These prophecies in Matthew 24 can be condensed as follows:

"Therefore when you see the 'abomination of desolation' spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (whoever reads, let him understand), then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. Let him who is on the housetop not go down to take anything out of his house. And let him who is in the field not go back to get his clothes. But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! And pray that your flight may not be in winter or on the Sabbath. For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor even shall be...Immediately after the tribulation of those days, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory" (Matt. 24:15–21, 29–31).

Indeed, there are similarities here to the events that occurred in A.D. 70. At that time, the Romans destroyed Jerusalem, tore down the temple, and massacred many of its citizens. This was a time of terrible persecution for the first century Christians and Jews. There is also evidence that an eclipse and great earthquake occurred at that time, seeming to coincide with the cosmic signs of Matthew 24:29. Could this have been the Great Tribulation and the fulfillment of Matthew 24?

Some people, including many scholars, believe that the answer is “yes.” Those who take this position are called “preterists,” and this position is taught in many mainstream churches and denominations. However, there are very serious problems with this position, which I will discuss here in brief.

First, the specific events Jesus discusses cannot be completely, and literally, fulfilled by the preterist view. In trying to match the events of A.D. 70 with those in Matthew 24, critical details are either slightly off or are missing entirely. This imperfect match suggests that the A.D. 70 destruction of Jerusalem and the temple is only a foreshadowing of the very detailed prophecy in Matthew 24, with the literal (sometimes called "partial") fulfillment determined for the end time. The use of a partial fulfillment for a contemporary event, with a complete fulfillment waiting until the end time, is a common technique used throughout scripture. This is what we see here.

Let's look at some of the unfulfilled prophecies in Matthew 24 that require this to be a still future event.

Unfulfilled Signs

1. In this prophecy, Jesus said, “Therefore when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel the prophet...then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains...” (Matt. 24:15-16). In calling this “the abomination of desolation,” Jesus was referring back to an event in 175 B.C., when Antiochus Epiphanes, a Greek conqueror, defiled the temple by slaughtering a pig on the altar (Daniel 11:31), then slaughtered many of the Jews in Jerusalem. When Jesus gave this prophecy, He was telling His listeners that such an event would happen again, as part of the last days. Paul goes on to describe this defiler as one who declares himself to be God, or in the place of God, in 2 Thess. 2:4.

Although the Romans destroyed the temple in A.D. 70 and there was a great slaughter, and many Jews did, in fact, flee to the mountains as Jesus foretold in Matthew 24, there was no such pronouncement of godship and no such defilement of the temple. While the temple was torn down, this event did not fulfill Jesus' prophecy to the letter. It was fulfilling a different prophecy: “Assuredly, I say to you, not one stone [of the temple] shall be left here upon another, that shall not be thrown down” (Matt. 24:2). In Matt. 24:15-21, in describing the abomination of desolation and the Great Tribulation, Jesus was clearly referring to a very specific future event that was not fulfilled in A.D. 70.

2. Also as part of this prophecy, Jesus said there would come a tribulation so great that there had been none like it, nor would there ever be one like it again. “For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be” (Matt. 24:21). Jesus was very specific. Nor ever shall be. We know from history that there have, in fact, been much worse catastrophes for the Jews than occurred in A.D. 70, namely the Holocaust, during which 6 million Jews were slaughtered, and the terror reign of Stalin, under which 9 million Jews were killed. The greatest slaughter of Jews in the history of the world did not occur in A.D. 70.

3. The triple sign of the sun turning dark, the moon turning to blood, and the stars falling from the sky did not happen in A.D. 70. There is evidence only of an earthquake and an eclipse. If there had been an astrological phenomenon that caused the moon to appear red and if the stars had fallen from the sky — say a meteor shower of some kind — this would have been recorded. As it was, the historical events of A.D. 70 are far from the sign that Jesus said to look for.

It is also important to notice that the context of this prophecy was not A.D. 70. Although the prophecy about the tearing down of the temple (v. 2) occurs in a contemporary setting, the prophecy regarding the abomination of desolation and the Great Tribulation does not.

In verse 3, the perspective changes entirely. “Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, `Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming and of the end of the age?'” This is a separate discussion, and Jesus' disciples ask Him specifically, “What will be the sign of Your coming and the end of the age?” The disciples might have thought that this would occur in the same context as the destruction of Jersualem, but just because they thought so doesn't make it the case. Now, the focus shifts from the first century to the end times.

The Triple Sign

As part of this shift, Jesus describes a great sign in the sun, moon, and stars that will follow the abomination of desolation and the Great Tribulation. It is of utmost importance to realize what this triple cosmic sign meant, especially for the first century Jews familiar with Messianic prophecy. The sign of which Jesus spoke is not just an earthquake or an eclipse like might happen at any other time in history. It is a specific sign, prophesied throughout the Old Testament (Joel 2:31, among others), that heralds the beginning of the Day of the Lord, the time when God would pour out His wrath upon the world, culminating in the battle of Armageddon. Clearly, the Day of the Lord did not occur in A.D. 70.

Furthermore, Jesus tells us that when this sign occurs, it will cause people to look up because they will expect the immediate, physical return of the Messiah. At the time, His disciples did not realize that this would also include a rapture since it was a mystery, but Paul reveals this secret in 1 Corinthians 15:51: "Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed..." Again, we know that the rapture did not occur, nor did Jesus return, in A.D. 70.

