Here's How Peter Saw the End...

[ebedmelech]

When Peter preached his second sermon in Acts 3, in verses 17-26, he encapsulates what the end will be.

As he informs the Jews that he realizes they crucified Christ in ignorance, he tells them these things were in God's prophetic plan. Acts 3:17, 18:

17“And now, brethren, I know that you acted in ignorance, just as your rulers did also.
18 But the things which God announced beforehand by the mouth of all the prophets, that His Christ would suffer, He has thus fulfilled.

Now Peter speaks the salvation message and the return of Christ...Acts 3:19, 20:
19 Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord;
20 and that He may send Jesus, the Christ appointed for you,
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.

The "period of restoration" is not the restoration of Jerusalem/Israel...it is the restoration of ALL THINGS...which is uttered in Revelation 21:5:
5 And He who sits on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.”

Peter now turns to Moses prophecy of Deuteronomy 18:18,19 in Acts 3:22-23:
22 Moses said, ‘The Lord God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brethren; to Him you shall give heed to everything He says to you.
23 And it will be that every soul that does not heed that prophet shall be utterly destroyed from among the people.’

Next, Peter tells us that from Samuel, as well as all other OT Prophets...Acts 3:24-26:
24 And likewise, all the prophets who have spoken, from Samuel and his successors onward, also announced these days.
25 It is you who are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant which God made with your fathers, saying to Abraham, ‘And in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed.’
26 For you first, God raised up His Servant and sent Him to bless you by turning every one of you from your wicked ways.”

In this....we can see that it is in accordance with what Jesus told the apostles in Acts 1:8
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.”

This was the way the gospel was given. The book of Acts confirms this:

*The apostles started in Jerusalem and they remained there until the stoning of Stephen in Acts 7.

*In Acts 8:1 the church is scattered into Samaria and Judea:
Saul was in hearty agreement with putting him to death. And on that day a great persecution began against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles.

*The gospel remains in that region until Acts 13, where the Holy Spirit sets apart Paul and Barnabus to preach the gospel to other regions beyond Judea and Samaria. This is the gospel going unto the ends of the earth...and it still is.

The "bone of contention" is that many believe Israel will be restored again...why does Peter not mention that?

 

[Biblewriter]

The restoration of all things spoken of by Peter includes the restoration of Israel.

In Ezekiel 16:53-55 the Lord says “When I bring back their captives, the captives of Sodom and her daughters, and the captives of Samaria and her daughters, then I will also bring back the captives of your captivity among them, that you may bear your own shame and be disgraced by all that you did when you comforted them. When your sisters, Sodom and her daughters, return to their former state, and Samaria and her daughters return to their former state, then you and your daughters will return to your former state.”

We read again of Egypt and Assyria, “And the LORD will strike Egypt, He will strike and heal it; they will return to the LORD, and He will be entreated by them and heal them. In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrian will come into Egypt and the Egyptian into Assyria, and the Egyptians will serve with the Assyrians. In that day Israel will be one of three with Egypt and Assyria; a blessing in the midst of the land.” (Isaiah 19:22-24)

And again of the restoration of Moab, Ammon, and Elam: “‘Yet I will bring back the captives of Moab In the latter days,’ says the Lord.” (Jeremiah 48:47) “‘But afterward I will bring back The captives of the people of Ammon,’ says the Lord.” (Jeremiah 49:6) “‘But it shall come to pass in the latter days: I will bring back the captives of Elam,’ says the Lord.” (Jeremiah 49:39)

The building of a new temple is distinctly prophesied in words too plain to misunderstand. In Zechariah 6:12-13 we read, “Behold, the Man whose name is the BRANCH! From His place He shall branch out, And He shall build the temple of the LORD; Yes, He shall build the temple of the LORD. He shall bear the glory, And shall sit and rule on His throne; So He shall be a priest on His throne, And the counsel of peace shall be between them both.”

