19 Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord,
Three results come out of Israel’s repentance:
-their sins would be forgiven immediately if Israel accepted Christ as Messiah, v. 19a.
-the times of refreshing would come upon the nation in the future Millennium, v. 19b
-the Father will send the Messiah the second time to Israel, v. 20
so that
The “that” in this phrase refers to far purpose. The “that” of verse 20 is the distant purpose as well. Both refer to something God will do in the future, during the Millennium.
times [seasons] of refreshing [rejuvenation] may come from the presence of the Lord,
The “times of refreshing” will come when Messiah Jesus sets up His Millennial kingdom on earth. Luke had used the term “refreshing” or restoration in Acts 1:6, and he will use it in its noun form in two verses hence (Acts 3:21). Both verses anticipate the restoration of the nation Israel as a kingdom (Mt 17:11; Mark 9:12). Thus, repentance would result in sins forgiven in near time (v. 19a), and the restoration of Israel will occur in the distant future when Israel will be converted as a nation (vv. 19b, 20). The refreshing was what the nation Israel anticipated throughout the Old Testament.
PRINCIPLE:
God still holds His promise to Israel.
APPLICATION:
Israel is in her land today, but she is not in the golden age promised in the Bible. Today, enemies surround the nation, and Israel is in constant danger. Jews are still the most persecuted people in the world. However, one day, all of that will come to an end after the Second Coming of Christ. At that time, He will establish a worldwide kingdom, which will exist under His benevolent rule. Isaiah described the nature of this kingdom in Isaiah 35:1-10. The purpose of the Tribulation is to bring the nation Israel back to God. Since the day of Christ, Israel rejected her Messiah. Peter challenged the collection of Jews individually to “repent” of their rejection of Jesus as the Messiah (Lu 19:41-44).
