LEARNING DAILY

 

Luke 21:24, “And they will fall by the edge of the sword, and be led away captive into all the nations.  And Jerusalem will be trampled by Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.”  Jesus

 

We are living in the “the times of the Gentiles”.  Scholars have not agreed on the meaning of this phrase.  It seems to me that since the Jewish people rejected Jesus as the Messiah, the Gentiles have been allowed to be grafted into the body of Christ.  I am not Jewish; I never have been.  But I have been allowed to come into the body of Christ by acknowledging Jesus Christ as my Savior and look forward to eternal life because of His resurrection.  I am a part of the body of Christ!  I wonder how much longer Gentiles will be allowed to be brought into His family?  When the rapture of the True Church occurs “the times of the Gentiles” will end and God will deal with the Jewish people by tribulation. 

 

Too many believe that the United States is a Christian nation because it was founded on biblical principles. That has certainly changed, perhaps since God was removed from the public schools in the 1960s.  Too many believe that the people of Israel are super spiritual.  But, like the people of the United States are not necessarily Christian because this is supposedly a Christian nation, people living in Jerusalem are not super serious Jews.  They need to be saved through Jesus Christ like everyone else.  Being religious is seldom the same as being a Christian.

 

Israel is going to be deceived into signing a peace treaty with the antichrist.  Daniel 9:25-27 prophetically tells of a time when the Jews will do this.  Everyone wants peace; that has been the ongoing plan in the Middle East since Israel became a nation.  The antichrist will get this done.  When? At the beginning of the seven-year period known as the Tribulation.  The “times of the Gentiles” is over.  The Church is in heaven with the Lord.  Now He turns His full attention to His people, the Jews.

 

Their blind faith in who they believe to be their Messiah is in reality the antichrist.  The tribulation has already been discussed in the study of The Revelation.  You will recall this is a time when the Lord sends to earth all sorts of terrible judgments to get His people to repent.  Remember He sends 144,00 evangelists to the people and He has the two witnesses in Jerusalem to speak to the people.  There will be those who are saved during this time.  But sadly, many will harden their hearts and reject Him.

 

Events happening in this region today do not indicate peace.  Is the times of the Gentiles about over?  Sorry - I do not know!  But you can bet the desire for peace in this region is still a desire.  I would believe the desire for peace and the sudden disappearance of millions of people would be a motivating factor for peace to occur.  There have been many attempts, many peace treaties signed and all have failed!  It seems the time is right for the antichrist to have ready his plan for peace with Israel and the Middle East. 

 

It is time for each of us to be serious about our walk on the narrow way that leads to God’s kingdom and eternal life.  The times of the Gentiles seem to be nearing an end and it is time for God to deal with His people.  Its time for you and me to have a hunger and thirst for God’s righteousness and to be filled by it!