Bible prophecies

[Tonus]

I'm asking because without a good definition the prophesy is basically meaningless.

Matthew 24 allows for a lot of ambiguity and therefore all kinds of interpretation. For example, in verses 1 and 2, Jesus predicts that the temple will be destroyed. In verse 3, the disciples ask "when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?" They ask separate questions, and even the first part ("when shall THESE things be?") indicate that they may be asking about more than just the destruction of the temple.

From verse 4 to 12, Jesus predicts things that had been happening for many years before he came along (wars, unrest, famine, natural disasters, false prophets, persecution) and which have continued to happen for centuries since. Which is why people have been predicting the end times for hundreds of years based on the 'signs of the times' during their lifetimes. Verses 13 and 14 are more open to future interpretation: what does "the end" refer to? Was Jesus referring to the preaching work in his time, or the future?

From there it gets more confused, particularly if you go with some kind of split prophecy where part of it is for the near future (a reference to the destruction of the temple in 70AD) and part of it for the far future (the second coming). If we assume that he was referring to a second coming to rescue his followers when the Romans came forth to destroy the temple, then much of what follows makes more sense. But since he didn't return, the Christian has to interpret those parts as referring to some future time.

When is that future time? I think that for a great number of Christians, it is always "very soon" with the belief that it will happen in their lifetimes. Because the signs that Jesus predicted are all being seen around the world, it must be the end times. But he predicted things that are always happening, and so no matter how much time passes, you can point to the signs to indicate that the present time is the time of the end. He obviously got one thing right: many false saviors would come along and mislead many. At least one of them would continue to mislead them thousands of years after he died.