The Times Of The Gentiles

Please turn in your Bibles to Luke 21. That can be found on page 881, if you're using the

Pew Bible. Preaching text. And what

I will read will be just verses 20 -24. When you have that, go ahead and stand for the reading of God's Word.

But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation has come near.

Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, and let those who are inside the city depart.

And let not those who are out in the country enter it, for these are days of vengeance to fulfill all that is written.

Alas for women who are pregnant, and for those who are nursing infants in those days! For there will be great distress upon the earth, and wrath against this people.

They will fall by the edge of the sword, and be led captive among the nations. And Jerusalem will be trampled underfoot by the

Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled. Amen. You may be seated.

Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you for your Word. We thank you for this very helpful passage, and yet at the same time it is a difficult passage.

We ask that you would open our minds and our hearts to receive your Word, that we would be diligent students of your

Word, like the Bereans, searching the Scriptures daily to see whether these things are so. As we read your

Word and we see the implications of it, may we treasure these things in our hearts. In Jesus' name,

Amen. Before I begin, I'll ask one of my kids if I could get some water up here, that'd be nice.

Thank you. This passage in Luke 21 very much parallels

Matthew 24, Mark 13. Passages that people look to primarily in order to understand the end times.

There are a lot of difficult things in there that people debate. The tribulation, the great tribulation.

There are also things that are not in those passages directly, but that very much relate. Statements in Revelation about time, times, and half a time.

I believe that this passage right here, while all the necessary truths are really contained in those other passages, this passage right here clarifies things in a way that is most helpful.

In particular, verse 24, in this notion of the times of the Gentiles. I believe that understanding this verse, it's a very critical verse to understanding this whole chapter, and it can clarify any misunderstandings that would happen in Mark 13 or in Matthew chapter 24.

And I believe that as we look at this passage, and we consider the details of how it is lining out the events that will take place, it can prepare us to live the

Christian life in a faithful way, enduring with hope and joy. In verse 20,

Jesus says, But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation has come near.

So he talks about a time when Jerusalem will be surrounded by armies. He has already spoken of this before.

It was in Luke chapter 19, verse 43 that he said,

For the days will come upon you when your enemies will set up a barricade around you and surround you and hymn you in on every side.

And this is at a point where he is addressing Jerusalem, the city. So when he says that an army will surround you and will barricade you, he is speaking to the city itself.

So he has already said that Jerusalem will be surrounded. Now he is saying that, again, in answer to the question of when will the temple fall, because this is what the disciples asked him.

They asked him, when will the temple fall? And what will be the sign of your coming? And so he answers those questions together, as I've pointed out before.

Some of the things he says pertain to one, some to the other, some in ways to both.

But here he speaks of Jerusalem being surrounded by armies. It is at that time that the temple will fall.

And indeed, that is what happened in AD 70. When I say

AD, those are the letters A -D. I've been misheard before on that.

It is just A -D, Anno Domini, in the year of our Lord. So in the year 70, the temple fell.

This is recorded in detail by the historian Josephus. And there is still, to this day, a large victory arch in Rome that marks

Titus' coming back from Jerusalem in his victory. And in that arch, if you have never seen pictures of it, or maybe you have, but it didn't register what you were looking at, as you saw maybe a

Bible with illustrations in it and things, that arch has on it a relief that includes the

Roman soldiers taking away the trumpets out of the temple, taking away the candles out of the temple, and things like that.

This is something that was one of the most significant events in history, the destruction of the temple.

And it is recorded in a very substantial way with this one artifact of the

Arch of Titus that is in Rome. Going on here, in verse 21 it says,

Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, and let those who are inside the city depart, and let not those who are out in the country enter it.

So he describes this in a way where it will be so great that people will want to flee. Just as Lot fleed

Sodom, so people will want to flee the city. He has said before that it will be worse for those who rejected his ministry than for Sodom and Gomorrah.

And here we see that described in pictures just like the fire that came down Sodom and Gomorrah, that Lot fleed the city and went to the mountains.

In verse 22, it says, For these are days of vengeance. They are days of vengeance.

Continuing on with what I had mentioned earlier from Luke chapter 19, in the very next verse,

Jesus says, after saying that Jerusalem will be torn down to the ground and you and your children within you, they will not leave one stone upon another, particularly because you did not know the time of your visitation.

That refers to Christ's visitation to his people. They have been anticipating the Messiah for many years.

