The Revelation Station

The Time of the Second Coming

If we properly interpret Mat. 24:36 and conclude that it doesn’t refer to the event we know as the Rapture or  the second coming of Jesus Christ to establish his kingdom on earth in a literal sense, we can remove a major hurdle to our search of the scriptures to discover the time of the second coming.

Jesus told his disciples in Mat. 29:29, 30 that immediately after the tribulation his sign would appear in heaven and the occupants on earth would see him coming on the clouds of heaven.  So when will the tribulation that Jesus referred to occur?  The events of the tribulation are recorded in Revelation Chapters 6 thru 19.  Don’t confuse the Second Coming with the Rapture, an event that will most likely occur prior to the tribulation and seven years before the Second Coming.

We will explore the question of the time of the event from three different perspectives.  Firstly, Peter wrote in 2 Peter 3:8 that one day with the Lord is as a thousand years, and a thousand years is as one day.  First century believers were convinced that the account of creation given by Moses in Genesis is a key to understanding the length of man’s history on earth.  As God created the world in six days and rested on the seventh, so man will live for six thousand years and enter into the millineal kingdom of one thousand years on the ‘seventh’ day.  From Adam to Christ was four thousand years or ‘four days’ and from Christ to the end of the church age will be two thousand years or ‘two days’.  We are at that time in history now.

Secondly, there is a prophecy in Hosea 6:2 that uses ‘days‘ to relate to the longer time period.  Hosea prophesied that the Jews would be restored to their previous relationship with the Lord after two days (2000 yrs.) and in the third day (millineal kingdom) they would be revived and raised up to live in his sight.  The prophecy would not make any sense if the days were literal 24 hour time periods.

The church was established two thousand years ago to fulfill the role the Jews were called to do but failed to do.  That is to prepare the world for the Second Coming and the millineal kingdom on earth.  Two thousand years after the establishment of the church, Christ will reurn to rule the kingdom on earth.  That period of time has just about run its course.

Finally, putting the year of his coming aside for a moment, I believe that there is strong evidence that points to the time of year that the Rapture and the Second Coming will occur with the events separated in time by seven years.

In Liviticus Chapter 23, God gave instructions thru Moses for his people to celebrate seven annual festivals.  Four were to be observed in the Spring, and three were set for the Fall. Both Spring and Fall festivals were to be celebrated at harvest time.  It is interesting to note that Jesus literally fulfilled the festivals of Passover, Unleavened Bread, and Firstfruits with his death, burial and resurrection on the exact days that the Jews celebrated those festivals.  The Holy Spirit was sent to empower the disciples on the Feast of Pentecost, also known as the Festival of Weeks.  This festival was celebrated seven weeks after Firstfruits.

This leads me to believe that Christ will also literally fulfill the three Fall festivals of Rosh HaShana or Festival of Trumpets, Day of Atonement, and Festival of Tabernacles.  I believe that the event we refer to as the Rapture will coincide with the Festival of Trumpets and the Second Coming will coincide with the Day of Atonement seven years after the Rapture.  The Festival of Tabernacles will be literally fulfilled by Christ’s presence with us on earth following his return.

Additional evidence for a Fall return is found in Joel 2:23.  The former and latter rains referred to come at harvest time in the Spring and Fall.  The rain is symbolic of the Lord’s coming to earth.  He first came forward and presented himself as the sacrificial lamb in the first month on the Jewish religious calender in the month Nissan.  I believe he will come back to earth in the first month on the original civil calender at the time of the latter rain.  The month will be Tishri which corresponds to our September-October time frame.  This explains the latter part of Joel 2: 23 which states “…and he will cause to come down for you the rain, the former rain, and the latter rain in the first month”. 

How can he come at two separate times, once in the Spring and once in the Fall in the same month?  His first coming was a religious event and occured during the first month on the religious calender, Nissan.  The second coming is a political or civil event in as much as he is coming to establish a literal kingdom and personally rule the kingdom from earth.  The second coming will therefore occur in the first month of the original calender or in the month Tishri.

The Second Coming

Most Christians accept as fact the promise that Jesus made before he returned to heaven after his death, ressurection and ascention that he would return to earth and establish a millenial kingdom on earth.  The second coming is a doctrine that is dear to the heart of every Christian.  The event known as the Rapture is not the same as the second coming of Christ to earth.

