: DaveRC Fri Feb 03, 2017 - 22:41:53
"The judgment upon Jerusalem was the sign of the fact that the Son of man was reigning in heaven. There has been misunderstanding due to the reading of this verse, as some have thought it to be 'a sign in heaven.' But this is not what the verse says; it says the sign of the son of Man in heaven. The phrase 'in heaven' defines the locality of the Son of Man and not of the sign. A sign was not to appear in the heavens, but the destruction of Jerusalem was to indicate the rule of the Son of Man in heaven."
"The apostle Paul states in the eleventh chapter of Romans that the fall of the Jews was a blessing to the rest of the world. He speaks of it as the enriching of the Gentiles and the reconciling of the world. The catastrophe of Jerusalem really signalized the beginning of a new and world-wide kingdom, marking the full separation of the Christian Church from legalistic Judaism. The whole system of worship, so closely associated with Jerusalem and the Temple, received, as it were, a death blow from God himself. God was now through with the Old Covenant made at Sinai: holding full sway was the sign of the New Covenant." (ibid., pp. 137-138)
Well stated.
It's hard to fathom how someone is willing to distort the Scriptures to support a bad doctrine.
2Co 5:14 For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died;
2Co 5:15 and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.
2Co 5:16 From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer.
2Co 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
2Co 5:18 All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation;
2Co 5:19 that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.
2Co 5:20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.
2Co 5:21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
The Scriptures center on the redemption of mankind with Jesus Christ as the central figure.
Preterism is not the focus of the Bible and neither are the Jews/Israel. Christ's finished work on the cross was God's provision and this is how God Almighty chose to reconcile mankind. The sacking of Jerusalem did no such thing as this person claims in the OP! Jews and Preterists have an equally hard time accepting reality.
: DaveRC Sat Feb 04, 2017 - 18:32:53
What is the focus and topic of the Olivet Discourse?
1. The end of the age (not world)
2. The coming of the Lord
3. The destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple.
And these are all contemporary events that all occur within a generation.
A biblical generation is roughly forty years long - Hebrews 3:8-10
Matthew 1:17 states that there were 14 generations between the Babylonian Captivity til the birth of Christ. The Babylonian Captivity is said to have occurred between the earliest date of 587 BCE and the later date of 581 BCE.
587 divided by 14 = 41.9 years
581 divided by 14 = 41.5 years
When was the Olivet Discourse spoken (approximately 30 A.D.) and what did Jesus say in Matthew 24:34 & Luke 21:22,32?
Jesus is no false prophet.
When a prophet speaketh in the name of the LORD, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the LORD hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid of him.
Deuteronomy 18:22
One little prob with your scenario: JESUS HAS NOT YET RETURNED !
That's very-obvious, as the world still goes on as it did in 65 AD, 70 AD, & 71 AD.