"In this generation . . ."

[pjbrownie]

We've seen the prophecies before:

From Matthew 24:

32 Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh:
33 So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors.
34 Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.

From D&C 84

4 Verily this is the word of the Lord, that the city New Jerusalem shall be built by the gathering of the saints, beginning at this place, even the place of the temple, which temple shall be reared in this generation.

Many of the early prophets and apostles used statements such as "many in this generation" and talked about how the fig tree was casting it leaves, that summer was nigh, and the thus the prophecy of "in this generation" inevitably followed. Orson Pratt stated that it was difficult to put a number on what constitutes a generation, but many including himself and Wilford Woodruff talked often (in the late 1800's) about many who would "stand in the flesh" to see the Second Coming, or at least the temple reared in New Jerusalem (owing to the D&C 84 prophecy).

Then you have this from Joseph Fielding Smith in 1966:

Jerusalem, which was trodden down by the Gentiles, is no longer trodden down but is made the home of the Jews. They are returning to Palestine, and by this we may know that the times of the Gentiles are near their close.

This refers to the prophecy by Christ in Matthew 24 that the times of the Gentiles are over when Jerusalem is no longer trodden down.

My point is: generation. Do we have a good interpretation of this word?

Hebrew: period of time - okay but the New Testament is in Greek
Greek: race, family, or generation

It's obvious that the prophecies cannot mean generation as in the span of a typical person's life. No one alive is 170 plus years old.

Therefore, it must be either family or race. Family doesn't make sense because it's too small. Therefore, Christ must have meant, race, or people. Therefore, what Christ was saying was that the Jews as a race would not all pass away until these things be fulfilled.

Flash forward now to D&C 45. Given the context of the phrase generation, that the Lord used King James lingo to translate modern scripture, the D&C 45 would thus translate, "which temple shall be reared in this era of my people, the Mormons, or dispensation.

The zeal and exuberance for translating it as a roughly 100 year time frame (or some now standing) was misdirected but it almost always stated as opinion.

It is tough to use the word generation as any indication of how close we are. Only the understanding of signs, is therefore relevant.

[NoGreaterLove]

I have read the prophecies that state that they would live to see Christ or while in the flesh. All who are worthy will see Christ in the flesh when he comes to the Mount. Either transfigured or resurrected.

[Original_Intent]

So "Christ delayeth His coming" ?

[NoGreaterLove]

You bring up a good point OI. How does that parable go?

[pjbrownie]

So "Christ delayeth His coming" ?

Oh, no. I'm not saying that. What I am saying is that an appeal to the word, generation, is meaningless, because it means dispensation more than it means lifespan. I still believe that the cleansing of America is imminent, that afterward Zion will be redeemed. I don't think this because of some prophecy that it would happen in the generation of lifetime of someone who was alive when the Gentile no longer trampled Jerusalem (debatable), but because America is close to the brink of another civil war, because the Gentiles are rejecting the gospel (in Europe and America), and because secret combinations have almost if not gotten above us.