They are all talking about the Messiah. They have calculations of when the Messiah might come and what city he must be born in.

They understand he must be born in Bethlehem. They understand many of these things and they are anticipating that but they do not know when he actually arrives.

It is because they reject him just as they rejected all the other prophets before him that they will be destroyed.

This is vengeance. It is not just an accident of history that happens to happen 40 years later after Jesus' death, burial, and resurrection.

It is something that is particularly vengeance on them 40 years after his death, burial, and resurrection because they have rejected their

Messiah. And he goes on and says that this is to fulfill all that is written.

All that is written. There are many things written in the Old Testament about the destruction that would come upon the city if they were to reject

God's truth, if they were to reject his law, and in particular, if they were to reject his

Messiah. I'd like to read just a couple of things to you from the Old Testament. There are many passages that address this.

Deuteronomy 28 gives us at the end of the Torah, at the end of the five books of Moses, some of the most extensive conclusions of that whole work.

That the people will be blessed as they serve the Lord and that they will be cursed as they disobey the

Lord. And in the middle of the curses, it's a very long chapter, very extensive curses.

In the middle of that chapter, in verse 63, it says, and as the Lord took delight in doing you good and multiplying you, so the

Lord will take delight in bringing ruin upon you and destroying you, and you shall be plucked off the land that you are entering to take possession of it.

So he's telling them they will be plucked off the land, they will be destroyed as they disobey the

Lord. Indeed, that is what has taken place. Then, at the end of the

Old Testament, going toward the prophets, so not just in the law, the earliest books, but in the minor prophets, the later books,

Zechariah 13, seven through nine. Zechariah gives these words, and while these are on one hand very shadowy words that might be difficult to understand, it seems very evident that it refers to this event that happened in Jerusalem.

It says in verse seven, Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, against the man who stands next to me, declares the

Lord of hosts. Strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered, and I will turn my hand against the little ones.

And the whole land, declares the Lord, two -thirds shall be cut off and perish, and one -third shall be left alive.

And I will put this third into the fire and refine them as one refined silver, and test them as gold is tested.

They will call upon my name, and I will answer them. I will say they are my people, and they will say, the

Lord is my God. And so, on one hand you have the physical people reduced down to a third, perhaps not precisely, but the greater number is destroyed in this attack, because it is a great attack.

And then, you have likewise, that separation into all the earth, turning into a refining of the people.

And so it is that there is a refinement that happens of God's people, as Jerusalem is destroyed, and eventually all the believers in Jerusalem are spread into the whole earth.

So, it fulfills all that is written. Then afterward, in verse 23, continuing in Luke 21,

Alas for women who are pregnant, and for those who are nursing infants in those days! For there will be great distress upon the earth, and wrath against the people.

Because there will be great distress, it will be especially difficult for those who are nursing or pregnant.

Obviously, there is a physical weakness that happens at those times. Trying to take care of small children, going about being great with child, is very difficult for a woman.

And so, if there is military destruction that is happening, there is a lack of resources, there is a terrifying thing.

And Jesus repeats this later on, in Luke 23. Later on in Luke 23,

He says, For behold, the days are coming, when they will say,

Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bore, and the breasts that never nurse. Then they will begin to say to the mountains,

Fall on us, and to the hills, cover us. For if they do these things, when the wood is green, what will happen when it is dry?

That is all in response to people weeping over Him. And He had said, Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for Me, but weep for yourselves and for your children.

And He describes this coming destruction that is going to happen on Jerusalem, that is going to be very great upon them.

So He says, Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bore, and the breasts that never nurse. And they will say to the mountains,

Fall on us, hide us from this wrath of God. Because this is a wrath, it is judgment that happens at the hand of the

Lord because they have rejected their Messiah. Then He says in verse 23, They will fall by the edge of the sword, and be led captive among all nations.

And Jerusalem will be trampled underfoot by the Gentiles. They fall by the edge of the sword, they are led captive among all the nations, and Jerusalem is trampled underfoot.

This maps to the various kinds of judgments that you see given in other books of the

Bible. In Ezekiel especially, judgments are enumerated being the sword, being led captive, spreading out to all the nations.

These things, when He piles these up He's alluding to the language that the prophets have already given.

That all the judgments that have been written in Ezekiel and other books are going to come upon the people in the greatest measure very soon.

And He ends all this with, Until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.

