When the family of Jacob first left Canaan to join Joseph in Egypt it numbered seventy. After 400 years it had grown to form a sizeable population enslaved by the Egyptians. Despite the difficulty of their circumstances, God intended to use Hebrew slaves for the building of a nation to receive true parents. That nation would be God's settlement on earth, the place where His dominion would prevail and from whence the ideal would be expanded to the rest of the world.

To accomplish this nation-building mission, the Israelites had to leave captivity and return to the land of their forefathers, Canaan. According to the principles of restoration, a national foundation has to be built on foundations laid for individual, family and tribal restoration. The Israelites needed a leader who could liberate them from captivity in Egypt and set up a family and tribal foundation for the creation of a nation under God.

Moses was the man chosen by God for this mission. He was to lead the Israelite slaves out of Egypt and into the promised land of Canaan, where they were to establish a theocratic state. Accomplishing this mission proved extremely difficult because the Israelites had grown accustomed to life in Egypt and were reluctant to sacrifice what they had for the uncertain promise of their own nation, even though their lot as slaves was miserable. Because of the faithlessness of the Israelites, Moses had to go through the work of establishing a national foundation three times. Each time Moses had to lay a foundation of faith to qualify as the Abel figure for the whole nation of Israel and then win the trust of the Israelites, who collectively stood in the position of Cain to him, to lay a foundation of substance. Each of these efforts represented a providential course of restoration, a series of events through which God worked to establish a nation to receive true parents.

Moses was the son of an Israelite family, but he was adopted by the daughter of the pharaoh and was raised as a prince in the pharaoh's palace. He was educated in the Israelite tradition by his real mother, who stayed in the palace as his wet nurse. Thus although Moses grew up in the heart of the evil world, he was secretly educated about God and told of the instructions and promises God had given his ancestors. At that time, there was no written record of revealed truth to be transmitted from generation to generation, only the oral record of God's dealings with the families of Adam, Noah and Abraham, as well as some lesser figures in the providence. Part of this oral tradition included God's all important promise to Abraham, namely that He would multiply and bless the great patriarch's descendants. The Israelites clung to the hope that God would eventually bless them as the children of Abraham.

One day, when Moses was a grown man, an argument between an Egyptian overseer and an Israelite slave broke out, putting Moses in a position to demonstrate his true loyalties. He killed the Egyptian, showing that despite his royal position he identified with the Hebrew slaves. This was a sign for the Israelites to recognize Moses as the liberator they awaited, but they failed to see their savior in Moses, who in their eyes was a prince of the palace. Moses soon fell under suspicion in the palace for having favored a slave over an Egyptian, and he was forced to leave Egypt for exile in Midian.

Through maintaining his faith in the one true God of Abraham during his years in the palace of the idolatrous pharaoh, Moses succeeded in laying a foundation of faith on the national level. However, the foundation of substance was not established because the Israelites did not recognize and accept him as their Abel figure.

Moses spent his years of exile in Midian while keeping faith in God. He worked for the Arab Jethro, and married one of his daughters, Zipporah. God then called him to return to Egypt to liberate the Israelite slaves. After some hesitation, Moses took up the mission for the second time.

Moses went to the pharaoh's palace to demand the release of his people. The pharaoh was unwilling to let them go, so God gave Moses three signs with which to convince him, and also to show the Israelites that Moses was the leader for whom they had been waiting. When these demonstrations of God's power failed to move the pharaoh, Egypt was afflicted with ten calamities that brought great suffering to the Egyptians and eventually persuaded the pharaoh to allow the Israelites to leave.

The Egyptians depended on the services provided by the Israelite slaves, and the Israelites themselves were accustomed to life in Egypt despite its discomforts and difficulties. Because of this, it took many dramatic displays of God's power to bring about a clear separation between Egypt and the Children of Israel. From a providential point of view, the Israelites needed to realize that they had to completely separate from their old life in Egypt in preparation for creating a God-centered nation in Canaan. So long as they had longings for their past life, they could not respond fully to God's will for the future.

