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Yes it refers to the destruction of Jerusalem. Let's read a little bit more about it
(source: PNT commentary)
Great tribulation. The account given by Josephus, the Jewish historian who witnessed and recorded the war, is almost an echo of the predictions of Christ. Women ate their own children from starvation; the Jews within the city fought each other as well as the Roman army; on August 10, A. D. 70, the city was stormed and there was a universal massacre; 1,100,00 persons perished, and 100,000 survivors were sold into slavery.
Note that Jesus said is there will be great tribulation, He did not say that it would be global.
And what happened at Jerusalem was worse than anything happened before:
(from Barnes, presbyterian theologian):
be such as was not since the beginning of the world, to this time, no, nor ever shall be. The burning of Sodom and Gomorrha, the bondage of the children of Israel in Egypt, their captivity in Babylon, and all their distresses and afflictions in the times of the Maccabees, are nothing to be compared with the calamities which befell the Jews in the siege and destruction of Jerusalem. Great desolations have been made in the besieging and at the taking of many famous cities, as Troy, Babylon, Carthage, &c. but none of them are to be mentioned with the deplorable case of this city. Whoever reads Josephus's account will be fully convinced of this; and readily join with him, who was an eyewitness of it, when he says (m), that
"never did any city suffer such things, nor was there ever any generation that more abounded in malice or wickedness.''
And indeed, all this came upon them for their impenitence and infidelity, and for their rejection and murdering of the Son of God; for as never any before, or since, committed the sin they did, or ever will, so there never did, or will, the same calamity befall a nation, as did them.
(m) De Bello Jud. l. 6. c. 11.
(source: PNT commentary)
Great tribulation. The account given by Josephus, the Jewish historian who witnessed and recorded the war, is almost an echo of the predictions of Christ. Women ate their own children from starvation; the Jews within the city fought each other as well as the Roman army; on August 10, A. D. 70, the city was stormed and there was a universal massacre; 1,100,00 persons perished, and 100,000 survivors were sold into slavery.
Note that Jesus said is there will be great tribulation, He did not say that it would be global.
And what happened at Jerusalem was worse than anything happened before:
(from Barnes, presbyterian theologian):
be such as was not since the beginning of the world, to this time, no, nor ever shall be. The burning of Sodom and Gomorrha, the bondage of the children of Israel in Egypt, their captivity in Babylon, and all their distresses and afflictions in the times of the Maccabees, are nothing to be compared with the calamities which befell the Jews in the siege and destruction of Jerusalem. Great desolations have been made in the besieging and at the taking of many famous cities, as Troy, Babylon, Carthage, &c. but none of them are to be mentioned with the deplorable case of this city. Whoever reads Josephus's account will be fully convinced of this; and readily join with him, who was an eyewitness of it, when he says (m), that
"never did any city suffer such things, nor was there ever any generation that more abounded in malice or wickedness.''
And indeed, all this came upon them for their impenitence and infidelity, and for their rejection and murdering of the Son of God; for as never any before, or since, committed the sin they did, or ever will, so there never did, or will, the same calamity befall a nation, as did them.
(m) De Bello Jud. l. 6. c. 11.
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In this verse:
Mat 24:20 But pray that your flight is not in the winter, nor on the sabbath day;
Mat 24:21 for then shall be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world to this time; no, nor ever shall be.
Verse 21 is connected to verse 20. In other words, it's the same one event which is destruction of Jerusalem. "nor on the sabbath day" should be clear enough, that Jesus is speaking to then Jews, not future modern day christians.
Mat 24:20 But pray that your flight is not in the winter, nor on the sabbath day;
Mat 24:21 for then shall be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world to this time; no, nor ever shall be.
Verse 21 is connected to verse 20. In other words, it's the same one event which is destruction of Jerusalem. "nor on the sabbath day" should be clear enough, that Jesus is speaking to then Jews, not future modern day christians.
The second coming is yet to occur, so no, re: Revelation. But these verses in Matt 24 speaks of the destruction of Jerusalem. Historically speaking, everything happened as Jesus said it would in chapter 24. Jerusalem was destroyed, it was worse than anything they had experienced before, the Christians at the time fled to the mountains and so many Christians were safe.
You know that "Christ coming" doesn't always mean the second coming of Christ, it's a metaphorical way to say that God's judgement will be poured out, usually through human agents (in past times, the babylonians , assyrians etc, in this case the Romans).
You know that "Christ coming" doesn't always mean the second coming of Christ, it's a metaphorical way to say that God's judgement will be poured out, usually through human agents (in past times, the babylonians , assyrians etc, in this case the Romans).
Everything I'm saying comes from old protestant theologian bible commentaries. Which only shows how far modern christianity's understanding of end times events and prophecy has fallen. It's not preterism. You don't have to be a preterist (spelling?, im just copying yours 
), to realise that some prophecies have already been fulfilled in the past. We have big multi million dollar empires in christianity today based upon fear that there is still a great worldwide tribulation yet to come.
), to realise that some prophecies have already been fulfilled in the past. We have big multi million dollar empires in christianity today based upon fear that there is still a great worldwide tribulation yet to come.
Here is a verse showing "Christ's coming" for judgement.
Rev 2:5 Therefore remember from where you have fallen, and repent, and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and will remove your lampstand out of its place unless you repent.
This particular church , Ephesus, was destroyed , and lost to the Turks. That was fulfillment of "Christ coming quickling and removing your lampstand out of its place".
Rev 2:5 Therefore remember from where you have fallen, and repent, and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and will remove your lampstand out of its place unless you repent.
