The Bible contains many secrets concerning God's work of salvation. It is written, "Surely the Lord God does nothing, without revealing his secret to his servants the prophets."1 However, without knowing the principle behind God's providence, people have been unable to discern the mysteries concealed in the Bible. The biblical account of a prophet's life is not merely a record of history. Rather, through the life course of a prophet, the Bible discloses the way for fallen people to walk. In particular, we shall examine how God set up the providential courses of Jacob and Moses as models for Jesus' course to save humankind.
We learned that in the providence of restoration in Isaac's family, Jacob was the central figure who laid the foundation of substance. He secured the position of Abel and labored to bring Satan to submission and fulfill the indemnity condition to remove the fallen nature. Jacob's entire course became the model course for Moses and Jesus. Jesus came to bring Satan to submission in substantial terms. Before Jesus, Moses walked a course for the subjugation of Satan that was the image of the course Jesus would walk. Still earlier, God had Jacob walk a course that was a symbolic representation of Jesus' course. Moreover, Jacob's course is the model for the course which the Israelites and all of humanity must walk to bring Satan to submission and attain the goal of the providence of restoration.
The goal of the providence of restoration is attained when human beings bring Satan to voluntary submission and become his master. They must do this by fulfilling their given portion of responsibility. Jesus, as the Messiah and the true human ancestor, came to help all people of faith bring Satan to voluntary submission. By himself, he pioneered the course to bring Satan to complete submission and has since guided people of faith to follow his example.
Satan, who does not meekly surrender even before God, would by no means readily surrender to Jesus, much less to ordinary believers. Therefore, God, who takes responsibility for human beings, whom He created, called upon Jacob and worked through him to show us, in symbolic form, the course for bringing Satan to submission.
Moses was able to subjugate Satan by following the pattern of the model course which was revealed symbolically in Jacob's course. In his course, Moses developed this to the level of image. Similarly, by building on the pattern of Moses' course, Jesus came to substantially bring Satan to submission. By walking in Jesus' footsteps, people of faith can also bring Satan to submission and master him. When Moses said, "The Lord God will raise up for you a prophet from your brethren as he raised me up. You shall listen to him in whatever he tells you,"2 he was referring to Jesus. Jesus would stand in a position comparable to Moses and follow Moses' course as the model in order to walk the worldwide providence to restore Canaan-the Kingdom of God. Jesus said, "The Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing; for whatever he does, that the Son does likewise."3 By this he meant that he was following the model course which God had revealed to him through Moses. Moses thus prefigured Jesus.
Jacob pioneered the course to bring Satan to submission. This course takes the path opposite to the way by which Satan corrupted humanity. Moses and Jesus went through courses after the pattern of Jacob's course. Let us study these courses together in this section.
(1) The first human beings should have been absolutely determined to keep God's commandment not to eat of the fruit, yet they fell at the risk of their lives when the Archangel tempted them. Accordingly, for Jacob to complete the restoration of Canaan at the family level-that is, return to Canaan with his family and wealth and there restore the foundation to receive the Messiah-he had to triumph in a fight at the risk of his life with an angel, representing Satan. Jacob was desperate to overcome this trial as he wrestled with the angel at the ford of Jabbok. He triumphed and received the name "Israel."4 In this trial, it was God who tested Jacob by putting the angel in the position of Satan. God's purpose in doing this was not to make Jacob miserable, but to help him secure the position of Abel and complete the restoration of his family by winning the qualification to rule the angel. Furthermore, through the angel playing the leading role in the trial, the way was opened for the angelic world to be restored.
In the case of Moses, before he could guide the Israelites into Canaan and thus complete the national restoration of Canaan, he first had to overcome a life-threatening trial in which the Lord tried to kill him.5 We must understand that God gives such tests to people because He loves them. If Satan rather than God gave such tests and people were to fail, they would become Satan's prey. Similarly, Jesus had to overcome a trial before he could embark upon the worldwide restoration of Canaan-that is, to guide humanity into the Kingdom of Heaven on earth. He battled with Satan at the risk of his life and triumphed over him when he fasted for forty days and was tempted in the wilderness.6
(2) Since our fallen nature was acquired when Satan defiled our flesh and spirit, Jacob had to fulfill a comparable condition to remove it. For this reason, to restore the position of Abel for the fulfillment of the indemnity condition to remove the fallen nature, Jacob purchased the birthright from Esau with bread and lentils,7 which symbolized flesh and spirit. To repeat this course in Moses' day, God fed the people with manna and quail,8 also symbolizing flesh and spirit, and thereby strengthened their gratitude toward Him and heightened their awareness of being the chosen people. Through this provision, God wanted the people to obey Moses and fulfill the indemnity condition to remove the fallen nature on the national level.
Jesus said: "Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. . . . I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you."9 Besides confirming that he walked the model course set by Moses, Jesus meant by these verses that all fallen humanity should become one with him in flesh and spirit. By faithfully following and uniting with Jesus, who at that time stood in the position of John the Baptist,10 they would have fulfilled the worldwide indemnity condition to remove the fallen nature. By then devotedly attending Jesus as the Messiah, they were to restore their original nature.
(3) Due to the Fall, Satan defiled even the human corpse. Jacob's body was sanctified with the blessing which he had received in life. In death, the disposition of his corpse also fulfilled a condition of purification; thus the embalming took forty days.11 In the case of Moses, the archangel Michael contended with the Devil over the proper disposition of his body.12 We know that Jesus' body disappeared, to the bewilderment of the authorities, leaving an empty tomb.13
(4) At the Fall, Satan corrupted the first human ancestors during their growing period. To restore through indemnity this defilement, God has been working to set up conditions based on certain numbers, such as the number three, which signify the growing period.14 When Jacob began his journey from Haran to Canaan, there was a three-day period for the separation of Satan before Laban was notified of his absence.15 When Moses guided his people out of Egypt into Canaan, there was an initial period of three days.16 Joshua lodged at the Jordan River for three days before he crossed it.17 When Jesus was about to begin the worldwide spiritual course to restore Canaan, he spent three days in the tomb.18
Jacob had twelve sons19 in order to restore through indemnity in his generation (horizontally) the indemnity conditions accumulated (vertically) through the twelve generations from Noah to Jacob, which had been lost to Satan. In Moses' day, there were the twelve tribes20 and Jesus had twelve disciples21 for similar reasons. To fulfill an indemnity condition to separate Satan from the seven days of God's creation which he had defiled, there were seventy members of Jacob's family,22 seventy elders in Moses' time,23 and Jesus' seventy followers,24 all of whom played central, providential roles in their respective eras.
(5) A staff, which smites evil, leads the way and provides support when one leans on it, is a symbol of the Messiah.25 Jacob crossed the Jordan River and entered the land of Canaan while leaning on a staff.26 This foreshadowed that one day fallen humanity will cross the waters of this sinful world and arrive on the shore of the ideal world by following the Messiah: smiting injustice, following his guidance and example, and depending on him. Moses guided the Israelites across the Red Sea with a staff.27 Jesus at his Second Coming will guide humanity across the turbulent waters of this fallen world to reach the shore of God's ideal with the rod of iron, symbolizing himself.28
(6) Eve's sin implanted the root of sin in the lineage of humankind, which bore fruit when Cain killed Abel. Since it was a mother and son who allowed Satan to enter and bear the fruit of sin, according to the principle of restoration through indemnity, a mother and son must separate from Satan through their joint efforts. Jacob could not have received the blessing and separated from Satan without his mother's devoted support and wise advice.29 Moses could not have escaped death and been in the position to serve God's Will if not for his mother's help.30 Finally, Mary saved Jesus' life by fleeing with him to Egypt, escaping from King Herod who sought to kill him.31
(7) The central figure entrusted with God's Will in the providence must return from Satan's world to God's world. This is why Jacob journeyed from Haran, the satanic world, to Canaan,32 and Moses journeyed from Egypt to the promised land of Canaan.33 After Jesus had taken refuge in Egypt shortly after his birth,34 he returned to Galilee.
(8) The ultimate purpose of the providence of restoration is to eradicate Satan. Signifying this, Jacob buried the idols under an oak tree.35 Moses tore down the golden calf, burned it with fire, ground it to a powder, scattered the powder upon the water, and made the Israelites drink it.36 Jesus came to destroy this evil world by bringing Satan to submission with his words and power.37
The providence of restoration led by Moses was built upon the foundation for the Messiah laid in Abraham's family. Nevertheless, the Principle still required Moses himself to lay the foundation for the Messiah by restoring through indemnity the foundation of faith and the foundation of substance. Whenever the central figure for the providence changes, the new central figure cannot inherit the providential Will without first completing a similar responsibility of his own. Furthermore, in this case, the foundation had to be laid anew because the scope of the providence had expanded from a family to a nation. As we shall see, in the providence of restoration led by Moses, the indemnity conditions required to lay these foundations were quite different than before.
Moses was the central figure to restore the foundation of faith. A foundation of faith had to be laid anew to begin the course to return to the promised land of Canaan upon the conclusion of the four hundred years of slavery incurred because of Abraham's mistake in his symbolic offering. Before we study how Moses established the foundation of faith, let us first examine the providential position of Moses in relation to Jesus, and then in the next section investigate how he was different from all the previous central figures who were called to lay the foundation of faith.
First, Moses was put in the position representing God, acting in His stead. God told Moses that he should be as God to Aaron.38 He also said, "See, I make you as God to Pharaoh; and Aaron your brother shall be your prophet."39
Second, God set up Moses to prefigure Jesus. By having Moses stand in God's position before Aaron and the Pharaoh, God set him up to prefigure Jesus, the only incarnation of God. By prefiguring Jesus, Moses pioneered the path for Jesus to one day walk. Like John the Baptist after him,40 Moses was to make straight the way for Jesus.
As the descendant of Jacob, who had established the foundation for the Messiah, Moses could serve as a central figure in the Age of the Providence of Restoration. In his providential path, Moses built upon the tradition and deeds of his ancestor, Jacob. Their courses served as models for the path which Jesus would later walk.
Moses also stood on the foundation which Joseph had laid when he entered Egypt. Joseph's life, too, prefigured that of Jesus. As the son of Rachel (Jacob's wife representing God's side) and the younger brother of the sons of Leah (Jacob's wife representing Satan's side), Joseph stood in the position of Abel. He narrowly escaped his older brothers' scheme to kill him, and when he was sold off to merchants, he entered Egypt as a slave. Yet he rose to the rank of prime minister of Egypt by the age of thirty. His brothers and father came to Egypt and humbly bowed before him, fulfilling a prophetic dream he had as a child.41 Based upon this providential victory, the Israelites entered Egypt and commenced a period of hardships for the purpose of severing Satan's ties. Joseph's course foreshadowed the course which Jesus would later walk. After coming to the satanic world, Jesus would endure a path of hardships and emerge as the King of Kings at the age of thirty. He was to bring all of humanity, including his forefathers, into submission, cut all their ties to the satanic world, and restore them to God's realm.
Moses' infancy, childhood and death also prefigured the course of Jesus. At his birth, Moses was in danger of being killed at the hands of the Pharaoh. After his mother nursed him in concealment, Moses entered the Pharaoh's palace and was brought up safely among his foes. Likewise, Jesus was born into a situation where he was in danger of being killed by King Herod. Jesus' mother took him, fled to Egypt, and raised him in concealment there. Later, she brought him back to King Herod's realm where he grew up safely among his foes. After Moses' death, no one knew the whereabouts of his body;42 this foreshadowed what would happen to Jesus' body after his death.
In all these ways, Moses' course to restore Canaan on the national level was the model for Jesus' course to restore Canaan on the worldwide level. And, as we mentioned earlier, the Bible attests through the words of Moses43 and Jesus44 that God disclosed through Moses' life a model for Jesus, prefiguring the path Jesus would walk in the future.
Moses was in a position different from earlier central figures who were entrusted with laying the foundation of faith. Unlike Abel, Noah and Abraham, Moses did not need to make a symbolic offering. Rather, he could restore the foundation of faith merely by obedience to God's Word while fulfilling a dispensation of forty for the separation of Satan.45 There are three reasons for this difference.
First, Moses stood on the foundation of the three successful symbolic offerings by Abel, Noah and Isaac. They had completed the providence based on making symbolic offerings.
