What will the second coming of Jesus be like?

-- Luke Juarez (hubertdorm@yahoo.com), April 24, 2004

Answers

HOW?

On a cloud

Daniel 7:13 “behold, one like the Son of man came down with the clouds of heaven.”

Matthew 24:30a “they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory” (See Mark 13:26, Luke 21:27)

Matthew 26:64b “Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven.” (See Mark 14:62, Luke 22:69)

Acts 1:9,11 “And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight…this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven”

Revelation 1:7a “Behold, he cometh with clouds”

With his angels and saints

Matthew 25:31 "When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him”

Mark 8:38b “of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”

Mark 13:27 “And then shall he send his angels,”

1 Thessalonians 3:13b “at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints.”

Jude 14b “Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints”

Revelation 19:14 “And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean”

As a thief (unknown hour)

Matthew 24:26 “but of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only” Matthew 24:42 “Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.”

1Thessalonians 5:2 “For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night”

2 Peter 3:10a “But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night”

Revelation 16:15a “Behold, I come as a thief”

Visible to all

Matthew 24:27 “For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be”

Matthew 24:30a “and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory” (See Mark 13:26, Luke 21:26-27)

Revelation 1:7 “Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him”

With the sound of a trumpet

Matthew 24:31 “And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet”

1 Corinthians 15:52a “In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound”

1 Thessalonians 4:16 “For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God”

-- Luke Juarez (hubertdorm@yahoo.com), April 24, 2004.

WHEN? (almost complete)

Time of Restoration

Acts 3:19 “[Jesus Christ] must remain in heaven until the time comes for God to restore everything, as he promised long ago through his holy prophets.”

After the Great Tribulation

Matthew 24:29a-30a “Immediately after the tribulation of those days… And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven”

1 Thessalonians 5:3a “For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them”

After the abomination that causes desolation

Matthew 24:15,21,30 “When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place…then shall be great tribulation…then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven”

2 Thessalonians 2:1,3 “Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him…Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition”

Soon!

Revelation 22:7 “Behold, I come quickly”

Revelation 22:12 “And, behold, I come quickly”

Revelation 22:20 “Surely I come quickly”

-- Luke Juarez (hubertdorm@yahoo.com), April 24, 2004.

WHAT? (mostly incomplete)

Gathering of Christians (sounds like a rapture ;)

Matthew 24:31 “And he 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.”

Mark 13:27 “And then shall he send his angels, and shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from the uttermost part of the earth to the uttermost part of heaven.”

I listed this verse separate from Matthew for a reason. Although heaven can be used to describe the divide between the earth and the celestial space, which is another heaven, Mark could mean that the angels gather every Christian, including those who have already gone in spirit to be with the Lord. This might explain the ten thousands of saints the Lord returns with according to Jude and Revelation. Perhaps Jesus gathers his elect for the “battle of Armageddon.” This isn’t a battle like we think, because Paul said Jesus would defeat and destroy with the brightness of his coming. I’m also thinking of another theory currently, but I won’t post it at this time. Just remember this: the sounding of a trumpet is traditionally a signal for battle. And we already have seen from the verses above that the trump of God will be sounding at our Lord’s return.

Matthew 25:31b,32a “When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: And before him shall be gathered all nations”

1 Corinthians 15:52 “In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.”

1 Thessalonians 4:16b,17 “and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air”

2 Thessalonians 2:1 “Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him”

I was almost beside myself with glee when I noticed this verse listed under Lahaye’s “Rapture Passages” in his book Revelation Unveiled (pg.102). Indeed Lahaye himself categorized this verse as a rapture passage, believing himself that the rapture occurs 7 years before the “Glorious Appearing.” I’ve already posted the remainder of this verse in the WHEN? section, so I will refrain from spoiling the moment. Maybe Lahaye accidentally placed this verse in the wrong column—typos do happen. *laughing*

-- Luke Juarez (hubertdorm@yahoo.com), April 24, 2004.

Read each of the verses I posted in context. They all describe events of the same day.

-- Luke Juarez (hubertdorm@yahoo.com), April 24, 2004.

the book of revelation unveil

-- velma clay (velcl4@aol.com), May 02, 2004.

WHAT? (continued)

The Wrath of God

Ezekiel 38:19 “For in my jealousy and in the fire of my wrath have I spoken, Surely in that day there shall be a great shaking in the land of Israel;”

Romans 1:18 “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness;”

Romans 2:5 “But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God;”

Colossians 3:6b “the wrath of God is coming.”

Revelation 6:16,17 “And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?”

Revelation 11:18 “And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great; and shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth.”

-- Luke Juarez (hubertdorm@yahoo.com), May 21, 2004.

WHAT? (continued)

Resurrection of the dead

Daniel 12:2 “And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.”

John 5:28-29 “Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.”

Acts 24:15 “And have hope toward God, which they themselves also allow, that there shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and unjust.”

1 Corinthians 15:52 “In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.”

1 Thessalonians 4:16 “For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first”

-- Luke Juarez (hubertdorm@yahoo.com), May 21, 2004.

I would like to discuss more about the end-times views, but I'm afraid I'm not well read on this subject. I really only know my view.

-- David Ortiz (cyberpunk1986@hotmail.com), May 21, 2004.

Well, Luke,

Not literally in a cloud:On a cloud as you said,

I know scripture was taken from the Book of daniel to describe Jesus coming, but distinguish between literal and figurative language. Hebrew uses a lot of figurative images.

Daniel 7:13 “behold, one like the Son of man came down with the clouds of heaven.”

Well, clouds here represent power. See Mathew: Matthew 24:30a “they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory” (See Mark 13:26, Luke 21:27)

Matthew 26:64b “Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven.” (See Mark 14:62, Luke 22:69)

Acts 1:9,11 “And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight…this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven”

Did Jesus leave in a defeated posture, Luke, or a triumphal one?

1 Corinthians 15:52 “In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.”

Here it means with a body that cannot die, not necessarily a physical body, but Paul uses the words pneumo-physical. 1 Thessalonians 4:16b,17 “and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air”

Meaning, share in Christ's power.

The Christian Yahwist

-- Elpidio Gonzalez (egonval@yahoo.com), May 27, 2004.

Perhaps, Elpidio. Daniel, John, Paul, and Jesus himself spoke of clouds, and I don't really know why it couldn't be clouds.

But let's take John and Revelation. John is seeing future events unfold. How would a pilgrim from Virginia describe our current society? The people John witnessed were more than a couple hundred years down the road. The only way to describe what he saw was to compare them to things he was familiar with. Himself being a Jew, we can understand perfectly why Revelation is filled with Jewish symbols.

Clouds? Well clouds to me are clouds. "Coming in the clouds of heaven with great power and glory." Why not literal clouds?

-- Luke Juarez (hubertdorm@yahoo.com), May 28, 2004.

What about the chariot of fire which picked Elijah?

.....not counting the beasts of revelation...

The Christian Yahwist

-- Elpidio Gonzalez (egonval@yahoo.com), May 28, 2004.