Fulness of the Gentiles vs. Times of the Gentiles
As indicated by the post title, I will focus on what Paul meant when he said, "the fulness of the Gentiles". However, there is often confusion when one considers another phrase that Jesus mentioned in Luke 21, namely, "the times of the Gentiles", which I will also clarify in this post. Before we analyze these phrases, lets read the scripture passages to get the proper setting and context.
Luke 21:20 And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh. 21 Then let them which are in Judaea flee to the mountains; and let them which are in the midst of it depart out; and let not them that are in the countries enter thereinto. 22 For these be the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled. 23 But woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck, in those days! for there shall be great distress in the land, and wrath upon this people. 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.
Romans 11:24 For if thou wert cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and wert grafted contrary to nature into a good olive tree: how much more shall these, which be the natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree? 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. 26 And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: 27 For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins.
So, what do these two phrases mean? Are they referring to the same thing or are they different? What is "the fulness of the Gentiles"? Does it refer to a specific number (quantity) or does it refer to a specific moment in time? Do the "times of the Gentiles" mean the end of the church age or the end of the Gentile nations?
What the phrases DO NOT mean?
The following few excerpts highlighted in grey below are some of the most common misunderstandings of the "fulness of the Gentiles". Their meanings are far from being the correct interpretations.
The fulness of the Gentiles occurs when the last Gentile decides to get saved
Since the Lord is just and fair, the rapture can only occur once the last Gentile has heard the gospel and made a decision to believe it. This is why the church has been commissioned to go into all the world, preaching the gospel in every conceivable place to ensure that everyone has the opportunity to hear the gospel. Once everyone has heard of Christ, only then can the rapture take place.
This interpretation is problematic for two reasons. Firstly, the rapture will not be influenced by the will of men! The date of the rapture has been predetermined by God and will occur at exactly the date and time it has been appointed to. This is consistent with other examples like,
Gal.4:4 But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, 5 To redeem them that were under the law, ... Incl examples like: Zechariah 14:9; Habakkuk 2:3; Isaiah 60:21; Luke 19:42; 1 Corinthians 15:8; 2 Thessalonians 2:6; 1 Peter 1:5.
Secondly, one has to logically ask, when will we have the last Gentile? Since babies are being born daily, how can we determine a last Gentile? How does one cut off which baby will represent the last one if there are more births every hour of every day?
Similarly, this next excerpt is also problematic.
The fulness of the Gentiles occurs after a fixed, predetermined number of Gentile souls gets saved
In Acts 15:13-14 James said in effect that Israel was being set aside while the Lord took a people for Himself from among the Gentiles. I believe that Romans 11:25 indicates that the Church will have a predetermined number of members and when that number is reached, we'll all be raptured. That means that there's a last one saved before the Rapture. But that person won't be the last one to ever be saved as people can still be saved in the tribulation.
This interpretation does not agree with the character of God who says clearly in His Word,
1 Tim.2:3 For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; 4 Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.
Consider also Gen.18:22-33 where Abraham prayed to the Lord pleading for Sodom to be saved if there were still righteous men in the city.
Gen.18:32 And he [Abraham] said, Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak yet but this once: Peradventure ten shall be found there. And he [the Lord] said, I will not destroy it [Sodom] for ten's sake.
To continue disproving this view, consider that both Jews and Gentiles form the members of the Body of Christ. Paul tells us that there is neither Jew nor Gentile (Gal 3:28). Our identity is in Christ, not our national heritage. Had Paul been speaking about the Body of Christ why wouldn't he have written that "blindness in part is happened to Israel until the fullness of the [Church; Greek: ekklesia] be come in." He didn't. Paul wrote "blindness in part is happened to Israel until the fullness of the [Greek: ethnos] be come in." Ethnos means "Gentile, heathen, nation, or people." So, we should really think of Gentiles as meaning heathens or nations, a term the Bible uses to refer to those who are unregenerate—the lost. Notice how Paul identifies three types of people groups listed in this verse,
1 Cor.10:32 Give none offence, neither to the Jews, nor to the Gentiles, nor to the church of God [the Body of Christ]:
Then, on the other side of the scale, there are those that interpret, "the fulness of the Gentiles", to be the same meaning as, "the times of the Gentiles". The excerpt below, from another source, is also an incorrect interpretation based on the facts I mention thereafter.
The term "the fulness of the Gentiles" means the same as "the times of the Gentiles"
By the times of the Gentiles, we mean the administration of the Gentiles, as the rod of chastening upon Israel, to further God's purpose concerning them. It began with Israel's first oppression by the Gentiles in Egypt and will continue with the history of Israel through this dispensation of Grace. It will end at the return of the Messiah in glory when he delivers Israel from the Gentiles and exalt them as the head of all nations in the Millennium and forever (Lk 21:24; Rom 11:25; Rev. 19:11--Rev 20:10). The term "the fulness of the Gentiles" means the same as "the times of the Gentiles" and has nothing to do with the salvation of the last Gentile soul. It refers to political domination over the Jews by the Gentiles, off and on, from the Egyptian bondage to the second coming of Christ who will deliver the Jews from the Gentiles under Antichrist and set up an earthly kingdom over them forever (Zech 14; Lk 1:32-33; Rev 11:15; Rev 19:11-21; Rev 20:1-10; Isa 9:6-7).