This particular church , Ephesus, was destroyed , and lost to the Turks. That was fulfillment of "Christ coming quickling and removing your lampstand out of its place".
Is there anything in Matt 24 that would stop us from interpreting half of that chapter as referring to the destruction of Jerusalem?
a) consider Jesus' audience, he was speaking to them at the time. Many who heard that experienced what he predicted in their lifetime.
b) consider Jesus's words about flight on the Sabbath. Not an issue for us now or in the future, but definitely an issue for Jews at the time.
c) we have historical accounts that match Jesus's words accurately. God answered the prayers of those early Jews and Christians, and made it such that the events did not take place on the sabbath. It's quite remarkable how the Romans did not attack on a non-sabbath day. Answering their prayers also, the Romans remarkably held off their siege for a moment, unexplainably, which gave time for the Christians to flee. The events were like none ohter that had taken place before, as in the quotes I gave above. The Christians at the time remembed and obeyed Jesus's words, and fled to some safe mountains in Palestine where they were spared. Any who stayed in the city were destroyed.
Immediately after the events of the day, the sun not shining, the moon not giving light, as scripture says, is metaphorical for how God's presence (the sun), left the temple, the moon not giving light - the Jewish moon festivals ceasing.
a) consider Jesus' audience, he was speaking to them at the time. Many who heard that experienced what he predicted in their lifetime.
b) consider Jesus's words about flight on the Sabbath. Not an issue for us now or in the future, but definitely an issue for Jews at the time.
c) we have historical accounts that match Jesus's words accurately. God answered the prayers of those early Jews and Christians, and made it such that the events did not take place on the sabbath. It's quite remarkable how the Romans did not attack on a non-sabbath day. Answering their prayers also, the Romans remarkably held off their siege for a moment, unexplainably, which gave time for the Christians to flee. The events were like none ohter that had taken place before, as in the quotes I gave above. The Christians at the time remembed and obeyed Jesus's words, and fled to some safe mountains in Palestine where they were spared. Any who stayed in the city were destroyed.
Immediately after the events of the day, the sun not shining, the moon not giving light, as scripture says, is metaphorical for how God's presence (the sun), left the temple, the moon not giving light - the Jewish moon festivals ceasing.
OK i'll take the bait and say a little more. First , they were not futurists in the proper sense of the word. Futurism believes that most prophetic events will be fulfilled in the future after Christ's second coming. Historicist believe the prophetic events will take place as time goes on, as they unfold until the end. Futurists see that the prophetic clock stops and there is a gap during the church age. That the prophecies will be fulfilled to the literal Jews in the future at or after Christ's return. Also, that there will be a rapture or escape prior to tribulation. .. which is certainly not the case with the early church who were mid or post-trib and their writings clearly show this.
The early church did place certain prophecies in the future, but this doesn't make them futurist. You see, they did place them in the last days, but at the same time they believed they were in the last days, and would experience the tribulation in their lifetime, and weren't thinking 2000+ years later. Another key difference: they did not put the beasts in Revelation, the anti-Christ and great tribulation after the return of Christ, as the futurist would. Unlike the futurist, they did not see the church age as an interruption in old testament biblical prophecy, but expected it to pan out and unfold just as a historicist believes. They saw the church age as a continuation of Jewish prophecy. And there in understanding the nature and relationship of Israel to the church, we find another key difference between historicist and futurist, where the lean of the scales is towards the historicist view, yet again.
On a final note, we can't be too strict and say such and such an early church father was in this camp, and another was in this camp. Because I doubt any church father will fit in our modern day 'boxes' and definitions absolutely. It's like saying that because such and such believed such and such, then they must have been a Southern Baptist. Realising of course, they would be far from what a southern baptist looks like today, if they ever were one. There are similarities between what the early church believed and futurism, but that doesn't make them futurist in a strict sense of the word. There are some stark differences between the early church beliefs and futurism, which clearly shows that they weren't futurist. But if there is any view which fits what they believed best, it is continuous-historical premillenialism. And I guess that is why historic premillenialism is commonly found in old time protestant preachers and theologians like Spurgeon and other great names.
The early church did place certain prophecies in the future, but this doesn't make them futurist. You see, they did place them in the last days, but at the same time they believed they were in the last days, and would experience the tribulation in their lifetime, and weren't thinking 2000+ years later. Another key difference: they did not put the beasts in Revelation, the anti-Christ and great tribulation after the return of Christ, as the futurist would. Unlike the futurist, they did not see the church age as an interruption in old testament biblical prophecy, but expected it to pan out and unfold just as a historicist believes. They saw the church age as a continuation of Jewish prophecy. And there in understanding the nature and relationship of Israel to the church, we find another key difference between historicist and futurist, where the lean of the scales is towards the historicist view, yet again.
On a final note, we can't be too strict and say such and such an early church father was in this camp, and another was in this camp. Because I doubt any church father will fit in our modern day 'boxes' and definitions absolutely. It's like saying that because such and such believed such and such, then they must have been a Southern Baptist. Realising of course, they would be far from what a southern baptist looks like today, if they ever were one. There are similarities between what the early church believed and futurism, but that doesn't make them futurist in a strict sense of the word. There are some stark differences between the early church beliefs and futurism, which clearly shows that they weren't futurist. But if there is any view which fits what they believed best, it is continuous-historical premillenialism. And I guess that is why historic premillenialism is commonly found in old time protestant preachers and theologians like Spurgeon and other great names.
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