Restoration

 

Those who hate me without a cause are more than the hairs of my head; they are mighty who would destroy me, being my enemies wrongfully; though I have stolen nothing, I still must restore it.  --Psalm 69:4 NKJV

 The dictionary defines the word restoration in two ways.  First, it is the action of returning something to a former owner, place, or condition.  An example would be, "The restoration of Andrew's sight."  A second definition would be the return of a hereditary monarch to a throne, a head of state to government, or a regime to power.  For instance, "the restoration of the Portuguese monarchy."

Here is an excerpt from another blog writer:

To restore means to bring back to a former or original condition. Implicit in this definition, at least for me, is the notion that the former condition is better than the current condition. I think of the restoration of an old automobile. My friend Joe bought a 1972 12-cylinder Jaguar and is restoring it back to its original condition with great care and love. Or, the Sistine chapel. Judy and I saw the restored Michelangelo painting on the ceiling in all of its vivid, brilliant colors. In the corner of the ceiling we saw a 1-meter square patch that had not been restored. In contrast to the restoration it was dingy and gray. So, when I think of restoration I think of bringing something back to its original beauty. That is what Jesus did in my life: He brought me back to (or closer to) the life God always intended for me to live and the function or purpose for which He created me.

This week I came across a passage in 2 Chronicles that stood out to me.  Now, when you read the book of 2 Chronicles, you see an account of the nation of Israel being torn in two after the death of Solomon, followed by a list of kings of Israel (all bad) and the kings (and one queen) of Judah (some good, some bad).  The good kings were always rewarded by God.  The bad kings were always punished by God.  In His divine Providence, God sometimes used other nations to punish His people when they turned to other gods.

When you get to chapter 28 of 2 Chronicles, you see that God used the army of Israel to punish the kingdom of Judah.  Ahaz, Judah's evil king, "was also given into the hand of the king of Israel, who struck him with great force. (verse 5)"  The name of the king of Israel was Pekah, who by the way was also an evil king.  Verse 6 says, "For Pekah the son of Remaliah killed 120,000 from Judah in one day, all of them men of valor, because they had forsaken the Lord, the God of their fathers."

Jumping down to verse 8, "The men of Israel took captive 200,000 of their relatives, women, sons, and daughters.  They also took much spoil from them and brought the spoil to Samaria."  The army of Israel was on a roll.  They had killed Judah's men of valor.  They took prisoners.  They took much spoil.  I would imagine they would have marched all the way to Jerusalem, wreaking havoc in their wake.

But God stopped them.

But a prophet of the Lord was there, whose name was Oded, and he went out to meet the army that came to Samaria and said to them, "Behold, because the Lord, the God of your fathers, was angry with Judah, He gave them into your hand, but you have killed them in a rage that has reached up to heaven.  And now you intend to subjugate the people of Judah and Jerusalem, male and female, as your slaves.  Have you not sins of your own against the Lord your God?"  --2 Chronicles 28: 9-10

This prophet, this man of God, stood up to the army of Israel, who was foaming at the mouth.  They had tasted blood and were out for more.  But God said no.  Stop.  The punishment against Judah was for their sins, not for Israel's enrichment.  Hadn't Israel sinned as well?  

Israel needed an attitude adjustment.  Instead of, "KILL, KILL, KILL," they should instead be thinking, "There but for the grace of God go I."  Amazingly, that's exactly what happened.  Oded the prophet of God said, "Now hear me, and send back the captives from your relatives whom you have taken, for the fierce wrath of the Lord is upon you. (verse 11)"  The chiefs or heads of the clans of Ephraim, whose names are mentioned specifically in verse 12, heard the word of the Lord and stood up against the men of war.  We see in verse 14 their reaction: "So the armed men left the captives and the spoil before the princes and all the assembly."

Here's where it gets interesting.

And the men who have been mentioned by name rose and took the captives, and with the spoil they clothed all who were naked among them.  They clothed them, gave them sandals, provided them with food and drink, and anointed them, and carrying all the feeble among them on donkeys, they brought them to their kinsfolk at Jericho, the city of palm trees.  Then they returned to Samaria.  --2 Chronicles 28:15

Did you get that?  The victorious army--who had been sent by God to deliver judgment to the people of Judah--they set the prisoners free, and restored them.  The defeated people of Judah, the ones whom God was justly punishing, saw His grace in action.  Their nakedness was covered.  They had sandals placed upon their feet.  They were fed and given drink.  The sick were anointed with oil (a healing liniment), and the wounded (the lame and the feeble) were placed on donkeys so they didn't have to walk.  In addition to all that, they were escorted home.

I believe that the prophet Oded was a type of Christ.  The name Oded means "restorer."  Jesus came to restore us with the Father.  He is called "the second Adam" because whereas the first Adam had sinned and had forfeited Man's relationship with God, Jesus came to restore a right relationship with the Father.  Oded said, "send the captives home" in verse 11.  Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount, "Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you (Luke 6:27).  The people who heard Oded speak went the extra mile, not just releasing the captives but taking care of them and delivering them home.  The followers of Jesus (like Paul) said, "If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.  Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good (Romans 12:20-21)."

We see in 1 Peter 5:10 the ministry of restoration given by God to His Son Jesus.  "And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will Himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you."

Going back to the dictionary cited at the beginning, we see Jesus fulfills both definitions.  When Jesus began His earthly ministry, he quoted Isaiah 61:1-2 when He said, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to proclaim good news to the poor; He has send Me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery (or restoration) of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor (Luke 4:18-19)."  Not only does He restore us physically and spiritually, He restores the kingdom of God on Earth.