Introduction
† Jesus and His apostles repeatedly identified the generation, the people, and the time when the prophecies concerning the end of the Old Covenant age would be fulfilled (Matthew 24:34; Hebrews 9:26).
† These statements weren't written to confuse future generations. They were given to first-century believers who were living during the final days of the Old Covenant system (Hebrews 1:1-2; 8:13).
† The fulfilled perspective recognizes that Jesus kept His promises, the judgment came upon Jerusalem in AD 70, and the New Covenant kingdom was fully established (Luke 21:20-22; Hebrews 12:28).
† The following three sets of sayings provide thirty Scripture-based statements that can be used when discussing fulfillment with those who believe these prophecies remain in our future.

Set One: Jesus Identified The Generation Of Fulfillment

Matthew 10:23
But whenever they persecute you in one city, flee to the next; for truly I say to you, you will not finish going through the cities of Israel until the Son of Man comes.
† JESUS TOLD HIS APOSTLES THEY WOULDN'T FINISH GOING THROUGH THE CITIES OF ISRAEL BEFORE HIS COMING (Matthew 10:5-7).
† He was speaking to the disciples He sent into the cities of Israel, not to people living thousands of years later (Matthew 10:1-6).
† If His coming was still thousands of years away, His warning about their unfinished mission would lose its original urgency (Matthew 10:16-23).

Matthew 16:27-28
For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and WILL THEN REPAY EVERY MAN ACCORDING TO HIS DEEDS.
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 BEFORE HIM WOULDN'T DIE BEFORE THEY SAW HIS COMING IN HIS KINGDOM (Mark 9:1).
† Jesus connected His coming, His kingdom, and His judgment in the same conversation (Matthew 16:24-26).
† Those standing there belonged to the first century. Jesus didn't tell them they would wait thousands of years (Luke 9:27).

Matthew 21:43-45
Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people, producing the fruit of it.
And the one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; but on whomever it falls, it will scatter him like dust.
When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard His parables, they understood that He was speaking about them.
† THE CHIEF PRIESTS AND PHARISEES KNEW JESUS WAS SPEAKING ABOUT THEM, NOT ABOUT A FUTURE GENERATION (Matthew 21:33-41).
† The kingdom was being taken from the unfaithful covenant leadership and given to a people producing its fruit (1 Peter 2:9-10).
† The judgment concerned the religious leaders who rejected Christ and opposed His messengers (Acts 4:10-12).

Matthew 23:35-36
so that upon you may fall the guilt of all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.
Truly I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation.
† JESUS SAID THE GUILT FOR THE BLOOD OF THE PROPHETS WOULD FALL UPON THAT GENERATION (Luke 11:49-51).
† He was addressing Jerusalem's religious leaders who continued the persecution of God's messengers (Matthew 23:29-34).
† The destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70 fulfilled this judgment against the generation Jesus condemned (Luke 19:41-44).

Matthew 24:34
Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place.
† JESUS SAID THAT GENERATION WOULDN'T PASS AWAY UNTIL ALL THE THINGS HE HAD DESCRIBED TOOK PLACE (Luke 21:32).
† He didn't say a generation living thousands of years later would witness those events (Matthew 23:36).
† The generation that heard His warning was the generation that witnessed Jerusalem's destruction in AD 70 (Luke 21:20-24).

Matthew 26:64
Jesus said to him, You have said it yourself; nevertheless I tell you, hereafter you will see THE SON OF MAN SITTING AT THE RIGHT HAND OF POWER, and COMING ON THE CLOUDS OF HEAVEN.
† JESUS TOLD THE HIGH PRIEST THAT HE WOULD SEE THE SON OF MAN ENTHRONED AND COMING ON THE CLOUDS OF HEAVEN (Daniel 7:13-14).
† Coming on the clouds is biblical language associated with divine authority and judgment (Isaiah 19:1).
† The judgment upon Jerusalem revealed Christ's authority over the Old Covenant leadership that rejected Him (Matthew 24:30).

Mark 1:15
and saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.
† JESUS ANNOUNCED THAT THE APPOINTED TIME HAD ARRIVED AND GOD'S KINGDOM WAS AT HAND (Galatians 4:4).
† He didn't announce a kingdom that would remain postponed for thousands of years (Luke 11:20).
† Christ's kingdom was already breaking into history through His ministry and would remain forever (Luke 17:20-21; Daniel 7:14).

