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During the course of my conversations with David Hitt, a close friend of many years, he interjected what I believe to be a most insightful consideration. His thinking involves the circumstances surrounding the Rapture, the restoration of Israel, and the possibility of the Rapture occurring during widespread devastation, perhaps a war—one like we see going on at present involving Israel and its hate-filled enemies.

The “fullness of the Gentiles” presented by Paul in Romans 11 has always been foremost in the minds of those who study from the pre-Trib view of Bible prophecy. What exactly does that phrase mean with regard to the time of the Rapture of the Church?

Here are David Hitt’s thoughts:

Isaiah 6 contains the well-known “Here I am. Send me” passage in which Isaiah volunteers to convey God’s message to His people that they are hardened (deaf, blind, and without understanding).

“Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me. And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not. Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed” (Isaiah 6:8-10).

God not only informs His people that they are hardened and that He is the one hardening them, but also that He has hardened them to delay their repenting and being healed.

In Matthew 13, when the disciples ask Jesus why He speaks “to them” in parables, He quotes from Isaiah 6:

“He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given. For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath. Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand. And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive” (Matthew 13:11-14).

In Acts 28, Paul also quotes Isaiah 6, reminding the local leaders of the Jews that they are hardened.

“And some believed the things which were spoken, and some believed not. And when they agreed not among themselves, they departed, after that Paul had spoken one word, Well spake the Holy Ghost by Esaias the prophet unto our fathers, saying, Go unto this people, and say, Hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and not perceive: For the heart of this people is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes have they closed; lest they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them” (Acts 28:24-27).

Paul discloses for the first time a consequence of Israel’s hardening: the Gospel would be extended to the Gentiles:

“Be it known therefore unto you, that the salvation of God is sent unto the Gentiles, and that they will hear it” (Acts 28:28).

However, both of these quotes (Matthew 13 and Acts 28) from Isaiah 6 stop short. They only address God’s hardening of Israel. Returning to Isaiah 6, beginning in verse 11, the prophet then begs God for an answer, and God gives it to him:

“Then said I, Lord, how long? And he answered, Until the cities be wasted without inhabitant, and the houses without man, and the land be utterly desolate…” (Isaiah 6:11).

God will lift Israel’s partial hardening during or just after a widespread devastation. This may be a great war, even a nuclear war given the extent and degree of damage. However, it may also be a direct act of God. Note that the cities and the houses need not be in “the land” (the Promised Land). They may be in the land or elsewhere. God continues His answer in verse 12:

“And the Lord have removed men far away, and there be a great forsaking in the midst of the land” (Isaiah 6:12).

God gives five conditions that exist just before his people spiritually awaken: (condition 1) cities lie waste without inhabitant; (condition 2) houses are without people; (condition 3) the land is a desolate waste; (condition 4) the Lord removes men (better rendered in the ESV as “people”) far away; and (condition 5) the forsaken places are many in the midst of the land.

In the middle of describing utter devastation (conditions 1-3 and 5), God interjects an enigmatic condition 4: “and the Lord have removed people far away.” The Lord (in all caps) is Yahweh: the covenantal God, and thus the emphasis appears to be on the keeping of a covenant. “People” implies more than one people, i.e., Gentiles. This clause likely refers to the Rapture. Note that condition 5 mentions “forsaken places.” Being listed after condition 4, might God have forsaken them, the Rapture having happened? It’s an interesting thought.

The lack of an explanation for even 4, the Lord’s removal of people far away, makes it a mystery (something hidden).

Now, let’s look at Romans 11, in which Paul answers the question his earlier chapters begged: If Christ is the answer and the law is not, what about the Jews, to whom God had given the law? Has God turned His back on Israel?

“I say then, Hath God cast away his people? God forbid. For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. God hath not cast away his people which he foreknew. Wot ye not what the scripture saith of Elias? how he maketh intercession to God against Israel, saying, Lord, they have killed thy prophets, and digged down thine altars; and I am left alone, and they seek my life. But what saith the answer of God unto him? I have reserved to myself seven thousand men, who have not bowed the knee to the image of Baal” (Romans 11:1-4).

