Because of Jesus' crucifixion, Satan was able to claim the entire 2,000 years of preparation for the Messiah, from the time of Jacob until the birth of John the Baptist.
The providence then shifted from its focus on the Law of Moses and the Temple to center on the teachings of the Gospels and Jesus himself as the incarnation of the Temple. The believers in Jesus and the civilization they created became a "new Israel."
As the new center of God's dispensation, Christian civilization has been in the process of restoring the 2,000-year course of the history of the Israelites and at the same time expanding the worldwide course of spiritual restoration in preparation for the Second Advent. Because of this, the history of Christianity has followed a pattern parallel to that of the Israelites.
The periods given in the parallels should not be understood as exact in every detail. It should also be remembered that while Israel was a physical nation centered on a tangible Temple, Christianity's course centered on a kingdom "not of this world" led by the risen Jesus. These parallels come into clear focus by briefly analyzing the two histories through the principle of restoration.
The Israelites suffered as slaves in Egypt for 400 years, many dying cruel deaths at the hands of the taskmasters. Similarly, the Christians suffered persecution in the Roman Empire for nearly the same period.
Many Christians were drawn from the class of slaves, and thousands suffered martyrdom for their faith. When the suffering of Israel in Egypt was over, God sent Moses to deliver his people out of Egypt.
Under Moses' successor, Joshua, they entered the promised land of Canaan, where they were no longer slaves to Pharaoh and had the freedom to worship their Cod.
They fought against the Canaanites and began to apply the Law of Moses to transform Canaan's pagan culture to one centered on the Ten Commandments and the tabernacle.
Similarly, when the persecution of the Christians under the Roman Empire was over, the Emperor Constantine issued an edict granting freedom of worship to them. At the end of the fourth century, Emperor Theodosius declared Christianity the imperial state religion.
The orthodox churches fought against heresy and worked to transform the pagan Roman culture, centering on the Apostles' Creed and the newly canonized Christian Bible.
Young Oon Kim