I never tire blogging about the truths of the return of Christ.
This post was inspired because I was told the return of Christ was a periphery truth. In other words, not that important. Of minor relevance.
That always lights a fire under me.
Jesus had much to say about His return. It is mentioned often throughout scripture.
Why should we spend time studying the return of Christ? The first and foremost reason is because it is the great hope of the church! Second, it is one of the great truths of the Bible. Third, it is part of growing in the grace and knowledge of Christ, something we are expected to do and God's expectations of us are found in His commands. What He commands us to do is always for our benefit. Because of all those things we need to study it. There is disagreement within the body of Christ but truth can be found and when you see it, it is thrilling, because you begin seeing it all throughout scripture.
I was also told the tribulation was God's judgment on the ungodly. Does the Bible support that?
Grab a cup of coffee and let's search for truth together regarding the return of Christ!
If this is a subject you have never really dug into before, I would encourage you to look up the verses I lay out, if I don't give the actual text itself. If you are very familiar with this subject, please read along and let me know where I may be in error.
We're going to search for truth by asking some questions and then digging into what the Bible has to say.
Let's get biblical together!
Ready?
- Is Jesus instruction on His return really for me? Should I really be watching for His return?
At the end of Mark's account of Christ's instruction regarding His return, Jesus says,
"What I say to you, I say to all, 'Be on the alert!' " What He told His immediate disciples is meant for every generation of believers. Pay attention to what is going on around you. Don't fall asleep. Know the signs. Watch for My return. (Mk. 13)
- Does scripture anywhere call all of Daniel's 70th Week, the tribulation?
In His instruction on His return, Jesus doesn't attribute tribulation to Daniel's 70th Week until the midpoint of the Week. He tells us that after we see the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel, great tribulation is going to break out. The worst ever to come upon the earth. He called the period before the great tribulation "beginning birth pangs." He attributed wars and rumors of wars, famine, and earthquakes to these birth pangs. He said we would also see false Christs. (Mt. 24:6-8) The Greek word for "great" is mega. The Greek word for "tribulation" is thlipsis, meaning a pressing, pressing together, pressure. It can be translated affliction, anguish, persecution. At the midpoint of the Week, those on the alert, those who are watching, will see Antichrist stop the sacrifices, and then "mega thlipsis" or great affliction will begin. (Mt. 24:15-21)
- Is the great tribulation God's judgment on the ungodly?
This question can be answered by asking another question - Who is experiencing tribulation or this affliction, this anguish, this persecution, this great pressure? The elect. God's called out ones. God's chosen. Those who identify with Christ. Mt. 24:10 tells us many will fall away from the faith at that time. Their love for Christ and those in the body of Christ will grow cold. This affliction against the elect cannot be God's judgment according to what Paul wrote the Thessalonians -
"For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ." (1 Th. 5:9) The Greek word for "wrath" is orge. It means anger. Besides anger, it can also be translated as indignation, vengeance, or wrath. We are not destined for God's anger. What is God's anger over? Sin. We are not destined for His vengeance because Jesus bore God's wrath on our behalf for our sinfulness. Jesus did say that in the world we will have "tribulation" - Jn. 16:33. It's the same Greek word used in Mt. 24, "thlipsis." We will suffer affliction if we identify with Him. Even now, before this time of great persecution comes upon the elect, when we identify with Christ it will bring persecution. Those who fall away now and the many who fall away during the great tribulation are no longer willing to identify themselves as Christ followers.
So we have false Christs and wars and rumors of wars, famine and earthquakes as this seven year period unfolds. Then at the midpoint, when Antichrist exalts himself as God, great tribulation will break out against those who are willing to identify with Christ and refuse to worship Antichrist. It is going to be the worst affliction ever to come upon God's chosen ones. The great tribulation is not God's judgment on the ungodly.
- Can the fifth seal martyrs in Revelation 6:9 shed any more light on this?
When the fifth seal is opened, we find under the alter the souls of those who had been slain because in the heat of affliction they maintained their testimony. They didn't fall away. Their love for Christ did not grow cold. They ask God a question.
"How long O Lord, holy and true, will you refrain from judging and avenging our blood on those who dwell on the earth?" They understand they are in the presence of the Lord because they didn't love their life more than they loved Christ, not because they were under judgment. They were slain for standing true to Christ and God's Word.
