(Studying the scriptures anew)
by David Showalter
For those of us raised in the church, especially those who attend the same church or
denomination that they grew up in, if we are completely honest with ourselves, we must admit
that our theological views are what they are simply because that's what we've always been taught.
They were formed in us from the moment we first went to the church nursery. Of course we
didn't understand this, but since birth we have been fed a particular theological paradigm. From
our earliest days we were surrounded by those who believed like us, and since we all believed
alike, and since we all validated one another in these views, there was absolutely no reason for us
to ever question if what we believed was true or not. It simply was.
Then one day something happens. You read a particular verse, or you hear a pastor speaking on a
particular scripture, and it doesn't quite fit your paradigm of truth. It becomes a burr under your
saddle, and you find yourself thinking, "That's not what I've always believed, but what if that's
right?" For the first time in your life your theological foundations have been shaken in a
particular area. For some people this leads to intense study of scripture. For others the thought
of being wrong about something in the Bible is so upsetting that they cannot stomach it. They
reject it outright and completely without study. For the person who simply rejects the new idea
based on prejudice alone, the words of Winston Churchill ring true. He is reported to have said,
"Men occasionally stumble over the truth, but most pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing
had happened". A foolish person dismisses theological ideas that cause them to think. The wise
will pick up the word and study.
That was where I found myself a few years ago. I was eating lunch with a friend and we began
discussing eschatology. That is, the study of end times. My friend was explaining his end time
position to me when he mentioned the word "Preterism". The word Preterism derives from a
Latin word that means "past in fulfillment". He was not a Preterist himself, and at first the word
meant nothing to me. He explained that Preterists believe that many, if not all, of the Bible
prophecies pertaining to the end times have already been fulfilled in the destruction of Jerusalem
in 70AD. He went on to explain that there are two types of Preterists; partial and full. Partial
Preterists believe that many end time prophecies have been fulfilled, but not all. Full Preterists
believe all have been fulfilled.
Since, at that time, I had no clue of what happened in Jerusalem in 70AD, or how it even related
to scripture, I was always taught that the apocalyptic passages of scripture were all still in the
future. Like the vast majority of professing Christians today, I believed that the rapture was
imminent, that an evil world leader (the Antichrist) was on the horizon, computer chips were the
mark of the beast, and that our generation was the ones who would see the fulfillment of the
book of Revelation. Minus some sensationalism, my thinking was right along the lines of the
"Left Behind" culture. I was stunned by the idea that anyone could think that some, much less
all, of those prophecies were already fulfilled so long ago. I mean, look around! This isn't what I
was taught to look for. It was totally crazy because it didn't fit my paradigm of truth. I didn't yet
realize that the paradigm of truth that I was filtering through had been shaped, not by years of
intense study, but by years of scriptural ignorance, ignorance of history, and an absolute blind
reliance upon what others told me to be true about the apocalyptic passages.
Other than introducing me to Preterism, I can't say that the lunch we shared made an immediate
impact on me. The next step in my introduction to Preterism came not too much later when
another friend of mine told me about a website he had visited and wanted me to check out. The
only problem was that he gave me the wrong Internet address. The address he gave me was
www.bereanbiblechurch.org. I began looking around this website and it didn't take too long for
me to discern that this church agreed with me on the doctrines of salvation. That was great!
Then, and this I credit to the providence of God alone, I realized that the pastor of this church
was a Preterist.
The concept of Preterism had now been in my mind long enough that it was no longer a novelty.
It even sort of intrigued me, as if only to make me scratch my head in disbelief. Preterism was
still foolishness for the most part, but after reading an article or two from this new website I was
confronted with some scriptures that were being interpreted in a way that was contrary to my
lifelong paradigm. Not only were these scriptures supporting the Preterist view, but they were
being backed up by historical evidence that I had never before heard about. What was I to make
of all this? It took maybe two or three more articles for me to see that this was not some
paper-thin eschatology. These articles were dealing with very clear scriptures that I had never
before given any thought to, or if I had I simply forced them to fit my current end time paradigm
like a square peg in a round hole.
After letting it rattle around in my head a while, I determined that it would be injurious to my
spiritual life if I didn't at least study Preterism for myself. I soon found that several modern
theologians, including the well respected R.C. Sproul, who hold to at least partial Preterism.
That encouraged me that this was not a totally ridiculous concept. Using other websites, I found
hundreds of quotes from non-Preterist pastors and theologians who saw in the scriptures a
Preterist bent to eschatology, even if they themselves were not Preterists. At this point I
determined to be like the Berean believers in Acts 17:11 who, "received the word with great
eagerness, examining the scriptures daily to see whether these things were so."
All I wanted was to know the truth, and let it set me free, whatever it may be. If I was already in
the light, great! If I was not, then I wanted nothing more than to be in the light. It was perfectly
fine with me if I had been wrong all this time. I had been wrong on other things in my life, both
Biblical and non-Biblical. I just thank God that for some reason he gave me the fire to search
and know theological issues. I want to believe the scriptures with a childlike faith, but I don't
want to be a spiritual child. I want to know my God, and understand what his word says. I want
a challenge and that makes me dig deep. More than anything I want my children to know that
their father knew what he believed, but more importantly, that he had truly studied the scriptures
for himself so that he knew why he believed as he did, and could defend it by rightly dividing the
word.
It has been approximately four years since my initial introduction to Preterism. Since that time,
through the scriptures and countless writings both for and against Preterism, through study,
meditating on the word, prayer, and most importantly, the providence and enlightenment of God,
I can now say that I find myself to be a full Preterist. Being a Preterist means taking a lot of
scorn and ridicule from others, even friends. The ridicule comes mainly in the raised eyebrows
and questions that seem to indicate that I'm crazy if I disagree with church creeds or historical
beliefs. I've even been told by some that I'm on "dangerous ground" for taking this stand. What
has been my response? My response is that I stand on the scriptures and the clear teachings of
Christ, even if I don't understand it all, and that I will be happy to change my eschatological
viewpoint if the same scriptures can be used to prove me wrong.
If you're anything like me, I'm constantly getting emails from friends with all sorts of quotes from
historical people. Unless there's a way to verify it, you never know whether the person it is
attributed to really said it, but as I think about Preterism, and what it costs to take a stand for it, it
brought to mind the following quote that I received. Whether it's accurate or not, I don't know.
All I do know is that it's dead-on in regards to Preterists like myself
"In the beginning of a change, the patriot is a scarce manbrave, hated and scorned. When his
cause succeeds however, the timid join him, for then it costs nothing to be a patriot." (Mark
Twain)
Having detailed the events that got me to this point, I now want to turn my focus to how I will
attempt to arrive at the conclusions to support my position. In the 1500's one of the main cries of
the Protestant Reformation was "Sola Scriptura". It is a Latin phrase that, when translated into
English, means "Scripture Alone". While many people today are forsaking scripture alone and
deriving their eschatological paradigms from church history, creeds, popular televangelists, or the
Left Behind series, I will arrive at all of my conclusions using scripture alone. This does not
mean that I will not quote other people or sources, but what it does mean is that my ultimate
authority for believing something is right or wrong will lie with the scriptures alone.
In presenting any end-time position, I do not believe it is possible for anyone to be able to show
with exact certitude every little detail of how something has, or will happen. If the prophecies
are fulfilled, the best that a Preterist can do is use scripture and recorded history to look back on
those events to explain what happened and how it relates to the Bible. If the prophecies have not
been fulfilled, the best a futurist can do is simply make educated guesses about what will happen
and what scripture is pointing towards. What I will attempt to do is establish the overarching
argument for Preterism, and then go back in and support it with additional scripture and history.
Since the primary purpose of this paper is focusing on the TIMING of the second coming, not the
details of every little passage of scripture surrounding it, I will not attempt to prove every detail
of HOW it happened. My main goal is to show the clear and emphatic teaching of WHEN it was
to happen, and how it differs from today's mainstream Christian view.
I believe that many of the end time scriptures contained in the bible have been, for centuries,
misunderstood, avoided, or twisted so as to have a new meaning. The main reason for this is the
lack of good hermeneutical principles. Hermeneutics is the science of interpreting a document.
In this case, the Bible. Without solid hermeneutical rules to interpret the Bible you end up with
poor theology. The two major rules of hermeneutics are the analogy of faith, and audience
relevance.
Rule #1: The analogy of faith means that scripture interprets scripture. This means that when we
want to arrive at an eschatological conclusion we are to use the clear and easily understood
passages of scripture to help us understand the less clear. We don't build our eschatology using
the veiled or difficult to understand prophecies and then shove the obvious scriptures into that
paradigm. The analogy of faith is a safeguard that should help us from reading in to the
scriptures something that is not there. If one scripture seems to contradict another, then we must
turn to what is easily understood, and then continue digging until we have reconciled the
apparent contradiction or difficult understanding. God is not the author of confusion, and I
believe his word is adequately clear to show us the answers.
Rule #2: The second rule of hermeneutics is audience relevance. This means that whatever a
passage meant, or whatever words spoken in scripture meant, it meant or had direct application to
the original intended audience. If we disengage the original audience from the scriptures then we
can make any passage mean whatever we want, or make them apply to whomever we want.
Whenever we read the scriptures we must ask ourselves, "Who is this person talking or writing
directly to?" We must remember that the Bible is nothing more than a collection of personal
letters and history books written by real people, to real people, in real time, and with real time
contexts. For instance, in the book of Philippians the Apostle Paul wrote the following
(Philippians 2:19) 19 But I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you shortly, so that I also
may be encouraged when I learn of your condition.
Does this verse teach us that we are supposed to be still waiting on Timothy today so that he can
take word back to Paul on how we're doing? No. Why? Because we correctly understand
audience relevance, and that this was a personal letter from Paul to a real church in Philippi in
62AD about an event (sending Timothy) that was imminent to them, not to us. We correctly
understand the time and place context. The Philippians are the intended audience of this book.
All time statements in the Bible must be viewed through this same lens of audience relevance.
The books of the Bible are not mystical letters written nebulously to Christians throughout
eternity whereby all time statements are free to be extracted and applied to whatever generation
we wish. No, each book was directed to a specific audience, and again, scripture is more than
adequate to show us who that audience was.
The hermeneutical principles of the analogy of faith, and audience relevance are critical in
making a case for the Preterist position. They are equally foundational, and must be used by
whomever wishes to attack Preterism.
In keeping with the subject of audience relevance, this may perhaps shock many people, but there
is not one book in the Bible that was written TO anyone living today. Every single book in the
Bible was written FOR us, for application and understanding, but none of them were written TO
us. Every book in the bible is a personal letter, a history book, or writing by a prophet to
particular people at a particular time and for a particular reason. Yes, we do glean truth and
understanding from these books today, but that is far different than saying that these books were
written TO us. To put it another way, we are reading other people's mail. Whenever someone
today says "Here's what this scripture means to me", we should be the first to say, "It doesn't
matter what it means to you. It only matters what it meant to the original audience". That is
where we find out what the Bible truly means.
Having laid out how I got here, and how I will plan to arrive at my conclusions, let us now turn
to the largest and clearest section of scripture in which Christ himself discussed his second
coming; the Olivet Discourse. The Olivet Discourse is located in the gospels of Matthew, Mark
and Luke. All three have slight differences in their wording based on whom they were writing to,
but all three are parallel and deal with the same events.
