THIS GENERATION...

Mt 24:32-35
"Now learn this parable from the fig tree: When its branch has already become tender and puts forth leaves, you know that summer is near.  33 So you also, when you see all these things, know that it is near - at the doors!   34 Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place.  35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away. NKJV

Jesus tells us to "learn this parable from the fig tree".  There are 39 parables in Matthew, Mark and Luke.  None in John.  Of the 39 only 7 are repeated 3 times and this is one of them.  Obviously the parables that are in the Gospels three times carry a greater weight of importance.  This is the only parable that the Lord tells us to learn.  The fig tree is one of the earliest blooming  plants in Israel.  It also alludes to the Nation of Israel.  Jesus tells us that this generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place.  (He is referring to Mt. 24:1-31 and it encompasses the Day of the Lord) 

He tells us that you will know that "summer" is near and summer is a season and He wants us to know the seasons. 

Mt 16:2 He answered and said to them, "When it is evening you say, 'It will be fair weather , for the sky is red';  3 and in the morning, 'It will be foul weather today, for the sky is red and threatening.' Hypocrites! You know how to discern the face of the sky, but you cannot discern the signs of the times. NKJV

1 Th 5:1-5 But concerning the times and the seasons , brethren, you have no need that I should write to you. 2 For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. 3 For when they say, "Peace and safety!" then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape. 4 But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief.  NKJV

There are three numbers for a generation:

1.   forty years--the transition of a generation or the the beginning of a generation.

Ps 95:10 For forty years I was grieved with that generation , and said, 'It is a people who go astray in their hearts,
and they do not know My ways.'  NKJV

2.  70 years--the Davidic number of a generation

Ps 90:10 The days of our lives are seventy years;
And if by reason of strength they are eighty years,
Yet their boast is only labor and sorrow;
For it is soon cut off, and we fly away.
NKJV

3.  100 years--pre Davidic number of a generation

This gives us the time frame of the "summer" season of the Lord's return.  1948 is when Israel became a nation once again.  There were many prophecies fulfilled then and this is the beginning of birth pangs.   But it was not till 1967 that Jerusalem came back under the control of Israel for the first time since Alexander the Great conquers Jerusalem in 332 BCE.  It was 2300 years that Jerusalem was not under Jewish control.  (There was a brief time in 164 BCE that the Hasmonians controlled it). 

1967 + 40 = 2007

1967 + 70 = 2037

The summer season of the Lord's return is from 2007 to 2037. It does say that no one knows the day or hour. 

Mt 24:36 "But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only. NKJV

But we are to know the season and we will also know the month and the week!   Jesus says that it will be like the days of Noah.  Did Noah know when the boat was finished?  Did he know when the animals were in the ark?  He did now know the exact day that it would rain but he knew it was very close when everything was done. It says in this passage that the wicked people did not know till he flood came and took them away.  It is obvious from this passage and also Peter and Paul's writing that the Day of the Lord will be like a "thief in the night" to the people who are not watching.  That is why Jesus,  Peter, Paul and John all warn us to be sober, alert and watching!!

Are you watching?