And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh. Then let them which are in Judaea flee to the mountains; and let them which are in the midst of it depart out; and let not them that are in the countries enter thereinto. For these be the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled. But woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck, in those days! for there shall be great distress in the land, and wrath upon this people. 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. And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars: and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; Men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken. And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. (Luke 21:20-27)

In this passage from Luke Jesus spoke of a period known as the "times of the gentiles" before he described his appearance in the clouds of heaven.  What did he mean by that phrase?

The same Greek word for "times" is used in Revelation 12:14 to describe two epochs of time. This same word is also used in Luke 12:42 ("due season") to possibly describe a millennium. A lunar calendar, comprised of 12 lunar months, was used by the Gentiles in Jesus' time. Thus we could interpret the phrase "times of the Gentiles" to mean 2,000 lunar years (1,940.4 years). 

In short, by the phrase "times of the Gentiles" Jesus might be describing the interval between two of his appearances in the clouds of heaven.

How do we know the times of the Gentiles began when Jesus returned in the clouds in Iyar, 66? In the Luke passage cited above Jesus began by stating that people would see Jerusalem "compassed with armies." I believe this phrase was depicting the armies in heaven that Josephus described encircling the cities in Iyar, 66. Jesus then mentioned the "times of the Gentiles" in the context of the dual appearance of Jerusalem. Thus the "times of the Gentiles" began when Jerusalem was encompassed by the armies of heaven-- the same day Jesus returned in the clouds. Many claim the mention of the "armies" was in reference to the Roman armies before AD 70 when Jerusalem was destroyed. However, by the time the Roman army had encircled the city in AD 70 it was far too late for anyone to flee Judea as Jesus described in this passage.

When one reads the entire Olivet Discourse in Luke 21, this interpretation makes good sense. Jesus was describing events that would be fulfilled within that generation which was certainly true if he returned in the clouds in the spring of AD 66. But by the same token he also was describing two events separated by 2,000 years. The two events were his appearances in the clouds of heaven. In the event the world ended sooner, the times of the Gentiles would have simply meant the time from Jesus' cloud-coming until the world ended. The Luke 21:27 appearance of Christ in the cloud would have been equated only with the cloud-coming in AD 66. The interpretation that the times of the Gentiles encompassed 2,000 years does not contradict Jesus' statement that all would be "fulfilled" in that generation. The two words for "fulfilled" in Luke 21:32 and 21:24 are different. The former simply implies that the times of the Gentiles would appear in that generation. 

Some also claim the "times of the Gentiles" was a period of only 42 months based on Revelation 11:2.  However, this view is incorrect since Luke 21:24 implies one of three conditions will persist during the "times of the Gentiles": Jews will continue to fall by the edge of the sword, they will be led captive into nations, and Jerusalem will be tread under foot by Gentiles. Certainly, Jews have fallen by the sword for the past 2,000 years.  Moreover, the treading under foot of Jerusalem by Gentiles might simply mean that Gentiles would fight wars in Jerusalem for the next 2,000 years and one such war would last 42 months according to Revelation.

Here is an interesting fact. If Nisan 1 arrived after the vernal equinox in AD 66, then precisely 2,000 lunar years elapsed between Iyar 17, AD 66 and Marheshvan 17, 2006. If you examine the chart in the first part of this article you will see that our millennium coincides with the second watch of the night and is divided into seven hours.  What date roughly coincides with the sixth hour of our millennium-- 6:00 a.m. in the chart? That date is November 7, 2006 (Marheshvan 17) when applying biblical principles that the first day of the month coincides with a new moon. Marheshvan 17, 2006 was the Gregorian date November 7, 2006.

The computations are as follows: multiply 1,000 years by 6/7. The answer is 857.142 years. Now multiply .142 by 354 days since there were 12 lunar months in the year from Tishri 1, 2006 to Tishri 1, 2007. The result is 50 days. Marheshvan 17 is within 3 days of the 50^th day of the year.  Recall also that Marheshvan 17 is the 17^th day of the second month when counting from Tishri.

On November 7, 2006 a UFO appeared over Chicago's O'Hare airport and vanished in the clouds. This was not a typical UFO incident since it was the only UFO story to make national news in some time. Could it have been a fulfillment of Bible prophecy? Probably you're skeptical. However, a UFO incident certainly might have been viewed as a coming of Jesus in the clouds.

And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven:

Here it explicitly states that the appearance of Christ in heaven would be a "sign." How is it a sign? It must have been viewed as a sign of when to watch for the end of the world. One will notice in Luke's Olivet Discourse that the disciples asked Jesus "what sign will there be when these things shall come to pass?" (Luke 21:7) By "these things" they were talking about the end of the world. The sign of when the end of the world would come to pass was Jesus' cloud coming. Because both happened at a predictable time in relation to the creation date they therefore serve as signs for when to watch for the end of the world. The first appearance in AD 66 served as a sign that people should watch for the world's end in AD 149 and AD 1149. The second appearance in 2006, for which we have a date certain, is now the sign for all subsequent generations of when to watch for the end.

The two cloud-comings of Christ

Iyar 21, AD 66← times of Gentiles → Marheshvan 17, 2006

(if Nisan 1 arrived after the vernal equinox in AD 66, exactly 2,000 lunar years elapsed from Iyar 17, 66 to Marheshvan 17, 2006)