MATTHEW'S OLIVET DISCOURSE
(Mat 24:1 NASB) And Jesus came out from the temple and was going away when His disciples
came up to point out the temple buildings to Him. (Mat 24:2 NASB) And He answered and said
to them, "Do you not see all these things? Truly I say to you, not one stone here shall be left upon
another, which will not be torn down." (Mat 24:3 NASB) And as He was sitting on the Mount of
Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, "Tell us, when will these things be, and what
will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?" (Mat 24:4 NASB) And Jesus
answered and said to them, "See to it that no one misleads you. (Mat 24:5 NASB) "For many will
come in My name, saying, 'I am the Christ,' and will mislead many. (Mat 24:6 NASB) "And you
will be hearing of wars and rumors of wars; see that you are not frightened, for those things must
take place, but that is not yet the end. (Mat 24:7 NASB) "For nation will rise against nation, and
kingdom against kingdom, and in various places there will be famines and earthquakes. (Mat
24:8 NASB) "But all these things are merely the beginning of birth pangs. (Mat 24:9 NASB)
"Then they will deliver you to tribulation, and will kill you, and you will be hated by all nations
on account of My name. (Mat 24:10 NASB) "And at that time many will fall away and will
deliver up one another and hate one another. (Mat 24:11 NASB) "And many false prophets will
arise, and will mislead many. (Mat 24:12 NASB) "And because lawlessness is increased, most
people's love will grow cold. (Mat 24:13 NASB) "But the one who endures to the end, he shall be
saved. (Mat 24:14 NASB) "And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world
for a witness to all the nations, and then the end shall come. (Mat 24:15 NASB) "Therefore when
you see the ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION which was spoken of through Daniel the
prophet, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), (Mat 24:16 NASB) then let those
who are in Judea flee to the mountains; (Mat 24:17 NASB) let him who is on the housetop not go
down to get the things out that are in his house; (Mat 24:18 NASB) and let him who is in the
field not turn back to get his cloak. (Mat 24:19 NASB) "But woe to those who are with child and
to those who nurse babes in those days! (Mat 24:20 NASB) "But pray that your flight may not be
in the winter, or on a Sabbath; (Mat 24:21 NASB) for then there will be a great tribulation, such
as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever shall. (Mat 24:22 NASB)
"And unless those days had been cut short, no life would have been saved; but for the sake of the
elect those days shall be cut short. (Mat 24:23 NASB) "Then if anyone says to you, 'Behold, here
is the Christ,' or 'There He is,' do not believe him. (Mat 24:24 NASB) "For false Christs and false
prophets will arise and will show great signs and wonders, so as to mislead, if possible, even the
elect. (Mat 24:25 NASB) "Behold, I have told you in advance. (Mat 24:26 NASB) "If therefore
they say to you, 'Behold, He is in the wilderness,' do not go forth, or, 'Behold, He is in the inner
rooms,' do not believe them. (Mat 24:27 NASB) "For just as the lightning comes from the east,
and flashes even to the west, so shall the coming of the Son of Man be. (Mat 24:28 NASB)
"Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather. (Mat 24:29 NASB) "But immediately
after the tribulation of those days THE SUN WILL BE DARKENED, AND THE MOON WILL
NOT GIVE ITS LIGHT, AND THE STARS WILL FALL from the sky, and the powers of the
heavens will be shaken, (Mat 24:30 NASB) and then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in
the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the SON OF MAN
COMING ON THE CLOUDS OF THE SKY with power and great glory. (Mat 24:31 NASB)
"And He will send forth His angels with A GREAT TRUMPET and THEY WILL GATHER
TOGETHER His elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other. (Mat 24:32
NASB) "Now learn the parable from the fig tree: when its branch has already become tender, and
puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near; (Mat 24:33 NASB) even so you too, when
you see all these things, recognize that He is near, right at the door. (Mat 24:34 NASB) "Truly I
say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. (Mat 24:35 NASB)
"Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words shall not pass away. (Mat 24:36 NASB) "But of
that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone.
(Mat 24:37 NASB) "For the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah. (Mat
24:38 NASB) "For as in those days which were before the flood they were eating and drinking,
they were marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, (Mat 24:39
NASB) and they did not understand until the flood came and took them all away; so shall the
coming of the Son of Man be. (Mat 24:40 NASB) "Then there shall be two men in the field; one
will be taken, and one will be left. (Mat 24:41 NASB) "Two women will be grinding at the mill;
one will be taken, and one will be left. (Mat 24:42 NASB) "Therefore be on the alert, for you do
not know which day your Lord is coming. (Mat 24:43 NASB) "But be sure of this, that if the
head of the house had known at what time of the night the thief was coming, he would have been
on the alert and would not have allowed his house to be broken into. (Mat 24:44 NASB) "For this
reason you be ready too; for the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not think He will.
(Mat 24:45 NASB) "Who then is the faithful and sensible slave whom his master put in charge of
his household to give them their food at the proper time? (Mat 24:46 NASB) "Blessed is that
slave whom his master finds so doing when he comes. (Mat 24:47 NASB) "Truly I say to you,
that he will put him in charge of all his possessions. (Mat 24:48 NASB) "But if that evil slave
says in his heart, 'My master is not coming for a long time,' (Mat 24:49 NASB) and shall begin to
beat his fellow slaves and eat and drink with drunkards; (Mat 24:50 NASB) the master of that
slave will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour which he does not know,
(Mat 24:51 NASB) and shall cut him in pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites;
weeping shall be there and the gnashing of teeth.
MARK'S OLIVET DISCOURSE
(Mark 13:1 NASB) And as He was going out of the temple, one of His disciples said^ to Him,
"Teacher, behold what wonderful stones and what wonderful buildings!" (Mark 13:2 NASB)
And Jesus said to him, "Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone shall be left upon
another which will not be torn down."(Mark 13:3 NASB) And as He was sitting on the Mount of
Olives opposite the temple, Peter and James and John and Andrew were questioning Him
privately, (Mark 13:4 NASB) "Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign when
all these things are going to be fulfilled?" (Mark 13:5 NASB) And Jesus began to say to them,
"See to it that no one misleads you. (Mark 13:6 NASB) "Many will come in My name, saying, 'I
am He!' and will mislead many. (Mark 13:7 NASB) "And when you hear of wars and rumors of
wars, do not be frightened; those things must take place; but that is not yet the end. (Mark 13:8
NASB) "For nation will arise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there will be
earthquakes in various places; there will also be famines. These things are merely the beginning
of birth pangs. (Mark 13:9 NASB) "But be on your guard; for they will deliver you to the courts,
and you will be flogged in the synagogues, and you will stand before governors and kings for My
sake, as a testimony to them. (Mark 13:10 NASB) "And the gospel must first be preached to all
the nations. (Mark 13:11 NASB) "And when they arrest you and deliver you up, do not be
anxious beforehand about what you are to say, but say whatever is given you in that hour; for it is
not you who speak, but it is the Holy Spirit. (Mark 13:12 NASB) "And brother will deliver
brother to death, and a father his child; and children will rise up against parents and have them
put to death. (Mark 13:13 NASB) "And you will be hated by all on account of My name, but the
one who endures to the end, he shall be saved. (Mark 13:14 NASB) "But when you see the
ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION standing where it should not be (let the reader understand),
then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. (Mark 13:15 NASB) "And let him who is
on the housetop not go down, or enter in, to get anything out of his house; (Mark 13:16 NASB)
and let him who is in the field not turn back to get his cloak. (Mark 13:17 NASB) "But woe to
those who are with child and to those who nurse babes in those days! (Mark 13:18 NASB) "But
pray that it may not happen in the winter. (Mark 13:19 NASB) "For those days will be a time of
tribulation such as has not occurred since the beginning of the creation which God created, until
now, and never shall. (Mark 13:20 NASB) "And unless the Lord had shortened those days, no
life would have been saved; but for the sake of the elect whom He chose, He shortened the days.
(Mark 13:21 NASB) "And then if anyone says to you, 'Behold, here is the Christ'; or, 'Behold, He
is there'; do not believe him; (Mark 13:22 NASB) for false Christs and false prophets will arise,
and will show signs and wonders, in order, if possible, to lead the elect astray. (Mark 13:23
NASB) "But take heed; behold, I have told you everything in advance. (Mark 13:24 NASB) "But
in those days, after that tribulation, THE SUN WILL BE DARKENED, AND THE MOON
WILL NOT GIVE ITS LIGHT, (Mark 13:25 NASB) AND THE STARS WILL BE FALLING
from heaven, and the powers that are in the heavens will be shaken. (Mark 13:26 NASB) "And
then they will see THE SON OF MAN COMING IN CLOUDS with great power and glory.
(Mark 13:27 NASB) "And then He will send forth the angels, and will gather together His elect
from the four winds, from the farthest end of the earth, to the farthest end of heaven. (Mark 13:28
NASB) "Now learn the parable from the fig tree: when its branch has already become tender, and
puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near. (Mark 13:29 NASB) "Even so, you too,
when you see these things happening, recognize that He is near, right at the door. (Mark 13:30
NASB) "Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place.
(Mark 13:31 NASB) "Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away. (Mark
13:32 NASB) "But of that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son,
but the Father alone. (Mark 13:33 NASB) "Take heed, keep on the alert; for you do not know
when the appointed time is. (Mark 13:34 NASB) "It is like a man, away on a journey, who upon
leaving his house and putting his slaves in charge, assigning to each one his task, also
commanded the doorkeeper to stay on the alert. (Mark 13:35 NASB) "Therefore, be on the alert--
for you do not know when the master of the house is coming, whether in the evening, at
midnight, at cock-crowing, or in the morning-- (Mark 13:36 NASB) lest he come suddenly and
find you asleep. (Mark 13:37 NASB) "And what I say to you I say to all, 'Be on the alert!'"
LUKE'S OLIVET DISCOURSE
Luke 21:5 NASB) And while some were talking about the temple, that it was adorned with
beautiful stones and votive gifts, He said, (Luke 21:6 NASB) "As for these things which you are
looking at, the days will come in which there will not be left one stone upon another which will
not be torn down." (Luke 21:7 NASB) And they questioned Him, saying, "Teacher, when
therefore will these things be? And what will be the sign when these things are about to take
place?" (Luke 21:8 NASB) And He said, "See to it that you be not misled; for many will come in
My name, saying, 'I am He,' and, 'The time is at hand'; do not go after them. (Luke 21:9 NASB)
"And when you hear of wars and disturbances, do not be terrified; for these things must take
place first, but the end does not follow immediately." (Luke 21:10 NASB) Then He continued by
saying to them, "Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, (Luke 21:11
NASB) and there will be great earthquakes, and in various places plagues and famines; and there
will be terrors and great signs from heaven. (Luke 21:12 NASB) "But before all these things,
they will lay their hands on you and will persecute you, delivering you to the synagogues and
prisons, bringing you before kings and governors for My name's sake. (Luke 21:13 NASB) "It
will lead to an opportunity for your testimony. (Luke 21:14 NASB) "So make up your minds not
to prepare beforehand to defend yourselves; (Luke 21:15 NASB) for I will give you utterance and
wisdom which none of your opponents will be able to resist or refute. (Luke 21:16 NASB) "But
you will be delivered up even by parents and brothers and relatives and friends, and they will put
some of you to death, (Luke 21:17 NASB) and you will be hated by all on account of My name.
(Luke 21:18 NASB) "Yet not a hair of your head will perish. (Luke 21:19 NASB) "By your
endurance you will gain your lives. (Luke 21:20 NASB) "But when you see Jerusalem
surrounded by armies, then recognize that her desolation is at hand. (Luke 21:21 NASB) "Then
let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, and let those who are in the midst of the city
depart, and let not those who are in the country enter the city; (Luke 21:22 NASB) because these
are days of vengeance, in order that all things which are written may be fulfilled. (Luke 21:23
NASB) "Woe to those who are with child and to those who nurse babes in those days; for there
will be great distress upon the land, and wrath to this people, (Luke 21:24 NASB) and they will
fall by the edge of the sword, and will be led captive into all the nations; and Jerusalem will be
trampled under foot by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled. (Luke 21:25
NASB) "And there will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and upon the earth dismay among
nations, in perplexity at the roaring of the sea and the waves, (Luke 21:26 NASB) men fainting
from fear and the expectation of the things which are coming upon the world; for the powers of
the heavens will be shaken. (Luke 21:27 NASB) "And then they will see THE SON OF MAN
COMING IN A CLOUD with power and great glory. (Luke 21:28 NASB) "But when these
things begin to take place, straighten up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is
drawing near." (Luke 21:29 NASB) And He told them a parable: "Behold the fig tree and all the
trees; (Luke 21:30 NASB) as soon as they put forth leaves, you see it and know for yourselves
that summer is now near. (Luke 21:31 NASB) "Even so you, too, when you see these things
happening, recognize that the kingdom of God is near. (Luke 21:32 NASB) "Truly I say to you,
this generation will not pass away until all things take place. (Luke 21:33 NASB) "Heaven and
earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away. (Luke 21:34 NASB) "Be on guard, that
your hearts may not be weighted down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of life,
and that day come on you suddenly like a trap; (Luke 21:35 NASB) for it will come upon all
those who dwell on the face of all the earth. (Luke 21:36 NASB) "But keep on the alert at all
times, praying in order that you may have strength to escape all these things that are about to take
place, and to stand before the Son of Man." (Luke 21:37 NASB) Now during the day He was
teaching in the temple, but at evening He would go out and spend the night on the mount that is
called Olivet. (Luke 21:38 NASB) And all the people would get up early in the morning to come
to Him in the temple to listen to Him.
