Luke 21:24

And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.

Fall by the edge of the sword ... Josephus gives the names of the tribes and villages with the numbers put to death, arriving at the fantastic total of 1,100,000; and as Josephus was a Jewish historian, his record must be received as the most reliable that has reached us concerning this disaster.

Led captive into all nations ... Titus alone deported some 97,000 at one time; and the scattering of Israel, as often promised by Jesus, was most thoroughly accomplished.

Trodden down of the Gentiles ... means occupied by the Gentiles. They did not tread down the city during the siege, nor as they devastated it, but as they occupied it for more than nineteen centuries.

The times of the Gentiles ... is here named as the period of time during which the Holy City would be subject to Gentile domination, and it is far easier for Christians now to know what this meant than it was for the apostles who first heard it. The historical record of that period is spread upon the chronicles of nearly two millennia.

The proper understanding of "the times of the Gentiles" must take into account the following:

(1) The fact that nineteen hundred years were clearly a part of the period indicated, that much time having already elapsed.

(2) The fact that these words "are to be understood as the antithesis of the season of Jerusalem" (Luke 19:44).[24] The Times of the Gentiles will be comparable to the times during which Jerusalem held the favored position.

(3) The fact that the apostle Paul used a very similar term, "the fullness of the Gentiles," and prophesied that Jewish hardening would continue until that period was concluded (see Romans 11:25, and also comments in my Commentary on Romans, en loco).

In the light of the above considerations, the true meaning of "the times of the Gentiles" would appear to be as expressed by various writers thus:

The interval between the fall of Jerusalem and the End of the Age is called "the times of the Gentiles," during which the gospel is announced to the Gentiles and the vineyard is given to others than the Jews (Luke 20:16; 13:29,30).[25]

To the Jews God granted a time of privilege and gracious opportunity. Near the close of that time the Son of man wept over Jerusalem, saying, "If thou hadst known ... in this thy day." In like manner, the Gentile nations are now having their times, which in due course are to be fulfilled, as was the case with Jerusalem.[26]

The times of the Gentiles may mean the Gentiles' "Day of grace," that is, the church age.[27]

"The times of the Gentiles" signify the whole period or epoch which must elapse between the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple, and the beginning of the times of the end when the Lord will return ... In other words, these denote the period during which they, the Gentiles, hold the Church of God in place of the Jews, deposed from that position of favor and honor.[28]

There is not much disagreement among commentators that the "times of the Gentiles" represents a very long period of time; but there are many radically divergent views on when those times will be terminated. For example: Dummelow thought they would close "when Israel is converted."[29] Barnes mentioned some who believe they will end "in the millenium"[30] or "when all the Gentiles are converted."[31] Wesley said these times shall terminate "in the full conversion of the Gentiles."[32] Harrison supposed they would close "with Israel's future restoration to favor,"[33] etc. All such interpretations of this passage are rejected here.

As Geldenhuys said:

Christ nowhere implies that the "times of the Gentiles" will be followed by Jewish dominion over the nations. The kingdom of this world is to give place to "the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ" (Revelation 9:15).[34]

Furthermore, the times of the Jews did not mean their "full conversion," and neither will the times of the Gentiles be their "full conversion," but just the opposite. The times of the Gentiles means the period when Gentiles are being saved; and there is a powerful inference in this text that, just as Israel finally rebelled completely against the Lord, so will the Gentiles, bringing on the time of the End.

A VERY STARTLING FACT

Today, after over nineteen centuries of Gentile dominion over Jerusalem, during which the Romans, the Saracens, the Franks, the Mamelukes, the Turks, and the British have, in turn, held authority over Jerusalem, (the city is today controlled by secular Israel.) If the interpretations which we have advocated above, the same interpretations that have been in vogue among Christian commentators for centuries - if those interpretations are true, then there is a powerful indication in the current status of Jerusalem that suggests the awesome possibility, if not the certainty, that "the times of the Gentiles" have about expired. The current status of true faith in Christ in our troubled world is weak and precarious. Multiplied billions of the Gentile nations have either not heard the gospel at all, or have totally repudiated Christianity, as has Russia. The truth that men cannot foresee the future, and the fact of uncertainty in all such interpretations as those undertaken here, preclude any dogmatism; but the six-day war that lifted the Gentile yoke from Jerusalem in 1967 is in some manner related to this prophecy. The practical applications of his words which Jesus at once propounded should now concern people more than ever, lest "that day" come upon them unawares.

[24] George R. Bliss, op. cit., p. 304.

[25] Donald G. Miller, op. cit., p. 148.

[26] J. S. Lamar, The New Testament Commentary, Vol. II (Cincinnati, Ohio: Chase and Hall, 1877), p. 251.

[27] Charles L. Childers, Beacon Bible Commentary (Kansas City, Missouri: Beacon Hill Press, 1964), p. 591.

[28] H. D. M. Spence, op. cit., p. 185.

[29] J. R. Dummelow, Commentary on the Holy Bible (New York: The Macmillan Company, 1937), p. 766.

[30] Albert Barnes, Notes on the New Testament (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Book House, 1954), p. 143.

[31] Ibid.

[32] John Wesley, op. cit., p. 283.

[33] Everett F. Harrison, Wycliffe Bible Commentary (Chicago: Moody Press, 1971), p. 262.

[34] Norval Geldenhuys, op. cit., p. 536.