Jesus taught that the generation that saw
the fig tree shoot forth would not pass until ALL these things, including the
tribulation, the second advent, and the destruction of heaven and earth be
fulfilled. Scripture uses the word generation frequently but does not
give a direct statement regarding its length.
Numbers 32:13 says, "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."
Psa. 95:10 says, "Forty years long was I
grieved with this generation, and said, it is a people that do err in their
heart, and they have not known my ways."
Heb. 3:9-10 says, "when your fathers
tempted me, proved me, and saw my works forty years. Wherefore I was grieved
with that generation…"
These are the only verses in scripture
that give a specific time period in connection with the word generation
and the time period given is forty years, not thirty, fifty, seventy, or one
hundred. All three verses
refer to the forty years that Israel wandered in the wilderness before entering
the promised land.
In Gen. 6:3 we find this statement: "And
the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is
flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years." It is generally
thought that in this verse God is giving Noah one hundred and twenty years to
build the ark.
Let's do a little Bible arithmetic. Gen 5:32 says, "And Noah was five
hundred years old: and Noah begat Shem, Ham, and Japheth." Gen 7:11 "In
the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, the seventeenth day
of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up,
and the windows of heaven were opened." Gen 11:10 "These are the
generations of Shem: Shem was an hundred years old, and begat Arphaxad two years
after the flood:"
- Gen. 5:32 – age of Noah when he begat his sons: 500 years
- Gen. 7:11 – age of Noah when the flood came: 600 years
- Gen. 11:10 – age of Shem when he begat his son two years after the flood:
100 years
- Conclusion: Time given to Noah to build the ark: 98 to 100 years.
So we see that the one hundred and twenty
years stated in Gen. 6:3 is not the time given to Noah to build the ark,
it is the time span given by God for his
spirit to strive with man until the final judgment which occurs at the end of
the "little season" which in turn occurs at the end of the millennium. So the
question becomes, which years make up the one hundred and twenty years. In
order for the prophecy to make sense, they have to be identifiable. I have
not been able to identify a period of one hundred and twenty years in the Bible,
but from our vantage point in history we can identify three periods of forty
years each which will make up the one hundred and twenty years given to man and
will end with the final judgment. I believe that just as Daniel's prophecy
had a gap between the sixty-ninth and seventieth years, this one hundred and
twenty also has gaps between its periods of fulfillment.
I believe the first generation was the forty years spent in the wilderness.
Further, that forty years was divided into two periods of two and thirty-eight
years (Deu. 2:14). The statement was
made by God after the spies came back from Canaan. This was two years into
the wandering in the wilderness, i.e. they had already been out there for two
years but another thirty-eight years would pass before they entered the promised
land.
In Matt. 23:23-39 Jesus made several
references to a wicked generation. In verse 35 he pronounced the judgment of God
upon Jerusalem for their rejection of God’s prophets, and ultimately, God’s son.
In verse 36 Jesus said judgment would fall upon the generation he was
addressing, and in verse 38 he said, "Behold, your house is left unto you
desolate." This was followed by the disciples comments regarding the temple and
the prophecy of its destruction.
As previously stated, Luke 21 is a
prophecy with a dual fulfillment: the first during the church age and the second
during the tribulation. In verse 6 Jesus prophesied the destruction of the
temple. The disciples immediately asked him, "Master, but when shall these
things be? and what sign will there be when these things shall come to pass?"
In verse 20 Jesus answered both questions:
the sign would be Jerusalem compassed with armies; when this happened its
desolation would be near. As confirmed by Matt. 23:36, this would happen in the
generation Jesus was addressing. In 68 A.D. the Roman general Titus laid siege
to Jerusalem and in 70 A.D. the city fell and the temple was destroyed.
The first fulfillment occurred forty years
after the crucifixion of Jesus. This is evidence that a generation equals forty
years and we see another further division: this time thirty-eight (until the
siege) and two years until the destruction under the Roman general Titus.
In 30 A.D. the fig tree, Israel, was
cursed and at the end of that generation stopped existing as a nation in its own
land. In Luke 21:24 Jesus prophesied the diaspora and that it would end when
Jerusalem was once again under Jewish control. When this happened the fig tree
would shoot forth. He referred to a tree, not a sapling. While Israel was
planted in 1948, the tree sprouted in 1967.
However, as prophesied, Israel is still
(and will continue) in unbelief until the middle of the tribulation. On June 6,
2005 we passed the thirty-eight year mark of the third generation of Israel’s
unbelief. (June 7, 1967 fell on Iyar 28 in the Jewish calendar, so we convert
Iyar 28 to the Gregorian calendar to identify the actual anniversary date.
