HF160 - The Times of Restoration
To: Hebraic-Foundations@YahooGroups.com
From: "Pastor Buddy Martin" <Bro.Buddy@ChristianChallenge.org>
Date: Friday, July 27, 2006
Subject: Bible Study HF160 - The Times of Restoration
Hebraics,
You've often heard me say that it began in Jerusalem, it ends in Jerusalem. The eyes of the whole are now on the Middle East. We are seeing a conflagration (uncontrolled fire) working its way out from the regions of ancient Babylon. The heat is intense in Iraq, Afghanistan, Lebanon, Israel, Somalia, not to speak of all the '***istan' nations of the former Soviet Union. Keep in view is that all these nations are Islamic.
Also keep in view that Christians are not to let their hearts become troubled over all these things. Our eyes are to remain focused on Jesus alone. With the world, the Lord said that hearts would be failing because of the things that were taking place.
At the beginning of this study I will share part of a counseling session I had with a brother in Iraq. The enemy was playing with his mind. I was able to help him regain his footing. My purpose for sharing this is to help any of our HF members who may be struggling with their own thought life. The important thing to keep in mind is that God has always made a provision for His people. This finds its ultimate revelation in all who belong to Jesus.
This is Bible Study HF160 - The Times of Restoration.
Here is part of a counseling session with the brother in Iraq: (Using Bob for his name.)
Bob: I know the enemy is the "prince of the air" and I try to keep myself covered in prayer because of all the Muslim prayers that are broadcast over p.a. systems all around me 5 times a day.
Buddy: You are most correct that the enemy is called 'prince of the air.' Your situation is unique because of where you are. Islam is actually antichrist. Most people do not realize this. Satan has been preparing his antichrist armies for 1400 years in preparation for the count down.
I don't mean to begin on a negative note, but it is very important that you understand this. Where you are, the 'thoughts' of darkness will be everywhere. This is why you are having battles in your mind. To 'hear' Muslim prayers 5 times a day is certainly a downer.
Bob: Lately I've started having troubling questions pop into my mind, even when I'm in prayer or reading the Bible. Basically, I find myself thinking, "How can this be true? Does God really exist? Is Christ a reality?" Now, mind you, this all happens while I am in fervent prayer to God or reading about Christ. I try to tell myself "If you didn't believe you wouldn't be praying to Him so intensely and talking to Him so much."
Buddy: You are describing the battle of 'thoughts' perfectly. Two things are going to be very important for you in this regard. Foremost, recognize where all these doubts are coming from. (Remember Eve's battle.) Knowing this is the key to knowing how to do spiritual warfare correctly. Here is your foundation Scripture:
"For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing [thoughts, etc.] raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ." (2Co10:4,5)
The second thing is going to come straight from you. This is the time to make quality decisions. I cannot stress this enough. Until you make a consistent, firm, and resolute decision that Jesus Christ is Lord of your life, and that God's Word is true, regardless, your whole thinking process will be honeycombed with doubts. Indecision is the path of failure. This is why you find so much in the Bible about making choices. The Lord does not remove our ability to choose for Him. Also keep in the background of your faith that the Lord will reinforce every decision you make for Him.
Bob: I'm troubled by even entertaining these questions. God has been so merciful to me and blessed me so greatly. Jesus has redeemed me from the darkness into the Kingdom of Light by paying for my sins by His sacrifice upon the cross. I do NOT like these troubling thoughts.
Buddy: If you are going to doubt anything, doubt your doubts. Do not allow even for a moment any thought to remain that speaks against your faith in Jesus.
Other things you can do are:
(1) Each morning as soon as you have time, reach for your Bible and pray the prayer of David; "Open my eyes, Lord, that I may behold wonderful things from Your Law."
(2) Join yourself to another believer and began to extend your fellowship circle. Ask the Lord to lead you in this.
(3) Keep writing me. I will support you in all that I can. Ask questions. Share your thoughts. I will never stop being your friend.
