Divine Principle - 3) The Periods in Providential History - Section 3

[대태양/김현수]

Section 3. The Periods in the Age of the Providence of Restoration and Their Lengths

The Age of the Providence of Restoration, which was the age of image parallels, was to restore through indemnity the Age of the Providence to Lay the Foundation for Restoration, the age of symbolic parallels. Let us investigate the periods in this age and how their lengths were determined.

3.1 The Four-Hundred-Year Period of Slavery in Egypt

Noah laid the foundation of faith after fulfilling the forty days of the flood judgment for the purpose of separating Satan. When this foundation was shattered due to Ham’s mistake, God tried to raise up Abraham to the same position as Noah by commanding him to make a symbolic offering while standing upon the foundation which had been laid through the intervening period of four hundred years. However, due to Abraham’s mistake, this foundation was defiled by Satan. To recover this foundation of four hundred years, God had the Israelites undergo four hundred years of slavery in Egypt (Gen. 15:13); (cf. Foundation 3.1.2.1) and separate Satan once more. The period of slavery in Egypt was the image parallel to the period of sixteen hundred years from Adam to Noah in the age of symbolic parallels. It was to restore that earlier period through parallel indemnity conditions.

3.2 The Four-Hundred-Year Period of the Judges

It is recorded that King Solomon began to build the Temple 480 years after the Exodus from Egypt, in the fourth year of his reign (I Kings 6:1). Since King Solomon’s reign followed the forty-year reign of King Saul (Acts 13:21) and the forty-year reign of King David, we can deduce that there was a period of approximately four hundred years from the time the Israelites entered Canaan until the enthronement of King Saul. This was the period of the judges.

The Israelites under Moses were to secure the foundation of having separated Satan through their slavery in Egypt, thus restoring on the national level the foundation upon which Abraham had stood – the foundation of having separated Satan laid during the four hundred years from Noah to Abraham. However, after they entered Canaan under the leadership of Joshua, Moses’ successor, they again turned faithless, allowing Satan to again defile this foundation of four hundred years. The Israelites needed to undergo another period for the separation of Satan before they could restore this foundation through indemnity. The period of the judges, which ran approximately four hundred years from the time the people entered Canaan until the enthronement of King Saul, was set up for this purpose.

The period of the judges was the image parallel to the period of the four hundred years from Noah to Abraham in the age of symbolic parallels. It was to restore that earlier period through parallel indemnity conditions.

3.3 The One-Hundred-and-Twenty-Year Period of the United Kingdom

The Age of the Providence of Restoration was set up to restore through indemnity the Age of the Providence to Lay the Foundation for Restoration. Therefore, Abraham, who commenced this providential age, was in the position of Adam; Moses was in the position of Noah; and King Saul was in the position of Abraham. Abraham was a transitional figure; he was responsible both to consummate the Age of the Providence to Lay the Foundation for Restoration and to begin the Age of the Providence of Restoration. Abraham was called to lay the family foundation for the Messiah as the basis for the national foundation for the Messiah.

 God had to lay the family foundation for the Messiah without fail in Abraham’s day because it was His third attempt. Likewise, in King Saul’s day, God was working to establish the national foundation for the Messiah for the third time. Hence, God again had to accomplish this providence without fail.

Due to his mistake in his symbolic offering, Abraham did not restore all at once the conditions inherited from Noah’s course in the form of the various numerical periods necessary to restore the foundation of faith, specifically: 120 years, forty days, twenty-one days and forty days. Therefore, the horizontal restoration of these periods had to be extended vertically. They became successive indemnity periods of 120 years, forty years, twenty-one years and forty years in the generations of Abraham’s family. King Saul was to restore Abraham’s position on the national level. By building the Temple, King Saul should have restored in a short time all the indemnity conditions in the form of numerical indemnity periods which had been set up to restore the foundation of faith in Moses’ time. These included: 120 years (the three forty-year courses in Moses’ life), forty days (the period of Moses’ fasts), twenty-one days (the first national course to restore Canaan), and forty years (the wilderness course in the national course to restore Canaan). Nevertheless, King Saul was disobedient (I Sam. 15:11-23) and failed to fulfill God’s Will. As in Abraham’s time, the horizontal restoration of these indemnity periods had to be extended vertically into successive periods: the 120 years of the united kingdom, the four hundred years of the divided kingdoms of north and south, the 210 years of Israel’s exile and return, and the four hundred years of preparation for the advent of the Messiah. After all these periods, the people of Israel were finally ready to receive the Messiah.

The period of the united kingdom was to restore the 120 years of Moses’ life, during which he made three attempts to lay the foundation of faith for the national course to restore Canaan. Let us examine this parallel more closely.

