NOTE: All comments in brackets [ ] or in parentheses ( ) as well as highlighted text (bolded and/or in blue) are from the author of this study.
Bible quotations are in maroon; Christ’s own words are in red.
As a long time member of God’s Church, I like many others, have spent a lot of time reading and re-reading Mathew 24, the Olivet prophecy and trying to get as much understanding as I could out of it and despite my best efforts, remaining puzzled about many of the things Christ was telling His disciples in answer to their questions of when the temple would be destroyed and when would be the time of His 2nd Coming.
In this study, I will focus on 2 points which we have all being interested in clarifying and these are:
- Who is the generation that will exist at the time when all the things spoken of by Christ to His disciples will occur signaling His imminent return? And, when will this generation be in existence.
- Where will Christ be during the time of the Great Tribulation? In the secret chamber, in the desert or some other place? Can we know for sure and does Christ tell us?
Let’s get started and see what the Scriptures say on these matters.
Who is the Remnant Generation — And When Will it Exist?
One of the basic documents used in conducting this study is Lesson 36 of the 58 lesson Ambassador College Bible Correspondence Course (AC BCC) which I quote to show what the church taught.
The relevant excerpts from the lesson are reproduced below and shows that the WCG ministry taught that from the time it became possible for world destruction to be possible, something which they understood to correspond with the invention of the nuclear bomb, that the generation then alive (that would be us today) is that generation that would see the events leading up to the 2nd Coming of Christ.
Let’s first read the following excerpt from BCC 36 to see just what it is the ministry taught in the days of HWA regarding this matter. My comments are in brackets [ ] throughout and in blue.
Excerpt from Lesson 36 Feast of Trumpets AC BCC
- When did Jesus say that God’s coming Kingdom would be established?
Wasn’t it in a time of WORLD WAR? Mat. 24:3, 6-8.
[Christ in talking to His disciples explains the events that are to occur leading up to His 2nd Coming and He said that in their days they would hear of war and rumours of wars and they shall be famines, pestilences and earthquakes but the end is not yet; all these things are simply the beginning of sorrows, the end is not yet. “The beginning of sorrows” is an expression used in reference to the time when a woman enters into labour right on up to the time of birth (John 16:21). All these things spoken of by Christ are the birth pains that will increase in intensity to reach their maximum at the time of the end leading to the birth in an instant of the spiritual nation making up the kingdom of God; the resurrection of God’s saints at Christ’s 2nd Coming.
Isa 66:8 Who hath heard such a thing? who hath seen such things? Shall the earth be made to bring forth in one day? or shall a nation be born at once? for as soon as Zion travailed, she brought forth her children.
These events called the “beginning of sorrows” would occur in their time and continue until the time of Christ’s 2nd Coming in ever growing intensity reaching their highest point at the time of the events of the 7th seal of the book of Revelation, during the Day of the Lord, the time of the crisis of crises at the end. The progressively greater intensity of wars, famine and pestilence which reach their highest point during the Day of the Lord will result in the death of 2/3 of Israel (Ez 5:2) and 1/4 of mankind (Rev 6:8).
Luk 21:31 So likewise ye, when ye see these things come to pass, know ye that the kingdom of God is nigh at hand.
The modern-day nations constituting end-time Israel are to to go into captivity and only 10% of them will be alive (Is 6: 11-13; Amos 5:3) to return to the Promised Land at the time Christ brings them back from their captivity in a 2nd exodus and in a 2nd return to the originally Promised Land.
Isn’t this time of World War to be the time when man FINALLY HAS THE POWER TO WIPE THE REMNANT – LAST GENERATION OF HUMAN LIFE FROM THE FACE OF THE EARTH? Mat. 24:21-22.
[The last or remnant generation would be those living during the events of the Great Tribulation and of the Day of the Lord during which the extermination of mankind would occur but for the 2nd Coming of Christ. It is that generation that would see the fulfillment at their highest level of intensity of ALL the things mentioned by Christ to His disciples in Matthew 24. The Great Tribulation is the great martyrdom of God’s true saints and the time of the military conquest and captivity of the nations constituting end-time Israel. The time when ALL the things mentioned by Christ in Matthew 24 reach their greatest level of intensity is during the time of the Day of the Lord.]
Does Jesus promise to cut short this time of age-end trouble for the sake of a SMALL GROUP of people called “THE ELECT”? Mat. 24:22.
[The Tribulation is cut short for the elect’s sake i.e., those who converted during the Great Tribulation which occurs during the Philadelphia Era. The Laodicean Era only begins after the events of the 6th seal. Those coming to conversion during the Great Tribulation will therefore be Philadelphia Era saints. Not all those having heard HWA heeded God’s warning message and many will only convert once they see the prophecies being fulfilled. The Laodicean Era Church will not be in the Great Tribulation contrarily to what the numerous false churches of God are erroneously teaching. The book of Revelation makes it very clear that the Laodicean Era only starts after the events of the 6th seal and that the 5th seal is the Great Tribulation. This is fully covered in the following study which can be found on this Web site: Who are the Laodiceans and When Does the Laodicean Era Start? ]
- When will this happen? Mat. 24:33-35.