Second, symbolic offerings were objects for the condition made necessary as substitutes for the Word, because after the first human ancestors lost God's Word at the Fall, people were not able to receive God's Word directly. Hence, during the Age of the Providence to Lay the Foundation for Restoration (the age from Adam to Abraham), sacrifices had been offered as objects for the condition in laying the foundation of faith. However, by Moses' time that age had come to a close. Humanity had entered a new era, the Age of the Providence of Restoration (Old Testament Age), when they could once again receive God's Word directly. Thus, there was no longer any need of a symbolic offering in laying the foundation of faith.
Third, as the providence which had commenced with Adam's family was prolonged again and again, certain conditions of indemnity were needed to restore the providential periods which had been defiled by Satan. When Noah was laying the foundation of faith, he had to pass through a dispensation of forty for the separation of Satan while living in the ark. Abraham could make the symbolic offering to lay the foundation of faith only after he restored the previous period of four hundred years and thus stood on the foundation of a dispensation of forty for the separation of Satan. The Israelites suffered four hundred years of slavery in Egypt to fulfill a dispensation of forty for the separation of Satan and thereby restore the foundation of faith claimed by Satan due to Abraham's mistake. Likewise, in the Age of the Providence of Restoration, a central figure could lay the foundation of faith as long as he stood firmly upon the completion of the dispensation of forty for the separation of Satan by upholding God's Word, now that an object for the condition was no longer required to serve as its substitute.
In the Age of the Providence to Lay the Foundation for Restoration, God worked to lay the family foundation of substance. Upon entering the Age of the Providence of Restoration, God worked to lay the national foundation of substance. Since Moses stood as God to the people and represented Jesus, he stood in the position of parent to the Israelites when laying the national foundation of faith. Concurrently, Moses was the prophet with the mission to prepare the way for Jesus. Hence, he stood in the position of a child to Jesus, who was to come as the True Parent. Therefore, with respect to the Israelites, Moses stood in the position of Abel as the central figure for the national foundation of substance.
We recall that Abel made the symbolic offering from the position of a parent in Adam's stead and was thereby entitled to make the substantial offering from the position of a child. Likewise, Moses stood in the dual positions of parent and child. When he restored through indemnity the foundation of faith, he stood in the position of a parent. He thereby secured the position of Abel for the foundation of substance, for which he stood in the position of a child.
Once Moses had secured the position of Abel, the Israelites, standing in the position of Cain, were supposed to fulfill the national indemnity condition to remove the fallen nature through their obedience to Moses. By doing so, they would establish the national foundation of substance.
Moses was to restore through indemnity the national foundation of faith, and the Israelites under Moses' leadership were to restore through indemnity the national foundation of substance. This would have constituted the national foundation for the Messiah and the basis for a sovereign nation to which the Messiah could come. The Israelites were then to receive the Messiah, be reborn through him, be cleansed of their original sin, and restore their original nature by uniting with God in heart. In this way, they were to attain the ultimate goal of becoming perfect incarnations.
Moses brought the Israelites out of Egypt, the satanic world, with miracles and signs, led them across the Red Sea, and had them wander through the wilderness before entering the promised land of Canaan. This foreshadowed the course on which Jesus would one day lead Christians, the Second Israel. With miracles and signs, Jesus would bring Christians out of lives of sin and lead them safely across the troubled sea of evil. He would take them through a desert devoid of life-giving water before guiding them into the Garden of Eden of God's promise. Just as the national course to restore Canaan under the leadership of Moses was prolonged as three courses because of the Israelites' faithlessness, the worldwide course to restore Canaan under the leadership of Jesus had to be undertaken three times because of the disbelief of John the Baptist and the Jewish people of that day. To avoid redundancy, a close comparison between Moses' course and Jesus' course will not be made here. Still, the parallels will become plain when one compares this section with the next.
After four hundred years of slavery in Egypt, the indemnity period required of the Israelites due to Abraham's mistake came to an end. In order for Moses to become the central figure to restore the foundation of faith and be qualified to lead the Israelites out of Egypt, he as an individual had to inherit the four-hundred-year national indemnity period and complete a dispensation of forty for the separation of Satan. In addition, Moses had to restore through indemnity the number forty, which unfallen Adam should have fulfilled to establish his foundation of faith.46 To achieve these purposes, Moses was brought into the Pharaoh's palace, the center of the satanic world, and he spent forty years there.47
While in the palace, Moses was educated by his mother, who, unknown to anyone, was hired to be his nurse. She secretly imparted to him the consciousness and pride of belonging to the chosen people. Despite the comforts of palace life, Moses maintained unshakable loyalty and fidelity to the lineage of Israel. After forty years, he left the palace, "choosing rather to share ill-treatment with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin."48 Hence, during the forty years of his life in the Pharaoh's palace, Moses fulfilled the dispensation of forty for the separation of Satan and thereby restored the foundation of faith.
Moses was in the dual position of parent and child. When he laid the foundation of faith, he also secured the position of Abel for the foundation of substance. The Israelites, who were in the position of Cain, were supposed to follow and obey Moses in faith. By inheriting God's Will from Moses and multiplying goodness, they would fulfill the national indemnity condition to remove the fallen nature and lay the national foundation of substance. The Israelites were to lay the foundation of substance by following Moses from the time they left Egypt until they entered the blessed land of Canaan.
God commenced the dispensation to start the course with Moses' act of killing an Egyptian. Seeing one of his brethren being mistreated by an Egyptian taskmaster, Moses was incited by his burning love for his people; he struck and killed the man.49 In a way, this was an expression of God's heart of burning indignation as He looked down upon the affliction of His people.50 At that moment, whether or not the Israelites united with Moses would determine if they could successfully begin the course to return to Canaan.
When Moses killed the Egyptian, God used this act to achieve the following: First, the Archangel induced the first human ancestors to fall and Cain to kill Abel; these were the conditions by which Satan has controlled the progression of sinful history from the position of the eldest son. Therefore, before God could begin the providence to restore Canaan, someone on God's side should fulfill the condition to restore this through indemnity by prevailing over someone on the side of Satan who stands in the position of the eldest son. Second, this act effectively cut off any lingering attachment Moses had to the Pharaoh's palace and placed him in a situation where he could never return. Finally, by this act, God desired to induce the Israelites to trust Moses by showing them he was a patriotic Israelite. As we shall see, these were comparable to the reasons why in the second national course to restore Canaan, God struck all the firstborn among the Egyptians and their livestock.
The Israelites, upon witnessing Moses' act of killing the Egyptian, should have been deeply inspired by his love for Israel, as was God. Had they felt this way, they would have respected Moses, trusted him and followed him with ardor. Then, through Moses' leadership, God would have brought them directly into the land of Canaan where they would have established the foundation of substance. In fact, they would not have had to cross the Red Sea or wander through the Sinai wilderness, but would have taken the straight route to Canaan by way of the land of the Philistines. In a twenty-one-day course, they would have restored Jacob's twenty-one years in Haran.
Later, in the second national course, God had reason to distrust the Israelites because their previous failure to follow Moses had aborted the first national course. It is written: "When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them by way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near; for God said, 'Lest the people repent when they see war, and return to Egypt.'"51 During the second national course to restore Canaan, God led the people across the Red Sea and in a detour through the wilderness because He had reason to fear they might turn faithless and return to Egypt without completing their journey.
Had the Israelites (Cain) wholeheartedly obeyed Moses (Abel) and followed him to return to Canaan, they would have fulfilled the national indemnity condition to remove the fallen nature and laid the foundation of substance. On the contrary, however, when they saw Moses strike and kill the Egyptian, they misunderstood him and spoke ill of him:
When he went out the next day, behold, two Hebrews were struggling together; and he said to the man that did the wrong, "Why did you strike your fellow?" He answered, "Who made you a prince and a judge over us? Do you mean to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?" Then Moses was afraid, and thought, "Surely the thing is known." When Pharaoh heard of it, he sought to kill Moses. -Exod. 2:13-15
Moses was left with no choice but to escape from the Pharaoh. Reluctantly forsaking the Israelites, he fled into the wilderness of Midian. The foundation of substance was shattered, and the Israelites' course to restore Canaan under the leadership of Moses would be repeated a second and eventually a third time.
When the first national course to restore Canaan ended in failure due to the disbelief of the Israelites, Satan claimed the forty years of Moses' life in Pharaoh's palace during which he had laid the foundation of faith. Hence, for Moses to begin the second national course to restore Canaan, he had to lay anew the foundation of faith by completing another period of forty years to restore through indemnity his lost forty years in the palace. This was the purpose of Moses' forty-year exile in the wilderness of Midian.52 During this forty-year period, the Israelites' lives in Egypt became even more miserable as the penalty for their disbelief in Moses.
Moses went through a second dispensation of forty for the separation of Satan during the forty years he spent in the wilderness of Midian. There he restored the foundation of faith needed to embark upon the second national course to restore Canaan. God then appeared before Moses and said:
I have seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters; I know their sufferings, and I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites . . . and now, behold, the cry of the people of Israel has come to me, and I have seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them. Come, I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring forth my people, the sons of Israel, out of Egypt. -Exod. 3:7-10
Once Moses restored the foundation of faith in the wilderness of Midian, he also secured the position of Abel. Accordingly, as in the first national course to restore Canaan, if the Israelite people in the position of Cain had believed in and followed Moses with unquestioning faith and obedience, they would have entered the promised land, the land of milk and honey. In so doing, they would have fulfilled the indemnity condition to remove the fallen nature and laid the foundation of substance.
God worked the dispensation to start the first national course to restore Canaan when Moses struck and killed an Egyptian. Similarly, to work the dispensation to start the second national course to restore Canaan, God granted Moses three signs and ten plagues with which to prevail over the Egyptians. The reasons God had Moses strike the satanic side were, as already elucidated: first, to restore through indemnity the position of the eldest son which Satan had defiled; second, to cut off the Israelites' attachment to Egypt; third, to let the Israelites know that Moses was sent by God.53 There was yet another reason why Moses could strike the Egyptians. Although the Israelites had already completed the due indemnity period of four hundred years as slaves in Egypt, they had suffered thirty additional years of affliction.54 God heard their cries and groaning and answered them with compassion.55
The three signs which God provided for Moses and Aaron to perform foreshadowed the work of Jesus. The first sign was given when God commanded Moses to cast down his staff, and it became a serpent.56 When Aaron later performed this sign before the Pharaoh at Moses' command, the Pharaoh summoned his magicians and had them cast down their staffs, which also became serpents; but Aaron's serpent devoured their serpents.57 This sign symbolically foreshadowed that Jesus would come as the Savior and destroy the satanic world.
The staff symbolized Jesus. Just as the staff displayed miraculous power in front of Moses, who represented God, Jesus was to come with such power and perform miracles before God Himself. Moreover, a staff provides protection and support for people to lean on; it smites injustice and leads people on the right path. Symbolizing Jesus, Moses' staff disclosed the missions which Jesus was to accomplish at his coming.
The transformation of Moses' staff into a serpent also symbolized the work of Jesus. Jesus likened himself to a serpent, saying, "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of man be lifted up."58 He also said to his disciples, "Be wise as serpents."59 Jesus meant by this saying that he came as the good serpent of wisdom who entices and leads fallen people on the path of goodness. He was thus to restore through indemnity the Fall caused by the evil serpent who cunningly tempted the first human ancestors. Therefore, his disciples were to learn Jesus' wisdom and guide the sinful people in the way of goodness. Moreover, when Moses' serpent devoured the magicians' serpents, it signified that Jesus would come as the heavenly serpent to swallow up and destroy Satan, the evil serpent.
The second sign was given when Moses, upon God's command, put his hand into his bosom and it became leprous. Then God commanded him to put his hand into his bosom a second time, and it was healed.60 This miracle foreshadowed symbolically that Jesus would come as the second Adam and, together with his would-be Bride (the second Eve, later manifested in the Holy Spirit)61 perform the work of redemption. The first time Moses put his hand into his bosom and it became leprous symbolized the Archangel embracing Eve to his bosom, an act which tainted humanity with incurable sin. The second time Moses put his hand into his bosom and it was healed foreshadowed that Jesus, the True Father, would come and restore his Bride, the True Mother, and that they would embrace humanity to give them rebirth "as a hen gathers her brood under her wings."62 Restoration would then be complete.
