What God Wants

1. Abraham’s Question and God’s Answer

2. Symbol of 7,000 years’ work, the History of Israel

3. Number of Heaven, 3

   a. Abraham and God

   b. Isaac and Jesus

   c. Jacob and Olive Tree

4. Number of Earth, 4

5. War of Canaan and War of Armageddon

 

God’s ultimate goal working with mankind is to capture Satan and throw him into the lake of fire. (Revelations 20:10) To achieve his aim God needs army to fight against devils. Most of the members of the army are martyrs produced in the Old and New Testament eras. They are called the wife of the Lamb Jesus, and their names are recorded in the Lamb’s book of life. (Revelations 21:9, 27)

 

God started his work with mankind from Cain and Abel 6,000 years ago, but his people didn’t follow his will. God renewed his work 4,000 years ago choosing Abraham. At that time God had plan to send his son, Jesus, as Abraham’s descendant.

 

Abraham was called by God in Haran at 75. (Genesis 12:1) God directed him to go to Canaan and promised him to bless and make into a great nation. And God said he would be a blessing. God would bless those who would bless him, and whoever would curse him God would curse, so all nations on earth would be blessed through him.

 

Why did God choose a person specially among many and said that he would bless him and make him into a great nation? God’s intention is shown in his words which God gave him later. (Genesis 15:13-16) However the spiritual meaning of the words was not known to Abraham and his descendants, Israelites, and Christians also. The reason is that it should not be known to the Devil. Therefore four thousand years has passed from the time God told it to Abraham, and the right meaning of it is revealed now by Lee Young-soo, the second olive tree.

 

The one who was taught the meaning by God and preached it to the world is only Lee Young-soo of Holy Eden Church. He went in front of God’s throne and heard God’s word directly, and during three years from that time he had been taught God’s Providence by God and Jesus. This article is to deliver the meaning which God acknowledged through sermons of Lee Young-soo.

 

When you learn the meaning properly, you would get to know God’s great will, and who is the one who has to do the work in this world, and how God’s work will be unfold. The reason God told him the secret is that he is the one who has to do the important part of the work.

 

1. Abraham’s Question and God’s Answer

 

After Abraham went to Egypt due to famine and came back to Canaan, God appeared and promised him that God would give him a lot of offspring, and they would be many like the dust of the earth. (Genesis 13:14-17)

 

Afterward God came to Abraham again and told that he would give a blessing, then Abraham asked God what would he give him, and whatever God would give him, he had no child so only one of his household would be his heir. Then God said that he would give a son to him and his descendants would be many like stars in the sky so it would be countless. (Genesis 15:1-5)

 

Abraham was curious when he heard God’s word. That’s because God promised him a lot of descendants when God called him first, and his descendants would be many like the dust of the earth, but he had no child yet, and God again promised many descendants like stars in the sky.

 

Why did God promise but not give him a son? That’s due to his Providence. God had something to do with Abraham’s descendants, and he was working according to the decided time. But God could not tell it to Abraham because it should not be known to the Devil. To meet the time, God gave a son to Abraham at 100. It is same for Isaac. He married at 40 but he gave a birth to Jacob at 60.

 

When Abraham heard like that, he wanted it to be sure. Thus he asked God a question:

 

But Abram said, "O Sovereign LORD, how can I know that I will gain possession of it?" (Genesis 15:8)

 

However God did not give him an answer immediately. God ordered him to prepare sacrifices and left. He came back that night and told him as below:

 

Then the LORD said to him, "Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own, and they will be enslaved and mistreated four hundred years. But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward they will come out with great possessions. You, however, will go to your fathers in peace and be buried at a good old age. In the fourth generation your descendants will come back here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure." (Genesis 15:13-16)

 

Abraham’s descendants would be strangers in a foreign country (Egypt) and enslaved and mistreated 400 years. Then God would punish the nation and get Abraham’s descendants to come out with great possessions. However the reason God let them come out from Egypt was to punish the sin of the Amorites. Amory was a son of Canaan, who was son of Ham and grandson of Noah. (Genesis 10:1, 6, 15-16)

 

God referred to the Amorites to say the sin of the Canaanites. In other words, God needed army to punish the sin of the Canaanites, and he chose Abraham and promised to give him many descendants to make the army. God’s word meant that Abraham did not need to worry for the promise of God to give the land of Canaan as his descendants’ possession.

