Foundation Day - How do we get there? (Part 2)

In terms of how this applies to us, we as individuals and as a spiritual community are trying to go through this path ourselves. Quite often in the past, we referred to ourselves as going through the wilderness course and wanting to settle down. Some of the things I'm saying here are not really about the Hebrews, the Israelites, or the Jewish people; I'm talking about us. There’s a subtext to what I’m saying that sometimes needs explaining, but I prefer to talk about the Hebrews, the Jews, and the Israelites as a way of discussing the challenges we are facing as a spiritual community. What do we need to change within ourselves to enter Canaan? What do we need to do individually, as families, and as a spiritual community so that we are not slaves or servants anymore, but actually owners of Chung? We say this pledge as the owners of Chung, but how much do we actually mean it? How much are we living like that? How much are we still really servants of Chung Hill? How much are we stuck in the old slave mentality? How much are we thinking, 'What’s the most important thing? I should just obey'?

This misunderstanding of absolute obedience is significant. We have to be absolutely obedient, but if we have a slave mentality, it means we just do exactly what we are told, no more, no less. However, that’s not what God actually means. The words 'obey' and 'obedience' do not actually exist in the Bible. There’s no word for 'obey' or 'obedience' in Hebrew that means 'do as you’re told.' This is surprising, isn’t it? It’s impossible for Jews to be disobedient because they don’t even think using that language. The concept of obeying God doesn’t exist within the Hebrew Bible. Why not? Because the law replies. God is interested in responsible children, not obedient ones. A good slave is obedient; he does as he’s told, but obedience is related to filial piety. If we understand the Father’s will and heart, we want to achieve our Father’s will with love. This is what I understand by absolute obedience. It’s not just about obeying because I should, but because I really want to love my Father and fulfill His expectations.

If you read the Bible in English, you sometimes find the word 'obey,' but the Hebrew word doesn’t exist. Someone translated from Hebrew into English and put the word 'obey.' If you go back to the Hebrew, it just means 'listen to understand' or 'hearken to.' The greatest of the Jewish prayers is 'Hear, O Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord is one.' To hear is to listen, and the great commandment is 'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and strength.' The core of the Old Testament tradition is about love for God, everything motivated out of love for God. If we unpack where this idea of obedience comes from, we see that the English word 'obey' goes back to Latin, 'oberdir,' which means 'to listen.' In Latin, 'audire' means 'to hear' or 'to listen.' These words became confused in the Middle Ages, and obedience became associated with abasing oneself. The original meaning of obedience is to listen and to act based on understanding. Our understanding should be based on truth, which we discover by studying God’s word. This forms our conscience, so when we act, we act based on understanding. That’s why we have the expression 'listen to your conscience.'

When we talk about absolute obedience, we should understand that it means listening to our conscience. Absolute obedience is not to any human being; it is about absolutely listening to and following your conscience. We should never go against our conscience or do something we know is wrong because that’s what God wants. God wants people who live according to their conscience, so they don’t need a government or a leader to tell them what to do. They know what to do because they follow their conscience. That’s the kind of society God wants to create. However, in our spiritual community, some people take the expression 'absolute obedience' and twist it for their own purposes. In 1983, Father said that the leader-centered movement was over. We followed leaders in the wilderness, and Father’s words were that the person sacrificing the most should be in the central position. What has happened now in America has completely opened it all out, and I think that’s how it should be. Father said our main purpose is fulfilling home church, which I don’t hear mentioned at all these days. Father said that is our destiny; everything else is incidental.

If you own something, you should be consulted about the decisions that are made and be involved in the decision-making process. Father started home church at the end of the children’s course, which lasted for 21 years. By the end of this course, we were supposed to become adults and grown up, going out to become messiahs ourselves. I think we still have a church system, which is useful because maybe not everyone is confident enough to go out and do whatever it is we could do if we had more confidence. I’m not saying we shouldn’t have a church system, but there shouldn’t be one person at the top of the pyramid making all the decisions while everybody just does what they say. That’s totally undemocratic and unprincipled. We’ve allowed ourselves to remain in Egypt, and that’s the problem. How can we go into Chung Gook if we’re still in the mindset of a slave living in Egypt, waiting to be told what to do?

The change of lineage is essentially a change of identity. For the Hebrews, it meant changing their identity from thinking of themselves as slaves of Pharaoh to recognising themselves as the sons and daughters of God. It’s about changing from Satan’s way of life to God’s way of life. Satan’s way of life is a false sense of identity, where people find their identity in something superficial, like being a Manchester United supporter or their nationality. They wrap themselves up in identities other than their relationship with the Divine. Many people don’t feel confident to say, 'Yes, I am the son of God; I am the daughter of God; I am loved by God.' They often find their identity in superficial things, and this leads to a misunderstanding of the purpose of life. People often think that what’s important is material possessions or status, leading to negative behaviours like workaholism, violence, or promiscuity. God wanted to change that, and the Ten Commandments were given to set the minimum for living a righteous life.