To perform the third sign, God instructed Moses to pour water from the Nile on the ground and it would turn to blood.63 The symbolism of this sign lies in water, an inorganic substance, being transformed into blood, the substance of life. Water is a biblical symbol for the fallen multitudes64 who have no life in them. Thus, this sign foreshadowed that Jesus and the Holy Spirit would come and resurrect fallen humanity, deprived of life, to become the living children of God. God had Moses and Aaron perform these three signs in order to fulfill symbolic indemnity conditions upon which Jesus and the Holy Spirit would later come to Israel as the True Parents. They would restore the original four position foundation which had been lost to Satan and give rebirth to all humanity as their children.
When Moses, who was not eloquent, asked God for someone to speak on his behalf, God provided Moses' older brother Aaron,65 and also Miriam the prophetess, Aaron's sister.66 This symbolically foreshadowed that Jesus and his would-be Bride, the incarnations of the Word,67 would come and restore human beings-who had lost the Word at the Fall-as the incarnations of the Word. In the course to restore Canaan, Aaron and Miriam were given the mission to uphold the will of Moses, who was in the position of God, and to exercise leadership on his behalf. In the future, Jesus and the Holy Spirit would uphold the Will of God in the worldwide course to restore Canaan and take on the mission to redeem our sin.
At God's command, Moses went to meet the Pharaoh. On his way, the Lord appeared before him and tried to kill him. Moses' life was saved when his wife Zipporah circumcised their son.68 She helped Moses overcome the trial and saved their family. This circumcision made it possible for the Israelites to be liberated from Egypt. It foreshadowed that even when Jesus came, God's work of salvation could not be accomplished unless the people underwent an internal circumcision.
Let us examine the deeper significance of circumcision. When the first human ancestors fell through a sexual relationship with Satan, they inherited the blood of death through the male sexual organ. In the course for fallen people to be restored as God's children, God established the rite of circumcision as a condition of indemnity: cutting the foreskin of the male sexual organ and letting blood flow from it. Circumcision signifies removing the blood of death. Circumcision is also a sign of the restoration of man's right of dominion and a sign of promise that God will restore people as His true children. There are three types of circumcision: circumcision of the heart,69 circumcision of the foreskin,70 and circumcision of all things.71
Through the ten plagues, God had Moses liberate the Israelites from Egypt.72 This, too, foreshadowed that in the future Jesus would come with miracles and signs to save God's chosen people. When Jacob was suffering twenty-one years of hardship in Haran, Laban cheated Jacob ten times and did not give him his due wages.73 Likewise, in Moses' course, which was patterned after Jacob's course, the Pharaoh not only continued to afflict the Israelites beyond the preordained time period, he also deceived them ten times with the false promise that he would release them. As recompense for this, God was entitled to strike the Pharaoh with the ten plagues. Among them, the ninth and tenth plagues had particular significance.
For the ninth plague, God blanketed Egypt in thick darkness for three days, while in the places where the Israelites dwelt there was light.74 This foreshadowed that when Jesus came, darkness would blanket Satan's realm while light would shine upon God's people, and the two sides would be separated. For the tenth plague, God killed all the firstborn among the Egyptians and their cattle, while instructing the Israelites to paint lamb's blood on the lintel and door posts of their houses so that the angel of death would pass over them. The firstborn of the Egyptians, on the satanic side, were in the position of Cain. God struck them in order to restore the Israelites, in the position of the second son Abel, to the position of the eldest son. Satan had seized the position of the eldest son and thus took the lead in the course of history, leaving God in pursuit.75 This plague foreshadowed that at Jesus' coming, the side of Satan would perish, while God's side, in the position of the second son, would be saved by the redemption of Jesus' blood. Moses brought abundant wealth out of Egypt.76 This foreshadowed the restoration of all things, to take place at Jesus' coming.
After each plague, God hardened the Pharaoh's heart.77 There were several reasons for this. First, by repeatedly manifesting His powers, God wanted to show the Israelites that He was God.78 Second, God wanted the Pharaoh to make his best efforts in holding on to the Israelites before forcing him to give them up; then the Pharaoh would realize how powerless he was and abandon any lingering attachment to the Israelites after they left. Third, God wanted the Israelites to cut off their attachment to Egypt by provoking in them strong feelings of hostility against the Pharaoh.
God worked the dispensation to start the first national course to restore Canaan when Moses killed the Egyptian. However, this course was aborted when the people distrusted Moses. In the dispensation to start the second national course, God granted the Israelites the three signs and ten plagues. When the Israelites witnessed these miracles, they came to believe that Moses was truly sent by God as their leader. They believed and followed Moses, the Abel figure who had laid the national foundation of faith. Hence, the Israelites could embark upon the second national course to restore Canaan.
However, the indemnity condition to remove the fallen nature required more of the Israelites than a short-lived trust in and obedience to Moses while he was working these miracles. Due to their previous failure to fulfill this condition, Satan had claimed the entire providential course to restore Canaan. Now the Israelites had to restore that course by remaining faithful and obedient to Moses for the duration of their journey. Only in this way would they fulfill the national indemnity condition to remove the fallen nature. Until they had traversed the wilderness with unwavering faith in Moses and entered the land of Canaan, the national foundation of substance would not be established.
The dispensation to start the second national course to restore Canaan was conducted with greater grace than that of the first course. Yet, since the prolongation had been due to their disbelief, the indemnity condition which the Israelites would have to fulfill was correspondingly heavier. In the first course, if the Israelites had followed Moses, they would have been led along the direct route by way of the land of the Philistines and would have entered Canaan in twenty-one days-a period corresponding to Jacob's twenty-one-year course in Haran. However, in the second course, God did not lead the people along the direct route. He was worried that when they encountered the warlike Philistines, they might again turn faithless and return to Egypt.79 Instead, God led them across the Red Sea and through the wilderness in a long detour. God planned to bring them into Canaan after twenty-one months.
Thus, the Israelites began a twenty-one-month wilderness course under Moses' leadership. Let us study this course and examine how it served as the model course for Jesus to lead humanity on the worldwide course to restore Canaan.
When the Pharaoh grudgingly gave Moses permission for the Israelites to make sacrifices in Egypt, Moses demanded more, saying:
It would not be right to do so; for we shall sacrifice to the Lord our God offerings abominable to the Egyptians. If we sacrifice offerings abominable to the Egyptians before their eyes, will they not stone us? We must go three days' journey into the wilderness and sacrifice to the Lord our God as he will command us. -Exod. 8:26-27
Moses asked for three days' leave with the intention to deceive the Pharaoh and lead the people out of Egypt altogether.
This three-day period had the same significance as Abraham's three-day journey to Mt. Moriah, which he needed in order to sever his ties to Satan before he could offer Isaac as a sacrifice. Since Abraham's time, this has been the indemnity period required for the separation of Satan at the outset of a providential course. When Jacob embarked upon the course to restore Canaan, there was a three-day period when he cut off ties to Satan by deceiving Laban and leaving Haran.80 Likewise, at the outset of this national course, Moses asked for a leave of three days with the intention of deceiving the Pharaoh and liberating his people from bondage. Jesus, too, would begin the spiritual course of restoration only after passing through three days for the separation of Satan before his victorious resurrection.
The Israelites, who numbered some 600,000 according to the Bible, departed from Rameses on the fifteenth day of the first month by the Hebrew calendar.81 They upheld God's Will throughout the three-day journey to their first campsite at Succoth. From that time forth, God granted them the grace of a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night to guide their way.82 The pillar of cloud which led the Israelites by day (yang) symbolized Jesus, who would one day lead the people of Israel in the worldwide course to restore Canaan. The pillar of fire by night (yin) symbolized the Holy Spirit, who would guide them as the feminine Spirit.
At the shore of the Red Sea, upon God's command, Moses stretched out his staff and parted the waters; then he led the Israelites across on dry ground. The Egyptians chasing them in chariots were drowned when the waters closed up and engulfed them.83 As was explained earlier, Moses represented God before the Pharaoh,84 and Moses' staff symbolized Jesus, who would manifest God's power in the future. Hence, this miracle foreshadowed what was to happen when Jesus came. Satan would pursue the faithful ones who followed Jesus in walking the worldwide course to restore Canaan, but Jesus would raise the rod of iron85 and strike the troubled sea86 of this world. The waters would divide and reveal a smooth path upon which the believers would walk, while Satan in pursuit would perish.
The Israelites crossed the Red Sea and arrived at the wilderness of Sin on the fifteenth day of the second month. From then until the day they arrived at habitable land, God fed them with manna and quail.87 The manna and quail signified the life-giving flesh and blood of Jesus, which God would provide during the worldwide course to restore Canaan. Thus, Jesus said:
Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. . . . I am the living bread which came down from heaven; if anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever . . . unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. -John 6:49-53
When the Israelites left the wilderness of Sin and camped at Rephidim, there was no water for the people to drink. God commanded Moses to strike the rock at Horeb that water might spring forth from it. Moses did so and gave the people water which saved their lives.88 St. Paul wrote, "The Rock was Christ."89 Accordingly, the miracle of water from the rock foreshadowed that the Messiah would save all humanity with the water of life, of which Jesus said, "Whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst."90 The two tablets of stone Moses received on Mt. Sinai symbolized Jesus and his would-be Bride; the rock, which was the root of the tablets of stone, symbolized God. When Moses struck the rock and gave the people water, this laid the foundation upon which Moses could receive the tablets of stone and build the Ark of the Covenant and the Tabernacle.
Joshua fought with the Amalekites at Rephidim. Whenever Moses held up his hands, the Israelites prevailed; whenever Moses let his hands drop, they suffered a reverse. Aaron and Hur had Moses sit on a pile of stones and held his hands up on the left and the right, thus enabling Joshua to vanquish the king of the Amalekites and his troops.91 This also foreshadowed what would happen when Jesus came. Joshua symbolized the believers, the Amalekites symbolized the satanic world, and Aaron and Hur symbolized Jesus and the Holy Spirit. Aaron and Hur holding up Moses' hands and enabling Joshua to vanquish the Amalekites foreshadowed that faithful people who worship the Trinity-God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit-will defeat every devil who confronts them.
The Israelites received the tablets of stone, the Tabernacle, and the Ark of the Covenant. Let us first examine how they received them. The Israelites arrived in the wilderness of Sinai at the beginning of the third month, after their victory over the Amalekites.92 Moses then took seventy elders and climbed Mt. Sinai to meet God. Moses alone was called to the summit of Mt. Sinai, where God commanded him to fast for forty days to receive the Ten Commandments inscribed on the tablets of stone.93 During his fast, Moses received God's instructions concerning the Ark of the Covenant and the Tabernacle.94 When the forty-day fast was over, Moses received two tablets of stone, inscribed by the finger of God with the Ten Commandments.95
When Moses came down from Mt. Sinai with the two tablets of stone and went before the Israelites, he found them worshipping a golden calf. During Moses' absence, they had instructed Aaron to make it, and when he had fashioned it, they proclaimed that this was the god who had led them out of Egypt. Moses' anger burned hot when he saw this. He threw down the tablets of stone and broke them at the foot of the mountain.96 God appeared again to Moses and told him to carve another pair of stone tablets identical to the first pair, promising that He would inscribe the Ten Commandments on them again. Moses presented himself before God on the mountain and fasted for forty days a second time. God dictated the Ten Commandments to Moses, and Moses wrote them on the tablets.97 Moses took these tablets and went before the Israelites again. This time they honored Moses. In obedience to his directions, they built the Ark of the Covenant and constructed the Tabernacle.98
What did the tablets of stone signify? When Moses received the tablets of stone inscribed with God's Word, this signified the passing of the Age of the Providence to Lay the Foundation for Restoration, when fallen people could relate with God only through sacrifices, and the beginning of the Age of the Providence of Restoration, when they could relate with God through the revealed Word. It was previously explained that if Adam and Eve, who were created by the Word, had become perfect, they would have become the incarnations of the Word. Instead, they fell and lost the Word.99 Moses received the two tablets inscribed with the Word at the end of a forty-day period for the separation of Satan. This signified the symbolic restoration of Adam and Eve as incarnations of the Word. Accordingly, the two tablets symbolized restored Adam and Eve, and also symbolized Jesus and his would-be Bride who were to come as the incarnations of the Word. Christ is symbolized in the Bible by a white stone,100 and it is written, "the Rock was Christ."101 As symbols of Jesus and his would-be Bride, the tablets of stone were also symbols of heaven and earth.
