[545]The Lord Jesus went away to prepare a place for his bride, the church, which is the seed of Abraham through which the promised blessing of mankind must come. He promised to return and receive his bride unto himself. He has come again, as the Scriptural evidence herein cited clearly and conclusively shows. If there is to be no opportunity for the restoration of man to the condition which Adam enjoyed before he sinned, then the second coming of the Lord must fail in one of its primary purposes. That one of the primary purposes of his second coming is the restoration of the human race, is definitely stated by the inspired witness: "God ... shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you; whom the heaven must receive [retain, hold] until the times of _restitution_ [restoration] of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began. For Moses truly said unto the fathers, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you. And it shall come to pass, that every soul, which will not hear that prophet, shall be destroyed from among the people. Yea, and all the prophets, from Samuel and those that follow after, as many as have spoken, have likewise foretold of these days." --Acts 3: 20-24. [546]Added to this positive statement of the inspired Apostle is the testimony of all the prophets foretelling the time coming for the restoration of the things that were lost through the disobedience of Adam. [547]Enoch was the first of the holy prophets. (Jude 14,15) Then followed Jacob (Genesis 49:10), Moses (Genesis 3:15; 12:3; 13:15; 18:18; 22:18; Deuteronomy 18:15,19; 30:15), Samuel (1 Samuel 2:6), Job (14:13-15; 33:19-30), David (Psalm 22:27; 30:5; 37:11; 46:10; 67:1-7; 72:3,4,6,10; 86:9; 93:2; 96:11-13; 98:4-9; 104:5), Solomon (Proverbs 2:21; 11:31; Ecclesiastes 1:4), Isaiah (2:2-4; 9:7; 11:4-9; 14:7; 19:22; 25:6-12; 28:17,18; 29:17,18; 33:24), Jeremiah (3:17; 24:7; 31:16,29,34; 32:39,40; 33:8,9; 46:27; 50:4,5), Ezekiel (11:19; 16;55,61-63; 18:2,31,32; 28:26; 34:25-28; 36:26,27,29,30,35; 37:24; 39:29), Daniel (2:44; 7:27), Hosea (2:18,21; 3:5; 13:14), Joel (2:22,32), Amos (9:11,12; Acts 15:14-18), Obadiah (verse 21), Jonah (chapter 4), Micah (4:1-5,8), Nahum (1:15; 2:3-6), Habakkuk (2:14), Zephaniah (2:11; 3:9,13), Haggai (2:7), Zechariah (2:11; 3:10; 8:3,8,12,15,21,22; 9:10,17; 14:9,11,20), Malachi (1:11; 3:11; 4:2), and John the Baptist. (John 1:29; Matthew 11:9,11) This entire array of holy witnesses, without a single exception, unite in testifying to the coming days of restoration of man.[A] [Footnote A: See discussion of this in "The Finished Mystery", pages 62-95.]