THE TIMES
OF THE GENTILES
2-22-2018 (revised and edited on 2-21-2019)
Matthew 24
& Luke 21
The 24th chapter of the gospel of Matthew, and its
parallel found in Luke 21, have several varying interpretations and
understandings around the internet and in various commentaries. Some so-called Bible scholars view the entire
chapter as a future event and others claim that all content and events were fulfilled
by the Roman army’s destruction of Jerusalem, including the temple, in 70 AD
then completed in 73 AD.
However, it may be that both views are incorrect in some ways
and correct in others. A parallel
passage to Matthew 24 found in Mark 21 sometimes gives extra and different
information and insights not found in Matthew 24. It can be said that most Darby-Scofield
dispensational types seem to prefer Matthew 24 over Luke 21 since it appears to
focus more on a futurist view or can be bent in that direction.
In verse 2 Jesus tells the disciples, after they were boasting
about the temple, that not one stone will be left on another concerning the
temple. The disciples, not understanding
the timeline of the temple destruction and the end of the age ask Jesus a
question that integrates both scenarios, “"Tell
us, when will these things happen? And what will be the sign of your coming and
of the end of the age?"
The answer of Jesus, as indicated
in the narrative of the gospel of Matthew, doesn’t appear to inform the
disciples about the different timings of the two questions. However, in the parallel passage in Luke
21:7, the question the disciples ask only refers to the temple and not the end
of the age although information about the end of the age is given toward the close
of the chapter.
Within the next few verses of Matthew 24, Jesus warns of
false prophets, false Christs, wars, rumors of wars, earthquakes, famines, and
plagues. Luke’s comments speak of terrifying sights and great signs from
heaven, and both writers speak of the vast betrayal and persecution of
believers. It should be noted that the
word “earthquake” has a dual meaning in scripture. It can refer to an actual ground moving event
or it can be used in a metaphoric manner to describe turmoil or upheaval in
politics, religion, or economics as it is often used in the prophetic history
of the Church in the Revelaton.
All the events described in the previous paragraph have
occurred throughout history, sometimes more frequently than other times. There was a great purge of Christian
believers during the Medieval historical period including the various
inquisitions. The persecution of
Christian believers appears to have taken a modern upsurge within the past few
years with MSNBC claiming that Christianity is a mental illness as well as many
believers being killed in Africa and Arab countries. The Bible, prayers, and scripture verses have
been taken out of public schools and the majority of public places.
Matthew 24:15 speaks of the “abomination of desolation
standing in the Holy place” and Luke 21:20 only speaks of Jerusalem surrounded
by armies. These two passages appear to
be about the same event. The only identified appearance of an
abomination of desolation is said to be the Temple priests continuing their rituals
after the Melchizedek High
Priest, Jesus Christ, was crucified. Some
secularist claim it was merely the Roman soldiers entering the temple.
This has led many in the futurist group to claim this verse
is referring to the so-called “antichrist” during the so-called tribulation
period (which will be discussed later).
The next few verses, in both accounts, are giving instructions to
Jerusalem inhabitants to escape or avoid the invasion by the Roman soldiers. Based on this passage, it is said that many
Christians left the Jerusalem area when an invasion of the Roman military became
apparent.
The Times
of the Gentiles
Of the two gospels currently being used, Luke 21:24 has the
only mention of the phrase, “Jerusalem
will be trampled down by the Gentiles (the nations) until the times of the
Gentiles (the nations) are fulfilled”. As punishment (the law of tribulation) for
idolatry, Jerusalem/Judea/Canaan was to be ruled and occupied by the beast nations.
This is a reference to the length of time allotted to the beast nations of
Daniel 2, 7, and 8 included the “little horn” of Daniel 7 that grows out of the
fourth prophetic beast which is the Roman Empire.
These beasts: Babylon;
Medo-Persia; Greece; Rome; the Holy Roman Empire; and finally Mystery Babylon
are given dominion in the earth or specifically over the land of Judah. Out of the fourth beast (Roman Empire) listed
in Daniel 7, grows a “little horn” which uproots three of the original ten
horns (i.e. acquires territory as a governmental Empire). This little horn is an extension of the Roman
fourth beast and consists of the Holy Roman Church or Empire which gained power
during the fall of the western half of the Roman Empire. For more information concerning the beast
system, without having to repeat information in this article, please refer to The
Beast System http://freedomfromdelusion.blogspot.com/2017/04/the-beast-system.html
and/or Vatican
Watch Dates
The little horn extension is the sea beast seen by John in
Revelation 13. This Rev 13 beast rises
from the sea as did the four beasts viewed by Daniel in Dan 7. That is why this little horn beast is a
system of government and not a single “antichrist” type of entity. This little horn beast is described as a
composite of the first three beasts: like a leopard; feet of a beat; and a
lion’s mouth. Note that the dragon gave
the beast his power, his throne, and great authority to rule.