When the pharaoh finally permitted them to leave, they crossed into Sinai. Moses had the tremendously difficult mission of leading an unruly crowd of ex-slaves through the desert to Canaan, the land promised to them by God. They had no written laws to govern the affairs of the twelve tribes and they had no experience of self-government as an independent people. They needed a minimum set of laws and a basic structure for their society to guide them in the transition from slavery under a pagan regime to theocratic statehood.

To meet this need, God led them to Mount Sinai, where He called on Moses to lay a foundation to receive His instructions. According to scriptures, Moses fasted for forty days on Mount Sinai to establish a foundation of faith, and afterwards received the Ten Commandments on two tablets. When he returned to the people he found they had lost faith and reverted to the worship of an Egyptian idol. This prevented the formation of a foundation of substance to receive the word of God.

Because the Israelites failed to make a foundation to receive God's word, Moses smashed the two tablets in anger, destroyed the idol and instructed the Israelites to repent and return to God. He then climbed Mount Sinai again and once more made a forty day fast. Again he received the Ten Commandments on two tablets, but he had to hew them from the rock himself this time. When he once more returned to his people, he found that they had remained faithful to God, thus completing a foundation of substance to receive God's word. The foundations of faith and substance laid at Sinai by Moses and the Israelites together made a foundation for true parents to come in symbolic form, represented by the two tablets.

Ultimately, God wants to send true parents in the flesh, as the word incarnate, because only a sinless man and woman can finally defeat Satan and liberate fallen humans from sin by establishing a pure lineage. However, at the time of Sinai the foundation for true parents was not sufficient for them to come in more than a symbolic, representative manner. God gave Moses the Ten Commandments on two tablets, representing the messiah and his bride to come.

Moses was also given instructions for construction of a Tabernacle, a portable temple for use by the Israelites during the transition from their life in the old, fallen world of Egypt to their new life in Canaan. The Tabernacle was designed with an outer sanctuary, called the Holy Place, and an inner sanctuary, called the Most Holy Place. Moses was instructed to place the two tablets in a special Ark of the Covenant, which, together with the staff of Aaron, would be kept in the Most Holy Place in the Tabernacle. With its inner and outer parts, the Tabernacle was a symbol of the true man and true woman to come, with inner spirit and outer body. Once the Israelites had settled in Canaan they were to build a temple in place of the Tabernacle. By demonstrating their obedience to the Tabernacle and the Ten Commandments they would show their obedience to God. Moses himself set an example for the people by giving utmost respect to the Tabernacle and its holy contents and by obeying the Ten Commandments. By centering their lives of faith on them, the Israelites would prepare to center their lives on true parents.

From Mount Sinai the Israelites continued on their way to Canaan, traveling through the inhospitable desert. The difficulties they faced made many of them regret they had ever left the relative security of life in Egypt. For his part, Moses was faced with the daunting task of transforming a disorderly throng of ex-slaves into a well-organized and disciplined body capable of defeating Canaanite enemies and establishing a nation. But many lost sight of the vision of a promised land and fell to complaining about their situation. Without that vision to inspire them, they lost the power they needed to complete their nation-building mission.

Because of the grumbling, Moses set up a new condition to reestablish the people's faith before attempting to enter Canaan. He selected one person from each tribe to go on a forty-day spying mission in Canaan. When the twelve spies returned, however, ten of them counseled against proceeding with the plan to invade Canaan, advising instead that they all return to Egypt. But two, Joshua and Caleb, said they believed that with God's help the Israelites would be able to prevail in Canaan, despite the formidable strength of the Canaanites. This agreed with Moses' position. He understood that God wanted the people to enter Canaan by all means. Turning back would negate the value of all the efforts that had brought them that far. However, most of the Israelites united with the ten spies who advised a return to Egypt, thus rejecting the position advocated by Moses.

