Many people go to their graves believing "the lies and machinations of men" because they lack the ability, desire, will to test what they have been taught, this needs to be done continually.
The baby boomers are the most inculcated so change is definitely coming.
I think God does leave some people in the lies and they reap what they sow .. I think they too suppress the truth in unrighteousness because they prefer the lies for "soulish" reasons.
I changed my mind and I know many others here as well, however they were open, objective and maintained a level of critical thinking skills, so it can happen.
Others do have some type of direct intervention from God...but even in those cases there was always some little element that did not sit right with them, and God was able to use that awareness.
A believer is nearest to God, blessed by God when the believer stands in His truth, that is what God desires, take a stand where He takes His stand, they deny themselves ultimately.
You may like this pastor he is awesome so inspiring ... I do not agree with him on some things but when it comes to dismantling dispensationalism he is top notch.
The Prodcast
People who have broken free from false teaching testify over and over again how their walk with the Lord was strengthened many times over.
That's a lot of bloviating and rhetoric bereft of scholarly content.
Fortunately, I am here to help, so its your lucky day!
Act 1:6
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 and the Future Restoration of Israel
Acts 1:6 reads:
“Lord, wilt thou at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?”
The Greek is:
Κύριε, εἰ ἐν τῷ χρόνῳ τούτῳ ἀποκαθιστάνεις τὴν βασιλείαν τῷ Ἰσραήλ;
The key phrase is:
ἀποκαθιστάνεις τὴν βασιλείαν τῷ Ἰσραήλ
literally:
“Are You restoring the kingdom to Israel?”
The force of the passage rests on three precise elements.
1. ἀποκαθιστάνεις — “restore”
The verb is from
ἀποκαθίστημι, meaning to restore, re-establish, or return something to its proper or former condition.
The idea of restoration is contained in the Greek verb itself. There is no need to appeal to a separate English word “again.”
The same verb occurs in Matthew 17:11:
“Elias truly shall first come, and restore all things.”
The point is re-establishment, not the creation of something entirely new.
Thus in Acts 1:6 the apostles are asking whether Christ is about to
re-establish the kingdom belonging to Israel.
2. τὴν βασιλείαν — “the kingdom”
The apostles do not ask about “a kingdom.”
They ask about:
τὴν βασιλείαν — “the kingdom.”
The definite article indicates an identifiable kingdom already familiar to both Jesus and the apostles.
This is especially significant because Acts 1:3 says that the resurrected Christ had spent forty days:
“speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God.”
After forty days of direct instruction from the risen Christ, the apostles ask whether the time has now come for
the kingdom to be restored to Israel.
3. τῷ Ἰσραήλ — “to Israel”
The recipient is explicitly:
τῷ Ἰσραήλ — “to Israel.”
Luke does not say:
- to the Church,
- to believing humanity,
- to a new spiritual people,
- or to a redefined “spiritual Israel.”
He says Israel.
In Luke-Acts, Israel remains the historical covenant nation descended from Jacob.
The apostles therefore ask whether Christ is about to restore the kingdom to national Israel.
Jesus corrects the timing, not the expectation
The apostles ask:
ἐν τῷ χρόνῳ τούτῳ
“at this time?”
Jesus answers:
“It is not for you to know the times or the seasons…”
The correspondence is exact.
They ask about
the time of restoration.
Jesus answers concerning
times and seasons.
He does not say:
“You are wrong to expect a kingdom for Israel.”
He does not say:
“Israel has been replaced by the Church.”
He does not say:
“There will be no future restoration.”
He corrects only their knowledge of its timing.
That is especially important because these men had just received forty days of post-resurrection teaching from Christ concerning the kingdom.
If their expectation of a future kingdom for Israel had been fundamentally false, Acts 1:6–7 would have been the obvious place for Christ to correct it. He does not.
The Old Testament defines what Israel’s restoration means
The Greek verb
ἀποκαθίστημι establishes the idea of restoration, but the Old Testament prophets supply the content of that restoration.
Israel’s promised restoration repeatedly includes:
- regathering from the nations,
- return to the land,
- national reunification,
- a Davidic King,
- and messianic government.
For example:
Deuteronomy 30:3–5
God promises to:
“gather thee from all the nations”
and bring Israel back:
“into the land which thy fathers possessed.”
Isaiah 11:11–12
God will:
“assemble the outcasts of Israel”
and:
“gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth.”
Jeremiah 23:3–6
God promises:
“I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all countries…”
and immediately follows this with:
“I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign.”
Thus regathered Israel and Davidic kingship are explicitly linked.
Ezekiel 37:21–25
This passage is perhaps the clearest background to Acts 1:6.
God says:
“I will take the children of Israel from among the heathen… and will gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land.”
Then:
“I will make them one nation in the land.”
Then:
“one king shall be king to them all.”
Then:
“David my servant shall be king over them.”
This is precisely the prophetic pattern behind the apostles’ question:
regathered Israel + restored nation + Davidic King + kingdom.
Acts 3 confirms the restoration theme
Only two chapters later Peter says that heaven must receive Christ:
“until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets.”
The noun translated “restitution” is:
ἀποκατάστασις
which is cognate with the verb in Acts 1:6:
ἀποκαθίστημι
Acts therefore begins with the apostles asking about the restoration of the kingdom to Israel and shortly afterward speaks of a future restoration grounded in the promises of the prophets.
Conclusion
Acts 1:6 should be read exactly as written:
“Are You restoring the kingdom to Israel at this time?”
The Greek establishes that:
ἀποκαθιστάνεις means restoration or re-establishment;
τὴν βασιλείαν identifies a definite and already-known kingdom;
τῷ Ἰσραήλ identifies Israel as the recipient;
and
ἐν τῷ χρόνῳ τούτῳ shows that the apostles’ question concerns the timing of the restoration.
Christ’s answer addresses only the
times and seasons.
The broader prophetic Scriptures then define Israel’s restoration as a real national restoration involving regathering to the land, reunification, and rule under the Davidic Messiah.
Therefore Acts 1:6 is entirely consistent with, and naturally points toward, the future earthly restoration of national, ethnic Israel under Jesus Christ, the Son of David.
