Testimonies of Christ’s Appearance 
in the Clouds in 66AD
By Bill Weather - Main Page - prophecybase

Fulfilling Matthew 24, as just a sign in 66AD, we have these testimonies at the start of Israel’s worse war with Rome. We Historicists believe this is not the resurrection, as the Preterists say, but these testimonies are just a sign to the believers to flee Jerusalem, before it’s destruction.

“On the twenty-first day of the month of Artemisius [Jyar], a certain prodigious and incredible phenomenon appeared; I suppose the account of it would seem to be a fable, were it not related by those that saw it, and were not the events that followed it of so considerable a nature as to deserve such signals; for, before sunsetting, chariots and troops of soldiers in their armor were seen running about among the clouds, and surrounding of cities."                                     

 Josephus The Wars of the Jews 6.5.3.

“A certain figure appeared of tremendous size, which many saw, just as the books of the Jews have disclosed, and before the setting of the sun there were suddenly seen in the clouds chariots in the clouds and armed battle arrays by which the cities of all Judaea and its territories were invaded.”

Pseudo-Hegesippus 44.

  “Moreover, in those days were seen chariots of fire and horsemen, a great force flying across the sky near to the ground coming against Jerusalem and all the land of Judah, all of them horses of fire and riders of fire.”

      Sepher Yosippon - A Mediaval History of Ancient Israel

A historical witness of lightning accompanying the 66AD Jewish revolt is recorded by the 1st century Roman Historian Tacitus... 

In the sky appeared a vision of armies in conflict, of glittering armour. A sudden lightening flash from the clouds lit up the Temple. The doors of the holy place abruptly opened, a superhuman voice was heard to declare that the gods were leaving it, and in the same instant came the rushing tumult of their departure.               
Tacitus The Histories 5.13.
These historical records of 66AD bare witness to Jesus words in Matthew 24, that they would see the sign of the Son of Man coming in power and great glory. This was to warn the brethren to flee Jerusalem, not a resurrection. A presumptuous interpretation has plagued Christendom.
V31 - And he shall send forth his messengers with a great sound of a trumpet, to gather his elect… 

Verse 31 translated angel, is sometimes translated messenger. Our Strong's Concordance above confirms this. When translated angels, we think in hard concrete terms, but that outlook is presumptuous for Preterist trying to apply that to a Resurrection. 

In context of verse 34, limiting Matt 24 to "this generation", for the Futurist, verse 31 translated angel, is more accurately translated messenger, so no one is thrown off to think this refers to a resurrection. Resurrection is in Revelation 14 & 19 and I Cor 15:52-53, not Matt 24.

In verse 31, it says he would have his (messengers) angels gather his elect. The Lord does not need his angels to carry us away in a resurrection, as can be mistaken here. When we are resurrected, we're going to be able to fly away without the dependency of angels. If this is not true, then you're saying demons, who can fly, will fly, but not us? Are you kidding? When we are transformed, are we gonna need angels to take us everywhere we want to go? This point proves verse 31 need to be translated messenger, not angel. His messengers were to gather his elect  outside of Jerusalem for the continuation of the work of the gospel, not a resurrection. If there were a Preterist Resurrection, there would be no one left to spread the gospel. Do you know how much work Jesus did to get the gospel going? Why would he take all the believers off the planet then, silly Preterist.
Futurists, listen up. The key to the entire Matthew 24 chapter is found in verse 34, which testifies against Matthew 24 being for the end times. Listen to the words of Jesus…

V34 – “Verily I say to you, THIS GENERATION shall not pass, till ALL these things be fulfilled.”
There you have it. Jesus words should end all the speculation about Matthew 24. How is it that brethren do not believe his words in verse 34, attempting to apply Matthew 24 to the end times? Maybe it’s because of the misinterpretation given by the Preterists, that have Christian brethren resisting. 99% of Christendom has never heard of these ancient testimonies of Christ coming in the clouds as a sign. This is one of the reasons the Futurists are confusing the issue. Now that we know these testimonies do exist, and we can get past the contradictory arguments of the Preterists and Futurists, we can move on to believe what the Historicists are saying, that Matthew 24 is fulfilled, but just as a warning sign. By Jesus’ own words, this makes Matthew 24 off limits to applying any part of it to the end times. 

Now here's a something, that is quite the eye opening bucket of cold water on the Preterist 


I don't think any Preterist can survive that one. Why would Christ tell them to flee into the mountains, pray your flight be not on sabbath or in the winter, if there was a 66AD resurrection? There would be no need for any of that if they were being resurrected, proving my point, that the Preterists are in grave error, claiming the resurrection happened in 66AD.

"Except those days be shortened, 
no flesh should be saved " Matt 24:22

This describes the Roman and self inflicted genocide that proceeded upon the Jews in those days. God cut it short, for his elect's sake. Jerusalem was an utter madhouse in 66AD. Jews were even killing each other and the Rabbis. There was never a time in the history of the world so horrific for Israel, well documented in the book Revelation Timeline Decoded. 

Again, to apply any part of Matt 24 to end time prophecy is in blatant contradiction to Jesus words in Matt 24:34, "this generation."

A much greater education on prophecy and end time prophecy is found at prophecybase.com . God bless your studies.