.... End of Exchange....
Now let's continue on with the study on the times of restoration. The rest of the study will simply be an overview of certain end time happenings without a lot of mundane detail. (The intricacies go much further than this study can cover in short. And beyond my own limited understanding.)
Jesus was accosted by the Pharisees and Sadducees in their asking Him for a sign. He said, "Do you know how to discern the appearance of the sky, but cannot discern the signs of the times?" (Matt. 16:3) The Lord was saying that while they claimed to understand the elements of nature, they were blind in regard to what was happening before their very eyes. The Messiah was present. Redemption had come and they did not recognize it.
Does this have any relevance to the church today? Most assuredly. The church is now in a very special phase of redemptive history. As a relevant sign in the count down God did give us a fixed point. Both Jesus, the prophets of old, and the apostles all pointed to the rebirth of the nation of Israel as a prominent fixture that the times of the Gentiles was closing. That sign was fixed May 14, 1948.
The apostle Peter told the Jewish peoples that Jesus had been received into heaven and would remain there, but would send 'refreshing(s)' [special moves of the Holy Spirit] until the period of restoration of all things. (Cf. Acts 3:18-26) What did he mean by the term restoration? The Greek term 'apokatastasis' means a restitution of a thing to its former condition. This expression denotes the times spoken of as 'the fullness of the Gentiles,' and would then include conversion of the Jews to Jesus.
While the full context takes in more than Israel as a nation group appearing once again, it would certainly include that factor. This was a primary concern for the Lord's Hebrew apostles. In Acts 1:6, they asked Him, "Lord, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?" Jesus responded, "It is not for you to know the times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority."
Thus while we cannot know the exact moments for the unfolding of events, we do have one fixed sign. This is why May 14, 1948 is so important to redemption history. Israel who had lost her nationhood in the year 70 a.d., was brought forth again as a nation among other nations. Thus we have Isaiah 66:8 fulfilled; "Who has heard such a thing? Who has seen such things? Can a LAND be born in one day? Can a NATION be brought forth all at once? As soon as Zion travailed, she also brought forth her sons." (Caps always for emphasis only.)
Then we have this from the Lord: "And they will fall by the edge of the sword, and will be led captive into all the nations; and Jerusalem will be trampled under foot by the Gentiles [other nations] until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled." (Luke 21:24)
Without laboring this too much we also need to understand that the nation of Israel today is not the nation she is going to be. Jews returning to the land is at the heart of Old Testament prophecy. Yet Israel today is largely secular, with Talmudic Judaism in charge of her religious affairs. The fact that Israel is largely secular is not a bad thing in comparison to the Christ-hating Talmudic religion. (More on that if the discussions go that direction.)
Now lets combine two Scriptures, one from the old and the other from the new. Both with the same objective.
First Zechariah 12:10: "I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the Spirit of grace and of supplication, so that they will look on Me [This is Yahweh speaking] whom they have pierced; and they will mourn for Him [Jesus the crucified One], and they will mourn for Him, as one mourns for an only son, and they will weep bitterly over Him [Jesus] like the bitter weeping over a firstborn."
Now Romans 11:25-27: "For I do not want you, brethren, to be uninformed of this mystery -- so that you will not be wise in your own estimation -- that a partial hardening has happened to Israel [the Christ-rejecting nation group] until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in; and so all Israel will be saved [nation group looks to Jesus]; just as it is written, 'The Deliverer will come from Zion, He will remove ungodliness from Jacob. This is My covenant with them, WHEN I TAKE AWAY THEIR SINS.'"
The sins of the Christ-rejecting Israel can only be taken away when they come to faith in the atonement of Jesus Christ.
Let's come back to what Peter said about the times of restoration: "...that He [the Father] may send Jesus, the Christ appointed for you, whom heaven must receive until the period of restoration of all things about which God spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from ancient time." (Acts 3:20,21)
The Greek term for 'period' is chronos. It speaks of a particular time or space or season of events. This takes in various things that belong to the season of restoration.
