13. The Times Of The Gentiles

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

THE TIMES OF THE GENTILES

“And Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled" (Luke 21:24).
The Gentile people include all those who are not Jews. Therefore all people are divided into two classifications- Jews and Gentiles.

“The times of the Gentiles” is that period of time which started in 606 B.C., when world power passed into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon, at the com­mand of God (Jeremiah 27:1-21); and when Nebuchadnezzar invaded Palestine and led the Jews captive into Babylon, and destroyed the Jewish temple at Jerusalem. This cap­tivity of the Jews was the result of their disobedience to the commands of God and of their falling away into idolatry. “The times of the Gentiles” will last until the Revelation of Jesus Christ.

There is a difference between the period called the “times of the Gentiles” and “the fullness of the Gentiles"

The fullness of the Gentiles refers to the complete formation of that group of Gentiles who make up the church of Jesus Christ. This period of time is called the church period. It started with Pentecost and lasts until the Rapture of the church. Paul says in Romans 11:25, “blindness in part is happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in" There has been up to the last few years an exceed­ingly small number of Jews who believe in Jesus (Romans 11:4-5).

After the Rapture and during the tribulation period, a remnant out of all Israel will turn to the Lord as their Messiah, and will become His witnesses (Revelation 7:3-8). “The fullness of the Gentiles” is the completion of the purpose of God in calling out from among the Gentiles a people for Christ-the Church.

There are four prophets during the Babylonian captivity-Daniel, Obadiah, Jonah, and Nahum-who speak of Gentile world history. Of these four, Daniel is the chief.

Daniel became a mighty prophet because he purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself, and God used him. He was not ashamed to confess God in a strange land. He dared to trust God. He would not compromise with the devil. This is the secret of a great life. God rules over the minds of saints like Daniel.

Daniel became a companion of kings, and he was given great authority in Babylon. He talked with angels. He was recognized as the prince of wise men. God led him to interpret the image dream of Nebuchadnezzar and to in­terpret his own visions, all of which prophesied the course of the Gentile nations, and “the times of the Gentiles"

The image of Daniel, second chapter, is pictured on the Art Chart (www.BibleSupport.com/a/gppc.png) directly following the Babylonian captivity. The dream of Nebuchadnezzar and the visions of Daniel, seventh chapter, have a similar interpretation. The image of the dream was composed of four different metals which repre­sented four world empires. Each succeeding metal de­creased in value but increased in strength. The four beasts of Daniel’s visions, which came up out of the sea, repre­sented the same four world empires of the image. The Babylonian kingdom was represented in the image by the head of gold, and in Daniel’s vision by the beast which was like a lion with eagle’s wings.

The Medes and Persians were represented in the image by the chest and arms of silver, and in Daniel’s vision by the beast which was like a bear raising itself up on one side and having in its teeth three ribs, representing this threefold dominion.

Alexander’s Grecian empire was represented in the image by the thighs of brass, and in Daniel’s vision by a beast which was like a leopard which had four heads and four wings on its back, representing the four divisions of the empire.

The Roman Empire is represented in the image by the two legs of iron and the feet and toes of part iron and part clay, and in Daniel’s vision by a beast which was “dreadful and terrible and strong exceedingly, and which had great iron teeth. It devoured and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet of it; and it was diverse from all beasts that were before it; and it had ten horns"

The history of the Gentile nations had just passed through the leg period of the Roman Empire when the empire was destroyed.

The history of the Roman Empire did not reach the feet and ten toes period of the image. The ten toes period of part iron and part clay represents the ten-kingdom period of the Roman Empire in its final form, the ten toes representing the ten-kingdoms of the Roman Empire which have yet to be broken with “the Stone” of Daniel 2:34.

“Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces. Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth" (Daniel 2:34-35). Jesus is that “Stone” cut out without hands. He will come at the Revelation, and will fulfill this prophecy.

The Roman Empire, which was destroyed, must therefore, be revived to close the image dream and to finish the times of the Gentiles. Daniel says so; John says so. Empires rise and fall at the command of God. No man can change God’s plan for “the times of the Gentiles" as prophesied in the Bible.

A study of the connecting references given in Daniel and in Revelation concerning the history of the Gentiles as re­vealed in the image of Nebuchadnezzar, in the visions of Daniel, and in the vision of John, should be followed by the student of the Bible. Thus we look to Bible prophecy which tells us about the close of this Gentile period.