PerryDox – BeJustAChristian

 

Restoring the Kingdom

 

Acts 1:6 – So when they had come together, they were asking Him, saying, “Lord, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?”

 

What was in the mind of the apostles when they asked this question?  Did they have political and personal ambitions?  Were they focused on the Roman occupation and foresaw national independence?  Was their concept of the kingdom physical? 

 

Most commentators understand this question to be proof that the apostles still had a mental block as to the spiritual nature of Jesus’ kingdom.  While this is possible, I think it is not necessarily implied by their question.  In fact, I believe the exact opposite is in their minds.  And in addition, I wonder if the apostles’ understanding of the kingdom when asking this question might be even greater and deeper than not only what is generally believed about them, but even more so than what is common today among us?  Did they have a better grasp than we do?

 

It is generally accepted that the apostles did not understand the spiritual nature of the kingdom until after they had received the miraculous baptism of the Holy Spirit.  This miracle of inspiration after the ascension of Jesus supposedly cured them of their misunderstanding.

 

“Surely here is proof that the eleven apostles needed the promise of the Father before they began to spread the message of the Risen Christ. They still yearn for a political kingdom for Israel even after faith and hope have come back. They need the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit (John 14-16) and the power of the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:4.)” (Robertson’s Word Pictures)

 

For the majority view, the foundation argument then is that direct inspiration was needed to correct the apostles’ misunderstanding of the kingdom.  In other words, the apostles did not and could not on their own understand.  I would like to suggest that such a conclusion is not only incorrect, but dangerous.  Couldn’t people today rightfully claim that direct inspiration is still needed to change carnal thinking into spiritual thinking?  If the apostles’ needed it, then why don’t we?  Is divine illumination needed to understand?  If so, then why doesn’t every one receive it?  If so, then we have created a hierarchy of the illuminated ones within Christianity.

 

Here’s a question for our contemplation: What was the effect of inspiration and the baptism of the Holy Spirit upon the apostles?   Maybe we can best understand what effect inspiration had on the apostles if we first comprehend what effect it didn’t have.

 

1^st – Inspiration did not control behavior.  Peter sinned hypocritically as recorded in Galatians 2.  Therefore God’s perfect inspiration does not mean man’s perfect obedience.

 

2^nd – Inspiration does not control understanding.  Peter again illustrates for us this time in reference to Cornelius.  Just because Peter had earlier and divinely preached that the promise is for all even those “far off” (Acts 2:39) that did not clear up his misunderstanding in reference to how the Gentiles would be saved.  Therefore God’s perfect inspiration does not mean man’s perfect understanding.

 

Therefore I suggest that the only effect of inspiration is on what the apostles spoke and wrote – what they taught not what they believed.

 

John 14:26 – “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you.

 

John 16:12-13 – (12) “I have many more things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.  (13)  “But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come.

 

The above text supposedly explains why the apostles could not understand the kingdom’s spiritual nature.  They could not “bear” right now.  This cannot refer to the nature of the kingdom for Jesus had constantly taught about the spiritual nature of the kingdom.  Just read the Sermon on the Mount.  No, what the Holy Spirit would teach them that they could not bear at that time was not about the kingdom’s true character.  It had to be future new additional teachings.  They had enough difficult time accepting what Jesus had taught them.

 

Let continue looking at the effect of inspiration.

 

Mark 13:11 – “When they arrest you and hand you over, do not worry beforehand about what you are to say, but say whatever is given you in that hour; for it is not you who speak, but it is the Holy Spirit.

 

 

The Holy Spirit taught the apostles what to say.  It’s that simple.  But apparently, after being inspired, the apostles had too, like the rest of us, understand what they had been teaching through the Holy Spirit.  The Holy Spirit taught them as the Holy Spirit teaches us – through words.  As already stated, Peter taught by divine inspiration,

 

Acts 2:39 – “For the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself.”

 

But did Peter understand that Gentiles would be saved through grace as were the Jews?  When did Peter understand what he had said by inspiration?  After the vision, but please notice the immediate effect of the vision

 

Acts 10:17 – Now while Peter was greatly perplexed in mind as to what the vision which he had seen might be, behold, the men who had been sent by Cornelius, having asked directions for Simon’s house, appeared at the gate;

 

Did the miracle of the vision immediately clear up his misunderstanding?  No, it was only after contemplating the meaning of the vision along with God sending Cornelius’ servants that Peter understood.  

