When Jesus said, “Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled” (Luke 21:24), he defined a protracted period of time in which non-covenant peoples would hold sway over his people of the house of Israel as epitomized by the city of Jerusalem. That epoch would nevertheless see many Gentiles espouse faith in Jesus as their Savior.
Speaking of the Jews, Jesus said, “They shall be gathered again; but they shall remain until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled. And in that day shall be heard of wars and rumors of wars, and the whole earth shall be in commotion, and men’s hearts shall fail them, and they shall say that Christ delayeth his coming until the end of the earth” (Doctrine & Covenants 45:25–26).
The restoration of the Jews—and by implication the whole house of Israel—thus occurs in a time of distress among the world’s inhabitants. Only then is the house of Israel physically gathered to lands of inheritance as Isaiah and the prophets predict. While men’s hearts’ failing them occurs from fear, it may also be from a prophesied “scourge” (Doctrine & Covenants 45:31; 88:91).
Jesus continues, “And when the times of the Gentiles is come in, a light shall break forth among them that sit in darkness, and it shall be the fulness of my gospel; But they receive it not; for they perceive not the light, and they turn their hearts from me because of the precepts of men. And in that generation shall the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled” (Doctrine & Covenants 45:28–30).
Word links allude to the Lord’s end-time servant, whom he appoints as “a light to the Gentiles” (Isaiah 42:6; 49:6). Some may assume that “the fulness of my gospel” as restored through the prophet Joseph Smith fulfills this prophecy. However, these scriptures are speaking of an end-time scenario, meaning that those events happen amidst a time of distress among nations.
Prophecies of God’s people’s not perceiving the “light” because of “precepts of men” form a common thread in Isaiah and the Book of Mormon (Isaiah 28:9–10; 29:13; 50:10–11; 2 Nephi 28:14, 24–32; 32:4, 7). The curse of an “overflowing scourge” or “desolating sickness” in the land “in that generation” (Doctrine & Covenants 45:31) speaks to the same end-time scenario.
The servant’s bringing forth Jesus’ words on the large plates of Nephi—which contain the fulness of his gospel (3 Nephi 21:11; 26:1–10)—fulfills these prophecies. That many Gentiles are “cut off from among my people who are of the covenant” when they disbelieve it and mar the messenger should serve as a warning to members of the church (Isaiah 52:14; 3 Nephi 21:11).
The Gentiles’ rejecting the “light”—the “fulness of my gospel” that God’s servant personifies—signifies a turning point from their being a covenant people of God to being almost entirely overshadowed by the house of Israel when the gospel turns to them (3 Nephi 16:10–12; 20:28–31) and (Isaiah 28:18). With that turning point comes the end of the times of the Gentiles.
