Section 1. The Period of Slavery in Egypt and the Period of Persecution in the Roman Empire

 After Jacob entered Egypt with his twelve sons and seventy kinsmen, their descendants suffered terrible abuse at the hands of the Egyptians for four hundred years. This was for the restoration of the four-hundred-year period from Noah to Abraham – a period for the separation of Satan – which had been defiled due to Abraham’s mistake in his offering. The corresponding period of persecution in the Roman Empire was to restore this previous period through parallel indemnity conditions. Jesus’ twelve apostles and seventy disciples were the first of many generations of Christians who suffered severe persecution in the Roman Empire over a period of four hundred years. By enduring this suffering, they were restoring through indemnity the four-hundred-year period of preparation for the advent of the Messiah – a period for the separation of Satan – which had been defiled due to the Jewish people’s mistake in not honoring Jesus as a living sacrifice but leading him to the cross.

 In the period of slavery in Egypt, the chosen people of the First Israel kept themselves pure by circumcision, (Josh. 5:2-5) by making sacrifices (Exod. 5:3) and, as they left Egypt, by keeping the Sabbath (Exod. 16:23). During the period of persecution in the Roman Empire, the Christians as the Second Israel lived a life of purity by performing the sacraments of baptism and holy communion, offering themselves as sacrifices, and keeping the Sabbath. In both periods, they had to follow this way of pure faith to separate Satan, who was constantly assailing them due to the condition of previous mistakes by Abraham and the Jewish people.

 At the end of Israel’s slavery in Egypt, Moses brought the Pharaoh to his knees by the power of the three signs and ten plagues. He then led the Israelites out of Egypt and set out for the land of Canaan. Likewise, toward the end of the period of persecution in the Roman Empire, after Christians had drunk the cup of persecution to the fill, Jesus increased the numbers of believers by moving their hearts with his power and grace. By stirring the heart of Emperor Constantine, Jesus led him to recognize Christianity in 313 A.D. Jesus inspired Theodosius I in 392 A.D. to establish Christianity as the state religion. Christians thus restored Canaan spiritually inside the Roman Empire, the satanic world.

 In the Old Testament Age, God worked through the external indemnity conditions set by the Mosaic Law; likewise, God had Moses defeat the Pharaoh through the external power of miracles. In the New Testament Age, when God worked through the internal indemnity conditions of faith, He manifested His power internally by moving the hearts of people.

 When the period of slavery in Egypt was over, Moses on Mt. Sinai received the Ten Commandments and God’s Word revealed in the Law, which formed the core of the Old Testament Scriptures. By setting up and honoring the tablets of stone, the Ark of the Covenant and the Tabernacle, he paved the way for the Israelites to prepare for the coming of the Messiah. Likewise, at the conclusion of the period of persecution in the Roman Empire, Christians gathered the writings which had been left behind by the apostles and evangelists and established the canon of the New Testament. Based on these writings, they sought to realize God’s ideals spiritually, ideals which had been enshrined in the Ten Commandments and the Tabernacle in the Old Testament Age. They built up churches and expanded their foundation to prepare for the Second Coming of Christ. After Jesus’ ascension, the resurrected Jesus and the Holy Spirit guided Christians directly. Hence, God did not raise up any one person as the central figure responsible for His entire providence, as He had earlier.