The Times and Fullness of the Gentiles

Last Updated: 04/02/2008 14:59 |

The fullness of the Gentiles is different from the times of the Gentiles. I'm currently in the process of putting this Bible study together defining the terms of these two periods of time.

Times of the Gentiles

Luke 21:20-26
And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh. Then let them which are in Judaea flee to the mountains; and let them which are in the midst of it depart out; and let not them that are in the countries enter thereinto. For these be the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled. But woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck, in those days! for there shall be great distress in the land, and wrath upon this people. And they 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. And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; Men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.

The times of the Gentiles speaks to the time from when Israel is led away captive into all nations until Jerusalem is no more trodden down by them. This began August 5, 70 AD

It ends when Jerusalem is no more trodden down by the Gentiles. We know this to be when Christ returns in glory and takes the kingdoms. Until then, the wicked of the earth are in charge.

Fullness of the Gentiles

Romans 11:25
For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in.

The fullness of the Gentiles is a referenced to the blindness of Israel. They'll be blinded until the fullness of the Gentiles. When were they blinded? At the triumphal entry. Luke 19:41-44 They will be unblinded when the fullness of the Gentiles is come in. Come in to where? I believe this is speaking to those Gentiles that will obey His Word and follow Yeshua. I believe the harpazo of the bride of Christ is the fullness of the Gentiles. There is a point when the body of Christ (the bride) has reached it's fullness. We know this because God shuts the door to the marriage and no more are added to the bride after the marriage. This is dealt with in Matthew 25:1-13, the kingdom parable of the 10 virgins.

The triumphal entry was 14,000 days before the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple in 70 AD. If these two times started at different times, can they be referring to the same thing? I don't believe so. I believe the times of the Gentiles and the fullness of the Gentiles speak to two different things, worldly Gentiles and saved Gentiles respectively.

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The Church and Israel Transition and Bible Prophecy

These are some comments resulting from discussion on Fulfilled Prophecy's discussion forum. We'd love for you to stop by and watch with us! "THE BIGGER WE GET THE STRONGER WE ARE"

David L - "I think they will be able to read the road signs, as Herb would say, and point people in the right direction according to scripture. I believe there will be men who come in the character of Jonah, in the character of John the Baptist, in the character of Daniel, and so forth because many things have been sealed up for the last days and God loves His people enough to raise up men that will bring grain for the famine.

The first Christians were Jews and I believe the last Christians will be Jews. The age of the Gentile has come to an end and it has been documented by Jewish Rabbi's that more Jews have become born again in the last 18 years than in the last 18 centuries. Christianity has been raped by the Hellenization of scripture which has put a veil over the eyes of those who are trying to interpret the scripture from a Western or Hellenized point of view.

The bible was written by Jews and is best understood from a Judeo-Christian perspective. The Hebrew mind knows and understand the typology and the midrash used by Paul and Jesus in the New Testament. The only ones who have most recently come close to understanding these things were the Plymouth Brethren. Today we have men like Jacob Prasch and Arnold Freuchtenbaum who are Messianic Jews that are bringing us sound bible teaching from a 1st Century Judeo-Christian perspective.

Don't be surprised to see Christianity ripped out of the hands of the Gentile church (the branches) and placed back into the hands of Messianic Israeli Christians (the root), just as God said He would do in Romans 9-11. It's happening right now as we speak. These are exciting times we are living in!!"

Hananai45 - "Another very interesting post David...

Since the New Testament was written in Greek I never really paid much heed to the negative cultural effects of Hellenic culture on the Scripture. Indeed for us to be completely anti-Hellenic we would run the risk of being in opposition to some NT interpretations of the OT **Shudders**.

If I may add some matter to the discussion for you - and others who are interested - to comment upon, I belief what we have to discern here is not merely the Hellenization factor (which if I'm not mistaken has mainly come to our attention through recent papal discourse, which of course is cleverly constructed to promote sinister agendas as per Herb's latest news link posted today), but a deeper Gentile effect: indeed the application of cultural agendas to the interpretation of Scripture , if I may call it such.

First Hellenization, then Latinization, then Germanization and Anglicization and finally Americanization have dominated the cultural discourses of Christian thought since the earliest times. Indeed Hellenization has presented the Church with a variety of misconceptions and we can all be in agreement that the standard of what is labeled Christianity in the USA has an impact (mostly negative) on the other cultures and nations of the globe.

We can see that the Jews can understand the Scriptures in ways we could not see, yet it is the same vice versa for us in the Holy Spirit reading passages in the Old Testament and interpreting it in ways the Jews could not fathom. I suppose what you are proposing is God marrying the two of these factors together, allowing Spirit-filled Jews to expound on Scripture incredibly...It is a most interesting prospect to ponder on I must say.

Remember only that the nation of Israel was the first to be offered salvation and the majority did reject it and still do. Imagine the people with the greatest capabilities of interpreting Scripture failing to do so in such a way that concludes that JESUS CHRIST is the promised Messiah. That was something only God could reveal, and I think we must always remember that. If we are humble people with a heart for God, he will reveal the mysteries of His Word, along with His Nature and Glory, to us.

I pray many Jews will be saved in these final days, but if God's Word is able to separate the soul and spirit like a sword, we can rely on Him to separate our cultural misconceptions from His Divine Truth."