The Periods in Providential History – Part 2
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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 Egypt11(Gen. 15:13)CEV|KJ|NI; (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.12(I Kings 6:1)CEV|KJ|NI Since King Solomon’s reign followed the forty-year reign of King Saul13(Acts 13:21)CEV|KJ|NI 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 disobedient14(I Sam. 15:11-23)CEV|KJ|NI 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 God15(Gen. 28:13)CEV|KJ|NI 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,16(Mal. 4:5)CEV|KJ|NI 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.17(Gen. 31:41)CEV|KJ|NI
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.
Section 4
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
Jesus came at the outset of the New Testament Age to complete the Will which had been entrusted to Abraham, the father of faith, who commenced the Old Testament Age. We recall that the Israelites had to endure a four-hundred-year period of slavery in Egypt to restore, on the national level, the foundation of faith which had been shattered due to Abraham’s mistake in the symbolic offering. 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 the 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
The next period in the Age of the Providence of Restoration was the four-hundred-year period of the judges, when judges led the Israelite tribes. 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 was the 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
When the people of Israel unified as a nation under the leadership of King Saul, they began the 120-year period of the united kingdom, which continued through the reigns of King David and King Solomon. 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
Since the Temple’s holiness was not properly upheld in the period of the united kingdom, the kingdom was eventually divided into two kingdoms: Israel in the north and Judah in the south. Thus began the four-hundred-year period of the divided kingdoms of north and south. 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. Although when the Carolingian Empire was first divided, it was split into the kingdoms of the East Franks, the West Franks and Italy, Italy soon reverted to the rule of the East Franks and together these constituted the Holy Roman Empire, while the West Franks consolidated as the Kingdom of France. 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
During the period of the divided kingdoms of north and south, the kingdom of Israel in the north perished at the hands of the Assyrians because its people had fallen into corruption and idolatry. The kingdom of Judah in the south also became faithless and failed to uphold the holiness of the Temple; consequently, its people were taken into exile in Babylon, the satanic world. Over the next 210 years, they suffered in exile, returned to Israel, rebuilt the Temple, and renewed the covenant. The parallel period of papal exile and return also 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
After the Jewish people were liberated from their exile in Babylon and returned to Jerusalem, they reformed their religious and political life. Based on the prophecies of Malachi, they began preparations to receive the Messiah. After the four-hundred-year period of preparation for the advent of the Messiah, Jesus came to the Jewish people. To restore that period through indemnity 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.
Chart 2: Parallel Providential Periods
