By Marvin Duncan
Luke 21;24 & Romans 11:25
Quite often while reading the Scriptures we come across terms that are similar, yet have a world of difference between them. Two such terms are, THE TIMES OF THE GENTILES and THE FULLNESS OF THE GENTILES. These two terms are found in the New Testament; one found in Luke’s gospel, the other in Paul’s letter to the Romans. Let us examine these two Scriptures, then see if we can determine what the difference between these terms might be.
In Christ’s warning of the events to take place immediately before He would establish His kingdom here on the earth, the term, THE TIMES OF THE GENTILES, was mentioned. In Luke 21:24, we read:
“AND THEY (the Jews who are overtaken by the Gentiles) SHALL FALL BY THE EDGE OF THE SWORD, AND SHALL BE LED AWAY CAPTIVE INTO ALL NATIONS: AND JERUSALEM SHALL BE TRODDEN DOWN OF THE GENTILES, UNTIL THE TIMES OF THE GENTILES BE FULFILLED.”
The Apostle Paul, speaking of the end of this dispensation of God’s Grace and the Rapture of the Church, says:
“I WOULD NOT, BRETHREN, THAT YE SHOULD BE IGNORANT OF THIS MYSTERY (this secret), LEST YE SHOULD BE WISE IN YOUR OWN CONCEITS; THAT BLINDNESS IN PART IS HAPPENED TO ISRAEL, UNTIL THE FULNESS OF THE GENTILES BE COME IN” (Romans 11:25).
In these two Scriptures, we have two different subjects and two different events being spoken about. Let us examine these statements and see what these two men were talking about.
Who Are The Gentiles
Before we proceed into this study, let us establish who it is being spoken of when we read passages that talk about GENTILES.
There are some religious groups who teach that the GENTILES are the UNSAVED in any age, while the term, JEW, speaks of God’s redeemed in any age. This teaching is far from the truth.
This teaching is flawed in many areas but the main error lies in their definition of the terms, JEWS and GENTILES, as used in the Scriptures. To help us understand what the Bible is talking about when these terms are used, let us keep in mind that the Greek word translated, GENTILE, is the same word that is translated in other passages as NATIONS. Thus, the mass of humanity is designated as THE NATIONS, or as THE GENTILES. The term, GENTILE, is most often used in contrast to the nation of Israel. This is because when God was dealing with the nation of Israel as His chosen people, He separates this one nation from the rest of the nations of the world. This one nation, Israel, is identified in three ways in the Scriptures.
NATIONALLY, this one nation is known as ISRAEL. By LANGUAGE, this one nation is known as HEBREWS. By RELIGION this one nation is known as JEWS.
When Judah was taken captive by Babylon, they were unique in that they worshipped ONE GOD. Anyone who worshipped one God was said to have the religion of the Judahs. The term, The JUDAH’S Religion, was soon shortened to, the JEWS Religion. This corruption of the name, JUDAH, became so widespread that any member of the nation of Israel was know as a JEW. Even Christ was called a JEW (John 4:9).
The term, JEW, as used in the Scriptures, is applied ONLY to those individuals born into the nation of Israel. Anyone who was born outside the nation of Israel was a GENTILE. Even Abraham was a Gentile, and so was anyone else who was not born into the family of JACOB. Jacob was the grandson of Abraham. It was through the twelve sons of Jacob that the nation of Israel had its beginning. Jacob’s name was changed to ISRAEL (Genesis 32:28) and his offspring became known as THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL. Thus, when this family became a nation, it was known as THE NATION OF ISRAEL.
Throughout the Old Testament, any Gentile could be accepted by God if he became a JEW religiously. That is, he had to take upon himself the rite of circumcision, keep the Law of the Offerings and follow the other religious observances God gave to Israel.
The TIMES Of The Gentiles
From the beginning of God’s dealings with Abraham’s family, the offspring of Abraham through Jacob was to be the Head of the Nations. The Scepter of human government was intended by God to be held by the nation of Israel because the rest of the nations had been given up by God (Romans 1:24,26,28).
When Israel refused to follow God as their Sovereign and placed a man on the throne as their king, it wasn’t long before this nation experienced Civil War. Ten tribes rebelled against David’s sons being their king and withdrew to form a nation of their own, which was known as ISRAEL. This nation, because of idolatry, was soon taken captive by Assyria. The tribe nation that remained loyal to David’s sons, was known as JUDAH. Some years following Israel’s captivity, Judah also fell into idolatry and was taken captive by Babylon. When Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, took Jerusalem, the Scepter of world government was taken from Israel and given to THE GENTILES. Not once during God’s Prophetic Program has Jerusalem been controlled by the Israelites since the Babylonian captivity. Since Nebuchadnezzar captured Jerusalem, there has continually been a Gentile power controlling or influencing the city of Jerusalem. (Today, we are not living in the time of prophesy. The events of world politics today are not governed by the prophecies made by Israel’s prophets. That Prophetic Program has been temporally set aside and today we are living in the dispensation of the Grace of God – the SECRET AGE that was made known to Paul AFTER the leaders of Israel refused to receive God’s offer of their king (Acts 3:19-21).