The fact of the second coming is not in question; however, the issue of the time of the event is in question.  It is almost universally believed that the bible doesn’t give us a clue as to when the event will occur.  In fact most believe that Jesus said that we could not know when he would return.  Mat. 24:36 is used to prove that very thing.  The verse reads “But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only”. Jesus certainly meant what he said, but exactly what did he mean?  This article will examine the statement and its context.

To begin we must ask the question what dday is he refering to.  In verse two, Jesus made a startling statement that took his disciples completely off-guard.  He said that their beloved temple would be completely destroyed.  That statement caused them to ask three questions.

                    1. “…when shall these things be?”

                    2. “…what shall be the sign of thy coming?”

                    3. “…and of the end of the world?”

Jesus gave the discourse in chapter 24 to answer their questions.  He actually answered the questions in the reverse order in which they were asked.

He answered the first question concerning the destruction of the temple in verse 34 when he said “verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled”.  History tells us that the temple was completely destroyed by the Ronam army in AD 70.

Jesus answered th second question in verses 29 and 30.  He told them that his sign would appear in the heavens immediately following the tribulation and that he would be seen in the clouds of heaven.  It would be a very public and freightening event to those living on earth at the time.

He answered their last question first in verse 14 by saying the “end” would come when the gospel of the kingdom was preached in all the world.  The “end of the world” that the disciples referred to was the time when Jesus would establish his kingdom on earth and end the dispensation of Gentile rule.  This then was the key issue to the disciples.  After all, this was the reason Jesus came in the first place, wasn’t it?  At this point they didn’t quite understand that Jesus must die.  They really expected Jesus to establish the kingdom, and they were concerned about what position each of them would hold.

The event we know as the Rapture was not in question at that time.  The Apostle Paul raised the issue first in I Cor. 15:51,52 when he wrote (51) “Behold, I show you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, (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”.

I must therefore conclude that the day and hour of Mat. 24:36 that Jesus referred to did not refer to the Rapture.  Then what event did Jesus have in mind?  I believe that the answer can be found in the previous verse, Mat. 24:35.  Jesus referred to an event which would occur in the distant future, the passing away of heaven and earth.  This event is mentioned by the Apostle John in Rev. 21:1, and it will occur after the millenial kingdom has run its course.

So then what does this mean to us?  I believe that this conclusion removes the prohibition against searching for the time of the second coming.  I also believe that if one seriously searches for the time of the second coming, he will find much evidence in the bible about the time of the event.  

The issue of the time of the second coming will be addressed in a future article.

anti-Christ

Many expositors have speculated over the centuries who the anti-Christ will be.  knowing who he is would of course go a long way toward determining what part of the world he would call home.  Those who have embraced the historical method of interpreting the Revelation have generally nominated historical characters who lived during their lifetime.  Characters such as Nero, Stalin, Hitler and Mussolini have been prime suspects.

All of the above characters have long since passed away without stepping onto the world stage as the character that the Revelation describes as the Beast out of the sea in Revelation 13.  The wrong interpretation of Rev. 13:3 gives hope to some expositors; however, that a person that previously lived on earth will be resurrected from the dead and become anti-Christ.  A proper understanding of the verse leads one to believe that one of the seven heads of the beast represents a kingdom which will be ‘resurected‘ and dominate the word under the leadership of anti-Christ. (more about this kingdom in a later article)

The scriptures give some very strong clues as to what part of the world will produce anti-Christ.  In the eighth chapter of his book, Daniel records a vision that he had in the third year of the reign of King Belshazzar.  He saw a ram with two horns, one of which was greater (higher) than the other horn, fight against a male goat with one notable horn between its eyes.  In the vision, Daniel saw the goat smite the ram and break its two horns.  When the goat became strong, its great horn was broken and four smaller horns came up in its place.  Out of one of the four horns a little horn came forth and waxed great towards the south and east and towards the pleasant land (Israel).

The interpretation of the vision was as follows.  The ram represented the kings of Media and Persia and the goat represented Greece and its conquering king, Alexander the Great.  When Alexander finished his conquests, and while still in his prime, he died.  The kingdom which he took from the Medes and Persians was divided into four parts, Greece, Turkey, Egypt and Assyria.  History tells us his four generals assumed control of the divided Persian kingdom.  The little horn Daniel saw coming out of one of the four divisions was the anti-Christ.

