And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, ‘which,’ He said, ‘you have heard from Me; for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.’ Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, ‘Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?’ And He said to them, ‘It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority. But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.’1
. . . they asked Him . . . ‘Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?’ And He said to them, ‘It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority.’ (Acts 1:6-7)
If not . . .
Jesus | Pharisees |
---|---|
1. The [OT] Scriptures testify of Me... | |
2. “Where are you in the Scriptures?” | |
3. “In types and shadows.” | |
4. “How can anyone rightly interpret these types and shadows?” | |
5. “By the New Testament.” | |
6. “By the what?” | |
7. “It won’t be written for about 50 years, and won’t be widely available for longer than that, but you need the NT to rightly interpret the [OT] Scriptures.” | |
8. ?!?!?!?? . . . “So until we can read a copy of this NT I guess we can suspend judgment on your claim that the Scriptures testify of you?” |
To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne. (Rev. 3:21)
Attribute | Throne of David | Throne of God |
---|---|---|
Beginning | David’s lifetime (2S. 7:16-17) | eternity past (Ps. 93:1-2) |
Permanence | conditioned upon promises (2S. 7:16) | unconditional (Lam. 5:19) |
Who Sits Upon? | Numerous sinful kings of Judah | Jesus only (Ps. 110:1; Heb. 8:1; Heb. 12:2) |
Location | on earth, in Jerusalem (Jer. 3:17; 13:13; 17:25) | In heaven (1K. 22:19; 2Chr. 18:18; Ps. 103:19; Isa. 66:1) |
Called | David’s throne (Jer. 13:13), his throne (Ps. 89:29; Jer. 33:21), the throne of David (Jer. 17:25; Jer. 22:2,4,30) | God’s throne, My throne |
Presently Occupied? | unoccupied (Hos. 3:4; Mic. 4:9; Mat. 25:31; Rev. 3:21) | occupied by Jesus (Ps. 110:1; Mat. 22:44; Mark 16:19; Eph. 1:20; Col. 3:1; Rev. 3:21) |
We must attempt to stand in the shoes of the original recipients—as if we had no NT. How would it read to them? Is God misleading and deceiving in His communication?
Because of limited time, this portion of the presentation was taught in adult Sunday school prior to the main service.
Now when He was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, He answered them and said, “The kingdom of God does not come with observation; nor will they say, 'See here!' or 'See there!' For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you.” (KJV, NKJV)
Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight, so that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now My kingdom is not from here.” (John 18:36)
Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a nation bearing the fruits of it. (Mat. 21:43)
In our passage today, we see that Jesus does not correct the Apostle’s expectation of a restored Jewish kingdom. Instead, He merely indicates that God has a different program which intervenes between His ascension and return: proclamation of the gospel to all nations by the body of Christ.
Endnotes:
1. | NKJV, Acts 1:4-8 |
2. | Ref-0696, ad. loc. |
3. | Ref-0974, ad. loc. |
4. | Ref-0399, ad. loc. |
5. | Ref-0199, p. 23 |
6. | Dan Philips, Twenty Five Stupid Reasons for Dissing Dispensationalism. Biblical Christianity Blog, [http://bibchr.blogspot.com/2006/11/twenty-five-stupid-reasons-for-dissing.html] accessed 20130118. |
7. | Paul Henebury, Do We Need The New Testament To Understand The Old?. [http://drreluctant.wordpress.com/2011/10/04/do-we-need-the-new-testament-to-understand-the-old/] accessed 20121024. |
8. | See also https://spiritandtruth.org/teaching/Book_of_Revelation/commentary/htm/topics/millennium.htm. |