It is important of course to understand what that means. What are the times of the Gentiles? Now most directly in this passage you might think that it has to do with Jerusalem being trampled underfoot by the

Gentiles. Yet I would caution against that because that would be very tautological.

That it will be trampled until it is done being trampled is not too much of a statement.

And given that it says the times of the Gentiles does refer to many different eras this seems to be describing the

Gentiles taking on the role that previously the

Jews has had. It's being recipients of the word of God. The times of the

Gentiles are that time when the word of God goes out to the Gentiles until it reaches all the nations as we see prophesied both in the

Old Testament and in the New. The times of the Gentiles are the times that we are experiencing right now.

This continues until those times are fulfilled. Those who would say that they have already been fulfilled because some people have returned to the land is not done being fulfilled.

These things are continuing because the Lord has not yet returned. These things must continue until the times of the

Gentiles are fulfilled. There are three things that we can take away from this passage.

The first is that the church has been promised a blessing on its mission.

The church has been promised a blessing on her mission. What is her mission? Her mission is to carry out the gospel.

This has already been intimated in some measure. In Luke chapter 10 verse 18

Jesus had said to the apostles when he sent out the 72 and they saw that the spirits were subject to them he said that he saw

Satan fall from heaven like lightning that the power of the enemy had already been vanquished in great measure such that the gospel, the proclamation of the kingdom of heaven has power to go forward.

This is something that is echoed elsewhere in scripture. We see a picture of it in Isaiah chapter 14 which is a picture of Satan being plunged into a pit which is given in pictures of the king of Babylon being plunged into a pit.

That is the passage that in older translations the Bible uses the word Lucifer to describe the king.

He is called Lucifer and he is cast down into the pit and Jesus says that he sees that fulfilled, that he sees

Satan cast down like lightning. We read in Revelation 20 of this picture as well and he sees the dragon the ancient serpent who is the devil and Satan and bound him for a thousand years and threw him into the pit and shut it and sealed it over him so that he might not deceive the nations any longer until the thousand years were ended after that he must be released for a little while.

So, Satan being bound in the pit what is the implication of that?

That he no longer is able to deceive the nations. What is Jesus' point in Luke chapter 10, 18 when he says that he saw

Satan falling from heaven like lightning? The gospel is going out. What is his point now? There is a time of the

Gentiles. Satan no longer has the capacity to deceive the nations the way that he once did so that the gospel could not go in great measure to the

Gentiles. It went in small measure. We see various Gentiles saved like Rahab for example we even see

Ruth as we had recently in our scripture reading but these are not by and large the norm and now it is by and large the norm that salvation goes out to the

Gentiles. We see that blessing on the mission even more of course when it is described by Christ himself.

In Matthew chapter 28 in verse 19 he says go therefore and make disciples of all nations baptizing them in the name of the

Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you and behold

I am with you always to the end of the age. Now the phrase where he says that he is with them always speaks more about their authority to make declarations in baptism than it has to do with being a simple blessing on it.

Yet it certainly implies a blessing on the matter. They are to go out to all the nations during this time of the

Gentiles. They are to go out to all the nations. At the very beginning of Acts 1 verse 8 it says but you will receive power when the

Holy Spirit has come upon you and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and all Judea and in Samaria and to the ends of the earth.

All the way to the ends of the earth the gospel has been empowered. We are empowered to be witnesses all the way to the ends of the earth.

And we see this especially as Acts unfolds in the ministry of Paul. First of all in the very next chapter just as Jesus prophesied the

Holy Spirit does come on all the people in a way that signifies that the gospel is going to go out into all the nations.

Now while God's people had always been blessed with the Holy Spirit and would be powerless apart from him he was outpoured in special measure in Acts 2 in order that the people at this time after prophets and priests and kings all being united under one prophet priest and king would have the capacity under him to be a royal priesthood administering a capacity beyond that that the average believer was able to do before.

And what is the sign that happened with this? The Holy Spirit falling on them signified by flames of fire and them speaking in tongues foreign tongues.

Why is it that they are speaking in foreign tongues? And it's not primarily described in terms of foreign tongues it's primarily described in terms of those around hearing in their native language.

The purpose isn't confusion that no one can understand the emphasis in Acts chapter 2 is the fact that people do understand by the many languages that are given.

It is a reversal of Babel where at the tower of Babel people had been scattered because of the many languages there.

