Whether God’s Will is Fulfilled through any Particular Individual Is Conditional Upon the Fulfillment of His Portion of Responsibility

Acts 17

The Jewish leaders were jealous and got some worthless bums who hung around the marketplace to start a riot in the city. They wanted to drag Paul and Silas out to the mob, and so they went straight to Jason’s home. But when they did not find them there, they dragged out Jason and some of the Lord’s followers. They took them to the city authorities and shouted, “Paul and Silas have been upsetting things everywhere. Now they have come here, and Jason has welcomed them into his home. All of them break the laws of the Roman Emperor by claiming that someone named Jesus is king.”

The officials and the people were upset when they heard this. So they made Jason and the other followers pay bail before letting them go.

Isaiah 1

I am Isaiah, the son of Amoz.

And this is the message[a] that I was given about Judah and Jerusalem when Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah were the kings of Judah:[b]

The Lord has said,
    “Listen, heaven and earth!
The children I raised
    have turned against me.
Oxen and donkeys know
    who owns and feeds them,
but my people won’t ever learn.”

Exposition of the Divine Principle
3 Color Edition-The Red part

Part 2
Chapter 3
The Periods in Providential History and the Determination of Their Lengths

PARALLEL PROVIDENTIAL PERIODS

When a period of history repeats the events of a previous period, albeit with differences in scope and degree, the two periods are called parallel providential periods. The principal cause behind these parallels lies in God’s providence of restoration. Parallel providential periods recur because of repeated dispensations to restore the foundation for the Messiah. Accordingly, the factors which determine the formation of parallel providential periods are: first, the three conditions necessary for the foundation of faith (the central figure, the object for the condition and the numerical period of indemnity) and second, the indemnity condition to remove the fallen nature, which is necessary to restore the foundation of substance. Based on these factors, two characteristics of parallel providential periods stand out. First, the lengths of the parallel providential periods are determined based on a fixed number of generations or years of the indemnity period necessary for restoring the foundation of faith.

 Second, the parallels in history are shaped by the other three providential factors: the central figure and the object for the condition offered for the foundation of faith, and the indemnity condition to remove the fallen nature for the foundation of substance.

THE NUMBER OF GENERATIONS OR YEARS IN THE PERIODS OF THE AGE OF THE PROVIDENCE TO LAY THE FOUNDATION FOR RESTORATION

2.1 WHY AND HOW THE PROVIDENCE OF RESTORATION IS PROLONGED

Why has the providence of restoration been prolonged? This question can only be answered with an understanding of the principle of predestination. According to this principle, since God absolutely predestines His Will, He surely will realize it one day. However, whether God’s Will is fulfilled through any particular individual is conditional upon the fulfillment of his portion of responsibility, which is in addition to God’s portion of responsibility. Accordingly, when the Will is not fulfilled because the responsible person fails, God will choose another person in a different era to take his place. God will continue His work until its complete fulfillment, prolonging the providence in the process.

 Let us next examine how the providence of restoration has been prolonged. According to the Principle of Creation, God is a being of the number three. All things created in His likeness manifest themselves through a three-stage process with respect to their mode of existence, movement and growth. whenever the providence of restoration is prolonged, it may extend to as many as three stages. On the basis of the Principle of Creation, up to three attempts are allowed.

2.2 VERTICAL INDEMNITY CONDITIONS AND HORIZONTAL RESTORATION THROUGH INDEMNITY

 To inherit and complete the missions of his predecessors in providential history, a central figure responsible for the providence of restoration must fulfill, in a short time, all the indemnity conditions which his predecessors tried to fulfill. The conditions which accumulate in the course of providential history due to central figures’ failures to complete their responsibility are called vertical indemnity conditions. The task of the central figure to fulfill all these conditions in a short time is called horizontal restoration through indemnity.

