to be told what to do, while the other is about taking ownership of your reality and responding to it. God is looking for sons who will take responsibility, not wait to be told what to do. If something needs cleaning, I will do it without waiting for someone to instruct me.

The word 'obedience' is prominent in our spiritual community, so it is important to understand its meaning. Many of you come from different countries and languages, so I encourage you to think about the word 'obey' in your own language. The English word 'obey' appeared in the late 13th century and comes from the Old French 'obiri.' This raises the question of what the English were doing before then, as they obviously weren't obeying anyone. The Latin root means 'to listen to' or 'to give ear.' The original meaning of the word was about listening, which is interesting. However, the modern meanings have shifted to executing commands, yielding submission, and following orders, which is a far cry from the original intent.

The meaning of 'obedient' changed in the late 14th century to imply bending or prostration as a gesture of submission. This shift occurred during the feudal era when lords wanted their peasants to follow orders without question. Thus, the word 'obedient' came to mean simply doing as one is told, regardless of whether it is right or wrong. In contrast, the Hebrew language, in which Abraham lived, does not have a word that means 'obey' in the same sense. Instead, the Hebrew verb 'shama' means to listen, hear, internalise, understand, and then respond. This is a significant distinction, as it implies taking responsibility rather than merely following orders.

In the Nuremberg trials, some Nazis claimed they were not responsible for their actions because they were just following orders. However, it was established that following orders is no excuse for wrongdoing. This highlights the importance of listening and taking responsibility for our actions. For instance, during my visit to Auschwitz, I learned about a soldier who consistently missed his targets when ordered to shoot. He had to make a moral choice each time, illustrating that every individual must take responsibility for their actions. The Jewish understanding emphasises listening and responding, rather than simply obeying. 'Shama Israel' means to listen and concentrate, engaging all faculties to understand and internalise God's will. Your conscience should be formed by the word of God, which is for your welfare, not merely a test of obedience. God gave Adam and Eve commandments for their benefit, not just to see if they would obey.

An order. God doesn't give orders. 'Do not eat the fruit because if you do, you will surely die.' God is explaining to Adam and Eve how the world works. If you do this, this is what will happen. This is education; it's not just about doing as you're told. In Judaism, faith is a form of listening to the song creation sings to its Creator, the message history delivers to those who strive to understand it. This is why, as I mentioned before, when I talked about linear and cyclical understandings of time, the biblical understanding is that God acts in history and through history. You can learn the lessons of history. There is more emphasis on history in the Bible than in any other religion or religious scripture. Hinduism is filled with myths about Rama, Sita, Krishna, and others, while Islam is mostly laws. In the biblical tradition, the focus is on history and God working in and through history, not just through creation. Moses says time and again in Deuteronomy, 'Stop looking, listen. Stop speaking, listen.' Greater silence in the soul stills the clamor of instinct, desire, fear, and anger. Strive to listen to the still small voice beneath the noise. Then you will know the universe is the work of the One beyond the furthest star, yet closer to you than you are to yourself.

Father said exactly the same thing: 'You will love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.' The core of the biblical tradition is not obedience; it's about love—loving God with all your soul, all your heart, and all your mind. It's about listening, listening to the voice of God, listening to your conscience. Of course, it's very hard to listen to one's conscience. There are all kinds of distractions and noise going on. That's why developing a spiritual life is important. People like Moses and Jesus went to the desert. In the desert, there is absolute silence. At that point, you can begin to hear your conscience, your soul, and the voice of God. I recommend it. I once went to the Dead Sea, and I heard the silence. It's extraordinary; go there if you can.

So again, it's all about conscience—listening to the voice of conscience. To do that, you need to live a spiritual life. This is what he looks at, and then the importance of conscience. One's mind, one's inner life, is formed through the study of God's word. Father emphasised over and over again, especially towards the end of his life, the importance of conscience. One thing he said was that the conscience knows everything about you—every move you make, every thought you have. It knows these things before your teacher does, before your parents do, and even before God does. If your room's not tidy, who knows it before your parents do? You do. Your conscience tells you, 'Oh, I should tidy this up.' What happens when you go against the commands of your conscience? You suffer an attack on your own conscience. Dust gathers, grime builds up, and wounds open up on your soul. Such wounds can never be erased; they are fearful baggage you must carry with you when you go to the spirit world.

