Matthew 24:29-31: "But immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken, (v30) and the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the son of man coming on the clouds of the sky with great power and great glory. (31) And he will send forth his angels with a great trumpet and they will gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other."

When people read those verses, they immediately think in terms of the future. Who has seen the sun darken? Who has seen the moon not give its light? Who has seen the stars fall from the sky? Has that ever happened? Yes! It has happened (in a biblical sense), and that is what we need to understand. When most people read those words today, they are so caught up in the popular conception of Revelation as futuristic, that they think in terms of Matthew 24 as also being futuristic, when in fact what Jesus says has already happened.

The Old Testament gives us the clue.

Isaiah 13:1 "The oracle concerning Babylon which Isaiah the son of Amoz saw."

(This is a prophecy that God gave the prophet Isaiah about Babylon.)

(v10) "For the stars of heaven and their constellation will not flash forth their light; The sun will be dark when it rises, and the moon will not shed its light."

God here is prophesying about the fall of Babylon. That nation had overstepped her bounds. Despite the fact that she was under God's command to come in and destroy Jerusalem, she had gone overboard and she was thinking that she was doing it herself. So God here is saying, "I'm going to condemn Babylon, and here is the sign that Babylon will be destroyed."

"For the stars of heaven and their constellation will not flash forth their light; v17 "Behold, I am going to stir up the Medes against them,"

We know from history that the Babylonians were conquered by the Medo-Persian Empire. So we know that this oracle about Babylon has already occurred. So when Isaiah is saying "For the stars of heaven and their constellation will not flash forth their light;" he is not speaking about actual physical events. He is talking about the terribleness of the destruction that is going to occur when the Babylonian Empire falls. Jesus is using the same kind of language when He quotes pretty much verbatim from Isaiah. Jesus' disciples, who understood Isaiah, who knew those verses, would understand that He was speaking about the incredible destruction and judgment of God.

We see the same kind of language used in Ezekiel.

Ezekiel 32:2 God says to Ezekiel, "Son of man, take up a lamentation over Pharaoh king of Egypt…"

Here God is prophesying though the prophet Ezekiel about the destruction of Egypt. Again the context is that Egypt had been an ally of Israel, they too had overstepped their bounds and because they were prideful, because they thought they had done all this on their own strength, God is prophesying that He will bring down Egypt.

(v7) "…I will cover the heavens, and darken their stars; I will cover the sun with a cloud, And the moon shall not give its light. (v8) All the shining lights in the heavens I will darken over you And will set darkness on your land,"

Incredible words describing events that sound like something that has not yet happened. Notice, however, (v11) "…The sword of the king of Babylon shall come upon you." We know from history the Babylonian Empire actually overcame the Egyptian Empire. They brought them down and they've never again risen up. God goes on to say "... you'll never again have a prince." Indeed, Egypt never came back to its former glory. Here again, Ezekiel is using the exact same kind of language that Isaiah had used, and that Jesus is using in Matthew 24. It is not futuristic at all. It's something that has already happened in the past.

So what is Jesus talking about when He says, "…but immediately after the tribulation of those days THE SUN WILL BE DARKENED, AND THE MOON WILL NOT GIVE ITS LIGHT, AND THE STARS WILL FALL from the sky…" Is He speaking about something in the future? No, absolutely not. What is He talking about? When we look at the biblical context of the prophecies in Ezekiel and Isaiah and notice that Jesus is using the same kind of language, we can understand that He is talking about the terribleness of the destruction and judgment that He is going to bring upon Jerusalem. Remember the disciples had asked the question, "When will the temple be destroyed and what will be the sign?" So Jesus is explaining, "…and the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the SON OF MAN COMING ON THE CLOUDS OF THE SKY with great power and great glory." Now, has anybody seen the Son of Man come yet? No. But has the sign of the Son of Man coming on the clouds appeared in the sky yet? Yes!

We don't understand this because we fail to understand the language of the Old Testament and the flow of Matthew 24. Notice when we read "…then… the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky," When is the "then"? In the context of the passage, the sign is coming at the end of the age, the Jewish age. Remember Jesus is answering the question "When will the temple be destroyed?" When? "…immediately after the tribulation…" When will all these terrible things happen. Then "…the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky…" The New American Standard translates "…and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn…"

That's really an unfortunate translation. In the Greek of Matthew 24:30, it says the tribes of the land will mourn. In fact, it's almost a direct quote from Zechariah 12:12, that in the time of the desolation of the temple, the tribes of the land will mourn. So if we translate it the tribes of the land, it means the tribes of Israel, the tribes of the Holy Land. Whereas, if we translate it, the tribes of the earth, it means the whole world. That makes a huge difference in the way we understand the passage. But what Jesus is really talking about here is the tribes of Israel. He's saying that the whole of the holy land will mourn. Why? Because the land is being destroyed, Jerusalem is being destroyed, and the temple itself is being destroyed. The temple was the heart of the Jewish religion, where God Himself dwelt. They were mourning because of God's incredible wrath against them. So it's not talking about something that the whole world is going to be involved in.