2.3 HORIZONTAL RESTORATION THROUGH INDEMNITY CARRIED OUT VERTICALLY

 By making an acceptable symbolic offering, Abraham was supposed to restore horizontally through indemnity all the vertical indemnity conditions which had accumulated due to the mistakes of Adam’s family and Noah’s family. Since this was the third attempt in the providence to restore the family foundation for the Messiah, the Principle required that his family accomplish God’s Will without fail.

 God could credit Abraham with having fulfilled, in his own generation, the horizontal indemnity conditions which he had failed to complete, by completing them vertically through the generations of Isaac and Jacob. This type of restoration is called horizontal restoration through indemnity carried out vertically.

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2007p2-CHAPT-3-PeriodsOfHistoryTheirLengths_revised-4-28-2014

Christ at the Second Advent Will Not Die without Fulfilling the Providence of Restoration

Cheon Seong Gyeong 2124

Today, as I express my gratitude at
this meaningful event, I am mindful
of the fact that the issue of unifying the
Korean Peninsula is the solemn desire
of our people and the final act of bring-
ing the global Cold War to a conclusion.
Therefore, I would like to share with you
the basic answer for unification under
the topic, “World Unification and the
Unification of North and South Korea
through True Love.”
The unification of our country does
not just involve the unification of nation-
al territory, but rather is the blueprint for
the unification of the world that has been
divided between East and West, begin-
ning with the unification of the human
mind and body that were divided by the
Fall. Thus, this issue must be understood
from the perspective of God’s provi-
dence of salvation and must be resolved
on a providential level. The history of
humankind is the history of the provi-
dence of restoration through indemni-
ty in order to recover the original world
that was lost due to the Fall of the ances-
tors of humankind. Accordingly, histo-
ry consists of the struggle between good
and evil, God’s side and Satan’s side, in
striving for the goal of actualizing God’s
ideal of creation.

Cheon Seong Gyeong 1155

Why can’t we cut Satan away at
once? Why can the almighty God not
do it immediately? It is because this
problem has to do with lineage. If God
tried to remove this lineage all at once
He would have to exterminate the entire
human race. If the blood we inherited
from Satan were to be extracted, human
beings would disappear. Even Adam
and Eve would disappear. Human-
kind would have to be totally crushed.
Why could God not eliminate Adam
and Eve and create new ones? He is not
supposed to create people anew. Love
is the alpha and the omega, the begin-
ning and the end. This became the ideal
standard. God therefore cannot strike
human beings as the object partners
of that love. You must understand this.
(188-225, 1989.2.26)

Exposition of the Divine Principle
3 Color Edition-The Red part

3.3 THE THIRD WORLDWIDE COURSE TO RESTORE CANAAN

3.3.1 THE SPIRITUAL COURSE TO RESTORE CANAAN UNDER JESUS’ LEADERSHIP

In the worldwide course to restore Canaan, the focus of faith for the Jewish people was Jesus himself, who came as the fulfillment of the Tabernacle. When even his disciples became faithless, Jesus had to walk the path of death and be crucified, as he had foretold, “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of man be lifted up.” As a consequence, the Jewish people lost the one who should have been the spiritual and physical focus of their faith. They no longer had a basis upon which to begin the third worldwide course to restore Canaan as a substantial course, as the Israelites had when they commenced the third national course. Rather, Christians, as the Second Israel, were to begin this course as a spiritual course by exalting the resurrected Jesus as their focus of faith.

 Then, just as Joshua succeeded to Moses’ mission and completed the third national course, Christ at the Second Advent will succeed the mission of Jesus. He will complete, both spiritually and physically, the third worldwide course to restore Canaan.

3.3.1.1 THE SPIRITUAL FOUNDATION OF FAITH

 After Jesus gave up his body on the cross, he resumed John the Baptist’s mission spiritually. During the forty-day period from his resurrection to his ascension, Jesus triumphed over Satan and broke all his chains. By doing so, Jesus restored the foundation of faith for the spiritual course in the third worldwide course to restore Canaan.