The first commandment is 'I am the Lord your God.' This is the most important thing to understand. If you know who you are, everything else falls into place. If you know your identity, you know how to live and what to do. However, many people have an identity crisis; they don’t know who they are or what to do. The most important thing to know is your identity and lineage. If you understand and feel who you are, everything else becomes clear. The commandment 'You shall have no other gods before me' means that God comes first. 'You shall not make a graven image' refers to all the false images and concepts we have about God. 'You shall not take the Lord’s name in vain' is serious; it’s about order. Taking God’s name in vain is not just about saying 'Oh God' when something goes wrong; it’s about using God’s name for manipulation or control. The Bible critiques institutionalised religion, and many who join the Unification Church do so because they dislike institutionalised religion. However, the Unification movement has also become institutionalised.

The advent of blessed couples having families marked the beginning of the de-institutionalisation of what we understood as institutionalised religion. The family is supposed to be the basis of society, and all major ceremonies and rituals occur within the family. For example, when a baby is born, the parents hold the eight-day ceremony. In the Catholic Church, the priest baptises the child, which gives the institution control over the sacraments. In our community, the family is the basis; the parents are the priests and have the authority to dedicate their children to God without needing church leaders. However, this hasn’t fully happened, in my opinion. The spiritual area in our movement, which is the champion providence, remains institutionalised. The family is supposed to be the basis, and blessed couples have the authority to become true parents.

One that goes through the ceremony liberates your ancestors. Nobody is doing it for you; you are the one who goes there and participates in that for them and with them. Does that make sense? You are just turning up, doing the bows, praying, and all the things. When you liberate your ancestors, it also means you need to go through all sorts of inner changes yourself. It's not just that. Taking God's name in vain and remembering the Sabbath is very important. Why did God set up the Sabbath? What's the Sabbath? That's the day when people don't go to work. Work is good; you should work five or six days a week. But the idea of a Sabbath is that nobody works. Why is that? God instituted the Sabbath in order to honour Him and to become God-like. God took a rest after creating the universe in six days, and on the seventh day, He rested. So, if you want to be like God, you have to take a rest one day a week.

There's more to it than that. The basis of the Kingdom of Heaven is family. In order to create that, there needs to be a time when the family is together. It's my wife's favourite word: together. So, God said, 'Okay, work six days a week, and on this one day, just spend time together.' On this day, nobody works. All the food is prepared the evening before, and all the washing up is done after the Sabbath finishes. On that one day, all the parents are there, the children are there; nobody goes out to work. Everyone is there, spending time together, eating, drinking, having fun, reading, praying, playing music, and just creating this family time. I think one disaster was that we worked too hard in the Unification Church; we didn't follow this. We fundraised too much and did things on a Sunday that we shouldn't have been doing. We should have just taken the day off and spent time together with God. Unfortunately, we didn't establish that tradition, and I think it's been a disaster.

This is something that God revealed to the Israelites. Who are the Israelites? The people of Israel. Who are the people of Israel? We are. It's not just the first Israel; it's the second, third, and fourth Israel. God said this is something for eternity. He created this space where He could dwell with us and our families. You honour your father and mother; this again is very radical in the ancient world. The idea that you should honour your mother and father implies equal authority within the family. You shall not murder, commit adultery, steal, bear false witness, or covet. All these things are known. There is also the development of the moral life: you shall not wrong a stranger or oppress him, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt. This is a very shocking idea; it was the first time in the whole world that this concept appeared. How do people normally feel about foreigners? They generally don't like them. The Greeks thought that everyone who wasn't Greek was a barbarian. Most societies are racist and prejudiced against foreigners and people who are different. But God said to them, 'You were once like that; you know what it's like and how much you suffered, so treat them well.' This is the earliest appearance of empathy in the ancient world.

The biblical attitude towards law is also very different. From the Psalms, it says, 'I shall rejoice in following your statutes; I shall walk at liberty, for I sought out your precepts or laws.' Here, the biblical idea is that law creates freedom. The word 'freedom' is an English word that doesn't exist in any other language. Some people who speak other languages may disagree, but I explain why. The word 'freedom' is made up of two words: 'free' and 'dom.' 'Free' means liberty. In French, you have 'liberté'; in German, 'freiheit.' All that means is 'free.' The word 'dom' means law; it comes from the Anglo-Saxon word 'doom.' So, 'doomsday' is judgment day, and 'the book of dooms' is the book of laws. The word 'freedom' means being free within the law. In other languages, they only have the word 'free' or they have the word 'law,' but only English has the word 'freedom'—free within the law. This word was created by Alfred the Great when he was translating the Bible into English and couldn't find an English word for the biblical understanding. So, like a good German, he took two words and stuck them together to create 'freedom.'

