This week, I’m responding to a question about prophecy in the Bible.
Can Matthew 24 be interpreted both as fulfilled in the first century and also to happen again before the coming of the Lord? That is, can the preterist and the futurist view both be true?
Photo by Patrick Hendry on Unsplash
First, we need a little context. Matthew 24 is a chapter in which Jesus prophesied the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem. He also described the signs of the “end of the age,” the “great tribulation,” and the “Son of Man coming on the clouds.” Speaking of the end, Jesus said in verse 36, “But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only.”
Second, we need to understand the terminology used in the question. The word preterist means “past.” On a preterist interpretation, prophecies like Matthew 24 (and much of Revelation, Daniel, and other end-times prophecies) were already fulfilled in some of the events that happened in the first century.
Futurist, on the other hand, means just what it sounds like. A futurist interpretation of end-times prophecies holds that most have not yet been fulfilled but will be at some point in the future.
There are other views as well—idealism, partial preterism, classical dispensationalism, progressive dispensationalism, etc. But since the questioner only asked about preterism and futurism, we won’t go into those other perspectives here.
It’s interesting that the question posed above isn’t which perspective is correct, preterism or futurism, but rather if it is possible that both could be correct. On the surface, it would seem fairly simple. According to the law of non-contradiction, two contradictory statements cannot both be simultaneously true. If one is true, the other must be false. If the events of Matthew 24 were fulfilled in the past, they cannot be fulfilled in the future. And if they have yet to be fulfilled on some future date, they cannot have been fulfilled in the first century.
But, to quote Mark Twain, “History never repeats itself, but it does often rhyme.” The Bible reveals many patterns, cycles, and recurring themes—rhymes—in human history. Many of these motifs will find their ultimate fulfillment in the events leading up to the return of Christ. Until then, they will continue to cycle back around as history drives on. There will be sin and slavery and redemption and rescue. There will be unfaithful leaders and false teachers. There will be earthquakes and famines and wars and rumors of wars. There will be corrupt governments and oppression and poverty. There will be antichrists and tribulation. And one day, there will be the Antichrist, and the Great Tribulation, and the Abomination of Desolation, and the false prophets, and the final war in which evil is defeated forever, and the final judgment, and the New Jerusalem—Heaven on Earth—the Eternal Kingdom.
So, in a nutshell, yes, I think it is likely that Matthew 24 speaks of some events that have already happened, some that have not yet occurred, and some that will repeat in cycles until Christ returns.
I think some prophecies refer to smaller versions of the ultimate one to come and the final event itself, yes. I believe the term is “envelope” or similar? As for end times, I believe in Pre-wrath, or deliverance/rapture of Christians at the halfway mark, 3 1/2 years into the tribulation, before the bowls of God’s wrath are unleashed, but after the devil’s evil works of the first 3 1/2 years.