3.3.1.2 THE SPIRITUAL FOUNDATION OF SUBSTANCE

 Through his resurrection appearances, Jesus fulfilled the dispensation of forty for the separation of Satan while standing in the position of John the Baptist in spirit. He thereby laid the foundation of faith for the spiritual course in the position of the spiritual True Parent. At the same time, from the position of a child, he secured the position of Abel for fulfilling the indemnity condition to remove the fallen nature.

 God had worked the dispensation to start in Moses’ day by having him establish the foundation for the Tabernacle. However, the resurrected Jesus was himself the spiritual fulfillment of the tablets of stone, the Ark of the Covenant and the Tabernacle. He gathered his scattered disciples from all over Galilee and worked the dispensation to start by giving them the power to perform signs and miracles.

 The resurrected Jesus stood spiritually in the position of John the Baptist and the position of Abel. The faithful believers stood in the position of Cain. By believing in Jesus and following him devotedly, they fulfilled the indemnity condition to remove the fallen nature and restored the spiritual foundation of substance.

3.3.1.3 THE SPIRITUAL FOUNDATION FOR THE MESSIAH

 Upon Jesus’ crucifixion, his eleven remaining disciples were demoralized and scattered. After his resurrection, however, Jesus gathered them in one place and commenced a new phase of the providence: the restoration of spiritual Canaan. The disciples chose Matthias to replace Judas Iscariot and fill the vacancy among the twelve. By believing in Jesus and following him at the cost of their lives, they laid the spiritual foundation of substance and the spiritual foundation for the Messiah. Upon this foundation, Jesus ascended from the position of the spiritual mission-bearer for John the Baptist to the position of the spiritual Messiah and sent the Holy Spirit. Thereupon, Jesus and the Holy Spirit became the spiritual True Parents and began the work of giving rebirth.

3.3.1.4 THE RESTORATION OF SPIRITUAL CANAAN

 By believing in and serving the resurrected Jesus, who stands upon the spiritual foundation for the Messiah, Christians can accomplish the restoration of spiritual Canaan and enter its realm of grace. On the other hand, the physical bodies of Christians stand in the same position as Jesus’ body, which was assaulted by Satan through the crucifixion. Christians are still stained with the original sin220 and are just as much in need of purifying themselves from satanic influences as were people who lived before the coming of Jesus. Hence, Christians still must walk the course for the separation of Satan to prepare for the Second Coming of Christ.

3.3.2 THE COURSE TO RESTORE SUBSTANTIAL CANAAN UNDER THE LEADERSHIP OF CHRIST AT THE SECOND ADVENT

While Moses could enter Canaan only in spirit, Joshua walked the national course as a substantial course and actually conquered the promised land. Likewise, while Jesus has been restoring Canaan as a worldwide spiritual realm, Christ at the Second Advent is to complete this third worldwide course as a substantial course and build the actual Kingdom of Heaven on earth. Christ at the Second Advent must realize, on earth, God’s ideal which was left unfulfilled at the First Coming. For this reason, he must be born on earth in the flesh.

However arduous the path he may walk, Christ at the Second Advent will not die without fulfilling the providence of restoration. This is because God’s providence to raise up the True Parents of humankind and fulfill the purpose of creation through them will be successful on the third attempt. This providence began with Adam, was prolonged through Jesus, and will bear its fruit without fail at the Second Advent.

 No matter how bitter his tribulations may be, Christ at the Second Advent will be able to lay the foundation of faith on the earth. Standing upon it, he will gather disciples of indomitable faith. He will guide these followers to fulfill the indemnity condition to remove the fallen nature and establish the foundation of substance. The foundation for the Messiah for the substantial course in the third worldwide course will be established without fail.