His work is a revolutionary way to control your physical mind and receive the guidance of your conscience so you may become a treasure—a clear, unblemished, and clean soul ready for the day you make your way into the presence of God. That's what God was telling Abraham: 'Be blameless.' Have a clean soul, a clear, unblemished soul, and that's the right thing. When we recite the Family Pledge and say 'absolute obedience,' you might wonder why some people feel uncomfortable about that. Why should I absolutely obey somebody? It's nothing to do with absolutely obeying anybody; it's about absolutely obeying and following one's conscience. That's what Father said over and over again. I have so many quotes about that. You have to absolutely obey and listen to your conscience above everything else. That's what God said to Abraham: 'Be blameless.' Don't follow me; I want to follow you. Father often talked about God following him around, wanting to see what he would do. So when you say that in the Family Pledge, it's not about obeying a leader; it's about obeying one's conscience above everything else, which is what Father taught. That is Abraham's teaching.

Now, let's look at what else Abraham got up to. An interesting little story here: 'The Lord appeared to Abraham.' God appeared before Abraham, and then Abraham looked up and saw three men standing over against him. On seeing them, he hurried from his tent door to meet them and bowed down. He bowed down to the strangers who appeared at his front door. Then, turning to God, he said, 'My God, if I have found favour in your eyes, do not leave your servant.' In other words, he was having a conversation with God, but he asked God to wait until he had given hospitality to these men. He then turned to the men and said, 'Let me send for some water so you may bathe your feet and rest under this tree.' This is really interesting. You might think, 'What's more important than attending to God?' When Abraham is sitting there and the Lord appeared to him, he is having a conversation with God. But then three strangers turn up at his door, and he says to God, 'Excuse me, God, can you hang on? I need to go and give them some water to drink and some snacks, and then I'll come back and continue our conversation.' You might think, 'That's not right; you should put God first.' But this is Abraham's attitude towards hospitality.

I'm sure that you've all been to Chiang Pyong. When you go up to the palace, you walk up that windy road. When you get to the top of the road, there's a big gate that slides open. You walk through the gate, then to get into the palace, you turn right. When you turn right, you walk straight on, and there's an arch. I remember it; there's an arch on either side of an arch that has two statues. Being a curious type, I thought, 'I wonder what these statues are?' I went over to the statues, and they had a name: they were called 'The Lord of Hospitality.' That's really interesting; hospitality is so important. Father often talked about his own family and their tradition of hospitality. Whenever a beggar came, his mother would always feed them. Nobody was turned away from his home empty-handed without a meal. Hospitality is so important; that's Abraham's tradition as well. Father said, 'God will feel joy when He sees you love one another as true brothers and sisters even more than you love God.' Oh, that's interesting. Father said we should love each other even more than we love God, and that would make God happy. That doesn't sound right, does it? What a wonderful sight that would be to Heavenly Father! In order to become true sons and daughters, you must first love each other more than your parents. That doesn't sound right either. I remember when I listened to Father saying these kinds of things, I thought, 'No, you're wrong.' But actually, he was right. That is the most beautiful gift you can give your parents. My parents' concern was always whether I got on well with my sister and my cousins. I remember taking a family photograph of both our families together and giving it to my dad. He was so happy to see his lineage—his son, his daughter, and his grandchildren getting on with each other and enjoying time together. The most beautiful gift you can give to your parents is to love one another.

In the Unification Church, we have one common rule about who is a true member of the church: he is the one who truly supports and loves his brothers and sisters more than he loves Reverend Moon. That's not right, is it? We are supposed to love True Parents more than anything else. Well, that's not what he taught. God Himself is that way; the same principle works at every single level. It's a simple principle. All Father's teaching here is exactly what Abraham practiced and what Abraham taught himself. But when you read this, you might think, 'That's shocking; this is not church teaching, is it?' But this is what Father taught; this is what Abraham taught. It's really interesting to delve into these kinds of things that Father said and to try to figure out the implications. Father's teaching is the same as that of the forefathers.

Shortly after this conversation that Abraham had with God, the men went away and are now understood to be angels. They went off to Sodom and Gomorrah after Abraham had fed them, and God stayed behind to explain to Abraham what was going to happen to Sodom and Gomorrah. God said, 'The cries of the victims in Sodom and Gomorrah are deafening.' That's interesting. The cries of the victims—it's not that God is angry about all the bad things they're doing; God is heartbroken at the victims. There are people being murdered, raped, and robbed. It's violence, and those cries of the victims in Sodom and Gomorrah are deafening. God hears the cries of the suffering people. The sin of those cities is immense. We're talking about sin here; we're not talking about God being angry when people sin. That's not the point. God hears the cries of the victims, who are the victims of the sins of the powerful who do these terrible things. God says, 'I'm going down to see for myself if what they're doing is as bad as it sounds. Then I'll know.' It's very clear to Abraham what the outcome is going to be, as it was in the time of Noah.

