WHEN WILL THE TIMES OF THE GENTILES BE FULFILLED?

The only occurrence of the phrase "times of the Gentiles" is found in Luke 21:24, where we read, "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". When are the times of the Gentiles? The note in the Companion Bible on verse 21 of the phrase "trodden down" reads, ".....The reference is to the Mohammedan possession since AD 636 in succession to the fourth or Roman possession...". Others believe the times of the Gentiles began with the Babylonian Kingdom of Nebachadnezzar in 606 BC Still others believe they began with the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD. I believe that at least part of the reason for the difference of opinion is based on the fact that none of these opinions can be substantiated by scripture, because none of the times or events said to begin the times of the Gentiles are spoken of in scripture. It is only by comparing scripture with scripture that we can come to a scriptural conclusion.

I believe that "the times of the Gentiles" refers to the end times, and more specifically, to the great tribulation. That period is covered in scripture, which makes any reliance on secular historians unnecessary. By comparing Matthew 24 with Luke 21 we will find our Lord giving more or less, the same message, but at different times and at different places. That being the case, we will also find some differences. I believe that if there are several items that are the same in these to passages (and there are) and there are no contradictions which would prevent us from seeing them as the same message (which there are not), the most logical conclusion is that our Lord was delivering the same message at two different times and two different places.

The so-called "sermon on the mount" is another message preached by Christ at two different times and two different places. As we shall see, when Christ preached this message "on the mount" as recorded in Matthew, He preached a much more comprehensive version than He did when He was on a "level place" as recorded in Luke. Let us briefly compare this message as preached in two different places.

Matthew chapters 5-7 records the message Christ preached when He "went up into a mountain" (Matthew 5:1). In Luke 6:17 to the end of the chapter we have a record of Christ's message given as He "stood on a level place" (Luke 6:1). The sermon on the mount begins, :"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven". The sermon on the level place begins, "Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God". I will not digress too far to point out all the similarities of these two sermons, or the fact that while on the level place Christ left out many of the sayings that He preached while on the mount. If the reader will compare these two scriptures, he/she will see that, while the two do indeed differ, there are many similarities and no contradictions which prevent the most logical conclusion that they are basically the same message.

What is true of the sermon preached on the mount and on a level place is equally true of the discourse of Matthew 24 and Luke 21. That is to say, there is a a total lack of contradiction in the two and there are a plethora of similarities, so that we may be lead to the most obvious conclusion that they are basically the same message. This point will be proven from scripture as we continue in this study.

A COMPARISON OF MATTHEW 24 AND LUKE 21

Our Lord's discourse which included the phrase "times of the Gentiles" begins at Luke 21:6. "As for these things which ye behold, the days will come, in the which there shall not be left one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down". In verse seven the question is asked of Christ, "Master, ..when shall these things be? and what sign will there be when these things shall come to pass?" We read the same statement and resulting question in Matthew 24:2-3, "And Jesus said unto them, 'See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down. And.....the disciples came unto Him privately saying, 'Tell us, when shall these things be and what shall be the sign of Thy coming...". By comparing scripture with scripture we have learned that both Luke 21 and Matthew 24 address the same question and give the same answer. Let us continue with our comparison.

Note Matthew 24:5, "For many shall come in My name, saying, 'I am Christ'; and shall deceive many". Compare that with Luke 21:8, "....Take heed that ye be not deceived: for many shall come in My name, saying, 'I am Christ'.....".

Matthew 24:6, "And ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars: see that ye be not troubled....". Luke 21:9, "But when ye shall hear of wars and commotion's, be not terrified".

Matthew 24:7, "For nation shall rise up against nation and kingdom against kingdom...". Luke 21:10, "Then He said unto them, 'Nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom":

Matthew 24:9, "Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for My name's sake". Luke 21:12, "But before all these (earthquakes etc,. verse 11) , they shall lay their hands on you, and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues, and into prisons, being brought before kings and rulers for My name's sake".

We go now to Matthew 24:15-16, "When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:) Then let them which be in Judea flee to the mountains". In Luke 21:20-21 we read, "And when you see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof his nigh. Then let them which are in Judea flee to the mountains....".

Matthew 24:19, "And woe unto them that are with child that give suck in those days". Luke 21:23, "But woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck, in those days!...".

The key to the answer to our question as to when are the "times of the Gentiles" is found in Matthew 24:21, "For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no nor ever shall be". And in verse 29 we read, "Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken". In Luke 21:24-25 we read, ".....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......".

