A. Unrealized Course

During the 430 years after Jacob's family migrated into Egypt, his twelve sons became twelve tribes, and the 70 people of the house of Jacob multiplied to more than 600,000. The Israelites' sojourn had been prolonged 30 years because a foundation for the Exodus had not been laid at the end of 400 years. Because of their numbers, Pharaoh feared and oppressed the Hebrews, and finally ordered that all their newborn males be killed.

Though Moses lived in the splendor of Pharaoh's house, he harbored high patriotism and unflagging loyalty to God and His chosen ones, the Hebrews. Moses was adamantly opposed to the Egyptians' oppression of the Hebrews. Moses once found an Egyptian beating a Hebrew; Moses killed the Egyptian. The next day Moses met two Hebrews fighting and asked the aggressor why he struck his brother. This Hebrew asked Moses if he meant to kill him as Moses had killed the Egyptian. (Ex. 2:11-15) Seeing Moses' great love for them and his courage against their oppressors, the Hebrews should have united with Moses and followed him. His. forty years in the palace would then have been the foundation for the deliverance of his people. He would have led them in a 21-day course through the land of the Philistines into Canaan. (Ex. 13:17) However, Pharaoh now sought his life, and Moses fled to Midian, where he had to lay another foundation of forty years. Thus God's first plan for the Exodus was never carried out.

At the end of the forty years in Midian, God called Moses and commanded him to lead his people out of Egypt. Moses replied:

But behold, they will not believe me or listen to my voice, for they will say, "The Lord did not appear to you." (Ex. 4:1)

Moses asked for signs to convince the Hebrews and the Egyptians that he was sent by God. God gave Moses the power to perform three miracles. (Ex. 4:1-9) The first was the miracle of Moses' rod. Moses represented God to the Hebrews, and Pharaoh, Satan. The rod of Moses was a symbol of Jesus in God's hand. Jesus' work is comparable to the functions of a rod. A rod, or walking staff, may be used in various ways. It can be a support to lean on, a weapon with which to protect oneself from danger, an instrument for chastening (II Sam. 7: 14), or a pointer to lead one in the right direction.

When Moses cast his rod down before Pharaoh, it became a serpent. However, Pharaoh summoned Egyptian magicians who performed the same feat. Their rods were also transformed into serpents, but Moses' serpent swallowed the magicians' serpents. The work of Moses' rod foreshadowed the role of Jesus. It also symbolized the restoration of Adam. Since a serpent had tempted Adam and Eve to act against God's will and thus to fall from Him, their descendants had to be restored by a heavenly serpent. "And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of man be lifted up." (John 3:14) Jesus came to save mankind in the capacity of the rod in God's hand. As the heavenly serpent, he was to destroy evil and restore all men. "Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves; so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves." (Matt. 10:16) Since the serpent was wise enough to tempt Adam and Eve to fall, Christians must be equally wise to lead mankind back to God.

The second sign was the miracle of Moses' hand. At God's command, Moses put his hand into his bosom and withdrew it. His hand was leprous. Moses again put his hand into his bosom. When he took it out, it was healed. This was also a symbolic act. Lucifer had taken Eve into his bosom and caused her to fall. Her fallen descendants could be restored to the status of brides through the love of Jesus who would come as a Bridegroom. "I betrothed you to Christ to present you as a pure bride to her one husband." (II Cor. 11:2b) Thus, the second sign of Moses symbolized the restoration of Eve.

The third sign was the miracle of changing the water of the Nile into blood. "The waters that you saw, where the harlot is seated, are peoples and multitudes and nations and tongues." (Rev. 17:15) Waters here signify the lifeless people of the world. Jesus was to restore the children of death to life. Hence, this sign symbolized the restoration of the children of God.

By these three signs, Moses restored symbolically the heavenly base of four positions. Moses was in God's position, the victorious rod in the position of Adam, the healed hand in the position of Eve, and the blood of the Nile in the position of children. Moses had to make this base in order to subjugate Satan and bring his people back to Canaan.

