The Fullness of the Nations
Paul the apostle famously wrote the Romans:
For I do not want you, brothers and sisters, to be uninformed of this mystery—so that you will not be wise in your
own estimation—that a partial hardening has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in; and so all Israel will be saved; just as it is written: “The Deliverer will come from Zion, He will remove ungodliness from Jacob.” Romans 11:25-26
The word of God has frequent mention of mysteries, of matters within the heart of God that are beyond the full scope of human understanding. Paul’s observation of the fullness of the Gentiles represents one of these mysteries. Since the Greek word, ethnos can be translated either “nations” or “Gentiles,” this reference to the fullness of the Gentiles can take on an even greater dimension of mystery, since it also can be translated as the fullness of the nations. The mystery is heightened because this phrase the “fullness of the nations” is one used in a number of Old Covenant references.
Paul employs this phrase, the fullness of the Gentiles …. or fullness of the nations, to refer to a time when the convergence of the amassing spiritual dynamics becomes a trigger for all Israel experiencing a deliverance from their blind response to the Church, once itself a Jewish sect.
Paul goes on to describe the time coming when the blinders are removed from the eyes of the Jewish people paralleling that of this fullness of the “ethnos.” The translation “fullness of the Gentiles” is not wrong, but it fails to capture the full extent in this significant event …. with the nations. God has long given keen focus to the alignment of the nations.
War in Israel, Holy Spirit Visitations, Response to Israel and the Church
This convergence has carried a progressive and significant spiritual alignment, in just my own lifetime, between Israel and the Church. This alignment parallels times described by scripture as times of trouble. Times when this conflict-of-all-ages comes out of the closet to build into crescendo levels. Times with unusual and frequent turmoil, manifesting around us.
Yet with each major step in these advancements of darkness, there have been remarkable times of deliverance from trouble and war within Israel, coupled with significant Holy Spirit visitations resulting in significant adjustments within the Church ….. each tied to the impact of a shift in response of the nations toward Israel and the Church.
So the alignment of the nations rests at the crux of these developments, as events begin amassing in the direction of this pivotal pinnacle scripture referred to as “the fullness of the nations.” Most notably in this last generation, this convergence has been evidenced in 1948 with Israel’s war for independence, the 1967 war when Israel regained control of Jerusalem, and more recently in 2023 with the October 7th war that began with the Hamas assault against unarmed Israelis.
When God Set the Boundaries and Assignment of Nations
We capture a scriptural glimpse referencing the foundation to this dynamic when God set the boundaries ….. and the assignment of nations to the sons of God …. with the Lord choosing Israel as His own inheritance..
When the Most High gave to the nations their inheritance, when he divided mankind, he fixed the borders of the peoples according to the number of the sons of God. But the LORD’s portion is his people, Jacob his allotted heritage. He found him in a desert land, and in the howling waste of the wilderness; he encircled him, he cared for him, he kept him as the apple of his eye. Deut 32:8-10
Scripture later gives reference to an end-result of God’s inheritance to His people, when Jacob on his deathbed, referred to Joseph’s son Ephraim through whose seed would come the fullness of the nations.
Jacob refused, saying, ‘I know. He also will become a people and will become great. But his younger brother will become greater and his seed will be the fullness of the nations.’ Then he blessed them that day saying, In you shall Israel bless by saying: ‘May God make you like Ephraim and like Manasseh.’ Thus he put Ephraim before Manasseh. Then Israel said to Joseph, Behold, I am about to die, but God will be with you and bring you back to the land of your fathers. I give you one portion more than your brothers, which I took from the hand of the Amorite with my sword and my bow.” Gen 48:19-22 TLV
The Fullness of Nations and the Generational Mantle of Joseph
The historical uniqueness of Ephraim has been his assimilation into the nations …. one some consider as a seed awaiting the Spirit’s awakening.
Later in Zechariah in a time following the Babylonian captivity, as Israel sought the Lord’s intervention in their restoration, we are given a closer glimpse into the dynamics in the heavenlies that underscore this mystery. It gives even greater pause in considering the focus of this mystery of Jacob’s prophecy and the fullness of the nations that both he and Paul were referring to.
For I will bend Judah as My bow, I will fill the bow with Ephraim and I will stir up your sons, Zion and make you like a warrior’s sword against your sons, Greece. Zech 9:13
The Conflict in the Heavenlies
More insight into this conflict referenced in this passage is found earlier in Zechariah when the angel revealed to him four horns ….. or dimensions of spiritual authority …. principalities and powers, whose focus was to scatter Judah, Israel and Jerusalem, to the extent that no one was able to lift his head. It very likely taps the spiritual root of what Jews have grappled with over the centuries: anti-Semitism.