The first part of Matthew 24:30 is also a poor translation. The New InternationaI Version (NIV) says, "At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky." That is not what the Greek says. The Greek says very clearly, "And then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven." In other words, the destruction of Israel is the sign that indicates that Jesus is indeed the Son of Man who is now reigning in heaven, in fulfillment of Daniel 7:13-14. That's the whole point of the statement. It's not talking about the sign of the Son of Man coming in the sky at the end of the world. The destruction of Jerusalem and the destruction of the temple is the sign that the Son of Man is reigning in heaven and bringing judgment upon Jerusalem for their continued sacrifices. Even though Jesus Christ is the ultimate, once-and-for-all sacrifice, the Jews rejected Jesus as the Messiah and continued the sacrificial system after His crucifixion, which is why God (in fact Jesus himself) is bringing judgment upon them.

Who is it that Jesus says will see the sign of the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky with great power and great glory? The tribes of the land: "…then all the tribes of the land will mourn." If you turn to Matthew 26:62, Jesus is enduring one of the kangaroo court trials before the high priest. This occurred early in the morning after the evening in which He was betrayed, (Jesus went through three trials before dawn, all of them not according to law, all of them kangaroo courts, all of them illegal under the Jewish and the Roman systems. He is before the high priest, even though under Old Testament law, the high priest could not question the accused).

(v62) Then the high priest stood up and said to Jesus, "Do You make no answer? What is it that these men are testifying against You?" (v63) But Jesus kept silent. And the high priest said to Him, "I adjure You by the living God, that You tell us whether You are the Christ, the Son of God." (v64) And Jesus said to him, "You have said it yourself, nevertheless I tell you [high priest], hereafter you [high priest] shall see THE SON OF MAN SITTING AT THE RIGHT HAND OF POWER, and COMING ON THE CLOUDS OF HEAVEN."

I would submit to you that if Jesus said that high priest would see the sign of the Son of Man coming in the clouds, that either that high priest is still alive today, or the sign of the Son of Man coming on the clouds has already happened. The event is past tense. That is very, very clear.

Jesus goes on to say in (v32), "Now learn the parable from the fig tree: when its branch has already become tender, and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near; (33) even so you too, when you see all these things, recognize that he is near, at the door. (34) Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. (35) heaven and earth will pass away, but my words shall not pass away. (36) But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone.

I know that you have heard people in Christian circles talking about the fact that even though we may not know the day or the hour, we can still know the approximate time that Jesus is coming. Why? Because Jesus says "learn the parable from the fig tree… you know that summer is near;" What is the contemporary understanding of that parable in regard to a futuristic interpretation? Look for the signs. You can understand, you can know when Jesus is right around the corner. But hold on! WHO is Jesus speaking to in the context of Matthew 24? He is speaking to His disciples. Remember the context: they had asked Him "When will the temple be destroyed?" He's speaking to them. So when He says in (v33) "…even so you [disciples] too, when you [disciples] see all these things, recognize that He is near, at the door. (34) Truly I say to you,[disciples] this generation will not pass away until all these things take place."

The NIV has a footnote here that says 'or race'. In fact, some translations actually say "this race will not pass away…" But there is a real problem with that. The reason people put in "race" is because they presuppose Revelation and Matthew 24 must be future. Obviously all these things haven't happened yet (according to that view). So obviously Jesus could not have meant "this generation living right now." Therefore He must be talking about the Jewish race, and obviously they haven't passed away yet.

But if you go through the Gospels and do a word study on the Greek word genea, or generation, you will find that it never refers to anything except "this present generation." Jay Adams, who is a Greek scholar and reads the Greek fluently, demonstrated conclusively in his book, The Time Is At Hand that "generation" always refers to "this present generation." For example,

Luke 7:30 But the Pharisees and the lawyers rejected God's purpose for themselves, not having been baptized by John. Jesus says, (v31) "To what then shall I compare the men of this generation, and what are they like?"

Nobody thinks Jesus is speaking about the Jewish race here. There is no footnote even hinting it might be race. The word clearly means generation. Another example: Jesus said to the disciples in

Luke 17:22 "The days shall come when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it." (v24) "For just as the lightning, when it flashes out of one part of the sky, shines to the other part of the sky, so will the Son of Man be in His day." (v25) "But first He must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation."

Again, there is no footnote. Everyone knows the word means "generation"; meaning "this present generation," and that Jesus was rejected by that generation. It was the Jews of His day that were in view here.

Mark 8:38 "For whoever is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels."

Again, the New American Standard (NASB) has no footnote here. The translators understand that it is "this present generation" that is in view. By the way, the principle here also refers to us. If we are ashamed of the Son of Man, then He will be ashamed of us. The principle applies to us, but the context is that Jesus is speaking to the people of that day.

Matthew 11:13 "For all the prophets and the Law prophesied until John. [John the Baptist] (v16) "But to who shall I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the market places, who call out to the other children,"

That generation living then heard the words of John the Baptist teaching that Jesus is coming, and they absolutely refused to understand it. Again, there is no footnote here. The translators understand that Jesus was speaking about "this present generation."

So why is it that in Matthew 24 there is a footnote that says "race?" Why is this the only place in the whole New Testament where genea is translated "race" instead of "generation?" In order to force the passage to fit a preconceived futuristic interpretation. If you translate the word genea properly as generation, what does that tell us about all these things that Jesus has just said? It tells us they have already happened! Perhaps the most telling example of all is

Matthew 23:36 "Truly I say to you, all these things shall come upon this generation."

Here Jesus is condemning the Pharisees, prophesying their imminent judgment. Then immediately afterward, He condemns their Temple and pronounces its imminent judgment. He uses the same exact words, but modern translators want to translate Matthew 24:26 differently. Why? It is because they have an unbiblical, futuristic bias.