THE END of The Last Days is Near

Q: Why do you think we are living at THE END of The Last Days?

A: Luke 21 is the parallel passage to Matthew 24. This was recorded as Jesus’ own words to four disciples who asked when the end of the age would come. In Luke 21:20 ff, we read; “When you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, you will know that it’s desolation is near. (NOTE: Jerusalem, not the temple) Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, let those in the city get out, and let those in the country not enter the city. For this is the time of punishment in fulfillment of all that has been written. How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers! There will be great distress in the land and wrath against this people. They will fall by the sword and will be taken as prisoners to all the nations. Jerusalem will be trampled on by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.

This passage refers to Jerusalem and the Jews living in Jerusalem. It also refers to a past event. The siege and destruction of Jerusalem by the Roman General Titus in AD70 to be exact. Many believe it refers to the end of the age but this passage referst to the beginning of the Age of the Gentiles. No one teaches that the dispersion of the Jews is yet to come and that is what is revealed in this passage. “They…will be taken as prisoners to all the nations.” So, the beginning of the Age of the Gentiles is AD70. When will it end? Next verse: “Jerusalem will be trampled on by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.”

Has that happened? Yes! When did it happen? Jerusalem reverted to Jewish control in the ‘six day war’ in 1967, and made Capital of Israel in 1978. The times of the gentiles ended in this generation, opening the way for the endtime events described next.

It is an odd scenario where Matthew 24 and Mark 13 refer to the Temple and the ‘abomination of desolation’ that is yet to occur. (The Abomination of Desolation refers specifically to the Holy of Holies and the desecration of that place by the Anti-Christ halfway through the 70th week of Israel’s history or what we call The Great Tribulation.) However, Luke does not address the Temple or the desolation of it but instead addresses the destruction of the city and the Temple, which occurred in AD70. The city will not be destroyed again nor the Temple but it will be desolated by the Anti-Christ.

The Age of the Gentiles is that time that corresponds with The Last Days in the preceding question. The time when a ‘parenthesis’ occurs in Jewish history between Daniel’s 69th and 70th week. That ‘parenthesis’ is ‘The Age of Grace’ when salvation is extended to the gentiles, when the Holy Spirit is poured out into the hearts of all true believers. And that Age of the Gentiles has ended in our lifetime. We are living on borrowed time! What’s next?

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