COMMENT: Jesus said that from the BEGINNING of the time when man could destroy all human life from the earth until His second coming would be NO MORE THAN ONE GENERATION!
[The writer of this AC BCC lesson says that this would be 40 years from the time of the creation of the atomic bomb which was in 1955 (see next paragraph of ACC BCC lesson below). That generation has passed as we are in 2017 and Christ has not returned. A generation (40 years as defined by the Bible (Num 32:13)) counted from 1955 brings us to 1995.
The Scriptures say it is those of that generation who see happening all the events mentioned by Christ as they reach their highest level of intensity that will not pass away till all these things be fulfilled. Humanity has been seeing war, famines and pestilence since and before the days of Christ and the apostles. It is only when these events reach their highest level of intensity that all human life on earth would be threatened with destruction and the generation that sees this happening will be the one that will live to see all the events mentioned by Christ and Christ’s 2nd Coming.]
Man has not had the power to completely destroy life from the earth UNTIL 1955! Since that time the world has become an armed camp, bristling with the AWESOME weapons that can extinguish the flickering flame of man’s civilization from the face of this planet! You are living in the VERY DAYS Jesus Christ spoke about — and unless THESE DAYS ARE SHORTENED NO FLESH WILL BE SAVED alive!!
It is YOUR generation — the world of TODAY — that will see the HORRIBLE END-TIME NUCLEAR WARS. THIS GENERATION WILL witness the LAST-MINUTE intervention by Jesus Christ when He returns in the POWER AND GLORY OF HIS KINGDOM.
[NO, we are not of that generation though we may be in the future; the creation of the atomic bomb is not the starting point for determining the generation that will not die until all be fulfilled as clearly demonstrated by the passage of time. It’s now been over 40 years since the A-bomb came into existence; 40 years is a generation as defined by the Bible. If the discovery of the A-bomb is the point from which we are to count, then Christ would have returned by now.
However, Christ says it is the generation that sees the Great Tribulation and the events of the Day of the Lord, the period of time when war, famine, pestilence reach their highest point and would destroy all life on the earth but for the intervention of the returning Christ that is “this generation” that shall not pass away til all be fulfilled (Luke 21:32).
With the passage of time, we can see that the events spoken of in Math. 24:21-33 cannot be referring to humanity coming to the point where it would be destroyed but for Christ’s 2nd Coming being one generation away from the time of the development of nuclear bombs. Had it been the case, Christ’s return would have occurred some years ago.
These events are in our immediate future as is the generation that will not pass away till all be fulfilled.]
End of excerpt
The Generation that Will not Pass Away till all is Fulfilled
As we have seen, there is a generation that will not die or pass away until all of the events (false religion, war, famine, pestilence and earthquakes) mentioned by Christ reach their highest level of intensity resulting in the extinction of mankind unless Christ returned to prevent it.
As Mr Armstrong taught the Church, a prophesy from the time it is made continues to grow in intensity over time to reach its maximum. in this case, during the Day of the Lord.
So knowing this it is fairly easy to determine who is the generation that will not pass away before all these things be fulfilled, it is those humans that will be alive when all the events spoken of by Christ reach their maximum of intensity during the Day of the Lord. They will have lived through the Great Tribulation and during the events of the Day of the Lord and will be alive at the end of all of it.
How far away are we from those days? For the time being, nobody knows.
Where will Christ be at the time of the Great Tribulation?
This is something which is also covered in the verses of the Olivet prophecy of Matthew 24 however, as is usually the case, Christ speaks in such a way that it is impossible for the world to understand but which can be understood by those who have His Spirit dwelling in them, who are able to put line upon line, precept upon precept and have God teach us knowledge.
Isa 28:9 Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts. [You can find a full explanation of what it means to be weaned from the milk here: Are You Spiritually Mature?]
Isa 28:10 For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little:
Isa 28:11 For with stammering lips and another tongue will he speak to this people.
Let’s read through the pertinent verses in Matthew 24 in which Christ states where He will be at the time when the events of the Great Tribulation are taking place.
Mat 24:1 And Jesus went out, and departed from the temple: and his disciples came to him for to shew him the buildings of the temple.
Mat 24:2 And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.
Mat 24:3 And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world? [the end of the world is the time when God’s plan of salvation for mankind will have come to an end. This occurs after the Great White Throne Judgment when the wicked die in the Lake of Fire and God creates a new heaven and a new earth. God will not forcefully rule over mankind as those who are to be saved must freely choose God’s way when it is revealed to them so as to be beings of character i.e., someone who has chosen to obey God when God has revealed Himself to him because he wants to not because he is being forced to do so.]
