Topic(s): Eternity & Judgment

Todd Clippard

While our country is growing more increasingly wicked, it cannot be compared to Sodom and Gomorrah. God agreed not to destroy Sodom if ten righteous people could be found. We all know Abraham's search for ten righteous individuals was in vain. Thus, how can it be said that America is worse than Sodom and Gomorrah? (Note: the original inquiry contained a claim that America was more wicked than Sodom and Gomorrah – TC)

Also, much of the world is extremely receptive to the preaching of the gospel of Christ. People are being baptized by the tens and hundreds of thousands each year. America makes up only 5% of the entire world population. Is God only concerned about conditions in America so as to make a judgment upon the world based on the actions of a few?

Contrary to popular belief, there are no signs pointing to the coming of Christ. Matthew 24 is one of the most wrongly interpreted chapters in all the Bible. The signs of Matthew 24 point to the destruction of Jerusalem, not the second coming of Jesus.

In Matthew 24:1-3 the disciples were asking about Jesus' statement concerning the destruction of the temple, and incorrectly linked that event to the end of the world. The disciples (incorrectly) looked for the re-establishment of the physical nation of Israel, even until the day of Jesus ascension (Acts 1:6). It is inconceivable that they could consider the existence of a Jewish state without the presence of the temple.

Jesus’ answer in the remainder of chapter 24 and in chapter 25 corrects the disciples’ misunderstanding. In Matthew 24:4-35, Jesus tells the four the signs preceding Jerusalem’s destruction. In 24:36-25:46, Jesus tells of the events of His second coming and the Day of Judgment for all men that will take place at His return.

The key to understanding Matthew 24 is verse 34. Two phrases of utmost importance are “this generation” and “these things”

Consider the phrase “this generation” in v 34. Of whom would the disciples understand Jesus to be speaking? Answer: Themselves and their contemporaries.

However, some premillennialists believe “this generation” refers to the entire Jewish race. Thus, since the Jewish race is still present in some form, the events in question (vv 4-33) are yet in the future (though many are teaching the events are unfolding before us). Billy Graham has often said “Matthew 24 is knocking at the door.” Others believe “this generation” to be those who see the signs of verses 4-33. Both views are wrong.

“Generation” (Gr genea) appears 43 times in the New Testament and 17 of those occurrences appear as “this generation.” Matthew used the phrase “this generation” 5 times in his gospel account. Looking at these instances should shed some light on what is intended in Matthew 24:34. (All emphasis mine JTC)

Matthew 11:16-19 -- "But whereunto shall I liken this generation? It is like unto children sitting in the markets, and calling unto their fellows, and saying, We have piped unto you, and ye have not danced; we have mourned unto you, and ye have not lamented. For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, He hath a devil. The Son of man came eating and drinking, and they say, Behold a man gluttonous, and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners. But wisdom is justified of her children."

Matthew 12:34 -- "O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh."

Matthew 12:38-40 -- "Then certain of the scribes and of the Pharisees answered, saying, Master, we would see a sign from thee. 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: 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.

Matthew 12:41-42 -- "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. 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."

Matthew 12:43-45 -- "When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest, and findeth none. 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. 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."

Matthew 23:33-36 -- "Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell? 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: 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. Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation."

Jesus was referring to then present-day Jews in all the previous accounts, particularly Matthew 23:36 which is in the immediate context of Matthew 24. So it only makes sense to believe “this generation” in Matthew 24:34 refers to the same people.

In their Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament, Arndt & Gingrich write of the word here translated “generation”:
“the sum total of those born at the same time, expanded to include all those living at that time” (152).

McClintock & Strong commented specifically of “generation” in Matthew 24:34 as “the generation or persons then living contemporary with Christ” (McClintock and Strong Encyclopedia, Electronic Database. Copyright ©) 2000 by Biblesoft).

Concerning what constitutes a “generation,” there are some differences in length, but they do not significantly differ. The Greeks reckoned 3 generations every 100 years (McClintock and Strong). Homer wrote of a man who was aged “two generations,” saying “he was above sixty years old” (ibid). Moses referred to a generation as 38 years (Deut 1:35; 2:14), though 40 years would not have exceeded reason (Deut 13:25; 14:32-35).

In his book, The Late Great Planet Earth (1970), Hal Lindsey predicted that within one generation of the establishment of an Israeli state (May 14, 1948), “all these things” could take place” (43). In the book, Lindsey correctly identified a Bible generation as “something like forty years” (ibid). As the 1980's approached, Lindsey vacillated, stretching his 40-year timetable to as long as 100 years (Eternity, 1/77, quoted by Wayne Jackson, Christian Courier Online). Lindsey will have long since died by the time his foolishness is brought to naught. How convenient!

It is of utmost importance to note the destruction of Jerusalem took place in A.D. 70, less than 40 years from the time Jesus spoke these words.

Also of importance is the identification and record of the events known as "these things." "These things" refer to the signs found in Matthew 24:4-12 and included:
1) false Christs - vv 4-5;
2) wars and rumors of wars - v 6;
3) famines, pestilences, and earthquakes - v 7;
4) persecution of the saints - vv 9-10
5) multiplied false prophets and mass apostasy - vv 11-12.

Both biblical (Acts 11:28, cf v 7b) and secular (Josephus) accounts show the fulfillment of the list of “these things” in the years immediately preceding the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70. (Flavius Josephus' Wars of the Jews, Books V & VI is particularly helpful in this respect).

In light of all this evidence, there is no reason to believe the current state of national or world events has any bearing on the imminency of the Second Coming.

Concerning the presence or nearness of "the last days," the Bible teaches that we have been living in "the last days" for nearly 2000 years. Consider the following verses:

Acts 2:16-21 -- Peter identified the last days as beginning at Pentecost with the establishment of the Lord's church (cf Isaiah 2:2-3; Micah 4:1-2).

Hebrews 1:1-2 -- "God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds."

1 John 2:18 -- "Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time."

The last days refers not to a specific date and time, but rather a dispensation of time. We are now living in "the last days," the days of the Christian Dispensation. First was the Patriarchal Dispensation, then the Mosaic, and now the final period of time, the Christian Dispensation.

Do not be deceived by the cunning words of man's wisdom, but rather study to show thyself approved unto God.