The Parallels
When examining the history of mankind, we find cases where some periods seem to repeat themselves in a similar way in a later time.
Are they mere coincidences or is there a pattern behind them? Some historians point out that history progresses in a spiral; however, they may not understand the underlying cause.
With the loss of the first human ancestors, God lost his perfect complement of love, his children, and his own lineage. But fundamentally, humanity lost its absolute identity.
From that moment on, human beings stumbled forward, lost amid the most absolute ignorance of their own reason for existence. By losing Adam and Eve, God and humanity lost the perfect original seed.
Human activities recorded in any history book are far from reflecting the perfection of God and all created things. The original parents should have given birth to human beings who would eternally fulfill the three great objectives that God entrusted to them. And these are: to love their own existence as children of God; to love the rest of humanity by building a worldwide family; and to love creation with the same love and dedication that God had in creating every bit of existence.
After the tragic event of the fall, and despite the immense anguish in his heart, God did not wait to lead humanity back to the original ideal.
From the very beginning of human history, God and mankind together have been fighting a cruel war to free humans from the chains that keep God, his children, and the whole creation groaning with labor pains, waiting for the day of the return to the original path. God is the Absolute Being, unique, eternal, and unchanging; therefore, the purpose of God’s creation must also be absolute, unique, eternal, and unchanging.
Since it all began with the fall of Adam and Eve, the culmination of the history of evil will be when the position of original parents is restored by a new Adam and a new Eve. In this way, God will restore his perfect complement of love, his children, his own lineage.
If a person who has been chosen by God fails in the fulfillment of his mission, God will continue to carry out His providence until its total fulfillment. For this purpose, God will choose another person to assume the same responsibility, even if this prolongs in time the fulfillment of that mission.
At the moment God chooses the new central person, the circumstances, events and people surrounding the new central person will be similar to those under which God chose his predecessor. Even if there is a hiatus of two thousand or four thousand years in the history of the restoration, similar circumstances, events, and persons will appear.
During the long period from Adam to Abraham, the providence reflects God’s tireless work in search of a family.
With a heart as full of sorrow as it was overflowing with pure love, God searched day and night for hundreds of years for a family to work with.
It was not until the days of Abraham’s family that God found his central figure. The providence to restore the lost position of Adam and Eve was, then, beginning a new stage.
God’s first chosen people consisted of the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, who had established, for the first time in human history, a victorious foundation upon which God could work.
The central nation responsible for God’s dispensation was the Chosen nation of Israel. The central history, of course, was the history of the nation of Israel, centered on Judaism. The detailed record of that history is found in the Old Testament.
During the period from Abraham’s family to Jesus, the providence reflects God’s work in search for a nation.
Jesus came as the second Adam, to complete the Dispensation for Restoration.
If the secular and religious Israelite leaders of Jesus’ day had followed him, God’s Dispensation for Restoration would have been completely accomplished at that time.
Sinful history would have ended, and a new history, centered on God, would have begun, fulfilling the Ideal for the Creation.
The new heaven and earth that the Bible speaks of would have been established at that time. However, because of the chosen people’s faithlessness toward Jesus, he was crucified, and God’s Dispensation could not be concluded.
Jesus could do nothing other than promise that he would come again, and Christians have had to wait in hope for the time of the Second Coming.
The period from Jesus’ crucifixion to the Second Coming, God intended to establish the worldwide Foundation to restore the position of the true parents.
The people who became centrally responsible for the providence were not the Jews, but rather the Christians. Christians inherited the mission of Israel, they became the Second Israel.
As a result, the history of Christianity provides the central historical data for the Dispensational Age of the Prolongation of Restoration.
THE PERIOD OF SLAVERY IN EGYPT AND THE PERIOD OF PERSECUTION IN THE ROMAN EMPIRE
SLAVERY IN EGYPT
After Jacob entered Egypt with his twelve sons and seventy kinsmen, their descendants suffered terrible abuse at the hands of the Egyptians for four hundred years.
This was for the restoration of the four-hundred-year period from Noah to Abraham which had been defiled due to Abraham’s mistake in his offering.
At the end of Israel’s slavery in Egypt, Moses brought the Pharaoh to his knees by the power of the three signs and ten plagues. He then led the Israelites out of Egypt and set out for the land of Canaan.
When the period of slavery in Egypt was over, Moses received the Ten Commandments on Mt. Sinai and God’s Word revealed in the Law, which formed the core of the Old Testament Scriptures.
