Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away
until all these things have happened.
Matthew 24:34
Prophecy students and teachers alike sometimes get upset if they think you are date-setting Jesus’ return. They cite “about that day or hour no one knows” in Matthew 24:36 and Mark 13:32. We’ve addressed this in a previous devotional; this expression is actually a Jewish idiom that should not be taken at face value. It is really describing the uncertain appearance of the new moon at the Feast of Trumpets. We know that the Lord will return during this September Festival (see previous devotional). We just don’t know at this point what year it will happen.
To keep from offending you, know that I am not trying to set specific dates in today’s devotional. However, let us consider some possibilities for the sake of study. Assuming that Israel being reborn is scriptural (see yesterday’s devotional and Isaiah 66:7-9 for some of the many examples), and assuming that this generation won’t pass away until the End of the Age comes, how long is a generation? Ah, “therein lies the rub” as I misquote Shakespeare’s Hamlet.
Some have pointed to 40 years as the length of a generation. This is the length of time that Moses led the wandering Hebrews in the desert as punishment from God for not entering the Promised Land (Numbers 14:33-34). Why is this important? There is compelling evidence that portions of Matthew 24 were fulfilled in the first century, as it was approximately 40 years from Jesus’ crucifixion to the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. Others thought Jesus would return 40 years after Israel became a nation in 1948, which was 1988. I don’t think that happened, do you?
There also seems to be evidence that a life span/generation is 70-80 years. Look at these passages on your own: 2 Samuel 5:4, Acts 13:36, Psalm 90:10, 2 Samuel 19:32, 35, Isaiah 23:15, Daniel 9:2. From the time of King David to the present (around 3,000 years), one could argue that this range has been the average life span. But are life span and generation the same thing?
There are many opinions on how long a generation is and over the true translation and fulfillment of this verse, but not room to visit them all. In fact, I almost didn’t include this topic in the devotional because the water still seems so muddy to me. May the Lord give us all discernment.
