How Is Matt. 24:34 A Sign? Follow Up

Q

Re: How Is Matt. 24;34 A Sign? In this post you stated: “Therefore, we’re not supposed to keep track of the number of people born in 1948 who are still alive to see how close the 2nd Coming is, but rather to understand that before an average lifespan has passed since we saw the first sign, the 2nd Coming will have taken place.”

I have always thought that this time frame refers to the timing of the Rapture of the Church, not the Second Coming of Christ. Since those 2 events are 7 years apart, I’m confused now as to what Matt. 24:34 is stating. Is it saying that the generation born in 1948 will be alive to see the Rapture or the Second Coming? Can you clarify this please?

A

The focus of Matt. 24-25 is the second Coming. A plain sense reading shows that while Jesus spoke of a Temple, the people in Judea, the Great Tribulation, His 2nd Coming, and the judgments that will follow it, there’s not a word about the Church or the rapture anywhere in either chapter. Those who try to find them have to depart from a literal interpretation, or ignore the context, or both to do so. When Jesus used the phrase “all these things” in Matt. 24:34 He was referring to all the things He had been saying in response to the disciples’ questions; “When will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?” (Matt. 24:3).