The reason why all preterist believe scripture has been fulfilled is because we believe Jesus know what he was talking about when he said (all these things would happen in that generation ) Matthew 24:34
We believe The Key that Unlocks scripture is to believe what Jesus and his disciples have said in scripture and not the traditional teaching of men today. Please dont get mad when I say that. I am not saying you guys dont believe Jesus.
What I am saying is Preterist dont NOT believe the traditional teach about Christs return in the church today. And I will show you why as we go along.
Prediction after predictions of Christs return in futurist books into our future has failed to materialize. One such book was (the late grear planet earth).
And the secular media (who are always looking for an excuse to call Jesus a false prophet) are further discrediting Christianity because of the futurist view.
These people know the Bible batter then most Christians do today and they know Jesus said he would return in that generation. So they use that statement to try to discredit Jesus and his disciples and show that Jesus must be a false prophet. Notice what God said about any prophet who said he was speaking in Him name.
And if you say in your heart, How shall we know the word which the LORD has not spoken? (when a prophet speaks in the name of the LORD) , if the thing does not happen or come to pass, that is the thing which the LORD has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously; you shall not be afraid of him. (Deuteronomy 18:21-22)
These are not the words or opinions of any preterist this is inspired writ, i.e., Gods opinion. If a prophet said he was speaking in the name of God and made a (time statement) about something that thing had to come to pass within that (stated time frame) or that prophet was not speaking for God.
Most Christians today dont know this Statement of God is in their Bible but the ones who are calling Jesus a false prophet do know it is in there as you will soon see.
Jesus was that prophet here that God is talking about (see Acts 3:22-25)
Also notice here that Paul said that who ever did not hear the (words of Jesus the Prophet) He would utterly destroy from among the people. In other words the Jews verse 23. He did destroy them in A.D. 70.
Now as I was saying there are some who know these scripture and use them because of the futurist view to try to show Jesus is a false prophet. See the link below.
http://members.aol.com/just1crzyju/falseprophet.htm
This is just one of many, many, many web sites out there. And the secular world also uses these same things to discredit Christianity. I wish you could all go with me sometime when I go to other places to teach so you can hear what I am saying for yourself.
Until now no one has been able to address these kind of false statements against Christ and Christianity. Preterist can now show Biblically how these scriptures were fulfilled. The futurist view has failed to do that because of that view. You cannot defend Christianity with a futurist view when God said if a prophet speaks in His name the time statement must came to pass on time.
Only showing them how Scripture has been fulfilled can do that. Jesus was not a false prophet and he knows what he was talking about. This is just one of the things the preterist view is all about.
We can now show from scripture and history that Jesus and his disciples know what they were talking about when they said he would return soon.
And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light. (Romans 13:11-12) Notice here that Paul says the day was at hand then.
You also be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand. (James 5:8) Notice that James also said that Jesus was at hand then. Could anything be clearer, simpler, or more straight forward then Pauls and Jemess statement here?
I can go on and on with scripture to show (they believed Jesus was returning in their lifetime as Jesus promised).
These saints know what they were talking about and they were not false prophets nor were any of them on any kind of drugs. God said over and over again there would be no more prolonged prophecy.
(Ezekiel 12:22-28) Son of man, what is that proverb that ye have in the land of Israel, saying, The days are prolonged, and every vision faileth? {23} Tell them therefore, Thus saith the Lord GOD; I will make this proverb to cease, and they shall no more use it as a proverb in Israel; but say unto them, The days are at hand, and the effect of every vision. {24} For there shall be no more any vain vision nor flattering divination within the house of Israel. {25} For I am the LORD: I will speak, and the word that I shall speak shall come to pass; it shall be no more prolonged: for in your days, O rebellious house, will I say the word, and will perform it, saith the Lord GOD. {26} Again the word of the LORD came to me, saying, {27} Son of man, behold, they of the house of Israel say, The vision that he seeth is for many days to come, and he prophesieth of the times that are far off. {28} Therefore say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; There shall none of my words be prolonged any more, but the word which I have spoken shall be done, saith the Lord GOD.
I believe God know what he was talking about when he said there would be NO MORE PROLONGED prophecy in Israel.
I also believe the disciples who know these scripture believed God when he said he would no longer PROLONGED prophecy in Israel. I believe they believe as God said the (day was at hand).
In short we believe what the Bible says and NOT what the church says the Bible says.
We dont believe what (We all have been taught in the church) about a future coming of Christ because we believe it goes against the clear teaching of Jesus and the disciples in scripture.
The key to understanding any passage of Scripture has always been a good grasp of language, culture, and historical setting in which Scripture was ORIGINALLY written.
The disciples saw one short fulfillment period with two phases to it: a suffering humiliation phase and a victorious consummation phase. Were did they get that idea?
Does the Old Testament predict Christ Return? Any one who knows their Bible will answer a quicke "yes" to the question without realizing the implications.
A good book of the Bible that both Jews and Christians accept as highly messianic is the book of Isaiah. It should become apparent very quickly that Isaiah did not know of any "second coming."