 

According to God’s plan, Abraham’s descendants moved to Egypt in the time of Jacob, the grandson of Abraham, then Jacob was 130. (Genesis 47:9) Abraham was called at 75 and gave a birth to Isaac at 100, and Isaac gave a birth to Jacob at 60, thus from Abraham’s calling to moving into Egypt it took 215 years with the addition of 25 and 60 and 130 years. (Genesis 21:5, 25:20, 26)

 

And God planned they had to be in Egypt 400 years. However in fact they were there 430 years. (Exodus 12:40) The period Moses had to work as God’s servant was 40 years. But due to the disobedience of the Israelites, they had to be in desert 40 years and died, and Joshua, the successor of Moses, went into Canaan and made a war. (Numbers 14:33, Deuteronomy 31:7)

 

Because of the disobedience of Israelites, the war of Canaan did not proceed as God planned. Anyway it was planned as 615 years from the calling Abraham to Exodus in God’ Providence and Canaan war would be planned to be finished in 40 years.

 

About 600 years from Abraham to Exodus was the period of producing the Israelites, God’s army. This symbolizes 6,000 years from Cain’s time to our time which is for olive tree to finish making the army of Heaven.

 

2. Symbol of 7,000 years’ work, The History of Israel

 

God chose Cain and Abel 6,000 years ago in the Bronze Age to produce soldiers of Heaven in this world. They are not direct sons of Adam the first man in fact. Mankind now is called modern humans, and they are known as coming out about two hundred thousand years ago. Their ability of cognition has been being developed through the Primitive Age, the Stone age and the Bronze Age, and God chose Cain and Abel and had their names written as Adam’s sons in the Bible with omitting intermediate step. The reason is there were no special events which could be called as God’s work from Adam to Cain and Abel.

 

Lee Young-soo was curious what the life of the descendants of Adam was, so he asked God. God showed him people who lived a primitive life in his vision. They went around in groups of scores to hunt and lived in caves and blocked the entrances with big logs. Animals were very big at that time, and also were birds with 8 meters wing span.

 

God decided the 6,000 years’ work from Cain, and showed it with reducing it one-tenth, which was the process from Abraham to Exodus. Also God compared it to six days of the Creation.

 

After God started creation of the world, he made man on sixth day and rested one day. It is not that God created the world in six days literally in fact. God wanted to show symbolically that his will would be accomplished with the number seven. Six days means 6,000 years to produce the army of Heaven, and one day rest means 1,000 years to train the army after locking up devils not to deceive the nations. (refer to Revelations 20:3)

 

the number 7

= the creation of six days + the rest of one day

= 6,000 years for producing the soldiers + 1,000 years for training them

 

After the 1,000 years, the army of Heaven will make a war to destroy devils, and after the war there will be the Last Judgment, and as the result of the judgment there will be the Kingdom of Heaven and Hell, and afterwards will be the age of the new heaven and the new earth. (Revelations 20:10-15, 21:1)

 

Now let’s see the history of Israel in more detail which was shown in reducing to 600 year work for the 6,000 year work. God’s Providence was predetermined as passing the age of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and in Jacob’s time Israelites would move into Egypt, and abide there for 4 generations, 400 years. The number 7 showing God’s work can be divided into number 3 and 4, and the number 3 is relevant to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and the number 4 is relevant to the 4 generation, 400 years in Egypt.

