What Does Luke 21:24 Mean?

They will fall by the sword and will be taken as prisoners to all the nations. Jerusalem will be trampled on by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled. (Luke 21:24)

Most scholars define the Times of the Gentiles as the period of history where Gentile Kingdoms are in leadership positions on Earth. They see the poly-metallic statue from Nebuchadnezzar’s dream (Daniel 2) as a representation of this period.

The Statue had a head of gold representing Babylon. Then came a chest and arms of silver, Media-Persia. That was followed by the belly and thighs of bronze, Greece. And then two legs of iron, Rome, and finally ten toes of iron mixed with clay, the End Times revived Roman Empire, a future form of the European Union.

Jesus said that this period would come to a close once Jerusalem was reunited as a fully Jewish city, something that happened in 1967. After that, according to the dream, another kingdom would arise to fill the whole Earth. This one would never be defeated. He was referring to the Messianic Kingdom of our Lord which will begin at the 2nd Coming.

Since the Times of the Gentiles had already begun, Jesus was prophesying that Jerusalem would be taken, it’s people conquered and dispersed, and would come under the rule of various gentile nations until the Times of the Gentiles was fulfilled. Its re-emergence as a Jewish city would be a sign that the Times of the Gentiles was coming to a close.