For it is the day of the Lord's vengeance. The year of recompense for the cause of Zion. (Isaiah 34:8)
The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me. Because the Lord has anointed Me To preach good tidings to the poor He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liderty to the captive And the opening of the prison those who are bound. To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, And the day of veangeance of our God. (Isaiah 61:1-2)
Indeed the Lord has proclaimed to the end of the world Say to the daughter of Zion . Surely your salvation is coming Behold, His reward is with Him And His work before Him. (Isaiah 62:11)
For the day of vengeance is in My heart. And the year of My redeemed has come. (Isaiah 63:4)
These are just some of the old testament scriptures and not one distinguish between "a coming in redemption and a coming in vengeance."
This is the way the old testament Jewish prophets have always viewed it and the new testament saints hung onto their concepts. The Jews never had the concept of a second coming. That kind of language is never used by the Jewish prophets.
The language used closely connects the coming of the Lord with both salvation and vengeance (judgment) or reward. Nowhere does the OT teach a "second coming" to fulfill the rest of the things he was unable to fulfill the first time.
They saw one short fulfillment period with two phases to it; a suffering humiliation phase and a victorious consummation phase. They expected the consummation of all these things during one short fulfillment period according to God's prophets That is way Paul and James both said that the Lord was at hand (Romans 13:11; James 5:8-9)
One of the easiest things is letting the Bible speak for itself. James said Jesus was standing at the door! verse 9. If he was standing at the door it was in that generation. These is no such distinction in the old testament or New Testament Scripture between a (first coming of Christ with salvation and vengeance as clearly see by Paul and James.
Before anyone in our day and time can assign verses in the New Testament about the coming, of the Lord thousands of years they must first prove that the (Old Testament Prophets ) clearly distinguished between all these different coming of Christ.
Jesus didn't do anything that wasn't written in the Law, the Psalms, and the Prophets concerning Him. That language is another way of saying,'Holy Writ,' or as we call it today, the Old Testament.
In fact the only place in the Bible which even comes close to teaching a (second advent) is Heb. 9:28 where it says Christ will (appear a second time) .
This was using the Jewish symbolism of the High Priest at Yom Kippur when he took the blood into the holy place and then reappeared back outside the tabernacle (Temple) to announce that atonement had been accomplished.
Then Aaron lifted his hand toward the people blessed them, and came down from offering the sin offering, the burnt offering, and peace offerings. And Moses and Aaron went into the tabernacle of meeting, and came out and blessed the people, Then the glory of the Lord appeared to all the people. (see Leviticus 9:1-24)
Notice here that Israel's sins were not forgiven until Aaron the High Priest came out of the tabernacle to bless the people verses 22,23 Every Jewish Christian understood simply that the second reappearance of Christ our High Priest would be during the same age..unto salvation. so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time apart from sin, for salvation. (see Hebrews 9:27-28) "For yet a little while, And He who is coming will come and will not tarry. (see Hebrews 10:37)
The Jews never had the concept of more then one coming with two phases to it and since it was the Jews who first taught the notion of a Messiah via the Jewish prophets it seems quite reasonable to respect their inspired witting.
The early church understood this to be simply a reappearance during His one-and only advent announcing that atonement had been accomplished. (See Hebrews 9:24-28) They saw one short fulfillment period with two phases to it and this is the same way the Jews have always viewed it. (Isaiah 63:4)
Now I am not here to make anyone come over to the preterist view. I am just showing you the problems we see with the futurist view.
Beside being called a false prophet this view is also one of the reasons why the Jews don't believe Jesus is their their Messiah, since the Old Testament Jewish prophets NEVER taught a second coming of the Messiah in the first place that would accomplish redemption, and judgement, many generations away.
Notice how various will know Jewish writer express this. The Jew refused to accept the excuse that the major prophecies concerning the Messiah will only be fulfilled in a "second coming." ( He expects the Messiah to complete his mission in his first attempt.) [The Real Messiah Reprinted from Jewish Youth, June 1973 page 15.]
The full establishment of the Kingdom could not be delayed. (The Real Messiah. Reprinted from Jewish Youth, June 1973. page 15).
Since Jesus did not fulfill the most important Messianic prophecies, they expected him to return to complete this task in a "second coming." At first, Christians expected that this (second coming) would come very shortly...in their lifetime. When their prayer was not an answered they began to hope that it would come a thousand years after Jesus' death. This was the millennium or thousand years kingdom.
Finally after a thousand years passed and Jesus still had not returned, (they postponed his second coming to an indefinite time). We therefore see that the (early Christians were forced to radically alter the Jewish concept of the Messiah in order to explain Jesus failure). This compounded with the pagan influence in the (early church, gave birth to a Messianic concept totally alien to Judaism. [Pinchas Stolper, ed. pages 32, 33}
You will discover that when ever any really strong question [such as why Jesus hasn't fulfilled all Messianic prophecies]..is asked [of the Christians], the (standard answer is that it refers to the second coming). It therefore becomes extremely important to ascertain the validity of this claim. The success of the Christian claim or its failure ( rest to a very large extent on the theory of the second coming).It is clearly an answer born of desperation. [Samuel Levin. You Take Jesus, I will Take God. Los Angeles 1980. Page 15]
A vital point, totally ignored, is that the Jewish prophecy never implied two comings divided by centuries. (see Isa. 35:4-6, 40:10-11, 61:1-2, 62:11, 63:1-6, 66:6-16; Zech. 14; and Mal.4:1-6)
