Jesus said, “Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all these things are fulfilled” (Mt. 24:34).        This passage has been abused by many religious speculators. The Watchtower teaches that it is the generation that “saw the events of 1914.” Hal Lindsey said, “the generation that saw the signs—chief among them the rebirth of Israel. A generation in the Bible is something like forty years. If this is a correct deduction, then within forty years or so of 1948, all these things could take place” (Late Great Planet Earth, p. 43). The Adventists say, “We are the last generation of people who will live in this sin cursed earth” (It’s Headed Straight for you, p. 11). (They gave no date, so their material could be used a thousand years from now!)

It is helpful to go through Matthew and see how the word generation is used. Notice some of the passages: “But to what shall I liken this generation?” (11:16), “But He answered and said to them, An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign will be give to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah” (12:39),      and “Therefore I send you the prophets, wise men and scribes...Assuredly, I say t you, all these things will come upon this generation” (23:34-36). This generation always refers to the generation being addressed, and Matthew 24 is not exception to that.

Jesus had given a number of signs for the coming destruction of the city of Jerusalem, specifically of the temple (Mt. 24; Mk. 13; Lk. 21). When the Roman army came, Christians were to “flee to the mountains” (Mt. 24:16). They were to pray that their “flight may not be in winter or on the Sabbath” (v. 20), because  flight would be more difficult in winter and the gates of the city would be closed on the Sabbath (Neh. 13:19). Also, it would be more difficult for “those who are pregnant and those with nursing babies” (v. 19).

All the signs  of  the coming of Christ (in judgment against Jerusalem) were fulfilled in 70 A.D., when the temple was destroyed. Historians tell us that no Christians died in that battle because they heeded the Lord’s warnings and escaped to the mountains when the Roman army approached.

There are no signs given whereby we can determine the time of the second coming. Paul said, “For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night” (1 Thess. 5:2). There will be no mountains to which people may flee! Peter said, “But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up” (2 Pet. 3:10).