FACT: The Second Coming will end the Tribulation and inaugurate the Millennium.

Key Scripture: "I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem . . . Then the Lord will go forth and fight against those nations .  . . And in that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives . . . And the LORD will be king over all the earth . . ." (Zechariah 14:2-4,9).



The two great prophetic symbols of the Messiah in the Old Testament are the Suffering Lamb (Isaiah 53:7) and the Conquering Lion (Isaiah 31:4-5). He is pictured with the same symbols in New Testament prophecy(Revelation 5:5-6). The Suffering Lamb prophecies were fulfilled in the First Coming of Jesus. The Conquering Lion prophecies will be fulfilled when Jesus returns to pour out the wrath of God on those who have rejected the love, grace and mercy God has offered through His Son.



 Because the Old Testament prophecies picture the Messiah with two such starkly different images, the rabbis concluded there would be two Messiahs - Messiah Ben-Joseph (the lamb) and Messiah Ben-David (the lion). They did not understand that there would be only one Messiah who would fulfill both roles.



The Certainty of the Lord's Return

We can be assured that there will be a Second Coming because the Bible prophesies it and Jesus Himself promised it.



Ironically, what is probably the oldest Second Coming prophecy in the Bible is found in the New Testament and not the Old. It is in the book of Jude, where in verses 14 and 15 we are told about an ancient prophetic vision: ". . . Enoch, in the seventh generation from Adam, prophesied, saying, "Behold, the Lord came with many thousands of His holy ones, to execute judgment upon all, and to convict all the ungodly of all their ungodly deeds . . ."



Another ancient prophetic statement about the Messiah's Second Coming can be found in the book of Job, which many scholars believe is the oldest book in the Bible. It is contained in words spoken by Job when he said (Job 19:25-27):



As for me, I know that my Redeemer lives, And at the last, He will take His stand on the earth. Even after my skin is destroyed, yet from my flesh I will see God; Whom I myself shall behold . . .



In this passage Job is saying by inspiration of the Holy Spirit that a day will come when he will be resurrected from the dead, and that will be when his Redeemer stands on the earth. We know from Daniel 12:1-2 that the resurrection of Old Testament Saints will not take place until the end of the Tribulation, so when Job speaks of the Messiah standing on the earth, he must be speaking of the Second Coming.



Many of the Psalms, all the Major Prophets and almost all the Minor Prophets look forward to the day when the Messiah will come to earth to live in Jerusalem and reign over all the world. In the New Testament, Peter, Paul and John all affirm that the Messiah will return to reign.



The Archangel Gabriel promised Mary that her son would be given the throne of David and "will reign over the house of Jacob forever" (Luke 1:32-33). This did not happen at the Lord's First Coming, so it must be referring to His Second Coming.



After His resurrection, when Jesus ascended into Heaven, two angels appeared to his Disciples and told them that He would one day return in just the same way - bodily and visibly (Acts 1:10-11).



Most important, Jesus Himself promised that one day He would return (Revelation 22:12). People usually think of Jesus' last words on this earth as being the ones He spoke on the Cross. But 65 years after his death, burial and resurrection, Jesus appeared to the Apostle John on Isle of Patmos, and the very last words He spoke were "I am coming soon" (Revelation 22:20).



The Timing

These words of Jesus raise a very important issue: How could Jesus mean He was returning "soon" when it has now been 2,000 years since His ascension? The Apostle Peter answered this question when he wrote that to God, "a thousand years is like a day" (2 Peter 3:9). He then explained the reason for the delay: "The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish, but for all to come to repentance" (2 Peter 3:9).



Further, Jesus' comment was meant to give us a sense of imminence - the realization that He could return at any moment. A sense of imminence is important because it inspires holy living and evangelism.



This raises another issue that relates to the timing of the Second Coming. How can the Second coming be imminent if there are so many prophecies that have to be fulfilled before it can happen - events like the rebuilding of the Temple, the revelation of the Antichrist and the Tribulation? The answer is that the Lord's return to this earth is not imminent. Rather, it is the appearing of the Lord in the Rapture that is imminent.



Remember from lesson 14 that the Second Coming consists of two stages - first, the Lord's appearing in the Rapture and then, second, the Lord's return to earth.



The Rapture is imminent and can occur at any moment. The Second Coming is not imminent. The Bible reveals its precise timing: it will occur 2,520 days after the Antichrist signs a covenant with Israel (Revelation 11:3 and 12:6). So, the Lord's actual return to the earth will occur at the end of the Tribulation.



Resurrections

At the Second Coming, there will be a resurrection of Old Testament Saints (Daniel 12:2) and Tribulation Martyrs (Revelation 20:4).



The Bible speaks of two resurrections in the end times. Jesus refers to them as the "resurrections of life" and the "resurrection of judgment" (John 5:29). The Apostle Paul confirmed this when he said that according to the prophets, there will be "a resurrection of both the righteous and the wicked" (Acts 24:15).