The TIMES OF THE GENTILES began in 606 B.C., when Nebuchadnezzar captured Jerusalem. The TIMES OF THE/GENTILES will end when Christ returns to establish His kingdom here upon the earth. When Christ returns to earth as Israel’s deliverer, He will put down all Gentile authority and take the Scepter of human government unto Himself. The Headship of the nations will be returned to Israel as we see from what we read in Zechariah 8:23.
Luke’s comment about the TIMES OF THE GENTILES (Luke 21:24) speaks of the final act of rebellion by the Gentiles. This act is in fulfillment of the events prophesied by Daniel (Daniel 8:9-l4). When Christ returns at the end of this 70th week of Daniel’s prophecy (Daniel 9:24-27), the TIMES OF THE GENTILES will end. Christ will be the one who will be the head of all governments from that time on. During the One Thousand year reign, Christ will be “KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS” (Revelation 19:16).
Israel’s Three Great Sins
During Israel’s history as a nation, they committed three great sins that brought about the condition this nation finds herself in today. When Israel first became a nation, they were to be a Theocracy with God THE FATHER as their king. But, Israel rejected His leadership (First Samuel 8:1-7). Later, God THE SON came to minister to this nation in the person of Jesus Christ. Israel’s response to THE SON’S ministry was, “WE WILL NOT HAVE THIS MAN TO REIGN OVER US” (Luke 19:14) and the leaders of this nation demanded that He be crucified (John 19:15). In Matthew 12:31-32, Christ warns this nation not to reject the ministry of the HOLY SPIRIT when He came as “THE COMFORTER” who had been promised (John 14:26). If Israel rejected the ministry of the HOLY SPIRIT, they would be committing an unpardonable sin because they would have rejected the entire Godhead. Christ warned this nation that if they rejected the Holy Spirit this sin would not be forgiven them in that age in which they rejected Him, nor would this sin be forgiven in the age that would follow the one in which they were living. Israel did not heed this warning for they rejected the ministry of the Holy Spirit in the early part of the Book of Acts when they would not receive the ministry of the Twelve Apostles who were speaking as they were motivated by the Holy Spirit. In reality, it was the Holy Spirit who was ministering THROUGH the Twelve Apostles in the early Acts period. When Israel rejected the Holy Spirit’s ministry God gave Israel up just as He had given up the Gentiles before Israel became a nation. (The unpardonable sin only covered the age in which Israel rejected the Holy Spirit and this age of God’s Grace – which was still a secret at the time Christ warned this nation. But, after this age is over, God will return His dealings to Israel. Israel will be forgiven (Romans 11:26-27) and God will restore this nation as His special people.
The FULLNESS Of The Gentiles
Following Israel’s rejection of the Holy Spirit, God saved and commissioned Paul to be His special Apostle to THE NATIONS (Romans 11:13).
The Twelve Apostles were limited in their ministry. Christ only commissioned them to go to “THE LOST SHEEP OF THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL” (Matthew 10:5-6). They had no message to the Gentiles who were still “GIVEN UP” by God. In contrast, Paul was commissioned to go to all nations, including Israel. When God gave Israel up and suspended His Prophetic program, Israel became just one of the nations of the world. Today, Israel is no different from any other nation and the individual Jew is no different from any other son of Adam when it comes to being accepted by God. There is no reason to use the term, CHRISTIAN JEW, any more than there would be to use the term, CHRISTIAN GERMAN. This is what Paul meant when he said, “ALL HAVE SINNED AND COME SHORT OF THE GLORY OF GOD” (Romans 3:23). The “ALL” speaks of JEWS and GENTILES.
When God saved Paul, He revealed to him His SECRET PROGRAM which He had never made known to anyone before (Ephesians 3:9). This secret was that God is now calling out from all nations (including Israel) a body of redeemed people to inhabit Heaven. This revelation of God’s secret, which was revealed only to Paul, was for all NATIONS. All the families of the earth, including Israel, are on the same level before God today with no nation having any special relationship to God. In his Roman letter, Paul is speaking of the conclusion of this dispensation when God will have completed the Body of Christ and the redeemed of this dispensation of God’s Grace have been taken up from the earth to dwell in the Heavenlies with Christ. The RAPTURE of the Church, the Body of Christ (Ephesians 1:22-23), will be THE FULLNESS OF THE GENTILES that Paul speaks of in Romans 11:25.
Conclusion
The FULLNESS of the Gentiles, that is, when the Church of this dispensation of the Grace of God has been taken up from the earth to meet our Lord in the clouds of the air (1 Thessalonians 4:17), does not affect the TIMES OF THE GENTILES in any way. Let us keep in mind that this dispensation in which we are living is a SPECIAL program that God has inserted into His Prophetic Program as a PARENTHETICAL AGE. Technically, we are living in the TIMES OF THE GENTILES today because the Gentiles are the ones heading up the politics of the world. Too, Christ has not returned to earth to be Israel’s king. Until He returns and takes control of the world governments, the TIMES of the Gentiles will continue to run its course.
When this dispensation of the Grace of God has run its course and the Saints of this age have been caught up to meet our Lord in the air, God will return His dealings to Israel and the earth. His Prophetic Program will be reinstated right where it was interrupted some one thousand years ago. When this dispensation of God’s Grace has been fulfilled, Israel will once again be the object of God’s attention as He works through this nation to fulfill all the promises yet unfulfilled that were given to Israel, or for the earth.