We Are The Last Generation.

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We are approaching the year 2018, which will mark seventy years from Israeli statehood on May 14th, 1948. Jewish sages have remarked that modern Israel’s years should be reckoned in the same way as the man mentioned in Psalm 90:10: “The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labour and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away.” They have written that the formative generation of Israel is nearing 70 years and is therefore, almost at an end; after that, they say, world events will usher in Messiah and the Kingdom.

Christians, reading the New Testament’s Olivet Discourse, remember what Jesus said about this idea, which holds a very special place in the hearts of Christians everywhere. Its setting on the Mount of Olives invokes a dramatic vista in the mind of the reader, as Jesus answered

His disciples’ questions concerning the future. In His reply to them, He made a remark that has stimulated a number of conjectures over the years. He said, “This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled” (Matthew 24:34).

His pronouncement refers to what has been called “the last generation.” This is the generation that witnesses events leading up to the Great Tribulation. Is ours the generation that Jesus spoke of? To answer this question, we shall examine several biblical expressions that use the term.

There is a Hebrew phrase that is usually translated in the Old Testament as, “the generation to come.” This idiom is taken from some form of ha dor ha acharon [iurjtv rusv]. The most direct translation of this phrase is, “the last generation.”

As we shall see, the meaning of Jesus’ prophecy to His disciples is greatly clarified by an understanding of this phrase and its common use in the Old Testament. A bit later, we will return to this expression to show how it points forward to the period of the latter days.

As He spoke to them, Jesus was well aware that the meaning of a “generation” would be something of a mystery to his hearers. But He spoke in a context that had meaning to them. One imagines them seated in the shade of an ancient olive tree, as they gazed across the Kidron Valley toward the magnificent complex of concourses, stairways, porticos, palaces and courtyards. The centerpiece of their attention was the Temple, itself.

Construction on this huge project – considered one of the wonders of the ancient world – had begun some fifty years earlier! At the time Jesus spoke, it would still be almost twenty years before the completion of the whole Temple complex. Tragically, the completed development would only last about a year before being completely destroyed by the Roman forces of Titus and Vespasian in A.D. 70.

As Jesus addressed the inner circle of His followers, He spoke of future world wars, famines and diseases. In this context, He mentioned the latter-day rebirth of Israel, something the disciples could not have understood at the time. He commented upon Daniel’s prophecy of the antichrist in the Temple. He used the term, “great tribulation,” to describe the events surrounding Israel’s regathering. He even spoke of His Second Coming in the clouds of glory.

It was at this point, that He spoke one of his most famous parables:

“Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh: So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors. Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled. Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away” (Matthew 24:32-34.)

It’s safe to say that from the day He made this pronouncement, right down to the present day, men have not ceased trying to understand precisely what He was saying.

What Did Jesus Say?
Today, those of the preterist persuasion teach that He was referring to the generation then alive. The longest-lived among His disciples was John, who survived until the end of the first century. Under this premise, one could stretch Jesus’ prophetic words to that time. So the wars, abomination, famine, earthquakes and great tribulation all took place in that time period. Instead of interpreting His prophecy as a global phenomenon, they make all His prophecies fit into the local setting of first-century Jerusalem.

It is true that Israel is the centerpiece of the prophecy, but its context must agree with all other New Testament prophecy, the book of Revelation in particular. There, the prophecy is global in scope.

Nevertheless, His reference to the key prophetic generation of the entire Bible is given in the image of a fig tree. This tree, symbol of national Israel, is depicted “putting forth leaves,” as it would in the spring, when getting ready to bear fruit. The point is, the prophetic tree is growing,notdiminishing.

So, “this generation,” is the “fig tree” generation, and often goes by that name. A key prophecy given by Jeremiah makes this connection crystal clear:

“Thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel; Like these good figs, so will I acknowledge them that are carried away captive of Judah, whom I have sent out of this place into the land of the Chaldeans for their good. For I will set mine eyes upon them for good, and I will bring them again to this land: and I will build them, and not pull them down; and I will plant them, and not pluck them up. And I will give them an heart to know me, that I am the LORD: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God: for they shall return unto me with their whole heart” (Jeremiah 24:5-7).

Here, the good figs are the leaders of Israel. Their wholehearted return to the land of Israel is not the near fulfillment witnessed in the Israelite return from Babylonian captivity. It is their final return, when they shall receive a new heart and revival in the Spirit of the Lord.

Jeremiah says that they will be planted and not pulled down. They were, in fact, pulled down in A.D. 70, and again in A.D. 135, following the revolt led by Simeon Bar Kochba. In the final regathering, they will be permanently replanted. And what do you get when you plant a fig? You get a fig tree!

This is the generation to which Jesus undoubtedly referred.