Revelation 13:1-2 NET Then I saw a beast coming up out of the sea. It had
ten horns and seven heads, and on its horns were ten diadem crowns, and on its
heads a blasphemous name. (2) Now the beast that I saw was like a leopard, but
its feet were like a bear's, and its mouth was like a lion's mouth. The dragon
gave the beast his power, his throne, and great authority to rule.
The next beast, the earth beast or the false prophet, is not
a governmental system but a controlling entity that oversees the finances of
the sea beast. The sea beast is allowed
to continue their church/government role while being controlled, in the
background, by the earth beast which transformed into the international central
banking system. Its current control system
is the Federal Reserve controlling the world through its designed petrol dollar
system since 1973. The two beasts, one a
religious empire and the other a monetary entity, become combined through
business dealing and control with each other although there is reciprocal
hatred.
The “times of the gentiles (nations) began when God raised up
Babylon to bring judgment upon Judah and Jerusalem in 607-604 B.C. The divine
law specified “seven times,” or 2,520 years.
This figure is acquired by the multiplication of 360 (days of a
prophetic year) by 7, which is the maximum number of God’s judgement. The laws of tribulation may be found in Deuteronomy
28.
When exactly did the “times of the gentiles” begin? Scripture does not give us the precise year
when the divine court sold Jerusalem to the king of Babylon. It may have been
as early as 612 BC, when the Babylonian army captured Nineveh, the capital of
the Assyrian Empire. It may also have been 607 B.C. when they were first
organized into a Babylonian Empire from a political standpoint. Or it may have
been in 604 when the Babylonian army actually took the city of Jerusalem.
Thus, we have three potential start dates: 612 BC; 607 BC; and 604 BC. Dr. Stephen Jones claims that all three dates
are important in determining the endpoint of the beast system’s Dominion
Mandate. 2,520 years from each date ends
with 1909, 1914, and 1917. However,
Jerusalem gained independence during the final century of the Greek Empires
dominion due to the atrocities of Antiochus Epiphanes and the valor of the
Maccabees. This century had to be
restored to the beast nations to properly fulfill the law or the law of tribulation
which gives us the end dates of: 2009;
2014; and 2017 AD. The extension is an
important aspect that many people fail to understand.
The year 2017 was exactly a century after General
Allenby took Jerusalem from the Ottoman Empire in December 1917. Recall that on September 23, 2017 the
heavens portrayed the picture given in Revelation 12:1. The sun will
be in Virgo, the Virgin, with the moon under her feet. She will be crowned by
Venus, Mercury, and Mars positioned over her head. This was
also
reminiscent of the signs prior to Jesus’ birth. For more information see Signs
in the Heavens
It can justifiably be said that we are in the last years or
days of the “times of the Gentiles.”
Insofar as Jerusalem is concerned, we know that the city has been trampled down
by various manifestations of the beast nations since 604 B.C. when they first
occupied the city. Dating from that event, 2,520 plus 100 years brings us to
2017 and we are now into 2018 (2019) with the falling of Mystery, Babylon
(although it currently appears to be much slower than expected, but who knows
other than God).
The Days of
Noah
Matthew 24:36-42 and Luke 21:25-28 appear to be answering the
last part of the disciple’s question in Matthew 24:2 (i.e. “what will be the sign of your coming and of
the end of the age?")
Luke 21:25-27 NET "And there will be signs in the sun and moon and
stars, and on the earth nations will be in distress, anxious over the roaring
of the sea and the surging waves. (26) People will be fainting from fear and
from the expectation of what is coming on the world, for the powers of the
heavens will be shaken. (27) Then they will see the Son of Man arriving in a
cloud with power and great glory.
There will be heavenly signs as in September 2017. Many nations are in some type of distress
i.e. the Middle East wars involving Israel, Syria, Lebanon, Turkey, Iran, Iraq,
Afghanistan, Russia, China, and the USA.
There is also the inane Russian collusion debacle in the USA. Migrants invading Europe and etc.