The anniversary dates are: June 6, 2005, May 26, 2006, May 16, 2007 and June 2,
2008.)
The Bible fact that those first two periods of forty years were each referred to
as generations is evidence that this last generation will also involve a period
of forty years.
It’s very interesting to consider that the
first generation began with Israel’s refusal to enter the promised land (Num.
14). The spies came back with their report and the people were afraid of the
‘giants’ in the land: they failed to appreciate that God would be involved in
their conquest. They could have entered the land right then if only they had
believed. Instead, God pronounced his judgment and said it would continue for
forty years, one year for each day the spies were in Canaan. He said that all of
those from the age of twenty and older would die in the wilderness during the
next forty years. Except for Joshua and Caleb, all those who would later enter
the promised land were born during the final nineteen years of the captivity in
Egypt or during the forty years in the wilderness.
The second generation began with Israel’s
rejection of her Messiah in 30 A.D. Again, the kingdom could have begun right
then if only Israel had believed. Instead, thirty-eight years later Rome laid
siege to the city and finally took it on September 26, 70 A.D. Observe, like
the first period of forty years, this period also was divided into thirty-eight
and two.
The judgment of the first generation
involved postponement of their receipt of the land. They wandered in the
wilderness for forty years. The judgment of the second generation involved the
destruction of their city after another forty year wait followed by their return
to the wilderness. Both judgments had to do with the land of Israel, the
Promised Land.
In 1948 the United Nations partitioned
Palestine and gave Israel to the Jews. At that point they were back in the land.
Nineteen years later the Jews recaptured Jerusalem. Luke 21:24 is fulfilled: the
Jewish people were scattered throughout the world starting in 70 A.D. and have
now, after almost nineteen hundred years, regained first the land, then the
city. They went out and they came back in. The two recent events were separated
by nineteen years, the maximum age at the exodus of those who would be allowed
to enter Canaan. Perhaps God was illustrating that the final generation would
begin after another period of nineteen years. There is no doubt that all three
generations involve the actual land of Israel.
Inserted in this third and final
generation, Israel and the whole world will face the most severe crisis of
history. Jesus said it would be a time like no other, before or after, and it
would be so terrible that if the days weren’t shortened no flesh would survive.
At the end of the tribulation Jesus will return and establish his kingdom.
During the millennium, Israel, and the whole world, will finally dwell in total
safety and God himself, in the person of Jesus Christ, will be present and
dwelling with man on earth.
The third generation began on June 7, 1967
during a war that was started by Israel’s ancient enemy, Egypt. As in old time,
God fought for Israel, but she still did not recognize her Messiah. Considering
the current Jewish calendar discrepancy of 7.61 days (more to come later), it is
most interesting that the recapture of Jerusalem occurred just eight days before
Pentecost (currently observed - incorrectly - on Sivan 6), the anniversary of
the two times when God called out a holy covenant people: the Jews in Exodus 19
and the Church in Acts 2. In the very timing of this major prophetic event God
again asked his people Israel to see the connection and receive the Messiah
Jesus. While unprecedented numbers of Jews have been saved since that time, as a
nation, Israel is still in unbelief and is now nearing the beginning of her
final crisis: the time of Jacob’s trouble.
Again, In Gen. 6:3 God said this: "My
spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days
shall be an hundred and twenty years." He then told Noah to build the ark, and
he then destroyed the world by flood. He later told Noah that he would never
again destroy all life by flood, and he won’t: the next and final destruction
will be by fire (II Pet. 3:10).
These one
hundred twenty years do not refer to a shortened life span for man. While the
life span did begin to be shortened at that time, Gen. 11:32 directly states
that Tereh, the eighth generation after Shem, lived two hundred and five years.
God’s spirit is still striving with man.
In fact, in Luke 17:26-27 Jesus said the time of his coming would be like the
days of Noah. I think it’s reasonable that the one hundred twenty years stated
in Genesis are the same as the three wicked generations of forty years each, and
further, that at the end of those one hundred twenty years, God himself will
destroy the earth by fire.
In the context of the second half of the
tribulation, Jesus said that if those days weren’t shortened no flesh would
survive. I absolutely believe that the days referenced are the twelve hundred
and sixty days of the last half of the tribulation.
At the commencement of the first
generation (Num. 14:34), God pronounced one year in the wilderness for each day
that the spies were in Canaan. In Eze. 4:4-6 he had the prophet lay on his left
side three hundred and ninety days and on his right side forty days, each day to
represent a year of judgment. From these two passages we get the precedent of a
day for a year and a year for a day.
