Jesus Warned Israel of the Times of the Gentiles in Luke 4

In this current period between the advents it is mostly Gentiles and not Jews who are being saved by coming to know Jesus as Lord and Savior.  The cardinal passage on this age is found in Romans 11:25:

Lest you be wise in your own sight, I do not want you to be unaware of this mystery, brothers: a partial hardening has come upon Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.

Israel’s hardening is only partial, meaning that a small percentage of Jews are able to come to know Jesus/Yeshua.  The period of hardening is temporary and will end when the full number of elect Gentiles in this age are saved (cf. Acts 15:14).  After this, God will once again turn His attention toward the Jews and will save all Israel or all the Jewish people in the Promised Land just before and at His Second Coming (Zech. 12:10-14; Matt. 23:39; Rom. 11:26-29).

The times of the Gentiles gets its name from Jesus as found in Luke 21:24:

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, until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.

Messiah refers to a time in which Jerusalem will be trampled by Gentiles.  This began in 70 A.D. with the fall of the great city and the exile of the surviving Jewish people.  Jesus indicated that this was temporary by saying it would last only until the times of the Gentiles had come to completion.  The period Paul references is synonymous with what Jesus described here.  Both periods began soon after Israel rejected Jesus as Messiah and both will end when Israel accepts Jesus as Messiah.

Elijah and the Widow of ZarephathThough Jesus aticipates this period elsewhere, the examples are often overlooked even by those who understand this teaching.  One profound example is found in Luke 4:25-28:

But in truth, I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heavens were shut up three years and six months, and a great famine came over all the land, and Elijah was sent to none of them but only to Zarephath, in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow.  And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian.”  When they heard these things, all in the synagogue were filled with wrath.

Just before this Jesus read Isaiah 61:1-2a[1] out loud and proclaimed that this Scripture had been fulfilled on that day.  This resulted in the crowd all speaking well of Him and marveling over His gracious words (Luke 4:17-22).  Jesus knew that the crowd was going to become angry with Him over what He was about to say (Luke 4:23-24).

Jesus alludes to two times in which God showed favor to Gentiles in lieu of Israel.  The first is when God ignored the widows of Israel during a three and half year[2] famine while sending Elijah to help a Gentile widow in Zarephath (1 Kings 17:8-24).  The second concerns God abstaining from healing any of the numerous lepers in Israel while choosing to remove the disease from the Gentile Naaman the Syrian (2 Kings 5:1-14).

The implication of these stories is that God was again going to favor Gentiles over Israel.  The crowd clearly understood this and became infuriated.  It was not that Gentiles were to come to know God that angered them so as that would have been expected (e.g. Is. 11:10; 42:1; 49:6). Rather, it was that Gentiles were going to be a priority to God over Israel.  Once Jesus was rejected by Israel the fall of Jerusalem soon came and the times of the Gentiles began.

[1] Jesus ceased from reading mid-sentence.  It was the words that He spoke that came to be fulfilled that day and no more.

[2] This period of judgment on Israel was a shadow of that yet to come (Rev. 11:2).

Comments

  1. Jay Earl says

    Thank you again for your understanding. This is another very important subject well covered. Sorry for the lengthy reply. Please correct any errors you find.
    Throughout the ages, many professing Christian churches have taught the “Unbiblical Replacement Theology” It teaches that the Christian church has replaced Israel. Many blessings promised to Israel are now transferred to the Christian church. But very soon, these Christians will encounter Biblical “Replacement Theology,” when our Lord’s presence returns, to establish His millennial kingdom, Israel (Judah/Ephraim) will replace the Christian church. There will be One Nation(Israel) under One king (anointed/messiah) prince David One Lord Jesus.
    House of Judah (Jews) House of Israel Ephraim (10 lost tribes) I believe Christians are Ephraim the dispersed lost sheep of Israel.

