Jesus DID already come and fulfill the promises.
He declared the physical temple unclean (which would render it necessary for destruction) but the day of the LORD wasn't until 70 AD (the "coming of the Son of Man" wasn't a "coming" to earth - it's a phrase that means "coming into power and glory").
Good luck trying to prove what no one else has been able to. Jesus already told us He will not return until the Jewish people say "Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord" (cry for their Messiah). The Israelites weren't looking for Jesus in 70AD. They were fleeing for their lives.
Matthew 23:39 New King James Version (NKJV)
for I say to you, you shall see Me no more till you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’ ”
In most instances His coming is one of judgment; in no case was He physically present.
Zechariah 2:10-11 New King James Version (NKJV)
10 “Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion! For behold,
I am coming and I will dwell in your midst,” says the Lord. 11 “Many nations shall be joined to the Lord in that day, and they shall become My people.
And I will dwell in your midst. Then you will know that the Lord of hosts has sent Me to you.
Zechariah 8:3 New King James Version (NKJV)
“Thus says the Lord:
I will return to Zion,
And dwell in the midst of Jerusalem.
Jerusalem shall be called the City of Truth,
The Mountain of the Lord of hosts,
The Holy Mountain.’
Zechariah 9:8 New King James Version (NKJV)
I will camp around My house
Because of the army,
Because of him who passes by and him who returns.
No more shall an oppressor pass through them,
For now I have seen with My eyes.
Zechariah 9:14 New King James Version (NKJV)
Then the Lord will be seen over them,
And His arrow will go forth like lightning.
The Lord God will blow the trumpet,
And go with whirlwinds from the south.
Zechariah 14:4 New King James Version (NKJV)
And in that day
His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives,
Which faces Jerusalem on the east.
And the Mount of Olives shall be split in two,
From east to west,
Making a very large valley;
Half of the mountain shall move toward the north
And half of it toward the south.
Ezekiel 11:23 New King James Version (NKJV)
And the glory of the Lord went up from the midst of the city and stood on the mountain, which is on the east side of the city.
Habakkuk 3:6 New King James Version (NKJV)
He stood and measured the earth;
He looked and startled the nations.
And the everlasting mountains were scattered,
The perpetual hills bowed.
His ways are everlasting.
Micah 1:3 New King James Version (NKJV)
For behold, the Lord is coming out of His place;
He will come down
And tread on the high places of the earth.
Joel 3:12 New King James Version (NKJV)
“Let the nations be wakened, and come up to the Valley of Jehoshaphat;
For there I will sit to judge all the surrounding nations.
Joel 3:17 New King James Version (NKJV)
“So you shall know that I am the Lord your God,
Dwelling in Zion My holy mountain.
Then Jerusalem shall be holy,
And no aliens shall ever pass through her again.”
Isaiah 12:6 New King James Version (NKJV)
Cry out and shout, O inhabitant of Zion,
For great is the Holy One of Israel in your midst!”
Isaiah 60:14 New King James Version (NKJV)
Also the sons of those who afflicted you
Shall come bowing to you,
And all those who despised you shall fall prostrate at the soles of your feet;
And they shall call you The City of the Lord,
Zion of the Holy One of Israel.
So what were you saying again about Christ not physically present on earth at the second coming? This is what happens when you listen to Gary DeMar and not read the bible, 1 Corinthians 3:19-21.
Gary DeMar, who is a preterist advocate from the American Vision worldview ministry,
posted today this surface-level critique of the prewrath position. Actually, it was not so much a critique of the prewrath position as it was more a drive-by rambling against futurism. Gary DeMar is not a scholar, he is a popularizer, but that should not excuse him from his slipshod interactions with other positions.
One of the reasons why I think he is unwilling to honestly and substantively interact with futurist positions (including prewrath) is because he loathes futurism and dispensationalist premillennialism. So much so that he is more (much more!) friendly to heretical hyperpreterism than he is with his futurist brothers and sisters in Christ. This is something everyone needs to know when they approach DeMar’s writings. And that should tell you something about DeMar’s priorities, that he loathes dispensationalism/premillennialism/futurism to the degree that he will align himself more with the heresy of hyperpreterism so as to distance himself from dispensationalist premillennialism. To be sure, DeMar is a preterist not a hyperpreterist—though he is often hard-pressed to repudiate the heresy of hyperpreterism.