 

the number 7

= the number 3 (Abraham, Isaac, Jacob)

+ the number 4 (4 generations, 400 years in Egypt)

 

3. Number of Heaven, 3

 

The number 3 represents the number of heaven in God’s Providence, which is shown in the cases that Jesus started God’s work in 30, and had done it 3 years, and had been in tomb 3 days. However the important one to show the number 3 in the history of Israel is the tree figures, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

 

When God called Moses to send him to Egypt, God instructed him to teach the Israelites to call him as “the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.” (Exodus 3:15) God made himself called with the names of these three people because they symbolized the most important beings, God and Jesus and olive tree.

 

Abraham – the symbol of God

Isaac – the symbol of Jesus

Jacob – the symbol of olive tree

 

As Jesus sat on God’s throne together after completing his mission, olive tree will sit on Jesus’ throne together after completing his mission. (Revelations 3:21) Here throne means authority. That is, as Jesus is governing God’s world with receiving the authority from God, in the future olive tree will get to govern God’s world with receiving the authority from Jesus. (refer to Zechariah 3:7)

 

Therefore substantially those who are relevant to the number 3 are God, Jesus and olive tree, and the symbolic figures for those are Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Now let’s see the symbolism of these three figures in more detail.

 

a. Abraham and God

 

Abraham is the figure who symbolizes God. When God made the work of Israel to show his plan to humanity, he chose Abraham as his symbol.

 

God said to Abraham that he would be “a blessing.” (Genesis 12:2) However did Abraham have the power to bless people? No, not at all. Blessing is to be given by God. God decided Abraham as his symbolic figure so he said such a word.

 

Also God had his name changed from “Abram” to “Abraham” which means “a father of many nations.” (Genesis 17:5) This is for showing God is the father of many nations. In fact, God created man, he has the right to be a father of many nations, and also finally God will destroy the Devil and reign all people so ”a father of many nations“ indicates God. God showed his status through Abraham.

 

b. Isaac and Jesus

 

The one for the symbol of Jesus in the history of Israel is Isaac the son of Abraham. God ordered Abraham to take his son Isaac to a mount shown in his vision and sacrifice him as a burnt offering. (Genesis 22:2) Abraham took Isaac and walked three days to the mount in the region of Moriah and prepared to sacrifice him as a burnt offering. At the moment for Abraham to take the knife to slay Isaac, an angel called out to him to stop and acknowledged his belief in God.

 

However this episode is not for making sure of Abraham’s belief. This is the event to show God would make Jesus his son a sacrifice in the future.

 

The mount in the region of Moriah is the place on which Golgotha hill is, and Temple of Jerusalem was built there by Solomon 1,000 years later from Abraham. (2 Chronicles 3:1) Also 1,000 years later from Solomon, as Isaac climbed the mount Moriah carrying the wood on his back, Jesus also carried the cross and climbed Golgotha hill in the mount Moriah, and finally became a sacrifice on the cross in front of God. Isaac was the symbol of Jesus.

 

c. Jacob and Olive Tree

 

The one God erected as the symbol of olive tree in the history of Israel was Jacob. Jacob deceived Isaac his father and Esau his brother and snatched the blessing for the eldest son which was for his brother. (Genesis 27:30) Because of that, Esau wanted to kill him, and Jacob had to escape to Laban his uncle in Haran.

 

Due to this, people blame Jacob. However for Jacob to deceive Isaac his father and Esau his brother was not his intention but Rebekah’s, his mother. (Genesis 27:10, 13) But Rebekah had a reason to do that. When Rebekah became pregnant with twins, they jostled each other within her, and she asked God for it. Then God said to her, “the older will serve the younger.” (Genesis 25:23) Rebekah had it in her mind, and when Isaac told Esau to go out to the open country to hunt and prepare the kind of tasty food to bless him, she thought Jacob had to receive the blessing. Thus she had Jacob bring two goats and she prepared some tasty food for Isaac and let him go with the food and receive the blessing. Rebekah’s deed was wise because God loved Jacob and hated Esau. (Malachi 1:2-3) The reason God did so was Jacob was the symbol of olive tree.

