Note: All Scripture quotations found in this article are from the text of the Authorized King James Version of the Bible.
The subject of the Second Coming of Christ is the most covered subject in the Bible. For sinners our favorite subject is Christ dying for our sins, but God's favorite subject is His son reigning physically as King on this earth.
There are three views of the Second Coming of Jesus Christ
1. Amillennialism
2. Postmillennialism
3. Premillennialism
Out of these three, Premillennialism is the correct Biblical view.
Amillennialism teaches that the Old Testament prophecies concerning the nation of Israel are figuratively fulfilled in the establishment of the Church. Jesus is now reigning, Satan is bound, we are in the kingdom and the next event to happen is the Second Coming that will end the world.
Postmillennialism teaches that the Old Testament prophecies concerning Israel apply to the Church, which is God's army. He is invisibly setting up His kingdom, Christ will return when his kingdom is finished and that will mark the end of time.
The Biblical view of Premillennialism teaches that the Old Testament prophecies concerning Israel still apply to Israel, but Israel has been laid aside for now in the Church Age. The Holy Spirit is now forming the Church as of now. Before the Tribulation, Jesus will call up the Church. God will resume His dealings with Israel during the Tribulation, which is also called Daniel's Seventieth Week. After the Tribulation, Jesus Christ will return to the earth to reign as King on the earth and literally fulfill all prophecy.
There are three views to Premillennialism, which are Post-Tribulation, Mid-Tribulation and Pre-Tribulation. The Biblical view is Pre-Tribulation, which says the Church will be Raptured before the Tribulation.
The Rapture of the Church is also called the Blessed Hope in Titus 2:13. The Rapture is not the Second Coming of Jesus Christ and this can be proven with scripture. Consider the many differences below.
Jesus comes FOR the saints at the Rapture.
John 14:3 "And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also."
At the Second Coming, He comes WITH the saints.
Revelation 19:14 "And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean."
The Rapture happens before the Tribulation. (Genesis 5:21-24, 41:44-54, 2 Thessalonians 2)
1 Thessalonians 1:10 "And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come."
Revelation 6:16 "And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: 17 For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?"
The Second Coming is after the Tribulation.
Matthew 24:29 "Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: 30 And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. 31 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."
The Rapture happens in a moment in the twinkling of an eye.
1 Corinthians 15:52 "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."
The Second Coming is seen by everyone.
Revelation 1:7 "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."
At the Rapture Jesus meets the saints in the air.
1 Thessalonians 4:17 "Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord."
At the Second Coming Jesus Christ comes down to the earth with His saints.
Zechariah 14:3 "Then shall the LORD go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle. 4 And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof 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 of it toward the south."
At the Rapture, Jesus Christ is the Bridegroom.
Song of Solomon 2:8 "The voice of my beloved! behold, he cometh leaping upon the mountains, skipping upon the hills. 9 My beloved is like a roe or a young hart: behold, he standeth behind our wall, he looketh forth at the windows, shewing himself through the lattice. 10 My beloved spake, and said unto me, Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away."
Jesus is King of Kings and Lord of Lords at the Second Coming.
Revelation 19:16 "And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS."
At the Rapture, Jesus comes to deliver the Church from the wrath of the Tribulation.
1 Thessalonians 1:10 "And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come."
At the Second Coming, Jesus delivers wrath to the unbelievers.
Revelation 6:16 "And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: 17 For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?"
Finally, the Rapture is a mystery(1 Cor. 15:51), while the Second Coming is Revelation(Matthew 24:30).
The Seventieth Week of Daniel(Tribulation) is spoken about in Matthew 24 and the below verses.
Daniel 9:24 "Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy. 25 Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times. 26 And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined. 27 And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate."
The nation of Israel was God's chosen people in the past, but now they are laid aside because they rejected Jesus Christ as their Messiah. During the Tribulation, which lasts seven years, Israel will endure great tribulation, but a remnant will be saved. In the Tribulation, God will purge His chosen nation. After the Tribulation, Israel will be exalted and be head of all the nations in the Millennium. The Bible teaches that God is not through with the nation of Israel according to Romans 11:25-27.
There are still unfulfilled prophecies(Matthew 5:18). Jesus Christ will one day step foot on the earth again(Zechariah 14:1-3). During the Millennium, the Devil will be bound for one thousand years(Revelation 20:1-7). Christ will sit on the throne of David and reign on the earth during the Millennium(Acts 2:30).
This article is not typed in a format to refute other views, rather to teach the Bible Believer more about the true view. I will end this article by giving you a mental picture of the events in order.
The first event will be the Rapture, where the Church Age Saints will be caught up in the air to meet Jesus. After the Rapture, the Tribulation with the Antichrist starts and lasts for seven years. Towards the end of the seven year Tribulation, there will be a primarily Jewish Rapture (Matt. 24:31) , but saved Gentiles will also go up in this Rapture (Rev. 7:9-17). During the Tribulation on earth, in Heaven the Church Age saints will be going through the Judgment Seat of Christ where their works are judged (2 Cor. 5:10). After the Judgment Seat of Christ will be the Marriage of the Lamb (Rev. 19:7).
After the Tribulation, the Millennium will start and this is the Second Coming of Jesus Christ that lasts one thousand years on this earth. Jesus Christ comes back with His saints and destroys the Antichrist and his followers at Armageddon (Rev. 16:16) in the beginning of the Millenium. Satan is bound for the one thousand years of the Millennium. There is a Judgment of the Nations where the nations will be judged according on how they treated Israel (Matt. 25:30-42). Jesus Christ will reign as King in the Millennium, the Jews will get back their land and nature will be fully restored (Isa. 11). At the end of the Millennium, Satan is loosed, defeated by Jesus Christ at the battle of Gog and Magog (Rev. 20:8) and cast into the Lake of Fire for good. After the Millennium, all the lost are judged at the White Throne Judgment and Tribulation and Millennium saints will also be judged there (Rev. 20:11-15).
After the Millennium, Eternity starts with the new earth, new heavens and New Jerusalem hovering over the earth. The Church Age saints will live in New Jerusalem (Rev. 21:2, 9,10, Gal. 4:26), the Jews will inherit the new earth (Isa. 66:22) and the Gentiles will be in the new heaven (1 Cor. 10:32). In Eternity, the Church Age saints will be the only people that have glorified bodies, so the Tribulation and Millennium saints will have to partake of the Tree of Life to receive eternal life (Revelation 22:2). Their children will inherit eternal life from them, so their offspring will not have to partake of the Tree of Life (Heb. 1:14). There will be no more sin or death in Eternity (2 Peter 3:13, Rev. 21:4). There is much more, but that is the basics.
1. Rapture (Blessed Hope)
2. Tribulation (Daniel's Seventieth Week)
3. Millennium (Second Coming)
4. Eternity
Here is a chart by Clarence Larkin on the Second Coming.
Click here to view: http://www.preservedwords.com/images/lcoming.gif