 

Let’s see what he himself said:

 

Acts 10:28-35 – And he said to them, “You yourselves know how unlawful it is for a man who is a Jew to associate with a foreigner or to visit him; and yet God has shown me that I should not call any man unholy or unclean.  (29)  “That is why I came without even raising any objection when I was sent for. So I ask for what reason you have sent for me.”  (30)  Cornelius said, “Four days ago to this hour, I was praying in my house during the ninth hour; and behold, a man stood before me in shining garments,  (31)  and he *said, ‘Cornelius, your prayer has been heard and your alms have been remembered before God.  (32)  ‘Therefore send to Joppa and invite Simon, who is also called Peter, to come to you; he is staying at the house of Simon the tanner by the sea.’  (33)  “So I sent for you immediately, and you have been kind enough to come. Now then, we are all here present before God to hear all that you have been commanded by the Lord.”  (34)  Opening his mouth, Peter said: “I most certainly understand now that God is not one to show partiality,  (35)  but in every nation the man who fears Him and does what is right is welcome to Him.

 

Acts 15:7-11 – After there had been much debate, Peter stood up and said to them, “Brethren, you know that in the early days God made a choice among you, that by my mouth the Gentiles would hear the word of the gospel and believe.  (8)  “And God, who knows the heart, testified to them giving them the Holy Spirit, just as He also did to us;  (9)  and He made no distinction between us and them, cleansing their hearts by faith.  (10)  “Now therefore why do you put God to the test by placing upon the neck of the disciples a yoke which neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear?  (11)  “But we believe that we are saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, in the same way as they also are.”

 

Miracles did not miraculously change peoples’ misunderstandings and misconceptions without their free will volition contemplating the meaning of the miracles.

 

If being inspired did not automatically mean that the apostles had perfect understanding, then that would mean that just because the apostles had received the baptism of the Holy Spirit, that in and of itself does not mean that the effect of such baptism was a correct understanding of the kingdom.  As I will illustrate later, I think they already understood prior to this baptism.  So if I am correct in my conclusion as to the effect of inspiration, to say that the apostles understood correctly the kingdom because of inspiration is a non sequitur.

 

So why do people commonly think that the apostles did not understand the true spiritual nature of the kingdom?  Here are three reasons:

 

1.         Because the apostles did not understand Jesus’ teaching concerning the kingdom before His death, burial, resurrection. 

 

2.         Because the apostles used the word restore/apokathistemi (or the alternative form apokathistano).  You cannot restore what had never existed.

 

3.         Because the apostles said the kingdom would be restored back to ISRAEL.

 

Let’s analyze these three before I present my case as to why I believe the apostles did understand the true nature of the kingdom.

 

1^st     Objection – Because the apostles did not understand Jesus’ teaching concerning the kingdom before His death, burial, resurrection. 

 

It is acknowledged rather freely that prior to the resurrection and immediately following that momentous event, the apostles were about as hardheaded as we all can be.  Jesus often spoke of the “little faith” that His apostles had, even after seeing miracles.  Hmmm, miracles themselves did not change thinking without people thinking about the miracles themselves?  Isn’t that the point I made above?  That is why miracles confirm the word (Hebrews 2:1-4). But I digress.  Here’s the all too apparent evidence of the apostles’ stubbornness:

 

Matthew 6:30 – “But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? You of little faith!

 

Matthew 8:26 – He *said to them, “Why are you afraid, you men of little faith?” Then He got up and rebuked the winds and the sea, and it became perfectly calm.

 

Matthew 14:31- Immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and took hold of him, and *said to him, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?”

 

Matthew 16:8 – But Jesus, aware of this, said, “You men of little faith, why do you discuss among yourselves that you have no bread?

 

Even at the final Passover, and the beginning of His new memorial meal, the apostles still were not spiritually illuminated concerning the kingdom:

 

Luke 22:24 – And there arose also a dispute among them as to which one of them was regarded to be greatest.

 

Commenting on Acts 1:6, here’s a commentator’s (Albert Barnes) view of the apostles’ hardheadness after the resurrection:

 

“From these expectations of the apostles we may learn:

(1) That there is nothing so difficult to be removed from the mind as prejudice in favor of erroneous opinions.

(2) that such prejudice will survive the plainest proofs to the contrary.

