Times Of The Gentiles

"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).

• "They" refers to the Jews living in Israel and Jerusalem.
• "Fall by the edge of the sword" means killed.
• "Led away captive" means taken prisoner of war.
• "Into all nations" means removed from the Abraham land grant and live among the Gentiles where they are taken.
•  "Jerusalem shall be trodden down" means who ever conquers Jerusalem will tread upon the holy city from one end to the other, including upon the temple mount.
• "Trodden down of the Gentiles" means by the Romans and their successors who will have or take control over the city.
• "Until the times of the Gentiles" means the Gentile conquerors and their successors have a specific number of years, months, and days to have control of Jerusalem and then their control over Jerusalem will come to an end. Some place into this the "restoration" of Israel as a nation, but it is no where mentioned or predicted by Jesus.
• "Times of the Gentiles be fulfilled" means the total of the years, months, and days the Gentile conquerors and their successors are allowed to have control over Jerusalem. When these years, months, and days are fulfilled for Gentile dominion we can expect Luke 21:25-28 to kick in immediately. There is no restoration of Israel in Luke 21:24-28.

There have been many interpretations to the "times of the Gentiles" in Luke 21:24.
1.) Babylonian captivity to the Pre-Trib rapture (Scofield Bible page 1345; Clarence Larkin charts).
2.) Acts 10 to 1967 when the church is being phased out and to end at the beginning of the tribulation (Hal Lindsey).
3.) Acts 10 to 70AD (some partial Preterist).
4.) 66.5AD to 70AD (Catholic Preterist).
5.) 70AD to the middle of the tribulation (pre-wrath).
6.) 40AD to the end of the tribulation (dispensational Post-Tribs).
7.) 70AD to the end of the tribulation (Apostolic Post-Trib).

#7 is the correct one.

There is a difference between the times of the Gentiles to come into salvation in 34AD and the times of the Gentiles to begin with the trodding down of Jerusalem in 70AD.

The Catholic Preterist claim the time of the Gentiles was between 66.5AD and 70AD. They do not consider the "times of the Gentiles" as being the Church age. They have a rapture and resurrection of the Church in 70AD. The Church age ends when the trodding down began. And the spiritualized Millennial began at that time. In this prophecy scheme, after 70AD, the Jews can return home because Jerusalem will no longer be prophetically trodden down of the Roman Gentiles. So the trodding down lasted three and a half years and ended. Anyone can research this theory and see quickly it is false.

Clarence Larkin Chart

The Dispensationalist claim the time of the Gentiles began with the Babylonian captivity. They also target the time between 70AD and 1948AD when Israel was declared a nation and many Jews returned to Israel. They revised this in the late 60s to say that the times of the Gentiles did not end in 1948 but in 1967. They did so because no rapture had taken place soon after 1948. And when no rapture had taken place in 7 years (1955), then 14 years (1962), then 21 years (1969) (increments of 7 years), they revised their scheme claiming their prophecies failed. Hal Lindsey claimed the time of the Gentiles ended in 1967 and the Church was being phased out and would end soon at the pre-trib rapture.

The Pre-Tribbers then put out that when Israel got control of the Temple mount this would signal the end of the times of the Gentiles which they claimed was the Church age. Let me say right here that the Church did not trod down Jerusalem and the Temple mount. So to make the Church now the times of the Gentiles is absurdly false. I said so!

When Israel captured the Temple mount in the 1967 war, the Pre-Tribs predicted an imminent rapture. They said the Church age was over. Rapture fever swept the world. More was heard of the rapture and the end of the Church after 1967 than at any other time in Church history. It has now been 44 years since the 1967 hoopla over the Church ending and an any second rapture. They prophesied falsely again. What is the hold-up of Jesus coming back? Obviously the times of the Gentiles ending and the Church age being over ushering in an any second rapture was another lie. And all the other rapture schemes since 1967 have been lies. So what is the lie now?

It is that until the Jews can build their third Temple, the times of the Gentiles is still running on the prophecy time clock. Since the Church is now the cause of the "times of the Gentiles," the Church must be removed from the earth in a secret rapture so God the Father can turn back to the Jews.

All attention has been shifted upon the Muslims and the mosque on the holy mount. With the Muslim Gentiles sill treading upon the city from one end to the other, and upon the Temple mount area, they have revised the times of the Gentiles and the end of the Church age. Now, the "times of the Gentiles" shifts from the Church ending to Muslim control ending. They now say the end of the Church age will end and the rapture take place when the Muslims are conquered, the mosque has been removed, and the times of Gentile trodding down ends. They see the mosque as the abomination of desolation standing in the holy place. The day the mosque is removed and no longer sits upon the holy mount as a symbol of Gentile power and conquest of Jerusalem, this will signal the end of the times of the Gentiles and the time of the Church age (to take place concurrently). They prophesy the rapture and the end of the times of the Gentiles will take place.

So, the Pre-Trib rapture preachers keep revising their any second rapture theories and who and what controls the "times of the Gentiles." This shows all of us they not only lied in the many times of the past, they will revise their lies until at last they guess the final conclusion of the times of the Gentiles.

