The Jews, the Gentiles, the Church, and the Times of the Gentiles
Scripture speaks of three broad groups among humanity: the Jews, the Gentiles, and the Church. The Church is made up of both Jews and Gentiles united in Christ. Outside the Church, all who are not Jews are counted among the Gentiles.
Before the call of Abraham, all the peoples of the earth were Gentiles. Abraham was the first Hebrew. His grandson Jacob, whose name God changed to Israel (Genesis 32:24–28), had twelve sons, and these sons became the heads of the twelve tribes of Israel.
After the death of King Solomon, the nation was divided. Ten tribes became known as the kingdom of Israel, while two tribes—Judah and Benjamin—became known as Judah. In 721 BC, Israel was taken captive by Assyria, and in 606 BC, Judah was taken captive to Babylon. When Judah returned after seventy years of captivity, a representation of the whole twelve tribes returned with them. From that time onward, they became known collectively as the Jews.
The Jews were God’s chosen people. Yet when they fell into idolatry and were carried into captivity, dominion passed into Gentile hands. The nations of Egypt, Assyria, and Babylon had long desired to overthrow Israel, but God restrained them until Israel’s iniquity had reached its full measure. Then He allowed world power to pass into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon (Jeremiah 27:5–7). This transfer of dominion in 606 BC marked the beginning of what Christ later called “the times of the Gentiles” (Luke 21:24).
This period should not be confused with “the fullness of the Gentiles” spoken of by Paul in Romans 11:25. The times of the Gentiles refer to the era of Gentile political domination over Jerusalem and the earth. The fullness of the Gentiles, by contrast, refers to the gathering out of the elect from among the nations to form the Church. Paul teaches that Israel’s present blindness is only partial and will continue until the full number of Gentiles has come in. Then the Church will be caught up, and Israel will again come into prominence in God’s plan.
The fullness of the Gentiles began at Pentecost. It will end before the times of the Gentiles conclude. The times of the Gentiles themselves are outlined most fully in the Book of Daniel.
Daniel and the Times of the Gentiles
Daniel contains one dream given to Nebuchadnezzar and four visions given to Daniel, all of which concern the times of the Gentiles.
1. Nebuchadnezzar’s Dream
In the second year of his reign, Nebuchadnezzar had a troubling dream that he could not remember. He demanded that his wise men not only interpret it but also tell him what he had dreamed. They could do neither. Their destruction was ordered, but Daniel obtained time to seek God. Through prayer, the dream and its meaning were revealed to him in a night vision.
The dream concerned a great image or colossus, representing the course of Gentile world dominion. This image symbolized the world empires in both their unity and historical succession.
The image was composed of different metals:
a head of gold
breast and arms of silver
belly and thighs of bronze
legs of iron
feet and toes of iron mixed with clay
These metals represent four successive world empires. Daniel identifies the first directly when he tells Nebuchadnezzar:
“Thou art this head of gold.”
— Daniel 2:38
The four empires are:
Babylonian
Medo-Persian
Grecian
Roman
The names of these kingdoms are given throughout Daniel. Babylon is identified in chapter 2. Medo-Persia appears in the fall of Belshazzar and the rise of Darius the Mede (Daniel 5:30–31). Greece is named explicitly in Daniel 8:20–21. Rome is implied in Daniel 9:26 as the people who would destroy Jerusalem and the sanctuary, which historically occurred under the Romans in AD 70.
The image also shows a decline in value from gold to silver to bronze to iron to clay. This signifies degeneration in the character of Gentile rule. Nebuchadnezzar’s Babylon was an absolute monarchy. Medo-Persia was more limited. Greece relied heavily on military aristocracy. Rome, though strong as iron, was more politically complex and unstable.
In its final form, the image ends as a divided kingdom, symbolized by ten toes of iron and clay. Then a stone cut without hands strikes the image on its feet, destroys it completely, and grows into a mountain that fills the whole earth.
This stone is not a gradual influence but an act of sudden judgment. It cannot symbolize the slow spread of Christianity, because the stone does not slowly replace the image; it shatters it at once. The stone represents Christ at His Second Coming, and the kingdom that follows is His literal earthly kingdom.
Thus the times of the Gentiles do not end until the return of Christ.
2. The Vision of the Four Beasts
About forty-eight years later, Daniel himself received a vision of four beasts rising out of the sea (Daniel 7). These beasts correspond to the same four kingdoms shown in Nebuchadnezzar’s image, but from God’s perspective rather than man’s.
Where man sees a glorious metallic image, God sees a succession of predatory beasts.
The first beast was like a lion with eagle’s wings, representing Babylon. Its wings were plucked, and it was made to stand like a man, recalling Nebuchadnezzar’s humiliation and restoration.