God wants to create a world where there is no freedom outside the principle. We are free to pursue our original mind, free to pursue beauty, truth, and goodness within the law. The laws that God gave—don't murder, don't steal—create a framework within which you can do anything you want, except kill and steal. Within that space created by the law, you are protected, and you can pursue your original mind, follow your conscience, and worship God in the way you want. That creates a realm of freedom. God is trying to train the people to become free and responsible. There is no freedom without responsibility; this is a biblical understanding. God is moving the people from living as slaves to living as free people. But it's not automatic; they have to go through this process. The question is, have we made that transition yet, individually, as families, and as a spiritual community?

Let's look at the foundation of faith. Moses is the central person. The foundation of faith is living and following the commandments, living within the law. When they finally went on a little detour, they came to Canaan, and there was a 40-day period for the twelve spies to go out, representing the twelve tribes, to spy out the land. God was seeing if they were yet ready to enter into Canaan and if they had made the necessary transition. They went to the land and said it was flowing with milk and honey; it was really nice. Caleb said, 'Let's go up at once and occupy it, for we are well able to overcome them.' He felt they could do it; they had the spirit and morale. God is with us; we can occupy this land. They had confidence and belief. Whether an army wins a battle or not is not only partly due to their equipment; mostly, it is due to the spirit they have. Sometimes, you find very small groups of soldiers accomplishing extraordinary things because they believe they can do it and work together with self-belief and self-confidence. A lot of us, sometimes we believe we can, and sometimes we don't. Most of the time, I don't, but anyway, it's interesting to see.

Some people then said, 'We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than us.' They brought an evil report to the people of Israel, and the people lamented, saying, 'Let's choose a captain and return to Egypt.' Only two spies, Joshua and Caleb, argued against them. So, what's going on here? Are the people ready to go into Canaan yet? They are not ready, are they? If they had gone into Canaan, what would have happened? Would they have been successful or not? It would have been a disaster because they weren't yet ready. They hadn't grown and become fully adult. They had spent about 21 months in the wilderness, which is a very short space of time. How many of us, 21 months after we joined, were in that space? Maybe we were. In that sense, Satan invaded; they weren't ready to go into Canaan yet.

Then something very interesting happens. Moses talks to God about it. God says, 'How long will these people despise me? I will strike them and disinherit them, and I will make of you a nation greater and mightier than they.' Do you think God is very patient or very impatient? That's right. God likes Moses and says to him, 'Look, I will get rid of this lot; we will find a better people for you to lead.' It's a bit like saying, 'Okay, you're a great manager; I'll get rid of all these players and find some better ones.' Moses then says to God, 'If you do that, the Egyptians will hear about it.' In other words, he is thinking about God's reputation. Moses challenges God and reminds Him, 'The Lord is slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, forgiving iniquity. So pardon the iniquity of these people.' Moses throws back at God the things that God said to him, reminding Him about what He had said about Himself. So, God does that. Do you think God is happy or unhappy that Moses is arguing with Him?

God is happy because Moses really cares about the people. He is arguing with God not because he disagrees with Him but because he genuinely cares about the people. That's why he is willing to stick his neck on the line and stand up for them, protecting them from God's wrath. God is very happy; this is the kind of person He wants to lead His people—someone willing to stand up for them, someone who genuinely cares about them, and someone who is willing to risk his life to protect them. At one point, Moses says to God, 'If you are going to do this, you can strike me out of the book of life as well. I don't want anything to do with you if you are going to do this.' The 40 days then become 40 years, and as we know, God says all those over 21 years are to die in the wilderness. Why is it that everyone over 21 years was to die in the wilderness? All the people who could remember Egypt, who still had the slave mentality, were to die because God didn't want slavery to be taken into Canaan. He wanted only the people who grew up in the desert, in a different society governed not by a slave driver but by the rule of law, to go into Canaan and create that kind of society. God was changing them individually, as a family, and as a society so they were ready to live and go into Canaan. That's why they didn't go in immediately; some decided to go into Canaan anyway, and they were defeated. There was also another interesting thing that happened during this time of turmoil and testing. One of the most outstanding leaders of the Hebrews at that time was a man called Korah. He and 250 chiefs of the congregation assembled themselves against Moses and Aaron and said to them, 'You have gone too far, for all in the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the Lord is among them. Why then do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the Lord?' It's interesting to unpack this. Korah says to Moses, 'You know better than the rest of us; we are all equally good as you. Why do you put yourself above everybody else?' What do you think about that? It's an interesting leadership challenge. How far through the 21 years did that happen? This happened after the incident with the spies, after the change of course. They were not going to go into Canaan now; they were going to spend 40 years wandering around in the wilderness. At this point, all kinds of confusion took place. Some people said, 'Yes, let's go into Canaan anyway; we don't want to go into the desert,' and they invaded Canaan and were defeated. Then there was a rebellion by Korah, who said, 'Why are you above us, Moses?' It's very interesting; the subtext of this is very interesting.