Then there are the dispensational Post-tribs who hold most of the above and change only the time of the rapture from before the tribulation to the end of the tribulation. Many of those who hold this theory continue to develop all manner of schemes and theories to also come up with a final guess that might turn out accurate. But along the way they keep scheming up where the Church and world are in the tribulation time. Many have tried to claim we are already past the fifth seal and the fifth trumpet (Ervin Baxter and Ken Raggio). Both of these Oneness Ministers are dispensational Post-Trib. These and other dispensational post-tribs have schemed their interpretations of prophecy to soon be in alliance with the Pre-tribs and an any second secret rapture.

They claim we could quickly see the judgments of the sixth seal and the sixth trumpet. The schemes have been many. And with computer graphics they have come up with some very impressive images of horror and pending hell to break upon the world.  The pay day of the Gentile nations (another times of the Gentiles) for mistreating Jews since 70AD will at last cause God to wreck the world in his wrath and anger, finalizing it at the battle of Armageddon. They see in all this the destruction of Rome and the Catholic church the wind up of the times of the Gentiles. Protestantism also will see its demise as the trinitarian family of Mystery Babylon plummets into the judgments of hell.

We must ask ourselves when is the "times of the Gentiles" over?

We must also ask ourselves if the end of the times of the Gentiles allows Jews to come back to Israel and be restored as a nation?

There is nothing in the prophecy of Jesus in the Luke text that hints at a regathering of Jews from all nations where they were carried captive.

It appears from a careful examination of Luke 21:24-28 that the times of the Gentiles ends at the time of Armageddon just prior to the post-trib rapture. It does not end when Jews take control of Jerusalem and the Temple mount.

Since the rapture is not until after the great tribulation, the times of Gentiles salvation does not end until Jesus comes in flaming fire taking vengeance upon those who know not God and who have not obeyed the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ (2Thes 1:7-8).

Look at Luke 21-24-28 carefully and see if you can find a restored Israel in this prophecy of Jesus:

LUK 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.

No secret rapture or restoration of Israel in that verse.

LUK 21:25 And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring;

No secret rapture or restoration of Israel in that verse.

LUK 21:26 Men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.

No secret rapture or restoration of Israel in that verse.

LUK 21:27 And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.

No secret rapture or restoration of Israel in that verse.

LUK 21:28 And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.

No secret rapture or restoration of Israel in that verse.

We can see that the end of the times of the Gentiles is signaled by catastrophic events in the heavens and upon the earth. What many novices have done here, is jump up and start shouting about signs in the heavens or even upon the earth, but they fail to see that the prophecy is they will happen all at the same time. It is obvious that if there are signs in the sun and the moon and the stars but nothing major is taking place upon the earth, the time is not yet.

When the powers of the heavens are shaken. And this implies some very dramatic catastrophic events that will cause disaster upon the earth, the times of the Gentiles will soon be over.

We must, sooner or later, decide if the current nation of Israel is indeed a regathering of scattered Jews in fulfillment of prophecy. If so, the times of the Gentiles was over in 1948. I cannot find any prophecy that predicts Israel to be restored as a nation before or after the tribulation.

We must, sooner or later, ask ourselves if those in Israel right now are real Jews? What if the majority of them are not real Jews but they are descendants of Gentile converts to the Jewish religion? What if there is only a remnant of true Jews in Israel, and this remnant is not in power or control of anything? What if the whole nation of Israel right now has a Jewish identity but it is just as false as an idol image that represents some god?  Just as it is possible for an idol image to represent a god, it is possible for an Israel image to represent the real Israel and it is a total fake. Since Israel was an abomination in the past, is it possible in the future for Jews to be the abomination of desolation in the holy place? They sure were the abomination in the holy place when it was destroyed in 70AD. There is no other possibility that would cause God to allow this horrible destruction. God then is the cause of the times of the Gentiles to trod down Jerusalem. And only God can end it. When will he end it?

We have within our Bibles the prophecy of a remnant of Jews and Israelites that will be saved. We see a picture of this remnant in Revelation chapter 7 of 144,000. These we know are real Jews or real Israelites.

We must now ask ourselves if the "times of the Gentiles" means the Church age?

When I was among the Pre-Trib camp, I held the view that the Church was a Gentile bride and espoused to Jesus, God the Son. Israel was the wife of Jehovah, God the Father. I held like other Oneness that Jehovah Father cannot have the Son's bride for his wife and the Son could not have the Father's wife for his bride. So, I held like others, that there was a covenant between God the Father and Israel, and the New Covenant was between God the Son and his Gentile bride. I could not figure out how a Jew could violate the law and marry outside of Israel and take a Gentile bride. But I ignored this. Of course within all of this trinitarian dual covenant theology, I had to wrestle with how to explain the Oneness doctrine if the Father and the Son had two different wives (one lives eternally in the New Jerusalem and the other lives eternally upon the new earth? But, like many, I shoved this contradictory theology into the back of my mind.  I could not resolve the Father and the Son being one and having a wife and a concubine. So I ignored the contradiction that the Church was a Gentile bride. But then my eyes came open to the olive tree in Romans 11 and how there was no Gentile bride, the Gentiles were grafted into something Jewish. That was one of the greatest revelations that delivered me from dispensationalism (Pre-Trib rapture hoax).

