The epochal event that marked the end of the Last Days and the beginning of the Times of the Gentiles is the destruction of Jerusalem. When the temple was destroyed and the Jewish people scattered in exile, the old order was dead.
The destruction of Jerusalem was the final ‘nail in the coffin’ of the old system. Jesus predicted this event in Matthew 24:1-35, Mark 13:1-31 and Luke 21:5-33.
Most Christians believe these verses describe events before the Second Coming. This is not true. To understand these verses, we must note the question that Jesus was answering. The disciples had commented on the glory and beauty of the temple. Jesus said that the time would come when not one stone would be left standing on another. The disciples could not believe this would happen; the temple was the centre of their world, so they asked him when these things would happen. Jesus gave them the signs that would lead up to this event.
An idolatrous sacrifice would be made in the temple. Jesus warned Christians to flee Jerusalem when this event occurred. The Christians in Jerusalem (eg Barnabas) sold their property because they knew it would soon become worthless (Acts 4:36). In A.D.70 a Roman army surrounded Jerusalem and started a terrible siege. The Jewish historian Josephus described this time and it was a terrible tribulation. Conditions were so severe that mothers ate their babies to survive. Jesus' awful prophecies were fulfilled. However, Christians who had heeded Jesus warning left the city before the siege began and fled to the safety of the mountains.
The destruction of Jerusalem was the epochal event that marked the beginning of a new season called the Times of the Gentiles.
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