Are the Times of the Gentiles being Fulfilled?

And they will fall by the edge of the sword, and be led away captive into all nations. And Jerusalem will be trampled by Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled. “And there will be signs in the sun, in the moon, and in the stars; and on the earth distress of nations, with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring . . . Luke 21:24-25

Last week, Don and I were excited to travel to Minneapolis for the weekend. Perry Stone, one of the major teachers impacting my life on the Hebraic roots of my faith and of the prophetic Word of God was the guest speaker at a church conference. During one of Perry’s teachings, the Lord quickened my heart to one specific area. It was a teaching on the Vine and the branches in light of the times of the Gentiles being fulfilled. Is the time of the Gentiles about to come to an end?

Jesus said, Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. John 15:4-5. Jesus is the Vine. It is in Him we must abide if we are to remain. Not religion, not education but in relationship and dependence upon the work and person of Jesus period. If we are connected to anything else, we cannot endure . . . we will wither and die.

Over the past several years, I have increasingly grieved “indifference” and/or a “dumbing down” of the Word. This is not a worldwide malady by any means, but appears rather to be a “Western Church” occurrence. How can that be? While the rest of the world is exploding in a mighty move of God with countless numbers of people embracing Jesus even to the point of death and torture, America and all of Europe seems to be sleeping. Are we not the nation responsible for sending the gospel to all other nations? Are we not the only nation in the world considered a Christian nation? Do we not abide in the vine? Have we not experienced supernatural blessing throughout our history? I would venture to say yes, but like ancient Israel, we have turned to our idols and worshipped them in the high places. We have become enamored by the spirit of “I am, and there is no one besides me.” We have lost our way and forgotten Jesus.

America’s roots to the God of the Bible and her inseparable spiritual link to Israel began in the 15th century, when a young Italian explorer by the name of Christopher Columbus prepared for a great journey to find the Indies. As Columbus awaited the blessing of Ferdinand and Isabella, the Spanish Inquisition was in force, officially beginning on November 1, 1478. Unlike its predecessor, the Spanish Inquisition sought to punish Jews who had converted to Christianity but considered by others to be less than "sincere" in their conversions.

Rabbi Ken Spiro, in a crash course in history, says on aish.com, says, “In their blood-thirsty vengeance against the Muslims, the Spanish Christians included the Jews, whom they put in the category of infidels. In 14th century Barcelona, for example, the whole Jewish community was murdered by a rioting mob. First given shelter by some Christians, these Jews were pressured to convert. Those who did not were refused protection. Prime Minister (once professor) B. Netanyahu in his 1,400-page work, The Origins of the Inquisition, quoted an eyewitness account of the time: "Those of them who refused to accept baptism were immediately slain, and their corpses, stretched in the streets and the squares, offered a horrendous spectacle."

Rabbi Spiro further states:

“The year 1492 marked the fall of Granada, the last Muslim stronghold on the Iberian Peninsula, bringing to an end the Muslim domination of Spain which had lasted nearly 800 years. Spain returned to being a completely Christian country.
Shortly thereafter, Ferdinand and Isabella, decided to throw all the Jews out of Spain. This time, in the expulsion edict, the monarchs were not targeting Jewish converts to Christianity, rather they were targeting Jews who had never converted. Why? The main reason stated in the Edict of Expulsion, signed on March 31st 1492, was to keep Jews from re-Judaizing the converses. Another factor that certainly played a big role (besides anti-Semitism) was that Jewish money was now needed to rebuild the kingdom after the costly war against the Muslims. Rather than slowly squeezing the money out of the Jews through taxation, it was easier to expel them all at once and confiscate the wealth and property they would leave behind.

The day after the expulsion, August 3, 1492, Christopher Columbus left on his famed voyage of discovery. His diary begins:

"In the same month in which their Majesties issued the edit that all Jews should be driven out of the kingdom and its territories, in the same month, they gave me the order to undertake with sufficient men my expedition of discovery of the Indies."

Many people speculate that Columbus was of Jewish ancestry, and there is a good case for it. (For those interested, there are a lot of fascinating tidbits about Columbus collected in a book called Christopher Columbus's Jewish Connection by Jane Francis Amler.) Here are some examples:

• Although he was born in Genoa, Italy, his first language was Castilian Spanish. Many Jews had been forced to leave Castile about hundred years before his birth and some went to Genoa. (Incidentally, 14th century Castilian Spanish is the "Yiddish" of Spanish Jewry known as "Ladino.")
• When he wrote, Columbus made funny little marks on the page that resembled the markings that religious Jews put on top of the written page even to this day - an abbreviation of besiyata d'ishmaya, which means "with God's help" in Aramaic.
• He talked a great deal about Zion in his writings.
• In his crew, he had five known Jews, including his doctor, navigator, and translator.
• Columbus hired the translator, Louis de Torres, (who had converted to Christianity the day before he set sail) because he spoke twelve languages including Hebrew. And Columbus was sure he was not going to bump into Hebrew-speakers. He thought he was going to go to the Far East and he expected to find at least one of the ten lost tribes there and needed a Hebrew speaker.

