"Now
learn this parable from the fig tree: When its branch has already become tender
and puts forth leaves, you know that summer is near. 33 "So you also, when
you see all these things, know that it is near; at the doors! 34
"Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till
all these things take place. -
Matthew
24:32-34
As we have previously seen in our
studies, the disciple's viewed the destruction of the temple, the parousia of
Christ, and the end of the age as events that would happen at the same
time,".
The disciples question was basically
two fold; when will these things happen, and what
signs will indicate that they are about to happen? In verses 4-51,
Jesus answers their questions.
Please keep this in mind as you read
Matthew 24, the Lord is answering His disciple's questions. His response had to
do with the discourse that flowed from Matthew 21. The theme of judgment was so
obvious that the implications on the leadership of the Jewish temple would be
earth-shaking.
Jesus told them a number of things that
would happen before the end came; the gospel would be preached to all the
world, they would see the "abomination of desolation" that Daniel had
spoken of (Luke tells us that this refers to the Roman armies surrounding Jerusalem).
There would come a time of great tribulation. Then immediately after the
tribulation, they would see the Son of man come in the clouds of heaven. This
coming which we have seen is related an immediate judgment upon that old
covenant age.
Now to put things in perspective he
then says:
"Now learn this parable from the fig tree:
When its branch has already become tender and puts forth leaves, you know that
summer is near. 33 "So you also, when you see all these things, know that
it is near; at the doors! 34 "Assuredly, I say to you, this generation
will by no means pass away till all these things take place. - Matthew 24:32-34,
This
is how Luke puts it.
Then He spoke to them a parable: "Look at
the fig tree, and all the trees.
30 "When they are already budding, you see and know for yourselves that
summer is now near. - Luke 21:29-30
The way Jesus puts it, it can be any
simpler than this. When you see the leaves on the tree begin to come out then
you know that summer is near. In order words He is when you see the things come
to pass that I have been talking about, which includes the gospel preached to
all the world, the abomination of desolation, the great tribulation, and the
Son of man come in the clouds of heaven then you know that the end is near. This
was end that they were enquiring about.
This state of imminence would be an
indicator through the unfolding of events. The interplay of events was the
knock on the door. This is James used
this same illustration of "standing at the door" to speak of the
nearness of the Lord's return.
“Therefore be patient, brethren, until the coming
of the Lord. See how the
farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, waiting patiently for it
until it receives the early and latter rain. 8 You also be patient. Establish
your hearts, for the COMING OF THE LORD IS AT HAND. 9 Do not grumble
against one another, brethren, lest you be condemned. Behold, the JUDGE
IS STANDING AT THE DOOR! 33 So
you also, when you see all these things, know that it is near; at the doors! - James 5:7-9, 33,
Luke’s account makes it very plain for the reader to
understand
"So you also, when you see these things
happening, know that the kingdom of God is near. - Luke 21:31
Then comes the clincher in our text in
Matthew 24:33. This is where everything is tied up together. Once we see this
we would realize that this prophecy was to be fulfilled in a certain point in
time. The result of this prophecy would be the full manifestation of the
kingdom that would come in power and glory at 70 AD.
"Assuredly, I say to you, THIS GENERATION
will by no means pass away till ALL these things take place.” - Matthew 24:34
In very clear and plain terms Jesus tells
His disciples that ALL of the things He had mentioned would come to pass in THAT
GENERATION. Based the context, you will this includes the gospel being
preached in all the world, the abomination of desolation, the great tribulation
and His Second Coming.
It is very clear from the passage that the
word "generation," simply refers to His contemporaries, the Jewish
people of His own period.
At this point it would be good for us
to see the uses of "generation" still in the same context.
"that
on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of
righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, son of Berechiah, whom you murdered
between the temple and the altar. 36 "Assuredly, I say to you, all these
things will come upon this generation” - Matthew 23:35-36
Jesus is in the temple speaking to the
Jews, he says that all the judgement that he had spoken about would come upon
them. This also is very clear.
"For
as the lightning that flashes out of one part under heaven shines to the other
part under heaven, so also the Son of Man will be in His day. 25 "But
first He must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation. - Luke 17:24-25
Also it is a no brainer here. No other
generation did Christ suffer many things from, and was rejected other than the
Jews of his day.
So how long is a generation?
Most Bible scholars and commentators agree
that a generation as refers to a thirty to forty year time. The book of Matthew
is one I consider closest to defining the length.
So all the generations from Abraham to David are
fourteen generations, from David until the captivity in Babylon are fourteen
generations, and from the captivity in Babylon until the Christ are fourteen
generations. - Matthew 1:17
If look at the genealogical table as given by
Matthew, we will see the estimate the length of a generation. We see that from
the captivity in Babylon until Christ are fourteen generations. According to
bible history the date of the captivity, in the reign of Zedekiah, is said to
be 586 BC. From 586 BC until the birth of Christ would be about 586 years. If
you divide that time period by fourteen, it gives you an average length of a
generation to be about 41 years.
The
children of Israel wondered in the wilderness for forty years before entering
the promise land. A generation could not go in.
Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, In
the day of trial in the wilderness, 9 Where your fathers tested Me, tried Me,
And saw My works forty years. 10 Therefore I was angry with that generation,
And said, 'They always go astray in their heart, And they have not known My
ways.' - Hebrews
3:8-10,
"So the Lord's anger was aroused against
Israel, and He made them wander in the wilderness forty
years, until all the generation that had done evil in the sight of the LORD was
gone.” - Numbers
32:13
If we look closely we will see that forty
years is a significant number in the Bible. This type of shadow of Israel
entering the promised is also antityped in the New Testament. The early church
also were in a transition period for forty years before entering the New
Jerusalem, which is above.