The Israelites had once more disunited with Moses. Consequently the foundation of substance in the second course could not be completed successfully. God told the Israelites that because of their lack of faith they would not be allowed to enter Canaan at all, but would instead have to pass through an indemnity period of forty years in the desert, after which only the new generation would be allowed to enter Canaan.

During the Hebrews' forty years in the desert, Moses, in the Abel position, remained faithful to God, for the third time setting up a successful foundation of faith. But when, towards the end of this period, the people demanded water to drink, Moses lost his temper at their complaining and in anger struck the rock at Kadesh-Barnea two times, to produce water for them. By this time, Moses had struggled with the faithlessness of the Israelites for so long he could not contain his anger at them. But this was an error, since according to God's instructions only one strike was needed. Because of this error, Moses was told that he would not be able to enter Canaan himself, but would only be granted a chance to see it. The ire of Moses blocked God's providence because God still depended on the Israelites to set up a providential nation, and Moses, representing God, had to continue to love them and lead them for God's will to be fulfilled.

Because of his three great foundations of faith, the Israelites would indeed reach the land promised them by God, where they would set up a nation to receive true parents. Nevertheless, the error of Moses resulted in a prolongation of the providence to build a temple and receive the true parents. Instead of this taking place within Moses' course, it was postponed yet another 400 years to the time of kings, Saul, David and Solomon.

Moses climbed to the top of Mount Nebo and looked out over the lower Jordan valley and the Dead Sea to the promised land of Canaan, knowing he would never enter the land himself. Prior to this, he had selected Joshua to stand in his place as Abel to the people and as the man responsible to complete a foundation of substance in the third course. Joshua was selected because he had been completely faithful to the Tabernacle and the law, and had been united with Moses throughout the Israelites' ordeal in the desert. To restore the lost spying condition, Joshua sent two spies into Jericho, a mission they completed successfully, opening the way for the Israelites to enter into Canaan. Thus Moses' mission to lay a national foundation for true parents was eventually completed by Joshua in the third course.

Joshua's victory opened the way for the twelve tribes of Israel to settle in Canaan and establish a nation there. Joshua campaigned hard for the realization of a unified Jewish nation in Canaan, both by carrying out military campaigns to subdue the Canaanite kings and by trying to unify the disputatious tribal chiefs of Israel. Joshua was supported by members of the second generation of Israelites, who were completely separated from their parents' life in Egypt, and united in their determination to obey God. Their faith and unity with Joshua enabled them to prevail against the more numerous and better-armed Canaanites.

First:

There is a need for payment of greater indemnity when a condition is unsuccessful. Because of faithlessness among the Israelites, the second attempt to set up a national foundation for true parents was more difficult than the first, and the third more difficult than the second. To show this, the Hebrew scriptures depict Moses' life as consisting of three forty-year periods. Moses' course in the pharaoh's palace was relatively easy, as was the responsibility of the Israelites, who merely had to accept Moses as their leader. In the second course, Moses went through a difficult exile in Midian to lay a second foundation of faith, and the people had to suffer through many trials and tribulations to be separated from the Egyptians and to reach Canaan. But the third course, in which Moses and the people had to survive in the desert for forty years, was by far the most difficult.

A providential leader has to take responsibility for the failures of his followers if God's dispensation is to advance in his lifetime. Representing Abel to the people, Moses had to take responsibility for their many mistakes by laying new conditions of indemnity on their behalf. For example, when they refused to accept him in Egypt, he had to suffer exile and re-establish a foundation of faith, even though the primary responsibility for the failure for the first exodus providence lay with the Hebrew slaves and not with Moses. Again, when the people lost faith during his first forty-day fast on Mount Sinai, he prayed for their forgiveness and returned to the mountain for a second forty-day fast, so that he could once more receive the Ten Commandments for the people. His whole life was devoted to saving the Israelites even though their behavior on the surface indicated that they neither wanted to be saved nor appreciated what Moses had done for them. A leader in the providence of restoration must expect to make indemnity conditions for his followers, regardless of their lack of appreciation. It is a willingness to sacrifice for others that qualifies someone as a central figure in restoration history.