Abraham then confronted God. 'Are you serious?' Imagine speaking to God like that. 'Are you planning to get rid of the good people right along with the bad? That's not fair. What if there are 50 decent people left in the city? Will you lump the good with the bad and get rid of the lot? Wouldn't you spare the city for the sake of those 50 innocents? I can't believe you'd do that—killing off the good and the bad alike as if there were no difference between them. Doesn't the Judge of all the earth judge with justice?' Imagine Abraham speaking to God, the owner of the world, the Creator of the world, the Judge of the world, and saying to God, 'Aren't you going to judge with justice? Isn't what you're going to do unfair?' Can you imagine speaking to God like that? There's no other conversation in the whole of religious literature like this. For most people, this is blasphemy. How dare you speak to God like this? How dare you talk to God like this and tell God to be more God-like, to be better at doing things than He is? What happens next? God listens to Abraham. That's really interesting; God pays attention to Abraham. God says, 'Okay, Abraham, if I find 50 decent people in the city of Sodom, I'll spare the place just for them.' But Abraham came back, 'Do I, a mere mortal made of a handful of dirt...' In other words, Abraham is very much aware of his own position. He's just made of dust, and he's speaking to the Creator of the universe, the Master of the universe, the Owner of the universe. 'I'm just a mere mortal. Dare I open my mouth again to my Master?' So again, he's speaking with that kind of conviction. What is Abraham listening to? He's following his conscience. His conscience is outraged by what he thinks is God's behaviour. 'What if you only find 45? Would you just destroy the city because of those missing five?' God said, 'Okay, I won't destroy it if there are 45.' Abraham spoke up again, 'What if you only find 40?' 'Neither will I destroy it for 40.' 'Master, don't be irritated with me...' You can see here the courage of Abraham. 'No, I won't do it if I find 30.' He pushed on, 'I know I'm trying your patience, Master, but how about 20?' 'I won't destroy it for 20.' Abraham wouldn't quit. 'Don't get angry, Master; this is the last time. What if you only come up with 10?' 'For the sake of only 10, I won't destroy the city.' When God finished talking with Abraham, He left, and Abraham went home. Isn't that remarkable to have that kind of conversation with God? Can you imagine having that kind of conversation with a king or a queen? Can you imagine someone having that kind of conversation with Father? Maybe people should have had these kinds of conversations instead of just saying, 'Oh, Father said it, therefore I should do it.' That's not Abraham's faith; it's all about being blameless and following one's conscience. When Father said your conscience is before your parents, conscience before a king, conscience before your teacher, conscience is before True Parents, the same logic applies. The quotes I have also—I didn't bring them up in this particular series of talks—my Father says you have to follow your conscience before me. Again, you show this to people, and they say, 'No, he can't have said that, surely not.' But he did. Father was always challenging our concepts. He wasn't who we thought he was; he wouldn't conform to our expectations of how he should be. He was always trying to move us on. Anyway, here's a little cartoon: 'Are you really going to destroy the innocent with the guilty?' Now, this is an interesting parallel to bring up. When God told, which I'll come to later, I talk about Noah's story, but it's interesting to bring up the parallel. When God told Abraham, 'I'm going to destroy the whole world in a flood,' Noah said nothing; he just accepted that God was going to destroy it. So there's a different spirituality. The faith of Abraham and the faith of Noah is very different. There are reasons why Noah's family and story ended the way it did, because they had a very different quality of faith and attitude. One just accepted and obeyed, while the other was willing to challenge something. The curious thing is, when you look at the kind of people that God chooses, He chooses people who will challenge Him. God never chooses yes men; He chose Abraham.

Who argued with him? He chose Moses, who also argued with him intensely. He chose many of the prophets. If you look at them, you see them arguing with God. Look at Job; Job argued with God. All these wise people, his friends came around telling him, 'You're wrong, you're wrong, you're wrong,' and he said, 'No, I'm not wrong; I'm in the right.' That's the kind of people that God chooses—people who are willing to stand up and argue with Him. But as we saw from Abraham, they do not forget who they are. So what happened next?

These angels, as we understand, went down to Sodom and visited Lot. When Abraham bargained with God down to ten, he had a plan. He knew ten people in Sodom; there was Lot and his wife, and Lot had four daughters. He knew two of them were married and two had fiancés, which makes ten people. Abraham thought, 'I know a good family; my relatives living in Sodom are good people. Because of them, the whole city will be spared.' So he had it worked out in his head. Anyway, the angels went down to visit Lot and went in for dinner. Then the neighbours told people in the city that strangers had come in to visit Lot. The tradition in Sodom and Gomorrah was that when strangers turned up, you robbed them, raped them, and murdered them. That was the understanding of hospitality in Sodom and Gomorrah.