By setting up and honoring the tablets of stone, the Ark of the Covenant and the Tabernacle, he paved the way for the Israelites to prepare for the coming of the Messiah.
PERSECUTION IN THE ROMAN EMPIRE
The corresponding period of persecution in the Roman Empire was to restore this previous period.
Jesus’ twelve apostles and seventy disciples were the first of many generations of Christians who suffered severe persecution in the Roman Empire over a period of four hundred years.
Likewise, toward the end of the period of persecution in the Roman Empire, after Christians had drunk the cup of persecution to the fill, Jesus increased the numbers of believers by moving their hearts with his power and grace.
By stirring the heart of Emperor Constantine, Jesus led him to recognize Christianity in 313 A.D. Jesus inspired Theodosius I in 392 A.D. to establish Christianity as the state religion. Christians thus restored Canaan spiritually inside the Roman Empire, the satanic world.
Likewise, at the conclusion of the period of persecution in the Roman Empire, Christians gathered the writings which had been left behind by the apostles and evangelists and established the canon of the New Testament.
Based on these writings, they tried to spiritually realize God’s ideals, ideals that had been established in the Ten Commandments and the Tabernacle in the Old Testament Era. They built up churches and expanded their foundation to prepare for the Second Coming of Christ.
THE PERIOD OF THE JUDGES AND THE PERIOD OF REGIONAL CHURCH LEADERSHIP
THE JUDGES
Upon inheriting the mission of Moses, Joshua led the Israelites into the land of Canaan.
For the next four hundred years, fifteen judges governed the Israelite tribes: thirteen judges from Othniel to Samson recorded in the Book of Judges, as well as Eli and Samuel.
The judges filled the various responsibilities of prophet, priest and king, which became separate offices in the later periods. Israel in this period was a feudalistic society with no central political authority.
REGIONAL CHURCH LEADERSHIP
In the New Testament Age, the period of regional church leadership was set up to restore the period of the judges through parallel indemnity conditions. In this period, regional church leaders (patriarchs, bishops and abbots), led Christian society.
Like the judges of the Old Testament Age, they had duties similar to those of prophet, priest and king. As in the time of the judges, Christian society in this period was a feudalistic society under these local authorities.
THE PERIOD OF THE UNITED KINGDOM AND THE PERIOD OF THE CHRISTIAN EMPIRE
THE UNITED KINGDOM
When the period of the judges ended and the First Israel entered the period of the united kingdom, the functions of the judge were apportioned to the offices of prophet, priest and king.
The prophets received instructions directly from God, the priests kept charge over the Tabernacle and later the Temple, and the king governed the nation. Each carried on their distinct missions in guiding Israel to accomplish the goal of the providence of restoration.
About eight hundred years after Abraham’s descendants entered Egypt, by God’s command the prophet Samuel anointed Saul as the first king of Israel.
King Saul stood upon the foundation of the four hundred years under the judges. Because King Saul disobeyed the commands of God given through the prophet Samuel, he was in no position to build the Temple.
As was the case with Moses, the providence of restoration through King Saul was extended.
Forty years of King David’s reign and forty years of King Solomon’s reign would pass before the Temple was built. Nevertheless, King Solomon fell into lust with his many foreign wives, who turned him away from God. The foundation to receive the Messiah, which should have been laid in the period of the united kingdom, was not realized.
THE CHRISTIAN EMPIRE
The purpose of the period of the Christian empire was to restore the period of the united kingdom.
Thus, when the period of regional church leadership ended, the missions of these leaders were divided among the offices of monastic leaders corresponding to the prophets, the pope corresponding to the high priest, and the emperor, who ruled the people. They were responsible to guide the Second Israel to accomplish the goal of the providence of restoration.
Pope Leo III crowned Charlemagne and blessed him as the first emperor of Christendom in 800 A.D.
Charlemagne stood upon the foundation of the four-hundred-year period of regional church leadership, which restored the four-hundred-year period of the judges.
By faithfully living according to the teachings of Jesus in his work to realize the Christian ideal of the state, Charlemagne was to establish the foundation to receive the Messiah.
Indeed, when Charlemagne was crowned emperor, he achieved this foundation. However, the emperor did not remain obedient to God’s Will and left the position of Abel for the substantial offering. The foundation for the Second Advent of the Messiah was not realized.
