23 The Second Advent of Christ

Copyright © 2024 Michael A. Brown

        At various points in this book, I have made clear the fact that the rapture of the bride of Christ, and the Second Advent of Christ, are two different events, and that I espouse a pre-tribulation position regarding the rapture (i.e. that the rapture happens before the pouring out of God’s end-time judgements and wrath).  The belief that the rapture happens at the end of the Great Tribulation and is part of the Second Advent is called the post-tribulation position.  There are many reasons why this is a wrong belief, and I give six of these below.

·  The post-tribulation position conflates passages which speak about the rapture with those that speak about the Second Advent (John 14:2-3, 1 Thess. 4:16-17; Matt. 24:30-31, Rev. 19:11f).

·      It means that the beloved bride of Christ becomes an object of God's wrath during the sunteleia period after the rapture.  However, the apostle Paul says that Jesus will deliver us from God's coming wrath (1 Thess. 1:10).  It is simply a contradiction in terms to say that we are deeply loved by Christ as his bride, and that he is totally committed to us through covenant, but that we will also experience what it is to go through God’s wrath.  What kind of bridegroom who loves his bride would ever pour out his wrath upon her?!

·   Instead of waiting and looking forward with joyful anticipation and living hope for the return of the Bridegroom for the bride, as Jesus said we should, we would be waiting with dread, anxiety and fear for the reign of Antichrist and the horrors that will be unleashed, because this would happen first.

·    We probably would not survive Antichrist's reign, because we would presumably starve if we did not take the mark of the Beast, and we would certainly be beheaded if we did not worship the image of the Beast.  In any case, doing either of these things would damn us eternally, so we would not do them (Rev. 13:15-17, 14:9-12).  Therefore, after the 3½ years of Antichrist's reign, there wouldn't be many believers left alive to be raptured.  Furthermore, Jesus said that if those days had not been shortened then no-one would survive, so, again, there would not be many believers left alive to be raptured (Matt. 24:22).

·      If we were on earth during the seven years of Daniel’s seventieth week, then we could simply count down the days after the covenant with many is affirmed by Antichrist (which triggers the start of these seven years), or after the Two Witnesses start their prophetic ministry (Dan. 9:27, Rev. 11:3).  Since Daniel’s seventieth week lasts for exactly seven solar years (2,555 days), then we would know the day that Christ will come down to earth at his Second Advent.  However, Jesus said that we cannot know the day of his coming (Matt. 24:36).  Similarly, we could also wait for the signs in the sun, moon and stars which happen immediately after the end of the 3½-year Great Tribulation, knowing that that is the time of Christ's return (Matt. 24:29-30).

·     The post-tribulation view begs the question as to why are we told to watch and wait for an impending event to take place, evidently in the hope that it will happen, if it has apparently been shunted off to the end of a specific seven-period of world history at some point in the future?!  If this is correct, then it means that, for us at the present time, the rapture is always more than seven years away in the future.  It cannot therefore be impending.

      So at this point, the reader might do well to refresh his/her understanding of the differences between the rapture and the Second Advent by referring back to chapter 4.  The timing of these two events is different, their nature is different, and their purpose is different.  Table 23.1 below sums up these differences.

The Rapture

The Second Advent

The Lord descends to the air. Raptured believers go the heaven with Christ. He comes for his own. He claims his bride. He comes for his bride. It is impending.  It can happen at any time. There are no preceding signs. Only believers are involved in this. It happens before the day of God’s wrath, rescuing believers from this. The day of God’s wrath (the tribulation period) begins after this.

The Lord descends right down to the earth.  Raptured believers return to earth with the Lord.  He comes with his own.  He returns with his bride.  He comes to destroy Antichrist.  It happens at the end of the Great Tribulation.  There are definite signs which precede this.  This affects everyone on earth.  It happens at the end of the day of God’s wrath.   The millennial reign of Christ on earth begins after this.