(3) that it will often manifest itself even after all proper means have been taken to subdue it. Erroneous opinions thus maintain a secret ascendency in a man’s mind, and are revived by the slightest circumstances, even long after it was supposed that they were overcome, and in the face of the plainest proofs of reason or of Scripture.”

 

Hopefully without sounding judgmental, maybe we all need to apply that observation to ourselves too, whether on this current topic or all others!  Opening our minds is not the easiest thing to do.

 

While it might be difficult to overestimate the hardheadedness of the apostles, it is not impossible.  Why?  Maybe we are guilty of underestimating the negative impact of crushed dreams and the positive power of the resurrection on the apostles.  After witnessing the crucifixion of Jesus, had the apostles hit the proverbial “rock bottom” in their aspirations for a physical kingdom?  Three years of sacrifice…sacrificed for nothing:

 

Mathew 19:27-30 – Then Peter said to Him, “Behold, we have left everything and followed You; what then will there be for us?”  (28)  And Jesus said to them, “Truly I say to you, that you who have followed Me, in the regeneration when the Son of Man will sit on His glorious throne, you also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.  (29)  “And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or farms for My name’s sake, will receive many times as much, and will inherit eternal life.  (30)  “But many who are first will be last; and the last, first.

 

High expectations, and then their dreams are crushed.  After running away, the denials, locking themselves behind closed doors and being berated by Jesus Himself for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they had not believed those who had seen Him after He had risen (Mark 16:14), I would suggest for your consideration that they were primed for a spiritual realignment as to the nature of the kingdom.  That’s when Jesus opened their minds to understand the Scriptures (Luke 24:45).  After such a plain statement as that, maybe we should open our minds and reevaluate our understanding of the apostles’ understanding of Acts 1:6.

 

2^nd     Objection – Because the apostles used the word restore/apokathistemi (or the alternative form apokathistano).  You cannot restore what had never existed.

 

Maybe I should have mentioned this earlier.  But there are more than just the two interpretations of Acts 1:6.   Here are three others plus the two being discussed in this paper. 

 

• Clarke – “it (i.e., restore/apokathistemi) has also another meaning … namely, of ending, abolishing, blotting out… And Hippocrates…uses it to signify the termination of a disease. On this interpretation the disciples may be supposed to ask, having recollected our Lord’s prediction of the destruction of Jerusalem, and the whole Jewish commonwealth, Lord, Wilt thou at this time destroy the Jewish commonwealth, which opposes thy truth, that thy kingdom may be set up over all the land? This interpretation agrees well with all the parts of our Lord’s answer, and with all circumstances of the disciples, of time, and of place; but, still, the first is most probable.”
• Lightfoot – “Lightfoot thinks that this question was asked in indignation against the Jews. ‘Wilt thou confer dominion on a nation which has just put thee to death?’ (Barnes)
• Premillennial View – “This question, we say, was the quite natural outcome of our Lord’s instruction – an intelligent, pertinent question such as we ourselves would have asked if we had been in their places.  Yet, strangely enough, most writers on the Acts fail to see this.  Confounding the ‘kingdom of God’ with the ‘Church’ (and thus completely spiritualizing it, to saying nothing of divorcing it from Old Testament prophecy) they charge the apostles with incorrigible unintelligence and self-centered ambitions….Now why should there be this misunderstanding about the apostles’ question and our Lord’s reply to it?  It is caused simply through the mistake of confounding the kingdom of heaven, or kingdom of God, with the Church of the present dispensation.” (J. Sidlow Baxter, Explore the Book, v.6, pp.14,17)
• Majority View – The apostles still had a carnal, political view of the kingdom.
• My View – The apostles had a correct understanding of the kingdom, that Jesus was going to restore and did restore the Kingdom of Israel.  And Jesus did exactly that.

 

In this paper, we are not going to deal with the first three views.  So let’s begin with the majority interpretation of Acts 1:6.

 

Does the word “restore” betray a carnal attitude towards the kingdom?  If the former kingdom was a physical, political, military kingdom, and if the kingdom was to be “restored,” doesn’t it make sense that what would be restored would be a physical, political, military kingdom?  After all, you can’t restore what never existed.  On the surface, that sounds like a valid criticism of my thesis.  But …and don’t’ you just hate the word “but?”  But, what is the former kingdom was something greater than or other than simply a physical, political, military kingdom?  What it is was in essence something spiritual too?  And here’s another “but,” maybe our understanding of “restore” is too simplistic.  Let’s investigate further by looking at the word “restore.”

