What Does the Fullness of Times Mean for Us?

What do future prophecy, the Roman road system, the Jewish diaspora and an unusual biblical phrase, the fullness of times, have in common? Probably more than first meets the eye, and certainly something significant for coming world events!

When Paul wrote of “the fullness of the time” (Galatians 4:4), he used an expression that has not been found in earlier Greek literature. In Ephesians 1:10, Paul also wrote about “the fullness of the times.”

So, what does the fullness of the times mean? When viewed through the lens of history and prophecy, these two passages reveal how God has guided world events according to His carefully timed plan.

When we understand Paul’s intent, we will come to a greater appreciation of God’s power and sovereignty.

What does the fullness of times mean?

In his letter to the Galatians, Paul linked this expression to the first coming of Christ: “But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman” (Galatians 4:4).

The passage in Ephesians, however, refers to a future time, to that period when God’s plan for creation comes together: “He purposed in Himself, that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth—in Him” (Ephesians 1:9-10).

Paul used the same Greek word plērōma—translated “fullness”—in both the preceding verses. According to Vine’s Complete Expository Dictionary, when combined with “time” or “times,” the expression refers to “the end of an appointed period.”

The words he used for “time” in Galatians and “times” in Ephesians are different. In the former, Paul chose chronos, while in the latter he chose kairos. Is this significant?

Generally, chronos denotes a time that can be measured—a specific period. On the other hand, kairos denotes a moment at which something becomes possible. In essence, as Vine’s points out, “chronos marks quantity, kairos, quality.”

However, by the time Paul wrote his epistles, it seems the meanings of the two Greek words overlapped. When combined with plērōma, as indicated above, the phrases in both Galatians and Ephesians mean the end of an appointed period.

What does “the fullness of the time” mean in Galatians?

Christ’s birth did not occur at a random moment in history. God determined in advance the conditions that would exist at the time of His human birth.

According to Encyclopedia of the Bible on Bible Gateway, the expression means “the right time chosen by the Father.” The “historical developments . . . provided fertile soil for the ministry of the Messiah, the founding of the Church, and the rapid spread of the Gospel.”

How did these historical developments prepare the world for the birth of Jesus and the spread of Christianity?

In its comment about this passage in Galatians, The Expositor’s Bible Commentary explains that the fact that God sent His Son “in the fullness of time . . . can be seen in historical factors” (Vol. 10, p. 472). It lists four ways in which the timing of Christ’s first coming was perfect for the growth of the Church:

1. The Roman Empire had established the Pax Romana, or Roman peace.
2.  Roman engineers had created an extensive network of roads, significantly improving transportation and communication.
3.  Greek had become a common language throughout the empire.
4.  There was widespread spiritual hunger for a moral religion to replace pagan religion.

Why was the Pax Romana vital to the growth of Christianity?

The Pax Romana, generally dated from the reign of Augustus through the reign of Marcus Aurelius (27 B.C. to A.D. 180), was not a time without violence and military activity, but it was a time of stability and relative peace in the empire.

The economy thrived as a result of the Pax Romana. The Roman navy controlled the Mediterranean Sea, all but eliminating piracy and making shipping and travel significantly safer.

Equally important “was the spread and acceptance of the law throughout the Empire that brought the Roman peace to the entire civilized world in the first four centuries of the Christian era” (Expositor’s Bible Commentary, Vol. 1, p. 487).

For the first time in centuries, the Mediterranean world was stable enough for the gospel to travel rapidly across nations and cultures.

What did Roman roads have to do with “the fullness of the time”?

Ancient Rome had an extensive network of roads throughout its territory. It wasn’t the first empire to build major highways. What set the Roman road system apart, however, was its extent.

According to historian Bret Devereaux, “The marvel of the Roman roads is not that they had a few good, paved roads . . . but that they had a massive system of them. Scale, more than quality, was the Roman achievement here, though the quality was also quite high” (“Collections: Roman Roads,” emphasis original).

Roman roads stretched across the empire like arteries, allowing the gospel to spread rapidly from city to city throughout the Mediterranean world.

Why was the Greek language important to the spread of the gospel?

By the time of Christ, the Greek language had become the lingua franca, or common language, of the eastern half of the Roman Empire. Millions of people across the huge empire could hear and understand the same message. This development allowed the gospel message to spread across an empire that had dozens of local languages.

