In the 21st chapter of Luke’s Gospel we find Jesus speaking to His disciples (20:45) who were among a group of Jews who had been asking Him questions. Within the group were Jewish religious leaders who routinely followed Him, watching and listening, trying to catch Him in His Words or acts. Their goal was to catch him committing blasphemy against God so that they could legally have Him put to death. (20:1-44). Jesus warned them of a time that was coming when war, destruction and death would be so bad that God’s Temple would be destroyed with not one stone being left upon another. In 21:7 we find someone asking Him when those things would come to pass. Jesus warned that before that time there would be wars, earthquakes, famines, disease pandemics and fear-producing sights. These (His “voices”–read The Voices of God. Key word–Voices) calamities would be designed to call mankind to Him.

Then in verse 20 He spoke concerning the final days of the age and the signs that would accompany those days. One sign in particular would indicate that the Great Tribulation was about to begin: “And when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, know that the desolation of THE CITY AND THE WORLD is near.” Then in verse 24 He identified the following 3 1/2 years that would follow Jerusalem’s being destroyed and the Temple being demolished as the beginning of “the times of the Gentiles.”

In the first posting of his series we learned about several time eras when men sought to please God by obeying His Law. During these times the world had been relatively peaceful and blessed. With God in charge of mankind and the world’s social, economic and political systems the people’s lives were pleasant and prosperous. In contrast to those periods of time, we learned what happened during the periods when men followed their own reasonings and lived in obedience to Satan. War, famine, political and economic upheaval had been the order of the day. Sound familiar?

In Matthew 24:4-12 Jesus warned about the return of those God-rejecting times in the future when men would not obey Him and would suffer the consequences. He identified the culmination of those days, calling them “the times of the Gentiles” when heathen people would rule the world under the leadership of Satan–the “god of this world” (2 Cor. 4:4). Those spiritual storm clouds have been gathering for many years and are almost here. We are watching them take form before our eyes as human beings seem to be losing their minds, speaking and behaving in obedience to the devils (Gk–demonia–demons) that have taken over their minds.

Jesus used graphic language to describe what lay ahead for the world’s “Christian nations” because of their sins: “And they will fall by the edge of the sword and be led away captive into all nations. Jerusalem will be trodden down by the Gentiles, UNTIL THE TIMES OF THE GENTILES ARE FULFILLED” (Lk. 21:24). Most of those who today call themselves “Christians” will feel the brunt of Satan’s wrath during this time as they find themselves in the throes of the Great Tribulation that will have enveloped the entire planet. Those looking for a “rapture” to take them to heaven before the Great Tribulation descends on the earth are in for a rude awakening. Read The Rapture. Key word–Rapture.

The “times of the Gentiles” will officially arrive when Satan and his people have gained rulership over the affairs of men. This debacle is being made possible by the masses pushing the Biblical God out of their lives and allowing the devil to take His place. I call this travesty Eden II. Today we are in the middle stage of this phenomenon. Man has entered the time period Jesus called “the beginning of sorrows” (Mat. 24:8). We see Satan’s takeover of humanity in government at all levels, in our schools and universities as well as in our families and neighborhoods. This is not a totally surprising phenomenon to students of the Holy Bible who recognized that Satan invaded and gained control over the Christian religion many generations ago. Read The Apostasy of the Church. Key word–Apostasy. History has proven that as goes the church, so goes the society.

Those who would prepare the world, specifically the Christian world, for the Gentile (heathen) takeover of the earth are in our midst and are busy laying the groundwork for the global catastrophe to come. These influencers include communists, globalists, Law-rejecting religionists and their ministers, criminals, social, educational, political, economic, etc. leaders who have great influence over the masses. A few souls have been chosen by God to warn those with eyes to see and ears to hear concerning the terror to come and how to avoid being trapped in it. Some are listening, believing and preparing spiritually for what is soon to come upon the world. The other 99.99% of mankind knows little, if anything, about the Gentile (heathen) takeover of the world that is headed our way. And should they accidently hear about it, they remain unmoved. Satan’s control over them is total.

Because the church lost its power generations ago and has drifted farther and farther from God over time, Satan has been gaining more and more control over the lives of men as sin has become more and more accepted as part of the “Christian walk.” As stated, as goes the church, so goes the nation. Things that would have been condemned nationally a few years ago are now not merely tolerated, but are being exalted. Anyone who does not agree is deemed a reprobate.

As the church has became ever more dominated by Satan, so have the nations in which they exist. Because of man’s self-inflicted ignorance of God’s Word, the masses, themselves spiritual Gentiles, know little about the times when the Gentiles will rule them. That time is knocking at the world’s door as God’s people (spiritual Israelites) grow fewer in number with each passing day and Satan’s people (spiritual Gentiles) grow every larger in number. The respective identities of modern day Israelites and Gentiles are laid out in the first part of this series.

Man, including churchman, has pushed the Biblical God out of his life to the point that He (the Lord) now has little to do with the personal conduct of those within the human race. As has always been the case, Satan has stepped in to fill the spiritual void caused by God’s departure. What we are seeing on the world scene today is proof of God’s absence and Satan’s presence in the lives of men and women throughout the world. Those who are proclaiming the Bible Truth are few and will one day disappear.

The times of the Gentiles will be in full force when Satan has gained total rule over the lives of the world’s populations. That time is only a few years away. As Jesus warned, the final sign of those times will be the surrounding of Jerusalem by Gentile armies. Over the following 3 1/2 years the world will experience the unthinkable. Those who obeyed the Lord before that event will have been taken to a place of safety where they–God’s true church (spiritual Law-keeping Israelites)–will be protected and provided for as the Great Tribulation and the Day of the Lord ravage the earth and the hapless people still alive on it.

During the first 2 1/2 years of the tribulation period Satan will pour out his hatred for mankind as the world’s sinners feel the brunt of his rage. These will have been left behind when God took His people to “her (the church’s) place where she will be nourished for a time, times and half a time (3 1/2 years–48 months)–Rev. 12:14. The final year of the tribulation period will feature God pouring out His wrath on those sinners who survived Satan’s wrath. The Scriptures tell us that God’s time of wrath will make Satan’s treatment of sinning man pale by comparison.

At the end of Gentile rulership of the earth Christ will return to gather His people–both the dead and the living–to Him. He will them to Jerusalem where He will establish the Kingdom of God from whence He and they will rule, first the earth for 1000 years (the millennium), then the universe forever. Read The Three Resurrections, The Kingdom of God and God’s Very Elect: Future Caretakers of the Universe. Key words–Three, Kingdom and Caretakers respectively. L.J.