Furthermore, there's no question that Columbus's voyage to America was spiritually linked to the expulsion. Just as one of the greatest Jewish communities of Medieval Europe is being destroyed, God was opening up the doors of what is going to eventually become the greatest Diaspora refuge for Jews in history -- America. This is another tremendous pattern we see in history: God making the cure before the disease.”

Instead of the Indies, Columbus would discover the Americas . . . Unknown to Columbus, but not to God, this land would become a sanctuary to unknown multitudes of Jews and would play a major role in stopping the atrocities and horrors of the Holocaust. But not without a move of God that intervened in the USA’s former decision to remain uninvolved. This would happen nearly 200 years after the founding of the colonies by British pilgrims willing to sacrifice life to face harsh realities and brutal beginnings to worship Jesus Christ as they desired. America would indeed become the world’s greatest catalyst in taking the message of salvation to every nation of the world. And God would bless her profoundly and abundantly, but like ancient Israel . . .

America would forget the roots of her blessing and rebel against the God who created her. In our worship of countless idols, we have entered into a season of captivity and oppression. Our love for God is growing lukewarm, indifferent. Like ancient Israel, The Western Church’s light is dimming and blindness fills her sanctuaries like a subtle mist. Unless revival visits our nation, our branches are in danger of removal. Revival has to begin in the hearts of God’s people. We desperately need a mighty move of Holy Spirit in our Churches and in our nation.

Any good study of scripture is similar to peeling the onion. The first layer, is always the visible layer. You see it, it makes sense, and you interpret it in its context. The second layer is an application layer. How does it apply to my life? The third layer is a prophetic layer. In that layer are hidden many mysteries and those intent on digging will find priceless treasure of revelation. Everything about Jesus: who He was/ why He was and when . . . everything Jesus did was in fulfillment of the Bible’s prophetic word and types and shadows of things to come.

Whom will he teach knowledge? And whom will he make to understand the message? Those just weaned from milk? Those just drawn from the breasts? For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept, Line upon line, line upon line, Here a little, there a little.” Isaiah 28:9-10

How does all this relate to the fullness of the Gentiles? In Israel’s unbelief, she was blinded to the truth of the Messiah who came as a suffering servant. She didn’t recognize Jesus who the prophets because he didn’t meet her expectations. As the Messiah was rejected, her blessing was removed. Through God’s original plan, the door to the Gentiles was opened. Now to him who is able to establish you by my gospel and the proclamation of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery hidden for long ages past. Romans 16:25 This road to salvation of the Gentiles was not a surprise to God. It was in His plan from the beginning, as is the door of the blessing to the Gentiles to be closed and the door to the salvation of the Jews to be reopened. Israel’s light is about to shine!

For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for you Gentiles—if indeed you have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which was given to me for you, how that by revelation He made known to me the mystery (as I have briefly written already, by which, when you read, you may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ), which in other ages was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to His holy apostles and prophets: that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, of the same body, and partakers of His promise in Christ through the gospel, of which I became a minister according to the gift of the grace of God given to me by the effective working of His power. To me, who am less than the least of all the saints, this grace was given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to make all see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the ages has been hidden in God who created all things through Jesus Christ. Ephesians 3:1-9

God’s ultimate plan is for Gentiles and Jewish believers to be equal, joint heirs through Christ, one new man, one new body comprised of natural and grafted branches that are intimately and securely abiding in the Vine and who are partakers of every covenant promise. Are there clues in the scriptures about the Lord’s teaching on the Vine and the Branches as to when this time of the Gentiles will be fulfilled? Yes.
Consider Isaiah 11 . . .

There shall come forth a Rod from the stem of Jesse, And a Branch shall grow out of his roots. The Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon Him, The Spirit of wisdom and understanding, The Spirit of counsel and might, The Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD. His delight is in the fear of the LORD, And He shall not judge by the sight of His eyes, Nor decide by the hearing of His ears; But with righteousness He shall judge the poor, And decide with equity for the meek of the earth;
He shall strike the earth with the rod of His mouth, And with the breath of His lips He shall slay the wicked. Righteousness shall be the belt of His loins, And faithfulness the belt of His waist. “ The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, The leopard shall lie down with the young goat, The calf and the young lion and the fatling together; And a little child shall lead them. The cow and the bear shall graze; Their young ones shall lie down together; And the lion shall eat straw like the ox. The nursing child shall play by the cobra’s hole, And the weaned child shall put his hand in the viper’s den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain, For the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD As the waters cover the sea.