Psalms 90 speaks of God’s judgment in
relation to time. Verses 14-15 say, "O satisfy us early with thy mercy; that we
may rejoice and be glad all our days. Make us glad according to the days wherein
thou hast afflicted us, and the years wherein we have seen evil." This Psalm,
written by Moses and inspired by God, is a prayer that God’s mercy would come
early. I believe it will, by a matter of days ("except those days be
shortened…"), and that Israel will be made glad during the one thousand years of
the millennium.
But Gen. 6:3 says, "And the Lord said, My
spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days
shall be an hundred and twenty years." God gave man a total of one hundred
twenty years to strive with the Holy Spirit (to be saved). Given what happened
during the time of Noah, I think it is safe to conclude that God’s final
judgment is going to occur at the end of one hundred and twenty probationary
years.
In looking at these generations we have
seen God start and stop the one hundred twenty year countdown two times: the
forty years in the wilderness and the forty years from the rejection of Jesus
until the destruction of Jerusalem, each of those forty years periods being
divided into two parts of thirty-eight and two years. It is currently less than two
years until the end of the third forty years period beginning with the recapture
of Jerusalem in 1967. If the rapture were to occur today, we are still
short of the full one hundred twenty years which will end in total destruction,
and the tribulation, to be followed by the millennium, has not begun. This does
not destroy the imminence of the rapture (which occurs first) because there is a
period of time that is held in reserve.
As we have already seen, in Matt. 24:32-33
Jesus gave the parable of the fig tree. In verses 34-35 he said, "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. But of that
day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only."
While I absolutely believe that the main message in this statement was that the
last generation would begin when the fig tree shot forth, the passage also
places the passing away of heaven and earth within the final generation.
Rev. 20:3 says that at the end of the
millennium Satan will be released from the abyss for "a little season". The
phrase is found twice in the Bible but the length of a little season is not
specified in either scripture. However, we can know that it will have a duration
of less than 3½ years because the other occurrence of the phrase is found in
Rev. 6:11, the fifth seal, concerning the souls under the altar and they are
seen during the last half of the tribulation. The souls under the altar cry out
for vengeance on those who killed them, and in Rev. 16:7 - the third vial or
bowl - a voice from the altar approves the judgments being poured out.
This helps us identify more closely the
beginning of the seventieth week. The final generation began on June 7, 1967
(Iyar 28 on the Jewish calendar). Since this was not New Year’s day on the
Jewish or Gregorian calendars, and because we are going to count whole and half
years using the Jewish date Iyar 28 (May/June, not January) as a starting date,
we need to think in terms of years that begin and end in the summer.
I believe the final generation began on
June 7, 1967, it must end by June 2, 2008 (the end of the fortieth year) and it must include a time period of
not more than 3½ years which are reserved for Satan’s little season at the end
of the millennium.
If the final generation had to include the
tribulation and the maximum length of the little season, we would have to deduct
ten and one half years from May 16, 2007, meaning the tribulation would have
begun by December 1996 and we would currently be in the millennium. We obviously
are not in the millennium.
However, I don’t believe the forty years
has to include the seven years of tribulation. I believe God will stop the
countdown at the beginning of the tribulation (i.e. the rapture) and start it up
again when Satan is loosed at the end of the millennium. Which means we are
right now in a less than two-year window for the rapture.
Allow me to restate my position. A
little season has been reserved for Satan’s use at the end of the millennium
(Rev. 20:3) The expression is also used regarding the souls under the altar in
the fifth seal in Rev. 6:11, and they are seen after the mid-point of the
tribulation. Because the martyrs are told to wait yet a little season,
and because we see them acknowledging the judgment of God in Rev. 16:7 (at which
time four judgments remain), we see that the length of a little season is a
period of less than three and one-half years. To accurately determine the
starting and ending dates of the seven years of tribulation, this little season
must be deducted from the total forty years of the last generation because it is
a portion of that final generation but is reserved for use at the end of the
millennium.
The final seven years will begin at some
point during the next two years and at that time the forty years countdown will
be stopped for the seven years of the tribulation and the one thousand years of
the millennium. After the millennium, the countdown will begin again for the
final unknown time period called the "little season" which will end with the
destruction of the present heavens and earth in fulfillment of the prophecy to
Noah: Gen. 6:3 "And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man,
for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years".
At the end of the one hundred and twenty years the striving will be ended.
Times and Seasons