Some say that the earlier portions of this prophecy were fulfilled in A.D. 70, but that Matt. 24:30-31 is a description of Armageddon, to be fulfilled at a later time. Jesus does not allow for this possibility. The description of His Coming cannot be separated from the context of the earlier prophecies. Jesus was very specific when He said, “Immediately after the tribulation of those days, the sun will turn dark, the moon into blood, and the stars will fall from the sky...” (Matt. 24:29).

Immediately after the tribulation of those days. This is not a deferred fulfillment. This is an immediate event. The abomination of desolation, the Great Tribulation, the cosmic disturbances, and His Second Coming will occur in the same context at the end of time.

(Note: Just to avoid any confusion, Matthew 24:30-31 does not occur at Armageddon, but after the sixth seal. If you read Matthew 24:29 side by side with Rev. 6:12-13 — the sixth seal — you will see that they are identical. The description of the gathering of the elect is also identical with the rapture verses of 1 Thess. 4:16-17 and 1 Cor. 15:52. Matthew 24:31 is the rapture after the sixth seal, not Armageddon.)

Evidence from Revelation

Yet another strong scriptural indicator that a complete fulfillment of the Matthew 24 prophecy is yet future is that it is a parallel description of the six seal judgments in Revelation, found in Revelation 6. If you compare Matthew 24 with Revelation 6, you will see that both chapters of scripture are describing the same end times events in the same order. In order to justify the complete fulfillment of Matthew 24, you must also justify the complete fulfillment of Revelation 6. Not only is this impossible to do without allegorizing the scriptures, but Revelation was written around A.D. 90 — twenty years after the destruction of Jerusalem had already taken place.

This latter statement also deserves some additional mention. If Revelation was written around A.D. 90, as most conservative biblical scholars believe, and if Matthew 24 was fulfilled in A.D. 70 — twenty years earlier — then why was the Apostle John still writing about a future Antichrist, a future Day of the Lord, and a future Battle of Armageddon? This has caused many preterists to revised their date for the writing of Revelation, a practice that forces the facts to fit a theory, rather than conforming their biblical interpretation to the facts.

While preterists will argue that this is not what they are doing, and in fact, Revelation was written much earlier than many believe, one must account for the fact that the church fathers (those writing in the second and third centuries) like Justin Martyr and Ireneaus were also looking for a future Antichrist, a future Day of the Lord, and a future Battle of Armageddon. These writers were only a generation or two removed from the apostles, and many were taught by the apostles themselves. If Matthew 24 had been fulfilled in A.D. 70, they would certainly have known it. Instead, they were still looking for the future persecution and coming of the Lord.

Is Matthew 24 for the Church?

Preterists support their belief in the fulfillment of Matthew 24 in part with the belief that this passage was not written for Christians, but exclusively for first-century Jews. This is because, when Jesus gave this prophecy, the Church had not yet been born. Therefore, when He described these events, He described only events of relevance to Old Testament Jews.

The problems with this position are numerous. First, it was Jesus' disciples who said, "When are you coming back?" In other words, "When are you coming back for us?" Those disciples were to become the New Testament Church. When Jesus answered their question, He was talking to believers — you and me.

In order to believe that Matthew 24 has been fulfilled, you also have to believe that all of Matthew 24 is not for us. You cannot pick and choose your scriptures, especially when they all occur in the same context. Therefore, if you dismiss the abomination of desolation, Great Tribulation, and the cosmic signs, you must also dismiss "No one knows the day or the hour" because that is part of Matthew 24, too. You also have to throw out "...as in the days of Noah" and "...one will be taken and the other left," among many other critical scriptures that are part of the same passage. In fact, you have to throw out the entire 24th chapter of Matthew, except the first two verses, because all of these scriptures are in the same context of the prophecies regarding the Antichrist, the Great Tribulation, the cosmic disturbances, and the rapture of the Church.

If you follow this line of reasoning to its conclusion, you can see how ridiculous this position really is. If you throw out the prophecies of Matthew 24 because Jesus was talking only to Jews, then you must also throw out the first two verses, as well, since the Church was not created then, either. You must also throw out chapters 1 through 23, and all of the chapters after Matthew 24, as well, along with all of Mark, Luke, and John. Clearly, even most preterists would see this as ridiculous. After all, the foundation of the gospel, including the person and mission of Christ, is given to us in those books.

So why do we wrench Matthew 24 out of that context? Why are Matthew 1 – 23 and Matthew 25 – 28 for the Church; but not Matthew 24? And Mark 1 – 12 and Mark 14 - 16 for the Church; but not Mark 13 (which describes the same events)? And why are Luke 1 – 20 and 22 – 24 for the Church; but not Luke 21 (which also describe the same events)?

Remember, in Matthew 24, the disciples identify the time frame about which they are asking: “When are You coming back and when is the end of the age?” They were asking about the end times.

This only begins to touch the surface of the many irreconcilable scriptural and historical problems of the preterist position. But what is most disturbing to me is that preterists must avoid a completely literal interpretation of scripture in order to hold to their view. Since the first-century events were not complete and literal fulfillments of Jesus' prophecies, they must hold to the position that "prophecy is like horseshoes — close is often good enough." As a firm believer in interpreting scripture literally, as taken in its normative, common-sense context, I cannot accept a liberal form of scriptural interpretation.

The context, the audience to whom Jesus spoke, and the unfulfilled details indicate that the prophecies of Matthew 24 are yet future. They will occur during Daniel's 70th Week, or the last seven years before Armageddon, detail for detail, just as Jesus said they would.

Recommended reading on the rapture debate