Luke 21:20
But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then recognize that her desolation is near.
† JESUS IDENTIFIED JERUSALEM SURROUNDED BY ARMIES AS THE SIGN OF ITS APPROACHING DESTRUCTION (Luke 19:43-44).
† The warning concerned an actual city, actual armies, and disciples who could recognize the approaching danger (Luke 21:21).
† Roman armies surrounded Jerusalem in the first century, and the city and temple were destroyed in AD 70 (Matthew 24:1-2).

Luke 21:22
because these are days of vengeance, so that all things which are written will be fulfilled.
† JESUS IDENTIFIED JERUSALEM'S DAYS OF VENGEANCE AS THE FULFILLMENT OF WHAT HAD BEEN WRITTEN ABOUT THAT JUDGMENT (Daniel 9:26-27).
† The destruction of Jerusalem marked the final judgment upon the Old Covenant system (Hebrews 8:13).
† Jesus connected the fulfillment of these prophetic judgments directly to Jerusalem's approaching desolation (Luke 21:20-24).

Luke 21:32
Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all things take place.
† JESUS REPEATED THAT ALL THESE THINGS WOULD TAKE PLACE BEFORE THAT GENERATION PASSED AWAY (Matthew 24:34).
† Matthew and Luke weren't describing two different generations separated by thousands of years (Mark 13:30).
† Jesus placed the fulfillment within the lifetime of His first-century audience (Luke 21:28-31).

Set Two: The Apostles Confirmed The Time Of Fulfillment

Acts 2:16-17
but this is what was spoken of through the prophet Joel:
AND IT SHALL BE IN THE LAST DAYS, God says, THAT I WILL POUR FORTH OF MY SPIRIT ON ALL MANKIND; AND YOUR SONS AND YOUR DAUGHTERS SHALL PROPHESY, AND YOUR YOUNG MEN SHALL SEE VISIONS, AND YOUR OLD MEN SHALL DREAM DREAMS;
† PETER SAID THE LAST DAYS SPOKEN OF BY JOEL WERE ALREADY PRESENT AT PENTECOST (Joel 2:28-32).
† He didn't tell his audience to wait thousands of years for the last days to begin (Acts 2:14-21).
† The outpouring of the Holy Spirit marked the fulfillment of God's promises during the final generation of the Old Covenant age (Acts 2:32-39).

1 Corinthians 10:11
Now these things happened to them as an example, and they were written for our instruction, upon whom the ends of the ages have come.
† PAUL SAID THE ENDS OF THE AGES HAD ALREADY COME UPON HIS FIRST-CENTURY READERS (Hebrews 9:26).
† He didn't place the end of those ages thousands of years beyond his audience (Galatians 4:4).
† The apostles were living during the transition from the Old Covenant to the completed New Covenant order (Hebrews 8:13).

Hebrews 1:1-2
God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways,
in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world.
† THE WRITER OF HEBREWS SAID GOD HAD SPOKEN THROUGH HIS SON IN THOSE LAST DAYS (Acts 2:17).
† The words in these last days identified the period in which the writer and his readers were living (Hebrews 9:26).
† The last days concerned the closing period of the Old Covenant age, not the destruction of the physical universe (Hebrews 8:13).

Hebrews 8:13
When He said, A new covenant, He has made the first obsolete. But whatever is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to disappear.
† THE OLD COVENANT WAS ALREADY OBSOLETE AND READY TO DISAPPEAR WHEN HEBREWS WAS WRITTEN (Jeremiah 31:31-34).
† The writer described a covenant system approaching its final removal (Hebrews 10:9).
† The destruction of Jerusalem and its temple in AD 70 brought the earthly sacrificial system to its historical end (Hebrews 9:8-10).

Hebrews 9:26
Otherwise, He would have needed to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now once at the consummation of the ages He has been revealed to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.
† CHRIST APPEARED AT THE CONSUMMATION OF THE AGES, NOT THOUSANDS OF YEARS BEFORE THEIR BEGINNING (Galatians 4:4).
† His sacrifice accomplished what the repeated sacrifices of the Old Covenant couldn't accomplish (Hebrews 10:11-14).
† The consummation concerned the fulfillment of the covenant ages through Christ's completed work (Hebrews 9:11-15).