Since Moses was not eloquent, he asked God for someone to speak for him. God gave him Aaron, his brother, to accompany him. "He shall speak for you to the people; and he shall be a mouth for you, and you shall be to him as God." (Ex. 4:16)

God also allowed his sister Miriam to go with him. Thus a trinity was formed with Moses, Aaron, and Miriam, foreshadowing the trinity with God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. Having now established the base of four positions and the trinity, Moses was ready to battle with Satan.

However, as Moses was about to set out, God tested him by seeking to have him killed. (Ex. 4:24) Moses' wife, Zipporah, took a flint, circumcised their son, and touched Moses' feet with the severed foreskin, and said, "Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me!" (Ex. 4: 25c) By circumcising her son, Zipporah rescued Moses. This was the final test for Moses to become the deliverer of God's elected people.

How could Zipporah rescue Moses by circumcising her son? Actually, this was an act of restitution, signifying that the Israelites could be restored only through circumcision. Eve had stained her blood spiritually through her relationship with Satan. Adam had received from her this Satanic blood in their fallen sexual act. Hence, man's sexual part had to be stricken and the Satanic blood taken away in order to restore the Israelites to the position of God's children. Abraham instituted the rite of circumcision as a sign of God's eternal covenant with him. (Gen. 17) On the eighth day after birth every male of Israel had to be circumcised: First, to signify that he had become a child of God; second, to show that the Satanic blood had been taken away; and finally, to show that through circumcision the male had restored his dominion.

Canaan was the land which God -had blessed and promised to give to Abraham. Hence, Canaan represented the heavenly world, whereas other countries, such as Haran, Egypt, Babylonia, Assyria, and the Roman Empire represented the Satanic world. Canaan, a land which flowed with milk and honey, represented heaven, where love and happiness prevail. This was so, not because of any material abundance or natural beauty, but because God had blessed the land.

Jacob returned victorious to Canaan alter a 20-year struggle in the Satanic world of Haran. By this victory, Jacob accomplished the dispensation of his personal restoration. Moses was to lead his people from Egypt into Canaan, and his mission was at the tribal level. The tribal restoration was possible on the foundation of the family restoration which Jacob had established. Moses' course, therefore, followed the pattern of Jacob's course. For example, Jacob suffered under Laban, who cheated him ten times. (Gen. 31:7) Likewise, Moses was deceived and troubled by Pharaoh ten times.

Although Pharaoh saw firsthand the signs and miracles which Moses performed before him, Pharaoh's heart was only hardened, and he still oppressed the Israelites. God allowed this for a purpose. God wanted Pharaoh to do his utmost to defeat Moses, then to abandon forever his desire to oppose God's chosen people by realizing that against Moses he was powerless and that he would perish if he continued to oppose Moses. Furthermore, by Pharaoh's continued hostility, God wanted to see the destruction of Satan's (Pharaoh's) belongings. Through Pharaoh's intensified opposition, God wanted the Israelites to hate Pharaoh by realizing that he was God's enemy. God desired them to cut off all attachment to Egypt, to realize that He was always with them, and to trust in Him absolutely.

Moses countered Pharaoh's opposition by striking him with a series of ten disasters. As the tenth calamity, all the firstborn sons and animals of Egypt were struck. But the people of Israel were exempted by the lamb's blood which they painted on their door posts. God gave Moses the power to bring disasters so that the Israelites, seeing them, would recognize Moses as their leader, sent by God.

Moses then said to Pharaoh, "We must go three days' journey into the wilderness and sacrifice to the Lord our God as He will command us." (Ex. 8:27) In this way Moses deceived Pharaoh and quickly led his people out of Egypt. This three-day period marked their separation from Satan and began a new life for the Israelites.