 

Restore/ apokathistēmi (600):

• Strong – From G575 and G2525; to reconstitute (in health, home or organization): – restore (again).
• Thayer: – 1) to restore to its former state; 2) to be in its former state

 

Gareth Reese comments:

“Their use of the word “restore” shows that they were still looking back to the glorious days gone by (i.e. a temporal dominion – PDH)…and were still hoping for such days to return.  The apostles expected that the Messiah would reign as a prince and a conqueror, and would free the Jews from being a captive nation under the Roman authority.” (Gareth Reese, New Testament History A Critical and Exegetical commentary on the Book of Acts, p.10).

 

Ironically the use of “restore” weakens the case against the apostles having a correct understanding.  This same word is used by Jesus (Mt.17:11; Mk.9:12) in saying that Elijah was to come and restore all things.  Surely Jesus did not have a carnal view towards Elijah’s (i.e. John’s) work, did He?! 

 

Mathew 17:11-12 – And He answered and said, “Elijah is coming and will restore all things; (12) but I say to you that Elijah already came, and they did not recognize him, but did to him whatever they wished. So also the Son of Man is going to suffer at their hands.”

 

Mark 9:12-13  And He said to them, “Elijah does first come and restore all things. And yet how is it written of the Son of Man that He will suffer many things and be treated with contempt?  (13)  “But I say to you that Elijah has indeed come, and they did to him whatever they wished, just as it is written of him.”

 

Let’s look at Gabriel’s description to Zacharias, John the Baptist’s father, of the work his son was destined to do:

 

Luke 1:16-17 – “And he will turn many of the sons of Israel back to the Lord their God.  (17)  “It is he who will go as a forerunner before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, TO TURN THE HEARTS OF THE FATHERS BACK TO THE CHILDREN, and the disobedient to the attitude of the righteous, so as to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”

 

While a different word is used than “restore”/apokathistēmi we can see synonym – “turn back” (epistrephō – 1994) – has the same application. 

• Strong – to revert (literally, figuratively or morally).

 

To return and to restore was the work of Jesus’ forerunner.  John prepared people for the future by turning them back to the past.  How’s that for a paradox!  So let’s ask the question, was the restoration that John the Baptist accomplished physical or spiritual?  Spiritual.  If it was spiritual, and his main message was “Repent for the kingdom of God is at hand,” then could we say that John’s work was to restore the people of Israel for the kingdom?  Seeing John’s work as restoration involving Israel and a kingdom, then maybe we can grant the possibility that when the apostles’ ask, ““Lord, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?” (Acts 1:6) that their concept was also spiritual…just like John’s.

 

That same Greek word (apokathistēmi) of John the Baptist in Mt.17:11; Mk.9:12 is the same word used in the LXX in the prophecy of John the Baptist found in Malachi 4:6:

“He will restore the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers, so that I will not come and smite the land with a curse.”

 

That again is more evidence especially since Luke 1:17 is a quote from Malachi 4:6, that restore can accurately describe John’s work as a spiritual restoration.  The Hebrew word used to translate restore in Malachi 4:6 is shub (7725):

 

A primitive root; to turn back (hence, away) transitively or intransitively, literally or figuratively (not necessarily with the idea of return to the starting point); generally to retreat; often adverbially again (Strong)

 

Let’s see where else the word shub (7725) is used in the Old Testament in prophecy of the coming kingdom:

 

The Suffering Servant of Isaiah was prophesied to restore:

 

Isaiah 49:5-6 – And now says the LORD, who formed Me from the womb to be His Servant, To bring Jacob back to Him, so that Israel might be gathered to Him (For I am honored in the sight of the LORD, And My God is My strength),  (6)  He says, “It is too small a thing that You should be My Servant To raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserved ones of Israel; I will also make You a light of the nations So that My salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”

 

Was this restoration spiritual or physical and political?  Spiritual.

 

In Isaiah 52:8, we again have the word “restore/shub.”

 

Isaiah 52:8 – Listen! Your watchmen lift up their voices, They shout joyfully together; For they will see with their own eyes When the LORD restores Zion.

 

Paul quotes Isaiah 52:7 in Romans 10:15 which is about preaching the good tidings or the gospel.  The next chapter of Isaiah is the famous 53^rd chapter describing the Suffering Servant.

 

Was this restoration spiritual or physical and political?  Spiritual.