PLEASE NOTE
It is crucial that we keep in mind exactly what it was the disciples asked Jesus to be able to understand how well Jesus answered their questions but in a way that makes it hard to understand what is being said unless one understands the time shifting that occurs in what Jesus tells them. Jesus omits to explain to them that some of the events He mentions will be ongoing to reach their maximum intensity during the Day of the Lord some 2,000 years into the future while others would occur in their days (the destruction of Jerusalem and of the temple). With this in mind, let’s go through Jesus’ answer to His disciples and, to us today.
The main point of interest for us will be to focus on where Christ will be at the time of the end when the events of the Great Tribulation have started and men are saying that Christ is here and Christ is over there, etc. Christ tells His disciples where He and the Father will be in those days.
Let’s start reading from verse 21.
Mat 24:21 For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.
[The 5th seal great martyrdom of saints and national captivity of end-time Israel; and the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Woes during the 7th seal events of the Day of the Lord]
Mat 24:22 And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened.
Mat 24:23 Then [at the time of the Great Tribulation] if any man shall say unto you, [to true Christians alive in those days; the Bible does not speak to the world though at times it speaks about the world.] Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not.
Mat 24:24 For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.
[The great false prophet or the Pope that will be in office at the time when end-time events occur will make fire come down from the sky.]
Rev 13:13 And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men,
Rev 13:14 And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live.
Please recall that making fire come down from the sky was Elijah’s proof to Israel on Mount Carmel that he was a true messenger from God.
2Ki 1:10 And Elijah answered and said to the captain of fifty, If I be a man of God, then let fire come down from heaven, and consume thee and thy fifty. And there came down fire from heaven, and consumed him and his fifty.
In the end time, the Pope then in office will succeed in convincing the unconverted of the world that he is the true servant of God. Figuratively speaking, he will make fire come down from the sky and the literal meaning is that the end-time Pope will be able to convince the world that he is the true servant of God.]
A major point of importance that needs to be noted here is that these false Christs and prophets will be so convincing that they would deceive the very elect if it were possible to do so but the elect cannot be deceived about what is the truth of God for were it possible to do so, Satan could thwart God’s plan of salvation through his ability to deceive the whole world as he is presently doing. Once a person is called and chosen he can no longer be deceived about what is the truth; he can only turn away from the truth by a knowing and willful decision to do so.
Mat 24:25 Behold, I have told you before. [to them and us today]
Mat 24:26 Wherefore if they [the false prophets who say they are true servants of God] shall say unto you, [truly converted Christians that will be alive at that time] Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not.
Mat 24:27 For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. [Christ upon His 2nd Coming will not be in any given location such as in secret chambers or in the desert as many will say after seeing the coming of the Son of man; His 2nd coming will be seen by all. So where will Christ be at the time of His 2nd Coming, the next verse tells us.]
Mat 24:28 For wheresoever the carcase [a carcass is a body] is, there will the eagles be gathered together.
[Christ says He bore ancient Israel on eagles’ wings (Ex 19:4); He was that eagle mentioned in Ex 19:4 and so is the Father (Christ is in the Father and the Father in Christ (John 14:10)) and they are the eagles that will be where the carcass or body is i.e., the church which is the body of Christ.
So where will be Christ and God the Father at the time of Christ’s 2nd Coming? Why, at the same place they said they would always be, with the Church, the body of Christ, the spiritual temple which they inhabit and of which the individual members of God’s Church are the living stones (1Pet 2:5).] Christ told the apostles, and all true Christians who would be their spiritual descendants, that He would be with them always, EVEN unto the end of the world i.e., until the time of the end of God’s plan of salvation.
Mat 28:20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.
Final Thoughts
Thirty-one years after the death of HWA and the destruction of the corporate body of the church we are still not at the time when 5th and 6th seal events are happening or where wars, famine, pestilence, earthquakes have reached their maximum level of intensity as they will during the events of the 5th and 7th seals of Revelation or of the betrayal of the saints by those of their own family, etc. as part of the events enumerated by Christ in Matthew 24.
The focus of Matthew 24 is the time of Christ’s 2nd Coming and of the end of the world.
And, as we have seen, Christ after His 2nd Coming will not be in the desert or in the secret chambers; He and His father will be where they have always been, in the spiritual temple which is God’s Church, the body of Christ.
God’s Church made up of truly converted flesh-and-blood human beings will continue on into the Millennium and during the Last Great Day through the nation of Israel restored to the Promised Land. Israel is to become a converted nation, the holy nation and kingdom of priests which God wanted them to be but which they were never able to become because of not ever having been given access to God’s Holy Spirit which would have made it possible for them to know the truth of God which is spiritual and knowable only by revelation.
God's Spiritual Nation 