Editor’s witness on the Overcomer, Lee Young-soo

Lee Young-soo is the Second Olive Tree of the two Olive Trees prophesied in the Bible and one of Jesus’ two witnesses (Zechariah 4:14, Revelations 11:34). The Olive Tree is God’s servant that is predestined to appear during the final days of God’s plan. Lee Young-soo had his first audience with God in April 1970 and was taught every three days over three years by God and Jesus to do the work of the Olive Tree. He was shown many visions even after then. The purpose of this book is to introduce some of the visions he saw in the form of pictures.

It was Zechariah of the Old Testament that prophesied about the Olive Tree. 2,500 years ago, he saw in his vision two olive trees pouring golden oil into a lampstand (Zechariah 4:3, 12). Zechariah did not understand what the vision meant, so he asked the angel. The angel spoke of how the governor Zerubbabel crushed the mountain to make a plain and built a temple. He still did not understand, so Zechariah asked the angel again what the two olive trees represented. Then, the angel told him that the olive trees were the anointed ones, those who would serve the Lord of all the earth (Zechariah 4:14).

In 1974, Jehovah said to Lee Young-soo the Overcomer, “What I told my young servant Zechariah 2,500 years ago will come true in your time.” This was to let him know that the work of the Olive Tree prophesied through Zechariah would be fulfilled in his time.

The reason God needs the olive tree is to pour the golden oil into the gold lampstand. The gold lampstand symbolizes the believers, and the golden oil, the blood of Jesus. Thus, the Olive Tree represents the one that delivers the blood of Jesus to the believers.

In Revelations, Jesus said the two Olive Trees would turn water into blood (Revelations 11:6), and this is also to let us know the Olive Tree will deliver the blood of Jesus.

When Jesus ascended to Heaven after his crucifixion, he was rewarded with the power to rule over the Heaven while sitting on the throne to the right of God. At that time, he received a book sealed with seven seals in God’s right hand (Revelations 5:7). The book contained God’s secret plan, and Jesus, after reading the book, came to realize his will completely.

So that Jesus learned that he had to appoint the two Olive Trees for the final days. Therefore, Jesus, in Revelations, prophesied that he would establish the two Olive Trees as his witnesses (Revelations 11:3-4). In order to choose the one as the Olive Tree, he waited for the Overcomer (Revelations 2, 3). The Overcomer refers to the one who has overcome Jesus’ tests. Jesus would give him the mission of the Olive Tree and have him carry on God’s work to be fulfilled during the final days. The work is to complete God’s army.

There are 144,000 soldiers of God. From Abel, the first martyr, to the qualified ones during the Olive Tree’s days, they are made over a 6,000-year period. In the Old Testament, God gave his words through prophets and put seals in his name on the forehead of the martyrs who tried to observe those words. In the New Testament, Jesus put seals in his name on the foreheads of the martyrs who received the Holy Spirit and witnessed Jesus (Revelations 20:4, 14:1). Today, Jesus designated the Olive Tree, teaches God’s providence through him, and empowers him to put a seal in Jesus’ name on the forehead of those who adhere to his teachings.

The responsibility of the Olive Tree is to prepare his followers as the soldiers of heaven, that they may receive Jesus’ seal, (Revelations 7:3) and then harvest the ripe ones in dedication to God (Revelations 14:16). To receive the seal, they must be fruitful grains. And those who would become fruitful are to be ripened at the temple of God (Revelations 14:15). That temple is Algok-seongjeon, which Jehovah asked Lee Young-soo the Overcomer to build today. (“Algok” means grain and “sungjeon” means temple.)

Algok-seongjeon is the fourth temple Jehovah ordered to be built in human history: the first being Moses’ tabernacle; the second, Solomon’s Temple; and the third, Zerubbabel’s Temple. The number four represents God’s will to be fulfilled on Earth, which is the completion of the 144,000 soldiers.

Therefore, Lee Young-soo the Overcomer must teach God's will to his followers so that they may become fruitful grains as soldiers of heaven. When he completes the number of soldiers God commanded him to fill, Jesus can use what has been accomplished on earth to achieve his mission in heaven.

After the spread of Christianity in Korea in the 19th century, many were martyred. When it was time for Jesus to appoint the Olive Tree in accordance with God’s will, he saw that Korea had become the most fruitful place. Therefore, Jesus decided to appoint the two Olive Trees in Korea, and revealed his prophecies to several people during the Japanese colonial period.

