Kingdom Truth The Great Tribulation is when?

MAT 24:21 For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.
        The Lord Jesus said, “....then shall be great tribulation....” Jesus said then. What did Jesus mean by then? Modern doctrine says that the great tribulation is a future event. Is it? It has been predicted again and again by the Dispensationalists. Again and again they have been wrong. In the past Darby, Larkin, Dake, Scofield, Ryrie, etc have frightened people with the dreaded great tribulation. They were wrong then. Today a host of others shout the “soon coming” great tribulation. They too are wrong. In fact, I do not know of a single prediction they have been correct about. Is the great tribulation of Matthew 24:21 a future event?
        The reason we ask that seeming silly question is because of the context of Matthew 24:21. Jesus is not talking about a great tribulation that would come upon the world in the distant future. Does that sound shocking to us?
        Today’s lesson should reveal that Jesus was teaching his disciples that the great tribulation would come upon the region of Judaea and specifically Jerusalem. This great tribulation would come because of the religious system. It came upon the generation that Jesus Christ came (those that pierced him--Rev 1:7). The tribulation removed the kingdom of God from the Jewish religious system and gave it to the church.

I. This Context
        Context is a most important ingredient for proper Biblical interpretation. Any verse studied must be studied in context. Context means the setting of the verse. We look to see the surroundings and what was happening at the time. If we want to properly understand Matthew 24:21 and the time of the great tribulation, we must understand the context.
        1. Triumphal Entry (Mat 21:1-11)
        The day Jesus spoke about the great tribulation would have been the Monday prior to the Friday of his crucifixion. Jesus entered Jerusalem on Sunday--Palm Sunday. We call that event the Triumphal Entry (Zec 9:9).
        2. Cleansed the temple (Mat 21:12-15)
        After proclaiming himself as the king by riding into Jerusalem on the donkey (Zec 9:9), Jesus rode to the temple. The first act of the proclaimed king was to cleanse the temple. He said the the religious system had made it a den of thieves (Mat 21:13).
        Christ detested that religious system. It had made the father’s house a den of thieves. A den would be the place the thieves inhabited. It is the place the thieves reproduced. In John 10:10 Jesus said that he came to give life abundantly, but the thief came to rob, kill, and destroy. The thief was this religious system. Jesus loathed that system of the Jews.
        Jesus began healing the blind and the lame. He began to have a Benny Henn meeting there in the temple. As this was happening the children were rejoicing saying Hosanna to the son of David.
            a. first confrontation (v15-17)
        The chief priests and the scribes were upset. Jesus had ran people out of the temple, he was healing others, and the children were rejoicing calling Jesus the son of David. The Bible says these religious leaders were sore displeased. As Jesus and the Jewish leaders confronted, Jesus quoted from Psalm 8:2 and then left the temple.
        It will become very apparent that the purpose of Christ was to sore displease the Jewish leaders.
        3. cursed fig tree (Mat 21:18-22)
        The next morning Jesus and the disciples began traveling back into Jerusalem. It was then that Jesus cursed the fig tree (Mat 21:19). We see the mind set and attitude Christ was in. It doesn’t seem like him to curse a fig tree, but he did. He is angry and he is upset.
        There is much for us still to learn from the fig tree cursing. It was is a lesson on prayer and faith. Jesus said that we could say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; it shall be done. Jesus was not speaking of literal mountains. He was speaking of what a mountain represented in the scriptures.
        In the scriptures, mountains represent both good and bad religious worship. False religions worshiped on high places (Lev 26:30). There was also mount Sinai, mount Zion, mount Moriah and on and on where good and bad worship took place. Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem and told his disciples to say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; it shall be done. He was giving a metaphor of the Jewish religious worship that he so detested. Speak to it, pray about it, believe what you say and pray, cast the religious system into the sea.
        4. second confrontation with religious leaders (Mat 21:23-27)
        When Jesus entered Jerusalem, he went directly to the temple. Remember that he had there, the evening prior, sore displeased the religious leaders. Jesus knew he was not welcomed. Still he went knowing confrontation awaited.
            a. question of religious leaders to Jesus
        As Jesus entered Jerusalem, the chief priests and elders of the Jews met him.
            b. question of Jesus to religious leaders
    They asked by what authority Jesus did what he did. Instead of answering the question, Jesus asked them a question. Their correct answer would give the answer to the question they asked. Jesus asked about John’s baptism, was it of God or man?
        John’s baptism proclaimed that the kingdom of God was at hand (Mat 3:2). It was time for the kingdom. John said the Messiah was then present in the land (Mat 3:11). If those questioning Jesus answered the question about John correctly, they would also answer their own question.
