What is the context? It’s found at the beginning of the chapter: the disciples were admiring the temple buildings. Jesus said “do you see these things? not one stone would be standing upon another”. The disciples then wanted to know when this would happen.
so did the temple fall within their generation? Yup, sure did. No way around that.
You also pointed out the parable of the fig tree - so also when you see these things know he is near, at the very door.
Are there any epistles that declare Christ’s coming had come near and that the he was at the door?
What would you say the context of the OD is? And where would you find this context?
First, the falling of the temple in Matthew 24:1-2 has to go with the fall of Old Testament congregation. Not a physical temple. The disciples did think it was physical before they were filled with Holy Spirit and understood what Christ actually talked about. It was the temple that fell and He rebuilt it in 3 days. It has to do with stones of PEOPLE, not literal stones. After Christ said that old Testament congregation (which the temple of his body represents) fell, then he prophesied the rest about His New Testament Congregation during the great tribulation near the end.
And many of you got the generation part all misunderstood. The generation in Matthew 24, for example, has nothing to do with the lifespan of the hearer. Rather Christ is talking about family - a spiritual family - a kindred of Satan.
See there are
ONLY TWO GENERATION OR FAMILIES on Earth. They are contrasting and distinct seeds. If you remember God Himself spoke of them in the Garden of Eden, and the enmity He declared would be between them. The children of God and the children of the Devil are two diverse and distinct generations or families from these two seeds.
The family of God extends all the way back to the beginning. Likewise, the family of Satan extends to the same period, illustrated vividly in the episode of Abel and Cain. The way that the word of God uses the phrase "
the Generation of evil", makes it synonymous with the children (or family) of the Devil. It does not refer only to an immediate present day family group. The
Generation of evil refers to all the seed of the Serpent throughout time, who are of that family by their Patriarchal relationship to the spirit of Satan. Just as the children of God refer to the whole family of God, which are
a chosen generation, [
genos] or family (1st Peter 2:9) extending throughout time. So it's not just people who happen to be living at the time in which the phrase was written. God uses these family relationships to illustrate those who are of the same spiritual kinship, as illustrated in passages like John chapter 8:
John 8:44
- "Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it."
Once again we see that Christ is clearly explaining the divine truth that they were the kindred, seed or children of the Devil. They were part of a particular spiritual
family group relationship and that is why Christ identifies their "father" as the Devil. Selah! Satan "is" the spiritual Patriarch reference for the
whole generation or family of evil. Clearly, Satan has had many children throughout time, not merely those whom Christ was speaking to in this immediate context in Matthew 24, etc.
All those under Satan's spiritual control are the generation or family of evil which has existed from the beginning. In Biblical terms, they are the spiritual offspring (generation) of their Patriarch reference, which is that old Serpent the Devil and Satan. Just as when Christ speaks of the people as a
generation of vipers, He is identifying that seed, these children, that family group, as a people who serve their father Satan. He is not talking about everyone in that physical generation or time period. Nor were all living in that physical (
generation) time span, this generation Christ spoke of. Nor could they be, since they all were not children of Satan or of evil.
Matthew 12:32-35
- "And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come.
- Either make the tree good, and his fruit good; or else make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt: for the tree is known by his fruit.
- O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.
- A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things."
How can a [
gennema] (meaning offspring or family) of vipers, children of the serpent, speak good things when they speak from their heart, which is full of evil. This family (translated generation) that Christ references is the seed of the serpent, children of vipers. That clearly cannot be all the physical generation alive at that time, which consists of the Apostles, John the Baptist, Mary, Elizabeth, or any of the true church of that period. They cannot commit the unforgivable sin of blaspheming the Holy Ghost. Of necessity it has to be
only the
unregenerate 'family' of the viper Satan. Not the whole generation living at that time, He spoke of the
family of Satan who cannot escape the damnation of Hell--yes,
THAT generation. Therefore, when Christ calls them the [
gennema] of vipers, he is not referring to
ALL those people of that time (
as many often understand generation o to mean), but he is speaking only of the seed of the serpent, Satan. It is a family or generation of evil that cannot escape judgment, and Satan is their spiritual Patriarch father.