Moses' life shows that if a central figure maintains his position by fulfilling the conditions called for by the providence, he can continue to be used by God even if those he is responsible for fail to fulfill their own responsibilities. Moses, as Abel, laid foundations of faith only to face faithlessness among the Israelites. Nevertheless, when one course was cut short because the Israelites would not follow him, Moses set about laying a foundation for the next course. His position and mission as Abel was not changed by the failure of Cain. Only when the faithlessness of the people led him to make a mistake did he lose the Abel position, which passed to Joshua.

Restoration is accomplished in three stages: symbol, image and substance. This follows the pattern of three stages of growth in creation. God first made nature, which embodies His essence symbolically, and then created human beings in His image. When humans grow to completion they become true parents, the substantial incarnation of God. In Israel, true man and woman were symbolized by the two tablets of stone inscribed with the word of God, the Ten Commandments. The two-part Tabernacle and the Temple which would replace it were images of a true person. Substantial restoration was to be accomplished by a man and woman in the flesh.

The course of Moses demonstrates the need for law as well as a leader. The law embodies the will of God for fallen people and keeps them on the path of restoration even when there is no leader to do so. Before and after Moses, there were many centuries during which there was no one to guide humanity through the pitfalls of the fallen world. Before Moses, there was no law to fill the leadership gap; after Moses, the laws he brought guided the Israelites on the right path. Should a leader in the providence make a mistake due to his fallen nature, the law will not be destroyed. Ultimately, the laws of God prepare humankind to receive the perfect embodiment of God and His laws, the true parents.

Moses' course shows the importance of setting up a righteous tradition. Because the Israelite slaves in Egypt departed from the traditions of Abraham's family, they had difficulty following Moses. Throughout Moses' course, he struggled to implant a lasting, God-centered tradition. For example, the Hebrews were instructed to erect a Tabernacle so that they could be trained in a life of faith centered on one central figure. The tradition of loyalty to the Tabernacle, and later to the Temple which replaced it, was to train the Israelites to receive true parents who would one day come as the living embodiments of these objects of faith. A good tradition provides reliable guidance for fallen people, keeping them on the path towards fulfillment of the three blessings.

Followers need to trust in their Abel's greater understanding of God's invisible providence. Moses showed a faith in God's dispensation that was not shared by most of the other Israelites. He believed that all would work out to their benefit, as promised by God, even though at times their situation was desperate. Regardless of the setbacks and difficulties they faced, Moses persevered in his mission, convinced that the Israelites were participating in God's providence. It is easy for someone in the fallen world to lose faith in God's dispensation for restoration, because fallen humanity is surrounded by an environment dominated by evil, not good. This reality has caused great difficulties for the central figures sent by God. Usually they are rejected by the very people they seek to help. Thus Moses was repeatedly rejected by the Israelites even though he demonstrated the power of God working with him; Jesus was also rejected by his own people, even though his life was a model of devotion to God; and Mohammed was rejected by the people of Mecca until his successes in Medina showed that God was working with him. The central figure of any providence is given greater insight into God's plans because God has chosen to work through that person for the benefit of the whole. Followers have to trust their leaders' greater understanding of God's dispensation and demonstrate faith accordingly.

Providential leaders must develop parental hearts if they are to express God's love to followers and avoid making mistakes. A central figure should only express anger at evil itself and not at the people God wants to save from evil. The heart of a true parent may be angry at an evil act of a child but will always maintain love for that child and work for his or her salvation. The course of Moses reveals that uncontrolled anger was his one real shortcoming. His anger at Kadesh was directed at the people themselves and not just the specific lack of faith they displayed. This unparental rage had destructive consequences for Moses and the Israelites.