 

Hosea 3:4-5 – For the sons of Israel will remain for many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or sacred pillar and without ephod or household idols.  (5)  Afterward the sons of Israel will return and seek the LORD their God and David their king; and they will come trembling to the LORD and to His goodness in the last days.

 

Returning to spiritual roots is a restoration.  That is the concept behind, “repent for the kingdom of God is at hand.”

 

Joel 3:1 – “For behold, in those days and at that time, When I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem,

 

“Those days” are the days Peter quotes about in Acts 2 from Joel 2.  We all agree that Joel 2 was fulfilled in Acts 2, and Joel 3 speaks of those days as a restoration.

 

Here’s the paradox – can something be restored and yet be brand new?  Yes, if the restoration is back to the original purified intent!

 

2 Kings 5:14 – So he went down and dipped himself seven times in the Jordan, according to the word of the man of God; and his flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child and he was clean.

 

What the apostles asked about was not a former kingdom that was a physical, political, military kingdom.  No, they asked about a different type of kingdom, a kingdom of priests and a holy nation (Exodus 19:6; 1 Peter 2:5, 9).

 

3^rd Objection – Because the apostles said the kingdom would be restored back to ISRAEL.

 

If the apostles meant physical Israel with its borders, Levitical priesthood, temple worship, and genealogical lineages, then this objection would make sense.  But what if the apostles’ understanding was even deeper than we think?  Maybe they not only understood the spiritual nature of Jesus’ kingdom, but also the reprobate state of the Israelite nation!  Maybe they understood that the Israel of the first century was not the true Israel of God.  Maybe they meant spiritual Israel!

 

Would that change the question? 

 

How is the word Israel used in the Old Testament?  There are several uses:

• Israel the Man – Genesis 32:28 – He said, “Your name shall no longer be Jacob, but Israel; for you have striven with God and with men and have prevailed.”
• Israel the Physical Nation – Joshua 3:12 – “Now then, take for yourselves twelve men from the tribes of Israel, one man for each tribe.
• Israel the United Kingdom – 1 Kings 4:1 – Now King Solomon was king over all Israel.
• Israel the Northern Kingdom – 1 Kings 12:19 – So Israel has been in rebellion against the house of David to this day.
• Israel the Spiritual Nation – Jeremiah 33:17 – “For thus says the LORD, ‘David shall never lack a man to sit on the throne of the house of Israel;

 

We see this concept of a spiritual Israel in Jeremiah 31:33-34 which is quoted in Hebrews 8:10-12:

“But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” declares the LORD, “I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.  (34)  “They will not teach again, each man his neighbor and each man his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them,” declares the LORD, “for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.”

 

Paul is very explicit in defining spiritual Israel in Romans 9:6-8:

But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For they are not all Israel who are descended from Israel;  (7)  nor are they all children because they are Abraham’s descendants, but: “THROUGH ISAAC YOUR DESCENDANTS WILL BE NAMED.”  (8)  That is, it is not the children of the flesh who are children of God, but the children of the promise are regarded as descendants.

 

Again and again we see in the New Testament that within physical Israel there was a spiritual Israel, a remnant within the remnant.

 

• Matthew 2:6 – ‘AND YOU, BETHLEHEM, LAND OF JUDAH, ARE BY NO MEANS LEAST AMONG THE LEADERS OF JUDAH; FOR OUT OF YOU SHALL COME FORTH A RULER WHO WILL SHEPHERD MY PEOPLE ISRAEL.'”

 

• Matthew 19:28 – And Jesus said to them, “Truly I say to you, that you who have followed Me, in the regeneration when the Son of Man will sit on His glorious throne, you also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

 

• John 1:47-49 – Jesus saw Nathanael coming to Him, and *said of him, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!”  (48)  Nathanael *said to Him, “How do You know me?” Jesus answered and said to him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.”  (49)  Nathanael answered Him, “Rabbi, You are the Son of God; You are the King of Israel.”

 

• Acts 5:31 – “He is the one whom God exalted to His right hand as a Prince and a Savior, to grant repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins.

 

• Acts 13:23 – “From the descendants of this man, according to promise, God has brought to Israel a Savior, Jesus,

 

• Acts 28:20 – “For this reason, therefore, I requested to see you and to speak with you, for I am wearing this chain for the sake of the hope of Israel.”