When Pharaoh learned that the Israelites had fled, he sent his army in pursuit. When the Israelites saw the Egyptians racing after them, they were in great fear and cried out to God. Moses stretched out his rod over the Red Sea as God bid him, and the waters were divided. Thus, the Israelites crossed the sea on dry ground, but the Egyptians who followed them were drowned as the sea closed over them. (Ex. 14:21, 29) This shows that even after a person turns to God, by cutting off all ties with Satan, he will still be pursued by Satan, but that the power to destroy Satan will be given to him through the rod of God, Jesus.

After the Israelites overcame Satan, God provided them with quail and manna and with pure drinking water which sprang forth from a rock. (Ex. 16:13-14; 17: 6) In the meantime the Amalekites attacked Israel at Rephidim. (Ex. 17:10-13) After the Israelites prevailed over the Amalekites, God led the Israelites through the wilderness by means of a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night until they reached Mount Sinai. (Ex. 13:22)

When the people reached Sinai, God called Moses and said to him:

If you will obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my own possession among all peoples; for all the earth is mine, and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. These are the words which you shall speak to the children of Israel. (Ex. 19:5-6)

So Moses called the elders of the people to convey to them these words. All the people answered together and said, "All that the Lord has spoken we will do." (Ex. 19: 8) Then the people consecrated themselves by washing their garments and staying away from women. Moses set bounds about the mountain and consecrated it. (Ex. 19: 10-15)

Moses then went up on the mountain, where the glory of the Lord settled. The cloud covered it for six days, and on the seventh day God called Moses and spoke to him. Moses was on the mountain 40 days and 40 nights. God gave Moses the Ten Commandments written on two tablets of stone and instructed him on the building of the tabernacle. In order to receive God's word of a new dispensation, Moses had to establish the 40-day period of separation from Satan.

Whenever God accomplishes a significant work, Satan is always very active. Indeed, God's front line is Satan's front line. When the people saw that Moses was so long on the mountain, they gathered before Aaron, made a molten calf with their gold earrings, and said it was their god. They sacrificed to it, sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play. Thus they united with Satan and made a condition for his invasion of the people.

As Moses neared the camp on his return and saw the calf and the people dancing around it, he became enraged; he threw the tablets down and broke them at the foot of the mountain. He took the golden calf which they had made, burned it, ground it to powder, scattered it upon the water, and made the people of Israel drink it.

After this angry chastisement, Moses implored God to forgive their sin. (Ex. 32) Cutting two tablets of stone like the first, he again went up on Mount Sinai as God commanded. He stayed there another 40 days and nights without eating or drinking. God again wrote upon the tablets the words of the covenant, the Ten Commandments.

God had created man and the world through His Word, but the Word was left unfulfilled because of the fall. To carry out the dispensation of restoration, God renewed the Word by giving the Ten Commandments.

Until Jesus came, God carried out His dispensation through this Word. The two tablets bearing the Ten Commandments represented the restored Adam and Eve, thus also Jesus and the Holy Spirit who were to recreate all things by the Word.

God had told Moses to make a tabernacle and had given him elaborate directions. (Ex. 25-27) God said to Moses:

And let them make me a sanctuary, that I may dwell in their midst. According to all that I show you concerning the pattern of the tabernacle, and of all its furniture, so you shall make it. (Ex. 25:8-9)

The Israelites carried a portable sanctuary throughout their wilderness journey. It was a simple tent-like structure which Moses pitched outside the camp and in which Joshua ministered. When Moses entered this tabernacle, the cloudy pillar would descend to the doorway, and God would talk with Moses face to face. (Ex. 33:7-11) The tabernacle had two sections, the most holy place and the holy place. God was present in the most holy place and allowed the high priest to enter once a year. This section symbolized the spirit-man of Jesus, and the holy place, his physical -body. Furthermore, the most holy place represented heaven, and the holy place, earth. Hence, the temple was the representation of Jesus, a perfect man in whom heaven and earth were to be harmoniously embodied. The ark of the covenant was in the most holy place, with the mercy seat above it. Two gold cherubim stood over the mercy seat. (Ex. 25:20)