It remains then to determine which one of the four divisions would produce the little horn (anti-Christ).  Daniel gives us another clue in Chapter 11.  He describes a series of battles between the King of the South (Egypt) and the King of the North (Assyria).  The conflicts took place over a number of years, but the King of the North finally prevailed.  Out of this Kingdom in the latter days the little horn of Daniel’s vision arose.  Hence the anti-Christ accoarding to Daniel’s prophecy will come from Assyria which is presently divided into the modern countries of Syria, Irak and Iran.

In the period preceeding the tribulation, a nefarious character will step onto the world stage and proclaim himself to be the world’s savior.  He will propose a plan in fact that will promise lasting peace in the Middle East and security to Israel.  This peace treaty or covenant will be proposed for a trial period of seven years according to Daniel 9:24-27.

This anti-Christ will become the world’s dictator and his administration will attempy to give every person who lives on earth at that time a unique number which will be implanted on each person’s body on the right hand or on the forehead.  See Rev. 13.

People will be unable to engage in commerce such as buying or selling food and clothes without the number.  Acceptance of the number or mark according to Rev. 14:9-11; however, condems whoever receives it to eternal torment with fire and brimstone. (more about the mark of the Beast in a future article)

The anti-Christ will require worship from all of his subjects, and he will honor the 7 year covenant with Israel for only the first half or 42 months.  In the middle of the 7 years he will violate the covenant and cause the greatest persecution to come to bear upon the Jews that the world will ever see.  Only a remnant of the Jewish population will be spared and only because they are able to flee into a safe haven in the wilderness which will be prepared for them.

The time on earth during the rule of anti-Christ is what the Revelation calls a time of sorrows.  The terrible events which are described by the Apostle John in the Revelation will conclude with the great tribulation, the last half of the 7 years.  The first half of the 7 year period will likely include the events described with the opening of the 7 seals, Rev. 6, and possibly the 7 trumpet judgements of chapters 8 and and 9.

The Tribulation

In the first year of the reign of Darius the Mede, king of Persia, Daniel understood from a study of Jeremiah’s prophecy the number of years that the Jews would remain in captivity in Babylon.  Jeremiah prophecied that Jerusalem would lie barren for seventy years.  The Jews would remain in captivity for that period of time.

This knowledge motivated Daniel to fast and pray and make supplications unto “the Lord my God”.  He confessed his sins and the sins of his people.  He also petitioned God to turn His fury away from the city of Jerusalem and to allow the Jews to return from captivity and rebuild the holy city.

God heard Daniel’s prayer of confession and supplication and dispatched the Archangel Gabriel to go to Daniel and give him “skill and understanding” regarding his people and the holy city.  The prophecy is recorded in verses 24 thru 27 of chapter 9 of Daniel’s book.

The prophecy states that a period of “seventy weeks” or literally 490 years would be “determined upon thy people and upon the holy city“.  The beginning point would be the commandment issued by King Artaxerxes in the twentieth year of his reign as recorded in Nehemiah 2:1.  The Jews were given the right to return to Jerusalen and begin to rebuild the city.  Many of the Jews chose to return, but some remained in Babylon.

The first phase, the rebuilding phase, would last seven weeks or 49 years.  The second phase of the prophecy would last 62 weeks of years or literally 434 years and would climax with the “cutting off of Messiah“.  The 69 weeks of years or 483 years were consecutive and ended on the Sunday Jesus entered into Jerusalem during Pashion week.

There is obviously an interlude between weeks 69 and 70 because the specifics of verse 25 of Daniel’s chapter 9 have not been accomplished, namely the following:

                    1. …to finish the transgression

                    2. …to make an end of sins

                    3. …to make reconciliation for iniquity

                    4. …to bring in everlasting righteousness

                    5. …to seal up the vision and prophecy

                    6. …to anoint the most Holy

The seventieth week is the period of time that the Revelation is about beginning with Revelation 4:1 and following.  The Revelation describes the tribulation as a period of two halves, each equal to 42 months, 1260 days, and a time,  times, and half a time or 3 and a half years in duration.  To be technically correct however, only the latter half of the period is called the Great Tribulation when God’s wrath will be poured out upon the earth and its occupants.

