1. The First Israel and God's will

1) The Beginning of the Realm of the First Israel

Now, what we have to know is the meaning of Israel in the Bible. What is the meaning of Israel? Israel! OHuman beingO includes man and woman. Israel does not mean that man defeats woman or woman man. It does not mean that you are the victor over any person, any family or any environment. If so, why do we call it victory? It means that we are victorious in the fight with Satan.

The word "IsraelO came from the era of Jacob. After suffering through twenty-one years of drudgery, on his way back to Canaan Jacob triumphed in wrestling with an angel at the ford of Jabbok. The word "the realm of IsraelO began then. Whom did Jacob triumph over? He triumphed over an angel, who was substituting for the Archangel. What is the Fall? It means that man was defeated by the Archangel. For this reason, to realize salvation and restoration, man had to fight the angel substituting for the Archangel and make him surrender.

Well, what was the essential plan of Jacob who received the name "Israel"? That is another problem. Jacob, who triumphed as an individual in his struggle with Esau to win the birthright and then ran away, knew that God was with Abraham, whom He had blessed, and had the ardent heart to stand on God's side. In spite of being the second son, Jacob tried to form a family which could inherit God's blessings, and pursued such a family before everything else. For these reasons, there are some anecdotes of immorality in the Bible. But judging from the viewpoint of the providential history, it was in the nature of things.

After suffering through twenty-one years of drudgery, to accomplish the Will, Jacob returned from Haran to Canaan. What was the reason behind that? He thought of a new family. The family was not his own family. He may have missed seeing Esau's family and AbrahamOs, and returned. Centering on these blessed families and his family, and wanting the land to become a territory on which the universal God's Will could be fulfilled, on his way back to Canaan he triumphed in wrestling with an angel.

The motivation to gain the word "IsraelO was not to enable to Jacob's family to live well. Jacob returned centering on the three generations of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Nobody had more hope that these blessed families would prosper than Jacob did. If a family stands God's side, the satanic world is deprived of the family; therefore, a country is in doubt. Consequently, if the satanic world is robbed of the country, the world, heaven and earth become questions.

Thereupon, on the foundation of the whole clan, with his family as the center, Jacob fought. His property mattered little to Jacob, and his servants didnOt matter to him. At the sacrifice of these things, he hoped that the whole clan would prosper and that the three generations of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, in obedience to God's command, would center on the realm of Israel which took the victory with the great God's Will, and he wanted the clan to develop into a worldwide people. You have to know that as God had blessed Abraham that his descendants would flourish like the innumerable stars in the sky, Jacob kept the Will in his mind and hoped the worldwide people would be in the realm of God, and so went through the battlefield.

Then whom did Jacob triumph over? He triumphed over Satan. There are many families and clans, but the situations in which they are placed... Jacob, centering on his family with twelve sons and daughters led by him, began the course. To be based upon the ideal Will of God led by AbrahamOs, IsaacOs, and Jacob's clan as well as Jacob's family, the blessing of Israel was initiated. To be magnified, longing to be a representative people who could go to the ideal world, they started as a successful people going toward the great world in the future and the ideal of God. It was God's original Will and the royal responsibility that the chosen Israel people might be the model. As the Will and responsibility united, the beginning of Israelite realm was possible. Heaven developed the people Israel, with its twelve tribes, and built the state of Israel and the religion of IsraelNHebraism. Through the long history of four hundred years, God built the religion and state of Israel and promised the Advent of the Messiah. "I will send the Messiah. Though you fall into any difficult situation, if you receive him, the difficulty will be settled." This was the Messiahism which God promised to the people of Israel. (168-301)