The ark symbolized the tabernacle and, in the largest sense, the whole cosmos. In the ark were a golden urn containing manna, Aaron's rod, and the two tablets of the covenant, which symbolized Jesus and the Holy Spirit. (Heb. 9:4) Because the tabernacle was the symbolic representation of Jesus, the people were to make it the very center of their life, thus obeying Moses. Because of the great importance of the tabernacle, the people should have immediately fulfilled Moses' instructions concerning it when he descended Sinai after the first forty days. They united with Satan rather than Moses. After Moses' second forty-day fast, he received new tablets and came down again. This time, though the people constructed the tabernacle, they remained rebellious to God, complained to Moses, disparaged God's gift of manna, and longed to return to Egypt.

The people of Israel also wept again, and said, "O that we had meat to eatl We remember the fish we ate in Egypt for nothing, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic; but now our strength is dried up, and there is nothing at all but this manna to look at." (Num. 11:4b-6)

In this way, Moses' second forty-day foundation was lost, and another had to be laid. Moses' faith and dedication were unquestionable, but the people had to make indemnity for their faithlessness.

For this purpose Moses-chose twelve men, one from each of the twelve tribes, and sent them to spy in the land of Canaan forty days. Ten brought back a discouraging report and said that the Israelites would not be able to enter the land because of the great strength and size of the inhabitants and the many large, fortified cities. (Num. 13:28-33)

Upon hearing this, the Israelites were frightened and murmured against God and Moses, crying through the night. The whole congregation confronted Moses and Aaron:

Why does the Lord bring us into this land, to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will become a prey; would it not be better for us to go back to Egypt? (Num. 14:3)

But the remaining two spies, Joshua and Caleb, were courageous and steadfast in their faith and begged all the congregation not to rebel against God, who had promised them that they could occupy the land immediately. But all the congregation said to stone them. (Num. 13: 30; 14:7-10)

And the Lord 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)

Because the Israelites did not accept the report of Joshua and Caleb with unquestioning faith but complained instead to God about their feared plight, the forty days of spying in Canaan were lost. God chastised them by requiring them to wander in the wilderness forty years. At the end of that time, only Joshua, Caleb, and the new generation under twenty years of age were allowed to enter Canaan. Thus, the third attempt to establish the foundation of the tabernacle was frustrated. Satan invaded, and the second tribal course to Canaan failed.

There was no water for the congregation, and the people confronted Moses and Aaron with complaints about the lack of food and water. (Num. 20:4-5) Then Moses and Aaron prayed for help, and God told Moses to take the rod with which he had struck the Nile and go to the rock at Horeb, the dwelling-place of God. There he was to strike the rock and bring forth water for the people. (Ex. 17:5-7)

Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly before the rock. Moses, furious because of their continual complaints and lack of faith, said to then, "Hear now, you rebels; shall we bring forth water for you out of this rock?" (Num. 20:10) With that, he struck the rock twice, and water came gushing forth. Though water was produced by Moses' action, God was most angry and immediately rebuked both Moses and Aaron:

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)

The Lord said to Moses, "Go up into this mountain of Abarim, and see the land which I have given to the people of Israel. And when you have seen it, you also shall be gathered to your people, as your brother Aaron was gathered, because you rebelled against my word in the wilderness of Zin during the strife of the congregation, to sanctify me at the waters before their eyes." (These are the waters of Meribah of Kadesh in the wilderness of Zin.) (Num. 27:12-14)

Moses should have struck the rock only once. He would have then shared God's hope for the people. But in his overwhelming disgust and anger with them, he struck the rock twice. Thus Moses disobeyed God's command at the waters of Meribah.

