"Luk 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."
All of this verse took place in the past, except the part I hignlighted above.
The word in Italicized is the present, and the part I underlined is future.
How do you know that is future, Biblewriter? Isaiah had this to say about being tread under foot:
"Wherefore hear the word of the Lord, ye scornful men, that rule this people which is in Jerusalem. Because ye have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us: for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves: Therefore thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste. Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet: and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place. And your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then ye shall be trodden down by it." --Isa 28:14-18
That passage was referring to the AD70 destruction of Jerusalem, Biblewriter; and Christ was that precious cornerstone laid in Zion that was the chief cornerstone of the spiritual temple, which forever replaced the physical temple of the
builders:
"This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner." --Acts 4:11
"Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture, Behold, I lay in Sion a chief corner stone, elect, precious: and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded." --1Pet 2:6
"And [the holy temple] is built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone;" --Eph 2:20
Besides, Jesus was crystal clear that the prophecies from Luke 21 would be fulfilled within his own generation:
"Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass away, till all be fulfilled." --Luke 21:32
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These troublesome little "untils" in scripture are one of those details that people of your persuasion try to gloss over, as if they were not really important. But God does not waste words. And everything He says is important. We need to pay attention to the details of everything He said.
Perhaps you will show us in the scripture where the "
times of the Gentiles" extended beyond the destruction of Jerusalem and the selling of many
former Jews into slavery. You are aware that the word "
times" equals
two years, in the scripture, aren't you? John (actually Christ) explained it perfectly in Revelation 12. It goes like this:
"And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days." --Rev 12:6 KJV
"And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent." --Rev 12:14 KJV
One thousand two hundred and threescore (1260) days is equal to forty and two (42) months, or three and one-half years, or a
time, times and a half a time. They are all equal.
Think about it this way: John said the holy city would be trodden under foot for forty two months:
"And there was given me a reed like unto a rod: and the angel stood, saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein. 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." --Rev 11:1-2
That was easy enough; but Christ had a caveat that, as you imply, cannot be ignored. So let's analyze:
Christ said that Jerusalem would be trodden under foot "
UNTIL" the
times of the Gentiles was fulfilled. Therefore, Christ was not referring to the entire 42 months that John wrote of; but rather the last two years, or 24 months of the 42 months, or there abouts.
Now, there was
not a lot of evangelizing to the Jews during the Jewish/Roman war; but that does not mean the Gentiles were not being evangelized.
Therefore, my guess (and I do mean guess) for what transpired is, Christ had allowed the apostles those two years (or, "times") to take the message to the Gentiles, before their (the apostles) resurrection and the final destruction of Jerusalem.
We all know there was, and will never be, better evangelizing than provided directly by the apostles.
But, again, that is only a guess. The only things we really know are the
time contexts; and Jesus was plainly speaking of some event during approximately the last two years of the 42 months that Jerusalem was trodden under foot.
