We
Must Tell Our Kids the Truth (that Jesus ain’t
coming)
By jdshelton
I
could pick this apart, but Chris Perver from Prophecy in the News did such a
good job of it, I’ll just let him….
Apostasy
We must tell our kids the truth (that
Jesus ain’t coming)
29/1/07
I was sent the following article by a reader for the purposes of commenting on
it. It’s an article from the Preterist viewpoint,
entitled “We MUST tell our kids the truth!” by a man called Dan Delagrave. I’m not in the business of cutting Christians
down, even when they don’t happen to share my views, but seeing I was asked to
comment on the article, I thought I might as well put my comments up here for
you all to read. My comments in (italics and bold.)
We
MUST Tell Our Kids The Truth!
by Dan Delagrave
We
Christian parents need to stop telling our kids lines like “when Jesus comes
again…dadadadada”. Why?
Because Jesus put the fulfilment of his Second Coming
within the timeframe restriction of “this generation” (Matt.24:34, Mk.13:30,
Lk.21:32). That’s all the reason we need!
A
Biblical generation was thought of in the same sense as a generation is thought
of today - a lifespan period of time. The word
“this” in the English dictionary means “pertaining to
the present”. Jesus OBVIOUSLY meant the THEN-PRESENT generation of the
Apostles when he said that all things, which included his Second Coming and the
end of the age, would be fulfilled before “this
generation” passed away. It isn’t even
debatable, to be quite frank with you. In Lk.17:25, Jesus told the
Disciples that he must first suffer many things and be “rejected (crucified) of
this generation”. We all know what generation crucified Jesus, and it wasn’t “the 1948 generation”, or any other modern
invention! We MUST remain consistent a few chapters later in Lk.21:32,
where Jesus said that “all”, not some, would be fulfilled
before “this generation” passed away.
There are three different understandings of the word
“generation”. The one that Dan mentions is the one most people would adhere to,
that the “generation” referred to is the average lifespan of a human being, or
the number of years between a generation and the birth of the next generation. Seventy years, or forty years respectively. The Bible makes
use of this term when referring to the number of years
Num 32:13
And the LORD’S anger was kindled
against Israel, and he made them wander in the wilderness forty years, until
all the generation, that had done evil in the sight of the LORD, was consumed.
The Hebrew word for this usage of “generation” is the word “dore”, a revolution of time. Another word in the Hebrew which has been translated as “generation” in English,
is the word “ghen-nay-mah”, a generation of people.
This refers to a specific group, rather than a specific time
period. John the Baptist used the word in speaking to the Pharisees…
Mat 3:7
But when he saw many of the Pharisees
and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers,
who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?
The generation Jesus referred to, when He said He would be
rejected of “this generation”, is another word again, “ghen-eh-ah”.
This refers to a specific people in a certain age. This is the same word that is used in Jesus Christ’s prophecy, “this generation shall
not pass away”. The question then arises, which generation? The beginning of
the chapter in no doubt refers to the destruction of the
Luke 21:24
And they (the Jews) shall fall by the edge of the sword,
and shall be led away captive into all nations: (AD 70) and
Friends, the times of the Gentiles lasted 1900 years, from
the date Titus conquered
Luke 21:25-27
And there shall be signs in the sun,
and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with
perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; Men’s hearts failing them for fear,
and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the
powers of heaven shall be shaken. And then shall they
see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.
So the question is, which generation is Jesus referring to
when He states, the generation that sees all these things come
to pass will be the last? The answer is obvious, the generation that
witnesses the times of the Gentiles coming to a close.
So we need to start telling our kids THE TRUTH.
Pastors
today are in a tough position. They face LOSING THEIR JOB should they
tell the truth. This is unlike the first century, where pastors weren’t plugged into a clergy system that gave them a
comfortable salary for preaching the truth. This is why pastors today
commonly AVOID teaching Bible prophecy. In other words, rather than risk
losing their job should they have a change of mind about their denomination’s
official position on eschatology, they avoid the subject altogether.
Let’s face it, a typical pastor today who suddenly began teaching the Preterist
view of eschatology would get OUSTED in short order. It’s
the nature of the beast (the conventional church system and
denominationalism). Many pastors are simply unwilling to give up a
comfortable salary and good standing before the community in
order to openly teach the truth. So they
“leave well enough alone”. Come on, now. Can we be just a little
bit real here?
