The Restitution of All Things (Acts 3:19-21)

According to Peter and the Scriptures, Christ is now positioned in heaven, presently serving as the High Priest and mediator of our faith (see Heb. 8:6). In the future, a season called the “times of restitution” or the “fullness of times” (Acts 3:21, Eph. 1:10), will initiate Christ’s release from heaven to return to earth. In Peter’s sermon found in Acts chapter 3, he indicates that the holy prophets were given insights into these seasons of restitution since the beginning of the world (v. 21). One such prophet would be Enoch, the seventh from Adam, who saw the Lord coming with ten thousand of His saints (see Jude 14). If we can interpret the meaning of the times of restitution of all things, we will have a fuller understanding of the timing of Christ’s return.

The Greek word for restitution is apokatastastasis. The verb from which the word is derived is found eight times in the New Testament. The verb often refers to restoring something to its former condition, such as restoring a strained or dislocated limb to its former soundness.

According to the Greek scholars there are three possible meanings for the word restitution.

They are:

• To repair a public road

• A balancing of accounts and restoring property to its rightful owner

• According to an Egyptian document, a consummation of the world’s cyclical periods.

  
  

The third meaning listed indicates there was an ancient belief that world history moves in cycles. The second meaning refers to returning property to the original owner. Jewish historians used this Greek word to denote the return of the Jews from the captivity of Babylon, and their restoration to their former state and privileges. The word has also the idea of “consummation, completion, or filling up.”

Relating this word to Israel, twice the Jews were taken from their nation, and twice they returned. Twice the Jews were restored to their homeland. The first return followed the seventy years of Babylonian captivity, and the second return began in 1948 after Israel was restored as a nation. The Prophet Isaiah predicted these two returns:

“It shall come to pass in that day, the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea.” Isaiah 11:11

Peter noted there would be times of restitution. In Acts 3, he speaks of “times of refreshing” (V. 19) and “times of restitution” (v. 21). Two different Greek words for times are used in this passage. The Greek word for times of refreshing is Kairos, which means “a set opportunity.” The Greek word for times of restitution is Chronos, meaning a space of time, a season.    

There are periods of times, or seasons, when the restitution or fulfillment of biblical prophecies begin to occur on a consistent basis. According to the Hebrew prophets, especially those who penned the Old Testament Scriptures, certain key events will come to pass, thrusting the world into seasons of restoration, climaxing in the return of the Messiah. These times of restitution begin to transpire during God-appointed seasons, or in a series of phases.

I am convinced this restitution began with the reestablishment of the modern state of Israel. This modern miracle did not officially occur until 1948. No major prophecy concerning Christ’s return – either in the Rapture or the Second Advent – could have occurred until Israel was first a nation, and the Jews had a homeland. I say this because the major end-time prophecies in both testaments deal with Israel, Jerusalem, and the Jews. The restitution includes Israel being restored (Isa. 66:8), Jerusalem becoming the capital (Ps. 102:16), the Jews returning from the Gentile nations (Jer. 16:14-16), the blossoming of the land to produce fruit (Isa. 35:1-8, 27:6), and the rise of Israel as a nation among nations (see Ezekiel 37).