Saturday, February 11, 2023

The "time of the gentiles" being the "Day of the Lord"

 A near and far wrath may be seen in Luke 21:

20 "But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation is near. 21 Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, let those who are in the midst of her depart, and let not those who are in the country enter her. 22 For these are the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled. 23 But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! For there will be great distress in the land and wrath upon this people. 24 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.

25 "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; 26 men's hearts failing them from fear and the expectation of those things which are coming on the earth, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 27 Then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. 28 Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near."   Luke 21:20-28

Jesus foretold the desolation of Jerusalem as the wrath of God on Israel. I believe this was in AD 70 by the Romans; it was a near wrath. He said Jerusalem would be trampled by gentiles until "the times of the gentiles be fulfilled." I believe this "times" is DOL, when the nations are judged and Jerusalem is delivered. Jesus then gives more detail of DOL in the text that follows. This whole text may reveal both a near time of wrath (AD 70) and the far-final wrath of God (DOL) in the prophetic vision of Jesus.  And from the time of the near wrath to the time of the far wrath, Jerusalem with be trampled underfoot.  That trampling will come to an end when the times of the Gentiles is fulfilled, being the Day of the Lord (the coming of Christ to judge the nations at the end of the great tribulation).

Ezekiel prophesies of the near wrath to come upon Egypt and the nations allied to her. This would also be through the instrumentality of Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon: Thus says the Lord God: I will also make a multitude of Egypt to cease by the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. 30.10 

Ezekiel 30.1-3 is a prophecy of the DOL that appears to look beyond the near future (God using Neb to judge Egypt and her allies) to the far future (the DOL on all the nations) in its terminology.

Ezekiel says it is "the time of the Gentiles": Wail, Woe to the day! For the day is near, even the day of the Lord is near; it will be a day of clouds, the time of the Gentiles.

Some translate this as the "time of the doom [or distress] of the gentiles." I suppose this is because the LXX has the word "end" instead of "time." And the "time" in view here is the eschatological judgment of the nations. Jesus prophesied of Jerusalem being trampled underfoot by gentiles "until the times of the gentiles are fulfilled." I don't know if the plural of "time" is significant, and I suppose most would say this is a reference to the dominance of gentile world powers, but it could be a reference to DOL. Jerusalem will be trampled by gentiles until the time of the end (or the doom or the distress) of the gentiles. That time will be DOL.

It would seem that Jesus was referring to what Ezekiel presented as the backdrop of Egypt's judgment from God through Nebuchadnezzar. Charles Feinberg writes: "The reference here is best taken as God's judgment on Egypt identified in principle with that day when He will call all nations into account. Some have interpreted the significant phrase ["day of the Lord"] to mean any time in which God’s judgments are experienced on earth. Although such an interpretation will allow for all the references to be included under it, nevertheless it empties the words of their well-known eschatological force. They do speak of events in the far future when God will consummate His plans for Israel in the earth." The Prophecy of Ezekiel by Charles Feinberg

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