The events of the Second Coming of Jesus as told by Jesus.
What if someone from work, knowing you were a Christian, asked you to explain to them the events of the Second Coming of Jesus? Could you give them a coherent answer? One that is repeated throughout the Scriptures in the Old Testament, the Gospels, and the Revelation?
Matthew 24:1-3, HCSB
As Jesus left and was going out of the temple complex, His disciples came up and called His attention to the temple buildings. 2 Then He replied to them, “Don’t you see all these things? I assure you: Not one stone will be left here on another that will not be thrown down!”
3 While He was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples approached Him privately and said, “Tell us, when will these things happen? And what is the sign of Your coming and of the end of the age?”
The Questions asked by the Disciples:
1.When will “these things” happen?
2.What is the sign of Your coming (parousia)?
3.What is the sign of the end (telos) of the age?
Matthew 24:4-14, HCSB
4 Then Jesus replied to them: “Watch out that no one deceives you. 5 For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and they will deceive many.
6 You are going to hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, because these things must take place, but the end is not yet. 7 For nation will rise up against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.
There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these events are the beginning of birth pains.
9 “Then they will hand you over for persecution, and they will kill you. You will be hated by all nations because of My name. 10 Then many will take offense, betray one another and hate one another. 11 Many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. 12 Because lawlessness will multiply, the love of many will grow cold.
13 But the one who endures to the end will be delivered. 14 This good news of the kingdom will be proclaimed in all the world as a testimony to all nations. And then THE END will come.
The things Jesus said would happen in the last days:
1.False Messiah/Christ will appear and deceive many
2.Wars and Rumors of Wars
3.Earthquakes and Famines
4.Tribulation, Martyrdom
Revelation 6, HCSB
The First Seal
6 Then I saw the Lamb open one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures say with a voice like thunder, “Come!” 2 I looked, and there was a white horse. The horseman on it had a bow; a crown was given to him, and he went out as a victor to conquer.
The Second Seal
3 When He opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, “Come!” 4 Then another horse went out, a fiery red one, and its horseman was empowered to take peace from the earth, so that people would slaughter one another. And a large sword was given to him.
The Third Seal
5 When He opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, “Come! ”And I looked, and there was a black horse. The horseman on it had a set of scales in his hand. 6 Then I heard something like a voice among the four living creatures say, “A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius—but do not harm the olive oil and the wine.”
The Fourth Seal
7 When He opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, “Come!” 8 And I looked, and there was a pale green horse. The horseman on it was named Death, and Hades was following after him. Authority was given to them over a fourth of the earth, to kill by the sword, by famine, by plague, and by the wild animals of the earth.
The Fifth Seal
9 When He opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the people slaughtered because of God’s word and the testimony they had. 10 They cried out with a loud voice: “Lord, the One who is holy and true, how long until You judge and avenge our blood from those who live on the earth?” 11 So a white robe was given to each of them, and they were told to rest a little while longer until the number would be completed of their fellow slaves and their brothers, who were going to be killed just as they had been.
Jesus clarified the timeline with a well-known marker: the Abomination of Desolation.
Matthew 24:15-22, HCSB
15 “So when you see the ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION, spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place” (let the reader understand), 16 “then those in Judea must flee to the mountains! 17 A man on the housetop must not come down to get things out of his house. 18 And a man in the field must not go back to get his clothes. 19 Woe to pregnant women and nursing mothers in those days! 20 Pray that your escape may not be in winter or on a Sabbath.21 For at that time there will be GREAT TRIBULATION, the kind that hasn’t taken place from the beginning of the world until now and never will again! 22 Unless those days were limited, no one would survive. But those days will be limited because of the elect.”
This helps us identify the definition and the scope of the “Tribulation” (thlipsis). (See also Jeremiah 30:7 and Daniel 12:1)
According to Daniel, the angel, Gabriel came to him as he was praying and set out to give Daniel an understanding of the end times. This revelation in Daniels 9:24-27 is what we call the “Seventy Weeks” prophecy. The first 69 “weeks” (seven-year periods) takes the reader from the decree of Artaxerxes to rebuild Jerusalem (Nehemiah 2) to the advent of the Messiah (the Triumphal Entry). Following those 69 “weeks”, the Messiah was to be cut off and Jerusalem was to be destroyed.