Matthew 23:32-34
- Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers.
- Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?
- Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city:"
The
well-oiled myth that the phrase
this generation always refers to a particular span of that contemporary time, is clearly not the case. Here Christ references the previous people (
their fathers) who lived before, and who killed and persecuted the prophets, and includes them as this same
generation (or family)
of vipers and snakes. He also includes those who would come after and persecute His prophets. That proves it's not referring only to his contemporaries. Because it is self-evident that if this word meant that all this generation (the way many understand the word) at that time were a bunch of snakes who couldn't escape the damnation of hell, then it would mean the wicked who came before them and after them, and killed the prophets and the Apostles, were not in that generation also. That contradicts the passage itself. The Apostles were of that physical generation "if" the word Generation really meant what the Praeterits (preterists) believe that it means. But obviously, Christ is not talking about that local contemporary physical generation, He is talking about those who are a family [
gennema] of spiritual vipers or snakes.
Psalms 140:1-3
- "Deliver me, O LORD, from the evil man: preserve me from the violent man;
- Which imagine mischiefs in their heart; continually are they gathered together for war.
- They have sharpened their tongues like a serpent; adders' poison is under their lips. Selah."
The adder is a type of viper or snake representing Satan, and these people are of that family of evil. Men who, out of the evil in their hearts, bring forth wicked fruit. In this, we see that there is not only precedence for the word generation not used in reference to the present time, but many times the context itself
demands that it not be understood that way. A generation of vipers are a evil family [
gennema], kindred spirits with the Devil, everyone from Cain to the Last unsaved person on Earth!
And we should also not lose sight of the fact that in order for
All to be fulfilled in that physical generation (which Christ declared in Matthew chapter 24), the time He refers to must have all those things fulfilled. Not a few, not some, not most, but ALL. So the time when ALL will be fulfilled must be at the end of the world/age, only then will this generation of evil pass! When we study the context of Matthew chapter 24, it becomes abundantly clear that this end time period is what God is referring to when all will be fulfilled.
Matthew 24:3
- "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?"
We are all well aware of the claims that the end of the age took place in 70 AD, but that is a Biblically untenable position for several reasons. First, the end of the age if it referred to the Old Testament dispensation came when Christ died and was resurrected (approximately 33 AD), not almost 40 years later in A.D. 70. Second, His coming is declared to be as it was in the days of Noah, GLOBAL, and WORLD DEVASTATING, (rather than city destruction) and that obviously didn't happen in A.D 70. The proponents of this theory come to this disjointed conclusion by selectively interpreting age/world [
aion], and then arbitrarily making the supposition that there was an end of the age/world in A.D. 70. This despite the fact that there is absolutely no Biblical warrant for declaring 70 AD as the time of an end of an age. Not one single Scripture makes that claim. So while they insist that Matthew 24's declaration of the end of the world is a mis-translation of the word [
aion] meaning age, they are still unable to coherently explain verses such as found in Luke chapter 18:
Luke 18:30
- "Who shall not receive manifold more in this present time, and in the world to come life everlasting."
This is the exact same Greek word [
aion], meaning world/age. If that present time when Christ spoke was before 70 AD when He says they receive manifold more, and the age to come brought eternal life for them, then obviously 70 AD being the next age (
according to their theory) must have been the age when eternal life was instituted. Did eternal life come in 70 AD? Did life everlasting only start after Jerusalem was destroyed by the Romans? Well, DUH! It did not take place! The TRUTH is that the New Dispensation started at the death and resurrection of Christ, and is consummated at the end of the world/age when Christ returns. Period! So this theory of Preterism is quite bankrupt and void of any solid scriptural foundation. Jesus is obviously speaking not about an alleged beginning of an age in 70 AD, but about the end of the world/age at His second coming. This is when
all would be fulfilled, and this is when
this Generation of evil would pass and not a second before. Indeed, that is the answer to the very question that the Disciples asked in Matthew 24 of when the timing of the end and His second coming would be.
Sorry Preterists, your 70AD theory has been refuted!