Yet, this same passage points to the four craftsmen, whose intent was to terrify the horns intent on scattering Judah.
Parenthetically, the observation has long been made that as it goes for the Jews, so then it will manifest for the Church. Persecution of Christians has never been far behind and in some instances has had parallels to the eruptions of anti-Semitism and the brutal manifestations of anti-God forces.
God’s Preemptive Response to Anti-Semitism and Persecution
Understanding the rise of both anti-Semitism and persecution in the world today, it is instructive to understand the dynamics underway in the heavenlies that the angel was revealing to Zechariah …. and what was being referred to as the four craftsmen.
The word entrepreneur was coined by the French in the thirteenth century from the word entreprendre meaning to do something; to undertake an agenda. By the sixteenth century, the resulting noun, entrepreneur, referred to someone who initiated a new venture, typically a business one. Yet as Dr. Bill Bolton outlines in his classic on entrepreneurship “Entrepreneurs: Talent, Temperament and Opportunity,” there are key entrepreneur typologies: innovative, technical, social and serial among them.
That’s not to mention that the two key attributes of an entrepreneur, to create and bring increase, represent the very DNA of God.
Long before the noun entrepreneur began being used to describe those with abilities and skills to leverage
opportunity to fulfill a need, they were referred to as craftsmen. In one of the earlier instances of the Bible referring to God filling someone with the Spirit of God, that special anointing was given to craftsmen.
See, I have called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with ability and intelligence, with knowledge and all craftsmanship, to devise artistic designs, to work in gold, silver, and bronze, in cutting stones for setting, and in carving wood, to work in every craft. And behold, I have appointed with him Oholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan. And I have given to all able men ability, that they may make all that I have commanded you. Exo 31:2-6
The Anointing to Influence Nations
Genesis 39 uniquely describes how Joseph the Patriarch, who as a slave and administrator over Potiphar’s house, was seen by the unbelieving Egyptians around him.
The Lord was with Joseph and he was a successful man and everyone saw that the Lord was with Joseph and made all that he did to prosper. Gen 39:2-3
Clearly Joseph was a man with abilities and skills to leverage opportunity to fulfill a need. Those unique skills and abilities, greatly enhanced by an anointing from God thrust Joseph into responsibilities by which he prophetically influenced a king and preserved the heritage of his people, while uniquely blessing the Egyptians in the process.
So it is not unreasonable to conclude that the four craftsmen sent to terrify the principalities and powers intent on Judah, Israel and Jerusalem being unable to lift their heads, represents the anointing seen in both Joseph and Daniel. An anointing designed to undermine the destructive forces arrayed against God’s people and to accomplish God’s purposes by changing the course of nations.
The Fullness and Polarization of the Nations
Which brings us back to our focus on the fullness of the nations. Jesus gave reference to a time in the end when there would come a separation of the nations between those that were sheep nations and those that were goat nations …. those that stood with Israel and God’s people; and those that stood against Israel.
Recent increases in the polarization of the response to Israel and to Jews on the world’s stage not only has nudged the lukewarm …. in both the Church and the Jewish people …. to find common ground in support of one another; but simultaneously has each giving more serious response to the faith of their fathers.
As this takes place, it releases a dynamic unveiling and giving focus to the distinction made in the reference Malachi notes between the righteous and the wicked, between those who serve God and those who do not. Such developments enhance the steps toward the fullness of the nations …. and the alignment of these nations as either sheep or goat nations, as those who support Israel versus those who are against her.
In the midst of these developments, we have the prophetic glimmers from Zechariah of the four craftsmen ….. of modern-day Josephs and Daniels, uncompromising men and women of God, leaders anointed with influence …. who are prepared and poised to take their stand against the forces of darkness intent on undermining Judah, Israel and Jerusalem, so that no one can lift up their head.
The result being strategic alliances developing on a scale in keeping with the task.
Strategic Alliances and the Most Unlikely
Over twenty years ago, having spent time with the persecuted in Asia and the oppressed in Africa, I began pondering whether this focus in my mantle had any significance. In inquiring of the Lord, the strong impression I was given was there was coming a time when there would be alliances between the persecuted in Asia and the oppressed in African areas, banding together toward the fulfillment of the restoration of Israel. In other words, there being an unexpected role of the most unlikely players as God mobilizes these dimensions of craftsmen/ entrepreneur/ leaders during these times of trouble, change and conflict.
Picking up on the conflict and the unfolding dynamics of the 1970, Francis Shaeffer penned a book titled “How Should We Then Live.” The title and message were pertinent then and even more so now. For the committed, the strategy in responding to the times can be summed up with commitment to the Lord and one another ….. and with a keen focus on “community,” biblical community.
