This Generation

[Daniel 11:36]

Reply to the OP

The Lord speaks of the generation of humanity since the Naohic flood to this very day .... and those living at the time will see all of the events of the coming tribulation

From judgment ....... to judgment [Matthew 24:36-39]

 

[Retrobyter]

Shalom, Esther4:14. 

I am interested in hearing other opinions about this crucial verses in Matthew 24.  

"So also, when you see all these things, you know that he is near, at the very gates.  Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place" (Matthew 24:33-34).  

I never really had an opinion about this verse before I realized how significant it was in separating opinions concerning prophecy within the body of Christ.  

Since then, I think that it is important to gain more clarity on this verse as we move forward in the times that we are living.  

I found from a basic Google search that according to Genesis 15:14-16, God defines a generation as 100 years because He tells Abraham that his descendants will be oppressed for 400 years.  Then, He tells Abraham that in the fourth generation they will return to the land He promised Abraham.  So, that would equal 100 years per generation, which would equal 400 years of oppression in a foreign land.  Although, I wonder if that includes the time they spent wandering in the wilderness.  

So, I don't know how long I would consider a generation to begin with.  

But, I would conclude that Jesus is not referring to the disciples as "this generation."  He is saying that "this generation" will witness all the things He has just described in Matthew 24.  

Thank you in advance for your thoughts on the subject.  

A “generation” is described in Matthew 1. It is NOT just a straight lineage from father to son. If one investigates the list of ancestors and kings in Matthew 1, one will see that there were several father-son relationships that were SKIPPED!

In the lists of genealogy found in Kings and Chronicles, one will discover that while ALL of the kings of Israel (the 10 tribes of the Northern Kingdom, also called “Ephraim”) were considered men who “did evil in the sight of the LORD,” it is almost every other king that does “evil” and that does “right” in the Southern Kingdom of Judah.

Thus, upon close investigation, a “generation” is simply the CHANGE between "doing what is evil in the sight of the LORD" and "doing what is right in the sight of the LORD,” (evil --> right), or the CHANGE between "doing what is right in the sight of the LORD" and "doing what is evil in the sight of the LORD” (right --> evil). Names in the genealogy were skipped IF the son had the same mentality as his father. The number of generations, therefore, is the number of flip-flops that have occurred over a given period of time.

The current blindness of the Jews is, therefore, a single generation and has been in existence since the first century A.D! They have ALL been guilty of doing what is evil in the sight of the LORD because they have rejected God’s Messiah Yeshua`, God’s choice for their King!

Edited November 1, 2015 by Retrobyter
to correct English

[Ezra]

When Christ said "this generation" He meant the Jewish race or nation, not a generation of humanity.

Strong's Concordance

genea: race, family, generation

Original Word: γενεά, ᾶς, ἡ
Part of Speech: Noun, Feminine
Transliteration: genea
Phonetic Spelling: (ghen-eh-ah')
Short Definition: a generation
Definition: a generation; if repeated twice or with another time word, practically indicates infinity of time.

3. the whole multitude of men living at the same time: Matthew 24:34; Mark 13:30; Luke 1:48 (πᾶσαι αἱ γενεαί); ; Philippians 2:15; used especially of the Jewish race living at one and the same period: Matthew 11:16; Matthew 12:39, 41f, 45; Matthew 16:4; Matthew 23:36;Mark 8:12, 38; Luke 11:29f, 32, 50; Luke 17:25;Acts 13:36; Hebrews 3:10; ἄνθρωποι τῆςγενεάς ταύτης, Luke 7:31; ἄνδρες τῆςγενεάς ταύτης, Luke 11:31; τήν δέγενεάν αὐτοῦ τίς διηγήσεται, who can describe the wickedness of the present generation, Acts 8:33 (from Isaiah 53:8 the Sept.) (but cf. Meyer, at the passage).