Beyond those three versions of the Olivet Discourse, there is an additional passage of scripture in
Luke's gospel that parallels them. It is in Luke 17:20-37. It reads...
(Luke 17:20 NASB) Now having been questioned by the Pharisees as to when the kingdom of
God was coming, He answered them and said, "The kingdom of God is not coming with signs to
be observed; (Luke 17:21 NASB) nor will they say, 'Look, here it is!' or, 'There it is!' For behold,
the kingdom of God is in your midst." (Luke 17:22 NASB) And He said to the disciples, "The
days shall come when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not
see it. (Luke 17:23 NASB) "And they will say to you, 'Look there! Look here!' Do not go away,
and do not run after them. (Luke 17:24 NASB) "For just as the lightning, when it flashes out of
one part of the sky, shines to the other part of the sky, so will the Son of Man be in His day.
(Luke 17:25 NASB) "But first He must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation.
(Luke 17:26 NASB) "And just as it happened in the days of Noah, so it shall be also in the days
of the Son of Man: (Luke 17:27 NASB) they were eating, they were drinking, they were
marrying, they were being given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the
flood came and destroyed them all. (Luke 17:28 NASB) "It was the same as happened in the days
of Lot: they were eating, they were drinking, they were buying, they were selling, they were
planting, they were building; (Luke 17:29 NASB) but on the day that Lot went out from Sodom it
rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all. (Luke 17:30 NASB) "It will be
just the same on the day that the Son of Man is revealed. (Luke 17:31 NASB) "On that day, let
not the one who is on the housetop and whose goods are in the house go down to take them
away; and likewise let not the one who is in the field turn back. (Luke 17:32 NASB) "Remember
Lot's wife. (Luke 17:33 NASB) "Whoever seeks to keep his life shall lose it, and whoever loses
his life shall preserve it. (Luke 17:34 NASB) "I tell you, on that night there will be two men in
one bed; one will be taken, and the other will be left. (Luke 17:35 NASB) "There will be two
women grinding at the same place; one will be taken, and the other will be left. (Luke 17:36
NASB) <"Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other will be left."> (Luke
17:37 NASB) And answering they said^ to Him, "Where, Lord?" And He said to them, "Where
the body is, there also will the vultures be gathered."
As you can see, all of the above texts are parallel and deal with the same subject matter. That
being Christ's second coming, and all of the events or signs that would surround it. There is quite
a lot of information and prophecy contained in each of the above four sections of scripture, but
since this paper deals primarily with the TIMING of the second coming, I want to direct your
attention to two main areas(1) The disciples question of "when", and (2) Christ's clear and
emphatic answer to that question.
PART #1: THE DISCIPLES' QUESTION
(Matthew 24:1-3) 1 Jesus came out from the temple and was going away when His disciples
came up to point out the temple buildings to Him. 2 And He said to them, "Do you not see all
these things? Truly I say to you, not one stone here will be left upon another, which will not be
torn down." 3 As He was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately,
saying, "Tell us, when will these things happen, and what will be the sign of Your coming, and of
the end of the age?"
(Mark 13:1-4) 1 As He was going out of the temple, one of His disciples said to Him, "Teacher,
behold what wonderful stones and what wonderful buildings!" 2 And Jesus said to him, "Do you
see these great buildings? Not one stone will be left upon another which will not be torn down."
3 As He was sitting on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter and James and John and
Andrew were questioning Him privately, 4 "Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be
the sign when all these things are going to be fulfilled?"
(Luke 21:5-7) 5 And while some were talking about the temple, that it was adorned with
beautiful stones and votive gifts, He said, 6 "As for these things which you are looking at, the
days will come in which there will not be left one stone upon another which will not be torn
down." 7 They questioned Him, saying, "Teacher, when therefore will these things happen? And
what will be the sign when these things are about to take place?"
In each gospel version Christ tells the disciples that the temple will be destroyed. Since the
temple was the central focal point of the entire Jewish nation this would be a major event, and it
logically drove the disciples to ask, "When will this happen?" Notice that Matthew is the only
version that links this destruction of the temple to Christ's coming and the "end of the age".
What age is Matthew talking about? The age spoken of is not the end of the world. It is the end
of the Jewish (Mosaic) age. Matthew was a Jew writing to Jews in order to show the Messianic
fulfillment of this destruction. Since these Messianic prophecies were of no real concern to
Gentiles, Mark and Luke do not take this approach. If the "end of the age" meant the end of the
planet then I'm confident Mark and Luke would have worded it similarly. Again, the "end of the
age" is the end of the Jewish age. This occurred in 70AD.
PART #2: THE ANSWER TO THEIR QUESTION
Having been asked when this will happen, we see that in each discourse Christ gives them
exactly what they asked for and spends several verses laying out the exact signs they (the
disciples) needed to be on the lookout for. Having detailed all the signs, Christ then turns his
attention to the specific question of timing, and says
(Matthew 24:34) 34 "Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things
take place."
(Mark 13:30) 30 "Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take
place."
(Luke 21:32) 32 "Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all things take
place."
The question is what generation is meant by "this generation?" The answer to that question is
simple. When Christ says "this generation" he meant the generation that was living at that time.
His contemporaries, if you will. This is not only clear from the plain meaning of words and the
context, but we know it is his generation because of the excessive amount of times he specifically
warns them, his disciples (that generation), by using the word "you" in the discourses. It would
make no sense at all to tell the current generation that they would see the fulfillment of these
signs, if in fact the generation in question was still 2,000+ years away. It is illogical that an event
can be imminent to two generations separated by 2000+ years.
Although I am mainly using the NASB version for scripture references in this paper, I wanted to
go outside of the NASB translation so that you could see how other versions have addressed
Christ's answer of "this generation". It should be noted that none of these versions are Preteristic
in their eschatology. I believe these other versions provide an excellent rendering of the answer,
and help shed light on what generation Christ had in mind as being the ones who would see the
prophesied signs.
(Good News Translation) "Remember that all these things will happen before the people now
living have all died"
(New Century Version) "I tell you the truth, all these things will happen while the people of this
time are still living."
(Weymouth's Translation) "I tell you in solemn truth that the present generation will certainly not
pass away until all this has taken place."
So what generation is "this generation?" The answer is the generation of people living at the
time Christ spoke the prophesy of the temple's destruction. They would be the ones who would
live to see everything prophesied in the Olivet Discourse, not some future generation. Read the
Olivet Discourse again. The question of "when" comes up in the first few verses. Jesus' answer
of "this generation" comes near the end. That means that everything between the question and
the answer was to be fulfilled before everyone living at that time had passed away. This would
include the false prophets, famine, war, the gospel to all the world, tribulation, the abomination
of desolation, Christ's second coming, the gathering of the elect, and judgment.
So that I can further support this view using Sola Scriptura, and wanting to fall back on the
analogy of faith (scripture interpreting scripture), I looked up "this generation" in the three
gospels. In the synoptic gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke, excluding the references in the
Olivet Discourse, the phrase "this generation" occurs 15 times. In every single instance "this
generation" either implies or specifically means Christ's contemporaries. The scripture
references are Matthew 11:16, 12:41, 12:42, 12:45, 23:36, Mark 8:12, 8:38, Luke 7:31, 11:29,
11:30, 11:31, 11:32, 11:50, 11:51, 17:25. For example
(Luke 17:25) 25 "But first He must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation.
What generation caused his suffering and rejected him? The people living at that time. So, if in
Luke 17:25, as well as the other references listed above, "this generation" applies to Christ's
contemporaries, why wouldn't "this generation" apply to the same generation when we find it in
the Olivet Discourse?
For those still clinging to the idea that "this generation" could not have meant Christ's
contemporaries, but rather a future generation, perhaps even our own generation, I ask you why
didn't Christ use the words "that generation" to imply some sort of a future fulfillment? Why
would Christ warn his contemporaries of the signs to be looking for if they were not to be
fulfilled for at least two millennia? For example
(Mat 24:24 NASB) "For false Christs and false prophets will arise and will show great signs and
wonders, so as to mislead, if possible, even the elect. (Mat 24:25 NASB) "Behold, I have told
you in advance.
Who is the you in this verse? Remember audience relevance! The disciples are the "you" in this
verse. Why would he say, "behold, I have told you (the disciples) in advance" if this did not
apply to them? Perhaps even more telling is this one
(Mark 13:14 NASB) "But when you see the ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION standing
where it should not be (let the reader understand), then let those who are in Judea flee to the
mountains.
No matter what eschatological position you hold, all systems hold to the fact that there is only
one abomination of desolation, and in this verse we have Christ clearly telling his disciples (they
are the "you" in this verse) that they would be alive to see this abomination of desolation. If there
is only one abomination of desolation then you only have two options. Either it was fulfilled in
the generation of the disciples, or Jesus flat out lied to them when he said they would see it.
I know that I could continue to press the issue that "this generation" meant those alive at the time
of Christ, and that "you" means the disciples, but I will refrain from doing that. Using the clear
understanding of words, and using scripture to interpret scripture, the point has been proven
beyond a shadow of a doubt that "this generation" meant those first century people that were
alive at the time of Christ. It is my position that only extreme prejudice can keep a person from
seeing this.
In his book "The World's Last Night" C.S. Lewis pens the following
"The apocalyptic beliefs of the first Christians have been proved to be false. It is clear from the
New Testament that they all expected the Second Coming in their own lifetime. And, worse still,
they had a reason, and one which you will find very embarrassing. Their Master had told them
so. He shared, and indeed created, their delusion. He said in so many words, 'this generation
shall not pass till all these things be done.' And he was wrong. He clearly knew no more about
the end of the world than anyone else. This is certainly the most embarrassing verse in the
Bible." (Essay "The World's Last Night" (1960), found in The Essential C.S. Lewis, p. 385)
There is debate over whether this was Lewis' own personal view, whether it was a passing idea
for him, or whether he was penning the thoughts of another individual. All I know is that Lewis
himself correctly understood what Christ meant when he said "this generation" and he also
understood the ramifications if Christ did not fulfill these prophesies in that stated time frame. If
they were not fulfilled then Christ is a false prophet, and this destroys Christianity at its very
core.
By proving what generation is in question in the Olivet Discourse, the burden of proof does not
fall on the Preterist to show how all these things were fulfilled in that generation. Christ clearly
said they would be. History verifies that the temple was destroyed in the prophesied time frame
(70 AD), and therefore we stand on the objective word of God as our proof that all things
prophesied did occur. We do not twist the scriptures in order to make them fit our preconceived
eschatology, or in order to argue with God over those things we do not grasp or comprehend. We
simply look at the fulfilled prophecies and walk by faith on those things we do not fully
understand.
There are a great many things we cannot historically detail in the word of God, yet we trust they
happened just as they are written. Do you trust that Jonah was in the belly of a great fish? Do
you trust that God spoke through Balaam's donkey? Do you understand how God made the sun
stand still? Most of us are happy to lay aside subjectivism in regards to those events and simply
trust the objective word of God that they happened. Why not do the same in regards to what
Christ said about when he would return? If you will not be satisfied unless the Preterist can
prove every little detail of how things happened, then I would direct you to the following quote
"To deny the truth of His (Jesus') predictions because we are unable historically to verify a
certain portion of them is simply to make manifest the shallowness of our faith in Him". (George
Hampdon Cook, The Christ has Come, 1891)
In regards to eschatology, the real burden of proof is on the person who looks at the prophesies in
the Olivet Discourse, sees their fulfillment, knows the generation in question, and then denies
that they are the fulfillment of Christ's prophecy. Just like the Preterist, this person must prove
their conclusions from scripture alone. I believe this to be an impossible undertaking.
