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What Does “The Times of the Gentiles Fulfilled” Mean? | Luke 21:24 & Romans 11:25 Explained
In Luke 21:24, Jesus said, “[The Jews] will fall by the edge of the sword and be led captive among all nations, and Jerusalem will be trampled underfoot by the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.” The times of the Jews ended in 70 AD when Jerusalem was conquered, the Jews were dispersed, and the times of the Gentiles began. Romans 11:25 says, “Lest you be wise in your own sight, I do not want you to be unaware of this mystery, brothers: a partial hardening has come upon Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in (or until the times of the Gentiles is fulfilled).” The Jews’ rejection of Christ lasts until the full number of Gentiles are saved.
https://youtu.be/INu5ZQln-i4
Table of contentsThe Times of the Gentiles is the Church AgeThe Gospel Went to the Jews FirstThe Gospel Went to the Gentiles When the Jews Rejected ItGod Used the Gentiles to Make the Jews JealousThe Times of the Gentiles Should Make Us Feel HumbleThe Times of the Gentiles Should Make Us Feel FearfulDoes Romans 11 Teach We Can Lose Our Salvation?"Until the Fullness of the Gentiles Has Come In” Means “Until the Times of the Gentiles Is Fulfilled.”God's Ultimate Demonstration of Kindness and Severity
There are two different times. First, there was the time of the Jews. Then, there was the times of the Gentiles. In Luke 21:24, Jesus said, "[The Jews] will fall by the edge of the sword and be led captive among all nations, and Jerusalem will be trampled underfoot by the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled."
Jesus prophesied that the times of the Jews would end in 70 AD when Jerusalem was conquered, the Jews were dispersed, and the times of the Gentiles began. The times of the Gentiles would last until the end of the church age, and then the times of the Jews would resume for Daniel’s 70th week or seven more years.
The Times of the Gentiles is the Church Age
The fourth feast, Pentecost, looked forward to the church's “harvest.” This feast is described in Leviticus 23:15-22, and verse 17 says, "You shall bring from your dwelling places two loaves of bread to be waved, made of two tenths of an ephah. They shall be of fine flour, and they shall be baked with leaven, as firstfruits to the Lord.
During the feast of Pentecost, people would bring out two loaves of bread that they would wave. These two loaves represent the harvest. Surprisingly, the two loaves were baked with leaven! Weeks earlier, when the Jews celebrated the Feast of Unleavened, they were told that if they ate leaven, they would be killed: "Whoever eats leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that person shall be cut off from Israel" (Exodus 12:15 and Exodus 12:19).
Can you imagine how shocking it was for the Jews to move from the Feast of Unleavened Bread, when they would be killed for eating leaven, to the feast of Pentecost, when they were supposed to bake two loaves with leaven? How do we explain that? It makes perfect sense if we understand what each feast looked forward to. Leaven is a picture or type of sin. The Feast of Unleavened Bread looked forward to Jesus’s sinless or unleavened body in the grave. But Pentecost looked forward to the spiritual harvest when Jews and Gentiles were coming into the church, and we are filled with leaven or sin.
Why two loaves versus one loaf or three loaves? Many scholars believe that because the two leaves represent the harvest, they also likely represent the two groups that make up the harvest: Jews and Gentilesone loaf for each.
The Gospel Went to the Jews First
We start to see the harvest that Pentecost looked forward to beginning on Pentecost and continuing through the book of Acts. After Peter’s sermon on Pentecost, Acts 2:41 says, "Those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls." Then, a little while later, Acts 4:4, says, "Many of those who heard the word believed, and the number of the men came to about five thousand." In a matter of a few days, 8,000 Jews were saved. That’s a great harvest!
These 8,000 believers were Jews versus Gentiles. The early church was entirely Jewish because the Gospel was supposed to go to the Jews first and then the Gentiles:
Romans 1:16 The gospel…is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, TO THE JEW FIRST AND [THEN] TO THE GREEK (or Gentile).
Matthew 10:5 Jesus sent out the twelve, instructing them, “Go nowhere among the Gentiles and enter no town of the Samaritans, 6 BUT GO RATHER TO THE LOST SHEEP OF THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL.
You could read this and think, “What does Jesus have against Gentiles? Why does He only want the gospel to go to the Jews? Doesn’t He want Gentiles to be saved, too?” Yes, but the gospel was was supposed to go to the Jews first!