“ And in that day there shall be a Root of Jesse, Who shall stand as a banner to the people; For the Gentiles shall seek Him, And His resting place shall be glorious.” It shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall set His hand again the second time to recover the remnant of His people who are left, From Assyria and Egypt, From Pathros and Cush, From Elam and Shinar, From Hamath and the islands of the sea.

He will set up a banner for the nations, and will assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth.

Mollerhaus.com says in a commentary on Zechariah, “There are two Hebrew words translated “branch” in Old Testament Messianic prophecies. It is obvious from reading them that they all refer to Messiah who shall be called the Branch. They confirm that the man Or “Branch’ would come from house of David, that He will be a judge, He will be a king, He will be a priest, He will be the Lord Our Righteousness, He will save Israel and Judah, He will build the Temple of God, in Him will the Gentiles trust. Attention given to the context of these Branch prophecies show that the Branch is the same person who will fulfill the David prophecies. They clearly refer to the Messiah and Jesus of Nazareth has astonishingly paralleled these predictions, especially the last;

Jesus name can be translated as the Branch. The two Hebrew words for Branch are obviously interchanged. One is "tsemach", (transliterated zemach) used in all the above verses for branch except Isaiah 11:1 where "natser,", (transliterated Nazer) is found. Jesus is called this latter word literally. The hometown of Jesus is Nazareth (Fem. plural of Nazer is Nazeroth). Many religious Jews will not mention Jesus' name. They certainly will not call him Christ (Messiah). He is most often referred to as The Nazarene. Some Jews call him the Notsri and Christians the Notsriym. [One of the first names for the church after our Lord’s ascension and the infilling of Holy Spirit] Consequently they are calling him by his name, "The Branch," and literally fulfilling prophecy. Thus he is so called by those who believe in him least. "He shall build the Temple of the LORD." The Branch refers to the Messiah. The Temple is the kingdom of the Messiah. It is clear that Gentiles have trusted in the LORD since the time of the Nazarene (Branch) through the building of the church done by Jesus the Nazarene.

Isaiah prophecies both the first and second coming of the Lord.” Romans 11 gives additional insight as Paul teaches . . .

I say then, has God cast away His people? Certainly not! For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. God has not cast away His people whom He foreknew. Or do you not know what the Scripture says of Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel, saying, “LORD, they have killed Your prophets and torn down Your altars, and I alone am left, and they seek my life”? But what does the divine response say to him? “I have reserved for Myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.” Even so then, at this present time there is a remnant according to the election of grace. And if by grace, then it is no longer of works; otherwise grace is no longer grace. But if it is of works, it is no longer grace; otherwise work is no longer work.

What then? Israel has not obtained what it seeks; but the elect have obtained it, and the rest were blinded. Just as it is written: “ God has given them a spirit of stupor, Eyes that they should not see and ears that they should not hear, to this very day.” And David says: “ Let their table become a snare and a trap, a stumbling block and a recompense to them. Let their eyes be darkened, so that they do not see, and bow down their back always.”

I say then, have they stumbled that they should fall? Certainly not! But through their fall, to provoke them to jealousy, salvation has come to the Gentiles. Now if their fall is riches for the world, and their failure riches for the Gentiles, how much more their fullness!

For I speak to you Gentiles; inasmuch as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry, if by any means I may provoke to jealousy those who are my flesh and save some of them. For if their being cast away is the reconciling of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead? For if the first fruit is holy, the lump is also holy; and if the root is holy, so are the branches. And if some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive tree, were grafted in among them, and with them became a partaker of the root and fatness of the olive tree, do not boast against the branches. But if you do boast, remember that you do not support the root, but the root supports you.

You will say then, “Branches were broken off that I might be grafted in.” Well said. Because of unbelief they were broken off, and you stand by faith. Do not be haughty, but fear. For if God did not spare the natural branches, He may not spare you either. Therefore consider the goodness and severity of God: on those who fell, severity; but toward you, goodness, if you continue in His goodness. Otherwise you also will be cut off. And they also, if they do not continue in unbelief, will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again.

For if you were cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and were grafted contrary to nature into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these, who are natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree? For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written:

“The Deliverer will come out of Zion, and He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob; For this is My covenant with them, when I take away their sins.” Concerning the gospel they are enemies for your sake, but concerning the election they are beloved for the sake of the fathers. For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. For as you were once disobedient to God, yet have now obtained mercy through their disobedience, even so these also have now been disobedient, that through the mercy shown you they also may obtain mercy.