Dispensationalist (futurist) teacher, John MacArthur, in his MacArthur Study Bible, commenting
on the verses in Matthew where Jesus predicted the temple's destruction wrote, "This was
literally fulfilled in 70AD." Yet, being a futurist, MacArthur sees this 70AD destruction not as
the fulfillment of Jesus' prophesies, but rather a foreshadowing or sign of a yet future destruction
of the temple and second coming of Christ. What?! Think about that for a moment. Christ said
the temple would be destroyed before the people living at that time had all died. He tied this
destruction to his second coming, and it was literally fulfilled, and yet, it doesn't count? Why?
Why do we need to play tricks with the word of God in order to make a third coming of Christ?
Scripture speaks of no third coming. Why not simply take him at his word?
Perhaps this is a bit cynical, but Preterism doesn't sell books, at least not in today's market.
Much of today's church is so material and sensual it wants excitement, and things like the Left
Behind book series, or prophecy conferences talking about America's supposed role with Israel
sells books. Preterism doesn't spend its time looking ahead for signs and wonders. People want
signs and wonders because they are supposed to bring bad world news and bad news is exciting.
We want an exciting Christianity. We want our Christian John Wayne, that is Jesus Christ, to
ride into town, form his Christian posse, and take care of the bad guys. The problem is that's
exactly what the Jews were looking for when Christ showed up the first time. They wanted a
conquering Messiah who would set up a physical kingdom on earth and destroy their enemies.
He said, "My kingdom is not of this earth" and so they crucified him. People are still looking for
that physical kingdom today, and when Preterists say prophecy has been fulfilled, and that
despite the world around us we are living in the established kingdom today because the kingdom
is within us, we are called heretics, and all because we dare to stand on the objective and clear
words of God and believe Christ when he said his generation would see the fulfillment of all the
things mentioned in the Olivet Discourse.
We often look at the scriptures that foretold Christ's first coming, and in our supposed
twenty-first century wisdom we wonder how those first century people missed his first coming. I
mean, didn't they have the scriptures that Christ fulfilled to verify who he was? If, with all the
scriptures they had available to them, and with all their intimate knowledge of them, the Jews
misunderstood his first coming, isn't it remotely possible that with all the scriptures we have
available to us that we might have misunderstood his second coming? Are we so much smarter
than them?
Having proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that Christ was teaching that his own generation
would be the generation that would see the fulfillment of all end time signs and prophesies, and
we know from history that the temple was destroyed in that generation, then all we need to do is
show the fulfillment of the other signs and everyone should jump on the Preterist band-wagon,
right? Well, it should be that easy, but it's not. In spite of this, let's move on and look at the
Olivet Discourse in greater detail to see if we can at least show the possible fulfillment of the
additional signs and wonders that Christ foretold.
FALSE PROPHETS
(Mat 24:4) 4 And Jesus answered and said to them, "See to it that no one misleads you. 5 "For
many will come in My name, saying, `I am the Christ,' and will mislead many.
We see false prophets in scripture in the book of Acts
(Acts 5:36) 5 "For some time ago Theudas rose up, claiming to be somebody. A number of men,
about four hundred, joined him. He was slain, and all who obeyed him were scattered and came
to nothing.
(Acts 8:9-10) 9 But there was a certain man called Simon, who previously practiced sorcery in
the city and astonished the people of Samaria, claiming that he was someone great, 10 to whom
they all gave heed, from the least to the greatest, saying, "This man is the great power of God."
We see false prophets in historical writings dealing with this time period
Eusebius (325AD) (Regarding the Egyptian of Acts 21:38) - "A greater blow than this was
inflicted on the Jews by the Egyptian false prophet. Arriving in the country this man, a fraud who
posed as a seer, collected about 30,000 dupes, led them round by the wild country to the Mount
of Olives, and from there was ready to force an entry into Jerusalem, overwhelm the Roman
garrison, and seize supreme power, with his fellow-raiders as bodyguards. But Felix anticipated
his attempt by meeting him with the Roman heavy infantry, the whole population rallying to the
defense, so that when the clash occurred the Egyptian fled with a handful of men and most of his
followers were killed or captured." (pp. 96-97) [1]
Martin Goodman - "It is admittedly now difficult to tell how much this was the case in the
first-century Judea, for neither Josephus nor the New Testament was likely to give an honest
description of contemporary messianic fervor if it tended commonly to impel Jews towards
irrational hostility to Rome. Nonetheless it is striking that even when the siege of Jerusalem was
at its height in A.D.70, the belief that God was about to deliver to the Jews the signs of their
salvation led a crowd of six thousand, including women and children, to await their deliverance
by just standing passively in the Temple court at the urging of a 'false prophet' (B.J.
6.283-5). They were all burnt to death." (The Ruling Class of Judea, pp. 90-91) [2]
Flavius Josephus [Jewish Historian] (A.D. 75) - "A false prophet was the occasion of these
people's destruction, who had made a public proclamation in the city that very day, that God
commanded them to get up upon the temple, and that there they should receive miraculous signs
of their deliverance. Now, there was then a great number of false prophets suborned by the
tyrants to impose upon the people, who denounced this to them, that they should wait for
deliverance from God; and this was in order to keep them from deserting, and that they might be
buoyed up above fear and care by such hopes. Now, a man that is in adversity does easily comply
with such promises; for when such a seducer makes him believe that he shall be delivered from
those miseries which oppress him, then it is that the patient is full of hopes of such deliverance."
(The History of the Destruction of Jerusalem, Book VI, Chapter V, Section 2). [3]
Adam Clarke (1837) - "Verse 26. If they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert -- Is it not
worthy of remark that our Lord not only foretold the appearance of these impostors, but also the
manner and circumstances of their conduct? Some he mentions as appearing in the desert.
Josephus says, ANT. b. xx. c. 7, and WAR, book ii. c. 13: That many impostors and cheats
persuaded the people to follow them to the desert, promising to show them signs and wonders
done by the providence of God, is well attested. An Egyptian false prophet, mentioned by
Josephus, ANT. b. xx. c. 7, and in the Acts, Acts 21:38, led out into the DESERT four thousand
men, who were murderers, but these were all taken or destroyed by Felix. Another promised
salvation to the people, if they would follow him to the DESERT, and he was destroyed by
Festus, ANT. b. xx. c. 7. Also, one Jonathan, a weaver, persuaded a number to follow him to the
DESERT, but he was taken and burnt alive by Vespasian. See WAR, b. vii. c. 11. [4]
WARS AND RUMORS OF WARS
(Mat 24:6) 6 "You will be hearing of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not frightened,
for those things must take place, but that is not yet the end.
On this subject, pastor David Curtis (www.bereanbiblechurch.org) writes
David Curtis (1997) - There were wars in the tributaries of Rome and all over Palestine, Galilee,
and Samaria in AD 66, preceding the destruction of Jerusalem. In the Annals of Tacitus, a
Roman who wrote a history which covers the period prior to 70 A. D., we find such expressions
as these: "Disturbances in Germany," "commotions in Africa," "commotions in Thrace,"
"insurrections in Gaul," "intrigues among the Parthians," "the war in Britain," "war in Armenia."
Among the Jews, the times became turbulent. In Seleucia, 50,000 Jews were killed. There was an
uprising against them in Alexandria. In a battle between the Jews and Syrians in Caesarea,
20,000 were killed. During these times, Caligula ordered his statue placed in the temple at
Jerusalem. The Jews refused to do this and lived in constant fear that the Emperor's armies would
be sent into Palestine. This fear became so real that some of them did not even bother to till their
fields.
FAMINE & EARTHQUAKES
(Mat 24:7) 7 "For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and in various
places there will be famines and earthquakes.
Famine was recorded in scripture in the book of Acts
(Acts 11:28) 28 Then one of them, named Agabus, stood up and showed by the Spirit that there
was going to be a great famine throughout all the world, which also happened in the days of
Claudius Caesar.
Regarding the famine that existed specifically in the city of Jerusalem
Josephus - 4. And now there were three treacherous factions in the city, the one parted from the
other. Eleazar and his party, that kept the sacred first-fruits, came against John in their cups.
Those that were with John plundered the populace, and went out with zeal against Simon. This
Simon had his supply of provisions from the city, in opposition to the seditious. When, therefore,
John was assaulted on both sides, he made his men turn about, throwing his darts upon those
citizens that came up against him, from the cloisters he had in his possession, while he opposed
those that attacked him from the temple by engines of war; and if at any time he was freed from
those that were above him, which happened frequently, from their being drunk and tired, he
sallied out with a great number upon Simon and his party; and this he did always in such parts of
the city as he could come at, till he set on fire those houses that were full of corn, and of all
provisions.* (1) The same thing was done by Simon, when, upon the others' retreat, he attacked
the city also; as if they had, on purpose done it to serve the Romans, by destroying what the city
had laid up against the Siege, and by thus cutting off the nerves of their own power. Accordingly,
it so came to pass, that all the places that were about the temple were burnt down, and were
become an intermediate desert space, ready for fighting on both sides; and that almost all the
corn was burnt, which would have been sufficient for a siege of many years. So they were taken
by the means of famine, which it was impossible they should have been, unless they had thus
prepared the way for it by this procedure. (Book V, Chapter I, Section 4)
Again, regarding the famine, Josephus writes
2. But as for the richer sort, it proved all one to them whether they staid in the city, or attempted
to get out of it; for they were equally destroyed in both cases; for every such person was put to
death under this pretense, that they were going to desert, but in reality that the robbers might get
what they had. The madness of the seditious did also increase together with their famine, and
both those miseries were every day inflamed more and more; for there was no corn which any
where appeared publicly, but the robbers came running into, and searched men's private houses;
and then, if they found any, they tormented them, because they had denied they had any; and if
they found none, they tormented them worse, because they supposed they had more carefully
concealed it. The indication they made use of whether they had any or not was taken from the
bodies of these miserable wretches; which, if they were in good case, they supposed they were in
no want at all of food; but if they were wasted away, they walked off without searching any
further; nor did they think it proper to kill such as these, because they saw they would very soon
die of themselves for want of food. Many there were indeed who sold what they had for one
measure; it was of wheat, if they were of the richer sort; but of barley, if they were poorer (1).
When these had so done, they shut themselves up in the inmost rooms of their houses, and ate the
corn they had gotten; some did it without grinding it, by reason of the extremity of the want they
were in, and others baked bread of it, according as necessity and fear dictated to them: a table
was no where laid for a distinct meal, but they snatched the bread out of the fire, half-baked, and
ate it very hastily. (Book V, Chapter X, Section 2)
Regarding earthquakes during this time period
David Curtis (1997) - Tacitus mentions earthquakes at Rome. He wrote, "Frequent earthquakes
occurred, by which many houses were thrown down," and "twelve populous cities of Asia fell in
ruins from an earthquake." Seneca, writing in the year 58 A. D., said, "How often have cities of
Asia and Achaea fallen with one fatal shock! How many cities have been swallowed up in Syria!
How many in Macedonia! How often has Cyprus been wasted by this calamity ! How often has
Paphos become a ruin! News has often been brought us of the demolition of whole cities at
once." In 60 A.D., Hierapous, Colosse, and Laodicea were overthrown from earthquakes. There
were earthquakes in Crete, Apamea, Smyrna, Miletus, Chios, Samos, and Judea. Earthquakes in
diverse places.
PERSECUTION
(Mat 24:8) 8 "But all these things are merely the beginning of birth pangs. 9 "Then they will
deliver you to tribulation, and will kill you, and you will be hated by all nations because of My
name.
The book of Acts is full of persecution of the followers of Christ. Here are a few
(Acts 4:3) 3 And they laid hands on them, and put them in custody until the next day, for it was
already evening.