 

• Romans 11:26-27 – and so all Israel will be saved; just as it is written, “THE DELIVERER WILL COME FROM ZION, HE WILL REMOVE UNGODLINESS FROM JACOB.”  (27)  “THIS IS MY COVENANT WITH THEM, WHEN I TAKE AWAY THEIR SINS.”

 

In line with the concept of a restoration, a kingdom and Israel, I submit another line of scriptures.  Just as John the Baptist was Elijah in a work of restoration, Jesus is the restored “David” the King of Israel.

 

• Isaiah 9:7 – There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace, On the throne of David and over his kingdom, To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness From then on and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will accomplish this.

 

• Isaiah 16:5 – A throne will even be established in lovingkindness, And a judge will sit on it in faithfulness in the tent of David; Moreover, he will seek justice And be prompt in righteousness.

 

• Jeremiah 23:5-6 – “Behold, the days are coming,” declares the LORD, “When I will raise up for David a righteous Branch; And He will reign as king and act wisely And do justice and righteousness in the land.  (6)  “In His days Judah will be saved, And Israel will dwell securely; And this is His name by which He will be called, ‘The LORD our righteousness.’

 

• Jeremiah 30:9 – ‘But they shall serve the LORD their God and David their king, whom I will raise up for them. 

 

• Ezekiel 34:23-24 – “Then I will set over them one shepherd, My servant David, and he will feed them; he will feed them himself and be their shepherd.  (24)  “And I, the LORD, will be their God, and My servant David will be prince among them; I the LORD have spoken.

 

• Hosea 3:5 – Afterward the sons of Israel will return and seek the LORD their God and David their king; and they will come trembling to the LORD and to His goodness in the last days.

 

There are many other scriptures in the Old Testament claiming the same thing.  In the New Testament the same truth is taught again. 

 

• Luke 1:32-33 – “He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David;  (33)  and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end.”

 

In fact admitted before Pilate what the Old Testament taught concerning Him:

 

• Matthew 27:11 – Now Jesus stood before the governor, and the governor questioned Him, saying, “Are You the King of the Jews?” And Jesus said to him, “It is as you say.”

 

Jesus is King of Spiritual Israel, and in the words of Paul, For neither is circumcision anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation.  And those who will walk by this rule, peace and mercy be upon them, and upon the Israel of God (Galatians 6:15-16).

 

Did you notice Paul didn’t say, “the God of Israel,” but rather the Israel of God.  We are the Israel of God.

 

May I suggest a possible reason why we have a difficult time understanding that Jesus restored the kingdom to Israel in a spiritual sense?  Could it be because we as Gentiles fail to emphasize the Jewish nature of the kingdom fulfilled, with Jesus sitting on David’s throne in heaven?  Could it also be that we are unfamiliar with the language of the prophets?  That’s what the apostles used, the language of the prophets.  If we are not acquainted with such, how can we understand the question of the apostles?

 

We have spent a good deal of time trying to answer the objections.  You will have to decide how successful our study has been. As we said in the beginning, most look at the past misunderstandings of the apostles and don’t see any evidence of a spiritual awakening.  I believe there is much that can lean us towards a softer view on the apostles’ spiritual immaturity.  Let’s approach the rest of the study not from a negative standpoint of answering objections, but positively.  Why should we believe the apostles had grown spiritually enough to see the true nature of the kingdom?

 

First, the apostles had just witnessed the most earth shattering miracle – literally (Mt.27:51; 28:2) – Jesus’ death and resurrection.  Isn’t it somewhat cynical, possibly even hypocritical, of us to expect the mere fact of the death, burial and resurrection – which is the central theme of the apostle’s teaching in Acts – to cure the unbeliever of his erroneous belief; and yet then doubt and deny that this same powerful resurrection could not alter the view of the apostles’ carnal attitude of the kingdom?  That was a long sentence, so feel free to read it again. After all, if the resurrection had enough influence to convert the brothers of Jesus (1:14), it had enough power to convert the thinking of the apostles.

 

Second, the book of Acts begins with,

Acts 1:3 – To these He also presented Himself alive after His suffering, by many convincing proofs, appearing to them over a period of forty days and speaking of the things concerning the kingdom of God.

 

Just because Jesus spoke about the kingdom before His death and resurrection and the apostles did not understand should not mean that we automatically assume that they continued to misunderstand afterwards.  They had witnessed the resurrection, witnessed many convincing proofs, seen Jesus for 40 days, and then studied with Him again concerning the kingdom.  Why should we not assume that the apostles had finally “got it?”  If it took divine inspiration to change the apostles’ minds, then why should we expect to understand without it?

