This Generation Will Not Pass Away:

[Overcomer]

Jesus talks about the destruction of the temple and signs of the end times in Matt. 24:1-35:

1 Jesus left the temple and was walking away when his disciples came up to him to call his attention to its buildings. 2 “Do you see all these things?� he asked. “Truly I tell you, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.�

3 As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. “Tell us,� they said, “when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?�

4 Jesus answered: “Watch out that no one deceives you. 5 For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and will deceive many. 6 You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. 7 Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are the beginning of birth pains.

9 “Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. 10 At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, 11 and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. 12 Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, 13 but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. 14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.

15 “So when you see standing in the holy place ‘the abomination that causes desolation,’[a] spoken of through the prophet Daniel—let the reader understand— 16 then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. 17 Let no one on the housetop go down to take anything out of the house. 18 Let no one in the field go back to get their cloak. 19 How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers! 20 Pray that your flight will not take place in winter or on the Sabbath. 21 For then there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now—and never to be equaled again.

22 “If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened. 23 At that time if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Messiah!’ or, ‘There he is!’ do not believe it. 24 For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. 25 See, I have told you ahead of time.

26 “So if anyone tells you, ‘There he is, out in the wilderness,’ do not go out; or, ‘Here he is, in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it. 27 For as lightning that comes from the east is visible even in the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 28 Wherever there is a carcass, there the vultures will gather.

29 “Immediately after the distress of those days


“‘the sun will be darkened,
and the moon will not give its light;
the stars will fall from the sky,
and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.’

30 “Then will appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven. And then all the peoples of the earth[c] will mourn when they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory.[d] 31 And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.

32 “Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. 33 Even so, when you see all these things, you know that it[e] is near, right at the door. 34 Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. 35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.

Verse 34 has been the subject of many a debate. My questions are as follows:

What did Jesus mean when he said "this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened?" Who is "this generation"?

[onewithhim]

One, I don't know how you get to that from this this. But you are thinking which is good. The true answer is "We won't Know:". No one on Earth or in Heaven Knows, not even the Son of man. He said so. No One. Let that sink in.....

So, anyone who claims they know......

Any church that claims the they know.....

Is lying or Christ and God are wrong.

I'm not saying that we know the day or hour. Jesus said, as we know, that no one knows those things except the Father. However, Jesus did implore us to be observant of the season. He said when we see certain things happening, we will know that he is "near at the doors." (Matthew 24:32,33)

He spoke of certain things happening that we should keep awake to discern. Matthew 24:1-20 gives us quite a clear picture as to what to expect in the last days. We don't want to be like the people in Noah's day who didn't take note of what was happening and got "swept away" in the flood. (Matt.24:37-39)

[onewithhim]

[Replying to post 1 by Overcomer]

Matthew depends on Mark, and so Mark is the better place to look for an answer. In Mark, the teaching vacillates between actually two events. One Jesus believes is near; indeed, within the lifetime of "this generation". This event is the destruction of the temple. The second is unknown to all, but the father. That is when the Son of Man will return. The two are connected thematically; but in Mark there is no indication that the second will follow the first immediately.

Mark is the earliest. And ends at 16:8. The rest was added later. Our new testament is polluted in my opinion. Everyone follows the later teachings and ignores Christ.

Scriptures have indeed been corrupted by men as the centuries have worn on. Scholars have been able to discern how many passages have been chopped up and twisted and had things added. As earlier and earlier manuscripts are discovered and studied and compared with the texts that have been available for many years now, we can see where things have been re-arranged. All the additions and deletions and twisting have been done to shore up the idea that Jesus is God, and to erase the Father (who is truly God) from His own book.

[brianbbs67]

One, I don't know how you get to that from this this. But you are thinking which is good. The true answer is "We won't Know:". No one on Earth or in Heaven Knows, not even the Son of man. He said so. No One. Let that sink in.....

So, anyone who claims they know......

Any church that claims the they know.....

Is lying or Christ and God are wrong.

I'm not saying that we know the day or hour. Jesus said, as we know, that no one knows those things except the Father. However, Jesus did implore us to be observant of the season. He said when we see certain things happening, we will know that he is "near at the doors." (Matthew 24:32,33)

He spoke of certain things happening that we should keep awake to discern. Matthew 24:1-20 gives us quite a clear picture as to what to expect in the last days. We don't want to be like the people in Noah's day who didn't take note of what was happening and got "swept away" in the flood. (Matt.24:37-39)

Ok, I can agree with this. We must be vigilant. Because it comes "like a thief in the night"

[brianbbs67]

[Replying to post 1 by Overcomer]

Matthew depends on Mark, and so Mark is the better place to look for an answer. In Mark, the teaching vacillates between actually two events. One Jesus believes is near; indeed, within the lifetime of "this generation". This event is the destruction of the temple. The second is unknown to all, but the father. That is when the Son of Man will return. The two are connected thematically; but in Mark there is no indication that the second will follow the first immediately.

Mark is the earliest. And ends at 16:8. The rest was added later. Our new testament is polluted in my opinion. Everyone follows the later teachings and ignores Christ.

Scriptures have indeed been corrupted by men as the centuries have worn on. Scholars have been able to discern how many passages have been chopped up and twisted and had things added. As earlier and earlier manuscripts are discovered and studied and compared with the texts that have been available for many years now, we can see where things have been re-arranged. All the additions and deletions and twisting have been done to shore up the idea that Jesus is God, and to erase the Father (who is truly God) from His own book.