Hebrews 10:37
FOR YET IN A VERY LITTLE WHILE, HE WHO IS COMING WILL COME, AND WILL NOT DELAY.
† THE WRITER SAID CHRIST'S COMING WAS EXPECTED IN A VERY LITTLE WHILE AND WOULDN'T BE DELAYED (Habakkuk 2:3-4).
† Those words encouraged first-century believers who were enduring persecution (Hebrews 10:32-36).
† The promised vindication belonged to the approaching judgment that would end the Old Covenant order (Matthew 24:29-34).

James 5:8-9
You too be patient; strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is near.
Do not complain, brethren, against one another, so that you yourselves may not be judged; behold, the Judge is standing right at the door.
† JAMES SAID THE COMING OF THE LORD WAS NEAR AND THE JUDGE WAS ALREADY STANDING AT THE DOOR (Matthew 24:33).
† His warning was addressed to believers living under first-century conditions of suffering and oppression (James 5:1-7).
† The approaching judgment wasn't presented as an event thousands of years beyond their lifetime (1 Peter 4:7).

1 Peter 4:7
The end of all things is near; therefore, be of sound judgment and sober spirit for the purpose of prayer.
† PETER SAID THE END OF ALL THINGS WAS NEAR WHEN HE WROTE TO THE CHURCHES (1 Peter 4:17).
† The approaching end concerned the Old Covenant order and its judgment, not the disappearance of the physical earth (Hebrews 8:13).
† Peter instructed his readers to live faithfully because the appointed judgment was approaching (1 Peter 4:12-19).

1 Peter 4:17
For it is time for judgment to begin with the household of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God?
† PETER SAID THE TIME FOR JUDGMENT HAD ARRIVED, NOT THAT IT WOULD BEGIN THOUSANDS OF YEARS LATER (Ezekiel 9:6).
† The first-century church was already experiencing the testing and persecution associated with that judgment (1 Peter 4:12-16).
† Judgment beginning with God's household fits the covenant transition that reached its conclusion in AD 70 (Hebrews 12:25-28).

1 John 2:18
Children, it is the last hour; and just as you heard that antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have appeared; from this we know that it is the last hour.
† JOHN SAID IT WAS ALREADY THE LAST HOUR BECAUSE MANY ANTICHRISTS HAD APPEARED (1 John 2:19).
† He identified antichrists as people active during his own lifetime, not merely a future individual (1 John 4:3).
† The last hour described the approaching completion of the first-century covenant transition (Hebrews 8:13).

Set Three: Revelation And The Kingdom Confirm Fulfillment

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,
† REVELATION BEGINS BY SAYING ITS PROPHETIC EVENTS MUST SOON TAKE PLACE (Revelation 1:3).
† The message was given to actual first-century churches facing persecution and tribulation (Revelation 1:4, 9).
† Soon meant the events were approaching for John's original audience, not that they would remain unfulfilled for thousands of years (Revelation 22:6).

Revelation 1:3
Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of the prophecy, and heed the things which are written in it; for the time is near.
† JOHN SAID THE TIME WAS NEAR FOR THE CHURCHES THAT FIRST RECEIVED REVELATION (Revelation 1:4).
† Those believers were instructed to hear, understand, and obey because the appointed time was approaching (Revelation 2:7).
† The prophecy's original time statements support its fulfillment within the first-century generation (Revelation 22:10).

Revelation 11:8
And their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city which mystically is called Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified.
† REVELATION IDENTIFIES THE GREAT CITY BY THE PLACE WHERE THE LORD WAS CRUCIFIED (Luke 13:33-34).
† Jerusalem was the city that rejected Christ and persecuted His messengers (Matthew 23:37).
† The identification connects Revelation's judgment imagery with the covenant city condemned by Jesus (Matthew 23:35-38).

Revelation 16:19
The great city was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell. Babylon the great was remembered before God, to give her the cup of the wine of His fierce wrath.
† BABYLON'S JUDGMENT REPRESENTS THE FALL OF THE GREAT CITY THAT STOOD UNDER GOD'S WRATH (Revelation 17:18).
† Revelation connects the great city's guilt with the blood of God's prophets and saints (Revelation 18:24).
† Jesus placed responsibility for the blood of the prophets upon first-century Jerusalem (Matthew 23:35-37).

