It’s not an odd question considering the Preterist doctrine of all prophecy being fulfilled in 70 AD.
You are implying that “this generation” means the generation of human beings existing in 70 AD.
The Scripture plainly states that “this” generation (the one that Jesus is speaking of) is the generation that witnesses:
1) A tribulation that has never been seen before or ever will be witnessed.
(WWII and the Holocaust far exceeds any Judeaen-Roman war; the Stalinist and Maoist famines exceed any Roman seige famine that preceeded it, etc.)
2) The sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken.
(Was there a solar and lunar eclipse in that region of the world in that time period? And how about the “powers of heavens shaken”?)
3) The sign of the Son of man in heaven.
(The closest thing we have in history to this was the cross appearing to Constantine in 312 AD - over 200 years after the Temple was razed)
4) All the tribes of the earth mourn.
(Didn’t happen)
5) [All tribes of the earth] shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
(Didn’t happen)
6) [Jesus] shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
(The OPPOSITE of this happened - the Diaspora. Only in 1948 in the founding of Israel did anything like this start happening.)
Along with all other prophecy previously mentioned.
As I explained in detail above, I don’t believe anyone in 70 AD saw any of these things happen. Therefore, “this generation” is not the generation from 70 AD.
“1) A tribulation that has never been seen before or ever will be witnessed.”
Jesus was not the first to use this language. Ezekiel used it to describe the coming destruction of Jerusalem at the hands of the Babylonians under Nebuchadnezzar.
‘And because of all your abominations, I will do among you what I have not done, and the like of which I will never do again. ‘Therefore, fathers will eat their sons among you, and sons will eat their fathers; for I will execute judgments on you and scatter all your remnant to every wind. ‘So as I live,’ declares the Lord GOD, ‘surely, because you have defiled My sanctuary with all your detestable idols and with all your abominations, therefore I will also withdraw, and My eye will have no pity and I will not spare. ‘One third of you will die by plague or be consumed by famine among you, one third will fall by the sword around you, and one third I will scatter to every wind, and I will unsheathe a sword behind them. Ezekiel 5:9-12
This was fulfilled in 586 BC. Christ used similar language when He prophesied against Jerusalem. That is why the people - not the religious leaders - viewed Him as a prophet.
“5) [All tribes of the earth] shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
“(Didnt happen)”
Yes it did. But again, the language in Matthew 24:30 & Revelation 1:7 comes straight out of the Old Testament:
Then will appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven. And then all the peoples of the earth will mourn when they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory. Matthew 24:30
Look, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him; and all peoples on earth will mourn because of him. So shall it be! Amen. Revelation 1:7
Now, here’s the OT context for understanding these verses:
And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication. They will look on me, the one they have pierced, and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for him as one grieves for a firstborn son. On that day the weeping in Jerusalem will be as great as the weeping of Hadad Rimmon in the plain of Megiddo. The land will mourn, each clan by itself, with their wives by themselves: the clan of the house of David and their wives, the clan of the house of Nathan and their wives, the clan of the house of Levi and their wives, the clan of Shimei and their wives, and all the rest of the clans and their wives. Zechariah 12:10-14
The prophecies of Matthew 24:30 and Revelation 1:7 refer to Jerusalem and Judea. They have nothing to do with anyone living today.
“I dont believe anyone in 70 AD saw any of these things happen. Therefore, this generation is not the generation from 70 AD.”
So what you’re really saying is, “My belief forms the basis for my understanding of the Bible.”
Seems to me you have it completely backwards.