THE PERIOD OF THE DIVIDED KINGDOMS OF NORTH AND SOUTH AND THE PERIOD OF THE DIVIDED KINGDOMS OF EAST AND WEST
THE DIVIDED KINGDOMS OF NORTH AND SOUTH
Because King Solomon was led by his wives and concubines to worship idols, the united kingdom of Israel was divided upon his death, having lasted only three generations.
The kingdom of Israel in the north, which was founded by ten of the twelve tribes, was in the position of Cain, while the kingdom of Judah in the south, which was founded by the two remaining tribes, was in the position of Abel. This was how the period of the divided kingdoms of north and south began.
In the period of the divided kingdoms of north and south, whenever the Israelites violated their covenant with God, straying from the ideal of the Temple, God sent many prophets, such as Elijah, Isaiah and Jeremiah, to admonish them and move them to repentance and internal reform.
However, because the kings and the people did not heed the warnings of the prophets and did not repent, God chastised them externally by sending gentile nations to attack them, such as Syria, Assyria and Babylon.
The period of the divided kingdoms of north and south came to an end when gentile nations took the people of Israel and Judah into exile.
They put an end to the monarchy in Israel.
THE DIVIDED KINGDOMS OF EAST AND WEST
The Christian empire also began to divide in the third generation.
Charlemagne’s grandsons partitioned it into three kingdoms: the East Franks, the West Franks and Italy. The descendants of Charlemagne were in bitter and constant conflict with each other. The remnants of the Christian empire soon coalesced into two kingdoms, with Italy reverting to the rule of the East Franks.
The kingdom of the East Franks flourished greatly under Otto 1st and came to be called the Holy Roman Empire. Claiming to be the heir of the Roman Empire, it ruled parts of Western Europe and sought to secure dominion over both politics and religion.
The Holy Roman Empire stood in the position of Abel in relation to the kingdom of the West Franks.
During the parallel period of the divided kingdoms of east and west, the papacy was corrupt.
God sent prominent monks such as St. Thomas Aquinas and St. Francis of Assisi to admonish the papacy and promote internal reform in the Church.
Since the papacy and the Church did not repent, but sank further into corruption and immorality, God chastised them externally by letting their people fight the Muslims.
This was the providential reason behind the Crusades.
Likewise, at the close of the period of the divided kingdoms of east and west, the papacy had completely lost its prestige and credibility after the repeated defeats of the Crusades. Christianity thus lost its center of spiritual sovereignty.
Moreover, since the lords and knights who had maintained feudal society were decimated by the Crusades, feudal society lost its political power and vigor. Since the papacy and the feudal lords had spent enormous funds to pursue these unsuccessful wars, they were left impoverished. Monarchic Christianity began to erode.
THE PERIOD OF ISRAEL’S EXILE AND RETURN AND THE PERIOD OF THE PAPAL EXILE AND RETURN
ISRAEL’S EXILE AND RETURN
By falling into faithlessness without repentance, the people of Israel failed to realize the ideal of God’s nation founded upon the Temple. God had the people suffer hardships as exiles in Babylon. This was similar to when God had the Israelites suffer as slaves in Egypt.
In the earlier parallel period, nearly seventy years elapsed from the time King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon took into captivity King Jehoiachin and his royal family, as well as prophets including Daniel and Ezekiel, priests, officials, craftsmen and many other Israelites, until the fall of Babylon and their liberation by the royal decree of King Cyrus.
It then took another 140 years for the exiles to return to their homeland in three waves, until they fully reformed themselves as a nation united around the Will of God as proclaimed in the messianic prophecies of Malachi. Henceforth, they began to prepare for the coming of the Messiah.
PAPAL EXILE AND RETURN
The emperors and popes became corrupt and did not repent. Therefore, the foundation for the Second Advent of Christ was not established. To begin a new dispensation to restore this foundation, God allowed the popes to be taken into exile and suffer captivity.
This period of approximately 210 years ran from 1309, with the papacy’s seventy years of exile in Avignon, through the Great Schism, the conciliar movement and the restoration of papal authority in the Roman church, to the eve of the Protestant Reformation spearheaded by Martin Luther in 1517.
Its purpose was to restore through indemnity, in the form of substantial parallels, the 210-year period of Israel’s exile and return—from Israel’s seventy years of exile in Babylon through the stages of the returning to Israel and the rebuilding of the Temple, until the reform of politics and religion under the leadership of Ezra, Nehemiah and the prophet Malachi.