They are given an answer to their question. Rev. 6:11 -
"...they were told that they should rest for a little while longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brethren who were to be killed even as they had been, would be completed also."
God's avenging wrath against the sinful acts to His elect, and much more sin, would come after the number of martyrs was complete. God's judgment cannot be falling during the great tribulation or He would be breaking a promise. He would be killing His own! Believers are not destined for God's wrath. Jesus suffered God's wrath for the elect. The great tribulation is man's affliction on man. The great tribulation is the hatred of Satan's offspring towards those who have put their trust in the One who crushed their master's head. Mt. 24:9,10 -
"Then they (man) will deliver you (man) to tribulation, and will kill you, and you will be hated by all nations (man) because of My name. At that time many will fall away and will betray one another and hate one another."
- When does God's wrath begin?
Let's take a look at what John sees when the Lamb breaks open the sixth seal. Revelation 6:12-17:
"I looked when He broke the sixth seal,
and there was a great earthquake;
and the sun became black as sackcloth made of hair,
and the whole moon became like blood;
and the stars of the sky fell to the earth, as a fig tree casts its unripe figs when shaken by a great wind.
The sky was split apart like a scroll when it is rolled up,
and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.
Then the kings of the earth
and the great men
and the commanders
and the rich
and the strong
and every slave
and free man
hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains;
and they said to the mountains and to the rocks,
"Fall on us and hide us from the presence of Him who sits on the throne,
and from the wrath of the Lamb;
for the great day of their wrath has come,
and who is able to stand?"
The fifth seal calls for God's wrath. The sixth seal announces it!
- How do we determine where the sixth seal occurs during Daniel's 70th Week, the announcement of God's wrath?
Great tribulation begins at the midpoint. When the fifth seal is opened and John see the martyrs under the alter, we can conclude it is opened during the great tribulation. Therefore the sixth seal will be opened sometime after the midpoint. The announcement of God's wrath falls somewhere in the second half of Daniel's 70th Week.
We can also verify this by comparing Revelation 6 and Matthew 24. Both passages contain references to the cosmic signs of the sun, moon, and stars going out.
In Mt. 24:29 Jesus instructs that
"immediately after the tribulation THE SUN WILL BE DARKENED,
AND THE MOON WILL NOT GIVE ITS LIGHT,
AND THE STARS WILL FALL from the sky,
and the powers of the heavens will be shaken."
Here is Revelation 6:12-13 again:
"I looked when He broke the sixth seal,
and there was a great earthquake;
and the sun became black as sackcloth made of hair,
and the whole moon became like blood;
and the stars of the sky fell to the earth, as a fig tree casts its unripe figs when shaken by a great wind."
The world is going to be plunged into darkness signaling God's wrath is about to fall. This sudden darkness will also signal the end of the age, the cutting short of the great tribulation, and the return of Christ with His angels to gather the elect. (Mt. 24:29-31) It is very important that we remember that Jesus said the days of great tribulation would be cut short for the sake of the elect. (Mt. 24:22) The Greek word for "cut short" is kolobo. It means to shorten, abridge, or curtail and can be translated as shorten or cut short. So the great tribulation will not run the entire second half of Daniel's 70th Week. It will be curtailed otherwise all the elect would be killed. Christ would have no one to return to! This means the opening of the sixth seal, the announcement of God's wrath falls somewhere after the midpoint but before the end of the Week.
This is a good time to look at what Jesus says in Luke 18:7, 8. This is a great parallel passage to the fifth seal.
"Now, will not God bring about justice for His elect who cry out to Him day and night, and will He delay long over them? I tell you that He will bring justice for them quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?"
He will find faith, but not much. Many will fall away and many of the elect are going to be killed. But when He brings them justice, it will be swift.
And take a look at 2 Thessalonians 1:6-10. It supports Mt. 24 and Rev. 6, where we have affliction taking place against God's elect and then God's wrath starts to fall:
"For after all it is only just for God to repay with affliction those who afflict you, and to give relief to you who are afflicted and to us as well when the Lord Jesus will be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire, dealing out retribution to those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. These will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power, when He comes to be glorified in His saints on that day, and to be marveled at among all who have believed."
