Craig A. Blaising, Darrell L. Bock
Dispensationalism, Israel and the Church
Zondervan, 1992. p. 58.
Regardless of how one views "times" and "seasons" and the correctness of a distinction between the phrases, the verbal linkage between Acts 1 and Acts 3 is important because it shows that the disciples learned their answer to the question about Israel's restoration when the promise of the return of Jesus was given in Acts 1:11. The nation will share both in the end and in the program of the Lord Christ. God will honor his promises to Israel, but for individual Israelites in the first stage of the program to share in the second stage as well as in the first stage, they must repent. Acts 3:23 with its use of Leviticus 23:29 shows that the threat of individuals being cut off is real. Avoiding judgment depends on the people's responding to the prophet to come, who is Jesus. They are to respond to his message as given through his witnesses, the apostles. Blessing in the total two-stage program of Jesus' rule depends on their turning to him (v. 26). The kingdom of God comes in two stages, and the second, visible stage will involve the restoration of the nation and the completion of God's promises to it.
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