There is, in my opinion, no question but that Matthew 24 and Luke 21 both speak of the great tribulation and the day of the Lord which "immediately" follows it. Therefore, the "times of the Gentiles" have to do with end times, not times which are not even covered in scripture.

Let us come back to the comparison of Matthew 24:15-16 with Luke 21:20-21 . In Matthew we read, "When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place...let them which be in Judea flee,,,". And in Luke we read, "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...". We have already determined that both Matthew 24 and Luke 21 concern the tribulation. And Christ tells His listeners to flee. But in Matthew they should flee when they see the abomination of desolation, while in Luke 21 they should flee when they see Jerusalem compassed about with armies. Are these two different events, or are they the same event?. That question is answered in Daniel 11:31.

Because this is a very difficult passage I will quote verse 31 from the NIV, which is, in my opinion, easier to understand. "His armed forces will rise up to desecrate the temple fortress and will abolish the daily sacrifice. Then they will set up the abomination that causes desolation". Here we have a description of the scene during which the antichrist will set up the abomination of desolation which, according to Matthew 24:15 will mark the beginning of the time that all should flee, i.e. the time of the tribulation. The antichrist will bring his forces to the temple. That makes sense, he has in mind to put the abomination (scriptural term for an idol) in the house of God. One can only imagine how the appearance of an idol in God's house would effect those who worship there. It is not difficult to understand why the antichrist would have his armies to help in the process of setting up this abomination of desolation.

What we learn from Dan.11 is that while Matthew tells us what the antichrist will do in the temple, Luke tells us what he will do with his armies in order to facilitate his actions in the temple. There is no contradiction here, there is only a fuller account of the same event. That event is what marks the beginning of the tribulation.

Let us review what has been presented thus far. Matthew 24 is a record of Christ's answer to the question asked by His disciples as to what will be the sign of the end of the age and of His coming. One of the main events of the end times is the tribulation, which will begin when the antichrist places the abomination of desolation in the temple. By comparing Luke 21 with Matthew 24 we have seen that Luke 21 answers the same question and also includes a warning as to what to look for, which will signify the beginning of the tribulation. Where Matthew's Gospel gives the sign of the beginning of the tribulation as the abomination of desolation being placed in the temple, Luke gives the sign of Jerusalem being compassed about. We have read in Daniel 11 that Jerusalem will be compassed about by the armies of the antichrist when he, the antichrist, places the abomination in the temple. Therefore, the encompassing of Jerusalem and the placing of the abomination in the temple are one and the same event.

The times of the Gentiles will begin when the armies of the antichrist will surround Jerusalem in order to place the abomination in the temple, and that will be the beginning of the tribulation. The times of the Gentiles will begin at the beginning of the tribulation and will end at the appointed time, i.e. at the end of the tribulation.

A DISCUSSION OF OTHER VIEWS

DR. BULLINGER'S VIEW

The idea put forth by E.W. Bullinger is that Luke 21:6-11 refers to the tribulation, but that verses 12 through 24 speak of events that will take place before the tribulation, i.e. in 70 AD. Dr. Bullinger suggested in his Companion Bible App. 155 that "all that is recorded concerning Jerusalem in vv. 12-24 would take place" before the great tribulation". In other words, the phrase "before all these" tells us that vv. 12-24 will take place before the tribulation, i.e. in 70 AD. Let us examine that thought.

I will quote Luke 21:12 and the preceding verse as well, " And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilence; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven". But before all these, they shall lay their hands on you, and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues, and into prisons, being brought before kings and rulers for My Name's sake". The question is: does "before all these" refer to before the tribulation ( i.e. vs. 6-11), as Dr. Bullinger asserts, or does it refer to before the signs (vs. 11 only) that signify the beginning of the day of the Lord?

As mentioned above, Dr. Bullinger suggests that "before all these" refers to before the tribulation, i.e. in 70 AD. Luke 21:24 will help us to understand that that verse, at least can not refer to the destruction of 70 AD, i.e. it must refer to the destruction of the tribulation. "And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations.....". First, we have no scriptural evidence that Jews were carried away into all nations after the destruction of 70 AD. Secondly, it is not logical that one nation, i.e. Rome, would allow the captives to be carried away to "all nations". Thirdly, we do have scriptural evidence that in the destruction of Jerusalem during the tribulation "all nations" will come up to battle Jerusalem and that those in Jerusalem will indeed by carried away captive. We read in Zech. 14:2, "For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity.....". Proof that this has to do with the tribulation is found in the context and in Rev. 19:19. Zech. 14:3-4 reads, "Then shall the Lord go forth, and fight against those nations, ......And His feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives....". Compare that with Rev. 19:19, "And I saw the beast , and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against Him (Christ, vs. 11-16) That sat on the horse, and against His army"

This battle described in Luke 21:24 between the nations and Jerusalem will take place during the tribulation, and during the tribulation, the Jews will be carried away to "all nations". Then, when the Lord returns that battle will end and so the "times of the Gentiles" will be fulfilled.

