When Jesus spoke in Luke 21:24, He said,
“Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.”
That phrase—“the times of the Gentiles”—isn’t about the Church, the Body of Christ. It’s about Israel’s fall and Gentile dominion under prophecy. But Paul later speaks of something different—the “fulness of the Gentiles” in Romans 11:25—and understanding the difference between these two is key to rightly dividing the Word of truth.
1. The Prophetic Program: Times of the Gentiles
When Israel rejected God’s Word, He allowed Gentile empires to rise and rule. This began in Babylon when Nebuchadnezzar conquered Jerusalem and took Judah captive (Daniel 1:1–2). From that point forward, Jerusalem has been under Gentile domination—first Babylon, then Medo-Persia, Greece, and finally Rome—the same kingdoms represented in Nebuchadnezzar’s image in Daniel 2.
That’s what Jesus called the “times of the Gentiles.” It is the prophetic timeline where Gentile nations hold political authority over the earth—particularly over Jerusalem—until Christ returns to establish His Kingdom.
In Revelation 11:15, that time ends when:
“The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and He shall reign for ever and ever.”
So the times of the Gentiles is prophetic, earthly, and political. It runs from Babylonian captivity all the way to Christ’s Second Coming, when He restores Israel’s throne and reigns over the nations.
2. The Mystery Program: Fulness of the Gentiles
But Paul’s revelation in Romans 11:25 is not talking about that same prophetic timeline. He writes:
“Blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.”
Notice: not “times,” but “fulness.”
Two different Greek words, two different programs.
The times of the Gentiles belongs to prophecy—what God revealed since the world began (Luke 1:70; Acts 3:21).
The fulness of the Gentiles belongs to the mystery—what was kept secret since the world began until revealed to Paul (Romans 16:25).
When Israel fell (Romans 11:11–12), salvation was sent directly to the Gentiles through the revelation of the gospel of the grace of God. During this present dispensation of grace, God is forming a new agency—the Body of Christ—to reign not on earth, but in the heavenly places (Ephesians 1:20–23).
“The church, which is His body, the fulness of Him that filleth all in all.” —Ephesians 1:23
That’s the fulness of the Gentiles—the completion of the Body of Christ, made up of believing Jews and Gentiles, who will occupy heavenly positions of authority when the prophetic program resumes on earth.
3. Two Different Realms: Heaven and Earth
From Genesis 1:1, God had two spheres of authority: heaven and earth.
The earthly realm will be ruled through Israel and the Kingdom program.
The heavenly realm will be ruled through the Body of Christ.
Israel’s calling is prophetic and earthly.
Our calling as the Body of Christ is heavenly and revealed through mystery.
When Israel fell, God paused prophecy and introduced a new dispensation—grace—to form this heavenly body. That’s why Paul calls this age “the dispensation of the grace of God” (Ephesians 3:2).
4. The Course of the Gentile World
When the Gentiles were “given up” back in Genesis 11 (see Deuteronomy 32:8 and Romans 1:18–28), they walked in their own ways, worshiping creation instead of the Creator. God then called out Abraham and created a distinct nation—Israel—to be His light to the nations.
But when Israel rejected the Messiah and fell (Acts 7), both Jew and Gentile were concluded in unbelief (Romans 11:32).
Now the entire world system is under the rule of “the god of this world” (2 Corinthians 4:4)—Satan—until Christ reclaims it.
That’s why Paul describes the unbelieving world as walking
“according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air…” —Ephesians 2:2
That is the course of the Gentiles—the system of rebellion, religion, and human wisdom that fills the world today.
It’s the same system that began at Babel and will culminate in the future under the Antichrist’s rule (the final Gentile kingdom).
5. Deliverance from the Power of Darkness
But praise God—we’re not part of that system anymore!
“Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of His dear Son.” —Colossians 1:13
When you trusted Christ alone—His blood, His cross—you were taken out of the dominion of darkness and placed into the kingdom of light.
You became part of a new creation, a heavenly people, a body destined to reign with Christ in the heavenly places (Ephesians 2:6).
Our citizenship isn’t on earth—it’s in heaven (Philippians 3:20).
We’re not trying to fix the world under Gentile dominion; we’re preaching grace to rescue people out of it!
6. The Present and Future Hope
We live during the times of the Gentiles, but we’re not of it.
While Gentile powers still trample Jerusalem and the world grows darker under Satan’s system, God is quietly forming the Body of Christ—His heavenly agency.
When the fulness of the Gentiles is complete—Christ will catch us away in the rapture, and then God will resume His prophetic program with Israel.
That’s when the times of the Gentiles will reach their climax in the Tribulation, and finally, the King of kings will return to establish His righteous Kingdom on earth.
Conclusion:
The Times of the Gentiles — prophetic, earthly, political rule under Gentile dominion (Luke 21:24; Daniel 2).
The Fulness of the Gentiles — mystery, heavenly, spiritual completion of the Body of Christ (Romans 11:25; Ephesians 1:23).
We are not living in prophecy—we are living in the revelation of the mystery.
Our hope is not in earthly restoration, but in heavenly glory.
That’s why we preach grace, not kingdom. We look for the rapture, not the wrath.
We’re part of the fulness, not the times.
“For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ.” —Philippians 3:20
