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Israel Restored

What is the interpretation of Acts 1:6?

Here is the verse:

"When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?" (Acts 1:6)

Jesus came as and is the Jewish Messiah. The Jewish apostles had every reason to believe that He would restore the kingdom to Israel and establish Jerusalem as the capital of the world. Many Old Testament scriptures promised this blessing. Just consider this one passage:

Isaiah 2:2 And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the LORD'S house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it.
3 And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
4 And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.

Jesus did not scold the apostles for asking such a question. Neither did He tell them that Israel would not be receiving a kingdom. Rather, He told them that it was not for them "to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power" (Acts 1:7). That is, the kingdom would come but they would not be told when it would happen.

We still do not know when the kingdom will come for Israel, but we know it will come. The time it comes is called the kingdom age or the millennium. The book of Revelation teaches that it will be the time when Christ shall reign a thousand years on the earth (Revelation 19:1-5). Paul in the book of Romans refers to the forgiveness and restoration of Israel that will come when the fulness of the Gentiles is come in (Romans 11:25-27). Thank the Lord that He always keeps His promises. Since He will keep all His promises to the Jewish people, I can rest assured that He will keep His promises to me.