A Gentile woman came to Jesus and wanted Him to cast the demon out of her daughter. In Matthew 15:24 Jesus said to her, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” Jesus did end up helping her, but first, He let her know His mission was first to the Jews.
The Gospel Went to the Gentiles When the Jews Rejected It
Most of the Jews didn’t respond like the Jews in Acts 2 and 4. What did most of the Jews do? They rejected the gospel! Acts 2 and 4 say 8,000 Jews came to faith. That sounds like a lot, but when you consider there were millions of Jews, there’s a title for these 8,000, and it’s “remnant.” Romans 9:27 says, "Though the number of the sons of Israel be as the sand of the sea, ONLY A REMNANT OF THEM WILL BE SAVED." God promised Abraham that his descendants, the Israelites, would be as numerous as the sand on the sea, but only a remnant would be saved. Romans 11:5 says, "So too at the present time there is a remnant (he means a remnant of Jews), chosen by grace." Again, [only] a remnant of Jews are saved.
We know there’s going to be a great harvest. That’s what the feast of Pentecost was celebrating. But if there is only a remnant of Jews who were saved who makes up the harvest? Gentiles! Starting with Cornelius and his family in Acts 10, plenty of Gentiles were saved. They make up the harvest.
Jesus prophesied the transition from the times of the Jews to the times of the Gentiles, and we see it happen in the Book of Acts. In the Parable of the Wicked Vinedressers:
Matthew 21:33 [Jesus said, “The master] planted a vineyard…leased it to tenants (referring to the Jews). 34 [Then] he sent his servants to the tenants to get fruit. 35 The tenants took his servants and beat one, killed another, and stoned another… 37 Finally [the master] sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son (referring to Jesus).’ 38 But when the tenants saw the son…39 they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him…43 Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you (the Jews) and GIVEN TO A PEOPLE PRODUCING ITS FRUITS (referring to Gentiles).
In the Parable of the Wedding Feast, Jesus makes the same point:
Matthew 22:2 [Jesus said] “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son, 3 and sent his servants to call those who were invited to the feast (referring to the Jews; they were invited first), but they would not come (referring to their rejection of Christ)...8 [The king said to] his servants, ‘The wedding feast is ready, but those invited (the Jews) were not worthy. 9 Go therefore to the main roads and invite to the wedding feast as many as you find (referring to the Gentiles).’ 10 And those servants went out…and gathered all whom they found (referring to the Gentiles). So the wedding hall was filled with guests (plenty of Gentiles got saved!).
As we read Acts, we see this played out:
Acts 13:46 And Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly, saying, “It was necessary that the word of God be spoken first to you (the Jews). Since you thrust it aside and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, WE ARE TURNING TO THE GENTILES.
Acts 18:5 When Silas and Timothy arrived from Macedonia, Paul was occupied with the word, testifying to the Jews that the Christ was Jesus. 6 And when they opposed and reviled him, he shook out his garments and said to them, “Your blood be on your own heads! I am innocent. From now on I WILL GO TO THE GENTILES.”
Acts 28:25 And disagreeing among themselves, they (the Jews) departed after Paul had made one statement: “The Holy Spirit was right in saying to your fathers through Isaiah the prophet: 26 “‘Go to this people (referring to the Jews), and say, “You will indeed hear but never understand, and you will indeed see but never perceive.” 27 For this people's heart has grown dull, and with their ears they can barely hear, and their eyes they have closed; lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and turn, and I would heal them.’ 28 Therefore let it be known to you that this salvation of God has been SENT TO THE GENTILES; THEY WILL LISTEN.”
This is the third to last verse in Acts. The last two verses briefly discuss Paul, which means Acts ends with more rejection from the Jews and more attention given to the Gentiles.
God Used the Gentiles to Make the Jews Jealous
If God turned His attention to the Gentiles, what about the Jews? Is God done with them? Are they cut off forever? Paul asks and then answer this in Romans 11:11: "So I ask, did they (the Jews) stumble (referring to their rejection of Christ) in order that they might fall? By no means! Rather, through their trespass (the Jews’ rejection of Christ) salvation has come to the Gentiles, SO AS TO MAKE ISRAEL JEALOUS."
There’s a difference between stumbling and falling. When you stumble, you get back up again. When you fall, you stay down. The Jews stumbled when they rejected Christ, but they will get back up when they come to faith in Christ in the future.