It
has been said that the next reformation will concern
eschatology. That reformation, is, in fact,
already underway. As Thomas Ice, founder of “the
No comment. Anyone who reads this site will
soon see evidence for all this coming to pass in our
lifetime. The millennium bug was a hoax by the
People
want answers to all the failed hype and false predictions. This has
caused “a second reformation”. Believers have gone “back to the Bible”
for answers, where they have noticed a particular TIMEFRAME for the fulfilment of Bible prophecy, that being “this generation”.
We
MUST tell our kids the truth if we are to keep this much
needed reformation going strong for generations to come.
The
“1948 generation” proved to be a false teaching. Here we are almost 60
years removed from 1948 and still no Jesus on a big chair in
Not exactly. 1948 saw
prophecy fulfilled, when a nation was born in one day (Isaiah 66:8),
when Hebrew became the official language of the Jews (Zephaniah 3:9)
and the Jews returned to their ancient homeland
Let’s talk about “the 1948 generation”. That view of “this generation” is based on a wrong interpretation of the fig tree parable
in Matt.24:32-33. It is commonly taught that this parable is saying that
when
Jesus Christ singled out the fig tree in his parable. The fig tree is a
picture of
Hosea 9:10
I found
The disciples were simply to compare the fig tree to all the trees,
because the fig tree is unique, in that it is the first tree to blossom and
bear fruit. It’s leaves show that “summer is near”.
Jesus was saying to His disciples, look at all the trees, but when you see
leaves on the fig (
Needless
to say, “1948 generation” advocates prefer to cite MATTHEW’S VERSION of the fig
tree parable, which only mentions the fig tree and not “all the trees”.
Those
who cite the fig tree parable to support a Dispensational bent on Bible
prophecy claim that, in the next verse, the stated timeframe restriction for it’s fulfilment - “this
generation” - is “the generation that saw
“In my grandfather’s day, it took a day to cross the desert during the
day”. I use the same word in English three times, with three different
meanings. The first day refers to a period of time when my grandfather was a
boy, the second refers to a 24 hour period of time and
the third refers to the period of time in which we have daylight. When Jesus
Christ refers to this and that “generation”, we need to make sure we are
examining the passage for the correct context. Obviously
the generation Jesus refers to in regard to the Pharisees and those who would
put Him to death, could not be 2000 years after the resurrection. But the events He spoke of in regard to the last days could
be!
The
words “all these things” included the Lord’s Second Coming and the end of the
age, in conjunction with the
No. The reference to all these things is to
Matthew 24:30
And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in
heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see
the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
Sadly,
Futuristic eschatology, at best, puts the fulfilment
of “some” things in the first century, while other things are to be fulfilled
thousands of years removed from that time. But
what right does anyone have to change what Jesus said twice about in the space
of ten verses, that is, the fact that “all” would be fulfilled before that
generation had passed away? The TRUTH is, we have no option but to simply
accept what Jesus said and begin adjusting our understanding of all else
accordingly. Unfortunately, modern teachers keep adjusting the clear
timeframe Jesus gave to accommodate false notions about the nature of the
kingdom. Church, that ought not to be!
Let’s face this too - NO MAN wants to get a crazy look from his kids,
especially kids that are old enough to have already had a futuristic
interpretation of the Second Coming of Christ ingrained into their minds.
But we have no choice short of not saying anything at
all. The result of not telling them the truth is IGNORANCE and all that
curtails from it. That includes a lot of silliness, unrealistic
expectations, and, ultimately, disillusionment.
Telling
our kids the Preteristic truth about Bible prophecy
also equips them with a tremendous apologetic for the Christian faith.
The Sceptics constantly use “the non-return” against
the deity of Jesus and the inspiration of the Bible. Jesus didn’t return WHEN he said he would, therefore he was a
false prophet and the Bible is uninspired, so the Sceptics
say. Telling our kids the truth - that all was
fulfilled within the first century parameters of “this generation” - gives them
the only rock-solid refutation of the “non-return” accusation against
Christianity.
We
MUST tell our kids the truth.
*****
Just one thought. I would rather be right about Jesus’ coming again, and
to not be ashamed, than to have taught that Jesus wasn’t coming back and have
to face Him, knowing that I not only let myself down, but also my children. How
sad.
as of 2-2007