 The deepest explanation of God’s purpose of creation is revealed in terms of relationships of heart. As our invisible, internal Parent, God created human beings as His substantial children. God intended to build the Kingdom of Heaven on earth through His own children, born of His heavenly lineage. The primary significance of the Fall was that the first human ancestors formed a bond of blood ties with the Archangel; therefore, all of humanity has been bound to Satan’s lineage. Every human being has been born as a child of the Devil. The first human ancestors fell to the position where they no longer had any connection to God’s lineage. Accordingly, the ultimate purpose of God’s providence of restoration is to transform fallen people, who have no connection to God’s lineage, into children born of God’s direct lineage. Let us look further at the Bible for evidence of this hidden purpose behind God’s providence.

 At Noah’s time, a direct relationship with God could not be restored due to the mistake of his second son, Ham. Nevertheless, because Noah had demonstrated utmost devotion, his family could stand in an indirect relationship with God, as a servant of servants. This was the nature of humankind’s relationship with God attainable prior to the Old Testament Age.

 Abraham, the father of faith, with his family established the family foundation for the Messiah. They and their descendants, God’s chosen people, were elevated to the position of God’s servants. This was the nature of humankind’s relationship with God attainable in the Old Testament Age.

 In the days of Jesus, the disciples, who stood upon the foundation of faith Jesus had laid from the position of John the Baptist, were elevated from the position of servants to the position of adopted children. To rise further from this state and become the children of God’s direct lineage, they should have first established the foundation of substance and the foundation for the Messiah by serving and obeying Jesus absolutely. Had Jesus stood as the Messiah upon that foundation, they could have been engrafted with him both spiritually and physically and attained complete oneness with him.

However devout a Christian may be, since the original sin passed down through the flesh has not yet been removed, he is no different from a faithful person of the Old Testament Age in the sense that both are still bound to Satan’s lineage. Christians are, at best, God’s adopted children, because they do not stem from His lineage. Christ will return and restore all humanity to be God’s true children. The returning Christ will conduct the dispensation to start based on the Word and then complete the foundation for the Messiah both spiritually and physically. Upon that foundation, he will engraft all humanity with himself, cleansing them of the original sin and restoring them to be God’s children, born of His lineage.

 Christ at the Second Advent will begin by laying, both spiritually and physically, the family foundation for the Messiah. He will then expand its scope to the clan, society, nation, world and cosmos. When this foundation is secure, he will finally be able to build the Kingdom of Heaven.

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2007p2-CHAPT-2-S3-Jesus_revised-4-28-2014

If the Jewish People Had Believed in Jesus, the Foundation for the Messiah Would have Been Laid

2 Thessolonians 1

From Paul, Silas, and Timothy.

To the church in Thessalonica, the people of God our Father and of the Lord Jesus Christ.

I pray that God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ will be kind to you and will bless you with peace!

My dear friends, we always have good reason to thank God for you, because your faith in God and your love for each other keep growing all the time. That’s why we brag about you to all of God’s churches. We tell them how patient you are and how you keep on having faith, even though you are going through a lot of trouble and suffering.

Hosea 2

I, the Lord, will build
a fence of thorns
    to block her path.
She will run after her lovers,
    but not catch them;
she will search,
    but not find them.
Then she will say, “I’ll return
to my first husband.
    Life was better then.”
She didn’t know that her grain,
wine, and olive oil
    were gifts from me,
as were the gold and silver
    she used in worshiping Baal.

Exposition of the Divine Principle
3 Color Edition-The Red part

3.2 THE SECOND WORLDWIDE COURSE TO RESTORE CANAAN

3.2.1 THE FOUNDATION OF FAITH

3.2.1.1 JESUS TAKES ON THE MISSION OF JOHN THE BAPTIST

 The foundation of faith which John had laid for the first worldwide course to restore Canaan was invaded by Satan. Jesus himself now had to take on John’s mission and restore through indemnity the foundation of faith in order to set out on the second worldwide course to restore Canaan. When Jesus fasted for forty days in the wilderness, it was to separate Satan for the very purpose of restoring the foundation of faith; however, for this he lowered himself to assume the position of John the Baptist.