- If the church is subject to great tribulation but not destined for wrath, can we find a reference to it in heaven after the sixth seal?
After the sixth seal is opened and God's wrath is announced, what does Revelation tell us happens next?
Revelation 7:1-8: The 144,000 are sealed. 12,000 from each of the 12 tribes of Israel.
Then John sees a great multitude which no one could count, from every tribe, people, tongue, and nation. (Jesus said to make disciples of all nations right before He returned to the Father.) This great multitude is standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They are in white robes and have palm branches in their hands. They are crying out,
"Salvation to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb."
John wants to know where this great multitude came from. In Revelation 7:14 he is told they came out of the great tribulation. The "mega thlipsis." Same Greek words here as used in Mt. 24! The "mega thlipsis" that had been cut short for the sake of the elect.
This is none other than the afflicted-gathered elect, the raptured church, right where they should be! They are in heaven, as Lamb is getting ready to pour out His wrath. In Revelation 7:16 we are told this multitude will hunger no longer, nor thirst anymore. The number of the elect martyrs was complete. The Lamb opened the sixth seal. The great tribulation was cut short. The earth was plunged into blackness. The end of the age had come.
Do you remember Christ's words to the church before He went back into heaven to make intercession for us?
"I am with you always, even to the end of the age" - Mt. 28:20.
The church, not destined for wrath is now with the Lamb.
The Lamb is getting ready to pour out His wrath.
The Lamb is getting ready to bring justice to His elect.
The Lamb is getting ready to deal out retribution, to pay back affliction with affliction.
Are you still skeptical about whether this great multitude is the church?
In 1 Cor. 15:20-23 we are told by Paul that the resurrection takes place at the return of Christ.
"But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep. For since by a man came death, by a man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, after that those who are Christ's at His coming."
In John 6:40 Jesus said that it was the will of His Father,
"that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last day" - at the end of the age, when He returns and gathers the elect!
The church is going to enter the great tribulation. The church will not be raptured before the beginning of Daniel's 70th week. But the church is not destined for God's wrath.
Now look what happens at the opening of the seventh seal...
Revelation 8:1:
"When the Lamb broke the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour."
The great multitude has stopped singing praises to the Lamb.
The angels fall silent.
Something really, really big is about to happen.
John sees seven angels. Seven trumpets are given to them. After the first trumpet is blown, hail and fire mixed with blood is thrown down to the earth and a third of the earth was burned.
Now this is God's wrath!!!
So for the remainder of Daniel's 70th Week God's wrath is poured out onto the earth. God poured out His wrath on Jesus for the sinfulness of the elect. The church, God's elect, is safely in heaven when He pours it out on the earth.
Let me give you one more reference to the cosmic signs that we saw in Mt. 24 and in Rev. 6. It is found in Joel 2:30-31:
"I will display wonders in the sky and on the earth,
blood, fire, and columns of smoke.
The sun will be turned to darkness
and the moon into blood
before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes."
- What is the day of the Lord?
It is mentioned in the Old Testament and Paul talks about it in his letters to the Thessalonians. Peter mentions it in 2 Peter 3.
A study of the day of the Lord passages also sheds light on the return of Christ.
(Now might be a good time to warm up your tea or coffee. Just don't forget to come back.)
The day of the Lord is His judgment and destruction of ungodly men. (2 Peter 3:7)
Isaiah 2:10-12 tells us it is also when man will be humbled and the Lord alone will be exalted.
"Enter the rock and hide in the dust from the terror of the LORD and from the splendor of His majesty. (Remember the sixth seal?!) The proud look of man will be abased and the loftiness of man will be humbled, and the Lord alone will be exalted in that day. For the LORD of hosts will have a day of reckoning against everyone who is proud and lofty and against everyone who is lifted up, that he may be abased."
Antichrist, at the midpoint of the Week, will exalt himself as God. (2 Th. 2:4) During the day of the Lord, Antichrist will be brought down along with all the ungodly and all the scoffers, and the Lord only will be lifted high.
Malachi 4:1 also has a reference:
"For behold, the day is coming, burning like a furnace; and all the arrogant and every evil doer will be chaff; and the day that is coming will set them ablaze, says the LORD of hosts."
