The Fullness of the Gentiles

[Keith]

Romans 11:25 (King James Version)

25For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.
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I had a question about that passage. I had been reading it as when the last gentile is saved then Israel's spiritual eyes would be opened and they would be saved.

Does that mean the last Gentile during the church age?, because we know during the tribulation people get saved as well.

Are they all Jews?, also some are teaching that it is why the rapture hasn't happened...that when the last Gentile of the church is saved at that point the rapture occurs.

That of course goes against the doctrine of immency which is that it could occur even as I type this.

Just wanted to know my brothers' and sisters' thoughts on this.

[micah719]

Plenty of folks get saved in the 7 year Tribulation/Great Tribulation. Why else would God warn folks not to take the mark of the beast, why would He send angels to preach the Gospel, why would He send all those plagues and then record after each one that folks didn't repent. Remember the Flood was a slow calamity too, lots of folks got saved there too even though they physically died.

Rev 9:20-21
20 And the rest of humanity who were not killed by these plagues even then did not repent of [the worship of] the works of their [own] hands, so as to cease paying homage to the demons and idols of gold and silver and bronze and stone and wood, which can neither see nor hear nor move.
21 And they did not repent of their murders or their practice of magic (sorceries) or their sexual vice or their thefts.

Rev 14:6-7
6 Then I saw another angel flying in midair, with an eternal Gospel (good news) to tell to the inhabitants of the earth, to every race and tribe and language and people.
7 And he cried with a mighty voice, Revere God and give Him glory (honor and praise in worship), for the hour of His judgment has arrived. Fall down before Him; pay Him homage and adoration and worship Him Who created heaven and earth, the sea and the springs (fountains) of water.

Rev 14:12-13
12 Here [comes in a call for] the steadfastness of the saints [the patience, the endurance of the people of God], those who [habitually] keep God's commandments and [their] faith in Jesus.
13 Then I heard further [ perceiving the distinct words of] a voice from heaven, saying, Write this: Blessed (happy, to be envied) are the dead from now on who die in the Lord! Yes, blessed (happy, to be envied indeed), says the Spirit, [in] that they may rest from their labors, for their works (deeds) do follow (attend, accompany) them!

Rev 16:9-11
9 People were severely burned (scorched) by the fiery heat, and they reviled and blasphemed the name of God, Who has control of these plagues, and they did not repent of their sins [felt no regret, contrition, and compunction for their waywardness, refusing to amend their ways] to give Him glory.
10 Then the fifth [angel] emptied his bowl on the throne of the beast, and his kingdom was [plunged] in darkness; and people gnawed their tongues for the torment [of their excruciating distress and severe pain]
11 And blasphemed the God of heaven because of their anguish and their ulcers (sores), and they did not deplore their wicked deeds or repent [for what they had done].

Daniel was given a prophecy that has not been completely fulfilled yet. The first 69 weeks were fulfilled to the very day when Jesus rode into Jerusalem (Luke 19:41-42). We are still waiting for the final 7 years. We know that the "abomination of desolation" (Daniel 11:31) has not taken place yet because Jesus spoke about it in the last week of His ministry before He was crucified (Mark 13:14, Matt 24:15).

Daniel 9:24-27
24 Seventy weeks [of years, or 490 years] are decreed upon your people and upon your holy city [Jerusalem], to finish and put an end to transgression, to seal up and make full the measure of sin, to purge away and make expiation and reconciliation for sin, to bring in everlasting righteousness (permanent moral and spiritual rectitude in every area and relation) to seal up vision and prophecy and prophet, and to anoint a Holy of Holies.
25 Know therefore and understand that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem until [the coming of] the Anointed One, a Prince, shall be seven weeks [of years] and sixty-two weeks [of years]; it shall be built again with [city] square and moat, but in troublous times.
26 And after the sixty-two weeks [of years] shall the Anointed One be cut off or killed and shall have nothing [and no one] belonging to [and defending] Him. And the people of the [other] prince who will come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. Its end shall come with a flood; and even to the end there shall be war, and desolations are decreed.
27 And he shall enter into a strong and firm covenant with the many for one week [seven years]. And in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and offering to cease [for the remaining three and one-half years]; and upon the wing or pinnacle of abominations [shall come] one who makes desolate, until the full determined end is poured out on the desolator.

The Bride of Christ is the whole body of believers which will be completed by that last Gentile mentioned in Romans 11:25. This Bride is snatched away from this world by the Lord in the Rapture. Compare the Rapture with the traditional Jewish wedding: after the betrothal, the Bridegroom builds a chamber in His Father's house, the Father sends forth the Bridegroom to snatch away His bride, The Bridegroom brings His bride back to His Father's house and consummates the marriage for 7 days in the bridal chamber, after which there is the Marriage Supper.

