Section 1. Parallel Providential Periods
Examining the course of human history, we often find cases where the various circumstances of a period in history are repeated in similar form during a later age. Some historians are impressed by these phenomena and point out that history progresses in a spiral movement. Yet they do not understand the underlying cause. When a period of history repeats the events of a previous period, albeit with differences in scope and degree, the two periods are called parallel providential periods. As will be explained below, the reason for using this terminology is because the principal cause behind these parallels lies in God’s providence of restoration.
How do parallel providential periods come about? The course of history has been shaped by various events in the providence of restoration, which drives history toward a fixed goal. When a central figure in the providence fails his responsibility to restore the foundation for the Messiah, the providential period centering on that person comes to a close. Yet, since God has predestined the absolute and eventual fulfillment of His Will (cf. Predestination 1), He chooses another person to carry on the mission and opens another historical period in the providence to restore through indemnity the foundation for the Messiah. Since this new period restores through indemnity the previous period, a course with similar events will be repeated. This is how the periods come to be parallel to one another.
However, parallel periods do not have exactly the same form and content, because the central figure in a particular period must restore in his time (horizontally) the unfulfilled indemnity conditions of the previous periods (vertically). The more the providence of restoration is prolonged and past indemnity conditions accumulate, the heavier will be the conditions of indemnity which the new central figure must fulfill. Consequently, the new parallel period will differ from the previous parallel period in content and scale.
The three stages of the growing period may be classified according to different degrees of manifestation: the formation stage is a manifestation in symbol, the growth stage in image, and the completion stage in substance. Likewise, in the development of history, the parallel periods in the providence of restoration have repeated similar events according to this pattern. Thus, the entire history of the providence of restoration may be divided according to the form of the parallels: the Age of the Providence to Lay the Foundation for Restoration is the age of symbolic parallels, the Age of the Providence of Restoration is the age of image parallels, and the Age of the Prolongation of the Providence of Restoration is the age of substantial parallels.
Next, let us examine the main factors which determine the formation of parallel providential periods.
Parallel providential periods recur because of repeated dispensations to restore the foundation for the Messiah. Accordingly, the factors which determine the formation of parallel providential periods are: first, the three conditions necessary for the foundation of faith (the central figure, the object for the condition and the numerical period of indemnity) and second, the indemnity condition to remove the fallen nature, which is necessary to restore the foundation of substance.
Based on these factors, two characteristics of parallel providential periods stand out.
First, the lengths of the parallel providential periods are determined based on a fixed number of generations or years of the indemnity period necessary for restoring the foundation of faith.
In the providence of restoration, when a central figure has failed to complete his responsibility and caused the prolongation of the Will, God repeats His work through other central figures until the final restoration of the lost foundation of faith is achieved. In each dispensation, the numerical period of indemnity for restoring this foundation must be repeated in some form. For this reason, the parallel periods in history have similar lengths, each representing the same fixed number of years or generations. The purpose of this chapter is to discuss this matter in detail.
Second, the parallels in history are shaped by the other three providential factors: the central figure and the object for the condition offered for the foundation of faith, and the indemnity condition to remove the fallen nature for the foundation of substance.
The goal of the providence of restoration is ultimately to restore the foundation for the Messiah. Accordingly, when the providence is prolonged, the various dispensations involved in restoring this foundation are also repeated. Since the foundation for the Messiah can be established only by first laying the foundation of faith through the symbolic offering and then laying the foundation of substance through the substantial offering, providential history has been repeating dispensations to restore these two offerings. These dispensations have shaped the parallels between providential periods. We will elaborate on this matter in the next chapter.