THE FINAL GENERATION
Commentary by Jon Courson
|
 |
| Jon Courson's Web Site |
|
|
A Topical Study of Matthew 24:32–35
Written by a then-unknown author named Hal Lindsay, The Late Great Planet Earth exposed an entire generation to the concepts of the Rapture of the church and the return of Jesus Christ. It was foundational to the Jesus Movement of the ’70s, which started on the West Coast, spread across the country, and eventually circled the globe. Lindsay and other teachers of prophecy during that time stressed this teaching in Matthew 24. The parable of the fig tree enflamed the hearts of an entire generation—for Jesus said the budding of the fig tree signaled His impending return.
What is the budding of the fig tree? Scripture interprets Scripture. Thus, Jeremiah, Joel, Hosea, and others identify the fig tree as the nation Israel. For centuries, Israel seemed to be a dead tree. In the year A.D. 70, the Romans marched into Jerusalem, destroyed the city, and took over the country. The Jews scattered every direction in fulfillment of Deuteronomy 28:64–67. But in addition to saying the Jews would be scattered throughout the world, God also said, “But The Lord lived, which brought up and which led the seed of the house of Israel out of the north country, and from all countries whither I had driven them; and they shall dwell in their own land” (Jeremiah 23:8).
You see, when the Jews were scattered, something happened historically that had never happened previously in world history. Without a homeland, the Jewish people kept their identity, religion, and ethnicity intact. No other nation in the history of the world has ever done that. Every other country swallowed by another has become assimilated by the conquering culture within two generations. That is why you never hear of Babylonians today and why none of you have Assyrian neighbors. The Jews kept their identity—not for two generations, but for two thousand years. Through wave after wave of persecution, prejudice and bigotry, Satan was relentless in his attempt to destroy them. But he failed.
Satan’s plans always backfire. In the aftermath of the Holocaust, the world said, “The Jews deserve a land of their own. World sympathy was with the Jewish people for the first and only time in history. So it was that on May 14, 1948, Israel became a nation again. The fig tree that had appeared to be dead and hopeless suddenly sprang back to life and blossomed—just as Jesus prophesied. And, according to Matthew 24:34, the generation that saw that happen would be the final generation.
What constitutes a generation? Hal Lindsay and others taught that a Biblical generation could be a thirty-eight to forty-year time period.
And the Lord’s anger was kindled against Israel, and he made them wander in the wilderness forty years, until all the generation, that had done evil in the sight of the LORD, was consumed. Numbers 32:13
And the space in which we came from Kadesh-barnea, until we were come over the brook Zered, was thirty and eight years; until all the generation of the men of war were wasted out from among the host, as the LORD sware unto them. Deuteronomy 2:14
Thus, anticipation grew. Excitement and expectancy filled the hearts of many, for if you add forty years to 1948—and if you believe the rapture of the Church takes place seven years before the return of Jesus, the Rapture would take place in 1980 or 1981. Truly the time was near! T-shirts, bumper stickers, and posters were printed. Maranatha—“Come quickly, Lord”—became the watchword of believers. 1981 came. So did 1982, ’83, ’84, ’85, and ’86. And then something began to happen. A whole bunch of radical Christians began to cool off, saying, “Maybe we’re here for a while after all. Maybe we shouldn’t be so committed to this kingdom thing.” Oh, they didn’t say it in those exact words, but that’s what they were thinking. And a dulling of expectancy swept over our generation.
What went wrong? Perhaps forty years is not the figure we should work with when looking at a Biblical generation. Take a look at Genesis 15…
And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years; and also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance. But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again.… Genesis 15:13, 14, 16
Here in Genesis 15, God refers to the four-hundred-year period the Jews were in Egypt as four generations. Therefore, in this model, a generation is not forty years but one hundred years. If a generation is one hundred years, am I suggesting that the Rapture will take place in 2048—one hundred years after the rebirth of the nation of Israel? No. I suggest it will be before then. You see, there is a principle in Bible interpretation called the Principle of First Mention that says foundational understanding about any given subject is usually found in the first place it is mentioned in Scripture. Where is the Greek term, “generation” first mentioned? In Matthew 1:17 we read: So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations; and from David until the carrying away into Babylon are fourteen generations; and from the carrying away into Babylon unto Christ are fourteen generations.
Sharpen your pencils and think with me: Christian and Jewish theologians alike agree that, based on Biblical genealogies, Abraham was called by God in the year 2085 B.C. Genesis 2 tells us he was seventy-five years old at that time, which means Abraham was born in 2160 B.C. Matthew 1:17 tells us there were forty-two generations (14x3) from Abraham to Christ. So, if you divide 2160—the year of Abraham’s birth—by 42, you get 51.4. Thus, scripturally, there is validity for a Biblical generation to be 51.4 years
Jesus told us that no man knows the day or the hour of His return. But of the times and season we are not to be ignorant (1 Thessalonians 5:1). Hebrews 10:25 says we are not to forsake assembling ourselves together so much the more as we see that day coming. 1 Thessalonians tells us that the return of Christ will surprise the world but not us (1 Thessalonians 5:5).
