The People Who Became Centrally Responsible Were not the Jews but Rather the Christians

1 John 4

7 My dear friends, we must love each other. Love comes from God, and when we love each other, it shows that we have been given new life. We are now God’s children, and we know him. 8 God is love, and anyone who doesn’t love others has never known him. 9 God showed his love for us when he sent his only Son into the world to give us life. 10 Real love isn’t our love for God, but his love for us. God sent his Son to be the sacrifice by which our sins are forgiven. 11 Dear friends, since God loved us this much, we must love each other.

Judges 16

16 One day while Samson was in Gaza, he saw a prostitute and went to her house to spend the night. 2 The people who lived in Gaza found out he was there, and they decided to kill him at sunrise. So they went to the city gate and waited all night in the guardrooms on each side of the gate.[a]

3 But Samson got up in the middle of the night and went to the town gate. He pulled the gate doors and doorposts out of the wall and put them on his shoulders. Then he carried them all the way to the top of the hill that overlooks Hebron,[b] where he set the doors down, still closed and locked.

Richard: Samson had a problem with unethical sexual relationships with women, which ended up being his downfall.

Exposition of the Divine Principle
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Chapter 4

The Parallels between the Two Ages in the Providence of Restoration

Since the ultimate purpose of the providence of restoration is to lay the foundation for the Messiah, if it is prolonged, the dispensations to restore this foundation must be repeated. In the course of the providence, the repetition of dispensations to restore the foundation for the Messiah has meant, in effect, the repetition of dispensations to restore through indemnity the symbolic offering and the substantial offering.

God’s first chosen people consisted of the descendants of Abraham,Isaac and Jacob, who had established the family foundation for the Messiah. Therefore, the nation centrally responsible for God’s providence in the Age of the Providence of Restoration was Israel. The Old Testament, which records the history of Israel, provides the source material with which to study the history of the providence in that age. Indeed, the people who became centrally responsible for the providence in the Age of the Prolongation of the Providence of Restoration were not the Jews, but rather the Christians. They assumed the mission to accomplish God’s unfulfilled providence of restoration. Accordingly, the history of Christianity provides the source material for understanding providential history in this age.

THE PERIOD OF SLAVERY IN EGYPT AND THE PERIOD OF PERSECUTION IN THE ROMAN EMPIRE

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—a period for the separation of Satan—which had been defiled due to Abraham’s mistake in his offering. The corresponding period of persecution in the Roman Empire was to restore this previous period through parallel indemnity conditions. 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. By enduring this suffering,they were restoring through indemnity the four-hundred-year period of preparation for the advent of the Messiah—a period for the separation of Satan—which had been defiled due to the Jewish people’s mistake in not honoring Jesus as a living sacrifice but leading him to the cross.

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.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.

When the period of slavery in Egypt was over, Moses on Mt. Sinai received the Ten Commandments 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. 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 sought to realize God’s ideals spiritually, ideals which had been enshrined in the Ten Commandments and the Tabernacle in the Old Testament Age.They built up churches and expanded their foundation to prepare forthe Second Coming of Christ.

THE PERIOD OF THE JUDGES AND THE PERIOD OF REGIONAL CHURCH LEADERSHIP

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 record-ed 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. 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.

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The Time of the Second Advent of the Messiah Has Already Come

Cheon Seong Gyeong 510

Due to the Fall, God lost the true
mother and children of Adam’s family.
There have been no true sons and daugh-
ters for God. There has been no family
of God who could inherit the lineage of
His love. Our minds and bodies came
into conflict, having inherited false love,
false life and false lineage through the
fallen parents. Adam and Eve became
enemies. Bloody wars broke out among
Adam’s sons and daughters.

Richard: Here we see the basic dynamic that the world’s problems stem from the problems in the family, going back to the first family. Wars and conflicts all began there. To end this sad history, we need to restore families. That is the mission of the Lord at His Second Advent. Rev. Sun Myung Moon has successfully fulfilled that mission.

Cheon Seong Gyeong 493

Where did parental love come from?
If we are resultant beings of the First
Cause with some relationship to Him,
we have come from within some des-
tined power of this First Cause. This is
not something we as human beings can
touch. As such, have you ever heard any-
one say, “Let us revolutionize the love
with which parents love their children;
let us become the standard-bearers of
that revolution”?
Let’s suppose some parents come
forward with the idea of revolutionizing
parental love and reinventing human
history, claiming, “Even though we are
parents, we will not love our children.”
Yet, the moment their baby’s umbilical
cord is cut, a loving heart will naturally
arise in them. Every life form, wheth-
er on a higher or lower level, is created
in such a way that it cannot but love its
young. Thus, since the act of loving their
children inspires parents to invest and
use their lives as stepping stones, it is
clear that parental love brings us closest
to an eternal and unchanging standard

Exposition of the Divine Principle
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THE PERIODS IN THE AGE OF THE PROLONGATION OF THE PROVIDENCE OF RESTORATION AND THEIR LENGTHS

The Age of the Prolongation of the Providence of Restoration has been to restore through substantial parallels the Age of the Providence of Restoration, the age of image parallels. As the periods of this age were to restore through indemnity the corresponding periods of the previous age, these periods proceeded in a parallel fashion, both in order and in length.