THE PERIOD OF PREPARATION FOR THE ADVENT OF THE MESSIAH AND THE PERIOD OF PREPARATION FOR THE SECOND ADVENT OF THE MESSIAH
PREPARATION FOR THE ADVENT OF THE MESSIAH
Following the period of Israel’s exile and return, another four hundred years elapsed before Jesus came.
This was the period of preparation for the advent of the Messiah.
Upon returning from the Babylonian exile, the Israelites established the foundation of faith by repenting of their past sin of idolatry, rebuilding the Temple which had been destroyed by King Nebuchadnezzar, and reforming their faith based on the Mosaic Law under the guidance of Ezra the scribe.
They then began to prepare for the coming of the Messiah according to the word of the prophet Malachi.
Meanwhile, among the world’s peoples, God founded religions suited to their regions and cultures by which they could make the necessary internal preparations to receive the Messiah. In India, God established Buddhism through Gautama Buddha (565-485 B.C.) as a new development out of Hinduism.
In Greece, God inspired Socrates (470-399 B.C.) and opened the brilliant age of classical Greek civilization.
In the Far East, God raised up Confucius (552-479 B.C.), whose teachings of Confucianism established the standard of human ethics.
Jesus was to come upon this worldwide foundation of preparation, and through his teachings he was to bring together Judaism, Hellenism, Buddhism and Confucianism. He was to unify all religions and civilizations into one worldwide civilization founded upon the Christian Gospel.
In Jesus’ day, the Roman Empire ruled the vast domains around the Mediterranean Sea, integrated by an advanced and extensive transportation system reaching out in all directions.
This was the center of a vast Hellenistic civilization founded on the Greek language.
Thus, all the necessary preparations had been made for a swift transmission of the teachings of the Messiah from Israel, where Jesus lived, to Rome and the world.
PREPARATION FOR THE SECOND ADVENT OF THE MESSIAH
Likewise, Christianity is to meet Christ at his Second Advent only after passing through four hundred years of the period of preparation for the Second Advent of the Messiah, which has followed the period of papal exile and return.
It should restore through indemnity in the form of substantial parallels the period of preparation for the advent of the Messiah.
Likewise, after the papacy’s return to Rome, medieval Christians established the foundation of faith by seeking to reform the Roman church; these efforts culminated in the Protestant Reformation led by Martin Luther. This movement pierced the gloom of medieval Europe with the light of the Gospel and pioneered new paths of faith.
Since the Renaissance, God has been creating the religious, political and economic environment conducive to the work of Christ at his Second Coming.
Beginning with the Renaissance, progress in virtually every field of human endeavor, including politics, economy, culture and science, has increased at a rapid rate.
Today, these fields have reached their zenith and have created a global environment conducive to the work of Christ at his Second Coming.
Similarly, in the present era of the Second Advent, the influence of the Western powers has expanded the democratic political sphere throughout the world.
The rapid progress of transportation and communication has greatly bridged the gap between East and West, and the extensive contact among languages and cultures has brought the world much closer together. These developments characterize an environment in which the teachings of the returning Christ can freely and swiftly be conveyed to the hearts of all humankind.
The Kingdom of Heaven on earth is a society whose structure is formed in the image of a perfect person. Likewise, fallen society may be regarded as formed in the likeness of a fallen person.
We can better understand the history of societies built by sinful humanity by examining the inner life of a fallen person. Since human society is composed of individuals who are constantly at war within themselves, interactions among them cannot help but be full of discord and conflict.
Human history has consisted of people’s conflict-ridden social relationships constantly changing with the course of time. Hence, it has necessarily unfolded in strife and warfare. Progress in history originates with individuals who, even amidst the vortex of good and evil, make determined efforts to reject evil and promote goodness.
Therefore, the world toward which history is progressing is the Kingdom of Heaven, where the goal of goodness will be realized.
Meanwhile, on the basis of his relationship of blood ties with the first human beings, Satan has worked through fallen people to realize, in advance of God, a perverted form of the ideal society which God intends to realize.
As a result, in human history we witness the rise of unprincipled societies which are built upon twisted versions of God’s ideal.
At the end of human history, before God can restore the Kingdom of Heaven on earth, Satan will have built an unprincipled world in a distorted image of the Kingdom: this is none other than the communist world.
