Matthew Chapter 24
We continue from our previous post.
Verse 34 “Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place.”
What “generation” is being referred to here?
The generation that sees “all these things” (Verse 33)
In Scripture a generation can have various time lengths: 38, 40, 70, 80, 100, and 120 years.
Which time length is applicable here?
In the Wilderness, 40 years was a generation to the Israelite's. In David’s day, a generation was 70 years. In Genesis 15:13, 16 a “generation” was 100 years. “And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years; ... But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full.” In other words, if four generations are 400 years, then one generation is 100 years.
However, none of these time spans fit except the “120,” for the others, dating from 1878, have all come and gone without these things being fulfilled. The year 1878 is the date the fig tree put forth its leaves, and thus it is the point from which to reckon the “generation.”
Here you will note the difference between the Pastors thinking and that of Brother Shallieu. Both see the Lord’s remarks in Verse 33, viz. “when you see all these things” as referring to different things. The pastor believed “all these things” included all those signs which took place “immediately after the tribulation of those days” (Verse 29), i.e. after the 1260 years beginning with the first sign, on the “Dark Day” of 1780 and reaching to 1880, whereas Brother Shallieu sees “all these things” as referring to 1878 when “the fig tree and all the trees” would begin to put forth leaves (Luke 21:29).
Gen 6:3 identifies 120 years as the “generation.” “And the LORD said, my spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.” At the end of the 120 years, the Ark was to be built and completed, it was to be entered, and the Flood would come, causing the destruction of the social order.
That this 120 years is the time applicable to the “generation” of Matt 24:34 is further corroborated in Matthew 24 itself, as well as elsewhere. “But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming [Parousia, presence] of the Son of man be” (Matt 24:37).
Verse 37 is a valuable clue, for it suggests that that which happened in Noah’s day is a close analogy to the end of the Gospel Age, to the time of Jesus’ presence.
Elsewhere in Scripture the “120” is suggested in connection with this completion work.
Jesus said in John 4:35, “Do you not say, ‘There are still four months and then comes the harvest’? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest!” The 30 days in a lunar month are calculated thus: 30 x 4 = 120 years (a day for a year). Moses died in the prime of life at age 120; that is, he did not die a natural death, but his life was terminated at the height of physical strength (Deut. 34:7).
Since Moses pictures The Christ, he could not physically enter the Promised Land because “flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God” (1 Cor. 15:50). In the flesh Moses could see the Promised Land from Mount Nebo (Pisgah), but he could not enter it. Thus the Lord’s people look forward to, and see by the eye of faith, the “Promised Land” of heaven, but they must cross Jordan (physically die) first before entering (inheriting) the Kingdom.”
In our next post we should like to consider a few more possibilities in regards to “this generation” and to whom it may apply.
We continue from our previous post.
Verse 34 “Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place.”
What “generation” is being referred to here?
The generation that sees “all these things” (Verse 33)
In Scripture a generation can have various time lengths: 38, 40, 70, 80, 100, and 120 years.
Which time length is applicable here?
In the Wilderness, 40 years was a generation to the Israelite's. In David’s day, a generation was 70 years. In Genesis 15:13, 16 a “generation” was 100 years. “And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years; ... But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full.” In other words, if four generations are 400 years, then one generation is 100 years.
However, none of these time spans fit except the “120,” for the others, dating from 1878, have all come and gone without these things being fulfilled. The year 1878 is the date the fig tree put forth its leaves, and thus it is the point from which to reckon the “generation.”
Here you will note the difference between the Pastors thinking and that of Brother Shallieu. Both see the Lord’s remarks in Verse 33, viz. “when you see all these things” as referring to different things. The pastor believed “all these things” included all those signs which took place “immediately after the tribulation of those days” (Verse 29), i.e. after the 1260 years beginning with the first sign, on the “Dark Day” of 1780 and reaching to 1880, whereas Brother Shallieu sees “all these things” as referring to 1878 when “the fig tree and all the trees” would begin to put forth leaves (Luke 21:29).
Gen 6:3 identifies 120 years as the “generation.” “And the LORD said, my spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.” At the end of the 120 years, the Ark was to be built and completed, it was to be entered, and the Flood would come, causing the destruction of the social order.
That this 120 years is the time applicable to the “generation” of Matt 24:34 is further corroborated in Matthew 24 itself, as well as elsewhere. “But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming [Parousia, presence] of the Son of man be” (Matt 24:37).
Verse 37 is a valuable clue, for it suggests that that which happened in Noah’s day is a close analogy to the end of the Gospel Age, to the time of Jesus’ presence.
Elsewhere in Scripture the “120” is suggested in connection with this completion work.
Jesus said in John 4:35, “Do you not say, ‘There are still four months and then comes the harvest’? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest!” The 30 days in a lunar month are calculated thus: 30 x 4 = 120 years (a day for a year). Moses died in the prime of life at age 120; that is, he did not die a natural death, but his life was terminated at the height of physical strength (Deut. 34:7).
Since Moses pictures The Christ, he could not physically enter the Promised Land because “flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God” (1 Cor. 15:50). In the flesh Moses could see the Promised Land from Mount Nebo (Pisgah), but he could not enter it. Thus the Lord’s people look forward to, and see by the eye of faith, the “Promised Land” of heaven, but they must cross Jordan (physically die) first before entering (inheriting) the Kingdom.”
In our next post we should like to consider a few more possibilities in regards to “this generation” and to whom it may apply.
