Prophetic History- Prophetic Future

Times of the Gentiles Prophecy fulfilled in 1980… where does that leave us in the time stream of prophetic history?

JERUSALEM IN BIBLE PROPHECY

Roy F. Cottrell  1947

Continued…

Let us make a quick analysis of Luke 21 and see what is emphasized. You can do further study on your own; but let us observe certain highlights. Carefully compare Luke 21 with Matthew 24 and Mark 13. Luke does not even mention as does Matthew and Mark, the Dark Ages, "those days" of "tribulation." He concentrates on events in the history of Jerusalem. All three reports of this prophetic discourse of Jesus summarize general signs which were to occur. Then Luke Iiteralizes the prophecy of Daniel to which Jesus alluded, writing:

And when shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh...For these be the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled ...And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations (ta ethné): and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles (ethné), until the times Of the Gentiles (ethné) be fulfilled. And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations (ethné), with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth for the powers of heaven shall be shaken. And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. And when see these things begin to come to pass, know that the kingdom of God is nigh at hand. Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass away, till all be fulfilled. Heaven and earth shall pass away; but my words shall not pass away. (Luke 21:20-33)

Several points should be noted. Luke passes by with only a mention of the "signs" in the sun, moon and stars. (Compare with Matt. 24:29 and Mark 13:24-25) He focuses Jesus' prophecy "upon the earth" emphasizing 'the nations" (ethné) whether translated in the KJV - "nations" or "Gentiles." He speaks of their "times" and "distress" with "perplexity." In two instances, Luke has Jesus stressing - "When ye see' then "know ye." The first, when the armies surrounded Jerusalem, then they were to know that its destruction was nearing. We can ask - did that generation which saw this sign fulfilled live to see the destruction of the city? Likewise, Jesus said, those who see the end of the times of the nations and the events connected with it, that generation will not pass away till all be fulfilled.

When the times of the nations are fulfilled, they come into distress with perplexity. The word in the Greek translated "perplexity ' carries the overtones of economic distress. Of interest is the fact that the Department of Labor of the United States government uses 1967 as the base year to chart the course of the dollar in its inflationary devaluation. The economic instability of the nations has only increased since that day with no way out. In other words we are seeing today a "sign" fulfilled on earth as verily as our spiritual fore-fathers saw the fulfillment of a "sign" in the heavens.

This date - 1967 - was the beginning of the period when the times of the nations would be completed. The 'times of the nations fulfilled", what does it mean? Nations are corporate bodies, corporate entities. There is a difference between the close of probations for corporate entities and for all mankind as individuals. No longer are the nations under the merciful intervention of God, but have been given over to Satan to work his deceptions so as to bring them to the battle of the great day of God Almighty.

This understanding of the meaning and significance of "the times of the nations" being fulfilled opens before us two other doors of insight. One involves a deeper understanding of the sanctuary types of ancient Israel; the other, lessons we can learn from the parallel between the end of the times of the Jewish nation/church and the times to which we have come.

A LESSON FROM THE SANCTUARY

The 16th chapter of Leviticus outlines the services on the Day of Atonement. All the details we will not discuss. We will only carefully consider the threefold cleansing outlined in ritual for the day. First, lest there should be any misunderstanding as to what I will write, let me make it very clear that in the great antitype which convened in Heaven in 1844, all judgment is made in the presence of the Ancient of days. In the type on earth, we are given a glimpse of the agenda of what is taking place in Heaven. The first item was the cleansing of - making an atonement for - the most holy place. (Lev. 16:15-16a; the KJV uses "holy" with the word, "place", supplied to refer to the Most Holy apartment of the sanctuary.) The second item was the cleansing of the holy place, or what is noted as the "tabernacle." (Lev. 16: 16b) The third item was the cleansing of the Altar in the court. (Lev. 16:18) lt was not until these three steps were completed that Azazel, the scapegoat, was brought into the picture. The text reads: And when he [the High Priestl hath made an end Of reconciling the holy place [most holy apartment], and the tabernacle of the congregation [first apartment], and the altar, he shall bring the live goat. (verse 20)

Now what was the significance of these three steps and what is God telling us in this type? Let us turn our attention to the daily service and how it relates to this three-fold agenda.

When an individual sinned, a common priest ministered his offering. Of blood, the priest fingerprinted it on the horns of the Altar of the court, and poured the remainder at the base of the Altar. (Lev. 4:30) When the congregation sinned (a corporate act). the high priest ministered the offering, and the blood was marked on the horns of the Altar of Incense in the first apartment, with the remainder of the poured at the base of the Altar in the court. (Lev. 4:16-18) During the year not one drop of blood of any sin offering ever was brought into the Most Holy Place. The closest any blood came to the Most Holy Place was that of the sin offering for corporate sin, when blood was sprinkled "seven times before the Lord, even before the vail." (4:17) Now what is the threefold agenda followed on the Day of Atonement telling us in the light of where the blood of confession was placed?

Whatever was signified by the type, whatever was accomplished when our Great High Priest first came to the Ancient of days in judgment, the next cleansing or "Step Two" had to do with corporate guilt and confession. When the adjudication of corporate guilt was completed, the atonement passed to the individual record of confession, which in the type was placed on the horns of the Altar of the Court. Jesus in His prophecy gave the signal for the hour when the "times of the corporate bodies (nations)" would be fulfilled. Then judgment would pass to the individual cases. If there was ever a prophecy which pinpointed the hour to which we have come in relationship to the judgment, this prophecy of Jesus does! Could it be that in the achri hou - that brief period of time from 1967 to 1980 - the judgment of the individual dead was completed and now we have passed to the judgment of the living? How

desperate is such an hour, and how ought we to be living in the light of this possibility?

