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-- JESUS ASCENDS TO HEAVEN
Luke 24:50-53 And He led them out as far as Bethany, and He lifted up His hands and blessed them. Now it came to pass, while He blessed them, that He was parted from them and carried up into heaven. And they worshipped Him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and were continually in the temple praising and blessing God.
Acts
1:4-11
When they had come together, they asked Him, saying, "Lord, will
You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?"
And He said to them, "It is not for you to know 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."
Now when He had spoken
these things, while they watched, He was taken up, and a cloud
received Him out of their sight. And while they looked steadfastly
toward heaven as He went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel,
who also said, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven?
This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so
come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven."
Luke's account of the things Jesus said and did continues here in Acts, where the phrase the "former account" refers to his gospel.
Even as Jesus meets with the apostles after his resurrection, their paramount concern still appears to be to find out when God will restore the Kingdom to Israel -- perhaps not yet understanding that God's Kingdom will rule the whole world, not just Israel, and that they had been commissioned to set in motion a massive lengthy project, namely to be witnesses to Jesus the Messiah and his coming Kingdom, not only to all Judea and Samaria (southern and northern Israel), but also to the ends of the earth.
However, as the prophet Jeremiah explains, Israel's fortunes will be restored when Christ's throne or rulership over the whole world is established in Jerusalem and honored by all nations (Jeremiah 3:17). At that time, the kingdom of Israel, which was split into two after the death of Solomon, will also be restored as one (ibid, verse 18).
Speaking of the last days of this age and the time of the great battle of Armageddon in which the enemies of Israel will finally be destroyed, the prophet Joel says: "In those days and at that time, when I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem, I will gather all nations and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat. There I will enter into judgment against them concerning my inheritance, my people Israel, for they scattered my people among the nations and divided up my land" (Joel 3:1-2).
Joel continues: "Then you will know that I, the Lord your God, dwell in Zion, my holy hill. Jerusalem will be holy; never again will foreigners invade her" (ibid, verse 17). These things have not yet happened, but happen they will.
The same events are described by the prophets Ezekiel ( Ezekiel 37:15-28), who also tells us that the resurrected David will rule over the united nation of Israel, apparently with the apostles ruling the individual twelve tribes, as we saw earlier. At that time, all the people of Israel will be converted and filled with the Holy Spirit (Ezekiel 36:24-36).
God's coming forcible intervention in world affairs is also described by Isaiah (Isaiah 24:21-23 & 66:12-24) -- and this according to a plan (Isaiah 46:9-13) which will involve the destruction of Israel's enemies (Isaiah 14:1-3), the establishment, at last, of universal peace (Isaiah 2:1-5) and social justice (Micah 4:1-8), and even radical changes in the earth's ecology (Isaiah 11:2-9), reversing those that took place when Adam and Eve rejected God in the Garden of Eden.
Other prophets also describe these amazing events -- for example, Zepheniah 3:13-20, and Zechariah 8:1-13; 12:1-10 & 14:19.
However, certain as these things are, Jesus once again declines to inform the disciples of the precise time of his return -- although return he will, as the angels inform the disciples as they witness his ascension, saying: This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven." What could be more clear?