 Jesus enjoined Peter not to reveal to the Jewish people that he was the Messiah192 because, although he was the Messiah, he had assumed John’s role for the purpose of beginning this phase of the providence.

3.2.1.3 THE RESULT OF THE FORTY-DAY FAST AND THE THREE TEMPTATIONS

 First, in the position of John the Baptist, Jesus restored through indemnity the foundation of faith for the second worldwide course to restore Canaan. In so doing, Jesus restored all that had been offered to God over the course of the providence for the purpose of laying the foundation of faith. Furthermore, Jesus restored through indemnity, all at once, all the dispensations of forty for the separation of Satan conducted during the four thousand years since Adam, lost despite the best efforts of central figures to lay the foundation of faith.

 Second, by rising from John the Baptist’s position to the position of the Messiah, Jesus paved the way for the fulfillment of God’s three great blessings and the restoration of the four position foundation.

3.2.2 THE FOUNDATION OF SUBSTANCE

 Jesus came as the True Parent of humanity, yet he restored through indemnity the dispensation of forty for the separation of Satan while standing in the position of John the Baptist. Therefore, after he restored the foundation of faith (and rose to the position of Messiah and True Parent) he stood in the position of a parent. At the same time, when he secured the position of Abel for fulfilling the indemnity condition to remove the fallen nature, he stood in the position of a child (still in the role of John the Baptist with respect to that condition).

 Jesus was the fulfillment of the three manifestations of grace and the Ten Commandments. Therefore, God conducted the dispensation to start the second worldwide course to restore Canaan based on Jesus’ own words and miraculous deeds. If the Jewish people (Cain) had been moved to believe in and follow Jesus, who was in the position of John the Baptist (Abel), they would have fulfilled the indemnity condition to remove the fallen nature and restored the foundation of substance. The foundation for the Messiah would thus have been laid. Standing upon this foundation, Jesus would have risen from the position of John the Baptist to the position of the Messiah. Then, by engrafting all people with himself, humankind would have been reborn, cleansed of the original sin, and would have become one with God in heart. They would have restored their original, God-given nature and built the Kingdom of Heaven on earth in Jesus’ day.

3.2.3 THE FAILURE OF THE SECOND WORLDWIDE COURSE TO RESTORE CANAAN

 Satan confronted Jesus through Judas Iscariot, the disciple who betrayed him. Due to the faithlessness of such people, Jesus could lay neither the foundation of substance nor the foundation for the Messiah for the second worldwide course to restore Canaan. The second worldwide course thus ended in tragic failure.

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2007p2-CHAPT-2-S3-Jesus_revised-4-28-2014

John the Baptist Harbored Doubts Toward Jesus

Cheon Seong Gyeong 2088

Now you must straighten out your
roots. Your father and mother took
a wrong turn because they fell away
from their original roots. The first son
has gone wrong as well. Therefore, you
must turn them back so that they make,
as their central focus, the original right
of the parents centered on True Parents
and the right of the first son centered on
true sons and daughters. A connection
will not simply be made automatically.
Only after turning yourself around 180
degrees and engrafting onto the true
root can you begin anew. Therefore,
you must return to your homeland and
become the new ancestors for your lin-
eage. You must understand that this is
your final destiny. (178-99, 1998.6.1)

Cheon Seong Gyeong 918

In regard to the firstborn son of the
eldest son, even the grandfather comes
under his command when that son per-
forms the ancestral rites. The grandfa-
ther has to show his respect. The fact that
Koreans place value in the lineage of the
firstborn son, and also in their geneal-
ogy and lineage, holds record-breaking
historical value in God’s providence of
restoration, which can never be forgot-
ten from the deepest root of His mind.
(290-9, 1998.2.2)

Exposition of the Divine Principle
3 Color Edition-The Red part

THE PROVIDENCE OF RESTORATION UNDER THE LEADERSHIP OF JESUS

 In the beginning, Adam should have governed the angels; but due to his fall, human beings came under Satan’s dominion and formed a hellish world. To restore this through indemnity, Jesus came as the second Adam to personally bring Satan to submission and establish the Kingdom of Heaven.

