Wikipedia: Preterism
In the preterist view, the Tribulation took place in the past when
Roman legions destroyed Jerusalem and its temple in AD 70 during the end stages of the
First Jewish–Roman War, and it affected only the
Jewish people rather than all mankind.
Christian preterists believe that the Tribulation was a divine judgment visited upon the Jews for their sins, including rejection of Jesus as the promised
Messiah. It occurred entirely in the past, around 70 AD when the armed forces of the
Roman Empire destroyed Jerusalem and its temple.
A preterist discussion of the Tribulation has its focus on the Gospels, in particular the prophetic passages in Matthew 24, Mark 13 and Luke 21, the
Olivet discourse, rather than on the
Apocalypse or Book of Revelation. (Preterists apply much of the symbolism in the Revelation to Rome, the
Cæsars, and their persecution of Christians, rather than to the Tribulation upon the Jews.)
Jesus' warning in
Matthew 24:34 that "this generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled" is tied back to his similar warning to the
Scribes and the
Pharisees that their judgment would "come upon this generation" (
Matthew 23:36), that is, during the first century rather than at a future time long after the Scribes and Pharisees had passed from the scene. The destruction in 70 AD occurred within a 40-year generation from the time when Jesus gave that discourse.
The judgment on the Jewish nation was executed by the Roman legions, "the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet" (
Matthew 24:15). This can also be found in Luke (
Luke 21:20).
Since Matthew 24 begins with Jesus visiting the
Jerusalem Temple and pronouncing that "there shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down" (vs. 3), preterists see nothing in Scripture to indicate that another Jewish temple will ever be built. The prophecies were all fulfilled on the then-existing temple that Jesus spoke about and that was subsequently destroyed within that generation.