Sorry, it's Jesuit all the way.
Let me understand what you are saying. When Jesus told His disciples that they were to see the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel the prophet, He meant that many people were going to see it? He had no specific people in mind? When He told His disciples to get a donkey upon which He could ride into Jerusalem, He meant for other disciples in other generations to do that as well?
Is that the 'context' in which you believe it is being said by Jesus? Ah, there's a familiar word, context.
Yes, there are meanings behind the conversations Jesus had with His disciples, but when He told THEM that THEY were going to personally experience something in THEIR lifetimes, THEY were going to personally experience those things!
And they did. Most were executed in some fashion well before 70 A.D. Many were not executed at the hands for the Romans, who sacked Jerusalem.
Do not historical events occur to specific people at specific times? While there are many wars throughout history, there is only one particular war at any given time. In other words, there will never be another WWII. There will never be another Korean War. There may be similar wars but there will never be those exact wars affecting those particular actual people and those particular battles and events! There are many similarities between wars but each war is unique!
What does that have to do with the price of tea in China?
When Jesus addressed the Twelve in Matthew 10 before He sent THEM out to the lost sheep of Israel, He forewarned THEM of specific things that were to happen to THEM and He told THEM that He would COME BACK BEFORE THEY went through the cities of Israel. These were specific events happening to specific people at a specific point in time. Can we learn from them? Of course. Christians continued to be persecuted and killed but those persecutions and martyrdoms were not what Jesus had in mind at that particular point in time!
Now you claim to speak for what Jesus 'had in mind' when He prophesied to the disciples? He spoke to the direct question of what would be the signs of the destruction of the temple and the coming of the son of Man. I think he was very specific.
Even you, as a futurist, believe that at some specific point in time Jesus will come to a specific generation of men, do you not? Many dispensationalists exclude all other generations through their belief that Jesus will come back to this generation.
I'm a historicist. I believe that all prophecy is simply the foretelling of future events. Whether Jesus comes back in this generation or not is of no concern to me, all must be ever mindful that it could be anytime.Like a thief in the night.
In the same way, Jesus had specific wars and rumors of wars in mind in Matthew 24. He told them ahead of time about specific things that were to happen to them. He told them that at some specific time in their lives they would see the abomination of desolation. He did not know the specific time (i.e. the day and the hour) but He knew the time frame--THIS generation.
"This" generation saw the destruction of Jerusalem no doubt, no gneration has seen the coming of the Son of Man.
I understand from your statement that you are accusing me of taking my beliefs from some catholic teachings, whether knowingly or not. Nothing could be farther from the truth. The conclusions I have reached come from my own personal study. About twenty years ago now, I decided to abandon everything I had been taught and set about to study the Word with an open and uncluttered mind. As I said before, I reached the preterist understanding before I even knew there was such a thing as preterism.
Well, interestingly the Jesuits thought of it before you did. You were only about 500 years late.
I am really trying to understand but I find it very difficult to grasp how anyone can read such passages as Matthew 10 and not see the glaring fact that Jesus is telling His disciples (the Twelve) about things they should expect in their lifetimes and how they should handle each situation.
Because prophecy doesn't start nor end with Matthew 10.
He clearly has those particular disciples in mind when He tells them that they personally will not finish going through the cities of Israel before He comes!That is the context. As you read this passage, do you not get that sense in some way, shape or form even though in your mind you believe that it just simply cannot be?
Um, doesn't He have everyone in mind that has ears to hear and eyes to see? Matthew 10 wasn't just written specifically and only for the disciples, but was written to any and all subsequent generations that were blessed with the Word.
Respectfully and truly, do we stumble over such simple things because they go against long-held beliefs? Is anything worth holding onto that does not square with God's Word?
Most certainly not, that's why you need to abandon the moronic and false teaching of preterism and crack open the truth in scripture.
As for the resurrection--Addressing governor Felix in Acts 24, Paul said "There is about to be a resurrection of both the righteous and the wicked" (verse 15). His anticipation of it was the reason he always endeavored "to have a conscience without offense toward God or men" (verse 16).
Acts 24:15And have hope toward God, which they themselves also allow,
that there shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and unjust. (Funny how this coincides with a number of verses, most notablly: Daniel 12:2, John 6:39-40, John 6:44, John 6:54, Matthew 13:30, Matthew 24:37, 39, Matthew 26:64, Mark 13:26, Luke 21:27, Revelation 1:7 16 And herein do I exercise myself, to have always a conscience void to offence toward God, and toward men. (Shouldn't we all be striving as such?)
In 1 Corinthians 15 Paul again anticipates something that will personally affect him. That is why he says "WE shall not all sleep, but WE shall all be changed . . . . this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality." He also personally includes himself and the Thessalonians (and by extension all believers of that generation) in 1 Thessalonians 4 when he says "WE who are alive and remain until the COMING of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. . . . WE who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the CLOUDS to meet the Lord in the air. And thus WE shall always be with the Lord." The comfort was in the personal nature of this resurrection--"therefore comfort one another with THESE words"
At the "last trump"? With a "shout?"The "Lord Himself...."Is Paul describing the last day on earth or is he describing a future event in his lifetime? Isn't Paul at this very moment 'sleeping' in the dust awaiting resurrection?2 Peter 3:10But
the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which
the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and
the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.2 Peter 3:12Looking for and hasting unto
the coming of the day of God, wherein
the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and
the elements shall melt with fervent heat?There is only one power capablr of that type of sudden destruction...the 'Shekinah Glory' of the Lord.
Preterism, Historicism, Futurism Explained