Moses led the Israelites out of captivity in Egypt to build a God-centered nation in Canaan, a nation prepared to receive true parents and lead the world back to God. This chosen nation was called Israel. The history of Israel is the history of a struggle to establish a settlement for God's people in the midst of the fallen world. The mission was especially difficult because no pattern existed for a God-centered nation and the institutions necessary for its development. The problems faced in nation-building resulted in several further delays in God's providence, delays which occurred when mistakes were committed by central figures and their followers in Israel. God made painstaking efforts to guide and educate the people of Israel, never abandoning them despite their many failures. Eventually, after sixteen centuries, a foundation was finally set up for true parents, and Jesus was sent as the long-awaited savior, or messiah.

Despite his best efforts, Joshua was unable to unify Israel. Tribes tended to pursue their own interests rather than contribute to building a unified nation. Furthermore, a lack of faith in God among the Israelites, and their tendency to mix socially and religiously with the pagan Canaanites, sometimes through marriage, resulted in the Israelites losing sight of their real purpose in Canaan. As a people guided by God, theirs was the Abel position relative to the Canaanites, but they became confused about their own beliefs. As Abel they were to love the Canaanites, winning them to God's side through service and education in the truth of God. However, without clear spiritual understanding and conviction they could not accomplish this.

Joshua was the first judge over the people of Israel, combining the roles of king, chief priest and prophet. He was followed by a succession of Judges, the last being Samuel. Throughout this period, the Israelites worshiped at the tabernacle, which moved from tribe to tribe. The period of Judges, reckoned as 400 years in scriptures, was marked by ongoing conflicts between the various tribes and with other peoples in the lands they sought to settle. The Israelites increasingly wanted a strong political leader to unite the tribes and establish a strong kingdom.

The last Judge, Samuel, responded to the peoples' desire and anointed Saul as the first king of a united Israel. However, because of jealousy he failed to support the new king as the national Abel. Saul was a gifted warrior and did his best to protect the nation, but his quarrels with Samuel were his undoing. Saul and Samuel failed to make the condition for a foundation of substance on the national level. Furthermore, Saul neglected the Tabernacle and was unable to build a temple to house the Ark of the Covenant, the two tablets and the staff of Aaron.

David succeeded Saul as king of Israel on the strength of his faith in God and courage in battle. He was a prophet as well as a king, and he authored many beautiful songs praising God. But David spent most of his forty-year rule securing Israel against its enemies. Because he had shed so much blood, David was not allowed by God to build a temple.

That mission was passed to David's son, Solomon, who, in the fourth year of his forty-year reign, began building a great temple. Once completed, the Temple of Solomon was a magnificent testimony to the Israelites' devotion to God. As king of Israel, Solomon was to unite the twelve tribes with the Temple and its holy contents.

But Solomon failed this all-important mission. He married 700 wives and took an additional 300 concubines, in some cases compromising his own faith and the faith of his people by allowing the erection of altars to the idols worshiped by his women. How could the Israelites be expected to unite around the one true God and the Temple if their leader himself was not setting the example? Through his loss of judgment, Solomon failed to qualify as Abel for the nation of Israel.

Externally, Israel itself was well-qualified for the mission of chosen nation at that time, achieving its highest level of development as a dominant power in the Middle East. This national-level success was given to Israel by God so that it could accomplish the pivotal task of receiving and protecting true parents and expanding their foundation to the worldwide level. But Solomon's fallen relations with women, through which the purity of the Temple was polluted, led to the destruction of God's providence centered on the United Kingdom of Israel. Solomon's error compromised Israel so that, according to the Principle, it had to be purified through division into Cain and Abel. Consequently, Israel was split into two nations.