Revelation 18:21
Then a strong angel took up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea, saying, So will Babylon, the great city, be thrown down with violence, and will not be found any longer.
† BABYLON'S FALL WAS FINAL, AND THE CONDEMNED COVENANT CITY WOULDN'T RETURN TO ITS FORMER POSITION (Revelation 18:20).
† The Old Covenant temple system couldn't be restored as God's appointed means of redemption because Christ fulfilled its sacrifices (Hebrews 10:9-14).
† The destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70 marked the historical removal of that former covenant order (Hebrews 8:13).

Revelation 21:2-3
And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband.
And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them,
† THE NEW JERUSALEM REPRESENTS GOD'S DWELLING WITH HIS REDEEMED PEOPLE UNDER THE NEW COVENANT (Hebrews 12:22-24).
† Believers already belong to the Jerusalem above through their relationship with Christ (Galatians 4:26).
† God's dwelling is now among His people, who are being built together into His spiritual household (Ephesians 2:19-22).

Revelation 22:6
And he said to me, These words are faithful and true; and the Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, sent His angel to show to His bond-servants the things which must soon take place.
† REVELATION ENDS WITH THE SAME PROMISE WITH WHICH IT BEGAN, THESE THINGS MUST SOON TAKE PLACE (Revelation 1:1).
† The repeated time statement confirms that the prophecy concerned events approaching its original readers (Revelation 22:7).
† The first-century fulfillment of Jerusalem's judgment agrees with the time limits Jesus gave His disciples (Matthew 24:34).

Revelation 22:10
And he said to me, Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is near.
† JOHN WAS TOLD NOT TO SEAL THE PROPHECY BECAUSE THE TIME WAS NEAR (Revelation 1:3).
† Daniel was told to seal his prophecy because its fulfillment belonged to a later appointed time (Daniel 12:4).
† Revelation's opposite instruction indicates that its fulfillment was approaching the people who first received it (Revelation 22:6-7).

Daniel 7:13-14
I kept looking in the night visions,
And behold, with the clouds of heaven
One like a Son of Man was coming,
And He came up to the Ancient of Days
And was presented before Him.
And to Him was given dominion,
Glory and a kingdom,
That all the peoples, nations and men of every language
Might serve Him.
His dominion is an everlasting dominion
Which will not pass away;
And His kingdom is one
Which will not be destroyed.
† DANIEL SAW THE SON OF MAN RECEIVING AN EVERLASTING KINGDOM FROM THE ANCIENT OF DAYS (Matthew 28:18).
† The vision describes Christ receiving heavenly authority, not returning to establish a temporary earthly political kingdom (Ephesians 1:20-22).
† Christ reigns now, and His kingdom will never be destroyed or transferred to another ruler (Luke 1:32-33).

Luke 17:20-21
Now having been questioned by the Pharisees as to when the kingdom of God was coming, He answered them and said, The kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed;
nor will they say, 'Look, here it is!' or, 'There it is!' For behold, the kingdom of God is in your midst.
† JESUS SAID GOD'S KINGDOM WAS ALREADY PRESENT IN THEIR MIDST THROUGH HIM (Matthew 12:28).
† His kingdom wasn't dependent upon an earthly throne in Jerusalem or a future rebuilt temple (John 18:36).
† Believers enter His kingdom through faith and belong to His heavenly government today (Colossians 1:13).

Colossians 1:13
For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son,
† PAUL SAID BELIEVERS HAD ALREADY BEEN TRANSFERRED INTO CHRIST'S KINGDOM (Hebrews 12:28).
† The kingdom wasn't merely a future hope because Christians were already participating in it (Romans 14:17).
† We don't need to wait for Christ to begin reigning because He already possesses all authority (Matthew 28:18).

Hebrews 12:28
Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude, by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe;
† THE KINGDOM BELIEVERS RECEIVE CANNOT BE SHAKEN OR DESTROYED (Daniel 7:14).
† The removal of the temporary covenant order made way for the permanent New Covenant kingdom (Hebrews 12:26-27).
† Christ's kingdom remains established forever, and His people serve Him today (Revelation 11:15).