I don't know if Jesus is God or not. He didn't claim so. I leave that one alone. There is some evidence both ways. But, i pray and have prayed only to the Father. I even, agree that a scribe could be inspired by God to supply additional info. BUT, that should be marked so all can see and decide. Not canonized and taught as original. I can remember NO preachers ever telling me, as a child or adult, that the NT was anything different than the Tanakh(OT).(the word of God) The disingenuousness of the omission of additions and changes troubled me greatly as an adult. i do not doubt my faith in God. My faith in churches has been reduced, greatly. So, I seek first wisdom, for that will gain me knowledge and be like a a tree of life to me. And in trying to draw nigh unto the Lord, He promised He will draw nigh unto me. And having done these things, His blessings flow and it is true, as He said,"I heap blessing upon blessing upon you. Until you have no place to store all the blessings." I am thankful everything I receive from the Lord.

[Checkpoint]

[Replying to post 144 by onewithhim]

What did Jesus mean when he said "this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened?" Who is "this generation"?

Jesus was referring to his disciples, not all people. His disciples were about to bointed with Holy Spirit (at Pentecost) and would constitute those who would rule in heaven with him during his Millennial Reign over the earth. Those anointed disciples, in the first century and in our day, that would see the sign would be able to discern its meaning, that Jesus "is near at the doors." (Matt.24:33)

Although we can't measure the exact length of "this generation," we might keep in mind a few things about the word "generation." It usually refers to, as one reference work points out, people of varying ages whose lives overlap during a particular time period;

Jesus was talking to his disciples but not referring to them whenever he said "this generation".

Nor was he using "generation" to describe what "it usually refers to", which is to identify a physical family that stems from their previous "generation" and then creates the next one.

Rather, he uses "generation" to describe and identify a spiritual family line with its own characteristics, usually negative.

[Monta]

[Replying to post 151 by brianbbs67]


"I don't know if Jesus is God or not. He didn't claim so. I leave that one alone. There is some evidence both ways. But, i pray and have prayed only to the Father. I even, agree that a scribe could be inspired by God to supply additional info. BUT, that should be marked so all can see and decide."

You said you prayed only to the Father, how did you find Him when
Jesus said I am the Way? Jews did burnt sacrifices etc.

Looking back at my experience it is quite possible that a scribe had come with additional info but if we are not ready to 'hear' it it will pass us by.
We must remember that the greatest scribe came 2000 ys ago and we crucified him.

[onewithhim]

[Replying to post 151 by brianbbs67]


"I don't know if Jesus is God or not. He didn't claim so. I leave that one alone. There is some evidence both ways. But, i pray and have prayed only to the Father. I even, agree that a scribe could be inspired by God to supply additional info. BUT, that should be marked so all can see and decide."

You said you prayed only to the Father, how did you find Him when
Jesus said I am the Way?

Jesus was the Way to the Father. Paul wrote: "There is one God, and one mediator between God and men, a man, Christ Jesus." (I Timothy 2:5)

Jesus said himself, in the verse you referred to: "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."

If we pay attention to Jesus' words, they will lead us to the Father.

[brianbbs67]

[Replying to post 151 by brianbbs67]

You said you prayed only to the Father, how did you find Him when
Jesus said I am the Way? Jews did burnt sacrifices etc.

Looking back at my experience it is quite possible that a scribe had come with additional info but if we are not ready to 'hear' it it will pass us by.
We must remember that the greatest scribe came 2000 ys ago and we crucified him.

I found God the same way the Isrealites did. They also prayed directly whether sin sacrifice was involved or not. Christ taught directing prayer to the Father, only. No one, I ever met when i was young ever prayed to Jesus. They would ask the Father in his name. But, mostly directly to God.

This whole praying to Jesus thing is a modern perversion by a lot of churches in the last 30 or so years.

As to the scribe, I don't discount Gods intervention, but it should be clearly shown as such, not having to research it. And especially, when words are put into Christ' s mouth which the clergy know were added later.

[Checkpoint]

[Replying to post 1 by Overcomer]

Matthew depends on Mark, and so Mark is the better place to look for an answer. In Mark, the teaching vacillates between actually two events. One Jesus believes is near; indeed, within the lifetime of "this generation". This event is the destruction of the temple. The second is unknown to all, but the father. That is when the Son of Man will return. The two are connected thematically; but in Mark there is no indication that the second will follow the first immediately.

Yes, two events over 2000 years apart; the two the disciples asked about in verse 3.

As for Matthew, I consider verses 4-33 as mostly connected to the destruction of the temple, and the following verses to the return.

The transition verses are verses 34-36.

[101G]

[Replying to post 1 by Overcomer]

Addressing the OP only, and haven't read all the post. not saying that any is right or wrong, but consider this. this generation is a series of people in a given time, at given "events". example. Matthew 3:7 "But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?".

he was referring to those of that "generation" at that time and called them vipers, or an evil generation. another example, Matthew 23:33 "Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?". but our Lord makes its very clear as to who he is speaking to. Matthew 12:34 "O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh".

knowing this a "generation" can be a "group" of people in current time, or a past time, or a future time, at a certain event. not just one group of people only. one must understand the context in which the certain group of people are made in reference to.

so this generation (a certain group) would not pass away at that time of that event, ... nor as in this statement. Mark 9:1 "And he said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That there be some of them that stand here, which shall not taste of death, till they have seen the kingdom of God come with power". or this scripture, Matthew 16:28 "Verily I say unto you, There be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom".

many think these events are future. no, they are temporal. for the Kingdom came on Pentecost, acts chapter 2. it was the son of man that came in Spirit, (Invisible, that Manifested in the Spiritual Gifts) not the son of God who is Visible, (bodily form) and yet to return. supportive scripture, Revelation 1:7 "Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen". when the Kingdom came on Pentecost, not "every" eye saw this, for it was manifested in Spirit. but in the bodily return, "every" eye will see him then.

so this generation at that time of the event did see the destruction, but there is a future "generation" who will see other fulfillment in there time at those "events".