        Naturally, they would not answer the question. So, Jesus would not answer their question. Jesus defied the religious system!
        5. first parable, two sons (Mat 21:28-32)
        The Lord then tells the Jewish religious leaders a parable. The parable was meant to show them that the publicans and harlots would go into the kingdom of God before them. Usually Jesus would tell a parable and only give the meaning of the parable if asked. That is not the case today.
        Jesus again debased and dishonored the Jewish leaders. He literally tells them that the publicans and sinners were superior to the Jewish leaders. He does not sugar coat his words. He directly tells them that the worst sinner is better than the religious leaders of Judaism for the kingdom.
        6. second parable, land owner (Mat 21:33-46)
        On the heels of the parable of two sons, Jesus begins another. This parable was intended to show what awaited the Jews in the near future. They would be crushed and destroyed by armies.
        The parable was about a man who planted and built a vineyard. This man was Father God. The vineyard was the people of God (Psa 80:8). The owner leased his vineyard to husbandmen who was the religious system. The owner sent servants to collect the fruits, but the servants were killed by the husbandmen. The servants were the prophets that the religious system had killed. Finally the owner sent his son. Naturally the son was Jesus. They killed the son also.
            a. question by Jesus to religious leaders
        Jesus asked the religious leaders, “When the lord therefore of the vineyard cometh, what will he do unto those husbandmen?” They answered, “He will miserably destroy those wicked men, and will let out his vineyard unto other husbandmen, which shall render him the fruits in their seasons.” Jesus interpreted the parable. He told them he is the Son, the stone the builders rejected. Jesus said, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof.
        The stone was positioned. Jesus was the stone and was about to fall upon them grinding them to powder--great tribulation!
A most interesting statement is now given. This is a statement that we need not miss concerning the great tribulation. After Jesus interpreted the parable, the Jewish leaders perceived that he spake of them. They were correct.
        This entire context is about them--not us! It is not about a people several thousands of years later.
        7. third parable, marriage feast (Mat 22:1-14)
    The Lord goes into a third parable. This parable is a description of the destruction of the Jewish nation because they would not respond to the invitations of God.
        A king’s son was being given a marriage supper. The king is Father God. The son is Jesus Christ. The king sent servants to tell the king’s people to come to the marriage feast. The servants are the prophets. The people was the Jewish nation. However, they would not come. But when the king heard thereof, he was wroth: and he sent forth his armies, and destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city. Their city was Jerusalem. The armies was Rome.
        This literally happened in A.D. 70. Less than 40 years after Jesus said this. The Roman armies came upon Jerusalem. The city was burned. The Jewish nation was terminated. The stone fell. The kingdom was taken from the Jews. The nation was ground to powder. The kingdom was given to the church (1Pe 2:9).
8. tribute unto Caesar (Mat 22:14-22)
The Pharisees develop a plan to trick Jesus. They had their disciples (twice the sons of hell they were--Mat 23:15) ask Jesus about taxes. Jesus called them hypocrites.
            a. question by Jesus to religious disciples
        Jesus looked at a coin. Then asked whose image and superscription was on the coin. Of course it was Caesar’s image. Jesus said Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's; and unto God the things that are God's.
        9. Sadducees question the resurrection (Mat 22:23-34)
        The Sadducees join in the assault upon Jesus. They asked a hypothetical question. The question was after a woman married seven brothers who’s wife would that woman be in the resurrection? Jesus told them Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God. Is not that amazing? The cream of the crop did not know the scriptures. Jesus said that at the resurrection people are as the angels of God in heaven.
        10. Pharisee question the greatest commandment (Mat 22:34-40)
        As we today would obtain a lawyer to defend us in court, there were lawyers in Christ’s day to defend people in the law. One came to Jesus. This lawyer was a Pharisee. He asked Jesus which was the greatest commandment. Jesus simply said to love God and love people as you love yourself.
        11. Jesus asked the religious leaders, What think ye of Christ? whose son is he? (Mat 22:41-46)
        As we can see, the religious system and Jesus were head to head in confrontation. They would ask Jesus a question. He would ask them a question. They always came out looking weak and shallow. Jesus always came out looking strong and deep. People marveled at his doctrine.
        Jesus asked the religious leaders another question. The question was Whose son is Christ? They answered David? Jesus replied, How then doth David in spirit call him Lord, saying, The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool? If David then call him Lord, how is he his son?
        In actuality, Jesus the Christ, is the Son of God. He is the son of David through Mary, but the Christ through the Holy Spirit. The religious leaders could not answer. They decided to hush and not ask him ask him any more questions.

