Trying to Get Around the Obvious in Matthew 24:34

Futurists just can’t bring themselves to believe what Jesus actually said and meant about His “this generation” coming, that it was “about to” take place, before all those who first heard His words died (Matthew 16:27-28). Jesus told His apostles that they would not finish going through the cities before He came (10:23). The use of “about to” in Matthew 16:27 coincides with 10:23, 23:36, and 24:34. Whatever “this generation” means in Matthew 11:16, 12:41, 42, and 23:36, it means the same thing in 24:34. The same is true in Mark and Luke.

Wars and Rumors of Wars

A first-century interpretation of the Olivet Discourse was once common in commentaries and narrative-style books that describe the fall of Jerusalem in AD 70. There is also a history of skeptics who turn to Bible prophecy and claim Jesus was wrong about the timing of His coming at “the end of the age” and the signs associated with it. A mountain of scholarship shows that the prophecy given by Jesus was fulfilled in exacting detail when He said it would: before the generation of those to whom He was speaking passed away.

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It’s amazing how many Bible-believing Christians try to wiggle out of the obvious by misquoting or adding to what a verse states (this type or kind of generation, the generation that sees these signs, this race, referring to the Jewish race, which is contradictory) to force it to mean what their prophetic system demands.

The context he’s referring to is Matthew 24. A simple search for “when all these things take place” will net a zero response. Jesus does not say, “when all these things take place,” He will then return. Quite the contrary. Here’s how Jesus uses “all these things.”

• “Do you not see all these things?” (24:2) The “you” refers to them.

• “All these things are the beginning of birth pains.”

• “When you see all these things (24:33). The “you” refers to them.

• “This generation will not pass away until all these things take place.

The when was then and for them.

Jesus made it very clear that it would be their generation that would see “all these.” How do we know this to be true? Because every use of “this generation” in Matthew’s Gospel, Mark 13, and Luke 21 refers to that Apostolic generation. Thomas Ice, in a debate I had with him many years ago, admitted that “this generation” referred to the generation to whom Jesus was speaking in every use in the gospels, except in Matthew 24:34. This includes 23:36: “Truly I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation.” Suddenly, given the futurist view, “this generation” in 24:34 takes on a different meaning within a span of a few minutes from what Jesus said in 23:36. Does anyone believe the disciples would have understood that “this generation” was being used in two different ways? If Jesus had a future generation in view in 24:34, He could have dismissed any confusion by saying 23:33-34 this way: “so they too, when they see all these things, [then they will] recognize that He is near, right at the doors. Truly I say to you, that generation will not pass away until all these things take place” to some unknown future generation. Absurd.

But Jesus doesn’t. He said, “So you too, when you see all these things, recognize that He [or it] is near, right at the doors [of the temple?]. Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place.”

According to Mr. Redden’s interpretation, it’s “ANY Generation but THIS Generation,” that is, the generation of Jesus’ day. Let’s not try to make Jesus say something He did not say or mean. Adding to or taking away from God’s Word is bad form (Rev. 22:18-19).

The Rapture and the Fig Tree Generation

Since the national reestablishment of Israel in 1948, countless books and pamphlets have been written defending the doctrine, assuring readers that it could happen at any moment. Some prophecy writers claimed the “rapture” would take place before 1988. We are far removed from that date. Where are we in God’s prophetic timetable?

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American Vision’s mission is to Restore America to its Biblical Foundation—from Genesis to Revelation. American Vision (AV) has been at the heart of worldview study since 1978, providing resources to exhort Christian families and individuals to live by a Biblically based worldview. Visit www.AmericanVision.org for more information, content and resources