Based on these two references one could easily conclude there are going to be two resurrections at the time of the Second Coming - one for the just and the other for the unjust. But when you dig further into the Scriptures, you find more than two resurrections. That's because when the Bible speaks of two resurrections, it is talking about two in kind and not two in number.



We know this for certain because the resurrection of the righteous occurs in stages. Paul refers to these stages in 1 Corinthians 15:20-23 where he explains that there is an order to the resurrection of the righteous: "Christ the first fruits, after that those who are Christ's at His coming". The resurrection of the righteous occurs in three stages: 1) Christ "the first fruits," 2) The Church Age Saints at the Rapture, and 3) Tribulation Martyrs and Old Testament Saints at the Second Coming. The "second resurrection" of the unjust will occur all at once at the end of the Millennium when all those throughout history who died outside a faith relationship with God are raised and judged.



Judgments

Resurrection will be followed by judgment. The apostle Paul emphasized the certainty of judgment. In Romans 2:16 he wrote, "God will judge the secrets of men through Christ Jesus." And in Romans 14:10, 12 he stated, "We shall all stand before the judgment seat of God . . . So then each one of us shall give account of himself to God." The writer to the Hebrews summed it up succinctly: "It is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment" (Hebrews 9:27).



When and where will the judgment of the redeemed take place? The Bible indicates the judgment of believers who have lived and died during the Church Age will occur in Heaven before the judgment seat of Jesus, immediately following the Rapture of the Church (2 Corinthians 5:10 and Revelation 19:6-9).



Those who are saved and martyred during the Tribulation will be judged at the end of that period when they are resurrected at the Second Coming of Christ (Revelation 20:4). Old Testament saints will also be resurrected at this time and judged (Daniel 12:1-2).



All who live to the end of the Tribulation - both Jews and Gentiles - will also be judged at the Second Coming of Jesus. The Gentile judgment is portrayed in Matthew 25:31-46 as "the sheep and goat judgment." The judgment of living Jews is portrayed in Ezekiel 20:33-38. Those who have received Jesus as their Lord and Savior will be allowed to enter the Millennium in the flesh. Those who have not will be consigned to death and Hades (Matthew 25:46).



All the unrighteous who have ever lived will be resurrected and judged at the end of the millennial reign of Jesus. This terrible judgment is pictured in Revelation 20:11-15. It is called the "Great White Throne Judgment."



We are told that the wicked also will be judged of their works. But their judgment will be radically different from the judgment of the Redeemed. Whereas the Redeemed are judged of their works to determine their degrees of reward, the lost are judged of their works to determine their eternal destiny. And since no one can be justified before God by their works (Ephesians 2:8-10), all will be condemned to Hell.



The unjust are also judged for another reason. There are going to be degrees of punishment (Luke 12:35-48; 20:45-47). There is a popular myth in Christendom that says, "All sin is equal in the eyes of God." That is not true. The only way in which all sin is equal is that any sin, whether a white lie or murder, condemns us before God and necessitates a Savior.



But all sin is not equal in the eyes of God. For example, Proverbs 6:16-19 lists seven sins that the Lord particularly hates, including "hands that shed innocent blood." And the Bible makes it very clear that idolatry is a sin that is especially heinous in the eyes of God (Exodus 20:3-5).



Because God considers some sins worse than others, there will be degrees of punishment (Revelation 22:12), and these degrees will be specified at the Great White Throne Judgment.



The Interregnum

In politics, an interregnum is the period of time between two successive governments. The Bible reveals that there will be such a period of time between the rebellious rule of the Antichrist and the righteous reign of Jesus Christ.



The interregnum can be found in Daniel 12:11-12. Verse 11 reveals that there will be a 20-day period of time following the last 3 and a half years of the Tribulation. Verse 12 makes it clear that there will then be an additional 45 days, making a total of 75 days. We are not told exactly what will happen during these days, but it could very well be that the 30-day interval would be used for the various judgments and the additional 45 days for the setting up of the Lord's government and the inauguration of the Millennium.

Quotations:

"The Second Coming of Christ will be so revolutionary that it will change every aspect of life on this planet. Christ will reign in righteousness. Disease will be arrested. Death will be modified. War will be abolished. Nature will be changed. Man will live as it was originally intended he should live." - Billy Graham (1928-2018).

"The first time Christ came to slay sin in men. The second time He will come to slay men in sin." - Arthur W. Pink (1886-1952), A British Bible teacher and author.

Resurrection vs. Resuscitation

  People often ask, "How can Jesus be referred to as the 'first fruits of the resurrection' when the Bible

  records the resurrections of numerous people before Him?"

  The answer is that none of these people, like Lazarus, were resurrected. They were, instead,

  resuscitated. In other words, they were re-animated to die again at a later time. True resurrection

  in the biblical sense is resurrection to eternal life.