The Greek term for 'restoration' is a double compound. It is only used here. Interestingly enough it is also used by Flavius Josephus for the return of the Jews from captivity, and for the restoration of the year of Jubilee. That is the how the term was understood during the time of Christ. Of course the Jewish people in the time of the apostles would understand this much better than the 'Johnny-come-lately' folk of today's western Christianity, who think they have the answers for everything.
The period of restoration has a dual focus. I believe it includes the Church restored to her lost heritage in preparation for her departure. More and more Christians today are breaking free of denominational separations and from sectarian yokes of bondages, and beginning to discover their own freedom in Christ.
The second focus is the land of Israel. (As I've already shared.) But what makes the period of restoration so unique is the overlap of focus in the kingdom of God. At the same time the Church is being prepared for her departure, the Jewish peoples are being gathered to the land of Israel to fulfill her prophesied purposes. In this sense God is working with the Jews and with the Christians. The Jews are being prepared for their Messiah.
The prophet Daniel was told that there would be a time of special insight given God's people in the latter days. This would certainly apply in part to the Christian church, but it would especially apply to Jewish peoples during the tribulation. (That insight was to be locked up until the time came. I see it as belonging to the book of Revelation.)
As for the Christian portion, Paul elaborates on this in 1 Thess. 5:1-3,9-10 and 2 Thess. 2:1,5-13. I'll not get into that area for now.)
For the Jew there is a period of tribulation they must endure before the Savior comes out of Zion. The Bible also gives place for a pseudo-Church during the final hours of this age. (Pseudo refers to something that appears to be true but is not. A false pretender.)
The true church refers to those who are inborn of the Spirit of truth and will not follow anyone other than Jesus, in spite of signs & wonders. The pseudo Church will follow after lying wonders.
Let's listen to some of the final words that Jesus spoke over Jerusalem.
"When He approached Jerusalem, He saw the city and wept over it, saying, 'If you had known in this day, even you, the things which make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. For the days will come upon you when your enemies will throw up a barricade against you, and surround you and hem you in on every side, and they will level you to the ground and your children within you, and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not recognize the time of your visitation." (Luke 19:41-44)
And again,
"Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling. Behold, your house is being left to you desolate! For I say to you, from now on you will not see Me UNTIL you say, 'Blessed is He [Jesus] who comes in the name of the Lord." (Matt23:37,38)
So, will the kingdom of God be restored to Israel? Will Israel really turn to the Lord Jesus and become part with His people? Can it be proved by the Scriptures? I believe it can. For your extra study consider these Scriptures: Isaiah 1:26; Jeremiah 23:3-6; Hosea 3:4,5; 5:15; 6:1-3.
Yes, it is all there. But the point remains as I said at the beginning of the study: "... Christians are not to let their hearts become troubled over all these things. Our eyes are to remain focused on Jesus alone. ..."
One other thing to be considered --- This kind of study is likely to call for various discussions, depending on which element you are concerned with. This is alright. However, as the discussions take place we may need to identify the area of discussion with a 'subject' change.
Feel free to ask questions and share insights. One thing I do ask is that you take time to think the study through with an open mind. Review the Scripture portions. There will be more questions than can be answered. However, as long as the exchanges remain on a respectful level, this study can lead to productive areas for discussions.
With this in mind simply accept the premise that there is no single authority on this forum who has all the answers. I certainly don't. But I do have contributions that can benefit everyone. I sure others do also.
The study is open.
The Lord bless you,
Buddy
---
Lawrence "Buddy" Martin
email: Bro.Buddy <at> ChristianChallenge.Org
Web: http://www.ChristianChallenge.org
Forum: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Hebraic-Foundations/
Forum: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DepartingUPC/
"See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God; that no root of bitterness springing up causes trouble, and by it many be defiled." (Heb12:15)