A fellowship of Christians in the Philadelphia/Camden listening area, who are devoted to the radio ministry of Family Radio and its president, Harold Camping, has launched a website with this address: http://www.ebiblefellowship.com
The title of the site is the Electronic Bible Fellowship and features teaching materials and announcements in agreement with Mr. Camping's "Open Forum" broadcasts heard around the world daily.

The unsigned email letter below was written in response to an earlier email that I submitted to their website:

Dear friend,

Your idea that Matthew 24 was fulfilled in A.D. 70 is entirely wrong. You have absolutely no Scriptural support for such an understanding. The Bible is extremely clear (we do not have to wonder or have any type of doubts regarding the context of Matthew 24at all)----that Matthew 24 is dealing with the time of the great tribulation and the end of the world.

How can I say that so emphatically? Well, look at the question the disciples ask(sic) Jesus in verse 3 of Matthew 24:

3) And as He sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto Him privately, saying, tell us, when shall these things be? And what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?

How renowned theologians can dismiss the disciples question to Christ (as they do) is beyond me. The remainder of Matthew 24 finds the Lord Jesus answering the question asked in verse 3. "What is the sign of thy coming and the end of the world?" Certainly, Christ did not come in 70 A.D., and the world did not end in 70 A.D. Therefore, 70 A.D. does not qualify in any way as being the subject of Matthew 24.

Many people would like Matthew 24 to be referring to 70 A.D., because then they wouldn't have to listen to the warnings that Christ gives about the abomination of desolation (Satan) standing in the temple (corporate church). And then they wouldn't have to pay any attention to God's command for believers living during the great tribulation to depart out of the churches and congregations:

16) Then let them which be in Judae flee to the mountains.

It's very convenient for many to write off Matthew 24 as dealing with something that is past already----but the context of Matthew 24 will not allow for this. We must stop trying to avoid the facts that Matthew 24 faces us with----that for a little season near the end of the world Satan will be victorious over the corporate church.

May the Lord richly bless you,

(Unsigned)

In reply to the above July 21, 2002 email, I responded today as follows:

Dear Friend,

Your reply to my email letter is totally unsatisfactory. The Scripture indeed makes it clear that Matthew 24 (and parallels) was fulfilled before the end of the first century! Read vs. 34: "....this generation (genea does not mean 'race') will by no means pass away till ALL these things take place." A generation is roughly 40 years according to the Bible. This means that AT LEAST all of the things mentioned in Matthew 24 prior to vs. 34 would come under the heading of "all things" that Jesus stated. This includes the great tribulation, the great apostasy, and the "Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory." There is no way to honestly deny that Jesus was predicting His Second Advent to be fulfilled in that first century generation. All the New Testament authors held the same position and taught it faithfully.

Your affirmation that "the end of the world" (KJV) means the end of the earthly material world is clearly in error. All the newer translations correctly translate it to read "the end of the age" meaning the end of the age in which Jesus and His contemporaries were then living, namely, the Old Covenant age. This age was drawing to a close, within one generation from when Jesus was speaking, and culminated with God's judgment against apostate Judaism with the destruction of Jerusalem and its Temple (vs. 1-2) in AD 70. Jesus was not talking about the end of the material world more than 2000 years into the future. He was speaking to His disciples, telling them things they should be concerned about in their lifetime.

Your odd system of interpreting the Olivet Discourse (as well as dozens of other passages in the New Testament) results in a message that is false and damaging to the church today. You must understand that the first principle of Bible interpretation is "audience relevance." This asks the question: "To whom were the inspired New Testament authors writing? Was it to you and me, or were they writing to the people who were standing there reading the message for the first time?"

Please do not ignore Matthew 16:27-28: "For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his works. Assuredly, I say to you, there are SOME STANDING HERE WHO SHALL NOT TASTE DEATH till they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom."

This does NOT refer to the Transfiguration! Where were the angels at the Transfiguration and was there a judgment with rewards passed out at the Transfiguration? Also, the Transfiguration was only six days after these words were spoken by our Lord, so no one had died. All were still living at that time. Yet He said that only "some," not all, of the people He was talking to would still be alive when He returns. The focal point of this prophecy is AD 70, not AD 2002.

Question: If Jesus' Second Coming has not happened yet, where are the "some of the people" who still had not died yet, but who were promised that they would still be living when that great event happened?

Your odd way of understanding these plain language statement has resulted in your denying the very promises that Jesus Christ made. He promised HIS GENERATION that all of these things would happen in the first century. Instead, you are teaching that Jesus' time statements refer to the 21st century reader! This is false teaching!

The reading of the Bible in a normal manner will show that all Bible prophecy, both the Old Testament and the New Testament, has already been fulfilled. We are today living in the New Covenant age. Peter in his Second Epistle, chapter 3, speaks of "heaven and earth" passing away, referring to the Old Covenant age (re: Isaiah 51:15-16), which Peter was anticipating, not a cosmic explosion of this earthly planet. Read Puritan John Owen (Vol. IX, pg. 131ff, of his Works) who understood this.

No, those Christians today who take Jesus and His apostles at their word and believe His promises that "the end of all things (was) at hand" (I Peter 4:7) in that first century, are not trying to avoid the warnings issued in Matthew 24. Those warnings were given to those early disciples. They were not written TO us today, but they certainly are FOR us. By distorting these prophetic passages, you are sending an "uncertain sound" and a false message to 21st century churches.

You are doing great harm to the church today! You are seeking to break up the local churches, you are driving Christians out of the churches that Christ has ordained, you are doing great damage to Christ's church, and you will be held responsible for this great mass of false teaching.

I urge you to repent and try to undo the damage that has already been done to Christ's church. People need to be encouraged to seek out sound churches and faithfully attend them and serve the Lord in them. Let's build up Christ's church, not tear it down.

In His grace and love,

Walt Hibbard