In Ezekiel 40 through 42, the prophet was shown a vision of a temple, in which a man with a measuring line took him everywhere, measuring all the details of a temple unlike anything that has ever been built. Finally, in chapter 43, Ezekiel was told, “Son of man, this is the place of My throne and the place of the soles of My feet, where I will dwell in the midst of the children of Israel forever. No more shall the house of Israel defile My holy name, they nor their kings, by their harlotry or with the carcasses of their kings on their high places.” (Ezekiel 43:7)

In Ezekiel 47, the prophet was shown a river flowing from the temple of God. His informer then told him:

“This water flows toward the eastern region, goes down into the valley, and enters the sea. When it reaches the sea, its waters are healed. And it shall be that every living thing that moves, wherever the rivers go, will live. There will be a very great multitude of fish, because these waters go there; for they will be healed, and everything will live wherever the river goes. It shall be that fishermen will stand by it from En Gedi to En Eglaim; they will be places for spreading their nets. Their fish will be of the same kinds as the fish of the Great Sea, exceedingly many. But its swamps and marshes will not be healed; they will be given over to salt. Along the bank of the river, on this side and that, will grow all kinds of trees used for food; their leaves will not wither, and their fruit will not fail. They will bear fruit every month, because their water flows from the sanctuary. Their fruit will be for food, and their leaves for medicine.” (Ezekiel 47:8-12) Again, We read of this river again in Revelation 22:1-3, "And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him:"

Again, we read that “And it shall come to pass that everyone who is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to keep the Feast of Tabernacles. And it shall be that whichever of the families of the earth do not come up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, on them there will be no rain. If the family of Egypt will not come up and enter in, they shall have no rain; they shall receive the plague with which the LORD strikes the nations who do not come up to keep the Feast of Tabernacles. This shall be the punishment of Egypt and the punishment of all the nations that do not come up to keep the Feast of Tabernacles.” (Zechariah 14:16-19)

Again, “Peoples shall yet come, Inhabitants of many cities; The inhabitants of one city shall go to another, saying, ‘Let us continue to go and pray before the LORD, And seek the LORD of hosts. I myself will go also.’ Yes, many peoples and strong nations Shall come to seek the LORD of hosts in Jerusalem, And to pray before the LORD.” (Zechariah 8:20-22)

Like the river from the temple, the blessing of this age, though centered in Jerusalem, flows out to the whole world. We are told concerning Israel that “if their being cast away is the reconciling of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead?” (Romans 11:15) So we read of this day that “there shall be no more curse.” (Revelation 22:3) This refers to Genesis 3:17, where the Lord told Adam, “Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat of it’: Cursed is the ground for your sake; In toil you shall eat of it All the days of your life.”

We see this again in Romans 8:19, where we read that “the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God.” The blessings of this wonderful day are described in glowing terms such as:

“The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, The leopard shall lie down with the young goat, The calf and the young lion and the fatling together; And a little child shall lead them. The cow and the bear shall graze; Their young ones shall lie down together; And the lion shall eat straw like the ox. The nursing child shall play by the cobra's hole, And the weaned child shall put his hand in the viper's den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain, For the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD As the waters cover the sea.” (Isaiah 11:6-9)

“‘No more shall an infant from there live but a few days, Nor an old man who has not fulfilled his days; For the child shall die one hundred years old, But the sinner being one hundred years old shall be accursed. They shall build houses and inhabit them; They shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit. They shall not build and another inhabit; They shall not plant and another eat; For as the days of a tree, so shall be the days of My people, And My elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands. They shall not labor in vain, Nor bring forth children for trouble; For they shall be the descendants of the blessed of the LORD, And their offspring with them. It shall come to pass That before they call, I will answer; And while they are still speaking, I will hear. The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, The lion shall eat straw like the ox, And dust shall be the serpent's food. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain,’ Says the LORD.” (Isaiah 65:20-25)

Finally, we read of this day that “They shall beat their swords into plowshares, And their spears into pruning hooks; Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, Neither shall they learn war anymore.” (Isaiah 2:4) This is so important it is repeated in Micah 4:3.

Denial of all this requires either extreme ignorance of the scriptures of hardened refusal to believe what they so plainly say. Neither Jesus nor Peter or Paul or any other apostle denied that even one of these things would eventually take place.

 

[ebedmelech]

No Biblewriter. The restoration of all things is ALL THINGS..not Israel.

Again you are taking fulfilled prophecy and pushing it into the future. Starting with your Ezekiel passage.

Romans 8 is clearly speaking of the restoreation of creation and the revealing of the "Sons of God" is all believers.

I cannot agree with you...especially when Israel isn't even mentioned..."the creation" is all in view.

Finally I already know you don't accept the church as the "Israel of God", therefore you will keep missing it.

