Two relatively recent books have totally destroyed the myth that Dispensaionalism began in the nineteenth century with the teachings of John Nelson Darby.
The first of these books to appear was "Dispensationalism Before Darby," by the late William C. Watson, which conclusively proved that the central concepts of Dispensationalism were being widely taught in the 1600s and 1700s, long before Darby's birth in 1800.
Soon after this was published came "Ancient Dispensational Truth," by James C. Morris (me,) which conclusively proved that these same concepts were taught throughout the first few centuries of the church.
Specifically, as to the question of a restoration of Israel, My book quotes the following:
Hippolytus wrote:
“Thus, then, does the prophet set forth these things concerning the Antichrist, who shall be shameless, a war-maker, and despot, who, exalting himself above all kings and above every god, shall build the city of Jerusalem, and restore the sanctuary.” (“On Daniel,” by Hippolytus, part 2, paragraph 39, from “The Early Church Fathers: Ante-Nicene Fathers,” vol. 5, ed. by Alexander Roberts and James Donaldson, as found in its American edition ed. by A. Cleveland Coxe.)
And Cyril of Jerusalem wrote:
“13. Now these things we teach, not of our own invention, but having learned them out of the divine Scriptures used in the Church, and chiefly from the prophecy of Daniel just now read; as Gabriel also the Archangel interpreted it, speaking thus: The fourth beast shall be a fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall surpass all kingdoms. And that this kingdom is that of the Romans, has been the tradition of the Church’s interpreters...
“15. And again he says, Who opposeth and exalteth himself against all that is called God, or that is worshipped; (against every God; Antichrist forsooth will abhor the idols,) so that he seateth himself in the temple of God. What temple then? He means, the Temple of the Jews which has been destroyed. For God forbid that it should be the one in which we are! Why say we this? That we may not be supposed to favour ourselves. For if he comes to the Jews as Christ, and desires to be worshipped by the Jews, he will make great account of the Temple, that he may more completely beguile them; making it supposed that he is the man of the race of David, who shall build up the Temple which was erected by Solomon. And Antichrist will come at the time when there shall not be left one stone upon another in the Temple of the Jews, according to the doom pronounced by our Saviour..." (“The Catechetical Lectures of our Holy Father, Cyril, Archbishop of Jerusalem,” by Cyril of Jerusalem, Lecture XV - “On the Clause, And Shall Come in Glory to Judge the Quick and the Dead; Of Whose Kingdom There Shall Be No End,” paragraphs 13, 15, from “Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, second series, vol. 7, ed. Philip Schaff, D.D., LL.D. and Henry Wace, D.D.)
Hilary of Poitiers wrote:
“Remember, God the Father set the day within His authority, that it might not come to the knowledge of man, and the Son, when asked before, replied that He did not know, but now, no longer denying His knowledge, replies that it is theirs not to know, for the Father has set the times not in His own knowledge, but in His own authority. The day and the moment are included in the word ‘times’: can it be, then, that He, Who was to restore Israel to its kingdom, did not Himself know the day and the moment of that restoration?" (“On the Trinity,” by Hilary of Poitiers, book IX, paragraph 75, from “Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, second series, vol. 7, ed. Philip Schaff, D.D., LL.D. and Henry Wace, D.D.)
And even as late as the fifth century, Augustin wrote:
"It is a familiar theme in the conversation and heart of the faithful, that in the last days before the judgment the Jews shall believe in the true Christ, that is, our Christ, by means of this great and admirable prophet Elias who shall expound the law to them. For not without reason do we hope that before the coming of our Judge and Saviour Elias shall come, because we have good reason to believe that he is now alive; for, as Scripture most distinctly informs us, he was taken up from this life in a chariot of fire. When, therefore, he is come, he shall give a spiritual explanation of the law which the Jews at present understand carnally, and shall thus ‘turn the heart of the father to the son,’ that is, the heart of fathers to their children; for the Septuagint translators have frequently put the singular for the plural number. And the meaning is, that the sons, that is, the Jews, shall understand the law as the fathers, that is, the prophets, and among them Moses himself, understood it." (“The City of God,” by Augustin, translated by Rev. Marcus Dods, D.D., book XX, chapter 29, from “Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series, volume 1, ed. by Philip Schaff, D.D., LL.D.)
And as to the time shortly after the publication of the King James Version of thr Bible first made Bibles widely available in England, William Lowth. who was boorn in 1661, just 50 years after he first publication of the KJV Bible, wrote concerning Ezekiel 28:25:
“When 1 shall have gathered the House of Israel from among the people among whom they were scattered, &c.] This, if we follow the literal Sense of the Words, is a plain Prophecy of the general Restoration of the Jews and their Return into their own Land, as will appear, by comparing the Words with the Parallel Texts in this Prophet, via,. Chap. xi. 17. xx. 38, 41. xxxiv. 13. xxxvi. 24. xxxvii. 12, 14, 21, 25. xxxix. 27. and the Rules laid down concerning the Division of the Land among the Twelve Tribes, Chap, xlvii, and xlviii, do very much favour this Interpretation. Compare Isa. Ixv. 9, 10. Jer. xxx. 18. xxxii. 41. in which Prediction most of the other Prophets agree with him: See the Note on Isa. xi. 11.” (
“Commentary Upon the Prophet Ezekiel,” by William Lowth, pub. by W. Mears, London, 1723, 1728 ed, Pp. 232-233, available online at:
www.globalgreyebooks.co.uk/commentary-upon-the-prophet-ezekiel/)