(Acts 16:23-24) 23 And when they had laid many stripes on them, they threw them into prison,
commanding the jailer to keep them securely. 24 Having received such a charge, he put them into
the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks.
(Acts 9:23-24) Now after many days were past, the Jews plotted to kill him. 24 But their plot
became known to Saul. And they watched the gates day and night, to kill him.
Tradition and history teach that most of the disciples were killed by the Jews during this time
frame, and others were exiled by Rome (John).
THE GOSPEL TO ALL THE WORLD
(Mat 24:24) 14 "This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony
to all the nations, and then the end will come.
Through the Apostle Paul, we see that this was also fulfilled in the prophesied time frame
(Colossians 1:5-6) because of the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, of which you heard
before in the word of the truth of the gospel, 6 which has come to you, as it has also in all the
world, and is bringing forth fruit, as it is also among you since the day you heard and knew the
grace of God in truth;
(Colossians 1:23) if indeed you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and are not moved
away from the hope of the gospel which you heard, which was preached to every creature under
heaven, of which I, Paul, became a minister.
(Romans 1:8) First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith is spoken of
throughout the whole world.
(Romans 16:25-26) Now to Him who is able to establish you according to my gospel and the
preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery kept secret since the world
began 26 but now has been made manifest, and by the prophetic Scriptures has been made known
to all nations, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, for obedience to the faith;
As mentioned earlier, we must begin thinking like a first century person when reading the
scriptures. The term "whole world" did not have the same meaning to them that it does to us
today. Even now, in some remote jungle, there are still people who, when the words "whole
world" are used, probably have a much different concept of what that term might mean.
Remember that the scriptures were written at a time when people believed the world was flat.
Understanding the audience and grasping the concept of words in their understanding is critical.
Whatever the concept "whole world" meant to the disciples or the people living at that time is
what it actually means in regards to scripture. Our job is to find out what it meant in their time
and culture, not apply it to ours. If we will learn to think like this, and allow scripture to speak
for itself, we will see that this prophecy that the gospel must go to all the world was adequately
fulfilled in that generation.
THE ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION
(Mat 24:15) 15 "Therefore when you see the ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION which was
spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand),
The parallel passage in Luke's Olivet Discourse tell us what this "abomination of desolation" is
(Luke 21:20) 20 "But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then recognize that her
desolation is near.
We have already addressed the fact that Christ clearly told the disciples and their generation that
they would see this abomination of desolation, but was this scripture fulfilled in this generation?
Yes. The Roman armies marched to Jerusalem and, together with their allies, surrounded the city
for its destruction. This was fulfilled in 66-70AD. Note also the words "let the reader
understand" in Matthew 24:15. The gospel of Matthew was written some time between
55-63AD. When Matthew says, "let the reader understand", he's not talking to you and me today.
He's talking to the Jews who would soon be reading his letter, and would be alive to see this
fulfillment so as to understand that what they are seeing was prophesy fulfilled.
On the topic of the Roman armies being the object of desolation, Josephus writes
Josephus - 3. But now, as soon as that legion that had been at Emmaus was joined to Caesar at
night, he removed thence, when it was day, and came to a place called Seopus; from whence the
city began already to be seen, and a plain view might be taken of the great temple. Accordingly,
this place, on the north quarter of the city, and joining thereto, was a plain, and very properly
named Scopus, [the prospect,] and was no more than seven furlongs distant from it. And here it
was that Titus ordered a camp to be fortified for two legions that were to be together; but ordered
another camp to be fortified, at three furlongs farther distance behind them, for the fifth legion;
for he thought that, by marching in the night, they might be tired, and might deserve to be
covered from the enemy, and with less fear might fortify themselves; and as these were now
beginning to build, the tenth legion, who came through Jericho, was already come to the place,
where a certain party of armed men had formerly lain, to guard that pass into the city, and had
been taken before by Vespasian. These legions had orders to encamp at the distance of six
furlongs from Jerusalem, at the mount called the Mount of Olives (1) which lies over against the
city on the east side, and is parted from it by a deep valley, interposed between them, which is
named Cedron. (Book V, Chapter II, Section 3)
Compare what is recorded by Josephus (above) to this passage in Luke
(Luke 19:41-44) Now as He drew near, He saw the city and wept over it, 42 saying, "If you had
known, even you, especially in this your day, the things that make for your peace! But now they
are hidden from your eyes. 43 "For days will come upon you when your enemies will build an
embankment around you, surround you and close you in on every side, 44 "and level you, and
your children within you, to the ground; and they will not leave in you one stone upon another,
because you did not know the time of your visitation."
This was fulfilled completely in 66-70AD when Jerusaem was destroyed from within and
without.
For those who wonder just how bad the tribulation was in Jerusalem, and how it compares with
scripture, lets look at some additional passages from the Olivet Discourse and then compare them
with recorded incidents in the writings of Josephus.
(Luke 21:23) 23 "Woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those
days; for there will be great distress upon the land and wrath to this people;
Josephus - 4. Now there was a certain woman that dwelt beyond Jordan, her name was Mary; her
father was Eleazar, of the village Bethezub, which signifies the House of Hyssop. She was
eminent for her family and her wealth, and had fled away to Jerusalem with the rest of the
multitude , and was with them besieged therein at this time. The other effects of this woman had
been already seized upon; such I mean as she had brought with her out of Perea, and removed to
the city. What she had treasured up besides, as also what food she had contrived to save, had also
been carried off by the rapacious guards, who came every day running into her house for that
purpose. This put the poor woman into a very great passion, and by the frequent reproaches and
imprecations she cast at these rapacious villains, she had provoked them to anger against her; but
none of them, either out of the indignation she had raised against herself, or out of the
commiseration of her case, would take away her life (1); and if she found any food, she perceived
her labors were for others, and not for herself; and it was now become impossible for her any
way to find any more food, while the famine pierced through her very bowels and marrow, when
also her passion was fired to a degree beyond the famine itself: nor did she consult with anything
but with her passion and the necessity she was in. She then attempted a most unnatural thing; and
snatching up her son, who was a child sucking at her breast, she said, "O thou miserable infant!
for whom shall I preserve thee in this war, this famine, and this sedition? As to the war with the
Romans, if they preserve our lives, we must be slaves! The famine also will destroy us, even
before that slavery comes upon us; yet are these seditious rogues more terrible than both the
other. Come on; be thou my food, and be thou a fury to these seditious varlets and a byword to
the world, which is all that is now wanting to complete the calamities of us Jews." As soon as she
had said this, she slew her son; and then roasted him, and ate one half of him (2), and kept the
other half by her concealed. Upon this the seditious come in presently, and smelling the horrid
scent of this food, they threatened her that they would cut her throat immediately if she did not
shew them what food she had gotten ready. She replied, that she had saved a very fine portion of
it for them; and withal uncovered what was left of her son. Hereupon they were seized with a
horror and amazement of mind, and stood astonished at the sight; when she said to them "This is
mine own son; and what hath been done was mine own doing! Come, eat of this food; for I have
eaten of it myself! Do not you pretend to be either more tender than a woman, or more
compassionate than a mother; but if you be so scrupulous, and do abominate this my sacrifice, as
I have eaten the one half, let the rest be reserved for me also." After which, those men went out
trembling, being never so much affrighted at anything as they were at this, and with some
difficulty they left the rest of that meat to the mother. Upon which, the whole city was full of
horrid action immediately; and while everyone laid this miserable case before their own eyes,
they trembled, as if this unheard-of-action had been done by themselves. So those that were thus
distressed by the famine were very desirous to die (1); and those already dead were esteemed
happy, because they had not live long enough either to hear or see such miseries.
(Luke 21:24) 24 and they will fall by the edge of the sword, and will be led captive into all the
nations; and Jerusalem will be trampled under foot by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles
are fulfilled.
History records the following
Josephus - 3. Now the number (1) of those that were carried captive during the whole war was
collected to be ninety-seven thousand (2); as was the number of those that perished during the
whole siege, eleven hundred thousand * (3), the greater part of whom were indeed of the same
nation, [with the citizens of Jerusalem,] but not belonging to the city itself; for they were come
up from all the country to the feast of unleavened bread, and were on a sudden shut up by an
army (4), which, at the very first, occasioned so great a straightness among them, that there came
a pestilential destruction upon them, and soon afterward such a famine as destroyed them more
suddenly. And that this city could contain so many people in it is manifest by that number of
them which was taken under Cestius, who being desirous of informing Nero of the power of the
city, who otherwise was disposed to contemn that nation, entreated the high priests, if the thing
were possible, to take the number of their whole multitude. So these high priests, upon the
coming of their feast which is called the Passover, when they slay their sacrifices, from the ninth
hour to the eleventh, but so that a company not less than belong to every sacrifice, (for it is not
lawful for them to feast singly by themselves,) and many of us are twenty in a company, found
the number of sacrifices was two hundred and fifty-six thousand five hundred; which, upon the
allowance of no more than ten that feast together, amounts to two millions seven hundred
thousand and two hundred persons that were pure and holy; for as to those that have the leprosy,
or the gonorrhea, or women that have their monthly courses, or such as are otherwise polluted, it
is not lawful for them to be partakers of this sacrifice; nor indeed for any foreigners neither, who
come hither to worship.
Jerusalem was a massive fortress. When Rome marched on it, the people naturally ran into the
city for protection so that the numbers of people in the city were, as Josephus reports, a minimum
of 2.7 million people, not counting those who were unlawful to be numbered or to partake of the
sacrifices. Rather than run into the city for protection, what did Jesus tell his followers to do
when they saw the city surrounded? He said
(Luke 21:21-22) 21 "Then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains, and those who are
in the midst of the city must leave, and those who are in the country must not enter the city;
22 because these are days of vengeance, so that all things which are written will be fulfilled.
Jesus warned his followers ahead of time to flee the city instead of running into it for protection.
He had already prophesied her total destruction and those inside of her would be destroyed or
taken captive at best. Note what Jesus says in verse 22. He says that the destruction of
Jerusalem and the great tribulation the land incurred was the fulfillment of all things written.
Since at that time all that was written was the Old Testament books, which were books written to
the Jewish nation only, Jesus is saying that the destruction of Jerusalem is the fulfillment of all
Old Testament prophecies concerning the apostate condition of the Jews, thus ending the Jewish
age. God had already destroyed forever the northern 10 tribes (Israel), and now this was the final
divorce decree to the southern 2 tribes of Judah and Bejamin (Jews). The Old Covenant with its
physical signs and shadows was done away with forever. The New Covenant was established.
The church (the true Israel) was born, and the kingdom of Christ established forever. No longer
would signs and shadows be necessary. Christ had fulfilled them all and he is sitting on this
throne forever.
SUN DARKENED, MOON WILL NOT GIVE LIGHT
(Mat 24:29) 29 "But immediately after the tribulation of those days THE SUN WILL BE
DARKENED, AND THE MOON WILL NOT GIVE ITS LIGHT, AND THE STARS WILL
FALL from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.
Was this fulfilled? Yes. Contrary to what most people believe, this is not speaking of actual
physical signs and wonders in the terrestrial realm. This is apocalyptic language that was
commonly used in the Old Testament to symbolize the fall of nations or empires. Matthew 24:29
is speaking of the final fall and dissolution of the Jewish nation, never to rise again. Using
scripture to interpret scripture, here are some Old Testament examples to prove this point...
(Isaiah 13:9-13) Behold, the day of the LORD comes, Cruel, with both wrath and fierce anger, To
lay the land desolate; And He will destroy its sinners from it. 10 For the stars of heaven and their
constellations will not give their light; The sun will be darkened in its going forth, And the moon
will not cause its light to shine. 11 "I will punish the world for its evil, And the wicked for their
iniquity; I will halt the arrogance of the proud, And will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible.
12 I will make a mortal more rare than fine gold, A man more than the golden wedge of Ophir.
13 Therefore I will shake the heavens, And the earth will move out of her place, In the wrath of
the LORD of hosts And in the day of His fierce anger.