 

[Biblewriter]

No Biblewriter. The restoration of all things is ALL THINGS..not Israel.

"ALL THINGS" must, by definition, include Israel.

Again you are taking fulfilled prophecy and pushing it into the future. Starting with your Ezekiel passage.

To claim these prophecies have been fulfilled strains credulity.

Romans 8 is clearly speaking of the restoreation of creation and the revealing of the "Sons of God" is all believers.

I cannot agree with you...especially when Israel isn't even mentioned..."the creation" is all in view.

Finally I already know you don't accept the church as the "Israel of God", therefore you will keep missing it.

Just show us where the scrptures ever, even once, say that the "Israel of God" is the "Church." You cannot, for this is pure interpretation, never stated in even one scripture anywhere.

 

[ebedmelech]

"ALL THINGS" must, by definition, include Israel.

No. It doesn't mean Israel. The restoration is the removal of the curse of sin from creation. When the heavens and the earth were created there were no countries, and there will be none in the restoration of all things

To claim these prophecies have been fulfilled strains credulity.

If one imposes on the scripture it does. The scripture determines what those prophecies mean.

Just show us where the scrptures ever, even once, say that the "Israel of God" is the "Church." You cannot, for this is pure interpretation, never stated in even one scripture anywhere.

What does Paul mean here in Epehsians 2:11-16
11 Therefore remember that formerly you, the Gentiles in the flesh, who are called “Uncircumcision” by the so-called “Circumcision,” which is performed in the flesh by human hands—
12 remember that you were at that time separate from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.
13 But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
14 For He Himself is our peace, who made both groups into one and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall,
15 by abolishing in His flesh the enmity, which is the Law of commandments contained in ordinances, so that in Himself He might make the two into one new man, thus establishing peace,
16 and might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, by it having put to death the enmity.

If Gentiles *were* excluded from the COMMONWEALTH OF ISRAEL, and God has made "BOTH INTO ONE NEW MAN"...there can only be ONE Israel that includes the Gentiles.

Work with that one...

 

[Biblewriter]

"ALL THINGS" must, by definition, include Israel.

No. It doesn't mean Israel. The restoration is the removal of the curse of sin from creation. When the heavens and the earth were created there were no countries, and there will be none in the restoration of all things

The scriptures I quoted explicitly say there will be nations at that time.

If one imposes on the scripture it does. The scripture determines what those prophecies mean.

Simply believeing what God said is not imposing on the scriptures. But imagining that they do not mean what they say is doing exactly that.

You claim that your interpretations of the meanings of a few New Testament passages are what the New Testament teaches. But interpretations of the meanings of scripture are not scripture.

You cannot show even one New Testament passage that even suggests that the Old Testament prophecies will not indeed be fulfilled exactly as written. All you can do is show passages that you interpret to mean that.

What does Paul mean here in Epehsians 2:11-16
11 Therefore remember that formerly you, the Gentiles in the flesh, who are called “Uncircumcision” by the so-called “Circumcision,” which is performed in the flesh by human hands—
12 remember that you were at that time separate from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.
13 But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
14 For He Himself is our peace, who made both groups into one and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall,
15 by abolishing in His flesh the enmity, which is the Law of commandments contained in ordinances, so that in Himself He might make the two into one new man, thus establishing peace,
16 and might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, by it having put to death the enmity.

If Gentiles *were* excluded from the COMMONWEALTH OF ISRAEL, and God has made "BOTH INTO ONE NEW MAN"...there can only be ONE Israel that includes the Gentiles.

Work with that one...

Even God cannot make Israel into Israel. That would be a contradiction of terms. He made Israel and the Gentimles into something that was neither Israel nor the gentiles. That one new man is the church, not Israel.

 

[ebedmelech]

The scriptures I quoted explicitly say there will be nations at that time.

Indeed they do...that you may know God is gracious towards all. As Paul writes "for there is no difference"...

Simply believeing what God said is not imposing on the scriptures. But imagining that they do not mean what they say is doing exactly that.

It is when your perspective is off the mark.

You claim that your interpretations of the meanings of a few New Testament passages are what the New Testament teaches. But interpretations of the meanings of scripture are not scripture.

I don't claim it...I demonstrate it. If you don't agree...it's ok.

You cannot show even one New Testament passage that even suggests that the Old Testament prophecies will not indeed be fulfilled exactly as written. All you can do is show passages that you interpret to mean that.