Why was Moses' act such a serious offense? Moses was the central figure of God's- work of restoration at this time. Every action of Moses was significant, in that each act was performed as restitution for the transgressions of Adam and Eve and those in their positions.

What does the rock symbolize? According to I Corinthians:

And all drank the same supernatural drink. For they drank from the supernatural Rock which followed them, and the Rock was Christ. (I Cor. 10:4b)

The rock symbolized Jesus Christ, the second Adam, who was to bring forth living water. Thus, it also symbolized the first Adam, who had been struck by Satan and was spiritually dead. The rock, before Moses struck it, represented the dead Adam who could not bring forth living water. By striking it once, Moses symbolically would have restored (i.e., separated from Satan) the one who could bring forth the living water. So God told Moses to strike the rock once. (Ex. 17:6) However, by striking it twice, Moses symbolically struck the restored Adam-Jesus-and thus handed him to Satan. The failure of Moses at the waters of Meribah and the faithlessness of his people nullified the 400 years of slavery in Egypt.

Although Moses' disobedience in striking the rock stemmed from the faithlessness of his people, Moses himself was responsible and thus was forbidden to lead the people into the promised land. Moses' act was extremely serious. However, despite his external anger, Moses' inner dedication remained. Therefore, though God barred Moses from entering Canaan physically, God admitted him spiritually. Jesus was a visible representation of God, not God Himself. The tablets, which were cut from a rock, represented Jesus and the Holy Spirit.

When Moses broke the tablets, God could replace them. However, the rock was the source of the tablets. Striking the rock meant invading God Himself, from whom Jesus and the Holy Spirit were derived:

Moses' striking the rock twice made a condition for Satan to invade the Israelites again, and fiery serpents came upon the people, many of whom were bitten and died. The people then beseeched Moses to pray for help. God told him to make a bronze serpent and set it on a pole. Any man who had been bitten could live by looking at it. (Num. 21:6-9)

Moses came on the foundation laid by Abel, Noah, and Abraham's family. Therefore, his status was different from that of all those who had gone before. He initiated the dispensation of the Word, the Ten Commandments. Through the periods of his life based on the number 40, he was separated from Satan. If the people had become one with Moses, they could have laid the tribal foundation for the Messiah. But this was not fulfilled.

In all the faithlessness, Joshua had remained steadfast and had never complained. Therefore, God chose him to succeed Moses and lead the people into Canaan. Thus, Moses commissioned Joshua before all the congregation. (Num. 27:22-23)

When Joshua led his people into Canaan with the ark of the covenant, the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark as the waters of the Red Sea had been divided before Moses. This act foreshadowed the Messiah's mission to judge the fallen world (separate the waters) by means of the Word of God (the ark of the covenant).

Jericho was well fortified both inside and out. In order for them to claim Canaan, the Israelites had to overcome Jericho. This was accomplished when at Joshua's command they marched in procession around the city, once each day for seven days. They carried the ark of the covenant and were led by priests who sounded trumpets. On the seventh-day they shouted in unison, and the walls collapsed. The Israelites surged in, and, as God had commanded, destroyed the city. This act foreshadows the trumpet call of the archangels-the revealed truth-which in the last days will judge and destroy a world well fortified with falsity: the world of Satan.

Moses' course of tribal restoration followed Jacob's pattern of family restoration. In turn, Moses' course became the pattern of Jesus' course. There were marked similarities in the lives of these three men: Jacob, Moses, and Jesus.

1. Jacob restored the heavenly birthright; Moses struck the first sons of the Egyptians to make the same condition. Jesus was to destroy Satan, who was in Cain's position, and restore heavenly dominion.

2. Forming a base of four positions, Jacob took his wives, children, and livestock out of Haran into Canaan. Moses also formed four positions with his wife, his son and people, and all the goods taken from Egypt. Jesus was to form a base of four positions by taking a bride and restoring humanity and the whole creation to God.

