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The Daily Word of Righteousness
The Work of Restoration
Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord. And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you: whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began. (Acts 3:19-21)
Why should we Christians concern ourselves with events of Jewish history that took place more than five hundred years before Jesus of Nazareth was born?
The reason for our concern is that those events of history, while they took place among real people and form a significant part of the ancient history of the world, were designed by the Lord God of Heaven as object lessons for the Christian Church.
It is difficult for humans to realize God could allow people to make choices and still control history to such an extent that the events that took place are object lessons for us living two thousand five hundred years later. The knowledge that God indeed did design history in this manner ought to give us strong faith in the present hour. God still is in control of history. Human affairs always remain under God's authority and power.
The episodes concerning Joshua, Zerubbabel, Ezra, and Nehemiah are of importance in the history of the Jewish race. But the true and eternal significance of the work of restoration has to do with the Church of Christ.
The Kingdom of God, which is the reign of Christ in us and through us, is a spiritual kingdom. It is not easy for us to understand abstract spiritual truth. Therefore, God has provided for us the many object lessons of the Old Testament.
Would God deal patiently with millions of people over hundreds of years in order to provide another people who would be born at a later date with a series of object lessons in how to serve God; how to build the Kingdom of God?
The Lord God of Heaven did just that!
Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come. (I Corinthians 10:11)
Glory, Destruction, and Restored Glory
If the work of restoration is an illustration for our benefit, what, then, is the pattern?
Solomon's Temple.
Sin and rebellion against the Lord.
Carrying away God's people to Babylon.
Going back to rebuild the Temple of Solomon.
Building the wall of Jerusalem.
Settling the city of Jerusalem.
We can say these same things in another way:
The Glory of God
Apostasy.
Worldly bondages.
Rebuilding God's House.
Constructing defenses against the enemy.
God's people entering their inheritance.
To be continued.