The Times of Restoration

When are the “times of restoration” spoken of by the prophets, the Apostle Peter, and Jesus Christ? What is going to be restored? And when will it be restored?

After His resurrection, Jesus told His disciples of “the things pertaining to the kingdom of God” and instructed them to wait in Jerusalem for the promise of the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:3–4). The disciples asked Jesus if He would at that time restore the kingdom to Israel (v. 5). Jesus told them it was not for them to know when (v. 7).

First, consider the destruction that is prophesied to take place during the end times. Many use the word “Apocalypse” to mean “the destruction of the world described in the book of Revelation.” But the Greek word apokalypsis (G602) actually means a “disclosure of truth,” or “revelation.” The book of Revelation reveals destructive end-time events. However, it also tells of the return of Jesus Christ as conquering King to establish His reign over the entire world. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is the good news of mankind’s salvation and this coming millennial kingdom. Jesus will reign over all nations, bringing about the restoration “of all things.”

After Pentecost, Peter responded to the crowd’s inquiries, explaining who Jesus was and calling for them to repent and have their sins blotted out, “so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord” and “the times of restoration of all things, which God has spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began” (Acts 3). “Times of restoration” refers to an ancient prophetic message, recorded by the prophets of the Old Testament.

What did those prophets say about the times of restoration? The following are a very few of the many prophetic statements about the coming restoration:

• “‘They shall be carried to Babylon, and there they shall be until the day that I visit them,’ says the Lord. ‘Then I will bring them up and restore them to this place’” (Jeremiah 27:22).
• Instead of it being said that the Lord brought the children of Israel out of Egypt, it will then say, that the Lord brought the children of Israel “from the land of the north and from all the lands where He had driven them” and “bring them back into their land which I gave to their fathers” (Jeremiah 16:14–15).
• Modern day nations of “the lost sheep” of Israel will be brought back from captivity (the time of Jacob’s trouble) and “possess the land God gave them. They will serve the Lord their God, and David their king, whom I will raise up for them. They will be healed. In the latter days you will consider it” (Jeremiah 30:3, 7–9, 17–18, 24).
• God will “be the God of all the families of Israel,” and rebuild and gather them, bless them with wheat, new wine, oil, flocks, turn their mourning to joy and comfort, and make a new covenant with the house of Israel and Judah, putting His law in their minds and hearts (Jeremiah 31:1, 4, 10, 12–14, 27, 31, 33).
• “And I will cause the captives of Judah and the captives of Israel to return, and will rebuild those places as at the first…. In those days Judah will be saved, and Jerusalem will dwell safely” (Jeremiah 33:7, 16).
• God “will comfort Zion… make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the Lord; joy and gladness will be found in it, thanksgiving and the voice of melody” (Isaiah 51:3).
• The old waste places will be rebuilt (Isaiah 58:12).

There are many other things that will be restored, including the environment, weather (rain in due season), abundant food, healing and health, peace and the end of war, and most importantly, knowledge about God, His laws, and His way that leads to eternal life.

You can read about it in the free study guides Revelation: The Mystery Unveiled!, Armageddon and Beyond, and The World Ahead: What Will It Be Like?