3. Jacob bought his brother's birthright with bread and lentil pottage. Moses fed his people with quail and manna. Jesus gave bread and wine to symbolize his flesh and blood with which he was to restore the heavenly birthright.

4. Through the cooperation of his mother Rebecca, Jacob's life was saved, and he was able to fulfill his mission. By the wisdom of his mother, Moses' life was saved, and her patriotic spirit inspired Moses during his childhood. Through the efforts of his mother Mary, the baby Jesus escaped when King Herod sought to kill him.

5. Jacob left Haran by beguiling Laban for three days, and this 3-day period was essential for his journey to Canaan. Moses led his people out of Egypt by-beguiling Pharaoh for three days, and this 3-day period was essential also for the Exodus. Jesus' body was sealed three days in a tomb before he was resurrected. Thus a 3-day period of separation from Satan was essential for each of them to start a new course.

6. Jacob was tried by an angel at the ford of Jabbok, but overcame him. 'Moses was tried at a lodging house when God tested him, but he overcame it. Jesus was tried in the wilderness through the temptation of Satan, but Jesus overcame it. Each of them could proceed with their missions because they had overcome these tests.

7. Jacob had twelve sons with whom he began the 400 years in Egypt. After this pattern Moses set out on his journey to Canaan with twelve tribes. Following Moses' course, Jesus carried on his ministry with twelve disciples.

8. Jacob took 70 people into Egypt and started a new course with them. Moses worked with 70 elders in leading his people to Canaan. Jesus sent out 70 men to proclaim the kingdom of heaven.

9. Jacob crossed the ford of Jabbok victoriously with his rod. Moses parted the water of the Red Sea with his rod and crossed it victoriously. Jesus was to judge the Satanic world with his rod of iron and triumph over the world.

10. Jacob destroyed the idols his wife stole from Laban by burying them under an oak tree. Moses burnt the golden calf, ground it to powder, scattered it upon the water, and made the Israelites drink it. Jesus came to destroy Satan, who is the source of all evil.

11. Fleeing from Esau, Jacob sought refuge in Haran. Moses found refuge in an Egyptian palace during his childhood. The baby Jesus found refuge in Egypt from King Herod's persecution. Thus each of them once escaped to the Satanic world.

12. Since even the body of Jacob had to be separated from Satan, his body was embalmed for 40 days. The angel Michael and the devil disputed over the body of Moses, but the place of his burial was kept unknown to the Israelites. Jesus' body was sought by many different people, but was never found.

There are many additional parallel events in the lives of Moses and Jesus.

1. Moses delivered the Israelites from Egypt and led them to Canaan. Jesus delivered mankind from the Satanic world and directed the way to the kingdom of God.

2. Moses' 3 signs (rod, hand, and water) foreshadowed the 3 conditions (stone, temple, world) that Jesus established in the wilderness by overcoming Satan's temptations. Both Moses and Jesus formed a symbolic base of four positions to start their respective ministries.

3. Moses' wife circumcised her son and saved Moses' life prior to the Exodus. Jesus was to circumcise spiritually the heart (Deut. 10:16), body (Gen. 17:10), and all things (Lev. 19:23) and restore them to God.

4. When Moses stretched out his hand toward heaven, there was thick darkness in all of Egypt for three days, but the people of Israel had light where they were. (Ex. 10:22-23) Jesus was to separate completely light from darkness and good from evil.

5. The pillar of cloud by day, and the pillar of fire by night, led the Israelites. Jesus and the Holy Spirit have been leading the children of God.

6. Joshua fought the Amalekites while Moses stood on the hill, his arms outstretched. As long as Moses held his hands aloft, Joshua was successful; but if Moses lowered them in exhaustion, Joshua was threatened. Aaron and Hur supported Moses' hands until sunset. Thus Joshua defeated the Amalekites. Joshua represented a believer opposing Satan, and Moses represented God. Aaron and Hur symbolize Jesus and the Holy Spirit, who work with God to help faithful believers in their struggle against Satan. Thus, when one forms a base of four positions with God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit, the spiritual subjugation of Satan is possible.

