Sun Myung Moon
October 14, 1978
From the position representing the nation and people, we must face the exhausting task of having to fight the final decisive battles on the borderline between life and death. As you well know, since the 1960s we have expanded from the 36 Couples to the 72 and 120 couples centering on my Holy Wedding Ceremony.
Based on the three couples, I selected the 36 Couples to represent the ancestors of three ages, one for each group of twelve. They represent the Old, New and Completed Testament Ages. The number twelve should not just represent the horizontal foundation alone. From the vertical position, the 36 Couples also needed to establish the foundation that connects the earth with the spirit world. The Blessing was therefore extended to the 72 and 120 couples, based on the 36 who are the foundation upon which the ancestors could come down to earth. The 72 Couples can also be said to be the central figures representing heaven, by forming a race from the tribe.
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Just as Moses laid the foundation from which he could lead his people by going through the 72 elders, the Unification Church must expand from the realm of the tribe to that of the race. The key to this is the family. The providence of God is always carried out based on the family. As a result, the large holy weddings of the Unification Church are not carried out in order to deal just with individual marriage situations.
The Blessed Families must eliminate everything that is in conflict with heaven, and which has been inherited from the numerous ancestors, races and nations of past history. In order to do so, they must be a united group, one that will take up the burden of their mission in the present era that we are living in. If it is the 120 Couples, then every one of them must come together and form a team, and this goes for the 430 Couples as well. You must understand that the couples blessed in the holy wedding ceremony made their entrance as the resurrected central couples, indemnifying the failures of all previous couples in history.
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The nation of Korea represents the world, and so we need to transcend all the tribes in this nation. In doing so, I am not putting the Moon tribe before others. I should open the gates through which all tribes in this nation, regardless of surname, can come in contact with God freely.
The mass holy weddings of the Unification Church are not performed to solve the marriage problems of independent individuals. The Blessed Families must eliminate everything that is in conflict with heaven, and which has been inherited from the numerous ancestors, races and nations of past history. In order to do so, they must be a united group, one that will take up the burden of their mission in the present era that we are living in. The 36 Couples must unite into one team, and the 430 Couples must come together and form a team. You must understand that the couples blessed in the holy wedding ceremony made their entrance as the resurrected central couples, indemnifying the failures of all previous couples in history.
That is why the holy wedding ceremonies of the Unification Church hold such meaning. Based on the 430 Couples, the world could be connected, and through this, the Unification Church could broadly expand into the realm of a global citizenry. Do you understand? It is not just the Korean people alone. The fact that I connected the 430 Couples to the 43 Couples on the foundation of the family on the world level signifies the birth of a new race transcending ethnicity and nationality. That is how I see it.
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What are the 430 Couples? The numbers four and three are linked to the 4,300 years of Korean history. Furthermore, their product is twelve and their sum is seven. All important numbers in the Divine Principle, whether you add or multiply them, involve the numbers seven, three, and four. In this way, the number 430 was determined as the number of couples to be blessed. Then, with Korea as the center, a related number of couples from the world had to be chosen as their counterparts, and so forty-three couples were selected from nations around the world to be blessed. The Blessing of the 43 Couples from Japan, Europe, and the United States created a global reciprocal realm. Through this, the horizontal foundation was completed upon which all people in the world could come into contact with heaven.
The path through which everyone can pass through the door of the Blessing and come together in one place should be opened for all people of faith, even if they live at the very ends of the earth. Such is the significance of the Unification Church's large weddings: by forging global connections through the 430 Couples, it has developed into a worldwide race of people. It is not just for Koreans. The fact that I connected the 430 Couples to the 43 Couples on the foundation of the family on the world level signifies the birth of a new race transcending ethnicity and nationality. That is how I see it.
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