After the Israelites had endured four hundred years of slavery to separate Satan, Moses laid the foundation of faith through his forty years in the Pharaoh’s palace. He then tried to lead the people into the land of Canaan, where he was to build the Temple. However, due to the people’s faithlessness, this course was prolonged twice. Moses had to lay the foundation of faith anew through the forty-year course in the wilderness of Midian and again through the forty-year course of wandering in the wilderness. Likewise, Saul was enthroned as the king of Israel after the Israelites had restored the four hundred years of slavery in Egypt through the four-hundred-year period of the judges. During the forty years of his reign, King Saul was to lay the foundation of faith by restoring through indemnity Moses’ forty years of life in the Pharaoh’s palace. He was then to build the Temple. Yet when King Saul became faithless, God’s Will to build the Temple was prolonged through the two forty-year reigns of King David and King Solomon, thus constituting a total of 120 years for the period of the united kingdom.

This period was the image parallel to the period of 120 years in the age of symbolic parallels from the time Abraham left Haran until Jacob purchased the birthright from his brother. It was to restore that earlier period through parallel indemnity conditions. Just as the dispensation which began with Abraham was fulfilled after its prolongation through Isaac and Jacob, God’s dispensation to build the Temple, which began with King Saul, was extended to King David and King Solomon before it was finally fulfilled.

3.4 The Four-Hundred-Year Period of the Divided Kingdoms of North and South

Had King Saul accomplished the dispensation to build the Temple during the forty years of his reign, among the indemnity periods which he would have restored horizontally was Moses’ forty-day fast, which had been carried out to recover the Word as revealed on the tablets of stone. Once King Saul lost faith, this indemnity period had to be restored as a vertical extension of horizontal restoration. This was the origin of the period of the divided kingdoms of north and south, which lasted nearly four hundred years. It began when the united kingdom was divided into Israel in the north and Judah in the south, and it lasted until the people of Judah were taken into exile in Babylon.

This period was the image parallel to the forty-year period in the age of symbolic parallels, from Jacob’s purchase of the birthright from Esau until he received the blessings of Isaac and God (Gen. 28:13) and went into Haran. It was to restore that earlier period through parallel indemnity conditions.

3.5 The Two-Hundred-and-Ten-Year Period of Israel’s Exile and Return

The people of the northern kingdom of Israel broke their covenant with God, and as a result, they were taken into captivity by the Assyrians. The people of the southern kingdom of Judah also sinned against God. As a result, they were taken into exile by the Babylonian king, Nebuchadnezzar. After they spent nearly seventy years as captives, Babylon fell to King Cyrus of Persia, who issued a royal decree liberating them. From that time, the Jewish people began a gradual return to Jerusalem and rebuilt the Temple. Ezra the scribe led the last group of returning Jews to Jerusalem and Nehemiah rebuilt the city wall. Inspired by the prophecy of Malachi (Mal. 4:5), the people began preparations to receive the Messiah. This period came to an end approximately 210 years after the Jews were first taken into exile in Babylon and about 140 years after their liberation by the Persians. This was the period of Israel’s exile and return.

Had King Saul accomplished the dispensation to build the Temple, one of the indemnity periods which he would have restored horizontally was the twenty-one-day period when Moses was meant to lead the Israelites from Egypt to Canaan in the first national course. After King Saul lost faith and this dispensation failed, this indemnity period had to be restored as a vertical extension of horizontal restoration. The 210-year period of Israel’s exile and return was set up for this purpose.

This period was the image parallel to the twenty-one-year period in the age of symbolic parallels, which extended from the time Jacob received the blessing of the eldest son from Isaac until he returned to Canaan, and was to restore that earlier period through parallel indemnity conditions. It was to restore three seven-year periods: After arriving in Haran, Jacob worked seven years in order to marry Rachel but was given Leah; he worked seven more years for Rachel; he then worked seven years acquiring wealth before he returned to Canaan (Gen. 31:41).

3.6 The Four-Hundred-Year Period of Preparation for the Advent of the Messiah

After the Jewish people returned from exile to their homeland of Israel, they re-established their faith, rebuilt the city wall and, based on Malachi’s prophecy, began as a nation to prepare for the Messiah. From that time until the birth of Jesus was a period of four hundred years, the period of preparation for the advent of the Messiah.

Had King Saul accomplished the dispensation to build the Temple, one of the indemnity conditions he would have restored horizontally through indemnity was the forty years of wandering in the wilderness in the third national course. After King Saul lost faith and this dispensation failed, this indemnity period of forty years had to be restored as a vertical extension of horizontal restoration. The four-hundred-year period of preparation for the advent of the Messiah was set up for this purpose.

This period was the image parallel to the forty-year period in the age of symbolic parallels extending from the time Jacob returned to Canaan until his family entered Egypt at the invitation of his son Joseph. It was to restore that earlier period through parallel indemnity conditions.