Even God cannot make Israel into Israel. That would be a contradiction of terms. He made Israel and the Gentimles into something that was neither Israel nor the gentiles. That one new man is the church, not Israel.

I used Ephesians 2 to demonstrate that...but I'll take it step further to Ephesians 3:1-7:
For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles—
2 if indeed you have heard of the stewardship of God’s grace which was given to me for you;
3that by revelation there was made known to me the mystery, as I wrote before in brief.
4By referring to this, when you read you can understand my insight into the mystery of Christ,
5which in other generations was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed to His holy apostles and prophets in the Spirit;
6to be specific, that the Gentiles are fellow heirs and fellow members of the body, and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel,
7 of which I was made a minister, according to the gift of God’s grace which was given to me according to the working of His power.

Paul is telling you that by God's revelation, he's making known how the prophets are to be understood because it was not made known before. So to understand the "Israel of God" one must acknowledge what the NT apostles tell you of how to understand OT prophecies.

 

[Interplanner]

The restoration of all things that Peter was talking about in Acts 3 was going on right then. This theme is brought up again in Acts 15 when Amos 9 was quoted.

As for exact fulfillments, I have to laugh. I can't imagine anything more inexact than Peter using Joel 2. Yet none of the partner apostles near him told him to knock it off.

I'm not at all interested in what some church guys thought 100 years later or so, but in the tracing the classes Jesus taught to the disciples from resurrection to enthronement. This is where the 2500 quotes and allusions come from. There is no interp. When Lev 23 and Dt 18 are used in Acts 3 to explain the disinheriting that is going to happen to many in Israel upon refusing the completed Gospel message, that's what it means. it is not interp. And eph 2-3 reflect the obverse of that same thought: why all of us share in all the technical terms of the covenants and the promises by faith in Jesus--by his work.

The new staff of the vineyard produce its fruit and that's all that matters anymore. Not whether some ancient prediction is out there about the staff coming back. fruit! Productivity! results for the kingdom!

 

[Interplanner]

I don't mean any confusion about Peter's restoration time; it certainly does sound future, and I'm sure that is what seems to lend it self to many other things than what he immediately turns his attention to. If he was talking about the distant future, why repend NOW and be blessed by Messiah now? That is a shredded reading of the passage to fit a system which has other organizational reasons than the ones here.

It needs to be noted that the terrific root 'logizo' which is used for imputation, and reckoning and crediting about the Gospel and the righteousness of Christ in it, is used here about the blessings for the nations. They are reckoned through the Seed. Ie, they are present for Peter. They are grace, forgivenss, justification, even if you have sinned as Israel has. Or Peter. Or David. Thatt is the absolutely clear statement that he is on the same page with Paul: it is the reality in Christ that is the new creation, the restoration, etc, which will one day become manifest totally. It is true in CHrist now, totally apart from anything happening in , by or through Israel, because the SEed is not the ethnos, but one, that is Christ. Gal 3:16.

 

[Choose Wisely]

Because their job, according to Jesus, was to preach to the Gentiles (all the world), and not to worry about when the Kingdom would be restored to Israel, as they obviously knew was prophesied.

Acts 1:6 Then they gathered around him and asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?”
7 He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

Matt 23:37 “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing. 38Look, your house is left to you desolate. 39 For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.

Nicely done Rick.

 

[Interplanner]

but these things have a context. Many, many times the disciples asked faulty questions. Just because they ask a question does not mean their assumptions were correct! The real answer to their question is how Acts unfolds; and at the end of 15 there is the restoration of David's tent, which is really the answer to this put in words--if we didn't see it from the events of Acts.

As for 'until you say, 'Blessed...' it's really the same thing. You're assuming they will! The purpose of the saying may very well be to show they won't. It is not a prediction. It is a restatement to any Jewish person that they need to do what others had done during the triumphal entry week: sing Ps 118 about Christ. That is how they see Messiah. Many, many would not. "The idea that Jesus of nazareth was the messiah we were expecting is completely unworkable." --Rabbi Prager.

 

[Interplanner]

re Rom 8 and the restoration of Acts 3. I have no idea why a futurist would think this lends itself to support a future retored Judaic state. It does exactly what EbedM is saying about the restoration: it is all things, but not Judaic things, ie, reaching back to what was lost in man's revolt from the beginning.