In Matthew 24:34 the Lord Jesus says, "Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled." To what generation was the Lord referring and what things are the "all things" mentioned here?

In the 24th chapter of Matthew the Lord Jesus has given us the events that will take place on this earth before He comes to judge the world and set up His earthly kingdom as prophesied in the Old Testament Scriptures.

The "all things" mentioned in verse 34 refer to these events. They are the signs which will instruct the few believing Jews living in Israel during the tribulation period as to when the true King and Messiah is coming (verses 15-28). Although some of these signs are present today (such as wars and rumors of wars), they will all be completely fulfilled in a much greater way during the tribulation.

But what did the Lord Jesus mean when He says, "This generation shall not pass till all these things be fulfilled"? Did He mean that all these things would occur within the present generation's lifetime? No. Our Lord Jesus was using the word "generation" to refer to the race of unbelieving Jews. The word genea from which the word "generation" is derived does not necessarily mean a lifetime. It may also mean a race of men very similar to each other in endowments, pursuits or character. Generation is used in Scripture in various ways as follows:

• It may refer to a lifetime: "So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations" (Matthew 1:17).
• It may refer to the behavior of a people: "A perverse and crooked generation" (Deuteronomy 32:5,20), "A generation that curseth their father" (Proverbs 30:11-14), a "generation of vipers" (Matthew 3:7), a "faithless generation" (Mark 9:19).
• It may refer to a class or family: "Ye are a chosen generation" (1 Peter 2:9).
• It may refer to the thought of perpetuity: "From generation to generation" (Daniel 4:3,34).

Our Lord Jesus, then, was saying that this generation of unbelieving and Christ-rejecting Jews would not pass away until all these events that He described would be fulfilled. It is quite evident today that the great majority of the nation of Israel is still the same generation or race of unbelieving Jews as were on earth when our Lord was here. They still do not own Him as the Messiah and true King. They will still be here when the awful signs will occur which point to the visible and close return of the Lord Jesus.

This coming of the Lord Jesus with His saints is not to be confused with the rapture when the Lord Jesus comes for His saints (1 Corinthians 15:51-58, 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18). The rapture of the church takes place about seven years before the coming of the Lord Jesus to judge the earth and set up His kingdom.