Christ’s first coming happened at exactly the right moment. His return will too. Greek was also important for Jews scattered throughout the known world in what is called the Diaspora, or dispersion. Many Jews no longer spoke or read Hebrew, so there was a need for Scripture to be translated into a more accessible language. This occurred when Jewish scholars living in Egypt translated the books of the Hebrew Bible into Greek during the third and second centuries B.C.

This translation, called the Septuagint, made the Scriptures more widely available and accessible to the greater Greek-speaking gentile world. In this way, a much wider audience was able to receive the gospel message, whether spoken or written.

Why was the Roman world spiritually ready for Christianity?

The presence of the Jewish Diaspora played directly into another growing trend in the first-century world.

By the early first century, people were becoming increasingly dissatisfied with the empty rituals and traditions of the Greco-Roman pantheon. The religious beliefs of Judaism stood apart from empty pagan ritual. As Expositor’s points out, this “period of religious instability throughout the Greco-Roman world” led many pagans to abandon “deities that had survived since prehistoric times” (Vol. 1, p. 494).

What these pagans saw in Judaism was substantially different. Its monotheistic nature, its emphasis on morality, and its reliance on revelation made Judaism appealing to many. This is clear from Scripture itself, which mentions gentiles like Cornelius, “who feared God” (Acts 10:2).

For more about God’s forethought in preparing the world for the first coming of Christ, read our articles “The Time Is Fulfilled: 4 Proofs Jesus Was Messiah” and “Church History: The Beginning.”

What does “the fullness of the times” mean in Ephesians?

Unlike “the fullness of the time” in Galatians, which points to the birth and ministry of Christ, the expression in Ephesians is prophetic, pointing beyond the second coming of Christ to the time when the Father will “gather together in one all things in Christ” (Ephesians 1:10).

This future age, like the birth and ministry of Christ, will not be brought about in a haphazard manner, but according to plan. The book of Revelation provides an outline of events leading up to that period when “the former things have passed away” (Revelation 21:4).

Before that glorious time, however, much will occur. Christ will achieve ultimate victory over Satan, establish His thousand-year reign on earth and judge humanity. None of these things will happen until Christ returns to earth.

We do not know the exact day and hour when Christ will return (Matthew 24:36), but this, too, will be according to God’s plan.

What must happen before Christ returns?

Can Christ return tomorrow, as some preachers warn? No. Here are some major events that must occur before Christ returns:

• There will be severe religious deception, war, famine, pestilence and earthquakes (Matthew 24:4-7).
• Amid terrible persecution of Christians, false prophets will rise up, and there will be a great falling away. Some Christians will be betrayed by others who had claimed to be Christian (2 Thessalonians 2:3; Matthew 24:9-13).
• The gospel of the Kingdom “will be preached in all the world” (Matthew 24:14).
• The “man of sin [will be] revealed” (2 Thessalonians 2:3).
• The “abomination of desolation,” as described by Daniel, will be set up (Matthew 24:15; Daniel 9:27).

We don’t know the exact configuration of these events, but we do know that God has determined the perfect timing for the return of Christ and for the subsequent events leading up to that time when all will be united in God’s Kingdom (Ephesians 1:10).

Knowing God is in control is encouraging

Students of the Bible can see God’s hand in preparing the world for Christ’s birth and ministry. We can see how past events that could have seemed to derail God’s purposes actually resulted in some of the factors discussed above.

When Judah fell to the Babylonian Empire in 586 B.C., it would have seemed like a total catastrophe to the Jews who lived through it. But God was able to use this calamity for good. It was through their exile that the Jewish Diaspora began, scattering Jews throughout the known world.

The same could be said for the conquests of Alexander the Great. His armies changed the world, but it would have been difficult to see how these events would establish a common language and culture among many of the peoples who would later hear or read the gospel message.

And the unstoppable rise of Rome would have been perceived as a tremendous tragedy. The Jews of Christ’s day looked for the overthrow of Roman rule. They wouldn’t have seen the benefits of the Pax Romana and the empire’s roads.

The “fullness of the time” reminds us that God works according to a precise timetable. Christ’s first coming happened at exactly the right moment.

His return will too.

Rather than living in fear or confusion, we can trust that God will intervene at the perfect time to save mankind and establish His Kingdom. Until then, Christians must stay spiritually alert, watch world events carefully and continue deepening their understanding of God and His plan.

Find more encouragement about God’s plan for you and the whole world in our free booklet God’s Purpose for You.