Historical References
† Flavius Josephus, The Jewish War, Books 5-6, described the Roman siege of Jerusalem, the famine, the fighting, and the destruction of the temple in AD 70.
† Josephus, The Jewish War, Book 7, recorded the aftermath of Jerusalem's destruction and the Roman victory over the Jewish revolt.
† Eusebius of Caesarea, Ecclesiastical History, Book 3, Chapter 5, preserved the tradition that Christians fled Jerusalem and settled in Pella before the city's destruction.
† Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History, Book 3, Chapter 7, connected the destruction of Jerusalem with the consequences of rejecting Christ.
† These historical accounts document the first-century catastrophe that the fulfilled perspective identifies with Jesus' warnings about Jerusalem (Luke 19:41-44; 21:20-24).

How It Applies To Us Today
† We don't need to keep moving Jesus' first-century promises into our future when He identified the generation that would witness their fulfillment (Matthew 24:34).
† We can trust that Christ fulfilled His promises and established the everlasting kingdom that can never be destroyed (Daniel 7:14).
† We aren't waiting for the Old Covenant to disappear because Christ established the New Covenant through His completed sacrifice (Hebrews 8:13; 10:12-14).
† We aren't waiting to enter the kingdom because believers have already been transferred into the kingdom of God's beloved Son (Colossians 1:13).
† We aren't waiting for access to the heavenly Jerusalem because believers already belong to that city through Christ (Hebrews 12:22-24).
† We can proclaim fulfillment with confidence because Jesus kept His word concerning the judgment of Jerusalem and the establishment of His kingdom (Luke 21:32-33).
† Our responsibility isn't to predict another prophetic ending but to proclaim the completed work of Christ and live faithfully under His reign (2 Corinthians 5:17-20).

Q & A Appendix
Q: If Jesus said this generation, why should we believe He meant the first century?
A: Because He was addressing His own disciples and connected the events to Jerusalem's approaching destruction (Matthew 24:1-3, 34; Luke 21:20-24).

Q: Didn't Jesus promise that some standing there would see His coming?
A: Yes. He said some of those standing before Him wouldn't taste death before seeing the Son of Man coming in His kingdom (Matthew 16:27-28).

Q: Doesn't the Bible say the last days are still ahead?
A: Peter said the last days were present at Pentecost, and Hebrews identified the time of Christ as the last days (Acts 2:16-17; Hebrews 1:1-2).

Q: What did Jesus mean when He said all things would be fulfilled?
A: He connected the fulfillment of the written judgments with the days of vengeance upon Jerusalem (Luke 21:20-22).

Q: Was the kingdom postponed because Israel rejected Jesus?
A: No. Jesus announced that the kingdom was at hand, and Paul said believers had already been transferred into it (Mark 1:15; Colossians 1:13).

Q: Why does Revelation repeatedly say soon and near?
A: Because its prophetic judgments were approaching the first-century churches that received the book (Revelation 1:1-4; 22:6-10).

Q: Does the New Jerusalem exist today?
A: Yes. Believers have come to the heavenly Jerusalem and belong to the Jerusalem above (Hebrews 12:22-24; Galatians 4:26).

Q: Does the destruction of Jerusalem mean the physical earth must eventually disappear?
A: No. The judgment concerned the Old Covenant order, while Scripture distinguishes God's enduring creation from the covenant system that was passing away (Hebrews 8:13; Ecclesiastes 1:4).

Q: What should we tell someone who continues to place these prophecies in our future?
A: We should ask them to explain why Jesus said this generation, why the apostles said the end was near, and why Revelation said its events must soon take place (Matthew 24:34; James 5:8-9; Revelation 1:1-3).

Q: What is the central message of the fulfilled perspective?
A: Jesus kept His promises, fulfilled the covenant prophecies, judged Old Covenant Jerusalem, and established His everlasting kingdom (Luke 21:20-22, 32; Hebrews 12:28).

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

Source Index
† Matthew 10:23; 16:27-28; 21:43-45; 23:35-36; 24:34; 26:64; Mark 1:15; Luke 17:20-21; 21:20, 22, 32; Acts 2:16-17; 1 Corinthians 10:11; Hebrews 1:1-2; 8:13; 9:26; 10:37; 12:28; James 5:8-9; 1 Peter 4:7, 17; 1 John 2:18; Revelation 1:1, 3; 11:8; 16:19; 18:21; 21:2-3; 22:6, 10; Daniel 7:13-14; Colossians 1:13.
† Flavius Josephus, The Jewish War, Books 5-7; Eusebius of Caesarea, Ecclesiastical History, Book 3, Chapters 5 and 7.