Day 12 of the 24 Day Prophecy Study
Notes compiled by Steve McAtee and Marty Zide
The great hope of the church and all believers down through the centuries is the fact that Jesus is going to return in the same manner in which He left.
The second coming includes His returning for the church at the rapture and then 7 years later, coming back to earth, to the Mount of Olives, from where He ascended back to heaven. When He returns, He will reverse all that was lost when Adam and Eve fell into sin and He will fulfill all of the promises He made to Israel.
1 Thes 4:13-18 - But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus. For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Messiah will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words.
Matt 16:27 - For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and will then repay every man according to his deeds.
Matt 24:29-30 - But immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light and the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory.
A. The Purpose of the Second Coming
The Bible offers several reasons for the second coming of Jesus. But, ultimately it’s an event that has to take place because it was prophesied all throughout the Word of God.
1. To defeat Antichrist and the world's nations
Antichrist and the nations of the world will be assembled at Armageddon. The entire empire of evil will be destroyed as a result of the return of Jesus the Messiah.
Rev 19:19-21 - And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies assembled to make war against Him who sat on the horse and against His army. And the beast was seized, and with him the false prophet who performed the signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image; these two were thrown alive into the lake of fire which burns with brimstone. And the rest were killed with the sword which came from the mouth of Him who sat on the horse, and all the birds were filled with their flesh.
2 Thes 2:8-10 - Then that lawless one will be revealed whom the Lord will slay with the breath of His mouth and bring to an end by the appearance of His coming; that is, the one whose coming is in accord with the activity of Satan, with all power and signs and false wonders, and with all the deception of wickedness for those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved.
2. To re-gather, regenerate and restore Israel
When the Scriptures are taken literally, you clearly can see that ethnic Israel has a wonderful future ahead of them. However, before the good days come their worst days will come first.
Ezek 11:17 - Therefore say, Thus says the Lord GOD, I will gather you from the peoples and assemble you out of the countries among which you have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel.
Ezek 36:24-28 - For I will take you from the nations, gather you from all the lands and bring you into your own land. Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances. You will live in the land that I gave to your forefathers; so you will be My people, and I will be your God.
3. To judge all those who physically survive the tribulation period
The millennium begins with all the saved people. Therefore, all (both Jewish and Gentile people) will be judged to determine if they are saved or not. They would have been saved in the tribulation period. All who are saved will enter the 1000 year reign of Jesus the Messiah.
Matt 25:31-34, 41 - But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; and He will put the sheep on His right, and the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on His right, Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit 33
the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. Then He will also say to those on His left, Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels.
Ezek 11:21 - But as for those whose hearts go after their detestable things and abominations, I will bring their conduct down on their heads, declares the Lord GOD.
Ezek 20:36-38 - As I entered into judgment with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so I will enter into judgment with you, declares the Lord GOD. I will make you pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant; and I will purge from you the rebels and those who transgress against Me; I will bring them out of the land where they sojourn, but they will not enter the land of Israel. Thus you will know that I am the LORD.
All who pass the judgment, will be allowed to enter the earthly kingdom with their physical body. Church saints will enter the millennium with their glorified bodies.
4. To establish the kingdom
The millennium is a time when the promises made to Israel will literally be fulfilled. At this time Jesus will personally be reigning from the city of Jerusalem while occupying the throne of David.
The theocratic rule of God that was lost when Adam sinned, will be re-established by the Second Adam, Jesus the Messiah. It is absolutely imperative that the theocratic rule of God be reestablished upon the earth before history as we know it comes to an end. Otherwise, Satan will have won out in his wicked scheme of trying to overthrow God’s program.
Zech 14:4, 9 - In that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which is in front of Jerusalem on the east; and the Mount of Olives will be split in its middle from east to west by a very large valley, so that half of the mountain will move toward the north and the other half toward the south. And the LORD will be king over all the earth; in that day the LORD will be the only one, and His name the only one.
Dan 2:44-45 - In the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which will never be destroyed, and that kingdom will not be left for another people; it will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms, but it will itself endure forever. Inasmuch as you saw that a stone was cut out of the mountain without hands and that it crushed the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver and the gold, the great God has made known to the king what will take place in the future; so the dream is true and its interpretation is trustworthy.
5. To crush and bind Satan
During the millennium Satan will be bound and as such his evil influence will not be felt during this time. I have always found it interesting that it is an ordinary angel, one who is far inferior to the Devil who will do the binding.
This is another step in the fulfillment day of the prophecy that was first spoken to Satan in the Garden of Eden. God clearly told him that ultimately the Messiah Redeemer would restore all that was lost when Adam sinned.
Gen 3:15 - And I will put enmity between you and the woman, And between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, And you shall bruise him on the heel.
Rev 20:1-3 - Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding the key of the abyss and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold of the dragon, the serpent of old, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years; and he threw him into the abyss, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he would not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were completed; after these things he must be released for a short time.
After the 1000 years, Satan will be loosed for a time. He will gather all of the rebels that were born during the millennium who never trusted the Lord Jesus for salvation. They will attempt one final revolt against the Lord. They will swiftly be destroyed.
Rev 20:7-10 - When the thousand years are completed, Satan will be released from his prison, and will come out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together for the war; the number of them is like the sand of the seashore. And they came up on the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city, and fire came down from heaven and devoured them. And the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are also; and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.