Mark 13 / Aug 4 - does one little sentance change it?

Hey all. I'm ready to trust a little more, do a little more and sin a little less this week!

Okay, so I'm reading through this chapter and have read it before and know that some people will put this passage with some from the book of Daniel and the book of Revelation and talk about when Christ is going to come back.

We read about false christs and supposed prophets and this "abomination that causes desolation" and how horrible it will be and many think that this is a reference to the end times, you know, Armageddon and all that Revelation stuff. But I wonder if people stop a bit too soon?

Did you read verse 30? Did you notice that Jesus tells of all these horrible things and then he says that "I tell you the truth." which always means, pay attention. Listen up! Heed my words. (not just "I'm not lying.) "This generation will not pass away until all these things have happened."

So, what does that mean? well... discovering that is part of Biblical interpretation. But aside from a whole bunch of study, it seems to mean that all these things will happen in your life time. And again, without getting into a huge post here, they did happen. The Temple was destroyed, a guy who didn't believe in God stood in the Temple compound, the Jewish people fled into the hills and lived in caves. This all happened 40 years later, around 70AD, at the hands of the Roman empire.

Is this a prophecy of the end times as some suspect? Is it a warning to the disciple (a few were alive to at least hear of it though most had already left Jerusalem because of the persecution)?John wrote the book of Revelation on the exile Island of Patmos about 90AD so he was certainly alive, though it is hard to know if he had received word of it or not.

Read carefully! See you tomorrow!