 Jacob walked the symbolic course to bring Satan to submission, while Moses walked the image course. Their courses pioneered the way for Jesus to walk the actual course. In walking the worldwide course to restore Canaan, Jesus followed the model demonstrated in the national course to restore Canaan when Moses was working to subjugate Satan.

3.1 THE FIRST WORLDWIDE COURSE TO RESTORE CANAAN

3.1.1 THE FOUNDATION OF FAITH

 In the first worldwide course to restore Canaan, the central figure entrusted with the mission to restore the foundation of faith was John the Baptist.

 John the Baptist, like Moses, was called on the foundation of a four-hundred-year period for the separation of Satan. Moses had learned to love his brethren and the traditions of his fathers while living in the Pharaoh’s palace. Likewise, John the Baptist learned the way of faith and obedience to Heaven and made preparations for the Messiah while living on locusts and wild honey in the wilderness. His life was so exemplary that many people, including the priests and Levites, wondered whether he might be the Messiah.181 In this way, John the Baptist successfully established the dispensation of forty for the separation of Satan and was able to lay the foundation of faith for the first worldwide course to restore Canaan.

3.1.2 THE FOUNDATION OF SUBSTANCE

 Since John the Baptist stood in the same position as Moses, he likewise stood in the dual positions of parent and child. From the position of parent, he restored through indemnity the foundation of faith. From the position of child, he secured the position of Abel for the fulfillment of the indemnity condition to remove the fallen nature.

 God conducted the dispensation to start by encouraging the Jewish people to believe in John through the miracles surrounding his life. The Jewish people in Jesus’ time were to believe in and follow John the Baptist, whom God had raised up through miracles and signs as the focus of their faith. Thus, they would fulfill the indemnity condition to remove the fallen nature and lay the foundation of substance, thereby immediately establishing the foundation for the Messiah.

3.1.3 THE FAILURE OF THE FIRST WORLDWIDE COURSE TO RESTORE CANAAN

 The Jewish people stood upon the foundation of faith laid by John the Baptist and followed John as if they were following the Messiah. Thereupon, they brought an end to the Old Testament Age and were ready to embark upon a new course to restore Canaan worldwide. Yet, John the Baptist harbored doubts toward Jesus, even though he had testified to him. He sent a delegation and asked Jesus, “Are you he who is to come, or shall we look for another?” He denied that he was Elijah even though he in fact came to fulfill Elijah’s mission. This not only blocked the Jewish people’s path to Jesus, it even led them to oppose him. In effect, John left the position of Abel, depriving the Jewish people of the central person with whom they could fulfill the indemnity condition to remove the fallen nature. This blocked their way to complete the foundation of substance or the foundation for the Messiah. Consequently, the first worldwide course to restore Canaan was aborted. As was the case in Moses’ days, it was prolonged to a second and then a third course.

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2007p2-CHAPT-2-S3-Jesus_revised-4-28-2014

The People Raised a Great Shout and the City Walls Tumbled Down

Book Review: As A Peace Loving Global Citizen
By Rev. Sun Myung Moon
Read the review

Mark 12

24 Jesus answered:

You are completely wrong! You don’t know what the Scriptures teach. And you don’t know anything about the power of God. 25 When God raises people to life, they won’t marry. They will be like the angels in heaven. 26 You surely know about people being raised to life. You know that in the story about Moses and the burning bush, God said, “I am the God worshiped by Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”[b] 27 He isn’t the God of the dead, but of the living. You Sadducees are all wrong.