Next, what did the Tabernacle symbolize? Jesus likened his body to the Temple in Jerusalem.102 We who believe in him are called God's temples.103 The Temple was thus a representation of Jesus in image. If the Israelites had succeeded in the first course to restore Canaan under Moses' leadership, then as soon as they entered the land of Canaan they would have built the Temple and prepared to receive the Messiah. Yet due to their disbelief, the first course was aborted at the start. In the second course, God led them in a roundabout way across the Red Sea and through the wilderness. God could not have them build the Temple, but instead had to settle for the Tabernacle, which could be moved from place to place, as its substitute. Like the Temple, the Tabernacle was a representation of Jesus, but in symbol. When God commanded Moses to build the Tabernacle, He said, "And let them make me a sanctuary, that I may dwell in their midst."104
The Tabernacle was divided into two parts: the holy place (sanctuary) and the most holy place (holy of holies). Only the high priest could enter the most holy place, and only once a year when making the sacrifice of the Day of Atonement. The most holy place was where the Ark of the Covenant was kept. Here was the place where God made Himself present. It symbolized the spirit of Jesus. The holy place contained a lampstand, an incense altar and a table for the bread of the Presence, which were tended daily by the priests. It symbolized the body of Jesus. Furthermore, the most holy place symbolized the spiritual world, while the holy place symbolized the physical world. When Jesus was crucified, the curtain between the holy place and the most holy place was torn in two, from top to bottom.105 This meant that Jesus' crucifixion laid the basis for spiritual salvation, when the gate was opened between spirit and flesh, or between heaven and earth.
What did the Ark of the Covenant symbolize? Enshrined in the most holy place, the Ark contained the testimonies to God's covenant. It contained the two tablets of stone, which symbolized Jesus and his would-be Bride and heaven and earth. It also contained manna, the main staple of the Israelites during the wilderness course, which symbolized the body of Jesus. The manna was placed inside a golden urn, which symbolized the glory of God. The Ark of the Covenant also contained Aaron's staff, which had demonstrated God's power by budding and putting forth sprouts.106 The Ark thus represented the cosmos and, at the same time, was a smaller representation of the Tabernacle.
The mercy seat was placed on top of the Ark of the Covenant. Two cherubim made of hammered gold were placed on either end of the mercy seat, overshadowing it with their wings. God promised that He would personally appear above the mercy seat, between the cherubim, and there He would give guidance to the Israelites.107 This foreshadowed that when Jesus and his Bride, symbolized by the tablets of stone, come and cleanse the people's sins, God would appear over the mercy seat and open a path between the cherubim which had blocked the way to the tree of life in the Garden of Eden.108 Everyone would then be able to come before Jesus, the tree of life, and receive the fullness of God's Word.
For what purpose did God give the tablets of stone, the Tabernacle, and the Ark of the Covenant? When the Israelites set out for the wilderness after completing the four-hundred-year indemnity period incurred due to Abraham's mistake in the offering, God struck the Egyptians with signs and plagues and drowned a host of Egyptian soldiers who tried to follow the Israelites across the Red Sea. The Israelites could not return to Egypt, not only because God's Will forbade it, but because they had become bitter enemies of the Egyptians. They had no choice but to complete the journey to Canaan; God had driven them to the point of no return. Nevertheless, the Israelites repeatedly fell into faithlessness during their journey. In the end, there was danger that even Moses might act faithlessly. To cope with this situation, God set up an object of faith, one which would remain unchanged even though the people might change. As long as even one person revered the object with absolute faith, God could continue the providential Will through him. That person would inherit the mission to attend the object of faith, as a baton is handed from one runner to the next in a relay race.
The Tabernacle, enshrining the Ark of the Covenant and the tablets of stone, was this object of faith. Since the Tabernacle represented the Messiah, when the Israelites built the Tabernacle, it signified that the Messiah had already come in a symbolic sense.
The Israelites were to revere and honor the Tabernacle as if it were the Messiah and to return to the blessed land of Canaan under Moses' leadership. Thus, they would establish the national foundation of substance. Even if all the Israelites were to fall into faithlessness along the way, as long as Moses continued to exalt the Tabernacle, the people would then be allowed to indemnify their faithlessness and be restored upon Moses' intact foundation. Furthermore, if even Moses were to become faithless, as long as any single Israelite exalted the Tabernacle in Moses' place, God could work through that person to restore all the people.
If the Israelites had trusted Moses and entered Canaan in the first national course, Moses' family would have served in the role of the Tabernacle, and Moses himself would have fulfilled the roles which were taken by the tablets of stone and the Ark of the Covenant. Moses' family would have become the bearer of the heavenly law. The Israelites could then have built the Temple in the land of Canaan without any need for the tablets, the Ark, or the Tabernacle. These were given as the means of salvation only after the people had become faithless. The Tabernacle, as the representation in symbol of Jesus and his would-be Bride, was needed only until the construction of the Temple. The Temple, as the representation in image of Jesus and his would-be Bride, was needed only until the Messiah's coming as the Temple incarnate.
Just as a foundation must be laid before we can receive the Messiah, a foundation had to be laid before the Israelites could build and exalt the Tabernacle, the symbolic representation of the Messiah. Needless to say, to establish the foundation for the Tabernacle, foundations of faith and substance for the Tabernacle had to be laid. Let us investigate how the Israelites were to lay these two foundations under the leadership of Moses.
Moses was to follow God's instructions and lay the foundation of faith for the Tabernacle by fasting and praying for forty days, a period for the separation of Satan. Upon this foundation of faith for the Tabernacle, the Israelites were to faithfully obey and support Moses as he worked to realize the ideal of the Tabernacle. They would thus fulfill the indemnity condition to remove the fallen nature and lay the foundation of substance for the Tabernacle. The Tabernacle in this discussion includes the tablets of stone and the Ark of the Covenant.
The First Foundation for the Tabernacle
Human beings were created on the sixth day to become the incarnations of the Word.109 Hence, to give the Word of re-creation to fallen people for their restoration, God first had to restore the number six, representing the period of creation defiled by Satan. For this reason, God sanctified Mt. Sinai by covering it with clouds of glory for six days, and on the seventh day He appeared and called Moses from amidst the clouds. From that moment, Moses began his fast of forty days and forty nights.110 God directed Moses to set up a forty-day period for the separation of Satan in order to establish the foundation of faith for the Tabernacle, the symbolic Messiah. God saw that this was necessary because the Israelites had fallen into faithlessness after crossing the Red Sea.111
As mentioned above, the indemnity condition to remove the fallen nature during the Israelites' course to restore Canaan could not be fulfilled by their believing and following Moses only for the short time that he manifested God's power. Rather, its fulfillment required that the people maintain such faith and obedience until they entered Canaan, built the Temple, and received the Messiah. Likewise, to fulfill the indemnity condition to remove the fallen nature and lay the foundation of substance for the Tabernacle, the Israelites should have faithfully obeyed Moses from the moment he climbed the mountain to undertake the forty-day fast until they had finished constructing the Tabernacle. However, while Moses was fasting and praying on the mountain, the people all fell into faithlessness and worshipped the golden calf. Consequently, the foundation of substance for the Tabernacle was not established.
Since human beings themselves had lost the basis for the Word, it is their portion of responsibility to recover the basis upon which to receive it again. Hence, God does not intervene in people's actions when they are working to restore the Word. For this reason, although God had led the Israelites with signs and miracles, He did not intervene when they sinned.
When Moses saw the people worshipping the idol and dancing around it, he raged in anger. He threw down the tablets and shattered them.112 As a result, Satan invaded the foundation of faith for the Taber-nacle. As was explained above, the two tablets of stone symbolized Jesus and his would-be Bride, who were to come as the restored second Adam and Eve. This event foreshadowed that if Jesus came and found the Jewish people faithless, he might have to die on the cross without completing his original God-given mission with his would-be Bride.
The faithlessness of the Israelites at Mt. Sinai undermined God's providence to establish the foundation for the Tabernacle. It nullified God's arduous efforts to separate Satan from the people and cultivate their obedience to Moses. Due to their continued faithlessness, God's providence to establish the foundation for the Tabernacle had to be prolonged through a second and then a third attempt.
The Second Foundation for the Tabernacle
The Israelites proved faithless in the dispensation to receive the tablets of stone, and hence to build the Tabernacle, but because they stood on the foundation of having drunk the water from the rock at Rephidim-the symbolic root of the tablets-they were given a second chance. God appeared before Moses after he had broken the tablets and promised him another inscription of His Word. This time, God required that Moses himself carve the blank tablets upon which He would write the inscription. Furthermore, Moses could not restore the tablets of stone or build the Tabernacle around them without first restoring the foundation of faith for the Tabernacle by fulfilling once again a dispensation of forty for the separation of Satan. Therefore, Moses had to fast forty more days before he could obtain the second pair of tablets with the inscription of the Ten Commandments113 and establish the Tabernacle as the object of faith. This time, the Israelites faithfully waited for Moses to return.
Moses' successful efforts to restore the broken tablets by forty days of fasting, and the Israelites' faith in him, foreshadowed that Jesus, though crucified, could return and make a new beginning in his work of salvation if the believers devotedly fulfilled the indemnity condition to receive him during the forty days of the Lord's resurrection- a dispensation of forty for the separation of Satan.
By remaining faithful while Moses was fasting on the mountain, and then obeying his instructions to build the Tabernacle, the Israelites fulfilled the indemnity condition to remove the fallen nature. This laid the foundation of substance for the Tabernacle, and hence the foundation for the Tabernacle. The Tabernacle was built by the first day of the first month of the second year.114 However, as was mentioned earlier, the foundation of substance in the second national course to restore Canaan required much more than the mere construction of the Tabernacle. In fact, until they entered Canaan and built the Temple, the Israelites were supposed to honor the Tabernacle more than they valued their own lives; they were to keep the same faith until they received the Messiah.
On the twentieth day of the second month of the second year, the Israelites set out from the wilderness of Sinai, arrayed in formation around the Tabernacle and led by the pillar of cloud.115 Yet before long, they began to complain about their hardships and murmur against Moses. Even after God destroyed their camp in His burning wrath, the Israelites did not repent. They continued to complain, lamenting that they had nothing to eat but manna. They were resentful toward Moses and longed for the meat, fruit, vegetables and luxuries of Egypt.116 Thus, the Israelites failed to maintain the second foundation for the Tabernacle, and it was invaded by Satan. The providence to restore this foundation was prolonged to a third attempt.
The Third Foundation for the Tabernacle
Although Satan defiled the second foundation for the Tabernacle, Moses' faith and devotion to the Tabernacle remained unchanging. Therefore, the Tabernacle stood firmly upon the foundation of faith which Moses had laid, while the Israelites still stood upon the foundation of having drunk the water from the rock at Rephidim.117 The rock, we recall, was the root of the tablets of stone, which was at the center of the Tabernacle. Upon this foundation, the Israelites were allowed to attempt yet another dispensation of forty for the separation of Satan. By obeying Moses, who still honored the Tabernacle, they were to restore through indemnity the foundation for the Tabernacle in their third attempt. The forty-day mission to spy out the land of Canaan was given as the condition to achieve this.
God had Moses choose a leader from each of the twelve tribes of Israel and send them to spy out the land of Canaan for forty days.118 When they returned, all the spies except Joshua and Caleb presented faithless reports:
The people who dwell in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large . . . [it] is a land that devours its inhabitants; and all the people that we saw in it are men of great stature . . . and we seemed to ourselves like grasshoppers, and so we seemed to them. -Num. 13:28, 32-33
They concluded that the Israelites could not capture Canaan's fortified cities or defeat its people. Upon hearing this report, the Israelites again murmured against Moses. They called for another leader who would take them back to Egypt. Only Joshua and Caleb called for the people not to be afraid but to attack the Canaanites in obedience to God's command:
Do not rebel against the Lord; and do not fear the people of the land, for they are bread for us; their protection is removed from them, and the Lord is with us; do not fear them. -Num. 14:9
The Israelites did not accept this exhortation and attempted to stone Joshua and Caleb. At that moment, the glory of the Lord appeared to all the people, and God said to Moses:
How long will this people despise me? And how long will they not believe in me, in spite of all the signs which I have wrought among them?
-Num. 14:11
But your little ones, who you said would become a prey, I will bring in, and they shall know the land which you have despised. But as for you, your dead bodies shall fall in this wilderness. And your children shall be shepherds in the wilderness forty years, and shall suffer for your faithlessness, until the last of your dead bodies lies in the wilderness. According to the number of the days in which you spied out the land, forty days, for every day a year, you shall bear your iniquity, forty years, and you shall know my displeasure. -Num. 14:31-34
As a result of their lack of faith, the third foundation for the Tabernacle ended in failure. Their twenty-one-month course in the wilderness was extended to forty years.