        It had been back and forth all day. The confrontation was heavy and deep. Remember that Jesus went into the den of thieves knowing he would be attacked and challenged. Jesus defied the religious system of Judaism. Jesus told them that sinners would enter the kingdom of God before the religious leaders entered. Jesus told them the kingdom would be taken from them. The kingdom would be given to another people. He said the stone would grind the religious system to powder. That system of Judaism perceived that Jesus spoke about them. He said an army would come and burn their city--Jerusalem. Jesus said they did not know the scriptures. They were a den of thieves waiting to be judged. This is the context of of the great tribulation. It has nothing as of yet to do with you or I. It is only dealing thus far with Judaism.
        12. Sickening religious system (Mat 23:1-12)
        Jesus told the people and his disciples how worthless the religious system was to mankind. All it was interested in was itself. It cared nothing about people. Jesus said, Do as it says. Do not Do as it does. That system only used God for selfish purposes. (Mat 23:3). Jesus said all their works they do for to be seen of men. The way they dressed, the way they prayed, even the places they set in a crowd was for self purposes.
        13. Woe unto you (Mat 23:13-31)
        After telling the people and his disciples how sorry, sickening, and useless the religious system was, Jesus spoke woe after woe to that religious blood sucking organism.
MAT 23:13 But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in.
MAT 23:15 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves.
MAT 23:16 Woe unto you, ye blind guides, which say, Whosoever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing; but whosoever shall swear by the gold of the temple, he is a debtor! 17 Ye fools....
MAT 23:23 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone. 24 Ye blind guides....
MAT 23:25 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess. 26 Thou blind Pharisee....
MAT 23:27 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness.
MAT 23:29 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous

        Jesus had continued the confrontation until he collected the religious system. When he had them together he released his words of doom and woe. To Jesus the system was a hypocrisy, made up of fools and blind guides. What good are you? You send people to hell. You make people what you are--hypocrites. You are white-washed sepulchres. You build monuments to the prophets that you killed. You are blind guides. You shut up the kingdom of heaven to people! Woe to you!
        A woe means something horrible and disastrous will happen. In this case, the woe of disaster would happen because of a specified reason. There was not only one woe. There were eight woes with eight reasons. To whom were they spoken? Are they directed at you or I? No, they obviously are aimed directly at the religious system of Judaism. Please do not miss this fact.
        14. Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers (Mat 23:33)
After the woes, Jesus said this system was nothing more than serpents and vipers. We must note that it was the serpent whose head the seed          of the woman would crush (Gen 3:15). Here the serpent is clearly the Jewish religious system! The stone was posed to crush.
        Not only were these religious leaders Jesus rebuked serpents and vipers. They were a generation of vipers. Jesus was saying they were snakes and their daddy was a snake, and their grand daddy was a snake. The system was nothing more than a bed of poisonous serpents producing serpents. Their father was the devil (Joh 8:44).
        15. That religious system would go to hell (Mat 23:33)
        Jesus told the religious leaders there was no way they would miss going to hell. Jesus said, Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?
        There was no way it would escape damnation.
        16. all vengeance would come upon this generation and religious system
        Jesus spoke of the blood of the prophets that had come and the blood of those he would send. As he spoke to the Jewish system he said upon you may come all the righteous blood. The vengeance of God would come upon that wicked generation. It was not to come upon us or any other people or generation.
        17. this generation
MAT 23:36 Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation.
        Jesus said, All these things shall come upon this generation. All what things? All the acts of vengeance of God because of the blood of the prophets and killing of those Jesus sent. It was not to come upon a future generation. It would come upon that generation.
        A little known and little taught truth is the truth about this generation. Over and over again Jesus spoke detrimentally to this generation (his generation).
MAT 12:41 The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it....
MAT 12:42 The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it....
MAT 23:36 Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation.
MAT 24:34 Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.
MAR 8:12 And he sighed deeply in his spirit, and saith, Why doth this generation seek after a sign? verily I say unto you, There shall no sign be given unto this generation.
MAR 13:30 Verily I say unto you, that this generation shall not pass, till all these things be done.
LUK 7:31 And the Lord said, Whereunto then shall I liken the men of this generation? and to what are they like?
LUK 11:30 For as Jonas was a sign unto the Ninevites, so shall also the Son of man be to this generation.
LUK 11:31 The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with the men of this generation, and condemn them....
LUK 11:32 The men of Nineve shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it....
LUK 11:50 That the blood of all the prophets, which was shed from the foundation of the world, may be required of this generation;
LUK 11:51 From the blood of Abel unto the blood of Zacharias which perished between the altar and the temple: verily I say unto you, It shall be required of this generation.
LUK 17:25 But first must he suffer many things, and be rejected of this generation.
LUK 21:32 Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass away, till all be fulfilled.

