The Period of Preparation for the Coming of the Messiah and the Period of Preparation for the Second Coming of the Messiah

After returning from the Babylonian captivity, the nation of Israel once more erected the destroyed temple, and under the guidance of the prophet Malachi, repented for their past sins of having worshipped evil spirits by pledging themselves to the Law. This aroused a movement of reformation and was the beginning of the period of preparation for the coming of the Messiah. After 400 years they received the Messiah.

After the pope returned to Rome the period of preparation for the Second Coming of the Messiah began. It was a 400 year period in which the medieval Christians restored the foundation of faith for the Second Coming on the worldwide level by arousing the movement of religious reformation centering on Luther. The Reformation revived the zeal of the Christians, who then, with new passion, began worldwide evangelism.

The Old Testament Age was the age in which man was to set up faith toward God through the external conditions of the Law and offerings. Therefore, the First Israel, in order to indemnify the entire history since the time of Abraham in the period of preparation for the Messiah, had to go through the course of indemnity by experiencing tribulations under the rule of nations such as Persia, Greece, Egypt, Syria and Rome.

The New Testament Age was the age in which to set up faith toward God through the internal conditions of prayer and faith centering on Jesus' words. Therefore, in this overall period of preparation for the Second Coming of the Messiah, the Second Israel had to walk the way of internal tribulations. Due to the rise of humanism, which was the leading ideology of the Renaissance, the ideology of the Enlightenment which followed, and the freedom of faith propagated after the Reformation, Christianity had to endure much chaos and confusion. In this period Christians had to go through the course to indemnify the period from Jesus to the Lord's Second Coming by overcoming severe internal trials in their religious lives.

God foretold the coming of the Messiah by sending the prophet Malachi and by reforming and renewing Judaism, He prepared the First Israel for the coming of the Messiah. God also prepared the background and environment where the restoration of the purpose of creation was to take place. Examples are the vast political territory formed by the rise of the Roman Empire, with its ease of communication in any direction and the vast cultural sphere formed centering on the Hellenic language and tradition. Thus, the external foundation had already been made through God's providence so that once the Messiah came, the idea of the Messiah could quickly expand from Israel to Rome to the whole world.

Thus, in the period of preparation for the Second Coming of the Messiah, the external circumstances have also been greatly developed as a foundation for the Messiah's Second Advent.

On one hand, the medieval Church, stimulated by the Renaissance, came to advocate the restoration of the early Christian spirit, in which following God's will was the sole purpose of one's existence. The reformation movement, begun by Martin Luther, was meant to free Christians from the unjust interference, ritual and authority of the popes and priests and enable believers to relate directly to God and the Bible. This was done by God in the effort to prepare the Second Israel on the worldwide level for the Second Coming of the Messiah.