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First Part. Jesus answered the first part of the question when He described
the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70. Jesus had already predicted
this would occur because they would reject Him (Luke 19:44). But
scripture also indicates that Jerusalem will be occupied at the
end of the age during the Great Tribulation (Daniel 9:25-27).
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So you are to know and discern that from the issuing of a decree
to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince there will be seven weeks and sixty-two
weeks; it will be built again, with plaza and moat, even in times
of distress. Then after the sixty-two weeks the Messiah will be
cut off and have nothing, and the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. And its end will come with a flood; even to the end there will
be war; desolations are determined. And he will make a firm covenant
with the many for one week, but in the middle of the week he will put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering; and on the wing of abominations will come one who makes desolate,
even until a complete destruction, one that is decreed, is poured
out on the one who makes desolate. (NASB) Daniel 9:25-27 |
Daniel makes an amazing prediction. At the time of Daniel, Jerusalem
needed to be rebuilt. So, the prophecy predicts the rebuilding
of Jerusalem; then it predicts its destruction in the very next
verse. What is amazing is the following verse tells us the sacrifices
will be stopped which implies Jerusalem and the temple would be
rebuilt, again. Today Jerusalem has been rebuilt and the temple
is next. What Jesus did in the Olivet Discourse is make a near
term prediction with a yet future, dual fulfillment.
Second & Thirds Parts. The second and third parts of the disciple's question are provided
in an outline of the end times which is shown in the table above.
The destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70 was not the tribulation
period. In Luke 21:20-24, Jesus said Jerusalem would be occupied
"UNTIL." This implies a future follows.
The words highlighted in bold refer to events that Jesus
said would occur in the end times. These things have not all occurred. The most significant statement that Jesus made was
that "all these things" would occur in the end. As we can see in Luke's
gospel "all" refers to the things coming before the "Kingdom of God." All
three gospels tell us that "all" includes the "preaching the gospel throughout the world, the
abomination of desolation, the tribulation, the second coming
of Jesus and the final judgment. These have not occurred yet since
we are still here.
"This generation." The meaning of the Greek word "generation" is GENEA. This word means more than just "generation." It has the idea of "birth," "descent," "children," "race" and was even used to refer to the end times (Herodotus of Halicanassus III, 122). It is best to understand Jesus' expression to mean "this race," "this people," or "this period of time." Here is an example from Luke 16:8 (word is in bold),
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And his master praised the unrighteous steward because he had
acted shrewdly; for the sons of this age are more shrewd in relation
to their own kind than the sons of light. (NASB) Luke 16:8 |
Any other sense of the word is meaningless in the context of Jesus'
message. If we say "this generation" refers to those alive during
Jesus' first coming, then the destruction of Jerusalem HAD to
also be His second coming, and the judgment of the wicked and
the righteous. That is the end of everything! Yet, we are still
here.
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