Two (2) Dominant Features Of This Age

Jesus said two dominant features would characterize world history from the time of His ascension to heaven until His return from heaven (the Church age). I have in my library a 15-foot long Chart Of World History. It depicts, in graphic form, a “birds-eye” view of world history. The dominant feature of this Church age has been the prominence of wars and religious movements—and the combination of the two...religious wars! Again, Matthew 24:4-6...

1. False Christ—”For many will come in My name saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will mislead many.” Notice the word “many” used twice here. Anyone who rises up and claims to be God’s “anointed one” (“Christ”) fulfills this prediction. Every false religion splintering out of the Judaeo-Christian root fulfills this prediction. The founder of Islam (the last and the greatest, or the "seal" of the prophets, Quran sura 33:40), and Islam, in sheer numbers, has been the greatest of these.

2. Wars & Rumors—”And you will be hearing of wars and rumors (reports) of wars.” Turn on the TV.

Two (2) Generations

Jesus spoke of 2 generations which would experience tribulation. But only one would see The GREAT Tribulation.

In Matthew 24:1-3, when Jesus told the disciples that the Temple would be destroyed, with not one stone remaining upon another, they asked Him two questions: 1) "Tell us, when will these things be? 2) and what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?"

1. THE 70AD GENERATION—Jesus answers the first question about the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple in Luke 21, parallel account to Matthew 24 . In Luke’s account (21:12-24, i.e., “But before all these [end-time events take place]”), Jesus gives specifics on the prophecy of the Destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple, which occurred precisely so in 70 AD.  The destruction of Jerusalem and it’s Temple, then, involved the generation of Jesus’ disciples—the 70 AD GENERATION JEWS.

2. THE END-TIME GENERATION—Although Luke 21 devotes space to both the 70 AD and End-Time events, both Matthew 24 and its corollary passage in Mark 13 devote the entire narrative to the second question: “and what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?" This involves a future, END-TIME GENERATION OF JEWS—AND THE WHOLE WORLD—in the GREAT Tribulation.

Error of Preterism

Preterism is a system that mixes a literal with non-literal reading of the text, arriving at a pre-text: Preterism says, namely,

1. there are no end-time prophecies.

2. Since Jesus said "when YOU see", and since he was speaking to His disciples, then the prophecies of Matthew 24 must be referring to the 70 AD destruction of Jerusalem, and therefore have already been fulfilled. (for a refutation, see "The You of Mat 24" below)

3. Since a literal tribulation happened at that time, 70 AD was therefore the Great Tribulation, even though the coming of  Jesus was not a literal event.

4. Rather, despite what the plain reading says, Preterism teaches that Jesus returned in 70 AD in an invisible, “spiritual” event!

This is, literally,

                            NONSENSE.

The ‘Cyclical’ Structure Of Revelation & Matthew 24

Revelation shows the events surrounding  the 2nd Coming of Christ at the end of each of these chapters: 6, 11, 14, 16 & 19 (see right). For instance, 6:12-17 shows the signs in the sky which introduce the Return of Jesus (6:12-17, "Preview", right).

Then chapters 7-11 recycle back to describe certain aspects of the Tribulation, until at the end of chapter 11 the 7th Trumpet again shows events associated with the 2nd Coming.

This pattern is repeated to the end of 19. Then, in chapter 20, the Millennial Kingdom is described.

This same pattern exists in the structure of Matthew 24 (with the Millennial Kingdom described in chapter 25) as shown on the bottom of the graph at right.

When this pattern is seen it adds light-years to the understanding of both books.