"There is an appointed time for everything, a time for every event under heaven --
A time to give birth, and a time to die;
A time to plant, and a time to uproot what is planted.
A time to kill, and a time to heal;
A time to tear down, and a time to build up...
A time to throw stones, and a time to gather stones...
A time to search, and a time to give up as lost...
A time to tear apart, and a time to sew together;
A time to be silent and a time to speak.
A time to love, and a time to hate;
A time for war, and a time for peace."
Ecclesiastes 3:1-8
A Time for War
"...now is the time for judgment..."
God is aroused and risen from His holy habitation, He is moving among us.
"The Lord will go forth like a warrior. He will arouse His zeal like a man of war. He will utter a shout. Yes, He will raise a war cry. The Lord arises to contend and stands to judge His people. He has kept silent for a long time. He has kept silent and restrained Himself.
Now He speaks: 'Woe to you rebellious children who take counsel and carry out a plan but not Mine, who make a league and pour out a drink offering, but not of My Spirit, thus adding sin to sin. You set out to go down into Egypt and have not asked of Me. (How is it that you did not watch Me every moment for fear of losing sight of Me?)
I will kindle a fire in you, and it will consume every green tree in you, as well as every dry tree. I will destroy those who formerly worshiped Me, but now longer do, and those who never loved Me and never wanted to...
It is time for judgment to begin with the house of God.'"
A Time to Build Up
"...now for a brief moment..."
(He is restoring things to His Divine Original.)
"Now for a brief moment grace has been shown from the Lord out God... to give us a peg in His holy place... to give us a reviving to raise up the house of the Lord, to restore its ruins... and to give us a wall in Judah and Jerusalem."
Ezra 9:8-10
"You have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem..."
Hebrews 12:22
"...to give us a reviving to raise up the house of the Lord, to restore its ruins..."
"And those from among you will rebuild the ancient ruins; you will raise up the age-old foundations; and you will be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of the paths in which to dwell."
Isaiah 58:12
"Repent therefore, and return, that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord; and that He may send Jesus, the Christ appointed for you, whom heaven must receive until the periods, times of 'restoration' of all things about which God spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from ancient times."
Acts 3:19-21
The Anointed One, the Planting, the Rebuilding, the Workmen
"The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, because the Lord has anointed Me to bring good news to the humble; He has sent me... to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God...
To grant those who mourn in Zion, giving them a garland instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the mantle of praise instead of a spirit of fainting. So they will be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified.
Then they will rebuild the ancient ruins, they will raise up the former devastations, and they will repair the ruined cities, the desolation of many generations... But you will be called the priests of the Lord; you will be spoken of a ministers of our God... And I will make an everlasting covenant with them."
Isaiah 61:1-6, 8
A Time to Tear Down
"...a time of visitation..."
(He was speaking of a correction.)
A Conversation Between Jesus and His Followers
"And while they were talking about the temple; that it was adorned with beautiful stone, He said, 'As for these things you are looking at, the days will come in which there will not be left one stone upon another which will not be torn down.'"
Luke 21:5, 6
Jesus speaks of Jerusalem:
"And when He approached, He saw the city and wept over it, saying, 'If you had known in this day, even you the things that make for peace! But now they have been hidden from your eyes.
For the days shall come upon you when you and your enemies will throw up a dirt wall before you, and surround you, and hem you in on every side, and will level you to the ground and your your children with you, and they will not leave one stone upon another, because you did not recognize the time of your visitation."
Luke 19:41-44
"O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her...
Behold, your house is being left to you desolate! For I say to you, from now on you shall not see Me until you say, 'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!'"
Matthew 23:37
A Time to Throw Stones
(He was making a correction by establishing a plumb line.)
"Jesus said to them, 'Did you never read in the Scriptures, "The stone which the builders rejected, this became the chief corner stone... Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you, and given to a nation producing the fruit of it. And he who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces but on whomever it falls, it will scatter him like dust.'
And when the chief priests and the Pharisees heard His parables, they understood that He was speaking about them."
Matthew 21:42-45
A Time to Overthrow
"...it is a little while..."
(He is making a correction.)
"'But now take courage and work, for I am with you,' says the Lord of hosts... 'My Spirit is abiding in your midst; do not fear! Once more, it is a little while, I am going to shake the heavens and the earth... And I will overthrow the thrones of kingdoms of the nations...'"
Haggai 2:4-6, 22
And again in Hebrews:
"...Yet once more I will shake not only the earth, but also the heaven. And this expression, 'yet once more,' denotes the removing of those things which can be shaken, as of created things, in order that those things which cannot be shaken may remain."
Hebrews 12:26, 27
(Handbook 3, Article 57)
"For yet in a little while, He who is coming will come and not delay. But My righteous one shall live by faith; and if he shrinks back, My soul has no pleasure in him. "But we are not of shrinking back to destruction but of those who have faith to the preserving of the soul."
Hebrews 10:37-39
A Time to Gather Stones
"...an administration of the fullness of times..."
"...in all wisdom He has made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His kind intention which He proposed in Him with a view to an administration of the fullness of times, that is the summing up of all things in Christ, things upon heaven and things on earth."
Ephesians 1:8-10
"...from the hands of the mighty God of Jacob, from there is the Shepherd, the Stone of Israel..."
Genesis 48:24
"The stone which the builders rejected, this became the chief cornerstone; this came about from the Lord, and it is marvelous in our eyes."
Matthew 21:42
"And coming to Him as to a living stone... you also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to god, through Jesus Christ."
1 Peter 2:4, 5
"And the Lord their God will save them in that day as the flock of His people; for they are as the stones of a crown, sparkling in His land. "For what goodness and beauty will be theirs!"
Zechariah 9:16, 17
"Gather My godly ones to Me, those who have made a covenant with Me by sacrifice."
Psalm 50:15
"I will surely gather you, O Jacob, I will surely collect the remnant of Israel; I will bring them together as sheep in a fold, as a flock in the midst of their pasture."
Micah 2:12
"...you will be gathered one by one..."
Isaiah 27:12