Introduction
† Have you ever noticed that some prophetic systems need a time machine more than they need a Bible dictionary?
† Every time a prophecy gets too close to the first century, somebody fires up the prophetic flux capacitor and sends it 2,000 years into the future.
† Suddenly "near" means far away, "shortly" means someday, and "this generation" means any generation except the one Jesus was speaking to.
† Let's see what happens when we leave the time machine in the garage and simply read the text.

Matthew 24:34
Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place.
† Jesus spoke to a real audience standing before Him.
† He didn't say a future generation.
† He didn't say a generation living thousands of years later.
† He didn't say people with Wi-Fi, cell phones, satellite television, and internet access.
† He said this generation.
† The futurist time machine immediately starts shaking and smoking because the verse is too clear.
† If Jesus meant another generation, He could've easily said another generation.
† Instead, He said this generation, and that's exactly what He meant.
† The audience relevance is impossible to miss unless the time machine is running.

Daniel 9:24
Seventy weeks have been decreed for your people and your holy city, to finish the wrongdoing, to make an end of sin, to make atonement for guilt, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy Place.
† Daniel was told the prophecy concerned Daniel's people.
† Daniel was told the prophecy concerned Daniel's holy city.
† Nobody reading this passage would naturally conclude that week sixty-nine would end and then a 2,000-year commercial break would begin.
† The gap theory is like reading about a seven-day vacation and discovering there was a mysterious six-million-hour pause between Wednesday and Thursday.
† The seventy weeks were presented as one complete prophetic period.
† Scripture never mentions a 2,000-year gap.
† The time machine has to insert the gap because the text never does.

Revelation 11:4
These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth.
† The Two Witnesses are identified as olive trees and lampstands.
† Revelation is a book full of symbols.
† The dragon is symbolic.
† The beasts are symbolic.
† The horns are symbolic.
† The lampstands are symbolic.
† Yet somehow many suddenly become strict literalists only when they arrive at the Two Witnesses.
† That's not consistent interpretation.
† That's selective literalism powered by the futurist time machine.

Matthew 23:36
Truly I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation.
† Jesus again identified the generation that would experience these events.
† Notice He didn't say a distant future generation.
† He didn't say people living after airplanes, automobiles, television, computers, and smartphones.
† He said this generation.
† The people hearing Him understood exactly who He was talking about.
† The destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70 perfectly fits the audience, timing, and covenant context.
† Once again, the time machine has to work overtime to move the prophecy away from the people Jesus addressed.

Matthew 16:28
Truly I say to you, there are some of those who are standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom.
† Jesus said some standing here.
† That's one of the clearest audience statements in the entire Bible.
† Some of those standing there would still be alive when these events occurred.
† Yet the Futurist Time Machine somehow transforms some standing here into people who wouldn't be born for nearly two millennia.
† That's not interpretation.
† That's time travel.

Revelation 1:1
The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show to His bond-servants, the things which must soon take place; and He sent and communicated it by His angel to His bond-servant John,
† John said these things must shortly come to pass.
† Shortly doesn't normally mean thousands of years later.
† If your waiter says your food will arrive shortly, you don't expect your great-great-great-grandchildren to receive it.
† Yet the Futurist Time Machine insists that shortly can mean over 2,000 years.
† Words only lose their meaning when a prophetic system requires them to.

Historical References
† Josephus recorded the horrors of the Jewish War and the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70.
† Eusebius recorded that Christians remembered Christ's warnings and fled before Jerusalem fell.
† These historical records show that first-century believers understood these prophecies as applying to their own generation.
† History agrees with the timing statements of Scripture.

How It Applies To Us Today
† We don't need a prophetic time machine to understand God's Word.
† We can trust Jesus to mean what He said.
† We can trust the audience references.
† We can trust the time statements.
† We can trust that Christ kept His promises exactly when He said He would.
† A fulfilled prophecy strengthens faith because it shows that God always keeps His word.
† The best interpretation is usually the one that doesn't require rewriting plain time statements.

Q & A Appendix
Q: Did Jesus say these events would happen in His generation?
A: Yes. Jesus repeatedly said these things would come upon "this generation." (Matthew 23:36; Matthew 24:34)
Q: Does Daniel 9 mention a 2,000-year gap?
A: No. The passage never mentions a gap between the sixty-ninth and seventieth week. (Daniel 9:24-27)
Q: How are the Two Witnesses described?
A: Revelation identifies them as olive trees and lampstands. (Revelation 11:4)
Q: Did first-century Christians understand these warnings as applying to them?
A: Yes. Historical records show they did and acted accordingly.
Q: Who were some standing here?
A: The people standing before Jesus when He spoke those words. (Matthew 16:28)
Q: Why is "this generation" important?
A: Because Jesus repeatedly connected the fulfillment of these events to the generation He was addressing. (Matthew 23:36; Matthew 24:34)
Q: What does Revelation 1:1 contribute to the discussion?
A: It establishes that the events of Revelation were described as things that must shortly come to pass. (Revelation 1:1)

† This is the fulfilled perspective we proclaim at Fulfilled Prophecies †
© Fulfilled Prophecies - Dan Maines.

Source Index
† Matthew 24:34, Daniel 9:24, Revelation 11:4, Matthew 23:36, , Matthew 16:28, Matthew 24:30, Revelation 1:1
† Josephus, Eusebius