The answer is an emphatic “No!” God will save an elect remnant of Israel, and He will save them by grace, not the law. To keep the Gentiles from feeling superior to the Jews, Paul goes on to say:

“I say then, Have they stumbled that they should fall? God forbid: but rather through their fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles, for to provoke them to jealousy. Now if the fall of them be the riches of the world, and the diminishing of them the riches of the Gentiles; how much more their fulness? For I speak to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify mine office: If by any means I may provoke to emulation them which are my flesh, and might save some of them. For if the casting away of them be the reconciling of the world, what shall the receiving of them be, but life from the dead?” (Romans 11:11-15).

Then, after describing how the holy firstfruits of a lump of dough renders the whole lump holy, how a holy root can render the entire tree holy, and how branches may be cut off and grafted onto a tree and thereby become holy, Paul reveals a mystery in verse 25:

“For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in” (Romans 11:25).

The mystery Paul reveals is that the partial hardening of Israel’s elect will end when the “fulness of the Gentiles be [has] come in.”

So, let’s assemble what we have learned. Paul says in Romans 11:25 that Israel’s partial hardening will end when the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. In Isaiah 6:11-12, God tells the prophet that He will end His hardening of His people proximate a widespread devastation, likely a great war or a direct act of God. From these two statements, one concludes that the fullness of the Gentiles comes in on the precipice of or during a widespread devastation, after which God ends His partial hardening of Israel’s elect.

God has one last thing to say to Isaiah to answer his “How long, O Lord?” question:

“But yet in [the land] shall be a tenth, and it shall return, and shall be eaten: as a teil tree, and as an oak, whose substance is in them, when they cast their leaves: so the holy seed shall be the substance thereof” (Isaiah 6:13).

This speaks of Daniel’s Seventieth Week or the Time of Jacob’s Trouble, commonly called the Tribulation. The stump (the believing remnant of Israel) connects the holy root (Jesus) to the branches (believers) of the pruned and grafted tree (the body of Christ). Thus, Israel will be reawakened, after which will be Daniel’s Seventieth Week, which reiterates what we’ve already known: the Rapture precedes Daniel’s Seventieth Week, but perhaps in a time of great tumult, even war. It won’t be the Tribulation, but many believers may think it is.

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The time of “the fullness of the Gentiles” must be very near, thinking on the signals of Christ’s return flashing all at once during this generation. To be sure to go to Jesus when He calls in the Rapture, you must do the following:

“That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation” (Romans 10:9-10).

First, a bit of history. Lighthouses were built along the east and west sea coasts, the Gulf shore, and along the shorelines of the Great Lakes. In harbors that had large rocks near the shore, lower lights would be installed to help the ship pilots avoid them. Gaps in the lights would signify a hazard for the ships to avoid. (ESV – All emphasis mine)

D.L. Moody told a true story of a ship on Lake Erie that was trying to make it into the Cleveland Harbor in a fierce storm. The lighthouse there was visible, but not the lower lights. Believing that the lower lights had gone out during the storm, the captain decided to try and enter the harbor anyway. The ship subsequently crashed into rocks, and over 200 people lost their lives.

Philip P. Bliss heard this story and, in 1871, wrote the hymn, “Let The Lower Lights Be Burning.” The message in this hymn has significant meaning even in today’s dark, evil world.

1.) Brightly beams our Father’s mercy from His Lighthouse evermore. But to us, He gives the keeping of the lights along the shore.

Ref.) Let the lower lights be burning; send a beam across the wave. Some poor fainting struggling seaman you may rescue, you may save.

2.) Dark the night of sin has settled; loud the angry bellows roar. Eager eyes are watching, longing, for the lights along the shore. (Ref)

3.) Trim your feeble lamp, my brother; some poor seamen tempest-tossed, trying now to make the harbor, in the darkness may be lost. (Ref)

John 1:4-5; “In Him was life and the life was the Light of men. The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”

John 8:12; “Again Jesus spoke to them saying, ‘I am the Light of the world. Whoever follows Me will not walk in darkness, but will have the Light of Life.'”