 

Table 23.1 The rapture and the Second Advent are different events

      The Second Advent of Christ, the visible return of the Lord Jesus down to earth in power and glory, takes place after the pouring out of the seven bowls of God’s wrath and judgement, and it brings an end to the Great Tribulation (see the previous chapter).  So the Second Advent marks the telos (or endpoint) of this age.  It is not ‘the end of the world,’ but simply the transition into the millennial reign of Christ on earth, as Figure 23.1 shows:

Figure 23.1 The Second Advent marks the transition from the Great Tribulation into the millennial reign of Christ

Reading: Revelation 19:11-21

The return of the King of kings to earth in power and glory

      Our Lord Jesus, Yeshua, the Jewish Messiah and the Son of God, will return to earth at the end of the Great Tribulation, not as the babe of Bethlehem, nor as the suffering servant of Yahweh, but as the risen, ascended, crowned and exalted King of kings and Lord of lords.  He will come with the specific intentions of overcoming and defeating Antichrist the Beast, freeing believing Jews and Israel from the Beast’s end-time dominion, and of establishing his own worldwide millennial reign on earth.

      The expectation of the ancient Jews, by which they looked forward to the coming of Messiah as the day on which he would conquer their enemies and deliver Israel from their dominion (and which was the expectation of the Jews in Christ’s day), will finally be realised in what we as Christians know as Christ’s Second Advent.  It will be an answer to the prayers of many believing Jews during the period of the Great Tribulation.

      Firstly, this return of King Jesus will be an event which is visible to the whole world.  Everyone on earth will see heaven open and Jesus coming down:

‘I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True…  He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God…  On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.’ (Rev. 19:11,13,16)

‘For as lightning that comes from the east is visible even in the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.’ (Matt. 24:27)

‘Look, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him; and all the peoples of the earth will mourn because of him.  So shall it be!  Amen.’ (Rev. 1:7)

      The description of the Lord Jesus as the Word of God and the King of kings and Lord of lords, which is given in Revelation 19:11-16, reflects that which John gave in his earlier vision of the ascended Christ (see Rev. 1:14,16; 2:17, 3:7).

      Secondly, this return of Christ will be accompanied by definite visible signs:

‘Immediately after the distress of those days “the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.”  At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and all the nations of the earth will mourn…’ (Matt. 24:29-30)

      Thirdly, King Jesus will come in power and great glory with the armies of heaven, ready to make war on Antichrist, the Beast:

‘They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky, with power and great glory.’ (Matt. 24:30)

‘With justice he judges and makes war.  The armies of heaven were following him…  Out of his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations.’ (Rev. 19:11,14-15)

      Fourthly, the bride of Christ, redeemed believers who had been resurrected / raptured before the onset of the end-times ‘day of the Lord,’ will return with Christ as his army at his Second Advent:

‘For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready.  Fine linen, bright and clean, was given her to wear. (Fine linen stands for the righteous acts of the saints.)’ (Rev. 19:7-8)

‘The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean.’ (Rev. 19:14)

‘See, the Lord is coming with thousands upon thousands of his holy ones…’ (Jude v.14)

      Fifthly, there will a loud trumpet call and the angels who are accompanying Christ will be sent to gather his elect together:

‘And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.’ (Matt. 24:31, and see below)

      And sixthly, in contrast to staying in the air when he came for his bride in the rapture (cf. 1 Thess. 4:16-17), the Lord will this time descend right down to earth.  As he comes down, he will land on the Mount of Olives to the east of the city of Jerusalem, just as the two angels told the Eleven disciples after Jesus’ ascension into heaven:

‘After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight… “Men of Galilee,” [the two angels] said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky?  This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.”  Then they returned to Jerusalem from the hill called the Mount of Olives…’ (Acts 1:9,11-12)

‘On that day his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem…’ (Zech. 14:4)

The trumpet blast and the gathering of believers at the Second Advent

        The trumpet blast and the gathering of believers that will happen at the Second Advent (see Matthew 24:31 above) are often conflated with the trumpet call of God and the gathering of the bride of Christ at the rapture (1 Thess. 4:16-17).  This can be a source of confusion to believers.  Those who conflate the rapture with the Second Advent wrongly believe that the bride of Christ will go through the time of God’s wrath on earth, and that the rapture will therefore happen at the Second Advent, after the Great Tribulation.  In this scenario, which is called ‘the post-tribulation rapture,’ the dead in Christ and living believers will be gathered to Christ in the air, and then, after this gathering has been completed, they will all simply return immediately with him back down to earth as he continues his descent to the Mount of Olives.

