A Promise Of Preservation

A Promise of Preservation

Read: Matthew 24:1-35

“I tell you the truth, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened.”

Matthew 24:34

“Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God.”

—Corrie ten Boom

IN WORD Bible-believing Christians easily get hung up on this verse, especially when a critic comes along and tells us that Jesus was wrong about His understanding of the future. Don’t get hung up on their arguments. Perhaps segments of the early church misunderstood Jesus’ words in this verse, but the text does not necessarily mean that He would return before His hearers died.

The Greek word genea, translated in Matthew and Luke as “generation,” may certainly mean that. But is it the generation Jesus is speaking to, or the generation that has seen the signs referred to previously in the discourse? That is open to interpretation.

But there’s another way to approach the prediction. Genea may also mean a race of people, an ethnic group. Historians cannot explain exactly why the Jewish people have not gone the way of the other ancient tribes of the Middle East, but they haven’t. They have persisted against all human odds and obstacles. Vastly outnumbered, often attacked, and widely scattered, the Hebraic culture is still around. It has not passed away. The physical people of Israel, as well as the spiritual entity of the church, are given a precious promise in Matthew 24:34, not a questionable prediction. The promise is that they will endure until the very end. Jesus will not let His people fade from the scene before He comes for their final redemption.

IN DEED Don’t let the skeptics mislead you. Jesus and His followers were not wrong about the end times. He has given us a promise. It is especially dear to those who are Jews outwardly, but it applies to those who are Jews inwardly (Romans 2:29) as well. God’s people cannot become extinct. Take comfort in that. He will preserve us all, even if He has to move heaven and earth to do so.