    Dispersion and Reuniting of the House of Israel/Northern Kingdom (Ephraim “Christians”)
    House of Israel/Ephraim was not called the people of Elohim anymore due to its spiritual adultery with the pagan god and consistently transgressing His Torah(Law)…
    2Kings 17:18 so that Adonai, by now very angry with Israel, removed them from his sight. None was left except the tribe of Judah alone.
    Jeremiah 3:8 I saw that even though backsliding Israel had committed adultery, so that I had sent her away and given her a divorce document, unfaithful Judah her sister was not moved to fear — instead she too went and prostituted herself.
    Hosea 1:9 Adonai said, “Name him Lo-‘Ammi [not-my-people], because you are not my people, and I will not be your [God].
    Ezekiel 11:16-17 Therefore say: ‘This is what the Adonai Elohim says: Although I sent them (House of Israel/Ephraim) far away among the nations and scattered them among the countries, yet for a little while I have been a sanctuary for them in the countries where they have gone.’“Therefore say: ‘This is what the Adonai Elohim says: I will gather you from the nations and bring you back from the countries where you have been scattered, and I will give you back the land of Israel again.’
    Jeremiah 31:20″Is Ephraim a precious son to Me, a child of delights? For though I spoke against him, I still remembered him. That is why My affections were deeply moved for him. I have great compassion for him,” declares Adonai
    The New Covenant/Renewed Wedding Covenant Prophecy…
    Galatians 3:29 And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.
    Romans 11:25 For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in. 26 And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written,
    There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, And shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob:
    Jeremiah 31:33-“This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel (House of Judah and House of Israel) after that time,” declares the Adonai. “I will put my law(Torah) in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their Elohim, and they will be my people.”
    Eventually, We see this promise being fulfilled in the Apostolic writings….
    1 Peter 2:9-10 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a set-apart nation, a people for a possession, that you should proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light, who once were not a people, but now the people of Elohim-(Hosea 1:9); who had not obtained compassion, but now obtained compassion-(Jeremiah 31:20).
    Ephesians 2:11-13 Therefore remember that you, once nations(House of Israel/Ephraim) in the flesh, who are called ‘the uncircumcision’ by what is called ‘the circumcision’ made in the flesh by hands, that at that time you were without Messiah, excluded from the citizenship of Yisra’ĕl and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no expectation and without Elohim in the world. But now in Messiah you who once were far off (Ezekiel 11:16- House of Israel/Ephriam) have been brought near by the blood of the Messiah.

    Ezekiel Two Sticks Prophecy…
    Ezekiel 37:15-26 “The word of the Adonai came to me: “Son of man, take a stick of wood and write on it, ‘Belonging to Judah and the Israelites associated with him. Then take another stick of wood, and write on it, ‘Belonging to Joseph (that is, to Ephraim) and all the Israelites associated with him.’ Join them together into one stick so that they will become one in your hand.
    “When your people ask you, ‘Won’t you tell us what you mean by this? say to them, ‘This is what the Adonai Elohim says: I am going to take the stick of Joseph—which is in Ephraim’s hand—and of the Israelite tribes associated with him, and join it to Judah’s stick. I will make them into a single stick of wood, and they will become one in my hand.’ Hold before their eyes the sticks you have written on and say to them, ‘This is what the Adonai Elohim says: I will take the Israelites out of the nations where they have gone. I will gather them from all around and bring them back into their own land.
    I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel. There will be one king over all of them and they will never again be two nations or be divided into two kingdoms. They will no longer defile themselves with their idols and vile images or with any of their offenses, for I will save them from all their sinful backsliding, and I will cleanse them. (Rev 3:5) They will be my people, and I will be their Elohim.
    “My servant David(Messiah Ben David) will be king over them, (Rev 2:26&27) and they will all have one shepherd. (Rev 3:12) They will follow my laws(Torah)and be careful to keep my decrees. They will live in the land I gave to my servant Jacob, the land where your ancestors lived. They and their children and their children’s children will live there forever, and David my servant will be their prince forever.(Rev 2:7) I will make a covenant of peace with them; it will be an everlasting covenant. I will establish them and increase their numbers, and I will put my sanctuary among them forever.”(Rev 3:21)
    Jeremiah 30:9 Instead, they will serve Adonai their God and David their king, whom I will raise up for them.
    Summary:
    There is not even a single unambiguous statement in the complete Bible, which alludes the replacement of Israel by a new entity they call it – Christianity or Christian church. On the contrary, there are more than 50 promises in the scriptures which affirms the Restoration of Israel (House of Judah-Jews and House of Israel-Ephraim), through messiah.
    The idea of unbiblical Replacement Theology was conceived predominantly for two reasons.
    First, Many Christians have been lost to see our Messiah in His original Hebraic context who came to restore his people-Israelites and exalt the Torah of Elohim, but they are exceedingly ardent in portraying our Messiah as a Gentle Christ who came to start a new religion and abolish the Torah of Elohim. Many Christians have been deceived to not see the complete biblical picture wrapped in the perfect salvation plan of our Elohim for the mankind. And, this simply happens because they are not well acquainted with the original Hebrew Scriptures, also known as the Old Testament. They cherry pick the verses of the Apostolic writings, and when they get to certain passages they don’t understand which are the spiritual commentary of the Old Testament, they start to make things messed up.
    Second, Christians who haven’t studied the Old Testament in depth might be surprised to learn that Israel split into two parts after the reign of King Solomon due to their spiritual adultery and transgression of the Torah(Law). This split is recorded in I Kings 12 and II Chronicles 10.

