What does this question mean? Acts 1:6

[BjorkIsCool]

Acts 1:6 So when the apostles were with Jesus, they kept asking him, “Lord, has the time come for you to free Israel and restore our kingdom?”

It was a valid question but what did it mean?

 

[ChristianSoldier85]

Acts 1:6 So when the apostles were with Jesus, they kept asking him, “Lord, has the time come for you to free Israel and restore our kingdom?”

It was a valid question but what did it mean?

Check out Isaiah 1:24-27 and Amos 9:11-15, they were asking if he was going to restore Israel under his Messianic rule.

 

[crishmael]

Acts 1:6 So when the apostles were with Jesus, they kept asking him, “Lord, has the time come for you to free Israel and restore our kingdom?”

It was a valid question but what did it mean?

Believing that Jesus was the promised deliverer, the Messiah of Israel, they wanted to know if he was now going to end Rome's brutal oppression of the Jewish people and restore the kingdom of David. Basically, are you going to set us free from Rome and become our king?

 

[BjorkIsCool]

Check out Isaiah 1:24-27 and Amos 9:11-15, they were asking if he was going to restore Israel under his Messianic rule.

So Jesus is definitely going to free Israel and rule as there king sometime in the future?

 

[BjorkIsCool]

Believing that Jesus was the promised deliverer, the Messiah of Israel, they wanted to know if he was now going to end Rome's brutal oppression of the Jewish people and restore the kingdom of David. Basically, are you going to set us free from Rome and become our king?

We all know that he didn't literally free them from Rome, restore the kingdom or become there king.

So as i said in my previous post, is Jesus definitely going to free Israel and rule as there king sometime in the future?

 

[crishmael]

We all know that he didn't literally free them from Rome, restore the kingdom or become there king.

So as i said in my previous post, is Jesus definitely going to free Israel and rule as there king sometime in the future?

I believe that he is going to return to not only free Israel but all people and all of creation and rule as king.

Then I saw "a new heaven and a new earth," for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Look! God's dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. 'He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death' or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away." Revelation 21:1-5 TNIV

Amen! Let it be so!

 

[BjorkIsCool]

Doesn't the 'our' in their question imply Israel and not the Universe?

Slight deviation, when it says 'new heaven and a new earth' do you think that's literal or figurative?

 

[crishmael]

Doesn't the 'our' in their question imply Israel and not the Universe?

Slight deviation, when it says 'new heaven and a new earth' do you think that's literal or figurative?

Yes, the our does mean just them. The early chapters of Acts shows the expansion of the message of Christ from the early Jewish believers in Jerusalem, then to other areas, then to the Samaritans who were ethnically mixed Jews who were generally despised (hence the story of "The Good Samaritan" in Luke), and then to Peter's visit to Cornelius the centurion in Acts 9 where the entire audience of non-Jews was converted. Christ was opening the eyes of his Jewish followers that this message of the kingdom of God that he preached was not just for one ethnic group, but for everyone!

As for the second question, I have to honestly say I am not at the point to give a definite answer one way or the other. This isn't to say that there is no firm answer in the Bible, but if there is, I am ignorant of it right now.

 

[BjorkIsCool]

Perchance i'm fabricating controversy over obliteration that is indeed harmonious.

6 So when the apostles were with Jesus, they kept asking him, “Lord, has the time come for you to free Israel and restore our kingdom?”
7 He replied, “The Father alone has the authority to set those dates and times, and they are not for you to know.

Jesus' answer verifies the validity of the question. Hence the kingdom of Israel will definitely be restored and even a date is set.

Furthermore if Israel/kingdom implies the whole world then that gives the word 'free' a different meaning as well.

 

[crishmael]

Perchance i'm fabricating controversy over obliteration that is indeed harmonious.

6 So when the apostles were with Jesus, they kept asking him, “Lord, has the time come for you to free Israel and restore our kingdom?”
7 He replied, “The Father alone has the authority to set those dates and times, and they are not for you to know.

Jesus' answer verifies the validity of the question. Hence the kingdom of Israel will definitely be restored and even a date is set.

Furthermore if Israel/kingdom implies the whole world then that gives the word 'free' a different meaning as well.

Yes, their question is valid. They were looking for God to keep the promises of a Messianic king that would liberate Israel from their oppressors. The thing is that this kingdom that will be set up is not going to be a kingdom of just one for ethnic group, or a group ruling over other peoples. The kingdom that Jesus is establishing and will at some definite point fully establish will be one that overthrows the old order of God being separate from humanity because of sin.

The disorder in the universe is what results in things like the suffering the Jews were experiencing under Rome. The disciples wanted this to end right then, and I certainly wouldn't blame them. However, Jesus answered their question by letting them know that though it was going to happen, when it would was not for them to know. Adding to the passage you posted, Jesus told them, "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." And as I pointed out earlier, their understanding of who this message was for was still skewed towards their own. And they obviously had much more they needed to learn about this message, this kingdom, and this Messiah they had been following. They were looking for an armed revolution, and that was not quite what Jesus had in mind. The time was not right and their understanding was limited. Other things still needed to be done before the kingdom would truly be established.

 

[OldWiseGuy]

All of Israel is still the chosen of God, not just the Jews. With the possible exception of Dan all the tribes will be present and near to Christ during his millenial rule:

Matthew 19:28
And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That ye which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.


Luke 22:30
That ye may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom, and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

Although the tribes of Israel will never again be a single nation they have not disappeared as many assume. Both Jacob (Israel) and Moses prophecied about their end-time fate, addressing them as individual groups/nations displaying unique characteristics.


Notice that the twelve apostles will rule (as kings on thrones) over the twelve individual tribes/nations of Israel. Thus Israel (the 'children of Jacob' as opposed to the 'nation of Israel') retains it's 'most favored nation(s)' status with God.

owg