Richard: This passage explains, apparently, that there is no marriage in heaven, per Jesus’ teaching. True Father, Rev. Moon explains that when you have a Blessed family with the children united with the parents through three generations, you can enter heaven with you family.
” Second, Heaven has permitted the grace of the authority of Sunghwa for rebirth and resurrection to be bestowed on the family unit. Here, a requisite condition is the complete unity between parents and children. In other words, you must establish the standard for absolute parents and absolute children, and establish an absolute family in the normal course of events. “
http://visionroot.org/resources/rev-sun-myung-moon/world-assembly-to-proclaim-the-embodiment-of-gods-word-and-the-era-of-the-parents-of-heaven-earth-and-humankindnew-page/ Use Ctrl+F to search the text.

Proverbs 30

Everything God says is true—
    and it’s a shield for all
    who come to him for safety.
Don’t change what God has said!
    He will correct you and show
    that you are a liar.

Exposition of the Divine Principle
3 Color Edition-The Red part

2.2.3 THE THIRD NATIONAL COURSE TO RESTORE CANAAN

2.2.3.1 THE FOUNDATION OF FAITH

 Because the Israelites turned faint-hearted upon hearing the report of the faithless spies, the second national course to restore Canaan ended in failure. The forty years Moses had spent in the wilderness of Midian to restore the foundation of faith were invaded by Satan. As a result of the failure of the mission to spy out the land, the people had to wander in the wilderness for forty years, one year for each day of the forty-day spy mission, until they returned to Kadesh-barnea. For Moses, this forty-year period was to separate Satan, who had invaded the previous foundation of faith, and to restore through indemnity the foundation of faith for the third course. Moses honored the Tabernacle with faith and loyalty throughout the entire forty years of wandering in the wilderness. By the time he returned to Kadesh-barnea, he had completed the foundation of faith for the third national course to restore Canaan. Accordingly, he also secured the position of Abel for the foundation of substance.

2.2.3.2 THE FOUNDATION OF SUBSTANCE

For Moses, the forty years of wandering in the wilderness was the period required to establish the foundation of faith for the third national course. For the Israelites, the goal for this period was to accomplish the dispensation to start the third course. They were to do this by establishing the foundation for the Tabernacle, thereby returning to the state of grace which they had enjoyed in the second course when they first constructed the Tabernacle under Moses’ direction.

2.2.3.2.1 THE FOUNDATION OF SUBSTANCE CENTERED ON MOSES

The third national course to restore Canaan was to begin at Kadesh-barnea upon completing a dispensation to start based on the rock. Henceforth, had the Israelites honored the Tabernacle with faith and devotion and followed Moses into Canaan, they would have fulfilled the indemnity condition to remove the fallen nature required for the foundation of substance in the third national course. How did God intend to conduct the dispensation to start based on the rock? During the forty years of wandering in the wilderness, the Israelites again fell into complaint and faithlessness. To save them, God instructed Moses to strike the rock with his staff that it might yield water and give drink to the people.

However, when Moses heard the people murmuring against him and complaining that they had no water to drink, he raged in uncontrolled anger and struck the rock twice. By striking the rock twice when he should have struck it only once, Moses undermined the dispensation to start based on the rock. As a consequence, he was not permitted to enter the promised land. He could only gaze upon it from a distance at the end of his life.

 The rock not only symbolized Christ; as the root of the tablets of stone, it also symbolized God, the origin of Christ.

2.2.3.2.2 THE FOUNDATION OF SUBSTANCE CENTERED ON JOSHUA

 Therefore, God worked the dispensation to start the course anew, this time based on the water from the rock, by elevating Joshua to Moses’ place and having the internal Israelites obey him and stand with him upon the foundation for the Tabernacle. On this basis, they were to enter the land of Canaan, where they were to fulfill the national indemnity condition to remove the fallen nature. In this way, God intended to establish the foundation of substance centered on Joshua in the third national course.