    Conclusion:
    House of Israel/Northern Kingdom also known as Ephraim in the scriptures, was expelled from the Original Sinaitic Covenant. They were dispersed and assimilated into nations and became Gentiles “God’s elect” (Ezekiel 11:16, Hosea 1:9 etc). But, they were promised to be gathered from the ends of the earth where they were dispersed-(Jeremiah 31:31:33, Ezekiel 11:17, Jeremiah 31:20, Ezekiel 37 etc).
    House of Judah/Southern Kingdom were later knows as the Jews. House of Judah/Jews were never out of the covenant, but they were disciplined for 70 years in the Babylon captivity and brought back to their land by the king of Persia, Cyrus – (Jeremiah 29:10, Ezra 1:1-4). That’s why we see, why many Jews delight in the Torah because Jew believers have always been in the Original Covenant and Torah is the central dynamic of the Covenant. The reason why the House of Judah/Jews were not thrown out of the Covenant even though their sins were worst than the House of Israel/Ephraim, because Elohim promised David that He would not terminate the reign of David, and this is from where our Messiah came, the tribe of Judah.
    Sadly, many Christians have this misconception that the New Testament have brought in new people -Gentiles, and they arbitrarily conclude them as the Christians. But, in reality the Gentiles of the New Testament are the Israelites, House of Israel- Ephraim.
    Matthew 15:24 – Messiah said,” I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel”.
    (Ephraim is the House of Israel)
    Luke 19:10 – “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.”
    (Ephraim , the House of Israel was lost)
    (Ephraim) is the the Prodigal Son -(Luke 15:11-32).
    John 11:51-52 “He did not say this on his own, but as high priest that year he prophesied that Messiah would die for the Jewish nation (House of Judah) and not only for that nation but also for the scattered (House of Israel) children of Elohim to bring them together and make them one(Israel).
    The Christians are Ephraim , but they are not willing to see the complete biblical picture and embrace the truth of the Covenant and Torah. They are not willing to be grafted into the Cultivated Olive tree-Israel, They are still in the dispersed state.
    All glory and praises to our most high Elohim , who has never forsaken His Children, the Israelites.
    Romans 11:1-2 “I(Paul) ask then: Did Elohim reject his people? By no means! I am an Israelite myself, a descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin. Elohim did not reject his people, whom he foreknew.
    God’s divorcement law requires before the divorced can remarry the death of the husband must occur. Jeremiah 3:8 God divorces Ephraim (lost tribes). God returned in the human form of Jesus the Christ to Die so that He could remarry His bride.

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