      However, as I said in chapter 3, the trumpet blast of Matthew 24:31 is not the same as the last trumpet call of 1 Corinthians 15:52 and that of 1 Thessalonians 4:16 which is blasted out in heaven at the time of the rapture, and the gathering at the Second Advent is not the same as the gathering of the bride of Christ at the rapture.  The trumpet blast at the Second Advent will be what was known as ‘the great trump’ which was blown on the Day of Atonement, rather than ‘the last trump’ of the Feast of Trumpets.  This trumpet blast and gathering at the Second Advent were prophetically foretold by Isaiah:

‘In that day, the Lord will thresh from the flowing Euphrates to the Wadi of Egypt, and you, O Israelites, will be gathered up one by one.  And in that day a great trumpet will sound.  Those who were perishing in Assyria and those who were exiled in Egypt will come and worship the Lord on the holy mountain in Jerusalem.’ (Isa. 27:12-13)

      At his Second Advent, Jesus will gather his elect people together ‘from the ends of the earth to the ends of the heavens’ (Mark 13:27).  This will be a gathering of all believers together to the place where Jesus will then be on earth, both those who returned with him from heaven and those who are still alive on earth at the end of the Great Tribulation.  Furthermore, at this time of the Second Advent, believers who were martyred during the Great Tribulation will be resurrected and will then reign with Christ on earth with other believers during the millennium:

‘And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony for Jesus and because of the word of God.  They had not worshipped the beast or his image and had not received his mark on their foreheads or their hands.  They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.’ (Rev. 20:4)

‘…and with your blood you purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation.  You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth.’ (Rev. 5:9-10)

The Mount of Olives and topographical changes

        Apart from the city of Jerusalem itself, there are three other places which are specifically mentioned in the Scriptures as being connected in some way with the Second Advent of Christ.  These are the Mount of Olives, Bozrah, and Ha Megiddo (or, Armageddon).

      As I said above, the Mount of Olives just outside and to the east of Jerusalem is the place where the Lord will land when he returns.  However, the prophet Zechariah tells us that at that time there will be significant topographical changes in this area – perhaps caused by the power of the Lord’s descent itself, or by the great earthquake of the seventh bowl of wrath which I referred to in the previous chapter:

‘On that day his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem, and the Mount of Olives will be split in two from east to west, forming a great valley, with half of the mountain moving north and half moving south.  You will flee by my mountain valley, for it will extend to Azel.  You will flee as you fled from the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah.  Then the LORD my God will come, and all the holy ones with him.’ (Zech. 14:4-5)

‘On that day living water will flow out from Jerusalem, half to the eastern sea and half to the western sea, in summer and in winter.’ (Zech. 14:8)

‘The whole land, from Geba to Rimmon, south of Jerusalem, will become like the Arabah.  But Jerusalem will be raised up and remain in its place…’ (Zech. 14:10)

Bozrah

      After descending to the Mount of Olives, rather than immediately going north to Ha Megiddo to defeat the gathered armies of Antichrist, there are many commentators who believe that the Lord will first go south to Bozrah.

      As I said in chapter 21, many messianic Jewish believers who fled and escaped from the bloody aftermath of the invasion of Israel by the forces of Antichrist (cf. Matt. 24:15-21), will have sought refuge in the mountains of Edom (now the area of southern Jordan), possibly in the ruins of the ancient city of Petra.  Many commentators believe that the Lord will go there first, defeating those of Antichrist’s forces that resist him and who are aiming to annihilate these believing Jews, in order to rescue them and secure their safety (cf. Joel 3:16b).