When the Lord Jesus returns to the earth, after slaying the beast and the world's armies gathered against His people (Isaiah 63:1-6), He sits on His rightful throne in Jerusalem and judges the survivors of the final 7 years of Daniel in the sheep/goat judgement (Matt 25:31-34). The Temple is cleansed, and the 1000 year Kingdom begins 1335 days after the abomination of desolation.

So, to answer your questions;
1. The Gentiles mentioned in Romans 11:25 are the number required for the Bride, which is raptured away before the Tribulation.
2. People from all the nations, tribes and languages are saved during the Tribulation.
3. The imminence of the Rapture is more urgent than before. The one world government folks (still trying to repair the damage of Genesis 11:6-8) are about to meet in Copenhagen, basing their case on the lie of global warming. If that doesnt work, they will try again.

Maranatha!

Daniel 12:4
But you, O Daniel, shut up the words and seal the Book until the time of the end. [Then] many shall run to and fro and search anxiously [through the Book], and knowledge [of God's purposes as revealed by His prophets] shall be increased and become great.

Amos 3:7
Surely the Lord God will do nothing without revealing His secret to His servants the prophets.

2 Peter 3:9-14
9 The Lord does not delay and is not tardy or slow about what He promises, according to some people's conception of slowness, but He is long-suffering (extraordinarily patient) toward you, not desiring that any should perish, but that all should turn to repentance.
10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will vanish (pass away) with a thunderous crash, and the [material] elements [of the universe] will be dissolved with fire, and the earth and the works that are upon it will be burned up.
11 Since all these things are thus in the process of being dissolved, what kind of person ought [each of] you to be [in the meanwhile] in consecrated and holy behavior and devout and godly qualities,
12 While you wait and earnestly long for (expect and hasten) the coming of the day of God by reason of which the flaming heavens will be dissolved, and the [material] elements [of the universe] will flare and melt with fire?
13 But we look for new heavens and a new earth according to His promise, in which righteousness (uprightness, freedom from sin, and right standing with God) is to abide.
14 So, beloved, since you are expecting these things, be eager to be found by Him [at His coming] without spot or blemish and at peace [in serene confidence, free from fears and agitating passions and moral conflicts].

[Keith]

Thanks for your answer Micah. It seems from reading it that you do give creedence to the belief that the rapture only can occur after the full number of Gentiles neccessary to complete the number of the bride are saved?

Curious about this because when the teachers I hear today teach immency they teach that NOTHING and I mean NOTHING as in nothing left that has to happen before the rapture.

[micah719]

The reason imminence fits with the model of the Bride to be completed is that only God can read what is in a person's heart. How many folks have you met that seem to be Christians but show through some word or deed that they have actually fashioned an idol and called it Jesus? There are likely to be some that are so subtly deluded that only God knows their true allegiance, and on the other side of that coin there will be some that make it to the Kingdom that no person would have suspected.

We don't know how many are still to come in, or who that last convert is before God sends His Son to meet us in the air so He can turn His attention back to His chosen nation. From the signs of the times we know that the time is near.

[LivnForChrist]

First I'll use a simple analogy. A father calls home
and tells his kids, "I'll be home soon". Some time elapses. Well, to
the kids who are at home waiting, their dad's return is imminent
because he could arrive at any minute. What Dad didn't tell his kids
that he would stop by the market, and the gas station first; He
just told them that he would home soon.

I'm trying to show that is no conflict between the doctrine
of imminence and the fullness of the gentiles. Only God knows
when the fullness will happen. He alone knows when he will
consider the Bride of Christ complete prior to the rapture. It could
be full today or tomorrow, we simply don't know so to us, it is
always a possibility that Jesus could return at any time. Paul
thought that it may occur in his lifetime. We now know that many
things had to happen first, Israel becoming a nation, the invention
of tv (so that every eye would be able to view the 2 witnesses
laying dead during the trib, fast modes of travel (cars, trains,
planes, etc.). They had no way to know that 2000 years would
elapse and we would still be waiting but we know more now about
prophetic events just as Daniel predicted. That's one way we know
that we are really close is because of the simple fact that we
understand so much about bible prophecy now. Daniel was told to
seal up the vision until the times of the end. We were told some
things to look for in order to know that we are in the last days but
there is no major prophetic event that has to take place before the
rapture. I hope this helps. I'm no scholar by far though. :)

[Keith]

Thanks for all the answers everyone.