Throughout the ages God has had many different ways of dealing with His creation in calling out a people for His name. For example, Cain is referred to as being “of the wicked one” (1John 3:12) and the line of Seth is referred to as “the sons of God” (Genesis 6:2). Due to the intermarriage of those two lines the entire earth became corrupt and God sent the flood to cleanse the earth and start humanity all over again by preserving Noah and his family and repopulating the earth through them (Genesis 6:5-8).

Abraham, the father of those of faith was promised the land of Canaan and through his grandson, Jacob, renamed Israel, came God’s chosen nation for world evangelism. The Jews, however failed to even keep the faith of Abraham, much less spread the good news to the Gentiles, and so were carried off into Babylonian captivity. From that day, through the centuries, the nation of Israel has been controlled by or dependent upon Gentile nations.

God promised Israel that if they would obey Him He would make them the head and not the tail of world powers, but if not they would become the tail (Deuteronomy 28). The “Times of the Gentiles” started with Judah’s deportation to Babylon in 605 B.C. This was the beginning of Gentile rule over the land of Israel and pictured in Daniel 2 by the dream of Nebuchadnezzar, king of the Babylonian empire.

Daniel first describes the dream in verses 31-35.

“This great image, whose brightness [was] excellent, stood before thee; and the form thereof [was] terrible. This image's head [was] of fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass, His legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay. Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet [that were] of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces. Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshingfloors; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth.

He then interprets the dream in verses 36-44 This [is] the dream; and we will tell the interpretation thereof before the king. Thou, O king, [art] a king of kings: for the God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory…. Thou [art] this head of gold. And after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee, and another third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth. And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron: forasmuch as iron breaketh in pieces and subdueth all [things]: and as iron that breaketh all these, shall it break in pieces and bruise. And whereas thou sawest the feet and toes, part of potters' clay, and part of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; but there shall be in it of the strength of the iron, forasmuch as thou sawest the iron mixed with miry clay. And [as] the toes of the feet [were] part of iron, and part of clay, [so] the kingdom shall be partly strong, and partly broken. And whereas thou sawest iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men: but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay. And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, [but] it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.”

This same prophecy is repeated in a dream given to Daniel regarding four beasts recorded in Daniel 7. The chart shows how the dreams differ and yet give the same accurate prediction of the kingdoms that would follow Daniel’s time.

Daniel 2 Daniel 2 Daniel 2 and 7 Daniel 7 Daniel 7
Head Gold Babylon Lion Eagle Wings
Chest and arms Silver Medo-Persia Bear Raised on one side
Belly and thighs Brass Greece Leopard 4 wings and heads
Legs Iron Rome Different Huge iron teeth
Feet and ten toes Iron and clay Revived Rome Ten horns Little horn – proud
Stone Fills the earth Christ-endless rule Ancient of days Fiery throne

Daniel 7:1-10 “In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon Daniel had a dream and visions of his head upon his bed: then he wrote the dream, [and] told the sum of the matters. Daniel spake and said, I saw in my vision by night, and, behold, the four winds of the heaven strove upon the great sea. And four great beasts came up from the sea, diverse one from another. The first [was] like a lion, and had eagle's wings: I beheld till the wings thereof were plucked, and it was lifted up from the earth, and made stand upon the feet as a man, and a man's heart was given to it. And behold another beast, a second, like to a bear, and it raised up itself on one side, and [it had] three ribs in the mouth of it between the teeth of it: and they said thus unto it, Arise, devour much flesh. After this I beheld, and lo another, like a leopard, which had upon the back of it four wings of a fowl; the beast had also four heads; and dominion was given to it. After this I saw in the night visions, and behold a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly; and it had great iron teeth: it devoured and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet of it: and it [was] diverse from all the beasts that [were] before it; and it had ten horns. I considered the horns, and, behold, there came up among them another little horn, before whom there were three of the first horns plucked up by the roots: and, behold, in this horn [were] eyes like the eyes of man, and a mouth speaking great things. I beheld till the thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of days did sit, whose garment [was] white as snow, and the hair of his head like the pure wool: his throne [was like] the fiery flame, [and] his wheels [as] burning fire. A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him: thousand thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him: the judgment was set, and the books were opened.”

Daniel then sees Christ, the Son of Man, coming with the clouds of heaven to reign with His saints for ever and ever.

Dan 7:13 “I saw in the night visions, and, behold, [one] like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion [is] an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom [that] which shall not be destroyed.”

The Times of the Gentiles will end when Christ, the Stone cut out without hands, at his second coming will put down all rebellion and establish His worldwide, everlasting kingdom centered in Jerusalem. That is when Gentile power over Israel will end.

Seventy years after the deportation of the Jews to Babylon they began to return to their promised land, but never became an autonomous nation. In the days of Christ the Jews were looking for a Messiah who would deliver them from the yoke of Rome. Israel was a nation, but everything they did needed the approval of Rome. Today since 1948 Israel is a nation, but only because Gentiles have given them the opportunity to return to the land and Gentiles are committed to Israel’s protection. Iran’s repeated threats to wipe Israel off the face of the earth are only delayed by the protective commitment of the U.S.A.

The phrase "Times of the Gentiles" is found only in one place in Scripture:

Luke 21:24 “And 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.”

However, the Times of the Gentiles is referred to by John in:

Rev 11:2 “But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty [and] two months” (3½ years).

The Times of the Gentiles trampling Jerusalem as defined by Luke is not over until the 42 months of the Great Tribulation are ended. This is the same point at which the 70th week of Daniel ends as we will see later.