4.1 THE FOUR-HUNDRED-YEAR PERIOD OF PERSECUTION IN THE ROMAN EMPIRE

The early Christians underwent a comparable period of suffering to restore through indemnity the foundation of faith which had been destroyed due to the mistake of the Jewish people, who did not properly follow Jesus as the living sacrifice. This was the four-hundred-year period during which Christians were persecuted in the Roman Empire. The persecution abated by 313 A.D., when the Emperor Constantine formally recognized Christianity as a legal religion. In 392 A.D., the Emperor Theodosius I established Christianity as the state religion. This period was he substantial parallel to the Israelites’ four-hundred-year period of slavery in Egypt, and its purpose was to restore that earlier period through parallel indemnity conditions.

4.2 THE FOUR-HUNDRED-YEAR PERIOD OF REGIONAL CHURCH LEADERSHIP

Since the Age of the Prolongation of the Providence of Restoration has been the age of substantial parallels, it should contain a four-hundred-year period comparable to the period of the judges. What is called the period of regional church leadership began when Christianity was declared the state religion of the Roman Empire and ended with the enthronement of Charlemagne in 800 A.D. In this period, the people were led by regional church leaders—patriarchs, bishops and abbots—with multiple roles corresponding to the judges in Israel. This period wasthe substantial parallel to the four-hundred-year period of the judges,and its purpose was to restore that earlier period through parallel indemnity conditions.

4.3 THE ONE-HUNDRED-AND-TWENTY-YEAR PERIOD OF THE CHRISTIAN EMPIRE

The parallel 120-year period of the Christian empire, also called the Carolingian Empire, began with Charlemagne’s enthronement as the emperor in 800 A.D. It ended in 919 A.D. when his royal line ceased in the eastern half of the realm and Henry I was elected king of the German lands. This period was the substantial parallel to the 120-year period of the united kingdom, and its purpose was to restore that earlier period through parallel indemnity conditions.

4.4 THE FOUR-HUNDRED-YEAR PERIOD OF THE DIVIDED KINGDOMS OF EAST AND WEST

In the Age of the Prolongation of the Providence of Restoration, the Carolingian Empire was divided into two kingdoms: the Holy Roman Empire in the east and France in the west. This four-hundred-year period of the divided kingdoms of east and west began with the division of the Christian empire in 919 and ended in 1309, when the papacy moved to Avignon, in what is now southern France. This period was the substantial parallel to the four-hundred-year period of the divided kingdoms of north and south, and its purpose was to restore that earlier period through parallel indemnity conditions.

4.5 THE TWO-HUNDRED-AND-TEN-YEAR PERIOD OF PAPAL EXILE AND RETURN

The parallel period of papal exile and return lasted approximately 210 years. It began in 1309 A.D. when, the papacy having become corrupt, Pope Clement V was forced to move the papacy from Rome to Avignon and live there subject to the kings of France. This period continued even after the papacy returned to Rome until the Protestant Reformation began in 1517. This period of 210 years was the substantial parallel to the 210-year period of Israel’s exile and return,and its purpose was to restore that earlier period through parallel indemnity conditions.

4.6 THE FOUR-HUNDRED-YEAR PERIOD OF PREPARATION FOR THE SECOND ADVENT OF THE MESSIAH

In the Age of the Prolongation of the Providence of Restoration, we expect a parallel four-hundred-year period of preparation for the Second Advent of the Messiah. In fact, it began in 1517 with Martin Luther and the Protestant Reformation and has lasted until the eve of the Second Advent of Christ on the earth. As the substantial parallel to the four-hundred-year period of preparation for the advent of the Messiah, its purpose has been to restore that earlier period through parallel indemnity conditions

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Parallel Providential Time Periods Repeat

Ezekiel 19

19 Ezekiel, sing a funeral song for two of Israel’s leaders:[a]

2 Your mother was a brave lioness
who raised her cubs
    among lions.
3 She taught one of them to hunt,
    and he learned to eat people.
4 When the nations heard of him,
    they trapped him in a pit,
then they used hooks
    to drag him to Egypt.