      Having done this, it is believed that the Lord will then go up to Ha Megiddo to engage the gathered armies of Antichrist.  This is suggested in the prophetic passage below from Isaiah.  However, in this scenario, it is perhaps better for us not to be dogmatic.  These two events of going down to Bozrah to rescue and secure the safety of believers, and going north to Ha Megiddo to defeat Antichrist, could be reversed in their chronological order when they play out in history.

‘Who is this coming from Edom, from Bozrah, with his garments stained crimson?  Who is this, robed in splendour, striding forward in the greatness of his strength?  “It is I, speaking in righteousness, mighty to save.”  Why are your garments red, like those of one treading the winepress?  “I have trodden the winepress alone; from the nations no one was with me.  I trampled them in my anger and trod them down in my wrath; their blood spattered my garments, and I stained all my clothing.  For the day of vengeance was in my heart, and the year of my redemption has come…  I looked, but there was no one to help, I was appalled that no one gave support; so my own arm worked salvation for me, and my own wrath sustained me.  I trampled the nations in my anger; in my wrath I made them drunk and poured their blood on the ground.’ (Isa. 63:1-6, cf. Isa. 34:6-7)

A unique day known only to the Lord

      In chapter 22, we saw that the sun, moon, stars and other heavenly bodies will be significantly affected at the very end of the Great Tribulation.  It seems clear from Matthew’s gospel account that these cosmic events will herald the Lord’s return, but prophetic passages from the Old Testament seem to suggest that the darkness may continue as Christ returns and deals with Antichrist:

‘“…the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.”  At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky…’ (Matt. 24:29-30)

‘For the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision.  The sun and moon will be darkened, and the stars no longer shine.  The LORD will roar from Zion…’ (Joel 3:14-16, cf. Isa. 13:9-10)

      The prophet Zechariah builds on this and takes it further by telling us that this day of the Lord’s return to earth will be a unique day:

‘On that day there will be no light, no cold or frost.  It will be a unique day, without daytime or nighttime – a day known to the LORD.  When evening comes there will be light.’ (Zech. 14:6-7)

      Some commentators believe that this means that this ‘long day’ will actually last for about a day and a half in real terms.  This reminds us of another unique day in history on an occasion when the Israelites under Joshua were fighting against their enemies.  God answered Joshua’s prayer that the sun might stand still until Israel had gained complete victory, therefore similarly making a so-called ‘long day’ which again in real terms lasted about a day and a half (Josh. 10:1-14).

The destruction of Antichrist at Ha Megiddo

      As I said above, the initial purpose of the return of Jesus the Messiah in his Second Advent, is to overcome and defeat Antichrist, the Beast.  It is an act of divine intervention to free his covenant people, the believing Jews, and Israel from Antichrist’s evil dominion.  As we saw in chapter 20, Antichrist will invade Israel and Jerusalem towards the end of the period of the sixth trumpet.  He will kill the Two Witnesses and set up the abomination of desolation in the re-built temple in Jerusalem, and he will then attempt to annihilate the Jews in what will prove to be the final holocaust.  Many Jews will flee for their lives and try to find safety elsewhere.  Through this act, Satan in his rage will once again be attempting to annihilate the seed of the Messiah and to wipe out the Jewish people, just as he also inspired evil men like Haman and Hitler to do similarly in history.

