Understanding the Fulfilled View Audience Relevance, Their Generation Part 2 of 10

By Dan Maines

Understanding the Fulfilled View
Audience Relevance, Their Generation
Part 2 of 10, all posted same day, links at bottom

Introduction
Jesus and the apostles did not speak vaguely about timing. They spoke with clarity, urgency, and direct relevance to their own generation. When we let scripture interpret scripture, the time statements stand as some of the strongest proof of fulfilled eschatology. The New Testament repeats the same message again and again, declaring that the end of the age, the coming of the Son of Man, the judgment on Jerusalem, and the establishing of the kingdom would happen soon, shortly, at hand, and within that generation. This post lets scripture speak for itself without adding human tradition.

Jesus Identified His Audience Directly

Matthew 23:29-36
Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you build the tombs of the prophets and decorate the monuments of the righteous, and say, If we had been living in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partners with them in shedding the blood of the prophets. So you testify against yourselves, that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets. Fill up, then, the measure of the guilt of your fathers. You snakes, you offspring of vipers, how will you escape the sentence of hell. Therefore, behold, I am sending you prophets and wise men and scribes, some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will flog in your synagogues, and persecute from city to city, so that upon you will 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 addressed them directly. He said you, your synagogues, your cities, and this generation. Scripture interprets scripture by showing this judgment fell on the generation that rejected Him.
† No passage in the entire Bible broadens this judgment beyond His contemporaries. The force of His words collapses futurism entirely.
† Jesus placed the entire covenant judgment on the leaders of first century Israel, not a hypothetical future group.

Additional Audience Passages Jesus Spoke Against THEM

Matthew 11:20-24
Then He began to reprimand the cities in which most of His miracles were done, because they did not repent. Woe to you, Chorazin. Woe to you, Bethsaida. For if the miracles that occurred in you had occurred in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. Nevertheless I say to you, it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon on the day of judgment than for you. And you, Capernaum, will not be exalted to heaven, will you. You will go down to Hades. For if the miracles that occurred in you had occurred in Sodom, it would have remained to this day. Nevertheless I say to you that it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom on the day of judgment, than for you.
† Jesus condemned specific first century cities by name. The judgment day He spoke of was directed at them, not us.
† These warnings are meaningless if the judgment is thousands of years away. Those cities no longer exist. Jesus addressed real historic cities facing real historic consequences.
† Scripture interprets scripture. The day of the Lord fell on them, fulfilling exactly what Jesus promised.

Luke 17:25
But first He must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation.
† The same generation that rejected Jesus was the generation judged in AD 70. These two events cannot be separated by thousands of years.
† Futurism requires two different generations, but Jesus said this generation. The same people who rejected Him experienced the consequences.
† Jesus tied His suffering and His coming in judgment to the same timeframe, the same people, the same covenant world.

Matthew 12:41-42
The men of Nineveh will stand up with this generation at the judgment, and will condemn it because they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, something greater than Jonah is here. The Queen of the South will rise up with this generation at the judgment and will condemn it, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold, something greater than Solomon is here.
† Jesus tied judgment to this generation twice in two verses. There is no ambiguity.
† If judgment is future, then the men of Nineveh and the Queen of the South must physically resurrect before modern humanity. No futurist accepts this because it exposes the inconsistency in their reading.
† Jesus was not confused. He knew precisely who would face judgment, and He said this generation.

Matthew 16:1-4
The Pharisees and Sadducees came up, and putting Jesus to the test, they asked Him to show them a sign from heaven. But He replied to them, When it is evening, you say, It will be fair weather, for the sky is red. And in the morning, There will be a storm today, for the sky is red and threatening. You know how to discern the appearance of the sky, but are unable to discern the signs of the times. An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and a sign will not be given it, except the sign of Jonah. And He left them and went away.
† Jesus again identified His own generation as the evil and adulterous generation. He never used this language for a future people.
† The signs of the times were happening right in front of them. Judgment belonged to them.
† Scripture interprets scripture. The sign of Jonah was fulfilled in their hearing.

Matthew 26:64
Jesus said to him, You have said it yourself. But I tell you, from now on 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 directly, You will see. Not future priests, not future nations. Him.
† Cloud coming is judgment language found everywhere in the Old Testament, and Jesus applied it to the leaders standing in front of Him.
† This passage alone proves that the coming of the Son of Man occurred in the first century, exactly as Jesus said.

The Olivet Discourse Fixes the Time

Matthew 24:1-2
Jesus came out from the temple and was going away when His disciples came up to point out the temple buildings to Him. And He said to them, Do you not see all these things. Truly I say to you, not one stone here will be left upon another, which will not be torn down.
† Jesus tied the prophecy directly to the visible temple of their day. Futurism collapses because a future temple is not the one Jesus was standing in.
† Scripture interprets scripture. Luke 21 confirms this destruction belonged to the first century.
† Jesus addressed His disciples in real time about real stones and real destruction.

Matthew 24:34
Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place.
† This generation means the people Jesus was speaking to. Scripture never alters this meaning.
† All these things include every prophecy in Matthew 24.
† Futurism must twist generation into something foreign to scripture, but Jesus spoke plainly.

The Kingdom Taken From Them

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 its fruit. And the one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, but on whomever it falls, it will crush him. When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard His parables, they understood that He was speaking about them.
† Jesus told the rulers of Israel directly that they would lose the kingdom.
† They understood Jesus perfectly. They knew He meant them.
† Audience relevance demands that the judgment occurred in their time, not ours.

Those Who Pierced Him

Revelation 1:7
Behold, He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him, and all the tribes of the land will mourn over Him. So it is to be. Amen.
† Those who pierced Him lived in the first century.
† All the tribes of the land refers to Israel, not the world.
† Scripture interprets scripture. Matthew 26:64 and Revelation 1:7 speak of the same event.

Peter Confirmed Their Timing

Acts 2:40
And with many other words he solemnly testified and kept on urging them, saying, Be saved from this perverse generation.
† Peter warned the same generation Jesus condemned.
† This language matches Deuteronomy 32, which foretold covenant judgment on Israel.
† Scripture is unified. Judgment was coming on their generation.

How It Applies To Us Today
† Audience relevance brings the Bible back to life by placing Jesus' words exactly where He placed them.
† We now live in a kingdom fully established, not waiting for destruction or wrath.
† Fulfilled prophecy affirms God's faithfulness and Jesus' integrity.

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

Source Index
† Matthew 23:29-36, Matthew 11:20-24, Luke 17:25, Matthew 12:41-42, Matthew 16:1-4, Matthew 26:64, Matthew 24:1-2, Matthew 24:34, Matthew 21:43-45, Revelation 1:7, Acts 2:40

Series - Understanding the Fulfilled View

01 The Time Statements Mean What They Say Website

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/groups/1349070089314462/posts/1894198244801641/

02 Audience Relevance, Their Generation Website

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/groups/1349070089314462/posts/1894198808134918/

03 The End of the Age Was Not the End of the World Website

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/groups/1349070089314462/posts/1894199314801534/

04 The Last Days Were Their Last Days, Not Ours Website

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/groups/1349070089314462/posts/1894199971468135/

05 The Coming of the Son of Man Was a Judgment Coming Website

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/groups/1349070089314462/posts/1894200534801412/

06 The Judgment of Babylon Was the Judgment of Jerusalem Website