When Adam fell, he had to be 'divided' into Cain and Abel for his lineage to be purified. When Solomon failed, his kingdom was divided into the northern kingdom of Israel, with ten tribes under his rebellious servant Jeroboam, and the southern kingdom of Judah, with two tribes under his overweening son Rehoboam. With this physical division, the fallen elements within Israel were to be separated from original elements and the kingdom purified. The southern kingdom was in the Abel position and the northern kingdom in the Cain position.

Judah's mission was to win Israel back to God's way through love and education. To accomplish this, several prophets were sent to the north to teach God's truth and separate the northerners from idolatrous practices. Despite the power of God demonstrated by these prophets, however, the people of Israel did not repent and return to God. Their disobedience made a condition for evil to overtake them, and instead of being reconciled to Judah through repentance and love Israel was attacked and destroyed by the Assyrians, some 240 years after the death of Solomon. The ten tribes were scattered and to this day are called the lost tribes of Israel.

Despite all the efforts of the prophets, the people of Judah also could not be brought to genuine repentance. Many among them were hypocrites. The defilement of both Judah and Israel meant that God lacked a nation through which to establish a foundation for true parents. Thus this period, of approximately 400 years, ended in failure.

Because of its defilement, God permitted King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon to invade Judah. Jerusalem was sacked, the Temple of Solomon destroyed and the holy objects (the Ark of the Covenant, the two tablets and the staff of Aaron) were lost forever. Thus ended the Kingdom of Israel, founded by Saul, built up by David and divided on the death of Solomon. The evil of idolatry that had undermined the faith of Israel was not expunged from the midst of the Israelites in the course of the four centuries of divided kingdoms. Therefore, the leading class of what had once been Solomon's Israel, now reduced to remnants of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, were taken as prisoners to Babylon. They were kept in captivity there for seventy years.

The destruction of their kingdom and Temple and the harshness of their captivity shocked the Israelites into realizing how far they had strayed from their purpose as builders of God's chosen nation. Despite their mistakes, however, God still wanted to use them for that purpose, having given them the lineage and the truth needed for restoration. When they repented deeply for their sins and begged God to allow them to return to Jerusalem, God was moved by their purified attitude and forgave them. They were finally liberated when a Zoroastrian king, Cyrus the Great of Persia, conquered Babylon, freed them from captivity and allowed them to return to Jerusalem. The return to Israel took place in three stages over the course of more than a century.

On their return to Jerusalem, the reconstruction of the Temple was initiated and the Jews, as they were now called, under the leadership of central figures such as Nehemiah and Ezra, recommitted themselves to the founding principles of Israel: the laws revealed to Moses. Israel was re-established as a theocratic state, having been cleansed of sin through its indemnity course in exile. The whole period of Babylonian exile, return to Israel, reconstruction of Jerusalem and the Temple and restoration of the theocratic state took approximately 210 years.

Israel then embarked on a final 400-year period of preparation for the true parents. During this era the chosen people paid tremendous indemnity to qualify for the blessing of being the first nation restored. Israel was conquered in succession by the Persians, Greeks, Egyptians, Syrians and Romans, the last in 63 BC. Only during a single century of Maccabean rule did Israel enjoy any real independence from foreign control. The national tribulations of Israel heightened the longing of the Jewish people for a savior, the messiah. The prophets had told of his coming, but it was four centuries after the last great messianic prophecy, that of Malachi, before Jesus was sent to fulfill the mission of the promised messiah, the mission of true parents.

However, when Jesus of Nazareth was sent to Israel as the savior of the world, for whom all these preparations had been undertaken, he was not accepted by the Jews as the awaited messiah, and was executed by the occupying Roman army. The reasons for this tragic turn of events, and the consequences for the providence of restoration, are explained in Chapter 17.

in the course of restoration centered on Moses, for the first time ever fallen humanity was given the word of God in the form of revealed truth. Prior to this revelation of truth, there had been no articulation of God's will and laws to guide men and women on the path of restoration. They had wandered aimlessly in the wilderness of their own ignorance for centuries, unable to find the way forward to the fulfillment of their purpose.

