Episode 39: This Generation Shall Not Pass

Episode 39 of the Theopologetics Podcast is now available! In Matthew 24:34 Jesus said, "Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place." The meaning of Jesus' statement seem obvious, but most Christians in America today think He was saying something else. How is the phrase, "this generation," used by Jesus and others in the Bible? And what impact does that have on Jesus' words in the Olivet Discourse?

Exegetical Eschatology: The Coming(s) of the Son of Man

Having been introduced to the four major eschatological positions, and having been warned against a novel, heretical position that has attempted to steal the designation "preterist" from the orthodox, let's begin this series in earnest by looking at some of the presuppositions Christians make when they examine biblical prophesies. If we're going to properly understand the intended meaning of the text, we need to make sure we're aware of the biases we tend instead to read into it.

The Olivet Discourse is one of the most popular passages discussed when it comes to biblical "end times" prophecy. It is sometimes called the "Little Apocalypse" because of its similarities to the book of the "Apocalypse," otherwise known as the book of Revelation. In this discourse, Jesus foretold the end of the world or age, a great tribulation, wars, false prophets and earthquakes, among other events. Arguably most striking, however, is that He foretold His "coming."

"For then there will be a great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will. Unless those days had been cut short, no life would have been saved; but for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short. Then if anyone says to you, 'Behold, here is the Christ,' or 'There He is,' do not believe him. For false Christs and false prophets will arise and will show great signs and wonders, so as to mislead, if possible, even the elect. Behold, I have told you in advance. So if they say to you, 'Behold, He is in the wilderness,' do not go out, or, 'Behold, He is in the inner rooms,' do not believe them. For just as the lightning comes from the east and flashes even to the west, so will the coming of the Son of Man be." (Matthew 24:21-27, emphasis mine)

Because Jesus spoke of His "coming," many Christians understandably immediately identify these events with His "Second Coming," His future, bodily return. As Dee Dee Warren puts it in her commentary on the Olivet Discourse, "It's Not the End of the World!", "Many Christians, because of the very real promise of Christ's future bodily return, i.e. His Second Coming, pour that meaning into 'coming' each time they see it in an eschatological context."

So this is the first presupposition we'll examine in this series, that His "coming" in the Olivet Discourse and in other "end times" contexts must be His physical return, presumably in conjunction with the bodily resurrection of the dead and the final judgment. Is this presupposition warranted? Are we justified in automatically understanding any "coming" of Jesus to refer to His "Second Coming?" Let's take a closer look.

Exegetical Eschatology: Four Views of the Future

The word eschatology is defined as "any system of doctrines concerning last, or final, matters, as death, the Judgment, the future state, etc." In Christian theology, it is the study of the "end times." It includes discussion of such topics as the return of Christ, the antichrist, the resurrection of the dead and the final judgment. Relevant passages include Jesus' Olivet Discourse, the book of Revelation and much of Daniel's prophecies.

The word exegesis is "critical explanation or interpretation of a text or portion of a text." It comes from the Greek exegeisthai which means "to interpret," and is comprised of the root words ex, meaning "out," and hegeisthai, meaning "to lead, guide." Thus, exegesis is the extraction of meaning out from, in the case of Judeo-Christianity, the Bible. In contrast, eisegesis means "an interpretation...that expresses the interpreter's own ideas, bias, or the like, rather than the meaning of the text." In other words, it is the reading into the Bible one's own beliefs.

In this new series, "Exegetical Eschatology," as the name suggests, this subject of the "end times" will be discussed with an emphasis on the extraction of meaning from Scripture. Throughout the history of the Church this topic has been the subject not only of intense debate, but also of speculation as to its relevance to contemporary world events. Particularly in modern times, there are large numbers of Christians speculating as to whether some modern figure is the antichrist, or if microchips implanted into body parts are the "mark of the beast," or if perceived increases in the frequency and intensity of natural disasters like hurricanes indicate the end is at hand. Eschatology has also in modern times been the subject of popular entertainment, in the form of horror movies and pseudo-fictional literary works such as Time LaHaye's Left Behind series.

With so much in-house debate amongst Christians as to the nature of biblical prophecies concerning the "end times," with such frequent and, often, fanatical speculation as to the relevance of modern persons and events to prophetic passages in the Bible, and with so many varied eschatolological positions infusing modern entertainment, one may wonder why we should concern ourselves with what Scripture has to say about the subject at all. Is there any hope of coming to properly--that is, biblically--understand anything about the "end times?" I happen to think there is, and even if I did not, I'm not inclined to believe that wholesale portions of Scripture were given to us by God knowing full well that we stood no chance of grasping even the smallest iota of His words.