Previous generations have thought that Jesus Christ would return in their lifetimes, but they were proven wrong. Many people alive today think Christ's return is imminent. Certainly, the Bible contains prophecies that could not have been fulfilled until this generation.
In Matthew 24:22, describing world conditions prior to His second coming, Jesus said that "if that time of troubles were not cut short, no living thing could survive; but for the sake of God's chosen it will be cut short" (Revised English Bible).
"And in that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which faces Jerusalem on the east. And the Mount of Olives shall be split in two, from east to west, making a very large valley; half of the mountain shall move toward the north and half of it toward the south" (Zechariah 14:1-4).
In Daniel 11 we find an amazing prophecy about two leaders, the kings of the north and south, the heads of regions that were geographically north and south of the Holy Land. To understand this prophecy we have to go to the time of Alexander the Great, who lived near the end of the fourth century B.C., 200 years after Daniel.
In Daniel 2 and 7 we see prophecies about four great gentile empires that would arise in the period between the time of Daniel and the coming establishment of the Kingdom of God (Daniel 2:44). Daniel was himself living in the first of these great empires (Daniel 7:4) as a Jewish exile in ancient Babylon.
"Israel" was the new name God gave the biblical patriarch Jacob in Genesis 32. The 12 tribes of Israel were descended from his 12 sons. These tribes later formed a united kingdom.
Most people assume the Jewish people are the sole remaining descendants of the ancient nation of Israel. This assumption, however, is incorrect.
In His major end-time prophecy, Jesus answers the question posed by the disciples: "When will these things be? And what will be the sign of your coming, and of the end of the age?" (Matthew 24:3).
Another end-time Bible prophecy could not be fulfilled until this era of instant worldwide communications.
Many are puzzled by Jesus Christ's words, "Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place" (Matthew 24:34).
We have seen how seven biblically prophesied circumstances could not have come to pass until recent times.
