Matthew Chap 24, generation applies ONLY for 1st century

greendawn

When reading the prophecy in Matthew 24 about the end it is obvious that the last generation thing the JWs bring up is complete nonsense.

There are two strands here, one for the end of Jerusalem and the Jewish state and a second for the end of the times of the nations. The generation mentioned only applies to the first strand since Jesus refers to them as: this generation and it was indeed in its time that Jerusalem was ruined, about 40 years later. "This generation" refers to one that exists at the time of speaking and not one after 1900 years. So it has no application at all in the second strand and all the talk about the 1914 generation was always absolute nonsense.

Matthew 24: 34 "I assure you, this generation will not pass from the scene before all these things take place."

Matthew 23: 34 "I will send you prophets and wise men and teachers of religious law. You will kill some by crucifixion and whip others in your synagogues, chasing them from city to city.... 36 I assure you, all the accumulated judgment of the centuries will break upon the heads of THIS VERY generation."

Mary

Greendawn! Are you suggesting that when Jesus' disciples asked Him "when will all these things be?" that they weren't asking about 2,000 years down the road when He would "turn his attention" to the earth and pick a group of do-do birds who couldn't get even one prophecy right but who He chose as the Faithful & Discreet Slave anyway??

Deputy Dog

greendawn

Unless you translate the word for generation as nation, nationality or race.

Mat 24:34

"Positively, I say to you*, this generation [or, race] shall by no means pass away until all these [things] happen.

ALT

D Dog

heathen

I think it's about the conclusion of this system of things . The greater fulfillment not the end of the jewish system . The jewish system ended when jesus was resurrected .IMO Later, it of course, was completely destroyed by the romans . I don't know that we could conclude on a specific date like 1914 C.E . I think there is a time for the testing and refining, or really "armageddon", which is a spiritual war between the seeds, not so much the final battle per say, but an actual invisible war to which the seed of God is persecuted by the satanic seed and triumphs in the end .

Star Moore

Greendawn...I think almost everything is the bible is written in types and antitypes.. This, I think is another example... I think the witnesses just used the wrong formula the figure the 7 times...but that it all wrap up in a generation...like a 20 year time...Too, I think we are in that time now...

Forscher

It certainly appears that way Greendawn. At Matt. 23:34 Jesus is condemning the Jewish leaders for ignoring the message he brought them. He described how they treated and contiued to treat those sent to them by God and warned them that the price would be extracted from that generation. I doubt the Disciples were thinking thousands of years down the road when they asked the question because he'd just warned them that the Temple would be destroyed, something quite incomprehensible to them. So they were interested in the when and how the things he warned of would take place. He was primarily answering that question and meant that genenration.
Many scholars, not just the JWs see a prophecy in that which goes beyond the events of that genenration. The $64,000 question is which aspects of his answers are indeed prophetic of our time or later, if any. I am not going to hazzard an answer to that question because I don't know. All that can be said is that anyone interested in that aspect of things would do well to do their research and draw their own conclusions. That is all anyone can do.
Forscher

heathen

Forsher -- it was obvious to me that jesus was talking about a distant future . He said himself he did not know an exact date for the end that only the father knew and that the end would not come until the good news was preached before all nations on the entire inhabited earth . They were not even aware of the americas at that point in history. Mathew 24:36 I think he did mention some modern day stuff tho but not everything applied to the time they lived in.

zen nudist

among the 4 gospels the phrase THIS GENERATION occurs about 9 or so times, and in all of them but Matthew 24, everyone I have ever heard or read, agrees that it referred to THAT group of people ALIVE at the time.... and Jesus was pretty clear about it on severl of those occasions comparing THE GENERATION which saw him alive to prior ones..etc.

there is nothing about THIS GENERATION in matthew 24 which shows it meant anything else, but one reason that most dont accept its plain definition is that they see Jesus saying ALL THESE THINGS will occur before THIS generation passes...and that would seem to make Jesus obviously wrong as that generation did pass and many of those things did not happen.... no judgement, no end of the world, not return of Jesus to seperate those taken and those left behind, etc.....

many are the excuses and theories and myths to explain why Jesus was not and could not ever be wrong....yet, if he was a real man, he most certainly could have been a fraud.

heathen

Mathew --- 24:42

greendawn

Mary, I didn't mean to say that Matthew 24 points to the JWs or any other current end of the world freaks. To the contrary I was pointing out that the generation concept of the JWs is completely wrong because it refered exclusively to the generation of Jesus's time.

To cover other replies given above, in my view the apostles believed that the end of Jerusalem and the Jewish polity would coincide with the end of the world. Jesus replied to them in a way that covered both ends.

There were plenty of things to look out for regarding the coming of the end of Jerusalem and Judea but the end of the world is totally unpredictable and Christians have to be always alert for it. That's when the angels will gather all the elite in the whole world and of the people working in the fields and the mills some will be taken some will be left behind.

It may also be that the gospel writers mixed two separate original end stories (one for Judea and one for the world)into one.

Matthew Chap 24, generation applies ONLY for 1st century

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