      During the time of the pouring out of the sixth bowl of God’s wrath in the latter part of the Great Tribulation period, three evil spirits like frogs will come out of the mouths of the dragon, the Beast and the False Prophet.  These three evil spirits will go out to deceive the leaders of the whole world, and to gather their armies together on a plain in Israel called the Jezreel Valley just by the hill of Megiddo (or, Armageddon) (see chapter 22).  This is a plain on which several significant battles have been fought in Israel’s long history.  This gathering together of armed forces from many nations will prove to be the final vain act of intransigent defiance and rebellion on the part of world leaders towards God and his Son, Jesus Christ.  It will be Satan’s final attempt to prevent Jesus from returning to Israel, to Jerusalem and to his ancient covenant people (many of whom will by then have become believers), and thereafter reigning on earth:

‘…and they go out to the kings of the whole world, to gather them for the battle on the great day of God Almighty…  Then they gathered the kings together to the place that in Hebrew is called Armageddon.’ (Rev. 16:14,16)

‘The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together against the Lord and against his Anointed One.’ (Ps. 2:2)

‘Then I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies gathered together to make war against the rider on the horse and his army.’ (Rev. 19:19)

      So the purpose of Christ’s coming in his Second Advent is to overcome and destroy Antichrist in this battle at Ha Megiddo, and to free his believing people and his covenant land of Israel from Antichrist’s evil dominion.  It will be a day of divine intervention and deliverance from Antichrist’s rule.  After the Lord has descended to the Mount of Olives, and perhaps after he has also been down to Bozrah, he will then go north to Ha Megiddo where this battle will take place.  This was foretold in many prophetic passages in the Old Testament, such as those below:

‘Proclaim this among the nations: Prepare for war!  Rouse the warriors!  Let all the fighting men draw near and attack.  Beat your plowshares into swords and your pruning hooks into spears.  Let the weakling say, “I am strong!”  Come quickly, all you nations from every side, and assemble there.  Bring down your warriors, O Lord!  “Let the nations be roused; let them advance into the Valley of Jehoshaphat, for there I will sit to judge all the nations on every side.  Swing the sickle, for the harvest is ripe.  Come, trample the grapes, for the winepress is full and the vats overflow – so great is their wickedness!”  Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision!  For the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision.  The sun and moon will be darkened, and the stars no longer shine.  The Lord will roar from Zion and thunder from Jerusalem; the earth and the sky will tremble.  But the Lord will be a refuge for his people, a stronghold for the people of Israel.’ (Joel 3:9-16)

‘Then the LORD will go out and fight against those nations, as he fights in the day of battle.’ (Zech. 14:3)

‘In your majesty ride forth victoriously on behalf of truth, humility and righteousness; let your right hand display awesome deeds.  Let your sharp arrows pierce the hearts of the king’s enemies; let the nations fall beneath your feet.’ (Ps. 45:4-5)

      The apostle Paul also confirms this in several passages in his epistles:

‘This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels.  He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.’ (2 Thess. 1:7-8)

‘…the lawless one… whom the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of his mouth and destroy by the splendour of his coming.’ (2 Thess. 2:8)

      So, unlike the rapture, which was very much a peaceful event albeit a powerful one, this day when the Lord returns to earth with the armies of heaven will not be a peaceful day.  It will be the day when God takes vengeance upon his enemies, in fulfilment of many prophetic passages in the Old Testament.  He will take vengeance upon those who have intransigently and wilfully defied his rule in their lives, who have loved and embraced wickedness rather than righteousness, and who have sought yet again to destroy his ancient covenant people and to possess their land.

      The motif of crushing grapes in a winepress is associated with this battle against Antichrist in several passages, such as the following:

‘He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty.’ (Rev. 19:15)

‘Swing the sickle, for the harvest is ripe.  Come, trample the grapes, for the winepress is full and the vats overflow – so great is their wickedness!’ (Joel 3:13)

‘Why are your garments red, like those of one treading the winepress?  “I have trodden the winepress alone; from the nations no one was with me.  I trampled them in my anger and trod them down in my wrath; their blood spattered my garments, and I stained all my clothing.”’ (Isa. 63:2-3)

      This suggests that the passage below from Revelation 14:17-20 is a brief summary passage prophetically describing the events of this battle against Antichrist:

