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There’s a question that keeps coming up for me when I read Jesus saying, “this generation will not pass away until all these things have been fulfilled” (Matthew 24:34).

Because if you just let that sit there without rushing past it, you’re left asking something pretty simple, was that generation nearly 2000 years ago?

Most likely… yes.

So then the next question comes, how do we make sense of that without forcing everything into either the past or the future?

And this is where I’ve believe the scriptures revealed, And I don’t think the answer is choosing one generation over the other.

I believe the answer is that Scripture is speaking into both. One in 70AD the other in the very near future between now and soon!

Let me explain what I mean.

When Jesus speaks about “this generation,” He is speaking to real people, in a real moment, about things that were about to unfold in their lifetime.

And when you look at what happened in 70 AD, with Jerusalem surrounded, the temple destroyed, and the whole old covenant system brought to its visible end, and having stayed that way for the last 2000 years, it’s very hard to say that 70AD had nothing to do with what He was warning about.

The Siege of Jerusalem

That moment wasn’t just political or historical. It was Covenantal, it was the end of God individually dealing with his chosen people, through the temple system, including, His final sacrifice through Christ bringing an end to the old order of things. A fulfilment just as Jesus said.

However, the problem for most people with this is that we then have to believe that one of the “Covenants between the Jewish people known as the Israelites was also completed.” And that is the theological stumbling block.

I no longer believe they are specifically selected as his chosen people. And that is an extremely difficult concept for many to believe.

The law as a functioning system, came to its end in history, the way was opened to the Gentiles and lines up with how the New Testament speaks.

Hebrews says the old covenant was “becoming obsolete and growing old… ready to vanish away” (Hebrews 8:13).

Jesus says He did not come to abolish the law, but to fulfil it (Matthew 5:17).

So the cross, and everything that followed, wasn’t the destruction of the law, it was its fulfilment. Its completion. Its purpose brought to its end.

And 70 AD stands there as the visible confirmation of that. The sacrificial system didn’t just fade out quietly, it was brought to an end in a way that could never be nor would be, rebuilt.

So yes, I do believe that was a real fulfilment. Not symbolic, not stretched, but something that actually happened in that generation, just as Jesus said.

But I don’t think that’s the whole story.

Because when you keep reading, the New Testament also speaks about a future that hasn’t happened yet. A return of Christ that is not described as covenantal language only, but as something seen, something final.

“This Jesus… will come in the same way as you saw Him go into heaven” (Acts 1:11).

“The Lord himself will descend from heaven” (1 Thessalonians 4:16).

“The dead will be raised” (1 Corinthians 15:52).

That doesn’t read like something confined to the first century. So instead of forcing one reading over the other, I’ve come to see this as what you might call a dual fulfilment, not in a vague or hand wavy way, but in a layered way.

There is a fulfilment looking back and one looking forward. Christ completed the work of the old covenant. The law, the sacrificial system, the temple, all of it reached its end in Him, and that end showed itself in history with the fall of Jerusalem.

BUT or HOWEVER, whichever way you wanna say it, I believe this is also Covenantal, and the covenant I’m referring to is the new covenant of Grace and this covenant will also come to an end, in our generation.

And very soon bringing the fulfilment ahead of us and it will be God bringing the new covenant to an end. He will end His offer of Grace, He will end his current offer of salvation individually dealing with his chosen people, as they become spirit filled Christians, coming to them through the Holy Spirit as is a fulfilment still ahead.

Not another covenant shift, not another system to replace, but the final bringing together of what Christ has already secured.

The gospel doesn’t get replaced, it reaches its completion. What is already true in heaven is made fully visible on earth.

So I’m not reading Jesus’ words as if they failed, or as if they were delayed, I’m reading them as something that began in that generation, was confirmed in that generation, in 70AD and yet still carries forward to its final completion, most likely you and I.

That’s how I read which generation it is, it’s both.

I can look back and say, yes (this generation), something decisive has already happened. And I can look forward and say, yes (this generation), we are not at the end yet.

And somehow Scripture itself keeps both of those in place without forcing me to choose. His message was to those who faced destruction in 70AD and those who face destruction in the soon to be end of Grace when we go to be with them. That generation soon, and very soon.

….. the church makes that distinction because Scripture forces it.

This is the first question posted to my new subreddit r/truerepentance

If you’re interested in the topic, something you’ve thought about, or want to talk about, then please join and post.

My hope is simple. That it helps people the way it has helped me.

‘not everything that gets called repentance actually is true repentance.’

….. the church makes that distinction because Scripture forces it.

This is the first question posted to my new subreddit r/truerepentance

If you’re interested in the topic, something you’ve thought about, or want to talk about, then please join and post.

My hope is simple. That it helps people the way it has helped me.

‘not everything that gets called repentance actually is true repentance.’

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how big the biblical story really is.

For many of us, we were taught the gospel in very personal terms, which is beautiful and true. Christ saves sinners. He reconciles us to God. He brings us home.

But sometimes we were not shown how wide the story stretches.

One of the scholars who helped many believers see the wider contours of Scripture was Michael Heiser. Whether someone agrees with every conclusion he reached or not, his contribution was this: he pushed people back into the text itself, especially the Old Testament, and asked us to read it in its own ancient context.

He reminded the church that the Bible speaks not only about salvation in individual terms, but about a cosmic conflict, an unseen realm, spiritual powers, divine council language, and the reality that redemption is larger than we often imagine.

The Unseen Realm

In his book The Unseen Realm, Heiser explored passages many Christians quietly skip over.

Psalm 82.

Deuteronomy 32.

Daniel’s references to spiritual princes.

Paul’s language about rulers and authorities in heavenly places.

Instead of dismissing those texts or flattening them, he asked, “What did the original audience understand when they heard this?”

That question alone has helped many believers read their Bibles more carefully.

Why This Matters for the Church

For some, talk of the unseen realm feels unsettling. We are rightly cautious about sensationalism or speculative theology. The church has seen enough of that.

But recovering the biblical language about spiritual powers does not weaken the gospel. It can actually strengthen it.

When Paul says Christ disarmed the rulers and authorities, he means something real.

When Revelation speaks of cosmic victory, it is not abstract poetry.

When the Old Testament speaks of the nations being allotted and then reclaimed, that storyline feeds directly into the Great Commission.

Seeing this doesn’t replace the central truth that Christ is reigning now. It deepens it.

Christ is not merely saving isolated individuals. He is reclaiming the nations. He is restoring what was fractured. He is bringing heaven and earth back into alignment.

That is not fringe theology. That is the storyline of Scripture from Genesis to Revelation.

Opening Discussion, Not Dividing

It is healthy for the church to have thoughtful conversations about passages that are often overlooked. We do not need to agree on every interpretive detail to benefit from studying them.

What matters is this:

Does it drive us back to Scripture?

Does it magnify Christ?

Does it remind us that our struggle is not against flesh and blood?

If the answer is yes, then the discussion is worth having.

The unseen realm language in Scripture is not there to create fear or mysticism. It is there to show the scale of Christ’s victory.

And for those of us who believe He is reigning now, that matters deeply.

The cross was not a small event.

The resurrection was not a private triumph.

The ascension was not symbolic.

It was the decisive turning point of history, seen and unseen.

If engaging Heiser’s work helps believers read their Bibles more carefully and worship Christ more fully, then it has served the church well.

I’d genuinely love to hear how others have processed these themes. Have they strengthened your understanding of Scripture? Raised questions? Deepened your awe?

Let’s talk carefully, biblically, and with Christ at the centre.