Today I want to look into the small phrase in Romans 11:25 this; "until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in." this may require sometime because it contains not only "gentiles" but with that some other things such as our conversion being foretold. The some obvious one is the term of "the fullness" which has for a long time bothered and plagued me as to its meaning. Here is what Tharyer's Bible Dictionary has to reveal; "in the NT, the body of believers, as that which is filled with the presence, power, agency, richness of God and of Christ." Okay from this point I want to look at the Gentiles conversion foretold and then some examples of this action being fulfilled.
Conversion of the Gentiles, foretold,
Genesis 3:9-15 "The LORD God called to the man and said to him, "Where are you?" And he said, "I heard the sound of You in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself." He said, "Who told you that you were naked? (mans outward eyes were opened to know this) Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?" The man said, "The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate." Then the LORD God said to the woman, "What is this that you have done?" The woman said, "The serpent (the spirit of sin, the devil and Satan used the snake to hide his being) deceived me, and I ate." The LORD God said to the serpent, "Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and above all beasts of the field; on your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life. I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; (He) he will bruise your head, and you shall bruise his (His) heel."
Genesis 22:15-19 "The angel of the LORD called to Abraham a second time from heaven and said, "By Myself I have sworn, declares the LORD, because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring will possess the gate of his enemies, and in your offspring will all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice." So Abraham returned to his young men, and they arose and went together to Beersheba. And Abraham lived at Beersheba."
Psalm 22:25-31 "From You comes my praise in the great congregation; my vows I will perform before those who fear (this is actual fear of) Him. The afflicted will eat and be satisfied; those who seek Him will praise the LORD! May your hearts (Ancient Hebrew Strong's H3824; the authority which resides inside) live forever! All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the LORD, and all the families of the nations will worship before You. For kingdom (of His LORD-ship, kingship) belongs to the LORD, and He rules over the nations. All the prosperous of the earth eat and worship; before Him will bow all who go down to the dust, even the one who could not keep himself alive. Posterity (seed of man) will serve Him; it will be told of the LORD to the coming generations; they will come and proclaim His righteousness to a people yet unborn, what He has done it."
Psalm 86:1-10 "Incline your ear, O LORD, and answer me, for I am poor and needy. Preserve my life, for I am godly; save Your servant, who trusts You—You are my GOD. Be gracious to me, O LORD, for to You do I cry all the day. Gladden the soul of Your servant, for to You, O LORD, do I lift up my soul. For you, O LORD, are good and forgiving, abounding in steadfast love to all who call upon You. Give ear, O LORD, to my prayer; listen to my plea for Your grace. In the day of my trouble I call upon You, for You answer me. There is none like You among the gods, O LORD, nor are there any works (wonders) like Yours. All the nations You have made will come and worship before You, O LORD, and will glorify Your name. For You are great and do wondrous things; You alone are GOD."
Isaiah 9:1-7 with 42:4 "But there will be no gloom for her who is in anguish. In the former time He brought into contempt the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the latter time He has made glorious the way of the sea, the land beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations. The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shone. You have multiplied the nation; You have increased its joy; they rejoice before You as with joy at the harvest, as they are glad when they divide the spoil. For the yoke of his burden, and the staff for his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, You have broken as on the day of Midian. For every boot of the tramping warrior in battle tumult and every garment rolled in blood will be burned as fuel for the fire. For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder, and His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over His kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this."
Isaiah 42:1-4 "Behold My servant, Whom I uphold (hold fast to), My chosen, in Whom My soul delights; I have put My Spirit in [him] Him; He [he] will bring forth justice to the nations. He will not cry aloud or lift up His voice, or make it heard in the street; a bruised reed He will not break, and a faintly burning wick He will not quench; He will faithfully bring forth justice. He will not grow faint or be discouraged till He has established justice in the earth; and the coastlands (the intended destination) wait for His (instruction) law."
Isaiah 60:1-3 "Arise, shine, for your light (Messiah) has come, and the glory of the LORD has risen upon you. For behold, darkness will cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the LORD will arise within you, and His glory will be seen in you. And nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising."
Daniel 7:13-14 "I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and He came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before Him. And to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him; His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which will not pass away, and His kingdom is one that will not be destroyed."
Hosea 2:21-23 with Malachi 1:11 "And in that day I will answer, declares the LORD, I will answer the heavens, and they will answer the earth, and the earth will answer the grain, the wine, and the oil, and they will answer Jezreel (meaning GOD sows), and I will sow her for Myself in the land. And I will have mercy on No Mercy, and I will say to Not My People, 'You are My people'; and they (he) will say, 'You are my GOD.'"
Malachi 1:6-14 "A son honors his father, and a servant his master. If then I am a Father, where is my honor? And if I am a Master, where is my fear? says the LORD of hosts to you, O priests, who despise My name. But you say, 'How have we despised Your name?' By offering polluted food upon My altar. But you say, 'How have we polluted You?' By saying that the LORD's table may be despised. When you offer blind animals in sacrifice, is that not evil? And when you offer those that are lame or sick, is that not evil? Present that to your governor; will he accept you or show you favor? asks the LORD of hosts. And now entreat the favor of God, that He may be gracious to us. With such a gift from your hand, will He show favor to any of you? asks the LORD of hosts. Oh that there were one among you who would shut the doors, that you might not kindle fire on My altar in vain! I have no pleasure in you, asks the LORD of hosts, and I will not accept an offering from your hand. For from the rising of the sun to its setting My name will be great among the nations, and in every place incense (worship in spirit and truth, John 4:23-24) will be offered to My name, as a pure offering. For My name will be great among the nations, says the LORD of hosts. But you profane it when you say that the LORD's table is polluted, and its fruit, that is, its food may be despised. But you say, 'What a weariness this is,' and you snort at it? asks the LORD of hosts. You bring what has been taken by violence or is lame or sick, and this you bring as your offering! Will I accept that from your hand? asks the LORD. Cursed be the cheat who has a male in his flock, and vows it, and yet sacrifices to the LORD what is blemished. For I am a great King, says the LORD of hosts, and My name will be dreaded (highly reverenced) among the nations."
Ephesians 3:1-13 "For this reason I, Paul, a prisoner for Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles—
assuming that you have heard of the stewardship of God's grace that was given to me for you, how the mystery was made known to me by revelation, as I have written briefly. When you read this, you can perceive my insight into the mystery of Christ, which was not made known to the sons of men in other generations as it has now been revealed to His holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit. This mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel. Of this gospel I was made a minister according to the gift of God's grace, which was given me by the working of His power. To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things, so that through the church the manifold wisdom of GOD might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. This was according to the eternal purpose that HE has realized in Christ Jesus our LORD, in Whom we have boldness and access with confidence through His faith in Him, Who is Faithfulness. So I ask you not to lose heart over what I am suffering for you, which is your glory."
The LORD willing I will look next into "examples of Gentile Conversion" as listed in the Bible.
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