9. | “Several factors indicate that David's throne is separate and distinct from God's throne in heaven. First, several descendants of David have sat on his throne, but only one of his descendants ever sits on the right hand of God's throne in heaven. That descendant is Jesus Christ (Ps. 110:1; Heb. 8:1; Heb. 12:2). Second, David's throne was not established before his lifetime (2S. 7:16-17). By contrast, since God has always ruled over His creation, His throne in heaven was established long before David's throne (Ps. 93:1-2). Third, since God's throne in heaven was established long before David's throne and since God's throne was established forever (Lam. 5:19), then it was not necessary for God to promise to establish David's throne forever (2S. 7:16) if they are the same throne. Fourth, David's throne was on the earth, not in heaven. David and his descendants who sat on his throne exercised an earthly, ruling authority. They never exercised ruling authority in or from heaven. By contrast, as noted earlier, the Bible indicates that God's throne is in heaven. Fifth, the Bible's consistent description of David's throne indicates that it belongs to David. When God talked to David about his throne, God referred to it as ‘thy throne’ (2S. 7:16; Ps. 89:4; Ps. 132:12). When God mentioned David's throne to others, He referred to it as ‘his throne’ (Ps. 89:29; Jer. 33:21), ‘David's throne’ (Jer. 13:13), and ‘the throne of David’ (Jer. 17:25; Jer. 22:2, Jer. 22:4, Jer. 22:30). By contrast, the Scriptures’ consistent description of the throne in heaven indicates that it belongs to God the Father.” Ref-0057, Renald Showers, January/February 2001, p. 30 |
10. | Numerous passages from the OT could be mentioned, but I will focus on just a few key ones in the interest of time. |
11. | See Isa. 53; Dan. 9:26; Ps. 22. |
12. | Ref-1328, Luke 17:20-27 |
13. | “The statement that the kingdom is “among you” or “in your midst” suggests, not that the calculation of signs is contrasted with some future incursion of the kingdom, but that the kingdom has already come in Jesus. Some people, however, do not perceive it. Observation of signs cannot show whether the kingdom has come; as it is now at work, God’s rule can be grasped only by faith. The messianic expectations of the opponents of Jesus, who are demanding signs, are wholly inadequate in the face of what Jesus effects with his coming among the people.” Ref-1329, 1176 |
14. | “According to the standard NT Greek lexicon, the phrase 'not of this world' is indicating that Christ’s kingdom does not have its source in this world.” Ref-1308, pp. 101-102 |
15. | Ref-0627, #1620 |
16. | Ref-0055, Michael J. Vlach, Has the Church Replaced Israel in God's Plan? April 2000, pp. 20-21 |
17. | Ref-0785, Timothy L. Decker, Taken and Given: The Israelitish Judgment and Restoration Taught in Mat. 21:43 Volume 14 Number 43, December 2010, 23-44 |
18. | Influenced by a gnostic bias against the goodness of God’s material creation. |
Sources:
NKJV | Unless indicated otherwise, all Scripture references are from the New King James Version, copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. |
Ref-0055 | Mal O. Couch, ed., The Conservative Theological Journal (Fort Worth, TX: Tyndale Theological Seminary, n.d.). [www.tyndale.edu]. |
Ref-0057 | Israel My Glory (Friends of Israel Gospel Ministry) [www.foi.org]. See Isa. 46:13. |
Ref-0199 | John S. Feinberg, ed., Continuity And Discontinuity (Westchester, IL: Crossway Books, 1988). |
Ref-0399 | Henry, M. (1996, c1991). Matthew Henry's commentary on the whole Bible : Complete and unabridged in one volume. Peabody: Hendrickson. |
Ref-0627 | Throckmorton, B. H., & Throckmorton, B. H., Jr. (1997, c1992). Gospel Parallels-NRSV : A comparison of the Synoptic Gospels (electronic ed. of the 5th ed.). Nashville: Thomas Nelson. |
Ref-0696 | J. Calvin Calvin's Commentaries (Albany, OR: Ages Software, 1998). |
Ref-0785 | p. 42 |
Ref-0974 | Barnes, Barnes' Notes on the New Testament (n.p.: Word Search Corporation, 2007). |
Ref-1308 | Thomas A. Howe, Daniel In The Preterists' Den (Eugene, OR: Wipf and Stock, 2008). ISBN:978-1-55635-237-7c. |
Ref-1328 | Kenneth S. Wuest, The New Testament: An Expanded Translation (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1961). ISBN:0-8028-1229-5d. |
Ref-1329 | Gerhard Kittel, Gerhard Freidrich, Geoffrey William Bromiley, Theological Dictionary of the New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1985). |