The 124 Couples : The first public Blessing ceremony The 124 Couples Marriage Blessing Ceremony was held on July 24,1963, at the Seoul Citizens' Hall. The 124 Couples represent the world and symbolize Jesus' 120 disciples. The 124 Couples Marriage Blessing Ceremony was the last ceremony to consist only of Koreans and the first to be held publicly. After the ceremony, the newlywed couples drove in a motorcade of 150 cars through downtown Seoul, attracting the attention of tens of thousands of passersby. (054-293, 1972/03/26) 4 The 124 Couples Blessing was the first time we held our marriage Blessing ceremony publicly. These couples represented the entire world. I judged that it was time to set up 124 Couples as representatives of the world. This is because, from the perspective of the Christian realm and of the present world, Korea is the leading nation, which promotes the providence of God for the future good of the world. The 124 Couples represent the world. I conducted the 36 Couples and 72 Couples Blessings within our church. Through them we were securing the internal foundation centering on our church, similar to how the foundation of a people was built through the course of Judaism. Next, from the external point of view, we were expanding to set a worldwide foundation to connect to the global Christian cultural sphere in history, centering on the 124 Couples. There had to be 124 member nations of the United Nations when the 124 Couples were blessed, and there were. In Korea, a nation representing all others, this Blessing was a condition of historical importance on the world level establishing an internal condition of indemnity. (110-123, 1980/11/10) 5 The number 120, which is 10 times the number 12 of Jesus' 12 disciples, is the number that represents the horizontal world. This is why I blessed 120 couples in order to match 120 disciples. Technically there could have been 120 couples, but I blessed a total of 124. The extra 4 couples represent the 4 directions. The 124 Couples, who represent Jesus' 120 disciples, also represent the world. This does not mean that those couples have the authority to govern and control the world, but rather that as world representatives, they can serve as the basis on which I can establish world-level indemnity conditions. This is how establishing the 124 Couples set the condition for God to be able to work in an unprecedented way on the world level. When the number of United Nations member nations topped 120, we entered the Last Days. (016-063, 1965/12/26) 6 When I blessed the 124 Couples, I included four husbands who were exconvicts. It was absolutely necessary for me to include such people in the group. The work of heaven is not the work of condemning people but rather of saving everyone. God seeks to redeem all people, not only religious believers but conscientious people who are non-believers as well as those who have sinned and those who are in prison. Therefore I established representatives of the nation on the world level, created a door for the family, and opened it. Thereby all people in the world can enter, including those who have sinned and are languishing in jail. As the foundation to achieve this purpose, I established the Blessing of the 124 Couples. (100-172, 1978/10/14) 7 The 124 Couples Marriage Blessing Ceremony was truly magnificent. After the ceremony, all the couples got in taxis and drove around Seoul. The people on the streets were amazed by the motorcade of 150 taxis. The city of Seoul and the nation of Korea were turned upside down. Don't you think this wedding ceremony is one that every man and woman would find worth trying just once? We will wait and see if the world will follow us or not. I plan to bring non-Koreans to take part in the next Blessing. (012-346, 1963/08/11) |