 

Jacob escaped from his brother and went to his uncle’s in Haran, and got four wives, and gave birth to eleven sons and one daughter during 20 years there, later he came back to Canaan with his family. In Canaan he gave birth to one more son, so he had twelve sons.

 

On his way to Canaan from Haran, Jacob had to cross the Jabbok river, a branch of the Jordan, and after he sent all of his family he wrestled with an angel. The angel could not overpower him and told Jacob to let him go. Jacob said he would not let the angel go unless the angel blessed him. The angel said, "Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with men and have overcome" and blessed him. (Genesis 32:28-29) God showed Jacob was the symbol of the overcomer, olive tree, with this event.

 

Two olive trees were those whom God decided before he chose Abraham and later prophesied through Zechariah the prophet. (Zechariah 4:14) However nobody had known such a thing meanwhile. Even Jesus the son of God was informed God’s predestination of olive trees after he was crucified and ascended to heaven and received God’s book and looked at it, so he said to erect two olive trees as his witnesses when he gave revelations to John. (Revelations 11:3-4)

 

Jesus told seven promises for the overcomer to come out in the book of Revelation, (Revelation 2:7, 11, 17, 26-29, 3:5-6, 12-13, 21-22) because he wanted to use him as olive tree. As Jacob received the title of “Israel” with overcoming the wrestle with the angel, Lee Young-soo was also became “the spiritual Israel” with overcoming Jesus’ test. Jesus came to him on 5th May 1973 and said, “I have watched you under many circumstances and realized that your attitude in serving me does not change, regardless of your circumstances. You have overcome,” and acknowledged him as the overcomer.

 

Also Jacob’s giving birth to 12 sons shows the mission of olive tree. Jacob’s 12 sons formed 12 tribes of Israel, and they are symbols of the 12 tribes of spiritual Israel, that is the army of Heaven, the 144,000. As Jacob gave birth to 12 sons and formed 12 tribes of Israel, olive tree is the one who has to complete the 12 tribes of the spiritual Israel. This was explained in detail in the article of “The Two Olive Trees in Zechariah and Revelations.”

 

Those who are important in God’s work are not Abraham, Isaac and Jacob but God, Jesus and olive tree, who were symbolized by them. Also 12 tribes of Israel symbolize the 12 tribes of the spiritual Israel, the 144,000, so the important is not Israel itself but the army of Heaven, the 144,000. Most of the prophecies about Israel in the Bible are for the spiritual Israel in fact. Theologians, who don’t know this, assert that Israel should be recovered on earth. However what God really wants is not the recovery of Israel in this world but the completion of the army of Heaven to fight against the devils.

 

4. Number of Earth, 4

 

The number which is relevant to the work of the earth in God’s Providence is 4, which is shown in the cases that Israelites were in Egypt in 4 generations, 400 years, and many of God’s servants worked 40 years. During the history of the slavery of 400 years in Egypt. the number of Israelites was increased greatly, and they became God’s army to made the Canaan war after they came out from Egypt. They were the symbol of the army of Heaven to fight with the devils in the spiritual world in the future.

 

God has been working during 4,000 years from Abraham to produce the army of Heaven like this until now. The reduction of this is the work of 400 years in Egypt.

 

In Old Testament time, saints of God could not go to God’s world but to Hades, the Devil’s world, dragged by devils. That’s because of sin. After Adam had expelled from heaven, nobody could not go to God. Taking God’s saints out from Hades was made after Jesus crucified and the spring of the living water to wash out sin was created, that is after the Jesus’ resurrection.

 

The tombs broke open and the bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. They came out of the tombs, and after Jesus' resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many people. (Matt.27:52-53)

 

God showed it symbolically to Matthew the Apostle as the saints came out from the tombs. God calls the physical death sleeping. (refer to Daniel 12:2) That is to instruct that they will be awaken and judged later. To be awaken earlier than others among those who are sleeping is called the first resurrection. (Revelations 20:5) The scene for the dead to wake up first and go into the first resurrection is the vision of Matthew in above phrases.

