The Second Coming
While there are many people all over social media who talk about this very subject and do a wonderful job….I also want to get the information out to any who will listen and any who have a rational, logical, common sense mind….to explain the difference between these two.
I hope this is informative to anyone who is willing to learn and willing to listen to what Scripture says…..and hope that you understand how fair, loving, and merciful Our Lord is to His own…for your faith in Him is pleasing and makes Him happy.
2 Separate Events Not One
There are far too many people who place the Rapture at The Second Coming of Christ; Scripture is not there to conform to our beliefs, our wants…it is for us to learn, and understand what God wants for us to live for and what He wants to tell us in order to have hope to get us thru life and in Him.
When people start trying to make the scripture conform to the beliefs of the world….you start to see cracks in said beliefs; in said knowledge….because there will always be excuses of, ‘God meant that spiritually’; ‘you can’t take these verses literally’; ‘oh, it’s too hard to really understand so we just do the best guessing we can’; ‘only some priest with higher learning can really understand what God means’; or ‘I received a revelation from God and this is what He actually meant’. There are many other things I have heard stated from many different people…but it all consists of the same narrative and it always falls into what they want to believe the verses say instead of what the verses actually say…..
Context is always very important when reading and studying the Bible…
To start with you plainly have verses that talk about 2 separate events to take place at the time of the end, one is the Rapture of the Bride of Christ and the other is the Lord Jesus returning to earth as a King; The Second Coming or Second Advent.
Placing these two together honestly does not make sense when you read all the verses together for if they pertain to one event of the Second Coming of Christ….scripture starts to contradict itself and we know that it is impossible for God to contradict His Holy Spirit and vice versa, so the verses must be talking about 2 separate steps.
While the Rapture is a part (or step) towards the ‘Revealing’ of Christ at the Second Coming…it is separated into its own timeframe and not placed at the same time of Jesus coming to earth.
What is the purpose of The Second Coming?
The Second Coming is the culmination of the Tribulation, Judgement, and Wrath of God: it is when Jesus will be revealed to all on earth for the God that so many have denied and He will come to capture Satan placing him into the bottomless pit and to throw all unbelievers into Hell until the Great White Throne Judgement.
“And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season.” Revelation 20: 2-3
(I need to state that the thousand years in reference is the Millennial Kingdom and not now as some teach….)
The Second Coming is the rescue of the Elect Israel and the believers in the world and Jesus Christ will finally be revealed to all on earth for the God that so many have denied…..
“And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.” Revelation 19:16
Rapture vs. Second Coming
“And then shall they see the Son on Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.” Luke 21:27
“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. Even so, Amen.” Revelation 1:7
While the Rapture is a meeting in the air (clouds) with the Lord, to teach or imply that everyone will see Him…clearly do not understand the verses as in, if everyone can see Jesus at the Rapture….then that would imply everyone on earth will know who He is and what He has come for and they will also understand why all of the saved believers go up to meet Him….(In essence they will all believe and not be deceived for they have seen Jesus and know the truth)
If the Rapture is indeed right before Jesus comes to earth…the implication is that they would see Him….see the saved believers disappear; what then would be the purpose of this? As people would clearly then see everyone saved appear in the clouds with Jesus before they all land back on the earth…..Does this really make sense? Because there would be no need for a Rapture to even take place if this were in fact true; there would also be no Bema (Judgment seat of Christ) as no believer would have time to go to heaven first if they are already with Jesus in the air, and……there would be no one left to enter the millennial kingdom…as we would all have glorified bodies…no more sinfulness of the flesh….so what would be the purpose of the 1000 year reign of Christ?
You can plainly see that to believe this scenario has so many cracks within and does not follow scripture at all….that either people who believe this are wanting to be martyr’s for Christ……believe in their own righteousness……does not want to leave this earth as soon as possible…..have lack of faith and understanding in God’s promises……..or they are under demonic and man’s influence instead of the Holy Spirit.