Due to the Israelites' faithlessness, the foundation for the Tabernacle was invaded by Satan three times. Therefore, the national indemnity condition to remove the fallen nature was not fulfilled, and the foundation of substance for the second national course to restore Canaan was not laid. Consequently, the entire second national course to restore Canaan ended in failure. God's providence was prolonged to a third national course.
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.
The foundation of substance for the second course ended in failure when, due to the people's persistent disbelief, Satan defiled the foundation for the Tabernacle. However, at least the foundation of faith for the Tabernacle remained, preserved by Moses' continued devotion. If, upon this foundation, the Israelites had faithfully followed Moses through the forty years of wandering in the wilderness, thus establishing the basis for the separation of Satan, they would have set up the foundation of substance for the Tabernacle and completed the foundation for the Tabernacle. If they had then honored and obeyed Moses and entered Canaan in faith, they would have completed the foundation of substance for the third national course to restore Canaan.
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.
The tablets, the Tabernacle, and the Ark of the Covenant became necessary in the second course only because the Israelites lost faith in the wilderness. Soon after they crossed the Red Sea, they forgot the three signs which God had granted when conducting the dispensation to start. To restore this through indemnity, God tested the people through a forty-day period while Moses was on the mountain. He then gave them three manifestations of divine grace: the tablets of stone, the Ark of the Covenant and the Tabernacle. Moreover, God had granted the ten plagues, which were to restore Laban's ten deceptions of Jacob in Haran. Yet when the Israelites lost faith even after witnessing these, God attempted to restore the ten plagues through indemnity by giving the Ten Commandments. If the Israelites had renewed their faith by honoring the three manifestations of divine grace and obeying the Ten Commandments, they would have returned to the state of grace they had enjoyed when they left Egypt under the power of these miracles.
Accordingly, in the third course the Israelites should have completed the forty-year indemnity period by following Moses in faith and obedience through the wilderness. After they returned to Kadesh-barnea, they should have stood with Moses upon the foundation for the Tabernacle and exalted the tablets, the Tabernacle and the Ark. Had they done so, they would have stood in the position they had enjoyed at the completion of the dispensation to start the second course, when God struck the Egyptians with the three signs and ten plagues. The tablets were a smaller representation of the Ark; the Ark was a smaller representation of the Tabernacle; hence, the tablets were a smaller representation of the Tabernacle. The Ark and the Tabernacle may thus be represented by the tablets or their root, the rock. Therefore, 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.119 Moses should have struck the rock only once. The awe-struck Israelites then should have united with him, thereby standing with him upon the foundation for the Tabernacle. In this way, they would have fulfilled the dispensation to start based on the rock.
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. Whereupon God said to him:
Because you did not believe in me, to sanctify me in the eyes of the people of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them. -Num. 20:12
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.120
Let us investigate why Moses should have struck the rock just once, and why his striking it twice constituted a sin. The rock is a symbol for Jesus Christ.121 Since Christ came as the tree of life,122 the rock may also be seen as the tree of life. The tree of life is also a symbol for perfected Adam in the Garden of Eden; hence the rock symbolized Adam in perfection.
In the Garden of Eden, Adam should have matured to become the ideal represented by the rock. Yet when Satan struck him and caused him to fall, Adam could not become the tree of life or the rock which could give his descendants the water of eternal life. Therefore, the waterless rock, before Moses struck it the first time, symbolized fallen Adam. To indemnify Satan's act of striking Adam and preventing him from becoming the rock which could give the water of life, God had Moses strike the rock once. When he hit the rock once and it yielded water, Moses fulfilled an indemnity condition to restore Adam as the water-giving rock. The rock, struck once, symbolized Jesus who was to come and give fallen humanity the water of life. Therefore, Jesus said:
Whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst; the water that I shall give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life. -John 4:14
Thus, God intended that Moses strike the rock once as an indemnity condition for fallen Adam to be restored in the person of the second, perfected Adam-Jesus. However, when Moses struck the rock the second time, after it had already brought forth water, it represented the possibility that Jesus might be struck. In other words, Moses' act of striking the rock twice in anger at the faithlessness of the Israelites set up the condition that when Jesus came, if the Jewish people were to turn faithless, Satan would have grounds to confront Jesus, the fulfillment of the rock. This is why Moses' act constituted a sin.
Although Moses' act of breaking the tablets of stone could be restored, his mistake of striking the rock the second time could not be restored. Why is this so? In the context of the providence of restoration, the tablets of stone and the rock were related as external and internal. The tablets of stone, inscribed with the Ten Commandments, were the core of the Mosaic Law and the heart of the Old Testament. The Israelites could receive the salvation available in the Old Testament Age by upholding the ideals contained in the tablets. In this sense, the tablets of stone were an external representation of Jesus who was to come.
The rock, on the other hand, not only symbolized Christ; as the root of the tablets of stone, it also symbolized God, the origin of Christ. The tablets of stone were external; the rock was internal. If we liken the tablets to the body, the rock corresponds to the mind; if we liken
the tablets to the holy place, the rock corresponds to the most holy place; if we liken the tablets to the earth, the rock corresponds to heaven. In short, as an internal representation of Christ, the rock had greater value than the tablets of stone.
As an external representation of Jesus, the tablets of stone also symbolized Aaron. Aaron was an external representative of Jesus as he stood before Moses, the representative of God.123 When the Israelites pressured Aaron to make the golden calf,124 Aaron himself lost faith, and this led to the breaking of the tablets. Nevertheless, Aaron could be revived because he repented while still standing upon the foundation of having drunk the water from the rock at Rephidim.125 When he did so, the tablets of stone symbolizing Aaron could also be refashioned and restored based on the internal foundation of the water from the rock. However, since the rock-the root of the tablets of stone-symbolized not only Jesus but also God, his origin, striking the rock the second time could not be undone.
What were the consequences of striking the rock twice? Moses struck the rock the second time because he was overcome by uncontrolled rage at the people's faithlessness.126 He acted under the influence of Satan, even on Satan's behalf. Consequently, the dispensation to start which God had intended to carry out based on the rock was defiled by Satan.
Although externally Moses' act of striking the rock a second time proved to be a satanic act, still in a deeper, internal sense he gave drink to the people with the water which flowed from it and saved their lives. This reaffirmed the prophecy God had given earlier127 that the external Israelites, those who were adults when they left Egypt, could not enter Canaan as was promised, except for Joshua and Caleb. Moses, too, would die without fulfilling his long-cherished dream of entering the promised land.128 On the other hand, the internal Israelites, those who were children at the time of the Exodus from Egypt or were born during the wilderness course when the people drank water from the rock and honored the Tabernacle, would enter Canaan under the leadership of Joshua,129 who succeeded Moses.130
Since Moses' act of striking the rock twice allowed Satan to invade, we would not expect the rock to have yielded water. How, then, was it possible for water to flow from it? Moses had already brought forth water from the rock at Rephidim131 in the second national course to restore Canaan, thus laying the foundation to bring forth water from the rock. The tablets of stone, the Tabernacle and the Ark of the Covenant erected upon this foundation were sustained into the third national course, despite the people's faithlessness, by Moses' unwavering devotion. He firmly maintained the foundation of faith for the Tabernacle, which he had laid during his forty-day fast. Although Moses' faith faltered in a moment of anger, his heart toward God remained unchanging. Furthermore, Joshua had laid the foundation for the Tabernacle through his absolute faith during the forty days of spying, and he continued to uphold the tablets, the Tabernacle and the Ark from that time forth. Thus, the foundation to bring forth water from the rock, which had been established at Rephidim, remained intact centered on Joshua. In sum, although the second dispensation based on the rock was invaded by Satan externally due to Moses' outward act of faithlessness, it remained sound internally. The rock brought forth water for the people due to Moses' and Joshua's internal attitude of unswerving faith and devotion.
When Moses struck the rock the second time, he in effect struck it from the position of Satan. Satan, therefore, took possession of the stone. Accordingly, when in Jesus' time the people disbelieved, Jesus, as the fulfillment of the stone, had to personally enter the wilderness and recover the stone. This is the reason behind his first temptation, when Satan challenged him to turn the stone into bread.
Due to the faithlessness of the Israelites, Moses became enraged and struck the rock twice. This gave Satan a lien on his body, which bound Moses to die outside the promised land. However, he was able to enter Canaan in spirit because he had brought forth water from the rock by virtue of his indomitable faith. This foreshadowed what could happen when Jesus came as the true manifestation of the rock. If the Jewish people disbelieved, Jesus' body would also suffer attack by Satan, even to the extent of being hung on the cross. He would die before completing the restoration of Canaan worldwide. Nevertheless, he would still be able to accomplish the spiritual portion of restoration through his resurrection.
Shortly after this episode, the Israelites again complained along the way, and God sent fiery serpents which bit and killed many of them. When they repented, God had Moses make a bronze serpent and set it on a pole, that anyone might look at it and be saved.132 The fiery serpents symbolized Satan, the ancient serpent133 who had caused Eve to fall; the bronze serpent set on the pole symbolized Jesus, who was to come as the heavenly serpent. This foreshadowed what might happen in Jesus' time, as he said: "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of man be lifted up."134 Although God let the Israelites fall prey to the satanic serpent when they became faithless, He saved their lives with the bronze serpent when they repented and renewed their faith. Likewise, in Jesus' time, if the people were to disbelieve, God would have to leave them vulnerable to Satan's attack, and Jesus would have to be hung on the cross as the heavenly serpent to save humanity. Whoever then repented of his faithlessness and believed in the redemption by the cross would be saved. Indeed, the episode of the fiery serpents was a remote cause of Jesus' walking the path of the crucifixion to begin the course of spiritual salvation.
When the Israelites were faithless and Moses struck the rock twice, God declared that Moses would not be permitted to enter the land of Canaan.135 Although Moses desperately prayed to God and begged God to allow him to enter Canaan,136 he was denied entrance and died outside its borders. After his death, his body was buried in a valley in the land of Moab, but no one knew the place of its burial.137 This also foreshadowed what might happen to Jesus: if the people were to reject him, he would be crucified. Even though he might pray desperately to avoid this fate and realize the Kingdom of Heaven-as he in fact did in the Garden of Gethsemane when he prayed, "let this cup pass from me"-he would die unable to accomplish this goal. Furthermore, after his death no one would know the whereabouts of his body.
When at Kadesh-barnea Moses struck the rock twice, the dispensation to start the journey to Canaan, which was to have been based on the rock, was not brought to pass. Although Satan invaded externally, nevertheless the foundation which Moses had laid internally when he had brought forth water from the rock at Rephidim remained intact, and he could bring forth water from the rock at Kadesh-barnea for the people to drink. This set the pattern for what would follow. The external Israelites born in Egypt, who became faithless in the wilderness, all perished except for Joshua and Caleb, who had shown firm faith during the forty-day mission to spy out the land.138 The internal Israelites, the younger generation who were born and raised in the wilderness when the people drank water from the rock and were upholding the Tabernacle, entered the land of Canaan under the leadership of Joshua.
God instructed Moses to commission Joshua in his stead:
Take Joshua the son of Nun, a man in whom is the spirit, and lay your hand upon him; cause him to stand before Eleazar the priest and all the congregation, and you shall commission him in their sight. You shall invest him with some of your authority, that all the congregation of the people of Israel may obey. -Num. 27:18-20
When the people were beset with fear upon hearing the reports of the spies, only Joshua and Caleb remained firm in their faith upon the foundation of faith Moses had laid through the Tabernacle. With absolute faith and loyalty, they thus established the foundation for the Tabernacle and would honor it to the end. Although Moses' faith faltered later on, the tablets of stone, the Ark and the Tabernacle all remained intact upon the foundation for the Tabernacle which Joshua laid.
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.139
When Moses had satisfactorily accomplished the period of forty years in the wilderness of Midian, God appeared before him and commanded him to guide the Israelites to the land of Canaan, the land of milk and honey.140 Likewise, when Joshua accomplished with faith and devotion the period of forty years of wandering in the wilderness, God personally called him to serve in the position of Moses, commanding:
Moses my servant is dead; now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, you and all this people, into the land which I am giving to them, to the people of Israel. . . . As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will not fail you or forsake you. Be strong and of good courage; for you shall cause this people to inherit the land which I swore to their fathers to give them.
