"All these things shall come upon this generation." Christ used "generation" twenty-five times in reference to the Jews of his day; nine of the twenty-five are in Matthew (Matthew 11:16; 12:39; 12:41; 12:42; 12:45; 16:4; 17:17; 23:36; 24:24). "But first he (Christ) must suffer many things and be rejected of this generation" (Luke 17:25; also Mark 8:12; 8:12; 8:38; 9:19; 13:30; Luke 7:31; 9:41; 11:29; 11:30; 11:31; 11:32; 11:50; 11:51; 16:8; 17:25; 21:32). "Genea," the Greek word from which "generation" is translated never means "race" as the Millennialists contend that it does in Matthew 24:34.
"THIS GENERATION," was the generation of Jews in the time of Christ, not a generation of today.
If "this generation" means "this race" or “this nation” as some Millennialists teach, are there forty-two "races" spoken of in Matthew 1:1-17? “So all the generations from Abraham unto David are fourteen generations (not fourteen races or nations); and from David unto the carrying away to Babylon fourteen generations; and from the carrying away to Babylon unto the Christ fourteen generations.”
The use of "you" clearly identified the "generation" Jesus was speaking to in Matthew 24. When speaking to His disciples Jesus said:
Millennialists must change generations to a nation with many successive generations, thereby making God to have used the wrong word.
(3) THEN AN ADDRESS TO HIS DISCIPLES ON THE MOUNT OF OLIVES OVERLOOKING JERUSALEM: Matthew 24:1-51. There have been thousands of speculations made on Matthew 24 over the centuries, and it may have been abused more than most other passage.
THE CONTEXT OF MATTHEW 24: It is in the midst of passages about Israel.
MATTHEW 24
Matthew 24:1-2: "And Jesus went out from the temple, and his disciples came to him to show him the buildings of the temple, but he answered and said unto them, see you 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." The stones were the "buildings of the temple." These words are the reason for the questions by his disciples, and the reason for the discourse that followed. The purpose of this discourse was not to give His disciples signs of His coming at the end of the world, but to give them signs of the destruction of Jerusalem, to warn believers in that generation of the coming destruction of Jerusalem, and to give them a sign for them to flee from the destruction coming in their lifetime. "But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then recognize that her desolation is nigh" (Luke 21:20; Matthew 24:15). At the second coming there will be no signs, no one will flee to the mountains.
Matthew 24:3: "And as he sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, tell us"
Matthew 24:3:
Question one: "Tell us, when shall these things be?"
Question two: "And what shall be the sign of your coming, and of the end of the age?" Except for the bad translation of the King James Version ("end of the world"), no one would see the end of the world in these two questions. The Greek says, "end of the age" (aion), not "end of the world" (kosmos). Not even the New King James Version would go along with the King James Version on this bad translation.
· “And of the end of the age,” New King James Version, New International Version, New Revised Standard Version.
· “And of the completion of the age,” Alfred Marshall, “Parallel New Testament In Greek And English.”
· “And of the full end of the age,” Young’s Literal Translation.
· “And the conclusion of this state,” Alexander Campbell, “The Living Oracles.”
· “Of the age, viz. the Jewish economy,” Adam Clarke.
Mark 13:4:
Question one: "Tell us, when shall these things be?"
Question two: "And what shall be the sign when these things are all about to be accomplished?"
Luke 21:6-7:
Question one: "When therefore shall these things be?"
Question two: "And what shall be the sign when these things are about to come to pass?"
Question two as given in the three parallel accounts. All are the same question.
"These things" were the things Christ had just said, "And Jesus said unto him, ‘Do you see these great buildings? There shall not be left here one stone upon another, which shall not be thrown down.’ And as he seat on the Mount of Olives over against the temple, Peter and James and John and Andrew asked him privately, ‘Tell us, when shall these things be?’" (Mark 13:2-3). The disciples, thinking of what the Lord had said, asked two questions, which they supposed both would be at the same time.
(1) When shall these things You speak of be.
(2) And what shall be the sign that these things are about to come to pass?
