Bible Questions Answered:
“Pastor we are
having a debate about how long a generation is, in other words is
this the generation that will see the Lord?..”
Leonard/Makati
City, Philippines
Bible Answer:
How ridiculous this question about a “generation,” has become!
This is not the
proper setting for Matthew 24:34 “Verily I say unto you, This
generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.”
This pastor
remembers well, in time past, why 40 years had to be a
generation...of course that was wrong, so now what? The subject is up to total speculation. Try to find any two people who really agree on just
what a generation should be, good luck!
If indeed a
generation is the transition from father to son, than a generation
could be, 100 years!
That's right, for
that is what a generation was for Abraham and Isaac. Genesis 18:13,14
KJV (Abraham 100, Sarah 90).
What is a
generation, the lunacy of trying to figure that amount of time, when
that was not what was intended in Matthew 24:34, is a waste of
good time.
Here is Matthew
24, properly parsed.
Matthew 24:1-51 KJV
1 And Jesus went out, and departed
from the temple: and His disciples came to Him for to shew Him the
buildings of the temple.
2 And Jesus said unto them, See ye
not all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left
here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.
3 And as He sat upon the mount of
Olives, the disciples came unto Him privately, saying, Tell us,
* when shall these
things be? and
* what shall be the sign of
thy coming, and of the end of the world?
(Two Questions Asked By The
Disciples:)
Last Question First (Because
of its importance not only to Jerusalem, but to the world.):
3. What shall be the sign of thy
coming, and of the end of the world?
4 And Jesus answered and said unto
them, Take heed that no man deceive you.
5 For many shall come in My name,
saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.
6 And ye shall hear of wars and
rumors of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things
must come to pass, but the end is not yet.
7 For nation shall rise against
nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and
pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
8 All these are the beginning of
sorrows.
9 Then shall they deliver you up to
be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all
nations for My name's sake.
10 And then shall many be offended,
and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.
11 And many false prophets shall
rise, and shall deceive many.
12 And because iniquity shall
abound, the love of many shall wax cold.
13 But he that shall endure unto the
end, the same shall be saved.
14 And this gospel of the kingdom
shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations;
and then shall the end come.
15 When ye therefore shall see the
abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in
the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:)
16 Then let them which be in Judaea
flee into the mountains:
17 Let him which is on the housetop
not come down to take any thing out of his house:
18 Neither let him which is in the
field return back to take his clothes.
19 And woe unto them that are with
child, and to them that give suck in those days!
20 But pray ye that your flight be
not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day:
21 For then shall be great
tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this
time, no, nor ever shall be.
22 And except those days should be
shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake
those days shall be shortened.
23 Then if any man shall say unto
you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not.
24 For there shall arise false
Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders;
insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very
elect.
25 Behold, I have told you before.
26 Wherefore if they shall say unto
you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the
secret chambers; believe it not.
27 For as the lightning cometh out
of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming
of The Son Of Man be.
28 For wheresoever the carcase is,
there will the eagles be gathered together.
29 Immediately after the tribulation
of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give
her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of
the heavens shall be shaken:
30 And then shall appear the sign of
The Son Of Man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth
mourn, and they shall see The Son Of Man coming in the clouds of
heaven with power and great glory.
31 And He shall send His angels with
a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together His elect
from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
First Question Last
(Because it is in minor
consequence compared to the last question):
The disciples asked:
3. When shall these things be?
32 Now learn a parable of the fig
tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye
know that summer is nigh:
33 So likewise ye, when ye shall see
all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors.
34 Verily I say unto you, This
generation (The
one present)
shall not pass, till all these things be
fulfilled.
35 Heaven and
earth shall pass away, but My words shall not pass away.
Good News Translation:
32 “Let the fig tree teach you a
lesson. When its branches become green and tender and it starts
putting out leaves, you know that summer is near.
33 In the same way, when you
see all these things (Roman
occupation of Jerusalem, and Titus destroying the surrounding
northern provinces.), you will know that the time is near,
ready to begin.
34 Remember that all these
things will happen before the people now living have all died.
35 Heaven and earth will pass away,
but My words will never pass away.
Our Lord in His
foreknowledge, knew only too well, the horrors that would one day
befall Jerusalem.
