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| Concerning the tribulation, are there people who believe that the tribulation has already occurred? My dad, who is saved, was asking if I knew anyting about such a belief. He referred to Matthew 24:34 as the proof text for this idea. Becuase Jesus says "this generation," my dad concludes that the tribulation has already occured because Jesus promised that the current generation at His time would go through the tribulation. I argued that "generation" referred to Israel as a nation and that it meant that Israel would not be reunited with God until they passed through the tribulation. Furthermore, the events described in Matt. 24 clearly have not yet occured and Jesus is not a liar, therefore, "this generation" can not refer to the current generation during Jesus' time. | ||
| You are definitely barking up the right tree. Seeing it as the nation of Israel in general is a very common interpretation. Jesus throughout the Olivet Discourse has been dealing with the nation of Israel, and has just emphasized how terrible the persecution and destruction of Israel during this time will be (Mt. 24:21-22). Thus a promise that no matter how terrible it is, or how close to extermination they come, they will not be eliminated before God has fulfilled all of His promises to them would be a welcome encouragement.
The "other view" (that the trib is already past) is called the "preterist" view, and is held by some, but was more popular in days gone by. Until the 20th century, when the nation of Israel was not a nation, and had been scattered for almost 2000 years, it was hard to believe that the prophecies could be future and Jewish in nature. Over the last 100 years, with the Zionist movement and the re-establishment of the nation of Israel, a literal, future fulfillment of these prophecies does not seem so far-fetched. An excellent book dealing with this and just about every other prophetic passage in the Bible is called "Things to Come" by Dwight Pentecost. It is a "must have" for Bible reference, so track down a copy (there's a link below) and dive in. You'll be glad you did.
What to read more on this subject? Check out this book...
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