-Josh. 1:2, 5-6
Upon receiving this direction from God, Joshua summoned the officers of the people and conveyed God's instructions to them.141 They replied:
All that you have commanded us we will do, and wherever you send us we will go. . . . Whoever rebels against your commandment and disobeys your words, whatever you command him, shall be put to death. Only be strong and of good courage. -Josh. 1:16-18
They pledged with their lives to follow Joshua. In succeeding Moses' mission to restore Canaan, Joshua prefigured Christ at the Second Advent, who will come to complete the mission which Jesus left unfinished. Just as Joshua's course was to restore through indemnity Moses' course, the course of Christ at the Second Advent must restore through indemnity, both physically and spiritually, Jesus' course of spiritual restoration.
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.
Having pledged with their lives to obey Joshua, who stood upon the foundation for the Tabernacle, the internal Israelites could stand with him on that foundation. 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. Just as the Israelites under Moses' leadership had passed through a three-day course before they crossed the Red Sea, the Israelites under Joshua's leadership passed through a three-day course before they crossed the Jordan River.145 In the second national course, after the three-day course was completed, the pillar of cloud and the pillar of fire led the Israelites to the Red Sea. Similarly, after the Israelites under Joshua's leadership completed the three-day course, the Ark of the Covenant led them to the Jordan River.146 The tablets lying at the center of the Ark, and the pillars of cloud and fire both symbolized Jesus and his would-be Bride.
Moses used his staff to guide the way and split the Red Sea in two. Likewise, 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.147 Moses' staff symbolized Jesus; similarly, the Ark containing the tablets of stone, manna and Aaron's staff symbolized Jesus and his would-be Bride. Therefore, the parting of the Jordan River before the Ark, which allowed the Israelites to enter the land of Canaan safely, foreshadowed what would happen in the presence of Jesus and his Bride: sinful humanity, symbolized by water,148 would be divided between the righteous and the wicked and face the judgment. All faithful believers would then complete the restoration of Canaan worldwide.
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
What did this foreshadow? As was discussed earlier, the stone symbolized Jesus. Accordingly, when the twelve leaders representing the twelve tribes each carried a stone from the middle of the Jordan River after its waters had been divided by the Ark, it foreshadowed what the twelve disciples of Jesus, representing the twelve tribes, should do at his coming: uphold him at the very place where his Word judges this sinful world and divides it into good and evil.
After they took the twelve stones and set them up in the camp at Gilgal in the land of Canaan, Joshua said, "So that all the peoples of the earth may know that the hand of the Lord is mighty; that you may fear the Lord your God for ever."149 This foreshadowed that the twelve disciples of Jesus should become one in heart; only then could they complete the restoration of Canaan worldwide, that all the people of the world might praise the power of God eternally.
Just as Jacob built a stone altar wherever he went, the representatives of the twelve tribes, descendants of the twelve sons of Jacob, gathered together the twelve stones and built an altar in praise of God. They were eventually to construct the Temple. This foreshadowed that the twelve disciples of Jesus should join together and honor Jesus as the Temple. For this reason, when his disciples were not uniting, Jesus said, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up."150 The twelve disciples in fact failed to unite with each other, and one of them, Judas Iscariot, even sold Jesus to his foes. Only after Jesus suffered crucifixion and resurrected after three days was he able to bring together his scattered disciples. The disciples then honored the resurrected Jesus as the spiritual Temple. Only at his Second Coming will his followers be able to serve him as the incarnate Temple.
When the Israelites left Egypt and set out for the land of Canaan, they observed the feast of Passover on the fourteenth day of the first month.151 Likewise, 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. When they began to live on the produce of the land, God stopped giving the manna which He had been providing for forty years. From that time forth, they were to make a living with their own sweat. Furthermore, until they had overthrown every last satanic city, they had to strive to the utmost to fulfill their responsibility.
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 six-day 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."152 The people raised a great shout and the city walls tumbled down. The conquest of Jericho153 foreshadowed that by the power of Christ and the work of his followers, the satanic barrier between Heaven and earth will crumble. Once dismantled, this wall will never be erected again. Thus, Joshua proclaimed:
Cursed before the Lord be the man that rises up and rebuilds this city, Jericho. At the cost of his firstborn shall he lay its foundation, and at the cost of his youngest son shall he set up its gates. -Josh. 6:26
Joshua then launched attacks on the enemy with insurmountable force. He defeated thirty-one kings altogether.154 This foreshadowed that Christ will come as the King of Kings to build the unified Kingdom of Heaven on earth by bringing all gentile kings to complete surrender and winning the hearts of their people.
We have learned that the Israelites failed in the second national course to restore Canaan when they could not fulfill the forty-day mission to spy out the land as a condition to separate Satan. To pay indemnity for this failure, during the third national course they wandered in the wilderness for forty years. During this period, Moses laid the foundation of faith for the third course, and the Israelites stood upon the foundation for the Tabernacle. Yet Satan defiled these two foundations due to the people's faithlessness and Moses' mistake of striking the rock twice. Consequently, the older generation of Israelites, except for Joshua and Caleb, perished in the wilderness. Joshua and Caleb had faithfully fulfilled the forty-day spy mission while standing upon the foundation of faith for the second course and the foundation of faith for the Tabernacle which Moses had laid. They thereby established the foundation for the Tabernacle. The younger generation of Israelites crossed the Jordan River while bearing the Ark of the Covenant with utmost faith under the leadership of Joshua, who succeeded Moses. Then, destroying the fortified city of Jericho, they entered Canaan, the promised land. 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,155 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.
Throughout history, people of faith have read the biblical account of Moses and thought it was merely a record of Moses' life and Israel's history. No one truly understood that God intended to reveal by this account certain secrets of the providence of restoration. Jesus only intimated it, saying, "The Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing; for whatever he does, that the Son does likewise."156 He passed away without divulging the true significance of Moses' course.157
In these pages, we have revealed how Moses walked the model course or formula course for the providence of restoration. By making a comparison between this section and the next section, readers will understand more clearly how, through Moses' course, God foreshadowed the path Jesus would walk. Yet even by studying the providence centered on Moses alone, we cannot but come to the conclusion that God exists and has been guiding human history toward the realization of one absolute purpose.
Moses' course also demonstrates that the actual outcome of a person's life depends upon whether or not the person fulfills his portion of responsibility, regardless of God's foreordained plan for him. God's predestined Will cannot be achieved through the person entrusted with its fulfillment if he does not complete his portion of responsibility. Specifically, God foretold that He would have Moses lead the Israelites into Canaan, the land of milk and honey, and commanded him to carry this out. Nevertheless, when Moses and his people did not fulfill their responsibility, only Joshua and Caleb among the first generation entered Canaan. The rest died in the wilderness.
Moreover, God does not intervene in the human portion of responsibility but acts only upon the actual result a person brings. Although God guided the people with amazing signs and miracles, He did not interfere in their actions when they worshipped the golden calf while Moses was away on the mountain. He did not intervene to restrain Moses when he struck the rock twice. When they did so, they were carrying out their portions of responsibility which were theirs alone to fulfill. However, once they had acted either to fulfill their responsibility or to fail in it, God regarded their result and acted accordingly.
Moses' course demonstrates the absoluteness of God's predestined Will. God predetermines absolutely that His Will be fulfilled and continually attempts to accomplish it until it is done. Thus, when Moses could not complete his responsibility, God found a successor, Joshua, and worked determinedly to accomplish His Will through him. In general, when someone in the Abel position whom God has chosen does not complete his given mission, someone in the Cain position who has demonstrated the utmost devotion will replace the Abel figure and inherit his mission. Jesus described a comparable situation when he said, "From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful men lay hold of it."158
Moses' course shows that the greater one's mission, the greater the test one will face. Because the first ancestors fell when they did not believe in God but turned away from Him, central figures restoring the foundation of faith must overcome a test in which God abandons them. Moses had to overcome a trial in which God tried to kill him159 before he could rise as the leader of the Israelites.
With the Fall as a condition, Satan bound human beings in a relationship with him. Consequently, God does not grant grace to people without a necessary condition, for if He were to do so, Satan would make accusations. Therefore, when God is about to give grace, He puts the person through a test, either before or after the grace, to prevent Satan's accusation. Moses' course provides examples of this. God granted Moses the grace to begin the first course to depart from Egypt only after he had completed the test of living in the Pharaoh's palace for forty years. God granted him the grace to begin the second course to depart from Egypt only after he had completed the test of living in the wilderness of Midian for forty years.160 Only after giving the test in which God tried to kill Moses161 did He grant the three signs and ten plagues.162 Only after giving the test of the three-day course163 did God grant the pillars of cloud and fire.164 Only after giving the test of crossing the Red Sea165 did God give the grace of manna and quail.166 After giving the test of the battle with the Amalekites,167 God granted the grace of the tablets of stone, the Tabernacle, and the Ark of the Covenant.168 The grace of the water from the rock169 was given only after the test of wandering for forty years in the wilderness. When God sent the fiery serpents, the people's repentance was the condition for God to give the grace of the bronze serpent.170
These are lessons which Moses' course teaches us.
In the beginning, Adam should have governed the angels;171 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. However, Satan, who does not submit even to God, would by no means readily yield to Jesus and people of faith. Therefore, taking responsibility for having created human beings, God raised up Jacob and Moses and revealed through them the model course by which Jesus could subjugate Satan.172
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.
God told Moses, "I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brethren; and I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him."173 By "a prophet like you," God was referring to Jesus, who was to walk the same course Moses walked. When Jesus said, "the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing; for whatever he does, that the Son does likewise,"174 he meant that God had revealed the model course through Moses and that he was following in Moses' footsteps. Let us examine the providence of restoration centered on Jesus, drawing relevant comparisons between the three national courses to restore Canaan under Moses' leadership and the three worldwide courses to restore Canaan under Jesus' leadership.
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. From what position was John supposed to accomplish this mission? In the national course to restore Canaan under Moses' leadership, Moses broke the tablets of stone and struck the rock twice. This set up conditions for Satan to strike the body of Jesus-the fulfillment of the tablets and the rock-should the Jewish people of his day not believe in him.
For Jesus to be released from this condition, the chosen people entrusted with the mission to prepare for his coming should have united around the Temple, the image representation of the Messiah who was to come. However, over the years the Israelites repeatedly lapsed into faithlessness and thus multiplied conditions for Satan to attack Jesus. To erase these conditions, God sent the prophet Elijah. Elijah worked to separate Satan by defeating the prophets of Baal and Asherah, 850 altogether,175 and then ascended to heaven.176 Yet, because Elijah did not complete his entire mission he had to return.177 John the Baptist was the prophet who came as Elijah178 to complete this unfinished mission to separate Satan and make straight the way of the Lord.179
The Israelites had suffered hardships in Egypt for four hundred years without a prophet to guide them. They finally met Moses, the one man who could lead them into Canaan as a nation in preparation to receive the Messiah. In a similar fashion, the Jewish people suffered all kinds of tribulations under the oppression of the gentile nations of Persia, Greece, Egypt, Syria and Rome without a prophet to guide them during the four-hundred-year period of preparation for the advent of the Messiah, which began at the time of the prophet Malachi.180 They finally met John the Baptist, the one man who could lead them to the Messiah, who was coming to restore Canaan worldwide.
Thus, 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.
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.182 John the Baptist recovered a foundation on the world level comparable to that of Moses when he laid the foundation of faith for the first national course after forty years inside the Pharaoh's palace.
In Moses' day, God's desire at the first dispensation to start was that the Israelites develop trust in Moses when they witnessed him killing an Egyptian taskmaster. The Israelites were then to leave the satanic world of Egypt and travel to the land of Canaan. In John the Baptist's time, however, the Jewish people were not to leave the Roman Empire and set out for another land. They were to remain within the empire, win over its people, and restore the empire to God's side. God conducted the dispensation to start by encouraging the Jewish people to believe in John through the miracles surrounding his life.