John 9:4-5; “We must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; night is coming where no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the Light of the world.”

Matthew 5:14-16; “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others so that they may see your good works, and give glory to your Father who is in Heaven.”

The Bible is full of verses referencing light in some manner or another. Our main “Lighthouse” is Jesus the Christ, our Redeemer, Savior, and Shepherd. The “lower lights” would be all who are followers of our Savior. By not following and joining in all the evil that is taking place today, we would stand out in a way that honors our Heavenly Father. It has consequences, as the world finds it hard to accept us.

Jesus said we would be hated for His name’s sake, but those who endure to the end will be saved (Matthew 10:22). This does not mean we are to be obnoxious or everbearing but to live in a manner that those of the world can see a difference in us.

When we are questioned about our mannerisms, 1 Peter 3:15 states, “But in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as Holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the Hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect.”

Our Savior was prepared to give the “gospel,” which means “good news,” to any who would listen. He did so in a straightforward manner, and for the benefit of many, He would often use parables. Those who could not grasp the meaning of the word of Salvation could often relate through the examples, or parables, that Jesus gave them. Even His own disciples questioned Him at times as to the meaning of some parables. Jesus did not stand on street corners holding up signs and shouting at everyone who went by. He spoke in a way that was pleasing to the crowds that drew near to hear Him.

People saw that there was something special in the way Jesus presented Himself. The miracles of healing and being able to feed thousands with a scant food supply went a long way as well.

His harshest words were saved for the so-called religious leaders who treated the people poorly and demanded attention and respect. They did everything they could to try and trap Him but normally fell far short of their goal.

One example of a “lower light” could be the Samaritan woman Jesus met at the well. Initially, she doubted that He was the Messiah, but after a conversation with Him, she became a believer. She told the people of her town about the meeting, and many of them met with Jesus. Her words sparked their interest, but when they met Him for themselves, they became true believers. And in John 4:42, the verse ends with “…and we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world.”

The ways of this world today are getting more evil as each day passes. Anyone who is a true believer stands out as being different. Many of the radical left people, and all the alphabet people, claim that we are “haters” because we don’t condone their activities. We are commanded to love everyone, and we do so for the sake of their immortal souls. We just don’t like what they do and may not even like them personally.

Before anyone says this is double-talk, Jesus loved everyone and even asked forgiveness for those who crucified Him. However, He made it clear that He did not personally like most of the Sadducees and Pharisees because of their mockery of the true word of the Father. He was willing to offer forgiveness and Salvation to any who would turn away from the evil and to accept Him as the true Son of the Living God.

The same holds true for all humans who are alive today. Any who will turn away from their sins and call on Jesus to be their Savior will be saved (Romans 10:13). The thief on the cross next to Jesus who repented was saved at that very moment, and Jesus promised that he would be with Him in paradise that very day (Luke 23:40-43). This tells us that Paul’s statement, “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain… to depart and be with Christ” (Philippians 1:21, 23), verifies that at our last breath here, all believers will be with Jesus.

The negative side would be to take your last breath here without Jesus as your Savior. The parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus in Luke 16:16-33 shows that Lazarus died and was in paradise, but the Rich Man died and was already in torment. All who pass from this earth without Jesus as Savior will be scheduled for the White Throne Judgment of Revelation 20:11-15 but will already have been in torment up until that time.

This can be turned around today for all who are now lost but are willing to receive and accept Jesus as their Savior. Follow the simple steps of Romans 10:9-13, and be assured of a home with Jesus forever.

The Lighthouse stands as our guide to the Heavenly shore. We, as lower lights, try to get His true word out so others may safely reach that Heavenly shore. God will force no one to accept Jesus as the Way, the Truth, and the Life, but all who reject Him will “crash” into eternal torment. It’s totally up to each individual to make their own personal choice of where they will spend eternity.

Call on Jesus today; tomorrow could be too late.

Maranatha! Come, Lord Jesus!

huebshman46@gmail.com

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My articles can also be found at: Dennis Huebshman Featured Articles – Rapture Forums

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