1948 almost surely has nothing to do with the nation of Israel in Scripture, but i do like the analogy bc it gives a virtual deadline for those who imagine "Rapture" with a capital r
1948 certainly has everything to do with the nation of Israel. The actual year is not foretold to us but the span of time of when Israel would return to the land of Canaan was certainly indicated by God when he prophesied to Abraham in Genesis 15:16 that his future descendants would return to this land in which he was now living in their fourth generation/age of existence. From my understanding of the chronology of the Old Testament Abraham's son, Isaac, was the first descendant generation of God's promise of a son to Abraham through Sarah. Jacob, Isaac's son, was the second descendant generation of Abraham, Judah, Jacob's fourth son with Leah, was the third descendant generation of Abraham. Perez, Judah's son with Tamar, was Abraham's fourth descendant generation of Abraham. Perez's son, Hezron, was a fifth descendant generation of Abraham.
The sons of Israel who travelled down to Egypt, to confirm the above statement are: -
Gen 46:12: -
The sons of Judah were Er, Onan, Shelah, Perez, and Zerah (but Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan). The sons of Perez were Hezron and Hamul.
Another Biblical passage that confirms the above is found in Matthew: -
Matt 1:2-3: - 2 Abraham was the father of Isaac, {1st descend generation}, and Isaac the father of Jacob, {a 2nd descendant generation} and Jacob the father of Judah {a 3rd descendant generation} and his brothers, 3 and Judah the father of Perez {a 4th descendant generation}, and Zerah by Tamar, and Perez the father of Hezron, {a 5th descendant generation}, and Hezron the father of Ram, {a 6th descendant generation}.
Now considering Genesis 15:16a where it tells us the following,
Genesis 15:16: - But in the fourth
generation they shall return here, for/{when/while} the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.
and in the LXX version
Genesis 15:16: - Τετάρτῃ δὲ
γενεᾷ ἀποστραφήσονται ὧδε· οὔπω γὰρ ἀναπεπλήρωνται αἱ ἁμαρτίαι τῶν Ἀμοῤῥαίων ἕως τοῦ νῦν.
Now in considering the Greek text of Matthew 24:34 we have: -
Matthew 24 34: - ἀμὴν λέγω ὑμῖν ὅτι οὐ μὴ παρέλθῃ ἡ
γενεὰ αὕτη ἕως ἂν πάντα ταῦτα γένηται
Notice that the Greek word usually wrongly translated/understood as "{descendant} generation" does not fit in the case of Genesis 15:16.
Abraham's descendant did not return to the land, during the life time of Abraham's fourth descendant generation except to bury Jacob in the Cave purchased by Abraham at Hebron. In fact the Biblical account tells us that they only fleetingly visited the land of Canaan to bury their father Jacob, before returning to Egypt. In fact, scripture tells us that there were ten descendant generation born in Egypt before God acted to release the nation of Israel from being slaves in Egypt when they crossed the Red Sea, and then another descendant generation was born to Israel while they languished for 40 years in the desert waiting for the rebellious descendent generation to die before they crossed the Jordan River to re-enter the Land of Canaan.
First Descendent Generation born in Egypt:
Genesis 41:50-52: - 50 And to Joseph were born two sons before the years of famine came, whom Asenath, the daughter of Poti-Pherah priest of On, bore to him.
51 Joseph called the name of the firstborn Manasseh: "For God has made me forget all my toil and all my father's house."
52 And the name of the second he called
Ephraim: "For God has caused me to be fruitful in the land of my affliction."
Ephraim’s descendent generation born after Jacob went down to Egypt: -
1 Chronicles 7:20-27: The Family of Ephraim
20 The sons of Ephraim were: -Shuthelah, Bered his son, Tahath his son, Eladah his son, Tahath his son,
21 Zabad his son, Shuthelah his son, and Ezer and Elead. The men of Gath who were born in that land killed them because they came down to take away their cattle.
22 Then Ephraim their father mourned many days, and his brethren came to comfort him.
23 And when he went into his wife, she conceived and bore a son; and he called his name
Beriah,
{1st descendant generation} . . .
25 and
Rephah, {2nd descendant generation}, was his son, as well as Resheph, and
Telah, {3rd descendant generation}, his son,
Tahan, {4th descendant generation}, his son,
26 Laadan, {5th descendant generation}, his son,
Ammihud, {6th descendant generation}, his son,
Elishama, {7th descendant generation}, his son,
27 Nun, {8th descendant generation}, his son, and
Joshua, {9th descendant generation}, his son.
This gives a total of ten generation born in Egypt who were descendants of Jacob, i.e. Ephraim and his nine-descendent generation.
I believe that the above scriptural information puts to bed that the Greek word
γενεᾷ or
γενεὰ respectifully in Genesis 15:16 and Matthew 24:34 is speaking of a descendent generation of maybe around 40 or so years.
With this being the case, Genesis 15:16 cannot also be linked to the Genesis 15:13-14: -
Genesis 15:13-14: - 13 Then He said to Abram: "Know certainly that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, and will serve them, and they will afflict them four hundred years.
14 And also the nation whom they serve I will judge; afterward they shall come out with great possessions.
In fact, in Genesis 15:16 God makes no mention of His intent to help the descendants of Abraham to return to the land. With this being the case, we can state that the descendants of Abraham in 1948 return to the Land of Canaan in their own strength and power, without the help of God at all.
Now by my reckoning of the Old Testament, it is my understanding that Isaac was born in the year 2052 B.C. and if we add to that the year 1948 AD, then 4,000 years separate the Birth of Isaac from the return of Abraham's descendants in 1948. So if consider the Genesis 15:16 verse, it is my view that it tells us that, "during the fourth generation, your descendants will return to this land," which seems to me indicates that a generation is slightly longer than 1,000 years in duration. If we go to the Hebrew word that has been translated as "generation" in Genesis 16:16, it is וְד֥וֹר or wə·ḏō·w which the Strong definition suggests the following understanding: -
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance: - age, evermore, generation, never, posterity - Or (shortened) dor {dore}; from duwr; properly, a revolution of time, i.e.
An age or generation; also a dwelling -- age, X evermore, generation, (n-)ever, posterity.
With this in mind, I would suggest, that as I have previously posted, that Matthew 24:34 is referencing a time period of over 1,000 years in this verse, and if Matthew 24:32 is pointing to the beginning of the next age to follow, i.e. the budding of the fig tree, and the span of time to when the Summer Harvest Season/age begins, then the "age" most likely be being referred to in Matt 24:34 is the Millennium Age.
I trust that the above helps, with people's understanding of Matthew 24:34.
Shalom
