The Times of the Gentiles

Romans 11:25-27

The Mystery of Israel’s Salvation

Lest you be wise in your own sight, I do not want you to be unaware of this mystery, brothers: a partial hardening has come upon Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. And in this way all Israel will be saved, as it is written,

“The Deliverer will come from Zion,
he will banish ungodliness from Jacob”;
“and this will be my covenant with them
when I take away their sins.”

More and more, the erroneous doctrine of Replacement Theology continues to infect the body of Christ. Simply stated it is the belief that God's promises to Israel (Abraham and his descendants) now applies to The Church. Obviously Paul's letter to Romans clearly debunks this idea which makes the fact that this teaching is so widely accepted among Christians confounding,

Furthermore, understanding God's future plans for Israel is key to understanding the end times as disclosed in prophecy. The time is coming when, once 'the gentiles have been admitted in full strength', God opens the eyes of Abraham's children to know their Messiah Yeshua (Jesus).

Romans 11:12

Now if their (Israel) trespass means riches for the world, and if their failure means riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their full inclusion mean!

Yet the predominant view of prophecy related to Israel is fraught with errors resulting from a biased interpretation of scripture! Here are some examples along with the potential impact to believers.

The Rapture - As discussed previously the rapture is a clearly depicted event in the bible and the timing of it continues to be debated. This event is a perfect example of how adherents 'read in' to the scriptures to support their view. In the course of receiving The Revelation of Jesus Christ, in chapter 4 John is told to 'come up here'. Adherents of the pre-trib rapture claim this scripture is the rapture of the church. Yet the verse says nothing of the sort. They further claim the church is not mentioned again in Revelation followings this which couldn't be further from the truth. Just two chapters later there is a multitude of saints which no one can count who were killed during the tribulation for their testimony of Jesus. There are many other references to believers following chapter 4 - Rev. 14:12 'Here is a call for the endurance of the saints, those who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus.' Rev. 16:15 'Behold, I am coming like a thief! Blessed is the one who stays awake, keeping his garments on, that he may not go about naked and be seen exposed!' This is right before the last battle at Armageddon!

The 1st Seal - The idea that the rider on the first horse (white) is Antichrist is another faulty interpretation based on bias. See the article on Daniel's 70th Week for the origin of this idea. Nowhere in all of scripture is a white horse anything but good. Click this link for a great video by George Chuang regarding this.

The Two Witnesses - We know according to Rev. 11 that the testimony of the two witnesses takes place prior to the the arrival of Antichrist and is also a period of 42 months (3 1/2 years). Following this time, the Antichrist ascends from the abyss and make war on them and overcomes and kills them. Okay, so for those that think the Antichrist arrives at the beginning of their 42 month testimony what was Antichrist doing during this time while these two prophets tormented those that dwell on the earth with various plagues as often as they desired? Mr. Limp Noodle just sat by and did nothing? And yet he is the world's hero at the end of their testimony? Again, this makes no sense but is simply assumed to support an erroneous view. Scripture states that Anyone that would harm them will be killed by fire from their mouths which would include Antichrist if he were actually on the scene during this period.

There is a great danger in these erroneous interpretations of prophecy! For instance, what is The End Time Prophet arrives on a white horse and is mistakenly taken for Antichrist just as Jesus was mistaken for a false prophet by the religious leaders of the day? Many would falsely accuse him and be his enemy despite the fact that he is sent by God to 'reconcile' all things in preparation of Christ's entering his reign. At least Muslims would be correct in treating him like an enemy since he is Dajal according to their scriptures.