THE APOSTLE OF THE RECONCILIATION

`... call together against her the kingdoms of Ararat, Minni, and Ashchenaz; appoint a captain against her; cause

the horses to come up as the rough caterpillers. Prepare against her the nations with the kings of the Medes'.

In Joel 2:25,28, however, things are reversed:

`... I WILL RESTORE to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the cankerworm, and the caterpiller, and the

palmerworm, My great army which I sent among you ... And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out

My spirit upon all flesh'

No wonder the apostles said, `Lord, wilt Thou at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?' Amos, with all his

denunciations, does not finish without the promise of restoration:

`And I will bring again the captivity of My people of Israel ... And I will plant them upon their land' (Amos

Micah 2:12,13 reads, `I will surely gather the remnant of Israel', and although one more strong denunciation is

made against Israel's sin, yet Micah concludes with the pardoning love of God, and says:

`He will turn again ... Thou wilt perform the truth to Jacob, and the mercy to Abraham, which Thou hast sworn

unto our fathers from the days of old' (Micah 7:19,20).

Zephaniah says:

`... I will make you a name and a praise among all people of the earth, when I turn back your captivity before

your eyes, saith the LORD' (Zeph. 3:20).

Haggai must be read through to catch the spirit of the closing verses. Zechariah simply burns with the spirit of

restoration; so complete will be the redemption of the people, so holy will that kingdom be, that he can say:

`In that day shall there be upon the bells of the horses, HOLINESS UNTO THE LORD ... Yea, every pot in Jerusalem

and in Judah shall be holiness unto the LORD of hosts ...' (Zech. 14:20,21).

Malachi concludes with the promise of sending Elijah before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the

Lord. Speaking of John the Baptist, the Lord said to His disciples, `If ye will receive it, this is Elias, which was for

to come' (Matt. 11:14). Do we still wonder that the apostles, remembering all the Lord's teaching, and all the

teaching of the Old Testament should say, `Lord, wilt Thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?' The

whole of the Prophets and Psalms, together with much of the Law, must be read to cover all the ground; but it is

impossible here to pursue this theme further. We must be satisfied to awaken the interested reader: those who

already know the subject will agree as to the fulness of the Scriptures upon the theme.

We must now turn to the Acts of the Apostles, and see whether Pentecost was to them the beginning of the

church, or whether this literal restoration of the kingdom to Israel was uppermost in their mind and testimony. The

opening scene of the Acts is laid just outside Jerusalem, `the mount called Olivet, which is from Jerusalem a sabbath

day's journey'. They had heard the testimony of the angels:

`... this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come IN LIKE MANNER as ye have seen Him

go into heaven' (Acts 1:11).

Zechariah had already prophesied:

`And His feet shall stand in that day upon the Mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east' (Zech.

And the apostles, whose hearts had been made to burn at the exposition of the Scriptures, and whose

understanding had been opened by the Lord, would immediately connect the passage with the angels' testimony;

they would catch the hint of assured fulfilment; and though still uncertain as to the time they knew the fulfilment was

sure: their testimony was to be that of witnesses -`Ye shall be witnesses unto Me'.