Jesus chose the two Olive Trees during the Korean War. At the time, Lee Young-soo was nine and did not even know Jesus. However, Jesus anointed him with oil, along with the First Olive Tree, thereby appointing him as the Second Olive Tree. Since then, Jesus trained him through hardships and prepared him for his mission.

Lee Young-soo was born in 1942. In 1958, when he was 16, he started attending Jeondogwan, the evangelical church built by the First Olive Tree. In 1962, when he was 20, he was appointed as a preacher for Jeondogwan. He was a preacher for six years before he took a leave of absence in 1968. Jesus told Lee that the First Olive Tree carried out God’s work honestly for only three years. God decided to initiate the Second Olive Tree earlier than planned. However, since the First Olive Tree refused to pass on God’s work to the Second Olive Tree, God commanded Lee to carry out his work separately.

He worked on various jobs until he started Holy Eden Church in 1973 in accordance with God’s commands. He worked in the entertainment industry for a short time, producing an album and even starring in a feature film.

In April 1970, Jesus visited him and took him to meet God. It was there, in God’s world, that he received his mission to become God’s servant, and it was there he was shown the Holy City to be built in the future.

Since then, he has seen numerous visions. In some, he saw a Bible littered with blank spaces. God taught him his plan through the scenes shown within the blanks of the book. In other visions, he saw his name recorded in the Lamb's Book of Life (Revelations 3:5, 21:27), had his sins washed away by Jesus, and learned that the blood of Jesus would be delivered through him.

Devils also came to him in these visions, harassing him and taking him to the Devil’s world where he saw the Devil King.

Jesus told him that there were 90,000 people who had received God’s blessing through the former servant. Jesus asked him to save those among them who still truly seek God. Jesus protects him from the devils’ hands with a wall of fire and leads him to fulfill his mission as the Overcomer, according to the prophecy in the Bible.

Following God’s commands, he started Holy Eden Church in Jeonnong-dong, Dongdaemun-gu on November 17, 1973. He moved the church to Changshin-dong, Dongdaemun-gu in March 1975, to Daehyun-dong, Seodaemun-gu in September 1976, and to Jegi-dong, Dongdaemun-gu in 1977.

In 1979, as Holy Eden Church grew, Lee Young-soo was arrested due to the false accusations of others. God did not neglect the situation and protected him from all harm. During his imprisonment, God told him, “The evils will turn into blessings.”

In April 1980, while still in prison, Jehovah commanded him, “Build my temple in a quiet place an hour away from Seoul and bring glory to me,” and showed him the temple to be built. Because it is the place where the prophecy, “Take your sickle and reap, because the time to reap has come, for the harvest of the earth is ripe,” (Revelations 14:15) will come true. The temple was named “Algok-seongjeon” to symbolize the grains being harvested and stored in Heaven.

God also showed him, in a vision, what the temple and its surroundings should look like. On top of the temple’s belfry, there was a shape that represented the fire spiraling up from a golden incense burner (refer to Revelations 8:3). There was a cross on the front side of the temple. Surrounding the cross, there were seven angels blowing their horns to send plagues to the world in the final days (refer to Revelations 8:2). To each side, there were two doves carrying olive tree branches, symbolizing the Holy Spirit (refer to Matthew 3:16).

In September 1985, according to Jehovah’s command to build the Algok-seongjeon, Lee Young-soo the Overcomer purchased property in the mountains of Cheongpyeong-myun, Gapyeong-gun, Gyeonggi-do. On November 8, 1987, he finished building the temple and dedicated it to God. In December 1987, God promised him the following: “You did great work on building my temple under difficult circumstances. I will make you noble from now on.” Since then, God has shown him annex buildings to be built, one at a time, and has given him the guidance to build them. In May 1990, Jehovah gave him words of blessing, saying “Your followers will enter my world through this temple.”

Following God’s instructions, Lee Young-soo the Overcomer continues to build a sports complex, a large-scale theater (Cultural Center), and a hotel (Hotel White Stone) in Algok-seongjeon Complex to let God’s work be known to the world.

In 2012, “Echo of Eden,” the collection of Lee Young-soo’s sermons in 20 volumes was published. In 2014, his visions have been illustrated and will be displayed in the Cultural Center so that the world may see that God’s final work is being accomplished there.

For those who wish to learn more about God’s work, I suggest reading Lee Young-soo’s sermon collections and “Witness of Jesus, Two Olive Trees” (Yoon Sang-hak, 2013).