The above verses are talking about the destruction of Babylon, and yet they sound like the
destruction of the created order. Here is another
(Isaiah 34:3-5) Also their slain shall be thrown out; their stench shall rise from their corpses, and
the mountains shall be melted with their blood. 4 All the host of heaven shall be dissolved, and
the heavens shall be rolled up like a scroll; all their host shall fall down as the leaf falls from the
vine, And as fruit falling from a fig tree. 5 "For My sword shall be bathed in heaven; Indeed it
shall come down on Edom, And on the people of My curse, for judgment.
This describes the fall of Edom, and yet again it sounds like the dissolution of planet earth. Here
is another
(Nahum 1:1-5) The burden against Nineveh. The book of the vision of Nahum the Elkoshite. 2
God is jealous, and the LORD avenges; The LORD avenges and is furious. The LORD will take
vengeance on His adversaries, and He reserves wrath for His enemies; 3 The LORD is slow to
anger and great in power, and will not at all acquit the wicked. The LORD has His way in the
whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of His feet. 4 He rebukes the sea and
makes it dry, and dries up all the rivers. Bashan and Carmel wither, and the flower of Lebanon
wilts. 5 The mountains quake before Him, The hills melt, and the earth heaves at His presence,
Yes, the world and all who dwell in it.
The above verse describes the fall of Ninevah, and yet again it seems as though it speaks of a
worldwide destruction. One last example
(Ezekiel 32:7-8) 7 When I put out your light, I will cover the heavens, and make its stars dark; I
will cover the sun with a cloud, And the moon shall not give her light. 8 All the bright lights of
the heavens I will make dark over you, and bring darkness upon your land,' Says the Lord GOD.
This is a prophecy about Egypt. This again is similar wording to Matthew 24:29-30.
Matthew 24:29 is speaking about the end of the Old Covenant and the Jewish nation, not the end
of the physical created order.
COMING ON THE CLOUDS
(Mat 24:30) 30 "And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the
tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the SON OF MAN COMING ON THE
CLOUDS OF THE SKY with power and great glory.
Concerning "coming on the clouds"; this is also apocalyptic language that represents God's
nearness both to his people, and in judgment to his enemies. Here are some examples of God
coming near to his people in a cloud
(Exodus 16:10) 10 Now it came to pass, as Aaron spoke to the whole congregation of the
children of Israel, that they looked toward the wilderness, and behold, the glory of the LORD
appeared in the cloud.
(Exodus 19:9) 9 And the LORD said to Moses, "Behold, I come to you in the thick cloud, that
the people may hear when I speak with you, and believe you forever." So Moses told the words
of the people to the LORD.
(Leviticus 16:2) 2 and the LORD said to Moses: "Tell Aaron your brother not to come at just any
time into the Holy Place inside the veil, before the mercy seat which is on the ark, lest he die; for
I will appear in the cloud above the mercy seat.
Here are some examples of God's judgment in a cloud
(Isaiah 19:1) 1 The burden against Egypt. Behold, the LORD rides on a swift cloud, and will
come into Egypt; the idols of Egypt will totter at His presence, and the heart of Egypt will melt in
its midst.
(Nahum 1:3) 3 The LORD is slow to anger and great in power, and will not at all acquit the
wicked. The LORD has His way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of
His feet.
Just as the sun and the moon signs are apocalyptic language representing the fall of the Jewish
nation, so too the cloud coming in this portion of the Olivet Discourse represents God's coming
near to his people and final judgment upon his enemies. It is commonly held that Christ will be
visible to every single person. Even if this means that somehow Christ himself was visible to an
audience, it does not take away from the timing. The nature of something never determines
timing. Timing always determines the nature.
THE GATHERING OF THE ELECT
(Mat 24:31) 31 "And He will send forth His angels with A GREAT TRUMPET and THEY
WILL GATHER TOGETHER His elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the
other.
Daniel references this gathering at the time of tribulation this way
(Daniel 12:1-2) 1 "At that time Michael shall stand up, The great prince who stands watch over
the sons of your people; And there shall be a time of trouble, Such as never was since there was a
nation, Even to that time. (see Matt. 24:21) And at that time your people shall be delivered, every
one who is found written in the book. 2 And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth
shall awake, some to everlasting life, some to shame and everlasting contempt.
It is my opinion that the gathering of the elect in verse 31 is two-fold. First, it was the gathering
of all the Old Testament saints that had been bound in Sheol (the abode of the dead) until this
day of redemption when they could finally be brought into the presence of God. Christ's second
coming is the fulfillment of the Old Testament type of the high priest coming back out of the
holy of holies signifying that the sacrifice was acceptable and full redemption complete. With
Christ's coming again, the Old Testament saints had their long awaited redemption and were
gathered from Sheol into their new spiritual and glorified bodies and taken to heaven. This
gathering is also the gathering of the living elect believers who were watching anxiously for
Christ's return. Christ references the living elect in the Olivet Discourse, therefore I feel the
gathering is both of the living and the dead elect. Christ told his disciples that they would not all
die before he came again, and he told them that he was going away but would come again for
them. Therefore I believe that this gathering was of the living and the dead.
The idea of a first century rapture of the living saints is somewhat of a new position for me as I
study Preterism. I have finally settled on the idea as my own view for two reasons. The lesser
reason is that in the Old Testament Elijah was "translated" from the physical realm to the
spiritual realm, thus the possibility of this happening to a number of people is not out of the
question. There are also other instances where the spiritual realm was invisible to many, and
visible only to those whom God chose to show it to. If God can translate Elijah from one realm
to another, he can most assuredly do it for all his saints. The more compelling reason is that if
the coming at 70AD was to somehow "change" the living believers, or provide them with some
sort of relief, but not take them to heaven, then why do we not have letters from post 70AD
believers telling us of this? The lack of literature written immediately after the 70AD destruction
of the temple, I believe, lends credibility to the idea that the living saints had truly been raptured,
therefore they were not around to pen any letters immediately after 70AD.
I find it almost impossible that the Apostle John could have lived, as is believed, 20+ years after
the destruction of Jerusalem and not penned a letter showing any significance in the destruction
of the temple and Christ's second coming. I believe this strengthens the idea that they were no
longer around. Surely, if one of the disciples or a number of believers were still around after
70AD, somebody would have penned something that God would have allowed to last through the
ages for our benefit. The absence of such letters should give us confidence that he actually did
come for his elect. Considering that Christianity at this time was predominately people who were
not mighty, not noble, not strong (i.e. the weaker and outcast), then it is not so strange to believe
that in a region that was in such tremendous upheaval and tribulation due to the Roman
onslaught, that living Christians might have been translated from the physical world to the
spiritual world and unbelievers just simply missed it. After all, Christianity would still have been
a predominantly small religion in numbers. Considering that Christ himself clearly stated that
the gathering of the elect was an event co-joined to the destruction of Jerusalem, then if nothing
else I stand upon a first century gathering of the saints (living and dead) based upon scripture
alone. It is my final authority.
Even if I am incorrect on this, and the rapture (or gathering) was only of the dead saints, and that
the living saints remained on earth, but we have no record of it, it does not take away from the
major premise and that is the clear timing of the second coming.
If you would like to read more about the 70AD rapture position, I highly recommend the book,
"Expectations Demand a First Century Rapture", by Ed Stevens. You can obtain this book at
www.preterist.org. You may not settle on the same conclusions I have, but the book will
certainly bring to light some ideas you may not have pondered before.
We have now come to the end of focusing on the Olivet Discourse. Scripture alone has been
adequate enough to show that Christ meant what he said when he said he would come again in
that generation, and history and scripture have been adequate enough to show us that all things
predicted did in fact happen in some form or fashion in that generation. It does not matter if we
don't see how it could have happened. We must stand on the objective Word of God alone for
our conclusions.
From a historical standpoint, and so that you can get a much better grasp on how the severity of
the tribulation experienced in Israel qualifies for the fulfillment of the Olivet Discourse, I would
strongly suggest that you take some time to read some of the excerpts from the writings of Jewish
historian Josephus concerning the Jewish Wars. He was alive at the time of 70AD and penned a
great deal concerning it. He was also an unbeliever. This would mean that his writings have no
Christian bent to them in order to try and force a fulfillment in events of 70AD. You can find all
of these excerpts at www.preteristarchive.com/JewishWars/index.html or in the complete works
of Josephus, the book. Here are just a few examples showing the horrific events surrounding the
fall of Jerusalem
EXAMPLE #1 (Josephus) - "In the mean time, the Jews were so distressed by the fights they had
been in, as the war advanced higher and higher, and creeping up to the holy house itself, that
they, as it were, cut off those limbs of their body which were infected, in order to prevent the
distemper's spreading further"
EXAMPLE #2 (Josephus) - "And, indeed, why do I relate these particular calamities? while
Manneus, the son of Lazarus, came running to Titus at this very time, and told him that there had
been carried out through that one gate, which was entrusted to his care, no fewer than a hundred
and fifteen thousand eight hundred and eighty dead bodies(1), in the interval between the
fourteenth day of the month Xanthieus, [Nissan,] when the Romans pitched their camp by the
city, and the first day of the month Panemus [Tamuz]. This was itself a prodigious multitude (2);
and though this man was not himself set as a governor at that gate, yet was he appointed to pay
the public stipend for carrying these bodies out, and so was obliged of necessity to number them,
while the rest were buried by their relations; though all their burial was but this, to bring them
away, and cast them out of the city. After this man there ran away to Titus many of the eminent
citizens, and told him the entire number of the poor that were dead, and that no fewer than six
hundred thousand were thrown out at the gates, though still the number of the rest could not be
discovered; and they told him further, that when they were no longer able to carry out the dead
bodies of the poor, they laid their corpses on heaps in very large houses, and shut them up
therein; as also that a medimnus of wheat was sold for a talent; and that when, a while afterward,
it was not possible to gather herbs, by reason the city was all walled about, some persons were
driven to that terrible distress as to search the common sewers and old dunghills of cattle, and to
eat the dung which they got there; and what they of old could not endure so much as to see they
now used for food. When the Romans barely heard all this, they commiserated their case; while
the seditious, who saw it also, did not repent, but suffered the same distress to come upon
themselves; for they were blinded by that fate which was already coming upon the city, and upon
themselves also."
EXAMPLE #3 (Josephus) - "Hereupon some of the deserters, having no other way, leaped down
from the wall immediately, while others of them went out of the city with stones, as if they would
fight them; but thereupon they fled away to the Romans. But here a worse fate accompanied
these than what they had found within the city; and they met with a quicker dispatch from the too
great abundance they had among the Romans, than they could have done from the famine among
the Jews; for when they came first to the Romans, they were puffed up by the famine, and
swelled like men in a dropsy; after which they all on the sudden overfilled those bodies that were
before empty, and so burst asunder, excepting such only as were skillful enough to restrain their
appetites, and by degrees took in their food into bodies unaccustomed thereto. Yet did another
plague seize upon those that were thus preserved; for there was found among the Syrian deserters
a certain person who was caught gathering pieces of gold out of the excrements of the Jews'
bellies (1); for the deserters used to swallow such pieces of gold, as we told you before, when
they came out, and for these did the seditious search them all; for there was a great quantity of
gold in the city, insomuch that as much was now sold [in the Roman camp] for twelve Attic
[drams], as was sold before for twenty-five. But when this contrivance was discovered in one
instance, the fame of it filled their several camps, that the deserters came to them full of gold. So
the multitude of the Arabians, with the Syrians, cut up those that came as supplicants, and
searched their bellies. Nor does it seem to me that any misery befell the Jews that was more
terrible than this, since in one night's time about two thousand of these deserters were thus
dissected.
It is true that since 70AD there have been terrible wars and horrific tragedies toward humanity,
but scripture plainly shows that the destruction spoken of in the Olivet Discourse was God's
outpouring of final vengeance upon a particular nation, the Jews, for first turning away from him
by breaking the Old Covenant, and then finally crucifying the Son. This was the final turning
away from him, and he fulfilled his promises of crushing them and taking them out of the
promised land since they had not kept their part of the covenant. The promised land did not
come without conditions. God told the Israelites that when they entered the land to make sure to
follow after him. If they turned from him he would completely wipe them off the face of the
land.