The many languages on one hand Paul explains in 1 Corinthians 14 is a judgment on the

Jews because this is one of the prophecies that they would be surrounded by people of different tongues yet at the same time is a blessing as the gospel goes out to the

Gentiles going out to those who speak many different tongues. And then

Paul as he tries to reach the Jews with the message and they repeatedly reject him he says in Acts 13 that they have judged themselves to be unworthy of the message and so less and less

Jews coming to a knowledge of the faith and even today you look at the numbers and very few who are of Jewish heritage coming to the knowledge of the faith primarily going out to the

Gentiles and so Paul goes out to the Gentiles and he calls this in Ephesians the mystery of Christ.

The mystery of Christ referring to that which was hidden for many ages but then has been revealed in Christ the fact that the gospel would go to all the nations and that in Christ Jews and Gentiles would be united together where before they had been separate they had been separated especially by the law of Moses that which had many ceremonial divisions between peoples that the

Jews would be one way dividing them from all the Gentiles but now they are joined together in Jesus Christ and this is his particular ministry as the last but greatest in many ways of all the apostles and this is most exemplified in his particular ministry of the

Jerusalem collection which we had already looked at in our scripture reading today in 2 Corinthians 9 that in this service to God the

Gentiles giving to God the Jews being recipients of it, them acknowledging that the

Gentiles have brought in and that gospel has gone forward this is something when it uses the word service uses the word that refers to religious worship when it talks about service it's not just saying an act of servantly service it's using the word liturgia which is where we get the word liturgy it is suggesting a worshipful service to the

Lord by which they give and so in that worship to the Lord the church is united this all shows you the great blessing that we have on the message of the gospel that message of the gospel that Christ has died been resurrected from the dead and it is because he has died in the place of believers because he has died in our place suffering the wrath of God that we could not bear on our own and he has suffered that and been raised that we might have his righteousness that this truth is not something that is just known by a few but that message has been blessed in such measure that though it is something incredibly difficult for the world to receive in fact it is impossible for the world to receive apart from having the mind of Christ apart from having the spirit has been blessed by the spirit of God that as Christ has sent his spirit it is a blessed message so that many will receive it this passage that even just speaking of the times of the

Gentiles should give you confidence about the message going forward that as you share the message with those around you and advance it to the whole world that it will be received by many it can be very discouraging because it is a narrow path and few find it you might feel that there are very few coming and it

I often hear people start off their deliberations about what kind of message that they would share what kind of instruction that they would give based on whether or not they would think it would have any fruit and be filled with a kind of hopelessness because of what they have experienced in the past but God calls you to call on the promises that he has given and one of those promises is that we are situated in the times of the

Gentiles and the gospel has gone out to the nations with great power being blessed by Christ being blessed by his spirit the next thing that is promised to the church is tribulation.

Tribulation is promised to the church in this passage. I would like you to turn to Matthew 24.

This Matthew 24 is the primary passage that people look at in order to understand this discourse of Christ.

It's important to look at these passages side by side in order to understand what is intended and I believe they can be understood on their own but it certainly does help clarify things if we look at them side by side and if you look at Matthew 24 and we begin just reading at verse 15

Matthew 24 begin reading at verse 15 so when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet

Daniel standing in the holy place, let the reader understand then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.

Let the one who is in the housetop not go down to take what is in his house and let the one who is in the field not turn back to take his cloak and alas for women who are pregnant for those who are nursing infants in those days pray that your flight be not in winter or on a

Sabbath for then there will be great tribulation such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now and no never will be and if those days had not been cut short no human being would be saved but for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short then if anyone says to you look here is the

Christ or there he is do not believe it for false Christ and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders so as to lead astray if possible even the elect see

I have told you beforehand so if they say to you look he is in the wilderness do not go out if they say look he is in the inner rooms do not believe it for as lightning comes from the east and shines as far as the west so will be the coming of the son of man where the corpse is there the vultures will gather immediately after the tribulation in those days the sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light and the stars will fall from heaven and the powers of the heavens will be shaken now if you keep your finger there and look in Luke chapter 21 and look just past the passage that we have read in verse 25 it says and there will be signs in sun and moon and stars and on the earth the stress of nations and perplexity because of the roaring of the sea and the waves etc.

so verse 29 in Matthew 24 corresponds to verse 25 here and what we have in Luke 24 verses 22 to 28 is in place of what is in Luke verse 24 where it speaks about Jerusalem being trampled underfoot by the

Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled now one of the most common ways in modern day evangelicalism that that passage in Matthew 24 is understood is that it refers to something that has not happened yet that will happen all the way at the end it refers to when

Matthew speaks of this tribulation that is coming and then after that tribulation Christ comes that when it refers to that tribulation it's talking about something future excuse me it's talking about something that happens relative to Christ in a way that is just before his coming but here when we read about it in Luke 21 verse 24 it is included in this statement about the times of the

Gentiles being fulfilled the tribulation that's being described in Matthew 24 is something that is ongoing the tribulation that Jesus is describing in Matthew 24 includes all of these difficulties that we are experiencing these are things that are happening even in our own time and you can tell that by putting these passages parallel and seeing that Luke has here or Matthew has the times of the

Gentiles so when Matthew describes tribulation he's not describing something just at the end he's describing that whole period of time the whole interadvent period we will face great tribulation so this undoes the idea that the tribulation that's being described, now

I use the phrase great tribulation, we'll talk about that in a minute, that refers to something different, but the tribulation that's described here is not something that just happens at the end it's something throughout this undoes one the idea that that is not yet here and that we aren't already in it it also undoes the idea that things will be, that we will reach any kind of golden era before Christ returns.

The tribulation does not cease until Christ returns so those who are anticipating some golden era whether it be of one kind or another are misguided because tribulation continues until Christ returns.

Now the next thing that is promised is an end there is an end to this time of the

Gentiles and we can see that by several things that are stated here the first one is having looked at that passage in Matthew 24 we see in verse 25 it says, so when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet

Daniel, etc let the reader understand what is that talking about?

Daniel has spoken of an abomination of desolation now that had a near fulfillment to Daniel and I would like us also to look at this passage.

These are difficult passages that in order to understand you sort of have to put them together so please turn to Daniel chapter 12.

Now the abomination of desolation is spoken of a number of times throughout

Daniel yet I think if we just restrict ourselves to Daniel 12 it will be evident enough what is happening here.

Daniel 12 verse 11 and from the time that the regular burnt offering is taken away and the abomination that makes desolate is set up there shall be 1290 days blessed is he who waits and arrives at the 1335 days but go your way till the end etc.

Alright now there's several lengths of time that we won't be able to get into but they have to do with time periods from Daniel's time onward so they include some extra time that we're not particularly concerned with at the moment but he has spoken of the regular burnt offering being taken away that is the abomination of desolation now the near fulfillment for Daniel something that happens between the two testaments that is not recorded its fulfillment is not recorded in the bible it is prophesied several times by Daniel is that in between the two testaments

Antiochus Epiphanes will come and sacrifice a pig on the altar now an unclean animal being sacrificed on the altar of the temple desecrates it such that it is no longer proper for worship you cannot just go back to sacrifices normally in that temple unless it is re -sanctified so that desecration is what that desecration that making the temple unusable is what

Daniel is prophesying in an immediate fulfillment yet we should see that there is a greater fulfillment that happens when the temple is completely destroyed when it's completely destroyed the burnt offering is taken away there is no place for sacrifices anymore once that once the temple is completely destroyed so the abomination of desolation here refers immediately to the pig being sacrificed on the altar but ultimately to the destruction that will happen in the temple of the temple so if you look at verse 7 in Daniel 12 it says and I heard the man clothed in linen who was above the waters of the stream he raised his right hand and his left toward heaven okay so this

I believe this is Jesus Christ the man in linen he is in white he is raising both hands just as Jesus did as he blessed the disciples but here he is pledging he raises both hands and he swears by him who lives forever that it would be for a time times and half a time and that when the shattering of the power of the holy people comes to an end all these things would be finished so Daniel wants to know how long is this going to be how long is the temple going to go unused and remember there are several things going on Daniel is waiting for the temple to be rebuilt and he's asking how long is it going to be and so the temple is not used in his time he's also prophesying that there will be another disuse of the temple and then with a pig that Antiochus will sacrifice and then another disuse of the temple when it is finally destroyed so there are several things being layered here but this picture of how long the temple goes in disuse is repeatedly pictured as times time and half a time now what that signifies is that it is a fixed time

God has in mind exactly how long it will go on there is an end that is promised God knows precisely how long it is time times and half a time you're to do a little arithmetic in your head a time is 1 times is 2 so 1 plus 2 is 3 and then half a time is .5

so this is talking about 3 .5 years and there are a number of things in Daniel to let you know that that is the case but there are also things in Revelation because Revelation likewise picks up on this picture to describe the time period that the church will endure tribulation