At John's conception, an angel gave a wondrous prophecy concerning the child. When his father Zechariah did not believe it, he was struck dumb, and his speech returned only after he circumcised and named the child. Through these and other miracles, the Israelites were convinced that John was a prophet sent by God:
Fear came on all their neighbors. And all these things were talked about through all the hill country of Judea; and all who heard them laid them up in their hearts, saying, "What then will this child be?" For the hand of the Lord was with him. -Luke 1:65-66
Moreover, John led an illustrious life of prayer and asceticism in the wilderness, living on locusts and wild honey. The general public and even the priests admired him so highly that many thought he might be the Messiah.183
When Moses finished the forty-year indemnity period in the Pharaoh's palace and killed the Egyptian, the Israelites should have been deeply inspired by his love for his people and followed him with faith. They would have then gone straight into Canaan, without having to cross the Red Sea or wander in the wilderness, and without need of the tablets of stone, the Ark of the Covenant or the Tabernacle. Likewise, 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.
The Jewish people stood upon the foundation of faith laid by John the Baptist and followed John as if they were following the Messiah.184 Thereupon, they brought an end to the Old Testament Age and were ready to embark upon a new course to restore Canaan worldwide. Yet, as was explained earlier,185 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?"186 He denied that he was Elijah even though he in fact came to fulfill Elijah's mission.187 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.
In relationship to Jesus, the perfect Adam, John the Baptist came in the role of the restored Adam. He was to establish the foundation for the Messiah, thus completing all the unfinished missions of the central figures of the past who had labored to restore the foundations of faith and substance. Upon this foundation, he was to present all the fruits of providential history to Jesus and guide the Jewish people, who trusted and followed him, to receive Jesus. Finally, he himself should have attended Jesus with faith and devotion.
Even though John the Baptist did not know it, the baptism which he gave to Jesus at the Jordan River188 was in truth a ceremony of offering Jesus all of John's lifelong accomplishments for the sake of God's Will.
Nevertheless, because John the Baptist gradually came to doubt Jesus and finally even undermined his work, the Jewish people, who had the highest esteem for John, were compelled to disbelieve in Jesus.189 Consequently, 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, who came as God's only begotten Son and the Lord of Glory, was not meant to walk a path of suffering.190 Rather, it was for John the Baptist, born with the mission to make straight the way of Jesus,191 to go through tribulations. However, because John did not complete his responsibility, Jesus had to undergo suffering in John's place. 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.
Let us examine the remote and immediate causes behind Jesus' forty-day fast and his three temptations. In the national course to restore Canaan, when Moses stood before the rock, he turned faithless and struck the rock twice. As a result, the rock, symbolizing Jesus,193 was defiled by Satan. This act affirmed the possibility that centuries later, when Jesus came to walk in the footsteps of Moses' course, John the Baptist might become faithless and Satan could then attack Jesus, the fulfillment of the rock. Moses' act also affirmed the possibility that Satan might invade the foundation of faith laid by John the Baptist. Hence, Moses' act of striking the rock twice was the remote cause which, should John lose faith, would compel Jesus to endure a forty-day fast and face three temptations in the wilderness for the purpose of restoring the foundation of faith.
John the Baptist actually did become faithless194 and Satan invaded the foundation of faith which John had laid. This was the immediate cause of Jesus undertaking a dispensation of forty for the separation of Satan by fasting for forty days and overcoming the three temptations. By doing this from the position of John the Baptist, Jesus restored through indemnity the foundation of faith.
It is written that after forty days, Satan tested Jesus three times. First, he showed Jesus stones and tempted him to turn them into loaves of bread. Next, he took Jesus to the pinnacle of the Temple and challenged him to throw himself down. Finally, Satan took Jesus to a very high mountain and offered to give Jesus all the kingdoms of the world if he would fall down and worship him.195
What was Satan's purpose in giving Jesus the three temptations? In the beginning, God created human beings and gave them three great blessings-perfection of individual character, multiplication of children, and dominion over the natural world196-by which they might accomplish the purpose of creation. By inducing the first human ancestors to fall, Satan deprived humankind of the three great blessings and thus prevented the fulfillment of the purpose of creation. Jesus came into the world to accomplish the purpose of creation by restoring these blessings. Therefore, Satan tempted Jesus three times in an attempt to prevent him from restoring the three blessings and accomplishing the purpose of creation.
How, then, did Jesus confront and overcome the three temptations? First, let us examine how Satan came to be in a position to impose temptations on Jesus. Satan first took such a dominant position when, in the national course to restore Canaan, he claimed possession of the rock and the tablets of stone, which symbolized Jesus and his would-be Bride. This was possible because Moses broke the tablets of stone and struck the rock twice in anger at the faithlessness of the people. In the worldwide course, when John the Baptist failed his responsibility, the Jewish people became as disbelieving and disobedient as the Israelites were in Moses' time. Therefore, as God had already foreshadowed in Moses' course, Satan rose to a position of power from which he could impose temptations on Jesus.
After Jesus completed the forty-day fast in the wilderness, Satan appeared before him and tempted him, saying, "If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread."197 Satan had possession of the stone. He had claimed the water-giving rock and the tablets of stone based on the condition first set by Moses' mistakes and then brought to fruition by John the Baptist's faithlessness. Moses had first obtained the stone after fulfilling dispensations of forty for the separation of Satan in the wilderness. To purify and recover the stone, Jesus fasted in the wilderness for forty days. Satan was well aware that Jesus went into the wilderness for this purpose, and his intention in giving the first temptation was to keep the stone in his possession. Jesus suffered from hunger in the wilderness, just as the Israelites had in Moses' day. When the Israelites could not overcome their hunger but fell into faithlessness, this eventually let Satan claim possession of the stone. Likewise, if Jesus were to lose faith and satisfy his hunger by turning the stone into bread, abandoning his effort to restore the stone, Satan would possess the stone forever.
Jesus' answer to this temptation was, "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God."198 Originally, human beings were created to live on two kinds of nourishment. The body lives on the nourishment obtained from the physical world, while the spirit lives by receiving the love and truth of God. However, since fallen people cannot receive the Word directly from God, their spirits have life by the words of Jesus, who came as the incarnation of God's Word.199 Jesus said, "I am the bread of life. . . . unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you."200 He meant that a person does not live a complete and wholesome life merely by eating bread to keep his body alive. His life is not full unless he lives by Jesus, who came as the life-giving nourishment for the spirit.
Indeed, the stone in Satan's hands-signifying the rock and the tablets of stone which Moses had lost-symbolized the very self of Jesus201 who was being subjected to this temptation. In his reply, Jesus meant that although he was starving, he was less concerned about obtaining the bread which could keep his body alive than he was with becoming the incarnate Word of God who could nourish every spirit with life. With that heart, Jesus was determined to triumph over Satan. Furthermore, this test was conducted so that Jesus might re-establish the position of the Messiah, the one who has attained perfection of his individual character, by overcoming the temptation from the position of John the Baptist. Jesus defeated Satan because he spoke and acted in full accordance with the Principle. By his victory over this temptation, Jesus fulfilled the condition to restore the individual nature to perfection and thereby established the basis for the restoration of God's first blessing.
Next, Satan brought Jesus to the pinnacle of the Temple and challenged him, saying, "If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down."202 Jesus referred to himself as the Temple,203 and it is written that Christians are temples of God204 and members of the body of Christ.205 From this we can understand that Jesus is the main temple while the believers are like branch temples. Jesus came as the Lord of the Temple. Even Satan had to acknowledge his position; thus he put Jesus on the top of the Temple. When Satan dared Jesus to throw himself down, it meant that he wanted to usurp Jesus' position as the Lord of the Temple by enticing Jesus to fall from that position to the lowly state of a fallen person.
At that moment Jesus answered him, "You shall not tempt the Lord your God."206 Originally, angels were created to be governed by people who have realized their God-given nature. Hence, even fallen angels should rightfully submit to Jesus, their Lord. Accordingly, it was an unprincipled act for an angel to attempt to usurp the position of the Lord of the Temple from Jesus. Jesus' response meant that Satan should not test God by tempting Jesus, the incarnation of God, who works His providence in strict accordance with the Principle. Moreover, by prevailing in the first temptation and restoring his individual character as the incarnate Temple, Jesus had already secured the position of the Lord of the Temple. Therefore, Satan had no condition to tempt Jesus again, but should have retreated at that point. By overcoming the second temptation, Jesus, the main temple, the bridegroom and the True Parent of humanity, opened the way for all people of faith to be restored to the positions of branch temples, brides and true children. Jesus thus established the basis upon which to restore God's second blessing.
Finally, Satan took Jesus to a very high mountain and showed him all things under heaven and all their glory, saying, "All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me."207 Due to Adam's fall, human beings lost the qualification to be the lords of creation. They fell under the dominion of Satan, who usurped Adam's position as the creation's master. Coming in the capacity of a perfected Adam, Jesus was the Lord of creation, as it is written, "For God has put all things in subjection under his feet."208 Because Satan knew this from his understanding of the Principle, he led Jesus to the top of the mountain in recognition of his position as the Lord of creation. Satan then tempted Jesus, hoping that Jesus, the second Adam, might also submit to him as Adam had submitted in the beginning.
Jesus replied, "Begone, Satan! for it is written, 'You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.'"209 Angels were created as ministering spirits210 to revere and serve God, their Creator. By his answer, Jesus indicated that according to the Principle even a fallen angel like Satan should worship God; by the same token, he should honor and attend Jesus, who came as the body of the Creator. Furthermore, by overcoming the two previous temptations, Jesus already had laid the basis upon which to restore God's first and second blessings. Upon this foundation, he would naturally restore God's third blessing and govern the creation. Jesus said, "Begone, Satan!" because there was no longer any basis for Satan to contend with Jesus over the natural world, which already stood on the firm foundation of his victory. By prevailing in the third temptation, Jesus set up the condition to restore dominion over the natural world-God's third blessing.
According to the Principle of Creation, God's purpose of creation is to be realized only when human beings pass through the three stages of origin, division and union and establish the four position foundation. However, Satan blocked this ideal while the first human ancestors were still in the process of building the four position foundation. Therefore, in the course of the providence of restoration, with its prolongations through three stages, God has tried to restore through indemnity all that was lost by working to fulfill dispensations of forty for the separation of Satan. Jesus prevailed over the three temptations and fulfilled the forty-day fast as a dispensation of forty for the separation of Satan. Thereupon, Jesus restored through indemnity, all at once, the following conditions which God had been seeking to fulfill through all the dispensations of forty for the separation of Satan throughout history.
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, including: the offerings of Cain and Abel, Noah's ark, Abraham's sacrifice, Moses' Tabernacle and King Solomon's Temple. 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. These included: Noah's forty-day flood judgment, the three forty-year periods in the life of Moses and his two forty-day fasts, the forty-day mission to spy out the land, the Israelites' forty years of wandering in the wilderness, the four hundred years from Noah to Abraham, the four hundred years of slavery in Egypt, and all other periods characterized by the number forty which had been lost since the Exodus.
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. Having successfully made his offering, Jesus stood as the fulfillment of the tablets of stone, the Ark of the Covenant, the Tabernacle, the rock and the Temple.
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). In that capacity, Jesus through his forty-day fast attained the same position on the world level that Moses had assumed just after he had laid the foundation of faith for the second national course to restore Canaan by enduring a forty-year exile in the wilderness of Midian.
God conducted the dispensation to start the second national course to restore Canaan by providing the three signs and ten plagues. God conducted the dispensation to start the third national course to restore Canaan by having the people uphold the three manifestations of divine grace-the tablets of stone, the Ark of the Covenant and the Tabernacle-and obey the Ten Commandments. These, as we recall, were given upon the foundation for the Tabernacle to restore the three signs and ten plagues lost due to the faithlessness of the Israelites. 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,211 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.
When the first worldwide course to restore Canaan ended in failure due to John the Baptist's faithlessness, Jesus took John's mission upon himself and suffered hardships in the wilderness for forty days. Thus, Jesus restored through indemnity the foundation of faith for the second worldwide course to restore Canaan. It is written that Satan, who was defeated in the three temptations, left Jesus' side "until an opportune time,"212 indicating that Satan had not left Jesus for good but might confront him at a future date. As a matter of fact, Satan did confront Jesus, working primarily through the Jewish leadership, the priests and scribes who disbelieved in Jesus. In particular, 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.
In discussing the third worldwide course to restore Canaan, we should first understand in what respects this course was different from the third national course to restore Canaan. As was explained in detail, the focus of faith for the Israelites in the third national course was the Tabernacle, the symbol of the Messiah. Even when the Israelites fell into faithlessness, the Tabernacle remained intact, standing upon the foundation of faith for the Tabernacle which Moses had laid during his forty-day fast. When Moses also became faithless, the Tabernacle remained intact, preserved by Joshua's stewardship and the foundation for the Tabernacle which he had laid during the forty-day mission to spy out the land.