The "times of the Gentiles" DOES NOT REFER to the Church age. I said so!

It refers to the duration of the years, months, and days from the time Jerusalem was destroyed until the time Jesus returns from heaven. The times of the Gentiles mentioned in the Luke 21:24 passage DID NOT begin when the Church was started on the day of Pentecost (30AD). The Luke 21:24 times of the Gentiles did not start in the Samaritan revival in Acts 8 (34AD).  The Luke 21:24 times of the Gentiles did not begin at the house of Cornelius in Acts 10 (40AD). The Luke 21:24 times of the Gentiles did not start with the sending forth of the Apostle Paul in Acts 13 (43AD).

If the Luke 21:24 times of the Gentiles has NOTHING to do with the Church, how is it then a signal for a Pre-Trib rapture? 

I heard it over and over, that the times of the Gentiles began in Acts 10 and the conversion of Cornelius and his household. This is merging two different times of the Gentiles into one.

At first I did not catch the lie. I did not know of a prophetic time clock when the times of Gentiles salvation began. It was when I learned how and when they were grafted into the olive tree that I got it. It was not until I finally understood there was no gap between the 69th and 70th week that I got it. When I learned that the 70th week ended three and a half years after Calvary, and this kicked in the times of Gentiles salvation: I got it. I then saw the Samaritan revival took place as soon as the 70th week ended. And then the fully open door for the Gentiles in Acts 10. Then I understood perfectly that the times of the fullness of the Gentiles to come in to salvation began in Samaria with the Apostle Philip. the Apostle Peter, and the Apostle John. I got it.

I also saw at this time, that it is contradictory to have the times of the Gentiles to begin trodding down Jerusalem in 70AD and also claim it was the same as the time of the Gentile salvation that began in 40AD. The times of the beginning of Gentile salvation cannot be the times of the Gentiles ushered in by the Roman empire conquering Jerusalem in 70AD.

The times of the Gentiles to receive salvation began in 34AD at the Samaritan revival. And it will not end until the second coming of Jesus at the end of the tribulation. The fullness of the Gentiles be come in to the Body of Christ, began in Samaria when the first Gentiles were grafted into the olive tree, and will end at the sound of the seventh trumpet (Rev. 11:15).

There will NEVER be a time since 34AD to the Post-Trib coming of Jesus that Gentiles cannot be saved by Acts 2:38 (Rev. 7:14). This Gospel of the Kingdom will be preached among all nations and then will the END come (Matt. 24:14). The "END" here is not a Pre-tribulation rapture. The "END" is the end of the tribulation at which time, the one and only resurrection and coming of Jesus will occur (Matt 24:29-31).

I said so!

Now, I know it irks some of you for me to say: I SAID SO! Now where did I come up with this?

It came from hearing a Pre-Trib preacher answering a question about the secret rapture. When he concluded his crazy answer, he told the audience what he had spoken was true because he said so.  He was verifying his own words to be true. At first I thought to myself, what audacity? What pride? What aloofness? What arrogance? Who did he think he was to say something was true because he said it? Then I realized he was speaking to his own. They were Pre-Trib like him. They did not judge his words: "because I said so" to be condescending or arrogant. They took them to be AUTHORITATIVE. That his opinion settled all disputes. Over some years I heard other preachers use the same kind of words about a variety of subjects. Question them about something and they will encourage others to believe what they have said, because they said it and others should trust them saying it to mean it is true. So, I decided to be a brave Post-Trib and say the coming of Jesus was after the tribulation because I said so. And wow, the hate, the slander, the animosity, the rancor, the blasphemy, the railings, the pride they manifested in their own rightness. So, I decided I would make a game of it. Every time a Pre-Trib would email me about something they said being true because they said it, I will in turn say my doctrine was true because I said it. I have had many years of amusement from this game. Because it stirs up the pride in others to slander and retaliate, I dig at them to see how humble they really are and also to see if they are seeking the Truth, or for some reason to find fault so they can stick me under the fifth rib.

Ok, the times of the Gentiles for salvation began in Acts 8 when Samaritan Gentiles were added to the Church. Then the door fully open in Acts 10.

It is a total lie that the times of the Gentiles for salvation began in 70AD. And it is a total lie that the times of the Gentiles conquering Jerusalem in 70AD has anything to do with the times of the Gentiles receiving the Gospel.

Thus, the times of the Gentiles in Luke 21:24 has nothing to do with the time the Church age began or will end. So far as I know, among Apostolics in modern times, I am the first to straighten this out. I searched the internet for any Apostolic who may have written about it, and there were none. All that has been out there is my Bible Study on it in 2003. I am sure now, some will rush to say something and back date it. It matters not to me. As long as the Truth is preached that the Church did not trod down Jerusalem in 70AD and the salvation of Gentiles in 34AD has nothing to do with the trodding down by Roman soldiers and their successors

It was Jesus that showed this to me. I give him the highest praise: PRAISE JESUS, HALLELU-JESUS.


Bishop Reckart
A Man God Made