        I trust we see that in Matthew 23:36 Jesus clearly spoke the woes and vengeance upon that generation. Throughout his ministry he spoke of the judgment coming upon that generation. This is extremely important for the same term is used again in Matthew 24:34.
MAT 24:34 Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.
The things be fulfilled refers to the great tribulation. This generation--the generation to which Jesus spoke--would not pass before the great tribulation was fulfilled.

        18. Jerusalem destroyed, the house would be left desolate (Mat 23:37-39)
        The Lord said he would have taken Jerusalem under his wings (Psa 17:8), but it would not. It rejected the stone and now the stone would crush Jerusalem to powder. Jesus said, Behold, your house is left unto you desolate. This is the abomination of desolation spoken by Daniel (Mat 24:15). Jerusalem would be burned with fire. The house of God would be left desolate. It would all come upon that generation. That generation would not escape damnation.
        This historically took place in A.D. 70. some 37 years later. That was within one generation. All the cities that Jesus spoke judgment to were destroyed. Jerusalem was burned. The house of God was left desolate.

II. Explanation to the Disciples
        1. Jesus went out, and departed from the temple
        The King James version says that Jesus went out, and departed from the temple. There is a double emphasis--went out, and departed from the temple. Jesus had spoken his woes. Jerusalem would be burned and the temple made desolate. Jesus never entered that temple again--Ichabod!
        As they walked away, the disciples of Christ began to point out the beauty of the temple. It was, at that time, still under construction, but still a marvel. White stone and golden ornaments sparkled in the sun. The disciples had heard all that Jesus had said about its desolation. Could that be true?
        Jesus responded to their comments. He said, See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down. Obviously Jesus is speaking about the temple he had minutes before went out, and departed from. This is not a future temple. It is not a temple that will be built prior to a futuristic tribulation. It is not a temple of the future. It was the temple of the generation Christ came.
        2. "when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?" [NIV] (Mat 24:3-21)
        The disciples asked three questions about what had just happened. This is the context of the entire section. Nothing has been said from chapter 21 to chapter 24 about any other coming or any other tribulation. They are asking about that temple’s desolation, not a future temple.
        King James translates verse 3 as ....end of the world. It is the Greek word aion (Strong’s #165) and means age, period of time. No place is Jesus speaking of the end of the world. He has specifically spoken of the end of that age of the Jewish system since chapter 22.
            a. when will this happen
        The disciples wanted to know when will this happen? They wanted a specific day and hour. There answer was given in Matthew 24:34-36
MAT 24:34 Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled. 35 Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away. 36 But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.

        Jesus promised them it would be before that generation passed. Heaven and earth would pass away before that would not be true. But only Father knew the day and hour.
        b. what will be the sign of your coming
        The disciples wanted to know the sign. They wanted Jesus to give them one specific sign that would tell them he was about to come in judgment upon Jerusalem and the temple.
        Jesus gives many events that will happen before the coming judgment upon Jerusalem. There would be great deception (v5), false Christ (v5), wars and rumours of wars (v6), famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes (v7), the disciples would be arrested, hated, and some killed (v9). All this was the beginning of sorrows, but the end was not yet and none of those were the sign.
        Today those who attempt to make this an end of our world teaching jump on every earthquake and war. They say it is a sign of the end. Jesus said that even then it was not a sign. It would happen, but was not the sign of the end.
        Well, what was the sign? It is given in 24:14.
MAT 24:14 And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.

        Most would say that this proves it was for a far distant and future time. They say this because they do not believe the gospel has been preached to all the world. That is not what the scriptures say.
COL 1:5 For the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, whereof ye heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel;6 Which is come unto you, as it is in all the world; and bringeth forth fruit, as it doth also in you, since the day ye heard of it, and knew the grace of God in truth:
COL 1:23 If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister;
ROM 16:25 Now to him that is of power to stablish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began, 26 But now is made manifest, and by the scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, made known to all nations for the obedience of faith:

        The book of Colossians was written no later that A.D. 61-63. The book of Romans was written no later than A.D. 58. Scripturally by A.D. 63 the gospel had been preached to every creature which is under heaven. The gospel had been made known to all nations.
        Jesus said when this gospel of the kingdom was preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations then shall the end come. That happened by the middle of the 60’s. The Roman armies came into Judah in the spring of A.D. 66. Jerusalem was burned and the temple destroyed in A.D. 70. That generation did not pass. The great tribulation of Matthew 24:21 came upon Judah and that generation just as Jesus said it would.
            c. what will be the sign of the end of the age
        The question is about the end of the age. It was not about the end of the world. The age meant was the age of Moses or the age of the Old Covenant. What was the sign that would show that the age of the Old Covenant had passed and the age of the New Covenant had begun? The disciples were asking, “How will we know that you, the Christ, reign and Moses is over?” The answer is given in Matthew 24:29-30
MAT 24:29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days.... 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.

