Unification News for October, 2001

Reflections on Jacob and the Heart of Esau

Libby Henkin
October, 2001

The day after the WTC attack happened and we all had been changed forever and were walking around with the same face, I heard from Rev. Lee that True Father had prayed when he heard the news and afterward said that America, not Christianity, is now the 2nd Israel. This is a subtle shift, because America has already been thought of as the 2nd Israel since America is primarily the Christian nation. So it seems to be incredibly meaningful that he made a point of saying it. The difference is America is not only all races but all religions, so this is a grander scale Israel.

I have always wanted to feel God's heart of suffering in prayer, and I always wanted and prayed, and strained, as I thought I was going Jacob's course on MFT, to hear God say to me as he did Jacob, "You are Israel", so when Rev. Lee said True Father had said we are the 2nd Israel, this struck me deeply and went straight to the center of my heart. He gave us a new name. I think this is a great honor.

Jacob wrestled the archangel all night at the Ford of Jabbok, was the underdog all night, had his hip dislocated but never gave up. At dawn, he got the new name from heaven, "Israel", which means "he who prevails". Rev. Mrs. Eu explained at DP school a couple of weeks ago that what happened to Jacob that night was his heart changed. He got the spiritual victory over Esau, so when he saw him again, he was able to send his sheep, servants, wives and children, and even bow 10 times to his brother and be embraced by him. Esau was rich, powerful, had an army of 400 and had lots of wives. He did not need the things Jacob sent him, and it was not because Jacob sent him those things that he embraced Jacob. But once Jacob had gotten the spiritual victory at the Ford of Jabbok, Esau was destined to embrace him. As we learned on MFT, and did conditions for it, once the spiritual victory is won, the physical victory is assured.

Rev. Mrs. Eu also said that Jacob should not have stolen the birthright and the blessing. He should not have had to flee and spend 21 years in Haran, and he should not have had to wrestle the angel. This happened because of the influence of his mother. He was God's chosen man, but he should have worked to win Esau's respect and desire to follow Jacob of his own free choice.

Again, at DP school, Mrs. Standard made a point last week that applies here. Why did God hate Cain and love Abel? It was only because Cain represented the first fall and Abel the second fall. But they both represented the fall. Both falls were wrong, just one was worse. This got me thinking. Both Cain and Abel have original sin, and Cain is actually in the position of paying for the sins of both Cain and Abel. And Abel doesn't appreciate it. Cain knows this and hates Abel for it.

Cain knows Abel is not better than himself but is loved and blessed instead of him. He is the elder, who by tradition should be the one blessed. He hates and resents the one whom God loves and blesses instead of him, so much that he wants to kill him. But Abel doesn't know. He thinks he is blessed because he is better. At the Ford of Jabbok, in the position of Abel, Jacob got the arrogance knocked out of him. Finally, he understood the heart of Esau, the heart of Cain, and could love him. And could send him all those gifts and bow to him in deep appreciation and reverence for his sacrifice.

Friday night I finally could cry with Heavenly Father. I did not want to cry without processing what it means now for America, for me, to be "Israel". Friday night I was finally ready to repent and take responsibility for what happened. It was painful and full of heavy responsibility. Lessons need to be learned. Let the lesson be learned now, quickly, with me, so this does not need to continue and so those who died and their families can be vindicated. When the lesson is learned by America, this will stop. 5,000 Americans died for me to learn these lessons and take the proper response. Thankfully, it was an archangel, perhaps a resentful and fallen archangel, that attacked Jacob, not Satan. God is in control. For me, even the weather has been an indicator that God is in control. It has been encouragingly sunny and clear. If Satan had attacked America, perhaps it would have been a nuclear bomb. But because of True Father's work, the archangel was from heaven, an invisible target, a religious people, though a misguided religious people, that hit America. Only our hip was dislocated.

I've been very interested in how enormous our devastation is compared to other countries' past sufferings of war and famines. They, like we, were devastated by unprecedented loss of life. America has never before been stopped in her tracks. Life came to a standstill for two days, and it will be a long recovery. We will never be the same again. We've been changed. When I look at absolutely anyone, even newscasters whom I have always considered the most arrogant, their eyes look like they feel like me. We are one. I can begin (only begin) to understand what makes Korea the land of the heart: under all their give and take, they have their suffering in common, this feeling I have under my skin now. I am no longer a moonie. America is me and I am America. There is no longer any boundary between them and me. There is no in the church and out of the church. No member and non member. No Cain and Abel. No difference between my husband and myself. Some equalization has occurred. Equalization of heart.

Now America is the second Israel. Not the Unification Church, not Christianity. What is our responsibility? What would True Father advise the Palestinians and Israelis? Their war of retaliation is an endless war. We have to learn from the lessons of history. We, as the 2nd Israel, need to set an example for the Palestinians and Israelis. What would True Father advise Bush now? I can only hear Father saying to get the world's leaders and people together and educate them. And then he would Bless them. These are the two things True Father does to change the world, education and Blessing. Education changes people's hearts, and Blessing changes the spirit world by breaking down the boundaries in spirit world, as well as rooting out the original evil. This is what gets at the root of the world's problems. In the past, Father has been attacked. Forces have sought to seek and destroy him. We could have been his Hamas and trained to retaliate. But he is our example, and we have the same responsibility he had in his hour of suffering. This is a holy war.

The important thing as we go through our Ford of Jabbok is our heart and how our heart and the heart of our nation comes out of this. It must be centered on God and God's will for blessing the whole world as One, beginning with us, America, but not ending with us. One World Under God.

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