 

Resurrection means escaping from death, and death means the state of being abandoned by God. After Adam committed a crime and was expelled, humanity is in the first death. Thus when people die devils take the souls to their world, Hades. This is called the authority of Hades. (refer to Hosea 13:14) To escape from this death is called resurrection, and the first one who escaped from death is just Jesus. Therefore Jesus is called the first fruit. (1 corinthians 15:20) The reason Jesus came into this world with flesh was to open the way to escape us from devils. That is to prepare the spring of the water of life to cleanse us from sin. (Zechariah 13:1) As the result, the spring of the water of life was prepared in Heaven, and it became possible to bring the saints of the Old Testament time who had dragged to Hades, the Devil’s world.

 

They came out from the tombs, that is Hades, after Jesus’ resurrection, and are staying under the alter in God’s world. When they met Jesus there, they asked when he would avenge their wrongful deaths.

 

When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they had maintained. They called out in a loud voice, "How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?" Then each of them was given a white robe, and they were told to wait a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and brothers who were to be killed as they had been was completed. (Revelations 6:9-11)

 

Those who were there are the souls of those who were killed due to “the word of God” and “the testimony they had maintained.” The former are those in the Old Testament time and the latter, in the New Testament time. Here “the testimony they had maintained” means the Holy Spirit. (Revelations 19:10)

 

Jesus told them he needed more martyrs, and after the number would be fulfilled the revenge would be possible. The number is 144,000.

 

Then I looked, and there before me was the Lamb, standing on Mount Zion, and with him 144,000 who had his name and his Father's name written on their foreheads. (Revelations 14:1)

 

On their foreheads were God’s name and Jesus’ name, and those who have God’s name are those who God had produced in the Old Testament time, and those who have Jesus’ name, Jesus has been producing in the New Testament time. The number is yet fulfilled, and the mission to fulfill it is of the olive tree.

 

People say 144,000 means the symbolic number for those who will be saved. However they are not those who will be saved but the army of Heaven. After they will destroy the devils, they will bring all of the souls who were dragged into Hades and judge them, and those who will be saved from the judgment will be people of the Kingdom of Heaven. At that time those who will be abandoned will be thrown into the lake of fire, which is called the second death. (Revelations 20:14-15) Therefore 144,000 is not the symbolic number representing the people of the Kingdom of Heaven.

 

The 144,000 consist of 12 tribes, and each tribe consists of the 12,000. (Revelations 7:5-8) The number 12 comes from 3 times 4. It is not a coincidence that Jacob had 12 sons. This is due to God’s intention. God led him to give birth to 12 sons.

 

Jacob is the symbol of the spiritual Israel, olive tree. The mission of the olive tree is to complete the 12 tribes, the 144,000.

 

The Holy City, the New Jerusalem, into which the 144,000 will enter has 12 foundations and 12 gates, and on the 12 foundations are written the names of the 12 apostles of the Lamb, and on the gates, the names of the 12 tribes of Israel. (Revelations 21:12, 14) They are the representatives of the New and Old Testament time, and are 24 Elders. 12 sons of Jacob symbolize the representatives.

 

The length of the New Jerusalem is 12,000 stadia, which shows one tribe of the spiritual Israel who will enter the city consists of the 12,000, (Revelations 21:16) and the thick of the wall is 144 cubits, which means the city consists of saints of 144,000. (Revelations 21:17) The temple in the city is God and the Lamb, (Revelations 21:22) and the role of the 144,000 is to protect God and Jesus.