For God has committed them all to disobedience, that He might have mercy on all. Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out! “ For who has known the mind of the LORD? Or who has become His counselor?” “ Or who has first given to Him and it shall be repaid to him?” For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen.

We foolishly discount the fact that the New Testament Church was a Jewish Church. It’s roots were in Jesus. Saul, had he not been converted to Paul, would have become the Chief Rabbi of Jerusalem. Though Paul’s commission was to the Gentiles, he never failed to visit the synagogue and remained an observant Jew, as did Jesus. As the revelation of Christ was cut off from Israel through her unbelief, a new nation was birthed. This nation was first called “Notsriym” and “the followers of The Way”. Later in Antioch, the followers of Christ would be called Christians. And for the first few centuries, they understood “the way” in a way that we have missed in large measure. It is no accident that God is raising an army of teachers throughout the world today who are equipping the saints with knowledge and understanding about the foundations of the Church in her purest form. To truly understand the scriptures, we must study them in their Jewishness and take off our American glasses.

The people of the way understood that everything God had revealed through the books and the prophets was essential to God’s overall plan. They understood that Jesus would return in the same way He departed, and they watched for the signs of His return: Anxiously and yearningly. How it breaks my heart to see how often offense rises in the church of this day when we talk about Jesus returning. Congregations avoid mention of sin, of blood, and of judgment at all costs to avoid offending anyone.

In the 4th century, King Constantine made the Church a State Religion, and separated it from its Jewish roots. Throughout history, we find evidence in various places and eras where the “Church” stopped abiding in the Vine. Without relationship to the branch Jesus – it was cut off from and entered into blindness. Religion became predominant, and where religion smothers relationship, the Word of God is corrupted and used in ways that have surely made God weep. Without Jesus in us, we are capable of terrible atrocities.

In every generation, however, there has also been a remnant who embraced Jesus Christ in His fullness. Throughout the span of time itself, they have been watchmen who waited and worshiped and yielded to a work of Holy Spirit in themselves which consummated the character of Christ within their hearts. For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept, Line upon line, line upon line, Here a little, there a little.” That “remnant” is all that God ever needed to complete His work for each time of divine purpose.

Do we see the miracle of the living Word manifesting today? The greatest fulfillment of “second coming” prophecy happened on May 14, 1948 when Israel became a nation again in a day. The desert has bloomed. For the first time in history, there are more Jews living in Israel than outside of it. Isaiah 11:14 says, ”But they shall fly down upon the shoulder of the Philistines toward the west.” In this generation, millions of returning Jews have flown down upon the shoulder of the Philistines, which is today the area from Gaza to Tel Aviv. Ben Gurion Airport sits on the shoulder of the Philistines!

The Jews are provoked with jealousy today by Christians who are blowing shofars and wearing tallits (prayer shawls). But the most amazing thing that is happening is that a Church is being birthed within Israel of young Jewish men and women who have embraced Yeshua as Messiah. This is a terrible affront to the Jews. The Messianic Church is a persecuted Church. Can you see it?? Vision and revelation of Holy Spirit is returning to the nation of Israel . . . EVEN as the eyes of the lukewarm church is being dimmed and blindness is coming to those who are not securely abiding in the Vine.

The prophetic word says that during that time of great tribulation . . . there will be an apostate church. As Paul writes to Timothy, But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— 5having a form of godliness but denying its power.

I encourage you brothers and sisters to abide in Jesus. Our Lord is coming again, and fulfillment of the prophetic word indicates that the time is short. If you find yourself “stale” in your faith . . if church has become an event rather than a celebration of worship . . . if church has become a business or a performance art to you . . . if you are coming for social reasons or reasons of any kind of personal elevation. . . call upon the throne of grace in Jesus name. If wisdom or knowledge has resulted in a sense of pride, remember that “you do not support the root, but the root supports you”. Aside from Jesus, we are capable of no good works. Every good and perfect gift comes from the Father of Light.

Need fruit in your life? Call upon the name of Jesus. Ask the Lord to restore your heart and fan the flames of passion in your love for Jesus. Pray that you are part and parcel of a fruit bearing Church. Ask God to give you His burden for the lost and the captive. Ask Him to give you new enthusiasm and revelation for His will for you and His purpose in you today. Don’t let apathy lead to dimness and loss of vision that results in a withered dead branch.

Pray for the Church in America today. Pray for our Church home and our leaders. Pray for the City-Wide, the Nation-Wide, the Persecuted Church. Pray for God’s Kingdom Vision!

In Jesus name.