It's like some parts of some cities where you don't want to go out after night because that's exactly what happens. Gangs roam the neighbourhoods, looking for some stranger who got lost or wandered into their part of the neighbourhood by mistake. That's what they do; they rob, rape, and murder. That's how Sodom and Gomorrah were. Anyway, Lot, coming from Abraham's tradition, was very hospitable. So when these angels turned up, instead of slamming the door, he welcomed them in. But then some of the neighbours found out and told others in the city that strangers were there, staying with Lot. A mob came to the door and called to Lot, 'Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so that we may know them.'

Lot went out to the men at the entrance and shut the door behind him. He said, 'I beg you, my brothers, do not act so wickedly. That's a terrible thing to do to treat strangers in this way. Behold, I have two daughters who have not yet known any man. Let me bring them out to you and do to them as you please. Only do nothing to these men, for they have come under the shelter of my roof.' But they said, 'Stand back! This fellow came to stay in our city, and he has become the judge, judging us on how we should behave. Now we will do worse with you than with them.' So they threatened Lot, saying that if he did not get out of the way, they would rape, rob, and murder his entire family. That was the reality, so what was Lot going to do?

As you know the story, when that became apparent, the angels came out of the house, waved their magic wands, and all the mob was struck blind. The angel said to Lot and his family, 'You must leave now; the city is going to be destroyed.' This is interesting: what was Lot doing here? He offered his two daughters, not knowing any man, letting them do as they pleased. What law is this? Lot is following a moral rule of hospitality. In an extreme situation, he was being hospitable. Just like when you have people around as parents, you ensure that their friends get enough food. If there's not enough food to go around, the parents don't eat; they make sure the guests are well looked after, even if it means you don't have enough food for yourself. This is the rule of hospitality taken to the nth degree.

Who do you serve? Who do you love? Who do you care for? Who do you put first: your guests who are strangers or your own family? You have to make a choice. Life is full of these kinds of choices, and you have to make a moral choice this way or that way. This is a really extreme one, and that's the choice Lot made. It's interesting to consider the reason he made that choice; he was following the rule of Abraham's hospitality. You might wonder, did it all happen like this? There are Christians who are also scientists who have been looking into these things. An article published in a journal of geological engineering studied the geology of that part of the world where Sodom and Gomorrah were supposed to have been, and they concluded that yes, it did happen.

Another more recent journal on geology or physics discussed the fires that were there when it talked about fire coming from heaven and fire from the earth. They said these were fires created by the ignition of combustible gases by an earthquake, impelled by hydrothermal explosions. There was a lot of oil and gas, and much of this gas and oil was released, incredibly hot, and it caught fire, causing the whole city to go up in smoke. One of the reasons the base of the economy in these cities was the tar that was there, and the dates work exactly right. Archaeology has found the remains of these kinds of cities, dating back to around 2100 BC, which aligns with the time of Abraham. A recent article in the Times newspaper, just two years ago, indicated that it was around three thousand seven hundred years ago, with carbon dating matching the biblical timeline. There is evidence of fire and melted glass, etc.

When I read these sorts of things, modern geologists and scientists show that what is written in the Bible is an accurate record of things that took place, interpreted in a particular way. Obviously, something took place, and people attributed it to God. The interesting thing is that Lot and his wife and the two unmarried daughters left Sodom, but the two married daughters stayed behind. They tried to persuade their husbands to go with them, but the husbands said, 'What nonsense! Who do these men think they are, saying that the city is going to be destroyed? What a load of nonsense! The city is not going to be destroyed tonight.' The other two girls' boyfriends, fiancés, felt the same way; they couldn't believe it. Lot and his wife left with the two daughters, and the angel said to Lot and his family, 'Do not look back.'

In the story, it says that when they left the city and were going up the hills, Lot's wife turned around and looked back. Why did she look back? She was looking to see if her other two daughters were following her. It says that she was turned into a pillar of salt. Is this supposed to be literal? There is something there which is supposed to be Lot's wife, but again, it has a metaphorical meaning. When she turned back to look behind her, she was stuck in the past; she couldn't move into the future. When it says she was turned into a pillar of salt, it means she became bitter. Her whole soul became like salt—bitter, full of regret, unable to move forward into the future, allowing her future to be determined by her regrets and thoughts about the past.