In short, there is no scriptural evidence that Jews were carried away to all nations in the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD. And logic suggests that because only one nation was involved in that destruction, captives would not be carried away to all nations. But we do have scriptural evidence that all nations will be involved in a battle against Jerusalem in the tribulation, and that captives will be carried away during the tribulation.

Therefore, because there is no evidence and logic does not permit verse 24 to refer to 70 AD, this verse refers, in my opinion, to the events of the tribulation. Because verse 24 is included in the passage that is described as "before all these", the entire passage must be understood to refer to the tribulation. It follows therefore, that the phrase, "the times of the Gentile" refer to the end times, and the the fulness thereof, refers to the end of the tribulation when the Lord will come to put those times to an end.

MR. WELCH'S VIEW

Mr. Welch believed that the times of the Gentiles began with the rule of Nebucahdnezzar over Jerusalem and will end at the second coming of Christ. I will quote from the Alphabetical Analysis. Vol. 5 page 145, "Daniel 2 makes it certain that Gentile dominion continues unbroken until the Coming of the Lord, when the whole image, not some portion of it, will be broken to pieces (Dan. 2:35, 45)." May I remind the reader that Dan. 2 is the record of Nebuchadnezzar's dream (and the interpretation of that dream) in which he, Nebuchadnezzar was the head of gold. It is in reference to that dream that Mr. Welch believed that the "times of the Gentiles" began with Nebuchadnezzar.

Mr. Welch's view is that the "times of the Gentiles" is one of "Gentile dominion". But Luke 21:24 in which we read of the "times of the Gentiles" does not speak of dominion, as such. It reads, "and Jerusalem will be trodden down of the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled". To be trodden down is not the same as to be ruled over. Let us look at each of the five occurrences of the Greek word "pateo" translated "trodden" in Luke 21:24.

Luke 10:19 is the first occurrence. It is where we read of our Lord telling His disciples, "behold I give unto you power to tread serpents and scorpions....". Note that power is one thing and to tread is something else. The second occurrence is found in Luke 21:24 which has been quoted.

The next three occurrences are in Revelation. Rev. 11:2 is particularity interesting in regard to this subject. "But the court which is without the Temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months". "Forty two months" is an obvious reference to the time of the tribulation. The exact same word is used as is used of the times of the Gentiles in Luke 21 which also speaks of the trodding down of Jerusalem by the Gentiles. I do not believe that this is just coincidence. I believe that this is the parallel verse to Luke 21:24, and that both verses refer to the destruction of Jerusalem in the time of the tribulation.

The fourth occurrence of the Greek word "pateo" is in Rev. 14:20. Beginning with verse 19 we read, "And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth and cast it into the great winepress of the wrath of God: and the winepress was trodden without the city, and blood came out of the winepress......". This shows the destruction inherent in the word, it is not simply dominion.

The fifth and last occurrence of "pateo" is in Rev. 19:15 where we read, "And out of His mouth goeth a sharp sword that with it He should smite the nations; and He shall rule them with a rod of iron: and He treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God". Here again, this is no simple dominion

In all the centuries in which Jerusalem has been controlled by Gentiles, most of that time Jerusalem has not been trodden down. But Jerusalem will, according to scripture be "trodden down" in the tribulation. For example, we read in Dan. 9:26b, "and the people of a prince (the antichrist) that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary".

Because the times of the Gentiles are characterized, not as "Gentile domination", but as being "trodden down" of the Gentiles, and because the parallel verse puts that in the tribulation, I must very respectfully disagree with Mr. Welch's view that the times of the Gentiles began with Gentile domination, i.e. with Nebuchadnezzar.

I believe that the times of the Gentiles is the tribulation and that the fulfillment of the times of the Gentiles will come as the tribulation ends with the return of Christ.

This paper was written by Joyce Pollard.

I would like to hear your thoughts on this question. Please e-mail me at: janjoyce@aol.com

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