Shalom, veteran.
You're not listening (or reading) clearly: I was saying that the "wicked and adulterous generation" with whom Yeshua` had to contend in the first century is STILL the same "generation" that is with us today! They are not willing to see Yeshua` as the Messiah God promised, yet!
That's not the context of how He used the idea of a "generation" in Matt.24:34. I'm well aware of the different definitions for the word generation.
Furthermore, the "signs" that Yeshua` were saying they would see BEGAN in the past! They will continue until the sun is eclipsed black as sackcloth of goats' hair, the moon is at least partially eclipsed at the same time and becomes red as blood, and the stars (the meteorites) fall from the sky to the earth such that it looks like 1 out of every 3 stars are falling to the earth! We're talking about a near miss with a comet or asteroid!
Antiochus IV served as a sign of past history for the "abomination of desolation" type event, yet... Antiochus IV was not the one Christ was pointing to, since Antiochus had already been dead for around 200 years at that point of Christ's Olivet Discourse. One could even say the previous destruction of Jerusalem by the king of Babylon in Jeremiah's days was also a past sign for the destruction upon Jerusalem that Jesus spoke of for later while upon the Mount of Olives. But those events of past history were not the 'signs' Christ was giving in Matt.24 and Mark 13.
God used the "day of the Lord" phrase about destructions in Jeremiah's days per Jeremiah 46, while Apostles Paul and Peter both used that "day of the Lord" phrase for Christ's future second coming (1 Thess.5; 2 Pet.3:10). Thus, God has given us Biblical blueprints for coming events before. The Roman's destruction of 69 A.D. Jerusalem was not the first time Jerusalem was destroyed by an invading army. Thus the 'signs' Jesus gave in Matt.24 and Mark 13 are ultimately meant for the end of this present world within the LAST... generation living on this earth.
So whether one wants to treat the signs Christ gave there as starting in past history, that doesn't negate the application of ALL those 'signs' for the very end of this present world in final. Many prophecies in the OT prophets were not completely fulfilled per history, some of their parameters left unfulfilled. An example of this with the destruction of Jerusalem per the Matt.24 - Mark 13 example was with not one stone standing on top of another. Yet the huge stones of the Western Wall of the old temple complex are still standing today, revealing not all parameters of that 'sign' was fulfilled by the Roman general Titus.
It is HARDLY "un-Biblical!" In fact, I am struggling not to take personal offense to that claim! It does NOT deny "the bodily Second Coming of Jesus Christ with a literal gathering of His saints to Him as written!" (Where'd you come up with THAT fiction?!)
It is un-Biblical, because of HOW you're trying to apply that Matt.24:34 usage of the word 'genea' ("generation"). You're trying to apply to the generation at His first coming, and then their offspring, up to today. That's not how... Jesus used the term...
Matt 24:33-37
33 So likewise ye,
when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors.
34 Verily I say unto you,
This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.
Christ was pointing to the 'specific' generation that would see
ALL THOSE THINGS FULFILLED, i.e,
ALL those signs He gave, the final one being His second coming. Put simply, ALL those signs are to be fulfilled in ONE single generation, not spread out over many generations like you're trying to say. The following verses after that continue with that very same context...
Matt.24:35 Heaven and earth shall pass away, but My words shall not pass away.
36 But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but My Father only.
37 But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
(KJV)
Not at all! BE CAREFUL on this one! Yeshua` Himself said,...
Matt 23:37-39
37 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!
38 Behold, your house is left unto you desolate.
39 For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.
KJV
How can you argue with what Yeshua` said would happen?! Be careful that you're not found to be calling Yeshua` a liar. Which is contingent upon which? Are their words continent upon His return, or is His return contingent upon their words? In today's English, He said, "You shall not see me from now on UNTIL you shall say, 'Welcome, Comer in the authority of YHVH.'" So, which has to happen first, according to Yeshua`?
How do I know I'm correct with what I said on that? Because of who is being prepared to come to Jerusalem PRIOR to Christ's second coming (Matt.24:23-26). Yet, we already have an example of that "Blessed is he that cometh in the name of The Lord" from the Psalms...
Matt 21:8-11
8 And a very great multitude spread their garments in the way; others cut down branches from the trees, and strawed them in the way.
9 And the multitudes that went before, and that followed, cried, saying, "Hosanna to the Son of David:
Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest."
10 And when He was come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, "Who is this?"
11 And the multitude said, "This is Jesus the prophet of Nazareth of Galilee."
(KJV)
Jesus The Christ had already appeared to His Apostles prior to His entering into Jerusalem. John the Baptist had already prepared the way. Yet the unbelieving Jews refused Christ Jesus and John. God is going to send His prophet to prepare the way for Christ's second coming in our future also, and those unbelieving Jews of that Matt.23:37-39 group will refuse that preparing the way just as their fathers did with John the Baptist! Jesus was speaking to unbelieving Jews in the Matt.23 example, certainly not the people who welcomed Christ at His first coming to Jerusalem.
If you're basing your point of view upon Zechariah 12:7-14, that's not the same thing! The chain of events can still be (1) the Jews say to a Yeshua` they barely know about but they accept He is their promised Messiah, "Welcome, Comer on YHVH'S authority," (2) Yeshua` returns, and (3) the reality of what their ancestors have done hits them between the eyes!
Nope. Those unbelieving Jews will say, "Blessed is he that cometh in the name of The Lord" after Jesus appears as King to reign over them, and they will bow to Him. They will not be expecting Him, but will have already received another in His place when He returns.
Furthermore, tie Romans 11:7-29 to this passage in Zechariah:
Still no. Jesus was speaking to those who slew God's prophets, which certainly were not of the people of Israel that sought Him. If you don't understand this, then you may need to go back to Genesis and start again in OT history involving the crept in unawares.
God WANTS to rescue His people Isra'el! If He has grafted us contrary to nature into the Olive Tree of His Kingdom, He will CERTAINLY graft Isra'el into His Kingdom! It's not for anything that they have done that He loves them! He loves them because of His love for their ancestors! They are the patriarchs' CHILDREN!!! They are FAMILY!!!
God is no respecter of persons. I suspect (and hope) that many of the unbelieving Jews today will believe on Christ Jesus God The Saviour when their blindness is removed. But I don't expect many of the "synagogue of Satan" false Jews will, for those are the main one's responsible who killed God's prophets, and who Jesus was especially speaking to in Matt.23. Many of those are not even of Israelite origin.
What did Yochanan say in 1 John 5:1?
1 John 5:1
5 Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ (the Messiah) is born of God: and every one that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him.
KJV
That passage from John is a determing factor for God's people vs. those who have the spirit of antichrist. The idea of 'The Christ' per the OT prophets points to God as The Saviour, meaning Jesus of Nazareth is God come in the flesh, which is what His Name Immanuel is about (with us is God - Isa.7 & 9).
Don't get the cart before the horse, as so many others have! The Jews have to admit that Yeshua` was from God as God's Messiah - God's Anointed - God's CHOICE for Isra'el's King - and so cry out to Him BEFORE He will return! That's why the mission of the Messianic Jews is so important! They are trying "to make ready a people prepared for the LORD!" (Luke 1:17)
Those of Judah born of God will be waiting for Christ's second coming, and those are like the people of Mark 11 that spread their garments and branches in the way for Jesus Christ entering into Jerusalem at His first coming. But the false Jews, who say they are Jews and lie, and are not, are the ones Jesus was speaking to in Matt.23. Those will not... be expecting Him, but will be caught bowing to another in Christ's place prior to His second coming. So I'm definitely not getting the cart before the horse about that.