This Generation Will Not Pass Away (4)

“Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place.”

There are two references to “tribulation” in Matthew 24 (see vv. 21, 29; see also vs. 9). Verse 21 follows on from the sign of the “abomination of desolation” (see Part 3), and as we have said, the “abomination of desolation” is a visible sign. Jesus says to disciples in verse 15: “So when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand).” Jesus connects visible sight of the abomination with understanding. This abomination will not be something invisible. It will be seen by the disciples and others. The manifestation of this abomination means that everyone should flee Jerusalem (vv. 16–20).

In Luke 21:20 Jesus connected Jerusalem’s desolation with surrounding armies. As I mentioned in Part 3, it is possible that the actions of the zealot, John of Gischala, in setting up a rival priesthood (that offered sacrifices) to the Levitical priesthood constitutes an abomination, and the flying of the Roman standards also constitutes an abomination. Both of these acts took place in the temple. The “abomination of desolation” is, therefore, not the destruction of Jerusalem. That is what follows, and it is this destruction and the subsequent events that constitute a time of tribulation. There is absolutely no grammatical warrant in the context and the text itself to place this tribulation beyond A.D. 70. Any attempt to do this is a reading into the text what the text does not say. In fact, I would argue that it is precisely a literal reading of the text that demands that we place these events in A.D. 70 and not somewhere in the future. Verse 21 indicates that this“tribulation” will be “great.”

So how do we connect this “great tribulation” with the events of A.D. 70? First, verse 21 is situated in the context of visible signs (vv. 4–31). The “abomination of desolation” in verse 15 signals a dramatic change in danger still visible to the disciples. Second, and this is very important, verse 21 is still prior to verse 34 which makes it abundantly clear that that generation would not pass away until all these things had taken place. Jesus means that all that he has described from verses 4–34, is connected to the destruction of the temple in A.D. 70. The shadow of the immediate Jewish context is so prevalent. Rome’s war with the Jews cost the lives of thousands. Josephus reports that more than a million Jews died during the siege of Jerusalem (Jewish War,6:9:3). Whether this is entirely accurate is not the point. The loss of life was massive.

For the Jews, however, the loss of the temple was even more significant. The cessation of the sacrifices and the desecration of the holy place meant that approaching God was removed. It was a monumental covenantal loss which we struggle to fully understand so far in the future. Jesus understands the devastation of this covenantal loss as does the writer to the Hebrews in Hebrews 8:13: “In speaking of a new covenant, he makes the first one obsolete. And what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.” Jesus uses Old Testament language to convey the tragedy of these events. All subsequent Jewish tragedies pale beside the destruction of A.D. 70 due to its redemptive significance. Josephus makes these statements: “the misfortunes of all men, from the beginning of the world, if they be compared to these of the Jews, are not as considerable as they were” (Jewish War, Preface, 4), and: “neither did any other city ever suffer such miseries…from the beginning of the world” (Jewish War, 5:10:5). Not only this, but also the very words of Jesus in his parable of the wicked tenants make clear that the destruction of the wicked tenants (Jewish leaders) was nothing less than God’s judgment for crucifying the Lord Jesus (Matt. 21:40, 41; Mark 12:9; Luke 19:41–44). This parable signals the transfer of the vineyard (kingdom) to another people who will produce fruits in keeping with repentance, and we know this people to be the Church of our Lord Jesus (comprising Jews and Gentiles—the true spiritual Israel).

Matthew 24:21 says that this great tribulation will be of such a character, the like of which has never been seen before. Yet, in Matthew 24:39, Jesus says that in the days of Noah, a flood came and wiped them all away except Noah and his family. That destruction seems to me to be a greater kind of tribulation than A.D. 70, since not everyone was destroyed in A.D. 70. In Noah’s day, God destroyed the entire world; in A.D. 70, it is only Jerusalem that is destroyed. So what can these words mean in Mathew 24 when Jesus says that this great tribulation will be “such as has never been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be”? The language of Jesus is Semitic hyperbole. He speaks as an Old Testament prophet would. The language is universal and drastic and so powerful would this event be that world history will be dramatically affected. The entire world will reverberate with the events that Jesus is describing.

The Old Testament uses this language in a number of places. For instance, the tenth plague on Egypt is said to be according to Exodus 11:6: “…such as there has never been, nor ever will be again.” For those who say that Matthew 24:21 is referring to some future tribulation, they must concede that since, according to that scheme, the entire world is engulfed in tribulation, that Egypt then must also be engulfed with it, yet the Old Testament says that Egypt would not experience a tribulation such as they experienced in the tenth plague. So which is it? Exodus 11:6 is so very clearly dramatic language signifying how shocking and devastating the loss of the first born would be in Egypt. Or consider Ezekiel 5:9, in which the Babylonian captivity and Jerusalem’s destruction is stated in this language: “And because of all your abominations I will do with you what I have never yet done, and the like of which I will never do again.” And certainly the language of Daniel 12:1 seems to apply to Jerusalem’s future destruction (A.D. 70): “…And there shall be a time of trouble, such as never has been since there was a nation till that time. But at that time your people shall be delivered, everyone whose name shall be found written in the book.”

Or what about the description of King Hezekiah in 2 Kings 18:5: “He trusted in the LORD, the God of Israel, so that there was none like him among all the kings of Judah after him, nor among those who were before him.” Was Hezekiah the only king like this? In 2 Kings 23:25, we read of Josiah: “Before him there was no king like him, who turned to the LORD with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his might, according to all the Law of Moses, nor did any like him arise after him.” So which king is it? No, this language is dramatic to make the point which is serious. Consider also Exodus 9:18; 10:14; Joel 2:2; Daniel 9:12.

This is what Jesus is doing in similar tradition as the Old Testament prophets did. This is unique–event language. It is true that the destruction of A.D. 70 was unique, not just in terms of the actual physical destruction (Nebuchadnezzar’s destruction was similar in 586 B.C.), but in the spiritual sense. There is a covenantal judgment that is taking place. The devastation of A.D. 70 was so sweeping that Matthew 24:22 states that “…if those days had not been cut short, no human being would be saved. But for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short.” So God even intervenes to save his people. This salvation is a physical deliverance, and not a spiritual one. So I conclude that this “great tribulation” belongs to “this generation”which Jesus said would see all these things (24:34). (Part 5—more trouble coming.)