The “Times and Seasons” of the Restoration of the Kingdom
Just before Jesus ascended to heaven, the disciples had asked him about the timing of the restoration of the kingdom. And Jesus replied, “It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority” (Acts 1:7).
Some Christians assert that this passage shows that the timing of the kingdom/Jesus’s coming is unknowable. But does it really? I don’t think so for a number of reasons.
To start with, this conversation in Acts had begun with Jesus, just before his ascension, telling his disciples to wait in Jerusalem for the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:4–5). Then the disciples asked, “Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” (v. 6), to which Jesus responds: “It is not for you to know the 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” (vv. 7–8, italics mine).
Right after saying this, Jesus ascended to heaven.
Although the disciples did not know the exact timing (times and seasons) of the restoration of the kingdom, Jesus had previously told them he would come with the kingdom within the lifetimes of his first-century audiences. For example, he said:
“There are some standing here who shall not taste death [die] until they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom” (Matt. 16:28; see also Luke 21:28–32 and Mark 8:38–9:1).
This is the same kingdom as in Acts 1! And Jesus said some of his audience would still be alive when it came.
Jesus had also previously told his disciples that after he ascended, the Father would send the Holy Spirit to “bring to your remembrance all things that I had said” (John 14:26). So while the disciples may have been ignorant (or forgetful) at that particular moment in time (at the ascension), they would not remain so for long. The Holy Spirit would remind them what Jesus had previously told them regarding the timing of the kingdom—namely, that it would happen within their generation (Matt. 16:28, Mark 9:1, Luke 21:31–32).
Jesus had also previously told his disciples that after he ascended, the Father would “send the Holy Spirit to teach you all things” (John 14:26, italics mine). Keep in mind, this is the same “coming of the Holy Spirit” that’s discussed in Acts 1: “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you” (Acts 1:8). So while the disciples may not have known the exact “times and seasons” at this particular moment in time (at Jesus’s ascension in AD 33), they would know more soon…after they had received the Holy Spirit, which happened about a month or so later at Pentecost (Acts 2:1–4).
And sure enough, by the time Thessalonians was written approximately twenty years later (in AD 50), the disciples knew the times and seasons:
“But concerning the times and the seasons…you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this Day [the second coming/kingdom] should overtake you as a thief” (1 Thess. 5:1–5, italics mine). By this time, the Holy Spirit had revealed “all things” to the disciples (John 14:26) and brought to remembrance all the things Jesus had taught them during his earthly ministry (John 14:26). And one of those “things” was that Jesus would come with his kingdom within the first century (Mark 8:38–9:1; Matt. 16:28; Luke 21:27–32).
The Kingdom Restoration Happens at the End of the Old Covenant Age
Here’s another way to show that the disciples eventually figured out the timing of the kingdom of God. Compare Acts 3:21 with Hebrews 9:8–10. In Acts 3:21, Peter said Jesus would ascend into heaven until the restoration of all things. Then, Jesus would come with the kingdom. This is the same “restoration of the kingdom” that the disciples asked Jesus about in Acts 1. Note, also, that the Greek word for “restoration” is apokatastasis.
Now compare this with Hebrews 9:8–10, which says the law would remain active “until the time of reformation.” Note: the Greek word for “reformation” is diorthosis.
Here’s the point of this comparison: The Greek words apokatastasis and diorthosis are synonyms. “The lexicons agree,” says Dr. Don Preston of the Preterist Research Institute, “apokatastasis means ‘to put back into the original condition,’ and diorthosis means, ‘to restore something to its natural and normal condition.’”[1] Therefore, logically, the law would remain active—every last jot and tittle of it—until the restoration of the kingdom/coming. Whenever the law ended is when the kingdom was restored.
And when did the law end? The writer of Hebrews said in approximately AD 62 that the law was about to vanish away (Heb. 8:13), so it must have ended soon after that.
The writer of Hebrews also said the temple was symbolic of the old covenant/the law; so the law would end when the temple fell. And that happened in AD 70. Jesus, too, linked the coming of the kingdom to the destruction of the temple (Luke 21:5, 27–32). Since the temple fell in AD 70, then this is when the kingdom must have come.
The Kingdom of God is Spiritual
One of the reasons so many Jews missed the kingdom is because they expected a physical kingdom. Some Christians today make the very same mistake. Yet Jesus said the kingdom is spiritual:
“The kingdom of God does not come with observation [it does not come physically]; nor will they say, ‘See here!’ or ‘See there!’ For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you [it is spiritual]” (Luke 17:20–22)
“My kingdom is not of this world [it is not physical]. 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 [it is spiritual]” (John 18:36)
“For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking [physical], but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit [spiritual]” (Romans 14:17)
“Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again [spiritually]” (John 3:2)
As these passages show, the kingdom of God is spiritual, not physical. Moreover, it came in the first century (Matt. 16:28, Luke 21:27–32, Mark 8:38–9:1)! This is when Israel—new covenant Israel—received the kingdom.
For more information about the topics discussed in this article, get my book The End Is Here: How the New Testament Prophecies Were Fulfilled.
By Alex Polyak, Director of The Bible Fulfilled, 12/7/24
[1] Don Preston, Like Father, Like Son, on Clouds of Glory, 3rd ed. (Ardmore OK:
JaDon Management, 2017), 206.