Anxiety over the roaring of the sea and the surging waves is
metaphorically speaking of civil unrest and despair (think Yellow Jacket
protests and Antifa).
As for the phrase, “For
just like the days of Noah were, so the coming of the Son of Man will be” of Matthew 24:37 has a simple explanation if the
verse is not taken out of context. The
previous verse states, “But as for that day and
hour no one knows it — not even the angels in heaven — except the Father alone”. Thus like
the people in Noah’s day, “People were eating and
drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day Noah entered the ark”. In other
words, it was business as usual although they had been warned.
Many prognosticators and fear-mongers like Tom
Horn of SkyWatchTV interpret “like the days of Noah” as an invasion of
Watchers, Nephilim, and giants. This
most likely will not happen.
The
Fig Tree Parable
Luke 21:29 relates a parable of a fig tree, with the fig tree
representing Jews, Judah, Edomites, Khazarians, and Persians (i.e. the current
residents of Israel). Matthew 21:19 related
another account of a fig tree that Jesus cursed because it had no fruit and
declared that it (fig tree or Judah) would never have any fruit although it
would produce many leaves.
Matthew 21:19 NET After noticing a fig tree by the road he went to it,
but found nothing on it except leaves. He said to it, "Never again will
there be fruit from you!" And the fig tree withered at once.
It can be seen that the fig tree parable is about Jerusalem
and the nation of Judah, which is symbolized by the fig tree. The tree was
cursed because it bore leaves but no fruit.
Fig leaves represent self-justification, as opposed to being justified
by faith in the blood of the Lamb. Adam
and Eve covered themselves with fig leaves which represented a false covering
for their sin. The nation of Judah (or Judea)
as a whole rejected the Lamb of God and had no faith in His blood sacrifice.
They continued to sacrifice animals for the covering of sin instead of applying
the blood of Jesus. So several days prior to the end of Jesus’ ministry, He
laid a curse on the fig tree, representing the nation of Judah, saying, “No longer shall there ever be any fruit from
you.” Later Jesus related to
the disciples another aspect about the fig tree, telling them, in effect, that
it would come back to life after withering away. It would again bear leaves
near the end of the age but would not bear fruit.
Today’s nation of Israel could be considered inhabited by
Judeans and Edomites (with the Khazarians running the show). Although some individual Jews have become
Christian believers, the nation of Israel will never bear fruit. If they do then the words of Jesus are wrong
and He would be a false prophet.
As reported by John the Baptist a tree (a person or group of people) not producing fruit will be cut down
and thrown into the fire (i.e. the “lake of fire” or the corrective judgment of
God occurring at the end of the Millennium).
Luke 3:9 NET Even now the ax is laid at the root of the trees, and
every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into
the fire."
Jesus examined the people of Judea for three years and below
is His final response.
Luke 13:6-7 NET Then Jesus told this parable: "A man had a fig
tree planted in his vineyard, and he came looking for fruit on it and found
none. (7) So he said to the worker who tended the vineyard, 'For three years
now, I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree, and each time I inspect it
I find none. Cut it down! Why should it continue to deplete the soil?'
The fulfillment of Luke 19:43-44 (scripture given below) partially
occurred with the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD by the Roman military. However, Jerusalem was rebuilt, and because
the Jewish nation came back to life as the revived fig tree, the final
fulfillment of Jesus’ prophecy remains for the near future.
Luke 19:41-44 NET Now when Jesus approached and saw the city, he wept
over it, (42) saying, "If you had only known on this day, even you, the
things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. (43) For
the days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against
you and surround you and close in on you from every side. (44) They will
demolish you -- you and your children within your walls -- and they will not
leave within you one stone on top of another, because you did not recognize the
time of your visitation from God."
This
Generation
“Learn this parable from the fig tree”. The fig tree is Judah or Judea that is today
represented by the nation of Israel. The
nation has sprouted many leaves which means that summer or the end of the age
is near. “This generation will not pass
away until all these things take place”.
The United Nations passed the Palestinian Resolution on
November 29, 1947, and the nation state was established on May 14, 1948. If a generation is considered to be 70 years
then 2017-2018, which is now, should be the time of the destruction of Jerusalem
not the so-called pre-tribulational rapture as the Darby-Scofield group
believes.
Matthew
24:32-34 NET "Learn this parable from the fig tree: Whenever
its branch becomes tender and puts out its leaves, you know that summer is
near. (33) So also you, when you see all these things, know that he is near,
right at the door. (34) I tell you the truth, this generation will not pass
away until all these things take place.
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