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By Scott LaPierre
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In Luke 21:24, Jesus said, “[The Jews] will fall by the edge of the sword and be led captive among all nations, and Jerusalem will be trampled underfoot by the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.” The times of the Jews ended in 70 AD when Jerusalem was conquered, the Jews were dispersed, and the times of the Gentiles began. Romans 11:25 says, “Lest you be wise in your own sight, I do not want you to be unaware of this mystery, brothers: a partial hardening has come upon Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in (or until the times of the Gentiles is fulfilled).” The Jews’ rejection of Christ lasts until the full number of Gentiles are saved.
https://youtu.be/INu5ZQln-i4
Table of contentsThe Times of the Gentiles is the Church AgeThe Gospel Went to the Jews FirstThe Gospel Went to the Gentiles When the Jews Rejected ItGod Used the Gentiles to Make the Jews JealousThe Times of the Gentiles Should Make Us Feel HumbleThe Times of the Gentiles Should Make Us Feel FearfulDoes Romans 11 Teach We Can Lose Our Salvation?"Until the Fullness of the Gentiles Has Come In” Means “Until the Times of the Gentiles Is Fulfilled.”God's Ultimate Demonstration of Kindness and Severity
There are two different times. First, there was the time of the Jews. Then, there was the times of the Gentiles. In Luke 21:24, Jesus said, "[The Jews] will fall by the edge of the sword and be led captive among all nations, and Jerusalem will be trampled underfoot by the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled."
Jesus prophesied that the times of the Jews would end in 70 AD when Jerusalem was conquered, the Jews were dispersed, and the times of the Gentiles began. The times of the Gentiles would last until the end of the church age, and then the times of the Jews would resume for Daniel’s 70th week or seven more years.
The Times of the Gentiles is the Church Age
The fourth feast, Pentecost, looked forward to the church's “harvest.” This feast is described in Leviticus 23:15-22, and verse 17 says, "You shall bring from your dwelling places two loaves of bread to be waved, made of two tenths of an ephah. They shall be of fine flour, and they shall be baked with leaven, as firstfruits to the Lord.
During the feast of Pentecost, people would bring out two loaves of bread that they would wave. These two loaves represent the harvest. Surprisingly, the two loaves were baked with leaven! Weeks earlier, when the Jews celebrated the Feast of Unleavened, they were told that if they ate leaven, they would be killed: "Whoever eats leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that person shall be cut off from Israel" (Exodus 12:15 and Exodus 12:19).
Can you imagine how shocking it was for the Jews to move from the Feast of Unleavened Bread, when they would be killed for eating leaven, to the feast of Pentecost, when they were supposed to bake two loaves with leaven? How do we explain that? It makes perfect sense if we understand what each feast looked forward to. Leaven is a picture or type of sin. The Feast of Unleavened Bread looked forward to Jesus’s sinless or unleavened body in the grave. But Pentecost looked forward to the spiritual harvest when Jews and Gentiles were coming into the church, and we are filled with leaven or sin.
Why two loaves versus one loaf or three loaves? Many scholars believe that because the two leaves represent the harvest, they also likely represent the two groups that make up the harvest: Jews and Gentilesone loaf for each.
The Gospel Went to the Jews First
We start to see the harvest that Pentecost looked forward to beginning on Pentecost and continuing through the book of Acts. After Peter’s sermon on Pentecost, Acts 2:41 says, "Those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls." Then, a little while later, Acts 4:4, says, "Many of those who heard the word believed, and the number of the men came to about five thousand." In a matter of a few days, 8,000 Jews were saved. That’s a great harvest!
These 8,000 believers were Jews versus Gentiles. The early church was entirely Jewish because the Gospel was supposed to go to the Jews first and then the Gentiles:
Romans 1:16 The gospel…is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, TO THE JEW FIRST AND [THEN] TO THE GREEK (or Gentile).
Matthew 10:5 Jesus sent out the twelve, instructing them, “Go nowhere among the Gentiles and enter no town of the Samaritans, 6 BUT GO RATHER TO THE LOST SHEEP OF THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL.
You could read this and think, “What does Jesus have against Gentiles? Why does He only want the gospel to go to the Jews? Doesn’t He want Gentiles to be saved, too?” Yes, but the gospel was was supposed to go to the Jews first!