7. The two tablets of the Ten Commandments were the words of a new creation, given for the first time since the fall of man. Jesus and the Holy Spirit have been renewing all creation by the words of God.

8. The Ten Commandments were given after Moses had established the 40-day foundation by fasting and prayer. Similarly, Jesus' 40-day fast and prayer became necessary to make a base to start his ministry. (Jesus had to undertake it himself because John the Baptist failed to lay the foundation before Jesus.)

9. The rock Moses struck brought forth living water for his people. Jesus Christ was to bring forth living water for mankind.

10. God had promised Moses and his people that they would possess the land of Canaan. But because of his failure and the faithlessness of his people, Moses was allowed only to view the land from a distance; he and his people could not enter. Similarly, God's prophecy about Jesus could not be fulfilled because of the disbelief of the Jews. Jesus taught of the kingdom of heaven, but could not establish it. He laid only a foundation for spiritual salvation.

11. By looking at the bronze serpent which Moses had raised on a pole, the Israelites were saved. All mankind, suffering from the bite of the Satanic serpent, was to be restored through Jesus, the heavenly serpent.

12. Moses predicted the coming of a prophet, the Messiah, who would do as he did but on a different level.

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. And it shall be that every soul that does not listen to that prophet shall be destroyed from the people." (Acts 3:22-23)

When the people of Israel were hungry in the wilderness, they fell into faithlessness and caused Moses to strike the rock twice. Thus, the twice-struck rock was claimed by Satan. Since the rock or stone was a symbol of Christ, Christ was then symbolically placed in Satan's hand. Jesus had to take back the rock (the Word) from Satan before he could start his ministry and present himself as the Word.

During his fast, Jesus experienced great hunger, and Satan said to him, "If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread." (Matt. 4:3) If in the wilderness Jesus had been as faithless as his forefathers because of his great hunger, Satan could have claimed the stone again, and even Jesus himself.

The most important matter for Jesus was the stone, the Word of God, not bread. Jesus had to restore himself as the stone, the reality of the Word. Jesus overcame Satan and restored himself as the Word with his declaration: "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God." (Matt. 4:4) Jesus had restored the Word through a 40-day fast, just as Moses had received the Ten Commandments through a 40-day fast.

Jesus was the reality of the temple, and the purpose of his coming was to make all people God's temples; that is, God's dwellings. Knowing this, Satan set Jesus on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him: "If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down." (Matt. 4:6) To throw himself down would have meant to give up his position as the Lord of the temple. Jesus again defeated Satan by saying: "You shall not tempt the Lord your God." (Matt. 4:7)

Having overcome the first temptation, Jesus became the sole Lord in the world of the Principle. By this second victory over Satan, Jesus made it possible for all men to become God's temples, and thus symbolically to take the position of brides to Jesus and then to become children of God. Through this victory, Jesus laid a foundation for the restoration of man to the status of a bride.

Because of man's fall, Satan became the lord over creation. Jesus came to take Satan's lordship from him. Knowing Jesus' intention, Satan took him to a very high mount, showed him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them, and said to him: "All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me." (Matt. 4:9) Jesus defeated Satan a third time by saying: "Begone, Satan! for it is written, `You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only shall you serve."' (Matt. 4:10) Jesus declared that there was but one God, and that Jesus was His sole representative. In prevailing over Satan in the third temptation, Jesus laid a foundation for the restoration of man's dominion over the creation.

Jesus established a 40-day foundation by victoriously repelling Satan. He also symbolically formed the base of four positions: God; Jesus, the reality of the Word; mankind in the status of a bride; and man's dominion over creation. Thus he was prepared to start his ministry and chose twelve disciples and seventy men to work with him in fulfilling the universal restoration.

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