Matthew 24:34 “Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled. “Many folks point to this verse when speaking of the last day / end times. Some say that the countdown clock started in May 1948, others say it was June 1967, when Israel finally took back the city of Jerusalem and won control of the Temple Mount.
Both points are promoted, but I stand upon the birth of the nation that took place in 1948.
How Long is a Biblical Generation?
Scripture says…
Psalms 90:10 (KJV) “ The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labour and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away.”
In other words, the number of years people live on the average is 70, possibly 80 if they are strong and of good constitution.
To back this up, Matthew in his reciting of Christ’s generations follow the Psalms 90:10 definition of a generation, 70 years.
Matthew 1:17 (KJV) “ So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations; and from David until the carrying away into Babylon are fourteen generations; and from the carrying away into Babylon unto Christ are fourteen generations.”
Matthew is using the Psalm 90 definitions of generation in order to tell a specific chronological time story of our Lord Jesus Christ. So, if Matthew is using it pertaining to and qualifying our Lord, we should use it also.
With all that said, and just doing simple math, 1948 70 years comes to 2018.
So What is Going To Happen?
To be honest, I do not know.
When we look at scripture Christ says that “these things be fulfilled.”
What are “these things?”
Well, looking at Matthew 24 let’s take things item by item.
Vs 4 – Take heed that no man deceives you
Vs 5 – Many false Christs shall come and deceive many
Vs 6 – Wars and rumors of wars, but this is not the end yet
Vs 7 – Nations shall rise up against each other. Famines, pestilence, and earthquakes in divers’ places
Vs 8 – All these are the beginnings of sorrows
Vs 9 – Christian persecution grows, we are hated by all nations for the sake of Christ
Vs 10 – People will be highly offended, people will betray one another and hate each other.
Vs 11 – Many false prophets will rise and deceive many.
Vs 12 Because people are immoral and their grossly unfair behavior, man’s love will wax cold
Vs 13 – But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.
Vs 14 – And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.
Vs 15 – 17 Christ continues to give warning to the apostilles primarily about 70AD. Later Antiochus Epiphanes defiles the temple by sacrificing a pig and proclaiming himself “god” in the temple. This was the time of the Maccabees where Israel was just trounced on and came very close to being wiped out.
Vs 21 – It seems that Christ then jumps to the future, our future and tells us great tribulation such as not been seen since the beginning of the world.
Vs 22 – And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened.
Vs 23 -25 – Christ warns about more false Christs, false prophets and many showing great signs and wonders, so much so that these people will deceive the very elect, us… Christians. Don’t believe the false Christs no matter what.
Vs 29 – After the tribulation the sun will be darkened, the moon shall be dark and stars fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken.
Vs 30 – And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
Vs 31 – And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
Vs 32 – Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh:
Vs 33 – So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors.
So many people like to take this portion of scripture, break it up, bend it, swap it, but when you just read it as is in context, it is pretty amazing what you see here. As much as I hate to say it, it is not what the popular teachers have been teaching.
For a while now people have been saying “it’s just a matter of time.”
It is 2018. We are now out of time, that is if God wanted to pull plug on it all.
He might give us another 10 years for good measure, that would then bring us up to 2028.
Thing is that I see all these great pontificators of bible prophecy throwing out all these futuristic things that are supposed to take place.
Well, we are now out of time. That is what the bible clearly states.
Folks, if we are the final generation and 2018 is it, then that means we have seriously run out of time.
What is the flip side of that?
We are NOT the final generation and all those bible prophecy that have come to pass, well, all those were just chance, a winning roll of the dice.
It is like we have become accustomed to having our cake and eating it too.
Either these things that are being taught are going to take place here soon,…
because we are the final generation,…
OR they are not and we are not the final generation.
Conclusion
I personally believe that we are the final generation.
If we are the final generation as many in the bible prophecy arena are teaching, we must contend with logic and reasoning and not fairy-tales.
Just because something has been taught for the last 50-100 years, does not make it so.
We are called to look down at scripture and then peer out to the horizon to see how the world fits within scripture, not how scripture fits within the ideas that are being taught in the world.
We as students of bible prophecy need to put away all the books of men and look at what scripture is truly teaching.
We have forgotten to go to God’s Word and apply Acts 17:11 to make sure that what is being taught holds true to scripture. But more than that, it must adhere to logic and reasoning because our God is not a God of confusion nor does He lie.
Therefore, if it is not God who is in error, we have to ask “who is?”
The obvious answer is man.
We need to once again learn how to think critically, with an objective mind. We have got to stop allowing people to “spoon feed” us what they believe we need to know and this includes me as well.
It is the Holy Spirit whom teaches us and it is He who will illuminate the truth if we apply God’s logic and reasoning.
We also need to come to the realization that if we are the final generation that scripture talks about, then there are some issues at hand that we need to contend with and not push it off to the god of time.
We need to admit that there are things that we have once believed that do not fit scripture as well as the time-frame given the days we are living in.
We must come to the understanding that If scripture fits, we must submit.
There are going to be those out there who will argue the time-frame of a generation, when did that generation begin, when will it end, etc. Personally, that does not matter, time is still time and it is ticking down. An extra 20 or so years will not really matter if we are the final generation. Things will still commence according to scripture.
So, we need to decide if we are the final generation or not. If we are that final generation, we have a limited amount of time in this generation for things to come together logically because we serve The Omniscient God of logic and reason. (all knowing all seeing)
We need to start asking the hard questions and demand solid biblical as well as logical answers. Not these fairy-tale ideas that were dreamt up some 50-100 or more years ago when Israel was not a nation.
We need to re-examine what we have been taught with a sound mind, allowing the Holy Spirit to teach us and not the latest popular teacher with the bestselling book.
Folks, I hold myself up to the same scrutiny as well. If I am wrong, I am willing to admit that I am wrong if shown from scripture to be incorrect. I have admitted error before and I have no problem recanting something said in error.
How many are out there are willing to admit that they are wrong when presented with sound logic and reasoning in light of all their books, DVDs, CDs, etc?
Odds are that they will stick to the “Don’t confuse me with the facts my mind is made up! Besides, it is clearly stated in my book, CD or study guide, so how can I be wrong?”
If that is the answer you get, then we need to question pride being the culprit.
Scripture says…
Proverbs 16:18 (KJV) “ Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.”
If we are the final generation, we have a lot of work still needing to be done. Millions upon millions do not have any knowledge of the Lord our God, nor the saving grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.
We no longer have the luxury of time and must be about the Lord’s work.
What you need to do is ask yourself “Are we the final generation?”
And if we are, what are we going to do about it in light of “seek ye first the kingdom of God?”
