Mat 24:3 And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?
Mat 24:34 Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.
"This generation" that Jesus was referring to was their generation.
Mat 24:35 Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.
Jesus was speaking to his disciples who were Jews and they understood that the physical heaven and earth referred to the place where man and God did meet. It did pass away in 70AD, their generation!
At Matthew 24:3, what was Jesus speaking of ? It does
not say his "coming", as is used in the
King James Bible as well many other Bibles, but rather of his "presence. At Matthew 24:3, Jesus used the Koine Greek word
parousia that means "presence", that is contrasted with absence at Philippians 2:12, which reads according to the
King James Bible: "Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence (Greek
parousia) only, but now much more in my absence (Greek
apousia), work out your own salvation with fear and trembling."(Note: at Matthew 24:30, Jesus used the Greek word
erchomai that means "coming")
So, Matthew 24:3 accurately reads: "While he was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples approached him privately, saying: “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your presence (Greek
parousia) and of the conclusion of the system of things ?”(
New World Translation)
When did Jesus invisible "presence" begin ? When he was crowned king of God's Kingdom in 1914, for Revelation 6:1, 2 says of this time: "And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures say with a voice like thunder: “Come !” And I saw, and look ! a white horse, and the one seated on it had a bow; and a crown was given him, and he went out conquering and to complete his conquest."(see also Dan 7:13, 14 and Rev 19:11-16)
Then Revelation 6:3, 4 establishes what immediately followed Jesus enthronement as king of God's Kingdom: "When he opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say: “Come !” Another came out, a fiery-colored horse, and it was granted to the one seated on it to take peace away from the earth so that they should slaughter one another, and he was given a great sword."
When was the entire earth engulfed in war for the first time, of ' peace taken away from the earth, so that they should slaughter one another ' ? In 1914, with the outbreak of World War I, that began on July 28, 1914, so that by the war's end, an estimated 21 million soldiers and civilians lay dead. Up to this time, never had the earth suffered from this scale of a war.(Note: Revelation 12:7-9, 12 gives the reason why the earth became a "war zone" from 1914 onward, so that during the 20th century, an estimated 110 million people died as a result of war, three times the number that died during the previous 19 centuries combined)
Then Revelation 6:5, 6 says that "when he opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say: “Come !” And I saw, and look ! a black horse, and the one seated on it had a pair of scales in his hand. I heard what sounded like a voice in the midst of the four living creatures say: “A quart of wheat for a de·narʹi·us and three quarts of barley for a de·narʹi·us; and do not harm the olive oil and the wine.”
A direct result of war is destruction of farmland and its farmers that brings on famine (and starvation), causing prices to escalate, so that what was once just a common commodity of grain that everybody ate without worrying about prices, now suddenly changed and were carefully measured out, costing a day's wage (see Matt 20:2) for just a quart of wheat or three quarts of barley, which would not adequately feed a good size family, with no money left for any "luxuries", such as "olive oil and the wine".(Note: barley, of lesser value than wheat, was so abundant in Bible times, that it was used as fodder for horses, 1 Kings 4:28)
Now Revelation 6:7, 8 says: "When he opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say: “Come !” And I saw, and look ! a pale horse, and the one seated on it had the name Death. And the Grave was closely following him. And authority was given them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with a long sword and with food shortage and with deadly plague and by the wild beasts of the earth."
With massive casualties from both war and famine, the rider of a "pale horse" called Death now reaped a bountiful harvest of people, so that the Grave was closely following him. But other elements were added, such as death from "deadly plague and by the wild beasts (or individual political governments, see Rev 13:1, 2) of the earth", so that at the end of World War I, immediately a "deadly plague" of the Spanish Influenza that had started back in the spring of 1918 and would eventually infect some 500 million people (or about 1 out every 3 people on the earth), and would begin to rage with unparalleled death, so that by 1920, an estimated 50 million people had died.(Source: History dot com website; Note: some epidemiologists have estimated upwards of 100 million may have died from the Spanish Influenza, in which the first wave in spring 1918 was mild and number of deaths was low, but in the fall, a highly contagious wave of influenza began, so that victims died within hours or days of developing symptoms)
At Matthew 24:7, 8, Jesus said: "For nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be food shortages and earthquakes in one place after another. All these things are
a beginning of pangs of distress."
Hence, Jesus invisible "presence" began with a "bang" ! And this has not relented, for just some 20 years after the end of World War I, Adolf Hitler started World War 2 in September 1939, that cost the lives of an estimated 60 million soldiers and civilians over the course of some 6 years.
Jesus "promised presence" (2 Pet 3:3, 4) will last some 1,100 years, until the end of his 1,000 year reign that is to begin shortly.(1 Cor 15:23, 24; Rev 20:4-6) The "last days" (2 Tim 3:1) or "time of the end" (Dan 12:4), "pangs of distress" will be completed at Armageddon that will totally destroy Satan's entire system of things (Rev 16:14, 16), that is made up of three pillars
(1) the false religions of the world called Babylon the Great (Rev 17:5),
(2) greedy commerce called "the merchants of the earth", (Rev 18:11), and
(3) the political governments and their supporters, called "the wild beast".(Rev 13:1, 2)
And when Jesus said that "heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will by no means pass away" at Matthew 24:35, he was
not speaking of the literal heavens and earth (see Ps 104:5 and Ecc 1:4), but of the symbolic ones, that represent Satan's wicked system of things and it's supporters that is composed of commerce, religion and especially politics that people look up to for insight, guidance and help.(see Rev 6:12-14; 20:11; 21:1)
our DUE DATE has PASSED, but not his, for he has yet to return. and while we wait, (in this GRACE PERIOD), we be about our Father business. oh this is too easy. we have about two or three doctrine screaming right at us.