 In the second national course, Moses sent twelve spies to Canaan.142 Upon the foundation of heart laid by the two spies who had faithfully completed their mission, Joshua sent two men to spy out the fortified city of Jericho.143 When they returned from Jericho, the two spies made a faithful report: “Truly the Lord has given all the land into our hands; and moreover all the inhabitants of the land are fainthearted because of us.”144 The younger generation of Israelites raised in the wilderness all believed the spies’ words, and this faith indemnified the sins of their parents, who had not properly completed the previous forty-day mission to spy out the land.

By restoring the dispensation to start based on the water from the rock, they assumed the same position as their parents had when, under Moses’ leadership, they had participated in the dispensation to start at the Exodus from Egypt when God provided the three signs and ten plagues. The Israelites under Joshua’s leadership passed through a three-day course before they crossed the Jordan River. After the Israelites under Joshua’s leadership completed the three-day course, the Ark of the Covenant led them to the Jordan River. The tablets lying at the center of the Ark, and the pillars of cloud and fire both symbolized Jesus and his would-be Bride. Joshua placed the Ark of the Covenant in front of the troops to guide their way. When the priests bearing the Ark of the Covenant entered the Jordan River, its waters parted, opening the way for the people following the Ark to walk on the riverbed.

Joshua placed the Ark of the Covenant in front of the troops to guide their way. When the priests bearing the Ark of the Covenant entered the Jordan River, its waters parted, opening the way for the people following the Ark to walk on the riverbed.

Upon reaching the Jordan River, God commanded Joshua, saying:

Take twelve men from the people, from each tribe a man, and command them, “Take twelve stones from here out of the midst of the Jordan, from the very place where the priests’ feet stood, and carry them over with you, and lay them down in the place where you lodge tonight.” —Josh. 4:2-3

 And thus the people did:

The people came up out of the Jordan on the tenth day of the first month, and they encamped in Gilgal, on the east border of Jericho. And those twelve stones, which they took out of the Jordan, Joshua set up in Gilgal. —Josh. 4:19-20

The Israelites under Joshua’s leadership, who encamped at Gilgal, observed the feast of Passover on the fourteenth day of the first month of that year. Afterward, they set out for the city of Jericho.

 As they approached Jericho, in accordance with God’s command, the Israelites put forty thousand soldiers at the forefront while seven priests blew seven trumpets as they marched behind the soldiers. Following behind them was the Ark of the Covenant carried by the Levitical priests, and the rest of the Israelite army marched at the rear. The Israelites marched around the fortified city in this formation once a day for six days, but this caused no change in the city. With patience and obedience, the people were restoring through indemnity the sixday period of creation which had been invaded by Satan. After they faithfully endured through six days, on the seventh day the seven priests circled the city walls seven times, blowing the seven trumpets, and Joshua said to the people: “Shout; for the Lord has given you the city.” The people raised a great shout and the city walls tumbled down.

Joshua then launched attacks on the enemy with insurmountable force. He defeated thirty-one kings altogether.

2.2.3.3 THE FOUNDATION FOR THE MESSIAH

 Based on this victory, they laid the foundation of substance in the third national course and established the foundation for the Messiah for this course—albeit as a people without sovereignty. The family foundation for the Messiah had been fulfilled in the days of Abraham. His descendants passed through a four-hundred-year course of indemnity as slaves in Egypt before they could enter Canaan and there complete the national foundation for the Messiah. This required more than merely entering and conquering Canaan. As was discussed earlier in detail, fallen people had already founded powerful nations such as Egypt, led by satanic rulers who opposed God’s providence of restoration. Therefore, even though the national foundation for the Messiah was established under Joshua’s leadership, it would be necessary to build a sovereign kingdom from which the Messiah could confront the satanic nations of the world. However, once the younger generation of Israelites entered Canaan, they also became faithless. Hence, God’s providence was prolonged again, and would suffer repeated setbacks until the time of Jesus.

View slides 80 to 103 below for an illustrated presentation of the above content:

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