However, 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."213 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. Foreseeing this, Jesus said, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up."214
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. Accordingly, unless the returning Christ comes in the flesh, as Jesus did, he cannot inherit Jesus' mission, much less fulfill the purpose of the providence of restoration.
When the second worldwide course to restore Canaan ended in failure due to the Jewish people's rejection of Jesus, the foundation of faith which Jesus had laid during his forty-day fast from the position of John the Baptist was lost to Satan. 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. This is the heretofore undisclosed reason behind this forty-day period. How, then, did Jesus lay the spiritual foundation of faith?
God had personally been guiding His beloved chosen people until the time Jesus appeared as the Messiah. Yet from the moment they turned against His only begotten Son, God tearfully had to turn His back and allow Satan to lay claim to them. Nonetheless, God's purpose in sending the Messiah was to save the Jewish people and all humanity. God was determined to save humankind, even though it meant delivering Jesus into the hands of Satan. Satan, on the other hand, was fixed on killing one man, Jesus Christ, even though he might have to hand back all of humanity, including the Jewish people, to God. Satan knew that the primary goal of God's four-thousand-year providence of restoration was to send the Messiah. He thought that by killing the Messiah he could destroy the entire providence of God. In the end, God handed over Jesus to Satan as the condition of indemnity to save all humankind, including the Jewish people who had turned against Jesus and fallen into Satan's realm.
Satan exercised his maximum power to crucify Jesus, thereby attaining the goal he had sought throughout the four-thousand-year course of history. On the other hand, by delivering Jesus to Satan, God set up as compensation the condition to save sinful humanity. How did God achieve this? Because Satan had already exercised his maximum power in killing Jesus, according to the principle of restoration through indemnity, God was entitled to exercise His maximum power. While Satan uses his power to kill, God uses His power to bring the dead to life. As compensation for Satan's exercise of his maximum power in killing Jesus, God exercised His maximum power and resurrected Jesus. God thus opened the way for all humanity to be engrafted with the resurrected Jesus and thereby receive salvation and rebirth.
It is clear from the biblical record that the resurrected Jesus was not the same as he had been when he had lived with his disciples before his crucifixion. The resurrected Jesus was no longer a man seen through physical eyes, because he transcended time and space. He appeared to his disciples inside a room with closed doors.215 He accompanied two disciples traveling toward Emmaus for a long distance. Yet they did not recognize him until much later, when he made himself known, at which point he suddenly vanished out of sight.216 By passing through the forty-day period of his resurrection and thereby separating Satan, Jesus laid the foundation of faith for the spiritual course. He thus opened the way to redeem humanity's sins.
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. This spiritual foundation of faith which Jesus laid for the third worldwide course to restore Canaan was comparable to the foundation of faith which Moses laid for the third national course through forty years in the wilderness.
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.217
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.
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. Ever since the descent of the Holy Spirit at the Pentecost,218 the resurrected Jesus as the spiritual True Father and the Holy Spirit as the spiritual True Mother have worked in oneness to grant spiritual rebirth by spiritually engrafting believers with themselves. This is the work of spiritual salvation,219 which established a realm of resurrection inviolable by Satan.
Even though we may by faith unite with Jesus in spirit, our bodies are still liable to Satan's attack, as was the case with Jesus himself. In other words, our physical salvation still remains unaccomplished. Still, if we believe in the resurrected Jesus, he will guide us to enter spiritually his realm of resurrection, which is invulnerable to satanic invasion. There we are released from the conditions which allow Satan to accuse us, and we are spiritually saved.
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.221
The resurrected Jesus is the spiritual fulfillment of the Temple. He realized worldwide the ideal of the Tabernacle which Moses had upheld in the national course to restore Canaan. The most holy place and the holy place, representing the spirit and flesh of Jesus, were fulfilled as spiritual realities through Jesus and the Holy Spirit. The ideal of the mercy seat has been realized through the works of salvation given by Jesus and the Holy Spirit, enabling God to appear in their works and impart His Word. On the mercy seat, where God's Word is proclaimed, the cherubim that had blocked our path since the Fall were parted, opening our way to enter the Ark of the Covenant and receive Jesus, the Tree of Life. There we can partake of the manna provided by God and witness the greatness of God's power that once caused Aaron's staff to bud.222
As we have learned by studying Moses' course, the delays in God's providence were not predetermined, but were caused by people's faithlessness. Likewise, Jesus' crucifixion and the need for his return were not originally predestined by God.
We have already explained why the third worldwide course to restore Canaan began as a spiritual course, not as a substantial course like the third national course to restore Canaan. This spiritual providence began when, upon the spiritual foundation for the Messiah, Jesus could stand as the spiritual Messiah and his followers believed and obeyed him. This providence has passed through a long two-thousand-year course of history, expanding to construct a worldwide spiritual dominion.
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.223
Since Christ at the Second Advent must restore through indemnity the course of the providence of restoration left unfinished at Jesus' coming, he may have to follow a similar course. Jesus encountered disbelief among the Jewish people and had to walk a course of bitter suffering. Likewise, if Christians, the Second Israel, reject Christ at the Second Advent, he will have to go through tribulations comparable to those Jesus suffered. He will have to repeat Jesus' painful course and restore it through indemnity, but this time during his earthly life. For this reason, Jesus said, "But first he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation."224
At the First Coming, Jesus at the end had to forsake the First Israel, which had been called for his sake, and elect the Christians as the Second Israel to commence the new spiritual providence. Similarly, at Christ's Second Coming, if the Christians reject him in disbelief, he will have to abandon them, raise up a Third Israel, and work with them to bring the providence to its fulfillment on the earth. If the Lord's forerunners, who are entrusted with missions like that of John the Baptist, do not complete their responsibilities, then he will have to lower himself to assume the role of John the Baptist and establish the foundation of faith for the substantial course in the third worldwide course to restore Canaan. In such an eventuality, he will walk a path of suffering.
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 humankind225 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. Moreover, as will be discussed below,226 God's spiritual providence of restoration during the two thousand years since Jesus' day has prepared a democratic social and legal environment which will protect Christ at the Second Advent. Jesus was killed after being branded a heretic by the Jews and a rebel by the Roman Empire. In contrast, even if Christ at the Second Advent is persecuted as a heretic, in the democratic society to which he will come, such accusations will not be sufficient grounds for him to be condemned to death.
Therefore, 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.
When Moses was the central figure in the third national course to restore Canaan, God worked the dispensation to start based on the rock. When Joshua was the central figure, God conducted the dispensation to start based on the water from the rock, which is more internal than the rock. Similarly, at Jesus' coming, God conducted the dispensation to start through miracles and signs, but at Christ's Second Advent God will conduct the dispensation to start based on the Word, which is more internal than miracles and signs. As was explained earlier,227 although human beings were created through the Word,228 due to the Fall they could not fulfill its purpose. To accomplish the purpose of the Word, God has been working His providence of restoration by setting up external conditions of obedience to the Word. Finally, at the consummation of providential history, God will again send the Christ, the incarnation of the Word, and complete the providence of salvation based on the Word.
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. Adam and Eve were created in the image of God, as the substantial object partners to God in the pattern of His dual characteristics. As God's first substantial object partners, they were meant to be the Parents of humankind. They were meant to become husband and wife, bear and raise children, and form a family intertwining the heart of parents, the heart of husband and wife, the heart of brothers and sisters, and the heart of children. Their family would have manifested the true love of parents, the true love of husband and wife, and the true love of children. This would have been the four position foundation which realizes the three object purpose.229 In this manner, 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.230 Every human being has been born as a child of the Devil.231 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.
Adam's family, whose members committed the Fall and the first murder, was bereft of any relationship with God. 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.232 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.233 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.
Jesus is the only Son of God, sinless and born of His direct lineage. He is the true olive tree who came to engraft all fallen people, the wild olive trees, with himself.234 By thus joining them in oneness with himself, he was to cleanse them of the original sin and restore them as children born of God's lineage. This is the work of rebirth, which was to have been conducted by Jesus and his Bride.235
Unfortunately, even Jesus' own disciples lost faith, and Jesus died on the cross without having ascended from the position of John the Baptist or commenced the duties proper to the Messiah. After his resurrection, Jesus began his spiritual course. He laid the spiritual foundation of faith through the forty days from his resurrection to his ascension-a period for the separation of Satan-while standing in the position of spiritual John the Baptist. His disciples repented and returned to serve him with faith; thus, Jesus and his disciples established the spiritual foundation of substance and the spiritual foundation for the Messiah. Upon this foundation, Jesus stands as the spiritual Messiah and has been engrafting his faithful followers with himself-though only spiritually. As a result, faithful Christians have been elevated to become God's spiritual children. This has been the nature of humankind's relationship with God attainable from the time of Jesus until today.
In this spiritual providence of restoration, the spirit world has been restored first, just as in the order of creation God made the spirit world first. Humanity has been elevated to stand as God's object partners, but only spiritually. 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.236 Christians are, at best, God's adopted children, because they do not stem from His lineage. This explains why St. Paul lamented, "we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the spirit, groan inwardly as we wait for adoption as sons."237
Christ will return and restore all humanity to be God's true children. He will return in the flesh and be born on the earth, as at his First Coming. He will restore through indemnity the course of his First Coming by walking it again. As was explained above, 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.
At the First Coming, Jesus laid a family foundation by choosing twelve disciples and appointing three of the twelve as his chief disciples. In this, he intended to restore through indemnity the position of Jacob, who had been the central figure for the family foundation for the Messiah. By raising up seventy followers, Jesus then expanded the scope of his foundation to the clan level. In the same manner, 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.
God's purpose in raising up the people of the First Israel was to prepare the foundation for Jesus, that he might accomplish the goal of building the Kingdom of Heaven when he came. When they turned against him, God elected the Christians to be the Second Israel. Similarly, God's purpose in raising up Christianity was to prepare the foundation for Christ at the Second Advent to achieve the goal of building the Kingdom of Heaven. If the Christian world should likewise turn against him, God will be left with no alternative but to forsake them and elect a Third Israel. Therefore, although Christians in the Last Days may enjoy great blessings, in fact, like the Jewish people of Jesus' day, their situation is extremely precarious. They are liable to fall into disgrace and great misfortune.
First, Jesus' course instructs us about God's predestination of His Will. God predestines absolutely that His Will be accomplished and then works unceasingly until it is fulfilled. When John the Baptist failed his mission, Jesus tried to accomplish God's Will at any cost, even to the extent of taking on John's responsibility. When disbelief on the part of the Jewish people frustrated his attempts to build the Kingdom of Heaven, Jesus still remained absolute in his determination and promised to fulfill the Will at his return.
Next, Jesus' course demonstrates that God's predestination concerning the manner in which His Will is to be accomplished through an individual or a nation is conditional, not absolute. That is to say, although God may have chosen a certain individual or nation to accomplish a purpose in the providence of restoration, if he fails to complete his responsibility, God will surely choose another person or nation to continue His work. Jesus chose John the Baptist to be his chief disciple, but when he failed to complete his responsibility, Jesus chose Peter to replace him. Jesus chose Judas Iscariot to be one of his twelve disciples, but when Judas failed, Matthias was chosen to take his place.238 Similarly, God chose the Jewish people to accomplish the central responsibility in His providence of restoration, but when they failed, their mission passed to the Gentiles.239 These instances illustrate that when God chooses a person or a nation to accomplish His Will, He never predestines in absolute terms whether that person or nation will, in fact, accomplish the Will.
Jesus' course also demonstrates that God does not interfere with a person's efforts to fulfill his portion of responsibility, but treats him according to the results of his actions. God must have known that John the Baptist and Judas Iscariot were losing their faith. He certainly had the power to stop them from sinning. Yet God did not interfere at all in their faith, but dealt with them only based on the results of their deeds.
Finally, Jesus' course shows that the greater a person's mission, the greater the test he will confront. Jesus came as the second Adam. To complete his mission, he had to restore through indemnity the position Adam had occupied prior to the Fall. Since Adam became faithless and forsook God, Jesus had to restore Adam's mistake by enduring when God forsook him, all the while showing unchanging faith. Therefore, Jesus was tempted by Satan in the wilderness and forsaken by God on the cross.240