        The great tribulation spoken of by Jesus was given in the context of destroying the religious system of Judaism. That system Jesus detested. It had taken the house of God and made it a den of thieves. It was a system of serpents and vipers producing generations of serpents and vipers. It was a system of hypocrites and blind guides. It was a system that could not escape hell. It would burn and it did burn. It was a system that killed the servants of God and the vengeance of their blood would come upon that religious system before the generation that Jesus spoke to could pass.
        It was that tribulation that was the sign. The desolation of that temple and burning of Jerusalem proved Jesus sat on the throne in heaven. How brilliant the enemy is to teach that this tribulation is futuristic! Everything Dispensationalists teach hinge on a futuristic tribulation that will never happen.

III. The Abomination of desolation (Mat 24:15-21)
MAT 24:15 When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:) 16 Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains:
        This reference concerned Daniel’s prophecy of 70 weeks or 490 years found in Daniel 9. A most interesting part of that prophecy in Daniel 9 is that it only concerned the Jewish people, and Jerusalem. The following passage teaches us this important fact. The seventy weeks did not concern the world. It only concerned the Jewish people and Jerusalem.
DAN 9:24 Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy.

Luke, a Gentile writer in the New Testament, helps us Gentiles understand the abomination of desolation.
LUK 21:20 And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh. 21 Then let them which are in Judaea flee to the mountains; and let them which are in the midst of it depart out; and let not them that are in the countries enter thereinto.

        Once we see that the abomination of desolation concerns Jerusalem and the Jewish people and not the world, the great tribulation begins to be understood. When we link that to Luke’s gospel and see that the abomination of desolation is when armies are compassed around Jerusalem, we again see that the great tribulation of Matthew 24:21 is a historic event. It happened in 70 A.D.
        Jesus warned his people to flee Judaea when they saw the Roman armies for it was time for the great tribulation.

IV. the fig tree (Mat 24:32)
MAT 24:32 Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh:

        Jesus brought all his teaching about the great tribulation to a parable. The fig tree teaching is a parable, not a metaphor for the nation of Israel as is often erroneously taught. No place in scripture does it refer to the fig tree as Israel. The olive tree yes, but the fig tree no. The metaphor for the fig tree is a time of good and plenty. But that is not what the Lord here is teaching. He is teaching that people know that summer is close when they see a fig tree beginning to put forth leaves in the spring. In the same way when they see the gospel of the kingdom preached in the nations and the Roman armies compass Jerusalem know that the destruction of the temple is about to happen. The age of Judaism and Mosses is about to end.
MAT 24:33 So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors. 34 Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.

IV. As the days of Noah (Mat 24:37-41)
MAT 24:37 But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. 38 For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, 39 And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. 40 Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left. 41 Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left.

        I have actually heard this passage used to teach the rapture. Well, if it is I don’t want to be a part of that rapture. The reason I say that is because if it is like the days of Noah, those taken were the wicked.
        Jesus is teaching that the coming of the Son of man upon Jerusalem and that generation could be likened to the flood of Noah’s day. Get out of Jerusalem and the land of Judaea or be taken was the warning.
        The ancient historian Josephus writes of those taken as prisoners or killed in the great tribulation.
“Now the number of those that were carried captive during this whole war was collected to be ninety-seven thousand; as was the number of those that perished during the whole siege eleven hundred thousand, the greater part of whom were indeed of the same nation [with the citizens of Jerusalem], but not belonging to the city itself; for they were come up from all the country to the feast of unleavened bread, and were on a sudden shut up by an army, which, at the very first, occasioned so great a straightness among them, that there came a pestilential destruction upon them, and soon afterward such a famine, as destroyed them more suddenly.”¹

        Anyone who will take the time and make the effort to study the context of Matthew 24:21--the great tribulation--will see it was for the generation of that day. Nothing in the context points to any other generation. If a person will study history and the writing of Josephus they will have no doubt that the great tribulation came upon the Jewish people and Jerusalem in A.D. 70.

¹ Josephus, Wars of the Jews, Book VI, ix, 3

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