>>>When Matthew had Jesus say to the men with him that not all of them would die before the apocalypse came, how were they supposed to know that Jesus *really* meant that the apocalypse wouldn't come for about two thousand years or more? What clue was there to be found in the words Matthew gave Jesus which would alert the listeners to this fact? None.
This is the thing that always amazes me about your "errancy" folks; you misread the scriptures and miss the subtle details and then run off claiming there is an error. This is the perfect example.
You claim there is "none" context in Jesus' words that would make these listeners not know that the kingdom was 1900 years down the road or at least beyond the lifetime of those living in his day. But that's not true. Because Paul includes himself into the group that would "survive down to the Lord's day", but contrasts his group with those who would die first.
1 Thess 4:15 shows Paul reassuring those persons who would die first that those who would "survive until the Lord's day" would not supercede them into the kingdom, but all would get their heavenly reward at the same time.
Also Jesus in the last words of John is making a reference where Jesus told Peter how he would die but there was doubt as to whether John would be among those chosen not to die until Jesus returned.
But within that reference, of course, is the profound understanding that those who would, in fact, not die or "survive until the Lord's day" would clearly outlive those who would die. So the Bible indeed shows that they understood that generation would die out before the second coming, necessitating a resurrection for them.
So out the two groups concerned, those who would die and need a resurrection, and those who would never die, it seems clear that the second coming must have been beyond the normal lifespan of that generation. After all, would we presume Jesus' statement that "some would not die before they see me coming into the kingdom" was just a reference that perhaps a few of them would live into the nineties, perhaps, while the rest of them would die? Of course not.
He was noting what they all knew and understood and that was that he would not arrive again for centuries into the future and thus it was an amazement that he was telling them that some would be selected for special purposes to live down through the centuries until he came and that some of them were right there in that group. For sure, we know that John was one of them, though Peter was not.
So you see, you just don't read the scriptures closely enough or understand them fully enough to be finding "errors" in specialized texts you don't understand.
On the other hand, you are also presuming that the chronology prophecies, specifically the "7 times" prophecy was not understood by the Jews. But in fact, Jesus in Luke refers to the time when Jerusalem would be destroyed and the Jews would go into "exile until the appointed times of the nations were fulfilled." So the disciples knew that Jerusalem was set to be trampled upon for many many years after its destruction and they would have understood as well that this period of time would likely reach well into the future if they understood the "7 times" to be a period of 2520 years from the fall of Jerusalem.
That's why they asked what would be the "signs" that would accompany his second coming because the Bible specifically dates the second coming to 2520 years past the fall of Jerusalem. So they knew it was going to be far, far into the future before he returned and that the majority of them would die off first before it occurred, though some, a select few, likely representatives of the 12 tribes, would live on and "survive until the Lord's day."
Another hint that they fully understood this would be far into the future are the words in Hebrew where Paul clearly understands about the millennium being a thousand years of a special "sabbath". If the seventh day is 1000 years near the end of a 7,000-year creative day, then obviously they would understand that nearly 6000 years would have to elapse prior to that and they knew by Jewish chronology that they had just less than 2000 years to go before reaching that typology.
Just how understanding the Christians were about this subtextual chronology can even be demonstrated by Venerable Bede who around 700 understood that the Passover week which was from the 15th through the 21st representing the third week of the month was understood to extrapolate over a month of 8,000 years and that the Messiah's two advents by this pattern would occupy the last 2,000 years prior to the last week of 2000 years.
So with that understanding, extrapolating implied chronology from Jewish ritual would have told them the general pattern of chronology which extended over a period of 7,000 years and that they were just 4000 years into that 7,000-year week.
So there are lots of things in scripture which would have been known to them that the Messiah was not to return for his kingdom until well into the future, in fact, specifically 2520 years from the fall of Jerusalem. After all, are we to assume they didn't understand the symbolism of the "7 times" that would pass over the chopped down tree not being 2520 years?
Of course they understood it. And they understood that the double bands on the tree, the first being iron and the second copper represented the first and second coming.
Further, why wouldn't Jesus have told them he wasn't expected to arrive until 2520 years after the fall of Jerusalem if, in fact, that was the case?
So you see, Joseph, AGAIN, it's your own misreading and poor reading of scripture, based upon biased presumptions that you add all up togehter to create an anxious "error" in scripture, when really there is none. The only obvious error is your anxiety over finding error without doing your adequate homework.
The disciples knew precisely when Jesus would arrive which was 2520 years from the fall of Jerusalem, the year of the second coming is specifically dated. So they knew the year Jesus would return in the flesh, what they didn't know was what else would be happening just before that and that's why they asked him "what are the signs of your parousia"? It didn't mean they didn't know when he would arrive.
Now, even though they knew the YEAR he would come, they were still told to stay awake, because they still didn't know the specific DAY or HOUR. That means that by the time it got close to the time of the second coming, they would have figured out the probable month he would arrive, but not the day nor hour. Anyway, The Bible gives the chronology for the specific year of the second coming, but not the day nor hour, and the disciples certainly should have understood this.
So it is only YOU who is confused over thinking that the kingdom would come before his first-century followers would die off, not them.
Sorry.
L.G.