Right on. Jesus was not providing a sign of His presence/second coming/parousia, but precursors to the destruction of Jerusalem.
Actually that's not the case exactly, though I acknowledge the complexity of this prophecy as spread out over the 4 gospels. In reality, only Mark and Matthew actually reference the "great tribulation" of Daniel, which was the Holocaust. Luke includes a part of the conversation relating to the fall of Jeruslaem, but specifically places the signs Jesus mentions relating to the great tribulation AFTER the destruction of Jerusalem.
Note in which chronological order Jesus describes the destruction of Jerusalem with reference to the signs connected with the second coming:
LUKE 21:
10 Then he went on to say to them: “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; 11 and there will be great earthquakes, and in one place after another pestilences and food shortages; and there will be fearful sights and from heaven great signs.
[The above are the signs connected with the second coming. But note in the next verse he says before these things, etc. and thus some events that would occur before the above signs and that leads into the description of the fall of Jerusalem.]
12 “Butbefore all these things people will lay their hands upon YOU and persecute YOU , delivering YOU up to the synagogues and prisons, YOU being haled before kings and governors for the sake of my name... 20 “Furthermore, when YOU see Jerusalem surrounded by encamped armies, then know that the desolating of her has drawn near...
Thus the specific things that happen to Jerusalem are placed before the signs of the second coming. Many do not realize, therefore, that only Matthew and Mark refer to the "great tribulation" of Daniel, but Luke does not mention any "great tribulation" or Daniel, but does include the destruction of Jerusalem which is not referenced by Mark or Matthew and he dates this before the signs connected with the second coming.
But having noted that, this is also a moot point since the year of the second coming is specifically connected to the year of the fall of Jerusalem by the Babylonians. Thus this issue of when the second coming will take place is only a discussion of those who don't consider the chronology of the "7 times" as being relevant or correctly interpreted. Now the chronology of the NB Period and Persian period is problematic because of political revisionism, but basically you have three choices, all of which occur in the 20th Century, long after the fall of Jerusalem in 70 CE. Those choices are based on the fall of Jerusalem based on the fall of Babylon in 539 BCE, which are JW's date of 607 BCE or the secular date based on Babylonian records of 587 BCE. The third choice is based on strict Bible chronology which dates year 1 of Cyrus to 455 BCE (i.e. as does Martin Anstey in his "Romance of Bible Chronology" (1913), pointing out 82 fake years of Persian history), which would date the beginning of the last deportation 70 years earlier in 525 BCE and thus the fall of Jerusalem in 529 BCE. Thus 607, 587 or 529 BCE give you 2nd coming years of 1914, 1934 or 1992 -- your pick! But all clearly are long after the fall of Jerusalem in 70 CE.
BUT... the fall of Jerusalem parallels what happens during WWII. That is, the great tribulation occurs before the Jews are restored to their homeland and thus when the Jews are in exile. Thus "Judea" becomes a generalized referfence to where the Jews primarily resettled and "the holy city" of Jerusalem becomes the primary city of Jews in exile, which was Warsaw, Poland, by far. The surrounding of Jerusalem by encamped armies reflects the chronology when Jesus was surrounded by the arm mob in the garden of Gethseme. Likewise, during WWII, Warsaw, Poland in 1939 was surrounded by the Nazi army. This was the same sign of a "disgusting thing in a holy place" after which there was a time to flee to the mountains, literally. The days of "Passion" can be superimposed on the events of WWII and Christ's resurrection. That is, events over an 8-year period from 1939-1947. This matches the same 8-day period from when Jesus was surrounded in the garden and then his resurrection.
SAT/Nisan 15 AM -- 1939 FALL Jesus surrounded in garden -- Warsaw surrounded by Nazis
SAT/Nisan 15 PM -- 1940 SPRING Jesus in custody - Jews in custory, Holocaust begins.
SUN/Nisan 16 AM - 1940 FALL "
SUN/Nisan 16 PM - 1941 SPRING "
MON/Nisan 17 AM -- 1941 FALL "
MON/Nisan 17 PM -- 1942 SPRING "
TUE/Nisan 18 AM -- 1942 FALL "
TUE/Nisan 18 PM -- 1943 SPRING "
WED/NISAN 19 AM -- 1943 FALL "
WED/NISAN 19 PM -- 1944 SPRING Jesus' last trial - Jesus impaled at 9 p.m.
THU/Nisan 20 AM -- 1944 FALL Jesus on torture stake.
THU/NiSAN 20 PM -- 1945 SPRING Jesus dies at 3 p.m. (3 DAYS/3 NIGHTS BEGIN) DAY 1 - Holocaust/WWII ends. Silence
FRI/Nisan 21 AM -- 1945 FALL NIGHT 1 - SILENCE
FRI/Nisan 21 PM -- 1946 SPRING DAY 2 - SILENCE
SAT/Nisan 22 AM -- 1946 FALL NIGHT 2 - SILENCE
SAT/Nisan 22 PM -- 1947 SPRING DAY 3 - SILENCE
SUN/Nisan 23 AM -- 1947 FALL NIGHT 3 - Jesus rises - November 30, 1947 Jews restored to homeland, exile ends.
Remember, these signs occur over a generation of 80 years beginning with a world war, then the "great tribulation" followed by the restoration of the Jews to their homeland and the end of their exile. Those things did not follow the destruction of Jerusalem. The official exile continued until November 30, 1947, which was the end of the "appointed times of the nations" which Luke mentions.
The signs + the chronology tell us when the 2nd coming will take place. The destruction of Jerusalem is an event Jesus places before the signs of the last days. Only Luke references the destruction of Jerusalem, and only Matthew and Mark speak of the "great tribulation" of Daniel, which turned out to be the Holocaust. This time of distress was to be like one that had never occurred before nor would occur again, a historically unique event. Certainly the Holocaust stands out as a very unique event in history, in fact, it is called "the worst event in human history."
LS