Moses said to her, "You shall not plough with an ox and an ass together." One of the laws regarding animal welfare is that you shouldn't plough with an ox and an ass together because it isn't good; they have different strengths. There are many laws about animal welfare in the Bible. He also said that she couldn't sow her field with two kinds of seed, meaning you can't mix up the seeds and crops. In Leviticus, things are becoming more difficult for her because of this religion. When she was about to reap the harvest and stack the sheaves, Moses instructed her not to harvest the gleanings, which are the leftover bits meant for the poor. This was again a biblical law that required leaving bits and pieces for the poor to collect.

Then, as she was about to bring the remaining harvest to the granary, Moses said to her, "Give me one tenth." She submitted to God's decree and gave it to him. What did the poor woman do next? She sold the field and bought two sheep so she might clothe herself, and with the wool, she could run a little business from the lambs. As soon as a sheep brought forth their young, Aaron, Moses' brother, came and said to the widow, "Give me the first males, for that's what the Bible says; all the firstlings should be mine." Again, she submitted to God's decree and gave the young sheep to Aaron.

When the time for shearing arrived, Aaron came again and said to the widow, "Give me the first portion of the shearing." She replied, "There's no strength in me to withstand this man; I'll slaughter the sheep and eat them." After she slaughtered them, Aaron came again and demanded the shoulder, the jaws, and another part because he was the priest. The widow said, "Though I have slaughtered my sheep, I am still not free of your demands. Behold, I devote my sheep to the use of the temple." Aaron responded, "If the sheep are devoted to the use of the temple, they belong entirely to me." This illustrates a critique of the religious system of the temple and offerings, suggesting that the priests were using this to become wealthy.

Cora's rebellion highlights that Moses and Aaron had set up a system of rules through which they profited and became very wealthy. There are discussions within the Hebrews that are not all that different from some of the discussions we have today; they are all human beings. The third foundation of the tabernacle was not laid, and so Satan invaded. It started off in the third course, the foundation of faith, for the 40 years they wandered around. They began from Kadesh, and Moses had gone through a tough time dealing with rebellions. Now, there was no water for the congregation, and they assembled against Moses. The Lord said to Moses, "Take the rod and tell the rock before their eyes to yield its water."

What did God tell Moses to do? He was supposed to tell the rock to yield its water. The first time they came out of Egypt without water, God instructed Moses to strike the rock, and water came out. This time, God told him to tell the rock. The difference between striking and telling relates to human beings; some people need to be motivated with a stick, while free people should be inspired with words and reason. However, Moses lost his temper and accused the people of being rebels. He struck the rock with his rod twice, and water came forth. Because he did not believe in God to sanctify Him in the eyes of the people, God declared that Moses would not bring this assembly into the land He had given them.

When Moses struck the rock the first time, it symbolised chastising fallen Adam. Striking twice, however, represented hurting someone's heart. Moses became angry and judged the people, which was not merely correcting them but rather hurting them. This phenomenon occurs in spiritual communities; leaders can sometimes lose their temper and hurt people. The difference between correcting someone and hurting them is crucial. Because Moses acted this way, he faced a significant problem. Joshua then went on to inherit Moses' position. Moses was unusual because he asked God to find a replacement, which is not typical for leaders who usually cling to power. Normally, God chooses the replacement, but Moses did not do that.

God told Moses that this incident at the rock occurred at the beginning of the 40-year course. Despite knowing he wouldn't enter Canaan, Moses led the people for 40 years. This demonstrates extraordinary leadership. It wasn't that God didn't forgive him; He did, but Moses was no longer qualified to lead the people into Canaan. The people had changed, but Moses' leadership style had not. As the people grow and develop, the leader must also grow and adapt. Moses was not able to do that, which is significant. He had faced numerous challenges, and one can imagine his frustration with the people who were not ready to enter Canaan as he expected.

Moses needed to take time out to reflect. The mentality of complaining is a slave mentality; responsible individuals take initiative to solve problems rather than expecting others to do it. The people were still in a state of dependency, expecting Moses to solve their problems. This complaining mentality prevented them from being ready to enter Canaan. Moses, despite being an extraordinary leader, recognised that he would not lead the people into Canaan but needed someone to do it. God recommended Joshua, and Moses gradually transferred his authority to him, stepping aside. This was remarkable; he was not clinging to power, demonstrating a clear mind and understanding of leadership. Joshua then led the people into Canaan, where they celebrated their transition from slavery to freedom.