Neither in what Christ said, nor in the question the disciples asked there is no reference to the second coming. Or to a great tribulation thousands of years after "these thing." At the time they asked these questions they did not believe or know that Jesus would be put to death, or that he would be going back to Heaven and coming a second time. The disciples still thought the Christ would restore the earthy kingdom of Israel, just as all the Jews did.
At the time they asked this, they did not believe just as the Jews did not believe that their messiah would be killed, but they believed that He would set up an earthly kingdom of Israel. How could they be asking about His second coming when they did not know there would be a second coming? Millennialists must make the disciples be asking a question about the second coming of Christ that the disciples did not understand about or believe at that time, but they must have the disciples asking questions about the millennial and the rapture to make this chapter teach their view. I have never seen where any Premillennialists explain how the disciples could know anything about the rapture, or the thousand years when the same disciples did not knew that Christ was to die, and be raised from the dead and forty days later ascend to Heaven. From where do they think these disciples had this knowledge? TO MAKE “THESE THINGS” BE THINGS THAT HAS NOT YET CAME TO PASS WOULD MAKE THE DISCIPLES BE ASKING ABOUT THINGS THEY KNEW NOTHING ABOUT.
(1) SIGNS OF THE THINGS THAT WERE TO COME TO PAST
THAT CHRISTIANS WERE WARNED NOT TO BE FOOLED BY
Matthew 24:4-15: "And Jesus answered (His answer was to the questions the disciples had asked about the destruction of the temple, not about His second coming) and said unto them, Take heed that no man lead you astray. For many shall come in my name, saying, I am the Christ; and shall lead many astray. And you shall hear of wars and rumors of wars; see that you are not troubled: for these things must needs come to pass; but the end is not yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; and there shall be famines and earthquakes in divers places. But, all these things are the beginning of travail. Then shall they deliver you up unto tribulation, and shall kill you: and you shall be hated of all the nations for my name's sake. And then shall many stumble, and shall deliver up one another, and shall hate one another. And many false prophets shall arise, and shall lead many astray. And because iniquity shall be multiplied, the love of many shall wax cold. But, he that endures to the end, the same shall be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world for a testimony unto all the nations; and then shall the end come. When; therefore, you see the abomination of desolation, which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (let him that reads understand)."
(2) NATURAL DISASTERS TO ISRAEL AND ROME
(a) Wars and rumors of wars (Matthew 24:6; Mark 13:7-8; Luke 21:9-10) with nations and kingdoms rising against each other (Matthew 24:7). There were many conflicts and battles before A. D. 70 in which thousands of Jews were killed. In one battle with the Syrians about 5,000 Jews were killed. From A. D. 66 to 70 there were many wars and rumors of wars. Many thousands were killed in the many wars in the 5 years before the destruction of the temple and Israel in A. D. 70.
B. W. Johnson: "The Jewish war began in A. D. 66, and ended five years after. During this period all the Roman Empire was filled with commotion. Nero, the emperor, was overthrown by Galba; six months after, Galba was overthrown by Otho; a few months after, Otho was overthrown by Vitelius; a little later, he was overthrown by Vespasian. All of these but the last, who ascended the throne shortly before Jerusalem was destroyed, died violent deaths...Tacitus, the Roman historian, says of this period: 'It was full of calamities, horrible with battles, rent with seditions, savage in peace itself.'" "The People's New Testament With Notes," Gospel Light Publishing Company, 1889.
From the writing of Josephus we learn that the Jews were divided into parties fighting among themselves, and Jews killed others Jews in numbers far greater then those killed by the Roman soldiers, and villages of Syria and elsewhere were burnt to the ground in the five years of war before the Romans laid siege to Jerusalem. During the siege many more Jews were killed by warring bands of Jews in Jerusalem, and Josephus says the Jews suffered far more from one another inside the walls of the city than from the Romans outside. Thousand more were killed by bands of robbers.
Matthew Henry: "When Christ was born, there was a universal peace in the empire...From the time that the Jews rejected Christ, and he left their house desolate, the sword did never depart from their house, the sword of the Lord was never quiet, because