But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. 2 Peter 3:8
From the Lord’s perspective, one thousand years equals one day and one day equals one thousand years. This answers a lot of questions. For example, God told Adam that the day he ate of the forbidden fruit he would surely die. Yet Adam lived to be 938 years old. Why? From God’s perspective, a day being a thousand years, Adam died towards the end of the “day” in which he sinned. God kept His promise perfectly.
From this perspective, the early church fathers taught that the Genesis account of creation is not only history, but prophecy. God worked for six days. So, too, this world will work for six thousand years. On the seventh day of creation, God rested. So, too, in the seven thousandth year, there will come a one thousand-year period of time called the millennium when there will be rest and peace.
When is the seven thousandth year? When will Christ return?
In the year 1670, a brilliant thinker and theologian, Archbishop Usher, made some calculations that have withstood computer confirmation. By adding the years of the genealogy in Genesis, he calculated that Adam appeared on the scene in 4004 B.C.
“Wait a minute,” you say. “It is well known that man has been on the earth for multiplied millions of years. How can you say that the first man appeared only six thousand years ago?”
Science is not at all committed to an ancient earth theory any longer.
Dr. Stuart Ross, a brilliant astronomer and thinker, but not a believer, wrote a book entitled The Lunar Silence—A Post-Apollo View, in which he makes a number of fascinating observations, among them the following.…
In our first manned shot to the moon about twenty years ago Neil Armstrong stepped on to the moon’s surface saying, “One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” Did you ever wonder why it was that he had to climb so far down from the module to actually set foot on the moon? Why was the module perched twenty-five feet off the moon’s surface? Ross writes that scientists, believing the moon to be 4.6 billion years old, were convinced that the accumulation of meteorite dust on the moon’s surface would be at least two thousand and perhaps as much as twenty thousand feet deep. After all, if you didn’t dust your house for 4.6 billion years, what would your house look like? So, twenty-five-foot legs with big cushions were constructed in order that the module could compact the dust as it landed and not sink indefinitely into a sea of meteorite powder. Imagine the scientists’ surprise when they watched the lunar module set down without sinking a bit. In fact, the greatest depth of lunar dust measured thus far is two inches. Consequently, a number of scientists, including Dr. Stuart Ross, are now saying the moon can be no more than ten thousand years old.
On the other hand, even if you opt for an ancient earth, I still believe that the genealogies of Genesis take you back accurately to 4000 B.C.—or six thousand years ago. Genesis 1:1 says, “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.” Genesis 1:2 says, “And the earth was without form, and void.” The Hebrew translation of “without form and void” is tohuw va bohuw, which means “chaotic, turned upside-down, emptied.”
Isaiah 45:18, however, says “…God himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, he created it not in vain.” In other words, He created the earth with form.
Is this a contradiction? No. Along with many Bible scholars, I believe a cataclysmic event occurred between Genesis 1:1 and Genesis 1:2. I believe it was between these two verses that Lucifer, the highest angel in Heaven, launched a rebellion against God and was cast out of Heaven. And it was when he fell to earth that the earth became “tohuw va bohuw.” So God recreated the earth. That’s why, in Genesis 1:28, He told Adam to replenish and subdue the earth (Genesis 1:28). Subdue it from whom? From Satan, who had set up his headquarters on this planet.
Whether you espouse an “old earth” theory or a much younger earth theory, the genealogies of Genesis meet with no scientific contradiction. Adam made his entrance in 4000 B.C. What does this mean? The answer is found in the Book of Hosea.…
Come, and let us return unto the LORD: for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up. After two days will he revive us: in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight. Hosea 6:1, 2
Writing of the End Times, Hosea says for two days the Jewish people will go through hard, tearing, difficult times. But on the third day, they will be revived. Thus, the calculation is complete:
Day 1
Adam is created
4000 B.C.
Day 4
The coming of Jesus Christ
A.D. 1
Days 5–6
Israel goes through hard times
A.D. 1–2000
Day 7
Israel revived during millennium
A.D. 2000
I am not alone in this interpretation.
In A.D. 150, Iranius wrote concerning the Book of Genesis: “This is an account of things formerly created as it is also a prophecy of things which are yet to come, for the day of the Lord is as one thousand years. And in six days, created things were completed. It is evident, therefore, they will come to an end at the end of six thousand years.” Lactanius said this in A.D. 300: “Because all the works of God were finished in six days, it is necessary that the world should remain in this state for six thousand years. Because having finished works, He rested on the seventh day and blessed it, it is necessary then, at the end of the six thousandth year, wickedness should be abolished out of the earth and righteousness should then reign for one thousand years.”God’s week of human history is rapidly coming to completion. The return of Christ is nigh.
I believe you who are in your teens and early twenties are very possibly the last generation. Set your heart on things above. Live for heaven. Seek first the kingdom, and you will be happy presently, rewarded eternally, and grateful constantly.
You who are older, continue setting an example for us who are younger. Continue to make the Lord top priority in your life. We’re looking to you in a very real sense. Please keep the fire hot.
Fellow baby boomers, we need to realize that Jesus Christ is coming soon. We don’t have time to play around. We don’t have time to chase worldly pursuits any longer. We need to return to ministry and service, worship and prayer, Bible study and street witnessing. Whatever it was you used to do when you were fired up about Jesus in the ’70s, do it again.
Maranatha!
|
|