The Times of the Gentiles

Luke 21:24, reads, “And Jerusalem will be trampled by Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.” This “times of the Gentiles” began way back in biblical history, 604-607 B.C., when the Babylonians, led by Nebuchadnezzar, took Israel captive, just as God had prophesied, because Israel would not heed God’s laws.

We are still in the times of the Gentiles today, even with the re-establishment of the nation of Israel. Why? Because Israel has yet to accept Jesus Christ as their long awaited Messiah. Until they do accept Him, we will continue to be in the times of the Gentiles.

Some theologians view the accessibility of the Holy Spirit to reside in a believers heart as Jesus said, as the start of the times of the Gentiles, because it is prophesied that the Gentiles will be an example to the Israelites because of the Holy Spirit dwelling within them. Even though this is true, the scope of the times of the Gentiles, is much larger then just the Christian movement. Since Nebuchadnezzar, the land of Israel’s leadership has been predominantly Gentile.

For those who wonder what I am referring to as Gentile, it is a reference to anyone who in not considered an Israelite. Many today make the false assumption that it is just a non-Jew who is considered a Gentile. The Jewish people are descended from only one tribe of the twelve tribes of the full House of Israel. That tribe is Judah. In God’s economy, there are twelve tribes that need to be restored to Israel, not just the Jews. So, the actual definition of a Gentile is anyone who is a non-Israelite, who are the twelve tribes of Israel, not just the Jew’s of the tribe of Judah.

God has certainly fulfilled His promised restoration of the nation of Israel, but that restoration is not complete yet, because God said they would also recognize Jesus as their Messiah, which for the most part has not yet happened. There are many Jews who have accepted Jesus, but they are by far the minority.

Another example of the restoration not being complete is the fact that only the tribe of Judah (the Jews) have returned to their homeland to govern it. As described above the Israelites were made up of twelve tribes. When we think of Israel we only think in terms of the one tribe of Judah or the Jews.

Although there was division amongst the tribes of Israel in the past, in 1 Kings 11:9-10, God makes this division official, when because of king Solomon’s trysts with foreign woman, which God had warned him about, God removed all but one tribe from the authority of Solomon’s lineage:

“9) So the LORD became angry with Solomon, because his heart had turned from the LORD God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice, 10) and had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods; but he did not keep what the LORD had commanded. 11) Therefore the LORD said to Solomon, “Because you have done this, and have not kept My covenant and My statutes, which I have commanded you, I will surely tear the kingdom away from you and give it to your servant. 12) Nevertheless I will not do it in your days, for the sake of your father David; I will tear it out of the hand of your son. 13) However I will not tear away the whole kingdom; I will give one tribe to your son for the sake of My servant David, and for the sake of Jerusalem which I have chosen."

In 975 B.C., a separate kingdom which was named the House of Israel, which designated the “northern kingdom,” and was established under the ruler-ship of Jeroboam. These ten tribes consisted of the tribes of Simeon, Manasseh, Ephraim, Asher, Naphtali, Zebulun, Issachar, Gad, Rueben, and Dan. The nation left under the ruler-ship of the house or lineage of David, was called the House of Judah and also consisted the tribe of Benjamin, which was the one tribe that God gave over to them which included their own tribe of Judah. This House of Judah is today’s Jewish people of the nation of Israel.

God has restored the nation of Israel, and for the time being has put the House of Judah (the Jews) in charge. This is clear in prophecy as we read of the ruler-ship of Jerusalem in the latter days will be the tribe or House of Judah (Isaiah chapter 2). Just as the House of Judah was scattered around the world by God because of their unfaithfulness to Him, so too was the House of Israel, which consisted of the ten tribes listed above, also scattered, but to date not found.

Many call these ten tribes the “lost ten tribes” today because it is not clear who they are and where God has scattered them. The Jews or the tribe of Judah, on the other hand, were always easily identified throughout history. The reason for this is because of the promised Messiah from the House of David, that being Jesus Christ. This was God’s intention all along to keep the House of Judah in the forefront of history.

But, His plan for the restoration of Israel also includes those so-called “lost ten tribes.” The restoration of Israel will not be completed until those tribes have returned as well. We read this in Jeremiah 3:18, “In those days the house of Judah shall walk with the house of Israel, and they shall come together out of the land of the north to the land that I have given as an inheritance to your fathers.”

But, have those lost ten tribes already accepted Jesus as their Messiah? I believe that many have. I will boldly say that many Christian’s today are those lost ten tribes. My reasoning for that is because of what I understand from Revelation chapter 7.

I believe Revelation chapter 7, which follows the opening of the sixth seal by Jesus, is the Rapture of the Church from the earth. This is when the 144,000 are will be “redeemed from among men,” (Revelation 14:4). These 144,000, 12,000 from each of the 12 tribes of Israel, will be sealed with the name of God on their foreheads. I believe that name will be the name of Jesus Christ after they have recognized and accepted Jesus as their long awaited Messiah, because in verse 1 of Revelation 14, we find these same 144,000 standing on Mount Zion with Jesus at His triumphant return.

As we continue in chapter 7, we also find a “a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb.” These are all the believer’s in Christ who have been either taken out of their graves or taken out of the great tribulation in the Rapture of the Church. This term “Rapture” is not in the Bible, but refers to the transformation of mortal to immortal; we can relate this back to 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, when the apostle Paul wrote:

“13) 13) But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. 14) For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus.“ (The ones who sleep in Jesus are those who have died believing in Him throughout history).