 

Let’s remember that the events of Acts 1 down to the ascension are the same time-frame as recorded in the last chapters of the gospel accounts.  Let’s look at what Luke records:

 

• Luke 24:44-51 – Now He said to them, “These are My words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things which are written about Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.”  (45)  Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures,  (46)  and He said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ would suffer and rise again from the dead the third day,  (47)  and that repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem.  (48)  “You are witnesses of these things.  (49)  “And behold, I am sending forth the promise of My Father upon you; but you are to stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.”  (50)  And He led them out as far as Bethany, and He lifted up His hands and blessed them.  (51)  While He was blessing them, He parted from them and was carried up into heaven.

 

The key verse is v.45 – He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures.  Now compare that to the first few verses of Acts 1:

 

• Acts 1:1-9  The first account I composed, Theophilus, about all that Jesus began to do and teach,  (2)  until the day when He was taken up to heaven, after He had by the Holy Spirit given orders to the apostles whom He had chosen.  (3)  To these He also presented Himself alive after His suffering, by many convincing proofs, appearing to them over a period of forty days and speaking of the things concerning the kingdom of God.  (4)  Gathering them together, He commanded them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for what the Father had promised, “Which,” He said, “you heard of from Me;  (5)  for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”  (6)  So when they had come together, they were asking Him, saying, “Lord, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?”  (7)  He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority;  (8)  but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”  (9)  And after He had said these things, He was lifted up while they were looking on, and a cloud received Him out of their sight.

 

Are we to assume that after Jesus opened their minds to understand all things which are written about Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms (Lk.24:44), that their understanding of the kingdom was still carnal? 

 

Third, Jesus did not rebuke the apostles for their supposedly incorrect and carnal understanding of the kingdom.  In fact, Jesus affirms that God will restore the kingdom by simply telling the apostles that the timing is God’s business.

 

Acts 1:7-8 – He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority; (8) but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”

 

Jesus did not answer the “when” of the apostles’ question.  But look at the answer a little more closely and I think we see that Jesus affirmed the reality of restoring the kingdom.  Jesus does not condemn the question of restoring the kingdom, just tells the apostles that the timing is the Father’s.  The timing for what?  The restoration of the kingdom to Israel.  In other words, if we compare the question of the apostles and the answer that Jesus gave, we could rephrase it to say, “It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority to restore the kingdom to Israel.”  

 

Fourth, Peter’s sermons: in Peter’s very first sermon he preaches the restoration of the kingdom by asserting Jesus sits on David’s throne: 

 

• Acts 2:29-30 – “Brethren, I may confidently say to you regarding the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day.  (30)  “And so, because he was a prophet and knew that GOD HAD SWORN TO HIM WITH AN OATH TO SEAT one OF HIS DESCENDANTS ON HIS THRONE,

 

While this is rightfully understood to be a spiritual throne, it is still preached as David’s throne.  And since Jesus Himself used the word restore to apply to the work of John the Baptist, it cannot be automatically assumed it can only be used in reference to a physical restoration.  Also, in Peter’s second sermon he calls this current period of biblical history a “restoration (apokatastasis (605) from apokathistano (600)) of all things” (3:21).

 

• Acts 3:21 – 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.

 

Likewise, Jesus Himself called this current period of history a regeneration/palingenseia (3824) in Mt.19:28.  These passages (Mt.19:28; Acts 3:21) do not refer to the “Second Advent” and a premillennial kingdom, but what is occurring now.  While someone might correctly assert these words and thoughts of Peter were via inspiration, there is still plenty of evidence to suggest Peter understood the nature of the kingdom, even if he did not understand all the ramifications of the citizens of the kingdom (Acts 2:39; Acts 10:34-35).

 

Finally, it is my opinion that many surmise that the apostles believed in a physical restoration because they themselves have a slightly erroneous view of the O.T. Kingdom of Israel.  They view it as a physical kingdom – only.  This is in error.  Read the book of Romans.  Paul constantly asserts that even in the O.T. times, the true Israelites were not physical descendants of Abraham, but rather children through faith.  That is spiritual (Romans 4; Romans9).

 

The apostles were right – Jesus restored the kingdom.

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This entry was posted by PHall on Tuesday, September 15th, 2009 at 6:23 pm and is filed under Matthew, Mark, Acts, Romans, Joel, Downloads. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.