Daniel excuse me Revelation chapter 12 verse 13 says and when the dragon saw that he had thrown that he had been thrown down to earth he pursued the woman who had been given who had given birth to the male child but the woman was given two wings the great eagle so that she might fly from the serpent in the wilderness to the place where she is to be nourished for a time and times and half a time the serpent poured water like a river out of his mouth after the woman to sweep her away with a flood but the earth came to the help of the woman and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed the river that the dragon had poured from its mouth then the dragon became furious with the woman and went off to make war on the rest of her offspring and those who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus and he stood on the sand of the sea now very descriptive difficult imagery there but this child that is born to the woman and all his offspring after him being persecuted by the serpent who has been cast down what is this speaking of this is speaking of Satan afflicting the church and how long is it that that time will go on for time times and half a time and this is repeated throughout the book of revelation with different images 42 months which is the same as three and a half years or 1260 days which is the same as three and a half years so repeatedly it gives this picture this is describing as being similar that time that Daniel was waiting for for the temple to come back into use that time that would be after the desecration of the temple with Antiochus Epiphany sacrificing a pig and now that time that that temple has been destroyed and is in the process of being rebuilt by Christ he said that if you would if you would tear down that temple he would build it up again in three days and so he has raised his own body from the dead and now he is constructing the temple of his church and it is being built how long would it be until it is complete and able to have the full worship we enjoy great worship right now we worship in spirit and in truth but how long is it until that temple is completely built is time times and half a time the encouragement that is to be to us is that God has it in mind he knows precisely how long it will be and it will not be forever you can hang on to that and you can hope in 2

Peter 3 verse 9 it says that God is not slow as some people count slowness but is patient to you not wanting that any should perish

Christ tarries because not every one of his sheep has been brought in he is bringing in all those sheep he knows how long it will be he is working towards that end and this is a truth that we're allowed to hold on to in a way that those saints of old and the time of Daniel could not understand it could not hold on to if you look at what this man in linen says to Daniel in verse 9 he said go your way

Daniel for the words are shut up and sealed to the time of the end many shall purify themselves and make themselves white and be refined but the wickedly shall act wickedly and none of the wicked shall understand but those who are wise shall understand so he speaks of the understanding of the wise he speaks of the wicked doing wickedly the righteous doing righteously these are images that are repeated by in revelation yet in revelation there is a substantial difference in one particular aspect as John is receiving revelation likewise from a man in white who is revealed to be

Christ Jesus that man says to him do not seal up the words of this prophecy of the prophecy of this book for the time is near let the evil doer still do evil and the filthy still be filthy and the righteous still do right and the holy still be holy but behold

I am coming soon bringing my recompense with me to repay each one for what he has done

I am the alpha and the omega the first and the last the beginning and the end so Christ repeating those same words that he had given

Daniel in Daniel chapter 12 but with one substantial difference did you notice it what had he told

Daniel he had told Daniel seal up the book it is not for now he's not going to understand these mysteries the wise will understand in some measure but he's he's not going to understand what all these things are for but to John he says keep the book open do not seal it these are truths that you are able to appreciate in greater measure than Daniel could the book has not been sealed for you you can rest assured in a way that Daniel cannot

Daniel too confused repeatedly Daniel receives these visions and he is just he's just utterly perplexed the point where at some points it talks about him changing color specifically turning green and in collapsing you know fainting with nausea because of the overwhelming nature of these revelations but these revelations have been given to you in a way that you can bear with because you have been given a measure of the spirit by which you can appreciate these things beyond what the prophets of old could it was revealed to them that what was being revealed to them was ultimately not for them but for you who have had the gospel revealed to you and so there is a time to the end of all this and what will happen at the end of that time some people in looking at this passage in Luke chapter in Luke chapter 21 come to the conclusion that because it talks about an end to the time of the

Gentiles that it has in mind a return to the time of the Jews they see in that similar language in Romans 11 25 that says that a partial hardening has come upon them until the

Gentiles are brought in now in English the word until suggests that at the end of that time the situation would change this is not the case in every language that has a word similar to until this word that's just using

Greek does not necessarily signify a change that happens so when you say until it means more literally at least to that point it does not necessarily imply that something would change so it may be that there would be a great inclusion of more

Jews at the end this is possible it is something that I remain uncertain of but what is certain is that when the time of the

