It is God’s will to fill the earth with His own presence and glory. “All the earth shall be filled with the glory of YHVH (Numbers 14:21).” This prophecy is so important that it is repeated in Psalm 72:19, Isaiah 6:3, Isaiah 11:9, and Habakkuk 2:14.
Filling all things with the fullness of God was a central aspect of Yeshua’s (Jesus’) mission to planet earth. “He who descended is also the one who ascended above all the heavens that He might fill all things (Ephesians 4:10).”
God’s plan to fill the earth was not to be by a flood like that of Noah, nor by a cloud like that of the Tabernacle. He desires to fill the earth with His glory by filling people with His glory, and having them fill the earth.
First, He took all of His own fullness and placed it inside Yeshua and sent Him to be born on earth in a physical body. “For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead in bodily form; and you are filled in Him (Colossians 2:9).“
God placed all His fullness in Yeshua, and then by grace, He transfers that fullness into us by ever increasing portions. “Of His fullness we have all received, grace upon grace (John 1:16).”
If we continue in faith and love, we can ultimately be filled with the same fullness as Yeshua was. “…to know the love of Messiah, which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God (Ephesians 3:19).” The fullness of God can be transferred to us until we also have all the fullness of God.
The early Jewish disciples of Yeshua received God’s glory by the fire of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:2-4). Through the preaching of the gospel, that glory was then passed on to the Gentile nations (Acts 10:44).
The word “fullness” is found twice in Romans 11 – one time referring to the Church of the Gentiles, and the other time referring to the Remnant of Israel. – About the Gentiles: “Blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in (Romans 11:25).” – About Israel: “Now if their fall is riches for the world, and their failure riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their fullness be (Romans 11:12)?”
God’s plan is to fill both Jews and Gentiles with the fullness of His glory. When the Gentile Church comes into its full destiny and glory, it will bring revival and restoration to Israel. “…until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in, and so all Israel will be saved (Romans 11:25-26).”
When the Messianic remnant comes into its full destiny and glory, it will bring world revival, the resurrection of the dead, and the second coming of Yeshua. “If their being cast away is the reconciling of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead (Romans 11:15)?“
Today God’s Spirit is filling churches in every nation of the world. As they come to their fullness, they will also pray for Israel. Through their prayers, the Messianic remnant in Israel will be filled with God’s glory as well.
As that happens, the body of Believers in both Israel and the Gentile nations will come to its fullness. The true Church (kehilah in Hebrew, ecclesia in Greek) will come to its fullness. Through them, the earth will be filled with the glory of God. “God put all things under Yeshua’s feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all (Ephesians 1:22-23).” It is the body of believers which will fill the world with God’s glory.
The process of filling both Israel and the Church is like pouring a liquid into a measuring cup. When the cup comes to full level, the “timing” is at hand. The essential element that determines the fullness of time is not so much the timing as it is the filling. The great Pentecost revival happened when the “day of Shavuot had fully come (Acts 2:1).” The day had fully come at the time when, “they were all filled with the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:4).”
As the remnant of Israel and the international Church come to the fullness of their destinies, the timing will be full for Yeshua to return to complete His kingdom. “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 (Ephesians 1:10.)”
The fullness of the Jews and the Gentiles can also be used in a negative sense. In Yeshua’s rebuke of the Jewish religious leaders, He said they were “filling up” the measure of our people’s guilt (Matthew 23:32-35). Yeshua said that the times of the Gentiles would be “fulfilled” when Jerusalem would be recaptured by the Jewish people after having been “trampled” by the Gentiles for many years (Luke 21:24).
So both Jews and Gentiles have a fullness of sin, and a fullness of destiny. As we repent of our sins, receive grace from Yeshua, and bless one another, we will be filled with the fullness of God. Then together we become the vessel through which God will fill the earth with His glory.