Many in the Church are blind because they are indoctrinated by the egregious errors of dispensationalism invented by John Nelson Darby in the 1800s and promoted by C. I. Scofield and his "study" Bible (1900s). ALL of the Bible colleges picked up these errors and the Church was greatly harmed by it ever since.
I AM right when I insist that Jesus ALWAYS meant His contemporaries when He used the expression "THIS generation." How do I know that? I looked up all NINETEEN times that He said those words. In all of the contexts, He meant those of HIS own day. That is not "revelation" that others don't have. It's the willingness to accept what simple words mean--regardless of what it does to any personal paradigm I or anyone might hold to.
It is not from some special revelation that I understand the timing of the Book of Revelation. I accept that John was shown those things which were to SHORTLY take place; the time was NEAR (Rev. 1:1, 3; 22:6, 10). His vision involved those things leading up to and including the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple in A. D. 70.
I take Peter at his word when he wrote: "The end of ALL things is AT HAND" (1 Peter 4:7).
I believe James when he wrote: "The COMING of the Lord is AT HAND" (James 5:8) and the judge is AT THE DOOR (James 5:9).
I accept the words of the writer of Hebrews who, writing shortly before A. D. 70 (ca 64-69), stated: "In a very, very little while He who is coming will come and will NOT DELAY" (Heb. 10:37).
I believe Jesus and HIS timing when He told the Twelve before He sent them out to the lost sheep of Israel: "YOU will not finish going through the cities of Israel before the Son of Man COMES" (Mat. 10:23). I believe Jesus when He told those same disciples: "there are some standing HERE who will not taste death until THEY see the Son of Man COMING I:N HIS KINGDOM" (Mat. 16:28). I believe Jesus when He told Caiaphas and the Jewish leaders, after they accused Him of blasphemy: "YOU will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of power and CO:MING ON THE CLOUDS OF HEAVEN" (Mat. 26:64). These are not difficult words. The do not need "revelation."
Preterists can't win with futurists who, almost constantly accusing them of spiritualizing everything, find fault when they take words LITERALLY!
The NT is permeated with time words and time statements that clearly teach that Jesus was coming back in THAT generation to THOSE of that day.
Our view of time is completely different from God's. There is a big difference between God’s heavenly eternal perspective and our earthly temporal perspective, something you do not seem to grasp. The phrases “a long time” and “a short time” are all subject to the one talking, their perspective and the subject matter under discussion. From man's perspective 2000 years is a long time. From God's perspective it is not. Time is but a blink to His infinite mind and to the eternal state. Remember, God is “from everlasting” (Habakkuk 1:12, Psalms 93:2).
On this matter, a basic understanding of “time” and “eternity” will explain what we are looking at in Scripture. The phrase “at hand” or “near” is taken from the single Greek word
eggizō, and simply means “approaches.” It is not time-specific. It can mean immediate or distant future, like our English word. In fact, it carries the exact same sense as our English word. It all depends upon the setting and the context in view. It carries a broad meaning and does not in any way demand an imminent fulfilment. Other words like “quickly,” “shortly” and “near,” express time from God’s eternal standpoint, not man’s natural position. It is therefore wrong to force our dim earthly sense of time upon God. It is definitely foolish to build a whole theology upon that.
Christ speaks of the last day, in Matthew 24:29-31, saying,
“Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken. And then (or)
tote (or
at that time)
shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn (or
kopsontai)
, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.”
- When and why did all the tribes mourn in AD70?
- When did the “angels gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other” in AD70?
In your theology: everything is a massive Gnostic illusion. Anyway, there is no factual historic evidence of this occurring in the past. It only exists in the imaginations of Full Preterists.
To attribute the coming of Titus in AD 70 in 1 Peter 4:3-7 as the “end of all things” is laughable, unbiblical and irrational. It states:
“the time past of our life may suffice us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles, when we walked in lasciviousness, lusts, excess of wine, revellings, banquetings, and abominable idolatries: Wherein they think it strange that ye run not with them to the same excess of riot, speaking evil of you: Who shall give account to Him that is ready to judge the quick and the dead. For for this cause was the gospel preached also to them that are dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit. But the end of all things is at hand.”
Peter continues in verse 13 of the same passage, whilst speaking of that great final event, by encouraging the believers, saying,
“rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.”
The coming of Christ and the end of all things is near to God since He is not limited to time. What is more, what is considered near to Him can seem like a long time to us.
Peter informs us that “the end of
all things” occurs at the Second Advent – the time when Christ shall judge “the quick and the dead” (or the living and the dead). The context here relates to judgment day when every human will stand before the judgment seat of Christ to give an account of themselves to Christ. Moreover, he indicates, whilst the day of revelation of Christ is an awful day of woe for the wicked, it is a day of joy and reward for the righteous. Notwithstanding, and significantly, the judgment of the wicked and “the end of all things” is said to be “at hand” or
eengiken meaning ‘to be near’ or ‘approaching.’
Notably, it is from the usage of this word that the Pretribbers argue for an
imminent secret return of Christ rather than an
impending all-consummating final return, as is biblical. Notwithstanding, whether one understands the term “at hand” as
imminent or
impending isn’t particularly important here, it is the fact that the judgment of the wicked coincides with the one final future all-consummating Second Advent. Also, the clear allusion of the judgment of “the living and the dead” unquestionably proves a general judgment as the A and Postmillennialists believes.
The second coming is all-consummating and ushers in the complete end of all things old, temporal, sinful and corrupt. His return introduces the beginning of all things new, eternal, righteous and God-glorifying.
In the new heavens and new earth there is going to be no more grief, grave stones or goodbyes. There is coming a day in the future when dying, crying, pain, sorrow and the curse will cease. Or put differently, there is going to be no sea, no sepulchers, no sorrow, no suffering. All the awful effects of sin have finally and eternally been expunged, namely death, disease, disaster, disappointment, depression, and despair. All things are now new.