What the phrases DO mean?
In order to qualify the above view, one needs to study each phrase independently in order to determine if the context is the same or different. In reference to Jesus using "the times of the Gentiles", He was quoting from the passage in Ezekiel 30:3, which in context is referring to the historical times of all Gentile nations (empires) who at one time ruled over Israel. Consider Egypt, and then the Assyrian empire, the Babylonian empire, the Medo-Persian empire, the Greek empire and finally the Roman empire. This also complements the details of the seven-headed dragon in Revelation 13 and 17. Each head of the dragon represents these same Gentile empires that lorded over Israel in their exiles or due to their disobedience. The times of the Gentiles is the entire period when these empires ruled over Israel. When Jesus comes back at His second coming, the times of the Gentiles will end, since Jesus will defeat the last Babylonian empire of the antichrist, and Israel will once again become the head of all nations, fulfilling their status as a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.
The fact that Jesus quoted from the Old Testament means that the context is different from Paul's quote regarding "the fulness of the Gentiles". Why? Well, the very fact that the Body of Christ is part of the 'mystery' doctrine only introduced by Paul after the Lord had ascended is proof that these two phrases cannot be meaning the same thing. Paul did not (and could not) derive his term from anywhere in the Old Testament. Paul's term in Romans 11:25 involved a "mystery", something not previously known but later revealed by God. If Jesus in His earthly ministry (Luke 21:24) spoke of what Paul would later write, could the Holy Spirit honestly write that Paul's doctrine in Romans 11:25 was a secret? No, of course not!
So then, having clarified what "the times of the Gentiles" means, what then does "the fulness of the Gentiles" mean? The correct interpretation involves looking at what the Bible tells us is happening in the last days, prior to the rapture. Paul writes the following in this regard,
1 Tim.4:1 Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; 2 Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron; 3 Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth.
2 Tim.4:2 Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long suffering and doctrine. 3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; 4 And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.
2 Thess.2:9 Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, 10 And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. 11 And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: 12 That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
The verses above indicate that deception is going to be rampant, inside the church and out, during the last days, prior and post the start of the tribulation. This is important to note and is the underlying key to understanding the phrase, "the fulness of the Gentiles". Based on the degression of humanity in the world, as we see in the news today, there is soon coming a day and an hour where no more souls can be evangelized. There will be a moment when the last Gentile will receive the gospel, and thereafter, due to deceit and lies, due to a debased mind and an ever-increasing abhorrence of the truth, there will not be another soul on earth who will be willing or capable of receiving the gospel. One could compare this to the times of both Noah and Abraham. Both these men possibly represented the last people to have faith in, or respond to, the will of God in their day. God could use no other person other than these two men to continue His program. Similarly, it is at this time that the fulness of the Gentiles is come, since no one else will respond to and believe the grace gospel, it is at this time that the Body of Christ is ready to be raptured, and it is at this time that the dispensation of grace will come to a close.
What happens after "the fulness of the Gentiles"?
When the rapture happens, the grace dispensation closes, and salvation by the imputed grace of the cross work of Christ comes to an end. Can people who miss this opportunity still be saved and escape the sentence of eternal death? The answer is "yes", but it comes with a HUGE price. Having missed the opportunity to be saved by the righteous works of Christ offered to you freely, salvation by grace now becomes a salvation by works as per the Kingdom gospel as proclaimed by Jesus and the 12-apostles. After the rapture and during the tribulation, salvation will be available by the requirements of the Kingdom Gospel. The following will need to be done to save oneself,
- Repent (turn away) from your sins, your unbelief and your idols (Acts 2:38)
- Be water baptized so that your sins can be forgiven (Acts 2:38)
- Receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38)
- Obey the law (Matthew 19:17)
- Sell all your possessions (Matthew 13:44; Matthew 19:21)
- Pick up your cross and follow after Christ (Luke 9:23)
- Endure in your faith even unto death (Matthew 10:22; Hebrews 12:7; James 1:12)
Summary
In summary then, "the fulness of the Gentiles" involves God forming the Body of Christ, a people group without racial distinction, (ie: Jews are considered Gentiles in the Dispensation of Grace). This will end at the Rapture, when the Body of Christ is complete. In contrast, "the times of the Gentiles" which refers to the history of all the Gentile empires who ruled over Israel, will conclude at Jesus Christ's Second Coming when he defeats the Antichrist and brings an end to his Babylonian empire. The Millennial kingdom will place Israel again as head of all nations where they will be preeminent and will reign as kings and priest over all the nations of the world during that 1000-year period.
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