PARALLELS

There are some parallels between the close of the 'times of the Jewish nation/church" and the close of "the times of the Gentiles (corporate nations/churches). " The time that was allotted to the Jewish nation - "Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people" (Dan. 9:24) - ended in 34 AD. However, the book of Acts reveals the varying times for the close of probation for the various segments of Jewry. Let us observe the message of that book, and see what it is telling us.

First, consider Acts 2. On that Day of Pentecost, to whom was the message given? Was it given to Gentiles? Was it a great evangelistic endeavor, as we think of evangelism today? No, that Day of Pentecost did not have such an objective. To whom was the message directed? Verse 5 states - "and there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven." What kind of people were they? "Devout" Jews!

What does the word, "devout" mean? How does Luke use the word? In his Gospel, he refers to Simeon, the man who was waiting for the consolation of Israel, as "devout." (Luke 2:25) In describing the men who buried Stephen, Luke declared them to be "devout men." (Acts 8:2) The message of that Day of Pentecost was directed to "devout men" - good men. However, as the Spirit spoke through Peter, with what did He charge these men? Note carefully - "Therefore letall the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ. They "devout" Jews - crucified their own Messiah? Yes, that is what Peter accused them of - "You crucified the Lord of glory."

Some of these men - even the majority - were not even in Jerusalem at the time of the crucifixion. They had come for the celebration of the Feast of Pentecost. How then could they be charged with the crucifixion? Because of corporate involvement! They were a part of corporate Israel , and because of this, they were accountable for the acts done by the leadership of that corporate entity, They responded - "Men and brethren, what shall we do?" What was Peter's answer? "Repent."

What is this telling us? In 31 A.D., probation was still open to devout Jews. They could repent. But let us continue on.

Come now to Acts 3. We find a short time following the events of the Day of Pentecost, that Peter and John go to the temple to witness. Accosted by a man lame from birth, they heal him in the name of Jesus. This restored man holds Peter and John as a large group of people gather to assess what has happened. Peter seizes the opportunity and witnesses concerning Jesus, charging his hearers with betrayal, denial, and murder. (Acts3:1215) But he holds out hope; he counsels- "Repent ye therefore." (verse 19) The door of repentance was still open for these worshipers in the temple.

While preaching, the captain of the temple with the leading priests took them into custody for trial the next day. Observe now before whom they were arraigned the next day. Read carefully Acts 4:6: And Annas the high priest, and Caiaphas, and John, and Alexander, and as many as were of the kindred of the high priest, were gathered together at Jerusalem.

Who were these men? Who were Annas and Caiaphas? They were the spiritual leaders of the Jewish Church; they were also the very ones who had delivered Jesus over to the Romans to be crucified. Peter filled with the Holy Spirit charged them with the very act - "ye crucified" Jesus Christ. (v. 10) But he never held out to them the opportunity to repent. Why? The spiritual leadership of the Jewish Church had passed the unseen line! They could not repent. This was prior to 34 A.D.

We come now to the year  34 A.D. itself. In Acts 7, Stephen is arraigned before the highest "council" of Israel. (See 6:15) Adjured by the high priest, he makes his defense. Hear carefully his final words -

Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Spirit: as your fathers did, so do ye. Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? And they have slain them which showed before the coming of the Just One; of whom ye have been now the betrayers and murderers. (7:51-52) He didn't call upon them to repent. He charged them

with the act which brought corporate guilt upon the Jewish nation/church. They took Stephen out and stoned him, and Israel's probation as a church/nation closed. But what about the individual member's probation?

Now let us ask ourselves a question? From this point on, the book of Acts is primarily the story of whom? Paul. And what did Paul do? Turn to Acts 13. He was on his first missionary tour, and here is the record of his sermon in the synagogue of Antioch in Pisidia. Observe what he told them:

Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this Man is preached unto you forgiveness of sins: and by Him all that believe are justified from all things which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses. (13:38-39)

What did he tell them? Keep in mind that he was now out among the Jews of the Diaspora. To these individual Jews, he assured them that "forgiveness" was still extended to them if they would believe and accept Him whom their spiritual leaders had crucified. The Jewish church/nation had closed their probation as a corporate body, but now to the individual Jew of the synagogue was given an opportunity to make a judgment concerning the decisions of their hierarchical leadership in regard to Truth.

We find that as we study Paul's ministry in the book of Acts, this is the consistent pattern. When he arrives in a new city, where does he go on the Sabbath? To the synagogue. Whom does he proclaim? Jesus and calls upon them to believe and follow Him whom their church leadership had rejected and crucified. When they did not respond, what did Paul do? He left them. (Acts 13:46; 19:8-9) The book of Acts ends on this very theme. (Acts 28:23-25)

The book of Acts also closes within the shadow of the destruction of Jerusalem. Through all that time from 34 A.D. till 66 A.D., there was opportunity for the laity of the Jewish Church as individuals to repent of the sin that closed the day of probation for their hierarchy. This fact needs to be kept in mind as we consider the parallel between the close of the Jewish church/nation and the ending of the times of the nations of earth and the corporate body which we call the Church today.

TO BE CONTINUED….