“And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olive, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst there of toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half toward the south.” Zechariah 14:4
When Jesus comes back at the Second Coming….there is such an earthquake the whole land will move out of place…..at the Rapture, there is no supporting evidence of anything happening on earth other than the disappearances of believers….(this is not to say that when the Rapture does happen other things aren’t going on….. or might happen at that time)
“For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works.” Matthew 16:27
“For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth eve unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.” Matthew 24:27
At the brightness of the Coming of the Lord who will be revealed and descend from heaven in great Glory; The Second Coming is visible to all….while the Rapture will be invisible since it will happen in less than a blink of the eye and Jesus is only seen by the saved….
The Lord’s War
“The earth shall quake before them; the heavens shall tremble: the sun and the moon shall be dark, and the stars shall withdraw their shining: And the LORD shall utter his voice before his army: for his camp is very great: for his is strong that executeth his word: for the day of the LORD is great and very terrible: and who can abide it?” Joel 2:10 & 11
Lord Jesus is coming prepared for War…..it will be the like which has never been seen before…..and His army consist of Angels and Church Saints…..
“And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war with him that sat on the horse, and against his army.” Revelation 19:19
But the Lord is more powerful than angel, man, and beast…..He is the creator of all and He demolishes Satan’s army….
“And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that say upon the horse, which sword proceedeth out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh.” Revelation 19:21
“And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God” Revelation 19:15
Why not believe in this God instead of the god of this world (Satan)? Why not ask Him to be your savior instead of receiving a Mark of damnation? For God Almighty’s mercy is great…….and His wrath is justified…….
The Lord’s Judgement
All of those who were Raptured will be coming back with the Lord at the Second Coming…..for we will rule and reign with Him during the Millennial Kingdom Age.
“And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints. To execute judgement upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him.” Jude 1:14 & 15
The Second Coming will be the last Judgement before the beginning of the Millennial Kingdom Age, for Jesus is coming to bring His righteous judgement to all inhabitants that are still on the earth.
“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; So that the fished of the sea, and the fowls of the heaven, and the beasts of the field, and all creeping things that creep upon the earth, and all the men that are upon the face of the earth, shall shake at my presence, and the mountains shall be thrown down, and the steep places shall fall, and every wall shall fall to the ground.” Ezekiel 39: 19-20
It will be the division of the sheep and the goats….the unbelievers will go into Hell, the believers into the Kingdom.
“Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:” Matthew 25:31
It will be a time of mourning, wailing, and gnashing of teeth, for all of the unbelievers/blasphemers will be cast into the fires of Hell…..and they will never die but be tormented for all eternity. (See Understanding Hell blog) Do you want to be a part of the Kingdom, or a part of the lake of fire? It’s your choice…..
“The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.” Matthew 13: 41-42
This verse can be referencing both the end of the Tribulation and the end of 1000 year reign, the reason being is because at the end of the Tribulation there will be sinners still alive around the world….so too at the end of the millennial kingdom (It could be that God destroys them (sinners) instantly with fire wherever they are on earth at this time, if that is the case, then this verse is plainly about the Second Coming.) Either way you can see that all unbelievers are cast into Hell at both timeframes before the White Throne Judgement.
“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.” Matthew 24:31
This verse is plainly about the elect, Israel and believers who are still alive, after the tribulation in order to bring all of them into the 1000 kingdom….(The Rapture is a twinkling of an eye disappearance and not a gathering by the angels…)
Now is the time to make a choice…..
The Rapture is a blessing and a hope for all those who are saved….yet fear, torment, and sorrow for those that are left…..and the Second coming is fearful, horrendous, sorrowful, and terror filled for the unbelievers….while relieving, joyous and peaceful for those that do believe……Receive Christ as Savior right now…..before it really is too late.
Don’t be left behind to face the worse time in human history….don’t put your hope in Man…..don’t believe the false teachings that you must endure Satan, the world, demons, and all evil manifested during this Great Tribulation…..Rest your hope in the Blessed Hope Jesus Christ, He will never forsake you. He will come for His Bride….He will come for His own. Trust in Him, and…..Believe…..
“In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace; Wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence; having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself: That in the dispensation of the fullness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on the earth; even in him: In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will: That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ. In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of Promise.” Ephesians 1:7-13
To Be Continued…….
Understanding The Word 