Deuteronomy 28:15 (NASB) "But it shall come about, if you will not obey the Lord your God, to
observe to do all his commandments and His statues with which I charge you today, that all these
curses shall come upon you and overtake you."
Deuteronomy 28:20-21 (NASB) "The Lord will send upon you curses, confusion, and rebuke, in
all you undertake to do, until you are destroyed and until you perish quickly, on account of the
evil of your deeds, because you have forsaken me. 21 "The Lord will make the pestilence cling
to you until He has consumed you from the land, where you are entering to possess it."
God had chastised Israel for centuries, but now, after having turned a final time from Him by
crucifying the very Son of God, God charges all this to their account, and wiped them from off
the face of the land forever. Matthew and Daniel, written hundreds of years apart, record it this
way
(Matthew 24:21-22) 21 "For then there will be a great tribulation, such as has not occurred since
the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will. 22 "Unless those days had been cut short, no
life would have been saved; but for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short.
(Daniel 12:1) 1 "Now at that time Michael, the great prince who stands {guard} over the sons of
your people, will arise. And there will be a time of distress such as never occurred since there
was a nation until that time; and at that time your people, everyone who is found written in the
book, will be rescued.
Remember, Daniel was a prophet to the Jews, not to the Gentiles. Matthew was a Jew writing to
Jews. The point is that the destruction spoken of in both passages is directed at the Jews, not the
whole world. And that the "end times" are the end times of the Jewish, not planet earth. What
was experienced in Israel in 66-70AD should make us think of the parable of the vineyard, and
how the workers killed and stoned the messengers sent to them by the owner. Finally when they
killed the owner's son the He exacted full and final vengeance upon those workers by killing
every one of them and burning their city. That parable is a picture of what was to happen in
70AD when God poured out his wrath on Old Covenant physical Israel, and ended that age, and
began the New Covenant church age, to which there is no end. Today people point towards
physical Israel and say they are God's chosen people, but this simply is not the case. God is done
with physical Israel. He is now working through the true Israel the church. The Apostle Paul
clearly teaches that anyone who trusts in Christ alone as their savior is a son of Abraham and is
counted as true Israel (Galatians 3:6-18). Physical birth or lineage means nothing to God. It
never has. Only faith matters to God, and that is what has always made a person a true Israelite.
Physical Israel today means nothing to God. Physical Israel has long been done away with
because of their apostasy toward God and failure to live up to the Covenant he had with them.
People are not Jews by religion or birth, they are Jews by faith in Christ.
Now I want to turn our focus to countless other New Testament scriptures to further help solidify
the position that Christ did in fact mean that he would come again in that first century generation.
There are many of these type passages in the New Testament, and in an attempt to try and limit
the length of this paper I will try to limit my references to those with extreme significance.
THE BOOK OF MATTHEW
In Matthew's gospel, besides the Olivet Discourse, there are several passages that speak about the
imminence of the coming kingdom, the pending tribulation and destruction of Jerusalem, the
second coming, judgment, and resurrection. Verses that are of interest that I will not be
addressing in this paper areMatthew 3:2, 10:15, 12:32, 13:37-51, 22:6 (speaks specifically of the
destruction of Jerusalem), and 26:63-64. Lets look at some key verses in the book of Matthew
that help establish a first century fulfillment of the Olivet Discourse, and validate the truthfulness
of Christ regarding when he said he would come.
(Matthew 3:7) 7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he
said to them, "You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?
The word "come" in this verse is the Greek word "mello", which means "to be about to be". By
using the Greek word "mello" John is pointing to a wrath that was chronologically prophesied as
near to the Jews, not a wrath that was 2000+ years away and meant for the entire planet. It could
be read "who warned you to flee from the wrath about to come".
(Matthew 10:23) "But whenever they persecute you in one city, flee to the next; for truly I say to
you, you will not finish going through the cities of Israel until the Son of Man comes.
This is a very clear time reference regarding the second coming of Christ. First, who is the
relevant audience? The disciples. What does he tell them? He tells them that they will not
finish evangelizing all of Israel before he comes again. If we compare the statements, "you will
not finish going through the cities of Israel until the Son of Man comes" with "This generation
will not pass away until all these things be fulfilled" we have two time limiting and compatible
scriptures supporting one another as to the brevity of time before his second coming.
(Matthew 16:27-28) "For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of His Father with His
angels, and WILL THEN REPAY EVERY MAN ACCORDING TO HIS DEEDS. "Truly I say
to you, there are some of those who are standing here who will not taste death until they see the
Son of Man coming in His kingdom."
Who are the "you" in this verse? The disciples. How much clearer could Christ be when
establishing the time he was going to return? He has already limited the time of his coming by
saying these same men won't finish going through Israel evangelizing, and now he says he is
clearly coming back in the lifetime of at least some of his disciples. Both of those line up
perfectly with "this generation." Time after time Jesus has given us specific and emphatic time
limiting statements. When you read this particular scripture you have only two choices(1) He
either came back in the lifetime of some of his disciples, which would also qualify for "this
generation", or (2) There are some disciples still alive today because he told them that he would
return with glory and angels to establish his kingdom and give rewards before all of them had
died.
(Matthew 23:34-38) 34 "Therefore, behold, I am sending you prophets and wise men and scribes;
some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues,
and persecute from city to city, 35 so that upon you may fall the guilt of all the righteous blood
shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, the son of Berechiah,
whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. 36 "Truly I say to you, all these things will
come upon this generation. 37 "Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those
who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers
her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling. 38 "Behold, your house is being left to you
desolate!
Here again we see the use of "this generation" (verse 36). It is the same generation as "this
generation" in the Olivet Discourse. It is Christ's contemporaries. When you read this passage
you can see why it was this generation that was so guilty and so worthy of the great tribulation
that God poured out on it in judgment in 66-70AD. They were the generation that was not only
going to be guilty for all the righteous bloodshed from Abel to that present time, but they were
also the generation that was responsible for the bloodshed of the most righteous ever Jesus
Christ. Is this not the generation that most deserved all the horrific events described in the Olivet
Discourse? This was the culminating apostate generation that would see the full and final wrath
of God in judgment upon them as described in the pages of scripture. Christ himself told the
religious leaders of that day that they were "filling up the measure of their father's guilt" for
killing the prophets (Matthew 23:32). They had been a covenant breaking people for centuries,
and now, having killed the Messiah, this was the last generation of physical Israel before God
kept his promise to wipe them out forever. They even called this wrath down upon themselves in
the following verse
(Matthew 27:25) 25 and all the people said, "His blood shall be on us and on our children!"
They asked that his blood be upon them and their children, and it was done just as they asked.
They, their children, their temple, their city and their culture were completely annihilated in
70AD.
THE BOOK OF MARK
Mark is a shorter gospel book and is much faster paced than Matthew or Luke. It doesn't have
near as many passages dealing with the coming kingdom, judgment, etc. I will cover the major
verse (8:38-9:1) and leave other one to be read at your convenience. The verse I will not cover is
Mark 1:15.
(Mark 8:38 9:1) 38 "For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful
generation, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when He comes in the glory of His
Father with the holy angels." 1 And Jesus was saying to them, "Truly I say to you, there are some
of those who are standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God after it
has come with power."
See notes on Matthew 16:27-28. Because of the break from verse 38 in chapter 8, and verse 1 in
chapter 9, some have tried to make this mean that Christ was referring to the Transfiguration,
which is the next chronological event in scripture, or even Pentecost. The problem with that is
many. First, why would Christ say that some of them would not taste death if the event in
question (the transfiguration) were only 6 to 8 days away, or Pentecost, which was not that far
away? Saying that some of them would not taste death necessarily implies that some of them
(not just one) would taste death. Since none of the Apostles had died by the time of the
transfiguration, and with the exception of Judas, none of them had died by Pentecost, these
events should be ruled out as it would be extreme overkill on Jesus' part. Also, when you
contrast this verse with Matthew 16:27-28 you see that his coming is to be with glory, with
angels, and Christ will reward at this coming. Did Christ come with angels at the transfiguration
or Pentecost? No. Did he do any rewarding at the transfiguration or Pentecost? No. Christ is
speaking of his second coming only. Not Pentecost or the Transfiguration.
THE BOOK OF LUKE
Verses of interest in Luke that I will not be covering are as followsLuke 3:7, 11:31-32, 14:13-14
(compare to Daniel 12:13).
(Luke 9:26-27) 26 "For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, the Son of Man will be
ashamed of him when He comes in His glory, and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.
27 "But I say to you truthfully, there are some of those standing here who will not taste death
until they see the kingdom of God."
See notes on Matthew 16:27-28 and Mark 8:38-9:1
(Luke 11:49-51) 49 "For this reason also the wisdom of God said, `I will send to them prophets
and apostles, and some of them they will kill and some they will persecute, 50 so that the blood
of all the prophets, shed since the foundation of the world, may be charged against this
generation, 51 from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who was killed between the
altar and the house of God; yes, I tell you, it shall be charged against this generation.'
See notes on Matthew 23:34-38
(Luke 12:37-40) 37 "Blessed are those slaves whom the master will find on the alert when he
comes; truly I say to you, that he will gird himself to serve, and have them recline at the table,
and will come up and wait on them. 38 "Whether he comes in the second watch, or even in the
third, and finds them so, blessed are those slaves. 39 "But be sure of this, that if the head of the
house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have allowed his house to be
broken into. 40 "You too, be ready; for the Son of Man is coming at an hour that you do not
expect."
This is an important parable for two reasons. First, because he says near the end "you too, be
ready for the Son of Man is coming at an hour that "you" do not expect". Twice he says "you".
Who is the "you" in this verse? It is the disciples. He is telling them that they need to be on
guard for this coming. Is this not the same as "this generation" and "some of you standing here
shall not taste death" and "you will not go through all the cities of Israel?" Yes. Also, notice that
in the parable that the slaves are still alive when the master comes back. The master did not go
away 2000+ years and come again to different slaves. I don't want to make the parable walk on
all fours, but that is something that shouldn't be overlooked.
(Luke 19:41-44) 41 When He approached Jerusalem, He saw the city and wept over it, 42 saying,
"If you had known in this day, even you, the things which make for peace! But now they have
been hidden from your eyes. 43 "For the days will come upon you when your enemies will throw
up a barricade against you, and surround you and hem you in on every side, 44 and they will level
you to the ground and your children within you, and they will not leave in you one stone upon
another, because you did not recognize the time of your visitation."
Compare Luke 19:41-44 to Luke 21:20
(Luke 21:20) "But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then recognize that her
desolation is near.
Think about what Josephus penned about the famine, pestilence, death, and total destruction of Jerusalem. There were well over a million dead and just like the final destruction of the northern 10 tribes, the rest were taken away captive. Luke 19:41-44 was spoken by Christ even before the Olivet Discourse. We know that this was fulfilled in that generation.
(Luke 20:13-19) 13 "The owner of the vineyard said, `What shall I do? I will send my beloved
son; perhaps they will respect him.' 14 "But when the vine-growers saw him, they reasoned with
one another, saying, `This is the heir; let us kill him so that the inheritance will be ours.' 15 "So
they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. What, then, will the owner of the vineyard do
to them? 16 "He will come and destroy these vine-growers and will give the vineyard to others."
When they heard it, they said, "May it never be!" 17 But Jesus looked at them and said, "What
then is this that is written: `THE STONE WHICH THE BUILDERS REJECTED, THIS
BECAME THE CHIEF CORNER stone'? 18 "Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to
pieces; but on whomever it falls, it will scatter him like dust." 19 The scribes and the chief priests
tried to lay hands on Him that very hour, and they feared the people; for they understood that He
spoke this parable against them.
The key part of this verse is the last line. The religious leaders knew that he was speaking this
parable about them. This destruction was realized in the lifetime of some of these leaders, or
"this generation".
(Luke 23:27-31) 27 And following Him was a large crowd of the people, and of women who
were mourning and lamenting Him. 28 But Jesus turning to them said, "Daughters of Jerusalem,
stop weeping for Me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. 29 "For behold, the days are
coming when they will say, `Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bore, and the
breasts that never nursed.' 30 "Then they will begin TO SAY TO THE MOUNTAINS, `FALL
ON US,' AND TO THE HILLS, `COVER US.' 31 "For if they do these things when the tree is
green, what will happen when it is dry?"