‘Another angel came out of the temple in heaven, and he too had a sharp sickle.  Still another angel, who had charge of the fire, came out from the altar and called in a loud voice to him who had the sharp sickle, “Take your sharp sickle and gather the clusters of grapes from the earth’s vine, because its grapes are ripe.”  The angel swung his sickle on earth, gathered its grapes and threw them into the great winepress of God’s wrath.  They were trampled in the winepress outside the city, and blood flowed out of the press, rising as high as the horses’ bridles for a distance of 1,600 stadia.’ (Rev. 14:17-20)

      Furthermore, an angel prophetically calls to the birds of the air to gather on this day of battle for the great supper of God:

‘And I saw an angel standing in the sun, who cried in a loud voice to all the birds flying in mid-air, “Come, gather together for the great supper of God, so that you may eat the flesh of kings, generals, and mighty men, of horses and their riders, and the flesh of all people, free and slave, small and great.”’ (Rev. 19:17-18)

Antichrist the Beast and the False Prophet will be thrown into the lake of fire

      In this battle at Ha Megiddo, proverbially known as Armageddon, Antichrist and his gathered armies will be utterly routed by the Lord Jesus.  Both he and the False Prophet, the two men who have headed up this evil end-times empire on earth and who are represented by the two beasts of Revelation ch.13, will be captured alive.

      In fulfilment of some Old Testament prophetic passages, they will immediately be dispatched to suffer their conscious eternal fate in the lake of fire, long before the final day of judgement at the great white throne, which will take place at the end of the millennial reign of Christ on earth:

‘But the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet who had performed the miraculous sings on his behalf…  The two of them were thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulphur.’ (Rev. 19:20)

‘Then I continued to watch because of the boastful words the horn was speaking, I kept looking until the beast was slain and its body destroyed and thrown into the blazing fire.’ (Dan. 7:11)

‘Topheth has long been prepared; it has been made ready for the king.  Its fire pit has been made deep and wide, with an abundance of fire and wood; the breath of the Lord, like a stream of burning sulfur, sets it ablaze.’ (Isa. 30:33)

A figurative meaning or a real day of battle?

      It should be very clear by now that the passage in Revelation 19:11-21, and the many other passages from which I have quoted in the previous pages, speak of this day of Christ’s return to earth as being the day of the conquest and defeat of Antichrist and his gathered armies.  It will be very much a day of battle.

      There are some commentators who prefer to interpret this passage in Revelation 19:11-21 in an alternative and figurative way, pointing to the fact that the sharp sword with which Christ strikes down the nations comes out of his mouth (cf. vv.15,21).  They interpret this to mean that this will not be a day on which people are killed in battle, but as one in which people are converted to faith in Christ through the word of God which he speaks to them.

      However, as preferable as this might be to our spiritual senses, the whole tenor of this passage and the various Old Testament prophetic passages that support it, clearly show that the Second Advent of Christ will be a day of the fury of the wrath of Almighty God on which a literal battle is fought (Rev. 19:15, cf. Joel 3:13, Isa. 63:3-6).  Antichrist’s gathered armies, who will have received the mark of the Beast and will have given themselves over to worship him and to fulfil his evil purposes in their lives (cf. Rev. 14:9-11), will wilfully defy and consciously resist the Lord, rather than repenting and seeking forgiveness from him, and so they will meet their untimely and dismal fate:

‘He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth; with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked.’ (Isa. 11:4)

‘This is the plague with which the LORD will strike all the nations that fought against Jerusalem: Their flesh will rot while they are still standing on their feet, their eyes will rot in their sockets, and their tongues will rot in their mouths.  On that day men will be stricken by the LORD with great panic.  Each man will seize the hand of another, and they will attack each other.’ (Zech. 14:12-13)

‘The rest of them were killed with sword that came out of the mouth of the rider on the horse, and all the birds gorged themselves on their flesh.’ (Rev. 19:21)

      After defeating and dealing decisively with Antichrist in this battle at Ha Megiddo, the Lord will then set about establishing his worldwide millennial kingdom, and this is the subject of the next chapter.

 

 

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