Gentiles ends wrath will come upon all just as it came upon the people of Jerusalem now in Matthew 24 in that passage that we had read that comes before what

Luke says about the times of the Gentiles being completed include the phrase the great tribulation and nothing like it coming until the end of the world or through the end of the world it just never happening again that if you put these passages together and you realize that Luke has in mind an inclusion of that with the times or before the times of the

Gentiles that refers to that great tribulation that Matthew speaks of is actually what came upon the

Jews in AD 70 it is particularly the destruction of Jerusalem that the great tribulation is the great tribulation in Matthew the destruction of Jerusalem the tribulation of Matthew is referring to the time period that we are in right now the inter -advent period but that is not to say that it has no relevance that the great tribulation has no relevance to what will take place in the end because as I pointed out before this judgment on Jerusalem is a microcosm of the judgment that will happen on the whole world

Revelation chapter 6 verse 15 says then the kings of the earth and the great ones and the generals and the rich and the powerful and everyone slave and free hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks and the mountains calling to the mountains and rocks fall on us hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne from the wrath of the lamb for the great day of their wrath has come and who can stand it this is the language that Jesus used about the destruction that's coming upon Jerusalem and here in Revelation it is used for the destruction that is coming upon the kings of the earth something that goes over the whole world and so that great tribulation that Jesus speaks of which is particularly about the destruction on Jerusalem is a microcosm of the judgment that will come upon the whole world and it says in Revelation chapter 22 excuse me in Revelation chapter 20 and when the thousand years are ended this verse 7 when the thousand years are ended

Satan will be released from his prison and will come out to deceive the nations that are at the four corners of the earth okay so the nations him no longer being able to deceive them that time ending him going out to deceive them once again to gather them for battle

Gog and Magog to gather them for battle their numbers like the sand of the sea and they marched up over the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city but fire came down from heaven and consumed them and the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever so what is the picture that is given here it is a picture that is almost identical to the great tribulation which

Matthew speaks it is one where there is a great wrath coming down and it is also one where Jerusalem is surrounded and particularly here it is talking about all

God's saints all his holy ones that is which is referred to frequently as Jerusalem in the New Testament and so as the church is surrounded but there is one and that is when the end comes and at that time the time of the

Gentiles has ended Satan goes out to deceive the nations once again but what happens there is one major difference from what happens in the great tribulation of which

Jesus describes in Matthew 24 they are not destroyed they come around it appears that it is going to happen but they are spared

Jerusalem the city of God at that final judgment is spared whereas Jerusalem in 70

AD was not spared the people of God at that final judgment are spared and this is the hope that comes at the end of the world we are granted everything we need to endure faithfully and joyfully we are giving a wonderful blessing over the gospel message we are given a statement that there will be tribulation so that we would not be surprised by any of that but then also a statement that it will endure for a fixed period of time of which

Christ knows and that we are not we are not privy to is time times and half a time and this is because it is fixed we should not wonder if it is just indefinite and could go on forever no it is coming and we should march onward to that knowing that each day we are one day closer to seeing

Christ as he is as such an encouraging truth every day you are one day closer to seeing

Christ as he is if you are going about your life in a way that is oblivious to the wrath that is coming just like the people of Jerusalem were at their time not aware of the time of their visitation the time of your visitation is now you have heard the message of Jesus Christ that he died in place of those who have trusted in him that his righteousness is credited to his people trust in him if you do not heed this message if you do not recognize the time of your visitation you will be like the people of Jerusalem who were destroyed at that great tribulation flee from the wrath to come run to Jesus Christ who is merciful and hides you away in his city the heavenly

Jerusalem that will not be destroyed on that final day do not trust in yourself trust in the mercy of Jesus Christ and you who have already trusted in Jesus Christ endure knowing that there is a fixed time on these things that it is not something that will go on indefinitely but that you can march onward knowing that there will indeed be tribulation but it will not last forever and you will be blessed as you continue on enduring and then as you continue on enduring knowing that the mission you have been given by Christ in the great commission that gospel which must be proclaimed to all the nations that all will hear what

Christ has done that his mercy has been extended that is a blessed message do not despair as people reject it but continue sharing that message with others continue supporting faithful workers as they share that message knowing that it bears much fruit as it is proclaimed because the time of the

Gentiles continues and it will continue until that end and this is a great reason to hope in the wonderful thing that Christ has done in his gospel