Matthew
21.32 “This generation will not pass until all these things be fulfilled”
Someone has
asked – ‘what does this Bible verse mean?’
One is
tempted to say ‘I don’t know’, but I will suggest some detail to help fit it
into it’s context.
Luke 21.6,
12-24 can generally be seen as fulfilled e.g. The stones of the temple were
torn down in AD 70 by the Roman general Titus and his army. The Christians were
persecuted intensely, and the city of Jerusalem was surrounded by the Roman
army, just as Jesus said. It is reported that the Christians saw this prophecy
being fulfilled before their eyes, so
the fled and thus were saved the dreadful destruction of the city!
The end of
verse 24 is most significant – “the times of the Gentiles” It was God’s intention that Israel be the
head of the nations. But since the
destruction of the temple in AD 70, Israel has been dispersed across the face
of the earth. This last 2000years has obviously
been the ‘times of the Gentiles’ The
resurgence of Israel since 1948 along with disasters and political tensions may
well be the new leaves of the ‘fig tree’.
Now what
about verses 25,26,27,28 - there have been times of strange solar happenings (some have taught
that Jesus did return at the end of the 1st century!). Others see
the last days as encompassing all the last 2000 years with its many seasons of disasters
and wars.
I think
rather like Daniel 9, there is an unexplained gap. Daniel 9 lays out a timetable of years (sevens)
between the building of Zerubbabel’s temple and
the cutting off of the Messiah AD30 and the destruction of the temple
AD70. Others have verified the accuracy
of Daniel’s prophetic timetable. However Daniel’s timetable goes on to predict a
covenant treaty between Israel and some world power. This treaty will then be
broken after three and a half years.
This seems to not be yet fulfilled, like Luke 21.25-27.
Could it be
that God has inserted the ‘mystery’ of the church into this gap? – a period of
time when not only do we have the Gentiles political domination, but also God
at work, calling out of the nations, a people for Himself, for His Son, as
distinct from the purpose given to Israel.
The Lord did
say in one parable, that the master of the vineyard would be away for a ‘long
time’ to receive a kingdom, before he would return to claim the inheritance of
the vineyard (Israel).
Well I can
accept that explanation, but what of our verse V32 “this generation “ A different translation reads “this tribe” Israel has never been extinguished, (against
all odds). Some have tried but I rather think that God has a future for Israel.
Israel is in blindness and unbelief as a
nation (Romans 11), but God has yet to fully fulfil His promises to Abraham and
David. God is able to bring them to new
birth, gathering the dead bones to life
so that His prophetic word will be vindicated. So I am suggesting that the “generation” of
our verse is Israel as a tribe.
Other
thoughts may be sent to johnmckee@internode.on.net
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