15) For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. 16) For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17) Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. 18) Therefore comfort one another with these words.”

As God’s plan will have it, the complete restoration of Israel will not be fulfilled until the 1,000 year millennial period of Christ’s rule on earth begins. Because the times of the Gentile ruler-ship will continue up until Christ defeats the anti-Christ in the final battle, before Satan is thrown into the abyss to be locked away for that 1,000 year period.

We read in Revelation 11:2, “But leave out the court which is outside the temple, and do not measure it, for it has been given to the Gentiles. And they will tread the holy city underfoot for forty-two months (emphasis mine).” The tribulation period is prophesied to be 7 years in total. Sometime toward the end of the first 3 1/2 year period the current Jewish government will fall to the anti-Christ, which will result in the final 3 1/2 years of the times of the Gentiles.

At the end of this final three and a half years is when Christ’s reign on earth will begin and the prophecy of King David’s ruler-ship on earth is re-established. Christ, of course, representing the lineage of king David; of this kingdom there will be no end.

Why the push for ‘land for peace’ in Israel today, is not God’s will for Israel

Today with the conflict in the Middle East between the Jews and the Muslim Arabs, there is great pressure on Israel from nations around the world, to give up a portion of the land that God reserved for them to try and bring peace and stability into the area.

Many conclude that if the Palestinian people, who make up the vast majority of Arabs in the land of Israel, had their own portion of that land to call their own, that peace would prevail. This conflict goes much deeper then just the Palestinians being happy with sharing the land. There is a deep seeded hatred between the two peoples who are descended from the same seed of Abraham. For an in-depth explanation of this hatred, please read “The Prophecy of Ezekiel—Part 3.”

For proof that giving over land to the Palestinian Muslims will not suffice, already Israel has given up the Gaza Strip and West Bank to the Palestinian people and it has done nothing but add fuel to the fire. Since Palestinian authority has been in place there, the Muslim terrorist group, Hamas, has won parliamentary elections and became a major force in this Palestinian government, and now have even over thrown the Fatah portion of the Palestinian authority in Gaza, which is only a shade better than their Hamas counterparts.

Missiles continued to fall down into Jewish towns near the Gaza Strip, and even became more aggressive when Israel relinquished authority in the Gaza Strip.

No! Land for peace will not bring peace at all, because other Muslim countries that want to see Israel’s demise have no stake in, nor do they care if the Palestinian people have their own land. Nations like Iran, who are publicly open in saying that they want to see Israel wiped off the map, say they want the Palestinian people to have their own land, but internally do not care, their only care is Israel’s demise.

Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has openly said that he believes that Allah spoke to him and told him he was chosen to usher in the Muslim Mahdi, or the redeemer of Islam. To usher in the Mahdi, Ahmadinejad believes that he is to create an atmosphere of war and chaos for the Mahdi to come to the defense of Islam, as the Islamic holy book, the Quran states. The Mahdi will then usher in a worldwide Islamic view of justice.

With the Iranians adamant about nuclear power, which they claim is for non-military reasons, is I believe, Amadinejad’s plan to create this atmosphere of war and Chaos. With nuclear weapons, Iran could easily threaten the entire Middle East into Chaos.

The U.S. government who has recognized the nation of Israel from the onset, is now making a huge mistake by president Bush’s insistence that land such as the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, which is now in Palestinian authority, as well as a portion of Jerusalem should be given up to the Palestinian people, in an effort to find Middle East peace. To date, the Israeli’s have reneged on any talk of giving up a portion of Jerusalem.

There are whispers of these same countries, including the U.S. that are pressuring Israel to even consider giving up the Golan Heights to Syria, in exchange for a peace treaty with Syria. This as well, would be a huge mistake, because Syria is one of the nations, in addition to Iran, who clearly would like to see Israel wiped off the map

The Golan Heights is a very strategic location for Israeli defense because it overlooks Syria. Giving up this land to Syria would be a huge disadvantage to Israel. Israel claimed this land during the Six Day War in 1967 from Syria. The Golan Heights throughout biblical history, was always a part of the land that God promised the Israelites. So by Israel regaining that back in 1967, was only reclaiming what was rightly theirs.

To just give it back now, would go against the will of God, but will probably be one of the triggers to further along end time prophecy. The more power given to Israel’s enemies, the quicker these end time prophecies will be fulfilled.

Is this a bad thing? Well, not necessarily, because God’s Word says it is going to happen anyway. That doesn’t mean I’m a proponent for escalating it, but to try and stop it is only fighting a losing battle. Any peace that seems to be brokered in the Middle East will be a false peace.

It’s clear in prophecy that Israel will at some point feel that peace has finally been accomplished as the anti-Christ comes to power. After some cataclysmic prophetic events throughout the world, this anti-Christ will be successful in rallying people of all nationalities together for what appears to be a world peace.

Israel will experience three and a half years of peace before the bottom falls out and all hell breaks loose. This anti-Christ will at this point begin to flex his muscle and try and complete his ultimate goal of world domination. This will lead to a great and final battle between the spiritual powers of darkness and Light.

Of course we know the end result of that. The return of Jesus and the defeat of the anti-Christ and the spiritual powers of darkness. If only world leaders such as President Bush would study prophecy and see how his decisions are adding fuel to the fire of these end time prophecies.

What’s a world leader to do? I’m not quite sure, but one thing I am sure of, is what God tells us in the Bible; ultimately, as believer’s in Christ, we win!

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