The Times of the Gentiles

Days FIVE and SIX in the Week of Millenniums

Many modern Christians divide Bible history into two eras – before Pentecost and after Pentecost (call it BP and AP). By their reckoning, everything that happened BP was done in preparation for a better thing to come, a super believer and a church that would replace “natural” Israel as the chosen people of God.

When the Bible is considered in part and not in whole, the oddest interpretations seem plausible. Certainly the Day of Pentecost was greatly significant. But there is no justification for the idea that the church AP comprises the spiritual Israel that is destined to replace the old.

God has long divided humanity into two groups, Hebrews and Gentiles. The Hebrews (or Jews) are the seed promised to Abraham; the Gentiles are everyone else. And during the 2,000 years from Abraham to the Ascension, the Gentiles were nothing more than the unchosen people of God, strangers from God’s covenants of promise. But after Israel rejected her Messiah a new era began, known as “the times of the Gentiles.”

Luke 21:24:
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.

On the Day of Pentecost God opened the door of salvation to the Gentiles. All who believed on Jesus would be adopted into the commonwealth of Israel. This was such an unexpected revelation that it took the early apostles years to accept it.

Ephesians 3:5-6:
Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit; That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel:

During this era only a “remnant” of Jews will believe (Romans 11:5). Many more Gentiles than Jews will come to Christ. But this is not because the Gentiles are in any way superior to the Chosen People.

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 fulness of the Gentiles be come in.

God’s favor upon the Gentile Christians is intended to provoke Israel to jealousy.

Romans 11:11:
I say then, Have they stumbled that they should fall? God forbid: but rather through their fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles, for to provoke them to jealousy.

It is no small thing that the Times of the Gentiles were ushered in with the gift of tongues. When Isaiah prophesied of the judgment of God on Israel, he said, “For with stammering lips and another tongue will he speak to this people” (Isaiah 28:11). Paul cited this prophecy in his teaching on the gift of tongues in 1 Corinthians 14. With both the supernatural gift of tongues and the diverse languages of the Gentile Christians, God is speaking to his people!

But what evidence indicates that this age will last two millennial days? Part of the answer is based on simple arithmetic. There are seven days in the Week of Millenniums. The first four days – the 2,000 year prehistory of Israel and the 2,000 years of Israel’s rise and fall – have passed. The Sabbath day is the 1,000-year reign of Christ on earth. That leaves two days, or 2,000 years, between Christ’s Ascension and his Return.

Some 1,981 years have passed since the Ascension. God has kept the precise date hidden, undoubtedly to deter people from calculating the year of his Son’s return. But God would have to disregard patterns that he himself established to prevent “the dispensation of the grace of God” (Ephesians 3:2) from fitting into two millennial days.

A stunning piece of evidence is found in the book of Hosea, in the midst of his prophecy of the final restoration of Israel.

Hosea 6:2:
After two days will he revive us: in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight.

Could it be more plain? More amazing?

Days 5 and 6 are the “last days” of the millennial week before the Sabbath. These are the days foretold by Joel when the gifts of the Spirit are freely given and freely received.

Acts 2:17-18:
And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams: And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy:

Yet despite the abundance of grace that has been bestowed upon the Gentile Christians, we are just as prone to spiritual infidelity and carnal thinking as were the Jews in their day. These “last days” are sure to challenge our love and faithfulness to God.

2 Peter 3:3:
Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts,

2 Timothy 4:4:
And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.

Just as the tribes of Israel were assimilated by the Assyrians, much of the church today willfully molds itself after patterns set by secular culture. Sadly, people who call themselves Christians are often the first in line to denounce the Scriptures as archaic ideals and foolish myths.

The sixth millennial day concludes as Jesus returns for his church. In full accordance with Jewish custom, he will steal away his bride in an event some people call the Rapture of the church. This will be followed by the uprising of the Antichrist, which unleashes the Great Tribulation. But during this time of terror, Jesus and his bride will be safely hidden away until the time comes for the Lord’s glorious return to conquer the earth.

Isaiah 26:20:
Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee: hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast.

 

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The Day of the Lord