A Layman’s View Of The Revelation

“1)The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John:  2)Who bear record of the Word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all things that he saw.” Rev. 1:1,2 (KJV).  Thus begins in my view the greatest book ever written.  It informs, it instructs, it reveals, and it gives the believer great hope if only he or she will read and believe. 

The main purpose of this site is to take some of the mystery out of the book and to encourage the believer to read and enjoy (study) it.  After all,  it is the only book of the bible that promises a blessing on those who…… ” read and hear and keep those things which are written therin“.

I will be posting articles about the Revelation and related subjects on this site in coming days.  Subjects such as Armageddon, the Second Coming, the Rapture and when it might take place, Daniel’s seventieth week and more.  The articles are not intended to be deep theological dissertations, but simply a layman’s view of what the message of the book attempts to convey. 

To many, the Revelation is a book of mystery and is perhaps beyond the layman’s ability to comprehend.  As a layman, I dispute this conclusion, and have spent thousands of hours reading, studying, and committing its verses to memory.  Since I take literal verses 1:3 and 22:7 which promise a blessing to those who read, hear, and keep the words of the prophecy of the book, I believe that it is a book which is intended for all to understand.  The upcoming articles are intended to take some of the mystery from the book and to present the great truths in a way that all can understand.

The human author or scribe of the book is John.  Most commentators agree that John was the apostle John.  Others discredit this belief on the basis that there are several instances of bad grammar found in the book, and the John of Revelation never calls himself the Apostle.  Also those in the third century who did not believe that the Revelation teaches a literal millennial reign on the earth hoped to somehow strengthen their position if they could show that the Apostle did not write the book.  John most likely wrote the book in AD 95-96.

My approach toward interpreting the passages of the book are simply this.  If the plain sense of the passage makes good sense, don’t apply any other sense.  For example when Chapter 20 specifies the millennial period as 1000 years then believe that there will be a period of 1000 actual years.  When Chapter 14 says an angel flies thru the heavens and shouts his message, it is not a sattelite or something else.  The understanding one gets from the book depends heavily on how one interprets the book.

Interpretation

There are basically four main schools of thought regarding interpretation of the book.  Each has its nuances.

1. The allegorical approach. This point of view treats the book as one great allegory which goes far beyond the natural symbolisn which is found in the book.  A more moderate form of allegorical interpretation treats the book as presenting the total conflict between Christianity and evil.

2. The preterist approach.  This view holds that the book of Revelation is a record of the conflicts of the early church with Judaism and paganism.  It considers that it is a symbolic history rather than prophetic.  The preterist view tends to destroy any future significance of the book, which then becomes a literary curiosity with little prophetic meaning.

3. The historical approach.  This view considers the book to present a symbolic picture of the total church history culminating in the second advent.  There have been a jultitude of interpretations with the various authors attempting to fit historical characters with the mansdy conflicting theories.  Each author tends to interpret the book as in some sense climazing in their generation.

4. The futuristic approach.  This view is taken by conservative expositors who are uually premillennial.  The book is regarded as futuristic beginning with chapter 4 and therefore subject to future fulfillment.  In contrast to the other approaches to the book of Revelation, this position allows a more literal interpretation of the specific prophecies of the book.

The book of Revelation is the only book in the New Testament that presents Jesus Christ as he is today.  The gospels introduce Jesus as a lowly man of sorrows and those who do not believe in the resurrection, view him as a victim.  In their eyes, Jesus was a man who was not ‘politically correct’ and therefore gave his life for his mistakes.  On the other hand, the book presents him in his true glory and majesty after his resurrection and ascension into heaven, never to be reviled again.  He is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords and will soon return to earth for his Bride.

The book of Revelation from Chapter 4 onward describes a period of time on earth, yet future, where God’s judgement will be poured out upon the earth.  It covers seven years which are divided into two 42 month segments.  The last half contains the most severe judgements which will precede Christ’s return to earth to set up his kingdom.  In order to put this period of time into the proper perspective,  I will in a subsequent article comment on Daniel’s 70 Weeks prophecy which is found in Daniel 9:24-27.

To clear up any possible misunderstanding, you should know that I hold to the futuristic approach to the interpretation of the Revelation.  It is my hope that these articles will help remove some of the mystery of the book and that everyone will enjoy the journey with me.  Please feel free to respond with comments or questions.