Gary DeMar and other preterist interpreters inveigh against futurists for being “literalistic” in their interpretations. Yet, I actually find many of their interpretations literalistic, as in this case, interpreting “soon” as being fulfilled within a few years at the destruction of the Jerusalem temple in 70 AD.
This is a favorite argument of preterists. But it is facile.
Interpreters such as DeMar do not consider—or even show awareness—of the pragmatic use of language. The preterist literalistic semantic assumptions reveal their lack of linguistic perception and appreciation for the pragmatics of apocalyptic parenesis (exhortation).
A better option to the preterist interpretation is to understand the term “soon” (
en tachei) in this context as possessing the sense of certainty, especially with its collocation with the term
dei (“it is necessary”). I.e. these events are certain to happen, therefore take heed.
However, the most likely interpretation, in my judgment, is that it indicates
expectancy (not that the latter interpretation needs to be disconnected from this one). Every generation of the church, not just the first generation, should possess a heedful expectation of Christ’s return and its associative events. “Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of the prophecy, and heed the things which are written in it; for the time is near [
engys]” (Rev 1:3).
This parenesis functions to instill alertness in every generation of believers who read the book of Revelation. Since we do not know when he will return, we are always to be vigilant, lest we find ourselves unprepared for the things that will take place. (“Behold, I am coming like a thief! Blessed is the one who stays awake, keeping his garments on, that he may not go about naked and be seen exposed!” Rev 16:15).
Incidentally, according to preterist interpretive standards, they must be consistent and conclude that the apostle Paul was a false prophet:
“The God of peace will soon (
en tachei) crush Satan under your feet.” (Rom 16:20)
Last time I checked that did not happen in Paul’s day; in fact after two thousand years, it still has not happened.
Paul’s prophecy will be fulfilled at Christ’s parousia when “he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death” (1 Cor 15:24–26).
“Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place.” —Matt 24:34
This is the go-to proof text for preterists. It is the holy grail of preterism. It is the first and last thing that comes out of their mouths when you talk to them about the Olivet Discourse. But is their interpertation on this verse correct?
The operative expression in this verse is “this generation.” It is taken by preterists to mean literally the actual generation of the disciples who were living at that time, having all the events, including the parousia, to be fulfilled during that generation. In other words, they argue, the events that Jesus predicted such as the abomination of desolation, the great tribulation, and the parousia of Christ happened during their generation. Therefore, we should not be looking into the future for these events to occur. They already happened. And Matthew 24:34 with “this generation” solidifies it for them.
Incidentally, preterist interpretation grew out of 19th century higher-critical, non-predictive, anti-supernatural scholarship, who denied that Jesus was a true prophet, let alone divine. They believed Jesus was a misguided—and mistaken—Jewish messianic claimant. And some of these critical scholars believed it was his followers who put these words on Jesus’ lips. Indeed, 20th century evangelical preterists tweaked this interpretation in keeping with inspired predictive prophesy. This fact of the history of preterist interpretation does not make evangelical preterism right or wrong. But I do find it interesting that in much evangelical preterist literature, there is a minimization of predictive prophecy of the second coming of Christ. For example, Gary DeMar has been hard pressed to find instances in the New Testament which speak of the second coming of Christ.
Now back to Matthew 24:34. How do futurists interpret this verse? A common interpretation is that Jesus intends “this generation” to refer to a future generation that will experience all these events, which does not then require it to be the generation of his first disciples. Jesus, it is argued, leaves open the particular generation. It is further argued in this interpretation that Jesus coming on the clouds is a reference to his second coming (which I believe is correct), therefore, this event and those surrounding it such as the great tribulation must be in the future. I think there is some merit to this interpretation. But I do not believe it is the best one for the futurist. I believe Jesus intends something else with “this generation.”
I want to direct you to an excellent article by Neil D. Nelson, Jr, entitled, “‘This Generation’ in Matt 24:34: A Literary Critical Perspective.” Nelson argues that Jesus uses the expression, “this generation,” not in some neutral or temporal sense, but as a derogatory characterization referring to an evil and unbelieving people headed toward eschatological judgment. This expression, “represents an evil class of people who will oppose Jesus’ disciples until the day he returns….but upon that return they will be judged (“passed away”) and the true disciples and the real Christ will be vindicated.”