This point becomes the basis of everything for Judaism. Many Jews who left Auschwitz and other concentration camps never talked about what happened until they retired in the 60s, 70s, and 80s. They went on to do amazing things with their lives. The reason is that they followed this injunction: 'Okay, this happened, but what happened in this labour camp and extermination camp where I ended up with skin and bone and all my family and relatives were murdered? What happened doesn't need to determine my future. The future is still open; I can still make choices that are not determined by what happened in my past.' You can listen to their testimonies and read their stories. They went on to do some really amazing things, and I've listened to some of their testimonies—there's no trace of bitterness at all, just amazing people. This idea comes from the spiritual principle of not dwelling on the past or feeling that the past determines your present or future. It's different from the Greek view, which sees everything as fate.

One of the relationships I talked about in the Garden that needs to be restored is the relationship with the archangel, even Adam. Restoration occurs when you find yourself in a similar position to Adam, Eve, and the archangel. You have to face the same temptation, make the same mistake they did, and continue the pattern of fallen history. But you choose not to do so. Instead of acting out of your fallen nature, you act according to your original nature and follow your conscience. You break the cycle of abuse and the pattern of fallen history. I told you the story of me and my tutor and his wife. What has been restored here is the relationship to the archangel Eve. Men inherit the archangelic nature to want to control and possess their sexual relationships with women for their own pleasure and gratification, which is about lust, not love. This idea is the origin and basis of a lot of sexual harassment. Men think they have the right to treat women in a particular way.

Later, women inherit a tendency to be seduced by powerful male figures. I have a little example of this. If anyone has watched Braveheart, I can tell you as a good Englishman that the history is a load of rubbish, but there's an interesting little episode here that illustrates this point very well. [Applause] 'William, can you dance with me?' 'I've come to claim the right of prima nocta as lord of these lands. I will bless this marriage by taking the bride into my bed on the first night of her union.' Oh my God! Just imagine the sheer horror of that. When people talk about Satan's world, it's nothing to do with spirits and abstract stuff. When you find men with positions of authority and power who think they have the right to behave like that, that's Satan's world. That's the world dominated by the fallen archangel, and it's awful. This has been going on for thousands of years, and it needs to come to an end. That's what we're talking about here—putting an end to that.

Sarah lived a life of sheer luxury, with her fingernails and toenails painted, her hair done, and a lovely feather bed in a centrally heated room. Each morning, she awoke to fresh fruit, strawberries, and hot baths, enjoying the comforts of her surroundings. However, after a week, there was a knock on the door, and the Pharaoh entered her room. He sat down and began to chat her up, declaring her the most beautiful woman in the world and inviting her to marry him, promising her the title of Queen of Egypt. As he reached out to stroke her hair, God sent angels to protect Sarah, but they could not act without her direction. When the Pharaoh attempted to touch her, Sarah instructed the angels to give him a slap, which startled him and sent him searching the room for the source of the slap, only to find no one there.

The Pharaoh, undeterred, resumed his advances, but each time he reached out, Sarah commanded the angels to slap him again. This continued until the Pharaoh, feeling bruised and overwhelmed, decided to retire to his own room. That night, he had a dream in which God revealed to him that Sarah was the wife of His prophet, Abraham. Realising the gravity of his actions, he called Abraham and invited him for breakfast the next morning. During their meeting, the Pharaoh recounted everything that had transpired and acknowledged Sarah's virtue, ultimately returning her to Abraham along with gifts of wealth and his daughter, Hagar, as a servant.

The tradition holds that Hagar was the Pharaoh's daughter, and he believed it noble for her to serve the prophet of God. However, it is questionable how Hagar perceived this transition from princess to maid. This dynamic likely contributed to the tension between Sarah and Hagar. The story raises questions about temptation and choice, drawing parallels to the biblical account of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. Eve faced temptation from Lucifer, a powerful and sophisticated being, while Adam was portrayed as a mere teenager. From Eve's perspective, Lucifer was far more attractive than Adam, highlighting the allure of power and knowledge.

In Sarah's case, she faced a similar temptation, choosing between the powerful Pharaoh and her husband, Abraham. She had the chance to marry the wealthiest man in the world, living a life of luxury, but ultimately chose to remain faithful to Abraham. This decision mirrored Eve's choice, as Sarah resisted the temptation of a powerful man and instead followed her conscience. By doing so, she purified herself and her lineage, ensuring that her children would be born with less sin than she had experienced. The concept of purification of lineage involves overcoming temptations and evil elements, allowing future generations to inherit a purer legacy.

Sarah's story is significant in the context of human history, as she successfully restored Eve's position. Her ability to confront temptation and maintain her faithfulness is commendable, and she deserves recognition for her remarkable character. When discussing the purification of the womb, it refers to her triumph over temptation and her commitment to restoring the dignity that Eve had lost. This narrative serves as a powerful reminder of the importance of making virtuous choices in the face of temptation.