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THE

TIMES OF THE GENTILES.

DETERMINATION OF THE MEANING OF
THE PHRASE.

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OUR Lord's lamentation over Jerusalem was, 66 Thou knewest not the time of thy visitation" (Luke xix. 44). In consequence, one stone was not left upon another." A similar day of visitation awaits Gentile Christendom, and with similar results; and if it was the sin of the men of our Lord's days that they did not discern the signs of the times (Matt. xvi. 3), equally great is the present sin of those who do not discern our times. It is the world that is in darkness. The Lord's people need not be so; and if they be, they run the risk of being like the foolish virgins. "Ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief" (1 Thess. v. 4). Accordingly our Lord says, "When these things begin. to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh" (Luke xxi. 28).

In order to discern the signs of the times, we must

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study the subject. A necessary preliminary to the accurate study of them is a thorough acquaintance with what our Lord calls "the times of the Gentiles." Two aspects of these are presented to us in Scripture-the ecclesiastical and the secular. In the former, the Jewish branches were broken off, that we might be graffed in (Rom. xi. 19). That time commenced with the apostleship of St Paul. Christ constituted him the apostle of the Gentiles (Acts xxvi. 17, Rom. xi. 13). The time chosen for his appointment to the Gentile apostleship was at the world-wide apostasy of the Jewish Church, when the high priest sent "to strange cities" to persecute the disciples of Jesus. The other aspect is the regal one, which has reference to the throne of David. In the former, "the times of the Gentiles" would suggest the thought of Gentile Christianity from the apostleship of St Paul to the time of its excision and of the regraffing of the Jewish Church into its Abrahamic stock (Rom. xi. 23). In the latter aspect, "the times of the Gentiles" means the space of time between the overturning of the throne of David and its yet future restoration. This restoration of the throne of David is the great subject of prophecy in connection with the second advent: "The Lord God shall give unto Him the throne of His father David" (Luke i. 32). "Unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given: and the government shall be upon His shoulder; and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and peace there shall be no end, upon

the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts

will perform this" (Isa. ix. 6, 7).

From the time that Zedekiah was carried captive, David's throne has remained fallen down, and Jerusalem with her temple was never free from Gentile supremacy. This fact gives peculiar significance to our Lord's words: "They shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled" (Luke xxi. 24). Our Lord had immediate reference here to the Roman captivity, but this does not affect the question of the meaning of "the times of the Gentiles," inasmuch as the Jews were never restored from the Babylonian captivity. A subject-restoration of part of the Jews under Cyrus is not regarded in Scripture as the true national restoration. Thus St James addresses "the twelve tribes which are in the dispersion (ev Tŷ SiaσTорa)" (James i. 1). St Paul also speaks of "our twelve tribes instantly serving God" (Acts xxvi. 7). St Peter speaks of "the elect pilgrims of the dispersion (exλEKTOÛS παρεπιδήμοις διασπορᾶς) ” (1 Peter i. 1). St John again records how the Jews spoke of the "dispersion of the Gentiles"-i.e., the Jews in the dispersion" (St John vii. 35). The Babylonian captivity has, therefore, never been removed, notwithstanding the partial restoration at the end of the seventy years. Accordingly Zechariah, a prophet of the restoration, speaks of a yet future return,

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