6. Law of the Horizontal Reappearance of the Vertical

This law means that at the time of the consummation of the history of restoration, vertical (past) historical events reappear horizontally (in the present). “Vertical” refers to the passage of time, and “horizontal” refers to spatial expansion. In other words, the vertical refers to past history, and the horizontal refers to the present, actual world. Accordingly, the “horizontal reappearance of the vertical” means that God conducts His providence so that at the consummation of history all the past providential events and persons in history will reappear in the present in some form on the worldwide level. In this manner, God seeks to resolve, at one time, all the various problems or events that ended unresolved due to the failures of providential figures at various times in history up to this time. This is done in accord with God’s providence, and to complete the history of the providence of restoration.

For example, in the two-thousand-year period of the providence of restoration from Adam to Abraham, the vertical indemnity conditions that had been invaded by Satan were restored through indemnity by the three generations of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. However, this was only conditional. In other words, the providence of Adam’s family and the providence of Noah’s family, which had ended in failure without proper completion, were conditionally completed through the providence of Abraham’s family. At the time of Jesus, the providential events that had ended in failure due to the invasion of Satan during the four thousand years from Adam to Jesus were made to reappear horizontally so that they might be restored through indemnity at one time. Yet, due to the crucifixion of Jesus, this providence was not successful.

At the time of the providence of the Second Advent, all the events during the six-thousand-year history from Adam, which had been concluded only conditionally because of invasion by Satan, must reappear again horizontally so that they may be totally and fundamentally restored through indemnity, centering on the Second Advent of the Messiah. Thus, the providence of sinful history will be fully consummated. As long as these historical events remain unresolved, there can be no true peace on earth. Only by resolving all of these historical events fundamentally in the Last Days, can the problems of today’s actual society be resolved completely, and the world of true peace realized.

For example, the root cause of the conflicts between Israel and the Arab nations today can be understood as the reappearance of the struggles between the Israelites and their surrounding peoples in the Old Testament days. Accordingly, it is very difficult to resolve the present-day conflict between Israel and the Arabs merely by dealing with it as a political problem. In other words, without tracing the history back to its root cause and resolving it fundamentally, the conflicts between the Israelites and the Arabs will never come to a complete end.

When it comes to the consummation of history in the Last Days, many vertical historical events reappear, and unexpected events happen one after another, thus throwing the world into great confusion. This is because, in accordance with the law of the horizontal reappearance of the vertical, various unresolved problems from past history all reappear in the Last Days. That is why Jesus referred to a “great tribulation”: “For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be” (Matt. 24:21). Such confusion and conflict will come to be fundamentally resolved only when humankind welcomes the Second Advent of the Messiah and follows his word of truth and his teaching of true love.

The reason why God causes the events of history to reappear in the Last Days, whereby they become fundamentally resolved by the Second Advent of the Messiah, is that God wishes to achieve two purposes: first, to make human beings establish the condition that they have achieved victory in the six-thousand-year history without making mistakes, thus sweeping away the memories of the numerous miserable events in history once and for all; and second, to subjugate Satan completely by eliminating all the conditions for his accusation, and to eventually save even the Archangel, eternally.