Until the Times of the Gentiles are Fulfilled?

In the Olivet Discourse Jesus informed his disciples about the approaching destruction of Jerusalem. He warned that the city would be surrounded by armies, that fleeing to the Judean mountains would be urgent and difficult, and “there will be great distress upon the land and wrath to this people; and they will fall by the edge of the sword, and will be led captive unto the nations ...” (Luke 21:20-24a). He then observed, “and all Jerusalem will be trampled under the nations until the times of the nations may be fulfilled” (v. 24b).¹ To what does this last statement refer?

A Helpful Commentary

Almost identical wording is used by Paul in Romans 11:25, providing a helpful commentary: “for I do not want you to be ignorant, brothers, of this mystery, that you might not be wise in yourselves, that a hardening in part to Israel has occurred until [ἄχρι] that [οὗ] the fulness [τὸ πλήρωμα] of the nations [τῶν ἐθνῶν] should come in.”

Parallel wording includes ἄχρι (“until”), a “marker of continuous extent of time up to a point” (BDAG 160), the genitive relative pronoun οὗ (“that”), and τὸ πλήρωμα, “that which fills (up) .... makes someth. full/complete .... brought to fulness or completion .... fulfillment” (BDAG 829-30).² The term ἔθνη has various shades of meaning with reference to “peoples,” “nations,” “foreigners,” “Gentiles,” “unbelievers,” “non-Israelites,” or even “non-Christians” (see BDAG 276-77). In Romans 11:25 almost all English versions render it “Gentiles,” and in Luke 21:24 it is variously rendered “nations” (NRSV), “heathen” (GNT), “unbelievers” (ISV), but mostly “Gentiles” (ESV, NASB, NET, NIV, NKJV, RSV, WEB).

Paul’s Message to the Roman Saints

Contextually, the partial “hardening,” applicable to “some” among “Israel” (Rom. 11:17) who “were unfaithful” (Rom. 3:3), alludes back to Rom. 9:17-18 and pertains to God’s word that softens compliant hearts but hardens the stubborn and resistant. This state of affairs lasts “until that the fullness of the nations should come in.” Opportunity is afforded to unbelievers of all “nations” [ἔθνη] (inclusive of Gentiles) until the “fullness” or “fulfillment” [πλήρωμα] of God’s salvation plan, i.e., the consummation of all things in the final judgment (see Rom. 16:25-26). The verbal εἰσέρχομαι (“come in”) is repeatedly used in the NT for entering the divine kingdom, life, or glory.³

The Broader Context of Scripture

Disciples are to be made of “all the nations” [πάντα τὰ ἔθνη] until the end of the age (Matt. 28:18-20); “making known to us the mystery [μυστήριον] of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness [πλήρωμα] of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth” (Eph. 1:9-10). “God our Savior … desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Tim. 2:3-4). “The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance” (2 Pet. 3:9).

The Context of Luke’s Gospel

In Luke 21:24, with respect to Jerusalem’s prophetic destruction by the Romans, Jewish survivors would be led captive “unto all the nations” [εἰς τὰ ἔθνη πάντα] (scattered far away from their sacred land), the city would be destroyed “by [the] Gentiles/ nations” [ὑπὸ ἐθνῶν] (the multi-national Roman legions), “until the times of the nations may be fulfilled,” i.e., disciples will be made of all nations until the end of the age, so Jerusalem will never again regain its former glory as the center of nationalistic Judaism, nor its temple stand as a symbol of divine favor. Jesus goes on to issue the great commission, for “repentance and forgiveness of sins to be proclaimed in his name unto all the nations [εἰς πάντα τὰ ἔθνη], having begun from Jerusalem” (Luke 24:47).

--Kevin L. Moore

Endnotes:

     ¹ Unless noted otherwise, scripture quotations are the author’s own translation.

     ² The verbal form πληρόω is employed in Luke’s account: “to make full .... to complete a period of time, fill (up), complete .... finish .... fulfill” (BDAG 827-29).

     ³ Matt. 5:20; 7:13, 21; 18:3, 8-9; 19:16-17, 23-24; 23:13; 25:10, 21, 23; Mark 9:43, 45, 47; 10:15, 23-25; Luke 13:24; 14:23; 18:17, 25; 24:26; John 3:5; 10:9; Acts 14:22; Heb. 3:11–4:11; 6:19-20; 9:12; Rev. 22:14.

Related Posts: Luke's Unique Perspective on God's Kingdom (Part 4)

Related articles:

 

Image credit:  Painting by David Roberts (1850)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Jerusalem_%2870_CE%29#/media/File:David_Roberts_-_The_Siege_and_Destruction_of_Jerusalem_by_the_Romans_Under_the_Command_of_Titus,_A.D._70.jpg