This generation means those living at the time Christ spoke it. The bible clearly teaches that "generation" is a 40-42 year time period. Not 2,000 years and it does not mean race! "generation" (genea) does not mean "race" (genos).
Any honest reader would know that the context of Matthew 23&24 is about the generation that was living, breathing and hearing Him speak! When Christ said "when you see", He said it to his disciples not to people thousands of years later. It's nonsense! to even think that "this generation" is speaking about mankind in general.
Many miss understand all the blood shed on the earth as being the entire earth, when it refers to the land (Roman Empire as all of the world) that Jesus gave those in a covenantal relationship with Him. The idea that the judgment of all that blood on that terminal generation is easily explained as that generation filling up the measure (reaching the limit) of the sins Jesus was willing to let go. The time to end the covenant had come.
That generation was the final generation of the Mosiac Covenant and all the curses given at Sinai came upon them as promised. Jesus pronounced the 8 woes upon Jerusalem in Matthew 23 detailing the judgment coming upon Israel. He, then explained it in Matthew 24 & 25. It's sad how far people go to explain away verses that disagree with their ideology. The Bible was written to change the hearts of man, not for man to change the Bible to fit his ideology! Audience relevance is much more accurate than variables found in the law of probability.
The prophecy of judgment of Israel occurred just as Christ said it would. The context of Matthew 23-25 with audience relevance and scripture interpreting scripture prove beyond any law of probability that Christ was speaking to and prophesying to the generation who was present in the city and asking the questions in Matthew 24:3. It is so simple that a person must be taught wrong or has an ideology so far removed from truth that God, himself cannot save him.
Typology does not provide for multiple, unrelated fulfillments thousands or millions of years apart. "This generation" is a prophecy for a specific people concerning the Temple, Jerusalem and the coming judgment upon Israel. To isolate and cite Isaiah 7:14 as an example does not refute Matthew 23-25 with the term, "this generation". There is no multiple interpretation or fulfillment of those chapters as the context going all the way back to chapter 21, with Christ entering the city, is about Jerusalem and the nation of Israel. Scripture is to be studied in context always! If we can affix multiple fulfillments to typology and anti-typology, then we can have Christ coming in judgment every time we see pestilence, wars, rumors of wars, earthquakes, pandemics and anywhere our imagination can take us. The timing of prophecy always determines the nature based upon the context of scripture.
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