Peter said the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up. (2 Peter 3:11)
Remember the seventh seal and the first trumpet?!
Paul says the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night,
but not for believers. We are not in darkness that the day would overtake us like a thief. (1 Th. 5:4)
It will come like a thief for unbelievers.
While they are saying,
"Peace and safety!" then sudden destruction will come upon them. (1 Th. 5:3) They are saying peace and safety because they are not suffering affliction under the rule of Antichrist, like believers. They have aligned with Antichrist, taking his mark, so they can proceed with normal, every day life, buying and selling, working, earning money and running businesses. They are the ones who are marrying and giving in marriage like the ungodly did in the days of Noah before the judgment by flood came. They will be scoffing and saying,
"Where is the promise of His coming?"
God's wrath against sinful mankind first came in the form of the world-wide flood, except Noah and the members of his household found undeserved favor with God. God's wrath will come again in the form of fire. All the elect who have God's undeserved favor on them during the day of the Lord will either be in heaven with Him or will be under God's protection on the earth.
The Thessalonians, suffering affliction, had been misled that they were in the day of the Lord. They thought they had missed the return of Christ and the gathering of the church. Paul wrote to them that they couldn't be in the day of the Lord because the great departure from the faith had not taken place nor had the man of lawlessness been revealed. Antichrist had not taken his seat in the temple, exalting himself as God. The return of Christ and the rapture would take place after those things happened. (2 Th. 2:1-4)
When the man of lawlessness is revealed, the church will enter into the great tribulation. The look-a-like believers will fall away. The true elect will suffer great affliction. It is not God's judgment. The cosmic signs will occur at some point before the end of Daniel's 70th Week, announcing the day of the Lord, announcing the end of the age, announcing the end of the great tribulation, announcing the return of Christ, announcing the gathering of the elect, announcing that God's wrath is about to fall. When the cosmic signs occur, believers are to look up because the blackness and the shaking of the earth is announcing the drawing near of the Savior. (Luke 21:25-28) The skies will open up and we will see our Deliverer. But as the earth quakes, as the earth is plunged into darkness and the heavens are opened up, the ungodly will realize that God's judgment is coming upon them, sudden destruction! No more peace and safety! They will be crying out for the rocks to fall on them!
Genesis 1:14 should be mentioned here.
"Then God said, 'Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night, and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and for years.' "
One star announced Christ's first coming to be the Sin Bearer for the elect. The sun, moon, and all the hosts of stars will announce His return for the gathering of the elect and the judgment of the ungodly and the unrepentant.
Let's recap.
The week begins with a signing of a covenant. Will we see that? It is not one of the things for which Jesus said to watch. It is possible then that we won't. But we will see wars and hear of wars, we'll experience and hear of earthquakes. We'll experience and hear of famine. We'll experience and hear of false Christs. Those who are alert and watching will see and know exactly who Antichrist is. He will be revealed at the midpoint of Daniel's 70th Week. Great tribulation will break out against God's elect. God's elect will be killed, but not all. Then the great tribulation will be cut short. We'll know its over when the world is plunged into darkness on a bright day. If it is night in our part of the world, a milky white moon will turn red and the stars will fall from their place. If we are asleep, we'll be woken up by a massive quake.
Of this day, no man knows, or the hour. But it will fall somewhere in the second half of Daniel's 70th Week. After Antichrist is revealed. When the number of the elect martyrs is complete, Christ will return and gather the elect. Then, for the remainder of the week, through the sounding of the trumpets and the pouring out of the bowls, ending with Armaggedon, God's wrath will fall. Revelation 16:17 - "Then the seventh angel poured out his bowl upon the air, and a loud voice came out of the temple from the throne saying, "It is done."
DANIEL'S SEVENTIETH WEEK=Signing of covenant/Beginning Birth Pangs>>>Great Tribulation>>>God's Wrath
Christ's return/the rapture falls in between the Great Tribulation and the Day of the Lord's wrath, somewhere in the second half of Daniel's 70th Week.
These are truths I see being supported all over scripture now...
Romans 8:33-39 has taken on such wonderful meaning to me, but I'll let you look it up.
