Section 4. The Periods in the Age of the Prolongation of the Providence of Restoration and Their Lengths
The Age of the Prolongation of the Providence of Restoration has been to restore through substantial parallels the Age of the Providence of Restoration, the age of image parallels. As the periods of this age were to restore through indemnity the corresponding periods of the previous age, these periods proceeded in a parallel fashion, both in order and in length.
4.1 The Four-Hundred-Year Period of Persecution in the Roman Empire
Jesus came at the outset of the New Testament Age to complete the Will which had been entrusted to Abraham, the father of faith, who commenced the Old Testament Age. We recall that the Israelites had to endure a four-hundred-year period of slavery in Egypt to restore, on the national level, the foundation of faith which had been shattered due to Abraham’s mistake in the symbolic offering. The early Christians underwent a comparable period of suffering to restore through indemnity the foundation of faith which had been destroyed due to the mistake of the Jewish people, who did not properly follow Jesus as the living sacrifice. This was the four-hundred-year period during which Christians were persecuted in the Roman Empire.
The persecution abated by 313 A.D., when the Emperor Constantine formally recognized Christianity as a legal religion. In 392 A.D., the Emperor Theodosius I established Christianity as the state religion. This period was the substantial parallel to the Israelites’ four-hundred-year period of slavery in Egypt, and its purpose was to restore that earlier period through parallel indemnity conditions.
4.2 The Four-Hundred-Year Period of Regional Church Leadership
The next period in the Age of the Providence of Restoration was the four-hundred-year period of the judges, when judges led the Israelite tribes. Since the Age of the Prolongation of the Providence of Restoration has been the age of substantial parallels, it should contain a four-hundred-year period comparable to the period of the judges. What is called the period of regional church leadership began when Christianity was declared the state religion of the Roman Empire and ended with the enthronement of Charlemagne in 800 A.D. In this period, the people were led by regional church leaders – patriarchs, bishops and abbots – with multiple roles corresponding to the judges in Israel. This period was the substantial parallel to the four-hundred-year period of the judges, and its purpose was to restore that earlier period through parallel indemnity conditions.
4.3 The One-Hundred-and-Twenty-Year Period of the Christian Empire
When the people of Israel unified as a nation under the leadership of King Saul, they began the 120-year period of the united kingdom, which continued through the reigns of King David and King Solomon. The parallel 120-year period of the Christian empire, also called the Carolingian Empire, began with Charlemagne’s enthronement as the emperor in 800 A.D. It ended in 919 A.D. when his royal line ceased in the eastern half of the realm and Henry I was elected king of the German lands. This period was the substantial parallel to the 120-year period of the united kingdom, and its purpose was to restore that earlier period through parallel indemnity conditions.
4.4 The Four-Hundred-Year Period of the Divided Kingdoms of East and West
Since the Temple’s holiness was not properly upheld in the period of the united kingdom, the kingdom was eventually divided into two kingdoms: Israel in the north and Judah in the south. Thus began the four-hundred-year period of the divided kingdoms of north and south. In the Age of the Prolongation of the Providence of Restoration, the Carolingian Empire was divided into two kingdoms: the Holy Roman Empire in the east and France in the west. Although when the Carolingian Empire was first divided, it was split into the kingdoms of the East Franks, the West Franks and Italy, Italy soon reverted to the rule of the East Franks and together these constituted the Holy Roman Empire, while the West Franks consolidated as the Kingdom of France. This four-hundred-year period of the divided kingdoms of east and west began with the division of the Christian empire in 919 and ended in 1309, when the papacy moved to Avignon, in what is now southern France. This period was the substantial parallel to the four-hundred-year period of the divided kingdoms of north and south, and its purpose was to restore that earlier period through parallel indemnity conditions.
4.5 The Two-Hundred-and-Ten-Year Period of Papal Exile and Return
During the period of the divided kingdoms of north and south, the kingdom of Israel in the north perished at the hands of the Assyrians because its people had fallen into corruption and idolatry. The kingdom of Judah in the south also became faithless and failed to uphold the holiness of the Temple; consequently, its people were taken into exile in Babylon, the satanic world. Over the next 210 years, they suffered in exile, returned to Israel, rebuilt the Temple, and renewed the covenant. The parallel period of papal exile and return also lasted approximately 210 years. It began in 1309 A.D. when, the papacy having become corrupt, Pope Clement V was forced to move the papacy from Rome to Avignon and live there subject to the kings of France. This period continued even after the papacy returned to Rome until the Protestant Reformation began in 1517. This period of 210 years was the substantial parallel to the 210-year period of Israel’s exile and return, and its purpose was to restore that earlier period through parallel indemnity conditions.
4.6 The Four-Hundred-Year Period of Preparation for the Second Advent of the Messiah
After the Jewish people were liberated from their exile in Babylon and returned to Jerusalem, they reformed their religious and political life. Based on the prophecies of Malachi, they began preparations to receive the Messiah. After the four-hundred-year period of preparation for the advent of the Messiah, Jesus came to the Jewish people. To restore that period through indemnity in the Age of the Prolongation of the Providence of Restoration, we expect a parallel four-hundred-year period of preparation for the Second Advent of the Messiah. In fact, it began in 1517 with Martin Luther and the Protestant Reformation and has lasted until the eve of the Second Advent of Christ on the earth. As the substantial parallel to the four-hundred-year period of preparation for the advent of the Messiah, its purpose has been to restore that earlier period through parallel indemnity conditions.