The Dynamics and the Strategy in Responding to the Times
There is no question that we’re reaching a juncture in which Israel and the Church, the Jewish people and Christians of necessity are finding common ground in support of one another. Likewise, there is an awakening and a mobilization of Aliyah …. immigration to Israel ….. that exceeds any previous moves of Aliyah.
And there is more …. that bears on the more advanced grasp of biblical community long demonstrated by the Jewish
community …. with additional key strategies. The first is the most basic form of community in Judaism: the minyan. Traditionally, wherever ten Jews live in proximity they gather weekly for two purposes: first to pray and seek God and second to help each other become successful. One of the pivotal factors accompanying visitations of the Holy Spirit has been the brethren meeting regularly to PRAY TOGETHER.
The second vital strategy for the Church to embrace more extensively is found in the message of Isaiah 58 …. the community dynamic of tz’dakah …. of righteous charity … that of reaching out to the less fortunate in the community with a helping hand. The proactive outreach to the less fortunate …. to those without a voice …. has seen momentum in a number of key areas ….. rescues being at the tip of this iceberg ….. of the unborn and victims of human trafficking.
Then there is the strategy of influence to be exhibited by entrepreneurs and leaders in the business community: community builders and leaders I have come to refer to as modern-day Josephs and Daniels. People of influence, cultural game-changers whose anointings and authority changes the spiritual atmosphere and alignments of communities and nations …. whose mantle is to disciple communities and nations. People who understand what it means to “love not their lives unto death” …. who have the authority to pray so that darkness must yield to the Light.
As modern-day Josephs and Daniels assume their full mantles of influence …. as Israel and the Church begin banding together ….. what can be expected are waves of Aliyah, those relocating to Israel for citizenship. Likewise, the pattern seen with the changes in the Church in 1948 and 1967 each have been accompanied by serious prayer-movements, that have increased both focus and commitment of multitudes toward the heart and priorities of God, aligning the Church and Israel …. together with the alliances of the sheep nations into much greater significance spiritually and politically.
So then, in unwrapping this mystery of a convergence in time that references “the fullness of the nations,” when all Israel turns to the Lord, we find ourselves recognizing indicators and developments for the potential of such matters happening before us in the foreseeable future.
As we enter and respond to these times of increasing conflict, serious prayer and thought is to be given to our priorities and strategies …. taking note of the progressive developments with the expectation of the Lord’s intervention. (Mark 13:29-30) and to “occupying until He comes.”
Those expectations should include the insights gleaned by the prophet Malachi when the Lord distinguishes between the righteous and the wicked, between those who serve God and those who do not. Doing so, will put us in the path of opportunity, as not only people of influence but harbingers of change, as we create and build a Kingdom that will be as Daniel foresaw it …. one that will break in pieces and consume all the other kingdoms and will stand forever.
Whereas you saw the feet and toes, partly of potter’s clay and partly of iron, this kingdom shall be divided; yet it shall be partly strong and partly fragile. They will mingle in coalitions; but they will not adhere to one another, just as iron does not mix with clay. In the days of these final kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed. This kingdom shall not be left to other people; it shall break in pieces and consume all these other kingdoms, and it shall stand forever. Dan 2:41-44
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Morris Ruddick has been a forerunner of the Joseph-calling and God’s economy message, being an international voice for the higher dimensions of spiritual game-changers and intercessors since the mid-90s. As founder of Global Initiatives Foundation, the Strategic Intercession Global Network [SIGN] and designer of the God’s Economy Entrepreneurial Equippers Program and the Jewish Business Secrets YouTube series, Mr. Ruddick’s messages equip leaders and economic community builders with strategy where God’s light is dim in diverse regions around the globe.
He is author of “The Joseph-Daniel Calling;” “Gods Economy, Israel and the Nations;” “The Heart of a King;” “Something More;” “Righteous Power in a Corrupt World;” “Leadership by Anointing;” and “Mantle of Fire,” which address the mobilization of business and governmental leaders with destinies to impact their communities. They are available in print and e-versions from www.Amazon.com, www.apple.com/ibooks and www.barnesandnoble.com.
Global Initiatives Foundation (www.strategic-initiatives.org) is a tax-exempt 501 (c) 3 non-profit whose efforts mobilize economic community builders imparting influence and the blessings of God. Checks on US banks should be made out to Global Initiatives and mailed to 3838 South Wabash Street, Denver CO 80237 or by credit card at https://strategic-initiatives.org/donate/
2024 Copyright Morris Ruddick — info@strategic-initiatives.org
Since early 1996, the Strategic Intercession Global Network (SIGN) has mobilized prophetic intercessors and leaders committed to targeting strategic-level issues impacting the Body on a global basis. For more information go to https://strategic-initiatives.org
