Kingdom Ready Blog

One of the main reasons that other viewpoints don’t like the idea of a futurist interpretation of prophecy is that certain sections of Scripture appear to have Jesus say that the end would come before that generation passed away.  There has been much speculation about whether Jesus was mistaken or misunderstood, since the Kingdom apparently did not come to pass in the lifetime of his disciples.  C. S. Lewis wrote in his essay, “The World’s Last Night” (in 1960),

“Say what you like,” we shall be told by the skeptic, “the apocalyptic beliefs of the first Christians have been proved to be false. It is clear from the New Testament that they all expected the Second Coming in their own lifetime. And, worse still, they had a reason, and one which you will find very embarrassing. Their Master had told them so. He shared, and indeed created, their delusion. He said in so many words, ‘this generation shall not pass away till all these things be done.’ And He was wrong. He clearly knew no more about the end of the world than anyone else.”

It is certainly the most embarrassing verse in the Bible. Yet how teasing, also, that within fourteen words of it should come the statement, “but of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father.” The one exhibition of error and the one confession of ignorance grow side by side.

The three schools of eschatology have different ways of avoiding the skeptics’ conclusion that Jesus was wrong or mistaken.  The Historicist and Preterist views both consider that certain things which Jesus referred to as taking place “before this generation passes” were realized in the destruction of the Temple in 70 AD.  But we saw that those events did not match the prophecies of either the Hebrew Prophets or Jesus himself because, among other things, the dead were not raised, Jesus did not return visibly, and the Kingdom was not established.  All these things are said to happen immediately after the Tribulation of those days.  The only other explanation is that the Tribulation and subsequent events are yet to happen in the future.

Then what about the statement that “this generation shall not pass till all be fulfilled” in Matthew 24:34, Mark 13:30, and Luke 21:32?  It is in the context of Jesus’ parable of the fig tree.  That context shows that the point of the parable is not to tell when the end would come, relative to the time at which he spoke.  Rather, the point of the parable is to illustrate how the things he referred to would be signs that the end was near.  This is not to suggest, however, that Jesus was referring to the generation that would be alive when the signs began to be seen, as some suggest.  If that were what he meant, he would have said “that generation” rather than “this generation.”

The key is to understand how the word “generation” is used by the Gospel writers.  The Greek word is genea (Strong’s #1074), and has more than one possible meaning.  Strong’s defines it as, “A generation; by implication, an age (the period or the persons):- age, generation, nation, time.”  Thayer’s and Smith’s Bible Dictionary gives the following definitions:

1. fathered, birth, nativity
2. that which has been begotten, men of the same stock, a family
   a. the several ranks of natural descent, the successive members of a genealogy
   b. metaph. a group of men very like each other in endowments, pursuits, character
   –esp. in a bad sense, a perverse nation
3. the whole multitude of men living at the same time
4. an age (i.e. the time ordinarily occupied by each successive generation), a space of 30 – 33 years

Most people today, when they read a phrase like “this generation shall not pass,” assume it to mean number 3 or 4 above.  In fact many reference books will identify Matt. 24:34 and/or its parallel verses as number 3.  But a simple word study shows that the figurative meaning 2b is used most frequently in the New Testament, especially the Gospels.  More importantly, we shall see that this understanding fits better with the other related Scriptures.

Genea is equivalent to the Hebrew word dowr (Strong’s #1755), which is used in much the same way.  Brown, Driver, Briggs and Gesenius gives the following definitions:

1. period, generation, habitation, dwelling
   a. period, age, generation (period of time)
   b. generation (those living during a period)
   c. generation (characterised by quality, condition, class of men)
   d. dwelling-place, habitation

Let’s examine a few verses where dowr is used as definition 1c. The first few verses of Deuteronomy 32 extoll God’s greatness, and in contrast verse 5 says, “They have corrupted themselves, their spot is not the spot of his children: they are a perverse and crooked generation.” Later in verse 20, God says, “I will hide my face from them, I will see what their end shall be: for they are a very froward generation, children in whom is no faith.” A distinction is made between God’s greatness and the corrupt nature of the crooked and perverse generation to which He refers. Does this refer merely to contemporaries living at the same time, or does it refer to people identified by their nature and character? What characterizes the generation in this sense is not the time in which they lived but their moral standing.

Psalm 12:
7 Thou shalt keep them, O LORD, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever.
8 The wicked walk on every side, when the vilest men are exalted.

It is because of their nature that the generation is identified as wicked. But the fact that it says “forever” shows that it is not only talking about those living at a given time. In contrast, there is also a generation of people that seek Him.

Psalm 24:
3 Who shall ascend into the hill of the LORD? or who shall stand in his holy place?
4 He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully.
5 He shall receive the blessing from the LORD, and righteousness from the God of his salvation.
6 This is the generation of them that seek him, that seek thy face, O Jacob. Selah.

Here again, “generation” is identified as those people with a certain characteristic, regardless of the time they live. Most often, it is used to describe negative qualities, though.