Daniel’s “70th week” is the culmination of the age. It begins with a ruler who has emerged from the people who destroyed Jerusalem.
Daniel 9:27, HCSB
“He will make a firm covenant with many for one week,
but in the middle of the week he will put a stop to sacrifice and offering.
And the ABOLINATION OF DESOLATION will be on a wing of the temple
until the decreed destruction is poured out on the desolator.”
When does Jesus say the time of “tribulation” will begin? Daniel 7:25 says that this time of tribulation will last for “time, times, and half a time” (or three and a half years). Revelation 13:5 uses the term of “42 months”.
But what does Jesus say about the term of the “tribulation”? He said it would be “cut short” because of the elect. Is He referring to the people of Israel?
So let’s review . . .
Jesus warns of an “Anti-Christ” who will deceive many, wars, famines, and martyrdom; and the “Seal Judgments” of Revelation 6 echo these events.
Jesus places a marker in the timeline that is known as the “Abomination of Desolation” and specifically references it in Daniel 9:27, recognizing this event as the beginning of the time of “Tribulation”.
Once more, Jesus warns His disciples about deception.
Matthew 24:23-28, HCSB
23 “If anyone tells you then, ‘Look, here is the Messiah!’ or, ‘Over here!’ do not believe it! 24 False messiahs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders to lead astray, if possible, even the elect. 25 Take note: I have told you in advance. 26 So if they tell you, ‘Look, He’s in the wilderness!’ don’t go out; ‘Look, He’s in the inner rooms!’ do not believe it. 27 For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 28 Wherever the carcass is, there the vultures will gather.
So what happens at the end of the “Tribulation”? Remember the questions of the disciples. What is the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?
Matthew 24:29, HCSB
29 “Immediately after the tribulation of those days:
The sun will be darkened,
and the moon will not shed its light;
the stars will fall from the sky,
and the celestial powers will be shaken.”
This is a reference to Isaiah 13:10. These cosmic disturbances were prophesied to be the supernatural events that usher in the “Day of the LORD”.
This is what is depicted when the 6th Seal is opened.
Revelation 6:12-17, HCSB
12 Then I saw Him open the sixth seal. A violent earthquake occurred; the sun turned black like sackcloth made of goat hair; the entire moon became like blood; 13 the stars of heaven fell to the earth as a fig tree drops its unripe figs when shaken by a high wind; 14 the sky separated like a scroll being rolled up; and every mountain and island was moved from its place.
15 Then the kings of the earth, the nobles, the military commanders, the rich, the powerful, and every slave and free person hid in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains.
16 And they said to the mountains and to the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of the One seated on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb, 17 because the great day of Their wrath has come! And who is able to stand?”
If wrath is coming, we have to be leaving. As Paul told the Thessalonian believers, “we are not appointed to wrath.”(1 Thessalonians 5:9) Jesus has saved us from the wrath of the Righteous One, so what should follow these cosmic disturbances and the announcement of wrath is a deliverance.
Matthew 24:30-31, HCSB
30 “Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the peoples of the earth will mourn; and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. 31 He will send out His angels with a loud trumpet, and they will gather His elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other.
This sounds almost exactly like what Paul wrote to the Thessalonians in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18. This is where we get the idea of the “Rapture” (harpazo) of the church. In 2 Thessalonians 2:1, Paul refers to it as the “gathering” (episunago) which is the language Jesus used in Matthew 24:31.
How does the Revelation describe these days?
Revelation 7:9-17, HCSB
9 After this I looked, and there was a vast multitude from every nation, tribe, people, and language, which no one could number, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were robed in white with palm branches in their hands. 10 And they cried out in a loud voice:
Salvation belongs to our God, who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb!
11 All the angels stood around the throne, the elders, and the four living creatures, and they fell facedown before the throne and worshiped God, 12 saying:
Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power
and strength be to our God forever and ever. Amen.
13 Then one of the elders asked me, “Who are these people robed in white, and where did they come from?”
14 I said to him, “Sir, you know.”
Then he told me:
These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation.
They washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
15 For this reason they are before the throne of God,
and they serve Him day and night in His sanctuary.
The One seated on the throne will shelter them:
16 They will no longer hunger; they will no longer thirst;
the sun will no longer strike them, nor will any heat.
