DISPENSATIONAL TRUTH

Times of the Gentiles

Times of the Gentiles. -- One fact must be kept steadily before the mind when considering the meaning or the extent of ‘the times of the Gentiles’ and that is, not whether Babylon or Rome covered the same territory, or whether there are four kingdoms or six in the Image of Daniel 2, but to remember that the one unalterable identification is that Gentile dominion is co -extensive and co -terminative with ‘the treading down’ of Jerusalem by the Gentiles (Luke 21:24).

This one feature makes it imperative that Rome shall be given its place. Under the decree of Caesar Augustus, Christ was born in Bethlehem; under Pontius Pilate, He was crucified. When the Lord asked for a penny, that penny bore the image and superscription of Caesar. When Christ and His apostles came into touch with soldiers, they came into touch with Romans. Any of these features taken separately would prove that Jerusalem was still being trodden of the Gentiles. Taken together they constitute such a proof as to make denial an act of unbelief. Daniel 2 makes it certain that Gentile dominion continues unbroken until the Coming of the Lord, when the whole image, not some portion of it, will be broken to pieces (Dan. 2:35,45).

An Alphabetical Analysis