Proverbs 30:
11 There is a generation that curseth their father, and doth not bless their mother.
12 There is a generation that are pure in their own eyes, and yet is not washed from their filthiness.
13 There is a generation, O how lofty are their eyes! and their eyelids are lifted up.
14 There is a generation, whose teeth are as swords, and their jaw teeth as knives, to devour the poor from off the earth, and the needy from among men.

Is this saying there is a period of time when the people then living would have these qualities? No, it is speaking of the type of people who have such characteristics. Since it is referring to a group of people identified by certain characteristics, the NASB actually translates it as “kind” in these verses. The same is true with genea. In Luke 16:8, Jesus says that the children of this world (age) are “in their generation wiser than the children of light.” The NASB renders it, “more shrewd in relation to their own kind than the sons of light.”

With this understanding, let’s examine how the word is used in Matthew’s Gospel. In Matthew 11:16-24, Jesus describes “this generation” as refusing to accept the prophets of God. He is not speaking of simply his chronological contemporaries (since some of his contemporaries believed him!) but those who exhibit the same wicked character, by their failure to repent and to accept Jesus or any of God’s prophets. That’s what characterizes this evil generation.

In Matthew 12, Jesus casts out demons, and the Pharisees said he was doing it by Beelzebub the prince of demons. He responds by stating that it is by the Spirit of God that he casts them out, and that it is an indication that the Kingdom’s power has come upon them. Anyone failing to recognize the working of the holy spirit is compared with a bad tree with bad fruit (verse 33). In light of that he calls them a generation of vipers (in this instance it is another, though related, Greek word, gennema which is translated both “generation” and “fruit.”) “The good man brings out of his good treasure what is good; and the evil man brings out of his evil treasure what is evil” (verse 35).

Some of the Pharisees then ask him for a sign (even though they had seen many already and refused to believe).

Matthew 12:
38 Then certain of the scribes and of the Pharisees answered, saying, Master, we would see a sign from thee.
39 But he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas:
40 For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

(Jesus makes the same statement again later, in chapter 16.) The sign of the prophet Jonah was that Jesus was raised from the dead after being buried three days and nights. While the contemporaries of Jesus physically saw the empty grave and the risen Christ, their testimony is still the basis for believing in the resurrection, which is the ultimate proof that Jesus is the Messiah. The significance of the sign given to “this generation” is still applicable even today. It was not limited to those living at the time.

Matthew 12:
41 The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: because they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and, behold, a greater than Jonas is here.
42 The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: for she came from the uttermost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and, behold, a greater than Solomon is here.
43 When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest, and findeth none.
44 Then he saith, I will return into my house from whence I came out; and when he is come, he findeth it empty, swept, and garnished.
45 Then goeth he, and taketh with himself seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first. Even so shall it be also unto this wicked generation.

The men of Nineveh stood out from their contemporaries, because they repented. Likewise the Queen of the South stood out from her contemporaries by travelling far to hear the wisdom of Solomon. Jesus said they shall rise in judgment and condemn “this generation.” If that was referring only to his contemporaries, it wouldn’t make sense. Not everyone that lived at the time rejected him. The evil and adulterous generation are those who have those qualities and that nature.

The evil attributes and actions described in this passage are not unique to those who lived at the time of Christ. There has always been a “wicked generation” because it’s a type of humanity which persists. It goes back to Adam, and Cain, and has continued through all history, and will continue until Jesus returns and puts an end to it.

Matthew 17:17 is the next occurrance, in which Jesus refers to the “faithless and perverse generation.” Again, does this refer only to those living at the time, or is it speaking of those people who are characterized by unbelief?

The next occurrance is one of the clearest examples, in Matthew 23. Jesus condemns the Scribes and Pharisees, calling them hypocrites, blind guides, and whited sepulchers (v. 13ff). Then he continues:

Matthew 23:
29 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous,
30 And say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.
31 Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that ye are the children of them which killed the prophets.
32 Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers.
33 Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?
34 Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city:
35 That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar.
36 Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation.

He calls them children of them which killed the prophets, and then in verse 33 he again calls them a generation of vipers. He’s talking about the character they have, as part of their nature. In verse 35 he says, “whom you slew between the temple and the altar.” Obviously he was not accusing the specific men to whom he was speaking of having killed the prophets, but rather he spoke corporately of those who were like them. He then says, “All these things shall come upon this generation.” People with like characteristics throughout history are what he is talking about when he speaks of “this generation.”

This is how the word for generation is used most often in the Gospels. So when Jesus says in Matthew 24:34, “this generation will not pass till all these things be fulfilled,” is he talking about his contemporaries who lived at that time, or is he using “generation” in the sense of the evil and perverse generation of people? Scholars have given various interpretations of this passage, and frequently miss the figurative use of “generation” as it is more common in Hebraic thought than in Western.  Nevertheless, that passage must be considered in light of its context and other related Scriptures.

To Be Continued…