 

5. War of Canaan and War of Armageddon

 

The Israelites who came out of Egypt following Moses made a war of Canaan as the army of God. This is the symbol of the war for the spiritual Israel, the 144,000, to make with the devils in spiritual world in the future. That is the war of Armageddon. (Revelations 16:16)

 

God had the war of Canaan made because of the sin of the Amorites, that is the sin of the Canaanites. They committed crimes of all kinds of sexual immorality, and did idol worship such as to sacrifice their children as burnt offering so they angered God with those. (refer to Leviticus chapter 18)

 

The origin of all these crime is the Devil. The one who rules humanity now on earth is the prostitute, one of the subordinates of the Devil. (Revelations 17:1) This devil tempted Jesus in the desert.

 

The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. And he said to him, "I will give you all their authority and splendor, for it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. So if you worship me, it will all be yours." (Luke 4:5-7)

 

The devil said that the authority over all the kingdom of the world had been given to him. The one who had given him the authority is the Devil King, Satan. Humanity is belonged to this Devil and governed by him after Adam committed sin and was expelled by God. God wanted to recover all the deprived, so he chose Abraham and made the Israelites, and sent Jesus among his descendants and made the way of salvation. And God gave the overcomer the spring of the water of life as his inheritance which was created with Jesus’ blood, and had him fulfill the number of the soldiers of Heaven.

 

The devil who rules this world uses adultery as his means.

 

One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and said to me, "Come, I will show you the punishment of the great prostitute, who sits on many waters. With her the kings of the earth committed adultery and the inhabitants of the earth were intoxicated with the wine of her adulteries." (Revelations 17:1-2)

 

This prostitute makes people dirty with adultery, including from the kings down to all the inhabitants of the earth. This includes not only physical adultery but also spiritual adultery, that is idol worship. The waters on which the prostitute sits means all of the world.

 

Then the angel said to me, "The waters you saw, where the prostitute sits, are peoples, multitudes, nations and languages. (Revelations 17:15)

 

This prostitute is working to counteract God’s work so that God’s intention will not be accomplished on earth. Thus she has been killing so many saints, which is symbolized as she has to drink their blood. (Revelations 17:6)

 

Then the prostitute will be drunk with their blood, and killed by the beast because of the responsibility related to obstruct the army of Heaven being made. (Revelations 17:16) This beast is the one who will fight later with the army of Heaven, the 144,000 who will follow Jesus. (Revelations 19:19) That is the war of Armageddon. (Revelations 16:16)

 

Many people regard the war of Armageddon is the third World War which will break out in this world. But this story is symbolic. The war of Armageddon is a story which will happen one thousand years later and this war is between the souls of martyrs and the souls who belong to the beast. (Revelations 19:19) At that time the earth will have been destroyed already and not exist. (Revelations 6:14)

 

At the war the beast will be captured and thrown into the lake of fire, then the dragon will come out and gather his army to fight. (Revelations 20:7-8) At the war the army of the Devil will be devoured with fire and the dragon will be captured and thrown into the lake of fire, where the beast and the false prophet will have been thrown, (Revelations 20:9-10) then all will be over.

 

Afterward the souls who have dragged by devils will be come out from Hades and undergone the Last Judgment, as the result the saved will be people of the Kingdom of Heaven, and the forsaken will be thrown into the lake of fire and tormented forever. (Revelations 20:11-15) At that time the soldiers of Heaven will be given the authority to judge, (Revelations 20:4) and after the judgment they will be kings to govern the people of the Kingdom of Heaven, so there will be 144,000 kingdoms in Heaven. (Revelations 22:5)

 

Like this, the intention of God is substantially to destroy the Devil with making his army of Heaven. And showing the work as symbols was the war of Canaan with the Israelites, the descendants of Abraham. The relations between symbols and realities are as the following:

 

Abraham – God

Isaac – Jesus

Jacob – olive tree

4 generation, 400 years in Egypt – the producing of the army of Heaven during 4,000 years

plagues upon Egypt – plagues which will be upon the world at the last time

Exodus – Jesus’ coming again and taking the soldiers of Heaven

the war of Canaan – the war of Armageddon

the distribution of land to 12 tribes of Israel – the authority of kings given to the 144,000

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