Compare Luke 23:27-31 to Matthew 27:25
(Matthew 27:25) 25 and all the people said, "His blood shall be on us and on our children!"
Compare Luke 23:27-31 to Revelation 6:16
(Revelation 6:16) and they said to the mountains and to the rocks, "Fall on us and hide us from
the presence of Him who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb;
These are all speaking of the same event. That is the second coming of Jesus Christ and the
wrath poured out upon the Jews because of their rejection of Christ and their responsibility for
the righteous bloodshed from Abel on. Look specifically at Luke 23:30 and Revelation 6:16
(Luke 23:30) 30 "Then they will begin TO SAY TO THE MOUNTAINS, `FALL ON US,' AND
TO THE HILLS, `COVER US.'
Revelation 6:16 says
(Revelation 6:16) and they said to the mountains and to the rocks, "Fall on us and hide us from
the presence of Him who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb;
Either there are two second comings (one in 70AD and another one in Revelation, which would
actually be a third coming) or these passages are speaking of the same event. We have shown
how Luke 23:30 refers to the destruction of Jerusalem. If that is true, then Revelation 6:16
relates to the destruction of Jerusalem as well, for the wording is almost identical. This is the
wrath that John the Baptist had been warning the Jewish nation about.
THE BOOK OF JOHN
Verses worthy of reading that I will not cover in detail are as follows6:39-40, 6:44, 6:54, 11:24
(compare 6:44, 6:54, and 11:24 to Daniel 12:13), 12:48, 13:36, 14:2-3.
(John 5:25-29) 25 "Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming and now is, when the dead will
hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. 26 "For just as the Father has life
in Himself, even so He gave to the Son also to have life in Himself; 27 and He gave Him
authority to execute judgment, because He is the Son of Man. 28 "Do not marvel at this; for an
hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs will hear His voice, 29 and will come forth;
those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds to a
resurrection of judgment.
Compare to Daniel 12:2
(Daniel 12:2) 2 " Many of those who sleep in the dust of the ground will awake, these to
everlasting life, but the others to disgrace and everlasting contempt.
There is but one resurrection so the question is "when" did that resurrection take place? Jesus
said in the Olivet Discourse that it would happen at the time of the great tribulation and
destruction of Jerusalem when he sends forth his angels to gather his elect. In John 5:25-29
Christ says he has been given authority to execute judgment. Think about what Christ said in
Matthew 16:27-28. He said he would come to establish his kingdom and reward (judge) in the
lifetime of his disciples, or "this generation". The resurrection of the saints is a past event.
I know that when I say that the resurrection is a past event some people find me crazy. With that
in mind I want to turn to scripture alone as my means for substantiating this position. In the
Olivet Discourse, which I believe has been proven beyond a shadow of a doubt to be related to
the destruction of Jerusalem, Luke writes the following
(Luke 21:22) because these are days of vengeance, in order that all things which are written may
be fulfilled.
What was written at that time Jesus spoke those words? The Old Testament was all. None of the
New Testament books were written till at least 52-53 AD so when Christ says that the destruction
of Jerusalem is the fulfillment of all things written this would include all prophetic literature,
including the book of Daniel. If that is true then that would include Daniel 12:2
(Daniel 12:1-2) 1 "Now at that time Michael, the great prince who stands {guard} over the sons
of your people, will arise. And there will be a time of distress such as never occurred since there
was a nation until that time; and at that time your people, everyone who is found written in the
book, will be rescued. 2 "Many of those who sleep in the dust of the ground will awake, these to
everlasting life, but the others to disgrace {and} everlasting contempt.
We have already established the fact that the distress spoken of in Daniel is almost identical in
wording with the distress spoken of in Matthew 24. Both authors tie this distress to the gathering
of the elect (or resurrection), therefore the resurrection is a past event that happened in
conjunction with the fall of Jerusalem, just as Christ predicted in "this generation". Note also in
Daniel it says, "and at that time your people" Who were Daniel's people? The Jews! Again, this
helps us to know that the tribulation spoken of was God's judgment of the apostate Jewish nation,
not the whole world.
(John 14:28-29) 28 "You heard that I said to you, `I go away, and I will come to you.' If you
loved Me, you would have rejoiced because I go to the Father, for the Father is greater than I. 29
"Now I have told you before it happens, so that when it happens, you may believe.
Who are the "you" in verse 29? Again, it is the disciples. As we have seen elsewhere in
scripture, Jesus told his disciples that he would come in their generation, before all of them had
died, and before they had evangelized all of Israel. Now he tells them, "I go away, and I will
come to you". He then goes on to say "I have told you before it happens so that when it happens
you may believe". The point is that he was telling them while they were still alive about an event
that would happen while some of them were still alive to see it. In other words, and pointing
back to Matthew 16:27-28, they would not all taste death.
(John 21:21-23) 21 So Peter seeing him (John) said to Jesus, "Lord, and what about this man?"
22 Jesus said to him, "If I want him to remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow Me!"
23 Therefore this saying went out among the brethren that that disciple would not die; yet Jesus
did not say to him that he would not die, but only, "If I want him to remain until I come, what is
that to you?"
This is simply another scripture that points toward the brevity of time regarding Christ's second
coming. It would only be possible for John to remain alive if Christ' coming would be fulfilled
in his lifetime. He has already told the disciples that not all of them would taste death before he
returned. Why not John? John was alive in 70AD at the time of the destruction of Jerusalem.
THE BOOK OF ACTS
(Acts 2:5-21) 5 Now there were Jews living in Jerusalem, devout men from every nation under
heaven. 6 And when this sound occurred, the crowd came together, and were bewildered because
each one of them was hearing them speak in his own language. 7 They were amazed and
astonished, saying, "Why, are not all these who are speaking Galileans? 8 "And how is it that we
each hear them in our own language to which we were born? 9 "Parthians and Medes and
Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10 Phrygia and
Pamphylia, Egypt and the districts of Libya around Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews
and proselytes, 11 Cretans and Arabs--we hear them in our own tongues speaking of the mighty
deeds of God." 12 And they all continued in amazement and great perplexity, saying to one
another, "What does this mean?" 13 But others were mocking and saying, "They are full of sweet
wine." 14 But Peter, taking his stand with the eleven, raised his voice and declared to them:
"Men of Judea and all you who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you and give heed to my
words. 15 "For these men are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only the third hour of the day;
16 but this is what was spoken of through the prophet Joel: 17 `AND IT SHALL BE IN THE
LAST DAYS,' God says, `THAT I WILL POUR FORTH OF MY SPIRIT ON ALL MANKIND;
AND YOUR SONS AND YOUR DAUGHTERS SHALL PROPHESY, AND YOUR YOUNG
MEN SHALL SEE VISIONS, AND YOUR OLD MEN SHALL DREAM DREAMS; 18 EVEN
ON MY BONDSLAVES, BOTH MEN AND WOMEN, I WILL IN THOSE DAYS POUR
FORTH OF MY SPIRIT And they shall prophesy. 19 `AND I WILL GRANT WONDERS IN
THE SKY ABOVE AND SIGNS ON THE EARTH BELOW, BLOOD, AND FIRE, AND
VAPOR OF SMOKE. 20 `THE SUN WILL BE TURNED INTO DARKNESS AND THE
MOON INTO BLOOD, BEFORE THE GREAT AND GLORIOUS DAY OF THE LORD
SHALL COME. 21 `AND IT SHALL BE THAT EVERYONE WHO CALLS ON THE NAME
OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED.'
Notice what Peter says in verse 16. He says that the tongues being spoken were a sign that the prophesy of Joel was being fulfilled. The prophecy of Joel dealt with the last days just prior to the great day of the Lord. The day of the Lord was a prophecy concerning the Jewish nation. Thus, the tongues being spoken were a sign to the unbelieving Jews that their prophesied destruction was on it's way. Notice verse 19. It says
(Acts 5:19-20) 19 AND I WILL GRANT WONDERS IN THE SKY ABOVE AND SIGNS ON
THE EARTH BELOW, BLOOD, AND FIRE, AND VAPOR OF SMOKE. 20 `THE SUN WILL
BE TURNED INTO DARKNESS AND THE MOON INTO BLOOD, BEFORE THE GREAT
AND GLORIOUS DAY OF THE LORD SHALL COME.
This is almost identical to the Olivet Discourse
(Matthew 24:29-30) "But immediately after the tribulation of those days THE SUN WILL BE
DARKENED, AND THE MOON WILL NOT GIVE ITS LIGHT, AND THE STARS WILL
FALL from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken, (Mat 24:30 NASB) and then
the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn,
and they will see the SON OF MAN COMING ON THE CLOUDS OF THE SKY with power
and great glory.
Joel was a prophet to the Jews. When you remember that, and when you compare Acts 5:19-20 with Matthew 24:29-30, you begin to see that the "last days" are the last days of the Jewish nation, not planet earth.
(Acts 17:30-31) 30 "Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring
to men that all people everywhere should repent, 31 because He has fixed a day in which He will
judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof
to all men by raising Him from the dead."
In verse 31 the word "will" is the Greek word "mello". Mello in the Greek means, "to be about to
be" or "to be on the point of something". The passage could just as easily read, "He has fixed a
day in which he is about to judge the world". The Greek word "mello" helps us to understand the
imminence of this judgment.
THE EPISTLES
Beginning with the book of 1st Thessalonians, we now enter into a different section of scriptures.
We are now going to deal chronologically with passages that were written anywhere from about
52AD to perhaps at late as 66-67AD. As these letters get closer and closer to 70AD, or the end
of that generation, you will see how scripture begins to have an even more imminent feel to it. I
will be commenting on some of the epistle scriptures, and others I will simply list in order to
show the overwhelming belief that they knew the second coming of Christ was imminent.
THE BOOK OF 1st THESSALONIANS
(written 52 AD+/-)
(1 Thessalonians 1:9-10) 9 For they themselves report about us what kind of a reception we had
with you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve a living and true God, 10 and to wait
for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, that is Jesus, who rescues us from the
wrath to come.
(1 Thessalonians 2:19) 19 For who is our hope or joy or crown of exultation? Is it not even you,
in the presence of our Lord Jesus at His coming?
(1 Thessalonians 3:13) so that He may establish your hearts without blame in holiness before our
God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all His saints.
(1 Thessalonians 4:13-18) 13 But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those
who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope. 14 For if we believe
that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in
Jesus. 15 For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until
the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord Himself
will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of
God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive and remain will be caught
up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with
the Lord. 18 Therefore comfort one another with these words.
Paul assures these first century Thessalonians, just as Christ had assured his disciples, that some
of them would be alive at the second coming of Christ. Now, lets look at verse 16 specifically
(1 Thessalonians 4:16) 16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the
voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.
Let's compare that with the Olivet Discourse
(Mat 24:31 NASB) "And He will send forth His angels with A GREAT TRUMPET and THEY
WILL GATHER TOGETHER His elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the
other.
Unless there are multiple trumpet comings, these verses are speaking of the same eventthe
gathering of the elect at the second coming of Christ. We have already established that Matthew
24:31 is in regards to the destruction of Israel, and that it would happen in the lifetime of the
disciples. Paul is simply validating to the Thessalonians what Christ first voiced to the original
Apostles years earlier.
(1 Thessalonians 5:1-11) 1 Now as to the times and the epochs, brethren, you have no need of anything to be written to you. 2 For you yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night. 3 While they are saying, "Peace and safety!" then destruction will come upon them suddenly like labor pains upon a woman with child, and they will not escape. 4 But you, brethren, are not in darkness, that the day would overtake you like a thief; 5 for you are all sons of light and sons of day. We are not of night nor of darkness; 6 so then let us not sleep as others do, but let us be alert and sober. 7 For those who sleep do their sleeping at night, and those who get drunk get drunk at night. 8 But since we are of the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet, the hope of salvation. 9 For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, 10 who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep, we will live together with Him. 11 Therefore encourage one another and buil