Claim. restoration traverses eight vertical stages (servant-of-servants → servant → adopted child → child by concubine → direct son → mother → father → God) and eight horizontal stages (individual → family → tribe → people → nation → world → heaven-and-earth → God’s love).
Elaboration. SMM lays out the dual eight-stage grid explicitly: “We must progress vertically, from the servant of servants, through servant, adopted child, child by a concubine, child of the direct lineage, the mother, the father, and then God; eight stages in this way. Also, the individual, family, tribe, people, nation, world, heaven and earth, and God are eight levels as well. Thus, it is vertically eight stages and horizontally eight stages” (3.1. The eight vertical and horizontal stages in the course of restoration through indemnity, 189-141, 1989.4.1). The stages cannot be skipped: “We have to deal with them one by one and restore them. Because of Satan we cannot go through all stages at once” (3.2. Satan’s activities and the victory in the eight stages, 124-306, 1983.3.1). Each transition requires indemnity: “Can you successfully go through the indemnity course on the tribal level without having brought victory on the family level? There is no way for this to happen” (ibid, 181-213, 1988.10.3). The course is a strict combinatorial ladder.
See also. restoration, indemnity