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The suspension of national Israel from the covenant plan of God and their dispersion into the Gentile nations of the world introduced the Gentile Age. Fundamentally, it is distinguished by Gentile dominion over Jerusalem (cf. Daniel 2:31-45; 7:1-27; 8:1-26, in which Daniel discusses successive Gentile kingdoms ruling over Jerusalem until the return of Christ). Jesus referred to the Gentile Age as the “times of the Gentiles.” (Luke 21:24)
The Gentile Age was initiated with the destruction of the first Jewish temple and the forced removal of the southern kingdom of Judah from Jerusalem in 586 B.C. It will conclude when the “fullness of the Gentiles has come in.” (Romans 11:25) The “fullness of the Gentiles” refers to a predetermined time in the future when God will have sufficiently repopulated His kingdom with the elect from among the Gentile nations. It will be completed immediately before the Second Coming of Christ. The Gentile Age addresses two groups. It is inclusive of Gentiles, both individually and collectively. The divine purpose for the Gentile Age is twofold. First, it provides sufficient time for national Israel to endure its appointed judgment. Second, the Gentile Age was designed to permit the rapid expansion and repopulation of the kingdom of God by the inclusion of the elect from among the Gentile nations of the world. Individual Gentiles The Gentile Age began immediately after the Israelite Age, more than 600 years before the New Testament church was established on earth. During its early stage, God redeemed Gentiles on an individual basis. The precedent had already existed for the redemption of individual Gentiles. Two examples in the Old Testament era included the Ninevites and Rahab the harlot. Similar to every other age, they were redeemed by faith alone. |
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Church
In fullness of time, approximately 600 years after the beginning of the Gentile Age, Jesus the Messiah was sent to earth by the Father. (Matthew 1:1-4:11; Mark 1:1-2:12; Luke 1:1-4:13) The immediate priority of His earthly ministry was to reveal the will of God to the Israelites remaining in the land of covenant promise. (Matthew 10:5-6; 15:24; Mark 7:27; John 1:11; Acts 10:36) The will of God for the nation of Israel included the fulfillment of their long-awaited hope for inclusion into His kingdom on earth. However, relative to their hardness of heart and scriptural presupposition, the representative leadership of Israel did not recognize Jesus as the Messiah and soundly rejected His offer. (Matthew 11:2-27:66; Mark 11:27-12:44; Luke 9:51-24:53) According to plan, God allowed the postponement of His kingdom promise to Israel to remain in effect and in the latter part of the Gentile Age He initiated an expansive repopulation of His kingdom. The vehicle chosen by God to fulfill His plan was the New Testament church (Ephesians 3:8-11). Although created in eternity, the New Testament church was established on earth in fullness of time. It occurred on the first day of Pentecost following the resurrection of Christ. (Acts 2:1-47) Thus, the Church Age began during the late spring of 33AD. In contrast to the gradual expansion of kingdom population during the Israelite Age and the early Gentile Age, the New Testament church has allowed for the exponential repopulation of the kingdom, predominantly from the elect of the densely populated Gentile nations. (Acts 9:15; 28:28; Romans 11:11-25; Galatians 1:15-16; 2:7-8; Ephesians 3:1-13) Through its instrumentation, the population of the kingdom of God has expanded into the Gentile nations near and far, “even to the remotest part of the earth.” (Acts 1:8) It is of critical importance to understand that God did not replace the nation of Israel with the New Testament church. (cf. Romans 11) However, it would not be entirely devoid of Israelites. Even though predominantly consisting of elect Gentiles, the church would also be inclusive of a remnant of Israel. (Romans 11:1-6) Rather than included among the Israelites, they become members of the body of Christ. The kingdom of God manifested on the degenerated earth during the latter part of the Gentile Age can be briefly summarized as follows: |
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© 2023 James Hiatt |
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