The Times of the Gentiles

Goal of this study: WHAT are the “Times of the Gentiles”? WHEN do they begin and end? WHAT will it accomplish?

Additional references: Studies in the Scriptures, Vol. 2. Chap 4

“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.” Luke 21:24 (KJV)

What does “trodden down” mean?

The expression implies that it would be an “oppressive” subjection, as when a captive in war is trodden down under the feet of the conqueror.

Why was Jerusalem trodden down by the Gentile nations?

Jerusalem is the capital of Israel. When Israel rejected Jesus, he pronounced, “Your house is being left to you desolate!” Matthew 23:38. That means God removed His protection from Israel and they lost their special relationship with Him for a period of time.

How long will Israel would be trodden down?

The word “times” suggests a period of certain length with both a beginning and an end. This is also seen in the word “fulfilled.” When something is fulfilled, it ends. This means that we can know how long Israel would be trodden down under Gentile dominion.

What does it mean to have dominion of the earth?

Dominion means to have control and authority over something. The dominion of earth was originally given to Adam. After he sinned, the dominion of earth was removed.

Genesis 1:28 “God blessed them; and God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.’”

Who had dominion of earth after Adam lost it?

Before the flood of Noah’s day, the angels who came down to earth were permitted to have dominion for a time. However, after they too, sinned, dominion was removed.

How will God’s promise to Abraham relate to the dominion of earth?

After exhibiting great faith, God made a promise that would affect not only Abraham, but also his descendants.

Genesis 12:7 “The Lord appeared to Abram and said, To your descendants I will give this land.”

This passage tells us that the descendants of Abraham (the nation of Israel) would be given the land. So, after leaving Egypt and wandering in the wilderness for 40 years, Israel possessed the land of Israel and had a legal right to it.

When and why did Israel lose dominion of the land?

Ezekiel 21:25–27 (KJV) “And thou, profane wicked prince of Israel, whose day is come, when iniquity shall have an end, Thus saith the Lord God, ‘Remove the diadem, and take off the crown: this shall not be the same: exalt him that is low, and abase him that is high. I will overturn, overturn, overturn, it: and it shall be no more, until he come whose right it is; and I will give it him.’”

Over time, Israel became so wicked that God took away their dominion of the land. God would “overturn, overturn, overturn” control of the land of Israel. This statement was made when Babylon first took away Israel’s dominion. The first overturning was to the Medo-Persian Empire which overthrew Babylon and was the next universal power. Greece then followed as the next world power that controlled the land of Israel. Greece was then overthrown by Rome.

Three “Overturnings”

1. Babylon overturned to Medo-Persia
2. Medo-Persia overturned to Greece
3. Greece overturned to Rome.

God’s pronouncement said that Israel would not be restored until “he come whose right it is and I will give it [to] him.” This is a direct reference to Jesus as the Messiah. By his sacrificial death he purchased not only mankind, but also dominion of earth, which included the land of Israel. But in the intervening period Israel would be under the control of the Gentile powers.

Jesus’ right to earth was prophetically confirmed to the prophet Daniel. In a vision the son of man (Jesus) appeared and the Ancient of Days (God) gave him “dominion, glory and a kingdom.” His would be an “everlasting dominion” because he sacrificed his human life to purchase it. He is also righteous and worthy of such an honor.
It will be a great blessing for mankind when Jesus is fully in control of this world.

Daniel 7:13, 14: “I kept looking in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven one like a Son of Man [Jesus] was coming, and he came up to the Ancient of Days [God] and was presented before Him. And to him was given dominion, glory and a kingdom, that all the peoples, nations and men of every language might serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion which will not pass away; and his kingdom is one which will not be destroyed.”

How long is the “Times of the Gentiles”

The Lord had told Israel what the consequences would be if they disobeyed Him.

Leviticus 26:28 “Then I will act with wrathful hostility against you, and I, even I, will punish you seven times for your sins.”

The “seven times” described in Leviticus is a prophetic indication of how long Israel would be subjected to Gentile rule.

“The term “Times of the Gentiles” was applied by our Lord to that interval of earth’s history between the removal of the typical Kingdom of God, the Kingdom of Israel (Ezekiel 21:25–27), and the introduction and establishment of its antitype, the true Kingdom of God.” Vol. 2, p.73

Determining Biblical Time

In Scripture, the words “time” and “times” can be used to measure years. For example, when Papacy was in power, we are told “the woman,” representing faithful Christians, would be cared for by God for 1,260 days.

Revelation 12:6 “Then the woman fled into the wilderness where she had a place prepared by God, so that there she would be nourished for one thousand two hundred and sixty days.”

Using the formula of 1 day = 1 year, 1,260 days represents 1,260 years and corresponds to the years from 539ad, when Papacy came to power, to 1799 ad, when Napoleon took the Pope captive and broke the iron rule of Papacy.

This is confirmed in another description of this same time period.

Revelation 12:14 “But the two wings of the great eagle were given to the woman, so that she could fly into the wilderness to her place, where she was nourished for a time and times and half a time, from the presence of the serpent.”

This same woman, representing faithful Christians during the Gospel Age, is here described as fleeing from Satan’s attempts to destroy her. She is fed for a “time [1 time] and times [2 times] and half a time.” The word “time” here represents a year. A prophetic year is 360 days. This is describing 3½ years, or 1,260 days, each day represents one year.

Another proof that a day represents a year

When God was going to punish the tribe of Judah for 40 years, He told the prophet Ezekiel to lie on his side for 40 days. This is direct evidence that when studying biblical time, one day often represents one year.

Ezekiel 4:6 “I have assigned it to you for forty days, a day for each year.”

The Seven Times of Gentile Rule

Leviticus 26:28 “Even I, will punish you seven times for your sins.”

Since 1 time = 360 years, then 7 times = 2,520 years.

Israel was first taken captive by Babylon in 606bc. 2,520 years later means that Gentile rule over Israel should end in 1914ad.

The succession of world powers to dominate Israel was shown to King Nebuchadnezzar in a dream of a giant statue. Daniel said to the king:

Daniel 2:38 “You are the head of gold.”

How did the Times of the Gentiles end in 1914 if they are still around today?

Although permission to have dominion was taken away from the Gentiles in 1914, the process continues to remove them and establish God’s Kingdom. This is shown in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream when a rock struck the image and ground it to powder. Today, we are witnessing the nations being “ground to powder.” See Daniel 2:44, 45

The ending of the Gentile Times contributed to the process of reestablishing Israel and removing Gentile dominion over their land, which began in 1878.

In 1878, the Berlin Congress of Nations established of the first Jewish colony at Petach Tikvah, and the onset of the first wave of immigration

In 1896, Theodor Herzl of Vienna called the First Zionist Congress to issue a call to Jewry everywhere to return to their ancestral homeland.

In 1917, the government of Great Britain, through the intervention of the Jewish chemist, Dr. Chaim Weizmann, issued the Balfour Declaration, placing His Majesty’s government of England on record as favoring the establishment of a Jewish state in Palestine.

In 1948, following the passage of a United Nations’ resolution, the State of Israel was formally proclaimed.

Thus, in steady progressive steps, Israel has slowly regained her place among the nations which was promised to her by God.

Daniel 2:44 “In the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which will never be destroyed, and that kingdom will not be left for another people; it will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms, but it will itself endure forever.”

“The dream is true and its interpretation is trustworthy.”

Daniel 2:45