(ACT 1:6-8, 1TH 5:1-11, EPH 5:15-17) The war in which we fight will end one day soon. It is important for us to understand that. The study of prophecy and future things is designed to give us hope for the future and perspective for the present. If we are confused about the plan of God and how it works its way out, and about His timetable for human history, then we will be disoriented in day-to-day life. We have to maintain balance, being careful not to be so focused on the future that we lose sight of today or so distracted by today that we forget why we are here and where we are going. And so when they had come together, they were asking Him, saying, Lord, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel? He said to them, It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority; but you shall 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. (ACT 2:6-8) This exchange took place between the resurrection and the ascension of Christ. The imperfect tense in the phrase they were asking Him, indicates that the disciples kept asking Jesus this same question over and over again. At this time is literally at this age. The word translated age, chronos, from which we get chronology, is one of four Greek words for time. The disciples understand something about dispensations, and they are thinking about the chronology of events. They see that the cross was followed by the burial and resurrection, and now Christ has been with them for almost 40 days, and what they are saying is this: In light of the fact that You have gone to the cross, paid for our sins, and provided salvation, are You now—in light of that chronology—going to restore the kingdom to Israel? Restore means to return to a former state. The disciples are referring to the Old Testament promises declaring that Messiah will establish a kingdom that will never be shaken. They have in mind the Davidic Covenant of 2SA 7:10-16 where an eternal kingdom, an eternal throne, and an eternal posterity were promised to David. They are ready for Jesus—who they obviously know is the promised Messiah—to overthrow the Romans and set up that kingdom on earth now. But there is a flaw in their thinking. The disciples have not picked up on the fact that for the last 40 days Jesus has been talking not about the kingdom of Israel, but about the kingdom of God (ACT 1:3). The two are not the same. The Son of David had come and offered Himself to the Jews as Messiah, as their king, but they had rejected Him (MAT 23:39). The establishment of the kingdom of Israel would now be postponed, as God initiated something totally unexpected. The prophecies of Daniel had implied that there would be some sort of break in the chronology of Israels history, that there would be a period of time between a first and second coming of Messiah (DAN 9:2). That period of time is the Church Age, during which the kingdom of God is being established. This kingdom, which Jesus had begun to introduce in the Upper Room Discourse, was what He had been trying to tell the disciples about since His resurrection. It is a spiritual kingdom, one that we enter the instant we place faith in Jesus Christ—as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God (JOH 1:12). Therefore, Paul would later explain, if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold new things have come (2CO 5:17). In response to the disciples questions about the restoration of the kingdom of Israel, Jesus uses the emphatic negative to tell them that it is absolutely not for them to know the times and the epochs which the Father has fixed. The word translated fixed, tithemi, refers to something that has been set down in concrete. God has set down in concrete the plan of human history; He has fixed it by His own authority. God has a blueprint for history, but Jesus tells His men that they do not need to concern themselves about that right now. What they need to focus on is the fact that they will soon receive the power of the Holy Spirit. From Acts 2, we know that at Pentecost the Holy Spirit descended and took up residence in every believer in the Lord Jesus Christ. A new age had begun. Now as to the times and the epochs, brethren, you have no need of anything to be written to you. For you yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night. While they are saying, Peace and safety! then destruction will come upon them suddenly like birth pangs upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. But you, brethren, are not in darkness, that the day should overtake you like a thief, for you are all sons of light and sons of day. We are not of night nor of darkness; so then let us not sleep as others do, but let us be alert and sober. For those who sleep do their sleeping at night, and those who get drunk get drunk at night. But since we are of the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet, the hope of salvation. For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, that whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with Him. Therefore encourage one another, and build up one another, just as you also are doing. (1TH 5:1-11)
Posted on: Fri, 07 Mar 2014 12:06:31 +0000
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