Epilogue:
Last Question, Again Answered:
(Because of its importance, involving the whole world.)
The disciples asked:
3. What shall be the sign of
thy coming, and of the end of the world?
36 But of that day and hour
knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but My Father only.
37 But as the days of Noah were, so
shall also the coming of The Son Of Man be.
38 For as in the days that were
before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving
in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark,
39 And knew not until the flood
came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of
The Son Of Man be.
40 Then shall two be in the field;
the one shall be taken, and the other left.
41 Two women shall be grinding at
the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
42 Watch therefore: for ye know
not what hour your Lord doth come.
43 But know this, that if the good
man of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he
would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be
broken up.
44 Therefore be ye also ready:
for in such an hour as ye think not The Son Of Man cometh.
45 Who then is a faithful and wise
servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give
them meat in due season?
46 Blessed is that servant, whom his
lord when he cometh shall find so doing.
47 Verily I say unto you, That he
shall make him ruler over all his goods.
48 But and if that evil servant
shall say in his heart, my lord delayeth his coming;
49 And shall begin to smite his
fellow servants, and to eat and drink with the drunken;
50 The lord of that servant shall
come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is
not aware of,
51 And shall cut him asunder, and
appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping
and gnashing of teeth.
Simply put, verse 36 “But of that
day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but My
Father only.” our Lord does not know the hour of His return for
His people,
but He did know the day, the hour, and even the second,
that Jerusalem would be sacked, and the temple torn down, stone by
stone!
Jesus knew (By the foreknowledge of
God.) when the Roman Prince Titus would bring destruction.
Destruction that came in August of 70 A.D.
That destruction came some forty years
after our Lord's pronouncement to His disciples.
Forty has always
spoken of judgment (Just a couple of examples, but there are many
others).
At the time of Noah's flood, rain fell
for forty days.
Genesis 7:4 KJV
"...and I will cause it to rain
upon the earth forty days and forty nights; and every living
substance that I have made will I destroy from off the face of the
earth.
Sinful Israel wandered in the desert,
until all adults who left Egypt were dead and their children entered
the promised land.
Numbers 14:33,34 NLT
33 And your children will be like
shepherds, wandering in the wilderness for forty years. In this way,
they will pay for your faithlessness, until the last of you lies dead
in the wilderness.
34 “‘Because your men explored
the land for forty days, you must wander in the wilderness for forty
years—a year for each day, suffering the consequences of your sins.
Then you will discover what it is like to have Me for an enemy.’
Psalm 95:10,11 KJV
10 Forty years long was I grieved
with this generation, and said, It is a people that do err in their
heart, and they have not known My ways:
11 Unto whom I sware in My wrath
that they should not enter into My rest.
Yes, Jesus knew well the date of the
destruction of Jerusalem and the temple. That is why He told them
verse 34.
“Verily
I say unto you,
This generation shall
not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.”
What were the
things going to be fulfilled?
1 And Jesus went out, and departed
from the temple: and His disciples came to Him for to shew Him the
buildings of the temple.
2 And Jesus said unto them, See ye
not all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be
left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.
That was Christ's
answer to their first question.
Christ's answer to
their second question (the most important information,
involving the whole world)
Matthew 24:3
KJV “What shall be the sign of thy coming, and of
the end of the world?” is found in Matthew
24:4-31; 35-51.
To this question,
their second, and yet more important question, our Lord stated the
following.
36 But of
that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but
My Father only.
This date and time our Lord does not know, only The Father, knows it.
As God's people, we are not to be worried about dates, but the
signs of our Lord's coming.
The importance of all this is...
As it was with the Jews, and their shallow religious living, having
been warned, they did not listen.
So our Lord warns again and again, now the world.
42 Watch
therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.
44 Therefore be
ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not The
Son Of Man cometh.
46 Blessed is that servant, whom
his lord when he cometh shall find so doing.
47 Verily I say unto you, That he
shall make him ruler over all his goods.
48 But and if that evil servant
shall say in his heart, my lord delayeth his coming;
49 And shall
begin to smite his fellow servants, and to eat and drink with the
drunken;
50 The lord
of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and
in an hour that he is not aware of,
51 And shall
cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites:
there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