A Gentile woman came to Jesus and wanted Him to cast the demon out of her daughter. In Matthew 15:24 Jesus said to her, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” Jesus did end up helping her, but first, He let her know His mission was first to the Jews.
The Gospel Went to the Gentiles When the Jews Rejected It
Most of the Jews didn’t respond like the Jews in Acts 2 and 4. What did most of the Jews do? They rejected the gospel! Acts 2 and 4 say 8,000 Jews came to faith. That sounds like a lot, but when you consider there were millions of Jews, there’s a title for these 8,000, and it’s “remnant.” Romans 9:27 says, "Though the number of the sons of Israel be as the sand of the sea, ONLY A REMNANT OF THEM WILL BE SAVED." God promised Abraham that his descendants, the Israelites, would be as numerous as the sand on the sea, but only a remnant would be saved. Romans 11:5 says, "So too at the present time there is a remnant (he means a remnant of Jews), chosen by grace." Again, [only] a remnant of Jews are saved.
We know there’s going to be a great harvest. That’s what the feast of Pentecost was celebrating. But if there is only a remnant of Jews who were saved who makes up the harvest? Gentiles! Starting with Cornelius and his family in Acts 10, plenty of Gentiles were saved. They make up the harvest.
Jesus prophesied the transition from the times of the Jews to the times of the Gentiles, and we see it happen in the Book of Acts. In the Parable of the Wicked Vinedressers:
Matthew 21:33 [Jesus said, “The master] planted a vineyard…leased it to tenants (referring to the Jews). 34 [Then] he sent his servants to the tenants to get fruit. 35 The tenants took his servants and beat one, killed another, and stoned another… 37 Finally [the master] sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son (referring to Jesus).’ 38 But when the tenants saw the son…39 they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him…43 Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you (the Jews) and GIVEN TO A PEOPLE PRODUCING ITS FRUITS (referring to Gentiles).
In the Parable of the Wedding Feast, Jesus makes the same point:
Matthew 22:2 [Jesus said] “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son, 3 and sent his servants to call those who were invited to the feast (referring to the Jews; they were invited first), but they would not come (referring to their rejection of Christ)...8 [The king said to] his servants, ‘The wedding feast is ready, but those invited (the Jews) were not worthy. 9 Go therefore to the main roads and invite to the wedding feast as many as you find (referring to the Gentiles).’ 10 And those servants went out…and gathered all whom they found (referring to the Gentiles). So the wedding hall was filled with guests (plenty of Gentiles got saved!).
As we read Acts, we see this played out:
Acts 13:46 And Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly, saying, “It was necessary that the word of God be spoken first to you (the Jews). Since you thrust it aside and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, WE ARE TURNING TO THE GENTILES.
Acts 18:5 When Silas and Timothy arrived from Macedonia, Paul was occupied with the word, testifying to the Jews that the Christ was Jesus. 6 And when they opposed and reviled him, he shook out his garments and said to them, “Your blood be on your own heads! I am innocent. From now on I WILL GO TO THE GENTILES.”
Acts 28:25 And disagreeing among themselves, they (the Jews) departed after Paul had made one statement: “The Holy Spirit was right in saying to your fathers through Isaiah the prophet: 26 “‘Go to this people (referring to the Jews), and say, “You will indeed hear but never understand, and you will indeed see but never perceive.” 27 For this people's heart has grown dull, and with their ears they can barely hear, and their eyes they have closed; lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and turn, and I would heal them.’ 28 Therefore let it be known to you that this salvation of God has been SENT TO THE GENTILES; THEY WILL LISTEN.”
This is the third to last verse in Acts. The last two verses briefly discuss Paul, which means Acts ends with more rejection from the Jews and more attention given to the Gentiles.
God Used the Gentiles to Make the Jews Jealous
If God turned His attention to the Gentiles, what about the Jews? Is God done with them? Are they cut off forever? Paul asks and then answer this in Romans 11:11: "So I ask, did they (the Jews) stumble (referring to their rejection of Christ) in order that they might fall? By no means! Rather, through their trespass (the Jews’ rejection of Christ) salvation has come to the Gentiles, SO AS TO MAKE ISRAEL JEALOUS."
There’s a difference between stumbling and falling. When you stumble, you get back up again. When you fall, you stay down. The Jews stumbled when they rejected Christ, but they will get back up when they come to faith in Christ in the future.