The second beast was like a bear, raised up on one side, with three ribs in its mouth. This represents Medo-Persia, powerful but clumsy, crushing its enemies through sheer weight and force.
The third beast was like a leopard with four wings and four heads, representing Greece under Alexander the Great. Its speed and agility fit the rapid conquests of Alexander, and the four heads signify the four divisions of his empire after his death.
The fourth beast was unlike any known animal. It was dreadful, terrible, and exceedingly strong, with iron teeth and ten horns. This beast represents Rome, corresponding to the iron legs of the image and the final tenfold division symbolized by the toes.
Among its ten horns arose a little horn, before whom three horns were uprooted. This horn had eyes like a man and a mouth speaking great things. Daniel later learns that this little horn is a future ruler who will persecute the saints and dominate for “a time, times, and half a time.” This figure is commonly identified as the Antichrist.
3. The Vision of the Ram and the He-Goat
In Daniel 8, Daniel saw a ram with two horns and a he-goat with a notable horn. Gabriel explained the meaning directly.
The ram represented Medo-Persia, the two horns symbolizing its dual power. The he-goat represented Greece, and the great horn was Alexander the Great. When the great horn was broken, four horns arose in its place, signifying the fourfold division of Alexander’s empire.
Out of one of these divisions came another little horn, a fierce ruler who would oppose God and His people. This again points forward to the final Antichrist, though the vision also has a nearer historical foreshadowing.
This vision gave Daniel further clarity: the Antichrist would arise from the sphere of the Grecian empire, particularly the Syrian division.
4. The Kings of the North and South
In Daniel 11, Daniel receives a detailed prophecy concerning the king of the North and the king of the South, generally understood as the rulers of Syria and Egypt after the breakup of Alexander’s empire.
Verses 5 through 31 trace these conflicts in extraordinary detail. The prophecy matches secular history with remarkable precision through the Seleucid and Ptolemaic struggles.
Then the prophecy moves beyond Antiochus Epiphanes and points to the end time, where the figure known as the willful king appears. This ruler is again understood to be the Antichrist.
Thus Daniel is shown not only the broad outline of Gentile dominion, but also the region from which the final enemy will arise.
5. The Vision of the Seventy Weeks
Daniel 9 contains one of the most important prophetic revelations in Scripture: the prophecy of the seventy weeks.
Gabriel tells Daniel that seventy weeks are determined upon his people—the Jews—and upon the holy city, Jerusalem, to bring transgression to its end, make reconciliation for sin, and bring in everlasting righteousness (Daniel 9:24).
These weeks are best understood as seventy sevens, or 490 years. They concern Israel and Jerusalem, not the Gentiles or the Church.
The period is divided into:
7 weeks
62 weeks
1 final week
From the command to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince would be 69 weeks. This countdown began with the decree in the time of Artaxerxes and reached its fulfillment in the presentation of Jesus as Messiah.
After the sixty-ninth week, Messiah would be cut off, and Jerusalem and the Temple would be destroyed by the people of the prince who shall come. Since the destroyers were the Romans, the final prince—the Antichrist—must arise from the Roman sphere.
Between the sixty-ninth and seventieth weeks lies a gap: the present age. The final or seventieth week remains future and is the period associated with the Tribulation.
The Times of the Gentiles and the Fullness of the Gentiles
Jesus said that Jerusalem would be trodden down by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled (Luke 21:24). These times began with Babylon’s ascendancy in 606 BC and continue until Christ returns and establishes His kingdom.
This should be carefully distinguished from the fullness of the Gentiles. The fullness of the Gentiles concerns the completion of the Church, the body made up of saved Jews and Gentiles in this present age. The times of the Gentiles concern Gentile political supremacy.
The two overlap, but they are not identical.
Prophetic Time
Some have attempted to calculate the times of the Gentiles by treating a prophetic “time” as 360 years. But Scripture does not support that definition.
In prophetic chronology, a time is a year of 360 days. This is shown by comparing:
42 months
1,260 days
time, times, and half a time
All refer to the same period of three and a half years. Therefore:
time = 1 year
times = 2 years
half a time = half a year
So while prophetic years are 360-day years, there is no scriptural basis for turning a single “time” into 360 ordinary years.
Conclusion
The Book of Daniel sets forth the great outline of Gentile dominion from Babylon to the return of Christ. It shows four great world empires, the rise of the Antichrist, the suffering of Israel, and the final triumph of the kingdom of God.
Man sees these kingdoms as glorious and powerful, like a splendid metallic image. God sees them as ravenous beasts. Their dominion continues only until the moment when Christ, the Stone cut without hands, strikes the image, destroys Gentile supremacy, and establishes His everlasting kingdom over all the earth.