Esther 3

 Later, King Xerxes promoted Haman the son of Hammedatha to the highest position in his kingdom. Haman was a descendant of Agag,[a] 2 and the king had given orders for his officials at the royal gate to honor Haman by kneeling down to him. All of them obeyed except Mordecai. 3 When the other officials asked Mordecai why he disobeyed the king’s command, 4 he said, “Because I am a Jew.” They spoke to him for several days about kneeling down, but he still refused to obey. Finally, they reported this to Haman, to find out if he would let Mordecai get away with it.

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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.

3.1 THE FOUR-HUNDRED-YEAR PERIOD OF SLAVERY IN EGYPT

God tried to raise up Abraham 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 and separate Satan once more.

3.2 THE FOUR-HUNDRED-YEAR PERIOD OF THE JUDGES

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.

3.3 THE ONE-HUNDRED-AND-TWENTY-YEAR PERIOD OF THE UNITED KINGDOM

Saul was enthroned as the king of Israel after the Israelites had restored the four hundred yearsof 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.

3.4 THE FOUR-HUNDRED-YEAR PERIOD OF THE DIVIDED KINGDOMS OF NORTH AND SOUTH

The period of the divided kingdoms of north and south 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.

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. Inspired by the prophecy of Malachi,16the 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.

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.

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The Central Figures in Providential History Must Fulfill Numerical Periods of Indemnity

Cheon Seong Gyeong 1964

In order to become the Eve nation,
Japan must fulfill the mission of Eve.
Who will embrace the left-wing and
right-wing? The bride and wife of Jesus
must embrace them. Originally, the
Israeli nation and Judaism were sup-
posed to attend Jesus, but they could
not fulfill their mission. That is why the
bride church, the bride nation must now
embrace them.

Cheong Seong Gyeong 1820

This time we caught 54 croakers and
flounder. I caught about half of them and
the other ten people caught the rest. I am
here to teach you the secrets of how
you can do that too. It is in this area that
we find the global economic base that in
the future will decide whether the ocean
industries will thrive or whether they
will collapse. That is how I see it. Are
you going to treat this like some game or
some kind of hobby? Since I have taught
you how to fish, it all becomes much fun.
You have to agree that I am right, don’t
you think? There is no other reasonable
conclusion. (128-226, 1983.6.27)

Exposition of the Divine Principle
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2.4 NUMERICAL INDEMNITY PERIODS FOR RESTORING THE FOUNDATION OF FAITH

 A central figure has to fulfill one or more numerical indemnity periods in order to restore the foundation of faith. Let us examine the reasons for this. The first human ancestors were to become complete by passing through a growing period characterized by certain numbers, thus laying the foundation of faith. In their perfection, they were to embody the quality of these numbers. We must investigate these matters because restoration of the foundation of faith requires not only that we offer an object for the condition, symbolizing the universe in bondage to Satan, but also that we pass through a numerical period of indemnity to restore the numbers defiled by Satan. When they then accomplished the purpose of creation, they would have become the perfect embodiments of the quality of these numbers. Yet due to their fall, all these numbers were claimed by Satan. Therefore, the central figures in providential history must fulfill numerical periods of indemnity to restore the numbers twelve, four, twenty-one and forty before they can restore the foundation of faith. Only on that basis can they lay the foundation of substance for the restoration of the perfect embodiment of the quality of these numbers.

2.5 THE PARALLEL PERIODS DETERMINED BY THE NUMBER OF GENERATIONS

 According to the Bible, God chose Noah to shoulder the providence ten generations and sixteen hundred years after Adam. After the failure of the providence of restoration in Noah’s family, God waited four hundred years, until another ten generations had elapsed, before calling Abraham to carry the burden of the providence. Set according to the number of generations, the period from Noah to Abraham was parallel to the period from Adam to Noah, and was to restore that earlier period through indemnity.

2.6 PROVIDENTIAL PERIODS OF HORIZONTAL RESTORATION THROUGH INDEMNITY CARRIED OUT VERTICALLY

Because Abraham failed in his offering, the indemnity periods could not be restored horizontally. They then had to be restored vertically: by prolonging the fulfillment of His Will through Isaac and Jacob, God worked to fulfill in succession because Abraham failed in his offering, the indemnity periods could not be restored horizontally. They then had to be restored vertically: by prolonging the fulfillment of His Will through Isaac and Jacob, God worked to fulfill in succession indemnity periods to restore the numbers twelve, four, twenty-one and forty.

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

Acts 17

5 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. 6 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, 7 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.”

8 The officials and the people were upset when they heard this. 9 So they made Jason and the other followers pay bail before letting them go.

Isaiah 1

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]

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

Exposition of the Divine Principle
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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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