There are some who also argued that the
word generation in Matthew 24 means race. They
proclaim that Jesus was saying that the Jewish race would not die out until
all these things took place. On the contrary that is not the proper
interpretation from the Original greek.
If you look up every New Testament
occurrence in any concordance of the word generation (in
Greek, genea) you will never see it that means
'race' in any other context. Neither does it refer to the entire Jewish
race over time into the future.
It always refers to contemporaries.
All that Jesus said would happen would be experienced by his contemporaries,
those living at that time.
"For the Son of Man will come in the glory
of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his
works. 28 "Assuredly, I say to you, there are some standing here who shall
not taste death till they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom." - Matthew 16:27-28
"When they persecute you in this city, flee
to another. For assuredly, I say to you, you will not have gone through the
cities of Israel before the Son of Man comes. - Matthew 10:23
There are
many who seek a way out rather explaining what these verses mean in their
simplicity. Some would ask you “Do you
mean that Jesus already came back in that generation?” when the real question
is this “Do you think that Jesus would lie telling that he would be back while
that first century church was preaching the gospel then”
When Jesus
said "all these things" would occur before that generation was over,
He was talking about everything that He had been discussing from verse 4
through verse 33. This included the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ in
power and glory. He confirms to them it will happen in their generation.
DOES
THE JEWISH NATION SUGGEST ANYTHING TODAY?
I want to state something that might
surprise some but it is to give you the opportunity to do your own research.
The events of ad70 was about the end of that Jewish age. The result over that
time confirms that THERE IS NO JEWISH RACE TODAY. They were scattered
all over the earth and have lost all tribal relations. Due to the fact that
all tribal genealogical records were destroyed with the Temple in A.D. 70 it is
impossible to establish a pure Jewish race today.
David Curtis in his studies about
understanding “The Generation” of Matthew 24 gave the following quotations to
establish the fact the there are no Jewish race today:
The Encyclopedia Brittanica (1973)
"The Jews As A Race: The findings of physical anthropology show that,
contrary to the popular view, there is no Jewish race. Anthropornetric
measurements of Jewish groups in many parts of the world indicate that they
differ greatly from one another with respect to all the important physical
characteristics." (vol. 12, page 1054)
Encyclopedia Judaica Jerusalem (1971)
"It
is a common assumption, and one that sometimes seems ineradicable even in the
face of evidence to the contrary, that the Jews of today constitute a race, a
homogeneous entity easily recognizable. From the preceding discussion of the origin
and early history of the Jews, it should be clear that in the course of their
formation as a people and a nation they had already assimilated a variety of
racial strains from people moving into the general area they occupied. This had
taken place by interbreeding and then by conversion to Judaism of a
considerable number of communities. . . ."
"Thus, the diversity of the racial
and genetic attributes of various Jewish colonies of today renders any unified
racial classification of them a contradiction in terms. Despite this, many
people readily accept the notion that they are a distinct race. This is
probably reinforced by the fact that some Jews are recognizably different in
appearance from the surrounding population. That many cannot be easily identified
is overlooked and the stereotype for some is extended to all - a not uncommon
phenomenon" (Encyclopedia Judaica Jerusalem, 1971, vol. 3, p. 50).
Encyclopedia Americana (1986)
"Racial and Ethnic Considerations. Some theorists have
considered the Jews a distinct race, although this has no factual basis. In
every country in which the Jews lived for a considerable time, their physical
traits came to approximate those of the indigenous people. Hence the Jews
belong to several distinct racial types, ranging, for example, from fair to
dark. Among the reasons for this phenomenon are voluntary or involuntary
miscegenation and the conversion of Gentiles to Judaism" (Encyclopedia
Americana, 1986, vol. 16, p. 71).
John Bray said, "Many Christians
do not know that the vast majority of so-called Jews in the world today are the
Ashkenazim Jews, while the remainder of them are the Sephardim Jews. The
Ashkenazim Jews have as their background not the nation of Israel but a country
called Khazaria, which country at one time was the largest country in Europe.
The settlers of Khazaria were Turks and Huns. In A.D. 740 King Bulan of
Khazaria decided to adopt the Judaistic religion for his country. A number of
Jews were already living there. So he converted to Judaism, along with all his
officials, and whole nation ended up being known as a nation of Jews. In 970
Russia came in and dominated the situation, and the Khazars were scattered,
many of them going down into Poland and Lithuania. Where at the dawn of our
modern civilization the largest concentration of Jews were found. Today, the
largest percentage of so-called Jews in the world have as their background this
group of people." (This information is fully documented in detail in John
Bray's book, Israel in Bible Prophecy)
Matthew 24 was a prophecy that has
already been fulfilled, and therefore, has no double fulfillment in the future.
God is not preparing to kill billions of Jews in the future. This avoidable
tragedy happened in the generation that heard Jesus speak these words. Just
like most of Jews fell beyind in entering the promised land so also many of
them did not enter the kingdom at the demise of that old covenant age.
Relax and don’t give in to false prophecies
counting the birth of the nation of Israel as an indicator of coming doom on
global scale. The kingdom is here and will shine forth in glory and power over
time and people by the power of His grace.