Beginning with the Ten Commandments, the Children of Israel were given specific instructions for their lives. Out of these the beliefs and practices of the religion of Judaism were shaped. However, modern Judaism, although rooted in Mosaic law, has been enriched by centuries of revelations, insights and scholarship. Hence, Judaism after the time of Jesus is not the same as the Judaism of the Bible, for it has developed in its own path. Christians and Muslims who want to understand Judaism cannot expect to know it only through scripture, but must encounter Judaism as a living tradition.

Judaism and Christianity have had a stormy relationship. Many Jews have suffered under Christian anti-Semitism for 2000 years, and they have often been more welcome in Muslim lands. Christians need to repent for persecuting Jews, a behavior in contradiction to the teachings of Jesus. For its part, Judaism must work to resolve its deep-seated resentment against Christianity. Such milestones as the recent establishment of diplomatic ties between Israel and the Vatican reflect encouraging trends.

Each religion offers its own special perceptions of God and provides a basis for a life of faith, giving it an eternal value that transcends time and place. Judaism, as the first truly monotheistic faith, is the elder brother of Christianity and Islam and contains the essential truths on which those two global religions are founded. Judaism, like all religions, awaits its completion through the true parents, who together fulfill the mission of the messiah.

Judaism does not exist for itself. God gave the Jews the law and scriptures as a trust to be taught to the world. Jews were the first witnesses to the one God, and Judaism has the proud tradition of giving God-centered values to humankind. Furthermore, the Jewish contribution to human civilization is enormous. Jews have been prominent in literature, art, philosophy, economics and science, in many cases leading in these fields. The quality of Jewish culture has provided the foundation for tremendous flourishing in many areas of human endeavor.

God has never abandoned His promise to the Jews, even though they rejected Jesus. How else can one explain the remarkable survival of Judaism despite centuries of adversity? The founding of the modem nation of Israel in 1948 marked a new beginning in God's providence for the Jewish people. But the State of Israel does not exist for itself. Its existence makes it possible for Jews to have the status of a nation so that they might deal with confidence in rebuilding their relationships with the more powerful brother religions, Christianity and Islam. The creation of modern Israel provides a new opportunity to restore, with surrounding Arabs, the unresolved Cain-Abel conflicts dating back to Ishmael and Isaac. Finally, and most important, the rebirth of Israel gave the Jewish people a second chance to receive true parents.

Through making tremendous efforts in three attempts to liberate the Hebrew slaves and establish a God-centered nation, Moses virtually dragged the people of Israel out of their fallen environment in Egypt and through the inhospitable desert of Sinai to the promised land of Canaan. At the end of his life, Moses passed the mission of establishing a nation for God to Joshua, who became the first leader of newly-founded Israel.

The history of Israel as a nation, from its founding by Joshua to the coming of Jesus, is a record of struggles to achieve national unity and purity in the face of internal dissension and external attacks. Israel, as the nation chosen to receive true parents, had to prepare for its mission by becoming a principled state, governed by God's laws. Frequently during those centuries the Children of Israel lost sight of their purpose as they sank into pettiness and squabbling. To rectify this, and keep the providence moving towards its goal, God sent many prophets and righteous leaders, and sometimes chastisements, to put the people back on the right track. Eventually, sufficient conditions were laid for God to send Jesus as the messiah with the mission to establish the Kingdom of Heaven on earth, beginning with the people of Israel.

During the final period leading up to the coming of Jesus, Israel was not alone in preparing for true parents. The rest of the world was experiencing an unprecedented era of enlightenment, with developments in all areas of human endeavor. Since the mission of true parents is to save all humankind, every culture contains internal elements that provide a foundation for receiving them. The next chapter outlines the global preparations for the realization of God's ideal on earth, centered on Jesus.

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